Reference no: EM131385320

Journal Entries for the American Gods Novel Chapters

Chapters 1 and 2 Journal

"You will work for me. You will protect me. You will help me" (Gaiman, 33). This quote is made by Mr. Wednesday in Chapter two of the novel entitled the American Gods. Mr. Wednesday is addressing Shadow Moon in a bar after Shadow has accepted to work for Mr. Wednesday as his bodyguard. As we can recall from Chapter one of the book, Mr. Wednesday first met Shadow Moon on a plane as Shadow was heading home from prison after being detained for three years. Mr. Wednesday happened to request Shadow to work for him, but Shadow had resisted and turned down the offer.

Shadow Moon gets into a certain bar, and out of nowhere Mr. Wednesday appears and makes the same proposal of offering Shadow a job like he had done before. He resists again and tells Mr. Wednesday that he will be offered a job opportunity by his best friend Robbie who he used to work for before he went to prison. Mr. Wednesday produces a newspaper which he gives to Shadow Moon to read, and it comes to Shadow's attention that Robbie also died together with Laura, his wife, in the accident as they were having oral sex.

Though Shadow Moon was not ready to work for Mr. Wednesday, a coin toss which Shadow says was rigged works against him, and he has no option but to take the job of being Mr. Wednesday's driver and bodyguard. Mr. Wednesday makes the above quote after Shadow Moon asked him what tasks he will be doing for him. Mr. Wednesday tells Shadow that his job will involve helping him as well as protecting him. The duties will be numerous for Shadow as he will also run messages to various destinations on behalf of Mr. Wednesday. In fact, Shadow is made aware by Mr. Wednesday that he will be charged with the duty of hurting the people Mr. Wednesday thinks deserves to be hurt.

Chapters 3 and 4 Journal

Something interesting happens in chapter three of the novel in that Laura, who had died in a car accident, reappears and is back alive. Shadow happens to be sleeping in a motel room where he had gone to spend some time with Mr. Wednesday as he is afraid of going to stay at his home (Gaiman, 78). Shadow Moon is sleeping and starts to have strange dreams which awaken him just to find Laura at his bed after getting out of the bathroom. The dreams involve the old gods and their lost glory. In the dream, Shadow Moon happens to see himself being in a museum that is full of statues which have monster genitals.

A voice informs him that the statues are of gods who were in existence in the past. It tells him that the reason for their death was because people had stopped to offer worship to them and hence they ended up dying. It is out of the surprise from this dream that Shadow wakes up just to find Laura seated on her bed.

Unexpected of this situation, Shadow Moon, does not get terrified to see Laura. Laura tells Shadow that she is dead and cannot give an explanation of how she has the capability to move around. She asks Shadow to give her a cigarette, but Shadow resists and Laura tells him she is not afraid of encountering health hazards as she is already dead and Shadow bows down to her demands. Shadow gets an opportunity to enquire from Laura whether she was in a relationship with his best friend Robbie which Laura agrees. However, Laura tells Shadow that she was planning on ending the affair as soon as Shadow was released.

In fact, Laura explains to shadow that the sex they had in the car with Robbie was to serve as a goodbye, but they ended up dying. The conversation between the two makes us aware that Shadow had gone to prison because of Laura, but the reason is not clearly outlined.

Chapters 5 and 6 Journal

The most interesting thing that takes place in these chapters is the plan that Mr. Wednesday and Shadow Moon get indulged into of robbing a bank. Precisely, this act takes place in chapter five of the novel (Gaiman, 101). The two develop this plan as they travel from visiting the three sisters at the home of Czernbog. The plan involves Mr. Wednesday going to the bank and picking up the bank deposit slips that are being brought by people who want to keep their money in the bank as Shadow pretends to be the supervisor of the guard at the bank who happens to be Mr. Wednesday. The slips are to be taken from the clients by Wednesday and later they are to be photocopied at Kinko. Mr. Wednesday tells Shadow that he wishes it would snow and challenges Shadow to think of it. Coincidentally, snow starts falling from the sky and in some mysterious way, Mr. Wednesday transforms into a guard.

Mr. Wednesday places a note in the deposit box which says that the box is not working at that particular time. He then takes another box and starts collecting the deposit slip from the clients. Shadow is tasked with the duty of covering up for Mr. Wednesday by watching for him while he is in the supermarket. The police come to check on how the guard is fairing and Mr. Wednesday gives them contacts which he says belong to his supervisor hence the police can talk to him. However, the contacts are for a payphone belonging to the supermarket in which Shadow is hiding. Once the phone rings, Shadow picks it and says that he is the guard's supervisor and he says that everything is okay. The police go away, and the two move out of the bank carrying the money having accomplished their mission.

