Larch Becket-- District 7

On the streets of District Seven, a chance acquaintance would describe Larch as a small-framed boy of little interest or import who bears a striking resemblance to a squirrel. He has non-descript brown hair, a button nose which clashes horribly with his chiselled narrow bone structure and strangely busy eyebrows making his face look older than he is. His chin juts out giving him an unfair stubborn look and his ears hide behind uncombed hair. They would also notice his hunched back, after a lifetime of sleeping against trees while his brothers worked and the thin legs of a boy accustomed to running but not fighting.

And they could be forgiven for thinking all this as, after all, they weren’t really looking; and it is true that in a crowd this boy would look inconsequential but below his ancient eyebrows, his eyes say it all. The two orbs of brown, flecked with the maroon of dried blood rusting on a warrior’s sword, prove the saying that states ‘eyes are the windows to the soul’. Their depth and mystique cannot be captured in a still picture, instead they flicker with a muddy flame; no, they tick the passing injustices of the world; no, their movements are indescribable but in conversation they are unavoidable, captivating yet challenging to all that engage him in even idle conversation. They sing the song of a caged bird missing flight.

Larch is a boy of many contradictions, depending on his situation and depending on his company. While his friends see him as a quiet, reflective boy who occasionally comes out with hysterical quips, which send the class into fits of laughter (often to his surprise), his family think him a lazy good-for-nothing- a disgrace to his family.

But when Larch is alone, or lost in thought, his colourful, vibrant personality really comes out. Larch’s mantra in life is ‘never try to explain nature, only explore it’ which he does through art, which is his one true love. In district seven there is not much use for the arts, except the architecture but even this has a purpose, not simple or frivolous.

What many see as a reserved nature isn’t Larch being shy or guarded; instead he is simply lost in thoughts. He cannot control this absentmindedness and his family, full of hard working thick-bodied men, see it as laziness and look down on Larch. However Larch accepts who he is and does not wish to be an extrovert like his brother and is happiest in the company of only small numbers of people.

Larch harbours no hatred towards anyone and is typically a trusting boy, easily led by men and boys stronger than him. However, when angered he becomes defensive towards his mother and close friends. When forced to watch the Hunger Games (including reapings) by his family and the authorities he blocks out every thought and impulse and focuses only on what he had to eat that day and what he would have to eat that evening. This defence mechanism allows him to kid himself into believing that the Capitol and the Hunger Games do not actually exist and instead are made up by the peacekeepers of his district to scare the residents into submission.

Naturally able at school, unlike his brothers, Larch excels at Art and academics but cannot yield an axe with the assuredness and power of the other boys and girls in the district. His life goal is to break free of the tyranny of his family, marry for love and bring up children to be themselves and not conform.

Larch is the second of the five sons of Gladius Becket and Lilac Becket but many wonder just how Larch came from Gladius- and how the other four sons came from Lilac.

Lilac could only be described as soft-spoken girl, the personification of gentleness and, as such, was a further disappointment to her parents who after her birth, gave up their ten-year long lottery for a boy. Meek and well mannered, she was easily trampled by her rowdier sisters but her role within the family was that of a nurturer and an advisor and she was loved dearly. Her one great love was birds and she became renowned for her touch with birds and animals of all sorts. At eighteen, she married Gladius, hoping and dreaming that she could advise and transform him into a gentleman.

Gladius was never meek, mild or gentle and the only thing he saw when he looked at an animal was meat. The only son of a peacekeeper, he learnt cruelty and brutality at the same time he learnt to walk and talk, although this did not manifest until after his marriage. When he first met Lilac he was repulsed by her fragility and naivety, thinking her weak and helpless. Then the sudden death of his mother left him empty and feeble and he then saw Lilac as his only possible saviour.

The years past and Gladius’ broken heart attempted to mend itself but instead grew bitter and cold. Their loveless marriage, built upon naïve hopes and shallow promises threatened to destroy both their lives but both, in their own ways, stubbornly refused as they tried to make each other happy. But as their sons grew up it became even more obvious that their traits didn’t and couldn’t mix.

Larch was the only boy to inherit his mother’s build and traits and was therefore very different to his brothers, who teased him incessantly or ignored him completely. His relationship with his father is therefore strained and his mother, still keen to please Gladius, does not interfere or, openly, care for him as much as her other sons.

When Larch was ten he first started to draw, whatever he could see, buildings, people but mostly animals and birds. When he showed his drawings to his mother who praised them and encouraged him to keep drawing, as long as it was in secret away from his father.

When his father eventually found him drawing instead of working, his father shouted at him, then, realising he could make some money out of it, told him that he had to be an architect. Larch refused, saying he would never give money to his father and ran into the streets of District Seven, away from his troubles. Back at home his father raged and for the first but only time struck Lilac hard, dislocating her jaw. When Larch finally came home and saw his mother, his terror overtook him and he promised himself never to draw again, becoming instead a shell of his former self. Since then he has followed ever order and whim of his father, out of fear but inside the bird knows he must one day fly again.