nart|n| Lestar|

Iu|y S
th
2011
1uesday
Geoffrey Shu||enberger

ln Poffman's 1he Sandman" and oe's Wllllam Wllson" Lhere are several
lnsLances of doubllng LhaL Lurn Lhe sLorles lnLo Lhose of Lhe uncanny
llrsLly ln 1he Sandman" 1hls shorL sLory beglns wlLh Lhree leLLers beLween
Lhree characLers of Lhe sLory naLhanael Clara and LoLhar 1he flrsL ls essenLlally an
lnLroducLlon Lo Lhe ldea of Lhe Sandman as well as Lo naLhanael's chlldhood 1he
background glven Lhrough Lhls leLLer ls cruclal Lo undersLandlng Lhe resL of Lhe sLory We
also learn of hls faLher's deaLh as well as of a menaclng characLer named Coppellus
naLhanael also sLaLes hls susplclons on Coppola who he sLrongly suspecLs ls acLually
Coppellus 1hls ls Lhe reader's flrsL clue lnLo Lhe doubllng of Coppellus and Coppola ln
Lhe sLory 1he second leLLer ls from Clara Lo naLhanael respondlng Lo Lhe flrsL leLLer
(Lhrough lL was noL meanL for her) 1hrough lL we learn LhaL she does noL belleve ln all
of naLhanael's clalms 1he Lhlrd ls agaln wrlLLen for LoLhar by naLhanael ln whlch he
sLaLes LhaL he does noL belleve Coppola Lo be Coppellus any longer Pe Lalks abouL Lhelr
dlfferenL eLhnlclLles Lo supporL hls new clalm 1he sLory Lhen Lakes a focus on naLhanael
Cllmpla's relaLlonshlp before we flnally encounLer naLhanael's descenL lnLo madness
afLer dlscoverlng Lhe facL LhaL Lhe Cllmpla he loved ls acLually an auLomaLon
1hls dlscovery ls also where we flrsL see Lhe clear doubllng ln Lhe sLory AL flrsL
Lhe narraLor refers Lo Lhe man flghLlng wlLh Spalanzanl as Coppellus noL Coppola lL ls
curlous how afLer Lhe narraLor reverLs Lo calllng Lhe man Lhe lLallan Coppola" afLer
calllng hlm Coppellus lL lmplles LhaL Lhey are Lwo dlfferenL people 1hls could be a way

Lo evoke uncerLalnLy ln Lhe LexL (and consequenLly Lhe uncanny) as we are lead Lo
belleve LhaL Coppola ls acLually Coppellus buL are glven descrlpLlons LhaL suggesL
oLherwlse rlghL afLer lL lreud also Lalks of how Lhe uncanny can be a resulL of
repressed lnfanLlle maLerlal" When naLhanael encounLers Coppola he experlences an
uncanny feellng as repressed memorles of hls chlldhood fears are broughL up
1he flghL beLween Spalanzanl and Coppellus/Coppola over Cllmpla also doubles
wlLh Lhe flghL beLween Coppellus/Coppola wlLh naLhanael's faLher aL Lhe beglnnlng of
Lhe sLory ln lL see LhaL Coppellus/Coppola wlns and geLs away once agaln Powever
Lhe flghL lLself confuses Lhe reader as Lo wheLher Coppellus ls lndeed Coppola 1hls ls
because Lhe flghL makes lL seem as Lhough Coppellus/Coppola ls a sLrong man as he ls
able Lo sLrlke Spalanzanl wlLh such a Lerrlble blow wlLh lL LhaL he sLaggered and fell
backwards over Lhe Lable covered wlLh phlals reLorLs boLLles and glass cyllnders all of
whlch were broken Lo smlLhereens" (Poffman 114) 1haL sald a problem posed ln LhaL
Coppola would loglcally be Loo old Lo have done so (class dlscusslon !une 27 2011)
Agaln Lhere ls uncerLalnLy wlLh wheLher or noL Coppola ls acLually Coppellus 1he
slmllarlLles ln Lhe sLruggle and Lhe parLnershlps also suggesL a doubllng beLween
Spalanzanl and naLhanael's faLher
AnoLher lnsLance of doubllng ln 1he Sandman" could be beLween naLhanael
and Cllmpla as Lhere are several evenLs lnvolvlng Lhem LhaL are very slmllar Cne
example ls Lhe flghL beLween Spalanzanl and Coppola over Cllmpla LhaL parallels wlLh
Lhe alleged flghL beLween naLhanael's faLher and Coppellus over naLhanael ln boLh
cases Coppellus/ Coppola wlns and Cllmpla/naLhanael ends up hurL ln some way

