The End is Near

Although it took a long time to get into the book I ended up really enjoying the book admit concluded. The events became very interesting and the character took on many very different challenges. I didn't really think that at the beginning that i would read all of it but as I continued I proved my self wrong. I liked the historical element that the book had when there was mention to the concentration camps in World War 2. This for me made the connection between the reader and the book a lot more in depth. All in all I am glad that I took the time to read this awesome book!!

Inspire..

As I was reading I found 2 quotes ( or opinions) that really stuck out in my mind. For me they were very memorable and I really liked them:

1.  `` A survivor, Elie Wiesel, has written: `` Novelists made free use of ( the Holocaust) in their work... In so doing they cheapened (it), drained it of its substance. The Holocaust was now a hot topic, fashionable, guaranteed to gain attention and to achieve instant success...``

• this statement shows the novelty that the survivors of the Holocaust think that the public takes to the things that happened. Personally I think that this statement is very powerful and it shows a lot as to what the survivors think of the general public and the Holocaust. The events of the Holocaust were very horrific but they also can make very many marketable things such as blockbuster movies. The survivor that is mentioned (Elie Wiesel) can more than likely remember the events of those years to great detail. The media seems to put a negative spin on the things of the past

2.     
" You have come to a concentration camp, not a sanatorium, and there is only one way out-   
           up the  chimney." He said, "Anyone who don't like this can try hanging himself on the wires. If 
          there are Jews in this group, you have no right to live more than two weeks." 

• this quote shows the reference to the crematoriums that are in the concentration camps and the things that the Nazi's thought the Jews were thinking. The Nazi's thought that if someone was to try to escape the concentration camps then it would be through the gas chambers and then only their soul would make it through the chimney. The Nazi commander that is speaking is implying that no matter how hard you try to get out of the concentration camps and try to escape you wont make it out. This makes me think of the sign at the entrance of Auschwitz, "Arbeit Macht Frei" that translates to work will set you free. This sign is an iconic one and demonstrates the serious nature of the camp when it was being used. This can be linked to the oven that was used at Auschwitz called "Krema I" and the sentence can show that the bodies that were burned here would never escape.

Both sentences that I used had a very big impact on me and they demonstrated the things that happened at the concentration camps. It is also a comparison as to what the Nazi commander thinks compared to what a survivor thinks of the Holocaust.  

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

As I read more and more into the book I think of the many images that I visualize and associate with the Holocaust. Obviously for Sophie the Holocaust is a major part of her life, she had first hand experience with it. She came out of the concentration camps weighting  `` Thirty-eight. Thirty- eight kilos.`` (69) This is the equivalent to eighty-five pounds. The images that she must have seen are just brutal and cannot be expressed in words. But look and think for yourself what they mean to you.

Words cannot describe what happened at the concentration camps in reality and for Sophie Zawistowska in the novel Sophie`s Choice

Critical Article Summary

Critical Article Summary 1: 

"William Styron's Sophie's Choice: Poland, the South, and the Tragedy of Suicide" 
Critic: Bertram Wyatt-Brown 
Source: Southern Literary Journal 34, no. 1 (fall 2001): 56-67.

In this critical article the themes of depression and suicide are examined in Sophie`s Choice. As I read the book the things that Mr.Wyatt-Brown report on make sense to me as well. This article outlines the 2 themes that are outlined in the book. This article takes both the books that are mentioned in the article (including Sophie`s Choice) and the life experiences of Styron. A lot of the things that are discussed have to do with the life of Stryon. Throughout this article the depression and tragedy aspect of the book are reviewed. Some specifics include the lingering thoughts of depression on Sophie because of the concentration camps. A lot of the characters that are fabricated in Sophie`s Choice have a personal effect on Styron and shows the effects of Styron`s ``personal distress``. The article summaries the themes very well and from many different perspectives. 

