# IX explained — Futility > Chapter companion for Futility by William Gerhardie. ## What happens The narrator encounters Nikolai Vasilievich on the Nevski with a young flapper, Zina, and observes his transformed, carefree demeanor. They visit a cinema and later Zina's large, impoverished family across the river, where Uncle Kostia, a perpetual thinker, lives in contemplation. The evening ends at the Saburov Theatre, where they spot Fanny Ivanovna, Sonia, Nina, Vera, Kniaz, and Baron Wunderhausen in a nearby box, causing tension. Nikolai reflects on his burdens using Krilov's fable of the swan, crab, and pike, highlighting his paradoxical flight from responsibilities into new ones. ## Themes in this chapter ### Family and Dysfunction Nikolai's entanglement with multiple families—his own daughters spying on him, Zina's large dependent household, and his flight from responsibilities—illustrates the chaotic and burdensome nature of family ties. ### Love and Illusion Zina's romantic idealism and Nikolai's attempt to escape his past through a new relationship highlight the illusions and complexities of love. ### Futility and Meaninglessness Nikolai's reference to Krilov's fable of the swan, crab, and pike underscores the futility of his efforts to change his situation, as he merely adds new responsibilities. ## Character check-ins ### Nikolai Vasilievich Seen on the Nevski with Zina, appearing rejuvenated and carefree, but still burdened by family affairs and guilt. ### Zina The young flapper with Nikolai, idealistic and devoted, proposing suicide as a solution to his troubles. ### Fanny Ivanovna Spotted at the Saburov Theatre with Sonia, Nina, Vera, Kniaz, and Baron Wunderhausen, causing discomfort. ### Sonia Present at the theatre in the box opposite the narrator's party. ### Nina Bursànova Present at the theatre in the box opposite the narrator's party. ### Vera Present at the theatre in the box opposite the narrator's party. ## Key lines > I keep telling Nikolai,' said Zina, 'don't marry me, don't. It is superfluous. I love you so much that I am perfectly prepared to live with you … just to show you how I really love you.' Zina tells the narrator that she repeatedly urges Nikolai not to marry her, claiming it's unnecessary; her love is so great she would live with him without marriage to prove it. _Zina's radical view of love and marriage, rejecting formal ties._ > I proposed that we should commit suicide together. But, Andrei Andreiech, he doesn't seem to be very keen on it. Poor boy, with all these ugly worries he is becoming horribly materialistic. Zina confides that she suggested a joint suicide as the only just solution to Nikolai's problems, but he is not interested, and she laments that his worries are making him materialistic. _Zina's dramatic idealism contrasts with Nikolai's pragmatic reluctance._ > The most perplexing thing about it all, Andrei Andreiech,' said he, 'is … well, it's like that fable of Krilov.' And he quoted the fable with that curious pride that Russians usually take in Krilov's un-Russian (I think British) common sense, as he instanced the case of the load pulled jointly by the swan, the crab and the pike in their several characteristically individual directions with the distressing result—the moral!—that the load, the fabulist tells us, is today exactly where it was before they had started on their expedition. Nikolai compares his situation to Krilov's fable where a swan, crab, and pike pull a load in different directions, resulting in no progress, highlighting the futility of his efforts. _Nikolai's use of the fable to express his sense of stagnation and conflicting responsibilities._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/futility_se/chapters/ix - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/futility_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/futility_se/chapters