“American Gods”, a novel by Neil Gaiman, depicts a metaphorical war between the gods of the old world and the gods of the new. It begins as the main character, Shadow, is set to be paroled after three years in prison for assault. Tragically, only two days before his release, he learns that his wife and was killed in a car accident. Out of prison, and with no real home to return to, he is approached by a man calling himself “Mr. Wednesday”, who offers him a job as his assistant. Although apprehensive at first, Shadow takes the job, not realizing that he is setting in motion a complicated series of events which will determine the fate of the American consciousness.
For Gaiman, the gods themselves are born of human thought; they evolve through changes in telling and retelling of their stories. Some gods are the “offspring” of other gods, as opposed to evolutions, because a story retold and altered as it travels may remain the same where it originated, resulting in two separate but related forms of the same god – parents and children.
This concept of gods as creations – even extensions – of human consciousness is not a new one, and is in fact well established within the psychology of religion. For every person or society, the god or gods in some way embody their culture and the different aspects of their environment as they perceive it. In this way, the existence of gods is cyclical and somewhat paradoxical, sharing a self-same identity with those who believe. Even an almighty creator god itself stems from the minds of those it was said to have created.
There is a blurring of the line between metaphor and reality as the gods have real physical world manifestations. These gods are not the all-seeing, all-knowing entities one may expect. On the contrary, they are depicted as mortal, vulnerable, and live much like human beings – holding jobs, forming relationships, eating, sleeping, and dying. It is quite novel to see the legendary All- Father, Odin, cast as a lecherous and manipulative con man, or the Egyptian God of Death, Anubis, working as a coroner.
Many gods and supernatural beings, both popular and obscure – make an appearance, such as Kali and Ganesh of India, Anansi of West Africa, leprechauns from Ireland, Anubis and Thoth from Egypt, and djinni from the Middle East. Gaiman then introduces the “new gods”, such as Media – a woman in heavy makeup so perfect as to be unreal, Television – taking on the form of a generic celebrity personality, and Internet – an arrogant fat kid one might picture as the head of a successful dot-com business. More or less anything that has dominated the American consciousness is represented as a god – be it a new technology such as drugs, railroads, cars, and airplanes – or important changes in the way people live. The deities draw their power and thrive, or weaken and perish, on the strength of their adherents’ beliefs.
“So, yeah, Jesus does pretty good over here [in America]. But I met a guy who said he saw him hitchhiking by the side of the road in Afghanistan and nobody was stopping to give him a ride. You know? It all depends on where you are.” (p. 208)
The American incarnations of the old world gods were carried within the minds of people who migrated from Europe, Asia, and Africa, but who maintained their traditions. In time, however, as cultures collided, blended, or were altogether displaced, many of the gods were lost to time, and in effect, succumbed to death. They are being steadily displaced with each new evolution in American culture, from the proliferation of the railroads during the industrial revolution to the advent of mass communication in the 20th century. Although most people would not acknowledge it, Gaiman points out that there are strong similarities between the worship of traditional deities at altars, and the common American practice of sacrificing time and devotion to the television.
While American Gods has all the excitement and suspense of an actual and even believable war between gods, it is in fact an allegory for the struggle between thought-phenomena for the right to occupy people’s minds.
Religions are, by definition, metaphors after all: God is a dream, a hope, a woman, an ironist, a father, a city, a house of many rooms, a watchmaker who left his prize chronometer in the desert, someone who loves you – even perhaps, against all evidence, a celestial being whose only interest is to make sure your football team, army, business or marriage thrives, prospers, and triumphs over all opposition. (p. 508)
The central idea of the book is that as societies change, advancing culturally and technologically, there is little time or “brain space” for old customs and old beliefs. The story takes place in the United States, which is becoming an increasingly secular society. Gaiman conveys the capriciousness of the American consciousness, how at ever-diminishing intervals, our minds shift from one paradigm to the next; religion for new age spirituality, books for television, newspapers and radio for internet. Only the ideas – here represented as gods – with the ability to change with the times can even hope to survive. Shadow in many ways represents the iconic American. He is noticeably large and physically intimidating, ethnically ambiguous, superficially simple, and yet deceptively intelligent. Story- wise he is the son of a human woman and the god, Odin, perhaps a reference to the duality between this nation’s religiosity and modernity. He also represents the minds of all Americans, who are often forced to find a middle ground between old ideals with new ones created by rapid changes in society and culture.
He is first recruited by Odin as a crucial ally for the old world gods, as they make their bid for survival in an ever-changing world. The conflict comes to a head when Odin is killed by the new gods, but as Shadow eventually discovers, the whole affair was an elaborate scheme – a “two man con” – perpetrated by Loki, along with Odin himself. His death, which he knew to be only temporary, was the final push the old world gods needed to engage in all-out war with the new. After crossing over to the new world, the American incarnation of Odin weakened with time, as the devotion of his followers diminished. There were no more of the sacrifices of old, or wars fought in his name. Odin was a god of death, and in order to sustain himself, he orchestrated a master plan.
The war between the old world gods and the new world gods would inevitably be a massacre, with great casualties on both sides. Loki would dedicate the battle to Odin, ensuring that each death restored the All-Father’s strength. Loki himself, who thrived on chaos, stood to gain just as much power from the war itself. Parallels could be drawn between this scheme and the many battles – both physical and ideological – fought in the name of religion throughout history in order to sustain one creed or another.
Unfortunately for Odin and Loki, Shadow discovers the plan, and eventually becomes the arbiter between both sides, convincing them that the war itself is pointless, and will only serve to sustain unnecessary conflict. As Shadow manages to avert the catastrophe, Gaiman’s message seems to be that modern secularism does not have to be at odds with traditional spirituality or religiosity in the human consciousness, that the brain has ample capacity for both.
Reality is not so much different from Gaiman’s epic tale. The American mind truly is a battleground, with a war occurring on the small scale within every individual, and macrocosmically in the public consciousness. The fight for “brain space” rages on, with each new scientific innovation, new interpretations of history, shifts in culture and society, and how we reconcile these changes with the deep-seated desire in all of us to hold on to some part of our pasts.
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