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Chapter 14
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
In the present, when Jared gets home from his dad’s, Jared’s mom is throwing a party at her house as a pre-game before going out to bars. Alex Gunborg and a few of his Goth friends show up, but his mom will only tolerate underage drinking from Jared’s friends, 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 sneer at him and leave.
Jared’s mom’s constant partying adds another layer to her and Jared’s flipped dynamics. While she wants to drink and party like a teenager, Jared instead wants to have a quiet night in his room in the basement. Additionally, the fact that Jared can’t really confide in his mom about his dad’s betrayal for fear of her reaction reinforces how unhealthy and unsupportive their relationship is. He doesn’t have anyone to lean on in this painful moment.
Themes
In the basement, Jared can feel a headache growing. He’s upset that his dad thought he could take advantage of him. His dad was always honest, as long as he could remember. Jared gets up for another drink, and looking at his Christmas tree, he thinks that he hates Christmas and chucks it outside, feeling lighter after doing so.
Jared continues to use alcohol to dull the emotional pain that his problems cause, both in drinking at the party and in drinking here alone. Meanwhile, throwing out the Christmas tree symbolizes how Jared feels betrayed by his father’s greed at a time usually marked by generosity and quality time with family.
Themes
At that moment, Destiny arrives. She’s done her hair in curls and put on makeup—Jared realizes that he forgot how pretty she is. Destiny says that Jared’s dad told her about what happened. Jared asks if she knew his dad was lying to him, and she says yes: Jared’s dad got his first check in December and used it to help her buy things for Ben, but his dad feels guilty about it. Jared wonders how his dad can let Destiny do his talking for him.
The fact that Destiny comes to explain her father’s actions further reinforces how the children in the family take more responsibility for their parents’ actions than the parents do for their own actions. They are unable (or unwilling) to take on that responsibility, instead putting their children in a difficult position.
Themes
Destiny notices the cardboard poster of Darth Vader taped to the ceiling, which the guys from Powder House gave Jared. She then starts to pick up beer cans from the floor, and though Jared protests, she insists on helping him. At that moment, Jared realizes that if his mom knew Destiny was here, she would get really angry. Jared tries to explain this to Destiny, who suggests that they invite Jared’s mom for dinner—but Jared knows that this is a terrible idea. Destiny then reveals that she discovered Ben’s father is married and just had a baby with his wife, too, and she starts to sob.
The cardboard poster of Darth Vader again reminds readers that for all of Jared’s maturity, he still is just a kid who likes Star Wars and spending time with his friends. But, at the same time, Jared also has to deal with balancing his mom’s volatility and comforting Destiny and supporting his dad. This contrast makes it clear that his family forces him to take on a level of responsibility that’s arguably unfair or inappropriate for a teenager.
Themes
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Jared tries to comfort Destiny as she cries into his shoulder, until she kisses him. Just then, Jared is very aware of her body against his. She tells him that he’s a good man and that he was there when everyone else ran away. Jared gets up and grabs another beer. He’s confused: she smells good, he’s drunk, and she called him a good man, which are words that he doesn’t associate with himself. He doesn’t want to be her boyfriend, or Ben’s stepdad. But she’s pretty, he feels sorry for her, and a sad part of him wants to have sex with his stepsister.
Again, as a result of his dysfunctional family, Jared has to deal with emotionally complex situations, like his stepsister kissing him and flirting with him. The fact that Destiny calls Jared a “good man,” even though he doesn’t fully recognize this in himself, only adds to Jared’s characterization as someone who is much more mature than a typical16-year-old.
Themes
Destiny asks Jared if he wants to sit next to her, but Jared tries to play it off, saying that she’s his sister and it’s weird. Destiny tries to say that they aren’t really siblings, but Jared insists that they are. They sit and drink in silence as the party goes on above their heads. Then, Jared then gives Destiny his bed and pulls out a sleeping bag for himself, and they say “Night, bro” and “Night, sis” before turning out the light.
Both Jared and Destiny drink in order to avoid the awkwardness of their situation. In the end, reinforcing to each other that they’re siblings is also a way of playing off that awkwardness, as they try to be mature and level-headed instead of giving into their desires.
Themes
