Thor is Czernobog's son,

This is wrong. Thor is one of Odin's sons.

And today is Friday, named after Odin's wife.

Ok, I just finished the book and here is the theme that affected me the most.

The relationship with Wednesday and Shadow is such that it makes me feel remorse for that father child interaction that they have. There is something about an all-father that every child should experience. That relationship is what is missing in America and perfectly balances against the electronic and media gods who take the place of mentors and parents today. The fact that Shadow puts himself in a position of complete learning to wednesday, never questioning, and even goes so far as to hold the vigil as was expected of him highlights some things that we need more of in America and why the old gods will never truly go away. Responsibility, ritual, requirements... Shadow ruminates about how he misses Wednesday at one point, his strength and his confidence and so they play their roles. Wednesday the mentor who gives his experience and guidance and Shadow who gives himself without questioning and learns with an open heart. This is a relationship that many could benefit from and which is largely lost in this day and age. I actually felt a pang of loss and sadness after reading this book.

The fat kid...mr. electronics...I wanted to kill him... and here I am worshipping at his altar and sacrificing my time to the luminescent god of the web... I think I'll go take a walk.

poettess wrote:Ok, I just finished the book and here is the theme that affected me the most.

The relationship with Wednesday and Shadow is such that it makes me feel remorse for that father child interaction that they have. There is something about an all-father that every child should experience. That relationship is what is missing in America and perfectly balances against the electronic and media gods who take the place of mentors and parents today. The fact that Shadow puts himself in a position of complete learning to wednesday, never questioning, and even goes so far as to hold the vigil as was expected of him highlights some things that we need more of in America and why the old gods will never truly go away. Responsibility, ritual, requirements... Shadow ruminates about how he misses Wednesday at one point, his strength and his confidence and so they play their roles. Wednesday the mentor who gives his experience and guidance and Shadow who gives himself without questioning and learns with an open heart. This is a relationship that many could benefit from and which is largely lost in this day and age. I actually felt a pang of loss and sadness after reading this book.

The fat kid...mr. electronics...I wanted to kill him... and here I am worshipping at his altar and sacrificing my time to the luminescent god of the web... I think I'll go take a walk.

Thanks Poettess, this is a brilliant analysis. You have put your finger on the delinquency of American life, with grown up children imagining they can control the world through technology. The absence of filial mentors produces a hollow centre, with the technological world view appearing rather like Lord of the Flies in its hedonic amorality. The sheer mastery Wednesday presents gives the sense that he is connected to bigger older wisdom against which the superficiality of modern life is like a flea on an elephant. I also felt a pang of loss and sadness, partly that the electronic world imagines it is real, but does not see its dependence on nature. Just because the fat boy imagines he is in control does not mean you worship at his altar. A deeper theme here is the potential redemption of technology through the validation of ancient wisdom.

poettess wrote

A deeper theme here is the potential redemption of technology through the validation of ancient wisdom.

Sorry, what do you mean by that? Where is this theme seen?

-Michael

xtremeskiier114 wrote:poettess wrote

A deeper theme here is the potential redemption of technology through the validation of ancient wisdom.

Sorry, what do you mean by that? Where is this theme seen?

-Michael

Hi Michael, that comment was from me, not Poettess. Neil Gaiman is a master of suspense, and we have this theme through the book of a looming storm, a confrontation between old and new. The form of that war emerges in cameo ideas, gradually forming a picture. You have to read to the end to see if the expectation is delivered.

Robert Tulip wrote: A deeper theme here is the potential redemption of technology through the validation of ancient wisdom.

Robert, do you have a suggestion as to how this can be done?

Thomas Hood wrote:

Robert Tulip wrote: A deeper theme here is the potential redemption of technology through the validation of ancient wisdom.

Robert, do you have a suggestion as to how this can be done?

Tom, yes I do have a suggestion, but it is a secret. In American Gods, Gaiman initially gives the impression that technology may be unredeemable. This is an interesting plot device, opening the question of how we find meaning in the world, if many things we think are meaningful are actually not. He implies that old frameworks for meaning and purpose have much to offer to the new frameworks, but you will have to read the book to find how this resolves.

Robert Tulip wrote:

Thomas Hood wrote:

Robert Tulip wrote: A deeper theme here is the potential redemption of technology through the validation of ancient wisdom.

Robert, do you have a suggestion as to how this can be done?

Tom, yes I do have a suggestion, but it is a secret. . .

Alas, Robert, had I but world enough, and time, I'd read everything at BookTalk, but Time's winged chariots are hurrying near. The solution to the redemption of technology is as old as The Antigone. The only secret is how closely Gaiman approximates the ancient answer. Technology can be redeemed by a successful technology of the self, productive of self knowledge, that is, a perfection of Tiresian learning.

Tom

Robert Tulip wrote:American Gods is an epic novel dealing with many big themes, including sacrifice, loyalty, betrayal, love and faith. Which theme affected you most strongly, and why?

American Gods is a wonderful book. This is actually the second time that I have read the book, and I loved it even more this time.


