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 mom refuses to leave his room, and he can’t go back to sleep with her staring at him, so he hitches a ride to George’s house for a Doctor Who marathon. Jared can tell George’s mom isn’t thrilled that he’s there; she tells him that she knows how much money is in her son’s piggy bank. Around season three of Doctor Who, Jared drifts into sleep.
Even though Jared is relived that his mom has returned, her threat of violence makes his environment so uncomfortable that he still wants to avoid her, so he goes over to George’s house. In Jared’s times of greatest need, he relies on the relationships in his life that are based on warmth and kindness rather than the ones based in violent passion.
Themes
Suddenly, there’s banging on the front door, and Jared hears Dylan singing about Ebony. Heading downstairs and outside, Jared helps Dylan sit down. Dylan explains that Ebony is dating Bambam, and Jared sits in silence with him for a while. Then, Mr. Wilkinson appears and collects Dylan, while Jared assures Dylan that they can talk in the morning. George’s mom appears at the door, saying that Dylan is spiraling and that he picks on George. Jared says that they’re all spiraling, and he assures her that he won’t let Dylan pick on George.
George’s mom’s comment that Dylan is spiraling again hints at the idea that the characters in the novel who drink—like Dylan—use alcohol as a coping mechanism. But abusing substances in this way only causes them to “spiral” out of control. Jared even affirms that he, too, is spiraling out of control, as he acknowledges the harm that comes from trying to avoid one’s problems using alcohol and drugs.
Themes
In the morning, Jared helps George’s mom make lunch on the porch—salmon fillets. He cuts the fish and splits firewood for their barbecue pit. After they start to roast the fish over the pit, George and his mom go inside to get cleaning supplies. Suddenly, some crows, who have been watching the scene, ask Jared for the fish guts. Jared freezes in shock, and they criticize him as a “typical raven” who loves humans and is greedy. Jared pinches himself and thinks that he has to lay off the alcohol and marijuana for a few days.
Again, rather than confront the magic in his life, Jared continues to rationalize it by telling himself that the talking crows are a hallucination brought on by drugs and alcohol. He does so in order to avoid worrying about it, even though he knows that he’s awake and he hasn’t had anything to drink in the past day. Meanwhile, the crows call Jared a “typical raven,” which hints at Jared’s connection to the trickster raven Wee’git.
Themes
