“Did it ever occur to you,” asked Kira, “that I may be here for the very unusual, unnatural reason of wanting to learn a work I like only because I like it?”
The Communists agitated for the bright future in which the unity of society would be the highest value. Selfishness was despised, frowned upon, bashed. Unfortunately for her, Kira couldn’t stand the masses, so when comrade Sonia started praising her choice – according to her, Kira’s profession would allow her to serve the Soviet people – Kira hurried to explain that she was there “for the very unusual, unnatural reason of wanting to learn a work” that she liked. Such a frank explanation was dangerous in the times when individualism was considered the most terrible crime.
Can you sacrifice the few? When those few are the best?
Kira can’t understand Andrei’s philosophy. His readiness to destroy those “few” for the benefit of the millions frightens her. Unlike Andrei, she doesn’t see anything special in the masses. For her, they are “dull, shriveled, stagnant souls that have no thoughts of their own, no will of their own, who eat and sleep and chew helplessly the words others put into their brains.” Kira wasn’t able to understand how he could “sacrifice the few” when those few “are the best.” These are two different types of philosophies. Andrei believes in mankind; Kira does not.
It was I against a hundred and fifty million people. I lost.
Kira was a brave woman. Neither hardship nor fighting for her happiness scared her, for she knew that she was right and that she had a right to live as she wished. However, even the strongest ones could be broken. She lost Andrei, she lost Leo, she lost her trust in her ability to conquer the state. She was “against a hundred and fifty million people” and that was a case when the number really mattered. She “lost” her battle against the state. The most tragic part was that her death was hardly noticed by anyone in that vast country that stayed mute to the suffering of its own people.
