Tricks

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of child sexual abuse, child abuse, antigay bias, substance use, addiction, and death.

Each narrator grapples with their identity and self-worth throughout the narrative. Seth’s and Ginger’s storylines, in particular, exemplify the problems with undervaluing their self-worth and struggling to identify who they are in the world, which leaves them vulnerable to predators, who take advantage of and abuse them.

Seth’s struggle with self-worth stems from his sexual orientation. Seth’s father’s decision to kick Seth out of the house leaves him both physically and emotionally traumatized. Seth struggles with accepting himself because he knows that his father’s love is conditional. He explains why he hides his identity when he says, “[I]t is because of who I am, all the way inside, the biggest part of me, the part I need to hide” (23). Hopkins uses internal rhyme in these lines to emphasize the significance of Seth’s words. Seth becomes so focused on surviving his father’s house that at first, it feels like he has escaped and found freedom when he lives with Carl, until it becomes clear that Carl has taken advantage of him.