Sophie's World 3: The Search for Hilde

Before going anywhere with this, I should probably mention that I have no idea where I'm supposed to be in the book, but because I knew all the plot details we discussed in class the other day, I'm assuming I'm either in the right spot, or past it.

So, as I predicted, Alberto did not kidnap Sophie¹.In other good news, someone finally showed signs of intelligence: Sophie's mom found out about Alberto, and insisted that she meet him² if Sophie is to keep visiting him. This moment of crystalline beauty came to an end when she agreed that meeting him at Sophie's birthday party (which is weeks away) is good enough³...

On the matter of events I did not predict, I think two things stand out:

1. Alberto plays dress up.
2. Alberto was randomly calling Sophie 'Hilde,' despite them not knowing just quite who she is.

Of those two stand outish things of Alberto, I think Number 2 is most important. It reminded me of when, near the end of the Church scene, when Alberto the Monk mentions that God's feminine side is named Sophia, and that Hildegard of Bingen saw visions of Sophia wearing gold clothing and jewels. Later, Sophie has a dream of seeing Hilde on a dock, and Hilde loses a gold crucifix.

By combining the facts that Alberto (the Philosopher) has repeatedly grumbled about Albert (the Major) presenting himself as a god (leaving his postcards for Hilde everywhere⁴, making Alberto call Sophie Hilde, etc.), that Hildegard was a Christian and Hilde dropped her cross, and the similarities of the names Sophie and Hilde to Sophia and Hildegard, I think the comparison the author was going for is that Hilde is the Sophia of Sophie's World (she is along side Albert, who works as the masculine side of God) and that Sophie is the Hildegard of her own world (she receives visions from the feminine side of 'God')⁵.

The question now is what kind of world does Sophie live in? A computer simulation (like the chat-bot Alberto showed her)? A thought experiment (an example used to teach Hilde about philosophy⁶)? A story Albert is telling to Hilde? A delusional world (everything is normal, but Sophie is seeing things through a broken mind)? Hopefully the book explains this⁷.


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1 Although, I did find another line that, without context, is very disturbing. I mostly noticed it because the person before me highlighted the odd part.
2 Something about how she doesn't feel safe having Sophie walk to the other side of town to meet an old man who lives in an attic.
3 Funny how she freaked out at the thought of Sophie doing drugs, but doesn't seem very concerned about her daughter walking the city streets just to see a strange old man.
4 On the street, in Sophie's homework, in the vocal cords of dogs, in bananas, etc.
5 Despite being called "Sophie's World," Sophie has no control over it. It's her world in the sense that she is the focus of it, not in the sense that she is the master of it.
6 Beyond covering the philosophy discussed between Sophie and Alberto, Albert could also use the fact that he is teaching his daughter about philosophy with a story of someone learning about philosophy to discuss meta concepts.
7 It's one thing to leave an ending open to interpretation. It's another to not bother making an ending.