Masaryk University

Faculty of Education

Department of English Language and Literature

Self-Discovery and the Alternative: A Postmodern Quest for Identity

in Neil Gaiman’s Novels

Diploma Thesis

Brno 2019

Supervisor: Author:
Mgr. Zuzana Kršková, Ph.D. Bc. Jesika Novotná
Declaration
I hereby declare that I wrote this thesis independently and that I used only sources listed in
the bibliography section.

____________________________
Brno, November 2019 Bc. Jesika Novotná
 Acknowledgement

I would like to express my profound gratitude to my supervisor, Mgr. Zuzana Kršková, PhD.,
for her kind guidance, endless energy, and countless highly valuable tips she provided
throughout the process of writing.
Annotation
This aim of this diploma thesis is to assess the protagonists of Neil Gaiman's novels
Neverwhere and American Gods in the context of postmodern society, and what influence such
a society poses on their identity. This thesis argues that the realities of postmodern life are
responsible for their identity crises and the purposelessness of their lives since. Consequently,
the thesis endeavours to document the state of their personalities against the backdrop of
postmodern society. For such a claim, it firstly introduces the primary features of
postmodernism and postmodern life. Above all, it claims that a turn to a fantasy realm provides
the protagonist with an opportunity to explore their potential, and therefore to reclaim their
identity. For that, the thesis outlines their transformation in the fantasy world according to
Joseph Campbell's theory of monomyth. Finally, it evaluates the state of the protagonists'
identities in contrast to their initial situation in the ordinary world.

Anotace
Cílem této diplomové práce je analýza hlavních charakterů v novelách Neila Gaimana
Neverwhere and American Gods. Tato analýza je zakotvena v kontextu postmoderní
společnosti a dopadů této společnosti na identitu protagonistů. Práce předkládá argument, že
styl života v postmoderní éře je zodpovědný za osobnostní krizi hlavních postav. Dále se práce
zaměřuje na fantastické světy, které se v novelách vyskytují a pomáhají protagonistům
k hledání jejich identity. V závěru práce popisuje vývoj postav v tomto alternativním prostředí,
k čemuž ji napomáhá teorie monomýtu rozpracovaná Josephem Campbellem. V neposlední
řadě text reflektuje osobnostní změny po ukončení hrdinovy cesty v kontrastu s počáteční
problematickou identitou protagonistů.

Key Words
Neil Gaiman, postmodernism, intertextuality, identity crises, alternative worlds, Joseph
Campbell, hero’s journey

Klíčová slova
Neil Gaiman, postmodernismus, intertextualita, krize identity, alternativní světy,
Joseph Campbell, cesta hrdiny
Table of Contents
1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 1
2 Between the Worlds of Neil Gaiman................................................................................ 3
3 Plot Over-view .................................................................................................................. 5
4 The Concept of Postmodernism ....................................................................................... 7
4.1 What Is Postmodernism ............................................................................................ 8
4.2 Postmodernism in Neil Gaiman’s Work ................................................................. 11
5 Postmodern Writing Techniques Significant for Character Transformation ............. 14
5.1 Duality ...................................................................................................................... 14
5.2 Between Reality and Fantasy .................................................................................. 15
5.3 Introduction to Intertextuality ................................................................................ 16
5.3.1 Examples of Transtextuality in Neverwhere and American Gods .................... 17
6 Postmodern Society and Character Profiles Before Transformation with Emphasis on
a Crisis of Identity ............................................................................................................. 25
7 The Alternative Worlds.................................................................................................. 34
8 Postmodernism Meets the Hero’s Journey .................................................................... 36
8.1 Departure ................................................................................................................. 39
8.1.1 Call to Adventure .............................................................................................. 39
8.1.2 Refusal of the Call ............................................................................................. 39
8.1.3 Supernatural Aid .............................................................................................. 40
8.1.4 Crossing of the Threshold................................................................................. 41
8.1.5 In the Belly of a Whale...................................................................................... 43
8.2 The Initiation ........................................................................................................... 43
8.2.1 The Road of Trials ............................................................................................ 43
8.2.2 Meeting with a Goddess/Woman as a Temptress ............................................ 44
8.2.3 Atonement with the Father/ Apotheosis/ Ultimate Boon ................................. 45
8.3 Return ...................................................................................................................... 47
9 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 50
10 Bibliography ................................................................................................................. 52
10.1 Primary Sources .................................................................................................... 52
10.2 Secondary Sources ................................................................................................. 52
“Stories are, in one way or another, mirrors. We use them to
explain to ourselves how the world works or how it doesn’t
work. Like mirrors, stories prepare us for the day to come.
They distract us from the things in the darkness.”

(Gaiman, The Fragile Things)

1 Introduction

This thesis has its roots many years ago when, one March afternoon, a good friend of
mine and I were wandering in London. While waiting for a train at a busy Tube station, he
asked me whether I knew of Neil Gaiman. On his recommendation I started to read my first
novel by this author: Neverwhere1. Some years later, I have now read most of Gaiman’s most
prominent books and collections. Needless to say, I am still as enchanted and amazed by his
stories as at my first encounter. Gaiman’s ability to create new worlds, to build new retellings
on familiar foundations and to create memorable characters drew me into his work as it had
many others, including wider readership as well as academia.
It might seem that the most of academic attention was concentrated on Gaiman’s comics
of Sandman which were scrutinized by many literary scholars from several perspectives.
However, the present thesis will focus on novels Neverwhere and American Gods as its main
objectives, with a particular emphasis given to their protagonists – Richard Mayhew and
Shadow Moon and their search for identity on their self-awakening journey.
The aim of this diploma thesis is to assess the protagonists of Neil Gaiman's novels
Neverwhere and American Gods in the context of postmodern society, and what influence such
a society poses on their identity. This thesis argues that the realities of postmodern life are
responsible for their identity crises and the purposelessness of their lives since. Therefore, the
thesis submerges into exploration of their character shift upon their leaving of the postmodern
world into a fantasy one. It will try to assess the protagonist’s reclaim of their identity through
the medium of an alternative/fantasy realm. As a tool to track their metamorphosis the well-
known theory of hero’s journey proposed by Joseph Campbell will be used. The thesis will try
to reflect on the final state of their transformation in correlation to their initial state in the
postmodern world. The thesis will try to scrutinise whether the right environment can enable
the characters to explore their purpose of life and thus to find their true identity.
This thesis is dived into five main chapters with the opening pages dedicated to
providing a short commentary on the author himself and his most prominent works.
Subsequently, it will provide brief plot over-views of the subject novels to give a better
understanding of some phenomena in the theses.

1
Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere takes place mostly in London Tube area

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 The first chapter will start by introducing the notion of postmodernism due to the
thesis’s claim that postmodern atmosphere has a vast influence on the character shaping and
identity crises experienced by the protagonists. For a better understanding of this elusive notion
and its reflection into the postmodern life, the thesis will firstly aim to describe some of the
leading theories of postmodernism. After that, the thesis will attempt to put Gaiman into the
postmodern literary perspective and trace signature moves of his writings that defend him as a
postmodern author. A special emphasis will be given to the concept of duality and
intertextuality as they figure as a key building block in the creation of the alterative worlds
which are essential for character transformation. As a background for these claims it will serve
theories concerning postmodern literature. The following chapter will study the politics of
postmodern society and will focus on the hardship of today’s existence and comment on the
crises of identity evolving from postmodern life-style. Most importantly, it will try to assess
the main characters, Richard and Shadow, with regard to the symptoms of an identity crisis. It
will scrutinise their characters from a psychoanalytical point of view while examining the
interrelationships and external influences that shape their personality. Moreover, this chapter
will also raise questions concerning the difficulty one can encounter in the contemporary world,
burdened with its lack of meaning, self-worth and a daunting feeling of isolation. This thesis
argues that the answer to these issues can be found in an escape from the dispirited concepts of
a postmodern life into an alternative world. Consequently, the following chapter will focus on
the part of alternative worlds of Neverwhere and American Gods and their coexistence with the
primary worlds. It will point out the pitfalls of postmodern society and highlight the benefits
that the fantasy world offers to the postmodern crisis. The central argument lies in the notion
of the ‘other realities’ to provide the characters with a sense of meaning, and certain “rawness”
and “realness” in an opposition to the world they left, a world full of postmodern
preoccupations. The paper aims to highlight the significance of the fantasy place as a virtual
feature of the spoken transformation, because it is only there where Richard and Shadow reach
their full potential to become heroes; and most of all, find answers to their search for identity
and a feeling of content. The last chapter will draw together the themes of the previous two,
offering an actual analysis of the protagonists’ transformation taken in the alternative realms
based on Joseph Campbell’s concept of hero’s journey. This section will be dedicated to
surveying the most crucial parts of the novel leading to their transformation and will compare
Richard and Shadow during their respective journeys. In conclusion, it will assess the initial
state of their personalities with that at the end of the stories.

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2 Between the Worlds of Neil Gaiman

“Born and raised in England, Neil Gaiman now lives near Minneapolis, Minnesota.
He has somehow reached his forties and still tends to need a haircut” (Greenberg n.p.)

Neil Gaiman maintains a fine position in the literary sphere as one of the most
prominent and prolific contemporary writers, who is highly commended by readers and critics
alike. Throughout his artistic career, Gaiman creatively exploited many of literary genres and
forms; mostly known for his seminal work on comic books, he also significantly engaged with
screenplays, novels, poems, and numerous short stories, both for adults and children.
Moreover, as a result of his versatile writing, exceptional imagination, and intriguing story-
telling skills, Gaiman was awarded many literary prizes such as Nebula, Locus, Hugo, and
Bram Stoker Award. In the midst of many epithets associated with Gaiman such as Prince of
Stories or Dream King, perhaps the most telling is the Forbes labelling Gaiman as “the most
famous author you have never heard of”. What is more, his fellow writers unlimitedly praise
Gaiman’s genius. For example, Peter Straub said, “Nobody in his field is better than this.
Gaiman is a master, and his vast roomy stories, filled with every possible shade of feeling, are
unlike anyone else’s” (Wagner 16). Simply put, Neil Gaiman is one of the most celebrated and
influential of contemporaneous authors, who never fails to fascinate and spark interest across
the wider readership, including critics and academics alike.

Gaiman was an avid reader in his childhood; among the many books that made a
particular impact on his literary growth, Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, Lewis’s The Chronicles
of Narnia as well as Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland were paramount (Wagner 3).
True to his writing, the longing for distant lands left a long-lasting impression on Gaiman, one
which he would later pass into his own stories. However, at first Gaiman pursued a career in
journalism, before he landed a job as a comic book writer where he created the phenomenal
work Sandman. With the story of Sandman, the ruler of human unconsciousness, he made an
A list of comics writers and was by many credited with changing the history of comics. Tiffin
is quick to point out that “the patterns of inevitability and predestination” (Tiffin 396) that are
crucial in Sandman, remained a dominant theme in subsequent Gaiman’s prose, too.
On grounds of this significant break-through, many a door opened for the young author.
Over the course of his literary career, Gaiman encountered various forms of media and literary
genres. Indeed, to categorize Gaiman, or to try to label him into a library shelf, is, due to his

3
exceptional versatility, a task itself daring and unmanageable. After all, Gaiman produced
many screenplays, poems, numerous short stories and wrote remarkable novels, both for adults
and children.
Despite a wide range of genres that Gaiman covers and a certain elusiveness of his
writing, there are crucial themes, patterns, and ideas that are prominent and repetitive across
his work that are regarded as typical for postmodern literature. Gaiman is an author whose
poetry is founded upon connecting different worlds and blurring the lines of fantasy and reality.
Besides that, another of the principal ideas appearing throughout his writing, is Gaiman’s
inspiration from myths and tales and their re-framing into new narratives. This feature can be
recognised for example in the newest2 of Gaiman’s books The Norse Mythology, where the
author retells myths from Scandinavia; or the best-selling novel American Gods in which he
depicts the fates of many world pantheons in this day and age. Another typical aspect for
Gaiman’s writing is touching upon dualism of worlds and narrative pluralities in the stories he
creates. This theme can be detected in Coraline – a children story in Alice-in-Wonderland
fashion; or a riff on classical Victorian folk tales Stardust where the protagonist needs to cross
a wall, magical portal, to enter a fairy world behind it to seek his fortune. In the same manner,
Gaiman’s first solo novel Neverwhere depicts a main character venturing into London Below,
which is a place in the London Underground filled with everything that is no longer needed or
lost from today’s London.
The main symbolism of Gaiman’s work is that these parallel realities coexist together
and complete each other. Gaiman masterfully connects mainstream societies and fantastic
worlds and therefore creates his own unison, space and time crossing world. This is depicted
in the two chosen novels as a postmodern world runs parallel to a fantasy world created by
Gaiman that becomes key in the to the character transformation of the protagonists.

2
To this date

4
3 Plot Over-view

Since the analysis is heavily dependent on the context of the novel and the texts are not
well-known, it is useful to provide a brief plot over-view to get acquainted with pivotal events
and features of the novels which will be referred to later.

