The Meaning Of Thunder: Foreshadowing In American Gods

Dreaming of Thunder: Foreshadowing in American Gods Shadow’s many dreams throughout Neil Gaiman’s American Gods all mirror the supernatural undertones that slowly permeate his waking life after his encounter with the mysterious Mr. Wednesday, but his dream of the mighty thunderbirds circling a mountain of skulls and the very real ramifications of this dream hint to Shadow’s true identity and his significance to the plot of the novel. His dreams actually mirror reality and point to underlying plot points that indicate the latent power that he is just beginning to tap into and understand. Shadow’s dream and his inadvertent ability to affect reality through his dreams foreshadow his connection to Mr. Wednesday and possibly a hidden power over the sky which he may have inherited from his father. Shadow’s dream begins with him standing in an open plain beneath a stormy sky as stars fall and become human. Shadow describes them as “star people,” who all appear to have vaguely Native American characteristics. These “people” are reminiscent of the Blackfoot legends surrounding the star-beings, who, according to myth, “were the first

The focus of his dreams on the sky and apparent effects on reality are possibly the largest hints to Odin being his father, other than the outright reveal of Shadow’s parentage in the final chapters. However, beyond the clear plot significance, his profound connection with Native American culture that is demonstrated in this pivotal dream ultimately suggests that Shadow himself is not just a god by way of relation to, but he is a true American god all by himself, whether he believes it or not. He is some sort of combination of the old gods and the new, understanding that he is somehow connected to both