Demon Copperhead: Chapter 2 Summary & Analysis

The Peggots keep a collection of gourds hanging from trees in their front lawn: a collection of would-be birdhouses, except the birds prefer to build their own nests in the surrounding trees. The Peggots have seven children altogether, some living as far as Florida, some just a mile away. Over the course of each day, every member of the family gets talked about in one way or another, except for Maggot’s mom, who’s in jail, and his uncle Humvee, who’s dead. The Peggots also have a dog pen with no dog. Damon’s family’s trailer lies on the other side of that pen. The Peggots have chickens too, and a rooster with the “mind of a serial killer” that haunts Damon’s dreams.

The Peggot family takes Damon to church, and he doesn’t mind it until he finds out about Lazarus and thinks his dad might come back. Maggot helps calm him down by explaining that Bible stories are a kind of superhero comic. The trailer where Mom and Damon live used to belong to the Peggots before Maggot’s aunt June got her nursing degree and moved to Knoxville. Damon used to call Mrs. Peggot Mammaw, which embarrasses him now. Mrs. Peggot is the only one who keeps using his given name, Damon, after everyone else starts calling him Demon. Once he gets red hair, he gets the nickname “Copperhead” along with Demon, so he becomes, “Demon Copperhead.”