Short Fiction · Chapter
In Passion Week explained
A young boy recounts his experience during Passion Week, focusing on his confession and communion preparations.
What happens
A young boy recounts his experience during Passion Week, focusing on his confession and communion preparations. He struggles with hunger, resentment towards a rival boy named Mitka, and feelings of sinfulness and insignificance in the church. After confession, he feels purified and holy, dreaming of martyrdom and sainthood.
Themes in this chapter
Hypocrisy and Moral Failure
The narrator's internal conflict between piety and resentment towards Mitka highlights the gap between religious ideals and human weakness.
Suffering and Compassion
The narrator's empathy for the suffering of Christ and the Virgin Mary contrasts with his own petty grievances, exploring the nature of compassion.
The Passage of Time
The seasonal shift to spring and the ritual of confession mark a temporal transition, reflecting on childhood and spiritual growth.
Characters to notice
- Mitka
A ragged, spiteful boy, son of the charwoman, who competes with the narrator for confession.
- Ivan Petrovitch
The narrator's father, whose name is given during the confession registration.
- The Lady
A grandly dressed, beautiful woman waiting for confession, admired by the narrator.
- The Priest
The confessor who hears confessions and absolves sins, described with grey curly hair and a broad back.
- The Deacon
The deacon who records names after confession.
Key passages
“I would consent to endure any martyrdom, to live in the desert without my mother, to feed bears out of my own hands, if only I might first eat just one cabbage pie!”
The narrator fantasizes about heroic sainthood but admits his immediate desire for food outweighs his spiritual ambitions.
Highlights the tension between spiritual aspiration and physical needs.
“I have no sins now, I am holy, I have the right to enter Paradise! I fancy that I already smell like the cassock.”
After confession, the narrator feels completely purified and imagines himself already sanctified.
Captures the emotional release and perceived transformation after absolution.