The words in the novel’s title, People Like Us, becomes a motif that highlights the shifting and often contradictory nature of identity and community. Its meaning changes depending on the speaker and context, forcing the characters and the reader to constantly re-evaluate who belongs to the in-group. This fluidity is central to the novel’s exploration of belonging and alienation. For instance, the narrator’s agent, Sharon, uses the phrase to refer to successful Black artists who can find a special refuge in Europe, where she claims, “They’ve been taught to listen to people like us” (33). Her definition is based on a shared artistic and racial identity that supposedly transcends American limitations. This contrasts sharply with its use by Earl, the gun-shop owner, who encourages the narrator to join the NRA because “We could use a few more people like you” (46), defining the group by gun ownership and a specific vision of American freedom.

The motif’s significance lies in this instability. The Goon uses it to connect with the narrator through a shared, displaced Black American heritage, while the narrator mistakenly applies it to a Black Italian waitress, assuming a shared nationality based on race. By deploying the phrase in such varied contexts, the novel deconstructs the idea of a single, monolithic identity. It reveals that community is situational and fragile, underscoring the characters’ constant, and often futile, search for a physical home to which they can unconditionally belong.