American Gods Summary, Themes, Characters & Synopsis

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About the Book-American Gods

Title	American Gods
Author	Neil Gaiman
Publication Date	2001
Publisher	William Morrow,
No. of Pages	465 Pages
Language	Emglish
Genre	Fantasy, Mythology, Fiction
Setting	Contemporary America
ISBN	9780062472106

Characters

The main characters of “American Gods” by Neil Gaiman are:

Shadow Moon ➜ The main guy who gets mixed up with gods.
Mr. Wednesday ➜ A mysterious old man who’s also a god.
Laura Moon ➜ Shadow’s wife who comes back from the dead.
Mad Sweeney ➜ A leprechaun who loves coins.
Bilquis ➜ A goddess who eats her lovers.
Technical Boy ➜ A god of technology and the internet.
Media ➜ A god who can turn into TV and stuff.

Themes

The themes of “American Gods” by Neil Gaiman are:

Clash of Old and New ➜ The book is about old gods from history meeting new, modern gods like technology and media.
Belief Matters ➜ It shows that what people believe in can have a big impact on the world.
Changing America ➜ The story explores how American culture is always changing.
Finding Yourself ➜ The main character, Shadow, goes on a journey to discover who he really is.
Stories are Powerful ➜ It tells us that stories and myths can shape our reality.

Synopsis

American Gods is a book about a man named Shadow who meets a mysterious guy named Wednesday. They go on a journey across America, meeting old gods like Odin and new gods like Technology.

It’s a story about beliefs, identity, and a battle between ancient and modern gods. Shadow’s life gets mixed up with these powerful beings, and it’s full of magic and surprises.

Summary

When Shadow’s wife Laura is murdered in a car accident, he gets freed from jail three days early. She had been having an affair with Shadow’s best friend Robbie, and Robbie’s death, along with hers, has crushed Shadow. He accepts a position as Mr. Wednesday’s bodyguard and journeys throughout the country with him, stopping at Wednesday’s friends’ homes. After defeating him in combat, Mad Sweeney, a leprechaun that Shadow meets, presents Shadow with a magical gold coin. Inadvertently raising his wife from the dead as a partially alive revenant, Shadow subsequently throws the penny into his wife’s grave at her burial. Czernobog & the Zorya Sisters encounter Shadow.

A silver coin from the Moon that was given to Shadow by one of the sisters would shield him. Shadow discovers that Wednesday is a manifestation of Odin the All-Father and that he is enlisting American manifestations of the Old Gods, whose strength has waned as the number of their worshipers has grown, to fight the New American Gods, which are manifestations of modern life as well as technology (which most Americans now unwittingly worship), such as the Internet, media, and contemporary modes of transportation. Along with Mr. Nancy (Anansi), Easter (ostre), Whiskey Jack (Wisakedjak) & John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed), Shadow meets several of Wednesday’s supporters.

The New Gods kidnap Shadow (using a gang of enigmatic Men in Black known as Spooks, commanded by the enigmatic Mr. World), but Laura saves him while slaying several Spooks. Wednesday instructs Shadow to hide with Cairo, Illinois’s Mr. Ibis (Thoth) & Mr. Jacquel (Anubis), owners of a funeral home. Sweeney shows in and asks Shadow to return the coin to him because he accidentally gave it to Shadow, who now possesses all of his power and luck. Sweeney passes away regretting that he used to be a king only to die in this way as Shadow acknowledges that he no longer possesses the currency. Ibis and Jacquel tend to his body while lamenting the loss of another Old God. Samantha Black Crow is picked up by Shadow on the way to Lakeside, a town in Wisconsin, and delivered to her home.

Once at Lakeside, Shadow goes undercover as “Mike Ainsel” and interacts with several locals, including the elderly Hinzelmann, police chief Chad Mulligan, and neighborhood reporter Marguerite Olsen, all of whom lead straightforward but contented lives. Hinzelmann discusses the custom of driving a car into the ice and placing a wager on when it would break through. Shadow occasionally works for Wednesday to meet other gods. The Spooks are after them constantly, especially Mr. Town, who believes Shadow is responsible for his friends’ deaths. Shadow assists the other locals in the search for a missing adolescent in Lakeside, but she is never located. Another kid in the community informs Shadow that children and teens go missing from Lakeside frequently. By chance, Shadow encounters Sam and Robbie’s widow. He is soon taken into custody by Chad for violating his parole, but with assistance from Czernobog & Mr. Nancy, he can flee.

