Neil Gaiman's Writing Style Analysis

Comics, graphic novels, short stories, adult novels, movie scripts, children’s books, and more: Neil Gaiman writes it all. Gaiman is an English author who currently lives in America. Although he did not attend an institute of higher learning, Gaiman has won many awards and has established a writing style dear to many readers. Neil Gaiman uses repetition to establish a mysterious feeling, polysyndeton to exaggerate irregularities, pairings to make sentences more profound, and quirky details to add humor to his writing.

Every time Gaiman uses repetition, he adds details about something to create a mystery. While details, by definition, tell us more about something, Gaiman uses repetition to present details in a way that makes readers want to

For example, in his introduction to Trigger Warning, Gaiman warns readers that “there is death and pain in here [this book], tears and discomfort” (xvii). By pairing items in this list—rather than writing “death, pain, tears, and discomfort”—Gaiman emphasizes each item by alternating them with “and”s and pauses. This creates a rhythm that duplicates profound thinking. Another example from the introduction to Trigger Warning characterizes a story as one “of revenge and of travel, of desire for gold and of secrets” (Gaiman xxiv). Here, the pairings place equal weight on each topic, letting readers know that they were picked for a reason. In another story introduction, this time from Norse Mythology, Gaiman writes, “There is murder in it, and trickery, lies and foolishness, seduction and pursuit” (127). Again, the pairings emphasize each topic with a rhythm that creates a contemplative feeling. Besides describing stories, multiple pairings are also used in them. For example, in a short story about Santa’s enslavement to his job, Gaiman writes, “He envied Prometheus and Loki, Sisyphus and Judas” (“Nicholas Was” 48). Each of these figures embody suffering and torture, pain and dread. The use of pairings add deliberation to their inclusion, reinforcing the idea that

In “We Can Get Them For You Wholesale”, the main character, Peter Pinter, is trying to come up with a list of people to kill. This list comprises of those whom Peter holds grudges against, such as a boss who refuses to raise his salary, an annoying neighbor, bullies from the past, and so on (Gaiman 204). Then, Gaiman adds, “If approximately fourteen million, seventy-two thousand, eight hundred and eleven people died, he, Peter Pinter, would be King of England” (206). The absurdity of this detail, along with the exactness of the number and the time Peter must have put into research, is laughable. Another short story example is Chivalry, which opens with “Mrs. Whitaker found the Holy Grail; it was under a fur coat.” The quirky detail is the Holy Grail being found under a fur coat, and it’s funny because some people have dedicated their lives to finding the Holy Grail, while this woman finds it while thrift shopping. (Unexpected bluntness contributes to the humor in this example.) Later in the story, Gaiman elaborates on the finding, saying “It had a little round paper sticker on the base, and written on it, in felt pen, was the price: 30p” (“Chivalry” 34). The mundaneness of this detail trivializes the Holy Grail, a sacred relic, into a thrift shop item. The contrast and absurdity of these two things makes this