Custom essays on Tricksters Ancient and Modern

The image of a trickster has always been an essential part of popular country of almost any country. Tricksters become the main characters of many tales and parables and attract people’s attention mainly due to their fascinating character and tricky deeds. Today’s American popular culture is not an exception and has tricksters who become quite famous and in many cases idols of young people. One of such tricksters who gripped attention of a large audience is Captain Jack Sparrow, a pirate and an enterprising young man, who often finds a way out of a difficult situation.
Captain Jack Sparrow fascinates with its unpredictable and very charismatic character. He has a sense of humor and is always eager to play a trick on somebody. You cannot call him a mean person but nevertheless honesty is not his trait of character. He says “Me, I’m dishonest. And a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest—honestly! It’s the honest ones you want to watch out for, because you can never predict when they’re going to do something incredibly… stupid” (Bruckheimer, 2003). Despite this statement, he is definitely an ambiguous person. You never know what to expect from him. Still, on a subconscious level you know that he cannot treat a woman badly, he is capable of benevolent actions. He is brave but he prefers to settle arguments by means of negotiations and his wit rather then with the help of weapon. He is a shifty fellow and has a ready tongue. Therefore, he almost always can get what he wants or in case of failure find a way out. Surely, we know this character from the movies and therefore we should give credit to the actor who played Captain Jack Sparrow, Johnny Depp. His skill helped him to get the feel of his part and thus to incarnate all the traits of a real trickster in this character.
Captain Jack Sparrow leaves the audience with no doubt that he is a modern trickster. Once we know all the typical characteristics of a trickster, we understand that this pirate meets all the requirements. As well as any traditional trickster Jack Sparrow lives according to his own rules and does not want to obey to any of existing laws. The tricksters usually break the laws of nature, but without any evil intentions and with positive results in the end. They are cunning and funny. They play jokes and have absolutely unserious attitude to the world. They do not pay attention to what people think of them and in fact it is quite difficult to learn their thoughts as well. Due to their ambiguous character, it is impossible to give a definite answer about their nature. Classic mythical tricksters can change their shapes and appear as different creatures. Very often they are very close to gods or to sacred creatures and are themselves quite unworldly. For centuries they have taught people to preserve sense of humor and optimism in any situation, especially in situations of oppression. In allegoric form they showed people how it is possible to overcome any difficulty, by the way not by weapon and force but by quick wit and cunning.
History of popular culture of different nations numbers many tricksters. Speaking about American folklore tradition, one of the most typical ancient characters who have found its place in modern culture as well is Brer Rabbit. He is the main character in Uncle Remus stories gathered and adapted by Joel Chandler Harris. However, these stories existed in narrative tradition of African Americans long time ago. Like Jack Sparrow Brer Rabbit also prefers to gain his aims with the help of his wit and does not need to use force in order to take revenge of the adversaries. No one can say that Brer Rabbit is devoid of shortcomings. He is vain and amoral and can even make villainous deeds. Jack Sparrow is the same and throughout all the movies we can see his different images. However, it is not their benevolence that make people love tricksters. It is their quick wit and easy attitude to life that fascinates people and make them to be blind to their faults. Both Captain Jack Sparrow and Brer Rabbit are not ideal, moreover they often seem to be deceitful, but what makes them national heroes, they are not rotten.
To make a conclusion, at first glance it is strange to compare Brer Rabbit and Captain Jack Sparrow as they seem to be very different characters. Indeed they are and they belong to different epochs, still both of them are tricksters. They have much in common in their behavior and character. They are witty and optimistic, they are very ambiguous and cunning but they win their audience due to their spirit and pranks. Seeming to be thoughtless and very gullible, they still can teach people much and since ancient times they play significant role of encouraging people in hard times.

Reference
Bruckheimer, J. (Producer) & Verbinski, G. (Director). (2003). Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.
Hynes, W. J. Doty, W. G. (1997). Mythical Trickster Figures. University Alabama Press.