The Secret City · Chapter
VIII explained
Durward visits Vera Michailovna and encounters Jerry Lawrence, an old acquaintance.
What happens
Durward visits Vera Michailovna and encounters Jerry Lawrence, an old acquaintance. Vera reveals her anxieties about her husband's drinking and her sister Nina's growing independence, while Durward reflects on the isolation and fatalism of Petrograd during the war.
Themes in this chapter
Isolation and Alienation
Petrograd is depicted as a beleaguered city, isolated by contempt and hatred, and Durward feels a deep personal loneliness.
Love and Sacrifice
Vera's passionate love for Nina and her fear of losing her highlight the theme of sacrificial love.
Fate and Uncertainty
The Russian people's fatalism after Warsaw and Vera's vague fears about her family reflect a sense of impending doom.
Characters to notice
- Vera Michailovna
Vera is agitated and confides in Durward about her husband's drinking and Nina's rebellious behavior, showing a vulnerable side.
- Jerry Lawrence
Lawrence meets Durward at Vera's flat, initially awkward but later shares a moment of silent sympathy with Vera.
- M. Durward
Durward narrates the chapter, reflecting on Petrograd's isolation and his own loneliness.
- Nina Michailovna
Vera discusses Nina's changed behavior, her constant outings, and her growing distance from Vera.
- Nicholas Markovitch
Vera mentions that her husband has started drinking again and is lying about it, worrying her deeply.
- Henry Bohun
Lawrence is looking for Bohun, who is staying with the Markovitch family.
Key passages
“From the very beginning of the war Petrograd was isolated—isolated not by the facts of the war, its geographical position or any of the obvious causes, but simply by the contempt and hatred with which it was regarded.”
Petrograd was cut off from the rest of Russia not because of war or geography, but because other Russians despised it.
Durward explains the unique isolation of Petrograd.
“There are three things, perhaps all of them nothing. … And yet all of them disturbing. First my husband. He's beginning to drink again.”
Vera lists three worries: her husband's relapse into drinking, Nina's changed behavior, and her own vague fears.
Vera confides her anxieties to Durward.