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Chapter 18
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
Weeks later, Jared wakes up on a motel floor with Bambam, Dylan’s hockey teammate. He still has his wallet, phone, and shoes, but he can’t find his jacket. His phone battery is dead, and he has $7.50 to his name. He goes to the bathroom and sees a large black L drawn on his forehead. Jared starts to remember how he got there: he stayed at Blake’s for a week, and then with Kelsey for a few nights before returning to Blake’s. He asked Dylan to stay at his place, but Mr. Wilkinson still had a grudge. They did attend a party together, and things got fuzzy from there.
Jared’s mother’s anger and immaturity (directing her anger at Jared’s dad toward Jared instead) forces Jared to grow up even more, as he has to figure out his own living situation when his home no longer feels safe. He also uses alcohol to escape his sadness and the hardship he is facing. However, this only causes Jared to essentially hit rock bottom, as he wakes up with little money, no means of communication, and nowhere to live. This again illustrates that drinking doesn’t provide escape from hardship—it simply puts hardship off in the short term and exacerbates it in the long term.
Themes
After collecting his things, Jared looks outside: Dylan and Ebony are arguing in front of his truck. Ebony is crying, having just found Dylan with another girl. She hits him with her purse, and Jared decides to hitch a ride home to avoid the drama. He makes it to the edge of town by lunchtime, but no one has slowed down for him, and it’s starting to drizzle. He doesn’t know how to get home, and he hopes his mom can’t stay mad at him forever. He thinks of staying with Nana Sophia, but he knows that would anger his mom even more.
The fact that Jared is more worried about what his mom would do if he went to Nana Sophia’s than about being homeless speaks to how volatile their relationship is, as her threat of violence overpowers her love for him and his actual well-being. On the other hand, Jared knows that Nana Sophia would take him in without hesitation, demonstrating how her unconditional love and support is a much healthier dynamic.
Themes
Just then, a burgundy Caddy pulls onto the shoulder in front of Jared. An old Native woman smiles at him, but underneath her skin he can see something dark and twisting, with fangs. Jared thinks that he must have done mushrooms. When the old woman asks Jared where he’s going, he says Kitimat. She offers to take him as far as Terrace, and he says that’s perfect, but he can’t make himself get into the car. The thing under the woman’s skin snarls, and Jared quickly says that he forgot his phone and moves away from the car. His inner voice tells him to run, and he does so as the rain picks up.
Even though Jared can see something stirring underneath this Native woman’s skin, his immediate impulse is to run away from it rather than to accept her help. As magic becomes more and more present in the story, Jared seems to feel that avoiding the beings that appear to him gives him greater control over the situation—even though avoiding them does not make them go away.
Themes
When Jared gets back to the motel, his feet are sore, and his clothes are drenched. Dylan is drinking in his truck, and Jared asks if they can go home. He agrees, letting Jared into the driver’s seat. Dylan puts country music on, and he sings about Ebony until they stop for gas on the way. Jared wrings out his clothes in the bathroom while Dylan buys a coke. When they get back into the car, Dylan has filled half the coke bottle with vodka. Jared asks Dylan if he saw him do acid the night before, but Dylan doesn’t remember.
As Jared tries to rationalize the supernatural beings that begin to appear in his life by convincing himself that they’re drug-induced hallucinations, the book again demonstrates how Jared’s attempts to avoid his problems only end up hurting him. He can no longer distinguish what is based in reality and what might be caused by his drug use.
Themes
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As Jared starts the car up, he notices the burgundy Caddy pull into the rest stop. Jared pulls the truck behind the Caddy, and his inner voice tells him to check on the old woman. Jared gets out of the truck and goes up to the car, peering through the darkness and rain. He wonders if the woman fell down or got hurt, but then Jared has a strange moment where he sees himself from someone else’s perspective, as if from the bush nearby. Then Jared is back in his own head, and he is overwhelmingly tired. He doesn’t want to couch surf anymore, so he thinks it might be time to go home.
This incident illustrates that just because Jared is intent on avoiding the supernatural in his life, this doesn’t mean that the supernatural will stop finding him. As he gets more and more panicked about the woman’s presence and the visions of being in someone else’s head, it's clear that Jared’s attempts to avoid his problems are only making them worse.
Themes
Back at Jared’s house, Jared tells Dylan that he’ll call a cab for him. Dylan asks Jared to drive him back, but Jared doesn’t want to hitch home, so Dylan staggers into the basement with Jared to stay the night. Jared notices that the wall and door have been fixed, and the broken furniture is gone. Dylan flops on the bed and calls Ebony, declaring his love for her. Jared goes to the bathroom to put on dry clothes and notices the L is still on his forehead. When Jared tells Dylan to stop drunk-dialing, Dylan says that he feels bad that Jared lives in this basement, and then he throws up.
Jared’s first foray home in weeks perhaps suggests that his mom has forgiven him, as someone has cleaned up his basement. But the fact that she still hasn’t reached out to Jared shows her immaturity: she is still giving him the silent treatment for helping his dad, while Jared was just trying to be responsible. There’s also a notable difference between Dylan and Jared in this moment: while both are recovering from hangovers, Dylan is wrapped up in teenage drama, while Jared (whose problems are arguably more severe) is taking care of Dylan.
Themes
While Dylan continues to mumble about Ebony and being totally innocent of cheating, Jared thinks over the day, wondering if he’s a little crazy for getting freaked out about an old woman. His inner voice tells him that he should lay off the alcohol, and Jared again wonders if he’s hearing someone else’s voice. Interrupting Jared’s thoughts, Dylan again says that he loves Ebony—but Jared knows that Ebony isn’t going to take Dylan back, just like Jared’s mom will never think he’s a good son.
Seeing these visions worsens Jared’s feeling of being out of control of his life, and as a result, he wants to avoid them. But Jared’s inner voice also advises that he should lay off the alcohol, connecting Jared’s lack of control over his life and his mind to his alcohol use. Tying both alcohol and magic together, the book suggests that it’s better to confront one’s problems rather than use escapism to avoid them (whether by taking drugs or by ignoring the situation altogether).
Themes
Jared wakes up late and sees that Dylan has left without cleaning up his vomit. Jared mops up the puke and scrubs down the floor before checking his messages, noticing that Sarah texted him the night before. Jared texts her back, and she says that she’s coming over. She arrives with a slice of moose meat pie and makes fun of Jared for the L on his forehead. When she asks why he hangs out with Dylan, Jared says that he does it for the free alcohol.
Jared’s comment that he only hangs out with Dylan for the free booze makes sense—drinking with Dylan is a way for Jared to escape the responsibility of his everyday life. Yet, as this incident illustrates, avoiding his problems doesn’t rid Jared of them—and sometimes it even creates more problems, like having to clean up after Dylan and endure his abuse. In this way, Sarah’s question highlights the fact that drinking alcohol to avoid problems only defers those problems; it does not solve them.
Themes
Wrapping her arms around Jared, Sarah confesses that she had a rough couple of weeks without him. Jared says that she can always stay at his place even when he’s not home. Sarah tells him that it’s pretty bleak in the basement without him, and he responds that he missed her, too. Rolling her eyes, Sarah tells him to can the corn.
As Sarah and Jared grow closer, they become more openly affectionate and begin to support each other through difficult times. Even under layers of sarcasm, their budding love is clear, and Sarah’s support goes a long way in making Jared feel better about his problems.
Themes
