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Summary
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Sofia Petrovna, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Uncertainty and Disbelief
Patriotism and Fanaticism
Pride, Status, and Moral Superiority
Loyalty, Political Allegiance, and Truth
Summary
Analysis
Sofia Petrovna becomes a typist in the aftermath of her husband’s death. She wants to make sure she’ll be able to pay for her son, Kolya, to pursue higher education—she knows it’s what her husband, Fyodor Ivanovich, would have wanted. She lands a job in a publishing house in her home city of Leningrad, and though she has never worked in an office, she quickly takes a liking to the daily routine of her role as a senior typist. She oversees the other typists, assigns them work, and makes sure everything is presentable. She feels important in her job, especially because it means she works in the orbit of new Soviet works of literature.
Sofia Petrovna’s positive attitude toward her job as a typist reveals her desire to contribute to the Soviet Union as a productive citizen. She clearly takes pride in fashioning herself as someone with a certain amount of importance, relishing the status that comes along with managing the typing pool—a job that isn’t all that powerful. Nevertheless, she likes feeling important, and she finds meaning in her job because it’s connected to Soviet culture. The novel thus presents her as a citizen who is wholeheartedly devoted to contributing to the Soviet Union.
Themes
It’s not long before Sofia’s superiors at the publishing house recognize her competence. The other typists treat her with respect, though they’re a little intimidated by her. One woman in particular irritates Sofia. Her name is Erna Semyonovna, and she’s a terrible typist who misspells almost every word she types and carries herself in an arrogant way that reminds Sofia of a housekeeper who used to flirt with her late husband. But there are also people at work whom Sofia really likes, such as Natasha Frolenko, who is a wonderful worker and a great typist.
Sofia has a fondness for hard workers, indicating that she values diligent people who value being productive Soviet citizens. Conversely, she dislikes Erna Semyonovna because she makes so many mistakes but still seems to think she’s worthy of respect. Sofia’s judgmental attitude toward Erna hints that she harbors a certain sense of moral superiority, as she’s quick to form negative opinions about people who don’t live up to her high standards of how good Soviet citizens should behave.
Themes
Although the typing pool is separate from the editorial department of the publishing house, Sofia Petrovna soon gets to know the higher-ranking employees. A kind accountant starts talking to her in the halls, and the director’s secretary says hello to her in the mornings. She even gets to know the “party secretary,” Comrade Timofeyev, who periodically visits the typing pool to summon Erna Semyonovna. Erna has an official “security clearance,” so the party secretary needs her to type “secret party documents.”
Comrade Timofeyev works at the publishing house as a representative of the Communist Party—a fact that shows just how intertwined the government was with everyday life in the Soviet Union during the mid-to-late 1930s, when Sofia Petrovna is set. Because of the close connection between the publishing house and the Communist Party, Sofia’s sense of herself as a contributor to the Communist cause makes sense, enabling her to see her work as something that plays into a broader governmental structure.
Themes
The director of the publishing house is impressed by Sofia Petrovna’s skills, since he’s heard that she’s particularly good at deciphering his terrible handwriting. As a result, he asks her to work overtime, and his compliment gives her great pleasure—she leaves his office feeling fulfilled and proud.
The director’s kind words delight Sofia because they affirm her sense of importance. She sees herself as a productive Soviet citizen, and the fact that the director specifically commends her hard work supports her feeling that her job as a typist is something she can be proud of.
Themes
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Sofia Petrovna attends her first meeting, where the director delivers a speech about the rise of fascism in Germany. After he speaks, Timofeyev talks about how everyone must stay vigilant and get “the facts” straight, though he doesn’t elaborate. Then, Anna Grigorievna, the chairman of the Mestkom (the local trade union) gets up and says that the publishing house must hold its workers to a high standard, in light of everything going on in the world and in the Soviet Union. Sofia doesn’t quite grasp what everyone’s talking about, but she doesn’t dare leave early. In fact, she looks disapprovingly at a typist who moves toward the door.
There was a fair amount of political tension building in the Soviet Union in the 1930s. The assassination of a high-ranking Soviet politician, Sergei Kirov, sparked internal unrest within the government, as Stalin began to suspect that certain politicians wanted to undermine his party. One of the party’s fears at the time was the growing popularity of fascism in the West, as countries like Italy and Germany fell under fascist rule. The mounting fear surrounding the potential fascist infiltration of the Soviet Union is what provokes the leaders of the publishing house to hold this meeting about remaining vigilantly committed to the Communist cause.
Themes
Sofia eventually gets used to attending meetings at the publishing house. Her interest in these meetings increases after the director publicly praises her for her good work, pointing to her as an example of the kind of worker everyone else should aspire to be during these tumultuous times.
For all of her interest in being a devoted and productive Soviet citizen, Sofia isn’t particularly tuned in to the current political climate. Instead, she’s mainly concerned with her own job performance and whether or not impressive people like the director think she’s doing a good job. Her commitment to the Communist cause, then, has less to do with political ideology than it has to do with an unquestioned sense of loyalty and allegiance to the Soviet Union—a loyalty that will be challenged as the novel progresses.
Themes
