William Styron’s novel Sophie’s Choice revolves around the holocaust with a beautiful Polish lady, Sophie at the center of the horrific events that take place during which she loses her loved ones but ultimately survives the concentration camps. The story is narrated by Stingo, a Southern writer who has recently been fired from his publishing company McGraw-Hill and has moved down to Brooklyn, New York with the hope of becoming a great writer. In his New York apartment, Stingo meets a rather strange couple, Nathan Landau and Sophie Zawistowska, with whom he finds a promising friendship. Nathan has a mental health problem called paranoid schizophrenia, which he keeps a secret from others and that gives him multiple personalities and makes him abusive toward Sophie, his lover.
In the novel, Sophie tells Stingo the events that took place in Auschwitz, including the intake doctor asking her to choose which one of her children will live and which one will be exterminated. Stingo asks “Why hadn’t she played dumb” (Styron, 526) when she was engaged in conversation with the German doctor Jemand. In Carstens’ analysis of this scene in the novel, she points out that Stingo, the narrator of the novel, feels that Sophie could have avoided the confrontation she had with the German doctor which led to the death of her child if she had played dumb instead of saying that she did not speak German (Carstens 293). It is rather interesting to note that she speaks in German as she interacts with the doctor. This makes me believe that Sophie is not actually trying to tell the doctor that she is Polish, but rather she is trying to do two things at the same time. First, she wants to save the situation by mentioning that she is German with the hope of being spared any mistreatment. Second, she actually speaks in German as proof that she is indeed German. Carstens also mentions that Sophie in the novel is portrayed as a victim who deserved to be pitied but, at the same time, she is labeled as a betrayer for giving the wrong information about her identity (Carstens 293). Considering the fact that Sophie had lost all that she had in terms of family and possessions with the exception of her children, it is only natural for any mother to have done what Sophie does, for she speaks under pressure and is trying to protect her remaining family. Moreover, she is sexually abused by the doctor whose very first words he spoke to her suggest that he wants to sleep with her. It is even more disturbing that he speaks to her without any affection. It shows how Sophie could have easily been treated as his sex slave if the doctor had been given that opportunity. It is rather sad to note that violence and abuse on women is a highly debatable topic within different social and cultural settings as it is acknowledged by some and yet opposed by others who refuse to accept that the abuser has been indeed abused, and instead they question why abused women trigger the abuse.
While it has been swept under the carpet for far too long, domestic violence, especially child and female abuse of any kind has destroyed the self-esteem of women and eventually society as a whole. It is important that we acknowledge the evil this trait is causing in our environment in order for us to tackle the issue and heal.
Sophie’s lack of a high self –esteem made her give in to Nathan’s violent behavior, for she had no family of her own and she was accustomed to abusive languages and exploitations being meted out on her from the males she had encountered in her life - her father, her husband, the doctor at Auschwitz, the commandant, and ultimately Nathan himself. Nathan uses a stream of constant verbal abuse to torment Sophie. For example, he screams to her that she is “a cheaterworse than any little yenta that ever came out of Brooklyn” (Stryon, p. 73). During one of their arguments, before he hits her, he screams, “Let me out of here before I murder youyou’ll die a whore!” (Styron, p. 53). To be fair, his drug abuse (amphetamines and coke) are a major cause for his problems, but this is the relationship that will claim her life, even after living in a concentration camp could not.
Crenshaw also noted in her research on the violence against women of color that violence done to women is not unfamiliar. It has been in existence for many decades and it is not until recent times that women are beginning to voice out their plea for justice as a group. She also mentions that the more public these cases become, the more we are beginning to accept the truth instead of trivializing it. It is essential to be aware of problems that exist in order to solve them and we cannot deal with issues with domestic violence if we call them different names just to make them sound pleasant. However, I also believe that there are women like Sophie who have been victimized but do not have a voice to speak because of the fear of social stigmatization.
