Characteristically a Trickster – A Critical Review

He’s sly, cunning, good-looking and suave. He appears from nowhere and returns to the same. He is your friend and your enemy. Keep a close eye on him, but also believe what he says, for he may help you to see clearly. Who is this man? He is the TRICKSTER! He is present in nearly all Native American stories; however, the form to which he adapts is constantly changing. From dirty old men, to young good-looking heart breakers, the trickster provides an outlet for much humor, irony and truth. It is from the article “Ambigere: The Euro-American Picaro and the Native American” by Franchot Ballinger that most of the trickster qualities are described. “A roguish traveler(s)” (21-39), the Trickster is seen as a character who rebels against moral and civil code. Their tales, which exist mostly in myth, are notable for their lack of an adequate ending. The ending is nearly impossible to accomplish because the Trickster is a figure that never ends. Reappearing in nearly every Native American piece of fiction, the Trickster’s story continues, although the persona changes. “This young man (occasionally women) usually (by the standards of society) are of low birth or of obscure origins (perhaps orphaned…) and come from a disreputable background… surviving by his wits, which often means living by begging, theft, deception…” (21-39). Many of these traits, present is so many Trickster figures, have developed into genres of tricksters. Such would be the African Yoruba trickster – Tortoise; the Clackman’s Chinook Coyote or Winnebago Trickster (21-39).