Short Fiction · Chapter
Some Nihilists I Have Met explained
The narrator recounts encounters with Russian nihilists and radical individualists in America, beginning with a search for a violinist in a squalid Philadelphia neighborhood, then describing a series of characters who reject conventional so
What happens
The narrator recounts encounters with Russian nihilists and radical individualists in America, beginning with a search for a violinist in a squalid Philadelphia neighborhood, then describing a series of characters who reject conventional society, family ties, and material needs in pursuit of personal freedom and utopian ideals.
Themes in this chapter
Isolation and Alienation
The nihilists and the bandit-like figure deliberately isolate themselves from society, rejecting family, urban life, and conventional relationships in pursuit of personal freedom.
Injustice and Social Critique
The chapter critiques industrial capitalism, urban squalor, and the oppressive nature of civilization, with characters advocating for radical reform or destruction of the existing order.
Resilience and the Human Spirit
Despite their harsh living conditions and rejection of society, the characters display a fierce determination to live according to their own principles, such as the bandit's eight-year raw food diet and the violinist's relentless pursuit of his art.
Characters to notice
- M.
A nihilist who gave up his wife for her freedom, retains his nihilistic enthusiasm, and is described as having a homely face with a Beethoven-like forehead.
- Mr. C.
An artist in whose gallery the narrator meets the bandit-like figure; he later explains the bandit's misanthropy as stemming from a failed romance.
- Effie
M.'s wife, who left him after two years of marriage to live alone and be free; she has since shed her nihilistic ideas but remains attractive and interesting.
- Bernard
A young man who married a woman he did not love out of pity, but she left him after a year; he is described as a nihilist and a violinist.
Key passages
“The word nihilist is so generally associated with darkness, secrecy, dynamite, assassination and blood, that had someone whispered five minutes before the encounter, 'You are about to meet a genuine Russian nihilist,' I should, no doubt, have hastily retreated to the shelter of law-abiding domiciles.”
The narrator admits that the common stereotype of nihilists as violent terrorists would have made him flee if he had known he was about to meet one.
Sets up the contrast between popular fear and the actual characters encountered.
“I will learn to live on little, to overcome the need for so many changes of clothing, and I shall be free. I have done so. I can live very comfortably on eight cents a day, and I do not starve on five.”
The bandit-like figure explains his philosophy of minimizing material needs to achieve personal freedom, claiming he can survive on a few cents daily.
Illustrates the extreme asceticism and rejection of consumer society.
“Better to put a bomb under it all and blow it up.”
The bandit-like figure suggests that the ugly, dirty city is not worth building and should be destroyed.
Reflects the nihilistic desire for radical destruction of the existing social order.