We the Animals Themes

Justin Torres’s We The Animals spotlights a young boy’s attempt to belong to his family and to the world at large. As the narrator navigates a childhood complicated by abuse and poverty, he cultivates a strong bond with his older brothers, Manny and Joel. He takes cues from them about how to behave, establishing a sense of self that’s directly tied to their group dynamic. However, the older he gets, the more he realizes…

In Justin Torres’s We The Animals, violence and aggression are often tied to surprisingly tender emotions. The narrator and his brothers grow up in an abusive household, in which their father’s violence is a constant threat. Furthermore, the boys’ tendency to roughhouse mirrors the physical abuse they’ve faced, as their own aggression becomes an attempt to normalize violence and, in turn, their own trauma. And yet, the abuse they encounter is also more complicated…

Throughout We The Animals, Justin Torres examines the narrator’s relationship with masculinity. With his brothers, the narrator exhibits the rambunctious energy typically associated with boyhood, but he also moves through the world in a way that feels foreign to the other men in his life. Indeed, he confounds his father by looking “pretty” while dancing alone one afternoon, and though Paps doesn’t necessarily condemn his behavior, he doesn’t know what to make of it…