Anansi Boys

Neil Gaiman, as a writer, very much enjoys taking classic tales and folklore, and translating them into the modern era. The general public has seen it before in his work,with such novels as “American Gods” and “Good Omens”, catching on and finding a very large audience. However, it is his novel, “Anansi Boys” that is debatably his most successful at reinventing the myth for the modern era. Gaiman realizes that in order for his story filled with iconic figures in folklore to make tangible sense, he would need to adapt and mold the archetypes of folklore to fit within the modern world. This becomes a fine line however, in that he could not warp the story beats past recognition, otherwise the audience would have no idea what he was going for. Due to this, everything that makes a classic story is there. Despite all the fantastical situations our hero, Charles, encounters in this strange new world of gods and fables, the story at its core is still a classic “chosen one” narrative structure, with the inciting incident being that of his estranged father figure whom he learns was truly the trickster god, Anansi. Upon learning this from Mrs.Higgler, the novels “oracle” figure, Charles is whisked away into this fantastical world of gods and legends. He learns of his hidden ne’er-do-well brother, Spider, a doppleganger to Charles who tries to take over his life, as well as the crimes of his boss, Mr. Coats. When examining this story closer, one could realize that for a tale this high-concept, the stakes a relatively low. The fate of the world does not hang in the balance of the character’s actions, but the consequences instead lie in things much more personal to Charles, mainly having to do with his seemingly love-interest, Rosie. This situation of personal consequences tracks very well with classic mythology. In myths such as the Odyssey, powerful beings often target very specific humans to become their foil. In “Anansi Boys” Neil Gaiman is able to draw from these very fantastical and classic themes of the myth, while also keeping the story grounded in reality by keeping the consequences of the narrative very personal and intimate.