American Gods Episode 5 Theories: “Lemon Scented You”

I very much enjoyed the debate between Roger and Gene on whether humanity would be better off if we all shared one universal religion. This debate goes to the heart of the human condition and reminded me of the Tower of Babel from the Hebrew Bible. The Jewish understanding of this story, which is different from the Christian Old Testament perspective, is that the Tower of Babel story is an allegory for humanity’s drive to create uniformity. The society of the Tower of Babel, unlike the violent and wicked generations that came before them (think Noah’s Flood), united together under one religion, one language, and one culture. They achieved “peace” in the same manner of John Lennon’s song “Imagine” – no country, no religion, nothing to fight for. But this type of uniformity is not the purpose of creation. This type of uniformity is crushing on the human spirit. The “Shalom” or Peace envisioned by the Hebrew Bible is not uniformity but harmony among diversity where all the nations, religions, cultures, philosophies, and people of the world help each other be better versions of themselves – not stifling, dominating, or destroying difference. This is why the Tower of Babel story ends with uniformity collapsing as different languages and cultures arise among the people. So to answer the question poised: one religion for all of mankind would be a nightmare. And I’m often reminded of this idea throughout American Gods. The old and new gods are fighting for dominance- as if this is the only possible paradigm for humanity. I have not read the book, so I don’t know how American Gods will be resolved, but it would be great if the story went in the direction of the gods creating space for each other and fostering a harmony where both the old gods and the new expand their reach and refine their essence through a celebration of each other’s uniqueness- and not battling for dominance.

There was a part in the text which keeps me pondering about Odin and the World Tree…
‘The crew of a becalmed Viking ship ask Odin for a wind to help them to shore in return for a sacrifice. The wind comes, and crew draws lots to see who will be sacrificed, resulting in the king himself. Instead of actually killing the king, the crew decides to sacrifice him in effigy. They tie a calf’s intestine around his neck, hang it on a small branch, and poke a reed into his side. However, as soon as they speak Odin’s name, the intestine transforms into a rope, the branch becomes a bough, and the reed becomes a spear, killing the king.’

What I alluded to in the email was more for the fact that at any point, Odin will have his sacrifices, and he simply uses the world tree to claim those as sacrifices…

In the situation of the police station, he states that ‘They can spin it however they like’… which is the situation. Also, one does not want to be seen by the cops escaping the station, so they duck out the back door…

But you still have the situation of the cops within the station and those which will visit the station. What I am thinking is that its one of two ravens with one stone. He uses the tree to clean up the mess of the dead cops, also the cops which would have witnessed the carnage. All four claimed by the world tree and at that point there is no evidence which one can claim.

Its alittle different with that of TechnicalBoy’s goons, which Laura destroys… because even as they materialize as flesh… they are technically still digital, bits of RAM. I simply believe they broke down into bits and dispersed after awhile.