THE MEANING OF COMICs
‘The Sandman’ and the struggles of change
What we can take away from ‘The Sandman’
What is ‘The Sandman’ about?
Spoilers ahead
Neil Gaiman created ‘The Sandman’ in 1989.
The comic series follows Dream of the endless, a primordial being who controls the dreams of humans.
In Gaiman’s own words:
When the first living thing drew breath. He was there, waiting, with his siblings, the Endless. When the last living thing has left this universe, their task will be done. His realm, is the Dreaming, a world of sleep and imagination. He is Dream, Lord Morpheus, and he must learn to change, or die.
This, in essence, is what the comics are about.
Lord Morpheus, as I will call him, is a cold, bitter and apathetic being who has no concern for mortal life. He begins the story imprisoned by humans in a botched attempt to summon death. He then spends 106 years powerless, trapped in the real world.
When he breaks free, he finds the dreaming in ruin. The story follows him as he tries to regain control of the dreaming and his life. It shows that when he spends time with other people, often humans, they change him.
By the end of the story he has become empathetic, often going back to his old ways, but still he has changed. Now he realises what he wants, he no longer wants to be Dream.
See, Morpheus isn’t like a normal human. His entire existence is there to fill a role, allow humans to dream. In fact he only existed when the first living thing fell asleep, and he will cease to exist when the last living thing wakes up for the last time.
Knowing this, his dilemma becomes more complicated. How can he leave his role, his responsibilities, when they are a necessity for the world to function?
I have pinned down three major events that give Morpheus the idea that he can leave:
- The death of Despair
- Destruction leaving the family
- Lucifer handing him the key to hell
The Death of Despair
Although is isn’t actually shown in the comic, it is mentioned that Despair died once before and a new incarnation of Despair was created to fill the role. This Despair seemingly holds the memories of the prior one, but understands they are not hers.
This shows Morpheus that if he were to die, someone else will fill his role.
Destruction leaving the family
Also not shown, but talked about. Destruction is one of the endless and the next oldest after dream. He hates his role as destroyer and feels himself responsible for all things destroyed. He leaves the rest of the Endless. None of them see him again until 300 years later when Dream and Delirium find him. He says to dream:
It’s nothing to do with me any longer. It’s theirs.
They can make their own destruction.
This shows Morpheus that he can abandon his role. No one will take it over, but his existence will allow things to function as they should. He can give dreams back to the people.
Now this isn’t entirely true for Morpheus however. Whilst he was imprisoned, things went south. The dreaming fell apart. Nightmares escaped into the real world. Humans were affected. Some couldn’t dream. Some slept forever and could only dream.
Morpheus cannot make the decision to leave as rashly as destruction because they have different roles. The dreaming, where humans go when they dream, requires Morpheus’ presence there for it to function.
Lucifer handing him the key to hell
Lucifer Morningstar isn’t the embodiment of evil he is in other media. He is the embodiment of defiance. He wages war against heaven. As a result he is given hell to rule over, a punishment from God. He then tricks dream into taking the key to hell and leaves to open a bar. And why does he do this? Because he is bored. Because he wants to.
When you look at it. He defies his duty as an angel. He defies his duty as keeper of hell. He goes against God himself twice.
This shows Dream that beings with more authority, and perhaps an even more important roles, can leave their duties.
The act of actually handing the key to dream, hints at the idea the he needs to pass on the role to someone else.
So clearly Morpheus understands he can leave. So why doesn’t he?
The Role of Change
Change is an aspect of humanity that we all have to deal with. Not many people like change. In fact some people are actively against it.
The role of Dream is essentially a job. A job that Morpheus has been doing since he first came into existence. A job that he does very well but doesn’t take much pleasure in. If he didn’t have to do the job, he probably wouldn’t.
Throughout the entire series, it is continually commented on that Morpheus feels he has a responsibility to do his job. He always has done his job and he always will because that is his responsibility. But unlike with humans, his role isn’t just his responsibility. It IS him. He IS Dream
To explore this further we have to look at this panel from the comic:
In this panel, Morpheus holds up his helmet and gives a Shakespearean soliloquy. The comparison to Hamlet is obviously intentional and so the themes of the ‘gravedigger scene’ from Hamlet should not be disregarded.
