The Sandman's Doll House.


Possible Spoilers ahead for "The Sandman: The Doll's House"

The second volume "The Sandman" series entitled "The Doll's House" follows more of what we have discussed in class. The story in this book shifts somewhat and is no longer predicated so much on Dream. Instead in this volume the spotlight is shared with another protagonist, Rose Walker. As I don't want to give to much away, all I can say is Rose role becomes more and more significant to the Dream world as the volume carries on. Throughout the arc, Rose is on a quest looking for her long lost brother, who has escaped his cruel adopted parents.
The addition of Rose into the series could signify a couple of different things which Gaiman was trying to accomplish. First of all he could be playing to his love of fairy tales, which the novel is heavily influenced by. The books we have studied in class (including Gaiman's own Coraline) features a female protagonist who travels from the ordinary to the extraordinary. In "The Sandman" Rose leaves her mother a quest to find her brother and moves into a complex with many peculiar characters.
Rose's story in the volume contains many elements explored in the "portal" literature revolving around the female protagonist. For example, when Rose gets a lead on where her brother is she must leave the complex and set out on her mission. Accompanying her on this journey is one of the residents of the complex, Gilbert, who had saved her earlier from muggers. Gilbert acts as the ally character accompanying the hero on their quest. We have scene the archetype of the this character in many forms through our reading, usually in the form of an animal (Toto in The Wizard of Oz, The cat in Coraline, even Jiminy Cricket in Pinocchio). This character usually serves the hero or heroine by having a deeper knowledge of the fantastical world. I don't wan to give away how Gilbert serves the fantastical realm, all I can say is he has a deeper meaning than just the ally.
Roses' story could be considered a subplot to the title character Dream's story. As Dream is rebuilding his world he must track down all the escaped Nightmares while he was imprisoned. On top of this he must solve the mystery of the dream vortex which could destroy humanity. These situations are what ties dream to Roses' story.