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What Is The Trickster Archetype

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All of us have developed from an infant, who can not care for themselves, into a functioning adult. Through these years, there have been moments of change within ourselves and to our environment around us. Over our development, we have heard different stories with characters of all kinds, one of these being the trickster archetype. The way that the trickster is portrayed, as well as how we have perceived the character through our development, has changed. As a child, we read about people who are liars and learn that they are “the bad guys.” As an adult, that same character may be a comedic relief for the story, as opposed to a bad person. I believe that due to children’s development and understanding of concepts, the trickster archetype is …show more content…

Even in childhood, we can see that a child in toddlerhood has different capacities of those in middle childhood. Cognitive development is one psychological form that allows us to study these differences. One approach in particular, Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, is particularly useful in studying the differences between stages in childhood (Wadsworth 5). Jean Piaget is considered one of the most important researchers regarding children’s intellectual understanding and his studies are still incorporated in research and books today. Piaget’s theory of cognitive development begins with infants and toddlers between ages 0-2. This stage is called the sensorimotor stage. In this stage of cognitive development, children learn schemas, or patterns of behavior, and begin to understand anticipation …show more content…

Other characteristics such as the ones listed above in each stage can affect the characters in stories, as well. When a child can comprehend cause and effect, they may begin to understand the goal behind a character or story, even on an extremely basic level. Other aspects, such as reversibility, are another example. Some tricksters in kids movies, such as Mushu from Mulan, go through this transformation of reversibility from being a good person, going to a bad person, and them change their behavior back to that of a good person. Mushu is being selfish as he persuades Mulan to join the army. He does this to get recognition from her family. Through the movie, he realizes what he is doing and becomes more selfless (MULAN CITATION). A child who can understand irreversibility and know that characters can change back into their previous behaviors, can begin to understand the goal that this character has for the

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