Doug Wykstra answers “What was the whole significance of Laura...”

Aradhita asked this question about American Gods (American Gods, #1):

What was the whole significance of Laura in the Book? Why does she come back from the dead? and what was the whole point of having her in the first place?

Doug Wykstra She comes back from the dead because of the gold Leprechaun coin Shadow throws in her grave.

From a narrative standpoint, she has two functions: She g…moreShe comes back from the dead because of the gold Leprechaun coin Shadow throws in her grave.

From a narrative standpoint, she has two functions: She gives Shadow an initial reason for going along with the gods' plans (because one of them might be able to bring her back to life), and she serves as a corpus ex machina, occasionally appearing to get Shadow out of jams when there's no other way to save him.

As far as her greater significance, I like a lot of these responses, particularly Lea Ann's part about sacrifice. That makes a lot of sense!(less)

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