Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann

The story "The Sandman" by E. T. A. Hoffmann was published in 1816 as part of the first volume of the narrative cycle "Night Pieces." Hoffmann takes the reader into the world of the student Nathanael, who communicates with his friend Lothar through letters. In one of these letters, Nathanael tells him about the weather glass dealer Coppola. He believes that Coppola is actually the devilish lawyer Coppelius, a friend of his father who is responsible for his father's death. As a child, Nathanael saw Coppola as the Sandman, who, as told in a gruesome children's fairy tale, sprinkles sand in children's eyes until they fall out. He perceives Coppola as an "evil principle" that wants to destroy his happiness with his fiancée Clara. Clara sees this notion as a "phantom of the self" and, with her belief in the good, is able to awaken Nathanael's resistance. To prove that he has overcome his fear, he buys.