It Was Nice to Meet You

So far in the book many characters have been introduced and many have been the focus of the story. The following are characters that have been mentioned so far:

Stingo

• main character
• born in Virginia
• mother is dead, grew up with his father
• from his childhood, he received the nickname Stinky because of his inability to care about hygiene ( he was later "shamed" into becoming clean)
• became a writer - worked for McGraw Hill
• was a member of the military during World War II
• lives on his own in a University Residence Club in the Manhattan area, New York City
• loses his job at McGraw Hill and loses money very quick
• his father "bails" him out and sends him money to help him survive
• past generations of his family (grandparents) have been a part of the slavery movement
• Stingo's grandmother would tell him stories about the slaves that she had at one point, they were named Artiste, Drusillia, and Lucinda
• he then moves in Yetta Zimmerman's house in Brooklyn
•  it is here in this new house the Stingo meets all the other characters in the book

Nearby Neighbors of Stingo

• the wife becomes a sexual interest to Stingo
• he recalls that he had had sex with this particular female interest in the garden, that he can see from his house
• from the description in the book this couple seems to be somewhat materialistic and of high prestige. (Eg. Abercrombie and Fitch references, "over groomed Afghan hound")
• later in the chapters the female neighbor is named Mavis Hunnicutt 

"The Weasel"

• boss of Stingo at McGraw Hill
• Stingo does not take a liking to him
• Stingo says that both him and the "Weasel" took an immediate dislike to each other
• from the south like Stingo

Yetta Zimmermann

• Stingo associates her with a Buddha
• she is widowed by her husband Sol
• description of Yetta: "...squat and expansive, sixty or thereabouts, with a slightly mongoloid cast to her cheerful features that gave her the look of a gleaming Buddha" (35)

Morris Fink

• the first person in the book that Stingo meets
• tells Stingo about Nathan and Sophie
• explains to Stingo the history of the people that live in the house

Sophie Zawistowska

• young character
• the "love interest" of Nathan 
• she was once in a concentration camp liberated by the Russians
• she is Polish with a bit of German and French
• her parents are not both from Poland
• her mother is from Lodz and her father is from Lublin
• they met while at school in Austria
• her receives  a lot of verbal abuse from Nathan, he will call her a " Anti-Semitic Polish pig" (87)
• she does not know what love really is and she is always being either verbally or physically abused by Nathan
• the potential new lover of Stingo
• Stingo takes a slight interest to Sophie and helps her when Nathan leaves one night

Nathan Landau

• love interest of Sophie
• verbally and physically abusive to Sophie
• vindictive 
• rude
• has very sudden mood swings
• he does not think before he speaks, he then later will regret what he says
• he is always in a conflict 
• very domineering
• takes advantage of Sophie
• racist 
• offensive

Side Note: The Soviet Union liberated Auschwitz in World War II. In the book there is reference to the ``Russians liberated that camp she was in`` (69), this is said by Nathan Landau.
YouTube video-Auschwitz haunts Soviet veteran

Change Has Come...

I think that the change of setting is important in the story because it shows the change in the plot. The change of the setting brought on many different emotions and feelings for the main character, Stingo.
Through the change of setting, the main character meet two other characters that through the next chapters. Stingo met both Sophie Zawistowska and Nathan Landau, that both live in the same house as Stingo. The two characters that are introduced are in a relationship that is very abusive. The relationship is filled with many mixed emotions and changes from one minute to the next. Theses characters that we now meet are a large part of the storyline and Sophie becomes friends with Stingo. Nathan Landau seems to be very fake and made up. He reminds me of the attribute that many people give to someone of a snake. He seems very sly and that he will make his way into any situation if he can. He is always yelling at Sophie from what Stingo hears and sees, but she always seems to come back to him and does not want to let him go. I think that this will be one of the main highlights of the book and these events will start to move the plot along even further.

