Sophie's World

As Sophie goes to check the mailbox in the morning, she finds a postcard on the ground addressed to Hilde. It is from Hilde’s father wishes Hilde a happy birthday, which is on the same day as Sophie’s. Both this and the previous postcard are dated June 15 with a UN stamp, and Sophie is flabbergasted. She arrives at school to her Religious Knowledge test, which has four questions posed on it. The questions are philosophical in nature, and Sophie becomes excited at the chance to use her newfound knowledge. She explains the differences between knowing and believing, how people come to have their own unique views of the world, the meaning of conscience, and priority of values. She draws parallels between rabbit hairs and the Tower of Babylon and jots down insights about the courage it takes to be a philosopher. Conscience, she muses, may have both universal and cultural elements. Her teacher is in awe but lectures that Sophie needs to do her homework in the future.

When Sophie gets home, she finds a letter containing a description of Hellenism, which was a period of approximately three hundred years between 330 B.C. and 50 A.D. During this time, Greek culture dominated the “three Hellenistic kingdoms of Macedonia, Syria, and Egypt” (126), and East and West became more connected than ever. Religious, scientific, and philosophical ideas began to intermix and influence each other, and this synthesis is called syncretism. As people became exposed to alternative views and ways of living, they began to doubt their own ideas and lifestyles. An emphasis on salvation and earning one’s immortality became prominent during this period, and as philosophy was increasingly seen as a path to salvation, the boundaries between religion and philosophy began to blur. Hellenistic people were deeply concerned with ethics and achieving happiness, and Hellenistic societies also became a hub for scientific reasoning. The philosopher describes four types of Hellenistic people: Cynics, who believed that happiness was within and could be attained by anyone; the Stoics, who believed in the existence of natural law and denied the separation of spiritual and natural; the Epicureans, who believed in prioritizing pleasure while still weighing its costs, the absence of a reason to fear death (because one cannot know one is dead), and a seclusive life away from politics; and finally, Neoplatonism, which proposed the divine light or One extended out into existence but it eventually could not reach further. This darkness is the material world, and for Neoplatonists, all that exists is the One and everything in nature contains a “faint glow” (134) of it. For this reason, everything is one. The philosopher explains that it is this connection with God or the One that allows people to peer into the true nature of existence. He explains the mystical experiences that Plotinus, the founder of Neoplatonism, among many others, have experienced. Alberto describes these experiences as a merging of one’s soul with God “from the perspective of eternity” (136) and explains to Sophie that while her everyday self may not exist forever, her soul will continue burning through the fire of God for all eternity. Sophie finishes the letter and feels a new sense of connection to the world around her, as if she is fully merged with it. She has to remind herself that she still has a body. Finding all of these ideas overwhelming, she steps out into the garden to examine her thoughts.

Sophie and Joanna decide to go camping in the woods for the weekend. Sophie suggests they explore the major’s cabin, which is now mysteriously boarded up and deserted. They make their way there and get inside. Sophie lights a candle and takes Joanna to the mirror, hoping she will see something strange like before. Nothing happens, but Joanna finds a box of postcards lying in the corner, all addressed to Hilde, courtesy of Alberto Knox. All the postcards are from Hilde’s father in the UN battalion in Lebanon. The girls begin reading them out. In the first, the father expresses his regret for missing Hilde’s birthday and refers to Alberto as their “mutual friend” (142). The father also expresses that he is being very secretive and is “imposing a severe censorship” (143) on himself. As the letters go on, the father discusses the birthday present surprise he is preparing for Hilde. In the final letter, he tells Hilde she will someday meet Sophie and explains he has been sending Sophie copies of each postcard. He tells her Sophie may be able to help and leaves it at that. The last postcard is also postmarked for the current date, and the girls cannot believe what they are seeing. They take the mirror, believing it may be the source of the postcards, but nothing happens the next morning. Sophie takes the mirror home and hangs it in her room; the next day, she finds another big envelope in the den of her garden. 

