78 pages • 2 hours read
Barbara KingsolverDemon Copperhead
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2022A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 23-32Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 23 Summary
As summer vacation approaches, Demon is excited to be done with school for the year. He used to do well in school, but now he no longer puts in the effort. He doesn’t look forward to spending the entire summer sorting trash, but his job is a respite from the other students’ judgments. Demon reflects that the good thing about school is that one is always working toward finishing or starting something, unlike with his job.
The McCobbs’ car gets repossessed, forcing Mr. McCobb out of his latest job. Demon notes that it doesn’t make “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” (169). The McCobbs argue about what they should do next.
At work, Swap-Out and Demon smoke marijuana and play with guns during their free hours. When Demon waits for his ride, he helps Mr. Golly around the market. Mr. Golly grew up in India; his name is actually Ghali, but he allows people to think it’s Golly, which implies a pleasant surprise.
The first social worker Demon met the night of his mother’s death, whom he called Baggy Eyes, takes over his case. Haillie tells Demon that her parents are thinking of using his wages, which they’ve been controlling and setting aside. Demon yells at the McCobbs and takes his money back. This changes the way Mr. McCobb talks to Demon, who is worried about being shamed in front of the family he can’t provide for. The McCobbs plan to move in with Mrs. McCobb’s parents in Ohio. Crickson has been removed from the foster system due to infractions, so Baggy Eyes needs to find an entirely new place for Demon, whom she calls the type of case that resists permanent placement.
Demon concocts a plan. He pretends he will stay with the Peggots until Baggy Eyes finds him a new placement, knowing that she’ll never check in with the Peggots to make sure he’s actually there. He collects his pay from Mr. Ghali a week in advance and charges some food items to the McCobb’s tab. Then Demon hitchhikes to a place in Tennessee called “Murder Valley,” where he believes his father is buried.
Chapter 24 Summary
The man who picks up Demon is a preacher returning from a camping trip. Demon hopes that in Murder Valley, he’ll find his grandmother, Betsy Woodall. Demon has never met his grandmother, so he only has his mother’s stories to rely on. The preacher drops Demon off at a truck stop so he can hitchhike his next leg of the journey. A sex worker tries to solicit Demon, but he hides from her in the bathroom, where he counts the money in his jar. She follows and he runs away from her, but she then screams out for help, accusing him of stealing her money. The store manager grabs Demon and punches him, taking his money and handing it over to the sex worker. Demon hitchhikes, penniless.
Chapter 25 Summary
Demon is picked up by a trucker and falls asleep. They arrive in Nashville, which is about five hours from Unicoi County, where Demon believes Murder Valley is located. Demon catches another ride, this time with a young energetic woman going to Knoxville. She drops Demon off outside the city, and he eats his last Slim Jim, recalling how happy Mr. Ghali had been to give out food. Mr. Ghali told Demon that growing up in India, he was an “untouchable” and could not touch anyone else for fear of “dooming” them. Ghali thought Americans were kind, but Demon knows better.
Three more rides later, Demon finally arrives in Murder Valley, which is a large expanse of farms and cemeteries. Demon searches the cemeteries for the Woodall name. He asks passers-by if they know Betsy Woodall. People in Murder Valley are unfriendly, but he finally finds someone who refers to Betsy Woodall as a witch and gives Demon directions to her house. When he arrives, the old woman tries to shoo him off, but he introduces himself as her grandson.
Chapter 26 Summary
Betsy is a formidable woman with no patience for men and boys. She has taken in and raised many girls, though she never officially joined the foster care system, worried the money would cloud her purpose. Betsy wheels in a tiny old man—her brother, Dick. Demon also meets Jane Ellen, a high school girl who has been living with Betsy since she was eight years old. In Betsy’s home, Demon takes a warm bath and sleeps in a large bed.
Chapter 27 Summary
Betsy refuses to send her kin back to the broken foster care system, but she is also against taking care of boys. Dick is in a wheelchair due to a spinal problem since childhood, made worse by a difficult life. Though Dick appears frail and meek, he is very intelligent. Dick loves literature, and he thanks his favorite dead authors by writing their sentences on kites he flies in the sky.
Betsy has a lot of connections in the state of Virginia thanks to the many girls she has raised. She arranges for Demon to stay in Lee County—not with an official foster family but with the husband of one of her former girls, who has since died of breast cancer. The man, Mr. Winfield, is now a single father. He’s a teacher, and Demon recognizes his name as the football coach at Lee High. Before Demon leaves, Betsy tells him to visit his father’s grave. He also flies a kite with Dick, whom he has grown to respect.
Chapter 28 Summary
Jane Ellen drives Demon to a Walmart parking lot to meet Coach Winfield. Instead, Winfield sends his assistant coach, a pale, skinny man with a low and quiet voice named Ryan Pyles, nicknamed U-Haul. Jane Ellen gets in touch with the Lee High School secretary, who vouches for Ryan. U-Haul drives Demon to a mansion, and Demon meets Winfield’s child, Angus. Angus is in the eighth grade and doesn’t play football. Demon also meets Winfield, who notes Demon’s football-like stature. They eat a hearty dinner cooked by the housekeeper, Mattie Kate. Angus sets Demon up in his own bedroom and gives him everything he needs for the bathroom. Demon is stunned by how nice his new situation is. Demon realizes that Angus, who looks like a boy, is actually a girl.
