# Emma Goldman — My Disillusionment in Russia character guide

> Emma Goldman in My Disillusionment in Russia by Emma Goldman.

**Role:** major

**First appearance:** 0000-preface-to-first-volume-of-american-edition

## Snapshot

An anarchist who came to Russia hoping to join a newborn country's revolutionary reconstruction, only to spend fifteen months fighting a disillusionment she could not finally deny.

## Who they are

Emma Goldman is the narrator and an anarchist activist who arrives in Russia possessed by the hope of finding a people wholly consecrated to revolutionary reconstruction, and who had fervently hoped to become an active part of that inspiring work. Instead she finds reality grotesque and unlike the great ideal that bore her there, and she struggles desperately against the still voice urging her to face the overpowering facts. Her gradual, unwilling reckoning with what the Revolution has become drives the book's early and middle arc, making her private doubt the lens through which every encounter is weighed.

## In the story

### [Preface to First Volume of American Edition](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/preface-to-first-volume-of-american-edition)

Author and narrator; explains her personal journey from defending the Bolsheviks to disillusionment, and her decision to write this book.

### [Preface to Second Volume of American Edition](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/preface-to-second-volume-of-american-edition)

Author of the preface, reflecting on her disillusionment and defending her work against critics.

### [My Disillusionment in Russia](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/my-disillusionment-in-russia)

Emma Goldman is the author and central figure experiencing disillusionment.

### [I: Deportation to Russia](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/i-deportation-to-russia)

Narrator and deportee, reflecting on her departure from America and arrival in Russia.

### [Preparing for American Deportees](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/vi-preparing-for-american-deportees)

Narrator and protagonist; takes charge of preparing quarters for American deportees, navigating bureaucracy and using persuasion over coercion.

### [XI: A Visit from the Ukraine](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/xi-a-visit-from-the-ukraine)

Implied as one of the recipients of the Ukrainian Anarchists' report, alongside Alexander Berkman.

### [XXVII: Kronstadt](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/xxvii-kronstadt)

Co-signs the anarchist letter to the Petrograd Soviet of Defence proposing a peaceful commission to resolve the Kronstadt conflict.

### [XXXII: The Socialist Republic Resorts to Deportation](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/xxxii-the-socialist-republic-resorts-to-deportation)

Narrator who decides to leave Russia, obtains passport, and departs on December 1, 1921.

### [Afterword](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/xxxiii-afterword)

The author and narrator, presenting her personal reflections and conclusions on the Russian Revolution, emphasizing the need for a libertarian transformation of values.

### [Endnotes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/chapters/endnotes)

Referenced in endnote regarding trial and speeches.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/characters/emma_goldman
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_disillusionment_in_russia_se/characters