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Chapter 3
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
In Knoxville, Demon is surprised to find Emmy Peggot, the daughter of Maggot’s dead uncle Humvee, living with Aunt June. Emmy’s a sixth grader with long brown hair, a Hello Kitty backpack she carries everywhere, and a “cold-blooded” look to her. It’s the first time Demon has been to a city, and every time he sees something like a police car with a dog in it or a tow truck with a wrecked car on the back, he exclaims, “Oh man, look at that!” Emmy glares at him like she can’t believe he’s so naïve. Demon had expected he’d be able to get outside of the city more easily. By the end of their two-week visit, though, Demon determines that a city is, in essence, “a hot mess not easily escaped.”
Demon’s connection to the Peggot family grows during this trip to Knoxville when he spends time with Aunt June and Emmy. Demon’s response to Knoxville also continues to establish the divide between people of rural areas and the city, a divide that influences some of the stereotypes that outsiders apply to the people of rural Appalachia. While Demon does not use stereotypes or prejudices to understand the city or the people in it, and while he even enjoys parts of it, he also does not feel at home there. His description of the city as “a hot mess not easily escaped” underscores the novel’s main theme of fate vs. free will, suggesting that a person can struggle to move beyond the circumstances into which they were born, regardless of where, geographically, they’re from.
Themes
Demon and Maggot spend their time in Knoxville with Emmy, who tells them stories of the suitors Aunt June rejected and shows them her stash of gum and cigarettes, which she hides under the carpet in June’s closet. Aunt June, Demon thinks, is completely different from Emmy. She’s very nice but “[takes] no shit.” June takes them to the aquarium in Gatlinburg, and Demon is amazed by the sharks, rays, and sea turtles. Emmy, though, is scared of the sharks when they visit the shark tunnel. Seeing the fear in Emmy’s eyes, Damon comforts her, assuring her that they won’t leave her behind. Afterward, Demon buys her a bracelet in the gift shop and says it’s her bravery badge. On the ride home, Emmy says she’s in love with him, and they should get married when they’re older.
When Demon sees that Emmy is afraid at the aquarium, he goes back to help her. This gesture shows Demon’s attentiveness to the people around him, making it clear that he is empathetic, emotionally aware, and caring. While Demon doesn’t think he did anything extraordinary in helping Emmy, Emmy keeps the bracelet he gives her into adulthood, showing how meaningful Demon’s action is to her. The bracelet, then, also comes to symbolize not just the bond that Emmy and Demon share, but also the bond of community and family that Demon feels with the Peggot family.
Themes
