Short Fiction · Chapter
The City explained
Petrov experiences profound existential dread and isolation within the immense, anonymous city.
What happens
Petrov experiences profound existential dread and isolation within the immense, anonymous city. He is haunted by the endless stream of strangers, the suffocating proximity of stone houses, and the terrifying solitude of being unknown among millions. His attempts to find connection—through a mysterious acquaintance he meets annually at the Vasilyevskys', through drinking, through moving apartments—all fail. The city expands relentlessly, adding new streets and cemeteries, while Petrov's list of known people remains pathetically small. Ultimately, both he and his unnamed acquaintance disappear from the Vasilyevskys' gatherings, forgotten as the city grows ever larger.
Themes in this chapter
Isolation and Alienation
Petrov's profound loneliness is central: he knows only 250 people in his entire life, is surrounded by strangers, and his attempts to connect (with 'the other,' the courtesan) fail utterly. The city itself is described as a 'stony embrace' that suffocates and isolates.
Death and Mortality
The city's eighth cemetery for paupers, the constant cycle of birth and death behind the walls, and Petrov's fear of being forgotten all underscore mortality. The 'other' nearly dies of pneumonia, and both characters eventually vanish from the Vasilyevskys' lives.
Characters to notice
- Petrov
The protagonist, a lonely office worker who is terrified by the city's anonymity and his own isolation. He suffers from influenza, catarrh, deteriorating eyesight, and a desperate need for human connection.
- The Woman
A courtesan whom Petrov drunkenly proposes to; she initially listens but then screams in terror, taking him for a madman.
- Fedot
Petrov's porter, who supports him during his drinking episodes and complains about having to open and shut the door for him.
Key passages
“It seemed as though they were all seized with a panic of fear, and were endeavouring to run away from the centre to the open country, and that they could not find the road, and losing their way had rolled themselves in a ball like a serpent, and were intersecting one another, and looking back in hopeless despair.”
The streets appeared to be fleeing in terror from the city center toward the countryside, but they were lost, tangled together like a coiled snake, and glancing backward in utter hopelessness.
The city itself is personified as panicked and trapped, mirroring Petrov's own psychological state.
“And the more people there were, who were unknown to one another, the more terrible became the solitude of each.”
The greater the crowd of strangers, the more crushing each person's loneliness becomes.
A key thematic statement on the paradox of urban isolation: anonymity in a crowd intensifies solitude.
“All his life long he had only known 250 people, including him, the other.”
In his entire life, Petrov had known only 250 individuals, counting the mysterious acquaintance he called 'the other.'
This stark number highlights the extreme poverty of human connection in Petrov's life.