The letter begins as the philosopher tells Sophie the two of them will meet soon, and she should not worry about Hilde getting her letters. He then dives into a discussion about Jesus of Nazareth, who brought massive change to the Greco-Roman world. At the time, there was a cultural clash between Semitic (Jewish) culture, of which Jesus was a part, and Indo-European culture, of which the Greeks and Romans were a part. The philosopher explains that, due to similarities of language, Indian and European cultures produced related ideas, largely influenced by polytheism. These cultures had different names for essentially the same gods, and many root words have similar spellings, such as the Nordic word for the collective fertility gods, vaner; the Latin goddess of fertility’s name, Venus; and the Sanskrit, van, which means “desire.” He goes on to say that “sight was the most important of the senses for Indo-Europeans” (150); cosmic visions were paramount in defining literature, and these cultures were known for building monuments, sculptures, and statues to gaze at. These cultures also promote the idea of a cycle that occurs throughout history, in which civilizations are born and die off in an endless pattern. Religious ideas are similar throughout, with a rebirth cycle and seclusion leading to enlightenment and God existing within everything being common traits.

The philosopher goes on to explain Semitic cultures, including Jewish, Christian, and Islamic people. Each come from the same origin, but the New Testament of Christianity was written with Greek and thus Hellenistic influence. Semites believed in monotheism, linear rather than cyclical history (with a clear beginning and end), and God having a clear influence on the course of history. Unlike Indo-European cultures, Semitic cultures forbid themselves from creating likenesses of their God. Christianity later changed this rule slightly due to Greek influence. Semitic cultures viewed God as separate from life on earth, and attaining unity with God was a goal achieved through redemption. The philosopher interjects to explain the conflict in Jerusalem briefly and hints that Hilde’s father is a major working in Lebanon before returning to his lesson. The philosopher briefly explains the history of creation according to the Abrahamic religions, including death being set out as a punishment for disobedience of God, and he tells how Jewish people were often forced away from their homeland, enslaved, and overrun time and time again, with the exception being the Kingdom of David.

Over time, prophets began preaching that Israel was again being punished for disobedience and that a Messiah would lead them back to their Kingdom of God one day. Jesus arrived in Jerusalem soon after, and when people proclaimed him this Messiah, he accepted. However, instead of using this power for politics or rebellion against Rome, he began administering forgiveness for sin on behalf of God. He also began referring to God as “father” and referred to the Kingdom of God as more of a way of being (such as loving thy neighbor). Jesus preached that no human was righteous and that people were to accept they sinned and ask for forgiveness. Because of these unconventional practices and his lack of willingness to violently rebel, he was eventually hung on the cross. Christianity began days later when Jesus was claimed to have risen from the grave, and several years after that Paul became a Christian and took his word across the world. He arrives in Athens and makes a speech on the Areopagos hill about the nature of God and his command that people repent. He preaches that idolatry and altars are not necessary to this God because he has proved himself through Christ. This is a stark contrast to the Indo-European view of polytheism. Four hundred years later, “the entire Hellenistic world had become Christian” (160). The philosopher concludes his letter by telling Sophie that connecting to and knowing her historical roots is important because it is what makes her human.

“I will do what I can to acquaint you with your historical roots. It is the only way to become a human being. It is the only way to become more than a naked ape. It is the only way to avoid floating in a vacuum.”

Sophie does not hear from Alberto for over a week but takes the time to gain a full understanding of the letters thus far, examine the clues of the Hilde mystery, and play with her friend Joanna. On the next Friday, a postcard blows up against her window while she is making dinner; it is again addressed to Hilde, care of Sophie, and dated June 15. Hilde’s dad says, “[A] week or two for Sophie does not have to mean just as long for us” (163), which is an ambiguous phrase Sophie does not understand. At the end, he asks Hilde to say hello to Sophie and hints that Hilde may understand how everything fits together by now. The phone rings and Alberto Knox is on the line. Sophie is shocked, and Alberto tells her they must “get Hilde on [their] side” (164) before her father comes back. He also tells Sophie that Berkeley (whose picture was hung in the major’s cabin) and the Renaissance will be important, and then tells her to meet him tomorrow morning at the church. Sophie arranges with Joanna to stay at her house for the night and sneak out from there; Joanna begrudgingly agrees.

