How to End a Modern Myth By Theodore Kemna
How to End a Modern Myth
By Theodore Kemna
By Theodore Kemna
I recently finished reading The Sandman Volume 9: The Kindly Ones by Neil Gaiman, Marc Hempel, Richard Case, and others. This book, which collects issues 57 to 69 of the original comic book run of the same name originally published by DC Comics's imprint Vertigo between 1994 and 95, serves to conclude the modern myth Gaiman and company had been creating since volume one. Though one more volume follows this one, The Kindly Ones ends the tale of Morpheus, aka Dream, the protagonist of the series in the best and most fitting way it could, through addressing what it means to end a story. In this blog post I will focus on one method through which the writer and artists do this and why it works to conclude (almost) everything set up for the last 9 volumes.
The method I will be focusing on is the use of The Fates, a trio of magical goddesses from Greek myth who have appeared frequently since the first volume of the series and are used to bookend Morpheus's final tale. The purpose of the Fates is to spin the yarns of destiny (not to be confused with Destiny, Morpheus's brother), through that controlling the fates and stories of all beings, and also enact vengeance upon creatures within their own stories through their counterparts/personalities The Furies. Gaiman uses these character traits, dating back to the ancient Greek myths from which The Fates originally came, to address the writer's role and position in ending a story and to thematically tie the entire then-nine volume saga together in a bow.
The Fates
The way this is done is first shown on the opening pages to the volume, which begins with the three Fates together in a house on the British country side sowing and drinking tea, speaking on how it feels to end a story, which is expressed through them knitting clothing. Gaiman uses this as a mouthpiece to tell the reader that this story really is the end, and in a way tell the reader why he is doing it. Not only does this serve to address what the reader may be thinking and gives them an understanding as to the reason why it is happening, but it ties in the overarching themes of story from the prior nine volumes. The entire series of The Sandman up to this point has had a focus on story, such as preludes/beginnings, journeys, and characters, but up till now has for the most part left out focus on endings, so by starting the last major story by beginning with a focus on endings, it adds a sense of closure to this thematic arc going over the series up till now. As the eldest of the Fates says at the end of this intro, "All good things eh? All good things... got to finish sometime."
This is continued in the story itself, when the Furies (going by the title "The Kindly Ones") are called upon by the distraught mother Lyta Hall to kill Morpheus under the false accusation that he killed her son. Now the complexities and details of the plot itself date back all nine volumes and is too much to focus on here, but the important detail for the purpose of this blog post is that it is The Kindly Ones, The Furies, The Fates themselves who are used to enact the final end to the thought to be endless life of Morpheus. This is important because it parallels the writer's place in ending their own stories. The Fates have already been established as the "writers" who are ending the story of Morpheus along with the in universe talking pieces of the writer himself, so by having them in the end (spoiler) kill Morpheus, it allows Gaiman to take responsibility for his own work and in a way hammering in to the reader that he, the writer, is giving his final words on the character of Morpheus.
The method of using the Fates is concluded at the end of the book, after the plot has ended and the other characters have said their peace, when the reader is returned to the house on the British countryside from the beginning of the book. There Gaiman reflects on the faults of an ending, while still hammering home that this is the end of Morpheus's story.
"So it's finished?" the youngest Fate asks, "yes" says the middle Fate. "Are you satisfied?" the younger one continues, "Niminy piminy, my pigeon, reflect: And how could I ever be satisfied?" the middle replies, addressing that the writer knows not all will be satisfied with the conclusion. They continue speaking, going on metatextually about their own story, but in the end saying "It's done." This once again addresses the writer's awareness in what he is doing by ending the story, but staying sure in how he feels about ending the story.
These three parts of Gaiman's use of the Fates I believe ends the story the best way it can, by first introducing that the story is ending and providing purpose, then executing the conclusion and taking responsibility for it, and finally reflecting upon and staying firm it how it was done. This is only a small fraction of the masterpiece that is The Sandman and frankly I would recommend it to anyone, though I will say it is best to start at the beginning with volume one, Preludes and Nocturnes. You won't regret it.
