This novel seems so absurd that the reader will likely end up saying, "What on earth are all of these penguins even for?" Why have the penguins? Why did Admiral Drake send such a strange gift, a little white elephant so to speak? The answer is that Admiral Drake can be seen as an arbiter of Mr. Popper's fate, because what Mr. Popper really wants is to live the life that Admiral Drake has lived, full of adventure and meaning.
The quest for meaning is delightfully hidden from Mr. Popper. He thinks that he's just problem solving. The penguins don't seem to have much promise, so he struggles to keep his hopes up, and why should he? He doesn't know until the end that his hard work will be rewarded. That means that when joy is offered to him as the boon for his long days of hard work and sacrifice, he is thrilled.
But notice what the reward really is. Mr. Popper isn't going to go vacationing in the Bahamas with Admiral Drake. He gets to travel to the North Pole, in the deadly Arctic tundra. That will be very painful, difficult, challenging, dangerous work, but he is glad, because secretly, that life of adventure and challenge has always been his desire. So Admiral Drake represents hope for a better future, and also, in a subtle way, he also represents the oddly personal flavor of fate.
