Self-Realization In Jared Martin's Son Of A Trickster

What defines a good coming-of-age novel? Likeable and caring yet immature protagonists, valuable life lessons learned through difficult situations and inevitable self-realization are key components, which are all present in the novel, Son of a Trickster. The innovative coming-of-age novel includes all of that while still being relatable to the young targeted audience. The book follows the protagonist as he grows from a young, rebellious kid to a mature, young adult. It also shows a good representation of Indigenous peoples within a common genre of literature made from their point of view. At the beginning of the novel, we meet Jared Martin, the protagonist, who is a 16-year-old kid that spends most of his time drinking and skipping school.

With this comes self-realization, which is fundamental to a good coming-of-age story and Son of a Trickster portrays this in a way that is relatable. Jared has a challenging childhood, which is the cause of a lot of his behaviours such as drinking and doing drugs. By the end of the novel, Jared realizes what he needs to do to better himself and he wants to change the type of person he is, saying, “This doesn’t have anything to do with you. This is my sobriety,” (313) to his mom when explaining his sobriety. Realizing that you need to better yourself is extremely difficult and very important to growing maturity. Moreover, Jared is also faced with the difficulty of realizing his true magical powers. Jared has gone his whole life without knowing his magical bloodline and suddenly has to cope with the new information as he starts abruptly seeing fireflies and ape-men that nobody else can see. This shows his self-realization because he is coming to terms with his true identity. Not only does Jared have to come to terms with his magical instincts, as someone Indigenous he is also trying to learn more about his Indigenous identity. In chapter 17, Jared’s girlfriend, Sarah, asks Jared if he is going to the Idle No More protest, which leaves Jared thinking about whether or not he should attend. Jared is still trying to understand where he stands on important Indigenous issues and it is written in a way that brings attention to issues that Indigenous peoples are facing