Sofia Petrovna Analysis

Lydia Chekovskaya wrote about Sofia Petrovna and the transformation she had undergone to closely reflect the state of mind and changes experienced by citizens of the Soviet Union during that time. As people began to suffer from the purges and other hardships due to Stalin’s incompetence, their minds and logic, much like Sofia Petrovna’s, became impaired leading them to try their best to rationalize Stalin’s actions. They believed in the party wholeheartedly, but when they finally realized the wrongdoing of the party, it was far too late.
Before Sofia Petrovna truly experienced the moral and logical conflict in regards to the purges, she was a sympathizer of the party. She raised her son, Kolya, to lead a life that would make the party leaders proud. Sofia Petrovna stated in that her son was a “loyal Komsomol member,” and she felt “tenderness and fear” when she looked at him, but also pride (p. 19).

Although she had enormous pride for her son and his achievements, she was “afraid to be glad” (p. 19). This was due to the fear that the party did not want her to be proud because it was an achievement of the party, rather than her own. The fundamentals of the party stated that the accomplishments of Soviet citizens were not due to themselves, but the work of Stalin and the party.
Another conflict Sofia Petrovna had with the party initially was Natasha’s continual denial of admission to Komsomol. Sofia Petrovna had admired her, and understandably so because Natasha had been an extremely hard worker, politically aware, loyal to the party, and “never let a day go by without reading Pravda from beginning to end” (p. 24). Sofia Petrovna sympathized for Natasha and her situation, which led her to question the party’s logic with accepting members. She sought Kolya’s advice regarding the situation, but he simply regarded the “injustice” Sofia Petrovna felt as a “class concept” and that the “vigilance” used in selecting members was “essential” to the function of the party. After receiving Kolya’s remarks, she had realized he was right since Natasha had “come from a bourgeois, land-owning family,” which was not the ideal of the party (p. 24). An important ideology of the party was that people should be cautious of the bourgeois, therefore it was understandable, in citizens’ eyes, to deny them from Komsomol and other party organizations. Sofia Petrovna comforted Natasha in saying that she would be accepted in a few years, but Natasha did not reply and left with a “volume of Kolya’s Lenin” to take notes as he had advised (p. 25). Sofia Petrovna’s consoling was only due to her naïve belief that Natasha had a chance after the class struggle ended, and it was just courtesy so Natasha would not stop trying to be in the party or living as one should under the party.
Another way in which Sofia Petrovna closely mirrored the majorities’ actions and beliefs was when “enemies had been discovered in their printshop” (p. 35). Anna Grigorievna spoke to everyone at the publishing house saying that “the vile enemy has thrust his paw into [their] establishment, too,” shocking everyone (p. 35). It was at this point in time when the party began to produce propaganda and prose that spread the idea that “enemies of the people were everywhere” (p.34-35). The party essentially falsely accused many of these “enemies” and had minimal justification, such as relation to an enemy. Families who had one person taken away during the purge were often identified as enemies, and most often killed as well. Following the discovery, arguments began as to who had let the enemy slip in to the printing shop and fingers were pointed at several people including the director and the secretary. This lead Sofia Petrovna to understand why Kolya had told her that vigilance was so important in letting people into Komsomol. Sofia Petrovna really began to have her every opinion molded into the opinions of the party that she thought was right.
Sofia Petrovna discovers that Kolya had been arrested late at night in his dormitory for terrorist activity (p. 78). When Sofia Petrovna receives the news about his arrest from Alik, she breaks down. Her immediate thought is that “she must rush off somewhere” and “clear up this monstrous misunderstanding” (p. 45). However, as her quest for information continues, she assures herself that the government cannot possibly arrest an innocent man. She represents what the people of the Soviet Union were subject to during that time. They were subject to confusion because they believed the same thing as Sofia Petrovna, a mistake had been made, and that they might be able to fix it if they went to the government offices. All of the families that had experienced an arrest had spent their days and nights “in line” searching for an explanation of the ‘mistake’ that had resulted in the imprisonment of their loved ones (p. 55). Nevertheless, because of the faith in her party she was convinced the other women in line must have had a “saboteur” as a husband or son (p.50).
Sofia Petrovna sympathized with the party and scolded Alik when he referred to Central Committee of Komsomol as “scoundrels” and “swine” because he had been blacklisted. Sofia Petrovna is unhappy with the way he spoke because he could be “expelled from Komsomol,” which is not helpful if he wants to remain loyal to the party (p. 72). She also denied his claim that his blacklisting was because he “wouldn’t renounce Nikolai” because she believed it was a “mistake” and “temporary” like the whole mess they had gotten into starting with Kolya’s arrest (p. 72-73). Society during this time was in constant fear of being ostracized by the party and its members, so they were very careful about what they would say or do. At this point Sofia Petrovna was convinced that they would release Kolya, and he and Alik would have their Komsomol memberships “reinstated right away” (p. 73).
