Rooftoppers

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of gender discrimination.

Early in Rooftoppers, Sophie, who has doubts about classical music, nevertheless lets Charles persuade her to attend a concert. The experience turns out to be an emotional milestone in her life. For her, the strings portion of the recital is a revelation, like “eight thousand birds,” and the rich tones of the cello, she says, are like “singing” (25). From her early childhood, song has always been the music of love for her since Charles, who owns no musical instruments, has always sung to her. Music, in this way, bridges the gap between the physical and the emotional world for Sophie, unlocking memories and emotions that words alone cannot reach. Now, the cello also speaks to her heart, stirring memories (as later becomes clear) of a primal, undying love from before Charles rescued her from the sea. Her few clear memories of her mother center around an image of two legs kicking to “wonderful music,” and the cello unlocks a flood of warmth from that lost time. Though she has long suspected, from the cello case that she was found in, that her mother played the cello, this concert brings it home to her as a visceral fact.