American Gods

American Gods by Neil Gaiman is a powerhouse of a novel. It centers on the life of an ex-con, Shadow, after being let out of jail only to find out that this wife and best friend are dead. He is then hired by the mysterious Mr. Wednesday and goes on to meet many deities in his travels. These gods come from many nationalities and countries, and end up in America when immigrants come over worshipping them, however, they are soon forgotten and lose their power. They’re still here though, and have become Americanized as well (think Percy Jackson for adults). It’s revealed in the epilogue that different countries have their own incarnations of the gods, and they exist separately from each other. The chapters describing what Shadow’s up to alternate with coming-to-America chapters telling the story of various gods and goddesses and how they came here. The result is a rich world that has a complex set of characters, each with their own stories and myths.

And of course, there isn’t a ton of information out there on who these people are. So later I’m going to try and sum up the quirks of these gods and how they relate to their myths, right now, it’s analysis time.

American Gods is all about the conflict between the old gods and the new (tradition versus technology, essentially). By the end though, it turns out that the conflict is really just contrived for the benefit of some players within the system. The land itself is also depicted as a god-like figure, and reminds Shadow that the gods are only there because they are allowed to be there. So the land is really allowing both the old gods and the new gods to reside on this soil. And since none of them really want to fight, to me it seems like they could work it out. The problem is that the old gods aren’t getting sacrifices anymore, or have anyone left to believe in them. There are tales of gods who committed suicide because life was too hard. It’s sad of course, but it’s also the way of the world. Change happens, old traditions are replaced by new ones. There isn’t really a good or bad to it, it’s just what happens. But of course, these old gods and new gods are really all immigrants, only the land is what is native to America and that has jurisdiction over all.

Then there’s also the towns that are visited. Shadow sees mostly small-town America, there are glimpses of LA or NYC, but he stays in Lakeside, a peaceful town in Wisconsin that is a good place to live. It’s an interesting choice, making this the focus of the novel where the American identity is so bound up in this book. The old gods seem to like it out there, where they can’t be easily found and can hide. However, there isn’t a conflict between the cities and the farms, the new gods aren’t affiliated with anywhere in America, they appear to be ubiquitous and homeless. This goes with their depiction as younger gods, they are restless and have yet to settle down anywhere.

Overall, what this says about the American identity makes sense to me, we are a nation of immigrants. Sure, the Native American gods have been here forever, but they have been pushed around and forgotten about since then. There isn’t a uniting culture to America, everyone does mostly their own thing. Which is a strange way to coexist, when you think about it. No other country really has this sort of identity, they all have traditions that go back to when humans first started living there, but not America. It’s what makes this country unique and makes it the subject of literature like this, even when written by a British author like Gaiman.