The House of the Dead · Chapter
IX: An Escape explained
The narrator reflects on his final years in prison, describing the monotony and spiritual solitude that led him to review his past and resolve to reform.
What happens
The narrator reflects on his final years in prison, describing the monotony and spiritual solitude that led him to review his past and resolve to reform. He then recounts a notable escape attempt by two convicts, A. and Kulikov, who were captured, punished, and returned to prison, causing a shift in the convicts' attitudes toward them.
Themes in this chapter
Hope and Despair
The narrator's passionate hope for renewal and freedom contrasts with the despair of monotonous prison life and the failed escape.
Community and Alienation
The narrator feels lonely despite hundreds of companions, and the convicts' shifting attitudes toward the escapees reflect the fragile nature of prison community.
Crime and Morality
The escape attempt and subsequent punishment highlight the moral and legal consequences of defying the penal system.
Characters to notice
- Alexandr Petrovitch Goryanchikov
The narrator reflects on his spiritual solitude and resolution to reform during his final years in prison.
- Akim Akimitch
Becomes a corporal under the new prison regulations.
- Kulikov
One of the two convicts who attempts to escape; is captured, punished with fifteen hundred blows, and loses respect among the convicts.
- Koller
Suffers the worst punishment of all, receiving two thousand 'sticks' and being sent to another prison as a convict.
Key passages
“I remember that all those years, which were so much alike, passed drearily, miserably. I remember that those long wearisome days were monotonous, as drops of water trickling from the roof after rain.”
The narrator recalls the years as dreary and monotonous, each day indistinguishable from the last.
Reflects the emotional monotony of prison life.
“The blind faith that I should and could keep these resolutions rose up in my heart again. I looked forward eagerly to freedom, I prayed for it to come quickly; I longed to test myself again in fresh strife.”
The narrator felt a renewed, blind faith in his ability to reform and eagerly anticipated freedom.
Highlights the theme of hope and personal renewal.
“It is hard to describe the effect this news had on the convicts. At first they all seemed angry, then they were depressed. Then attempts at irony were apparent. There were jeers, not now at the pursuers, but at the captives.”
The convicts reacted to the capture of the escapees with anger, depression, and then mockery directed at the fugitives.
Illustrates the shifting social dynamics within the prison community.