The article examines critical responses to Styron’s controversial novel Sophie’s Choice, and argues that precisely those aspects of the novel that have been the most severely criticized – the sudden changes in narrative technique, the mixing of different genres, the parallels between Poland and America, the comparisons between a slave plantation and a concentration camp, as well as the use of atypical characters – are exactly what makes the novel powerful. Those “faults” serve a universalizing function. The strength of the novel, and its lasting impact, stem from the fact that it is ultimately a moral book.
