Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Coming of Age and Self-Confidence
Magic, Belonging, and Protection
Family
Mortality and Meaning
Truth vs. Deception
Summary
Analysis
Jacob’s life can be split into two parts: before extraordinary things started happening to him, and after. The first extraordinary event in his life involved his grandfather, Abe Portman, whom Jacob always found fascinating and whom he admired for having an amazing life. His grandfather spoke several different languages, lived in an orphanage, fought in the army in World War II, and performed in circuses—all facts which are incredible to Jacob, who has never traveled outside Florida.
The book opens by referencing the extraordinary experiences Jacob will have over the course of the book. It also alludes to Jacob’s eventual coming of age, including the idea that Jacob is able to escape the ordinary life he had growing up and subsequently lead a more extraordinary life—like the one led by his grandfather, who has had a big influence on Jacob.
Themes
When Jacob is six, he figures the only way to have an exciting life like his grandfather is to become an explorer, and he spends much of his childhood poring over world maps and planning expeditions. He often pretends to sail ships or discover land. His parents worry that his grandfather will “infect [him] with some incurable dreaminess,” and so his mom tells Jacob that he can’t become an explorer because everything has already been discovered.
This passage foreshadows the book’s conclusion, in which Jacob—with his grandfather’s help—is able to choose his own path and explore the wider world. In contrast, here, Jacob’s childhood involves his parents essentially trying to determine his future for him, rather than allow him to embrace the “dreaminess” that his grandfather instills in him (something they describe as an unwanted “infection”).
Themes
As Jacob gets older, he realizes that many of his grandfather’s stories aren’t true. For example, his grandfather said he was born in Poland but then was sent to Wales at 12 because “monsters were after him.” When Jacob asks about the monsters, his grandfather describes tentacled beasts that stank and hunched over. He also tells tales about life in the Welsh orphanage, which aimed to keep the children safe from the monsters. Everyone was protected by a “wise old bird,” he said.
Jacob’s grandfather’s stories begin to sound like fairy tales as Jacob grows up. Jacob even assumes that his grandfather is lying, which sows mistrust and thereby damages their relationship later on. Jacob’s loss of trust in his grandfather’s stories demonstrates how even the perception of dishonesty can be detrimental to a relationship.
Themes
At seven years old, Jacob starts to question his grandfather about the children’s home, asking why the monsters wanted to hurt them. Jacob’s grandfather explains that they were “peculiar”—one girl could fly, one boy had bees that lived inside him, and there were two siblings who were very strong. Jacob’s grandfather pulls out an old cigar box with photographs of the kids. One depicts a suit with no person in it, a child named Millard who could turn invisible; another picture shows a levitating girl. In another, a skinny boy named Victor lifts a massive boulder over his head.
At this point, the truth about Jacob’s grandfather’s stories isn’t yet clear, but the photos suggest that these kids were somehow special and uniquely set apart from the “monsters” that wanted to hurt them. In using a euphemistic word like “peculiar,” the book suggests more broadly that people are often targeted for their differences or “peculiarities,” but that these differences can actually make them special, build bonds between them, and protect them.
Themes
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The last photo is the weirdest: it shows the back of someone’s head, which reveals another face. Jacob thinks the face is painted on, but his grandfather insists that the paint is just for show and the boy actually had two mouths. Jacob’s grandfather is very earnest, and so Jacob believes him for a few years because he wants to, just like other kids his age want to believe in Santa Claus.
On some level, Jacob knows that his grandfather’s stories are exaggerations or lies. In noting that Jacob clings to a childlike belief in his grandfather for a few years, the book foreshadows how this will become a point of contention between them in the future, suggesting that the perception of dishonesty will hurt their relationship.
Themes
After a few years, however, other kids start making fun of Jacob for believing in fairies, and one boy even pulls Jacob’s pants down over it. That same afternoon, when Jacob’s grandfather picks him up from school, Jacob insists that he doesn’t believe in his fairy stories anymore. Jacob’s grandfather is confused, explaining that his stories weren’t about fairies. Jacob counters that they are fairy tales for “babies,” and that he knows the photos and stories aren’t real. Jacob’s grandfather lets the matter drop, and Jacob feels like he's been lied to.
This passage illustrates the origin of some of Jacob’s confidence issues, as his connection to anything different or “peculiar” makes him feel singled out, too. The fact that he is bullied at school reinforces his feelings of inadequacy—feelings which only grow over the years. Moreover, Jacob’s rejection of the photos symbolizes his dismissal of his grandfather’s past. The subsequent silence between them illustrates how family dynamics can both come with great bonds of love but also deep pains of rejection, as Abe is hurt that Jacob doesn’t believe him.
Themes
Years later, Jacob’s dad explains the truth: his grandfather’s stories aren’t lies, exactly, but exaggerations—the true stories are much more horrific. At 12 years old, Grandpa Portman was the only member of his family who escaped Poland before World War II broke out. The rest of his family would all be dead by the time he turned 16, killed by monsters in military uniforms rather than those with rotting skin and tentacles.
Jacob’s dad’s explanation ties peculiarity with the history of the Jewish people during the Holocaust. The “monsters” that Abe discusses bear parallels to Nazi soldiers, who persecuted Abe and his family simply based on their “peculiarity,” which is the fact that they were Jewish.
Themes
The children’s home, by contrast, felt like a magical paradise to Jacob’s grandfather. The children didn’t really have fantastical abilities—“the peculiarity for which they’d been hunted was simply their Jewishness.” What made them incredible was that they were able to escape the horrors that plagued so many of their families and neighbors. Hearing this, Jacob doesn’t ask for any more monster stories; he’s ashamed that he envied his grandfather for having an interesting life, considering the truth. Instead, Jacob tries to feel lucky for the “safe and unextraordinary” life he’s had—until something extraordinary happens when he is 15.
Here the book reinforces the parallel between the peculiar children and Jewish people escaping the Nazi regime. Aside from any real magic that Abe might have possessed, there was also “magic” in being able to escape, find other people like him, form a community, and protect each other given their differences.Additionally, Jacob’s reiteration that his life is “safe and unextraordinary” again suggests Jacob’s lack of confidence and his dissatisfaction with his life, suggesting that he doesn’t feel like he’s had much agency in it—at least until he’s 15.
Themes
