Robots
Robots, which are central to the narrative of In the Lives of Puppets, symbolize the rapid advancement of human civilization and technology. Instead of puppets, humans now use robots, which they are equally able to control.
Love
In the Lives of Puppets is an allegory about the way that members of the LGBTQ+ community were treated in history. It is also a warning against marginalizing any group of people (human, animal, or machine) because of who they are. It says that everyone should be treated the same, no matter what.
Vic
Vic, the 22-year-old repairman who is one of the novel's main characters, is symbolic of human innocence. He expects the best from everyone around him and thinks that everyone around him is an upstanding citizen. However, that quickly proves not to be the case, as he encounters Giovanni.
Isolation
Characters becoming isolated is a common motif in the novel. For instance, Vic isolates himself from humanity by living in a cabin in the middle of nowhere. After he emerges from his self-imposed isolation, he learns why he isolated himself in the first place.
