Ananzi boys


Neil Gaiman took the African myth Anansi, a trickster god and reinvented the myth by creating an urban fantasy using the folktale as the basis for his main character’s personality and the main character’s conflicts. Gaiman reinvented the folk tale enough that western viewers could understand the story while also holding some truth to the original African folk tale. One of the changes that Gaiman made to the story in order to make it more relevant to the viewers was changing the setting of the folktale to modern London and Florida.

The story follows the life of Charles Nancy also known as “Fat Charlie” even though he was never really fat, a Londoner who discovers that his father was the incarnation of the West African spider god Anansi. Even before the discovery Neil Gaiman used the memories of Charles father as a hint to the viewers of the true identity of Charles’s father. By introducing Mr. Nancy through Charles’ memories the image of the spider trickster god is changed. The  audience views the trickster not as an all powerful god but as a father who loved to play pranks but didn’t really have a strong relationship with his family. Charles told several stories of his father one of which was that his nicknames always stuck no matter what even years later Charles is still known as “Fat Charles.” Charles also talks about all the slightly harmful tricks his father would play on him, such as; when his father lied to him and told him everyone dressed as their favorite president on Presidents Day to get candy. The family surname Nancy is a subtle form foreshadowing for both Charles and his father. Nancy is another name for spider, which after finishing the book you realize the author was foreshadowing to the viewers that Charles is able to wield the spider’s powers as well. In every story about tricksters the enemy of the trickster, who has been out witted by the trickster’s words before always sews the trickster’s mouth shut, preventing the trickster from using his words to escape. In Ananzi boys, Neil Gaiman has the tiger cut out the spider’s tongue instead of sewing the trickster’s mouth shut.   By having the spider’s tongue cut out Charles is able to discover that he too has the power of the spider by singing a story, which he uses to defeat and trap the tiger. With this discovery you realize that Mr. Nancy’s death, who died while singing karaoke, was a foreshadowing of the powers that Charles would inherit.

Neil Gaiman managed to reinvent the folk tale about the trickster god Anansi by combining the supernatural of Western African myths with the normalcy of everyday life therefore, allowing the viewers to experience a foreign culture while also having the comforts of normalcy to connect and better understand the characters on a personal level.


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