# Sergey Golovin — Short Fiction character guide

> Sergey Golovin in Short Fiction by Leonid Andreyev.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Golovin, Sergey, Life Sergey Golovin, Life

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

## Snapshot

A revolutionary who has traded his old self for the name Life, he moves through drawing rooms and psychiatrists' offices with a plan no one else can see.

## Who they are

Sergey Golovin, once a revolutionary, now answers to "Life" and treats his own existence as a role to be performed with artistic precision. He submits to a psychiatrist's examination as a calculated touch, fondles the cast-iron paperweight while Alexis jokes about crushing a head, and watches Tatiana Nikolayevna's terror with detached interest. His cold, theatrical composure matters because it makes every ordinary drawing-room exchange feel rigged, and the reader senses early that his absolution and his future sins are being arranged in the same breath.

## In the story

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

Detained in the basement, reflecting on his situation.

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

A prisoner who escapes and is later pursued by the authorities.

### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_34_se/chapters/vi)

Implied as the male speaker; his hard, distant voice and past as a comrade of the revolutionaries are central to the conversation.

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

One of the seven condemned, facing his execution with a mix of calm and despair.

### [Condemned to Be Hanged](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_34_se/chapters/ii-condemned-to-be-hanged)

A young ex-officer, broad-shouldered and strong, who looks out the window at the spring sky, struggling between joy in life and the gloom of death.

### [V: Kiss—and Say Nothing](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_34_se/chapters/v-kiss-and-say-nothing)

Condemned terrorist awaiting execution; tormented by the upcoming meeting with his parents, he paces his cell and struggles with the absurdity of normal gestures in the face of death.

### [VI: The Hours Are Rushing](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_34_se/chapters/vi-the-hours-are-rushing)

One of the five condemned prisoners awaiting execution in the fortress.

### [VII: There Is No Death](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_34_se/chapters/vii-there-is-no-death)

Mentioned as a comrade for whom Tanya worries and whom Musya desires to see and laugh with.

### [VIII: There Is Death as Well as Life](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_34_se/chapters/viii-there-is-death-as-well-as-life)

Protagonist of the chapter; a young revolutionary awaiting execution who struggles with the fear of death and the strangeness of still being alive.

### [IX: Dreadful Solitude](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_34_se/chapters/ix-dreadful-solitude)

Mentioned as being separated from Vasily by only a few empty cells, highlighting Vasily's isolation.

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

Attempts to maintain normalcy through gymnastics, but is deeply affected by the situation.

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

Travels to execution recalling his past along the same road; offers Yanson a cigarette; pairs with Vasily Kashirin for hanging.

## Links

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