Defining the Uncanny - The Sandman - Essay Example

Defining the Uncanny - The Sandman In “The Sandman”, the uncanny can be described in two ways-- intellectual uncertainty and psychoanalytical experience. Both of these are the ideas of Freud. To understand the uncanny in Hoffman’s “The Sandman”, it is imperative to define what uncanny is. Derived from the German word Das Unheimlichea, it means, "un-home-ly", but idiomatically, "scary", "creepy". According to Freud, the uncanny results in a feeling of being uncomfortably strange or uncomfortably familiar (Freud, The Uncanny, people.emich.edu.htm).To analyse the uncanny in a better way, my focus is on the surrounding environment as it plays a significant part in describing or defining the uncanny.

The unconsciousness state of mind also helps in the understanding the uncanny. Thus, uncanny can be the thin line between, self and other, living and dead, the conscious and unconscious, real and unreal. This collapse of psychic boundaries triggers our primitive desires, instinct, and fears. And these themes form the characteristic of Hoffmanns fiction.After reading Hoffmann’s tale, there is this feeling of uncertainty of whether whatever happening to Nathaniel is for real or is it a consequence of his unstable mind or his deranged subconscious.

Undoubtedly, Hoffmann intentionally creates such uncanny situations with a purpose of highlighting the uncertainty that is prevalent in the characters of his work. This uncertainty is well-explained when the character Olympia makes an entry. He cleverly hides from his readers whether Olympia is a human being or a doll. Hoffman leaves the reader in the dark and thus he manages to hold the reader’s attention not focused on this uncertainty. In my opinion, he has created a tale that boasts of unparallel display of emotions that is noteworthy.

Freud argues that, Hoffman at the end of the story lets the truth out; that Coppola is the Sandman himself. He argues that Olympia and the events that follow are the underlying factors that help in creating an extraordinary atmosphere to describe the uncanny. Nathaniels fear of losing his eyes, the fear that haunts him from very childhood is the reason for the uncanny. Next what Freud does is something interesting. He proves that the Sandman is the dreaded father at whose hands the castration is expected to happen.

According to him, Nathaniels anxiety about his eyes has an uncanny connection to the image of the father. The anxiety is successful in separating Nathaniel from his best friend and his best friend’s her brother and Clara. The same fear destroys Olympia and makes Nathaniel take the path of suicide even after he resumed his normal life with Clara. Nathaniel is incapable of loving a woman. The reason for this impotence is his castration complex, as Freud contemplates, "[Olympia] could be nothing else than a materialization of Nathaniels feminine attitude towards his father in his infancy.

” (Freud, The Uncanny, people.emich.edu.htm)Such is the detrimental obsession that led to a disastrous end. Nathaniel incapability to recover from his first obsession about the Sandman is an extreme in itself and to add to it, his love towards the lifeless Olympia. He could see the irony in his own actions and thus, he says, "O you glorious profound nature . only you, you alone, understand me completely" (Hoffman, The Sandman, laits.utexas.edu) Uncanny is displayed again in Nathaniel’s actions, when he deceivingly thinks that a return to a normal, domestic life will free him of all his nightmares as revealed from his letter before returning home, "I shall be with you in a fortnight .

the ill mood which (I confess it) threatened to overcome me . will then be thrown away” (Hoffman, The Sandman, laits.utexas.edu).In conclusion, I would like to say that the weirdness starts from his childhood and continues to his death. If we want sanity, we need to live in a moderation of our desires. A conscious effort has to be made to control the disturbing effects of the unconscious. This is a difficult task; to balance the sanity and insanity. And that is the reason why, uncanny human nature comes into picture.

Unveiling the truth that is hidden in the depths of the unconsciousness will lead us to ease out the complication associated with the difficulty of dealing with the uncanny. Das Unheimliche is nothing but a connotation to something we do not understand and would probably be never able to really understand. References1. Freud, S. The Uncanny. Eastern Michigan University, n.d. Web. 23 September 2011. 2. Hoffman, E T A. The Sandman.The University of Texas, n.d. Web. 23 September 2011.