Dissertations and Theses @ UNI
Availability
Open Access Thesis
Keywords
Styron, William, --1925-2006--Sophie's choice; Sophie's choice (Styron, William);
Abstract
Sophie Zawistowska, the title character in William Styron's novel Sophie's Choice, has a severe identity problem. She acts as dutiful daughter, unfulfilled spouse, desperate mother, impassioned lover, tragic victim, unquestioning accomplice, and guilt-consumed survivor. Many of these characterizations conflict directly with each other. Sophie also speaks six languages and identifies at various times with speakers of German, Polish, French, Russian, English, and Yiddish, language groups that often conflict, as well. Although Sophie has various identities, she doesn't have a unified sense of self. Her native land, Poland, with which she might identify, has an identity crisis of its own, as it is victimized by oppressor after oppressor. Sophie might also identify with the land of her mother tongue, German, but she associates this language with Nazi atrocities and vehemently rejects it. Her association with France does not seem particularly strong, and she dislikes her Russian associations, so neither of these serves to ground her identity. While Sophie wishes to identify herself as an American, her difficulties with the language brand her as a foreigner and bring her ridicule. Finally, she might find her identity with the Jewish community she lives in, but this association intensifies her debilitating sense of guilt. What can Sophie identify with? She is all of these identities in part, but none as a whole, just an unstable collection of disjointed, conflicting pieces. Sophie's entire character is founded on multiple, weak, and warring identities, and her entire sense of self eventually founders because of this.
Year of Submission
1990
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Department of English Language and Literature
First Advisor
Jerome Klinkowitz
Second Advisor
Reinhold Bubser
Date Original
1990
Object Description
1 PDF file (117 leaves)
Copyright
©1990 Elizabeth Ruth Bingham
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Bingham, Elizabeth Ruth, "Language and Identity in Sophie’s Choice" (1990). Dissertations and Theses @ UNI. 2077.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd/2077
Comments
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