Essay 'The Sandman' By E. T. A. Hoffmann

‘The Sandman’ written by E.T.A. Hoffmann, and first published in 1816 is a novella that follows the traumatic life of the story’s protagonist, Nathanael, through various methods of telling. This essay intends to reveal why E.T.A. Hoffmann entitled his novel ‘The Sandman’ instead of ‘The Eyes’ by illustrating that it is in fact through the Sandman himself, that the eyes are brought into light, and it is through this character that nothing is clear, allowing for a lack of ‘sight’, and thus a lack of ‘eyes’. This essay will discuss these ideas through the notions of reality and unreality, and via looking through the lens of altering perspectives and senses in order to find clarity in what lies in the physical world, and that of Nathanael’s mind,

This initial reaction to the tale reveals an active imagination in our protagonist, who also likes to think himself an artist, which will be discussed later. It also reveals two realities: one where the Sandman is not real, and one where he is, dividing the world of this text in two: the fantastic, and the rational. This story does not clarify which reality persists for the reader, and ultimately leaves the choice of the reality to the audience of the novella.

Nathanael’s belief in the Sandman, though sparked by his nanny, is also maintained through his disconnected senses. Kuzniar (1989) states it is important to note that The Sandman is filled with references to vision, and that through these various notions of vision, they allow an allusion to the eye. However, Kuzniar also suggests that sight in this story is preceded by sound, and thus hearing. This is visible in the text through Nathanael’s hearing of the Sandman’s footsteps.

“… when in the evening I heard the noise on the stairs I trembled with agony and alarm, and my mother could get nothing out of me but the cry, 'The Sandman, the Sandman!' stuttered forth through my tears.”

Klara receives the letter that was meant for Lothar, but was sent to her. In this letter, Klara becomes the pseudo analyst, stating that she believes the terrible things, which Nathanael writes about, are only within his mind, and “had little to do with the actual external world”. It is through Klara’s reply that she begins to rationalize everything that Nathanael had said in his letter. This blurs the lines of reality for the reader, as in the first part of the novella the reader is immersed in a world of the unreal, and is persuaded to treat it as reality in that world, however, the reader is then told otherwise by Klara, and thus allows for a choosing of sides in the text. Ellis (1981) suggests that Hoffmann maintains a distinction in his writing, between reality and illusion, and through the use of narrative through letters, the reader cannot see where the division lies. The author does this through avoiding the use of an omniscient narrator’s commentary on Nathanael or Klara. Ellis comments that the structure of this novella allows the question of whether Nathanael’s experiences give rise to his fear, or whether his fears create his experiences to become poignant. This relates to the ‘eyes’ (or the lack of eyes) of the reader, as the story of the Sandman becomes confusing, and ‘blinds’ the reader of factual