The Little Demon · Chapter
VII explained
Peredonov, paranoid and suspicious, attends church and interacts with schoolboys and colleagues, then receives a forged letter from the Princess promising him the inspector position.
What happens
Peredonov, paranoid and suspicious, attends church and interacts with schoolboys and colleagues, then receives a forged letter from the Princess promising him the inspector position. He shows it to Vershina, who questions its authenticity, leading Peredonov to doubt and demand the envelope from Varvara, who claims she burned it. He decides to begin visiting important townspeople to secure his position.
Themes in this chapter
Madness and Paranoia
Peredonov's suspicion of the Headmaster, his fear of informants, his sudden doubt about the forged letter, and his obsessive need to secure loyalty from townspeople all reflect his growing paranoia.
Hypocrisy and Social Facade
Peredonov attends church out of fear of being reported, not piety; he shows the forged letter to boast, while Varvara deceives him with the letter; Volodin invents appointments to appear important.
Provinciality and Pettiness
The petty schemes—tarring Marta's gate, Volodin's carpentry proposal to see Nadezhda, Peredonov's gossip about a schoolmistress's red shirt—highlight the narrow, trivial concerns of provincial life.
Characters to notice
- Peredonov
Attends church, teases Misha Koudryavtsev, receives forged letter, shows it to Vershina, becomes suspicious of Varvara, plans visits to important personages.
- Pavel Volodin
Meets Peredonov after church, gleefully reports plan to tar Marta's gate, then visits Nadezhda Adamenko to propose carpentry lessons.
- Varvara
Grumbles at Peredonov for not coming home, gives him the forged letter, claims she burned the envelope, trembles under suspicion.
- Natalya Vershina
Stands at her gate smoking, receives Peredonov, questions the letter's authenticity by asking for the envelope, later laughs at Peredonov's doubt.
- Misha Koudryavtsev
A schoolboy with a rosy face and blue eyes, teased by Peredonov who calls him 'Mashenka' at the church gate.
- Kramarenko
A smooth-faced, fidgety choirboy whom Peredonov scolds for grinning in church.
- Inspector Bogdanov
Stands next to Peredonov in church; Peredonov whispers that a schoolmistress (Skobotchkina) wears a red shirt, alarming him.
- Nadezhda Adamenko
Volodin visits her and proposes that her brother take carpentry lessons for thirty roubles a month.
Key passages
“Peredonov imagined that these were the boys who had been prejudiced against him by the Headmaster, if not personally, at least through his sons.”
Peredonov believed the Headmaster had turned the students against him, either directly or via his sons.
Illustrates Peredonov's paranoid attribution of student dislike to the Headmaster's influence.
“I’ve managed to persuade Cherepnin, and very soon he’s going to smear Marta’s gate with tar!”
Volodin gleefully reports that he convinced Cherepnin to tar Marta's gate soon.
Shows Volodin's petty, malicious scheming against Marta.
“Here at last was a clear and definite promise. At the moment no doubts entered his mind.”
Peredonov felt the letter gave a firm promise, and for now he had no suspicions.
Highlights Peredonov's initial gullibility regarding the forged letter.
“But where’s the envelope?”
Vershina asks for the envelope to verify the letter's origin.
Vershina's skepticism plants doubt in Peredonov's mind.
“Vara tells me she burnt it.”
Peredonov reports that Varvara claims she burned the envelope.
Peredonov's suspicion grows as the envelope's absence undermines the letter's authenticity.
