The Duel · Chapter
Chapter XV explained
Romashov confronts Nikoläiev over anonymous letters accusing him of being Alexandra Petrovna's lover.
What happens
Romashov confronts Nikoläiev over anonymous letters accusing him of being Alexandra Petrovna's lover. Their friendship ends as Romashov agrees to cease visiting the Nikoläievs. Later, alone in a ravine, Romashov experiences existential despair and challenges God, then encounters the battered soldier Khliabnikov, a fellow victim of the regiment's brutality.
Themes in this chapter
Honor and the Duel
Nikoläiev demands Romashov defend Alexandra Petrovna's honor, leading to the end of their acquaintance and foreshadowing the duel.
Alienation and Loneliness
Romashov feels 'the most lonely and forsaken man in the wide world' after the confrontation, and later experiences existential isolation under the stars.
Hypocrisy and Corruption
The anonymous letters and the regiment's gossip reveal the hypocrisy and slander within the officer corps.
Characters to notice
- Sublieutenant Romashov
Confronted by Nikoläiev, ends their acquaintance, experiences despair and blasphemy, then finds Khliabnikov.
- Lieutenant Nikoläiev
Accuses Romashov of being Alexandra Petrovna's lover, ends their friendship, leaves in a droshky.
- Hainán
Greets Romashov with a broad grin and offers to fetch food, but is dismissed angrily.
- Khliabnikov
Found wandering bareheaded and beaten, with a disfigured face; Romashov recognizes him as a fellow sufferer.
Key passages
“He suddenly felt like the most lonely and forsaken man in the wide world, and it seemed to him as if he had, then and there, despoiled himself of all that had hitherto made his life at all worth living.”
Romashov felt utterly abandoned and realized he had lost everything that gave his life meaning.
Captures Romashov's profound alienation after the break with Nikoläiev.
“God, why hast Thou turned Thy countenance from me? What offence can I—a miserable worm, a grain of sand—have committed against Thee? Thou art almighty, Thou art good, Thou seest and hearest everything—why hast Thou suffered injustice and malice so to triumph over me?”
Romashov cries out to God, questioning why he is abandoned and why injustice prevails despite God's power and goodness.
Highlights Romashov's existential crisis and challenge to divine justice.
“Behold the man who with me brought shame on the entire regiment today. We are both equally to be pitied.”
Romashov sees Khliabnikov as a fellow victim of the regiment's disgrace, deserving of pity.
Shows Romashov's identification with the abused soldier, emphasizing shared suffering.