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Chapter 26
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
It takes Betsy a while to make up her mind about Demon. She doesn’t want any relative of hers to be turned over to DSS, but she’d also rather “shoot herself in the head than raise a boy.” At first, Demon is afraid to talk to Dick. Betsy then tells Demon that Dick was born with “a spinal type of thing,” and his father put him in a home in Knoxville, where he remained out of sight until the rest of the family died and Betsy could get him out. After that, Demon feels a kinship with Dick. “One no-toucher kid knows another,” Demon thinks. Demon starts talking to him and asking questions about their family. One day, Demon sees Dick writing on a kite. He writes quotations from the books he reads in careful, neat handwriting onto a homemade kite. Once he’s filled the kite with quotes, he’ll fly it.
When Demon learns more about Dick’s story, especially about how Dick’s family repeatedly tried to abandon him, Demon feels a kinship with him. In Demon’s telling, he, as a “no-toucher kid,” recognizes Dick as a similar kind of person. Demon’s statement furthers his argument that while the U.S. does not have a formal caste system, the way that society discriminates against people living in poverty is similar to the discrimination people face in caste systems, and Demon senses a deep injustice in how people have treated him and Dick.
Themes
Betsy insists that Demon go to school. She’s proud that most of the girls she raised have gone to college and wants Demon to get an education, too. She asks Demon about the social security money Demon is supposed to get since Mom died. When Demon tells her about it, she says he’ll have to stay in Virginia then, “legalwise.” Demon says if he’s going to be in Virginia, he wants to be in Lee County. Betsy says she has girls who live over there. One of them died of breast cancer, but her husband, a schoolteacher, is still in the area. Demon recognizes the name, Winfield: he’s the coach of the Lee High Generals football team. Before he leaves, Demon flies the homemade kite with Dick.
In this passage, the novel stresses the importance of family and community for Demon. Now that Demon has found his grandmother, Betsy seems to genuinely care about him despite only knowing him for a few days: now, she seems willing to act on his behalf. Demon has been missing a person like that in his life: someone who cares about him and is willing to take care of him without expecting anything in return. The novel highlights, then, how important family and community are in general, and specifically for Demon. Betsy’s support seems to offer him a second chance to thrive.
Themes