I think that one of the most profound themes in American Gods is the that of betrayal. Throughout the book, people and gods struggle with whom to trust and whom not to trust. The text is rife with moments of trust given and trust broken. From the beginning, Shadow is betrayed by his wife Laura who is having an affair with his best-friend Robbie. While the dead Laura who visits Shadow in his hotel room claims that she would never have left him for Robbie, she also explains that the sex with him was good. When Shadow objects to knowing this, Laura states, “I’m sorry. It’s harder to pick and choose when you’re dead…. It doesn’t matter as much” (61). Yet, it does matter to Shadow who is still among the living. Laura has doubly betrayed him – by cheating on him and by telling him about it in detail.

In Chicago, Mr. Wednesday also betrays Shadow to Czernobog, although it is not obvious at the time. At the time, Czernobog refuses to have anything to do with Mr. Wednesday because he does not trust him. Czernobog and the women that he lives with claim that all Mr. Wednesday does is bring bad news and badness down upon them. Shadow, in an effort to help Mr. Wednesday, gambles over a game of checkers. In the end, Czernobog must come to Mr. Wednesday’s aid, but he also gets to take a swing at Shadow’s head with his hammer. The reader finds out about this betrayal when Mr. Wednesday congratulates Shadow on his victory while admitting that he would have brought Czernobog around eventually. Thus, Mr. Wednesday has allowed Shadow to put himself in unnecessary danger.

Spoiler

Hinzelmann of Lakeside also turns out to be one of the books biggest betrayers. First, the argument can be made that he is betraying the town by sacrificing its children unwillingly to keep it healthy and prosperous. Secondly, he broke his word to Mr. Wednesday that he would keep Shadow safe and out of trouble. While he claims that nothing in the town happens without him knowing it, Shadow points out that Aubrey and Sam, people who would recognize him, both came to town. In addition, Laura was able to find him there. Hinzelmann argues that he did what he did and does what he does because Lakeside is a good town, and he wants to keep it that way. Thus, Hinzelmann has betrayed the trust of the town, Mr. Wednesday, and Shadow himself.

However, the greatest betrayal of the book is perpetrated by Mr. Wednesday – Odin. He has schemed with Loki to create a war between the new gods and the old gods. The battle would then be dedicated to his name which would give him greater strength here in America while wiping out many of the other smaller gods. Odin and Loki both lied to the gods that followed them into battle so as to create a certain outcome. They started off as traitors to their kind – ready to kill as many gods as it took to raise power for Odin.

Krysondra wrote:In Chicago, Mr. Wednesday also betrays Shadow to Czernobog, although it is not obvious at the time. At the time, Czernobog refuses to have anything to do with Mr. Wednesday because he does not trust him. Czernobog and the women that he lives with claim that all Mr. Wednesday does is bring bad news and badness down upon them. Shadow, in an effort to help Mr. Wednesday, gambles over a game of checkers. In the end, Czernobog must come to Mr. Wednesday’s aid, but he also gets to take a swing at Shadow’s head with his hammer. The reader finds out about this betrayal when Mr. Wednesday congratulates Shadow on his victory while admitting that he would have brought Czernobog around eventually. Thus, Mr. Wednesday has allowed Shadow to put himself in unnecessary danger.

Spoiler

Hinzelmann of Lakeside also turns out to be one of the books biggest betrayers. First, the argument can be made that he is betraying the town by sacrificing its children unwillingly to keep it healthy and prosperous. Secondly, he broke his word to Mr. Wednesday that he would keep Shadow safe and out of trouble. While he claims that nothing in the town happens without him knowing it, Shadow points out that Aubrey and Sam, people who would recognize him, both came to town. In addition, Laura was able to find him there. Hinzelmann argues that he did what he did and does what he does because Lakeside is a good town, and he wants to keep it that way. Thus, Hinzelmann has betrayed the trust of the town, Mr. Wednesday, and Shadow himself.

However, the greatest betrayal of the book is perpetrated by Mr. Wednesday – Odin. He has schemed with Loki to create a war between the new gods and the old gods. The battle would then be dedicated to his name which would give him greater strength here in America while wiping out many of the other smaller gods. Odin and Loki both lied to the gods that followed them into battle so as to create a certain outcome. They started off as traitors to their kind – ready to kill as many gods as it took to raise power for Odin.

Hi Krysonda. I don't think Wednesday betrays Shadow. Czernobog comes up with the hammer idea, and Wednesday is genuinely shocked and recommends Shadow not bet with Czernobog. The issue here is that the battle of old and new is genuinely dangerous and unpredictable, so if the hammer deal is a betrayal you could say that Wednesday betrays Shadow just by employing him. I don't think this is true, as it means that any risk that goes wrong becomes a matter for accusation of guilt and blame about who betrayed whom. Wednesday is honest to Shadow in their mead and spit deal, and tries to look after him when they recruit Czernobog. Wednesday needs allies, but each ally has his or her own interest. A theme illustrated here is the purity of sacrifice with which Shadow puts his life at the service of Wednesday. Initially this reads as a moral sacrifice, but later appears more ambiguous.

Spoiler

In the end, Czernobog just touches the hammer to Shadow's head, seeing that Shadow has prevented the war and does not deserve to die. Loki is a great betrayer, appearing as Low Key Liesmith in jail with Shadow and then again as Mr World, playing both sides of the street by colluding with Odin and with Odin's enemies. Honour among thieves. Shadow, by holding to the purity of Baldur, including Christ-like sacrifice for flawed beings, is the hero of the book. Through his vigil for Wednesday he acquires cosmic power to mediate and reconcile the confrontation between mythology and technology.