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Definition of Motif
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of related symbols, help develop the central themes of a book... read full definition
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of related symbols, help develop the... read full definition
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of... read full definition
Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—Superhero Comics:
Superhero comics serve as a notable motif throughout Demon Copperhead. As a young child, Demon is an avid reader of superhero comics. In the opening chapter of the novel, he reflects on his relationship to comic books:
Anybody will tell you the born of this world are marked from the get-out, win or lose. Me though, I was a born sucker for the superhero rescue. Did that line of work even exist, in our trailer-home universe? Had they all quit Smallville and gone looking for bigger action? Save or be saved, these are questions. You want to think it’s not over till the last page.
For Demon, superhero comics serve as a source of inspiration and wonder. While most people around him believe that a person’s fate is decided at birth, comic books suggest to Demon that anyone might be rescued from their unfortunate circumstances by some heroic figure. His language here, however, acknowledges the naivety of his childhood faith in superheroes. Later on, Demon finds himself drifting away from the superhero genre. After he moves to Knoxville to recover from his addiction to drugs and befriends Lyra, a librarian, Demon notes that:
On my end, I’d outgrown superheroes, even the much-needed hillbilly kind. The Fleischer style of Red Neck was hemming me in, those bulbous eyes and noodle limbs felt babyish. I wanted to try something harder-core. Lyra was educating me, and not in the ways my idle mind had toyed with. After turning me on to the adult comics and graphic novels section of the library, she showed me what was going on in the world of online comics, which rocked my marbles.
Though Demon retains his lifelong interest in comics, he feels that he has “outgrown superheroes.” Ultimately, he understands that he cannot wait to be rescued from his circumstances but must instead work hard to overcome his addiction and earn his GED (a “General Educational Development” certificate, which is equivalent to a high school diploma). With the help of Lyra, he discovers “adult comics and graphic novels” that prove a better medium for his new, more mature ideas.
Chapter 41
Explanation and Analysis—Drug Companies:
A major motif in the novel is the exploitation of the people of Lee County by the pharmaceutical industry. Many in the region suffer from chronic pain as a result of their physically demanding lifestyles, and they quickly become victim to doctors who prescribe them addictive painkillers. Often, these figures appear more like drug dealers than medical professionals, as they exploit their patients once they become dependent on the drugs. Aunt June, who is deeply critical of the over-prescription of painkillers, attempts to convince Demon to turn down the hydrocodone that he has been prescribed:
She hissed at me: “Kent Holt is a fucking hired killer for his company" [...] She and Coach left the room, but I heard them out in the hall. Coach using his fifty-yard-line voice, and she was also plenty loud enough [...] Then she gave up on him and came back to work on me. Telling me how pain is a body’s way of taking care of you, letting you know when to stop. Telling me to think of my future. She had no clue. My future was football. Playing through the pain is what you do.
Fearing that Demon will become addicted, she refers to Kent Holt, her ex-boyfriend and a representative of a drug company, as a "hired killer" who ignores the risks associated with opioids in order to profit from those experiencing injuries or chronic pain. Demon, however, sees no alternative, as he considers football as his only opportunity for upwards mobility. "My future was football," he concludes. Ultimately, he takes the pills in order to manage his pain and continue playing for the team, with devastating personal consequences.
Kent, however, is not the only character in the novel who pushes opioids on the vulnerable. Dr. Watts, who first wrote Demon's prescription for hydrocodone, attempts to sexually exploit Dori when she turns to him for the drugs that she and Demon are dependent upon:
An office visit was two hundred and fifty. Plus another hundred and fifty for so-called staff fees, to reduce waiting time. Dori said he spent thirty seconds explaining this to her, then thumped his pen on his prescription pad and stared at her tits, waiting for her to pay up or get out [...]
“He said he could overlook the fees. If,” she said. Staring out the windshield, stone cold.
“If what?”
“If he gave me an exam.”
In addition to the high costs of the drugs, Dr. Watts charges exorbitant fees for office visits in order to maximize the profits he makes from his patients, many of whom are addicted to the drugs that he has prescribed them. Knowing that Dori cannot afford these fees, he propositions her sexually, offering to waive the fees if she permits him to give her an "exam." Through such characters as Kent and Dr. Watts, the novel suggests that the drug companies and doctors collude in order to exploit the needy and vulnerable for personal gain.
