Futility · Character

Sonia

Sharp-tongued and fed up, she corrects Fanny Ivanovna's Russian and threatens to marry just to escape a house that never stops quarrelling.

supporting

Also known as The real Sonia

First appearance: I

See Sonia in I Book page

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Sonia is one of Nikolai Vasilievich's daughters, stranded in the Mohovaya flat where her father and Fanny Ivanovna fight like cat and dog, worse when guests are present. She is sardonic and impatient, mocking Fanny's malapropisms and declaring she is sick of home and will run away by marrying. Her running commentary on the household's quarrels and her father's wish to marry again makes her the family's clearest, most disabused witness.

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See Sonia in I

Character Web

25 connections

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Relationship types

Romantic
Rivalry
Friendship
Other

Character groups

Siberian Intervention Characters
Protagonist

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Narrative arc

Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.

Setup
Escalation
Breaking point
Aftermath
Closing

This is the story's dramatic climax because the protagonist reaches an emotional and psychological peak of des…

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Relationships

Nikolai Vasilievich
romantic · ambivalent
Fanny Ivanovna
rivalry · negative
Andrei Andreiech
friendship · positive
Andrei Andreiech
friendship · positive
Fanny Ivanovna
rivalry · negative
Fanny Ivanovna
rivalry · negative
Nikolai Vasilievich
romantic · ambivalent
Nikolai Vasilievich
romantic · ambivalent

Nikolai Vasilievich
Nikolai shares a tender but complicated romantic bond with Sonia, marked by mutual longing.
Fanny Ivanovna
Fanny and Sonia are hostile rivals, each trying to undermine the other in Nikolai's eyes.
Andrei Andreiech
Andrei and Sonia are warm friends who often discuss their mutual concerns about Nikolai.
Andrei Andreiech
Andrei and Sonia are warm friends who often discuss their mutual concerns about Nikolai.
Fanny Ivanovna
Fanny and Sonia are hostile rivals, each trying to undermine the other in Nikolai's eyes.
Fanny Ivanovna
Fanny and Sonia are hostile rivals, each trying to undermine the other in Nikolai's eyes.
Nikolai Vasilievich
Nikolai shares a tender but complicated romantic bond with Sonia, marked by mutual longing.
Nikolai Vasilievich
Nikolai shares a tender but complicated romantic bond with Sonia, marked by mutual longing.

Relationship notes

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See Sonia in I

In the story

Sonia appears across 15 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

I
The narrator thinks of Sonia, one of the three sisters who departed for Shanghai.
II
The eldest sister, aged sixteen, who introduces herself first.
III
Expresses disgust at the constant quarreling between Nikolai Vasilievich and Fanny Ivanovna, threatens to run away by marrying, and shows open hostility toward her father.
VII
Comments on how horribly Eisenstein cried, then follows the narrator out of the room.
VIII
Supports Nina's plea to Fanny, echoing the request to see Magda.
IX
Present at the theatre in the box opposite the narrator's party.
The Narrator's First Intervention
On the balcony laughing; the narrator plans to marry her to Baron Wunderhausen.
III
One of the three sisters; plays the piano with an agreeable touch of feeling.
I
Travels with Nikolai Vasilievich's party.
VII
Nicknamed 'Miss Moon' by Fanny, described as deceitful for lying about visiting their mother when they actually went to a dance.
VIII
Participates in jazzing and is addressed by Nina.
IX
Sonia is humiliated by Baron Wunderhausen's flight and his false title, and she considers divorce, showing interest in Holdcroft.
III
Greets the narrator at the door and interacts with him in the drawing-room.
IV
Sonia is at the Olenins' chatting with the three American boys.
VI
One of the three sisters; mentioned as having lost patience with Fanny Ivanovna and Nikolai Vasilievich.

Chapter companion notes

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See Sonia in I