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The Trickster Character

The Trickster Character. Native American Literature. Tales of Heroes and Tricksters. Explain who transformed the world into its present state and how . For example, the Native American trickster tale, “Coyote Steals Fire,” explains how man first obtained fire.

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The Trickster Character

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  1. The Trickster Character Native American Literature

  2. Tales of Heroes and Tricksters • Explain who transformed the world into its present state and how. • For example, the Native American trickster tale, “Coyote Steals Fire,” explains how man first obtained fire. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_CKP-82yb4&feature=related • Usually contain aspects of the supernatural.

  3. What is a trickster? • Tricksters are archetypal, almost always male, characters who appear in the myths of many different cultures. • As their name suggests, tricksters love to play tricks on other gods, humans, and animals. • But perhaps the best definition of a trickster is the one given by Lewis Hyde: "trickster is a boundary-crosser." • By that, he means that the trickster crosses both physical and social boundaries-- the trickster is often a traveler, and he often breaks societal rules.

  4. Crossing the Line • Tricksters cross lines, breaking or blurring connections and distinctions between "right and wrong, sacred and profane, clean and dirty, male and female, young and old, living and dead" (Hyde 7). • The trickster often changes shape (turning into an animal, for example) to cross between worlds. • In his role as boundary-crosser, the trickster sometimes becomes the messenger of the gods or other beings.

  5. Coyote • Coyote is a major mythological figure for most Native American tribes, especially those west of the Mississippi. • Like real coyotes, mythological coyotes are usually notable for their crafty intelligence, stealth, and voracious appetite. • However, American Indian coyote characters vary widely from tribe to tribe. • POSITIVE CHARACTERISTICS-In some Native American coyote myths, Coyote is a hero who creates, teaches, and helps humans by using his intelligence, courage, and wits. • NEGATIVE CHARACTERISTICS-In others, he is a sort of antihero who demonstrates the dangers of negative behaviors like greed, recklessness, and arrogance. • In most native coyote stories, he is some sort of combination. He is a comic trickster character, whose lack of wisdom gets him into trouble while his cleverness gets him back out.

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