# V explained — Yama

> Chapter companion for Yama by Aleksandr Kuprin.

## What happens

With the arrival of Horizon, the brothels on Yamskaya Street undergo a ruthless reshuffling, demoting women from higher to lower establishments. Horizon persuades Anna Markovna to transfer Sonka the Rudder to a half-rouble house, where she is neglected and only sought by a timid pharmacist who cannot rescue her.

## Themes in this chapter

### Dehumanization and Commodification

Women are treated as goods to be 'floated down the stream' for profit, with no regard for their humanity.

### Hypocrisy of Society

The pharmacist's love for Sonka is rendered impotent by social constraints and personal cowardice, exposing the gap between sentiment and action.

## Character check-ins

### Simon Yakovlevich Horizon

Arrives and orchestrates the demotion of women between brothels, using cynical persuasion and biblical citation.

### Anna Markovna

Reluctantly agrees to Horizon's proposal to transfer Sonka, though she feels pity for the girl.

### Isaiah Savvich

Supports Horizon's plan, emphasizing Sonka's lack of demand and the financial benefit of removing her.

### Sonka

Transferred to a half-rouble establishment where she is largely ignored, except by a pharmacist who visits nightly but cannot take her away.

## Key lines

> Give the falling a shove!

Push those who are already declining further down.

_Horizon cynically quotes Nietzsche to justify the demotion of Sonka to a lower brothel._

> At each change of place Horizon earned from five to a hundred roubles.

Horizon profited from every transfer of a woman between brothels.

_Highlights Horizon's mercenary role in the trafficking and degradation of women._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/yama_se/chapters/part-ii-v
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/yama_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/yama_se/chapters