William Styron's novel Sophie's Choice explores the way people moved

on with life after the Great Depression, and World War II. The book gives an inside look into the

lives of two very different individuals, Sophie, a Polish woman and an Auschwitz survivor, as

well as Nathan, a Jewish man who is a paranoid schizophrenic and growing more mentally

unstable. The story is told through the eyes of a young writer named Stingo and tells of his

interactions with the couple. Grief and depression are a lot more complicated than anyone would

like to imagine, and the difficulties victims of those conditions endure need to be dealt with, but

in the 1940's people were encouraged to "live the good life" rather than deal with the problems

echoing continuously in the backs of their minds.

Coming out of the Great Depression, this generation was encouraged to be anything but

depressed. In this book these two characters, although distinct in background, must deal with

their problems, and face the consequences. The pressure to move on, as is human nature,

eventually leads to a sadly fatal conclusion.

Sophie Zawistowska, a gorgeous Polish woman living in the same house as Stingo, is a troubled

survivor of the concentration camps during World War II. Throughout the book her story is

revealed, through long monologues and stories Stingo, the narrator, tells. The title of the book is

Sophie's Choice, but not until the last few pages is it told what Sophie's choice is. Sophie is

shown as a vulnerable character, a lover of music and her boyfriend. Her passions also include

America, the beach, and creative outfits. Everything in the world in which Sophie lives is the

American Dream, the world after the depression.

Throughout the book her story is unveiled. Sophie, the fun-loving Polish girl, has been twice

widowed and lost two children. On top of these disasters she is also sent to a concentration camp.

In the final pages of the novel she is given the ultimatum by a Nazi soldier,

You may keep one of your children. The other one will have to go. Which one will you

keep? (p. 562)

This decision is possibly the most difficult one a parent would ever have to make, and tormented

Sophie for the rest of her short life.

Suppose I had chosen Jan to go . . . to go to the left instead of Eva. Would that have

changed anything?" (p. 572)

This question remained unanswered to Sophie, who was never given the opportunity to grieve

properly for her loss. Instead, she was cast into a world where she has no choice but to be happy.

One thing that gives her hope for true happiness is Nathan, a man she meets in the library one

day. Nathan plays the role of her hero. He is a biologist who has plenty of financial resources. He

nurses her back to health and the two become lovers. However, there is one glitch in this

wonderful chance meeting. Nathan is a paranoid schizophrenic. He is addicted to the drug

Benzedrine Sulfate, and drinks excessively. More than once he is thrown into a rage, caused by a

chemical imbalance in his brain, where he hits and screams at Sophie and anyone else near him.

He threatens to leave. These stresses add to Sophie's struggles to maintain a normal life. Nathan's

problems expand past his effect on Sophie and into his own personal life.

Nathan is presented as a biologist for a successful company. He may be opinionated and have a

temper, but he has money and appears to have everything in his life together. However, things

are not always as they seem.

You're a cheater. You're worse than any little yenta that ever came out of Brooklyn. (p. 73)

These words to Sophie are an exemplar of his outbursts. During one argument he screams at her,

Let me out of here before I murder you - you whore! You were born a whore and you'll die

a whore! (p. 53)

Nathan proceeds to hit her and stomp out of the apartment.

Anger is not Nathan's only problem. Certainly there is a lot of hate in him for many different

types of people and events.

Then he can get out of control and go into some, I don't know, area of psychosis where no

one can reach him. (p. 383)

On this occasion, Sophie discovers the severity of Nathan's problems. After taking six

amphetamines and snorting two lines of cocaine, Nathan is out of control. He gets into a car,

speeds, and ends up in a car chase. Sophie, who is along for the ride, screams for him to stop the

car, but like many who suppress their problems, once over the brink, there is no turning back.

This event however, is not the one which leads to Nathan and Sophie's untimely demise. The

internal pressures resulting from suppressing one's feelings inevitably lead to misfortune or

catastrophe, and this case is no different from others. The last pages of the book are littered with

shocking details of Sophie and Nathan's fates. After a spontaneous and intimate night with

Stingo, the narrator and participator in this tragedy of a love story, Sophie leaves Stingo's farm in

Virginia to return to Brooklyn, and to Nathan. Sophie states,

I love Nathan but now feel this Hate of Life and God. F*CK God and all his Hnde Werk.

And Life too. And even what remain of Love. (p. 580)

In what would be considered a suicide letter, Sophie apologizes to Stingo, and leaves another

mountain of issues that will never be resolved. Her anger finally burst inside of her and all of the

issues within her could no longer be suppressed. When Stingo returns to Brooklyn he finds

police, an ambulance, and a room of shocked people.

Nathan and Sophie took their own lives by taking sodium cyanide together. The papers write the

suicides off as a statement of love and devotion. This final effort to avoid any suggestion of

sadness is another example of how people choose to sugar-coat problems and live the 'good life'.

