# A Visit to Peter Kropotkin explained — The Bolshevik Myth

> Chapter companion for The Bolshevik Myth by Alexander Berkman.

## What happens

The narrator visits the elderly anarchist Peter Kropotkin in Dmitrov, finding him physically weakened and isolated under Bolshevik rule. Despite receiving a slightly better ration, Kropotkin struggles with fuel, lighting, and intellectual isolation. The narrator reflects on Kropotkin's past refusal to visit America on movement funds, and notes his critical remark that the Bolsheviks have shown 'how the Revolution is not to be made.' The visit ends with a bleak scene of starving children at a Moscow station.

## Themes in this chapter

### Revolutionary Idealism vs. Reality

Kropotkin's physical decline and isolation contrast with the narrator's youthful idealization of him as a revolutionary teacher.

### Human Suffering and Dehumanization

The narrator observes starving, ragged children at the Moscow station, highlighting widespread suffering.

### Betrayal of Revolutionary Ideals

Kropotkin's remark that the Bolsheviks showed 'how the Revolution is not to be made' implies a betrayal of revolutionary principles.

## Character check-ins

### Peter Kropotkin

Visited in Dmitrov; emaciated, feeble, isolated, and undernourished, yet still spiritually idealistic.

### Lansbury

Accompanied the narrator on the visit; remarks on the condition of children in Austria.

### Nestor Makhno

Mentioned as having sent provisions to Kropotkin when still friendly with the Bolsheviks.

### Unknown Narrator

The narrator, a longtime admirer of Kropotkin, recounts the visit and his own youthful anarchist activism in New York.

## Key lines

> They have shown how the Revolution is not to be made.

Kropotkin criticized the Bolsheviks for demonstrating the wrong way to carry out a revolution.

_Key insight into Kropotkin's critical stance toward Bolshevik methods._

> How pinched and frozen they look

The narrator comments on the gaunt and cold appearance of the children at the station.

_Illustrates the dire conditions faced by ordinary people._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_bolshevik_myth_se/chapters/x-a-visit-to-peter-kropotkin
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_bolshevik_myth_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_bolshevik_myth_se/chapters