Book Read: American Gods by Neil Gaiman (Author's preferred text)
There are many concepts that come into your mind when you hear of the word, "god". For example: power, influence, omniscience. Yet the many gods in Gaiman's novel embody nothing of these. They are weak, forgotten and desperate. Their true identities hidden, the gods blend in with the crowd, disguising themselves as butchers, undertakers and even prostitutes. It is this that makes the novel shine and stand out, in addition to its well-characterised human characters, most notably Shadow, the ex-convict with a big heart, who in the progress of the story, comes to term with the death (and near-resurrection) of his wife, the good and evil of the ordinary people he meets, his realisation of the direction America is heading and his very own death.
What I feel the most amazing thing of the novel is, however, is its main conflict of the old gods and the "New Gods" and how the idea of belief fits into the entire thing. The old gods are the weak ones, those who represent tradition and culture. The so-called "New Gods" are representations of technology and modernisation. Such examples of these include Media. Mr Town and the violent car gods who receive many sacrifices each day. In Gaiman's universe, the gods feed on the belief and worship humans provide them with. The two sides are fighting for the lion's share. Naturally, the "New Gods" are winning. This is the big statement that the novel makes, that today's society (or at least those of most first-world countries) is much more concerned by modernisation and has largely failed to recognise tradition and culture, which has become obsolete and unimportant. It also implies that technology has become the ruler of the human race.
A large part of the story also centers around the fact that America is a big melting pot. Along with the main plot, there are several small glimpses into the past, whether be it 2000 BC or the 1700s, they are all narratives of how people from faraway lands immigrated to America, bringing their gods along with them. That is the reason why Kali of Hinduism, Horus of the Ancient Egyptians and Odin of Norse paganism all exist in America. The book highlights America's characteristics, how it contains so many different cultures and religions, how it is beginning to ignore these cultures and so on. Compared to Singapore, the difference, surprisingly, is not that big. Singapore can also be called a melting pot in its own right, only on a much smaller scale. Indeed, similar to America in the past, all sorts of races travelled to the little red dot on the map in the pursuit of a better future. And it is also similar to Singapore in the fact that both countries are increasingly more focused on modernisation, and that the younger gneration is starting to ignore their culture and tradition. There is also a third similarity. It is stated in the book that its not hard to find the heart of Norway, or the spirit of Mozambique, yet America is constantly seraching for an identity. Aren't we too? We are a relatively new country. Have we possibly modernised too fast, such that we've forgotten about what Singapore really is? Not on a surface level, anyoe can tell you we're a metropolitan city-state, but on a cultural level.
There is, of course, a war in the story. A big one. And one usually expects the fight to be the climax. I did, and believe me if you constantly read "The storm is coming" over and over again, you would expect that war to be the climax too. But it was Shadow's self-actualisation that was the real climax. Something that happened when he was hanging from a tree and the events that took place immediately after (shan't spoil too much...). Throughout the story, Shadow is plagued by his past, his troubled childhood, three years in prison, so on and so forth. But then he is offered to sell away his old name. His true name, in exchange for the truth. He takes that deal and after some shocking revelations (read the book to find out more...), finally puts his past behind him, as he put his name behind him forever. At this point of the story, the atmosphere is subdued and mysterious, yet it is clear it is the climax, for the battle over oneself has been finally won.
It is interesting to note that Gaiman himself is a British immigrant, which is most likely is inspiration for writing the book. The book is about finding America and what it really is. As such, a large part of the book's plot takes plce on a road trip. Shadow travels to the many diverse cities of America, all which have their unique cultures and is amazed by the difference between each city. It seems then, that the book is aimed at Americans, not just newcomers but even those who have lived there all their lives. America is a huge country. It is probably a fact that no single American knows everything about it. And the book wants them to reliase this fact and that there a multitude different cultures out there, you don't need to travel the world, just look in your own backyard.
Just like how most of its events happen on a road trip, American Gods is exactly like one. Having its fair share of twists and turns, this fantasy is an instant classic (yeah, I know how cliched a closing this is).
Questions addressed:
20. What lesson did you learn from this story? (Application)
26. If your story happened in a foreign land, compare that land to Singapore. (Analysis)
48. The climax of any book or story is the exciting or interesting part. Tell what you think is the climax of the story and why? (Synthesis)
51. Who do you think the author intended to read this book and why? (Evaluation)
