128 pages 4 hours read

Jostein Gaarder

Sophie's World

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1991

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Chapters 16-22

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 16 Summary: “The Renaissance”

Sophie returns to Joanna’s house, out of breath and eager to tell her everything that happened. Joanna is furious with Sophie for being gone so long and forcing her to lie, but the two make up quickly, and Sophie admits that she is beginning to fear Hilde watching them. When Sophie gets home, she goes up to bed for a nap, but before doing so checks herself in the mirror from the cabin. Suddenly, an “apparition” (187) appears mixed in with her own reflection, it winks several times and disappears. Sophie is sure it is Hilde she sees, having seen her school ID in the cabin. She wonders if what she saw was real because of how exhausted she is, but she soon falls asleep to a peculiar dream. In her dream, she approaches a girl on a dock and introduces herself. The girl does not hear or see her but soon waves to a man calling her name, which is Hilde. Sophie watches as Hilde runs to this man dressed in a beret and khaki uniform. Sophie finds a gold cross on the dock and picks it up, then she wakes up. She realizes the man was probably Hilde’s father but is confused because he looks so much like Alberto.