Hadji Murád · Chapter
XXV explained
Hadji Murád, allowed to ride outside Nukhá with a reduced Cossack escort, seizes an opportunity to escape toward the mountains.
What happens
Hadji Murád, allowed to ride outside Nukhá with a reduced Cossack escort, seizes an opportunity to escape toward the mountains. He shoots the lead Cossack Nazárov and spurs his horse, triggering a chase. The chapter then shifts to his final stand: surrounded by militiamen led by Hadji Aga and Akhmet Khan, Hadji Murád and his followers fight desperately from a ditch. One by one his men fall—Eldár is killed, Bata is wounded, and Hadji Murád himself is hit twice. In his dying moments, memories of Abu Nutsal Khan, Vorontsóv, his family, and Shamil flash before him. He rises for a last charge, is shot down, and his head is cut off by Hadji Aga. The chapter ends with the narrator recalling the crushed thistle that inspired the story.
Themes in this chapter
Resilience and Defiance
Hadji Murád fights to the last breath, rising after being shot twice and charging dagger in hand, embodying unyielding resistance.
The Nature of War and Violence
The brutal final battle—with detailed descriptions of wounds, death, and beheading—illustrates war's savage reality and the dehumanization of enemies.
Honor and Betrayal
Hadji Aga, once Hadji Murád's kunák (blood brother), leads the attack against him, highlighting themes of broken bonds and shifting loyalties.
Characters to notice
- Hadji Murád
Wounded twice in the final battle, he makes a last charge with a dagger and is killed; his head is severed by Hadji Aga.
- Nazárov
The young Cossack noncommissioned officer who tries to stop Hadji Murád's escape and is shot dead.
- Hadji Aga
Former kunák of Hadji Murád who leads the militiamen and beheads the fallen Hadji Murád.
- Eldár
Hadji Murád's loyal follower, killed by a bullet while preparing to charge.
- Khan Mahomá
One of Hadji Murád's henchmen, captured alive after the battle.
- Akhmet Khan
Son of Hadji Murád's old enemy, present among the militiamen during the final assault.
Key passages
“He did not move, but still he felt. When Hadji Aga, who was the first to reach him, struck him on the head with a large dagger, it seemed to Hadji Murád that someone was striking him with a hammer, and he could not understand who was doing it, or why.”
Though his body lay still, Hadji Murád was still conscious for a moment; when Hadji Aga struck his head with a dagger, he felt only a dull hammer-like blow, unable to comprehend its source or purpose.
Depicts the dissociation between body and consciousness at the moment of death.
“The nightingales, that had hushed their songs while the firing lasted, now started their trills once more: first one quite close, then others in the distance.”
As soon as the gunfire ceased, the nightingales resumed their singing, beginning with a nearby bird and spreading to others farther off.
Contrasts the violence of battle with the serene persistence of nature.