Theme of Journey
The peculiar children are travelling through different loops into different centuries and they experience the landscape through different times. When they enter the menagerie loop Jacob is surprised by the landscape as there are no roads and it looks as if the loop is in some early century. Back in 1940 Jacob notices that the town they travelled to get aboard the train to London is called Coal, not Coalville or Coaltown. When they finally get in the train to London the landscape from 1940 to Jacob looks as if it is from some kind of a dream. When the group arrives to London they experience the London during the war. Therefore, the theme of journey is present in the vast description of the places and time periods the peculiar group encounters.
Morality vs. Corruption
Miss Peregrine as a character is not present in the novel but her influence is present in her peculiar children. They are a group that sticks together and manages to go far without her suggesting that she taught them well. Moral character from the peculiar group that sticks out is Bronwyn. She doesn't lose her sense of morality even in the difficult times: for instance when she wanted to save Sam and Esme even though it is known that their fate is already decided. Miss Wren besides being a symbol of hope represents a non corrupted moral character that provides shelter for the peculiar children. Corruption is represented in wights and hollows. They were once normal humans but they chose to be corrupted. Their corruption is shown on the outside as well. Caul, a leader of the wights, is also Miss Peregrine's brother. His bizarre ability to turn into an ymbryne shows the remains of his past life and the potential he missed to be a respected and positively influential individual. Instead, he chose the other, corrupted path.
Childhood Innocence and Adult Authority
The peculiar children are all much older than they look. Their faces show no sign of their age but their actions do. Despite the real age, most of them kept their childhood innocence because living inside a loop, reliving the same day over and over again, they didn't have the necessary experience to grow out of it. Olive, when she meets the girl on the London train station, shows the curiosity and child's need to connect to another child. Ymbrynes are representation of adult authority. Upon meeting Miss Wren the peculiar children are immediately aware of her, almost motherly, authority despite just meeting her.
Theme of War
1940 is the time of the war and children experience the London landscape in that time. Hitler is mentioned in the novel as well. On the London train station there is a chaos because people are sending off children. While searching for the loop in London the group experiences bombs falling and there is rubble and destroyed buildings everywhere. The group feels the dread of the war and being on the brink of death.
