Each side can easily be justified, which is why the reader will never know what was actually going on in Bly, the country home in Essex, England. Now, with Nathaniel, there is a completely different reason not to trust him that is not just "ghosts aren't real she's crazy." In his first letter to Lothario, Nathaniel describes his traumatic childhood experience with who he thinks is "The Sandman." This is where the reader first has the option of trusting Nathaniel in that Coppelius actually did what Nathaniel says he did, and later kills his father. The rest of story can be very different depending on if you believe his encounter with Coppelius, or "The Sandman," actually happened. The reader could just not believe Nathaniel's story at all and he could have either been a crazy person his whole life, or the reader could believe the story and think that Nathaniel could be suffering from some sort or post traumatic stress disorder the rest of his life. .
Another similarity is the effects that the main characters' early lives have on the rest of their stories. Nathaniel's early life has already bee talked about, but more than just affecting his reliability, it definitely plays a role with the decisions he makes. When he meets Giuseppe Coppola, he immediately thinks he is Coppelius, probably just because their names are similar. Even though he finds out they are not the same person, his view of Coppola is distorted because of his first impression. Also, he may have seen something through the telescope at the end that reminded him of his childhood and made him kill himself. Additionally, the governess' childhood is described as being very sheltered with little life experience. This probably did not have as much of an effect on her later life as Nathaniel, but falling in love with the children's uncle and her employer just based on two interviews was probably caused by her sheltered childhood somehow.
