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
At the hospital, Jared explains to the nurse that he got his foot stuck in an otter den and then burned it in a campfire trying to run away. Jared’s mom gives him some pain meds that make him numb and texts Nana Sophia that Jared is okay. Jared asks if Nana Sophia is really his Nana, but Jared’s mom ignores him. Jared asks why his mom tried to kill Wee’git, but she doesn’t answer. When Jared’s mom asks if Wee’git promised to show him the world, Jared explains that he refused to go with Wee’git. Jared then dozes in the wheelchair until the doctor arrives.
Jared avoided confronting Wee’git at all costs, and it’s clear that his mom has the same impulse. But avoiding talking about their history created problems for both of them, as it left Jared vulnerable to magical beings that he didn’t understand. Thus, Jared’s mom’s decision to keep Jared’s family history from him reinforces the issue with avoiding one’s problems rather than confronting them directly.
Themes
After the doctor stitches 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 of Jared’s blood into a bowl with weeds and lights it on fire. As she does this, Jared sees a monster under her skin with a terrible beak. Smoke rises from the bowl, and the ape men crawl up the smoke and disappear into the ceiling. Then, Nana Sophia warns Jared not to wander through the spirit world before leaving him to get some rest.
Nana Sophia’s short ritual provides a clear contrast with Jared’s actions. Whereas Jared simply hoped the ape men would go away, they only increased in number and attracted other creatures to his home. Nana Sophia, on the other hand, acknowledged that they were there, and as such, she was able to resolve the problem. This underscores the idea that the only way to regain control over one’s life is to face one’s problems head on.
Themes
Very late that night, Sarah and her fireflies come to the door. Sarah asks Jared if he’s still mad before noticing the gauze and the stitches. When she asks what happened, Jared tells her the truth. Jared acknowledges that he sounds nuts, but he can still see Sarah’s fireflies. When Sarah gets excited, Jared wonders if she’s crazy, too. The fireflies correct him, saying that they’re ultra-dimensional beings. The fireflies then say that Sarah has unique quantum mechanical behavior, and that when she touched them, they could understand human language and culture. Jared tries to explain all this, but Sarah simply thinks that Jared is making fun of her in revenge for her not saying “I love you” back, and she storms off.
This passage revels another reason why Jared’s avoidance of magic has only created more problems in his life. Because he didn’t believe Sarah earlier when she talked to him about her magic, she now finds it hard to believe that he’s actually taking it seriously. In fact, Jared still has some hesitation about fully accepting the magic in his life, even though he can see the fireflies, because he believes that Sarah might be crazy for seeing them. Even after his experience with the river otters, Jared still hasn’t fully learned to accept magic.
Themes
In the morning, Nana Sophia returns with coffee. She and Jared eat breakfast in the kitchen while Jared’s mom sleeps in the living room. Nana Sophia says that she didn’t realize things had gotten so bad in the house. She says that it’ll be better for Jared to stay with her while he’s healing. Jared knows it would be easy to go with her, but he also knows that he has to tell her what Wee’git told him about his identity.
It is only here that Jared starts to regain some control over his own life, taking steps toward self-acceptance and honestly confronting his problems by realizing that he needs to tell Nana Sophia about his true identity.
Themes
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Jared explains to Nana Sophia that Wee’git was with the otters, and that Wee’git said you can’t tell Tricksters apart at the DNA level. The thing under Nana Sophia’s skin starts to raise its beak and cry out, its eyes wild. Jared’s mom comes into the kitchen, explaining that she told Phil that Jared wasn’t his son, but he didn’t believe her. Her sister Mavis told Jared’s mom that she was unfit to raise a child without a husband, and so she had to marry Phil or risk losing Jared. Then, a red cloud comes through the ceiling, and Nana’s eyes are wild—the monster under her skin becomes a pterodactyl. Jared thinks that having Nana Sophia want to kill him is worse than almost being eaten by the river otters.
Jared is more upset about Nana Sophia wanting to kill than he was about almost being eaten by river otters, which illuminates how valuable this relationship is to him. Whereas Nana Sophia always gave him seemingly unconditional love, the fact that this love has given way to a violent, threatening animal makes it no different from what he experiences from his mother (who loves him, but who can also be violent with him).
Themes
When Jared asks if he’s a human or a freak, Nana Sophia says that he’s the son of a Trickster and a whore. Jared concludes that he and Nana Sophia aren’t related, and he starts to cry at losing his one lifeline, the one person who could make his life less crappy. Sobbing, he thinks that he hates himself and his life. In response, Nana Sophia coldly writes him a check to make up for the money Phil owes him and leaves without hugging him.
Jared’s sobs again reflect how valuable a loving relationship characterized by affection, rather than violent passion, was for him. Now, it’s extremely difficult for Jared to cope with losing the one relationship in his life that seemed purely good.
Themes
After Nana Sophia leaves, Jared’s mom comments that he almost got them killed for the second time that week. Jared asks if this means he’s a monster, but Jared’s mom assures he’s just human—and a dumb one, at that. If he were a Trickster, he’d be powerful, and it’s very hard to hide magical abilities like that.
Jared’s magical abilities remain ambiguous: Wee’git believes that Jared isn’t entirely human, while Jared’s mom believes that he is. While Jared is more accepting of his relationship to Wee’git, he still hasn’t fully come around to understanding his magical abilities and trying to take control of them.
Themes
The next day, Jared cashes Nana Sophia’s check and takes the bus to Phil’s apartment in Terrace. When Jared arrives, Phil glares at him, but Jared simply thanks him for being a good dad and for taking Jared and his mom in. He gives Phil the envelope, and Phil says that he’ll still pay Jared the money he owes him. Before Jared leaves, Phil tells him to take everything his mom says with a grain of salt—she has an imaginary world where she’s a big powerful witch and she’s being chased by mythical creatures. Jared misses being that “naïve,” and he says goodbye. On the bus home, Jared thinks about writing Nana Sophia but decides against it—no one likes being reminded that someone else played them.
Even though Jared is still working through his relationship to magic, his characterization of Phil as “naïve” for not believing in witches illustrates that Jared understands he can no longer simply dismiss the magic in his life. Thus, even if he isn’t fully engaging in magic, he has at least come to accept its existence. Meanwhile, Jared again demonstrates his maturity in continuing to care of his father: even though he now knows that his father took advantage of his help, he gives him money anyway. Even when most of his family hates him, Jared still feels a responsibility to care for the adults in his life.
Themes
