American Gods: Chapter 8 Summary & Analysis

The question of whether the dead have souls will come up again once Shadow meets Mr. Jacquel, Mr. Ibis’s partner. The thing that the dead are “keeping back” is left vague, possibly referring to the things that Laura says she understands now that she is dead. While the funeral business has changed over time in America, Mr. Ibis explains that it has changed less than other industries, as death is one of the few things that makes Americans crave consistency and tradition, which they feel in smaller “family owned” funeral parlors. Yet even this can be faked in many places, as large corporations deceive people into thinking that their funeral parlor really is locally owned.

Jacquel, as the modern incarnation of the Egyptian god Anubis, who had dominion over the underworld, naturally helps people reach that place in this life. Meanwhile, Mr. Ibis is the disguise for the Egyptian god Thoth, the god of wisdom and writing. He reveals that he is the one who has been writing the “coming to America” accounts interspersed in the book (as stated in Essie Tregowan’s story). Mr. Ibis also explains the ways that America has changed with regards to racial categorization and stratification.

Mr. Ibis claims to know all the “real” stories of how people came to America, rejecting the fiction about Little Egypt being named for a famine as the gas attendant said in the previous chapter. This trading group would have been the ones to bring Mr. Ibis and Mr. Jacquel to America, through their belief in Thoth and Anubis. This discussion of the other “first arrivals” that preceded Columbus recalls the opening to Essie Tregowan’s story, where Mr. Ibis again exposed that many of the ways we think about American history are false.

Mr. Jacquel’s careful autopsy recalls the embalming processes of the Ancient Egyptians, in which all the organs would have been preserved separately in special jars. Mr. Jacquel seems to take the slices from these organs as sacrifices, using them to sustain his power as he would have in Ancient Egypt. However, Jacquel has updated these practices somewhat, as the Ancient Egyptians would have left the heart in the body as the center of intelligence and the soul of a person, while Jacquel leaves the brain, possibly in deference to the American belief that the brain is the center of intelligence and emotion in the human body. Mr. Ibis’s comment about bringing people back doesn’t say it’s impossible, leaving open the possibility that Shadow will find some way to help revive Laura here.

Mr. Ibis and Mr. Jacquel seem to be doing better than many of the other Old Gods, as death is still an area where Americans feel they need something to believe in. After discussing the other gods of the Ancient Egyptian pantheon and their animal forms, the small brown cat is obviously Bast (sometimes written Bastet), an ancient Egyptian warrior goddess who was represented in a cat form.

Shadow still has trouble deciding whether he wants to live or not. Bast, the warrior goddess, was also a goddess of protection. As Shadow has agreed to help Mr. Ibis and Mr. Jacquel, Bast seems to reward him by ensuring that Shadow survives.

The poor grieving husband echoes the complaints that the gods have about new generations who do not give them the attention or praise that they feel they deserve. Jacquel’s belief that this man will soon die is a show of his power in the realm of the dead. Jacquel’s answer about the soul is yes on one hand and no on the other—he makes it sound as though the dead have souls if people believe they do, as people believed in the old days that all humans had souls that had a corporeal form and could be weighed, but beliefs about souls are now so complicated and varied in America that it is impossible to give one answer.

Jesus, though not a character in his own right, is impossible not to include in a book about American gods, as Christianity has such influence in America. Yet Gaiman refocuses on the lesser known gods and religions present in America, just as he highlights the lesser known regions and tourist attractions, relishing things he considers underappreciated.

Shadow again shows his changeable nature, like a shadow that takes many forms. His childhood in embassies may explain why he feels such sympathy for the Old Gods – in some ways Shadow is also an outsider to American culture, having spent his childhood abroad. Yet Shadow is also quintessentially American, playing the American game of football and disappearing into the persona of an American jock because it was easier than finding his own path in life.

Gaiman suggests that it is human nature to look for conspiracies and lies, such as KFC hiding the fact that they do not really use chicken. Yet Shadow always looks for the truth, imagining that the development of the KFC brand represents another way that America has changed, becoming more health conscious.

Bast is described with cat-like language, purring and scratching even when she is in human form. As a protector goddess, she also has the ability to heal Shadow of his wounds, both mental and physical. This “dream” suggests that Shadow is able to actually have a healing sexual encounter with someone, unlike the mercenary and selfish relations enjoyed by Wednesday, Bilquis, and others. As this is right after Shadow’s thoughts of suicide, and taking place in a funeral home, the thought of death is directly linked to their life-affirming actions.

Shadow is unsure whether this sexual experience with Bast was a dream or not, raising questions of whether Bast simply took what she wanted (like the other gods) while Shadow was asleep. Yet Shadow did consent to their relations in the dream, so it seems that this act was consensual and healthy.

That Shadow was even able to take the coin meant for the King of America suggests that something about this title actually applies to Shadow. It is unclear exactly why Mad Sweeney needs the coin back so badly, but the coin also seems linked to Mad Sweeney’s life in some way. Without the coin, which has the power to give life, Mad Sweeney will die. Yet Shadow gave it to Laura, granting her its life-giving powers. Mad Sweeney’s reference to a noose is another reminder that Odin is a gallows god, making the warning about Wednesday more sinister – as he could be the one planning Shadow’s hanging.

Americans still want to believe something about death, as shown by Mr. Ibis and Mr. Jacquel’s continued presence here, yet there is a taboo on speaking about it out loud. This is part of the reason why Mr. Jacquel and Mr. Ibis’s powers are waning, as they need people to accept death and the underworld in order to survive. Meanwhile, Mad Sweeney has managed to kill himself, drinking his body to death in the freezing cold. Gaiman later hints that Mad Sweeney would have simply been resurrected from this experience if enough people believed in him, but belief in true leprechauns was so faint that Mad Sweeney stayed dead. The careful instructions the policeman writes about the autopsy suggests that the police know that there is something odd about how the coroner does his business.

Ibis shares one of his coming-to-America stories, and the whisper of belief that the story carries is enough to reanimate Mad Sweeney’s spirit long enough for the wake. Story telling is one of the ways that the gods transmit their power, explaining why Mr. Ibis considers his story about Mad Sweeney so sacred, when he himself earlier acknowledged that any history is messy and includes many things. Mad Sweeney’s parting gift is to show Shadow how to do the coin trick again, but there is only one gold coin that belongs to the King of America, so Shadow cannot simply produce another one to bring Mad Sweeney back.

Wednesday cares little for goodbyes, another sign that he has a fundamental insecurity with death and assumes that he will live forever – or at least long enough to see everyone again. Meanwhile, Shadow is comfortable with death, considering the funeral home a house of rest in a positive way, relieving him from the strain and stress of the past days.