Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1998. [Vol. 5.] Eger Journal of American Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 25)

Studies - László Dányi: Interpretations of Sexuality in William Styron's Sophie's Choice

Freud and Dora relationship. Sophie's story gams power and importance only through the male narrator, Stingo. Stingo writes about his relationship with Sophie and Sophie's story becomes noteworthy only through his narration. Sophie confesses her life and her guilt to her psychoanalyst, who is Stingo. Stingo recollects his memories of Sophie, because he had a memorable relationship with her. And this relationship is memorable because it is sex oriented, so sexuality is among the main factors that motivates Stingo to remember Sophie. It is true that Sophie confesses her story to Stingo, and that sexuality has a major role in Stingo's remembering Sophie, but sexuality is also a limitation for Stingo. His desire for manhood through sexual initiation limits his understanding, if there is a full understanding of Sophie's story at all. If we accept that the full understanding is impossible, we have to assume that sexuality influences Stingo's understanding of the story. Sexuality is a coherent part of his understanding of Sophie's story, of her story and not of THE understanding of THE story. What the reader of the novel knows about Sophie's sexuality seems to be the truth but in fact it is not. What the reader knows about it is quite ambiguous, because what the reader knows is only Stingo's interpretation of Sophie's life. And even Sophie's original interpretation is ambiguous, because at the beginning of the story she tries to camouflage certain facts and creates her reality out of lies. What are the elements of Sophie's sexuality Stingo knows about? It is important to know the elements of Sophie's sexuality and her experiences as all these are embedded in Stingo's reading of sexuality. Stingo knows about the "digital rape" (SC 110) that happens to Sophie on the metro in New York. In the dark a finger penetrates into her vagina. That rape filled up Sophie with horror because she does not know her assailant's features and she cannot respond to this act. She wants to register something like malediction or hatred or disgust or fright inside her but she cannot. Far away from Poland, seeking reconciliation with her unstable psyche, Sophie finds that the place she escapes to is also a nightmare. She feels that this world is even more violent than the world of the concentration camps because this violence is faceless. 52