Pet By Akwaeke Emezi Review
DO NOT BE AFRAID
(spoilers ahead!)
In Pet, Akwaeke Emezi tells the story of a young girl who is bestowed a dangerous mission. She is tasked to hunt a monster and reveal all the things that have become hidden in her idyllic community. This community of Lucille is apparently free of all monsters. These monsters are not your run-of-the-mill fantasy creatures, they look like me, and they look like you. The adults in the book (except the librarian Ube who quickly became my favorite minor character) are confident in their utopia because they have seen what their community was like before they were purged of monsters. I must clarify the monsters that were purged were human. They were the worst among us. They were those who preyed on the weak and used their power to oppress.
Although this definition of a monster struck me as vague at the beginning, I realized that this is the most accurate definition of a monster. A monster is one who acts out of their own corrupted desires at the expense of anyone or anything else. How Emezi writes about monsters in this book is so terrifying to me because it set off the alarm bells that have been entrenched in me since birth. It pokes at the idea that you can’t trust anyone, not really. However, Ememzi makes sure to also stand firm in the existence of Angels.
The Angels were the people who banded together to make a perfect society and purge, sometimes violently, the monsters from existence. The main character Jam and her best friend Redemption cannot fathom the concept of a bad person–a monster. They have been exposed to a tranquil and safe environment since their birth. Or have they? Jam becomes burdened with this knowledge after stumbling upon her fate one late night in her mother’s studio. Jam falls onto the canvas of her mother’s painting and is cut by it. Jam’s blood begins to coagulate and be consumed by the entity in the painting. Before her eyes what appears to be the perfect example of a YA fantasy monster emerges from the painting in a cloud of smoke. This being, who resents being called a monster, tells her it has come to hunt a monster who is hidden in the house of Redemption.
Throughout the rest of the novel, Emezi touches on themes that I would have lapped up as a tween. Although I do love the book at my age now, I would have greatly benefited from a book like this in my younger years. A book about a black trans girl, by a black trans writer, that explains in subtle metaphors the realities of our current neoliberal society, and the dangers of silence would have been an immense comfort for me. It was so refreshing to read about a young trans girl, and a community of black folks, who are not struggling to survive. Instead, they are thriving! But this story is also realistic. After reading the entire story I was reminded of the original Greek meaning of the term Utopia meaning nowhere. There is no way for a utopia to exist because, as seen in this novel, humans can always change, hide and mutate into monsters. The monster the Pet hunts, the one who lives in the house of Redemption used to be an Angel. Redemption's uncle Hibiscus, a professional fighter who used his power for good during the revolution and was given the title of Angel, is the domestic abuser Pet is hungry for.
This challenges the ideas of the adults in the community and nobody believes Redemption when he tries to expose his uncle. The adults in the community want to believe that they can prevent abuse and atrocities from happening to their children, however in reality this is out of their control. Their society has been rooted in all the right ideas. They believe in rehabilitation for monsters, they believe in redemption, but they are also unable to realize that some things cannot be changed. Sometimes no matter how hard you try, bad things happen. So they chose to not see the signs of abuse in front of them.
Another theme that stuck with me is the theme of revealing the hidden or seeing what does not want to be seen. I also love the subversion of the idea that a monster must look scary or creepy. Pet is terrifying, but Pet is the one who saves the community. Pet embodies these themes. They have the bottom half of a goat, no eyes or nose, they are huge and gangly, with feathered skin, and they have the disembodied hands of Jam’s mother. Pet’s catchphrase, “Do not be afraid” is a reference to biblical depictions of angels. The angels of the bible were monstrous-looking just like Pet and this is intentional. Jam even goes so far as to look up what an angel looks like and is provided with such gruesome imagery.
By the end of the story, it is revealed that Pet really is an angel–an angel in the biblical sense. Pet was sent to deal justice and avenge those who were wronged. When Pet shows his true form and deals justice to Hibiscus, they tell Jam and Redemption, “Do not be afraid.” The children do not need to be afraid because there are divine powers on their side. This divinity, this justice, is not always a pretty sight, but we do not need to be afraid of it. We do not need to be afraid that all of the injustices of the world will go unchecked. Every monster will one day meet its match in an Angel.
