Who is Sophie in Sophie's Choice?

Sophie is an enigma. Her beautiful face was the type on which men projected their own dreams. Her father and husband both tried to make her into a vapidly efficient German fräulein; the woman of their dreams, not hers. Later with Jozef, he and Wanda tried to make her into a spy. When Nathan entered her life and brought her back from the brink of death, Nathan felt he had earned the right to turn her into whatever he wanted. To that end, he dressed her up like a doll and demanded that she fit his expectations of the ideal woman. Even Stingo projects his fantasies onto her. First, he projects his sexual fantasies on her, and later, after Stingo has decided to sever ties with Nathan, Stingo quickly projects her into his new dream of married life on the farm in Virginia. But what did Sophie want? From all appearances, she never asked herself that question. She knew what she wanted as a young girl - to study music, marry a professor, and live in cultured domestic harmony like her parents. When the war intruded on her idyllic childhood, she realized that her parents' life was never harmonious at all. After everything that happened to her during the war, Sophie hated herself too much to allow herself to consider her own happiness. However, time heals all wounds, and Sophie had begun to rediscover the joy of living by the time she met Nathan. It is likely that, without his deadly judgment, she might have recovered to the point where she could begin to visualize a future for herself that did not include punishment and pain.