The Sandman

The Sandman Literary Elements

Genre

Horror

Setting and Context

1800s Europe

Narrator and Point of View

First-person and third-person

Tone and Mood

Typically dark horror, but with moments of darkly comical parody.

Protagonist and Antagonist

Protagonist - Nathanael; Antagonist - Coppelius/Coppola/The Sandman

Major Conflict

Nathanael feels that his life is being haunted by a horrifying man, Coppelius, whom he took to be The Sandman in his childhood.

Climax

Nathanael, having recovered from the pseudo-climax of discovering Olimpia to be an automaton, now perceives Clara as being one and attempts to throw her off the top of a tower. When foiled, he jumps off the roof himself, dying upon impact with the ground below.

Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing happens throughout the story - from Coppelius's early quotes in which he seems to be figuring out the mechanism of eyes and joints, to society's perceptions of Olimpia as overly mechanical in her movements.

Understatement

N/A

Allusions

Allusions are made to many great works of art. See Glossary for specific references.

Imagery

Hoffmann is a great writer of imagery, using vivid and visceral descriptions of what Nathanael sees and feels to explain his warped perception of reality and the feeling of his descents into mental illness.

Paradox

N/A

Parallelism

Parallelism is drawn between sets of characters to compare and contrast their outcomes. Some significant parallels are between: Nathanael, the story's narrator, and Hoffmann; between Olimpia and Clara; and between Coppelius, Coppola, and the Sandman.

Metonymy and Synecdoche

N/A

Personification

N/A