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Symbolism In Son Of A Trickster By Eden Robinson

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Son of a Trickster Essay [Lead in sentence/Hook] “Son of a Trickster,” by Eden Robinson, is the story about the coming of age and rough period of adolescence of a young Aboriginal boy. Through her novel, Robinson is able to convey a message that the Aboriginal people, mainly focusing on the Haisla and Heiltsuk First Nations, are dark and grating societies of Canada. In order for her readers to understand her perspective of the society, she first demonstrates the selfishness of the societies with the symbolism of raven along with its traits and attributes. Secondly, she uses supernaturalism which shows the mysterious and deceiving society of the Haisla and Heiltsuk First Nations. Lastly, the connection of Jared’s relationships with his peers reveal the negative influences, trends, and issues within the Aboriginal societies. Overall, all these factors contribute the darkness of both reality and the story. Firstly, the symbolism and the traits and attributes of the raven is used to demonstrate the selfishness of the societies. The discussion of the ravens helps the readers visualize the selfishness and supports her point of darkness and grating Canadian Aboriginal societies. For example, in the story talking raven makes comments about Jared in his backyard, “‘Have a heart,’ one of them said. ‘We’re hungry.’ Jared’s breath came fast. ‘We’d be happy with the guts,’ another of them said to him. ‘You don’t even have to give us the bellies.’ Jared stood, stunned frozen.

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