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Similes
Chapter 23
Explanation and Analysis—Repossession :
While describing the difficult financial predicament of the McCobs, Demon highlights the situational irony of the fact that those who most need money are often barred from finding gainful employment:
Meanwhile the McCobbs were in some serious shit. Their car got repossessed. It was a late-model Dodge Spirit, leased, sky blue, none of that I guess being the point. Mr. McCobb couldn’t get to work anymore, so he lost his job, was the point. You tell me why it makes sense for guys wanting money from you to come and take your car, so you can’t earn another dime. That’s the grown-up version I guess of teachers yelling at you for hating school.
After living on Creaky Farm, Demon is fostered by the McCobbs, who are deeply anxious about money and struggle to climb out of debt. After defaulting on their payments, the family car is repossessed, leaving Mr. McCobb without any means of transportation. Unable to get to work, he loses his job. Here, Demon points to the situational irony of this predicament. The McCobbs owe money to their creditors, who respond by repossessing their car, ensuring that the McCobbs cannot repay the debt. He compares this to "teachers yelling at you for hating school," a situation that he similarly regards as ironic, as the teachers' response further contributes to the students' aversion.
Here, the novel's critique of vehicle repossession mirrors Charles Dickens's critique of Victorian debtors' prisons in David Copperfield, upon which Demon Copperhead is loosely based. Those imprisoned for their inability to pay their debts, Dickens argues, are unable to work or alleviate their situation due to their imprisonment. Kingsolver follows Dickens in highlighting the brutal ironies of poverty.
Related Themes:
Chapter 42
Explanation and Analysis—Like a Nurse:
Demon uses an ironic simile that compares Dori to a nurse when she injects fentanyl, an addictive synthetic opioid:
The next surprise won’t ever leave my brain. The kit she took out of her purse. The spoon she used first, to scrape the patch. The lighter she held underneath. The cotton ball, the syringe, pulling the cap off the needle and holding it in her mouth like a nurse giving booster shots. I don’t know what I said but she could tell I was scared, and she was sweet with me, the same voice she used with Jip. She’d been saving this, because the first time you do it with somebody, they say it’s the best you’ll ever feel in your life.
After the homecoming parade, Dori takes Demon to her house, where she checks up on her terminally ill father, Vester, and, surprising Demon, reveals that she has fentanyl for them both to share. He describes her as holding the needle in her mouth "like a nurse giving booster shots." This simile suggests that Dori is experienced with abusing drugs, as she goes through the steps in a knowledgeable and steady manner. The simile is also situationally ironic, however, as Dori is not a health practitioner offering health care, but rather, a young addict who has fallen victim to the drug companies that target areas like Lee County. Rather than administering medicine, she introduces Demon to a dangerous drug that ultimately has profound and negative effects on his life.
Related Themes:
