I find “Sandman” to be very intriguing and I enjoy many of the stories presented. I’m fairly indifferent to the Sandman/Dream/Morpheus himself, however. In trying to think about what to post on I thought about the many great stories, disturbing scenes (touched on in other posts), fascinating characters, etc., and I suddenly realized that none of what I was thinking about dealt with Morpheus himself.
So of course this got me thinking about why I wasn’t thinking about Morpheus, even though it is his comic book. But is it his book? Looking at pretty much any of the issues contained in the two volumes we read one finds that Morpheus is almost a side character. Even in the first volume “Preludes & Nocturnes”, the overall arc of which seems to be about his imprisonment, escape, and his quest to regain his “tools” and reclaim his kingdom, Morpheus is hardly there. It seems like none of these episodes are his story, but belong to other people, like John Constantine, Dr. Dee, Richard Madoc, Caliope, the Cats, Death, and so on. Dream always plays some role (either remembered or active) but he really is not the focus of the series.
I think this is entirely intentional. Have you ever tried describing a dream to someone, only to realize halfway through the story that you cannot explain it properly and that the poor listener does not want to hear about how they were in your dream, but they weren’t themselves, but they were, but it wasn’t like something? Dreams do not work the same way as reality, and dream stories do not work like regular stories. Dreams are part of the effluvium; you are aware of them, but they are not real and they dissipate upon waking.
Morpheus is dream incarnate. He is not just the king of dreams; he is dreams. As such, he is part of the effluvium at the outskirts of consciousness. How could he be the focus of a story? Instead, he is a vessel. His comic book is a vessel for these other stories to be told. He plays a part, in that his existence means the stories can exist, but he is not the story.
Interesting point, but ultimately I think Dream is the story, at least by the point of the penultimate main volume, The Kindly Ones. Your point remains that there are many powerful stories in the series in which he is “merely” a catalyst – essential for the reaction to occur, but not used up or essentially involved in the process itself.
Phineas, I see your point, but I think as a protagonist, Dream is the sculpture Gaiman is talking about when he chips away at the white marble to see what’s left. I also like the dichotomy Dream/Death provide in their independent outlooks.
I think I agree with Phineas’ assessment here. Dream/Sandman does function as a essential part of the stories, but often, the stories are actually ABOUT the characters being affected by their dreams (the abundance of or lack thereof). I keep coming back to the idea that Dream/Sandman as being the “dream incarnate” is a function humanity needs to have to be sane; so it would be okay for him to not be the story, but essential to that story.