Sophie's World

Sophie Amundsen is the novel’s protagonist. She is 14 years old at the novel’s opening, and it is only a few weeks away from her 15th birthday. Before Sophie has had any exposure to philosophy, she is already of a philosophical mind. She notices the beauty and wonder in the nature around her, even when she has seen it a thousand times before. Sophie even has a secret den inside the hedges, and “to everyone but Sophie, the old hedge was just as useless as the rabbit hutches at the other end of the garden” (8). She asks deep questions and has speculative conversations with her friend Joanna. Sophie also tries to involve her mother in philosophy, but her mother is a simple person, who just lives day to day and does not care to think of those matters. Sophie is stubborn, imaginative, and loyal. She makes a fast friend in Alberto and becomes his curious, studious, and passionate student of philosophy in an instant. Sophie also deeply cares for her family, best friend, and pets, taking care of them loyally and always remembering her place in the grand scheme of life.