A Study On Space And Politics In William Styron’s Sophie’s Choice

Written by William Styron and published in 1979, Sophie’s Choice is considered as one of the best novels of the 20th century and the "Time’s 100 Best English-Language novels of the 20th century". In 1982, Sophie’s Choice was made into a film which was nominated for five Academy Awards. The novel describes Sophie’s, Nathan’s and Stingo’s life. It concerns many themes such as death, evil, race, love and humanity. Studies have been done from the perspective of feminism, psychoanalysis and archetypal, etc. So far, study from spacial perspective remains undone. What’s more, space is the most important part in the novel. Space is intimate to politics in the novel. This thesis draws on the theory of Henri Lefebvre, Micheal Foucault and Edward Soja on space to analyze the physical space and psychological space in order to interpret the relationship between space and politics in Sophie’s Choice.This thesis is comprised of five parts. Chapter one is an introduction of Sophie s Choice, literature review and the method, significance and purpose of this thesis. Chapter two analyzes the physical space. People lose freedom in the Concentration Camp. Not only in adult’s camp but also in children’s camp, it is full of horror. Brooklyn City’s dark subway and noisy streets make people anxious. Bar and beach is the space where people escape from reality. Chapter three discusses psychological space and deep meaning of the main characters:Sophie, Stingo and Nathan. Chapter four is the analysis of the relationship between space and politics in the novel:space and power in Concentration Camp includes how the body and the soul are punished; space and body politics in the city includes how the body is disciplined and alienated; space and marginalization includes how race marginalization and gender marginalization are reflected in the novel. The last chapter is the conclusion. Based on the theory of spacial perspective, the thesis analyzes physical space and psychological space to dig out the relationship between space and politics summarizing the space is political, productive and ideological.