Previous
Chapter 35
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
As a freshman, Demon feels like he has it all. He’s a rising star on the football team, and Coach feels like a father to him. His name is sometimes featured in the local paper. Once, the paper runs an article about him titled, “From Foster Homes to Football Fame.” The September 11 terrorist attacks happen that fall. To Demon, the tragedy doesn’t seem quite real, but the army recruiters step up their efforts. All the middle schools feed into the same high school, so Demon and Maggot are reunited, and they go to school with Emmy and Angus, too. Demon starts spending time at the Peggots’ house again. Maggot skips school a lot, uses MDMA, and robs more than just makeup from drug stores. The Peggots don’t know what’s going on with him or what to do about his behavior.
Demon is on top of the world. He has everything he’s been searching for: a family, friends, a stable life, and popularity. Altogether, he feels a sense of belonging. He’s a rising star on the football team and goes to school with his closest friends. It seems like he is no longer at risk of dying like he fears his mom did, without leaving a mark. But that sense of belonging also carries with it a tinge of threat. The novel seems to argue again that the belonging he has achieved at this point is fleeting at best—and illusory at worst—because he has not come to terms with his painful past, including his mom’s death and the exploitation he suffered at the hands of various foster parents.
Themes
