Things to Think About Dying from The Sandman World's End

This is a semi close-reading of the story “Cerements” from Neil Gaiman's The Sandman World's End (DC Comics, 1994 pp 17-123).

“Cerements” is not just a story about someone meeting the eventuality of death, it deals rather with the gruesome details of body disposal and ceremony. It's safe to say that the majority of Gaiman's readers are probably not morticians, that is to say, they do not commonly dispose of human bodies, loved ones or otherwise. It follows that this story takes most readers into the unknown, potentially unconsidered, aspects of death, be it their own or others'. The fact is, no matter who you are, where you are, or even how old you are, death will take you. It is the inevitable result of life. And death will take you anyway it can. Everything dies.

This tale takes place in a necropolis called Litharge. The city of the dead resembles great and ancient mausoleums complete with underground catacombs. The city is decorated with symbols of the dead; statues of mummies adorn the buildings, streets are lined with headstones, everywhere are representations of death. The inhabitants of the city barely look alive themselves. They are gaunt-faced and grossly pale, nearly skeletal in appearance. The people of Litharge spend their time on the study and performance of the death rites and burials of other cultures, taking tremendous care of the deceased, and showing great reverence for the customs of the people.

The “Cerements” narrator is a necropolitan named Petrefax. He recalls memories from his days as a student, more specifically the time he witnessed his first air burial. An air burial, “the uncommonest method” (p.121), allows for “complete disposal... in a handful of hours” (p.121), nothing remains of the deceased, or “client,” as is the necropolitan's preferred term for the bodies they handle. Air burial results in total disposal of the body, yet three things remain of the client: “first, [our] pride in a task done well and honestly and with reverence, also [our] memories of his disposal, which we in [our] turn will take to the grave,” and third is the “stain on the rocks” (p.122) that is sure to disappear with the rain. These things are transient and temporary, and will eventually fade and die just as the client. The effects of the deceased also remain, for however long they may last, now property of the necropolis.

The burial itself consists of opening the stomach and chest cavity, and throwing all the internal organs to the birds. “Everything is given to the birds: the flesh, the lights, the meat, even the bones – rough ground and mixed with barely. Everything is swallowed by the sky” (p.122). Not everyone thinks about the mechanics of their burial. Someone has to strip the body of its effects, prepare for embalming, handle the needles, tubes, and fluid transfer, dress the body and make it up for presentation, or just seal it in its coffin. Maybe they only need to get the furnace going for cremation, and transfer the ashes to an urn before passing the remains on to loved ones. Nowadays there's the autopsy to consider, or possibly the doctors who remove the organs for donation. It is gruesome to contemplate, let alone visualize, yet this story is illustrated. There is a panel showing the client being cut open, one with his head being removed, and a few that show the organs, in handfuls, being thrown to the birds, and sitting in shiny, pink and red piles.

All this gore may seem gratuitous, but it is not because of the way in which it is presented. Not only are hard truths exposed - the disposal of a human body is bound to be messy, eventually everyone will be a body set for disposal, and someone will have to undertake the task - but there is also the ceremony to be considered. Petrefax and his companions don't just hack up a dead guy and throw him to the birds; they follow the client's customs for the burial and for the “final ceremony” (p.122). These customs call for Petrefax et al. to eat immediately after the body is dispatched, the client even comes with food packets specifically for the ceremony. The men sit and eat sandwiches without washing their hands because to do so would be disrespectful to the client, and also because it is the belief of the client's people that his remains will enhance the flavor of the food (p.123). Petrefax is astonished to discover that the food really does taste amazing, “it shouldn't, but it does” (p.123). The reason for this is belief. The client's customs dictate that it should, they believe that it should, and so it is true. After the food it is customary for the men to sit and tell stories, so they do. Each man goes on to tell their own story before the story of Litharge can conclude. All of this is done with “respect and care” (p.121).

What not everyone might notice is that this story applies to all the stories, the whole book in fact, because the storm that has forced everyone to gather, and to tell stories to pass the time is caused by the death and subsequent funeral of Dream, a member of a powerful family known as The Endless. Dream has died, and his remains exist as the stories that we have of him. This book, these books, are his corpse. We are handling it as we read, and as we read we consume his life. We are as the necropolitans; undertaking his body disposal, telling our tales, eating and sharing in honor of his life and death. By reading, we have participated in Dream's final ceremony. We are a part of the story, and, hopefully, we have come away with an understanding of the significance of the funerary and burial rites of the dead, messy and strange as they may be. Dream will be with us as long as we remember him, and so it is true for our departed loved ones.

#Sandman #NeilGaiman #WorldsEnd #dying #deathrites #cerements #Dream #deathofDream #Dreamswake