Life > September 27, 2007

By Kell Wilson | Life editor

American Gods by Neil Gaiman is an award-winning novel that delves into the backlash that the American melting pot has caused for mythology.

It’s hard to think that our cultural diversity could be viewed as bad. But we only look at it through the eyes of mere humans, not the eyes of a god or goddess. As each culture sets foot upon American soil, its old lifestyles and beliefs start to fall away, and as Gaiman points out in his book, the ones who fall away the fastest and the hardest are the gods.

The book’s protagonist is a man who goes by the name of Shadow. He’s been in jail for the past three years and two days before he’s about to be released, he learns that he has lost everything he has left: his home, his job and most importantly, his wife.

On the flight back to her funeral, Shadow meets and reluctantly agrees to work for the domineering Mr. Wednesday, not knowing that Wednesday is actually one of the most powerful Norse gods, Odin, who is about to start a war to regain his power. What follows is a chaotic and enlightening road trip across America as Shadow is forced in the middle of a battle between the new gods of technology and the forgotten gods of old.

Shadow is the apathetic character that starts off not caring one way or another which gods wins. Shadow’s real name is never mentioned throughout the whole book, and honestly, the reader should have a hard time connecting with him. Yet, as the book progresses, so does Shadow’s character and the reader is drawn to the transformation of the stoic, beaten down ex-con to a man who has found a new meaning to life after all his hardships.

What is really fascinating about American Gods is Gaiman’s extensive knowledge of world mythology. For most of his lead characters he uses gods and goddess from several major and minor religions throughout the ages, portraying them as real people in our everyday world. In the book, their wealth all depends on how many people worship them.

One of the god characters makes the comment that although Jesus may have mansions in America, he still has to hitchhike his way through Afghanistan. Even the strongest gods are nothing without followers.

Gaiman also talks about how religion is morphing and how new gods are becoming more and more powerful. “Religions are places to stand and look and act, vantage points from which to view the world,” he writes.

As the church attendance rate continues to decrease, Americans start to dedicate most of their time to forms of entertainment. Gaiman drives home the point that televisions and computers have become new vantage points along with that new types of altars. Life lesson no longer come from sermons or parents but from sitcoms and Web sites. A new kind of religion has evolved in our modern day society. So what’s happened to all those who have been forgotten and are no longer worshipped? “Gods die,” Gaiman writes. “And when they truly die, they are unmourned and unremembered.”