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Chapter 17
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Demon Copperhead, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Exploitation
Class, Social Hierarchy, and Stereotypes
Pain and Addiction
Toxic Masculinity
Community and Belonging
Summary
Analysis
Maggot is on board with Demon joining the Peggots in Knoxville for Christmas, but Mrs. Peggot thinks about it all night before deciding to let Demon come. In Knoxville, Aunt June tells them all that she’s going to move back home. She’s gotten sick of the city and being so far from everyone. She has adopted Emmy too. Knowing that someone can be in seventh grade and then all of a sudden start calling a new person “mom” gives Demon “the strangest feeling.” At night, Emmy and Demon talk with their faces moving closer and closer together. Emmy says she’s sorry for what happened to his mom, and Demon tells her about the struggles and horrors of foster care. “Poor Demon,” Emmy says. “Can’t they find anybody to adopt you?” Demon can’t decide whether he wants to kiss Emmy or throw up. He thinks that maybe he wants to do both.
This passage shows that the Peggots’ generosity toward Demon—inviting him into their home and making him feel like part of their family—is a family trait. Aunt June has done something similar for her niece, Emmy, and has gone even further by formally adopting Emmy. That adoption gives Demon a feeling of hope that he’s not entirely comfortable with because that kind of hope could also lead to profound disappointment. At the same time, Demon realizes that the Peggots are not superheroes put on Earth to save him. As Mrs. Peggot hesitates about bringing Demon to Knoxville, it becomes clear that their generosity might be reaching its limits.
Themes
