"The Sandman" and "The Uncanny"

On Wednesday we were asked to form into groups to discuss both "The Uncanny" and "The Sandman." For my group I was suppose to talk about this idea of the 'double' that Freud mentions in "The Uncanny" but I was unable to elaborate on it. After doing some research I came across a website called The International Dictionary of Psychoanalysis and it says that "the theme of the double is taken up by Freud and integrated in his concept of the uncanny. "The 'uncanny' is that form of terror that leads back to something long known to us, once very familiar" (1919), but has become terrifying because it corresponds to something repressed that has returned"(Mellor).

We have this idea of the 'uncanny' being something that is unfamiliar but familiar at the same time. However, as human beings we refuse to try and make sense of the unfamiliar which gives meaning to the word 'uncanny.' In "The Sandman" Nathanael is struggling to deal with the death of his father. As a result leading a normal life has become an everyday challenge for him. Nathanael has come to learn that The Sandman is not only the lawyer Coppelius but also the optician Coppola. Here we see an example of the 'double' in the sense that Coppelius and Coppola are the same person in Nathanael eyes. It is as if Nathanael will never be able to escape The Sandman because of his childhood experience of his father dieing. In the article, Freud writes "when all is said and done, the quality of uncanniness can only come from the fact of the 'double' being a creation dating back to a very early mental stage..." (Freud 212). The 'double' can take on many different forms whether it be a person, symbol, or simply figment of our imaginations.