Ugly girl
Immediately after receiving the first letter, Sophie goes inside the house and looks in the mirror, observing her physical appearance. Then, she describes herself and the way she portrays herself is not flattering at all. Sophie describes herself as having thin, straight hair and a nose that is too big for her face. Thus, Sophie portrays herself as an insecure girl who has yet to learn how to accept herself and how to look beyond what meets the eye.
The world
After receiving her letters, Sophie stays in her hiding space and thinks about the world in general. She pictures the Earth floating through space, a little planet surrounded by other planets so much bigger and just going from one place to another without a purpose or clear destination. In a sense, the image represents Sophie because she is also a planet that is just floating aimlessly, a planet that has yet to find her place among the other planets in the universe.
The flying father
In one of the letters, the anonymous sender tried to make Sophie understand why some people do not understand philosophy by making her think how a grown up would react when faced with a flying man and how a child would react. The child will most likely react in a positive manner in comparison with the grown-up. This image had the purpose of making Sophie understand that while adults are sometimes reluctant to accept things deemed magical, children do not have this problem and are more likely to learn new things in comparison with adults.
Cold mom
When Sophie’s mom comes home, the reader is able to see that she is not the idea parent. Instead, she dismisses her daughter as soon as she tries to talk with her and is unwilling to believe her and her stories. While this portrays the mother as an inadequate parent, it also portrays Sophie as a lonely child who is misunderstood and often pushed away by her own family.
