Martin
LIT2120
12 Feb. 2004
The
film version of Mutzmag, an
Appalachian folk tale, portrays the story of an orphaned young girl who
overcomes poverty by cleverly accomplishing a series of both voluntary and
involuntary tasks. Her witty methods utilized in completing such tasks generate
a fun and youthful representation of the modern day trickster from Mutzmag, the
main character. Mutzmag evolves into a life of wealth and happiness through the
following trickster traits: situation-inverter, shape-shifter, tinker/fix-it,
and deceiver/trick-player.
Throughout the film, Mutzmag
demonstrates a trickster quality that William Hynes describes as the
situation-inverter trait (37). A trickster character possesses this quality
when he/she can manipulate scenarios in his/her favor. Mutzmag’s journey begins
as she finds herself orphaned with only her two older stepsisters to claim as
family. Impoverished and unskilled, the stepsisters decide to leave home in
search of fame and fortune, abandoning Mutzmag to tend to the humble family
farm. Mutzmag, afraid of being left alone, plans to follow her stepsisters no
matter how obvious their intentions are to be rid of her. In attempts to
distract their younger sister, the older girls provide Mutzmag with a seemingly
impossible task that, if mastered, will allow her to join them in their
endeavors. She must retrieve water with a sieve. Fortunately for Mutzmag,
however, her resourcefulness and wit enable her to complete the task and catch
up to her
stepsisters, who leave immediately after sending
Mutzmag on an impractical mission. This act of competence is one of many acts in which
Mutzmag portrays her ability to invert situations to make them susceptible to
her desires. Mutzmag also demonstrates this trait by escaping from the shed
that her sisters locked her in with a pocketknife as her only aid. Furthermore,
she exemplifies the situation-inverter quality while making the transformation
from being her stepsisters’ hired help to becoming wealthy enough to
independently own a house and property. Although Mutzmag is the underdog in
each scenario, her quick wit continually produces an advantage over opposing
characters, and she finds herself benefiting from the inverted situation.
In addition to being a
situation-inverter, Mutzmag is a shape-shifter. To define this trickster trait,
Hynes states, “As shape-shifter, the trickster can alter his shape or bodily
appearance in order to facilitate deception” (36). Mutzmag deceives the giant
twice through changing her appearance. In Mutzmag’s initial attempt to mislead
the giant, she steals the nightcaps from the daughters of the witch and places
them on the head of each stepsister and herself. Because the witch instructs
the giant to only kill the girls in the loft without nightcaps, Mutzmag and her
stepsisters escape, and the witch’s daughters are killed. Mutzmag fools the
giant a second time, escaping death, by shape shifting. After returning to the
cabin with a new club, the giant believes that Mutzmag’s body is still in the
sack he left her in. However, Mutzmag has trapped his dog in the sack as her
replacement. Therefore, the giant kills his own dog and Mutzmag avoids death
again. The results from these two examples are directly related to the shape-shifting
method that Mutzmag utilizes as a trickster.
Mutzmag’s third trickster
trait is the tinker or fix-it characteristic. Hynes states that an individual
with this quality may be “noted for his ingenuity in transforming anything at
hand in order to form a creative solution” (47). In Mutzmag’s case, she uses a
simple pocketknife as a means of escape from the shed. She also uses a spool of
string to trip and kill the witch. These are just simple objects that Mutzmag
carried in her apron. She forms a creative solution from a bag of salt and oats
that she requests from the old couple. These objects aid her in killing the
witch and rescuing the old couple’s horse. Without a clever purpose in mind for
any of these objects, they would not have been useful at all during Mutzmag’s
endeavors. However, as a tinker, Mutzmag creatively utilizes basic
objects.
The final and most obvious
trickster trait that Mutzmag possesses is of deceiver and trick-player. This
single characteristic of a trickster is fundamental and underlies all of the
previously mentioned traits. The situation-inverter, shape-shifter, and tinker
or fix-it qualities are all products of the deceiver and trick-player trait.
For example, Mutzmag deceives the giant while displaying shape-shifter and
situation-inverter qualities. In addition, Mutzmag deceives the witch while
rescuing the old couple’s horse. This exemplifies her fix-it and trick-player
characteristics simultaneously. The entire essence of a trickster is focused on
the deceiver trait, and the adventures of Mutzmag occur solely due to her
ability to deceive and play tricks. Otherwise, she could have never progressed
as a main character.
Hyne’s trickster qualities
including situation-inverter, shape-shifter, tinker/fix-it, and deceiver/trick-player
are fully developed within Mutzmag. Her trickster talents allow
Poland
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her to succeed in her endeavors, and Mutzmag’s
clever solutions to the situations she encounters on her journey represent the
wit and measure of a modern day trickster.