Sandman Part 3
October 18th 2006 04:02
Well, this is the last post I do on Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series. Like I’ve been saying, they aren’t approved, sanctioned or anything. And in order for this to make more sense, you might well have to read the posts before it. In the first two posts I pointed out the fact that dreams have an influence on reality and the power of dreams in the context of hope (how perfect it was that the Lord Dream would choose hope above all other virtues against the minions of hell). This post will combine these two themes as closely as I can.
In this part of the story The Sandman is retrieving the last of his items, a ruby that is not only one of his tools to shape his world, but also contains a large amount of his own essence. The unfortunate part of this is that the ruby is being held by a man named John Dee, who understands how to use the ruby in order to dominate and influence the will of those around him. With the ruby, he can turn normal people into dangerous lunatics. The main part of his story is focused around a café where he is doing just that. The patrons of the café themselves are an interesting bunch, but not so much so that we can’t relate to them (note, this is part of Neil Gaiman’s story telling charm, to make the fantastic something we can relate to intimately). John Dee is quick to corrupt them, forcing them into acts of debauchery, murder, self hate, euphoria and to let loose their deepest and darkest secrets. The Sandman confronts him and they duel in the world of dreams. At the end of the duel, the ruby is destroyed and The Sandman is given back all his powers and the world sleeps peacefully.
By itself, the allegory I drew from this part of the story is fairly clear enough. But when related back to the first two points, aside from becoming more evident, it becomes more poignant. In the first part, we saw that the insubstantial nature of our dreams has a substantial influence on how we live, that the pursuit of our dreams outside of an understanding or context of reality will kill a man by removing him from other men. In the second, that hope is essentially a dream used in a physical context, that it is the goal of a life lived out and brings men into community with one another. Hope may be unseen, and even relates to that which is unseen, but it brings into existence that which was not seen before. With that now clearly stated, the allegory I have seen is the power and danger of one man’s dream when it influences others.
Adolf Hitler, Gandhi, Winston Churchill and Martin Luther King were all men with dreams that reached out to their fellow men and influenced them, changing the reality around them to something closer to the reality they carried within them. They were all great orators but their oration did not find its strength in their ability with words. It found its strength in the hopes they carried with them. Three out of four of these men, led their fellow man to something glorious, something poetic. The first, led nearly our entire world to complete and total war, corrupting his fellow man with hate. The dreams we follow, the dreams we build on, the hopes we pass on to those around us are not without substance nor without consequence. They are near tangible, with the ability to build or destroy. Each dream we accept, we must consider carefully. “I have spread my dreams at your feet. Watch your step, for you walk on my dreams.”
JoshZ
In this part of the story The Sandman is retrieving the last of his items, a ruby that is not only one of his tools to shape his world, but also contains a large amount of his own essence. The unfortunate part of this is that the ruby is being held by a man named John Dee, who understands how to use the ruby in order to dominate and influence the will of those around him. With the ruby, he can turn normal people into dangerous lunatics. The main part of his story is focused around a café where he is doing just that. The patrons of the café themselves are an interesting bunch, but not so much so that we can’t relate to them (note, this is part of Neil Gaiman’s story telling charm, to make the fantastic something we can relate to intimately). John Dee is quick to corrupt them, forcing them into acts of debauchery, murder, self hate, euphoria and to let loose their deepest and darkest secrets. The Sandman confronts him and they duel in the world of dreams. At the end of the duel, the ruby is destroyed and The Sandman is given back all his powers and the world sleeps peacefully.
By itself, the allegory I drew from this part of the story is fairly clear enough. But when related back to the first two points, aside from becoming more evident, it becomes more poignant. In the first part, we saw that the insubstantial nature of our dreams has a substantial influence on how we live, that the pursuit of our dreams outside of an understanding or context of reality will kill a man by removing him from other men. In the second, that hope is essentially a dream used in a physical context, that it is the goal of a life lived out and brings men into community with one another. Hope may be unseen, and even relates to that which is unseen, but it brings into existence that which was not seen before. With that now clearly stated, the allegory I have seen is the power and danger of one man’s dream when it influences others.
Adolf Hitler, Gandhi, Winston Churchill and Martin Luther King were all men with dreams that reached out to their fellow men and influenced them, changing the reality around them to something closer to the reality they carried within them. They were all great orators but their oration did not find its strength in their ability with words. It found its strength in the hopes they carried with them. Three out of four of these men, led their fellow man to something glorious, something poetic. The first, led nearly our entire world to complete and total war, corrupting his fellow man with hate. The dreams we follow, the dreams we build on, the hopes we pass on to those around us are not without substance nor without consequence. They are near tangible, with the ability to build or destroy. Each dream we accept, we must consider carefully. “I have spread my dreams at your feet. Watch your step, for you walk on my dreams.”
JoshZ
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Comment by Josh Z
I did love exactly what he said to the serial killers though. That they would no longer be able to indulge in day dreams or fantasies. Makes you think, doesn't it?