Motorcycle And Sweetgrass Character Analysis

Motorcycles and Sweetgrass

Nanabush, the fictif culture hero and trickster from First Nations mythology is portrayed by a character named John in the novel Motorcycles and Sweetgrass by Drew Hayden Taylor. John rolls into Otter Lake National Reserve on his 1953 Indian Chief Motorcycle and brings magic into the town. As the story progresses, John’s character traits become more evident. It soon becomes evident that John is the perfect trickster. The three main character traits that make him so good at trickery are his ability to be: charming, magical and devious.

A mix of well acted emotions, a choice of words and stunning good looks make John a dangerously charming character. Throughout John’s visit at the reserve he repeatedly charms all the women of Otter Lake, but mainly Maggie. When John stops on

When a group of raccoons confront John for his supposed eating of their ancestor John uses his magical skills to understand the racoons and converse with them. Due to his magic he is able to understand the racoon language as stated by the narrator, “He seemed to be… talking to racoons” (Taylor 197). John uses his magic a number of other times throughout the novel as well, one example is near the end before John leaves Otter Lake. Virgil heart almost stops as he sees John change his appearance, making Virgil remark that, “The blonde white man he’d known for over a week was not the man before him. In his place sat a strikingly handsome Native man” (Taylor 335). John’s ability to change his appearance is useful for John’s trickery. For example if he runs into someone he knows from the past they won’t be suspicious of him because he doesn’t look the same as they remember. Also if he breaks the law, the police can’t find him because he doesn’t look the same as the man they’re looking for. Take away John’s magic and his trickery wouldn’t be as