Nevewehere is Gaiman’s first solo novel and is an urban story which depicts adventures
of young, unassuming Richard Mayhew. At the beginning of the story, Richard relocates from
Scotland to London due to a promising job offer. The London lifestyle, however, proves
monotonous and unfulfilling for Richard. He spends his days at work in London city; his
weekends with his ambitious and superior girlfriend Jessica who sees in Richard the potential
to be “a good matrimonial accessory if harnessed by the right woman” (Gaiman 12). One
evening when Jessica and Richard are about to have an important dinner with Jessica’s boss,
they find a girl lying bleeding on the pavement. Despite his girlfriend’s protests, Richard helps
the girl and takes her to his flat, leaving Jessica disappointed and angry. Richard learns that the
injured girl is called Door and she is on the run from two assassins, Messrs Croup and Crouch,
who killed her family. The next day, after Door’s miraculous recovery, Richard realises that he
is being completely ignored and forgotten in his life. His co-workers do not recognise him, he
cannot call a taxi or make a phone call. Simply put, he is invisible and unrecognisable to
everybody. Therefore, Richard decides to seek Door in a hope that she will be able to explain
to him the current situation. After finding her, he discovers that because of his encounter with
Door, he no longer exists in London Above, the ordinary and conventional London. Contrarily,
he now belongs to London Below, a disposal place of the forgotten and hidden. After the initial
bewilderment, Richard unwillingly decides to join the party of Door, her friend Marquis de
Carabas and Door’s bodyguard Hunter on their quest to find out who is responsible for the
death of Door’s family. Richard hopes that on their journey he will discover a way how to be
able to return to his old life. However, on their crusade, Richard undergoes a significant
transformation of his character as he plays a key role in defeating Door’s arch enemy and
slaying the Great Beast of London. In the end, Richard is given the freedom of the Underside
(London Below) and returns to his previous life. To his surprise, Richard does not find
reconciliation and fulfilment in a real world and longs to travel back to the Underside of which
he now thinks his home.

5
 American Gods begins when the main character Shadow Moon is about to be released
from prison. Only days before the end of his detention, he is told that his wife Laura has been
a victim of a fatal car accident. In the view of his wife’s death, Shadow is released early. After
the tragic news, Shadow finds himself even more disconnected from himself, as he does not
neither home, family or job. Following a sequence of odd occurrences, Shadow finds himself
sitting on a plane next to an enigmatic man who calls himself Mr. Wednesday. To Shadow’s
incredulity, it appears that Wednesday is familiar with Shadow’s situation and he offers him a
job as his bodyguard and errand-boy. At first, Shadow declines this offer many times, but in
the end after he is told that “People don’t hire ex-cons. You folk make them uncomfortable”
(Gaiman 35); he and his new boss seal their deal with golden mead. That very night Shadow
has a surprising visit: his wife Laura, while still looking dead, visits him. Shadow gradually
understands that he is in the middle of a pending war between two parties: old and new gods;
and for an as yet unknown reason, he is significant for both groups as they lure him to their
side. Mr. Wednesday invites Shadow on a road trip across America in order to visit old gods
who immigrated with people to America and had to assimilate with a contemporary American
society. Like that, Shadow meets old gods: Egyptian Thoth and Anubis, Slavic Czernobog and
Zorya sister, followed by African Anansi. The main issue seems to lie in the abandonment of
the old gods, who are losing their power as nobody worships them any longer. This has an
effect on their fainting image and a rather sad way of life as the new gods, in a form of Techboy,
Media or Mr. Road, take over people’s belief. Over the course of the novel Shadow experiences
several adventures during Mr. Wednesday’s recruiting of old gods to go to war against new
gods. Unfortunately, Mr. Wednesday is killed by the new gods in live-stream and now it is
Shadow’s responsibility to hold his vigil – to be pinned to the tree of life for nine days and nine
nights. Over the course of the vigil, Shadow discovers that this conflict of gods is in fact a two-
man con, constructed by the leaders of opposing troupes, Mr. Wednesday and Mr. World, in
order to gain power for themselves. Moreover, he also learns about his divine origin since his
father is revealed to be Mr. Wednesday himself. By the end of the journey, Shadow is
celebrated for stopping the unnecessary war as he exposed Mr. Wednesday and Mr. World to
their respective followers.

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4 The Concept of Postmodernism

Before proceeding any further, it is necessary to consider some possible pitfalls that
might await on the journey. First, it is important to realise that the phenomenon of
postmodernism is still vague and unclear among literary scholars with a great number of
theories and opinions on this matter, which will be discussed later. The goal of this thesis is not
to scrutinize postmodernism itself, but rather it aims to introduce the views of the leading
thinkers to provide the theoretical background needed for a further character analysis. The
explanation of postmodern discourse is significant due to its manifestation in lives of the
protagonists as the thesis claims to be the source of their discontent. For the understanding of
the consequences of a postmodern way of life it is crucial to be acquainted with the leading
thoughts of postmodernism. The following paragraphs will focus on presenting the main ideas
and central figures in this movement with a special emphasis on theories vital in supporting the
objective of the thesis; e.g. Gerard Genette’s classification of transtextuality which mirrors in
the creation of fantasy worlds; or Jameson’s critique of consumerism which plays a significant
part in protagonists’ detest with postmodern society.
Secondly, this thesis tries to explore Neil Gaiman’s work on a postmodern literature
scene with his usage of significant postmodern writing techniques and themes. Moreover, by
exploring the essence of Gaiman’s writing, the thesis aims to draw a parallel of his novels with
the protagonists. As it will be discussed later, the novels, same as Richard and Shadow, embody
within themselves a particular fusion of the old and new.
Additionally, the thesis will examine two seemingly contradictory phenomena:
postmodernism and Joseph Campbell’s monomyth. Postmodernism declines pre-existing
systems, the grand narratives, which monomyth could be perceived as, too. However, this
thesis will attempt to demonstrate the symbiosis of the two notions in Gaiman’s novels. By
outlining prominent features of postmodern writing and depicting the traditional hero’s
journey, this thesis will aim to show that such contradictory techniques might go hand in hand.

Therefore, the first chapter will offer essential knowledge on the notion of
postmodernism as it will present fundamental features of postmodernism that most of
academics agree on while predominantly discussing features of postmodern literature typical
subsequently employed by Gaiman in the discussed novels.

7
4.1 What Is Postmodernism

David D. Galloway likens the attempts to capture the concept of postmodernism to an

endeavour of sightless Indians who try to describe an elephant by a mere touching of a single
part of the animal (Galloway 398). Many scholars tried to define postmodernism, but since this
subject is so organic, it depends where you take your stand. Indeed, postmodernism is still very
much a loaded and controversial term. Over the course of the last century, many theories on
postmodernism emerged: some of them in a stark contradiction. Nevertheless, this thesis will
present commonly acknowledged views on this phenomenon. For instance, many theorists,
despite the obscurity of the notion, are of the same opinion that postmodernism is a complex
set of ideas encompassing various fields and disciplines; that means postmodernism is in strong
opposition to a specifically defined style prior to it.
Postmodernism is usually linked with revolutionary social, political and historical
changes that emerged approximately after the WW 2. Upon these events, a significant shift in
perception of art and culture appeared. Traditional approaches towards society started to fail
humankind and a yearning for a novel viewpoint of the world at large enabled postmodernism
to arise.
Even though it is still a relevant movement in today’s society, it lacks a generally
accepted and clear definition. Altogether, it can be viewed “as a set of critical, strategic,
rhetorical practices employing concepts such as difference, repetition, the trace, the
simulacrum and hyperreality to destabilise other concepts such a presence, identity, historical
progress, epistemic certainty, and the univocity of meaning” (Stanford Encyclopaedia of
Philosophy n.p.) In the same manner, Stuart Sim claims that “Postmodernism is to be regarded
as a rejection of many, if not most, of the cultural certainties in which life in the West has been
structured over the last couple of centuries (Sim 7). By this, Sim elaborates on a crucial notion
of postmodernism - refusal of phenomena which a leading postmodern thinker Jean-Francois
Lyotard calls grand narratives. This term was firstly established in his seminal work on The
Postmodern Condition: A report Knowledge. Lyotard understands grand narratives as a long-
established totalizing thinking schemas, world-views or ideologies. Postmodernism seeks to
dissolve these universal truths and encourages to denaturalise them; it presents these concepts
in a new light questioning them with a significant mistrust. By this it can be understood that
postmodernist thoughts and texts are based on a subjectivist and arbitrary approach and
therefore they reject well-known, universally acknowledged features for the sake of promoting
one’s unique perception and multifaceted realities.

8
 Frederik Jameson, a Marxist critic, perceives postmodernism as a political phenomenon
strongly linked with an economic sphere, namely with capitalism. Jameson focuses on the
feature of pastiche in postmodernism, where he understands pastiche as an irony of an original,
and criticises postmodernism for its apolitical attitude. For Jameson, the irony should have a
political purpose and postmodern art just for art’s sake is the object of his disapproval.
As it was mentioned above, postmodernism still awaits a definitive description, but it
is important to note, that a certain elusiveness and obscurity in defying postmodernism makes
it its own.
Postmodern literature distinctly correlates with the key proposing ideas of
postmodernism; Bran Nicol especially pointed out its evasiveness and indefinable nature
(Nicol 16). Like postmodernism, its literature tends to resist clear definition and categorization.
For this reason, it is a challenging task to classify a text as purely postmodern, since the
category is diverse and slippery. Nevertheless, there are still distinguishing features that are
regarded as typical for postmodern works; among these Hoffmann mentions pluralism,
multiplicity, discontinuity or possibility of anything (Hoffmann 36). In a correlation with that,
Linda Hutcheon, a chief postmodern scholar, accents dualism, double meaning and self-
contradiction within postmodern works (Hutcheon 9). Hutcheon is also well-known for her
historiographic metafiction point of view. Simply put, Hutcheon argues that historical events
are narratives which include a fictional element. This idea suggest that we speak about past
happenings in the same manner as we speak about a fictional story. In her book A Poetics of
Postmodernism Hutcheon also stresses the issue of partiality, bias, inaccuracy and
incompleteness of these narratives based on from whom and how these data stories are
concluded. On that account, Hutcheon claims that history is always told by the majority and
thus she promotes the idea of giving voice to minorities to see narratives from a different
perspective.
Lewis Berry in his Postmodernism and literature enumerates the following
characteristics of postmodern literature: pastiche, temporal disorder, fragmentation, paranoia
and vicious circles (Lewis 124). Furthermore, among other traits can be listed blurring of
distinction between genres and the unity between “high” and “low” culture.
By the same token, Theo D’Haen, a Belgian literary scholar, pointed out the connection
between postmodernism and magic realism. D’Haen suggests that these two genres share
crucial attributes including “self-reflexivness, metafiction, eclecticism, redundancy,
multiplicity, discontinuity, intertextuality, parody, the erasure of boundaries and the
destabilization of the reader” (D’Haen 143).

9
 Among other significant literary figures, Umberto Eco further explores the idea of
intertextuality, the reoccurrence of situations, and challenges the issue of originality, within a
context of postmodernism:
The postmodern reply to the modern consists of recognizing that the past, since it
cannot really be destroyed, because its destruction leads to silence, must be revisited: but
with irony, not innocently. I think of the postmodern attitude as that of a man who loves
a very cultivated woman and knows that he cannot say to her ‘I love you madly’, because
he knows that she knows (and that she knows he knows) that these words have already
been written by Barbara Cartland. Still, there is a solution. He can say ‘As Barbara
Cartland would put it, I love you madly’. At this point, having avoided false innocence,
having said clearly that it is no longer possible to speak innocently, he will nevertheless
have said what he wanted to say to the woman: that he loves her in an age of lost
innocence. (Eco 68)
Here Eco tackles the reintroduction of motives and themes which are significant for
postmodern literature. Eco states that no experience is new in life and that all situations have
already previously occurred; thus, it is impossible to create completely new experiences.
Putting this notion into literary perspective, it suggests that no truly authentic stories can be
produced since everything was already realized. Therefore, an artist can only recreate or
reframe old narratives, place them in an unconventional environment or combine different
narratives into a new one. As a result, postmodern literature bears a resemblance to an
unconventional collage of various stories told before.
Besides that, Eco also elaborates on a notion of several layers in a text which introduces
a text as an imaginary staircase; it depends on the reader how far he is willing to step down in
a text: a reader can perceive a text in different meaning e.g. as a detective story, as a historic
novel or a meta-text. This idea suggests that postmodernism provides the reader with the
possibility of understanding of a work from many different perspectives.
Another significant view on postmodern literature was made by Brian McHale; in his
seminal book Postmodernist fiction he presents postmodern literature with a correlation to
ontology and various realities. He is concern about the idea of different worlds, shifting
between them and the experience they provide in connection to one self. He claims that within
our reality, we also encounter a different realm. McHale’s understanding of postmodern
literature will be crucial for analysing Gaiman in regard to postmodern literature, mainly due
Gaiman’s usage of several realms in his work.

10
 On the whole, it can be claimed postmodernist writers aim to challenge the reader’s
expectation by crossing conventional schemes as they try to reframe well-known narratives. It
is important to note, that the aforementioned features do not solely serve the postmodernism
genre. Dualism, irony or fragmentation can be detected in other genres, too. These writing
techniques apply across the spectrum of literary genres; however, the aforementioned methods
are often found in works considered postmodern by literary scholars.
This thesis will now return to the work of Neil Gaiman so as to trace some of the
significant postmodern moves he involved in his work.

