The Sandman

In the story The Sandman by Hoffman we are introduced to many characters and we see the development of these characters the main female characters are named Clara and Olimpia, they share many of the same characteristics as described by Hoffman in his story. We will be comparing both of these women by taking a look at them thorough the perspective of the male character Nathanael; this story was written by Hoffman and uses the cyborg as a double for a person. Clara is the real woman in the story and Olimpia is an automatic doll, but the real significance is how the male character Nathanael sees both of these women. The conflict between Nathanael and Clara at the beginning of the story lead to a more interesting story and conflict between Clara …show more content…
Nathanael is a person who is a dreamer or visionary, all while Clara is as the narrator describes her as “clear, sharp, and discriminating”. The contention is the way that each of the characters describes the death of Nathanael’s father Nathanael describes his father’s death as an excited memory, while Clara was unemotional about the death. Clara’s response about the death of Nathanael’s father was unemotional and she also dismissed the story told by Nathanael as a childhood fantasy based on old wives’ tales the dismissal of Nathanael’s recollection changed Clara in the eyes of Nathanael she was now soulless and lifeless. This leads to Nathanael calling Clara a “damned lifeless automaton” because her response to Nathanael is cold and emotionless kind of like a machine. Ironically Nathanael falls in love with Olimpia who is in fact a lifeless automation, Nathanael over looks the mechanical way Olimpia carries herself and the limited vocabulary because he is in love. The love that Nathanael has is based on what he sees in Olimpia, which is Nathanael because Olimpia is a puppet that is mirroring Nathanael. We can see the reaction of other characters towards Olimpia and they all see her mechanical behavior, her coldness and her limited vocabulary everyone besides Nathanael can see these flaws because Nathanael has already fallen for her and has a history of a vivid …show more content…
This lack of humility and kindness towards Nathanael, in a time where it is easier to believe in old wives’ tales than it is to think of something else when it comes to a death of a family member, shows a reason for Nathanael to drift away from Clara because she belittles him. Clara’s character would have been portrayed more of a positive if she had not belittled and dismissed Nathanael’s recollection in the manner that she did, instead if she had shown a compassion towards Nathanael the story could have been