# Werner — Short Fiction character guide

> Werner in Short Fiction by Leonid Andreyev.

**Role:** supporting

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

## Snapshot

A proud German prisoner awaiting execution, Werner finds his lifelong contempt for mankind dissolving into a strange, luminous freedom as death approaches.

## Who they are

Werner sits in a cell with bolts and a chair screwed to the floor, counting the hours until his execution and expecting dread. Instead, a cold fatigue falls away and he sees life and death as two sparkling seas, and the men he once found repulsive suddenly dear as clumsy children. His transformed vision in the face of death gives the war story its moral center and its haunting, paradoxical joy.

## In the story

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

Involved in the chaos, possibly aiding the escape or reacting to the tocsin.

### [Fragment XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_34_se/chapters/part-ii-fragment-xv)

The dead brother who appears in the dream, speaking about the red laugh and lying upon the narrator.

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_34_se/chapters/i)

The protagonist, a terrorist and nihilist, exhausted and hunted by police, preparing for an assassination.

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

Another of the condemned, grappling with the absurdity and finality of his sentence.

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

A calm, powerful figure with a closed face, regarded as the leader by the judges; he speaks briefly and reassures the others.

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

One of the condemned; similarly unidentified, with no relatives expected.

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

One of the three men among the condemned prisoners.

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

Mentioned as a comrade; Musya imagines arguing with him about the meaning of death and victory.

### [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)

Mentioned as a comrade who did not eat breakfast on the morning of the arrest; Sergey ate his bread.

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

Referenced as an acquaintance from Vasily's past, before he entered the organization.

### [X: The Walls Are Falling](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_34_se/chapters/x-the-walls-are-falling)

The protagonist of the chapter, a revolutionary awaiting execution. He undergoes a spiritual awakening, moving from cold contempt to compassionate love for humanity.

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

Shows tenderness and love for his comrades, especially Vasily and Musya. He philosophizes about death and life, and comforts Yanson.

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

Calmly advises against escape attempt; pairs with Yanson to support him; refuses Tsiganok's request to accompany him.

## Links

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