Hob Gadling
Encyclopedia
Hob Gadling is a fictional character
from the Sandman comic book
series by Neil Gaiman
. Gadling first appears in the story "Men of Good Fortune" in The Sandman #13 (featured in The Doll's House
collection) as a soldier of the Hundred Years' War
, arguing with friends in an inn somewhere inside the modern borders of London
.
, who are passing by for reasons not explicitly stated but that can be guessed by a fragment of their conversation: Death wants to show her brother the way of mortal life, something he knows nothing of and expresses no interest in, but which she knows from the day she spends as mortal once a century.
Death agrees, at the request of her brother, who says that "it might be amusing" to grant Gadling eternal life. Dream strikes a conversation with Gadling who agrees to meet him again in the same inn once every hundred years. They do so, and Gadling fills in Dream every century on what he has been up to. In the penultimate meeting in 1889, Gadling suggests to Dream that the true purpose of all this was only to provide him with a friend as he is lonely. Dream rejects the suggestion angrily and walks out. In 1989, having had time to reflect during his long captivity, Dream acknowledges that the two are friends.
We again see Hob Gadling in the Volume eight of the Sandman series, "The Worlds End". In this volume we see Hob on one of his adventures, and meet another man who is also immortal.
His 1789 meeting with Dream is interrupted by the arrival of magician Johanna Constantine, ancestor of John Constantine
, who says she heard it rumored that once every hundred years The Devil and The Wandering Jew meet in a tavern.
The first and last meetings each have a scene where snippets of conversation around the inn can be seen; though the scenes are in 1389 and 1989 respectively, the conversations are very similar. For example, "No, of course the plague
isn't God's punishment" matches "Don't be a pillock, Darren, of course AIDS
isn't a punishment from God", as well as criticisms of two unpopular and resistance-inducing poll taxes, one instituted in the 1380s under King Richard II
, the other instituted in the 1980s
under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
. This statement of 'the more things change, the more they stay the same' is echoed in the penultimate issue in Daniel
's Latin
phrase: "Omnia mutantur, nihil interit" (figuratively translated as "everything changes, yet nothing is truly lost"). There are also overheard fragments of those who believe that those in poverty live better than the rich.
of fantastical stories: physical immortality usually turns out to be a curse in disguise, with the recipient eventually longing for death. In the Sandman universe, however, immortality simply bestows more of the same, for better or worse. Gaiman's immortal humans may not age, but neither do they develop unnatural wisdom or any other notable talents. Some, such as the unfortunate Element Girl
, are faced with the possibility of an eternity of unbearable existence.
Gadling regularly ponders the nature of his blessing. Sometimes this pondering is whimsical - at Morpheus's wake, a slightly drunk Gadling converses with the centaur
Chiron: 'I once worked out that I'd spent over six years all told, just pissing. Six years of piss.' In contrast, a poignant scene in volume nine sees Hob weeping next to the grave of the latest of his wives to die: 'I thought we'd have longer. It never gets easier, people you love not being there any more.'
The last time we see Hob, indeed, he seems to be more ambivalent about his gift. In 'Sunday Mourning' in The Wake
, he attends a Renaissance Festival
with his latest girlfriend, Gwen, who is black, leading 'Robbie' to regretful musings on his earlier involvement in the Atlantic slave trade
. Gwen tells him to drop the subject, and when he responds 'you can't just forget about it', she answers 'sure you can, Robbie, you know how? You just forget about it', neatly echoing Gadling's own method of achieving immortality.
Gadling also has much to say about the inauthenticity of his surroundings: 'It's just someone's idea of the English Middle Ages
crossed with bloody Disneyland.' When Gwen complains she can't play a queen because of her race, Hobb mentions how Catherine of Aragon
was actually black due to the Moors mixing with Spainards. "Take it from me, if Catherine of Aragon had lived in Alabama in 1950, she would have been at the back of the bus." He spends most of the afternoon drunk in a disused and derelict tavern, vaguely similar to the one in which he first met Dream and Death
. Here he encounters Death again, who tells him of her brother's demise and offers him a way out. He asks her many questions about what happens next and the nature of life and death, all of which she neatly avoids answering. He admits to being tempted by her offer of death: 'There'd be an awful neatness to dying here, wouldn't there? ...like coming full circle'. Eventually, however, and after a long pause for thought, he declines: 'I'm not ready to die. Not today. Not yet. Maybe not ever.' But there is a wistfulness in him we haven't seen before. Ultimately, though, he chooses to live, and we suspect he always will. The encounter reveals that Gadling believes in reincarnation
, and considering the nature of belief in the Sandman universe, this may be what happens when he dies.
