Short Fiction · Chapter
The Confessions of a Little Man During Great Days explained
The narrator reflects on his panic at the outbreak of World War I, his subsequent shame, and his descent into despair and suicidal thoughts.
What happens
The narrator reflects on his panic at the outbreak of World War I, his subsequent shame, and his descent into despair and suicidal thoughts. He describes his family's flight from the countryside, his feelings of insignificance, and his eventual decision to jump from the Troitsky Bridge. At the bridge, he experiences a profound transformation, gaining a new sense of manhood and connection to all humanity.
Themes in this chapter
Death and Mortality
The narrator contemplates suicide and writes farewell letters, reflecting on death as a release from suffering.
Isolation and Alienation
The narrator feels like a 'little worm' alone in hell, disconnected from others and consumed by despair.
Faith and Doubt
The narrator prays for Russia's salvation, asks his daughter to pray for him, and later experiences a spiritual transformation at the bridge.
Characters to notice
- Lidotchka
The narrator's little daughter, whom he cherishes and addresses in his diary as his 'silent angel.'
- Sashenka
The narrator's wife, who shares his panic and later receives his farewell letter.
- Pavel Petrovich Pospeloff
The narrator's brother-in-law, who is at the war and later dies.
Key passages
“To speak with a clear conscience as one does at confession, even now I can’t make out why I was in such a panic on that day.”
Honestly, I still don't understand why I panicked so much that day.
The narrator begins his confession, expressing bewilderment at his own fear.
“I can’t exist like this! I wasn’t made for wicked, vicious thoughts, and can find no others in my wretched soul.”
I can't go on this way; I was never meant for such dark thoughts, yet they fill my miserable soul.
The narrator's despair deepens as he struggles with his own mind.
“My first realisation was the sense of my manhood. I was the inner meaning of the words, people, mankind, man, such as I stood there with my greatcoat, lead weights in my pockets, thinking those thoughts by the flowing river, in the silence of the night.”
I suddenly felt truly human, understanding what it means to be a man, standing there by the river with weights in my pockets.
At the bridge, the narrator experiences a transformative epiphany about his identity and connection to humanity.