Ashley White answers “Tigris helps the rebels in Mockingjay....”

Tiffany asked this question about The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (The Hunger Games, #0):

Tigris helps the rebels in Mockingjay. There wasn't any indicator in this book why she would do that if Snow is her cousin. She seems very close. Any ideas?

Ashley White I think there is an implied falling out as Coriolanus becomes more and more heartless. They are very close, but throughout the book, Tigris expresses …moreI think there is an implied falling out as Coriolanus becomes more and more heartless. They are very close, but throughout the book, Tigris expresses sympathy for those harmed by the capital - particularly the tributes. She explains even though Snow is too young to have been aware, she had to do things that most would look down upon to survive the war and protect him (the implication is prostitution).

As Snow grows into the man he is by the time we meet him in The Hunger Games (Book 1), their ideologies have diverged. Tigris is someone who feels deeply for the tributes, and Snow is the President who perpetuates the games and a cruel rule over the districts.

While this is speculation, I think it is safe to assume that, like Cinna, Tigris would have been a compassionate stylist working in service of her tributes and perhaps subtly undermining the capitol. In Mockingjay, we hear that she was removed as a stylist. Was it really because she was too old/ gruesome, or was there more at play?

Finally, while they did seem close throughout the book, we know that being close to Coriolanus is not enough to avoid his cruelty. Coriolanus and Lucy Gray were close. Coriolanus and Sejanus were close. Yet, he turns on both of them. And don't forget that by the end of the book, Snow has become completely self-centered. He intercepts the money he sent to Tigris, not because he particularly needed it, but just to keep it for himself.

I don't think their relationship will remain very close for long.

I would love to see a storyline focused on Tigris in the future!(less)

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The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

by Suzanne Collins

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