Trudolyubov
A conventional former schoolmate who openly dismisses the narrator’s behavior at dinner.
To honor Zverkov’s departure and maintain conventional standards of sociability without indulging the narrator’s provocation.
The book
At a glance
- Former schoolmate
- Zverkov’s farewell
- Dismissive of the narrator
Who they are in the book
Spoiler-freeTrudolyubov values ordinary markers of work, success, and respectable conduct. The narrator’s self-dramatizing hostility strikes him as both offensive and ridiculous.
He helps create the dinner’s atmosphere of exclusion, but the narrator also enters determined to read every gesture as proof of contempt.
How the book draws them
- Respectable Russian officialHe appears conventional rather than cruel.
- Neat 1860s suitProfessional order defines his look.
- Dismissive demeanorPatience with the narrator is limited.
- Upright postureHe trusts social norms.
- Close engraved bustNo table or companions appear.
- Muted ochre accentThe stable color suits convention.
Trudolyubov leaves the disastrous dinner with the others. He receives no independent ending.
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