My Disillusionment in Russia · Chapter
V: Meeting People explained
The narrator meets with Lenin, Chicherin, and Kropotkin, discussing the plight of imprisoned Anarchists, the nature of the Soviet regime, and the state of the Revolution.
What happens
The narrator meets with Lenin, Chicherin, and Kropotkin, discussing the plight of imprisoned Anarchists, the nature of the Soviet regime, and the state of the Revolution. Lenin dismisses free speech as a bourgeois notion and insists on working under the Third International, while Kropotkin expresses deep disillusionment with Bolshevik dictatorship and the suppression of revolutionary ideals.
Themes in this chapter
Disillusionment with Revolution
The narrator and Kropotkin express deep disillusionment as the Bolshevik regime suppresses Anarchists, crushes cooperatives, and betrays the Revolution's ideals.
State Power vs. Individual Freedom
Lenin explicitly rejects free speech as a 'bourgeois notion' and justifies repression, while Kropotkin laments the dictatorship that 'coerced and paralysed every social activity.'
Betrayal of Revolutionary Ideals
Kropotkin states that the Bolsheviks 'subordinated the interests of the Revolution to the establishment of their dictatorship,' discrediting socialism and communism.
Suffering of the People
Kropotkin cites 'numerous instances of the misery and distress of the people' and the narrator is distressed by the poor health and oppression around them.
Characters to notice
- Unknown Narrator
The narrator reflects on meetings with Lenin, Chicherin, and Kropotkin, grappling with the suppression of Anarchists and the betrayal of revolutionary ideals.
- Lenin
Lenin dismisses free speech as a bourgeois notion, insists on working under the Third International, and views people in utilitarian terms for his revolutionary scheme.
- Angelica Balabanova
Balabanova arranges the narrator's meeting with Lenin and is described as one of the most simple and unassuming leading Communists.
- Chicherin
Chicherin interviews the narrator at 4 a.m., discussing revolution in America and the I.W.W., and is noted for his simplicity and naivety about the outside world.
- Peter Kropotkin
Kropotkin appears aged and worn, criticizes Bolshevik dictatorship for crushing cooperatives and suppressing dissent, and explains his silence due to the Allied blockade and lack of free expression.
- Alexander Berkman
Berkman accompanies the narrator to visit Kropotkin alongside A. Shapiro.
- Bill Shatov
Lenin cites Shatov as an example of an Anarchist who works with the Soviet government and received the Red Banner for helping save Petrograd.
Key passages
“But as to free speech, that is, of course, a bourgeois notion. There can be no free speech in a revolutionary period.”
Lenin dismisses free speech as a bourgeois concept, arguing it is impossible during a revolution.
Lenin's justification for suppressing dissent and the Anarchist press.
“We have always pointed out the effects of Marxism in action. Why be surprised now?”
Kropotkin reminds the narrator that the consequences of Marxist dictatorship were long predicted by Anarchists.
Kropotkin's critique of Bolshevik rule as a predictable outcome of Marxist theory.
“The Bolsheviki, who had been carried to the top by the revolutionary wave, first caught the popular ear by extreme revolutionary slogans, thereby gaining the confidence of the masses and the support of militant revolutionists.”
Kropotkin explains that the Bolsheviks rose to power by using radical slogans to win over the masses and revolutionaries.
Kropotkin's analysis of how the Bolsheviks initially gained support.