Related Themes:
Chapter 48
Explanation and Analysis—Drug Companies:
A major motif in the novel is the exploitation of the people of Lee County by the pharmaceutical industry. Many in the region suffer from chronic pain as a result of their physically demanding lifestyles, and they quickly become victim to doctors who prescribe them addictive painkillers. Often, these figures appear more like drug dealers than medical professionals, as they exploit their patients once they become dependent on the drugs. Aunt June, who is deeply critical of the over-prescription of painkillers, attempts to convince Demon to turn down the hydrocodone that he has been prescribed:
She hissed at me: “Kent Holt is a fucking hired killer for his company" [...] She and Coach left the room, but I heard them out in the hall. Coach using his fifty-yard-line voice, and she was also plenty loud enough [...] Then she gave up on him and came back to work on me. Telling me how pain is a body’s way of taking care of you, letting you know when to stop. Telling me to think of my future. She had no clue. My future was football. Playing through the pain is what you do.
Fearing that Demon will become addicted, she refers to Kent Holt, her ex-boyfriend and a representative of a drug company, as a "hired killer" who ignores the risks associated with opioids in order to profit from those experiencing injuries or chronic pain. Demon, however, sees no alternative, as he considers football as his only opportunity for upwards mobility. "My future was football," he concludes. Ultimately, he takes the pills in order to manage his pain and continue playing for the team, with devastating personal consequences.
Kent, however, is not the only character in the novel who pushes opioids on the vulnerable. Dr. Watts, who first wrote Demon's prescription for hydrocodone, attempts to sexually exploit Dori when she turns to him for the drugs that she and Demon are dependent upon:
An office visit was two hundred and fifty. Plus another hundred and fifty for so-called staff fees, to reduce waiting time. Dori said he spent thirty seconds explaining this to her, then thumped his pen on his prescription pad and stared at her tits, waiting for her to pay up or get out [...]
“He said he could overlook the fees. If,” she said. Staring out the windshield, stone cold.
“If what?”
“If he gave me an exam.”
In addition to the high costs of the drugs, Dr. Watts charges exorbitant fees for office visits in order to maximize the profits he makes from his patients, many of whom are addicted to the drugs that he has prescribed them. Knowing that Dori cannot afford these fees, he propositions her sexually, offering to waive the fees if she permits him to give her an "exam." Through such characters as Kent and Dr. Watts, the novel suggests that the drug companies and doctors collude in order to exploit the needy and vulnerable for personal gain.
Related Themes:
Chapter 53
Explanation and Analysis—This Was Done To You:
The question of personal responsibility serves as an important motif throughout the novel. Demon tends to think of himself as personally responsible for the painful tragedies that mark his early life. When his mother dies, for example, he feels that he was not worthy enough to give her a reason to fight against her addiction. Later, he holds himself responsible for his own worsening addiction to opioids. After recovering Emmy from Atlanta, June drives Emmy and Demon back to Lee County in Chapter 53 and urges Demon to recognize that he, like many others, is a victim of the greed of the drug companies:
June kept talking. As far as what lay up the road for me and Emmy, she knew some things I didn’t, and that part killed her, she said. She felt cruel every time she set somebody up with the methadone clinic in Knoxville [...] She had patients getting up at three a.m. to get down there and back before work, with their kids in the car. No closer options [...] The first thing we had to do, she said, was quit thinking this mess was our fault. “They did this to you,” she kept repeating, like that was our key to salvation.
Aunt June, who works in the medical industry, believes that the drug companies are responsible for the opioid crisis, not those, like Demon, who trusted the advice they received from their doctors and became dependent on highly addictive substances. Though Demon is in a despondent state and thinks that Aunt June is naively idealistic, she insists that "they did this to you."
Despite his initial skepticism, Demon ultimately echoes June's language in Chapter 55, in which he insists to Angus that she is not in any way responsible for the predatory actions of U-Haul, who has attempted to blackmail her into sex after accusing her father, Coach Winfield, of alcoholism and framing him for embezzlement:
“That part’s killing me,” she said. “U-Haul says I asked for this. I knew about Dad and didn’t speak up. That’s true, Demon. We knew.”
“You asked for nothing,” I said. “Jesus. You can’t think that.”
“I know.”
“This was done to you. To you and Coach both.” Words I’d been hearing.
