Niel Gaiman's American Gods: Shadow as an anti-hero

Niel Gaiman's American Gods: Shadow as an anti-hero

An anti-hero is- as defined by the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary- “a protagonist or notable figure who is conspicuously lacking in heroic qualities”. The characteristics of an anti-hero are numerous, and Shadow- the main character in Neil Gaiman’s American Gods- exhibits many of them; including the fact that he is an ordinary- and perhaps somewhat unlikeable- man in the beginning of the story, that he- despite his ordinariness- is drawn into extraordinary circumstances by forces beyond his control, he acts immorally in parts of the book, the fact that he suffers numerous misfortunes throughout the course of the story, and that- despite his character flaws- ends up doing something heroic.
Where classic heroes often are portrayed as somehow more than human- most have some kind of superpower, and are often extraordinarily beautiful or intelligent- anti-heroes are many times ordinary people, and Shadow is an example of such a character. Shadow- despite being the son of a god- has no extraordinary powers of any sort. In fact, it may be argued that Shadow has unlikeable characteristics even for an ordinary man. For example, at the beginning of the book, Shadow is nearing the end of a six-year-prison sentence. He also is described- as his name might suggest- as a quiet man who is willing to go along with most anything. This tends to confound and annoy people like a prison guard called Wilson, who, on page 12, confronts Shadow about his quiet.
“I don’t get you, Shadow” Wilson said as they walked.
“What’s not to get?”
“You. You’re too quiet. Too polite. […] All I know is you spook me.”

It even gets to Wednesday- the epitome of cool and collected. On page 343 he asks- in a manner that is described as “irritated”- Shadow about his somewhat-easy acceptance of the mythical world he has been thrust into. “Why don’t you argue? Why don’t you exclaim that it’s all impossible? Why the hell do you just do what I say and take it all...