Short Fiction · Chapter
V: Kiss—and Say Nothing explained
The chapter depicts the final meeting between the condemned terrorists and their families, focusing on Sergey Golovin's agonizing farewell with his parents.
What happens
The chapter depicts the final meeting between the condemned terrorists and their families, focusing on Sergey Golovin's agonizing farewell with his parents. The colonel and his wife struggle to maintain composure and follow a strict ritual of silence and restraint, but the emotional weight of the impending execution breaks through their efforts.
Themes in this chapter
Death and Mortality
The chapter centers on the imminent execution of the condemned, exploring the psychological horror and the absurdity of ordinary rituals in the face of death.
Suffering and Injustice
The emotional torture of the condemned and their families, the forced composure, and the mother's breakdown highlight the profound suffering caused by the state's justice.
Truth and Deception
The colonel's instruction to 'kiss—and say nothing' and the family's attempts to maintain a facade of normalcy reveal a painful deception to avoid confronting the full truth of death.
Characters to notice
- Sergey Golovin
Condemned terrorist awaiting execution; tormented by the upcoming meeting with his parents, he paces his cell and struggles with the absurdity of normal gestures in the face of death.
- Tanya Kovalchuk
Mentioned as having no near relatives; her family is in Little Russia and likely unaware of her trial and execution.
- Musya
One of the condemned; as an unidentified person, she is not supposed to have relatives.
- Werner
One of the condemned; similarly unidentified, with no relatives expected.
- Vasily Kashirin
One of the condemned; he is to meet his parents, though the chapter focuses on Sergey's meeting.
Key passages
“The main thing is, kiss—and say nothing!”
The colonel instructs his wife that the most important thing is to kiss their son without speaking, to avoid saying anything that would reveal their anguish.
This line encapsulates the theme of deceptive restraint in the face of death.
“Don’t torture him! He has to die! Don’t torture him!”
The colonel, in a moment of desperation, tells his wife to stop speaking because their son must die and they should not prolong his suffering.
Highlights the unbearable tension and the father's attempt to protect his son from further emotional pain.
“You, father, are a noble man!”
Sergey, through tears, tells his father that he is a noble man, acknowledging his father's dignity and sacrifice.
A moment of emotional release and recognition between father and son.