The mockingjay pin
- "They let you wear one thing from your district in the arena. One thing to remind you of home. Will you wear this?"
- —Madge Undersee asking Katniss Everdeen to wear the mockingjay pin as her token[src]
A tribute token, also known as a district token, was an item each tribute was permitted to bring with them into the Hunger Games arena, which could represent their district and remind them of home.[1] However, tokens had to be approved by a review board prior to the competition. Items would be confiscated if they broke the rules of the Games, as would anything that could give the tribute an advantage. A token was usually something that could be worn so the tributes could keep it with them easily.[2]
Known tokens[]
10th Hunger Games[]
District tokens were not formalized at this time, so there was no review process yet. Coriolanus Snow gave Lucy Gray Baird a silver compact that once belonged to his mother,[3] and she used it to smuggle rat poison from the zoo into the Capitol Arena, poisoning her competition.[4] The compact was later one of three pieces of evidence used against Coriolanus Snow by Dean Casca Highbottom to show his treachery.[5] Later, Snow returned to see Highbottom and reclaimed the compact.[6]
74th Hunger Games[]
- Glimmer, District 1: Glimmer attempted to wear a ring, but it was taken away from her before the Games began, since the review board realized that twisting the gemstone caused a poisoned spike to pop out. Glimmer claimed to have no knowledge of this, but it was still taken away. It was the only known confiscated token.[2]
- Rue, District 11: Rue wore a wooden charm shaped like a star or flower on a length of woven grass. She said that it was a good luck charm.[7]
- Katniss Everdeen, District 12: Katniss wore a golden mockingjay pin that once belonged to Maysilee Donner,[8][9] given to her by Maysilee's niece Madge Undersee.[1] It was almost confiscated since the sharp part of the pin could be used as a weapon, but it managed to clear the review board.[2]
75th Hunger Games/3rd Quarter Quell[]
- Katniss Everdeen, District 12: mockingjay pin[10]
Peeta's token in the 75th Hunger Games.
- Peeta Mellark, District 12: Peeta wore a mockingjay medallion on a chain around his neck, modeled after the pin. The medallion was also a secret locket; on the left was a picture of Gale Hawthorne smiling, and on the right, a photo of Mrs. Everdeen and Primrose Everdeen laughing. Peeta gave it to Katniss as a gift, trying to use it to convince her that she had more reasons than he did to try to win and go home.[11]
- Finnick Odair, District 4: Finnick wore a gold bangle with a flame pattern.[12] His token was originally procured by Effie Trinket for Haymitch Abernathy to show unity among the representatives of District 12.[13][14] Haymitch later gave it to Finnick, in order to signal to Katniss in the arena that Finnick could be trusted as an ally. It is unknown if Finnick had brought his own token from home before he was given Haymitch's.[12]
Other tokens[]
- A female tribute from an unknown district brought a small wooden ball. While standing on her pedestal around the Cornucopia just before the Games began, she accidentally dropped her token before the gong sounded, and she was blasted into pieces by the land mines. She had to be quite literally scraped off the ground to be taken back in the hovercraft.[7]
Unofficial tokens[]
Katniss holding Peeta's pearl in the third Quarter Quell
- Lucy Gray Baird wore a dress that had belonged to her mother[15] all the way from the reaping to the arena. It provided her with comfort throughout her ordeal; Lucy Gray said it was like "[her mother was] wrapping her arms around [her]."[16]
- While in District 13, Katniss gave Johanna Mason a bundle of pine needles wrapped in a bandage to remind her of her home in District 7.[17]
- During the 75th Hunger Games, Peeta gave Katniss a pearl.[18] She later put this into the pocket of her military uniform when she shipped out for the Battle of the Capitol, calling it "a token of the boy with the bread."[17]
Trivia[]
- The concept of a tribute token was seemingly eliminated from The Hunger Games film, as Cinna appeared to sneak in the mockingjay pin, pinning it to the inside of Katniss's jacket to hide it and holding a finger to his lips.[19]
- Tokens were apparently reintroduced in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. Similar to the book, Effie obtained matching gold tokens for Haymitch and Peeta to go along with Katniss's mockingjay pin and her own gold wig, to show that they were a team.[20]
- It is unknown whether or not Maysilee wore the mockingjay pin as her token when she competed in the 50th Hunger Games.[13] However, many fans speculate that she did.
- In the first film, Katniss bought the pin from the Hob for her sister Prim, reassuring her that it would keep her safe. Later that day, Prim gave it back to Katniss to protect her during the Games.[19]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Hunger Games, Chapter 3
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 The Hunger Games, Chapter 10
- ↑ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 13
- ↑ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 24
- ↑ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 21
- ↑ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Epilogue
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 The Hunger Games, Chapter 16
- ↑ Catching Fire, Chapter 7
- ↑ Catching Fire, Chapter 12
- ↑ Catching Fire, Chapter 18
- ↑ Catching Fire, Chapter 24
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Catching Fire, Chapter 19
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Catching Fire, Chapter 14
- ↑ Catching Fire, Chapter 16
- ↑ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 4
- ↑ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 6
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Mockingjay, Chapter 18
- ↑ Catching Fire, Chapter 25
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 The Hunger Games (film)
- ↑ The Hunger Games: Catching Fire