"Trickster: Native American Tales: A Graphic Collection" - Literary Analysis Essay

Introduction

Folklore is one of the literary approaches that writers use to make sense of the world through stretching the emotions of the readers from one extreme to the other F. These folktales ordinarily involve the use of creatures to personify humans by doing extraordinary things. The animals are given the power to make rational, yet sometimes very crazy decisions. For instance, animals can break into a house to threaten the inhabitants, cause havoc or just create fun. The malleability of animal characters make it easy for the writers to make them embody extraordinary identities necessary for passing a desired message. Matt Dembicki epitomizes the ingenuity of binding trickster tales that evoke mixed reactions among the readers. Dembicki (2016), "Dembicki's book "Trickster: Native American Tales: A Graphic Collection" he provides the reader with a collection of various folktales that are not only emotional but also funny. Something striking about the stories that form the volume is that they are well combined with impressive artistic styles drawn from the wider North America . The book has multidimensional characters that help the readers to experience fluidity of emotions including love, fear, and respect (Williams 83).

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The "Trickster: Native American Tales: A Graphic Collection" is not just a mere collection of literature written by quintessential writers but also a graphic novel that captures the extremes of human imaginations. Some of the stories forming the 20 tales in the book include "Coyote and the Pebbles" "Raven the Trickster" "Azban and the Crayfish" "Trickster and the Great Chief" and "Horned Toad Lady and Coyote." The anthology of Native American stories is a manifestation of Dembicki's genius of collecting a wide array of Native American folktales into one volume in such a way that keep readers not only exhilarated but also enthralled. By bringing various stories of different writers into just a single book, the author facilitates the connection between the readers and some critical aspects of the American folklore that would otherwise be lost (Dembicki 2016). The stories in the anthology shows a seamless work between storyteller and the illustrator in such a way that they stand out as not only unique but also extremely powerful in communicating their message. The author has mixed the stories from serious ones to the most dramatic, funny and fiendish. Conceivably, the tales included in the book vividly bring back tricksters into the popular American culture. For instance, "Coyote and the Pebbles" embodies ego and social misstep while "How Wildcat Caught a Turkey" showcases boisterous fun. Arguably, the book transcends age limits to provide entertainment as well as cultural reinforcement to the young, old and people from diverse backgrounds.

One thing that stands out is how the native American storytellers are perfectly matched with the same number of artists who transform the ideas into impressive images. Each of these storytellers tell the tales about different animal tricksters including Coyote, raven, rabbit, raccoon, dog, wolf, beaver, and wildcat. The sheer array of storytellers in itself is a great literary achievement for the writer. The stories encapsulate the folks from almost all parts of the United states which then makes it relevant to a wide readership. Interestingly, some of the characters make very wise statements that have value to human perspectives about life. For instance, in "Coyote and the Pebbles," one of the characters says that "we cannot change what has happened" then the other reinforces that "we cannot go back to last month, last week or even five minutes ago" (Dembicki 17). These insightful statements implore humans not to be remorseful about past failures and instead focus ahead. The book in its entirety showcases an hybrid tales of stories; some are told traditionally while others use modern terms. An example of such modern terminologies in the book is "crystal cathedral thinking." The arrangement, character use and manipulation culminates into an eclectic collection, in which each of the stories provide new ideas, arouses fresh emotions and throws the reader into another world.

It thrills how the characters in some instances come out as villains who are at the mercies of their tormentors but then they surprisingly become unrepentant bad boys again. For instance, "the raven and the trickster" shows the raven entrapped in the whales belly and feels a sense of confinement but at the point when whales belly is split open by the butchers, it flies away to freedom (Dembicki 29). Again, in some of the tales the characters are demystified as wide, powerful, and small but then they artistically change their stature in a different context. It is interesting to see the same stories replaying in different contexts. In the book, the replay of stories in different contexts, not only reinforces an understanding of what motivated the actors but also makes them more fanciful. For instance, "How Wildcat Caught a Turkey," "Azban and the Crayfish" "Ishjinki and Buzzard" all give an account of tricksters who pontificate as if they are lifeless to deceive their targets. Foolishly, the prospective targets are fooled by the tricksters and get entrapped to become their meal. Despite the fact that all the stories depict animals as tricksters, it is interesting how they are cleverly developed to exhibit great craftiness and character. The artistic impressions, designs and styles that are included in the book are also very engaging. They are well customized to capture the setting of the story is developed.

Despite being a sterling expression of literary genius, "Trickster: Native American Tales: A Graphic Collection" has certain elements of flaw. For instance, someone reading it for the first time may struggle to understand which of the twenty one stories represents what tribe. Ideally, the essence of folklore to accentuate community identity due to the fact that trickster in such stories are constructed within their social contexts. It is only after reading the biographies of the various storyteller that one understands the cultural backgrounds from which the stories are told. Without having an initial ability to identify a tale with its cultural background, the reader gets an impression that they have no uniqueness and may get a bit demotivated to read further. Some inquisitive readers may also expect that Dembicki would have made the tales more comprehensive by including details of the reasons behind the paring of some artists with certain stories. Instead, the reader is left to conjure up the idea of matching the artists with their roles.

Introduction

In conclusion, "Trickster: Native American Tales: A Graphic Collection" by Matt Dembicki stands out as a quintessential collection of anthologies that portray different characters albeit with a few flaws. It interesting to see the dynamic nature of animal characters used in the folktales as well as differences in their motives. They manifest the reality of life in which people have various characters. In some of the tales, characters demonstrate good intentions while in the others they are mischievous. The writer perfectly align them to the intended roles within the narrative. Mischievous characters are developed in such a way that they are not only aggressive and engage in activities such as revenge missions or stealing food. The quality of the book draws from the author's perfect collection of different and diverse characters to express how divers Native American storytelling is. The fact that the characters in all the stories are wonderfully developed, they play their roles so well thus making it very interesting to read.

Works Cited

Dembicki, Matt. Trickster: Native American tales, a graphic collection. Fulcrum Publishing, 2016.

Williams, David. The Trickster Brain: Neuroscience, Evolution, and Narrative. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2012. Print.