4.2 Postmodernism in Neil Gaiman’s Work

This chapter will be dedicated to significant postmodern techniques which can be

detected in Neil Gaiman’s books. Due to his inclination to rekindle mythologies, invoking
classical tales, creating allusion to pop culture and mixing genres, Gaiman is by many
considered to be a postmodern writer. Throughout his canon he echoed elements from myths
(American Gods, Sandman, Neverwhere), folklore (Stardust, Snow, Glass, Apples), classic
novels (Coraline, Study in Emerald, The Graveyard Book), or contemporary culture (Anansi
boys); all while redesigning the original stories. The fragmentation of old narratives and a
fitting implementation of certain schemes and characters add another dimension to Gaiman’s
writing since his works are plentiful of intertextuality, symbols and archetypes. Consequently,
by meticulously intertwining such features into his own stories; the resultant associations
provide the power to enrich and deepen his writing. Thus, the strategy of decomposing existent
works3 rightly classifies Gaiman as an author of postmodern genre. Moreover, a similar pattern
of fusion between the old and new is not only found within the stories Gaiman writes. Similarly,
to the creation of the novels, where Gaiman ingeniously blends contemporary society with old
mythologies, this fusion can be traced within the very protagonists of the novel. As Gaiman
depicts the characters in their everyday contemporary life, he subsequently involves mythology
to be a determinant in their character shaping. By this Gaiman echoes his writing in his
characters; e.g. Neverwhere being a contemporary novel is built upon foundation of mythology
and legends. In a similar fashion, its protagonist Richard, embodies a representative of
contemporary society, finds his life transforming due to the affairs in London Below, a place

3
As pointed out by Eco

11
of myth and thus these two notions blend within Richard in unison, same as in Gaiman’s
writing.
Now, let us outline Gaiman’s most notable postmodern acts before the thesis turns to
the detailed examination of Neverwhere and American Gods.
Sandman is considered by many to be the most postmodern piece of Gaiman’s oeuvre.
That view is supported by his ingenious blurring of the boundaries of high and low art form,
presenting a complex literary text published in the form of a comic book. He also presented in
the story authentic historic figures4 and orchestrated their life in order to serve his narrative’s
purpose. Nevertheless, the most prominent postmodern feature is Gaiman’s interweaving of
Greek mythology5 and aboriginal folklore in his creation. Sandman is a centre of attention of a
great number of academics who predominantly study the text from a point of view of a
development of comic genre. Another significant point of scrutiny is to explore the
aforementioned intertextuality in the piece.
Gaiman proved himself highly successful when reinventing concepts from classic tales
of The Jungle Book and Alice through the Looking Glass. In an episodic composition of The
Graveyard Book Gaiman made a riff on Kipling’s well-known story about an orphan, while
dressing it in a macabre coat, by opting for ghost parents rather than animal carers. In a similar
fashion, he elaborated in his novel Coraline on Lewis Carolls’s motif of a curious girl who
steps into a parallel world. Gaiman prides himself on an ability of skilful intertextuality,
allusion and daring reinvention of the existing works. His new tales are masterfully executed
as the perceptive reader will be rewarded with a nod from old stories.
In his aforementioned theory, D’Haen describes the closeness of postmodernism and
magic realism. Gaiman embraced the magic realism movement in the novel The Ocean at the
End of the Lane. In this novel, he challenges the perception of time and space6 and seamlessly
adds magical elements into a mundane life. Moreover, he blurs the line between an author and
a narrator when he merges with the main character.7 The story is a homage to childhood and

4
Gaiman explores the relationship between Morpheus (Sandman) and William Shakespeare in stories:
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Men of Good Fortune and Tempest. Gaiman here explain Shakespeare’s genius
by striking a Faustian deal between Sandman and him; it is therefore Sandman who provides Shakespeare with
the great brilliance to write phenomenal plays. Gaiman also modify the mention plays by revising them in an
unconventional fashion.
5
Sandman, also called Morpheus, is a God of sleep in Greek pantheon
6
While the narrator talks with Lottie Hempstock, an eleven year old girl, he asks her “’How old are
you, really?’ I asked. ‘Eleven.’ I thought for a while. Then I asked, ‘How long have you been eleven for?’ She
smiled at me.” (Gaiman, 40)
7
The Ocean at the End of the Lane came into being when Neil Gaiman decided to create a short story
for his wife about his own childhood

12
soaked with nostalgia whilst pondering about human existence. On the top of that, it is by many
recognised as the most philosophical piece of Gaiman’s writing.

13
5 Postmodern Writing Techniques Significant for Character
Transformation
The following chapter will exploit crucial writing aspects, including literary and
linguistic features, of postmodern literature which are used in Neverwhere and American Gods
and which contribute to building a crucial environment for the examined transformation
journey of the characters. The aim is to describe these postmodern elements and their
actualisation in the texts since they are crucial in the realisation of the world-creation of the
alternative realms where the spoken character transformations take place. The thesis will
namely explore intertextuality which is a significant part of the alternative world creation,
along with the concept of duality which is a reoccurring motif in both novels.
Furthermore, the exploration of the postmodern features also bears metatextual
significance as the paper will try to show that Gaiman not only portrays postmodern situation
in the novels, the contemporary society which proves daunting to the protagonist and this make
the characters to yearn to escape to find identity. He does so simultaneously by obtaining a
postmodernist approach to describe this postmodernist notion. Therefore, we can read
Gaiman’s stories through a postmodern lens in two dimensions. First, he introduces
postmodern themes of lost identity in the contemporary society, including motives of duality
and fragmentation; and at the same time, he creates these stories by using key postmodern
writings such as intertextuality, assimilation of genres etc. By this Gaiman enhances the
postmodern essence of his writing, since metatextuality is one of the attributes of postmodern
literature, too. Consequently, the novels are both postmodern regarding their writing strategy
as well as in content depicted in the novel, therefore confirming Gaiman’s position on a
postmodern backdrop.

5.1 Duality

One of the crucial postmodern traits as stressed by Hutcheon is duality. Duality is

strongly presented in both novels: In Neverwhere the most notable example is a duality of a
world– the inversion of the London Above and London Below. These are the places where
Richard’s hero journey takes place: in London Above Richard lives his ordinary life without
fulfilment or purpose; it is only in the alternative realm – the London Below where he
undergoes trials that lead him to his self-awakening moment. London Above (real) is viewed
through an uncanny lens transformed into London Below (alternative) and in a carnivalesque

14
manner: adding a twist to possessions of the London Above. The concept of the two opposing
worlds will be discussed in a more detail in a latter chapter.
As for the American Gods, duality is articulated through the appearance of coins with
their two sides. The most important coins in the story – the silver and gold one – symbolise the
opposition of day and night, Sun and Moon, life and death.
Moreover, a case of duality is found within characters of the stories; the most notable
example in Neverwhere is the Angel Isligton who is initially depicted as a saint angel but
actually is the main antagonist of the novel. On the other hand, in American Gods a distinct
sense of duality is embedded in the two-fold identity of numerous characters: the gods acquire
a new personality due to adaptation in the evolving reality which is in opposition to their
original nature. Therefore, we are, for instance, introduced to the character of Mr. Nancy who
is in fact god Anansi. Furthermore, a character duality is in the form of the protagonist Shadow
who over the course of the story obtains an alter ego Mike Ainsel in order to stay incognito;
this camouflage is supposed to protect him from the impeding war.

5.2 Between Reality and Fantasy

Another important postmodern feature is a balance between reality and fantasy, this
trait is strongly covered in both novels: the London Above symbolises a world of reality with
its depiction of urban life, and on the other hand the London Below stands for a fantasy place
echoing the real London in a macabre fashion. In American Gods is the notion of the
reality/fantasy also explored mainly through contrasting troupes of gods: old gods represent
fantasy while the new gods symbolise reality. It is important to note that the reality and fantasy
contemplate each other and form a certain symbiosis: “Neither a magical, nor a realistic reading
of the events satisfies on its own – it is precisely the interplay of doubts and hesitation between
the apparently conflicting ways of viewing reality which makes the reading experience
memorable” (Čipkár 112).

15
5.3 Introduction to Intertextuality

The following pages will deal with the depiction of intertextuality and its
implementation in American Gods and Neverwhere. Higher attention to intertextuality is given
since it is most prolific feature in the two stories which embraces the aforementioned elements
and elaborates on them.
Leading academics and culture theorists such as Julia Kristeva, Mikhail Bakhtin,
Roland Barthes and Gerard Genette questioned the ability of an artist to produce a positively
original content. These motions lead to introduction of the idea of intertextuality – one of the
most crucial strategies of postmodern literature which denotes a proposal of rewriting text and
suggests text’s containment of references to other texts.
The term itself was conveyed in the 60s by Kristeva in her treatise Word, Dialogue and
Novel. It goes without saying, that the scholars somewhat differed in their perception and
application of the term and they continue to so do. Initially, Kristeva suggested that
intertextuality is “a mosaic of quotations; any text is the absorption and transformation of
another” (Kristeva 37). She claimed that a text is “a permutation of texts, an intertextuality in
the space of a given text” she also subsequently commented on the utterances within the
particular text taken from another text. (Kristeva 36). Kristeva elaborated this thought into a
notion of a “cultural text” which symbolises a compilation where texts share cultural and
literary traits as well as their influence and an ability transform one another.8 Therefore,
Kristeva’s main hypothesis lies in a motion that every text, as well as every reading, is shaped
by prior understandings.
Kristeva’s vision of intertextuality was embodied into Gennete’s generated division of
intertextual relationships (Genette 10). However, Gennete concept of text relations is strongly
marked by his inclination to the term transtextuality. To him transtextuality manifests the
interconnection of text parts and is “all that sets the text in a relationship, whether obvious or
concealed, with other texts” (Genette 13). Unlike Kristeva, he uses transtextuality as an
umbrella term; thus, differentiating other categories that treats different types of textual
relations which enables him to identify their correlation more distinctly. His work Palimpsets,
Genette first dealt with explicit, hidden and implicit transtextuality; subsequently, he

8
This relationship between a text and another text Kristeva denotes as a vertical axis, while horizontal
axis represents the relationship between the author and the reader.

16
established five chief categories of transtextuality which serve as a key to an interpretation of
the relation between narratives, these are: paratextuality, architextuality, metatextuality,
intertextuality, and hypertextuality.
According to Genette, paratextuality includes headings, titles, prefaces, epigraphs,
dedication and acknowledgments. The next term - architextuality, describes texts as a part of a
particular genre or genres which follow shared features between texts of the same genre.
Metatextuality, in Genette’s perception, is addressing one text by another. Interestingly, distinct
boundaries between Genette’s metatextuality and metafiction are not clearly set; consequently,
both of them deal with a commentary about a text in either primary or secondary manner
(Genette 13). In addressing intertextuality, Gennette claims that it is “an actual presence of one
text within another” (Genette 13), in the text it can be represented as onomastic, literary or
cultural allusions or quotations. Last of the categories is hypertextuality which deals with a
relationship of two texts: a primary and a secondary text. It outlines the transaction,
modification and elaboration of the previous text into a new one. These transformations include
parody, spoof, or translation (Gennete 15).

5.3.1 Examples of Transtextuality in Neverwhere and American Gods

Following the Gennete’s proposed typology, the thesis will now discuss each category.
Due to a focus on the argument, only some aspects of the phenomenon will be discussed,
namely those which are relevant in to the creation of the alternative worlds or to the character
transformation.

Intertextuality

Since the revival of mythological figures bears the most significant part of
intertextuality used in American Gods, it naturally provides most space for scrutiny. Gaiman
uses intertextuality to implement old mythologies in his narrative. However, he does not only
incorporate the myths, he recreates them into his own. Gaiman inspects new myths and puts
them into a newly refurbished narrative: in American Gods he invites many significant
characters from pantheons around the world and depicts their struggle to fit into a new
environment – America in the postmodern age. Gaiman incorporates elements from Norse,
Egyptian, Slavic, African, Indian, Irish mythologies combined with several urban myths,
folktales and American phenomena such as Iktomi or White Buffalo. When Gaiman creates
new characters, there is usually a core reference easily understood to the primary source of the

17
character. Furthermore, Gaiman also preservers the idea of America being a melting pot, a
place where other countries come to unite – “They brought me, and Loki, and Thor, Anansi
and the Lion God, Leprechauns and Kobolds and Banshees, Kubera and Frau Holle and
Ashtaroth, and they brought you” (Gaiman: 107). This move suggests the correlation between
the arrival of the old gods to the historic emigration to New World9. Imigrants were diverse in
ethnicity, while bringing their culture into a new place. Thus, the Old gods epitomise
multiculturalism and pluralism in the USA, as well as American cultural values and roots.
Gaiman is faithful to the conventional image of the characters while depicting them in
the story: from their indicative names, to other cultural pointers including the way they dress,
speak and act. Rata for example observers the portrayals of Mama-ji, a representation of
goddess Kali, dressed in a red sari, wearing a blue jewel on her forehead; or Mad Sweeny, a
modern-day leprechaun with ginger hair (Rata 106). The goddess Eostre of the Down (Easter)
is depicted as a cheerful, curvaceous woman with a forget-me-not tattoo (Gaiman, 329) living
in San Francisco which perfectly suits her personality due to the hippie movement that took
place there in a New Age era. Among other gods illustrated in the story and that are truthful to
their origin and cultural stereotypes can be mentioned Czernobog and Zorya sisters from a
Slavic pantheon; Mr. Wednesday who is in fact the all-father Odin followed by Low-key Loki
Liesmith; Mr. Ibis symbolising Egyptian god Thoth or Mr. Nancy who represents African
trickster god Anansi.
On the other hand, the New gods stand for the modern movements in the world and the
shift of human’s belief. They also bear evocative names and their behaviour corresponds with
their ideological background. For instance, Mr. World represents globalisation; Mr. Town
urbanization; Technical boy, resembling a spoilt teenager in a fancy limo with many gadgets,
stands for technology; or Media who describes herself as “the little shrine the family gathers to
adore” (Gaiman 189).
Gaiman also draws parallels with Christian motifs through cultural allusions: a part
where Shadow takes Wednesday’s vigil plays a riff on the fate of Jesus and his sacrifice.
Shadow dies naked on a tree, having his side pierced while three women are mourning at the
bottom of the tree. The women can be seen as The Three Marys who are present at the
crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Moreover, this scene shares the symbolism of “the

9
Gaiman confessed that the foundation of American Gods came across while he was in Iceland,
learning about the voyages of Leif Erikson to North America; he pondered on the questions whether the new
comers also brought their religious beliefs with them asking ,,I wonder if they left their Gods behind” (Wagner,
492).

