Pluribus Bell Character Analysis in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Pluribus is an old friend of the Snow family. He and his partner used to run a nightclub, but since the war, Pluribus has been making his living selling black market items. During the war, this tended to be food—he provided the Grandma’am with 30 bags of lima beans—but as the Capitol recovers, Pluribus deals more and more in luxury goods. He’s one of the only non-family people who knows that the Snows are extremely poor in the novel’s present. Coriolanus regularly runs into Pluribus over the course of the Hunger Games and usually, Coriolanus enjoys seeing him. However, he starts to resent Pluribus somewhat as Pluribus expresses interest in trying to reopen the club after the Hunger Games are over, possibly with Lucy Gray as a performer if she survives. Pluribus adores Lucy Gray and, in addition to lending Lucy Gray a guitar to use during her television interview, he later sends the Covey a box of various instrument strings free of charge. At various points throughout the novel, Pluribus drops tidbits of information about Crassus Snow and Casca Highbottom that confuse Coriolanus: he insists they were friends and “rascals,” and the two often spent time at Pluribus’s nightclub.

Pluribus Bell Character Timeline in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

The timeline below shows where the character Pluribus Bell appears in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...had died in the street. Grandma’am had fed her two orphaned grandchildren by bartering with Pluribus Bell, who once owned a nightclub and turned to trading on the black market. From... (full context)

...and helps the boy give it to Lucy Gray. Other kids give her vegetables, and Pluribus Bell gives her a can of milk. Other tributes snag spots by the bars and... (full context)

...of the afternoon trying to track down a guitar for Lucy Gray. Finally, Coriolanus visits Pluribus Bell. As they chat, Pluribus says he’d love to reopen his club and have girls... (full context)

Coriolanus takes the guitar home and can’t stop thinking about what Pluribus said about his father and Dean Highbottom. Even if Crassus and Highbottom were friends once,... (full context)

...and Lucy Gray belongs to him, no matter what she says. He resents it when Pluribus gushes that if Lucy Gray survives, he wants her to sing in his club. (full context)

...a basket with food, including a turkey, to the apartment. Tigris cooked the bird and Pluribus came for dinner. Coriolanus remembers his rooftop victory garden and writes his essay on “these... (full context)

...writes that rumors are flying about Coriolanus. The apartment is going on the market and Pluribus will take Tigris and Grandma’am in until they find a place. Grandma’am is also losing... (full context)

...He disappears as soon as they get back to base. Coriolanus finds a letter from Pluribus on his bunk. Near the end, Pluribus writes that Crassus and Dean Highbottom’s friendship dissolved... (full context)

...so Lucy Gray finishes off the ice and picks up her guitar. She asks if Pluribus might sell her some strings; she still has money from Dean Highbottom. He gave her... (full context)

...nobody is sympathetic. So by Tuesday, Coriolanus is feeling fantastic. He receives a box from Pluribus with strings for Lucy Gray and looks forward to giving them to her. (full context)

...gym for whisky and music—the Covey are going to play. Coriolanus grabs the strings from Pluribus and his orange scarf, believing this is his last chance to see Lucy Gray. After... (full context)

As Coriolanus walks home past Pluribus’s nightclub, he smiles. Last week, he picked up a pinch of rat poison in the... (full context)