In that scene, Hamlet holds the skull of a court jester and speaks to it. In doing so it reminds him of the fragility of his own life, that he too must one day die. Ultimately, this scene is Hamlets decision between life and death. He can continue with his life or he can fulfil the duty his father has given him, and kill the usurper. Hamlet chooses the latter.
In ‘The Sandman’, Morpheus has a similar dilemma. He understands his role as Dream and he understands who he is.
Morpheus acts the way he does, because he is Dream. If he stopped acting the way he does, he will no longer be Dream. But he will also no longer be Morpheus. Morpheus and Dream have been one in the same since his birth. He’s never known any different and so he says, ‘I will do what I have to do’ because it is his duty to himself, as Morpheus. He then says ‘I will do what I Must’ because it is his duty as Dream.
This demonstrates that despite his changing attitudes, growing empathy and longing to leave his role, he recognises that he needs to be true to himself. He can never truly change his nature.
Destruction leaves and though he no longer feels responsible, stuff is still destroyed because he exists. Lucifer defies god, defies god again, defies god again. No matter how hard these people try to leave, they are still in nature, who they are.
The only possible way to achieve what he wants as Morpheus and as Dream, is to kill himself.
So instead of leaving, Morpheus kills Orpheus, his son. Although this seems cruel, it is actually an ultimate mercy. Orpheus has yearned for death for millennia and Morpheus has kept him alive. This moment is arguably the culmination of the entire story. It shows he has changed. But it also shows that he has embraced change.
By killing his son it invokes the wrath of the kindly ones. This leads to the destruction of everything in the dreaming and the death of Morpheus. He knew this would happen of course.
By killing his son, Morpheus finally acknowledges to himself that he has changed, he can’t bare being Dream any longer. But the only way for him not to be Dream is to die. It’s the only way things will change.
What’s beautiful about this ending however, is that Death, his sister, takes Morpheus by touching his finger in the same way that is depicted in the painting ‘The Creation of Adam’.
‘The Creation of Adam’ depicts the moment God created humanity and gave the first human life. This is significant in ‘The Sandman’ because it suggests Morpheus is given life after death, free of his role, given the freedom he desires, despite his death.
We do not know what happens to Morpheus except that he dies. But this hints that he may be alive free from being Dream. That mantle has been passed on to Daniel Hall.
So what can we take away?
Neil Gaiman has presented us with a character and it’s our job to take meaning from it.
‘The Sandman’ explores how people struggle to come to terms with change. How they react to change, how change affects them and how hard it is to accept change. It also explores how change can be for the worse, it can be for the better, or it can simply be different.
Personally, I believe that Morpheus as a character is unlike any other in fiction. He only exists to do a job. As a result he is a fairly topical character in most people’s lives.
Responsibilities tie us down and stop us from being who we truly want to be. They can make us miserable if we are doing them only because we have to.
What I took away from the Sandman is that change is for the better. When we realise we aren’t enjoying what we are doing, don’t believe that you are stuck. Take a step back, observe yourself and pin what it is that makes you feel down. Change that thing, before it destroys you.
When Gaiman said ‘he must learn to change, or die’, he was talking to us as a collective. It isn’t change that is the problem, it’s not knowing how to embrace it. Although we don’t die if we don’t change, it certainly takes away who we are.
In short:
Dreams are killed by the burden of responsibility. If we do not change, we will never be who we want to be.
What else?
There is still so much more in ‘The Sandman’ to unpick. So much meaning to explore.
The vast amount of ideas, themes, political beliefs and messages Neil Gaiman has put into this series is phenomenal.
This barely scratches the surface of what there is.
Hopefully after reading this you may feel inspired to make a change in your life.
If you haven’t read this comic yet, I can’t recommend it enough. If you have read it, read it again knowing what you know now, you’ll see just how well crafted the story is. Every character and event you’ll realise is presenting ideas to Morpheus about change that all affect his final decisions.
Stick around to see what else there is in ‘The Sandman’