18
sacrifice of a son”: both Jesus and Shadow were sacrificed by their fathers. What is more, the
resurrection happens on Easter Day; in American Gods, it is the goddess Easter who brings
Shadow back to life.
Among other cultural allusions in the novel Rata lists landmarks (Disneyland, Golden
Gate Park, statue of Liberty); historical events (Independence Day, The Civil War); American
brands (KFC, McDonalds, Walt-mart, Chevrolet); or significant figures (Abraham Lincoln,
Jackson Pollock, Gutzon Bulgrum) (Rata 108). It is important to note, that Gaiman brings into
play all these references since they are identifiable due to Americanisation. Moreover, they
help to anchor the story within the socio-historical context.
Unlike American Gods, where reinventing pantheons was central to intertextuality, in
Neverwhere the principal feature of intertextuality lies in a mirroring of an urban life of London
into the parallel realm referred to as London Below. London Below is a fantastical alter-ego of
the London we know, with its anthropomorphise of London properties and distorted time.
Intertextuality in Neverwhere is most significantly represented by cultural allusions represented
by Gaiman’s depiction of the Tube (the London underground system). It is a place where a
prominent part of the novel takes place. Gaiman’s most notable manoeuvre is an
anthropomorphism of the tube and its stations which provides numerous allusions to London’s
heritage. Among these can be listed: Earl’s Court, one of the London neighbourhoods, becomes
a literal miniscule version of a court in a tube carriage with an old Earl chairing this assembly
surrounded by a jester and knights; Knightsbridge converted into Night’s Bridge, a place coated
in darkness and nightmares. Next can be mentioned a persona of Old Bailey, an allusion to the
Criminal Court of England and Wales, who is an elderly wise man with a passion for birds; or
a character of the Angel Islington – a reference to a famous public house “The Angel” located
in the London area of Islington. Moreover, at a station Blackfriars can be met actual friars in
black cloths, and on the same note, literal shepherds are found in Shepherd’s Bush. Even the
well-known sign Mind the Gap becomes transformed into a creature named Gap that sucks
unwary tourists into the cracks of railways and feeds on them. Besides that, other cultural
allusions in the text are represented by famous London sites e.g.: Harrods (the prestigious
British shopping centre), Tottenham Court Road, British Museum, Tower of London, Big Ben
and National Gallery.
As Rata points out, in the text there are also found onomastic allusions, specifically in
the name of Door’s family who are famous openers. Their names all bear relation to ancient
architectural elements: Ingress, Portico, Porta and Arch. The names suggest their aristocratic
origin as well as the ability to open portals and dimensions (Rata 90).

19
 Biblical references are in Neverwhere as plentiful as in American Gods. For instance,
Lutwack comments on the opposition of London Above to London Below echoing the
Christian stratification of Heaven and Hell (Lutwack 39). In addition, this implication is
strengthened by the presence of Angel Islington – the fallen angel. Islington is held captive in
London Below for the doom of Atlantis, which draws a parallel with the imprisonment of
Lucifer in Hell. Rata also observes the likening of treacherous Hunter to Judas Iscariot’s
betrayal: she is asked by Richard whether she was paid “thirty pieces of silver” as a price for
betraying Door and Richard (Rata 96). Gaiman equally draws inspiration from legends and
myths: The Beast of London hidden in a labyrinth mirrors the role of Minotaur or Cerberus
which, too, patrolled secret passageways. A correlation can be also seen with an urban legend
of Black Swine from Hampstead popular in the nineteenth century (Boyle 56):

they say that back in first King Charlie’s day [...] before the fire and the plague, this was,
there was a butcher lived down by the Fleet Ditch, had some poor creature he was going
to fatten up for Christmas. Some says it was a piglet, and some says it wusn’t, [...] that
wusn’t never properly certain. One night in December the beast runned away, ran into
the Fleet Ditch, and vanished into the sewers. And it fed on the sewage, and it grew, and
it grew. And it got meaner, and nastier. They’d send in hunting parties after it, from time
to time (Gaiman 168).

Bethany Alexander observes Gaiman’s utilization of allusions as follows: “Neil Gaiman

borrows rituals, deities, tricksters and fairy-tales from under every stone, roof or teacup”
(Alexander 139). Indeed, Gaiman’s incorporation of conventional material and their alternation
is a key element of his work. In like manner, Gary K. Wolfe highlights the importance of such
borrowings: “this isn’t to suggest that his work is more derivative than that of other writers (if
anything he’s far less predictable than most fantasy writers), but rather that […] he’s like a kid
with his first chemistry set, seeing what happens if you mix this with that […]” (Wolfe 15).
Precisely, this blending of Eastern and Western mythologies coated in contemporary time adds
another layer of understanding to Gaiman’s work while the allusions give a friendly nod to
those who spot them.

20
Paratextuality

The title of American Gods is a very suggestive name, referring to both New and Old
gods. Gaiman included a reface called Caveat, and Warnings for Tavellers is addressing how
to treat the text that follows. The novel also contains the dedication: “For absent friends – Kathy
Acker and Roger Zelazny, and all points between”; and acknowledgments where Gaiman
expresses thanks to all people who made the book’s materialisation possible. Moreover, it
contains a postscript which, in a form of epilogue, follows Shadow on his journey to Iceland
where he eventually meets Odin.
It is important to note a role of headings in the novel. Each chapter is introduced by a
citation from various works of literature; the purpose of these citations is to foreshadow a
meaning of the particular chapter. Besides that, throughout the novel there are several
interludes called Somewhere in America or Coming to America. These narrative fragments
serve to report events of migration of gods to the New Land. Lastly, the book contains Interview
with Neil Gaiman and an essay called How Dare You? which addresses the issue of a Brit
writing about America.
On the other hand, the title Neverwhere is a juxtaposition of words never and where
which indicates towards the distortion of time and space in London Below. Moreover, it can
be perceived that Neverwhere is a symbolic place of destination for those fallen through the
cracks, a place where the forgotten and disposed live. The book also contains: an introduction
to the text which addresses the unsatisfactory beginnings of the novel as a BBC series;
dedication and acknowledgement. There are also two epigraphs introducing the novel: first of
them is by G.K. Chesterton found in his novel The Napoleon of Notting Hill which alludes to
the blending of reality and fantasy of alternative London.10 Next, Gaiman includes the
traditional poem Lyke Wake Dirge which reinforces the Christian allusion in the text and also
foreshadows Richard’s hero’s journey and his rebirth in London Below. It is in fact found once
more in the novel: Richard hums this song to himself after defeating the Great beast of London.
The book also contains a prologue narrating Richard’s departure from Scotland for London and
his mysterious encounter with a former beggar who advises him to “watch out for doors” which
also serves as foreshadowing of the story to come. A second prologue An Altogether Different
Prologue, Four Hundred Years Earlier, recounts historical misdemeanours of Mr. Croup and

10
. Gaiman in an interview with Telegraph confessed that it was this book that sparked his imagination
to write the upside world in Neverwhere,

21
Mr. Vandermar. Last, but not least, the novel contains an interview with Neil Gaiman and
suggestions for discussions in reading groups.
Architextuality

As said above, American Gods is a book which can be perceived in many ways. It might
be viewed as a road novel due to the dynamics of the narration; or as a mystery story, detective
story or Americana (a book celebrating America). Due to its postmodern connotations it does
not follow the genre boundaries strictly and it melds all the genres together.
Neverwhere is predominantly regarded an urban fantasy novel, concentrating on the
issue of a city with added fantastical elements. Čipkár comments on the genre classification of
Gaiman as follows:

Even though they usually occupy the shelves of the fantasy section in bookshops, we can
certainly find all above mentioned genres in Gaimans novels. Romance is ever-presented
and, as is the case with most works in the fantasy genre, everything is centred around an
adventure […] the usability of the mythic method for the detective genre can be
demonstrated by a number of stories […] (Čipkár 109).

Indeed, both novels contain elements of detective genres: readers are awaiting the revelation
of who killed Door’s family; similarly, in American Gods they anticipate the unravelling
mystery of disappearing children in a city where Shadow lives.

Metatextuality

Metatextuality is in American Gods found in the preface; the reader is provided with
commentary on how to read this book, advising that this book is not a traveller’s guide: “this
is work of fiction, not a guide book”. Moreover, it suggests that only the gods are real in the
book, which sparks reader’s curiosity. Besides the preface, the book also contains an essay on
the book called How Dare You? which addresses the issue of a British person writing a book
about America.
In Neverwhere metatextuality appears in the interview with Neil Gaiman where he
answers questions about the story and its writing. In the preface Gaiman also tackles on the
creation of the novel describing the unsatisfactory TV production of Neverwhere which
eventually led to his writing of the novel.

22
Hypertextuality

Hypertextuality concerns a relationship of two texts. Rata argues that hypertextuality

in American Gods is denoted by parody in the novel. “The old world mythology, with its
corresponding values, is parodied, by iconic inversion, through the American versions of the
(altered) Old World gods and traditions” (Rata 110). She lists the peculiar jobs which the old
gods are allocated in the America: Odin – Mr. Wednesday, is a grifter, Queen of Sheba is a
sex-worker, Czernoborg used to be a knocker working in a slaughterhouse, while the Zoryas
sisters are fortune-tellers. Their parodied versions are also depicted by the life-style they lead:
Czernoborg and the Zoryas sisters live in a shabby house which smells like rotten cabbage (as
an indicator of their Slavonic origin); Mr. Ibis and Mr. Jacquel live in a mortuary house where
they work. By this Gaiman draws a parallel between lives of immigrants in America and the
fate of old gods: they adapt to a new society, while keeping their typical traits which expose
them to mockery. As Rata puts: “They become caricatures of their old selves, coming together
in a pastiche of discordant characters” (Rata 110).
By the same token, in Neverwhere, too, parody is the main source of hypertextuality.
The most notable example is the character of the Earl and his court. However, the noble Earl
is depicted in a mocking almost pitiful manner:

[…] an immense, elderly man, in a huge fur-lined dressing gown and carpet
slippers staggered through the connecting door to the next compartment […] he wore an
eye-patch over his left eye, which had the effect of making him look slightly helpless,
and unbalanced […] there were fragments of food in his red-grey beard, and what
appeared to be pyjama trousers were visible at the bottom of his shabby fur gown
(Gaiman 150).

Another character which is parodied in the novel is Marquis de Carabas - Richard’s mentor
in the London Below, who is a reminiscent on the origin of the folk-tale Puss in the Boots. Like
Perrault’s Puss, Marquis de Carabas is helping the protagonist through the initiation leading to
acquiring knowledge or fortune. Throughout the novel he is depicted as a famously cunning
trickster who exploits those who are at his mercy: traits also very much shared with the original
Puss. His similarity is enforced by his appearance, too:

23
 He wore a huge dandyish black coat, that was not quite a frock coat nor exactly a trench
coat, and high black boots, and beneath his coat, raggedy clothes. His eyes burned white
in an extremely dark face. And he grinned white teeth, momentarily, as if at a private
joke of his own [...]. The man who called himself Marquis de Carabas walked restlessly
up and down the alley. He was always in motion, like a great cat (Gaiman 47).

In a sense, hypertextuality might be seen as an elaboration and continuation of

intertextuality. It not only alludes to the phenomena outside the text but modifies them and
plays with their origin. Linda Hutcheon notes that “multiple conventions, extended repetition
with critical difference, is what I mean by modern parody” (Hutcheon 7). Darrell Schweitzer
perceives Gaiman’s writing in a similar view: “a writer can’t merely stand on the shoulder of
giants. He has to do something interesting while he’s up there. A little tap-dance, maybe.
Gaiman does at least that” (Schweitzer 116). This ‘tap-dance’ is exactly the alternation of the
original source, the modification of primary text into a secondary text with its peculiar and
specific nature, subtly drawing on the origin.
Gaiman’s fusion of the old and new, creates a special space where the contrasting
phenomena meet. By this paradox Gaiman highlights the differences and potential burdens the
protagonists, same as the readers, have to bear. Apart from that, Gaiman’s implementation of
hypertextuality has a societal undertone, since it captures the politics of the postmodern era
where the old and traditional is ridiculed. As for the main protagonists who themselves live on
the fringes of the society, they can relate to the rejection posed on the characters by a cynical
society. However, Gaiman’s usage of alternative realms offers a revelation for the characters.

Above, all of the intertextual allusions create a conversation between the story and its
inspiration, arousing the reader’s imagination and curiosity, while adding special value and
depth to the novels.

24
6 Postmodern Society and Character Profiles Before
Transformation with Emphasis on a Crisis of Identity

After scrutinizing postmodernism in a relation to literature, and to Gaiman specifically,

from the outer perspective, i.e. how postmodernism is projected in the writing of American
Gods and Neverwhere, the next chapter will be dedicated to the postmodern worlds designed
within the novels. In particular, it examines how the postmodern situation is depicted in the
stories, and especially what influence it poses on the protagonists. This chapter will be centred
on the individual characters of Shadow and Richard in order to analyse what made them
susceptible to character transformation in regards to postmodern society. Both Shadow and
Richard became predisposed to personality change as a result of experiencing a crisis of
identity in a postmodern world. This chapter will introduce some of the leading causes that can
be instrumental to identity crisis in postmodern society and these causes will be traced in the
protagonist personalities.
Identity is in peril facing the postmodern world with its fractured and multi-narrative
atmosphere. Besides, the identity in a postmodern world experiences a great shift from a
community-based context to an individual one. Dan P. McAddams illustrates the postmodern
world as “rife with images of discord and malaise” (Schachter 142). Furthermore, he stresses
the lack of purpose and direction in the contemporary society which has an inevitable effect on
the shaping of identity and personal fulfilment of its inhabitants. By the same token, Erik
Erikson, whose expertise lies in the topic of identity, connects a crisis of identity with a
persistent change in society. He describes two main features of identity: the sense of sameness
and continuation; and an individual’s value to others (Schachter 142). However, these aspects
are threatened by imposing highly demanding standards on members of postmodern society,
mainly concerning their socio-economic status in an individualised world. Most notably
alienation, anxiety, emasculation, loneliness and fear of exploring one’s purpose are believed
to be a potential aftermath of postmodern context in regard to identity forming (Schachter 142).
Similarly, Côte and Levin also identify one of the aspects of identity confusion to be an
outcome of cultural contradiction, meaning that various social contexts are imposed on the
individual, resulting in a fragility of the character. Men of today experience floating existence
without an essence or a purpose which reflects in their behaviour. These symptoms, and the
causes listed above, will serve as a key towards scrutinizing the personality of Shadow and
Richard in relation to their postmodern existence at the beginning of the stories.