Chapter 29 Summary
Demon starts middle school but is behind after having “checked out” the year before. U-Haul and Angus bring him to Walmart, where they insist that he pick out food and clothes he likes. Demon is impressed that wherever they go, people recognize Angus and ask about the football team, often not charging her for what she wants to buy. Mattie Kate is kind and helpful; when Demon asks if he should help with laundry or get a job, “She laugh[s] and [says] not to be putting her out of her job. She [says] [his] was just to be a little boy. Weird. [He has] not had that job before” (224). Angus reveals that U-Haul, who still makes Demon uncomfortable, is not the assistant coach but an errand boy who tells people he’s the assistant coach to make himself seem more important. Winfield is preoccupied with football, so Angus, U-Haul, and Mattie Kate make sure the house runs well. Winfield’s rules are to complete homework and not go out on school nights.
Chapter 30 Summary
Demon was nervous about starting middle school because he doesn’t want to be among the youngest and smallest students. However, his association with Coach Winfield earns him automatic respect. On Saturdays, Winfield brings Demon to football practice to help. Demon catches a loose football, pleasing Winfield, who then passes the ball with Demon and sees enormous athletic potential.
Demon is placed in remedial math classes. He meets with the school counselor, Mr. Armstrong, who takes an interest in Demon’s artwork. He gives Demon some tests and determines that Demon should be in the Gifted and Talented program. Demon’s head spins from all these changes: “The one thing I could still count on was being an idiot. Now I was supposed to trash what little there was left of Demon and be smart. Would I still be me?” (232). Mr. Armstrong places Demon in advanced English and arranges for older girls to tutor him in math.
A boy nicknamed Fish Head notices Demon’s drawings. He gives Demon a Playboy so Demon can draw nude women. Demon starts selling his drawings of nudes based on porn. Demon develops a close friendship with Angus, whose real name is Agnes. Angus is also in the Gifted and Talented program, and she impresses Demon by not being like other middle school girls. Whom both he and Angus consider frivolous.
Coach Winfield’s football team is having a good season. They’re undefeated, and Winfield is so focused on his job that he supports Agnus and Demon only from a distance.
Chapter 31 Summary
The Peggots track down Demon and call him at Winfield’s house. U-Haul drives Demon to their house and waits outside for him. Maggot now wears thick eyeliner and has two piercings in his lip. Mrs. Peggot is impressed by Demon’s story about Betsy and confirms that Betsy came to meet his mother after his father’s death, trying to get custody of the baby. Maggot won’t be reuniting with his mother as expected because an argument with a guard and a fight with another inmate hurt her chances for parole.
The Peggots bring Demon to visit Aunt June and Emmy. Aunt June is dating a pharmaceutical representative named Kent whom Emmy doesn’t like. Demon still finds Emmy attractive, and he notes that she wears the bracelet he bought her from the aquarium around her ankle. Emmy supposedly has a boyfriend nicknamed Hammer, but she refuses to talk about him. June and Kent try to convince Mr. Peggot to take oxy as a non-addictive answer to his pain, but Mrs. Peggot tells him she’ll throw those pills away.
Chapter 32 Summary
With Christmas coming up, Demon worries that his days in the Winfield house are numbered. He asks Angus what they do for Christmas and is surprised that they don’t celebrate: Coach Winfield is particularly sad about his wife’s death at Christmas time. However, Winfield is away for the weekend, so Demon and Angus have a private Christmas celebration. They steal a Christmas tree from Crickson’s farm and buy one another gifts. Angus’s favorite gift is the portrait he draws of her.
Winfield calls Demon into his home office for a talk. Demon is sure Winfield is going to tell him he’ll have to find somewhere else to live. Instead, Winfield advises Demon not to let his past affect his future and to embrace his talent for football. Winfield wants to enroll Demon in summer football camp and have him try out for the JV team in the seventh grade. Demon is elated that Winfield is planning to keep him long-term.
Chapters 23-32 Analysis
Chapters 23 through 32 in Demon Copperhead follow Demon on a dangerous but ultimately successful journey. He runs away from Lee County, highlighting how broken the foster system is. However, this journey also highlights Demon’s independence and fortitude, developing the theme of Rebuilding Oneself and the Importance of Autonomy. At only 10 years old, Demon has learned that he can only depend on himself. He throws himself at the world, understanding that staying and leaving both pose a threat to his life. Miss Barks’s sudden absence, his new social worker’s indifference, and the shortage of foster families all emphasize that the structures society has built to support vulnerable children are weak. Demon shouldn’t have to expose himself to the dangers inherent in a child hitchhiking alone, but he lives between a rock and a hard place. The foster system fails Demon again and again—an example of the brokenness of society broadly.
