“Tricksters have the ability to change their shape, Virgil. Or didn’t you listen to your grandmother’s stories? It’s all right there. He can talk to the animals. You saw him. He’s riding a motorcycle, one that’s named after us. Tricksters love irony!”
This conversation about the Trickster archetype is fundamental to appreciation of the novel. It is, in fact, distinctly about the arrival of this archetype into a community and the havoc he produces. If you are not familiar with the Trickster, go back and watch the original Thor where Loki was situated as the iconic representation of this archetype before he was emasculated into just a prankster in subsequent Avengers movies. This presentation of the Trickster is much close in alignment to Branagh’s and Hiddleston’s original construction, but it is also important to keep in mind that the Trickster, though spread equally across cultures and nationalities, is not just one singular concept. Tricksters have levels and depths and what is appropriate to one version is not necessarily appropriate to the Trickster of another’s culture.
On the side of the bike was a stylized head of an Indian with an elongated headdress. Underneath the emblem was written INDIAN MOTORCYCLE . It wasn’t just cool, it was cool squared, maybe even cubed.
Irony is front and present throughout this novel. The motorcycle in question is an Indian, also known as James Dean’s favorite brand of cycle. The Indian cycle does not carry quite the worldwide identification as Harley’s hogs, but among enthusiasts, well, let’s just say that a line of Harleys might be rusting in the past of those with the opportunity to buy an original Indian. The pop culture figure most strongly identified with the Indian brand is 1950's movie star James Dean, specifically his Warrior TT. Even though Dean is not mentioned by name, the stranger who comes to town is very Dean-esque. That unnamed presence is set in counterpoint to the two names of two major characters—John and Wayne—as clever ways to subtly indicate things indirectly than explicitly. Irony is certainly limited to the Indian motorcycle being ridden with a young Caucasian with sandy blonde hair.
Today, the heated topic revolved around which of the Gilligan’s Island girls was the sexiest: Mary Ann or Ginger. They were almost coming to blows over this one. Judas and Marty were definitely Mary Ann fans. In their own lives both had married the “pretty girl next door,” while Michael Mukwa was waiting for a Movie Star to enter his life. Faith has often been described as belief without proof, and Michael had a lot of faith this would happen eventually.
The necessity of a link existing between faith and reason is central to the thematic pursuit of the narrative. Faith can be a good thing, but it doesn’t have to be. For many, having complete faith that something can happen often gets transformed into complete faith that it has to happen. And, of course, nothing has to happen just because you believe it will. So that is one aspect of this quote that fundamentally important. Another is more on the surface, but is equally important and that is the way in which white American pop culture is so deeply ingrained into the modern Native American experience. This debate—it is essential to note—is being conducted among the unofficial members of the unofficial Otter Lake Debating Society. They are all forty-something men with prominent beer guts, not young teens with their hormones fired by the recent sighting of the two attractive castaways under discussion. This is especially important context to know relative to Michael Mukwa’s undying faith.
