in the beginning of the book the, the portion that I read, the main characters at this point are Sophie, her aunt, Atie and her mom, who we haven’t met as yet, Martine. For all her life Sophie was raised by her aunt Atie, who couldn’t read, and also had no interest in learning how to, as she thought she was too old to learn. Atie who cared a great deal for her neice seem to constantly be fighting with herself to maintain an aunt and neice relationship with her neice, as she is careful not to let Sophie view her as her mother; this was one of the most significant moments from the text, because although she is the only mother figure Sophie actually knows, it seems like out of respect for her sister, she didn’t want to make it seem as if she wanted to steal her daughter away. Another significant moment was Sophie’s dream; where she would dream of herself being chased by her mother, who at one point snatched her away before her aunt could save her; this was significant because I think it’s the authors way of giving us a preview of the tribulation? That lies ahead in Sophie’s life.