25
 Richard Oliver Mayhew, the protagonist of Neverwhere, is a middle-class man, a
member of generation X (Čipkár 100). Richard moves to London from Scotland but finds
London monotonous and disheartening; mostly living through his days without any purpose or
ambition, being dragged along about his girlfriend’s superior errands. Richard leads a
humdrum life having no real stimuli. He is the embodiment of ‘existing but not living’ as he
works in a dull job which he does not enjoy, but is not assertive enough to change it. Most of
the time he spends either obeying his bossy fiancée Jessica who thinks him “the perfect
matrimonial accessory” (Gaiman 12) or at work missing deadlines (Gaiman 14). Richard’s life
confirms the claims of Schachter who argues that postmodern life makes people inactive and
empty (Schachter 14). Richard does not thrive in life, he spends his days like a sleepwalker
putting one foot in front of the other (Rata 84) without intention which revolves into Richard’s
obliviousness to discover his purpose in life. Richard’s alienation is established immediately
in the prologue which depicts his goodbye celebration. While all of his friends are enjoying
themselves, Richard is “sitting and shivering on the pavement outside the pub” (Gaiman 1).
Sitting there, Richard is approached by a woman who takes him for a homeless person because
“I been homeless, so I know what it’s like … That’s why I though you was” (Gaiman 2). By
this Gaiman suggests Richard to be a metamorphic homeless person in a society to which he
does not belong, and also foreshadows Richard’s fate in the alternative world.
At the beginning of the story, Richard moves from a little town to London: a
geographical change of his homebase of Scotland to the metropolitan city of London
corresponds with Côte and Lavin proposal of cultural contradiction resulting in an identity
confusion. Since the individual in anchored in several contexts, he is likely to experience
internal confusion and sense of detachment to his homeland. On the same note, Chang in his
article (Chang 100) lists relocation or a change of a career as a potential contributor to identity
crises; in Richard’s case moving to a place he found “fundamentally incomprehensible”
(Gaiman 9) and his feeling of dissatisfaction about his profession are applicable aspects of his
identity confusion.
With regards to identity formation, Erikson highlights a great importance of a parental
figure in identity development, as he attributes a lack of this figure in a childhood to be a
contributor to identity shaping (Schachter 144). “[Richard’s] father had died quite suddenly,
when Richard was still a small boy, of a heart attack” (Gaiman 57). The absence of a parental
figure might result in Richard’s internal confusion and struggles to maintain fulfilling and
balanced relationships. His relationship with Jessica is marked by a strong inequality between
them. Jessica is a ruthless career woman who is the epitome of a London city life and who

26
dominates in their relationship. Her constant attempts to “harness” Richard (Gaiman 12) and
his effort to please her underline Richard’s submission in connection to women. Jessica is often
overcritical of Richard and lectures him as showed on the following exchange: “‘Now, when
you meet Mr. Stockton tonight’ said Jessica, ‘you have to appreciate that he’s not just a very
important man. He’s also a corporate entity in his own right.’ ‘I can’t wait,’ sighed Richard.
‘What was that, Richard?’ ‘I can’t wait,’ said Richard, rather more enthusiastically” (Gaiman
21). On the top of that, she is referred to as “terrifying” (Gaiman 12) and “the creature from a
Black Lagoon” (Gaiman 18) by Richard’s colleagues. Despite this, Richard remains pliant and
agrees to buy Jessica, at her suggestion, an engagement ring. Without surprise, Richard does
not examine his own feelings towards Jessica and whether he truly wishes to marry her as he
once again obediently follows her demands which conform to his passive nature.
Richard’s appearance is described as “fresh-faced and boyish” with “rumpled, just
woken up look, which made him more attractive” (Gaiman 2). Richard is not aware of his good
looks and this is apparent in his timid attitude towards women. Additionally, his child-like
looks go hand with hand with his tender-hearted and compliant nature; and are thus partly
responsible for a disbelieving attitude towards Richard’s abilities and a tendency to question
him or boss him around as “[…] was treating [Richard] as an irrelevance. He felt like a small
child, unwanted, following the bigger children around” (Gaiman 125). Naturally, this
influences his confidence and results in his submissiveness and underlines his role as an
observer rather than a participant. For that reason, Richard is at the beginning of the story
distant to the image of a hero but rather treated as underachiever and outsider. Moreover, at the
start Richard is also portrayed as messy and disorganized as he “could be disorganised for
Britain, if ever they made disorganisation an Olympic sport” (Gaiman 17). These attributes are
not representative for a hero and enhance the ultimate shift in Richard’s transformation
(Gaiman 19).
As a whole, Richard is illustrated as a stranger who does not fit into the social groups
of the London Above: he spends his leaving celebration away from his friends, not enjoying
himself: “Inside the pub, Richard’s friends continued to celebrate his forthcoming departure
with an enthusiasm that, to Richard, was beginning to border on the sinister” (Gaiman 1). His
solitary nature continues in London where his life is divided between his demanding girlfriend
and shallow friendships with his co-workers who think that he collects trolls only because he
picked one from pavement and placed it on his desk (Gaiman 13). Even though Richard is busy
working and has a fiancée and co-workers, they do not provide him with fulfilling connection,

27
and thus make him feel friendless and forlorn. Richard undoubtedly lacks deeper bonds and
meaningful relationships which results in his feeling of alienation.
Yet, one of the most significant traits of his persona is good-heartedness11 and a
charitable nature, especially towards homeless people. As it was stated in the introduction to
the novel, Neverwhere is strongly concerned with the theme of homelessness and its perception
in society. Richard’s noticing of Door lying on the pavement and offering her a helping hand
is an instrumental moment of the novel and marks the start, and simultaneously proves Richard
worthy of the hero’s journey. These humanitarian qualities are emphasised through an allusion
in Richard’s surname. Rata points a connection between the protagonist and Henry Mayhew,
an author of London Labour and the London Poor, a treatise which is concerned about
London’s most vulnerable citizens (Rata 90).
Richard’s mindfulness is in a sharp contrast to the consumerism of postmodernism
symbolised in his girlfriend Jessica and her life: “On the weekends […] Richard would trail
behind Jessica as she went shopping […] he would accompany Jessica on her tours of such
huge and intimidating emporia as Harrods and Harvey Nichols department stores where Jessica
was able to purchase anything, from jewellery, to books, to the week’s groceries (Gaiman 12).
Accordingly, Watson marks consumerism as one of the main aspects of the postmodern era:
“Sunday no longer means a trip to church or chapel, but rather a visit to the cathedrals of
consumerism. Shopping malls have become major sites of leisure activity, the pilgrimage is
enough even without the act of buying” (Watson 21). Even though Richard is not a proactive
supporter of consumerism, and he prides himself on having a thoughtful approach to others, a
life shared with Jessica and his submissive behaviour pulls him into the market-oriented life,
however tiresome he found it as demonstrated in a following quote:

[…] so [Jessica] gives [Richard] books with titles like Dress for Success and A
Hundred and Twenty-five Habits of Successful Men, and books how to run a business like
a military campaign, and Richard always said thank you, and always meant to read them.
In Harvey Nichols’ fashion department she would pick out for him the kinds of clothes
she thought that he should wear – and he wore them during the week, anyway … (Gaiman
12).

11
“The old woman took the umbrella, gratefully, and smiled her thanks. ‘You’ve got a good heart,’ she
told him” (Gaiman 4).

28
 But in spite of that, Richard differs from Jessica greatly when encountering Door. When
Richard and Jessica are on their way to a highly important dinner they encounter a girl bleeding
on the pavement. Despite Door’s despair, Jessica assumes that the girl is drunk, and is not
willing to help her, stating “they will be late” and “if you pay them any attention […] they will
walk over you” (Gaiman 24). For the first time, Richard does not obey Jessica’s orders and
actually acts against her will by taking Door home. Richard shows an empathy towards people
who are overlooked by a society which mostly values money and status: “They weren’t just
people. They were People. Some of them were even Personalities” (Gaiman 185), utters Jessica
about the rich and famous attending an exhibition of which she in charge of running. The
opposition of rich and poor is a dominant theme of the novel and is mirrored in respective
attitudes of Richard and Jessica to consumerism and homelessness. It can be stated that Jessica
is an embodiment of a postmodern preoccupation with a socioeconomic status and
superficiality manifested in her selfish ways, and her fascination with money and power. To
the contrary, Richard does not share Jessica’s values and interests as is exhibited by his
reluctance to accept a consumerist life style and his empathetic attitude towards people on the
fringe of society. Hence Richard is a member of a society with whose beliefs he cannot identify.
Schachter claims that a conflict of individual with the society he lives in is a major contributor
to the identity cohesiveness (Schachter 149). Richard’s behaviour shows his dissent with
shallow society, while proving his potential to become a complete and fulfilled person, given
the right environment.

The protagonist of American Gods, Shadow, is first met in a prison where he is serving
a sentence for a crime committed by his wife Laura. Like Richard, Shadow is instantly
presented as a misfit, even more emphasised by his captivity. In prison, Shadow shows signs
of alienation and introversion and acquires a role of an observer as he keeps to himself, with
his books and his coin tricks (Gaiman 1).
Both Richard and Shadow are in their early thirties, without children, and having a
fiancée or as in Shadow’s case, a wife. In contrast to Richard, Shadow is depicted in a more
masculine way; as a bodybuilder he prides himself with an extraordinary strength. This
impression is underlined by most people’s first-time impression and amazement at his physical
appearance, calling him “a big guy” (Gaiman 42). The physical difference is emphasised by
Shadow’s “coffee and cream” skin colour, contrary to the depiction of Richard as having a
typically British pale complexion.

29
 Even though the characters seem, at first glance, to be entirely different: Shadow is a
convict while Richard works in the London City, and their appearances are widely different,
they share similar significant traits which position them as rejects in a postmodern society.
After he learns about his wife’s fatal car accident, Shadow finds himself in a situation where
he does not have any direction in life, has lost his home and all that is symbolised in Laura, he
also does not have a job, in the words of Mr Wednesday: “There is nothing waiting for you
there” (Gaiman 23). Despite the differences in their backgrounds and appearances, they share
significant traits. For instance, they are both perceived as being rather ordinary: Shadow is
labelled as “average Joe” (Rata 38) while Richard a “perpetual everyman” which emphasises
their non-heroic initial state. Gaiman explains that “I wanted a hero who […] was a bit
everybody” (Sommers n.p). By this Gaiman accomplished that a postmodern reader might
relate to the experience of the protagonists and understand their life frustrations.
Most importantly, they share significant characteristics which position them as castaways
in postmodern society. Apart from the lack of direction in their lives, they are both friendless,
with Shadow’s supposed best friend believed to be involved in an adulterous relationship with
Shadow’s wife. Shadow also experiences a feeling of detachment and resignation in his life,
having “the feeling that he’s plunged as low as he could plunge, and he’d hit the bottom”
(Gaiman 1). By this Gaiman articulates life’s nihilism which is down to the postmodern era
(Spencer 158).
It might seem that Shadow’s desperate state was caused by the tragic news about his
wife’s death. However, it is revealed that Shadow had been a burn-out before the tragic event
took place as supported by Laura’s confession to Shadow about his presence seeming to be
empty:

It’s like there isn’t anyone there. You know? You are like this big, solid, man-shaped
hole in the world. […] sometimes I’d go into a room and I wouldn’t think there was
anybody in there. And I’d turn the light on, or I’d turn the light off, and I’d realize that
you were in there, sitting on your own, not reading, not watching TV, not doing anything
(Gaiman 396).

