American Gods

Wednesday tells Shadow that Robbie is dead, and Shadow’s job offer is “dead too.” Shadow reads Wednesday’s newspaper and learns that Robbie died in the same car accident that killed Laura. Despite his job no longer being available, he continues to decline Wednesday’s offer. When Wednesday persists, Shadow pretends to gamble the answer on a coin flip. He tries to rig the coin toss, but his usual tricks do not work; Wednesday wins, and Shadow is left shocked.

A tall, redheaded man named Mad Sweeney joins Shadow and Wednesday. As Wednesday fetches drinks to seal the job agreement, Sweeney talks to Shadow and reveals that he’s a leprechaun. Wednesday returns with a pint of mead, referring to it as “the drink of the gods” (33). They drink together to signify that Shadow has accepted the job as Wednesday’s driver, bodyguard, and general assistant. In rare instances, Wednesday says, Shadow may be required to hurt someone. In the event that Wednesday dies, Shadow will be required to maintain a vigil for him. Since he has lost the coin toss and has no other prospects, Shadow accepts. They spit in their hands and shake to seal the deal.

Shadow becomes drunk and watches Sweeney perform a trick with a “large coin, golden and shining” (35). When Shadow demands to know how the trick is done, Sweeney offers to fight him and goads a reluctant Shadow into a fight. Shadow beats Sweeney but then passes out. When he wakes up, he finds himself in the back of a moving car with Wednesday at the wheel. Shadow tries to remember how he got into this position and how he acquired the “slightly sticky” gold coin in his pocket. When they stop for gas, he cleans up. At the counter, Wednesday scams the clerk and walks away with $50. In the car, Wednesday admits that he is a con man, as well as “other things.”

Shadow visits the funeral home and meets Audrey, Robbie’s wife. Audrey spits in the face of Laura’s dead body and reveals that Laura and Robbie were having an affair, hence why they were in the same car accident. Shocked by the revelation, Shadow attends Laura’s funeral. He throws the mysterious gold coin into her open grace and says “sorry” to her, then returns to the motel to meet Wednesday. On the way, he encounters an angry Audrey. Then, an unseen assailant places a cloth soaked in anesthetic over his mouth, and Shadow passes out.

Shadow recovers consciousness inside a limousine. His hands are bound, and a teenage, acne-ridden boy sits opposite him, flanked by guards. The boy quizzes Shadow about Wednesday, insisting that Wednesday is old and “forgotten.” Insisting that Shadow pass along this message, the boy dumps him out of the car. Before speeding away, he offers his condolences for Laura’s death.

At the motel, Shadow tells Wednesday about the incident in the limousine. Trying not to think about Laura, he falls asleep. He dreams about “forgotten” gods who have passed from living memory, and he wakes up in a panicked state. When he wakes, Laura is on the edge of his bed. She is dead but has been revived. While Shadow wants to ask her about her affair with Robbie, she thanks him for taking the fall for her and going to prison. Laura explains that she and Robbie both missed Shadow so much. She did not intend to leave Shadow for Robbie, but she admits that she did have an affair. Now, Laura says, Shadow needs someone to watch over him. She thanks him for the gold coin that he threw into the grave. When she kisses Shadow, her breath smells “of mothballs” which lets him know that she is really dead.

Shadow leaves and knocks on the door to Wednesday’s room. As he knocks, he is struck by the sense that an “enormous crow” has flown through him. Inside the room, Wednesday is dressed in a towel and displeased at being interrupted. He explains that he was meeting with the motel’s receptionist. Shadow tells Wednesday about Laura and wants to leave Eagle Point. Returning to his empty room, he goes to bed and cries in “painful, lurching sobs” (53).

In one of the novel’s Coming to America interludes, sailors from Scandinavia travel to America in 813 CE. When they land in North America, they praise the “all-father” and give thanks to their pantheon of gods. They build a hall, drink, sing, and praise the thunder in this new land. When an Indigenous individual approaches them the next day, they hang him in a sacrifice to the all-father, Odin, by hanging him from a tree just as Odin once did in their legends. In the following months, however, the body disappears from the tree, and the sailors are captured by a force of 500 warriors. The sailors are tortured to death and forgotten until, 100 years later, Leif the Fortunate makes a similar voyage. When he lands, he discovers that Odin and the other gods from Scandinavia are “already waiting for him” (55).

Shadow and Wednesday drive to Chicago. Along the way, they stop at a house belonging to three Zorya sisters (Zorya Vechernyaya, Zorya Utrennyaya, and Zorya Polunochnaya) and Czernobog. Zorya Vechernyaya joins Czernobog in expressing displeasure that Wednesday has visited. However, they are intrigued by Shadow. The four Slavic characters come from the “old country,” where Czernobog killed cows at an abattoir. He had nearly been forgotten in his homeland, he tells Shadow, and in America, he is just a memory.

Wednesday tries to recruit Czernobog for a mysterious plan, but Czernobog declines. Weeping, Czernobog claims that Wednesday would be better served by his now-departed brother, Bielebog. Czernobog explains to Shadow that he and his brother are complete opposites in every way, but together, they are “like one person” (61). Czernobog and Shadow play checkers. Czernobog suggests a wager: If Shadow wins, Czernobog will join Wednesday, and if Czernobog wins, he is allowed to beat Shadow with his hammer. Shadow accepts and Czernobog wins, so Shadow suggests that they play again. Shadow wins the next game by outsmarting Czernobog. As a result, Czernobog agrees to join Wednesday and says that he will take his opportunity to hit Shadow with his hammer as soon as the job is over.

Shadow and Wednesday spend the night in the apartment. Shadow wakes to find Zorya Polunochnaya staring at the sky from a window. He talks to her, and they sit together on the fire escape. She explains how each of the sisters represents a part of the day: dusk (Zorya Vechernyaya), dawn (Zorya Utrennyaya), and night (Zorya Polunochnaya). They discuss the different names for the constellations and their connections to religions and beliefs. When Shadow mentions Laura’s visit, Zorya Polunochnaya is sympathetic. Shadow confesses that he feels like he is becoming lost in an increasingly strange world. Zorya Polunochnaya reaches into the night sky and seems to pluck out the moon, which turns into a “silver Liberty-head dollar” (69). She offers it to Shadow as protection. When Shadow wakes up the next day, he realizes that the apartment has no fire escape. However, he finds a silver dollar in his hand. Wednesday finds him and announces their plans: They will rob a bank.

In another Coming to America interlude, a man named Mr. Ibis keeps a journal. He tells the story of Essie Tregowan, an Englishwoman who is sent to America after committing a crime in her homeland. On the voyage, she marries the ship’s captain and returns to England, where she vanishes into the criminal underworld as a thief. For this success, she thanks the folkloric figures whom her family taught her about. These figures watch over Essie for a while, but her luck eventually runs out and she is sent to the colonies again. In America, she marries a farmer and has a family. However, she never forgets to honor the spirits and fairies who once watched over her. She teaches her children all the same folklore. When she is old, she is visited by a large, redheaded Cornish man “dressed all in green” (75). They talk, and he leads her away. The next day, her stepdaughter finds her body.