Learning to Cry

  

Sophie’s Choice 

 by William Styron

  “I have learned to cry again and I think perhaps that means I am a human being again. Perhaps that at least. A piece of human being but yes, a human being.”   ― William Styron, Sophie’s Choice

 

 

 

 Sophie's Choice is largely regarded favorably, despite criticism for its intricacy and examination of challenging subjects, such as the novel's examination of survivor guilt and the decisions made by survivors to safeguard themselves. The reader is better able to comprehend Sophie's experiences because the story is told from the viewpoint of an outsider, Stingo. The reader cannot dispute Styron's dedication to comprehending the horrors of American history and the Holocaust. Although Styron is a talented storyteller, she also points out certain problems with the story, like awkward transitions between the elaborate dialogue and the Auschwitz flashbacks. The book looks at issues including love, guilt, and the lingering effects of trauma.
Sophie Zawistowski, a Polish Holocaust survivor, and her relationship with a young writer named Stingo are the subjects of the 1979 novel Sophie's Choice, which is set in Brooklyn in 1947. In 1983, Meryl Streep played Sophie Zawistowski in the film adaptation of the novel.

The significant—and unquestionably underrepresented—question of what becomes of the Holocaust survivors is addressed in Sophie's Choice. Such comprehensive, self-admitted immorality ought to absolve a man, and it does, sort of.