# Prison Animals explained — The House of the Dead

> Chapter companion for The House of the Dead by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

## What happens

This chapter describes the various animals that lived within the prison alongside the convicts, including dogs Sharik, Byelka, and Kultyapka, geese, the goat Vaska, and an eagle. It explores the relationships between the prisoners and these animals, highlighting moments of cruelty, compassion, and the symbolic yearning for freedom. The chapter culminates in the forced slaughter of Vaska by the major and the release of the eagle by the convicts.

## Themes in this chapter

### Freedom and Imprisonment

The eagle, a wild and proud bird, cannot adapt to prison life and is eventually released by the convicts, symbolizing their own longing for freedom.

### Human Dignity and Dehumanization

The treatment of Byelka, a submissive and abused dog, mirrors the dehumanization of the convicts themselves, who often kick him without thought.

### Power and Cruelty

The major's arbitrary order to kill Vaska the goat demonstrates the absolute and often cruel power wielded over the prisoners.

## Character check-ins

### Skuratov

Mentions that the eagle is the king of the forests, but is not listened to by the other convicts.

### Babay

A Lezghian convict who plays butting games with the goat Vaska and is playfully knocked off the steps by him.

### Akim Akimitch

Consulted about the possibility of gilding Vaska's horns; he deems it possible but not lasting or useful.

### Isay Fomitch Bumshtein

Mentioned as the best gilder in the prison, alongside Akim Akimitch.

## Key lines

> The eagle is the king of the forests, brothers

Skuratov declares that the eagle is the sovereign of the wild.

_Skuratov's comment reflects the convicts' respect for the eagle's untamed nature._

> Give him freedom, freedom full and free!

Let him go completely free!

_A convict expresses the desire to grant the eagle total liberty, echoing their own wish for freedom._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_house_of_the_dead_se/chapters/part-ii-vi-prison-animals
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_house_of_the_dead_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_house_of_the_dead_se/chapters