Demon Copperhead: a Novel
by Barbara Kingsolver
Contents
5
Overview
Demon comes home to a transformed trailer: his mother has married Stoner, surrendered household space and authority, and allowed Stoner’s violence and intimidation to take root. Stoner escalates from domineering lectures to outright physical abuse, then pressures Demon’s mother into cutting Demon off from the Peggots—especially Maggot—using shame, threats, and homophobic cruelty. Demon withdraws into comics and rage fantasies, and Stoner’s words begin reshaping how Demon fears being seen alongside his best friend.
Summary
Demon returns from his trip to find his mother has married Murrell “Stoner” Stone, rearranged the trailer, and taken Demon’s larger bedroom for the newlyweds. Stoner acts like the home is his, and Demon feels displaced and powerless, even down to his toys being reorganized in ways that erase his own logic and identity.
Outside, Stoner has brought home a huge black dog named Satan and begins violent “training sessions,” whipping the animal into a frenzy with raw steak. Demon spends as much time as possible at the Peggots’, watching Stoner’s cruelty from a distance and wishing summer would end so school can give him time away. When Demon’s mother accuses the Peggots of turning Demon against Stoner, Demon tells her Stoner has done that himself; she slaps Demon and then tries to ban him from the Peggots’. Demon challenges her authority, and she admits Stoner is the one she needs to control Demon.
Stoner tightens his grip on the household, selling his beer-distribution job as “security” while criticizing Demon and pushing talk of medic/dental coverage, ADHD drugs, and discipline. One morning, after Demon silently judges Stoner, Stoner abruptly punches Demon in the jaw and claims Demon’s thoughts were the offense. Demon refuses to react or leave, endures the moment, and then keeps eating—quietly “winning” only by surviving and waiting Stoner out as hatred builds.
Demon tells Mrs. Peggot about the abuse; she threatens to confront Demon’s mother or call DSS, and Demon asks her to talk to Demon’s mother. Demon’s mother tries to assert herself with Stoner—symbolized by bringing Demon’s favorite Hawaiian pizza—but Stoner corners her afterward, shaming her past addiction and accusing her of letting the Peggots raise Demon. He attacks Maggot with slurs, demands Demon stop seeing him, and forces Demon’s mother to say Demon is forbidden to go back, leaving Demon feeling betrayed and unforgiving.
Confined at home until school starts, Demon retreats into TV, comics, and drawings of Stoner as a supervillain, fantasizing rage and destruction. He reflects on how people “see what they care enough to see,” imagining how, in later years, he will be labeled “straight” while Maggot is labeled “queer,” even though Maggot has always been himself. Stoner’s language and control plant a poisonous self-consciousness in Demon, turning Demon’s dislike into a determined, consuming hatred.
Who Appears
- Demon CopperheadNarrator; displaced by Stoner, suffers abuse, is barred from the Peggots, and grows determined hatred.
- Murrell “Stoner” StoneDemon’s new stepfather; controlling and violent, trains a dog aggressively, punches Demon, isolates him from friends.
- Demon’s motherMarries Stoner; tries weakly to stand up for Demon but ultimately caves and enforces Stoner’s ban.
- Maggot (Matty Peggot)Demon’s best friend and refuge next door; targeted by Stoner’s slurs, becomes source of Demon’s new fear of judgment.
- Mrs. Peggot (Nance Peggot)Protective neighbor; hears about Stoner’s abuse, confronts Demon’s mother, and considers calling DSS.
- SatanStoner’s large black dog; kept in Demon and Maggot’s fort area and trained toward violence.