Greasy Sae is an imaginative cook and a resourceful trader. She escapes the bombing of District 12 and goes to District 13 to work in the kitchens for the Second Rebellion. After the rebellion, she helps to take care of Katniss.
Greasy Sae Character Profile
- Name: Greasy Sae
- Age: Elderly
- Gender: Female
- Place of origin: District 12
- Physical appearance: Old and bony
- Skills: Cooking, trading
- Strengths: Compassionate, friendly
- Weaknesses: Unknown
- Loyalties: Rebel
Personality and Physical Description
Greasy Sae is a bony old woman who makes her living at the Hob of District 12. She is highly resourceful and extremely imaginative in her cooking. She is also loving and caring, as she genuinely cares for the customers who visit her every day. She takes initiative when needed, and raises money for Katniss and Peeta in the arena. She is friendly and well-liked by people from the Seam and Peacekeepers alike.
Greasy Sae in The Hunger Games
Greasy Sae is a soup vendor at the Hob in District 12. She usually buys game meat from the hunters of the district and uses it to make all kinds of soup. She is highly imaginative in her cooking and her soups range from wild dog soup to a mixture of entrails, mice meat, and tree bark. Whenever there is no meat available, she also makes vegetarian soups such as gourd and bean soup.
Sae concocts the soup in a kettle and sells them by the bowlful to residents of the Seam and the Peacekeepers. This is how she makes a living.
Katniss Everdeen and Gale Hawthorne are not only her regular customers but they are also her regular suppliers of meat, roots, and vegetables.
“The Hob was crowded with people looking for refuge from the weather. Greasy Sae’s soup, made with stock from the bones of a wild dog we’d shot a week earlier, was below her usual standards. Still, it was hot, and I was starving as I scooped it up, sitting cross-legged on her counter.”
‘The Hunger Games’
Darius, Katniss’ favorite Peacekeeper, is also one of Sae’s regular customers. Katniss and Darius often eat soup together at Sae’s and chat with each other. Once, Darius begins to flirt with Katniss at Greasy Sae’s counter, asking her to give him a rabbit in exchange for a kiss.
On the day of the Reaping Ceremony for the 74th Hunger Games, Katniss and Gale trade half of the greens they foraged in the woods in return for two chunks of paraffin from Greasy Sae. Katniss and Gale do not think that this is a great deal. However, they make a conscious effort to be on good terms with Greasy Sae as she is the only one who is willing to buy wild dogs from them, whenever they kill one accidentally.
Sae does not discriminate between good meat. Instead, she is cunning enough to concoct a lie that would sell the wild dog meat. She merely tells her customers that the dog meat is beef.
After Katniss heads into the arena of the 74th Hunger Games, Sae sets up a fund to raise money to sponsor Katniss and Peeta in the arena. Initially, the collection of funds is confined to the Hob. However, many other citizens of District 12 also began to chip in after hearing about the sponsorship. Katniss speculates that the people who contributed to the fund would have had to do so by sacrificing some of their most basic needs. She also believes that whatever they were able to contribute made the difference between life and death in the arena.
Greasy Sae in Catching Fire
Greasy Sae continues to sell soup to Katniss after she becomes a victor and comes back to District 12.
Katniss meets Darius at Sae’s stall, and the two of them banter with each other while eating soup. Darius asks Katniss when she would be leaving on the train, and whether she would be dressing herself up for the occasion. He teases her to have some district pride and wags his finger at Sae while walking off with his bowl of soup. Sae jokingly tells him to give her the bowl back.
Sae also goes along with the lie invented after the 74th Hunger Games that Gale Hawthorne is Katniss’ cousin.
“Greasy Sae knows we’re not related, but even some of the people who have known us for years seem to have forgotten.
“I just can’t wait for the whole thing to be over,” I whisper.
“I know,” says Greasy Sae. “But you’ve got to go through it to get to the end of it. Better not be late.”
‘Catching Fire’
When the cruel Romulus Thread is appointed as the new Head Peacekeeper of District 12, one of the first measures he implements is setting fire to the Hob and burning it down. Although no one is hurt in the process, everyone who conducts business at the Hob, including Greasy Sae, loses their place of business. Katniss wishes to visit Sae and check on her after the incident. However, she is dissuaded from doing so by Peeta Mellark, who tells her that her presence might only make things worse.
It is not known what Greasy Sae did to salvage her livelihood after this incident. It is presumed that she survived on the food that Katniss shared with her from her winnings.
Greasy Sae in Mockingjay
After the bombing of District 12 by the Capitol, Greasy Sae is one of the few people who make it out to District 13 alive. She is given employment in the kitchen with the other cooks from District 13. The old lady likes District 13, although she believes that the cooks are not imaginative enough. However, Katniss believes that Sae, who once invented a palatable wild dog and rhubarb stew is too inventive for District 13.
During Finnick Odair and Annie Cresta’s wedding, Greasy Sae is the first one to begin dancing, leading Gale to the center of the floor. She sets an example for the others, who begin pouring in next to her to dance as well.
While Katniss and Johanna Mason train to become soldiers in the Second Rebellion, they are given a stew of beef one day after training. Greasy Sae tells them that the first shipment of beef came that morning from District 10. This is most likely the first time that Greasy Sae ever cooked with real beef, and probably also the first time that Katniss tastes it.
Greasy Sae After the Second Rebellion
Greasy Sae returns to District 12 after the Second Rebellion. Once Katniss has received a full pardon for the assassination of President Coin, she returns to her home alone in District 12. She is grieving the loss of her sister and dealing with the trauma of past events. This is when Greasy Sae takes care of her. She comes twice a day every day to Katniss’ house and cooks her hot food, such as eggs, toast, and bacon. Katniss speculates that Greasy Sae is either simply being neighborly or that she is on a government payroll and has been ordered to take care of her.
Greasy Sae often brings her granddaughter to Katniss’ house as well. Once, she scolds her granddaughter for taking a ball of yarn from Mrs Everdeen’s knitting basket. However, Katniss allows the child to take the yarn.
FAQs
What did Greasy Sae do for Katniss during the Games?
In ‘The Hunger Games’ movie, Greasy Sae gives Katniss the iconic Mockingjay pin that she wears as a token in the arena. In the book, it is Madge Undersee who gives the pin to Katniss. Greasy Sae also started a fundraiser to sponsor Katniss and Peeta in the arena.
Why do Katniss and Gale make an effort to keep on good terms with Greasy Sae?
Katniss and Gale make an effort to keep on good terms with Greasy Sae because they believe that she is the only one who can be counted on to buy wild dogs from them. They never meant to shoot wild dogs. However, sometimes, they ended up killing them accidentally during hunting and needed someone to take the meat off their hands.
What does Greasy Sae look like in ‘The Hunger Games’ book?
‘The Hunger Games’ book describes Greasy Sae as a bony old woman. She is a smart and resourceful trader and a highly creative cook. She was most likely nicknamed “Greasy Sae” by the people of the Hob for the greasy soups she concocted in her large kettle.
