An Incident at Krechetovka Station
Encyclopedia
An Incident at Krechetovka Station is a novella written by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
and published in the Russian magazine Novy Mir
in 1963. It is the only work of prose written by the author that is set in World War II. In later editions of the novella, the author changed the name of the station to "Kochetovka", where the incident took place. The action of the novella takes place only over three or four hours and is written from the viewpoint of a short-sighted
character called Lieutenant Vasily Zotov, who is the second in command of the station. The brief incident described involves a soldier and actor, Tveritinov, who has lost his military unit. Zotov is impressed by the actor's persona and is moved when shown photographs of the actor's family. But when Tveritinov asks what was the previous name of Stalingrad, Zotov suspects that he is a spy and has him arrested. Later, Zotov twice asks about the actor only to be told that he "has been taken care of" and "we never make mistakes" – leaving the reader to guess Tveritinov's fate. Solzhenitsyn uses Zotov's short sight as a symbol of Soviet ideology, but Zotov is one of Solzhentsyn's more sympathetically written characters who is loyal to Joseph Stalin
, and who has qualities that the author admires.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn was aRussian and Soviet novelist, dramatist, and historian. Through his often-suppressed writings, he helped to raise global awareness of the Gulag, the Soviet Union's forced labor camp system – particularly in The Gulag Archipelago and One Day in the Life of...
and published in the Russian magazine Novy Mir
Novy Mir
Novy Mir is a Russian language literary magazine that has been published in Moscow since January 1925. It was supposed to be modelled on the popular pre-Soviet literary magazine Mir Bozhy , which was published from 1892 to 1906, and its follow-up, Sovremenny Mir , which was published 1906-1917...
in 1963. It is the only work of prose written by the author that is set in World War II. In later editions of the novella, the author changed the name of the station to "Kochetovka", where the incident took place. The action of the novella takes place only over three or four hours and is written from the viewpoint of a short-sighted
Myopia
Myopia , "shortsightedness" ) is a refractive defect of the eye in which collimated light produces image focus in front of the retina under conditions of accommodation. In simpler terms, myopia is a condition of the eye where the light that comes in does not directly focus on the retina but in...
character called Lieutenant Vasily Zotov, who is the second in command of the station. The brief incident described involves a soldier and actor, Tveritinov, who has lost his military unit. Zotov is impressed by the actor's persona and is moved when shown photographs of the actor's family. But when Tveritinov asks what was the previous name of Stalingrad, Zotov suspects that he is a spy and has him arrested. Later, Zotov twice asks about the actor only to be told that he "has been taken care of" and "we never make mistakes" – leaving the reader to guess Tveritinov's fate. Solzhenitsyn uses Zotov's short sight as a symbol of Soviet ideology, but Zotov is one of Solzhentsyn's more sympathetically written characters who is loyal to Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
, and who has qualities that the author admires.