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Summary
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Son of a Trickster, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Dysfunctional Families, Responsibility, and Maturity
Love vs. Violence
Escapism and Confronting Problems
The Environment and Human Destruction
Summary
Analysis
Jared’s maternal grandmother, Anita Moody, has never liked him. Once, when Jared was growing up and his parents left the two of them alone, she called Jared “Wee’git” and warned that if he hurt his mom, Anita would kill him. Anita was always cuddly with Jared’s cousins, but the last birthday present she ever gave Jared was a jar of blood with animal teeth in it. Jared’s mom said that she would beat her mom up for the way she treated Jared, but Jared’s dad assured him that this wasn’t about Jared.
Right away, this passage hints that Jared’s family is somewhat dysfunctional. His mom expresses her love for him by threatening to hurt her own mother; from the very outset, Jared’s mom’s love and violence are deeply intertwined in a way that is confusing to Jared. Meanwhile, Anita giving Jared a present with blood and animal teeth foreshadows the witchcraft and magic woven throughout the story.
Themes
Jared flashes back to when he is five years old, when his mom and dad decide to move to Kitimat. As they finish packing, Anita arrives and stands in front of the moving truck. She warns that Jared is a dangerous Trickster wearing a human face, and Jared’s mom curses at Anita before getting back in the truck and driving off. The family then drives to the ferry, where Jared and his dad go up to the deck and wave goodbye to their old home.
Again, Jared’s mother indicates that the way she expresses her love for Jared is through a fierce protectiveness that borders on violence. But the way she treats Anita suggests that this violence could easily be turned on any family member, including Jared. In addition, Anita foreshadows Jared’s connection to magic, and the book establishes that the people in Jared’s life often deal with the issue of magic by avoiding it entirely.
Themes
After getting off the ferry, Jared and his parents go to visit his mom’s friends, who live nearby. Jared plays tag outside with their kids until most of them disperse, except for one girl named Becky who insists she and Jared have to play, just the two of them. When Jared tries to protest, Becky says that she’ll tell on him, and he curses at her. Moping, Jared goes and locks himself in the moving truck. A short while later, his parents come out and explain that he won’t get dessert for a week for cursing Becky out. They tell him to apologize to Becky—though his dad acknowledges that they haven’t been setting the best example regarding bad language.
Jared’s interactions with the other children demonstrate that even at a young age, his family dysfunction is already affecting how he interacts with others. Jared knows mature language and isn’t afraid to use it, but this exchange suggests that he may not have many interactions with other young children or know the codes of conduct to use with them. In addition, he has the wherewithal at five years old to be self-sufficient, returning to the moving truck when he doesn’t know where his parents are. This demonstrates how Jared’s family situation has forced him to be much more mature than he might have been otherwise.
Themes
Jared and his parents then go to his paternal grandmother’s house, where she lives with her fourth husband, Jim-Bob. Jared is shy to greet Nana Sophia, but she hugs him warmly and kisses his forehead. She tells Jared’s mom and dad to have a fun night out and leave Jared with her for the night. They agree, but they warn Nana Sophia that Jared can’t have dessert. Nana Sophia makes Jared hot cocoa instead, claiming that it’s a drink and not a dessert.
In contrast to Jared’s mother, the book establishes Nana Sophia as very kind and warm. While Jared’s mom isn’t afraid to curse and punish him, Nana Sophia is affectionate and playfully skirts the rules out of care for her grandson. This sets up their relationship as a foil (opposite) to Jared’s relationship with his parents—it’s built on love and support rather than violence and conflict.
Themes
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After Jared’s mom and dad leave, Nana Sophia suggests that they go to a movie, even though Jared protests that he’s not supposed to play outside after nine p.m. She puts a sewing mannequin under her bedcovers with a wig on it so that it will look like she and Jared are asleep if his parents return early, and then they take her Vespa to a nearby movie theater to watch Spider Man. She buys Jared a huge bucket of popcorn, grabs a booster seat, and places her fur cape on the seat for him to sit on.
The details of Nana Sophia and Jared’s trip to the movie illustrates Nana’s deep affection for her grandson. She makes sure to take care of him before herself, spoiling him by letting him stay up past his bedtime, buying him popcorn, and making sure he’s comfortable on the booster seat. Gestures like this establish their relationship as a healthy and supportive one, with kindness and affection (as opposed to violent threats) bolstering it.
Themes
As the movie starts, Jared tells Nana Sophia that Anita thinks he’s related to Wee’git. Nana Sophia assures Jared that she had a DNA test done on him when he was born: he’s part ‘Namgis, part Heiltsuk, and not a Trickster. Nana Sophia tells Jared that she loves him and that she would never hurt him—but if he wasn’t Phil’s son, she would slit Jared’s mom’s throat.
Even though Nana Sophia demonstrates that she loves Jared unconditionally, she, too, shows a hint of violence underlying her caring persona. This threat suggests that for many of the book’s characters, violence is always lurking underneath affection, which makes it difficult for Jared to know who truly loves him. As a young child, it likely confuses him when people mix love and violence in this way.
Themes
After the visit, Jared writes to Anita that Nana Sophia did a test, and that Phil is his dad—he isn’t a Trickster. A few weeks later, he receives a letter in response: Anita explains that Sophia is a Halayt and would know if he were a Trickster without a scientific test. Still, she tells Jared to be careful if Wee’git visits him. She apologizes for being angry with him but explains that she can’t tell him their family’s full history because he’s too young to hear it.
Anita foreshadows some of the danger that Wee’git will bring into Jared’s life. But because she doesn’t educate Jared about their full family history, nor does Jared even understand what Halayt or magic means in this context, he pushes it to the side. This conversation hints that magic is dangerous, however, which means that pushing it away and trying to forget about it may only invite more danger into a person’s life.
Themes