While Wednesday was being killed in the conference, the New Gods were trying to negotiate. The Old Gods watch this event, which inspires them to band together to fight their adversaries in Rock City. Shadow is shocked to learn that Low Key Lyesmith, his former jail cellmate and mentor, is now a driver for the New Gods when recovering Wednesday’s body. Shadow is required under the terms of his agreement with Wednesday to perform his vigil by simulating Odin’s nine-day period spent being hung from a “World Tree” and wounded by a spear. Horus, who has gone insane from spending too much time as a hawk, visits him during these nine days. After passing away, Shadow travels to the afterlife where Anubis judges him. Shadow discovers that he was conceived as a result of Wednesday’s (Odin’s) designs. Mr. Town is directed by Mr. World to cut a limb from the World Tree, and he shows up there at this moment.

Easter is found by Horus, who persuades her to revive Shadow. Shadow understands that Mr. World is Low Key (Loki) Lyesmith and that Loki and Odin have been running a “two-man con.” The conception of Shadow, his encounter with a disguised Loki in jail, and even Laura’s demise were all planned by them. By orchestrating Odin’s assassination, Loki turned the conflict between the New & Old Gods into a sacrifice for Odin, giving him back his authority while also giving Loki a chance to profit from the mayhem.

Laura decides to hitchhike to Rock City, where she meets Mr. Town and they decide to travel together even though he has no idea who she is. When they reach their objective, Laura kills Mr. Town & takes the branch he stole from the World Tree after learning Mr. Town’s identity during their journey. The World Tree branch, which transforms into a spear as she stabs, is then used by her to stab Loki.

After reaching Rock City, Shadow faces the now severely injured Loki and the ghost of Odin, who disclose their schemes. Traveling to the battleground, Shadow argues that neither side has anything to gain and everything to lose, with Odin and Loki emerging as the genuine winners. They are advised to return to their native countries by Shadow, who claims that the United States is a horrible location for Gods. Odin’s ghost disappears, Loki passes away, and the gods depart. When Laura begs Shadow to remove the currency from her, he obliges, and she subsequently passes away.

Shadow recalls a dream in which the Hindu deity Ganesha instructed him to “look in the trunk” after he had rested with Mr. Nancy. He goes back to Lakeside and makes his way over the deteriorating ice toward the parked automobile. The body of the missing teen is discovered inside the trunk when he picks the latch. He slips through the ice and becomes stuck there where he discovers abandoned automobiles from previous winters on the lake’s bottom. Presumably, a child’s body is imprisoned within each one. Hinzelmann rescues Shadow and takes him to his house where he gets treated for hypothermia.

Shadow comes to understand that Hinzelmann is a deity who also killed and kidnapped the kids. Hinzelmann adds that in exchange for the success of the community, he regrettably has to sacrifice one kid each year. Hinzelmann tries to sacrifice youngsters that no one would truly miss, but the townspeople are oblivious to this and Hinzelmann’s grip over the town. When Shadow considers murdering Hinzelmann, he realizes he can’t since Hinzelmann saved his life.

Chad Mulligan, who overheard the exchange, killed Hinzelmann by shooting him. Chad drives off with Shadow, feeling so horrible that he almost commits suicide. Shadow deduces that Hinzelmann put this in place as a fail-safe so that whoever murdered him would pass away quickly. Shadow steals Chad’s memory of hearing Hinzelmann & the murder by using magic. Knowing that the town’s wealth will probably dwindle without Hinzelmann’s protection, he leaves Chad and Lakeside behind.

In Iceland, Shadow encounters a different version of Odin who resembles the mythological figure considerably more than Wednesday. This version of Odin was developed by the belief of Iceland’s early immigrants. Shadow blames Odin for what happened on Wednesday, but Odin responds, “He was me. However, I am not him. He claims that Wednesday was the aspect of himself that journeyed to the new planet with his followers and devolved through time as he was increasingly forgotten. Odin receives Wednesday’s glass eye from Shadow, and as a memento, he stores it in a leather bag. Odin is delighted with Shadow’s straightforward coin trick and requests that it be repeated. As Mad Sweeney did when they first met, Shadow then pulls a little bit of actual magic, plucking a golden coin out of thin air, before departing from the deity and entering the outside world.

About the Author-Neil Gaiman

Name	Neil Gaiman
Date of Birth	November 10, 1960
Nationality	British (Born in England)
Occupation	Author, Graphic Novelist
Famous Works	– American Gods (2001) -Coraline (2002) -The Sandman” comic series (1989-1996) -Neverwhere (1996) -Good Omens (co-authored with Terry Pratchett, 1990) -Stardust (1997)
Writing Style	Fantasy, horror, and mythology with a touch of whimsy