The Uncanny- Sophia

“The Uncanny”- Sigmund Freud
This week’s reading grabs my attention in two main themes- the relation between anxieties about the eyes and its relation to castration; and Otto Ran’s theme of the ‘double’. These two concepts draw my attention because ever since I was a child I always imagined different nightmarish scenarios where I accidentally poke my eyes and thus losing my eyesight. So when I was reading the story of the Sandman and the interpretation on such anxiety and its relation to the fear of castration I find it as something quite amusing to ponder upon.
The concept of unanimated object becoming animated one is also very relatable. Since during our childhood stage, it is inevitable for us to play with unanimated objects and regarding/being convinced/ and hoping that they are real. During that period of time, the idea of unanimated object becoming animated ones is something we hope for! However I remembered one night before I fell asleep I was ‘talking’ to one of my dolls, and as I looked into its marble blue eyes, I suddenly developed a fear toward the doll because I realized how ‘real’ its eyes looked, and I put this object, which I once wished would come alive, away and haven’t touched it since. When did our perception/attitude toward unanimated object becoming animated ones changed? And what caused such a change?
Toward the end the discussion on the ‘double’ and Otto Rank’s interpretation on the theme of ‘double’ is very captivating to me. This is because starting from last year and especially this semester I’ve become very interested in studying the ‘shadows’ (which in this essay is regarded as one type of ‘doubles’) of objects. While my interpretation and reason of why I am attracted to capturing the shadows is very different from Rank’s concept, his interpretation on the ‘double’ provides me with new insights that I can add to my research on shadows.