# Ivan Yanson — Short Fiction character guide

> Ivan Yanson in Short Fiction by Leonid Andreyev.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Yanson, Ivan, Suddenly Yanson

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

## Snapshot

A freckled, sleepy-eyed workman whose clumsy, brutal crime and baffled courtroom refrain—'Why must I be hanged?'—turn a murder case into a mirror for the crowd.

## Who they are

Yanson robs and stabs his master, is caught striking matches behind the barn, and arrives in court in a muddy-red shawl with his hair half-plastered down. He seems not to grasp the proceedings, picking his nose and staring until the death sentence jolts him into agitated, childlike protest. His stubborn, uncomprehending question, repeated to a smiling courtroom, makes him the story's unsettling center of justice without understanding.

## In the story

### [In the Basement](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_34_se/chapters/in-the-basement)

Present in the basement, experiencing the harsh conditions.

### [The Tocsin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_34_se/chapters/the-tocsin)

Among the prisoners who escape when the prison walls collapse.

### [The Dark](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_34_se/chapters/the-dark)

Appears in the darkness, embodying fear and isolation.

### [The Seven Who Were Hanged](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_34_se/chapters/the-seven-who-were-hanged)

A condemned prisoner, overwhelmed by terror and the physical reality of death.

### [III: Why Should I Be Hanged?](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_34_se/chapters/iii-why-should-i-be-hanged)

The condemned peasant workman, terrified by his impending execution, oscillating between numb stupor and frantic terror.

### [IV: We Come from Oryol](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_34_se/chapters/iv-we-come-from-oryol)

Previously condemned in the same court; mentioned as having spent seventeen days in prison before execution, similar to Tsiganok.

### [XI: On the Way to the Scaffold](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_34_se/chapters/xi-on-the-way-to-the-scaffold)

A murderer who does not want to be hanged. He is drowsy and withdrawn, but Werner tries to comfort him.

### [XII: They Are Hanged](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_34_se/chapters/xii-they-are-hanged)

Whimpers and refuses to smoke; collapses in the snow; carried by soldiers; repeatedly says 'I don't want to be hanged.'

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_34_se/characters/ivan_yanson
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_34_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_34_se/characters