American Gods: Chapter 10 Summary & Analysis

The chapter starts with song lyrics about secrets and lies of the past, from Tom Waits’ song “Tango Til They’re Sore.” During his first night in Lakeside, Shadow dreams that he is a child who has been kept in darkness and away from humans his entire life. A woman comes to get him from his cage and takes him out to a bonfire, where the child laughs with the happy crowd that has gathered. The woman then sacrifices the child. Shadow wakes up hungry and cold, unable to remember details about his dream except a sense of misery and darkness.

Shadow decides to walk in to the town center, knowing that it will be cold but hoping he can walk fast enough to keep himself warm. He goes outside, thinking of Low Key’s stories about winter in Minnesota where it was cold enough that a man’s urine would freeze before it hit the ground. Shadow thought it was only ten minutes to the town center, but he keeps walking without seeming to get any closer to the bridge over the lake that leads into town. He is so cold that he has lost all feeling in his hands and feet, but has no choice but to keep walking. A cop car passes and asks if Shadow needs help, and all Shadow can do is shiver.

The cop pulls over and tells Shadow to get in and get warm. Shadow climbs in the back, trying not to think about the last time he was in the back of a cop car. The cop chatters about how cold it is, then introduces himself as Chad Mulligan. Chad offers to drive Shadow anywhere he needs to go today, starting with breakfast. Shadow notes the stark beauty of Lakeside in winter, wishing that he could see it in its summer glory. At breakfast Shadow eats a pasty, a meat pie originally brought to Michigan by Cornishmen, while Chad arranges for Shadow to buy a car from one of the families in town. As Chad outlines the plan for getting Shadow groceries, warm clothes, and the keys to the car, Shadow asks why the police aren’t busy with crime. Chad answers that Lakeside is such a good town that there are rarely any issues that require police intervention.

Chad takes Shadow to get clothes and groceries, introducing Shadow to everyone they meet as Mike Ainsel. Shadow explains that he works for his “uncle,” naming Wednesday as Emerson Borson and pretending that he has a normal life. Chad and Shadow go to pick up a car for Shadow from Mrs. Gunther, a used Toyota 4Runner that the Gunthers’ son had painted a horrific shade of purple. Shadow drives back to his apartment, deciding that he likes living here where everyone is so nice.

At 2 that afternoon, Shadow is unpleasantly surprised by a knock on his door, but it’s just Hinzelmann. Hinzelmann has brought some things for Shadow, explaining that Shadow can pay him back by buying a raffle ticket for the “klunker,” a charity raffle where people bet on what day the frozen lake will thaw enough to let an old beat-up car that has been pushed out onto the ice fall through into the water.

Hinzelmann cracks jokes about how this cold is nothing compared to how cold it used to be in the old days, then sadly explains that the winters here are bad enough that they sometimes drive the kids a bit crazy. Lakeside teenagers sometimes run away in the winter, presumably looking for somewhere warm. But Hinzelmann emphasizes that Lakeside is better off than most towns in this area, now that the mining, logging, and tourism industries are dying. Hinzelmann passionately points out how hard everyone in Lakeside works to make sure it is a good town. Hinzelmann leaves, telling Shadow to visit him any time.

Shadow’s apartment gets colder and colder, though he has the heater on. Finally Shadow goes to the apartment next door, hoping to find out how to make it warm. A tired-looking woman with black hair answers warily and explains that Shadow has to heatproof his windows and buy a space heater, then introduces herself as Marguerite Olsen. Shadow comments that most Olsens he has met are blonde, and Marguerite explains that the name comes from her ex-husband. Shadow tries to chitchat about Marguerite’s job on the local paper, which he heard about from the woman who sold him a car, but Marguerite just clucks about Mrs. Gunther’s constant gossip. Shadow has the odd feeling that he has met Marguerite before.

A couple of days later, Wednesday shows up at Shadow’s apartment. Wednesday explains that Shadow has to stay in Lakeside so that he will be out of sight from the New Gods, commenting that no one can really accomplish anything in the dead winter months anyway. In the meantime, Wednesday and Shadow will be taking trips to rally the troops. Their first stop is in Las Vegas, where they will visit a god who Shadow knows that he has met before, but can never seem to remember.

Gaiman describes the entrance to a casino, reveling in the sights and sounds of the money and the worship that humans offer when they give up their money freely, not really expecting anything in return. A man in a charcoal suit (The Unknown God) oversees everything, walking down the Vegas strip, soaking up the beauty of the money changing hands with frightening speed, then settling himself at a bar.

Another man in a light grey suit (Wednesday) follows the man in the charcoal suit (The Unknown God), sitting down at the bar next to him. The man in the light grey suit apologizes for “what happened in Wisconsin,” then answers the man in the charcoal suit’s question about a woman who hasn’t been seen for two hundred years. The man in the charcoal suit says something else, making the man in the light grey suit offer a bottle of “soma” if the man in the charcoal joins his rigged game – after all, he says, it’s the only game in town. The man in the grey suit leaves, and the man in the charcoal suit takes pity on a bar waitress, telling her where to find a man who has just won $400,000 and needs help spending it. The waitress listens, but is unable to remember the advice afterwards.

As they walk through the Vegas airport afterwards, Shadow asks who Wednesday came to visit. Wednesday explains, but Shadow doesn’t hear the name. Wednesday says that getting this mystery man on their side will cost Wednesday a bottle of soma, a drink made from distilled prayer and belief. Shadow and Wednesday board their plane, and Shadow asks if there is any way he can bring Laura back to life. Wednesday names the many charms he learned as his prize for hanging from the tree, but explains that he cannot bring people back to life. Shadow confesses his fear that it is his own fault that Laura is half-alive, as he gave Laura the gold coin. Wednesday asks Shadow not to look for “eagle stones” and “thunderbirds” to bring Laura back, but just to keep his head own in Lakeside. Wednesday looks so sad that Shadow wants to comfort him, but Shadow hesitates and the moment passes.