Dysfunctional Families, Responsibility, and Maturity Theme Analysis

Jared Martin is a 16-year-old Native boy living in Kitimat, British Columbia, with his emotionally volatile mother Maggie and her drug-dealing boyfriend Richie. Jared’s father Phil, meanwhile, lives nearby with his new wife and daughter, but he is disabled from a back injury and addicted to pain medication. As a result of these circumstances, Jared has to take care of his parents and other adults around him both physically and financially, because they are unable to take care of themselves. Alongside this, he deals with typical teenage drama, but Jared often doesn’t have the time or energy to be a normal teenager since he has to shoulder adult responsibilities at home. In this way, Son of a Trickster illustrates how children from dysfunctional families often have to grow up more quickly than their peers do, because they’re forced to take on the responsibilities that adults in their lives fail to carry out.

Though only a teenager, Jared takes up many of his parents’ obligations (like paying bills and doing housework), illustrating how their addictions and neglect force Jared to take on the role of a parent. Jared’s father is in and out of the hospital because of a recent back injury he sustained at work. Knowing that his father is in debt and that his addiction to pain medication means he doesn’t have the presence of mind to file for disability insurance, Jared makes money in secret (by selling cookies with marijuana in them) to cover his father’s rent. He thinks that he “[doesn’t] want his dad to be homeless,” which shows how Jared and his father have reversed roles: after all, parents are typically the ones concerned with providing for their children and keeping them safe and housed. But because Jared’s father is unable to fulfill his responsibilities as the head of the household, Jared (in spite of his young age) is forced to look after his father’s well-being and work to support him. Jared also deals with his drug-addicted mother’s neglect and irresponsibility. Because his mother and father are not on good terms, when his mother finds out that Jared is supporting his father, she abandons him. Left in his house with no supervision, Jared has to sell the TV to cover their utility bills and go to a food bank in order to feed himself. He also begs the tenants that are living in rooms in their house to stay and help pay the bills. His mother’s emotional immaturity and desire for revenge force Jared into the adult role in the family, making sacrifices and taking care of the house in her absence.

Jared also cares for other people around him, demonstrating how the reversed parent/child dynamic in his family makes him more responsible and mature in all aspects of his life. Early in the novel, Jared’s 17-year-old stepsister Destiny has a baby, Ben. Knowing how little support Destiny receives, Jared stays over for a weekend to keep her company, and he learns how to hold the baby and change his diaper. One night, however, Destiny disappears after dinner, and Jared must take care of Ben alone. Destiny comes home drunk the next morning, and the difference in her and Jared’s behavior provides a contrast between her recklessness and thoughtlessness (perhaps more typical of an average teenager) versus Jared’s willingness to take responsibility and be the caretaker that Ben needs. This shows just how deeply Jared has internalized the maturity that his parents have forced him to develop, as he applies his sense of responsibility to other situations as well. Jared also helps his elderly neighbors, the Jakses. Mr. Jaks suffers from memory problems and has difficulty completing simple tasks, while Mrs. Jaks has leukemia. Jared does yard work for them, shaves and bathes Mr. Jaks, and even visits Mr. Jaks in respite (hospice care) when Mrs. Jaks has to travel to Vancouver for extended periods of time to get chemotherapy. Again, though Jared is only a teenager, he shows a mature instinct to care for any adult in his life who needs it. This is a testament to how his dysfunctional family has forced him to mature beyond the level that one might typically expect from a 16-year-old.

Jared is only allowed brief moments of being immature or carefree, and these stand in stark contrast to his adult responsibilities. This further shows how much more he, as someone with a dysfunctional home life, has had to grow up in comparison with his peers with different family situations. One snowy day, Jared plays outside with a few friends, wrapping themselves in plastic wrap and wrestling each other in the snow before throwing themselves down a hill. Jared “laugh[s] his ass off” as he does this (a rare moment of genuine happiness for Jared) before returning to the Jakses’ apartment to shovel snow and watch Mr. Jaks. Placing these events so close to each other illustrates that, in other circumstances, Jared might be able to be more carefree or have a more normal teenage experience—but his maturity and responsibility place a somber burden on him most of the time. Furthermore, during the period when Jared’s mother disappears and Jared is caught up in making sure he can eat and pay bills, the book briefly mentions that Jared has a pop quiz in science and French homework due—both of which he fails. Because of Jared’s family dysfunction, he doesn’t even have time for normal teenage responsibilities, like schoolwork. In this way, the book suggests that kids like Jared, whose parents are absent or otherwise indisposed, aren’t able to fulfill their age-appropriate responsibilities as teenagers, because they’re forced to juggle their parents’ adult responsibilities as well. Overall, Son of a Trickster shows how children from broken homes are often forced to mature beyond their years, to the point that they can’t be kids at all.