American Gods by Neil Gaiman - Essay Example

ANSWER 1 A recurrent dystopia and shattered imagery of urban culture and civilization occur in the texts of the modern and post-modern periods. The novel, “American Gods” by Neil Gaiman is also not an exception in this regard. Material pursuit and technological boom have actually changed the concept of American Dream, American God and American Culture. These concepts get well reflected in the novel of Gaiman. In the contemporary world of rat race and keen competition, there is little room left for principles, ideologies and virtues. Vices play a very important role in the development of a modern man and the novel American Gods does hinge upon the battle between the evil and the good, light and the darkness and virtues and vices, allegorically represented by America’s old set of Gods brought by immigrants to America from time to time and the new set of Gods that has definitely evolved from a modern American culture. The novel, “American Gods” focuses on the paradoxes and juxtaposition of the older Gods with newer. Older Gods, according to Gaiman in America have come holding the hands of myriad immigrants across the world; some of them have become myth and some could accommodate them well in the folklores of America. The new pantheon of modern Gods consists of technology, media and celebrity lifestyle and drugs among many other such afflictions of American society. Any obsession for the modern man can be looked upon as God. Human yearns to attain God, but God is a relative concept and a mystic ambiguity has always eclipsed like a halo around the mighty figure. With the progress of civilization, the concept has also changed and metamorphosed accordingly with the requirement of time and age. For Jimmy Cross from the compilation of short stories, “The Things They Carried” makes him equal with Christ when he takes the burden and responsibilities of his fellow soldiers within the troop almost taking the stance of a savior. However, responsibility has always been a problem for the character. Definitely for a personality like Jimmy Cross, war is bafflement as duty of war has been thirsted upon him, but he was unsure of the things he was committing due to the lack of conviction. War and its trouble is the negative God for Jimmy Cross. In a similar fashion, for Travis from the ‘Taxi Driver’, getting sleepy or his battle against his psychotic rage of insomnia can be viewed as God. God is no more perceived as an omnipotent and all benevolent figure; in the age of nuclear weapon, extreme pursuit of material pleasure, God who is powerful resided in all the negative cult of man. It can be thus compared to tradition and its fallacies as projected in “A Rose for Emily” or the exploitation at the industrial sector, the improper distribution of resources in an imperial paradigm as depicted in “The Tartarus of Maids”. Minimum space for all that is beautiful and can be dreamt of which is left behind after the chase of extreme materialism in present society and it gets effective expression in “To Build a Fire” (Gaiman 1-175). ANSWER 2 The film, “O Brother Where Art Thou?” is a film decked up with American ideals and in all the forms of cinematic excellence; set, characterization, plot, costumes, cinematography, screenplay and music elements of American culture, folk tradition and myths are operating independently or collaboratively throughout the film. At places, they are potent and directly evolve out and at other places they are presented in a latent way and presented in the form of allegory or symbols. The film is set against the backdrop of outskirts of Mississippi and captivates the time frame of 1930s. The economic and political content of the film evolves much with its delineation of the topic of Great Depression in the film. As regards to the music of the film, it contains a deep rooted and stark American element in the form of contemporary folk music which pervaded the entire track of the film. The inherent pursuit of American Dream or the quest of fortune takes turn in the climax of the film almost in a hue of apocalypse, where the meaning of the term does not find its expression only but the realm of revelation associated with the term also gets expressed through the discovery of their actual fortune. The response of the people for music rather than political speeches is shown in the film when the popular politicians are running for governor and Homer Stokes claims himself as “a friend of Common Man”; on the contrary, his opponent Pappy O’Daniel runs a “Pappy O’ Daniel Old Time Music Flour Hour” and gets a huge response. This way the growing disgust of the Americans towards politics is being depicted in the film. The imprisonment of the director in the film for the murder charge and his realization about the common man’s taste which is more inclined towards humor rather than social drama on difficult subjects propels out a simple theory related with crime and punishment in the film. The fleeting presence of the Klu Klux Klan expresses an issue of racial supremacy in a very subtle way throughout the film. Also, the adventure undertaken by the characters latently expresses the issues of racial supremacy and issues of both the black and white camps in life of Americans. As regards to religion related issues in the film “O Brother Where Art Thou”, it is quintessential to mention that the biblical narrative is quite inherent within the plot of the film and the sin, guilt and redemption: the tripartite structure echoes large in the plot of the film, teaching the Gods ways to men effectively. Thus, on a very positive and effective note the contemporary cult inherent within the American society is hinted properly, at the same time the hue of American past years effectively evolves as the time in the film captivates the policies, issues and recurrent themes of 1930s. The amalgamation of the past and the present and the intended sarcasm in a subtle way, makes the film “O Brother Where Art Thou?” remarkable and timeless (University of West Georgia, “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”). Works Cited Gaiman, Neil. American Gods: The Tenth Anniversary Edition: A Novel. United Kingdom: HarperCollins, 2011. Print. “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” Characters. University of West Georgia, 2001. Web. 15 May 2013. . Read More