Chapters 7 and 8 Journal

The most interesting thing that takes place in chapters seven and eight worth noting is the instance where a cat prevents Shadow Moon from committing suicide. Precisely, this magical experience occurs in chapter eight of the novel. Shadow Moon came into an encounter with this cat when he was in a bar with the Egyptian gods namely Ibis and Jacquel and the cat came and placed itself next to him, and he had decided to keep it as a pet. Shadow had just decided to work with these gods who were working at a funeral home after they had offered him the opportunity to work with them as he continued to wait for Wednesday to return (Gaiman, 180). However, it seems that Shadow is not comfortable with his current job and the idea of committing suicide settled into his mind.

On this particular day, Shadow Moon cleans himself in the room that the two gods had given him where he was to reside in the meantime. However, the flashback of the hard times that he had gone through started setting in his mind. Shadow remembered all the torment he had passed through for simply being of dark color and thought it's too much. He seemed tired of living considering that he had passedthrough so much in the recent past and he thought to himself that it would certainly take him a long time before he could recover completely. He took a razor blade and placed it near his throat ready to cut it off from one side to the next. Just when he was about to cut his throat, the magic cat opened the door which made him reconsider his earlier opinion of committing suicide, and he decided to let everything go. As we come to learn later in the novel, this cat had the knowledge that Shadow would attempt to commit suicide and this interests us more to find out more about the cat.

Chapters 9 and 10 Journal

"This was not simply cold: this was science fiction" (Gaiman, 233). This quote is made by Shadow Moon in Chapter ten after encountering a lot of cold in Lakeside. This quote has been followed by a dream that Shadow Moon had the night before. He had dreamt of himself being a child who had been born and raised up in darkness. Suddenly he is brought into the light, and he looks like a fool. In fact, he does not even know what a knife is, and he laughs at it, and it cuts him open, hence gets to be sacrificed. Terrified, he wakes up to find that it is freezing outside and he does not even have clothes which can help him to keep off the cold weather. He also does not have food in his home and does not even have a car which can take him to the nearest center where he can buy food or even clothes.

Shadow Moon decides to trek down the road so that he can walk to the nearest town and find himself food and clothes. As he is walking, Chad Mulligan, who happens to be a police officer, passes by him and offers him a lift in his car. Mulligan lets Shadow feel the warmth in his vehicle, and it is after warming up that Shadow makes the above quote as he tries to explain to Mulligan how the cold outside felt. This quote helps us to figure out something about Lakeside. It helps us know that despite the fact that Lakeside has an idyllic appearance as the novel portrays, it acts as a dystopia which means it could be a place that is just imagined due to the unpleasant experiences that Shadow had encountered.

Chapters 11 and 12 Journal

"Colorful fakes of life. Each with a hook hidden inside it" (Gaiman, 258). This quote is made by Hinzelmann in chapter 11, and he happens to be a god who takes care of the people who live in the town of Lakeside. He is speaking to Shadow Moon who has come to see the game that he organizes every year. The game involves him putting an old car in a frozen lake and making people bet when the snow will melt and the car would sink. The person who bets for the closest time was to win. So, on this particular day when this quote is being said, Shadow gets to visit Hinzelmann as he watches the game and it is in this place that Hinzelmann makes this comment.

This quote tells so much about the gods that existed in America. In fact, it has been used as a metaphor and has been employed so as to portray the gods as a fake character in the way they relate to human beings. For instance, Wednesday who is the Norse god propagates the unending war between the old gods and the new gods to his advantage. Bilquis, who is also a god happens to be a prostitute who uses her vagina to kill most men by devouring them using the organ. Additionally, Zorya Vechernyaya who works as a fortune teller tells so lies about the future hence cannot be trusted. In short, the quote is being used by Hinzelmann to mean that the gods that existed in the past in America tend to show people the things they want and in the process take what themselves want. Therefore, they are just there to con unsuspecting individuals who believe in the things that they say and do.

Chapters 13 and 14 Journal

The performance of the vigil by Shadow Moon is the most interesting thing that takes place in chapters 13 and 14 and precisely takes place towards the end of chapter 14. As we can recall, in the deal entered into by Shadow and Mr. Wednesday, Shadow was required to perform the vigil if Mr. Wednesday died. New gods had just killed Mr. Wednesday, and now it was time for Shadow to fulfill his promise. If we recall back in chapter two, Shadow had taken an oath that he will do all that was required of him by saying "....until then, I will be working for you" (Gaiman, 39). As Mr. Nancy outlines the requirements of the vigil to Shadow Moon, we come to learn that the vigil involves the person who is performing it to be hanged on a world tree for nine days which would include the nights. Moreover, the person is to be denied of food and water all this time, and he has to fight for his survival.