Shadow’s behaviour corresponds to Spencer’s claim of apathy in the postmodern world

as he lists it along with ambivalence, dissent, nihilism, disillusionment, ambiguity and
uncertainty among features manifested in postmodern society (Spencer 158). Another example
of Shadow’s apathy is when he learns about his wife’s death: “it occurred to him that he had

30
not cried yet – had in fact felt nothing at all. No tears. No sorrow. Nothing” (Gaiman 15). Laura
even goes further and tells Shadow that he is “not dead […] but not alive either” (Gaiman 396)
which confirms Schachter’s claim about the vacant personality of the postmodern era. On the
same note, Shadow displays signs of disillusionment as he states that nothing surprises him
anymore since his wife adultery (Gaiman 129).
In respect to Côte and Levin’s claim concerning a cultural contradiction: both Richard
and Shadow experience a cultural shift at the beginning of the novels: as mentioned above,
Richard changes homeland in Scotland for the English capital, while Shadow undergoes a
change as he re-enters society after his prison sentence. Moreover, Shadow’s life is affected by
abrupt cultural shifts in his childhood. His accompanying of his mother on her ambassadorial
travels in Europe have hindered his finding of a place of stability and contributed to his feeling
of a estrangement. The cultural confusion is reinforced by Shadow’s ethnicity which remains
unknown, as showed on this exchange: ““And what are you? A spic? A gypsy?” “Not that I
know of, sir. Maybe.” “Maybe you got nigger blood in you. You got nigger blood in you,
Shadow?”” (Gaiman 10). The ambiguity surrounding Shadow’s origin thus springs into an
identity confusion and detachment. Later in the story, when he moves to little town Lakeside,
Shadow also acquires the identity of Mike Ainsel, his alter ego. By creating an alter ego Gaiman
stresses the postmodernist aspect of duality in the novel, as well as Shadow’s fragmentation of
identity. “He knew everything about big Mike Ainsel in that moment, and he likes Mike Ainsel.
Mike Ainsel had none of the problems Shadow had. Ainsel had never been married. […] Mike
Ainsel didn’t have bad dreams, or believe that there was a storm coming” (Gaiman 291).
Through this statement Shadow demonstrates a belief that he can obtain a new and integrated
identity, even though it is an imaginary one. It serves as an escape from the daunting sense of
his own identity crisis.
Shadow’s relationship with Laura is marked by inequality in a similar way to that of
Richard and Jessica. Laura confesses that she loved how Shadow adored her (Gaiman 396).
Laura’s nickname “puppy’ for Shadow symbolises his faithfulness and also outlines Laura’s
dominance over him. One of the most striking proofs of Shadow’s devotion to Laura is when
he takes the blame for Laura’s crime and goes to prison for her. What is more, Laura was
unfaithful to Shadow during his imprisonment, although Shadow never reproached her for that.
The root of the imbalance in their relationships can be traced to their both having had fatherless
childhoods.

31
 Once again, Schachter’s theory that a lack of a parental figure and its influence on a
shaping of identity explains the protagonist’s issues. Shadow has never met his father (Gaiman
183) and his identity is unknown to Shadow throughout his life since his mother refused to
speak about him: “Tell me about my father. – He’s dead. Don’t ask about him. - But who was
he? – Forget him. Dead and gone and you ain’t missed nothing. I want to see picture of him. –
I ain’t got a picture” (Gaiman 516). Only through an ordeal does Shadow discover the true
identity of his father and gains crucial knowledge. Unlike Richard, whose mother passed away
when Richard was an adult, Shadow had to face a loss of his mother as a teenager, an experience
which can deeply traumatise and shape the identity of a teenager. “In the hospital bed his
mother was dying again, as she’d died when he was a sixteen-year old […] his nose buried in
Gravity Rainbow12, trying to escape from his mother’s death into London during the blitz”
(Gaiman 515). The absence of parental figures is according to Schachter’s (6) claim, connected
to a problem of authenticity and as a result to have a great influence on development of an
identity. Shadow’s nickname also originated in his childhood where he took a role of an
outsider, too: “Why do they call you Shadow? […] I never knew what to say to the other kids,
so I’d just find adults and followed them around, not saying anything” (Gaiman 330). Shadow
has remained introverted, not saying much up to his adulthood. Shadow exhibits caring and
loyal temperament, with a selflessness and shyness around women, too. He also shows
calmness and devotion which are traits which play a crucial part in his ordeal which he
undergoes during the hero’s journey.

Côte and Lavine point to a rapid social change and progress (Côte and Lavine 159) to
be a source of the individual’s fragility and the cause of troubles in order to maintain stability
in a postmodern world. This claim confirms the argument of this thesis: Richard and Shadow
are feeling unfulfilled in their wearisome postmodern life, they only discover their full identity
in the alternative reality; the mythical, raw, traditional world which offers them to embrace
their roots. Berzonsky stresses the issue of identity in postmodern life: “the quest to achieve
the sense of identity is important because we live in a relativistic, postmodern age of continual
social, political, economic and technological change” (Berzonsky 127). The preoccupations of
the postmodern era and its demands on the individual trouble the unity and authenticity of self.
On top of that, one’s values and opinions are deeply dependent on the social net around oneself;
resulting in an “incohesive and unstable society” (Berger 16).

12
Gravity Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon is a key postmodern novel

32
 To summarise, the characters of Richard and Shadow both demonstrate an identity
crisis in their life on the backdrop of postmodern society. Especially, they struggle to find their
purpose and “true calling” which causes their apathy and submissiveness. This situation
requires a change of their life; some people opt to find their meaning in a wilderness,
completely shunning society, others choose an escape to another world. Peter L. Berger
investigates and subsequently draws a comparison between a postmodern society and a
traditional one. According to him, a traditional society offers a place of stability and rigid
fundamental values. It is therefore no wonder that people feel daunted and empty. An answer
to this condition might require places which are built on beliefs of tradition, shared meaning
and homeland. Glenn Ward claims “that personal identity is stable in a pre-modern society
because it is defined and maintained by long-standing myth and predefined systems of roles”
(Ward 118). The traditional society might offer a sanctuary for those who long for experience
of the genuine and meaningful, or those who yearn an escape from the lack of roots and purpose
in a postmodern era. Thus, the next part of the thesis will explore the alternative realms found
in Neverwhere and American Gods and their structures since they symbolise a refuge for the
characters, and the answer to a postmodern identity crisis. After all, it is only there, where
protagonists’ self-awakening journeys take place and where their identity is found.

33
7 The Alternative Worlds

The alternative worlds described in Neverwhere and American Gods serve as an

opposition towards the postmodern primary worlds, since they are typified by their fantasy and
mythical substance. Through this medium it offers the protagonists sanctuary from postmodern
life and provides them with a certain primitiveness and meaning in opposition to postmodern
affairs.

This chapter will briefly comment on the setting of each alternative world, as it is here
where the desired character transformation takes place. It will also explore the coexistence of
the postmodern world alongside the alternative one. Alternative worlds are a perceived
backbone of fantasy literature; Peter Hunt explains the existence of alternative worlds as
“places that are very precisely described or mapped, emphasising the gap between the real and
unreal worlds” (Hunt 11). The contrast of the real and fantasy worlds is a key feature of the
novel and reflects on the politics found within both stories. The ontologies in Neverwhere are
founded upon mirroring and duality. The London Above is depicting as a real-life London well
recognised by the readership, while London Below is its echo with a macabre undertone which
inhabits the deserted and unwanted population who are likened to those who “fell through the
cracks”, including people as well as objects. This world thus represents a society which is
oppressed by the London Below. The opposition between the London Above and London
Below is expressed by Marquis de Carabas as follows: “Young man understand this: there are
two Londons. There’s a London Above — that’s where you lived— and then there’s London
Below —the Underside— inhabited by the people who fell through the cracks in the world”
(Gaiman 126).
As it was noted, the realm is designed on the premise of actual London; Rata points out
that old cities that have a vast history often serve as alternative realms in literature, among these
cities can be listed Berlin, Prague, London, Paris (87). Hunter even confessed that she visited
these alternative realms which are drawn on other metropolitan cities: “I fought in the sewers
beneath New York with the great blind white alligator-king” and “I fought the bear that stalked
the city beneath Berlin” (Gaiman 228). The society in London Below is founded upon traditions
and myths, moreover it exhibits strong hierarchy as it is divided into baronies and fiefdoms
which provides Richard with a sense secureness. Moreover, the isolation and disconnection
that is typical for the society in London Above, contrasts sharply with Richard’s perception of
shared community as he comments: ’’There was something deeply tribal about that people”

34
(Gaiman 111). On that account, the place of London Below offers Richard an opportunity to
overcome his alienation and to find a sense of belonging.

American Gods realms are distinguished by the ‘normal’ and “back stage” worlds. In
the normal world the old gods go about their everyday business in their American version of
themselves; however, in the backstage the gods gather to unveil the uncovered forms of
themselves. For that, the backstage symbolises truth and authenticity, which are void in the real
world. As Shadow joins this meeting he cannot hide his astonishment as “he was unable to
combine the things he was seeing […] into a whole that made sense” (Gaiman 144), while he
witnesses a transformation of Mr. Nancy to god Anansi:

Mr. Nancy, an old black man with a pencil moustache, in his check sports jacket and his
lemon-yellow gloves...at the same time, in the same place, he [Shadow] saw a jewelled
spider as high as a horse...and simultaneously he was looking at an extraordinarily tall
man with teak- coloured skin and three sets of arms...and he was also seeing a young
black boy, dressed in rags, his left foot all swollen and crawling with black flies; and last
of all, and behind all these things, Shadow was looking at a tiny brown spider, hiding
under a withered ochre leaf (Gaiman 144).

As it was explored in the previous chapter the postmodern environment has a vast effect
on the identity crises. This is linked to Richard and Shadow’s struggle to reach their full
potential since the postmodern era suppresses their ability to explore their life purpose. On the
other hand, when finding themselves in the alternative realm, both protagonists unlock their
potential to rediscover themselves. This is accounted to the alternative substance of the world
which presents the protagonist with a certain tribe-wise sense and archetypal pattern of
behaviour which contrasts with the lack of social structures of the postmodern context. These
places thus serve as a sanctuary for those who feel rejected by their primary environment and
serve through the possibility of exploring the deeply embedded patterns of humanity which
helps them to find direction within their existence.

35
8 Postmodernism Meets the Hero’s Journey

The aim of this chapter is to introduce a theory of monomyth proposed by Joseph

Campbell, a leading figure in the field of narratology, and to scrutinise how Gaiman
implements this mythical pattern onto postmodern novels. Furthermore, it will aim to trace
protagonists’ development through the hero’s journey which ultimately leads to the
rediscovering of their identity.
The theoretical part will be mostly dependent on the reading of Campbell’s seminal
work The Hero with a Thousand Faces which depicts a hero’s journey. Campbell’s theory is
based on certain archetypal figures that are arranged into a pattern which is found across
mythologies. This theory has its roots in psychoanalysis represented by Carl Gustav Jung who
firstly introduced archetypes as “symbols shared by all humanity” (Herman, Jahn, and Ryan
26). Archetypes are thus projections of psyches that are “more or less the same everywhere and
in all individuals” (Jung 4). Campbell elaborated on Jung’s theory as he situated the archetypes
in a frame and, as a result, developed a basic structure of events, dubbing it the monomyth.
These cyclical schemas of episodes form the hero’s journey is illustrated by Campbell as
follows: “the hero ventures into a region of supernatural wonder, where fabulous forces are
encountered and a victory is won, as a result the hero returns from the supernatural world with
a power to bestow boon on his fellow man” (Campbell 28).
A similar thought of shared projections was expressed by Vladimir Propp who
dedicated his work to repetitive structures of wonder tales. He identified elements or functions
reoccurring in folktales which are “defined from the point of view of their significance for the
course of the action” (Propp 20). Hence, both of the theorists believed that throughout cultures,
there are inherited aspects of behaviour and defined roles which are recognisable in storytelling
and therefore serve as blueprints for narratives.

In its essence, the Campbellian monomyth is composed of three great parts: the
departure from a status quo, towards the secondary world where a hero encounters various
challenges in the process of the initiation that unlocks possibilities of their character. The last
section of the journey concerns the return, hero’s re-entering the primary world in order to
restore the initial situation. These three parts form “the nuclear unit of the monomyth”
(Campbell 23). The three great parts are subsequently divided into several subchapters.
Originally, Campbell created seventeen stages or scenarios, which the hero experiences;

36
however, it is customary that not each of the seventeen steps is to be realised, and even for the
steps to be taken in non-chronologic order under individuation of each narrative.

Despite the fact that Gaiman is recognised for his mythmaking abilities in the
contemporary era, he shows ambivalence towards Campbell’s theory:

I like Campbell – but, I sort of met him second. And the truth is, the stuff that
I’ve always enjoyed most of all is the primary influences. It’s always interesting to see
what people say about things. But I tend to be more interested in the actual myth. I think
I got about half way through The Hero with a Thousand Faces and found myself thinking
if this is true – I don’t want to know. I really would rather not know this stuff. I’d rather
do it because it’s true and because I accidentally wind up creating something that falls
into this pattern than be told what the pattern is (Ogline and Gaiman, n.p.)

His confession thus confirms Campbell’s argument that these images and occurrences have an
everlasting essence and are deeply embedded in our collective consciousness. In the matter of
Neverwhere and American Gods, these inherited attributes are fragments of old human roots
and impregnated behaviour and so they act as guides for a confused, unfulfilled postmodern
person, as they symbolise “life principles” (Vogler 15) and therefore enable the protagonist to
reclaim their identity.

Before the thesis submerges into the exploration of Richard and Shadow’s hero’s
journeys, it is important to comment on the relation between the myth and postmodernism. The
very connection of postmodernism and myth might appear as being controversial due to
Lyotard’s refusal of “grand narratives” in postmodern context. The argument might therefore
seem contradictory, since it was presented that American Gods and Neverwhere are postmodern
novels and yet they simultaneously employ a complex mythology which is one of the examples
of grand narrative. Yet, Jódar comes to the point where he fuses the two contradictory
phenomena as he claims that the monomyth functions as a “transgeneric hypertext” according
to Genette’s terminology (Jódar 166), with its skeletal structure that serves as a guideline for
narratives.
Still, this thesis postulates that the relation of the postmodern and mythology in the
novels is complementary in nature. It further argues that issues of fragmentism, burn-out, and
alienation, typical anxieties of the postmodern era, might be answered by returning to the
archetypes rooted in human nature, which are sadly suppressed by the postmodern way of life.

