Oktiabr' Shestnadtsatogo: Analysis of Major Characters
"Oktiabr' Shestnadtsatogo" explores a range of complex characters set against the backdrop of wartime Russia, reflecting on themes of loyalty, idealism, and the impact of war on society. The main character, Georgij Mikhailych Vorotyntsev, is a stalwart army officer who grapples with the realities of war and its effects on his homeland, leading him to call for a truce amid the chaos. His wife, Alina, embodies a more personal, emotional response to the war, striving to support the wounded while navigating her artistic aspirations. The text also features Olda Orestovna, an ambitious scholar whose political fervor contrasts with her inability to grasp the deeper spiritual crises at play. Isaakij "Sanja" Lazhenitsyn represents the disillusioned youth, caught between idealism and the grim realities of the front, while Arsenij "Senka" Blagodarjov illustrates the raw, visceral reactions of common soldiers. The narrative further includes notable historical figures like Lenin and Nicholas II, whose leadership qualities are critiqued amidst their respective insecurities and inadequacies. Lastly, Father Severjan serves as a spiritual figure, attempting to provide solace and understanding in a tumultuous time, embodying the struggle between faith and the harshness of reality. This rich tapestry of characters offers insight into the diverse responses to the challenges of their era.
Oktiabr' Shestnadtsatogo: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
First published: 1984 (English translation, 1999)
Genre: Novel
Locale: Moscow, St. Petersburg, the Byelorussian and Ukrainian countryside, and Zurich
Plot: Historical
Time: August through early November of 1918
Georgij Mikhailych Vorotyntsev (geh-OHR-gee mihKHAH-lihch voh-roh-TIHN-tsehv), a dedicated army career officer. A stout, clean-shaven, stoic, and trustworthy man of action, he is educated and perceptive but not one of the intelligentsia. He is a patriot and a good commander, admired by his soldiers, but his understanding of the people's wartime desperation leads him to call for a truce. He leaves the front to visit his family and friends in the rear. The decadence and chaos of life in Moscow and St. Petersburg lead him to a growing skepticism about the future. He is sufficiently open-minded to consider all arguments about Russia's fate, but his loyalty to traditional authority prevents him from joining any of the revolutionary factions.
Alina (ah-LIH-nah), Vorotyntsev's wife. She concentrates on becoming a concert pianist while separated from her husband by the war. She perceives the effects of the war from a personal, apolitical point of view. Her romantic attitudes and her cultural pretensions annoy Georgij. Although she worries about her beauty and connections, beneath the frivolous exterior she grieves for the wounded and attempts to rally other artists to assist them. In the end, her cultural instincts and empathy for others'emotional trauma prove to be great virtues.
Olda Orestovna (oh-reh-STOV-nah), also called Professor Andozerskaja (an-doh-ZEHR-skah-yah), the lover and would-be mentor of Vorotyntsev. A scholar of history, she is elegant, earthy, pithy, attractive though not young, and very ambitious. In her political dogmatism, she embodies the blindness of the intelligentsia. She insists on the larger meaning of events but fails to understand the spiritual crisis that inhibits the historic potential of individual action. Increasingly alienated by Georgij's anomie, she proves willing to make misguided but heroic sacrifices.
Isaakij “Sanja” Lazhenitsyn (ih-SAH-kee lah-zhehNIH-tsihn), an idealistic young man who left the university to volunteer for the army. His ideals are tested at first hand by the frustrations of the front line. He possesses a gift for language and a poetic sensibility that keep him attuned to the war's devastation of nature. He expresses the resentment of the young intelligentsia toward the oppressive and ossified army hierarchy and debates the priest Severjan on the importance of religious tradition in the modern world.
Arsenij “Senka” Blagodarjov (ahr-SEH-nee blah-gohDAHR-yov), a natural leader in peacetime, now serving as a soldier under Vorotyntsev in wartime. Senka is uneducated, gregarious, and large. He drinks, swears, and fights hard. He also expresses resentment against the army commanders, but in a less reasoned fashion than does Sanja, more as an expression of his loyalty toward his fellow infantrymen. Although he shares the peasants' prejudices against certain social groups, he bears no grudges against individuals.
Vladimir Ilich Lenin (VLAH-dih-mihr EEL-yhich LEHnihn), an aging, unpopular, would-be revolutionary, living in exile in Zurich. Lenin is short, with hunched shoulders and furrowed brows. He is more cunning than intelligent. It is not certain to what extent he is motivated by sincere concern for the people. His life is ruled by insecurities concerning the machinations of other revolutionary leaders. His vanity is exploited by colleagues who manipulate his reputation in the constant infighting over tactics. His increasingly harsh attacks on his rivals do not bode well for Russia.
Nicholas II, the czar, a moody man who is overly dependent on his wife. Passive, indecisive, and occasionally paranoid, he also falls victim to vanity and the manipulations of flatterers. Although he is genuinely concerned for the spiritual well-being of the masses, he is too childish to take effective action on their behalf. He responds to warnings from concerned government ministers by withdrawing into the private world of sectarian mysticism.
Father Severjan (seh-vehr-YAN), an embodiment of the Russian Orthodox church in a time when religion has become unfashionable. A tall, bearded ascetic, he wanders the front, trying to avoid the bureaucratic rules of the army and church hierarchies and ministering to the wounded. He shares Sanja's intuitive appreciation of nature. He attempts to explain the mulishness and anger of the people to Sanja as a result of centuries-long religious repression. Occasionally, his example inspires others to heroic displays of valor and compassion, but his apocalyptic declarations are more pretentious than prophetic.