Sophia's War: A Tale of the Revolution
54 pages • 1-hour read
AviSophia's War: A Tale of the Revolution
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Symbols & Motifs
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of graphic violence, physical abuse, and death.
The Good Intent
The Good Intent is the prison ship where Sophia’s older brother William Calderwood is held captive by British soldiers. This is also the place where he ultimately dies. The ship’s ironic name symbolizes the devastation of war itself. On the one hand, ships generally conjure notions of transportation, movement, and freedom. However, the Good Intent is lodged in the King’s Wharf and is filled with men who “lay or sat about in semifrozen stupor, their emaciated, dirty bodies protected with naught but rags” (115). The ship is a holding tank for the patriot soldiers captured by British soldiers, all of whom meet devastating ends. The image of the ship stays with Sophia over the years following William’s death; it serves as a reminder of war’s contradictions.
Blue Ribbon
When Lieutenant John André is boarding at the Calderwoods’ house, he gives Sophia “a blue ribbon for [her] hair, which [she] was captivated to have” (55). The blue ribbon becomes a symbol of the charming lieutenant’s affection for Sophia and a representation of her fraught feelings for him, invoking The Conflict Between Personal Emotions and Patriotic Duty. Whenever she remembers that he is indeed her family’s and countrymen’s enemy, she simultaneously remembers the ribbon—which she believes is evidence that he cares for her despite his allegiance to the British Crown. Sophia is openly attached to the ribbon, wearing it with pride when she is out with John André or clutching it tightly when she is lying in bed alone. Her regard for the ribbon illustrates her care for John André, and her wishful thinking that he might care for her, too.
Archetypally, blue represents feelings of melancholy or longing—which Sophia associates with John André. While she does develop a deep, innocent affection for him, she ultimately cannot act on or realize these feelings. At the end of the novel, she places the blue ribbon on John André’s grave at Westminster Abbey; this image conveys her newfound ability to reconcile with her longing for John André to be someone other than he was.
West Point
The West Point setting is a symbol of simultaneous power and vulnerability. When Sophia first learns that the fort might be under attack, she remembers her father telling her, “that if America lost West Point, New England could be lost, and thereby the whole war” (175). The fort is essential to the patriots’ hold on American soil and their freedom. Sophia later learns while studying John André’s maps that the fort is “far away and situated where the river was narrow. I concluded that the narrowness of the river meant West Point could command all river passage north and south. No wonder it was so vital” (186).
For these reasons, Sophia is desperate to keep John André from making the deal with Benedict Arnold to transfer the fort from the patriots to the loyalists. She is desperate to protect this vulnerable fort to ensure the patriots’ power. The fort’s symbolism thus echoes Sophia’s experience, too. Sophia often feels vulnerable in the face of her wartime conflicts, but she ultimately proves her power when she takes risks and fights for her country.
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