# Titus — Short Fiction character guide

> Titus in Short Fiction by Vladimir Korolenko.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Poor Titus, the old Titus, Titus Ivanich

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

## Snapshot

An old subinspector whose hard-won post and crust-of-bread anxieties twist his good nature into pedagogic severity he does not truly feel.

## Who they are

Titus Ivanich once knew the narrator's father and favors him with expansive talk of youthful trouble and ruined careers, sighing deeply over the difficulty of getting on with students. He values his position desperately, worrying over the crust-of-bread question for himself and his family, and hides his inborn good nature behind an air of official severity. When student uproar erupts over Urmánov, his anxious face peering after the Professor shows a man caught between sympathy and the fear of losing everything.

## In the story

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_54_se/chapters/iii)

The narrator's chum and old schoolfellow who shares his room; he is sedate and practical, yet enraptured by the narrator's poem.

### [XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_54_se/chapters/xi)

The narrator's roommate, found asleep with papers, worn out from studying for a reexamination.

### [XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_54_se/chapters/xii)

Roommate who notes the train whistle and derailment, then suggests tea.

### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_54_se/chapters/xiii)

Titus Ivanich, the narrator's roommate, who is deeply affected by the news of a suicide and refuses to go see the scene.

### [XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_54_se/chapters/xiv)

Mentioned as having sat up late with the narrator the night before.

### [XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_54_se/chapters/xvi)

Titus anxiously asks the narrator what is wrong and prepares tea for him.

### [XVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_54_se/chapters/xvii)

The narrator's schoolfellow, who studies laboriously by rote to earn his diploma and support his mother and invalid sister. He is depicted as good-natured, devoted, and physically strained by his efforts.

### [XVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_54_se/chapters/xviii)

Referenced in comparison to the sub-inspector, whom the narrator feels towards as he does towards Titus.

### [XIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_54_se/chapters/xix)

The narrator's roommate, whose snoring and mechanical obedience contribute to the narrator's sense of horror and isolation.

### [Chapter XX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_54_se/chapters/xx)

Titus invites the narrator to a meeting, is rebuffed with irony, and later attends and gives a speech, returning emotionally stirred.

### [XXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_54_se/chapters/xxi)

Titus meets the narrator with a gloomy and furtive yet relieved glance when he returns home from the station.

### [XXIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_54_se/chapters/xxiii)

Titus has undergone a transformation, throwing himself into philosophical discussions and becoming a loud, disruptive presence in debates. He tries to share his exploits with the narrator but is rebuffed.

### [XXIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_54_se/chapters/xxiv)

Speaks at the student meeting, quoting Zaitzev and discussing the people, but his speech is incoherent and causes uproar.

### [XXV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_54_se/chapters/xxv)

Titus cares for the narrator during his illness, reads Tonia's letter, and expresses despair over the narrator's philosophical state.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_54_se/characters/titus
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_54_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_54_se/characters