37
By embracing the “principals of life” one can reclaim identity back and find the purpose of
their existence. This view is shared by Evan Smith, who scrutinises Mordernist relations to
myth, he argues that ‘cultural catastrophe of WW I” is mirrored in artists’ urge to seek
monomyth as “unitary pattern” (Smith 1). Therefore, the myth serves as a means of
reconciliation for a broken society while offering “unitary harmony” (Jódar 167). Like
Modernist, the postmodern era with its own preoccupations, might recover through the seeking
of the myth. This claim is also supported by Susana Onega who comments on the application
of myth by postmodernist authors:

[…] repeatedly attempted to transcend the gap between self and world […] by a
return to myth. Through the application of dualistic logic that recalls the findings of the
New Physics, Jungian psychology and the mythical tension between chaos and cosmos,
these novelists use parody, pastiche and metafictional undermining of realism-enhancing
mechanism to suggest the fragmentation and isolation of the self, while simultaneously
attempting to transcend this isolation and fragmentation in mythical and archetypal terms
(Onega 187).

Onega thus articulates the void in postmodern society that can be healed by embracing
the roots of human behaviour and therefore proving that these archetypal patterns are ageless
and can be used in contemporary society.

As for Gaiman, his engagement of mythological patterns in postmodern novels comes

as no surprise. The novels, although they incorporate old myth, are redesigned to reflect on
contemporary politics. It almost seems that the nature of the books echoes the fates of Richard
and Shadow: they both find themselves in a contemporary society but show an inclination to
live in a world that offers them mythological sense. Moreover, Gaiman’s seamless efforts to
unify seemingly incompatible ideas do not go unnoticed. Bethany Alexander comments on his
skills by praising him: “here is no need to choose between religion and science, reality and
fiction. What might seem jarring or contradictory becomes a harmonious fusion in Gaiman’s
work” (Alexander 136).

Now the thesis will focus on the monomyth and its parts, depicting the achieved stages
with emphasis on the character alternation which they bring.

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8.1 Departure

8.1.1 Call to Adventure

The story typically starts in the primary world, in the case of these novels, it is the
everyday normality of Richard and Shadow that is depicted at the beginning. As it was
discussed in a previous chapter, the ordinary world is a burden for the protagonist as their
potential is suppressed by the conventions of the society in which they live.
The state of the ordinary world is commonly disrupted by a herald who challenges a
hero, intentionally or unintentionally, to undertake a quest. Their appearance announces a
change which will take place and proposes the adventures and dangers which are about to
happen (Campbell 47), thus positioning a protagonist into “a relationship with forces that are
not rightly understood” (Campbell 46)
In Neverwhere the herald figure is represented by Door who unknowingly drew Richard
into the underside. This act was sealed by Richard helping her when he found her wounded on
the pavement.
Shadow’s call to adventure is more straightforward – Mr. Wednesday directly offers
him a job as an errand boy which would ultimately lead him into his adventure. It is important
to say, that Mr. Wednesday intended this to happen, while Door did not have any plan to
involve Richard in the difficulties of her life. However, the role of herald who announces the
change falls to Sam Fetisher, Shadow’s fellow prisoner, who warns him that “storm’s on the
way” (Gaiman 10) and by that foretells the events which awaits Shadow.

8.1.2 Refusal of the Call

This step articulates the hero’s reluctance to participate in the adventure; this feeling is
emphasised in the case of the unwilling hero. While in their primary worlds, both Richard and
Shadow are marked as outsiders who do not possess the attributes commonly associated with
a hero, they are thus presented as “unwilling heroes” (Vogler 34). The unwilling hero is
distinguished by exhibiting signs of passiveness and an inclination to be doubtful of
themselves. What is typical for them is that they do not actively create the story but the story
happened to them (Vogler 34). In a case of Shadow and Richard, even though they were
unfulfilled by their life in the ordinary world, they did not seek actively for a change but rather
the change found them. Rata perceives Shadow’s situation as that “he needs to find his identity,

39
although he is not aware of it” (Rata 5). This is also applicable in Richard’s case, as they both
float in their life, and are paralysed by their passivity and oblivion. Refusal of the call is
manifested by Richard’s parting ways with Door by seemingly returning to his middle-class
life. In the case of Shadow, he firmly declines Wednesday’s job offer while he states: “I don’t
like you. I don’t want to work with you” (Gaiman 25).
However, consequences of their refusal prove to be magnifying their state of despair:
After Door’s leaving, Richard’s metaphorical alienation from society takes on a literal form
since he was no longer recognised by people and in essence he becomes invisible, a fear that
was long embedded in Richard’s personality: “As a child, Richard had had nightmares in which
he simply wasn’t there, in which, no matter how much noise he made, no matter what he did,
nobody ever noticed him at all” (Gaiman 59).
On the other hand, Shadow’s rejection of Wednesday’s job offer is instantly followed
by Wednesday’s revelation of Shadow’s best friend’s death. Shadow learns that not only his
wife, but his best friend too were victims of the car crash, as they shared their journey together
(Gaiman 36). In addition, he does not even have any job to which he can return. These
repercussions eventually force the protagonists to accept the calls and embark on their journeys.

8.1.3 Supernatural Aid

This step of the journey is characterised by the provision of some valuable artefact or
knowledge by supernatural helpers. “For those who have not refused the call, the first encounter
of the hero’s journey is with a protective figure” (Campbell 64) with the intention of keeping
the hero from harm and to lessen the perilous threats that await him.
In Neverwhere the protective figure, or a Mentor according to Vogler (71), is
represented by Marquis de Carabas who is an intertextual reference to the Puss in the Boots, a
classical folk tale character. Similarly to the Puss in the Boots, Marquis de Carabes takes on a
symbol of maturation of a hero and “implies an initiatory movement of transformation in a
young man” (Jódar 182) and thus oversees the reclaim of his identity.
Still, Marquis is not the only element of supernatural aid to Richard. Besides the rats
who are useful to Richard on his first moments of being lost in the bowels of London Below;
the most prominent aid is provided by a rat-speaker Anaesthesia. She escorts Richard on his
way to Floating Market, however she falls victim to darkness while crossing the mysterious
Night’s Bridge. For all that, Anaesthesia leaves behind a quartz bead from her necklace in
Richard’s pockets (Gaiman 104), an artefact which ultimately helps Richard to finish his ordeal

40
and gain a key to all realities (251). Above all, The helpers met by Richard bears similarity of
an outsiders to him, thus Richard feel recognised by them and relate to them.
In the matter of American Gods, Shadow also obtains supernatural aid on more than
one occasion. In the first instance, Shadow accidentally receives a golden coin by Mad
Sweeney, the contemporary leprechaun. This coin proves to be magical as it is believed to be
taken from the Sun. The magic powers keep Laura13 in a not-dead state of being and thus enable
her to protect Shadow on his journey and visit him in a crucial moment of his ordeal. After
abandoning the first coin, Shadow meets Zorya Polunochnaya who provides him with another
coin - a silver one which symbolises the Moon. “You were given protection once, but you lost
it already. You gave it away. You had the sun in your hand. And that is life itself. All I can
give you is much weaker protection. The daughter, not the father. But all helps” (Gaiman 100).
The gesture of throwing the coin away also mirrors Shadow’s surrendering of life because
Laura was the main purpose of his life and now is gone. This coin thus encapsulated life – one
that Shadow sacrificed and a one that consequently is responsible for reanimating Laura after
her funeral.
Just as important, coins also accentuate the theme of duality in the novel – the
opposition of gold and silver, day and night, Sun and Moon. In addition to this, it foretells
Shadow’s position as the master of two worlds, and of the two coins that belonged to him.
Last but not least, it is noteworthy, that all the artefacts – the necklace bead and the
coins are eminent in their animative potential. Richard is left with the bead after Anaesthesia’s
passing on the Night’s Bridge. At a later time, the bead proves to be an item that enables
Richard to overcome his urge to commit suicide and thus to finish successfully his ordeal. In
the same fashion, the coins Shadow acquired mirror the death theme presented in Neverwhere.
As it was said above, Shadow’s tossing a coin into Laura’s casket is a metaphorical death of
Shadow, his resignation on his life. Simultaneously, it grants an almost living Laura with the
ability to protect Shadow.

8.1.4 Crossing of the Threshold

Crossing of the threshold is a pivotal part of the process, the stepping into adventure
while overcoming doubts and signalling commitment to the journey. Hero is about to enter a
new land of “darkness, of unknown, of danger” (Campbell 71) and thus embracing the

13
Shadow, not aware of a true nature of the coin, tosses it into Laura’s casket on her funeral.

41
challenges ahead since there is no way back. Richard crosses the threshold when he follows
Door’s enigmatic instructions which lead him to Marquis de Carabas and consequently finding
himself in London Below for the first time.
Crossing of the threshold in the case of Shadow is twofold. In the first place, he enters
the alternative realm in a metaphorical sense when he agrees to Wednesday’s job offer and
seals the deal with a mead – the magical drink of gods (Gaiman 40). Secondly, he physically
crosses the threshold as he sets a foot in the halls in Valhalla, joining the old gods in the
“backstage” a place where they extricate themselves from their contemporary versions and
unveil their origin forms.
Even though Campbell claims that at this stage of the journey the hero is free of
weakness and doubtfulness, Vogler points out that initial reaction to the unknown might be
(even more so in case of unwilling heroes) shock, reluctance and even deeper disbelief (Vogler
130). Vogler skilfully articulates the particularity of the dilemma: a desire to leave a familiar
world but feeling vulnerable in an unfamiliar one. In other words, the hero struggles to live
within the old world where he cannot relate to the way of life and as a result yearns to escape
this world; yet in the unknown world the hero lacks protection of the old society and this
consequently causes trauma to them.
Richard’s first encounter with London Below goes along these lines as he exhibits a
bewilderment by the new world, as it is depicted on this exchange with Marquis de Carabas
when Richard questions Marquis’ sanity: “’I know this is a personal question. But are you
clinically insane?’ ‘Possible, but very unlikely. Why?’ ‘Well,’ said Richard. ‘One of us must
be.’” (Gaiman 53). Even at this phase of journey Richard clings to his life in London Above:
“I want my life back. And my flat. And my job” (Gaiman 202) which verbalises Richard’s fear
of the unknown and also ratifies his conformist way of life prior to the experience of the
Underside.
Shadow exhibits a similar reaction when entering the alternative realm; in the same
manner as Richard he blames his perception of the events and questions the sanity of the
situation: “I don’t really believe […] I don’t believe any of this. Maybe I’m still fifteen. Mom’s
still alive and I haven’t even met Laura yet. Everything that’s happened so far has been some
kind of especially vivid dream” (Gaiman 152). Both Richard and Shadow doubt their senses
and they do not trust in the reality of the situation. This confusion between reality and fantasy
is an overriding theme in postmodern context. Schachter, as stated above, moreover claims the
inability of distinguishing between real and unreal is to be one of the key features of a
postmodern identity crisis.

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 8.1.5 In the Belly of a Whale

According to Campbell the next step in the monomyth is a phase named “in the belly
of a whale” (Campbell 83) which symbolises a rebirth of a hero to the new world after “he is
swallowed into the unknown, and would appeared to have died” (Campbell 83).
Richard undergoes this stage on the sinister Night’s Bridge which is an epitome of
depression where darkness takes a toll of a human life from those who dare to cross it. Jódar
points out that “the hero has to suffer a personal loss in order to prove his worth.” (Jódar 170)
However, instead of Richard being harmed, his companion Anaesthesia falls victim to the
Night’s Bridge (Gaiman 104) leaving him an artefact that plays a crucial part in the ordeal.
For Shadow this stage is held during his visit of Eagle Point – a place he lived with
Laura prior to his imprisonment. Shadow returns to the city since his wife’s funeral takes place
there (Gaiman 52). The funeral fulfils the notion of hero’s personal loss which denotes his
worth as well as it signals a milestone between hero’s old and new life.
With this step Campbell closes the Departure section which is followed by a second
part of the monomyth – the Initiation.

8.2 The Initiation

8.2.1 The Road of Trials

The first step of the Initiation part signifies a path of numerous challenges imposed on
the hero as he “moves in a dream landscape of curiously fluid, ambiguous forms, where he
must survive a succession of trials” (Campbell 89).
The first act in the road of trials for Richard compromises his visit to the Floating
Market, an outlandish moving trade-fair, where the people of the London Below gather to sell
and exchange various goods. After that, he experiences negotiating with the old Earl and his
cronies, and also obtains an Angelus in the British Museum – a magical portal which transports
him and Door to Angel Islington. All of these smaller tasks test Richard and lead him towards
his ultimate trial – the ordeal.
In case of Shadow, his trials are spread through his travels across America. Shadow
plays checkers with the Slavic god Czernobog and, after winning, Czernobog is entitled to “get
to knock [Richard’s] brains out” (Gaiman 91) with a sledgehammer. Furthermore, Shadow is
also kidnapped by Technical boy but is fortunately saved by his wife Laura. In a similar fashion

43
to Richard, these occurrences prepare Shadow for facing the final trial – the vigil he pursues
for Wednesday.

8.2.2 Meeting with a Goddess/Woman as a Temptress

The next stage is dubbed Meeting with a Goddess and Campbell explains it as follows:

woman [...] represents the totality of what can be known. The hero is the one who comes
to know. As he progresses in the slow initiation which is life, the form of the goddess
undergoes for him a series of transfigurations...she can always promise more than he is
yet capable of comprehending (Campbell 106).

Richard’s encounter with the goddess is blended with a “woman as a temptress”, the next
step in the Campbellian monomyth. This fusion is illustrated by a vampire-like figure Lamia,
whose character is based on Greek mythology; as a vampire she is believed to entrap children
and youths with the intention of sucking their blood. True to her origin, Lamia in Neverwhere
tempts Richard and tries to take his life by a mean of a kiss (Jódar 173). Fortunately, Richard
is saved by his Mentor, Marquis de Carabas who interferes, and therefore keeps his duty of
overseeing Richard’s journey. Campbell argues that “woman as a temptress” tests the hero by
forcing him to overcome his own pleasure and to prioritise the purpose of the journey. The hero
is required to “think of himself as pure” and to withstand the temptation in order to persist in
the task (Campbell 113).

