How Does Neil Sandman Communicates The Horror Of Graphic Violence

Certainly, Sandman needs to be as extreme as it is in to appropriately carry out its story and breathe life into its characters. Admittedly I struggled with choosing a side to argue due to some of the disturbing scenes in Sandman. Yet, in taking a second look at the concerning areas where graphic violence exists, I noticed a definite boundary where the author, Neil Gaiman, communicates the horror of graphic violence. Furthermore, the violence does not come across as easy or consequence free. It is not glorified in any way. In fact, it seems to highlight the depth of depravity that humanity can sink.

Generally speaking the most significant problem, people tend to have with the content of graphic novels is the illustrations. Many of the characters

They begin with simple dreamlike states and move between sanity and lunacy. The patrons and waitress turn on each other and end up killing one another. Much of this chapter felt extreme upon first reading, but then, as I read it a second time, I felt Gaiman was teaching us how dangerous it is to live in a dreamlike state of denial. We see from the beginning of the chapter that Bette denies the reality of a son who never came home from college. We learn as Bette learns that not only did he not come home, but he is also a prostitute. We feel her disgust when her regular customer, Marsh, whom she takes care of, confesses to buying her son for a pack of cigarettes. Bette screams over and over that she does not want to hear it as she becomes

Kate faces the truth of Garry's sexual addiction; Kate has seen and ignored the lipstick on his collar. We eventually see his head on Kate’s platter. On and on we look at the characters deepest fears and secrets brought to the surface and used against them. It is a disturbing narrative without the illustrations, but with the added illustrations the feelings of despair and insanity are palpable.

While agreeably unsettling, Gaiman did a fantastic job building the characters. I want to focus on two characters introduced to us in the early part of the story. Dr. Hathaway enters the story on the first page. He is distraught and desperate to have his dead son Edmond back. Even though he participates in something evil, we feel sympathy for him because we are not exactly sure what we would do given the same circumstances.

Another character is Unity Kinkaid. We watch her age from a young woman to an older woman. We learn that in her illness, she is raped and has a baby all the while she slept. Though we do not know a lot about Unity, our heart breaks for her as we know she is a rape victim. It makes one wonder how many women may have been in a similar situation, and to have that situation hushed up is tragic. It is also tragic that she senses she has a child, but she cannot grasp the truth between her sleeping episodes. Even though these two characters are minor characters, we empathize and