My Reaction To Gaiman's Sandman

I’ve read the first three collected volumes of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman comics. I have to say I don’t like them. To people like Erica and Johanna, this will probably comes as no surprise. My main complaint with the series is how dark it is. Morpheus is suppose to be the lord of dreams, but all we have encountered so far is nightmares. In fact, I don’t find in the character of Morpheus any joy or pleasantness from which dreams can come. Thus far in the series, all of his creations have been nightmare beings. They are the works into which he has spent the most time and in which he takes the greatest pride. It seems that all the good things of dreams come from humans. At this point in the series, I don’t believe Morpheus is capable of a truly happy thought, let alone constructing entire dreamscapes filled with joy and gladness.

My second complaint is with the cosmology of the series. In the series it appears that we have two classes of eternal beings. Those that are manifestations of the moral aspects of the universal, such as Jehovah, Allah, Buddha, Satan, Beelzebub, and Azazel. So the rulers of Heaven are simply the manifestations of the positive energies of the universe and the rulers of Hell are manifestations of the negative energies of the universe. Thus we have the gods and demons respectively.

The second categories of beings are the eternals. They are the morally neutral manifestations of the universe; Death, Dream, Desire, Destiny, etc. I don’t know why Gaiman likes giving them names with the letter “D”, but it makes for easy identification. They are in truth perhaps more powerful than the moral manifestations. Even in his weaken state at the beginning of the series, Morpheus is able to challenge the powers of Hell and win. I would be shocked if Death didn’t have the power to kill even god and demons. It is their separation (perhaps transcendence?) from the moral considerations that give them their greater power. They are able to tape into the cosmic energy flow in a much purer way.

This means that the true ultimate nature of reality is simply the cosmos itself. Gods, demons, eternals, humans, etc. all exist at the mercy of the laws of physics. Once the universe succumbs to entropy then ALL forms of life and sentience will cease to exist. I believe the current the theory is that once entropy reaches it’s final stage, the universe collapses back on itself. After that I’m not sure what the speculation is.

So at it’s heart Sandman is simply an affirmation of philosophical materialism. What we think of as ‘spiritual’ or ‘supernatural’ beings are simply beings able to access and control the cosmic energies to a much greater way degree. However, they are not beings that transcend the physical universe itself. Nor are they able to either transcend the fundamental laws of the universe. They had no hand in the creation of the universe and thus have no influence over the true nature of reality. We may think they are creating new universal laws or able to transcend the laws of physics, but that is only because we have such a poor knowledge of the true laws that govern the nature of reality.

I find philosophical materialism to be lifeless worldview that offers not comfort to it’s believers. It reminds me of a story told about Sartre. A young woman came to him seeking his advice. Every morning when her husband went off to work she was beset by a desire to strip naked and sit in front of the living room window. This desire frightened and repulsed her. She was scared that one day the desire would become too strong for her to resist and she wanted to know what she could do about it. Sartre’s reply was, “Don’t do it”. Really not much help or comfort to the woman.

People like philosophical materialism because it get rid of God and all the baggage that comes with religion. They believe it to be a worldview that gives them the freedom to be who they want and do what they want. And that is true. However, they must also realize that philosophical materialism also denies there is any meaning to existence or to our lives. There is no inherent morality or code of conduct in the universe. So even rules like, don’t kill, don’t abuse children, don’t torture people, etc are fictions of the human imagination. We can make no appeal other than to our desire not to be killed, tortured, or abused as reason for such rules to exist. They are not part of the fabric of reality. The universe simply is and there are no higher beings that care about humans or will miss us if we disappear.

It’s this core affirmation of philosophical materialism and the nihilism inherent in it that makes Sandman such a dissatisfying read for me. Gaiman uses words like hope and dream but they are empty plot devices that are forgotten once the story ends. I find nothing in this work that is affirming of life or seeks to encourage the better angels of our nature. Such fiction leaves a nasty taste in my mouth and I find myself better off without it.