The scion of an illustrious Capitol family—his father a respected general during the rebellion—Coriolanus is filled with ambition and anxiety in equal measure. At 18, he’s expected to uphold the Snow legacy, but the family was impoverished by war and the loss of their patriarch; they even struggle to find enough food to eat, subsisting on lima beans and potatoes. This makes Coriolanus a bitter young man, determined to keep up the appearance of wealth and desperate for the restoration of his rightful place in Capitol society. His need to dissemble about his family’s fall from grace makes him secretive and aloof: “Coriolanus Snow, more loner than lover” (377) is how even he thinks of himself.

In the beginning, Coriolanus is somewhat conflicted about the Capitol’s cruelties and uncertain as to why the Hunger Games are so important to the likes of Dr. Gaul. Gradually, however, under her tutelage, Coriolanus becomes convinced that absolute control is the only way to exert dominance and hold onto power. Otherwise, humans will revert to acting like mere beasts, violent and irrational. This notion, reinforced by Dr. Gaul and coupled with his indoctrination regarding the inhumanity of the district peoples, becomes his guiding political and personal principle.