Short Fiction · Chapter
Drunk explained
In a restaurant on the outskirts of town, the wealthy manufacturer Frolov drinks with his lawyer Almer.
What happens
In a restaurant on the outskirts of town, the wealthy manufacturer Frolov drinks with his lawyer Almer. Frolov's drunkenness reveals a deep-seated misery: he hates his wife, Marya Mihalovna, suspecting she married him for his money and has become extravagantly wasteful. He laments his distrust of everyone, his inability to find genuine friendship, and the emptiness of his dissolute life. The chapter depicts a wild orgy with gypsies and a parasite performer, culminating in Frolov's bitter self-loathing and a desperate, drunken confession.
Themes in this chapter
Hypocrisy and Moral Failure
Frolov's wealth and power allow him to treat others with contempt while he himself wallows in self-loathing and moral decay, revealing the hypocrisy of his social position.
Isolation and Loneliness
Despite being surrounded by people, Frolov feels utterly alone, unable to trust anyone or open his soul, and laments that there is no human being he can confide in.
Illusion vs. Reality
Frolov's suspicion that his wife married him for money and his distrust of everyone create a painful gap between the appearance of friendship and the reality of exploitation.
Characters to notice
- Frolov
A wealthy manufacturer, handsome with a round beard and velvety eyes, who drinks heavily and confesses his hatred for his wife and his distrust of everyone.
- Almer
Frolov's lawyer, an elderly man with a big rough head, who accompanies Frolov in the restaurant and listens to his drunken confessions.
- The Engineer
A decrepit, doleful old man who once was an engineer and now works in the restaurant, carrying out commissions and being humiliated by Frolov.
- Mustafa
A little Tatar boy, aged about twelve, wearing a dress coat and white gloves, who is brought in to perform and says 'The mutability of destiny.'
- The Parasite
A round little old man, buried in fat and completely bald, who makes his fortune by grunting like a pig and performs for Frolov.
Key passages
“One drinks and is none the merrier. The more I pour into myself, the more sober I become. Other people grow festive with vodka, but I suffer from anger, disgusting thoughts, sleeplessness.”
Drinking doesn't cheer me up; it only makes me angrier and more troubled.
Frolov expresses the paradoxical effect of alcohol on his mood.
“I hate my wife! ... I married as you know for love, and now I hate her like a mortal enemy.”
I married my wife for love, but now I despise her as if she were my worst enemy.
Frolov confesses his intense hatred for his wife, despite having married for love.
“There isn't a human being I can open my soul to. ... They are all robbers ... traitors.”
I have no one I can trust or confide in; everyone around me is a thief and a betrayer.
Frolov laments his profound isolation and distrust of others.