Expecting
After receiving a couple of letters, Sophie gets excited about receiving even more letters and that is what keeps her going and what helps her get through the day. Ironically however, Sophie reaches a point where she is more excited about receiving anonymous letters form a stranger than receiving a letter from her own father.
Safe space
The hedge is a safe space where Sophie goes to when she is sad or when she feels threatened. The narrator however points out that this fact is quite ironical considering the fact that Sophie is almost 14 years old, an age at which a child should start to mature and get out of their safe spaces that protected them in their infancy.
Not capable of understanding serious matters
In one of the letters, the anonymous philosopher makes a bold claim and tells Sophie that the ones capable of understanding serious subjects and understanding philosophy are not the grown-ups but rather the children. This seems to be ironical considering the fact that philosophy is considered by many as being a subject not so easy to understand but the narrator explains himself and claims that the reason why grown-ups can’t understand philosophy is because they lack the capacity to accept and try to understand new things or aspects they perceive as being irrational. In this sense, children are more capable of understanding philosophy because they are more malleable and are more eager to accept new things in their lives.
Who are you?
After receiving a few letters, Sophie became interested in the identity of her anonymous friend. She then tried to find who he was by waiting for him to come and drop his letters. One night, Sophie saw a man dropping of a letter and in the letter she was told to stop trying to find who he was because if she did not stop, he will stop writing to her. Ironically however, the next day, Sophie received a letter in which the anonymous philosopher reveals his name and identity.
Not a love letter
After seeing that her daughter kept on receiving letters from an anonymous sender, she assumed that that her daughter was receiving love letters from some boy from school. Ironically however, Sophie was not receiving love letters from a boy the same age as she but rather but from a man much older than she.
