Previous Next
And we made love all afternoon, which made me forget the pain but forget God too, and Jan, and all the other things I had lost. And I knew Nathan and me would live for a while more together.

This quotation occurs at the end of Chapter Eleven as Sophie concludes her story about the first time Nathan initiated a suicide pact for the two of them. Sophie’s comment reveals why she continues to pursue a relationship with Nathan in spite of his violent and destructive tendencies. Sophie and Nathan have a passionate sexual connection, and this connection provides Sophie with more than physical release. When Sophie is in bed with Nathan, she can fully inhabit the present moment and escape from her past. Sex functions as a form of oblivion for her because it has no connection to her previous self. While she has always had strong desires, she had a somewhat conservative attitude toward sex up until the time when she met Stingo. When Sophie is having sex with Nathan, it is as though she is a totally different woman from the person she was in Poland, and therefore it is as if her past ceases to exist. Because Nathan is the only one who can give this experience of forgetfulness to Sophie, she is unwilling to abandon the relationship, no matter how badly he may treat her.

While Sophie craves forgetfulness, she cannot abandon her past without also losing important aspects of her identity. Sophie comments on how sex with Nathan allows her to forget “the pain,” which is something she desperately wants to happen. However, drowning her sorrow in drugs, alcohol, and sex also drives her away from the woman she once was—a loving mother and devout Christian. At this point, Sophie believes she is better off trying to get as a far away from her past as possible, but as the plot progresses, it becomes clear that Sophie’s desire for oblivion has destructive consequences. Because she simply tries to obliterate her past from her memory, she never reckons with the events that have happened or finds a way to heal from them, and she cannot retain the positive parts of her past either.

Previous section Important Quotes Explained Page 3 Next section Important Quotes Explained Page 5

Popular pages: Sophie's Choice

Take a Study Break