In terms of character archetypes, I’m inclined to assess the key characters -- Waymond | Alpha Waymond, Gong Gong | Alpha Gong Gong, Deirdre | Alpha Deirde – as Tricksters. Each of them shapeshift using one ‘mask’ after another (co-protagonist, nemesis, attractor, mentor).

Not so much Joy | Jobu. They hold firmly to the nemesis mask throughout until that wonderful scene (119-121) where Evelyn and Joy have a heartfelt mother-daughter moment. But the subplot has a trickster feel because while Joy (as Jobu) is supposedly an enemy, one who Gong Gong intends to kill to save the universe, Evelyn cannot bring herself to sacrifice her daughter. Thus, while Joy may not shapeshift, Evelyn is confronted by dealing with Jobu as both an enemy, but a potential ally.

What I want to focus on is how the fantastical journey Evelyn experiences, all of the spectacle and outlandish events, serve Evelyn’s metamorphosis process. She begins the story caught up in the haphazard challenges running a failing laundromat business and at odds with all the key people in her family life: Father (Gong Gong), Husband (Wamond), and Daughter (Joy). By the end, she comes to rekindle within herself the flames of familial love for all of them.

She realizes the heightened expectations her father has laid upon her since childhood and tough love approach to parenting has filtered down into Evelyn’s treatment of her own daughter.

She realizes that Joy needs to be free to lead her own life, but in order to do that, she needs the love and acceptance of her mother – which Evelyn ultimately provides.

She realizes how much Wamond loves her when her eyes are “opened” to see beyond the constant pressure of running a business.

In a classic hero’s journey way, all the riotous adventures Evelyn experiences really about her inner journey.

That leads to some thoughts about themes in the story. I’ll take that up in the next article.