Anansi Boys

Having grown up listening to “Anansi the Spider” tails from friends and relatives in Ghana Africa, being introduced to Neil Gaiman’s Anansi Boys was a nice surprise. “Anansi the Spider” stories, much like Anansi boys, generally follow the same basic premise; something happens to “Anansi the Spider” and he must use his quick-wit and storytelling ability to get himself out of a jam. What makes “Anasi the Spider” stories so fun is that no matter what the circumstances, he always comes out on top. Anansi Boys seemed to follow a similar pattern. Events in the novel start failry normally and then eventually spiral out of control, almost beyond the point of believability. We are left wondering how Charlie will ever get back in control of his life. In the end, however, not only does he get “back in control,” but he “wins.” At the end of Charlie’s journey, he comes out on top rather than just breaking even. I think that’s an important distinction to make between an Anasi style story and a more traditional western story where the main character finds a way to “not fail,” and lives “hapilly ever after,” but doesn’t necessarily “win.”
Knowing that Anansi and his friends will always come out on top can make his stories predictable, but also very entertaining. In the same way we know that Bugs Bunny will always be victorious, we know that Anansi will always defeat his enemies. Because Anansi Boys is a full novel and not just another “Anansi the Spider” story we don’t know for a fact that Charlie will win, but when he does it not only doesn’t feel all that surprising but it feels right.
Another interesting thing that Anansi Boys shares with “Anansi the Spider” storys is the presence of animal gods and animal god magic. Magic as a plot device, is not often seen is western storytelling the way it is used here; rather than having magic exist as an entity that is part of the world the story takes place in, magic is part of a world that is almost outside the story. Magic in Harry Potter, for example, doesn’t move the plot along the same way that it doesn’t in Anansi Boys.