Rebirth
The novel takes place in Norway in May and the month chosen for this is not random at all. May, or spring more broadly, is associated with the idea of rebirth and growth. Thus, May is a suitable time for the novel because it makes reference to the fact that Sophie discovers herself in that spring and learns about herself and about what she wants to do in her future. In this sense, the month of May is used here as a metaphor to suggest growth and even rebirth.
The hedge and the Garden of Eden
The narrator compares the Hedge where Sophie spends her time with the Garden of Eden from the Biblical stories. The comparison has here the purpose of highlighting the idea that both spaces are places of innocence. Both the Garden and the hedge where Sophie hides are places that a child can be a child and places where no one pressures a person to someone they are not.
Philosophers and detectives
In one of the letters Sophie receives, the philosophers of the past are compared with modern-day detectives. The comparison between the two has the purpose of making Sophie understand that just like detectives solve mysteries and try to find the truth, philosophers do the same thing when they try to find the answer to the various important questions that plagued the minds of humanity for centuries.
Atoms and Legos
To make Sophie understand what atoms are and how they work, the anonymous philosopher compared them to Legos, something the little girl was familiar with. The idea that he wanted to transmit through this comparison is that while both atoms and Legos appear to be simple elements that are not hard to understand in isolation, when they are put side by side, they can end up creating something truly magnificent and complex, something that is hard to understand and explained.
Just like a magician
The philosopher also explains the process through which a person answers a philosophical question by comparing the philosopher with a magician who ‘’climbs up the fine hairs of a rabbit’s fur’’ to stare into the question and try to answer it. What the anonymous philosopher transmits through this is the idea that sometimes, the process of finding the answer to a philosophical question is not easy but is also not rational to those watching from the outside. The process is however crucial and it is something the philosopher must do to find the answer to his questions.