When Sophie arrives at the church, she goes inside to find Alberto, dressed as a monk from the Middle Ages, playing a hymn on the piano. He then walks up to the pulpit and addresses Sophie, who is nervous but curious all the same. He begins teaching her about the Middle Ages by saying “the Middle Ages began at four” (167), meaning 400 A.D. It lasted for about one thousand years, and during this time the capital of Rome was moved to Constantinople before the Roman Empire divided into an Eastern (new) and Western (old) empire. The Western empire fell soon after, but the Eastern Empire remained until it was overtaken by the Turks in 1453. In 529, the Benedictine (monastic) order was formed, and Plato’s Academy closed, thus symbolizing the shift from Greek to Christian culture. After this, “monasteries had the monopoly of education, reflection, and meditation” (168). Although many people consider the Middle Ages to be a dark period where little growth occurred, it was quite the opposite. School systems and universities developed, folk music and folk tales came to fruition, and various nations (such as England, France, and Germany) were born. Christianity took a long time to “reach the masses” (168) but slowly integrated into many European cultures. Feudalism became the economic model, and while the Roman Empire slowly fell, the Romans named the first pope, thus establishing themselves as the capital of Christianity in Europe. Arabic culture also developed during the Middle Ages; with the death of Muhammad in 632, it spread through the Middle East and North Africa. Having taken over the city of Alexandria, the Arabs became leaders in science and mathematics. The Roman Empire gradually divided into three distinct cultures: Arabic, Roman Catholic, and Byzantine (formerly Constantinople). The end of the Middle Ages (and the beginning of the Renaissance) was initiated by the coming together of these cultures once more in Northern Italy.

Philosophy in the Middle Ages, explains Alberto, primarily focused on the question of whether Christianity and reason were compatible, and this question was asked without any doubt that Christianity was in fact true. Two prominent philosophers of the time are named. St. Augustine, who helped transition antiquity into the Middle Ages with his mixed influence from Neoplatonism and Christianity, believed Plato’s world of ideas was situated within God and that history was humanity’s long learning journey to meet God at the end (for those who were chosen). Sophie begins protesting that she needs to get home, but Alberto is insistent that he finish teaching her about the second prominent philosopher of the Middle Ages first.

As the Arabs brought Aristotle’s teachings back with them to Northern Italy, a revived interest in science and questions about when science or religion were relevant, began to arise. In the 1200s, St. Thomas Aquinas, who “Christianized Aristotle” (177) to integrate Aristotle’s theories into Christianity. Aquinas believed philosophy and Christianity often had the same messages at their core, such as the existence of God, and that one truth ultimately exists and can be reached through either faith or reason. At the same time, reason and faith often complete the puzzle for each other. For instance, Aristotle proposed a first mover, and Christianity explains this as God. Aquinas attempted to use reason to prove the existence of God. Sophie asks if there were any female philosophers in the Middle Ages, and Alberto names Hildegard of Bingen, who was a physician, botanist, and preacher. Sophie then interrupts again to ask if this has any relation to the letters to Hilde, but Alberto ignores her and continues his history lesson. He explains that ancient Christian and Jewish people believed in a female side to God, which in Greek was called “Sophia” (Sophie), meaning wisdom. Sophie is shaken to hear her name used to refer to “God’s mother nature” (183). The philosopher tells her the female side of God showed itself to Hildegard, and Sophie begins making connections again, wondering if she will appear to Hilde somehow. Alberto acknowledges it is something to consider, then tells Sophie it is time for her to go. As Sophie leaves the church, she thinks she sees a tear coming from a portrait of the Madonna and rushes back to Joanna’s house.