At first, Angus believes that she is responsible for her family's dire predicament. She is affected by U-Haul's claim that she "asked for this" and neglected to address her father's worsening alcoholism. Though Demon struggles with his own sense of guilt, he is able to see with greater clarity that Angus bears no responsibility. Repeating June's earlier words, he tells Angus, "This was done to you. To you and Coach both." The novel suggests that addiction is a structural issue, rather than a personal failure. Those affected by the opioid crisis, then, are victims of an exploitative industry that profits from their suffering.
Related Themes:
Chapter 55
Explanation and Analysis—This Was Done To You:
The question of personal responsibility serves as an important motif throughout the novel. Demon tends to think of himself as personally responsible for the painful tragedies that mark his early life. When his mother dies, for example, he feels that he was not worthy enough to give her a reason to fight against her addiction. Later, he holds himself responsible for his own worsening addiction to opioids. After recovering Emmy from Atlanta, June drives Emmy and Demon back to Lee County in Chapter 53 and urges Demon to recognize that he, like many others, is a victim of the greed of the drug companies:
June kept talking. As far as what lay up the road for me and Emmy, she knew some things I didn’t, and that part killed her, she said. She felt cruel every time she set somebody up with the methadone clinic in Knoxville [...] She had patients getting up at three a.m. to get down there and back before work, with their kids in the car. No closer options [...] The first thing we had to do, she said, was quit thinking this mess was our fault. “They did this to you,” she kept repeating, like that was our key to salvation.
Aunt June, who works in the medical industry, believes that the drug companies are responsible for the opioid crisis, not those, like Demon, who trusted the advice they received from their doctors and became dependent on highly addictive substances. Though Demon is in a despondent state and thinks that Aunt June is naively idealistic, she insists that "they did this to you."
Despite his initial skepticism, Demon ultimately echoes June's language in Chapter 55, in which he insists to Angus that she is not in any way responsible for the predatory actions of U-Haul, who has attempted to blackmail her into sex after accusing her father, Coach Winfield, of alcoholism and framing him for embezzlement:
“That part’s killing me,” she said. “U-Haul says I asked for this. I knew about Dad and didn’t speak up. That’s true, Demon. We knew.”
“You asked for nothing,” I said. “Jesus. You can’t think that.”
“I know.”
“This was done to you. To you and Coach both.” Words I’d been hearing.
At first, Angus believes that she is responsible for her family's dire predicament. She is affected by U-Haul's claim that she "asked for this" and neglected to address her father's worsening alcoholism. Though Demon struggles with his own sense of guilt, he is able to see with greater clarity that Angus bears no responsibility. Repeating June's earlier words, he tells Angus, "This was done to you. To you and Coach both." The novel suggests that addiction is a structural issue, rather than a personal failure. Those affected by the opioid crisis, then, are victims of an exploitative industry that profits from their suffering.
Related Themes:
Chapter 62
Explanation and Analysis—Superhero Comics:
Superhero comics serve as a notable motif throughout Demon Copperhead. As a young child, Demon is an avid reader of superhero comics. In the opening chapter of the novel, he reflects on his relationship to comic books:
Anybody will tell you the born of this world are marked from the get-out, win or lose. Me though, I was a born sucker for the superhero rescue. Did that line of work even exist, in our trailer-home universe? Had they all quit Smallville and gone looking for bigger action? Save or be saved, these are questions. You want to think it’s not over till the last page.
For Demon, superhero comics serve as a source of inspiration and wonder. While most people around him believe that a person’s fate is decided at birth, comic books suggest to Demon that anyone might be rescued from their unfortunate circumstances by some heroic figure. His language here, however, acknowledges the naivety of his childhood faith in superheroes. Later on, Demon finds himself drifting away from the superhero genre. After he moves to Knoxville to recover from his addiction to drugs and befriends Lyra, a librarian, Demon notes that:
On my end, I’d outgrown superheroes, even the much-needed hillbilly kind. The Fleischer style of Red Neck was hemming me in, those bulbous eyes and noodle limbs felt babyish. I wanted to try something harder-core. Lyra was educating me, and not in the ways my idle mind had toyed with. After turning me on to the adult comics and graphic novels section of the library, she showed me what was going on in the world of online comics, which rocked my marbles.
Though Demon retains his lifelong interest in comics, he feels that he has “outgrown superheroes.” Ultimately, he understands that he cannot wait to be rescued from his circumstances but must instead work hard to overcome his addiction and earn his GED (a “General Educational Development” certificate, which is equivalent to a high school diploma). With the help of Lyra, he discovers “adult comics and graphic novels” that prove a better medium for his new, more mature ideas.