Demon’s experiences at the truck stop also emphasize The Failure of Society to Protect Its Children. The sex worker who solicits Demon may have her own history of trauma, but her preying upon Demon is another example of an adult hurting a child in an attempt to cope with their own pain. The adults at the truck stop, such as the store manager and the other drivers, have the option of helping Demon. Instead, they take his money. In leaving Demon penniless, humiliated, and hit, the store manager represents society as a whole: Instead of coming to the aid of a child in need, the store manager further victimizes Demon.
Demon has no choice but to move forward. His memory of Mr. Ghali’s story of being an “untouchable” draws a parallel between oppressive caste systems and the hierarchies of power in America. Mr. Ghali, who is originally from India, was a “dalit” (or an “untouchable”)—the lowest social caste. As an untouchable, Mr. Ghali was not allowed to touch anyone of a higher caste, even to save their life. Mr. Ghali’s relative success in America reflects the US emphasis on capitalist savvy, but Mr. Ghali misunderstands it as indicative of the American spirit of equality. Kingsolver points out that America has its own untouchables—people like Demon. Though it operates differently, this American caste system is also based on race and socio-economic status.
Incredibly, Demon finds his grandmother Betsy. Betsy’s counterpart in David Copperfield is David’s Aunt Betsey, who takes David in after a couple called the Micawbers (the less amoral but equally insolvent equivalent of the McCobbs) are ruined by debt. Betsy takes care of her brother, Dick, the literary parallel to Mr. Dick in David Copperfield. Like the Dickens character, Kingsolver’s Dick flies a kite and is a voracious reader. In both novels, Betsy and Dick represent the kindness that both authors want as role models for their society. Though Betsy refuses to raise Demon—she shares her counterpart’s suspicion of men—she stands up for Demon by ensuring that he doesn’t get handed back to the broken foster system, setting him up with a stable family environment: Winfield’s mansion.
Through his meeting with Betsy, Demon learns an important life lesson: that dreams can come true, even if they are disappointing in their manifestation. Demon has always wanted to know a relative and find out more about his father. He had always wanted to see his father’s grave. However, in meeting Betsy, learning more about his father, and visiting the grave, Demon finds himself disappointed with the situation. Nevertheless, through Betsy’s intervention, Demon begins a new and formative chapter in his life.
Coach Winfield is a godlike figure in Lee County because he is the coach of the Lee High football team. American football is a major community builder—a source of pride and passion. The ethos around American football is high-pitched and intense, so Winfield’s job is both stressful (because he must live up to his town’s expectations) and fruitful (because it earns Winfield money and respect). This money and respect trickle down to Demon by association, but this is not the only way in which moving in with Winfield changes Demon’s life. Demon now has access to money, food, structured support, private space, and a new friend: Angus. Angus is a girl but dresses as a boy, implying independence of spirit and style. Angus is smart and devoted to her father. She enforces rules that make Demon’s life better, such as completing homework and not doing drugs.
Demon’s new fortune extends to middle school, where Mr. Armstrong sees his academic potential and Winfield sees his athletic potential. Winfield’s approval of Demon and his visions for Demon’s future give Demon hope, joy, and pride. For the first time in his life, Demon grows confident and thinks hopefully of his future. The situation illustrates Kingsolver’s point: that stable adults who demonstrate a belief in the potential of a child to grow and develop are crucial to the well-being of society. However, it is telling that Demon only receives this support after becoming part of the Winfield family; prior teachers and counselors have not taken the interest in Demon that Mr. Armstrong does, whether due to class prejudice, a lack of school resources, or both.
Moving to Winfield’s house marks a turning point in Demon’s trajectory, but the parallels to David Copperfield foreshadow conflict in future chapters. Demon is unnerved by U-Haul, Winfield’s assistant. U-Haul seems seedy and is a known liar; he doesn’t do anything overtly malevolent, but Demon, whose life has taught him to be constantly on guard, suspects him from afar. In David Copperfield, a character named Uriah Heep seemingly devotes himself to a successful businessman, Mr. Wickfield; Uriah eventually ingratiates himself to the point that he essentially steals Wickfield’s business, ruining Wickfield and his daughter, whom he plots to marry. Readers familiar with David Copperfield may therefore suspect that Demon’s newfound joy will not last, while readers who aren’t may still notice Kingsolver’s foreshadowing.
Another important moment of foreshadowing is the conflict between Kent, June, and the Peggots over medication. Kent is a pharmaceutical representative who sells medications such as OxyContin. Kent and June don’t necessarily know the addictive dangers of the drug; they may genuinely believe that oxy will help Mr. Peggot manage his pain. Kent, however, financially benefits from the relationship between patient and pain, which throws his motives into question. The conversation among June, Kent, and Mr. Peggot reflects the many discussions about oxy in the years before its destructiveness became widely recognized. Kingsolver uses this conversation to show how a society can create and disseminate its own epidemics.
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