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Chapter 6
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
There’s nothing in the newspapers the following day about the arrests. Sofia wants to visit Mrs. Kiparisova to check in on her, but she doesn’t. She doesn’t have time. Plus, she hasn’t seen Mrs. Kiparisova in three years, anyway, so it would be odd to show up out of nowhere.
For Sofia, life goes on like normal, even though a large group of people in her city have been arrested—including some of her own personal acquaintances, whom she has no reason to suspect are guilty of anything. The fact that she doesn’t even visit Mrs. Kiparisova suggests that she doesn’t want to burden herself with the matter, instead preferring to continue with her pleasant daily life.
Themes
That month, Sofia starts actually reading the newspapers and tracking current events. She and Natasha read every day about fascists infiltrating the Soviet Union and how it’s necessary to arrest anyone engaged in “terrorist” activities. These are the people, Sofia learns, who apparently murdered Sergei Kirov, and now they want to kill Joseph Stalin and threaten the soviet way of life. Everyone around Sofia talks about how even the most unsuspecting people might be working against the Soviet Union.
Although Sofia continues with her daily life in the aftermath of the arrests, she does start reading the newspapers to get a better sense of what’s going on. However, doing this only gives her one side of the story—namely, the government’s side, since the newspapers themselves report in ways that are favorable for the Communist Party. Therefore, Sofia is inundated with fearmongering propaganda about the “terrorist” activity that is supposedly taking place in the Soviet Union.
Themes
The publishing house holds a mandatory meeting to talk about the current situation in the Soviet Union. Comrade Timofeyev—the party secretary—talks about how enemies to the Communist Party are lurking everywhere, which is why everyone at the publishing house has to redouble their efforts to maintain “political vigilance.” After he speaks, he hands the floor over to the chairman of the Mestkom, Anna Grigorievna, who declares that the publishing house itself has been infiltrated by enemies of the state. Everyone is shocked. She explains that the supervisor of the printshop was arrested the previous night for being an “enemy of the people.” She then chides the company for allowing this to go undetected for so long, which is why everyone must be extra diligent.
A sense of paranoia creeps through the publishing house as the Soviet government spreads fear and hysteria. The authorities in Sofia’s professional life only add to the propaganda that is already circulating about infiltrators. In fact, everyone around Sofia seems to get swept up in the idea of maintaining “political vigilance,” and this “vigilance” leads to an atmosphere of hyper-patriotism and suspicion.
Themes
Anna Grigorievna says that the supervisor of the print shop was identified as an “enemy of the people” because his uncle had been arrested for the same thing. When Natasha asks what, exactly, the supervisor did, Anna Grigorievna indignantly reiterates that he was the nephew of a known dissident. She adds that he was in contact with his uncle, and then she makes a few vague allegations about how he interfered with the Communist Party’s goals on his uncle’s orders, though she doesn’t say how.
Natasha’s question brings up a good point: there’s a lot of hysteria and paranoia about infiltrators in the Soviet Union, but not much solid evidence that there are actually that many people working to undermine the Communist Party. Instead of laying out clear evidence for what the supervisor of the print shop did, though, Anna Grigorievna emphasizes his association with someone else who has been arrested. This suggests that merely being affiliated with a suspected dissident is enough—in the Communist Party’s eyes—to prove an otherwise innocent citizen’s guilt.
Themes
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In the coming days, everyone is on edge at the publishing house. The director visits the party headquarters in Leningrad, and Comrade Timofeyev makes frequent visits to the typing pool and takes Erna Semyonovna into a private room to handle secret business. Sofia, for her part, writes to Kolya and tells him to remain on the alert for dissidents and enemies of the Soviet Union. She herself learns at work that Anna Grigorievna blames Comrade Timofeyev for the situation in the printshop, and Comrade Timofeyev, in turn, blames the director.
The climate of political fear and hysteria has clearly put everyone around Sofia on guard. Nobody trusts one another, as evidenced by how suspicious the authorities of the publishing house are of one another. In these circumstances, then, it seems as if anyone is in danger of getting arrested—regardless of what they have or have not done.
Themes
On her way home one day, Sofia runs into Mrs. Kiparisova. She’s astonished by the way her old friend looks. Mrs. Kiparisova is wearing felt boots and galoshes, a scarf and a hat, and is using a cane. Sofia thinks the old woman has “let herself go,” but she still treats her with kindness, asking if her husband has been accused of anything serious. He was always such a respected doctor, Sofia notes, saying that her own husband always thought of him as an esteemed colleague. Mrs. Kiparisova insists that her husband didn’t do anything, which greatly pleases Sofia, who says she never even believed the accusations. She’s sure Mrs. Kiparisova’s husband will be let out very soon, insisting that the Soviet Union doesn’t keep innocent people in jail.
Sofia’s optimism about Doctor Kiparisov’s fate isn’t necessarily a sign that she’s naïve—rather, it’s a sign of her strong belief in the virtues of the Soviet government. She isn’t all that invested in communism from an ideological standpoint, but she is invested in the Soviet Union, clinging to a strong sense of patriotism that keeps her from recognizing the government’s flaws. Therefore, she genuinely believes that Mr. Kiparisov will be let out of prison soon, because she thinks the Soviet government is just and kind.
Themes
