Wovey

Wovey was the female tribute from District 8 during the 10th Hunger Games. Her mentor was Hilarius Heavensbee. She was hidden in the tunnels for the majority of the Games.

Biography

Wovey grew up in District 8 and became her district's female tribute in the reaping for the 10th Hunger Games.^[1] Along with the other tributes, Wovey was taken to the Capitol in a dirty cattle car. From there, they were dumped into the monkey house at the Capitol Zoo.^[2]

Her mentor, Hilarius Heavensbee, attempted to train Wovey for the interviews, but wasn't able to as she had "zero personality". Nobody had offered to sponsor her yet, and Heavensbee's family was embarrassed that she was making such a poor showing.^[3]

10th Hunger Games

Throughout the Games, Hilarius was concerned whether Wovey was even alive and if she was just dead in the tunnels because she stayed hidden for so long. He referred to her as "no-show Wovey," lamenting that he had been unable to send her any gifts to due to her never showing herself. Probably due to being from a poorer district, Wovey was able to endure her hunger and thirst long enough to survive up to three days (as she died on the fourth day) without any resources.^[4]

Death

Wovey was thin prior to the Games, but within a few days of the start of the Games, she emerged from hiding appearing skeletal. Hilarius quickly sent her food and water, but instead she picked up a bottle of water on the ground and drank only a few sips before giving a small belch and dying.^[5] In fact, she had been poisoned by Lucy Gray Baird, who had left a bottle of water poisoned with rat poison in the tunnels, and although she had been aiming for Coral, Wovey stumbled upon it and became poisoned instead.^[6]

Wovey's death went unnoticed in the arena until Reaper Ash emerged to investigate. He examined her face, questioning the cause of her death, and took her to his makeshift morgue while leaving the food and water she had been sent. Soon after, Mizzen and Coral, the tributes from District 4, arrived and ate all Wovey's food before returning to their tunnel.^[5]

Film adaptation

In The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, when the gong rang, Wovey quickly ran towards the tunnels, where she hid until the final five. When Dr. Volumnia Gaul dropped the snake tank into the arena, Wovey approached, believing the Games were over and she and the other tributes could go home. Despite Reaper Ash trying to warn her, the tank burst, releasing the snakes. Wovey was the first to fall victim to them.^[7]

Physical description

Before the Games began, Wovey was described as a "small, pasty-faced girl in a striped dress and red scarf".^[2] Hilarius also referred to her as a "runt".^[3] After she spent days in the arena's tunnels without food or water, her dress was filthy and she appeared skeletal from starvation, with limbs "like sticks" and sunken cheeks.^[5]

Etymology

Wovey's name comes from "wove", the past tense of the verb "to weave."

Trivia

• While not explicitly written as disabled in the novel, Wovey is portrayed in the film adaptation by Sofia Sanchez, who has Down syndrome.

  

• On social media, Sanchez posted profiles of Wovey and her district partner Bobbin from what appears to be a prop dossier used in the film.^[8] Wovey's profile gives her age as 15, her height as 5.4 feet (5 feet and 4.8 inches), her weight as 110 pounds, and her health status was scored a 3 out of 10. Under special skills, she's noted as being cautious and nimble, but under weaknesses, she is "credulously slow". Her preferred defense is hiding, and for other information, it says her parents are dead and her older brother is her guardian.
  • However, her actress was only 13 during filming in 2022, and in the film itself, Wovey mentioned climbing in her mother's factory.^[7] These facts, alongside a typo in Bobbin's profile, cast doubt on their canonicity.

References