Survey of Author's and Secondary Sources

1.   Author: William Styron                                                Title: Sophie's Choice
2.  What made me interested in the author:                                                                                What made me interested in this author was not the author itself. The summary of the book caught my eye at first, as I read more about the book it became a choice for my novel study. William Styron seems to have very complex and developed ways of writing, as well as vocabulary. He presents a challenge to me right off the pages and makes me think of what is being said. The ideas that he brings forth are very  weel thought out and true to the times.  
3. Background: 
• Date of Birth: January 11th, 1925
• Place of Birth: Newport News, Virginia, United States
• William attended Davidson College and then went to York University, where he soon left to be a service in the Marines
• Returned to Duke in 1945 after the war, he then became interested in writing short stories
• Some other major pieces of writing that he is known for are: Lie Down in Darkness,The Long March, The Confessions of Nat Turner, and this book 
• William wrote to with the intent of the major themes of war, slavery and madness
• William took a job at McGraw Hill where he felt that copying manuscripts drained his creativity, he was fired sometime later because of reading the New York Post and he would not wear a hat
• After these turn of events, with the encouragement and financial help, William was able to publish Lie Down in Darkness
• For the success of his first achievement and book, William won the  Prix de Rome of the Academy of Arts and Letters.
• William married Rose Burgunder in 1953, whom he met in Europe
• Sophie's Choice was made into a blockbuster movie in 1982, starring Meryl Streep
• William has also written a play that ran at Yale, among other things
• There are some critics that see his works as religious
• Retrieved from:  http://www.bookrags.com/biography/william-styron/
4. Other Published Works:

•  Lie in the Darkness- 1952
• The Long March-1956
• Set This House on Fire- 1960
• The Confessions of Nat Turner- 1967
• Clap Shack- 1972 (a play)

  5. Influence on the Author

• World War II
• William Blackburn was a great role model and figure in his life
• Bout with depression
• Salvation- a religious salvation

6. Themes Favored:

• slavery
• war 
• madness

7. Other Author's Compared to...

• Compared to playwrights such as Ralph Ellison and John Updike for his playwright skills

8. Critical Source #1

• Bertram ,Wyatt-Brown. ""William Styron's Sophie's Choice: Poland, the South, and the Tragedy of Suicide"." Gale Literary Databases- Contemporary Literary Criticism . Southern Literary Journal 34 , N/A. Web. 17 Oct 2010. <http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/GLD/hits?r=d&origSearch=true&o=DataType&n=10&l=d&c=5&locID=stc23378&secondary=false&u=CLC&t=KW&s=3&NA=William+Styron&TI=Sophie%27s+Choice>. 

 Critical Source #2

• Barbabra ,Tepa ,Lupack. ""Sophie's Choice, Pakula's Choices"." Gale Literary Databases- Contemporary Lierary Criticism. Bowling Green State University , 1994. Web. 17 Oct 2010. <http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/GLD/hits?r=d&origSearch=true&o=DataType&n=10&l=d&c=5&locID=stc23378&secondary=false&u=CLC&t=KW&s=3&NA=William+Styron&TI=Sophie%27s+Choice>.  

• In this critic's essay I personally liked the fact that the author included the criticism between the movie and the book. As well as the other books that William Styron has written

Critical Link #3
Franz, Link. ""Auschwitz and the Literary Imagination: William Styron's Sophie's Choice"." Gale Literary Databases- Contemporary Lierary Criticism. Jewish Life and Suffering as Mirrored in English and American Literature, 133-43. (Gale Literary Databases), 1987. Web. 17 Oct 2010. <http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/GLD/hits?r=d&origSearch=true&o=DataType&n=10&l=d&c=5&locID=stc23378&secondary=false&u=CLC&t=KW&s=3&NA=William+Styron&TI=Sophie%27s+Choice>.  

• In this essay the historical element of Auschwitz was used and I personally thought that it added to the overall theme and explained the critics thinking a lot better in regards to the book. 

• The pictures at the top are of a World War II automatic rifle and of the late William Stryon