A Man Called Ove

by

Fredrik Backman

Sonja's Father Character Analysis

Sonja's father was a solitary man who lived in the far north. He didn't like people much and only went into town once per month. He was also a devoted Scania driver, which enabled him to bond with Ove. The cat, Ernest, liked to fish with Sonja's father. Both died a few years after Ove and Sonja met.
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Sonja's Father Character Timeline in A Man Called Ove

The timeline below shows where the character Sonja's Father appears in A Man Called Ove. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
16. A Man Who Was Ove and a Truck In the Forest
Memory and Grief Theme Icon
Love, Family, and Community Theme Icon
Before meeting Ove, Sonja had only ever truly loved three things: her father , books, and cats. She'd had suitors, but none of them looked at her like... (full context)
Love, Family, and Community Theme Icon
Ove only met Sonja's father a handful of times. Her mother died in childbirth and he never remarried. He lived... (full context)
Love, Family, and Community Theme Icon
Principles, Fairness, and Loyalty Theme Icon
When Sonja brought Ove to meet her father for the first time, they sat silently for an hour while Sonja tried to make... (full context)
Memory and Grief Theme Icon
Love, Family, and Community Theme Icon
Principles, Fairness, and Loyalty Theme Icon
The narrator explains that Sonja's father always drove Scania trucks and felt quite betrayed when Scania merged with Saab, while Ove... (full context)
18. A Man Who Was Ove and a Cat Called Ernest
Memory and Grief Theme Icon
...get along because Ove knew that Sonja loved Ernest unconditionally. Ove learned to fish with Sonja's father and fixed her father's roof and truck. Three years later, Sonja's father died. Sonja stayed... (full context)
Memory and Grief Theme Icon
Love, Family, and Community Theme Icon
Principles, Fairness, and Loyalty Theme Icon
...told him that he had to love her twice as much now that Ernest and her father were gone. Ove told her he would, which was the last lie he'd ever tell... (full context)
31. A Man Called Ove Backs Up a Trailer. Again.
Rules and Order Theme Icon
Earlier that morning, Ove had gotten out Sonja's father ’s rifle to shoot himself. He was interrupted, however, by something that made him extremely... (full context)
A Man Called Ove and an Epilogue
Memory and Grief Theme Icon
Rules and Order Theme Icon
Love, Family, and Community Theme Icon
Principles, Fairness, and Loyalty Theme Icon
...Adrian gets the Saab and explains who to contact for Ove's money, which came from Sonja's father . Ove tells Parvaneh to give each of her children and Jimmy's daughter each a... (full context)