Theresa Alexander: A Study of Contrast in Only the Brave

Overview

Theresa Alexander, born in 1921, is the younger sister of protagonist Sophia Alexander in Danielle Steel’s Only the Brave. Initially presented as a frivolous, beautiful teenager, Theresa evolves into a baroness living in comfort in Switzerland while her sister risks everything to resist the Nazis. Her journey from denial to reluctant understanding serves as a crucial foil to Sophia’s path of self-sacrifice. Theresa’s character embodies the tension between personal safety and moral courage, and her struggle to comprehend Sophia’s choice of the convent and resistance work highlights the novel’s central themes.

Plot Role and Significance

Theresa appears in four key phases of the narrative:

Pre-war Berlin (1937-1939): Theresa is a flirtatious sixteen-year-old whom Sophia must watch over after their mother falls ill. She marries Baron Heinrich von Ernst at eighteen, entering high society.
Escalation of Nazi persecution (1940): After Heinrich is classified as Jewish under the Nuremberg Laws, Theresa and Heinrich must flee. Sophia arranges their escape over the Alps via Claus, a mountain guide. Theresa’s pregnancy forces Sophia to accompany them.
Life in Switzerland (1940-1945): Theresa gives birth to son Thomas, lives lavishly on Lake Zurich, and has three more children. She is “horrified” when she learns Sophia has entered a convent, but gradually comes to appreciate her sister’s nature.
Post-war reunion (1945): Theresa travels to bombed-out Berlin to find Sophia, now running a hostel for homeless women. She brings money and food, and the sisters reconcile.

Theresa’s storyline reinforces the novel’s theme of survival and resilience, but from a position of privilege. Her comfort contrasts sharply with Sophia’s imprisonment in Ravensbrück and her father’s death in Dachau.

Motivations and Personality Traits

Theresa’s motivations are rooted in a desire for security, beauty, and family. As a teenager, she loves dancing, flirting, and being admired. Her marriage to Heinrich fulfills her dream of status and motherhood. She deliberately avoids the grim realities of the Nazi regime, dismissing Sophia’s reports of atrocities. The evidence shows her as “blind and superficial,” refusing “to hear the truth.”

Nevertheless, Theresa genuinely loves Sophia. While in Switzerland, she misses “her sister’s wisdom and… the love behind every rule.” This affection leads her to worry about Sophia’s safety and, after the war, to seek her out with practical help. Theresa’s arrogance and denial soften over time, but she never fully grasps the moral imperative behind Sophia’s choices.

Character Arc

Theresa’s arc moves from naive indulgence to mature—though limited—understanding.

In Berlin, she is spoiled and politically oblivious. She celebrates Nazi high command at her wedding and parrots regime propaganda. When Sophia confronts her about Kristallnacht, she denies it.
During the escape, Theresa is terrified and physically challenged, but she survives. Her father-in-law and mother-in-law are deported and die in Sachsenhausen, yet Theresa focuses on rebuilding her life.
In Switzerland, she becomes a devoted mother and wife, but also a willful innocent. Heinrich shields her from war news, and she enjoys decorating her house and planning children.
After the war, Theresa seeks reconciliation. She brings money and food to Sophia’s hostel, acknowledging her sister’s work. Though she cannot understand why Sophia chose a life of poverty and danger, she respects it.

Relationships

With Sophia

The core relationship. Sophia acts as surrogate mother and moral compass. Theresa initially resents Sophia’s strictness but later realizes “the love that had been behind every rule.” The sisters argue about politics but remain emotionally bonded. Their reunion in Chapter 16 is tearful and heartfelt, though the ideological gulf persists.

With Heinrich von Ernst

Heinrich is ten years older, protective, and devoted. He treats Theresa “like a beautiful jewel,” sheltering her from the war’s horrors. Their marriage is loving and fruitful, with four children.

With their father, Thomas Alexander

Theresa loves her father but rarely visits him after marriage. She knows he works tirelessly but fails to appreciate the danger of his secret resistance until after his arrest. She learns of his death in Dachau from the Red Cross.

With her children

Motherhood defines Theresa’s identity. Her son Thomas is born in Zurich; she later has three more. She uses her children as an argument against risk, contrasting with Sophia’s decision to forgo biological family.

Key Decisions and Consequences

Decision	Consequence
Marrying Heinrich (accepted his status as a quarter-Jew)	Triggered escape; lost all possessions and her in-laws
Denying Nazi atrocities to Sophia	Deepened ideological rift between sisters
Fleeing to Switzerland	Secured physical safety but lived in willful ignorance during the war
After war, seeking out Sophia with material help	Reconciled with sister and provided practical support for the hostel
Not joining resistance work	Preserved her own family but missed the moral commitment Sophia embodied

These choices underscore the novel’s theme of love vs duty: Theresa chooses love of husband and children over duty to broader humanity.

Themes and Symbolism

Theresa is a living symbol of the privileged German who could have resisted but chose not to. She embodies the temptation of comfort and denial. Her inability to understand Sophia’s vocation highlights the theme of faith and vocation. Sophia’s “capacity for love… lavished on… strangers” is alien to Theresa, who pours her love inward on her family.

Theresa also represents the divide between two kinds of courage: the courage to run and preserve one’s family, and the courage to stay and fight. Sophia’s choice follows the epigraph from Einstein: “The only life worth living is a life lived in service to others.” Theresa’s life, by contrast, is devoted to personal fulfillment.

5 Book-Specific Questions and Answers

1. Why does Theresa argue with Sophia about Nazi atrocities in Chapter 2?

Answer: Theresa has become part of Berlin’s pro-Nazi social circle and refuses to believe Sophia’s firsthand accounts of persecution. She denies the reality because acknowledging it would threaten her comfortable life and marriage.

2. What is Theresa’s reaction when she learns Sophia has entered a convent?

Answer: She is “horrified” by the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Yet she recognizes that the choice suits Sophia, who was always indifferent to material things and cared more about others than herself.

3. How does Theresa’s life in Switzerland contrast with Sophia’s life in Berlin during the war?

Answer: Theresa lives in a luxurious house on Lake Zurich, decorates lavishly, and has four children with Heinrich, while Sophia works as a nun in a public hospital, risks death transporting Jewish children, and is later arrested and sent to Ravensbrück.

4. Why does Theresa go to Berlin after the war?

Answer: She wants to find Sophia, who has no known address. She brings money and food because she knows the city is in ruins and survivors are desperately hungry.

5. Does Theresa fully understand why Sophia chose a life of danger and sacrifice?

Answer: No. The evidence shows that while Theresa respects her sister’s goodness, she cannot grasp the moral imperative that drove Sophia. She sees Sophia as “an angel fallen from Heaven” but does not share her worldview.