This is my favorite of Dream Country, which I consider to be the weakest of all of the anthological volumes of The Sandman.
A lot of the imagery has really stuck with me. The raven with no skin on its skull was interesting. That brings me to the subject of Dream’s ravens. At one point, Delirium says to Matthew (in a disturbing statement) that she has met “9 and ½” of Dream’s ravens. By any chance could the bare-skulled raven be the “½”? I also liked seeing Dream as a cat. When Dream tells the preaching cat that the world was once ruled by cats, until humans dreamt that reality away, I wonder if he is just saying this to justify the death of her children. It seems out of place, although it does enforce the theme of dreams holding power over reality. Thoughts?

I do not think he is trying to comfort her, since he does not appear comforting (she's a bit afraid of him, and his nest smells like a dangerous place to her). However, I think he does decide to give her a purpose which helps pull her out of her depression and also gives hope to what appears to be his favorite type of person (cats).
On the other hand, I do not think humans and other species need necessarily be adversarial in the sort of domination/submission roles outlined in the story. For that matter, I don't think it is a very healthy way to relate to any creature; it's a destructive cycle.

quote:

Originally posted by SiiriC:
I do not think he is trying to comfort her, since he does not appear comforting (she's a bit afraid of him, and his nest smells like a dangerous place to her). However, I think he does decide to give her a purpose which helps pull her out of her depression and also gives hope to what appears to be his favorite type of person (cats).
On the other hand, I do not think humans and other species need necessarily be adversarial in the sort of domination/submission roles outlined in the story. For that matter, I don't think it is a very healthy way to relate to any creature; it's a destructive cycle.

I agree that he gave her a purpose, whether a lie, the truth, or just a dream.
This definitely portrays a dangerous cycle, albeit one which, as concluded by one of the cats, would probably never come to pass again. Her quote, I believe, is "I'd like to see someone get a thousand cats to do anything together." Most of cats were skeptics, except for the naive and young cat which the story begins and ends with. Despite being in a weaker position, the humans seemed to be more devoted to their cause, and they turned the tables. They made the cats the underdogs... or should I say undercats? (lame joke, don't laugh)