Primrose Everdeen

Primrose Everdeen also known as Prim, is one of the important characters of Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games series.
Character background
Primrose is Katniss Everdeen's younger sister by four years. She was named after the flower, primrose, and is often called Prim. She lives with her sister and mother in District 12, 's poorest district.
In the books
The Hunger Games
Prim is introduced at the very beginning of The Hunger Games as being Katniss's twelve-year-old younger sister. Katniss is very protective of her and makes sure she only has the minimum number of slips in for the annual Hunger Games. Against the odds, however, Prim's one slip is drawn, and she is set to become the girl's tribute for District 12. However, Katniss volunteers for her place in the arena instead.
Catching Fire
Prim is kept in the background during Catching Fire, helping her mother with healing (the most notable of these being Gale Hawthorne). When Katniss must compete again in the third Quarter Quell, she does her best to comfort her sister. District 12 is bombed at the end of the book, but Gale managed to get her and her mother out alive, along with about 10% of the population.
Mockingjay
Of the three books, Prim is in Mockingjay the most. She lives in District 13 with her mother, sister, and cat. She dreams of becoming a doctor and helps the injured during her time in District 13. Prim is a surprise to Katniss with some wise comments. She is allowed to go to the Capitol during the assassination attempt as a nurse, but Katniss doesn't know until she sees Prim in the barricade in front of Snow's mansion with the children being used as a guard. Before Katniss can reach her and bring her to safety, Prim is killed by the double-exploding parachutes dropped by President Coin's forces. After the war, Peeta plants a series of primrose bushes around Katniss' home in District 12 as a memorial to her.
Characterization
Appearance
Prim has fair skin, blond hair and blue eyes, unlike the majority of the residents of the Seam in District 12. She looks very much like her mother. She has a small stature, partly due to being underfed for the majority of her life. Katniss describes her as having a face "as fresh as a raindrop, as lovely as the primrose for which she was named".
Personality
Prim has a love for living things. She loves animals of all kinds, even the ugliest ones. Not only does she have a pet goat that Katniss gave her, but a gruesome, ugly cat she named Buttercup. Starving and swarming with parasites, Prim brought the wretched creature home. Katniss intended to drown him, but Prim begged so hard for Katniss to let him live that she decided to allow the cat to stay. She has a passion for healing. She doesn't care how ugly a person looks on the outside, and is willing to do her best to heal them. She is also very caring and stays at her mother's side with even the most horrid cases, even though she is "scared of her own shadow".
In Mockingjay, Prim is shown to have grown considerably more mature and has developed tendencies that seem to come from Haymitch such as a sharp tongue and an ability to see the evil of the Capitol as well as the plan that President Snow has to break Katniss by using Peeta. She voices her ambition to become a doctor and even goes to the Capitol during the final battle to help as a medic, an action that cost her her life. Prim also seems to be unafraid by figures of authority when she was in the hospital with Katniss, Haymitch, Plutarch and Beetee.
Critical reception
Publishers Weekly was pleased with the fact that Prim's character expanded in Mockingjay and readers were able to know her better.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu