How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph). We used Rosemary Edmonds's translation.
Quote #7
Vassily Ivanych took his hands from his face and clasped his wife, his friend, more warmly than he had ever done before, even in their youth: she had consoled him in his grief. (21.191)
How are Arina Vlassyevna and Vassily Ivanych bound together by their suffering? Why do you think it is that Arina Vlassyevna, the one who is more prone to grief, comforts Vassily Ivanych here? How does the fact that they suffer together help them to endure their suffering?
Quote #8
At that moment the whole of his wasted life stirred within him. (24.165)
This is a description of Pavel's sensation right after he begs Fenichka to maintain her love for his brother. In what sense does he recognize his life as "wasted"? Is this a moment of poignant suffering for him or is it a moment of happiness? Do you think that it can be both?
Quote #9
But the blaze of the noonday sun passes and is succeeded by dusk and nightfall, and then the night, with a return to the quiet fold where sleep, sweet sleep, waits for the tormented and the weary... (27.158)
In what ways is sleep a cure for suffering? In what ways is it just a temporary escape? Do you find this passage affecting? Does it strike you as true?