American Gods - Character

A detailed Summary of American Gods - Character


The main character of American Gods, Shadow, is first introduced while he is in prison. He is described as a large quiet man of an unknown race. The audience is not given details of his features, or insight into the inner workings of his mind. After he is released from prison, he starts out on a pre-destined path that whisks him across the nation in preparation for a war of the gods.

Through all of the unexplainable, he watches and says nothing. He rarely questions the actuality of events he witnesses, and never tries to run from the adventures. There are only a few times the audience is allowed to see that Shadow is somewhat bitter about all that he has seen. Shadow himself admits that he is numb to life after becoming aware his wife


was unfaithful, "anyway nothing's really surprised me since Laura...since I learned she was screwing Robbie...that one hurt...everything else just sits on the surface" (344). Neil Gaiman intentionally does not describe Shadow very much. He uses Shadow's vagueness to draw the reader in, and help them relate to the main character.

While following along this journey with Shadow, the reader often is left confused by Shadow's lack of emotion or excitement, and they wonder what their reaction would be in the same situation. As the story progresses, less of the strange events seem to be surprising, and the reader finds themselves acquiring numbness similar to that of Shadow's. They relate more to Shadow's refusal to have a reaction, and they understa

Some common words found in the essay are:
Shadow Shadow, Gods Shadow, Mike Ainsel, Shadow Shadow's, Shadow Gaiman, Neil Gaiman, Wood Stonetelevisions, mike ainsel, , relate shadow's, events witnesses, shadow reader, times audience, main character,

Approximate Word count = 508
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels

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