The Theme Of Shadow In Neil Gaiman's American Gods

Neil Gaiman’s American Gods is in a modern society, but with a twist. The twist is that there are a bunch of Old and New Gods, which all range from Norse to Egyptian ones to just plain old made up ones, like “Mr. World” and “Media” and “T.V Lady.” The main argument here is to believe and discovering oneself. To show this theme throughout the story, the main character Shadow his constantly visited by the buffalo-man in his dreams, that give him advice throughout his travels. The one thing that sticks out most to Shadow is the piece of advice that he tells him is to “Believe”. Shadow is constantly met with Old Gods who give him valuable lessons in life as well as helping him in his journey to stop the coming war between Old and New Gods. Although there are some hints of magic within this piece, they are brushed off to the side by Gaiman as dream-like moments from Shadow. Shadow starts off normal getting out of a prison, but then is suddenly thrown into a fantasy-like scenario. Overall, Gaiman is showing a connection between his readers and the world he creates in his novel.

Some common elements and subjects is the made up factor

and magical elements it has. It brings up the topic of religion and mythology as well and not just secluding it to one either. He had both Norse and Egyptian Gods. Compared to other sources in this project, Gaiman’s character is the son of a God whose sole purpose is for sacrifice, but denies fate to end up saving the world as a hero. The mythical feel and dark style lets it shine apart from the other works. Just as the novel says, “we die, when our believers stop”. This novel focuses more on the fate of people and how it can change with a snap of a finger, which influenced my thinking into staying more open.
One specific scene that taps into the theme of self-discovery in American Gods is when Shadow is having a dream-like scenario with one of the zhenobya sisters. In his dream he meets up with them and she takes him to the roof of a building where she shows him a portal to another world. It all feels so real to Shadow and even ends up having sexual intercourse in him dream. Upon waking up, he sees scratch marks on his chest which signify the sister’s trait as a cat. So to him he knows it happens and feels strange. In his search for self-discovery, he unlocked his spiritual and shamanic side that lets him feel and see things that he would not normally see. This shapes him up to be a shaman like figure, who discovered himself as the son of a Norse God and became a believer.
The Warded Man follows three POV characters in their passage from childhood to adulthood. They live in a world infested by demons known as corelings, which rise from the planet's core each night to feast upon humans. There are many different types of demons and they are each associated with a specific element. The attacks from these demons have pushed humanity into a “dark age” where there world which was once filled with technology is now gone. The only way to bear the demons is to use defensive wards or like magical runes that are drawn around settlements. As the novel progresses, so do the three protagonists, Arlen, Leesha, and Rojer. As a child, Arlen’s village is attacked by demons, but Arlen manages to escape and trains as a messenger. He learns that humanity can fight back against the demons. Arlen witnesses the murder of his own mother and the coward like behaviour of his own father. As a messenger he stumbles upon the city of Krasia who actually fight demons. He was inspired and eventually fights with them. He finds a spear covered in wards, which is a lost relic of Krasia that is a combat spear. He is betrayed by the people of Krasia and is left in the desert, but two other POV characters intersect with Arlen at the end of the story.
Leesha Paper is a girl from the village Cutter’s Hollow.

She loses her marriage prospects when her boyfriend falsely claims to have deflowered her before marriage. Leesha's reputation is ruined and she becomes an apprentice to the village gatherer, a sort of medicine woman with knowledge of herbs and potions. She uses this knowledge of herbs and potions to fight off demons. On the other hand Rojer's house wards fail when he was a small boy. His family is killed by demons, but he escapes with a traveling jongleur a kind of bard who entertains villages with songs and tricks. Rojer becomes the jongleur’s apprentice and becomes a master fiddle player. He can control the demons with his fiddle playing skills, which help calm the demons down and control them. The three of them finally meet paths and set out to be humanity’s hope against the

demons.
Peter V. Brett’s The Warded Man is in a world similar to the world today, but with DEMONS! His novel emphasizes on three main characters which primarily focuses on their transition from childhood to adulthood. Arlen is the character we follow the most, but also Leesha and Rojer get spotlight as well. The main argument here is that there is always hope, no matter how hard it gets. These three characters at a very young age are maliciously attacked by demons and traumatized, but aim for the impossible and set out to destroy these demons. To show the theme of self-discovery throughout the story, various topics are covered, which include religion, demonology, and surrealism. To show the theme of hope throughout the story, the three children mentioned all deal with life traumatizing childhoods, and persevere through their journeys to ultimately destroy the demons. Normal ordinary people would be scared deathless with the thought of the demons, and this attitude is signifying the downfall of the human race. The three kids, however want to challenge the system and seek to destroy the demons with each of their individual traits.
Brett’s work is very useful in examining the self-discovery of the protagonists, because it shows three separate characters. Some common elements and subjects is the reason for hope. It brings up the topic of religion occasionally, and demonology throughout because the whole book revolves around the demons killing humans. There was even a whole social order between the demons, they each represented an element of nature, such as fire, wind, water, rock, and air. When looking at the theme of endless creativity, this novel fits perfectly with my research. The dark and horror-ish feel help set it apart from the other works. Three separate individuals can ultimately come together because of a shared experience in their childhood. Not actually shared, but they have very similar traumatic experiences, such as demons killing parents and separation.
Whether it be demons, Gods, or rebels, whatever life throws should be treated as a lesson as it is useful in one’s own self-discovery. One must persevere regardless of what happens, in order to find their future selves.