The Uncanny Analysis
Have you ever arranged your trophies on the self in a very particular order to leave the
room and come back in to see one out of place? That creepy feeling you get thinking how could
they move on their own? Or have you ever felt your very special stuffed animal or security
blanket had a voice? That lifeless object has come alive. As Freud states on page 5 in The
Uncanny, “ …whether a lifeless object might not be in fact animate”. In Sigmund’s collection of
essays he examines just this; the strange, mysterious, eerie feeling of the familiar but yet
unfamiliar. In Freud’s collection of stories titled, “The Uncanny,” he explains “What is
“uncanny” is frightening precisely because it is not known and familiar” (Sigmund 2). He then …show more content…
Both the book and the movie use elements
of fear, repetition, doubling and concepts of the unknown and the familiar.
“The Uncanny” is a collection of essays that Freud wrote in order to explain the
unconscious mind and the power it has over our minds and fears. Freud maintains that there is
the part of the mind we use every day and a part of the mind that is not always known but is very
powerful. He suggests that the unconscious mind may hold repressed fears or feelings. Like in
the story of the “Sand-Man” Freud examines the power of the mind and the fear of getting one’s
eyes torn out of their head. “Nathaniel: In spite of his present happiness, he cannot banish the
memories associated with the mysterious and terrifying death of his father he loved” (Sigmund
5). This part of the article shows how repressed feelings can be very powerful and the element of
fear and anxiety that Nathanial might have eyes “put in a sack” by a wicked man is abosulutly
terrifying.
Similar to Freud’s essay, Gaiman’s novel, Coraline, as well as the film, The Shining, both
explore concepts of the uncanny through the use of fear. This novel can cause the reader to
room and come back in to see one out of place? That creepy feeling you get thinking how could
they move on their own? Or have you ever felt your very special stuffed animal or security
blanket had a voice? That lifeless object has come alive. As Freud states on page 5 in The
Uncanny, “ …whether a lifeless object might not be in fact animate”. In Sigmund’s collection of
essays he examines just this; the strange, mysterious, eerie feeling of the familiar but yet
unfamiliar. In Freud’s collection of stories titled, “The Uncanny,” he explains “What is
“uncanny” is frightening precisely because it is not known and familiar” (Sigmund 2). He then …show more content…
Both the book and the movie use elements
of fear, repetition, doubling and concepts of the unknown and the familiar.
“The Uncanny” is a collection of essays that Freud wrote in order to explain the
unconscious mind and the power it has over our minds and fears. Freud maintains that there is
the part of the mind we use every day and a part of the mind that is not always known but is very
powerful. He suggests that the unconscious mind may hold repressed fears or feelings. Like in
the story of the “Sand-Man” Freud examines the power of the mind and the fear of getting one’s
eyes torn out of their head. “Nathaniel: In spite of his present happiness, he cannot banish the
memories associated with the mysterious and terrifying death of his father he loved” (Sigmund
5). This part of the article shows how repressed feelings can be very powerful and the element of
fear and anxiety that Nathanial might have eyes “put in a sack” by a wicked man is abosulutly
terrifying.
Similar to Freud’s essay, Gaiman’s novel, Coraline, as well as the film, The Shining, both
explore concepts of the uncanny through the use of fear. This novel can cause the reader to