A Mental Game

I found The Sandman to be a very intriguing supernatural story. Nathanael appears to be the object of the Sandman’s attention. Though the Sandman was not very scary he was disturbing. If we follow the events that occur, the Sandman seems to be slowly breaking Nathanael psychologically. He reappears in Nathanael’s life after killing his father years before, helps the professor create a doll (Olympia) that Nathanael falls in love with, and provides Nathanael with glassware that allows him to watch her. The glassware appears to influence him, causing a crazed obsession and violence. To wrap the story up, the Sandman takes Olympia away from him leaving her eyes and after implying he would, watches Nathanael jump to his death. It was a cruel mental game.

I also found it fun to argue that everything was in Nathanael’s head and the odd events about “the sandman” could be explained. Young Nathanael’s father dies in an experiment explosion. Nathanael’s frail mind attached the death to his childhood nightmare; the murderous Sandman. He then uses the event as his explanation for his tensions later on in life.  As an adult, Nathanael’s fragile mind again attached to nearly mute Olympia. He then learns the professor created Olympia and watched as a competitor stole her. Finally, he leaps to his death after attacking Klara during another mental break down. One that was brought on by handling the object he had with Olympia. Overall, this idea seems a bit too far from the text but it is an interesting possibility.