The central theme in Animal Dreams revolves around the conflict between two distinct cultures: white and Native American. This clash is highlighted through the lens of environmental harm. The destructive force of modern industrial society is embodied by the Black Mountain Mining Company. Codi views the mine, with its "pile of dead tailings," as "a mountain cannibalizing its own guts, soon to destroy the living trees and homes of Grace. It was such an American story." A similar situation unfolds in the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico, where pumice is extracted for producing "distressed," or stone-washed, denim jeans, a fashion trend among the youth. Codi vehemently criticizes this practice in her classroom:

They wash them in a large machine using a special kind of gravel sourced from volcanic mountains. The most beautiful mountains you've ever seen. But these mountains are delicate, like a big pile of sugar. Levi Strauss or whoever comes in with bulldozers and chainsaws, cutting down trees and tearing the mountainside apart, all so we lucky Americans can wear jeans that look like they were thrown in the trash before we got them.

Contrasting this destructive extraction of natural resources, Kingsolver illustrates the Native American perspective on the earth. Initially, Codi is confused by this difference. She questions Loyd about how a canyon on Navajo tribal land has thrived for over a thousand years, while Grace is being devastated after only a century. As Codi learns, Native Americans regard the earth as a living entity and strive humbly to maintain the ecological balance it requires. They understand they do not own the earth but aim to be respectful guests. This realization offers Codi a fresh viewpoint on her own culture:

To people who see themselves as God's house-guests, American enterprise must appear incredibly arrogant. Or foolish. A nation of forgetful people, acting as if only today matters. Assuming the land could also forget what had been done to it.

Kingsolver, an environmentalist herself, discussed this cultural difference in an interview with Lisa See for Publishers Weekly:

We are only as healthy as our food chain and the environment. The Pueblo corn dances express similar ideas, but in a spiritual way. In contrast, our culture believes we are the center of it all. The Earth was placed here as a garden for us to conquer and use. This mindset was effective for years, but now it's starting to backfire on us.

The clash between cultures underscores the difference between individualism and community. The Black Mountain Mining Company aggressively pursues its interests, disregarding its obligations to the people impacted by its mining operations. This theme also plays out on a personal level in Codi's life. When she arrives in Grace, she feels isolated and disconnected, a recurring theme in her life. After losing her mother at age three and having an emotionally distant father, she missed the nurturing family support she needed. After abandoning a medical career, she drifts from job to job and place to place, never finding purpose. She admits she's not good at "nesting," or creating a home for herself. At the novel’s start, Codi is essentially without roots.

Codi's lack of direction sharply contrasts with her sister Hallie's social activism. Hallie is passionate about addressing global injustices and courageously travels to Nicaragua to live out her ideals. She never doubts her mission or its importance and easily connects with causes greater than herself.

However, the character who best embodies the value of community over individual isolation is Loyd. With a supportive family and a deep appreciation for Native American culture, Loyd guides Codi toward the...

Similar to The Bean Trees, Animal Dreams can be interpreted as a journey of self-discovery. Codi arrives in Grace to understand herself and connect with her past. Spiritually and symbolically, she reconciles with her past, present, and future, bringing harmony to her life as suggested by her name, Cosima, which signifies "order in the cosmos." Codi's life is "bracketed by death" due to the loss of her mother and child, but it is Hallie's death that ultimately brings her peace and resolution. After a memorial service for her sister, Codi buries a bundle of Hallie's mementos. This act echoes the secret burial of Codi's stillborn child, which Homer witnessed. In his dementia, Homer believes Codi is burying her child again, but this misunderstanding leads to a resolution. Imagining both daughters as children, Homer finally expresses his love for them, realizing that "love weighs nothing." In the novel's concluding chapter, Codi's life comes full circle as she becomes pregnant once more with Loyd's child. She visits the site where her mother died and discovers that she did indeed see the helicopter that took her mother away—something she was told she had imagined. This visit allows her to finally say goodbye to her mother, sister, and child, and she realizes she can continue her family's legacy in Grace, the community where she was born.

Kinship with the earth plays a crucial role in Animal Dreams. Through Loyd, Codi gains an understanding of the Native American perspective on the land. Pueblo homes are designed to appear as if they naturally emerged from the earth, and they are allowed to return to the earth rather than being destroyed by bulldozers. In contrast, the European approach, exemplified by the mining company, seeks to dominate the earth for financial profit. The novel uses the earth as a symbol of the life cycle, encompassing birth and death. Imagery of the earth and ground is employed both literally and figuratively. While both Codi and her mother fear flying, Hallie maintains a "ground orientation." Codi uncovers her ancestors in the cemetery, realizing that their deaths have awakened her own history. Hallie desires for her remains to be left in Nicaragua to enrich the soil. Codi's symbolic act of burying Hallie helps her come to terms with her losses and continue progressing in her life. The visits Codi and Loyd make to various "secret" locations seem to give Codi a sense of renewal and connection.

A significant theme in the novel is the search for, and understanding of, home. Codi has always felt disconnected from having a genuine home. Losing her mother left her without a caring parent, and she never truly felt integrated into the Grace community. Her long-term relationship with Carlo lacks deep emotional commitment, and their continual moving from one job to another prevents them from establishing roots or creating a home. Codi's friend, Emelina, who offers her a guesthouse in Grace, is concerned by Codi's unwillingness to personalize the space, noting that she doesn't hang anything on the walls. Emelina even tells Codi that she's not a homemaker but a "home ignorer." Despite this, Codi has a deep desire to "belong some place." Her aimless lifestyle is actually a quest to find a place to call home, yet she simultaneously avoids commitments that might lead to heartache. Loyd tells her, "It's one thing to carry your life wherever you go. Another thing to always go looking for it somewhere else." Codi's lifelong journey to find her home ultimately leads her back to her birthplace, where she finally discovers it after wandering the world in vain.