Haymitch Abernathy acted as Katniss and Peeta’s mentor in both the 74th and the 75th Hunger Games. While he was a deadbeat who spent his days dulling the nightmare of the Games with alcohol, he managed to understand Katniss’ needs, and helped her survive the Games more than once.
What is a Mentor?
Past victors of the Hunger Games are required to act as mentors for subsequent tributes. There are no constraints regarding gender. A male mentor can train a female tribute and vice versa. It is also not necessary that each tribute must have their own mentor. In cases of unavailability of mentors, one mentor from the district suffices for both tributes. This is the case with Haymitch Abernathy, the sole living victor of District 12 who mentored both the male and female tributes that followed him.
Role of the Mentor
The role of a mentor in the Hunger Games is twofold. Firstly, they help to physically and emotionally train the tributes for the arena. They use their first-hand knowledge to pass down skills and strategies to increase the tributes’ chances of survival. Secondly, mentors help tributes to gain sponsors. One of the most significant ways in which they do so is by preparing the tributes for the public interview with Caesar Flickerman. Mentors try to make the tributes look as charming and appealing as possible during this interview, to potentially win over several sponsors. Mentors also help tributes increase their training scores during the evaluation – which in turn increases sponsorship.
The mentors must not only arrange for gifts from sponsors but also send them to the tributes in the arena. Thus, a well-timed gift could mean the difference between the life and death of a tribute.
Mentorship can be an extremely challenging role. This is especially true for those mentoring tributes from Districts 10, 11, or 12, where the chances of survival of the tributes are extremely low. Their roles can often cause extreme psychological damage, thus forcing them to look for refuge in drugs and alcohol. Haymitch Abernathy, for instance, mentored 23 years’ worth of tributes until the 74th Hunger Games, none of whom survived. He ended up with an alcohol addiction and turned quite apathetic to the lives of tributes over the years.
Becoming a Mentor
When the mentorship program was first implemented during the 10th Hunger Games, it was open to the top-performing students of the Academy. As such it was seen as a matter of great honor and privilege. The program also included a monetary reward for the mentor whose tribute would emerge as the victor. The invention of the mentorship program is credited to Casca Highbottom, the dean of the academy. However, it was Dr. Volumnia Gaul who developed the program and encouraged the mentors to not only brainstorm how to increase viewership but to reflect on the nature of the Hunger Games itself.
However, the mentorship program proved to be a failure in the 10th Hunger Games. This is because several mentors were killed and others injured in a bombing of the arena. Thus, at some unknown point in time, the mentorship program was tweaked to include previous victors of the Hunger Games to act as mentors for subsequent tributes. This allowed Capitol citizens to remain safe as well as squash any form of hope or signs of rebellion that arose amongst the victors.
Residence of a Mentor
Mentors are provided with moderate-sized mansions in the Victor’s Village. The Victors’ Village is an area in the district that is cordoned off for the victors of the Hunger Games. Here, they are provided with furniture, necessary amenities, and abundant food – all of which are denied to the rest of the district.
Known Mentors
The known mentors in the Hunger Games (from newest to oldest) are:
District 1
- Cashmere – Might have mentored Glimmer
- Gloss
- Augustus Braun – Might have mentored Marvel
- Livia Cardew – Mentored Facet
- Palmyra Monty – Mentored Velvereen
District 2
- Brutus – Might have mentored Cato
- Enobaria – Might have mentored Clove
- Lyme
- Sejanus Plinth – Mentored Marcus
- Florus Friend – Mentored Sabyn
District 3
- Beetee
- Wiress
- Io Jasper – Mentored Circ
- Urban Canville – Mentored Teslee
District 4
- Finnick Odair – Mentored Annie Cresta and a tribute in the 74th Hunger Games
- Mags Flannagan – Mentored Finnick Odair
- Persephone Price – Mentored Mizzen
- Festus Creed – Mentored Coral
District 5
- Porter Millicent Tripp
- Dennis Fling – Mentored Hy
- Iphigenia Moss – Mentored Sol
District 6
- The “Morphlings”
- Apollo Ring – Mentored Otto
- Diana Ring – Mentored Ginnee
District 7
- Blight
- Johanna Mason
- Vipsania Sickle – Mentored Treech
- Pliny Harrington – Mentored Lamina
District 8
- Cecelia
- Woof
- Juno Phipps – Mentored Bobbin
- Hilarius Heavensbee – Mentored Wovey
District 9
- Panlo
- Androcles Anderson – Mentored Sheaf
District 10
- Domitia Whimsiwick – Mentored Tanner
- Arachne Crane – Mentored Brandy
District 11
District 12
- Haymitch Abernathy – Mentored tributes for 25 years including Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark.
- Lysistrata Vickers – Mentored Jessup
- Coriolanus Snow – Mentored Lucy Gray Baird
FAQs
Who plays the mentor in The Hunger Games?
Victors from previous Hunger Games play the role of the mentor for new tributes from the same district. Thus, Haymitch Abernathy, the victor of the 50th Hunger Games acts as the mentor for all new tributes, including Katniss and Peeta.
What happens to Hunger Games districts without mentors?
When the mentorship program was first initiated, not all districts had enough victors to be mentors. In such cases, the Capitol assigned a mentor from the career districts which had multiple victors, or from the Capitol itself.
Why is Haymitch District 12’s mentor?
Haymitch Abernathy was the victor in the second Quarter Quell. Since all victors are required to act as mentors to new tributes in the Hunger Games, Haymitch acted as the mentor for District 12.
Are all victors mentors?
No, not all victors are mentors. Although taking on the role of mentorship is mandated by the Capitol for all victors, exceptions are made for those victors whose mental health is too compromised to take on the role. An example of this is the District 4 victor Annie Cresta who never acted as a mentor for following tributes.
Did Haymitch Abernathy have a mentor?
Yes, Haymitch Abernathy had a mentor. Since District 12 only had one victor before Haymitch, Lucy Gray Baird, one can assume that she was his mentor. However, Lucy was too old to be of much use to him and passed away soon after Haymitch won.
Is Effie a mentor?
No, Effie is not a mentor. She is a Capitol citizen appointed by the government to act as an escort to the tributes of District 12. As an escort, it was Effie’s job to make sure that Katniss and Peeta followed all official procedures and showed up to appointments before the Games.
What does a mentor do for the tributes?
A mentor advises and trains subsequent tributes on the best survival methods and strategies for victory in the Hunger Games. They also arrange for sponsors to provide gifts to the tributes in the arena.