Netflix’s new live-action adaptation ofNeil Gaiman’s graphic novelThe Sandmanhas dropped onto streaming recently and offers an intriguing and in-depth look at the nature of humanity itself. The story follows Lord Morpheus (Tom Sturridge), also known as Dream, after he has been imprisoned for over a century, leaving nightmares to run rampant, encouraging the darkest parts of humanity, and blurring the boundary between the sleeping and waking worlds. After his escape, Dream must regain his stolen objects of power, rebuild his realm of The Dreaming (which fell into disrepair following his disappearance), and reconnect with humanity to repair the damage done to the boundaries of the sleeping and waking worlds.
However, once Dream has regained the objects that grant him his power as the ruler of dreams (his pouch of sand, his helm, and the ruby) Dream finds himself unsure of his purpose and function going forward. He ends up meeting with his older sister, Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste), and shadowing her as she fulfills her duties escorting humans who die to their afterlives. It is from here that Dream reminds Death of something he has long since forgotten, and now he must go because he is late for an appointment.
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Immortality Received
We then flashback to 1389 where we seeDeath encouraging Dream to venture into a tavernwith her and observe the people and how they live. Dream finds the humans revolting, and when he and Dream overhear a man in the pub loudly boasting about how he will never die, Dream cannot possibly understand how any sensible being would want an eternity of living like humans do, that they’d surely get sick of it after a century. The man they overhear is Hob Gadling (Ferdinand Kingsley), a soldier who has seen death around him in battle and from the Black Plague, and now claims that he will be the first person to never die because (according to him) death is something people do because everyone does it. Overhearing this, Death chooses to grant his wish, and then she challenges Dream to find out why a person would want to live forever. Dream approaches Hob confirming that he indeed wishes to live forever, and then the two agree to meet back at the same pub on the same day in one hundred years, and Dream will find out how Hob is feeling about his immortality.
From here on out, every hundred years Hob and Dream meet again in the same pub, and Dream gets to learn what Hob has been up to for the last century. At their first meeting in 1489, Hob doesn’t entirely understand how he is still alive and questions why Dream is so invested in meeting him, and how he is so sure that Hob will be there after the next century. Besides reassuring him that he did not accidentally make a deal with the devil, Dream doesn’t really answer his questions but shares that he simply wishes to know if Hob wants to continue living or not. All Hob must do is continue to live however he pleases. When asked if he currently wishes to keep living, Hob eagerly answers that yes, he does. He finds a lot of excitement and fascination with how life is always changing and new inventions are constantly being made to improve people’s quality of life. He spent the last century wandering around as a soldier, with a bit of banditry, and now is looking to get into the printing trade. Taking this information with him, Dream agrees to meet with him again in another hundred years.
The year is now 1589 and Hob has become wildly wealthy and successful, having become a landowner with a wife and son, even being knighted and holding favor with the current nobility. He says that this is what he imagines heaven would have been like, with delicious food and wine and generally safer streets. For him, life is rich. With this knowledge, Dream meets Hob again in 1689 and finds that he has lost everything. He is now a penniless beggar, starving on the streets after his wife died in childbirth and his son died in a bar fight. On top of all that, the townspeople attempted to try him as a witch once they realized how he hadn’t been aging for sixty years, and things only got worse and worse. According to Hob, he has resented every second on this earth for the last eighty years. Naturally, Dream believes Hob has finally reached his breaking point and will ask for death, that he was right, and an eternity of living like humanity is a miserable undertaking. However, Hob surprises him and explains that no, he still wants to live. Death is foolish because he still believes he has so much to live for.
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A Friendship Forms
Dream and Hob continue to meet every century and Dream continues to see how Hob’s success in life ebbs and flows, and slowly he becomes invested in the life Hob chooses to lead. It’s not until 1889 after Dream has taken to giving him advice on where to take his life and has fought to verify he stays safe with his immortality undetected, that Hob asserts that the true reason Dream continues to meet him every year is because he is lonely and seeking companionship. Dream is insulted by this, however, as he does not see a being such as himself asneedingany sort of companionship much less that of humans. Hob challenges him on this and tells Dream that if he returns next century for their meeting, then that means they’re friends.
However, a few years after this, Dream is held captive by Robert Burgess (Charles Dance) and thus is unable to make their scheduled meeting. It’s not until the present day, after his meeting with Death that he returns once again to meet with Hob. Dream greets Hob by saying he heard once that it’s rude to keep one’s friends waiting, showing that Dream has finally gotten past his pride, He both acknowledges the bond he has formed with Hob, as well as the relationship he shares with humanity as a whole.
The Nature of Humanity
Dream and Hob’s friendship ties into the thematic heart ofThe Sandman. The first few episodes ofThe Sandmandeal with Dream having to reaffirm his belief in the good nature of humanity after his imprisonment left him feeling betrayed and hurt.
When nightmares choose to bring out the worst in humanity and characters like John Dee (David Thewlis) choose to use the power of Dream’s ruby to grant people’s wishes to live in an uninhibited world, Dream constantly is trying to reassure himself that it is hope and dreams that keep humanity from falling by the wayside. Hob’s desire to live no matter how difficult life may get ties into the idea that no matter how bad people can seem, humanity always has that part that’s going to be better, a part that wants to hope. For humanity, the desire to live ties directly into the hopes and dreams which keep them as good as they can be.
When Death and Dream met earlier in the episode, Death reminded him of how they don’t have a grander purpose in the universe. Their purpose is to serve humanity, and in turn, humanity empowers them to continue to inspire. According to Death, their purpose of serving humanity means they should never be alone when doing their duties. Dream can never be alone when doing his duties because he must be among the humans to understand them. The friendship he formed with Hob was the learning curve that Dream had to go through to understand the inherent value of humanity, how he can help them to be the best they can be, and also how they can help him in return.
