# X explained — Yama

> Chapter companion for Yama by Aleksandr Kuprin.

## What happens

Platonov delivers a passionate monologue on the failure of Russian literature to truthfully depict prostitution and the lives of prostitutes, contrasting it with the idealized Sonechka Marmeladova. He argues that prostitutes remain childlike and naive despite their degradation, and illustrates the hypocrisy of figures like Anna Markovna, who exploits women to provide for her daughter Birdie. The chapter ends with a knock and Jennie's entrance.

## Themes in this chapter

### Hypocrisy of Society

Platonov exposes the hypocrisy of Anna Markovna, who presents herself as a tender mother while exploiting women for her daughter's luxury.

### Dehumanization and Commodification

The discussion highlights how prostitutes are treated as commodities, yet Platonov insists on their inherent humanity and childlike nature.

### Illusion of Reform and Redemption

Platonov critiques the literary tendency to sanitize or sentimentalize prostitution, arguing that true reform requires honest depiction.

## Character check-ins

### Sergei Ivanovich Platonov

Delivers a lengthy critique of literature's failure to portray prostitution truthfully, using examples of Simeon and Anna Markovna.

### Likhonin

Interacts with Platonov, prompting him to continue his speech and later proposing a toast.

### Mr. Yarchenko

Remarks that Sonechka Marmeladova is an abstract type, prompting Platonov's heated response.

### Boris Sobashnikov

Interjects with a cautionary remark during Platonov's speech.

### Little Manka

Expresses a wish for someone to write the truth about the lives of prostitutes.

### Jennka

Enters the room in her resplendent orange dress at the end of the chapter.

## Key lines

> But the life itself no one as yet has touched.

No writer has truly captured the reality of prostitution.

_Platonov laments the lack of authentic literary portrayal._

> Why, all of them, whom you take into bedrooms—look upon them, look upon them well—why, they are all children; why, each of them is but eleven years old.

Every prostitute is like a child, stuck at an age of innocence and naivete.

_Platonov emphasizes the arrested development of prostitutes._

> This bloodsucker, hyena, vixen and so on … is the tenderest mother imaginable.

Anna Markovna, despite her exploitative profession, is a devoted mother to her daughter.

_Platonov illustrates the paradox of Anna Markovna's character._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/yama_se/chapters/part-i-x
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/yama_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/yama_se/chapters