The cultural implications of women being abused by their male counterparts as illustrated in Sophie’s encounters with men are global in nature. When there is a mention about abuse of women, the first thing that naturally comes to mind is domestic violence, where women are beaten up or sometimes killed by their husbands. Women just like Sophie who have endured violent and unfair treatment from their partners for so long either become immune to the torment or they reach the point of acceptance that they deserve to be beaten. Their self-esteem becomes bruised and in that stage they yield their will to the abusers and even make excuses on their behalf. Some women will argue that it was their fault that they were mistreated, and unfortunately by the time they finally realize they were mistaken, it would have been too late. Vickie Smith, the executive director for the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence, says “Beware of Prince Charming, someone who’s always paying attention to you. All those things that we think when we’re teenagers could be wonderful could be huge red flagsfor people who could abuse us” (Schorsch, web). This ends up being Sophie’s downfall as she demonstrated her undying love for Nathan each time she tried to defend his actions and ultimately ended her life together with him. When she leaves Stingo’s farm to return to Nathan (and to her death), Sophie writes, “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” (Styron, p. 580). It is the final explosion of all of this anger that leads her to take sodium cyanide with Nathan.
However, domestic violence is not the only scenario of female abuse. Women and young girls in some parts of the world are subjected to slavery, prostitution and child trafficking for economic reasons. These women are held against their will to please their captors in ways that if they had a choice would have done the contrary. In the United States there is a more severe case that women of color are confronted with and with which a parallel can be drawn with Sophie’s encounter with the doctor at Auschwitz. Women of color, typically African American women, are not only faced with the issue of gender discrimination but also with the color of their skin. Sophie although was not forced into a sexual act with the doctor, she was disrespected because the doctor obviously saw that she was feminine and vulnerable. Hence he made sexual advances at her. As she tried to deal with problems with racism, Sophie lied that she was German in order to win the favor of the doctor. Crenshaw mentions rape and battery as some of the violence being done to women of color. The former is rather complicated when investigations are being done, and one would even wonder if the victim will be given justice or she will be stigmatized as being the perpetrator of the crime. Carstens mentions that in rape cases, not only are the victims considered as victims of circumstances such as abuse but their involvement in the rape is also questioned (295). Women are interrogated in some cultures when they report a rape case. Whiles evidence is required in order for prosecutions to be made, some court proceeding can be very embarrassing to women and their families. This may discourage other victims of rape to come out and report the abuse.
I have personally witnessed a rape victim being questioned by law enforcement officials who demanded the victim to produce substantial evidence that she had been raped. Everything including the underwear she wore at the time of the incident had to be cross examined in the public eye. Unfortunately the lady in question was married, and this did not sit well with her husband and his family. The humiliation she suffered whiles her abuser was still out on the loose was so overwhelming that she decided to end her life. Issues revolving around rape can be more complicated if the rapist is a public figure who is very influential. Women who find themselves in circumstances such as these would rather prefer to keep mute about it and endure the pain, or will come out public and endure humiliation. In either case these women become victimized physically and emotionally as the memories will linger on throughout their lives. I strongly oppose the notion that Sophie also played a role in the death of her child simply because she spoke to the doctor. It would rather be more questionable if she had been quiet all the time, for any mother who fears that her child was in danger would do anything based on her intuition to protect her child. If Sophie had been the betrayer of her own predicament, she would not still be mourning the death of her child. If only she had known that she was going to be asked to choose between her two children by condemning one to death and saving the other’s life just because of what she said, she would not have uttered a word. Knowing just what to say in that sort of situation is extremely difficult. One might expect, for example, for her to grieve for all of those who were taken in the concentration camps. However, the experience was more complicated. The Dachau camp, for example, had “a wonderful pool for the garrison children[and was] ever so much nicer than Auschwitz” (Styron p. 218). So it was difficult for Sophie to predict what would happen from one day to the next.
It is sad to note that although slavery, racism and the victimization of women are global issues, our state of South Carolina ranks number two in terms of women being beaten or killed by men. We should be proud however about how far we have come as a society in increasing diversity in the tertiary institutions by giving scholarships to working mothers and brilliant but needy girls who cannot afford the cost of education. This will go a long way to encourage and empower women to become independent as we see more women occupying enviable positions in government, engineering, medicine and so on.
Works Cited
Carstens, Lisa. “Sexual Politics and Confessional Testimony in ‘Sophie's Choice’.” Twentieth Century Literature 47. 3 (2001): 293 – 324. Print.
Crenshaw, Kimberlé Williams. “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color.” New York: Routledge, 1994. 93-118. Print.
Schorsch, Kristen. “Why Do Women Lie About Domestic Violence? To Protect Their Abusers.”
Southtown Star 21 May 2009. http://www.ncdsv.org/images/southtownstar_whywomenlieaboutdv_5-21-09.pdf
Styron, William. “Sophie's Choice.” New York: Vintage International, 1992. Print.
