Foreshadowing
Very early in the book, irony is utilized as foreshadowing. One of the story’s two protagonists, a young man named Aliocha, admits to himself that “No woman had ever come to save him.” This will prove ironic because the whole crux of the narrative will be that a woman he’s never met before becomes his confidante and collaborator in trying to save from serving duty in the Russian military in the wake of his recently being drafted.
A Foreigner’s Russia
The other protagonist is that female savior of Aliocha. Hélène is a French woman who moved to Russia to be with her Russian lover. She “doesn’t speak a word of Russian, but she’s read Anna Karenina three times, hums the melody of Doctor Zhivago.” This is comedic irony underling the typical shortcomings of foreigners traveling to a different country. Even though Anna Karenina is a novel written by a Russian author and set in Russia, doubtlessly the version she read was a French translation. Doctor Zhivago references a movie set in Russia made by a British director in English which she has probably seen either dubbed into French or with French subtitles. The irony is that though she is in Russia, she has neglected to learn the language and her strongest associations with the country are filtered through non-Russian sources.
Military Intelligence
Aliocha desperately wants to escape the grasp of the other Russian soldiers on the train in his dream of deserting the military before he has even been sent to his first post. He muses how he and the other new recruits wondering where they will be sent have “been told Krasnoyarsk and Barnaoul, they’ve been told Chita, but it always comes down to the same thing: no one tells them anything.” The specific language in this example highlights the irony of being told many different things which in reality tell them nothing at all.
Communication and Collaboration
Hélène and Aliocha are strangers thrown together in which circumstances conspire to coerce them into working together toward the singular goal of helping the younger man escape his military responsibilities. Hélène is French and speaks no Russian. Aliocha is Russian and does not understand French. Ironically, they are better able to communicate and work together to meet their goal than the soldiers sharing a language are able to communicate and collaborate to stop Aliocha.
Escape Route
Hélène is on the train making an escape from the romantic situation she has with her lover which has turned sour. Aliocha is on the train heading east to take him to his unknown military post. Both are trying to escape. Ironically, for Hélène escape means staying on the train the way to its final destination while for Aliocha escape means getting off the train because every minute he stays aboard brings him closer to the possibility of being discovered. The train is thus both an escape route and a prison simultaneously for the two main characters.
