Anna Sibilia

David Steiling

Reinventing Genesis

Remaking The Gods That Made All

Within the realm of the fantastic, where mortals manipulate fate and can conquer death, there exists a strange fascination with the beginning. Every world must have a start (and thus many also have an end, either from thinning resources, war, a primordial evil doctrine rising from the depths of hell, or another great apocalypse that must be averted by the hero’s influence) which is either wrought by the will of the gods, an ancient mystery that has long since been forgotten in the recesses of time, or a pseudo-scientific account of how the elements of the universe coincided to create a new planet which would eventually yield life. Yet it is when authors reinvent the gods of our own world that piques my interest the most; there are so many pre-existing legends that many do not dare to learn, so sharing them with a more broad audience and introducing them to those uneducated in the stories of cultures outside of their native sphere is usually as fantastic and immersive (if not even more so) than weaving a new tale.

Neil Gaiman does this expertly in his novels American Gods and Anansi Boys, which fuze a representation of our own modern and evolving world with the laws and traditions of the ancient minds. This setting exploits the ways that past and future constantly collide and often quarrel with each other, and in the case of the latter, it is revealed in the way of a dysfunctional family -something many in a modern audience relate to, especially when it comes to the practice of archaic traditions or a more current outlook on life. As readers delve deeper into the mess that once was Charles Nancy’s (‘Fat Charlie Nancy’) mundane life, we experience a tale of misunderstanding, chaos, and convoluted perspectives: how do the two sons of the trickster god Anansi interact in a world that rejects magic but tramples those without the ability to see and feel wonder? Charles was too unassuming and bland, yet his twin half ‘Spider’ was too far invested in the mystical to properly understand the ways of men. Their plight is caused by their lack of mutual comprehension and they must learn to understand the ways of the other to save themselves in the end. 

This message is Charlie’s entire quest, and because of it we (as an audience that is most likely not too well versed in the beliefs of African gods) are exposed to a tale that is far from familiar; we see a pantheon of spirits unlike the Olympian champions and their mighty heroes, more foreign than the Nordic Aesir and their viking kin, but something that simply exists at the Beginning of the World. These gods are all treacherous, as they have been witness to more millennia than most others and know how to influence the minds of men, so it is not challenging for them to throw Charlie into a tailspin. Once they can influence the modern children of their old adversary, these gods wreak havoc on the pair and it is only when Charlie comprehends his birthright and Spider his brother’s world that the pair can finally coexist and set things right. The balance that the two end up reaching at the end is one that speaks volumes: though we may move forward, we should not forget the past; traditions survive throughout the ages and there is much to be learned from generations before, yet it is how we embody those traditions today in a modern realm that properly defines our nature. Beliefs are constructs of their times, but there will always be a bit of truth inside the story -often hidden in the beginning.