'Sunday Mourning' is the last episode of Sandman to be set in a contemporary setting, the final two taking place in ancient China and Shakespearian England respectively. There is a feeling that Hob, as the only human we've followed this long and this closely through the series, is the last modern character we see. On the last page, he relates a dream to Gwen in which he met Dream and Destruction
on a beach, and they walked off into the sunset together. When Gwen asks how it ended, he fobs her off with the cliché that 'they all lived happily ever after'. We are left with the feeling that neat, happy endings of that kind are only to be found in dreams - Gadling may live ever after, but the happiness is not guaranteed.
, particularly in the film The Long Good Friday
. He has been regularly portrayed as a man of middle height with slightly receding reddish-brown hair, but only in 'Sunday Mourning' did artist Michael Zulli
base his appearance on a specific person: Ian Anderson, lead singer of rock band Jethro Tull
.
The concept of a character in literature whose will to live keeps them from dying, or even coming back from the dead, is prevalent through history as well. An example is Ligeia
, from the Edgar Allan Poe
story of the same name. However, it is probable that the immortal Englishman may have been inspired by the character of Orlando
in Virginia Woolf
's novel, and/or by Alberto Breccia
's Mort Cinder
.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
from the Sandman comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series by Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
. Gadling first appears in the story "Men of Good Fortune" in The Sandman #13 (featured in The Doll's House
The Sandman: The Doll's House
The Doll's House is the second trade paperback collection of the comic book series The Sandman, published by DC Comics. It collects issues #9-16. It is written by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Mike Dringenberg, Malcolm Jones III, Chris Bachalo, Michael Zulli and Steve Parkhouse, coloured by Robbie...
collection) as a soldier of the Hundred Years' War
Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War was a series of separate wars waged from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet, also known as the House of Anjou, for the French throne, which had become vacant upon the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings...
, arguing with friends in an inn somewhere inside the modern borders of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Background
We first encounter Gadling in 1389, sitting in a smoky tavern located in the future location of London's East End. Gadling is arguing that if he refuses to die he will have eternal life, and that dying is merely a habit of mind, something people do because everybody does it. It is, as Gadling puts it, "a mug's game." This catches the ear of Dream and DeathDeath (DC Comics)
Death is a fictional character from the DC comic book series, The Sandman . The character first appeared in The Sandman vol. 2, #8 , and was created by Neil Gaiman and Mike Dringenberg....
, who are passing by for reasons not explicitly stated but that can be guessed by a fragment of their conversation: Death wants to show her brother the way of mortal life, something he knows nothing of and expresses no interest in, but which she knows from the day she spends as mortal once a century.
Death agrees, at the request of her brother, who says that "it might be amusing" to grant Gadling eternal life. Dream strikes a conversation with Gadling who agrees to meet him again in the same inn once every hundred years. They do so, and Gadling fills in Dream every century on what he has been up to. In the penultimate meeting in 1889, Gadling suggests to Dream that the true purpose of all this was only to provide him with a friend as he is lonely. Dream rejects the suggestion angrily and walks out. In 1989, having had time to reflect during his long captivity, Dream acknowledges that the two are friends.
We again see Hob Gadling in the Volume eight of the Sandman series, "The Worlds End". In this volume we see Hob on one of his adventures, and meet another man who is also immortal.
Experiences
Gadling becomes rich, gets married and knighted (1389-1589 AD), falls in disgrace after the premature death of his wife and child (1589-1689 AD), enters the slave trade to become rich for the second time (1689-1789 AD), and exits it when Dream shows him the immorality of it (1789-1889 AD).His 1789 meeting with Dream is interrupted by the arrival of magician Johanna Constantine, ancestor of John Constantine
John Constantine
John Constantine is a fictional character, an occult detective anti-hero in comic books published by DC Comics, mostly under the Vertigo imprint. The character first appeared in Swamp Thing #37 , and was created by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, John Totleben and Rick Veitch...
, who says she heard it rumored that once every hundred years The Devil and The Wandering Jew meet in a tavern.
