Short Fiction · Chapter
II explained
At a Christmas party, the troubled boy Sashka feels alienated and hostile among the other children.
What happens
At a Christmas party, the troubled boy Sashka feels alienated and hostile among the other children. He bullies little Kolya, refuses to cooperate with adults, and is drawn to a small wax angel on the tree. After a tense confrontation with the hostess, he begs for the angel and finally receives it, experiencing a moment of profound, almost sacred connection.
Themes in this chapter
Isolation and Alienation
Sashka feels profoundly disconnected from the other children and the festive atmosphere, perceiving the tree as 'foreign, hostile' and his own home as empty.
Truth and Deception
Sashka's feigned repentance and kneeling to manipulate the hostess contrast with his genuine, inexpressible longing for the angel.
Characters to notice
- Sashka
A morose, rebellious boy who feels estranged from his family and the festive gathering; he becomes obsessively attached to a wax angel on the Christmas tree.
- The Girl
A little girl who dances with delight near the tree, later wearily hangs on the hostess's hand.
- The Woman
The hostess, a tall stately lady with grey hair, who initially refuses Sashka's request for the angel but eventually gives in to avoid a scene.
Key passages
“Sashka remained morose and gloomy—something evil was working in his little wounded breast. The tree blinded him with its red, shriekingly insolent glitter of countless candles. It was foreign, hostile to him, even as the crowd of smart, pretty children which surrounded it.”
Sashka felt sullen and angry; the bright, noisy Christmas tree seemed aggressive and unwelcoming, just like the well-dressed children around him.
Highlights Sashka's alienation and inner turmoil.
“The face of the little angel did not shine with joy, nor was it clouded by grief; but there lay on it the impress of another feeling, not to be explained in words, nor defined by thought, but to be attained only by the sympathy of a kindred feeling.”
The angel's expression was neither happy nor sad, but conveyed a mysterious emotion that could only be understood through a shared, intuitive connection.
Captures the transcendent, almost spiritual attraction Sashka feels toward the angel.
“Sashka’s hands as they seized the little angel seemed like tentacles, and were tense as steel springs, but withal so soft and careful that the little angel might have imagined himself to be flying in the air.”
Sashka grabbed the angel with a grip that was both fierce and gentle, as if he were handling something fragile and precious.
Illustrates the intensity and tenderness of Sashka's desire for the angel.