At the beginning Sandmanmain character DreamTom Sturridge) is stripped of all his power and possessions and imprisoned for almost a hundred years. As the show progresses, we see Son seeking to not only reclaim his existence, but to redefine it and challenge himself in a way this timeless being has never done before. The people Dream meets on his growth journey are drawn to him due to their experiences in “Dreaming” while they sleep. From this experience, viewers will learn that people experience dreams differently. Each of these characters is filled with hopes and dreams that motivate them in the real world, and these stories show how hope can keep us going through our darkest times.
Mother’s hope for son
We learn about mothers’ hopes for their children through Ethel Cripps (Joely Richardson). When Ethel finds out she’s pregnant, Roderick Burgess (Charles Dance) tells her to get rid of it and immediately contacts the doctor about an appointment. However, it is clear that as soon as Ethel found out about her pregnancy, she began to dream about her hopes for the life of her child. Offering to get rid of him was enough to convince Ethel that Roderick had no choice but to take everything from Roderick and run away to where he would never find them. She gave up everything to give her son John Dee (David Thewlis), the life she hopes he will have. She went so far as to make a deal with a demon for an amulet of protection to make sure Roderick could find them. The audience sees how Ethel is greatly inspired by hope when she visits John in prison. She lied to John about who he was, so to convince him that she really hopes to protect him, she tells all about how she kept them safe and then gives him the amulet of protection. A mother sometimes sacrifices everything if it means helping her child build the life he hopes to achieve.
In the hope of preventing harm to others
Joanna Constantine (English)Jenna Coleman), with her pessimistic view of the world, is strongly motivated by the hope that she can make the world a safer place for everyone. She clearly expresses that she fights demons for money, but it is obvious that she also does this to save people from injury. Her fear of intimacy stems from her desire to prevent harm because she thinks someone’s chances of getting hurt only increase the closer they get. After they discover her ex Rachel (Eleonora Faninka) dying because of the magical item she left there, her mind immediately does its best to prevent more harm from being done. She is surprised when Dream suggests leaving Rachel without doing anything to help her leave more calmly, and begins to think about what she can do to help if Dream leaves. Even when her mistake made her emaciated, Constantine’s only hope was that she could prevent more harm from happening. Her hope convinces Dream to do the right thing. Seeing Constantine act in accordance with his hope is a great lesson in how to put aside your own ego in order to prevent causing more harm to anyone else.
Hope conquers darkness and despair every time
The clearest example of the importance of hope is Lucifer’s battle with Dream for his helmet. It’s not a fistfight, it’s not a clash, it’s not a weapon. The battle takes place in their minds, they take turns describing what is guaranteed to win the last thing their opponent described. The battle ends with Lucifer describing Anti-Life, killing the Dream-summoned universe. Seems like the Dream Lord has been defeated until Matthew RavenPatton Oswalt) reminds him, “Dreams don’t die.” It’s like Dream, even when it seems like all is lost and an unstoppable evil force is killing every living thing in the universe, there is still hope that things can get better.
Lucifer relents and returns Dream’s helmet, but only because they hope that all the demons can trap the dream lord in Hell forever. The Dream then reveals the important role that people’s hopes and dreams play in their torment in Hell, as the Dream asks, “Tell me, Lucifer Morningstar, what kind of power would Hell be if the prisoners here couldn’t dream of Heaven?” Lucifer’s expression shows how much they hate to dream of going to Heaven, and Dream is well aware of this, forcing Lucifer to allow Dream to leave this realm freely.
Hopes and dreams support us even in ordinary moments
One of the greatest lessons viewers learn is how important hope is in motivating people to achieve their goals. When Dream confronts John Dee at the diner, John hopes he can “save the world from its lies” by getting everyone to give up their inhibitions and tell the truth. However, John has a warped idea of what “truth” is, believing that people should never lie, no matter how small it may be. Dream finds John after he uses Dream’s magic ruby to bring his truth to life, causing widespread devastation. The dream teaches him why his version of the truth is not the full truth of humanity at all. People’s hopes and dreams for the future show a clearer and deeper vision of each person’s truth than the superficial interactions we engage in while reviewing our dreams. Reproducing the conversations of those who were in the restaurant that day, he shows what they really hope for and how these dreams inspire them to experience these ordinary moments.
