The way she does it
Lydia and Kira are sisters, the blood and flesh of the same parents, but that is where all similarities end. Lydia is an antonym of Kira and vice versa. When Kira announces that she is going to be an engineer, no one is too fond of the idea. Neither her parents nor her aunt’s family finds this idea appealing at all. Lydia’s reaction is the worst. She comments “resentfully” that Kira “always gets her way” and that she, Lydia, doesn’t “she how she does it.” The irony is that Kira just knows exactly what she wants while Lydia’s head is full of dreams and uncertainty.
The most progressive policy
Vasili Ivanovitch made his fortune with his own hands. He used to be a hunter; the most precious furs that made his name well-known not only in the Russian Empire but also abroad were got by him. The Revolution destroyed his little kingdom. His store was nationalized by people who didn’t do a thing in their lives to build their own fortune. Of course, Vasili Ivanovitch wasn’t fond of communism. Unlike his father, Victor seemed to be ready to forget about the past and didn’t hold any grudge against his new comrades. According to him, the Soviet government had “the most progressive policy outlined.” The irony was that Victor pretended not to notice that his family had to sell more and more of their property to buy the cheapest food of the worst quality. It didn’t look like the most progressive policy at all.
Blind
Vasili Ivanovitch was absolutely convinced that Europe would say “her last word” and that word would definitely mean the end for the Red state. It was his only hope, the dream that helped him to survive during the dark days. He was too old to get used to the new order, he was not as flexible as his son was, that Russia wasn’t his country. The irony was that Europe had so many other problems at that time that the Soviet Russia couldn’t concern it any less. No one wanted to start a new war and to sat that “last word” would definitely cause a new military conflict.
