FREE ESSAY ON SOPHIE'S WORLD

SOPHIE'S WORLD

Sophie's World
Jostein Gaarder
"REMARKABLE... a whimsical and ingenious mystery novel that also happens to be the
history of Philosophy."
---The Washington Post Book World
Jostein Gaarder made his Norwegian literary debut in 1986 with a collection of short
stories, followed by two young adult novels. In 1990 he received the Norwegian Literary
Critics' Award and the Ministry of Cultural and Scientific affairs Literary Prize for his
book The Solitaire Mystery. Mr. Gaarder taught high school philosophy for eleven years in
Norway, giving him a strong basis for writing Sophie's World, his first book to be
published in English. After it's three-year spot at number one on Norway's bestseller
list, it has held the same status in Great Britain, Germany, and France also appearing on
bestseller lists in Italy, Spain, Canada, Denmark, Sweden, and the United States. In
Sophie's World, Jostein Gaarder twines the history of philosophy with the supernatural
antics of Alice in Wonderland. 
The main character is a girl named Sophie Admunsen, the novels namesake. Sophie is
fourteen years old, and lives in Norway with her mother and all of the animals in her
Garden. She is soon joined by the mysterious Alberto Knox, first through correspondence,
and then linked by a full-scale philosophy course he has chosen her for. He seems to have
lived forever, with the ability to bring magic and supernatural lessons into her life.
Alberto is old, kind, extremely wise, and cloaked in mystery for much of the novel. 
It is difficult to explain the relationship between all of the main characters outside of
explaining the plot. Sophie and Alberto are the initial main characters. Sophie comes
home from school to find a white envelope addressed to her. "Who are you? Where does the
world come from?" This begins her thinking about the major questions of existence, and
then the philosophy course began. Alberto is not physically revealed until late in the
first quarter of the novel. Through the second quarter of the novel the philosophy course
and odd happenings are the focus. Sophie finds items, and postcards addressed to Hilde
Moller Knag c/o Sophie Admunsen. While the reader is digesting the vast information
presented in the philosophy course, they are also trying to piece together all of the odd
happenings. Who is Hilde? What does she have to do with Sophie? 
The third main character, who mirrors Sophie is Hilde Moller Knag. Hilde is introduced in
the second half of the novel, and proves to be the reason Sophie was selected for the
philosophy course. She is a girl of Sophie's age, her fifteenth birthday the same date,
and her father away with the military. The correlation between the two girls is not
revealed completely until the last part of the novel. The fourth main character is 'The
Major', Hildi's father. He is the glue that propels the story. Not much is know about
him, except that he is manipulative of Sophie and Alberto, and that he loves and misses
his daughter very much.
The story unfolds by completely switching from Sophie's view, to Hilde's view. Her father
sends her a birthday present from where he is stationed - a novel called Sophie's World.
He has written it for her. The clues that were so difficult to understand with Sophie and
Alberto, are clear through Hilde and her reading. The plot shifts from wondering who
Hilde is, to Hilde noticing that the items Sophie found we indeed missing from her room.
This leads Hilde to sympathize with Sophie and Alberto, because she feels that her
reality too, is slipping into her father's novel. Sophie, Alberto, and Hilde fight to
stop The Major from manipulating the characters in Sophie's world. The Major takes on a
Deity figure and proves to be the most prominent protagonist. He becomes almost sinister,
warping Sophie and Alberto's reality. The novel becomes focused on how to escape The
Major's grasp, as to not be trapped in the pages of a predetermined story forever. The
plot is completely unpredictable, with twist and turns of reality that stretch
imaginations to uncomfortable limits. Another aspect of Gaarder's writing is his ability
to paint pictures in the mind. The story is set in modern Norway (1990's), but includes
vivid images of Sophie's house and garden. Also, the trek to the mysterious 'Major's
Cabin' is described to perfection. The setting is largely encompassed by nature,
specifically when it correlates with the natural philosopher section. The intricacies of
mystery and fanciful imagery bring the story to life.
The overarching theme through Sophie's World dictates that existence, as we know it, is
largely subjective. Though Sophie and Alberto may feel like their actions are their own,
they are actually determined by the Major's imagination. Jostein Gaarder was a teacher of
philosophy, and in his novel he states, "The only thing we require to be good
philosophers is the faculty of wonder." With the story being as complex and reality
shattering, it gives the reader a key to question their own existence. Are we merely
characters in a Deity's plot? Gaarder is acting as Alberto in the first half of the
story, asking the right questions, posing the right situations, to force us to think
outside of our comfort zone. It was hugely liberating for Sophie, and if taken in without
hesitation, also hugely liberating for the reader. It is not asked of often in day-to-day
life to question personal position in the grand scheme of the universe. 
One of the passages in this book illustrates Gaarder's power of tweaking thought to
create non-conformist ( or philosophical) thinking. 
"If a newborn baby could talk, it would probably say something about what an
extraordinary world it had come into. We see how it looks around and reaches out in
curiosity to every thing it sees... But long before the child learns how to talk properly
- and long before it learns to think philosophically - the world will have become a
habit. A pity, if you ask me... A lot of people experience the world with the same
incredulity as when a magician suddenly pulls a rabbit out of a hat which has just been
shown to them empty. In the case of the rabbit, we know the magician has tricked us. What
we would like to know is how he did it. But when it comes to the world it's somewhat
different. We know that the world is not all a sleight of hand and deception because we
are in it, we are part of it. Actually we are the white rabbit being pulled out of the
hat. The only difference between us and the white rabbit is that the rabbit does not
realize it is taking part in a magic trick. Unlike us. We feel we are part of something
mysterious and we would like to know how it all works.... As far as the rabbit is
concerned, it might be better to compare it with the whole universe. We who live here are
microscopic insects existing deep down in the rabbit's fur. But philosophers are always
trying to climb up the fine hairs of the fur in order to stare right into the magicians
eyes."
---Sophie's World, Jostein Gaarder
Metaphors are used brilliantly and effectively throughout the novel. Large concepts, from
the ancient Greeks to Freud, Democritus to Kierkegaard, are all explained with metaphors
and language that would be conducive to teaching a person of fifteen years, perhaps a
wise fifteen years. The simplicity is subtle enough that it does not detract from the
overall meaning of the novel. The tone staggers between lightly introspective and gravely
serious. For example, there are points where Sophie is walking through her garden,
admiring beauty of 'her nature'. A feeling of serenity pulses through her observations, a
feeling of being grounded. Conversely, she realizes that every blade of grass is merely
an idea in the Major's mind. Shattered reality and escaping being a pawn in a birthday
game color the serious side of the dichotomy. This novel is comparable to Alice in
Wonderland. Though it is unfortunate that Alice cannot find her way home, the characters
she meets, and the situations she is in have an interesting feel. It is difficult to
decipher if the story is positive or distressing, it relies completely on how it is
analyzed. 
Sophie's World is deserving of the highest praise. It is the history of philosophy
wrapped into an engaging story that will tickle the mind and reality of the reader. It is
a magical novel that critiques how we function everyday through the presentation of all
aspects of thought. The reader can draw upon every major philosopher, and their extremely
different views of the world. It not only suggests, but demands, that one climbs up the
fine hairs of the rabbit and stares the magician in the eye.