John’s distorted view of the truth made him blind to their hopes and dreams, making him feel that all the goodness and superficiality of people was one big lie that needed to be ended. However, when he stopped the lies, everyone found out that the truth about humanity really is as barbaric, selfish, and dark as John suggests, and it quickly shattered all their hope. At the beginning of the episode Bette (Emma Duncan) calls John handsome and uses a ruby to get her to admit it’s a lie. Looking at the truth from Dream’s perspective, Bette didn’t lie because she does her job as a waitress and hopes kindness will make her patron feel welcome and cared for. Bette’s deepest hope, motivating her, is to “create something that matters to people”, but society requires certain commitments from people in order to fulfill our dreams, such as getting a job as a waitress where her income is directly depends on the impression her patrons make on her. The superficial behavior we engage in barely touches the surface of our true selves. It is our hopes and dreams that reveal the truth about our being and what really drives us.
There is always hope that life can get better
The most optimistic lesson about hope in Sandman is in Hob Gadling’s story (Ferdinand Kingsley). Dream and his sister Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) hear Hob in a tavern in 1389 stating that Death is stupid and that he never intends to die. Dream thinks he will wish for the end before 100 years have passed, and Death offers to grant his wish to see if Dream’s claim is true. They meet every century to see how he’s doing, and after two centuries, Hob seems to have lived many successful lives without being able to die. At their third meeting in 1689, Hob exclaims that he “hated every second of the last 80 years” after the loss of his wife, son, and wealth. Most viewers assumed that anyone who stooped that low would give up before they died, but when Dream asks if Hob is ready to die, Hob replies, “Are you out of your mind? Death is a sucker’s game, I have so much to live for.” Even after 80 years of tragedy, Hob Gadling knows there’s always hope as long as you’re alive. Hob also teaches viewers a great lesson in empathy for the hopes and dreams of others .
At their fourth meeting, Hob reveals that he made his fortune in the slave trade. For the first time, Dream sternly advises Hob to find another job. When Hob pushes back, reminding Dream of his promise that he will always have the choice to live his life the way he wants, Dream reminds Hob, “The choice is yours. But won’t you take that choice away from others?” This question obviously hits the mark, and he implies that he will find a new job. Everyone has hopes and dreams, and we should all be free to pursue them as long as no one gets hurt in the process. This is a lesson in kindness and empathy. that mankind could learn more often.
Hope is not just for people in the waking world
Many of those who inhabit the Land of Dreams also share wonderful lessons about hope. Lucien (Vivien Achempong) treats Dream badly and guesses their purpose in the dream, but because they feel such fierce devotion to the Dream Master, they put all their energy into discussing Dream’s plans with him before he impulsively throws himself headlong into action. Matthew, Dream’s new raven companion, has been rejected as a servant many times, but since he knows how many ways he can help and hopes to prove himself to the Dream Lord, Dream is soon convinced. Abel (Asim Chaudhry), rising from another shallow grave, tells Irving (Goldie) a story about his hope to share a happy life with his brother Cain (Sanjeev Bhaskar) who will be compassionate and caring with him. Corinthian (Boyd Holbrook), as bad as he is, hopes to do more than just give people nightmares by staying in the waking world and breaking free from the realm of the dream lords. Whether they achieve their dream or not doesn’t matter, because each of these characters is a prime example of how the dreams that drive our actions are more of who we are than the momentary things we say or do. hoping that these dreams will come true. true.
How the dream itself teaches us the value of hope and change
A prime example of the power of hope in this series is our protagonist. Throughout his experience, we see that his choice is driven by the hope that he can become better than he was before. He does not necessarily strive to be more powerful. He just hopes to become the best version of himself with each new experience. The dream explains to Death how helpful it was for him when he tried to get his pouch, helmet, and ruby back, and then how devastated he felt when it was all over. It is this sense of purpose and meaning that the Dream Lord hopes for, and his behavior is strongly motivated by this desire to learn more and achieve more. In the end, we see him reverse the decision that seemed set in stone when he returns Gault (Ann Ogbomo). He not only brings her back from the darkness, he took into account her desire for change and turned her into a dream, not a nightmare. After she flies off to Dreamland, we see the Dream Master working on four new entities that will become dreams and nightmares. He realized that he made mistakes when he returned from imprisonment, and he hopes to correct these mistakes by making changes to the dream realm that will benefit everyone. The Greatest Lesson About Hope Audiences Have to Learn Sandman is that we must act each new day in the hope that we will become better, like the Lord of Dreams himself.
Source: Collider