This part interests us since we will be looking forward to seeing if Shadow Moon will be alive at the end of the nine days. Indeed, he is hung onto the world tree while he is naked and the people who hang him leave him to either die or survive. However, as we come to learn, the vigil is of importance because it reveals so much that the past had hidden which was of an essence in ending the current war between the new and old Gods (Gaiman, 326). Firstly, Shadow comes to realize that he is Mr. Wednesday's son. Secondly, he realizes that the ongoing war was being propelled by his father who would in turn gain power through the fights. Additionally, it acquits him with the power which he will use in ending the war.

Chapters 15 and 16 Journal

"Life and death are two sides of the same coin" (Gaiman, 426). This quote is made by Mr. Ibis in chapter 16, and he is addressing Shadow and the quote forms the epicenter where this chapter revolves around. In short, Mr. Ibis tells Shadow that for a human being, life will only exist in two forms which we choose. He goes on to explain that life will only present the third face only to gods or to the fools (Gaiman, 426). The reply to this quote by Shadow involves the mention of the word "double-headed quarter", and this enlightens us about something that Sam had told Shadow when they met for dinner. It reveals to us that there is a high possibility that Sam's relative could either happen to be a god or a fool.

As I have mentioned, this quote serves a great purpose in the plot of this chapter. The chapter involves Shadow meeting Zorya Polunochnaya whom he tries to seek answers about his past. Zorya tells Shadow that she is willing to give him answers since he asked for them but then he has to make a choice. Shadow has to choose either the path of the truth which will hurt or choose the path of lies which will comfort him. The choices are two just as a coin has two sides. Shadow has to make a choice since by failing to do so he will be choosing the state of nothingness, yet it is not an option among the two.

After Shadow chooses the path of the truth though he has been warned might hurt, he is told that he has to give his actual name. It is at this juncture that we come to know that Shadow's real name is Baldur Moon.

Chapters 17 and 18 Journal

The most interesting thing that happens in both of these chapters is the gathering of both the new and the old gods in a place know as Rock City so that the two sides can fight for supremacy (Gaiman, 442). This act begins in chapter 17 where the gods are gathering in preparation for a fight which is destined to take place in the presiding chapters. As we already know from the recent chapters, there has been an ongoing war between the new gods and the old gods but all this war was being orchestrated primarily by Mr. Wednesday. The gathering of this gods is of interest to us since we will be looking forward to seeing who wins and maybe the war will end the strife that has always been there since only one category of gods will be left to rule.

In preparation for the battle, the new gods arrive in Rock City with Limos whereas the old gods arm themselves with weapons that had been made in the ancient times. The author describes the new gods who are coming to war as yuppies that have been self-obsessed and tend to talk as corporate shills. The author has illustrated the old gods as being even crazier than the new ones, for instance, paying close attention to Baron Samendi who is purported to be in possession of the girl residing in Chattanooga. In fact, this act of Baron Samendi harboring the body of this girl enlightens us that indeed death can take various forms. The place where the war is being designed to take place is hilly since it was being thought that the people who win stay on the hills hence the gods that would win this war were to reside there henceforth.

Chapters 19 and 20 Journal

The most interesting thing that takes place in this two chapters is Shadow's discovery about the McGovern's body which solves a murder mystery in chapter 20. After ending the war in chapter 18, Shadow Moon tries to recollect his life back to normal, and Mr. Nancy is helping him to do so. Shadow Moon, while in the Mr. Nancy's house, remembered that God Ganesh had told him to check the back of the truck before the ice melts away. He rushes to Lakeside and walks above the ice-cold lake to reach to the car before it drowns due to the melting of the water in the lake (Gaiman, 492). However, as Shadow tries to open the trunk of the car, Hinzelmann comes to rescue Shadow from drowning in the lake.

However, Shadow comes to have the revelation that indeed it was Hinzelmann who had killed all those kids. In fact, the reason why Hinzelmann was rushing to remove Shadow from the scene was so that he could not get to know the truth of the whole matter. We also come to realize that Hinzelmann was killing those kids as payment of debt that he owed to Mr. Wednesday. Moreover, it comes to our attention that even the lake had been created by Hinzelmann so that he could carry out his murder activities. Wow, this is an interesting discovery. Chad Mulligan comes right on time and shoots Hinzelmann for his actions and later sets his house ablaze. Were it not for the efforts that were put by Shadow who unraveled the whole truth, the murder mysteries would never be solved. Through him in this last chapter, justice seems to be served.

Work Cited

Gaiman, Neil. American gods. Hachette UK, 2011.