Neil Gaiman doesn’t give a lot of hearty backgrounds to the gods he utilizes within his work. It’s left to the reader to interpret them via some prior experience of researching the myths or through the use of a nearby dictionary or trusty search engine. Someone with no prior knowledge may not understand why The Three Sisters choose to alternate their sleep patterns. In fact, I never knew of The Three Sisters, Czernobog, or many others he used as characters prior to beginning this novel.
Remarkably, after doing some research into the many different gods used in American Gods, Gaiman’s interpretation is extremely close to the original myths… So long as you see the clues he leaves. Take The Three Sisters for example: These are Slavic goddesses, often referred to as “The Fates” or “The Weekday Goddesses.” They protect the world from Simgarl, a Doomday Hound that, left unchecked, will devour and destroy the universe. In the novel, The Three Sister’s vigilance shows by way of the alternating sleep patterns they use, always on guard to protect us from death and destruction.
Furthermore, Gaiman adheres to the relationships of the pantheons and the peoples by whom they were worshiped by simply having them live together under the same roof. The Three Sisters share a small apartment with “The Black God” Czernobog who’s also rooted in Slavic myth. He’s the god of death, destruction, and chaos, but he isn’t really portrayed by Gaiman as “evil.” He comes off more as unhinged, mostly due to not killing in such a long time. In fact, this is how the main character, Shadow, persuades him to join the cause: by promising to let Czernobog kill him after. American Gods goes to great lengths, not only to remain true to the gods it represents, but also to show the relationships between them all. They are all affected by the infiltration of the new gods, and therefore serve a common purpose. They refuse to just die off and fade away further.
Gaiman didn’t really retell a myth per say, more like he took from existing characters and told a completely different story while maintaining a respect for the backgrounds of each. He takes Loki, Anansi, and several others and uses the myths provided by their respective cultures and intricately weaves a story using their special gifts. While this saves him from concocting some long and drawn-out back story for each person, many readers will be at a loss with trying to figure out just who is who. But that’s okay. As the story progresses, a background into each god would just become tedious anyway, and they aren’t really necessary for you to grow to love or hate that particular person or for the story to progress. Researching further into one of the characters would only be a personal point of interest at this point – a curiosity to be cured by Google. However, it's hard after reading the novel to not become enthralled by certain gods and their mythos.
Anansi is a trickster that originated in Africa and was brought to the United States via the slave trade during America’s youth. His name literally translates as “spider” from Akan, and is said to be his true form, even though he often takes the appearance of a man. Still, he remains affixed to nature in his stories. Through Anansi, Gaiman exhibits the character’s innate demeanor when he details the story of how he tricked the Tiger into giving him his balls.
American Gods was more than a mystery. It was a mystery within a mystery – specifically in the main character Shadow. Through most of the novel the reader is at an utter loss as to which god in history he was meant to represent. The character never even really knows himself. However, there are clues littered here and there that hint to his forgotten persona, but would go unnoticed by many with little knowledge of Norse mythology. When speaking to Shadow’s wife, Loki mentions ending it all right then and there by sharpening a stick of mistletoe, going down to the ash tree and sticking it between his eyes. The god Baldr could only be killed with mistletoe. This specific reference wasn’t a coincidence. Gaiman was identifying the god straightaway. The problem with most people is in the to details and having prior knowledge. Still, other characters weren't as difficult to identify.
Mr. Ibis and Mr. Jacquel are fairly straight forward as far as many of the other gods Gaiman used goes. That they operated a mortuary in Little Egypt in Southern Illinois, makes it fairly easy to determine just who they were meant to represent. Mr. Ibis (Thoth) worked as an undertaker, coinciding with what could be seen as an almost lateral move from his work as Judge of the Dead, and his godly aspect even had the head of an ibis. Gaiman goes deeper into the character. “The important thing to understand about American history, wrote Ibis, in his leather-bound journal, is that it is fictional, a charcoal-sketched simplicity for the children, or the easily bored” (Gaiman, pg 85). Via this quote, Gaiman shows another of Thoth’s attributes as a divine record keeper.
While we’ve come to accept death as inevitable, we strive to take advantage of what time we have and define ourselves by our possessions and the people around us. We try in vain to project a façade that says, “I don’t need those things,” or “I don’t need anyone’s help,” but without watching a movie or reading a book, how would we know whether to be noble or villainous? Where would we be without the sociality we garner from the people that have become integral parts in our lives? Through their standards of judging our actions, who could say what is actually right or wrong? Ultimately, they are what make us who we are. We need them. In a way, we look to them for our strength. Without them, would we really have a sense of self-awareness; an in-depth perspective into who we are?
The idea of the deities of American Gods feeding off of us isn’t as farfetched as some might think. People also feed on the others around them. Studies have shown that social isolation is extremely hazardous to humans. “Social isolation has been shown repeatedly to prospectively predict mortality and serious morbidity both in general population samples and in individuals with established morbidity, especially coronary heart disease” (House, par 1). People will continue to insist that they really don’t need anyone, but when it boils down to it, if we didn’t have each other, we would simply die off as well. Gaiman played into this in his novel.
Interestingly, American Gods was able to bring together several myths, unchanged, into a uniquely original amalgam of mystery, horror, adventure, and drama. It remained true to the historical cultures from which the deities were borrowed and encouraged the reader to root for a lone hero that would have impressed Joseph Campbell. Gaiman manages to follow the Campbell model as a perfect timeline, but one of the most memorable points is when Shadow crosses the threshold. When he is hanged in the tree and actually dies it’s a major turning point for the character and sets his resolve.
American Gods is a masterpiece and instant classic made so because of vivid storytelling and detailed research. To have so many dynamic characters and be able to weave them all together harmoniously as Gaiman has done takes great skill. His use of mythology sets a new precedent for other writers. While it can be a bit of a culture shock going into this novel with very little background on early myths, after brushing up on a few notable ones here and there, the book becomes spectacular. In the end, like any other cognitive being, these gods don’t want to be simply pushed aside to make way for the new gods. The novel puts the reader in their shoes, and even makes us reflect upon our own humanity. Ask yourself: Could we really exist without the companionship or comradery of another individual – someone with whom we could express our innermost fears and desires? Would we want to?
Works Cited
BIBLIOGRAPHY Gaiman, Neil. American Gods. New York, 13 Oct 2009. Kindle .MOBI.
House, James S. Social Isolation Kills, But How and Why? Ann Arbor, 12 Mar 2001. PDF.
Knight, Shawn C. Ancient Egyptian Religion II: The Hermopolitan and Other Pantheons. 24 Mar 2009. PDF. 5 May 2012.
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