The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes focuses on the backstory of Coriolanus Snow, a man who later becomes the vile president of Panem. If there's one thing viewers have noticed about him is that he always wears a rose on his suit. But why does President Snow wear roses?
In this explainer article, we'll take a look at the reason behind this. Plus, we'll also be going into a fan theory on why he specifically chose roses.
Why Does President Snow Wear Roses?
When Katniss first meets President Snow in The Hunger Games books, she immediately notices the scent of blood mixed with a white rose on his lapel. Katniss, however, doesn't realize that the smell is actually from President Snow's mouth, which is full of bloody sores.
In The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Finnick Odair reveals President Snow's secret to Katniss.
As it turns out, President Snow poisoned his allies in the past after worrying they would be too powerful for him. But to alleviate any suspicion about him, Snow drank the poison too. But he was able to drink the antidote so the toxins did not kill him.
Unfortunately, he experienced a reaction to the brief poisoning. Despite having access to the antidote, President Snow developed bloody sores in his mouth, which exuded the smell of blood.
To combat this smell of blood from his breath, President Snow wears a strong, genetically enhanced white rose on his suit.
Fan Theory on Why President Snow Wears Roses
On Reddit, some fans have pointed out a theory for the question of why President Snow wears roses. After all, there are plenty of other flowers out there. Why roses, specifically?
The fan theory believes that this is explained in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. President Snow's backstory shows us that his grandmother grew roses on the roof of her apartment.
Not to mention, his mom's compact carried rose powder. He got into the habit of sniffing rose powder to calm himself down. It's possible that he has grown to love the scent of roses because they remind him of his mother.
Another fan pointed out that Lucy Gray Baird tells him he smells good with roses. This could also be one possible reason why he specifically chose the scent of roses to mask the scent of blood.
Lastly, there's another theory that the Snow family is usually associated with roses. So by choosing to wear roses, it doesn't seem too out of character for the villain.
While there's no exact reason why he specifically chose roses, it could be a combination of all these. What do you think? Why does President Snow wear roses and why did he specifically choose this?
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