Previous
Symbols
Jared’s bedrooms—both the one at his mom’s house and the one at his grandmother Nana Sophia’s house—symbolize his relationships with his mom and grandmother. At the beginning of the book, Jared lives in the basement, having suggested that he move there so that his mom could rent out his room to help cover the bills. This reflects how Jared has to take on greater responsibility in his relationship with his mom, as he has to help shoulder the burden of making sure that they can pay the bills. The basement is rather decrepit, and it becomes even more so when Jared’s mom finds out that that he’s been helping his dad, whom she hates. When she discovers this, she punches the wall, breaks Jared’s furniture, and slashes his mattress. This illustrates that his mom can, at any point, become violent with him. If Jared’s room reflects his well-being at home, the ease with which his mom destroys it suggests that she’s poised to endanger that well-being at any moment. Eventually, though, Jared and his mother are able to reconcile somewhat, and he moves up from his basement to a room on the top floor, next to his mother’s bedroom. This change in living situation reflects a shift in their relationship, as she starts to treat him better and care for him more openly.
Nana Sophia, meanwhile, eagerly prepares a room for Jared at her house for him to visit over the summer. She shows him pictures of the nice room that she has set up—a sunlit room that opens onto a deck overlooking a rocky beach. This room symbolizes the warmth and safety of their relationship, in contrast with Jared and his mother's rocky relationship over the course of the novel.
Jared’s Rooms/The Basement Quotes in Son of a Trickster
The Son of a Trickster quotes below all refer to the symbol of Jared’s Rooms/The Basement. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 24
Quotes
“Are you still helping him?”
“No.”
“Then why’d you pawn the TV?”
“You took off, but we still had bills.”
She took another deep, slow breath. “I was pissed. You have no idea what it took not to strangle you.”
“Yeah,” Jared said. “That’s love.”
She side-eyed him. “That’s the only thing that kept you from being mulch.”
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 30
Quotes
The ape man leaned on his knuckles, sniffing the air. His head swung back and forth. He bent down and sniffed the floor. Jared lifted his feet onto the couch. There goes the neighbour’s house. Off to Kansas.
[…]
Other hands scrabbled through the floor, their nails clicking on the linoleum.
I’m here, Jared thought. Alone in the living room. I’m watching TV. Nothing else is real. I know the difference between real and not, and this isn’t real.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Son of a Trickster LitChart as a printable PDF.
Jared’s Rooms/The Basement Symbol Timeline in Son of a Trickster
The timeline below shows where the symbol Jared’s Rooms/The Basement appears in Son of a Trickster. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3
After putting Baby Killer down, Jared and his mom sit in his room in the basement, drinking a six-pack of beer. Jared lives in the basement so that...
(full context)
Chapter 4
That evening, Jared’s mom comes down into the basement while Jared is playing video games. She kisses the top of his head before pulling...
(full context)
Chapter 9
Jared is shocked that Ebony Stewart is in his basement, even though she’s pretended not to know him for years because she hangs with the...
(full context)
...insults as Jared remarks that Dylan was really classy, passing out and puking in Jared’s basement. As Jared drives away, Dylan salutes him in amusement. At school on Monday, Ebony and...
(full context)
...small Christmas tree that he bought from the second-hand store, but it doesn’t make the room any merrier. Then, Blake stops by with some beers and a black eye that Jared...
(full context)
Chapter 15
...so she tells them to leave. After a few drinks, Jared heads down to his basement. Alex asks if they can hang in his room, but Jared says no, and they...
(full context)
In the basement, Jared can feel a headache growing. He’s upset that his dad thought he could take...
(full context)
Chapter 16
Jared spends the next morning scrubbing the basement, concerned by a fuzzy memory of almost making out with Destiny. He gets more ranting...
(full context)
...goodbye, and as he leaves, he wishes that he had scrubbed himself instead of the basement. His inner voice tells him that Sarah probably wouldn’t notice Jared’s body odor because of...
(full context)
Chapter 17
...video of him—he’s actually sort of flattered. When Jared and Sarah get back to his room, she’s glad to hang out with him because Mrs. Jaks doesn’t have Wi-Fi. Jared texts...
(full context)
At that moment, Dylan knocks on the basement door and apologizes that Ebony made the video. Jared glibly says that it’s fine and...
(full context)
Chapter 18
When Jared gets home, he finds the basement door kicked in, his furniture smashed, holes in the wall, and the mattress slashed. Richie...
(full context)
Chapter 19
...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...
(full context)
...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...
(full context)
Chapter 21
Back in the basement, Jared and Sarah build a fort and light it up with a battery-powered lantern. Jared...
(full context)
Chapter 22
That night, Jared’s mom returns. Jared stays in the basement, both relieved and nervous as he hears a party going on upstairs. Later, he wakes...
(full context)
Chapter 23
Jared’s mom refuses to leave his room, and he can’t go back to sleep with her staring at him, so he hitches...
(full context)
Chapter 24
...from him, and Jared asks if she remembers what she said to him in his room. They sit in silence for the rest of the way home.
(full context)
Jared tries to go to the basement when they get home, but his mom makes him bacon and eggs, so he stays...
(full context)
Chapter 28
...tells Jared that she’s counting the days until he gets there, that she’ll have a room ready for him, and that she loves him. Meanwhile, Jared hasn’t gotten any text messages...
(full context)
Chapter 29
That night, after everyone is asleep, Sarah knocks on Jared’s basement door. She brings magic mushrooms, but Jared says that he’d rather stick to booze and...
(full context)
Chapter 30
The next day, Jared is avoiding the basement, so he goes to the living room and turns on the Weather Channel. He tries...
(full context)
...Jared, but his hand goes right through him, and more ape men fill the living room. Jared continues to assure himself that they’re not real—he and Sarah kissed after she had...
(full context)
...that Jared’s mom is hurt, and Jared snaps his eyes open. It’s dark in the basement, and Jared can still see the ape men huddled in the corner. Jared, remaining very...
(full context)
Chapter 32
...sweet-grass and cedar in the house. Nana Sophia texts Jared with a picture of the room she set up for him—a sunlit room overlooking the ocean. It’s very nice, but Jared...
(full context)
Chapter 33
...Jared not to run into the woods. Jared backs up all the way to the basement, locking the door behind him as the river otters bang on the windows. Jared texts...
(full context)
Chapter 36
...Jared up, he and his mom return home, where Nana Sophia is waiting in the basement, surrounded by the ape men. She apologizes for not coming earlier. Nana Sophia takes some...
(full context)
Chapter 37
For the next few days, Jared stays home, even trading rooms with one of the tenants so he can move back into his room upstairs. Jared...
(full context)
Chapter 38
That night, Jared’s mom brings in a TV dinner to Jared’s bedroom. She asks how the “nut job” is, and Jared asks his mom to not call...
(full context)
Chapter 39
Jared goes up to his room, and Dylan and Martina Yelan come in an hour later to get high. They make...
(full context)
...a recovery chip. The party is now in full swing, and Jared goes to his room and looks at the chip’s words: “One day at a time” and “Recovery…begins with one...
(full context)
Chapter 40
At that moment, Jared’s mom comes into his room and slams his textbook shut, saying that she wants her son back. She calls him...
(full context)
