“Chesterton” as you haven’t seen him before

“Fairy tales do not tell children that dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.” – “G.K. Chesterton” – Neil Gaiman

I promise this post is not one big stick in the mud or another case of the internet saying “wellll, ackshwullyyy,” but the often cited quote above was never actually said by Chesterton. It is a quote by Neil Gaiman himself who mistakenly attributed it to Chesterton at the end of his popular children’s story, Coraline.

He put the quote in thinking it was an authentic Chestertonism and didn’t realize his mistake until the quote had already taken on a life of its own. Gaiman, who has numerous times mentioned his love for Chesterton would happily concede the quote to him, it is certainly Chestertonian enough. 

Gaiman has expressed a deep love for and inspiration by the 20th century’s Hall of Fame of popular Christian, British and initialed authors, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and of course, G.K. Chesterton. I must confess I am continually tempted to Google “Neil Gaiman + Catholic” because of his obvious and subtle sacramental Christian imagery in so many of his works.

This is largely helped by his incredible character building, thought-provoking themes and seamless incorporation of ancient mythological structure in contemporary settings. 

There is a reason why one doesn’t need to look too far to find some Gaiman adaptation on Netflix (Sandman, 2022), Amazon Prime Video (Good Omens, 2019), Starz (American Gods, 2021), or even the big screen (Coraline, 2009).

It is in the Sandman Netflix series, episodes 7, 9 and 10, but based off of the graphic novel of the same name, however, where one sees his love for Chesterton move beyond inspiration to adaptation as he plays a crucial role in the development of the heroine of the season one story arc. (**This is where I give my disclaimer that Netflix’s Sandman is rated TV-MA for a reason and there are definitely mature themes throughout the series**)

Referring back to my original idea in the post, how the quote was not technically said by Chesterton, but might as well have been. Well, this character is *technically* not G.K. Chesterton either in the sense that Gaiman had him come back from the dead to guide our heroine or appear as some sort of ghost (though, this would not have surprised me when considering the other actions and characters of the series). 

While he goes simply by “Gilbert” and refers to his enjoyment of reading Chesterton as if they were different people, it is quite clear in his dress, demeanor and personality that this character is meant to be a carbon copy of “the Apostle of Common Sense.”

When considering Gaiman’s own acknowledgment of Chesterton’s inspiration of his own writing, it shows that this facsimile is one created out of love and Gaiman’s recognition of Chesterton’s presence, albeit a limited one, in a story devoted to dreams, fairy and innocence, all the while in the presence of hanging darkness that Gaiman is known and respected for. 

“Gilbert” is first mentioned but not yet seen as the reclusive tenant of a strange group home where our heroine, Rose Walker, finds herself. He emerges from the mythical mist confronting some of Rose’s potential muggers, though to his amusement she proves herself to be more than capable in handling them (we see this profound balance between innocent, masculine chivalry and true feminist admiration later in the series, another example of Gaiman’s true respect for and understanding of GKC).

He offers to help her in her primary task of finding her lost brother, which requires a interstate carride and a great opportunity for more Chestertonisms, including:

• “What fascinates me about humanity Is that so many people are looking for reasons to be unhappy. It’s only when they’re mired in their self-made misery that they’re truly content”
• “I do love a paradox. Chesterton did too.”
• “Love means loving the unlovable. Forgiveness is forgiving the unforgivable. Faith means believing the unbelievable. Hope means hoping even when everything seems hopeless”

Gilbert is not just a lovable, fun, side character to either foil or feed the hero, but participates in a couple of powerful moments toward the story’s climax. While his “true” identity is still unknown to the viewer, “Gilbert” is able to recognize a particularly evil character and the season’s primary villain, which leads him to work behind the scenes to help bring about his demise. 

He also displays that trademark Chestertonian courage when he becomes a sort of spokesperson for life when he comes upon those who have made an idol out of death (I understand I have been relatively vague about story details, but Sandman is just so rich that trying to go through every bit of context would become tedious). Fortunately for us, his heroic work is not done.

It is later revealed that this “Gilbert” is actually a manifestation of Fiddler’s Green, a specific section of the infinite world of Dreams (like I said, Sandman is rich with a lot of context), who took on this jovial human form in order to better serve humanity.

Knowing Chesterton’s propensity to portliness, one has to laugh when “Gilbert” says “I was not a person, I was a place,” indeed. He is given high praise by his master, Morpheus, the King of Dreams, who calls him “the heart of The Dreaming.” 

When called upon, he heroically offers his life for Rose (he’s unable to and fortunately not required to, but he still gets chivalry points again).

Finally, he gets the highest compliment of any character from a writer by being gifted a long, dramatic soliloquy about the importance of dreaming, stories and humanity, which illustrates one of the most important themes of the show: that the universal aspects of humanity, our dreams, our desires, our deaths, are meant to serve us and our ultimate purpose to love.

If you are a fan of any of G.K. Chesterton’s writing, either his fiction or non, you will love his true-to-form depiction in Sandman, even if he’s *technically* not *really* Chesterton himself.