From: lsmith@deci.cs.umn.edu (Lance "Squiddie" Smith)
Subject: Re: Sandman 44 (SPOILERS)
Summary: Oh what a drooling sandboy I have become
Organization: Nuclear Squids of the Poor
Date: Sat, 7 Nov 1992 22:17:10 GMT

In <1992Nov6.160652.25787@netcom.com> jrs@netcom.com (John Switzer) writes:

>In article <BxAvI4.C0w@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> schmburg@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (Greg Schomburg ) writes:
>>rauchfuss@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Brian Rauchfuss) writes:
>>
>>
>>>My stray thought was that it was *because* Destruction deserted his post that
>>>Delight became Delirium.  That the loss of one of the endless warps the
>>>universe, destroying the balance that use to exist.  
>>                          ^^^^^^^
>>
>>Destruction abondoned his post at the dawn of the industrial revolution.
>>Could it be that humanity, with warlike tendencies and machines
>>of war to multiply thier proclivities a thousandfold, has been in
>>effect ASKING for destruction throughout recent history?  Perhaps
>>Destruction just plain got sick of humanity and is ignoring 4
>>billion screams for annihilation?     

>Spoiler

>Again, it seems obvious to me that the reason Destruction left is 
>because he saw the coming of the nuclear age and didn't want to 
>take part in another sequence of global destruction. His comments in 
>#44 make that pretty clear.

My reading of the encounter at the start of Dream's remembrance is that
either the Endless can tell the future or, more likely, they can tell
the inevitable result to a given situation. Dickon Hawksthone's fate,
given his return from a penal colony, is predictable. Dream knows Dickon's
past and knows what Dickon worries about. The fortune he tells is only the 
obvious outcome.

The Prodigal seems to know destruction. He sees the development of the
sciences, including physics, and understands the outcome which includes
the possibility of nuclear weapons. Although global destruction may be
the end, I think the Prodigal dislikes the entire process of getting 
there. My guess is that the Prodigal has a dislike for the potential 
of the destruction seen in all of the time since this sequence, especially
that of the twentieth century.

The potential for nuclear holocaust (or worse) is the big finale, but 
the entire age that leads up to that seems just as distasteful. This
distaste is strange. The Endless are portrayed as doing their job. Dream
is responsible for pleasant dreams and nightmares. Death says she just has
a job to do. Despair is Despair and Desire seems to provide both good
and destructive motivation. Destiny is just going by the book. Delirium
is now out of the loop.

The question of why the Prodigal left his position is still a curious one. 
As we've seen in Dream's case, the Endless can "mature." Morpheus doesn't
seem so hard-hearted as he first appeared. Is it the nature of the Prodigal's
position (assumed to be destruction) that made him change? As others have
pointed out destruction (like desire and change) can be both good and bad. 
It's not necessarily an evil thing. 

I think there are still some (big) wrinkles to this story that we aren't
expecting.
--
   Lance "RainDog" Smith     |   "Outrageous, alarming, courageous, charming.
    (lsmith@cs.umn.edu)      |    Oh, who would think a boy and bear 
   Still waiting for the     |    could be well accepted everywhere
    Great Leap Forward.      |    It's just amazing how fair people can be."