As for Shadow, in his story too, the Goddess fuses with the image of temptress.
However, Shadow encounters this notion of temptation twice. First, Shadow is being seduced
my Media, from the deity of new gods. Nevertheless, Shadow resists the temptation by simply
switching the TV off. In the second instance, he is tempted by the goddess Bast, who, contrarily
to Campbell’s claim, succeeds in Shadow’s seduction, albeit mystically, since she and Shadow
make love in a parallel realm. Shadow’s failure to resist the seduction might suggest his
straying from the hero’s path, but it actually proves to be the opposite. The spiritual connection,
the boon of love, established between Shadow and Bast, subsequently plays a key role during
Shadow’s vigil due to Bast’s role as a guardian there.

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8.2.3 Atonement with the Father/ Apotheosis/ Ultimate Boon

Atonement with the Father symbolises a culmination of the trials prior to this moment
and a crucial point where the hero is confronted with his greatest fear (Campbell 120).
Although, in many literatures this step is depicted as an encounter with a father, it is not
required of the hero to encounter solely the father figure. In Campbell’s perception the father
is a metaphorical idea of a great power over the hero. In this stage, the hero is required to
overcome his fear and to prove his worth. This instance evolves into Apotheosis, a point of
transcending of life where a hero experiences a crucial change which is symbolised by his
rebirth (Campbell 142). After that, the hero is granted the Ultimate Boon, the reward of the
journey, which stands for the last part of the Initiation.

Richard is asked to participate in an ordeal, the ultimate trial, in which he has to obtain
a Key to All Realities which is held in the custody of the Black Friars. The said Key is the
ultimate boon (Campbell 159), despite Richard’s unawareness of its powers. Initially, the key
was requested by Angel Islington as a part of his cunning plan to escape from his imprisonment.
However, to come into a possession of the key, one must tackle the three challenges that protect
it. The last and most difficult of the challenges, the ordeal, falls to be carried out by Richard
and marks the apotheosis of the journey.
During the ordeal, Richard is confronted with his alter ego, as he witnesses himself as
a beggar who questions his own sanity and is on the edge of committing suicide. This version
of himself thus fulfils the ultimate power over Richard, and indeed is the source of his identity
discomfort: the fear of seeing himself ostracised from society and his confusion of the real and
unreal. At the start of the trial, Richard witnesses a homeless version of himself in a deserted
tube station where he is subjected to the disapproval of a little girl from London Above who
asks: “Why do people like that stay alive?” (Gaiman 244). This encounter echoes Richard’s
conflict with the ‘real world’, in the society of London Above which he left, where negative
stances are taken towards people who do not fit the standards of contemporary, materialistic
society, in contrast to the homeless and different.
During the second part of the ordeal, Richard meets other Upworlders from his life: his
ex-fiancée and his colleague Garry who tempt him to end his life by verbalising Richard’s
dreads by suggesting: “Become an incident at the Blackfriars station. To end it all. Your life is
joyless, loveless, empty sham. You’ve got no friends” (Gaiman 255). Therefore, Richard’s
terrors and doubts from the primary world, in this case the postmodern society of London

45
Above, are confronting Richard through his ordeal. Besides that, Jódar proposes an interesting
argument where he draws a parallel between Richard’s fears and the Jungian prototype of a
shadow which states that suicide “is the only escape from a materialistic world where there is
no place for fantasy” (Jódar 172). Fortunately, Richard overcomes the torture thanks to the
necklace left to him by Anaesthesia on the fatal crossing of Night’s Bridge. The bead from the
necklace serves as an artefact from the fantasy world and helps Richard to defeat his demons
by reminding him where he belongs.
By overcoming his materialised nightmares and finishing the ordeal, Richard
experiences “his own metaphorical death and has been reborn as a new hero” when he
overcomes the temptation to commit suicide and enters a carriage full of collected dead bodies
of people who failed the ordeal before him. (Jódar 172). During the task Richard exhibited
extraordinary qualities, especially bravery and mental sanity, which proves his worth as a hero.
Moreover, it proves Richard’s rightful place of belonging, in London Below, the place of
fantasy.
After the ordeal, his spiritual transformation is noticeable in his appearance, too, since
he “looked different somehow” (Gaiman 254). When he is reunited with his companions,
Hunter and Door, Hunter ponders on his changed looks: “trying to work out what had changed.
[…] He looked less boyish. He looked as if he had begun to grow up” (Gaiman 254).

In the case of Shadow, the Atonement with the Father takes on a form of a literal
confrontation with Shadow’s father. It is only through the vigil when Shadow is presented with
the information about the identity of his father – information of which Shadow had been
deprived of throughout his life. In a similar fashion to that of Richard, his vigil is the climax of
the prior trials which will determine Shadow’s future. At the beginning of the story, when
Shadow took on the job offer from Mr. Wednesday, one the key duties asked by Shadow to
perform, was to hold Wednesday’s vigil if necessary. During the vigil Shadow is hanged from
Yggdrasil, the tree of truth, for nine days and nights. During this time Shadow experiences
delirium and literal death as he descends into the underworld. There, he faces nightmares in a
similar fashion to Richard. Shadow’s vigil contains the extraction of his soul and a
metaphysical examination of his character:

Every lie [Shadow] had ever told, every object he had stolen, every hurt he had inflicted
on another person, all the little crimes and the tiny murders that make up the say, each of
these things and more were extracted and held up to the light by the jackal-headed judge

46
 of the dead. Shadow began to weep, painfully […] he was a tiny child again, as helpless
and as powerless as he had ever been (Gaiman 525).

During the vigil, Shadow also experiences visions of dead children with their eyes
peeling and a mammoth ridden by an elephant-man. These hallucinations resemble scenes
typical of magic realism which is also closely connected to postmodernism. Moreover, both
Shadow and Richard, receive over the course of their journeys lucid and transcendental dreams
that foretells their future as they depict scenes of their victory. Besides, these episodes
contribute to the postmodern undertone of their quest.
Nevertheless, Shadow learns through the vigil the truth about the identity of his father
and also about Mr. Wednesday’s plan to start a war between the gods for his own gain. In a
contract with Richard, the ultimate boon does not appear in a physical form but is represented
by gained knowledge. The evolution of looks is also remarked on when Laura notices that “he
is utterly alive” and that “he had changed” (Gaiman 499).
Upon completing the physical and spiritual transformation in the form of the
ordeal/vigil, Richard and Shadow’s attitudes alternate greatly; they reclaim their position as the
hero of the narrative as they both operate from their newly gained position. Richard slays the
Great Beast of London and assists Door in her revenge, and Shadow, after being resuscitated
by Easter, puts a stop to the impending war by revealing Mr. Wednesday’s trickery to the
remaining gods. Therefore, both characters overcome their passiveness and start to show an
active approach to life as depicted in Shadow’s thoughts: “He was alive. He never felt this.
Ever” (Gaiman 499). This feeling of being alive might be also connected to their metaphorical
(in Richard’s case) or literal (Shadow’s) experience of death. Above all, by immersing in the
ordeals, Shadow and Richard come to face their darkest fears; by overcoming them they acquire
a better understanding of themselves and could thus seek their true identity.

8.3 Return

The return signifies the last part of the journey. After fulfilling the ordeal, Richard and
Shadow acquire the title of master of the two worlds proposed by Campbell which grants them:
“freedom to pass back and forth across the world division […] permitting the mind to know
the one by virtue of the other” (Campbell 212). For Richard it is the understanding of London
Above and London Below, while in Shadow’s case it’s the ‘ordinary’ world coexisting with
the world ‘behind the scenes’ which Shadow does not only understand, but to which he also
rightfully belongs due to his partly divine origin.

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 Campbell acknowledges that the initial reaction to the return might be reluctant, as the
hero does not want to leave the special place for the ordinary world and for that reason performs
refusal of the return (Campbell 179) which parallels with the “refusal of the call”.
Nonetheless, the cyclical pattern of monomyth suggests the restoration of the initial situation.
This implies that Richard’s fate would be fulfilled in the London Above. However, upon
Richard’s returning to London Above, despite his improved social status after his return, he
displays great discontent with the “real world”. The restricted fantasy and recurring feeling of
monotony makes Richard opt to return to London Below as he uses his freedom to live, the last
step of the monomyth. He chooses to dwell in London Below since this is a place where he is
provided with purpose and the feeling of belonging. This move of declining to restore the initial
state is by Jódar viewed as a subversion of the mythological pattern which is reflecting the
discourse of contemporary society (Jódar 168). Peksen comments on Richard’s decision to stay
in London Below as follows:

instead of meaninglessly fast-moving and fast-changing consumerist society

where life consists of a series of obligation, he chooses to remain in a world where time
is not an issue, survival is the sole objective and the only business transaction is bartering
of needs and favours (Peksen 85).

In the case of Shadow, he too Richard refused to fully restore the initial situation.
However, unlike Richard, he does not stay in the alternative realm but decides on isolation:
“Shadow had had enough of gods and their ways to last him several lifetimes. He would take
the bus to the airport, he decided, and change his ticket. Get a plane to somewhere he had never
been. He would keep moving (Gaiman 627). Slabbert claims that his choice conforms to the
novel’s theme of eternal return (152). Moreover, Shadow’s reluctance to opt for either world
goes hand in hand with postmodern refusal of closure. Even though, the monomyth in both
cases fails to restore the initial state, it nevertheless, serves as redemption for each protagonist,
allowing them to find purpose and feeling of worth on their journey. In essence, the restoration
of the initial situation is not only undesirable but also unnecessary as the objective of their
transformation is achieved in the alternative world; moreover, upon their re-entering of the
ordinary worlds, the original issues would arise again as they were strongly connected with the
environment of the primary word.

This chapter aimed to scrutinise the development of Richard and Shadow on the pattern
of Campbellian monomyth, the aim was to outline character change in comparison to their

48
initial state in the primary world and their condition after completing the hero’s journey. This
thesis claims that, through the monomyth, Shadow and Richard rediscover their purpose in life
and dispose of their postmodern difficulties described in the previous chapter. Upon
accomplishing their journeys, they undertook a process of individualisation which enabled
them to dive into unconsciousness and to embrace archetypes that lead them to recognition of
their true self. Despite the different opinions on their exit from the alternative worlds, both,
Richard and Shadow, after fulfilling their journey exhibited a feeling of contentment and
meaningfulness which they greatly lacked in the primary world. Michelle Magwood described
postmodern dilemma as ‘a profound loss of faith, […] and atmosphere of doubt” (210.) In
contrast, the answer to this bleakness might well be found in myth and fantasy worlds, where
chaos and noise are transformed into harmony.
Last but not least, in a similar fashion to Richard’s and Shadow’s figuring as mediators
between the fantasy and reality, Gaiman too, as pointed out by Slabbert (152), fulfils the role
of someone who bridges the contemporary society and myth in his works. Since readers can
relate to the protagonists and feel the burden of the contemporary society on their shoulders,
Gaiman “heals” the readership by designing a creative and alternative world. By inviting his
readers to join the characters in leaving the mundane life and entering the fantasy world, he
offers an imaginative escape from their postmodern existence.

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9 Conclusion

The main concerns of this thesis were the protagonists of Neil Gaiman’s novels,
Richard (Neverwhere) and Shadow (American Gods). The thesis aimed to asses the characters
of Shadow and Richard against the backdrop of a postmodern world and depict their
development and character transformation over the course of the novels. For that, it firstly
introduced key features of postmodernism to provide an over-view of the era of the writing of
the novels, as well as to draw attention to the significant politics of postmodernism which
reflect in its way of life. Secondly, it tried to situate Gaiman in the postmodern literature scene
by outlining his use of postmodern writing techniques in the novels. The thesis argued that
Gaiman’s employment of intertextuality, namely his implementation of mythology and
legends, played an important part of the creation of the alternative worlds. Moreover, by
exploration of the writing techniques used by Gaiman in the novels, the thesis discovered a
certain similarity between the protagonists and novels. The thesis states that the characters of
Richard and Shadow epitomised Neil Gaiman’s writing as they, too, represented a fusion of
the old and the new within themselves.
After that, the focus of the thesis shifted to the exploration of postmodern life and its
correlation with identity crises. It described some of the leading theories on identity crisis in
the postmodern era and scrutinised the character of Richard and Shadow against the backdrop
of these claims. In consequence, the thesis argued that the societal context has a significant
effect on the shaping of the characters’ identities and, on that account, the thesis found that
both Richard and Shadow did not lead their lives to their full potential as the postmodern
atmosphere made them feel supressed and abandoned. Moreover, the thesis claimed that the
protagonists would thrive in the right environment; for that reason, the following chapter was
dedicated to the depiction of alternative worlds created in the novels and their opposition to the
primary postmodern worlds. The thesis pointed out several reasons why the fantasy realms
offered the characters sanctuary through the means of stability and by embracing inherited
narrative patterns.
The last part of the thesis examined Richard and Shadow’s character development
within the frame of the famous monomyth by Joseph Campbell. It analysed crucial steps taken
in their journey which eventually led to the rediscovery of their identity. Besides, it evaluated
the state of the protagonists' identities in contrast to their initial situation in the ordinary world
and it reflected on the protagonists’ decision not to re-join the primary worlds after reclaiming

50
their identities. It concluded that the protagonist indeed showed more content in the alternative
worlds and thus they did not desire to be part of the postmodern society any longer.

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10 Bibliography

10.1 Primary Sources

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Gaiman, Neil. American Gods. Headline Publishing Group, 2001. Print.

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