Stingo decides to move on and forget Sophie, and this attitude is the one that is reflected in this

book. The fortunate element of this is that Stingo chose to write out this story, instead of bottling

it up inside until it controlled him.

In Sophie's Choice human nature and societal pressure are shown to come together in a fatal

interaction. The expression of grief, and the consequences of bottling up emotions are displayed

with both of these characters. Sophie's life had many stresses in it, from her experiences in

Auschwitz to her relationship with Nathan. Nathan's life consisted of running away from a

problem that was undeniably a part of him. These two unique people are examples of what

happens when people allow societal pressures to overcome human nature. As depicted in this

novel, society can be a powerful force, great enough to trump even the most instinctive qualities

of human nature.

Bibliography

Styron, William. Sophie's Choice. Random House, Inc. 1994.

© Stephanie Beranek, June 2003

Literapedia Book Notes for

Sophie's Choice by William Styron

Characters

Stingo (ch 1) — Narrator

Farrell (ch 1) — Senior editor and Stingo's superior at McGraw-Hill & Company

The Weasel (ch 1) — Editor-in-chief who fires Stingo

Yetta Zimmerman (ch 2) — Owner of the house

Morris Fink (ch 2) — A fellow tenant of Stingo's who thinks Nathan is a golem

Sophie Zawistowska (ch 2) — Nathan's lover

Nathan Landau (ch 2) — Sophie's lover

Larry Landau (ch 3) — Nathan's brother

Casimir / Kazik (ch 4) — Sophie's first husband who was killed by the Nazis

Leslie (ch 5) — Stingo's almost-girlfriend

Höss (ch 9) — SS Obersturmbannführer Rudolf Franz Höss, the man for whom Sophie

worked during her time at Auschwitz

Jan (ch 10) — Sophie's ten-year-old son who was placed in the Children's Camp

Jozef (ch 12) — Sophie's lover in Warsaw

Eva (ch 12) — Sophie's young daughter

Chapter Summaries

1. Stingo talks about his brief stint at McGraw-Hill & Company in 1947 as a "junior

editor" (which he calls a euphemism for "manuscript reader") at the age of 22. He gets

fired and then decides to move to Brooklyn to write a novel of his own.

2. Stingo meets his fellow tenants, Nathan and Sophie, and is slightly bewildered by their

odd relationship. The two lovers get into a big fight and Nathan storms out, leaving

Sophie in tears.

3. The next morning, it is as if no such fight occurred. The two lovers invite Stingo to

Sophie's room for some beer and conversation. Everything seems to be going well until

Nathan's mood suddenly changes and he becomes violent towards Stingo. They quarrel,

but then Nathan suddenly becomes apologetic and the three go on an excursion to

Coney Island.

4. Sophie tells Stingo about her past. She was raised in Cracow; Poland had a reasonably

good life growing up. Both of her parents were professors, and Sophie herself was

married at a young age to a mathematics scholar. One day, the Germans came and took

Sophie's father and husband away to a concentration camp and shot them on New Year's

Day. Sophie fled to America after the war ended.

5. Stingo spends more time working on his book. The three friends get to know each other

better. Stingo meets Leslie.

6. Sophie relates more of her story to Stingo. She describes scenes from concentration

camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau.

7. Sophie describes to Stingo how Nathan cared for her while she was sick. Stingo goes on

a date with Leslie that, for him, ends unexpectedly.

8. Stingo gets to know Nathan better and admires him more and more. Then, one day,

Nathan gets into another one of his weird moods and lashes out at Sophie (and a little at

Stingo) and this time leaves for good.

9. More of Sophie's story, specifically, about her time as a prisoner/secretary under Höss

and about her father.

10. Höss admits he has feelings for Sophie but refuses to act on them. After much begging

and groveling, Sophie is granted permission to see her young son, Jan.

11. Stingo's father visits Stingo in New York. Stingo recalls a mistake he made as a child

involving his ailing mother. More of Sophie's story relating to Jan. Meanwhile, in the

present, Sophie is grieving over parting with Nathan and has taken up drinking.

12. All of Stingo's money is gone from its hiding place, the medicine chest. Sophie talks

about Jozef. Sophie attempts to drown herself while at the beach with Stingo, but Stingo

saves her, much to her dismay. More of Sophie's story and the impossible choice she

had to make between her children.

13. Sophie tries to get her son transported from the Children's Camp to Lebensborn but does

not succeed. She received a message stating that Jan was gone from the Children's

Camp and could only assume he died.

14. Nathan returns and announces marriage plans. Stingo meets with Larry, Nathan's

brother, who explains that Nathan is a paranoid schizophrenic. Later, Nathan gets into

another fit of rage and nearly kills Sophie. Stingo and Sophie flee to Virginia.

15. Stingo and Sophie travel by train. Stingo tells Sophie he is in love with her. Sophie talks

more about Auschwitz.

16. Stingo and Sophie sleep together. Sophie leaves the next day to return to Nathan, and

the two lovers commit suicide together.