Pet second half reflection

After finishing Pet by Emezi, I found Jam’s home to be a very compelling theme throughout the story. Jam has a special connection with her house, and even a form of communication where the house creaks and groans to communicate its feelings with her. I think her strong connection with her home demonstrates the relationship Jam has with her family and her community. A home is meant to be a place where one can be themselves and feel fully comfortable, and clearly Jam feels safe and comfortable here. However, Jam is unaware of how not everyone holds this same attachment and love for their home, as when she learns of the monsters in Redemption’s house, she thinks how “they’d gone home – Jam to her whispering floorboards and Redemption to what Jam now saw as a sweet laced trap, his home that was a monster harbor” (52). Emezi contrasts Jam and Redemption’s homes and how everyone has various places where they feel comfortable and safe. 

In the second half of the story, I also found Jam’s gender identity to be a point of interest. As a toddler, Jam only used her voice to insist that she was a girl, when she was misgendered after being assigned male at birth. Jam received a hormone implant when she was 13 and “watched her body change with delight” (20). Jam experiences a lot of joy in her body, and it is a vital part of her character, as Jam feels loved and supported as her true self in Lucille. This further reinforced her love for the town and her home, as it has been accepting and loving of her identity. Therefore, the monster in the town threatens her sense of self. 

 

 

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