# XXI explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by Vladimir Korolenko.

## What happens

The narrator describes his desolate state of mind as he repeatedly visits the station, watching trains and reflecting on the meaninglessness of existence. He contrasts his former hope for a brighter future with his current indifference, and contemplates the relationship between life and death, concluding that only those who have lived fully can face death calmly.

## Themes in this chapter

### Suffering and Compassion

The narrator observes the watchman's family living in wretched conditions, and reflects on the uncompensated misery of their lot.

### The Search for Meaning

The narrator grapples with the loss of belief in life's significance, feeling aimlessness and utter want of meaning in existence.

### Isolation and Belonging

The narrator sits alone at the station, feeling small, pitiable, and insignificant, and describes his loneliness and detachment from life.

## Character check-ins

### Titus

Titus meets the narrator with a gloomy and furtive yet relieved glance when he returns home from the station.

## Key lines

> I had no definite aim. Then, and many times afterwards, I went to the station for no other purpose, so far as I could tell, than to watch with fascinated gaze the wheels of the first morning train.

The narrator repeatedly visits the station without a clear goal, simply to watch the train wheels.

_Highlights the narrator's aimless and compulsive behavior._

> I believed that we should soon find a way of making life bright and joyous for all. How, when, in what way? That was another matter; but the significance of life lay in that belief. Now I had no belief, and life had lost its significance;

The narrator once believed in a future where life would be joyful for everyone, but now that belief is gone, leaving life meaningless.

_Contrasts past hope with present despair._

> only those whose lives have been full and normal can face death calmly. He who has known intelligent joy has something to be thankful for. The man who has struggled and suffered sees in death a deliverer, a friend relieving him from the grievous burden of duty; but he who has never in life experienced either intelligent joy or intelligent grief fears the mere mention of death, because there remains in his soul a void—something empty and unsatisfied.

Only those who have lived fully can face death peacefully; those who have suffered see death as relief, while those who have never known joy or grief fear death due to an inner emptiness.

_The narrator's philosophical reflection on life and death._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_54_se/chapters/xxi
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_54_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_54_se/chapters