Character guide

Unknown Narrator

major

Also known as I, myself, me

He arrives at the Warsaw station to meet Trenchard and is swept at once into the drama of the unit's departure, surrendering to it despite himself. His double position—observer and comrade—lets him see the vanity, courage, and self-deception of those around him with unusual clarity. He is our only window into the Otriad, and his judgments quietly shape how we read every other figure in the book.

John Trenchard

major

Also known as Mr. Trenchard, Trenchard, Millie Trenchard, Millie, John, Katherine Trenchard, Katherine

Trenchard arrives in Petrograd newly engaged to Marie Ivanovna, only to be gently set aside for Semyonov, a humiliation he bears with a dignity no one quite credits. Semyonov despises him, the Sisters spoil him, and the narrator finds him both pathetic and irritating—yet his courage during the night with Nikitin earns him a reputation he never sought. His innocence against Semyonov's cynicism becomes one of the book's central moral contests.

Alexei Petrovitch Semyonov

major

Also known as Semyonov, Alexei Petrovitch, Alexei

Semyonov rules the Otriad by the sheer force of his contempt for sentiment, and his judgment of the others as a worthless bundle of rubbish has been accepted by nearly everyone. His love for Marie Ivanovna is the one emotion that visibly masters him, and it makes him both happier and more vulnerable than the unit has ever seen him. His rivalry with Nikitin—two men who avoid each other with extravagant politeness—quietly structures the moral weather of the camp.

Marie Ivanovna

major

Also known as Sister Marie Ivanovna, Marie, Sister Marie, Sister

Marie Ivanovna arrives at the unit radiant with excitement, engaged to Trenchard within a night of meeting him, and soon transfers that engagement to Semyonov without ever quite understanding what she has done. Her ignorance of life is matched by her honesty and her strange, irrational temper, and the unit forgives her almost everything. She is the emotional hinge on which the men's rivalries turn, and her happiness in the early chapters is drawn with a lightness that makes the book's later shadows fall harder.

Dr. Nikitin

supporting

Also known as Nikitin, IV Nikitin

Nikitin moves through the Otriad like a king travelling in disguise, tall, remote, and absorbed in visions the others cannot share. His first operation reveals a surgeon of the first rank, and Semyonov recognises it at once, which is why the two men treat each other with such elaborate politeness. He is the moral counterweight to Semyonov's cynicism, and his friendship with the anxious Andrey Vassilievitch gives the unit one of its few uncomplicated loyalties.

Andrey Vassilievitch

supporting

Also known as Little Andrey Vassilievitch, Andrey, Poor Andrey

Andrey Vassilievitch wakes the narrator with news of the advance, his fat hand trembling on the bed, and admits in the same breath that he is frightened and cannot say of what. He mourns his remarkable wife, treasures his old friendship with Nikitin, and stiffly refuses to speak against Semyonov. His unguarded confession of fear gives the book one of its earliest and most human portraits of what the war does to ordinary men.

The Otriad

supporting

Also known as Otriad, our Otriad, Petrogradsky Otriad

The Otriad is less a unit than a weather system: it expects shame from those it treats, gets excited by results rather than causes, and dissolves into helpless laughter at the gravest moments. Its collective voice is petty, generous, and merciless by turns, and it measures everyone against its own fierce, unspoken code. Watching the Otriad is how you learn what the war is doing to the people inside it — and why the narrator can never quite stand outside their judgment.

Molozov

minor

A soldier or officer mentioned in the unit, possibly a patient or subordinate.

Mr. Durward

minor

Also known as Durward

An Englishman associated with Trenchard, appearing in the narrative.

Doctor Semyonov

minor

Also known as Dr. Semyonov

Another doctor in the unit, possibly distinct from Alexei Petrovitch Semyonov.

Russians

minor

Also known as Many Russians, the Russians, agitated Russians

Collective group of Russian soldiers or civilians in the narrative.

Anna Petrovna

minor

Also known as Sister Anna Petrovna, One Sister

A nurse in the unit, one of the sisters.

The Feldsher

minor

A medical assistant or paramedic in the unit.

Alexandra Pavlovna

minor

A woman mentioned in the narrative, possibly a patient or acquaintance.

The Stout Doctor

minor

A doctor seen earlier in the narrative, possibly a recurring figure.

Goga

minor

A character mentioned in the narrative, possibly a patient or soldier.

Krylov

minor

A character mentioned in the narrative, possibly a patient or officer.

Colonel Maximoff

minor

Also known as Maximoff

A colonel in the Russian army, mentioned in the narrative.

Ivan Andreievitch

minor

Also known as Andreievitch

A character mentioned in the unit, possibly a patient or officer.

Nikolai Nikolaievitch

minor

Also known as Nikolai

A soldier or officer in the unit, mentioned by name.

Piotr Ivanovitch

minor

A character mentioned in the narrative, possibly a patient or officer.

Sofia Antonovna

minor

Also known as Sister Sofia Antonovna, Sister Sofia

A nurse in the unit, one of the sisters.

Sister K

minor

Also known as Sister K⸺

A nurse known for lacking tact, one of the sisters.

Captain T

minor

Also known as young Captain T⸺

A young captain in the unit, mentioned by name.

Anna Mihailovna

minor

A woman mentioned in the narrative, possibly a patient or acquaintance.

Victor Leontievitch

minor

Also known as Victor

A character mentioned in the narrative, possibly a patient or officer.

Georg Georgevitch

minor

A character mentioned in the narrative, possibly a patient or officer.

Vladimir Stepanovitch

minor

A character mentioned in the narrative, possibly a patient or officer.

Gussie Rodgers

minor

Also known as Rodgers, Miss Gussie Rodgers

An Englishwoman associated with Trenchard, mentioned in the narrative.

Vulatch

minor

A character mentioned in the narrative, possibly a patient or officer.

Ekaterina Petrovna

minor

Also known as Ekaterina

A woman mentioned in the narrative, possibly a patient or acquaintance.