The doppelganger is a device for self-scrutiny, not just other-blame.

Evidence

The more difficult truth, though, is that this is a doppelganger story, and doppelganger stories are never only about them; they are always also about us. The literature is unequivocal. Jean Paul, the German writer credited with coining the term Doppelgänger in his three-volume 1796–97 novel Siebenkäs, defined it as meaning “Leute, die sich selber sehen” (people who see themselves). — Naomi Klein, Doppelganger, 622

Categorization

• DEFINE: Etymological definition of Doppelganger from Jean Paul’s Siebenkäs as ‘people who see themselves’—the structural hinge of Klein’s whole method.