This is continued in the story itself, when the Furies (going by the title "The Kindly Ones") are called upon by the distraught mother Lyta Hall to kill Morpheus under the false accusation that he killed her son. Now the complexities and details of the plot itself date back all nine volumes and is too much to focus on here, but the important detail for the purpose of this blog post is that it is The Kindly Ones, The Furies, The Fates themselves who are used to enact the final end to the thought to be endless life of Morpheus. This is important because it parallels the writer's place in ending their own stories. The Fates have already been established as the "writers" who are ending the story of Morpheus along with the in universe talking pieces of the writer himself, so by having them in the end (spoiler) kill Morpheus, it allows Gaiman to take responsibility for his own work and in a way hammering in to the reader that he, the writer, is giving his final words on the character of Morpheus.
The method of using the Fates is concluded at the end of the book, after the plot has ended and the other characters have said their peace, when the reader is returned to the house on the British countryside from the beginning of the book. There Gaiman reflects on the faults of an ending, while still hammering home that this is the end of Morpheus's story.
"So it's finished?" the youngest Fate asks, "yes" says the middle Fate. "Are you satisfied?" the younger one continues, "Niminy piminy, my pigeon, reflect: And how could I ever be satisfied?" the middle replies, addressing that the writer knows not all will be satisfied with the conclusion. They continue speaking, going on metatextually about their own story, but in the end saying "It's done." This once again addresses the writer's awareness in what he is doing by ending the story, but staying sure in how he feels about ending the story.
These three parts of Gaiman's use of the Fates I believe ends the story the best way it can, by first introducing that the story is ending and providing purpose, then executing the conclusion and taking responsibility for it, and finally reflecting upon and staying firm it how it was done. This is only a small fraction of the masterpiece that is The Sandman and frankly I would recommend it to anyone, though I will say it is best to start at the beginning with volume one, Preludes and Nocturnes. You won't regret it.
This seems like an interesting book, although comics are not a genre that I tend to gravitate towards. I liked your explanation of the plot and found it detailed but easy to understand. I thought that the books use of the Three Fates interesting and something that would be fun to read about. I really enjoyed your post!
ReplyDeleteThis is an incredibly well written blog post. I appreciated how well you explained everything in an easy to understand manner, such as the concept/importance of the various characters. You not only talk about the plot, but you also have your own interpretations of the story. You have your own opinion about the ending being a great ending and you reinforce this argument by explaining some of your interpretations of moments in the story. You also seem to know a lot about the story line itself, shown when you repeatedly reference that the book is a collection of DC Comics issues and how the ending ends the past issues well. And, you cohered to a single topic. Overall, great post!
ReplyDeleteI found your post thoroughly interesting. I liked the way you analyzed the meta quality of the book, especially in relation to the ending. I thought it was interesting the way that Gaiman used the fates to discuss and end the story. I felt like i had a solid understanding of the structure and quality of the book, without having the whole plot spoiled. Good post!
ReplyDeleteI think this is an extremely well written post. I really enjoyed how you wrote about the Fates and how they spin the yarn of destiny. Your explanation really helped me understand how everything links together. Additionally one of my favorite parts was reading your own interpretation of this work. Overall, I think you did a great job.
ReplyDeleteThis blog post was both well written, and enjoyable to read. The concept of the Fates seems very interesting, and the complexity of the plot makes me want to check this book out. I applaud your great summarization of the plot, that would have probably come across as confusing without good clarification of certain aspects. Great job!
ReplyDeleteThe part I found the most interesting was how the book ended. Having a character or a few characters acknowledge that the book is ending and be like a messenger for the author to the reader is very intriguing. Great blog post. The only thing I would suggest is maybe put a spoiler warning at the beginning of the blog post rather than right before you say what the spoiler is. Other than that, good job!
ReplyDelete