The secretary of the Department of Oriental Studies at Occidental College, where the narrator works as a clerk. She is forty-six years old and was born in Gardena, California. She is a Nisei, or second-generation Japanese-American. She wears rhinestoned, horn-rimmed glasses and, initially, doesn’t seem to like the narrator. She is independent, feminist, and espouses free love. Soon, they begin a sexual relationship which Sofia insists will remain casual. Sofia is Japanese-American and dislikes the Department Chair because of his fetish for Asians and his condescending attitude. Despite their physical intimacy, the narrator retains an air of formality with her, usually addressing her as “Ms. Mori.” She and the narrator eventually stop seeing each other after he leaves for the Philippines to work on The Hamlet. At this time, Ms. Mori becomes romantically involved with Sonny.
Ms. Sofia Mori Quotes in The Sympathizer
The The Sympathizer quotes below are all either spoken by Ms. Sofia Mori or refer to Ms. Sofia Mori. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 13
Quotes
After the war ended and he was freed, he thought he’d go back to his people, the way that he’d been told to all his life by white people, even though he was born here. So he went and found out that the people in Japan didn’t think he was one of them, either. To them he's one of us, and to us he's one of them. Neither one thing nor another.
Related Characters:
Ms. Sofia Mori (speaker), The Narrator, Abe Mori , Son Do (“Sonny”)
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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Ms. Sofia Mori Character Timeline in The Sympathizer
The timeline below shows where the character Ms. Sofia Mori appears in The Sympathizer. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 4
...phones, type professorial manuscripts, file documents, and fetch books. He also helps the secretary, Ms. Sofia Mori.
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Initially, Sofia seems to dislike the narrator and is skeptical of him when he reports to the...
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Chapter 5
...continues to work part-time for Reverend Ramon. Meanwhile, the narrator has his first date with Sofia at a tiki bar in Silver Lake. She smokes and drinks “like a movie starlet...
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Under Sofia’s tutelage, the narrator learns that “true revolution also [involves] sexual liberation.” The only thing that...
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Chapter 7
...Orange County, he’s eager to go and take his mind off of things. He takes Sofia Mori as his guest. The bride’s father is a legendary marine colonel who fought off...
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...table’s centerpiece. To distract himself, he drinks and explains the customs of his people to Sofia. He then takes her to the dance floor. From there, he sees Lana, who is...
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...rotates her hips, riveting the attention of the men in the crowd. The narrator and Ms. Mori dance. When the song is over, the bank vice president takes the stage and introduces...
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The narrator turns around to find Sonny talking to Sofia. He writes down her quips and they talk about how impressed Asians are when a...
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Chapter 9
...that he has put the crapulent major’s death behind him. Before he left Los Angeles, Sofia cooked him a farewell dinner, and he began to think that he loves her. However,...
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Chapter 12
...Stolichnaya vodka. In the parking lot, he spots a pay phone and thinks of calling Sofia. Instead, he drives across Los Angeles to see her. He parks down the street from...
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Chapter 13
The narrator isn’t surprised that Sonny and Sofia are now a couple. He was in the Philippines for seven months and never called....
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...the family being put in an internment camp then demanding that Abe fight for America. Sofia says that Abe left for Japan. He decided to go back to his people, just...
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...speeches. The narrator asks if Sonny is still in California because he’s in love with Sofia or because he’s afraid. Sonny feels ashamed. Sofia looks at Sonny with understanding and looks...
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...he’s finally won an argument with Sonny, something he never did in their college days. Sofia looks into Sonny’s eyes and assures him that everything is all right. The narrator refills...
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Rumors have already spread about the General’s new army. During the narrator’s visit to Sofia’s place, Sonny mentions reports about the secret army. The narrator claims not to have heard...
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Chapter 16
...smoke. The narrator clutches the tote bag. Sonny thinks the narrator is there because of Sofia. The narrator notices, “on the wall above the table,” the same clock as in the...
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Sonny is sorry that he and the narrator have never had a proper talk about Sofia. The narrator claims fault for never having written to her. When Sonny gets up to...
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...though he finds it hard to talk about anything else. This is why he loves Sofia; she can tolerate his obsession. He tells the narrator that they never planned anything; they...
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Sonny says that he knows that he probably won’t have a child with Sofia, but he wants to think of someone other than himself. Before, he only wanted to...
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...General has sent the narrator. Sonny also thinks that the narrator is still jealous over Sofia. Though Sonny is only five feet away, the narrator hits the radio when he pulls...
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