The Sandman beginings

So I said I would keep y'all updated on my blog after I finished each volume...well I didn't exactly do that. I've finished the first two volumes "Preludes and Nocturnes" and "The Doll's House".

Before I get into how this relates to my essay I first would like to address how phenomenal this series has been thus far. The interesting thing was it wasn't one of those love at first sight type of books. Gaiman really didn't have me at the first issue. I was confused, I felt like there wasn't enough exposition, and way to many characters. It wasn't until you meet your protagonist Dream (or Morpheus, he has a lot of names) that you really get a clear idea of where the book is going. Throughout "Preludes and Nocturnes" he goes on a quest looking for his three items to rule the dreamworld.

The scenes which most related to the concept of "The Portal" was the subplot in "The Doll's House" of Jud in the dreamworld. Jed is a character in the book who is adopted by a farmer and his wife. The couple, Clarice and Barnaby are not reminiscent of Aunti-Em (The Wizard of Oz) or Uncle Owen and Aunt Burew (Star Wars), but they are much more cynical. The only reason they have adopted him is because they "receive $800 a month from the state for Jed." Jed is kept in a basement and beaten by these people and to escape his traumas, he escapes to the dreamworld.

I discussed in "Oz Gets Sucker Punch" the idea of traumas leading these people to the dream world that allow them to escape. They are able to travel from the ordinary to the extraordinary. As far as I can figure the twist on this subject in "The Sandman" is that two of the characters Brute and Glob have severed Jed's true connection to the dreamworld. This adds a whole new layer of depth to the idea of escaping through the portal. This leads to the question "Are you truly escaping to the fantastical, if others are controlling where you are?". Is Jed just being captive in another place that's not the basement? How would it be different if he was escaping to a true world within his mind?

The whole series thus far could really be construed as a writer giving his own take on the portal and how it relates to dreams. It begs the question, when one escapes to the portal, is there someone pulling the strings?