Pet

Appearance versus reality is one of the central themes of Emezi’s Pet. They set up this theme from the beginning of the novel by opening with a discussion of the events of the revolution and the opposing factions of monsters and angels. These labels evoke stereotypes about what monsters and angels look and act like, setting up Emezi’s exploration of a more complex notion of morality and Jam’s discovery that looks can be deceiving. Emezi centers this theme throughout the narrative, teaching Jam, Redemption, and the reader alike that things are never quite what they seem. Though several characters openly tell Jam that she cannot trust things are as they appear, it takes first-hand experience for her to learn this. Bitter tells her daughter, “Monsters don’t look like anything, doux-doux. That’s the whole point. That’s the whole problem” (18). There is a wariness in Bitter’s tone that speaks to her own experiences in the revolution, and to the difficulty in identifying who is or is not a monster. Though it may appear that monsters no longer exist in Lucille, Emezi is quick to tell the reader—from the very first line—that this is not the case.