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Similes
Chapter 1: Paradise Pickles & Preserves
Explanation and Analysis—The Memory of Sophie Mol:
In the beginning of the novel, Rahel reflects on Sophie Mol's death and how much it drastically affected her life. With situational irony, Rahel describes how the memory of death lives on:
It is curious how sometimes the memory of death lives on for so much longer than the memory of the life that it purloined. Over the years, as the memory of Sophie Mol (the seeker of small wisdoms: Where do old birds go to die? Why don’t dead ones fall like stones from the sky? […] The Loss of Sophie Mol grew robust and alive. It was always there. Like a fruit in season. Every season. As permanent as a government job. It ushered Rahel through childhood (from school to school to school) into womanhood.
There is irony in how Sophie Mol's death lives on in Rahel's memory more than Sophie Mol's life does. Sophie Mol dies so young, yet she lives on in everybody’s memories as more of a corpse in a coffin than a real, living girl. It is also ironic how Sophie Mol's loss can grow and how a death can become alive. These paradoxes highlight the unnaturalness of Sohpie Mol's death and the series of events that separated the twins. To remember Sophie Mol's tragic death over her beautiful life is to prove the devastating power of trauma over memory.
Related Themes:
