The Sandman by Hoffman is a story comprised of three letters written in first and third persona. These letters are crucial in describing the events of the story by narrating various activities and perspectives of the characters. Some of the main characters of the story include Nathaniel, his wife-to-be Clara and the brother Lothar.  From the story, the narrator has come up with a style of recitation that tells Nathaniel’s tale through the letters. The letters might be instrumental in providing evidence as a model of support to the claims made in the story. This text has been structured with unique depiction where some characters appear to be imaginary or overlap to look the same thing. To understand this characterization, it is essential to identify and connect the roles of characters like Coppelius, Coppola and the Sandman to Nathaniel’s predicaments. From these characters, the essay will have defined the fears of Nathaniel by outlining their traits and roles in the story.

Since the main character, Nathaniel is convinced of a frightful destiny, and his fears seem to focus on the old Sandman who since childhood has been believed to be a monster who makes children blind. Nathaniel also connects the Sandman to Coppelius who also seem to be Coppola at some instance. From this account, it is clear that Coppelius is the man who often paid Nathaniel’s father visits when he was a child. Nathaniel also has a belief that Coppelius is the Sandman and Coppola who he later meets at the University is still the same person in disguise. The way these characters merge into each other throughout the story shows that they are more-or-less the same person. Their roles in the story may vary, but a wholesome view of them would describe them as a single unit of characterization.

Through this kind of characterization, the narrator of this story aims at presenting the audience with a variety of critical societal themes. For instance, Coppelius plays an important role in showing how religious beliefs are depicted in the story. The narrator portrays Coppelius the same way Nathaniel views him. Coppelius plays the role of being devilish and horrifying. This is evident when he attacks Nathaniel as a child as well as when he likens himself to God by his attempt to create life.  Coppelius references God when he says “They don’t fit properly! It was all right as it was! The Old Man knew what he was doing!” At this instance, he was instilling fear in Nathaniel by telling him that no one should attempt to mimic life because they would end in horror or failure.

The characters have also been used to describe Nathaniel’s life experiences. From the nursemaid’s fairy tale of the Sandman, it is evident that Nathaniel was vulnerable to the damaging works of his ingenuities as a child. He always thought that Coppelius would take his eyes and render him blind especially after his father’s death. His obsession with losing his eyes as well as the fear of the substitute nature of Coppelius and Coppola made him easy prey for manipulation. His entire life was based on paranoia and the love he shared with Clara almost got affected. For instance, such experiences contributed by Coppelius and Coppola affected him to an extent physical objects distorting his perception of realities. The telescope was meant to make images sharper but only ended up magnifying the effect of the objects on his mind and soul.

This form of depiction where a character replicates to become another in the same setting proves to have a great influence on Nathaniel. The three characters affect Nathaniel in various ways. The Sandman and Coppelius are portrayed to have significant influence on Nathaniel’s life. According to the author, all the narrator’s sympathies lie with Nathaniel because of his imaginations on Sandman’s and Coppelius devilish characters. Sandman has created paranoia among children in the society including Nathaniel during his early years. From what Nathaniel has been facing, it seems he recognizes that Sandman has destructive powers concealed behind daily experiences. These destructive influences make leads to Nathaniel’s failure both as an individual and as a poet because he is unable to communicate his visions. Coppelius also seems to influence Nathaniel’s experiences after his father’s death by issuing threats about life. The persistent theme of seeing and eyes in the story illustrate emphasizes the influence of Sandman and Coppelius in Nathaniel’s blindness to his life desires. Also, Coppola influences Nathaniel to forget his dark history and focus on the future. This happens to fool Nathaniel so as, the evil deed of Coppelius are not exposed. However, Coppola is later revealed to be Coppelius after an argument with Olimpia’s father.

In conclusion, this paper has illustrated how its unique characterization can be used to explain the roles of characters. It has achieved that objective by describing the roles played by replicating characters like Sandman, Coppelius, and Coppola. The essay has further highlighted the influence these characters have on the protagonist.

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