The first and last meetings each have a scene where snippets of conversation around the inn can be seen; though the scenes are in 1389 and 1989 respectively, the conversations are very similar. For example, "No, of course the plague
Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
isn't God's punishment" matches "Don't be a pillock, Darren, of course AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
isn't a punishment from God", as well as criticisms of two unpopular and resistance-inducing poll taxes, one instituted in the 1380s under King Richard II
Richard II of England
Richard II was King of England, a member of the House of Plantagenet and the last of its main-line kings. He ruled from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. Richard was a son of Edward, the Black Prince, and was born during the reign of his grandfather, Edward III...
, the other instituted in the 1980s
Community Charge
The Community Charge, popularly known as the "poll tax", was a system of taxation introduced in replacement of the rates to part fund local government in Scotland from 1989, and England and Wales from 1990. It provided for a single flat-rate per-capita tax on every adult, at a rate set by the...
under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
. This statement of 'the more things change, the more they stay the same' is echoed in the penultimate issue in Daniel
Daniel Hall
Daniel Hall is a fictional character in the Sandman comic book series written by Neil Gaiman and published by DC Comics. An infant for the majority of the Sandman series, he is the son of Hippolyta 'Lyta' Hall and Hector Hall, borne for two years in the Dreaming Daniel Hall is a fictional character...
's Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
phrase: "Omnia mutantur, nihil interit" (figuratively translated as "everything changes, yet nothing is truly lost"). There are also overheard fragments of those who believe that those in poverty live better than the rich.
Philosophy
To an extent, Gadling (along with the other immortal characters in Sandman) violates something of a clichéCliché
A cliché or cliche is an expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel. In phraseology, the term has taken on a more technical meaning,...
of fantastical stories: physical immortality usually turns out to be a curse in disguise, with the recipient eventually longing for death. In the Sandman universe, however, immortality simply bestows more of the same, for better or worse. Gaiman's immortal humans may not age, but neither do they develop unnatural wisdom or any other notable talents. Some, such as the unfortunate Element Girl
Element Girl
Element Girl is a fictional DC Comics superhero who first appeared in Metamorpho #10 . The character's death was featured in Neil Gaiman's Sandman series in issue #20, "Façade."-Fictional character biography:...
, are faced with the possibility of an eternity of unbearable existence.
Gadling regularly ponders the nature of his blessing. Sometimes this pondering is whimsical - at Morpheus's wake, a slightly drunk Gadling converses with the centaur
Centaur
In Greek mythology, a centaur or hippocentaur is a member of a composite race of creatures, part human and part horse...
Chiron: 'I once worked out that I'd spent over six years all told, just pissing. Six years of piss.' In contrast, a poignant scene in volume nine sees Hob weeping next to the grave of the latest of his wives to die: 'I thought we'd have longer. It never gets easier, people you love not being there any more.'
The last time we see Hob, indeed, he seems to be more ambivalent about his gift. In 'Sunday Mourning' in The Wake
The Sandman: The Wake
The Wake is the tenth and final collection of issues in the comic book series The Sandman. Written by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Michael Zulli, Jon J...
, he attends a Renaissance Festival
Renaissance Fair
A Renaissance fair, Renaissance faire, or Renaissance festival is an outdoor weekend gathering, usually held in the United States, open to the public and typically commercial in nature, which emulates a historic period for the amusement of its guests. Some are permanent theme parks, others are...
with his latest girlfriend, Gwen, who is black, leading 'Robbie' to regretful musings on his earlier involvement in the Atlantic slave trade
Atlantic slave trade
The Atlantic slave trade, also known as the trans-atlantic slave trade, refers to the trade in slaves that took place across the Atlantic ocean from the sixteenth through to the nineteenth centuries...
. Gwen tells him to drop the subject, and when he responds 'you can't just forget about it', she answers 'sure you can, Robbie, you know how? You just forget about it', neatly echoing Gadling's own method of achieving immortality.
Gadling also has much to say about the inauthenticity of his surroundings: 'It's just someone's idea of the English Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
crossed with bloody Disneyland.' When Gwen complains she can't play a queen because of her race, Hobb mentions how Catherine of Aragon
Catherine of Aragon
Catherine of Aragon , also known as Katherine or Katharine, was Queen consort of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII of England and Princess of Wales as the wife to Arthur, Prince of Wales...
was actually black due to the Moors mixing with Spainards. "Take it from me, if Catherine of Aragon had lived in Alabama in 1950, she would have been at the back of the bus." He spends most of the afternoon drunk in a disused and derelict tavern, vaguely similar to the one in which he first met Dream and Death
Death (DC Comics)
Death is a fictional character from the DC comic book series, The Sandman . The character first appeared in The Sandman vol. 2, #8 , and was created by Neil Gaiman and Mike Dringenberg....
