Spruce

Spruce
Biographical Information
Home	District 12
Weapon	Shotgun
Fate	Deceased
Physical Information
Gender	Male
Appearances
Book Appearances	The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
Movie Appearances	The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Portrayed by	George Somner

"No, no. Come in and join us, Mayfair. We've got no quarrel with you. You can't choose your pa."

—Spruce speaking to Mayfair Lipp

Spruce was a man from District 12 who was involved in rebellious activities. He was a generally agreeable individual who wanted to free his sister Lil and escape the influence of the Capitol.

Biography

Spruce attempted to restrain Lil during Arlo Chance's execution, and he later planned to free Lil from the Peacekeepers' base, knock the guards out, and escape north past the fence of District 12. Sejanus Plinth intended on going along with them.

When Coriolanus Snow encountered Spruce, Sejanus, and Billy Taupe Clade working on their escape plan in a shed behind the Hob, Spruce pointed a shotgun at him, but relented when Sejanus said Snow was with him. Despite having gathered a fairly large cache of weapons, he thought that more might be needed. When Mayfair Lipp, the mayor's daughter, stumbled upon the scene, Spruce told her that they had no quarrel with her and suggested she come with them. However, she balked at the idea, and when it became obvious she planned to rat them out, he raised his gun to shoot her. Billy Taupe knocked the barrel towards the floor. Snow then shot her instead.

Billy Taupe threatened to kill Lucy Gray Baird (in the film he instead threatened to kill Coriolanus Snow), so Spruce shot him through the chest without hesitating. He then told Lucy Gray that she had better go before somebody came looking, and stuffed the weapons back into his bag. He suggested that Snow should come with them up north, as otherwise he would likely end up paying for what had happened.

Spruce made his way to the lake, setting down the bag of weapons in the remaining house there. However, he was later captured by Peacekeepers; Snow witnessed him badly wounded and entering the clinic from an ambulance, evidently having gotten into a confrontation with them. Sometime not long after, he died of his wounds, and most people believed that he had been involved with the murders.

Spruce at his execution.

Film adaptation

In The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, Spruce was not so badly wounded by the Peacekeepers that he died in custody; instead, he was executed alongside Lil and Sejanus at the hanging tree.

Etymology

Spruce is most likely named after the spruce pine.