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So there is one thing that is still a mystery to me. And that is why, since I know all this and I know the Nazis turned me into a sick animal like all the rest, I should feel so much guilt over all the things I done there. And over just being alive.

This quotation occurs in Chapter Ten as Sophie tells Stingo about how she tried to persuade Hoss to allow her to see her son one last time. As she recounts these events, Sophie is consumed by guilt about her behavior. She makes it clear that she understands that the Holocaust represents an extraordinary circumstance that prompted many people to behave in ways they never otherwise would have, and she does not appear to blame other people for the ways in which they sought to protect themselves and their family. However, Sophie expresses confusion as to why she feels so much guilt about events that took place in a context far beyond her control, and she still cannot shake the pervasive guilt years later. Her confusion reflects how guilt and trauma manifest in ways that defy logic. Rational explanations do not help her to feel better, and no one can reassure her or change her mind.

The language that Sophie uses in this quotation reflects her grief and sense of loss. She describes herself as being a “sick animal” due to the way that the Nazis treated her, which reveals that Sophie believes she was robbed of her very humanity during her time in the concentration camp. She operated from a place of primal instinct. This comparison also suggests that Sophie is not actually ethically responsible for anything she did during her time at the camp because all animals do is to try to ensure their own survival and the survival of their offspring. Nonetheless, Sophie continues to see herself as a moral being with free will and the capacity to choose between good and evil. Her sense of guilt reflects a refusal to accept that she had no moral agency and therefore represents an attempt to cling to her human identity. She would actually see herself as less human if she tried to absolve her guilt or rationalize her actions, and so she clings to her guilt despite the pain it causes her.

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