Following Kolya’s arrest, Sofia Petrovna’s neighbors became extraordinarily disapproving of her. They believed the Kolya was guilty and even blamed her for things that went wrong. The nurse said that she and other neighbors “had found her systematically stealing kerosene” and that Sofia Petrovna’s son was “an enemy of the people” (p. 98). At this point, she was beginning to portray the experience of those who were related to someone that was purge. The rest of society would disapprove anyone with a tie to a purge victim, and most often the relative or those close to a victim would be arrested themselves to protect the citizens of the Soviet Union. Eventually, Sofia Petrovna picked out small things that may have led to Kolya’s arrest to try to justify it. She went to the lines saying he made mistake because he was young and would never do it again, but since he really was an innocent victim like most others during this time, it did not work.
Not only were the heads of the publishing house under fire, but each typist. After a simple typing mistake was made by Natasha, she feared that she would be fired “for lack of vigilance” because she wrote “Ret Army instead of Red army” (p.62). Sofia Petrovna wondered why Natasha believed they would do that after something simple, but ultimately Natasha was fired. Although not in conjunction with what most Soviet people would have done in this situation, Sofia Petrovna attempted to defend Natasha, but this action resulted in her own incrimination, and she also had to leave the publishing house. As a result of the event, Natasha was placed on the blacklist along Alik, and was unable to find work anywhere.
When Natasha was blacklisted, she became increasingly depressed because she could not find work and could no longer keep her mind of of Kolya’s absence and the stresses of life during this time. Alik had been arrested as well because he would not renounce Kolya, and this made Natasha further aware of the crimes that the party had been committing. She reflected those during the time because she became so depressed and could not carry on living a normal life. The idea that the arrests were a plot of Stalin became increasingly prevalent because of how irrational it was. She began to be concerned about the government arresting Sofia Petrovna saying “don’t talk to me…they’ll see” in reference to the increased surveillance in society (p. 86). Natasha began writing to Stalin because of this conclusion, however realized that the only way she could go on is if she killed herself. For many, including Natasha, suicide was the only way to escape the nightmare that the government helped produced. Sadness and desperation were prominent during the time because people began to understand the faults of the government.
One night while in line waiting to give Alik money, Kiparisiva, another family member of a purge victim, warned her about giving him money. Kipariziva tells Sofia Petrovna that regardless of the fact that they do not ask who gives money, they will link her to the “counterrevolutionary organization” that the boys are part of because “they know everything” (p. 93). She was disturbed by this and returned home to be torn apart by reality. However by this point reasoning was as impossible as coping with the loss of her son, so her only way of living was to completely dedicate herself to the party. She contemplates tearing up the letter that Natasha wrote her in regards to her suicide because she thinks that the party may “connect Kolya’s case to Natasha’s” (p 94). Since her brain is so disconnected from reality, her logic becomes wired to believe in the party. This is how many people became after all they had gone through, reality was fantastical, but they had no ability to make sense of what was happening because it was so unjustifiable.
After waiting two years Sofia Petrovna was at a new job, and did not speak to anyone there.

She found out from Kiparisiva that the government was letting innocent people out. This further convinced her to continue to reside her faith in the party because they must have realized their mistake. Many Soviet citizens became excited that there was a chance that their loved ones would be released and resided some faith in that unlikely idea. Although some were released, it was a very small number wand the event was just to gain back support for the government. Sofia Petrovna finally received a frightening letter in which Kolya beilieved he “[wouldn’t] last [there] long” and that she “must do something quick” to save him (p. 107). Following the letter she finds out that Kiparisiva is being deported and decided to burn the letter from Kolya. She burnt the letter as a last resort to remain true to the idea that the party will release him because she cannot do anything. It was her only option since she was alone and the party was her only chance at living a normal life

again.
As life became more difficult and more people experienced the purges, they began to suffer the twisted fantasy that was their reality. Like Sofia Petrovna, the majority of the Soviet people remained faithful to the party as they had received false hope that the party may change their lives around. Sofia began to be more closely attached to the small amount of faith that the party had reproduced constantly that by the time she had realized the true faults of the party, she had no choice but to deny reality. She and many others denied reality because they knew that Stalin and the party had scared them and left them with no other option.