. Here he encounters Death again, who tells him of her brother's demise and offers him a way out. He asks her many questions about what happens next and the nature of life and death, all of which she neatly avoids answering. He admits to being tempted by her offer of death: 'There'd be an awful neatness to dying here, wouldn't there? ...like coming full circle'. Eventually, however, and after a long pause for thought, he declines: 'I'm not ready to die. Not today. Not yet. Maybe not ever.' But there is a wistfulness in him we haven't seen before. Ultimately, though, he chooses to live, and we suspect he always will. The encounter reveals that Gadling believes in reincarnation
Reincarnation
Reincarnation best describes the concept where the soul or spirit, after the death of the body, is believed to return to live in a new human body, or, in some traditions, either as a human being, animal or plant...
, and considering the nature of belief in the Sandman universe, this may be what happens when he dies.
'Sunday Mourning' is the last episode of Sandman to be set in a contemporary setting, the final two taking place in ancient China and Shakespearian England respectively. There is a feeling that Hob, as the only human we've followed this long and this closely through the series, is the last modern character we see. On the last page, he relates a dream to Gwen in which he met Dream and Destruction
Destruction (DC Comics)
Destruction is one of the Endless, fictional characters from Neil Gaiman's comic book series The Sandman.-Fictional Biography Within The Sandman:...
on a beach, and they walked off into the sunset together. When Gwen asks how it ended, he fobs her off with the cliché that 'they all lived happily ever after'. We are left with the feeling that neat, happy endings of that kind are only to be found in dreams - Gadling may live ever after, but the happiness is not guaranteed.
Inspiration
Gaiman has said that he based Gadling's speech pattern on that of British actor Bob HoskinsBob Hoskins
Robert William "Bob" Hoskins, Jr. is an English actor known for playing Cockney rough diamonds, psychopaths and gangsters, in films such as The Long Good Friday , and Mona Lisa , and lighter roles in family films such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Hook .- Early life :Hoskins was born in Bury St...
, particularly in the film The Long Good Friday
The Long Good Friday
The Long Good Friday is a British gangster film starring Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren. It was completed in 1979 but, because of release delays, it is generally credited as a 1980 film...
. He has been regularly portrayed as a man of middle height with slightly receding reddish-brown hair, but only in 'Sunday Mourning' did artist Michael Zulli
Michael Zulli
Michael Zulli is an American artist known for his work as an animal and wildlife illustrator and as a comic book illustrator. He's gotten great acclaim for his work on The Sandman with writer Neil Gaiman and has been a longtime collaborator with the author...
base his appearance on a specific person: Ian Anderson, lead singer of rock band Jethro Tull
Jethro Tull (band)
Jethro Tull are a British rock group formed in 1967. Their music is characterised by the vocals, acoustic guitar, and flute playing of Ian Anderson, who has led the band since its founding, and the guitar work of Martin Barre, who has been with the band since 1969.Initially playing blues rock with...
.
The concept of a character in literature whose will to live keeps them from dying, or even coming back from the dead, is prevalent through history as well. An example is Ligeia
Ligeia
"Ligeia" is an early short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1838. The story follows an unnamed narrator and his wife Ligeia, a beautiful and intelligent raven-haired woman. She falls ill, composes "The Conqueror Worm", and quotes lines attributed to Joseph Glanvill ...
, from the Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
story of the same name. However, it is probable that the immortal Englishman may have been inspired by the character of Orlando
Orlando: A Biography
Orlando: A Biography is an influential novel by Virginia Woolf, first published on 11 October 1928. A semi-biographical novel based in part on the life of Woolf's lover Vita Sackville-West, it is generally considered one of Woolf's most accessible novels...
in Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf
Adeline Virginia Woolf was an English author, essayist, publisher, and writer of short stories, regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth century....
's novel, and/or by Alberto Breccia
Alberto Breccia
Alberto Breccia was an Uruguay-born Argentine comics artist and writer.-Biography:Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, Breccia moved with his parents to Buenos Aires, Argentina when he was three years old...
's Mort Cinder
Mort Cinder
Mort Cinder is an Argentine comic book horror-science fiction series featuring an eponymous character, created in 1962 by the writer Héctor Germán Oesterheld and artist Alberto Breccia...
.