# XVII: The First of May explained — The Bolshevik Myth

> Chapter companion for The Bolshevik Myth by Alexander Berkman.

## What happens

The narrator describes the May Day celebrations in Petrograd, contrasting the revolutionary fervor of the parade with the physical exhaustion and apathy of the participants. He reflects on a past May Day in New York, where police brutality crushed a demonstration, and contrasts it with the present spectacle. Despite the impressive display, the narrator notes the lack of enthusiasm among the marchers, symbolized by a young workman's question, 'What's the use of it all!'

## Themes in this chapter

### Revolutionary Idealism vs. Reality

The narrator's youthful dreams of a revolutionary May Day are realized in the grand parade, but the physical weakness and apathy of the marchers reveal the gap between ideal and reality.

### Human Suffering and Dehumanization

The marchers are undernourished, exhausted, and poorly clad; children walk barefoot, and the crowd's lack of enthusiasm suggests deep physical and emotional depletion.

## Character check-ins

### Zinoviev

Zinoviev invites the narrator to join him in an automobile during the May Day parade, and later stands with him on the reviewing stand.

### Alexander Berkman

Berkman is hailed by Zinoviev and joins him in the parade; he interprets for an American correspondent.

### Liza Zorin

Zorin carries the huge red banner during the procession, staggering under its weight but refusing to give it up.

### Chicherin

Chicherin is mentioned as having finally admitted an American correspondent into Russia.

### Antselovitch

Antselovitch, one of Zinoviev's lieutenants, shouts 'Hurrah, Hurrah, Tovarishi!' to the passing demonstrators.

## Key lines

> What’s the use of it all! I’d like to know what we have gained.

A young workman expresses disillusionment, questioning the tangible benefits of the revolution despite the grand spectacle.

_This moment underscores the theme of revolutionary idealism vs. reality, as the worker's apathy contrasts with the official celebration._

> Here, indeed, was the First of May of my youthful dreams. Here was the Revolution itself!

The narrator feels that the current May Day celebration fulfills his earlier revolutionary aspirations, seeing it as the embodiment of the revolution.

_This reflection highlights the narrator's emotional investment in the revolution and his desire to see its ideals realized._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_bolshevik_myth_se/chapters/xvii-the-first-of-may
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_bolshevik_myth_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_bolshevik_myth_se/chapters