My Disillusionment in Russia · Chapter
XXIII: Returning to Moscow explained
The narrator recounts a difficult journey to a poor village near Zhmerenka to procure provisions, encountering disillusioned intellectuals and a young Communist teacher who criticizes local abuses.
What happens
The narrator recounts a difficult journey to a poor village near Zhmerenka to procure provisions, encountering disillusioned intellectuals and a young Communist teacher who criticizes local abuses. Returning to Moscow, they learn of Makhno's alliance with the Bolsheviks, the death of John Reed, and share a moment with Louise Bryant about Reed's final disillusionment.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Falling action.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
The emotional and psychological peak occurs as the narrator confronts the full, brutal reality of Russia’s col…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Disillusionment with Revolution
The narrator and characters like the woman physician and the young teacher express deep disillusionment with the Soviet regime's realities, despite initial revolutionary faith.
- Suffering of the People
The village's poverty, the doctor's harsh life, and the teacher's account of unheated schools illustrate widespread suffering.
- The Role of the Intelligentsia
The intelligentsia face hostility and accusations of being bourgeois, as seen in the doctor's experience and the teacher's struggle against local abuses.
Characters to notice
- Unknown Narrator
The narrator travels to a village for provisions, reflects on rumors and disillusionment, and later visits Louise Bryant in Moscow.
- Jack Reed
Mentioned as having died; the narrator recalls nursing him in Petrograd and discusses his final disillusionment with Louise Bryant.
- Louise Bryant
The narrator visits her in Moscow after Reed's death; she expresses bitterness about Reed's treatment and shares that Reed repeated 'caught in a trap' in his delirium.
- Nestor Makhno
Posters at Bryansk announce Makhno is again fighting with the Bolsheviks against Wrangel, surprising given previous Soviet portrayals.
- Zinoviev
Mentioned in a rumor that he was ducked in 'Sovietsky soup' by factory workers.
- Wetoshkin
The narrator mentions not having the chance to see Wetoshkin again to share a joke about Rakovsky.
- Doctor Pervukhin
The woman physician in the village, sister of an Odessa Bundist friend, living in isolation and disillusionment.
Key passages
“It was only for the sake of her child that she continued the sordid life, the woman said; 'otherwise it were better to be dead.'”
The woman physician said she only endured her miserable existence for her child's sake; otherwise she would prefer death.
Illustrates the extreme disillusionment and suffering of the intelligentsia in rural Russia.
“How uncanny! ... 'Caught in a trap' were the very words Jack repeated in his delirium.”
Louise Bryant exclaimed that Jack Reed had deliriously repeated the same phrase 'caught in a trap' that the narrator used to describe their own feelings.
Highlights the shared sense of entrapment and disillusionment with the Bolshevik regime.
