Neil Gaiman’s Influences

Neil Gaiman’s Influences

The English literature is very much a part of the European literature. That is to say the culture and traditions of Europe since the Greeks and the earlier times has significantly influenced both directly and indirectly the later cultures and civilizations that thrived in the greater Europe. It is no coincidence that when it comes to inspirations and new age thinking, Europeans tend to look back to the ancients like the Greeks and Romans. Whether it is the Italian Renaissance or the English Industrial movement, they all have roots that extend back to the original arts and philosophy of ancient Greeks and Romans. We can see that nothing matures into existence by itself, just like one's own thoughts and conscience, we as individuals are constantly influenced by our environments, whether that is the culture, history or philosophy that we grew up with. Great artists and philosophers of the Italian Renaissance like Leonardo Da Vinci was undoubtedly influenced by the works of art and philosophies of the Classical Greeks and Romans. Just like Leonardo, great English writers we all come to love today that is recognized by their originality and creativeness like the famous English writer William Shakespeare in the sixteenth century was also influenced by the earlier literature works of Ancient Greeks. As matter of fact the modern day accomplished English author, Neil Gaiman is also the product of many great works since the Ancient Greek storytelling and myth. We can see the evidence of this in his books of Neverwhere, Smoke and Mirrors. To be inspired by an accomplished person in his or her field of expertise is almost inevitable. Most of people that come after them want to "imitate" either their works or a certain style. Take the Christianity’s holy book Bible for instance. Not only does it serve as a religious text for its followers but it is also a great literary work for the Western World. The Bible was referenced by many in Europe countless of times throughout the ages for thousands of years. The image of the Devil and Angles, heaven and hell are so ingrained into the western psyche that many westerners has taken it literally. It is so influential that many writers and authors of the Western world (including Neil Gaiman) don't even think twice of integrating Biblical references and motifs into their writing. However, even the Bible can trace its origins to other literary works such as the Greek myth and pagan religions that all came before it. Therefore, as we can see here, it is almost inevitable to "borrow" from the past and make something new out of it. As Thomas Stearns Eliot a renowned Twentieth century Nobel Prize Winner in Literature, advocates his readers see the great works in literature as a whole since the time of the Greeks, but not as something to be categorized by historical time periods. Thomas Stearns Eliot views the influences of literary writers both ancient and new as a two way street. Like a game of marathon, the ancient literary authors passes on the baton to the next and upcoming literary author in terms of transferring ideas and knowledge from his generation to the next. With it, the past influences will fluently transfer to the next great literary author and so on. On the other hand, with the new literary works, it also give a different perspective on looking at the old. The old and the new will inevitably be contrasted and compared to. With the new literary works, one might see the old with a new perspective, and one will definitely judge the new with the standard of the old.

Tradition is a matter of much wider significance. It cannot be inherited, and if you want it you must obtain it by great labor. It involves, in the first place, the historical sense, which we may call nearly indispensable to anyone who would continue to be a poet beyond his twenty-fifth year; and the historical sense involves a perception, not only of the pastiness of the past, but of its presence; the historical sense compels a man to write not merely with his own generation in his bones, but with a feeling that the whole of the literature of Europe from Homer and within it the whole of the literature of his own country has a simultaneous existence and composes a simultaneous order.

As we can see, by Eliot's argument, it is reasonable to say that no author's idea is original and everything is merely just an imitation or a mere grasp of the ancient and the great. As Carl Jung, an Twentieth Century psychoanalyst proposed that there are archetypes of the same symbols in myths that hold great amount of influences in our civilization, culture, society and our human psyche throughout many different cultures which passed down to us since the ancients. They still have relevance in our society today because they are what these are the same experiences that all humans undergo. Like the common