American Gods

American Gods

by

Neil Gaiman

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on American Gods makes teaching easy.

Sam Black Crow Character Analysis

A half-Native American young woman who hitchhikes across the Midwest and meets Shadow during one of his drives away from Whiskey Jack’s house to Cairo. Sam later encounters Shadow in Lakeside while visiting her half-sister, Marguerite, and supports Shadow when his past as a convict is exposed. Sam does not believe in any official pantheon or specific gods, but she does revere the place of belief in human minds and sees the divinity in American life. Her statement of belief is seemingly closest to Gaiman’s own beliefs. She encompasses Buffalo Man’s advice to “believe everything,” and is incredibly tolerant of other people and their beliefs though she has no sympathy for the New Gods and current popular American culture. Sam is also portrayed as either lesbian or bisexual, with a girlfriend named Natalie, increasing her status as someone who embraces diversity and the changing face of America.

Sam Black Crow Quotes in American Gods

The American Gods quotes below are all either spoken by Sam Black Crow or refer to Sam Black Crow. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Mythology, Belief, and Community Theme Icon
).
Chapter 7 Quotes

"Okay. As soon as they say Odin's name, the reed transforms into a spear and stabs the guy in the side, the calf intestines become a thick rope, the branch becomes a bough of a tree, and the tree pulls up, and the ground drops away, and the king is left hanging there to die with a wound in his side and his face going black. End of story. White people have some fucked-up gods, Mister Shadow."

Related Characters: Sam Black Crow (speaker), Shadow Moon (Baldur), Mr. Wednesday (Odin)
Page Number: 152
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 13 Quotes

"I can believe things that are true and I can believe things that aren't true and I can believe things where nobody knows if they're true or not. I can believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny and Marilyn Monroe… I believe that the future sucks and I believe that the future rocks and I believe that one day White Buffalo Woman is going to come back and kick everyone's ass…”

"Would you believe that all the gods that people have ever imagined are still with us today?"
" …maybe."
“And that there are new gods out there, gods of computers and telephones and whatever, and that they all seem to think there isn't room for them both in the world. And that some kind of war is kind of likely.”

Related Characters: Shadow Moon (Baldur) (speaker), Sam Black Crow (speaker)
Page Number: 348
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire American Gods LitChart as a printable PDF.
American Gods PDF

Sam Black Crow Quotes in American Gods

The American Gods quotes below are all either spoken by Sam Black Crow or refer to Sam Black Crow. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Mythology, Belief, and Community Theme Icon
).
Chapter 7 Quotes

"Okay. As soon as they say Odin's name, the reed transforms into a spear and stabs the guy in the side, the calf intestines become a thick rope, the branch becomes a bough of a tree, and the tree pulls up, and the ground drops away, and the king is left hanging there to die with a wound in his side and his face going black. End of story. White people have some fucked-up gods, Mister Shadow."

Related Characters: Sam Black Crow (speaker), Shadow Moon (Baldur), Mr. Wednesday (Odin)
Page Number: 152
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 13 Quotes

"I can believe things that are true and I can believe things that aren't true and I can believe things where nobody knows if they're true or not. I can believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny and Marilyn Monroe… I believe that the future sucks and I believe that the future rocks and I believe that one day White Buffalo Woman is going to come back and kick everyone's ass…”

"Would you believe that all the gods that people have ever imagined are still with us today?"
" …maybe."
“And that there are new gods out there, gods of computers and telephones and whatever, and that they all seem to think there isn't room for them both in the world. And that some kind of war is kind of likely.”

Related Characters: Shadow Moon (Baldur) (speaker), Sam Black Crow (speaker)
Page Number: 348
Explanation and Analysis: