Characteristics Of Trickster

Trickster tales are stories that include a protagonist, who is the trickster, who exhibits a great degree of intellect or secret knowledge, and uses it to play tricks or otherwise disobeys the rules. Throughout “How Stories Came to Earth”, “Coyote Steals Fire” and “Master Cat”, the protagonists reveal many characteristics that are able to define them as a trickster. Three characteristics that are shown include anthropomorphism, negative qualities of the trickster, and helpfulness of the trickster, all in which will lead to the success of the trickster at the end of the tale.

One technique commonly used in trickster tales is the use of anthropomorphism. Anthropomorphism is giving non-human characters human qualities. In How Stories Came to

The negative qualities of the trickster characters is that they are willing to do anything to get what they want. This sometimes causes heedless actions and collateral damage that could affect the fate of another character in the tale. In “How Stories Came to Earth”, Anansi the spider is willing to do anything he can to receive the stories that the sky god has been holding for many years. The sky god asked Anansi to capture four creature in order to get the stories, and he did anything that he could in order to capture them. One way he did this was when he captured the python and did the following, “... Anansi put the palm branch next to the python’s body, and saw the large snake stretch himself alongside it. Anansi then bound the python to the branch with the string-creeper and wound it over and over -- until he came to the head” (Page 41). This quote reveals that Anansi was willing to do anything that he could in order to get the sky god’s

This shows that Coyote was willing to do anything he could not only to win over the fire, but so that he would not be killed. If he could not have cheated during the game, he would have ended up dead and without the fire. In “Master Cat”, the cat was willing to do anything in his power so that his master could have a rich and carefree life. Cat’s master was originally a poor man, but with the his help, Marquis de Carabas became wealthy and got the princess. Although the cat was helping

Marquis get what he wanted, he did many reckless acts and did not think through situations before putting himself into them. One example of this is when he threatens the wheat pickers, “Listen to me, my good people. If you do not say that all of this wheat you are reaping belongs to the

Marquis de Carabas, you will be cut into little pieces until you look like chopped meat” (Page 49).

This quote reveals that the master cat was willing to do anything in his power to help his master, even if it was to threaten innocent people. The farmers worked hard to grow and reap the wheat that they have, and it was unfair for the cat to make them give it up in the blink of an eye.