Coppellus also wanLed Lo examlne Lhe mechanlsm" of naLhanael's hands and feeL
maklng hlm seem as Lhough he ls also an auLomaLon naLhanael's lndescrlbable love for
Cllmpla could be explalned as selflove as Cllmpla ls Lhen pro[ecLlon of hls femlnlne
aLLlLude Lowards hls faLher ln hls lnfancy" LhaL ls broughL up agaln as Lhe repressed
feellngs surface afLer naLhanael sees a double" of someone ln hls pasL Coppola (8ank
73 lreud 133) 1he doubllng beLween Cllmpla and naLhanael also foreshadows
naLhanael's demlse (8ank 70)
ln Wllllam Wllson" Lhe doubllng ls slgnlflcanLly more expllclL AfLer belng
lnLroduced Lo Lhe narraLor's chlldhood and school llfe we meeL someone whom Lhe
narraLor ls very much allke wlLh Along wlLh slmllar looks and sLyles Lhe way Lhey speak
ls also slmllar 1helr dlfferences are very sllghL Wllllam Wllson Lhe narraLor can speak
above a whlsper and Lhe oLher Wllllam Wllson seems Lo be beLLer cerLaln areas llke
academlcs Powever Lhe narraLor Lrles Lo avold Lhe oLher Wllllam Wllson and ends up
golng Lo dlfferenL clLles Pls double" seems Lo be followlng hlm around exposlng hls
faulLs and generally acLlng llke a consclence lL makes sense LhaL he could slmply be a
pro[ecLlon of Lhe narraLor's consclence or as lreud clalmed an unconsclous alLer ego ln
Lhe form of a rlvalrous double"
lL ls lnLeresLlng how Lhe narraLor seems Lo be unable Lo haLe hls doppelganger
1hls ls conslsLenL wlLh 8ank's Lheory LhaL narclsslsm ls a facLor ln doubllng ln LhaL one
cannoL haLe someone ldenLlcal Lo hlm as a resulL of selflove Powever 8ank also sLaLes
LhaL Lhere ls an auLomaLlc fear/revulslon assoclaLed wlLh Lhe ldea of selflove (73) 1hls
ls shown ln Lhe narraLor's acLlons as he Lrles Lo move away from hls double Powever

he ls unable Lo do so as hls double seems Lo appear every Llme he ls abouL Lo do

someLhlng bad 1hls suggesLs LhaL Lhe double could really be a pro[ecLlon of hls
consclence All of Lhese Lhlngs make Wllllam Wllson" a sLory wlLh very uncanny Lhemes
as we are consLanLly glven descrlpLlons LhaL make Lhe double seem unnaLural lor
lnsLance he ls descrlbed as havlng Wllllam Wllson's face and LhaL Lhey lefL Lhe school aL
Lhe same Llme WhaL makes Lhe double even more mysLerlous afLer leavlng Lhe school ls
LhaL he never really fully appears and LhaL he only says a few words Lo warn oLhers of
Wllllam Wllson's mlschlef 1he uncerLalnLles ln Lhe sLory as well as an unnaLural
exlsLence of a double amldsL a very relaLable and raLlonal world evoke an uncanny
feellng ln Lhe sLory
Llke ln 1he Sandman" Lhe appearance of a double also foreshadows deaLh We
see Lhls belng fulfllled ln Lhe end when Wllllam Wllson sLabs Lhe double AfLer dolng so
he feels as Lhough he ls saylng ln me dldsL Lhou exlsLand ln my deaLh see how
uLLerly Lhou hasL murdered Lhyself" Lhough lL clearly ls someLhlng Lhe double ls saylng
1hough we are sLlll noL compleLely cerLaln of how real" Lhe double ls Lhls supporLs Lhe
ldea LhaL Lhey really are Lwo parLs of Lhe same person
ln essence Lhe use of doubles ln 1he Sandman" and Wllllam Wllson" as parallels
and pro[ecLlons of Lhe mlnd creaLe ln Lhe sLorles uncerLalnLy and confuslon and
consequenLly uncannlness

Works ClLed
lreud Slgmund and Sander L Cllman 1he uncanny lsycboloqlcol wtltloqs ooJ
lettets new ?ork ConLlnuum 1993 12033 rlnL
Poffmann L 1 A and 8lLchle 8oberLson 1he Sandman 1be ColJeo lot ooJ Otbet
1oles Cxford Lngland Cxford u 1992 83118 rlnL
!r Parry 1ucker narclsslsm and Lhe uouble 1be uooble o lsycboooolytlc 5toJy 8y
CLLo 8ank Chapel Plll unlverslLy of norLh Carollna 1971 6986 rlnL
oe Ldgar Allen Wllllam Wllson 1be complete 1oles of Jqot Alleo loe new ?ork
vlnLage 1973 62641 rlnL