# Nikíta — The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories character guide

> Nikíta in The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories by Leo Tolstoy.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Nikíta of Mukhórty, Mukhórty

**First appearance:** 0066-master-and-man

## Snapshot

A peasant servant whose easygoing nature and fatalistic acceptance carry him through a night of blizzard and drink alongside his increasingly desperate master.

## Who they are

Nikíta works for Vassíly Andréevitch, a prosperous peasant who has grown rich through sharp dealing and now wants to buy a forest. On a winter journey, Nikíta drinks to stay warm and gradually loses his grip on the world, while his master's greed and fear push them both deeper into the storm. Nikíta's passive warmth and his master's calculating cruelty form the moral axis of the story.

## In the story

### [Master and Man](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/master-and-man)

The servant; patient, enduring, and passively obedient, finding comfort in simple warmth and observing the family's drama without comment.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/characters/nikita
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/characters