Neil Gaiman's American Gods: An Outsider's Critique of American Culture

• Main Author: Hill, Mark
• Format: Others
• Published: ScholarWorks@UNO 2005
• Subjects: Identity; American literature
• Online Access: http://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/282; http://scholarworks.uno.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1315&context=td

In 2001, Neil Gaiman published American Gods, a novel of American life and mythology. As a British author living in the United States, Gaiman has a powerful vantage point from which to critique American culture, landscape, and ideology. Rich with re-invented deities, legends, mythic creatures, and folk heroes cast in a decidedly American mold, American Gods examines the American character, evaluating the myths and beliefs of the culture from the vantage point of an outsider. By examining the character's allegiance to particular cultural legacies (Wednesday as the American con artist, Shadow as the cowboy), I intend to assess this outsider's understanding of what it means to be an American.