# Roman — Short Fiction character guide

> Roman in Short Fiction by Ivan Bunin.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0001-short-fiction

## Snapshot

A domineering merchant father who drags his son Shasha around by the hair, baffled by the boy's sullen silence and stubborn pride.

## Who they are

Roman is a loud, self-made merchant who boasts about his son to guests and then beats him the moment they leave, unable to understand why Shasha answers only with cryptic defiance. He wants a son who will take pride in the family's wealth and ways, but Shasha's stiff bows and hissed vows of future reckoning only enrage him further. Their brutal, baffled contest of wills anchors the story's portrait of merchant life and the wounds it leaves in the young.

## In the story

### [I Say Nothing](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_30_se/chapters/i-say-nothing)

Shasha's wealthy and abusive father, a merchant who beats his son and laments his behavior.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_30_se/characters/roman
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_30_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_30_se/characters