# Mr. Yarchenko — Yama character guide

> Mr. Yarchenko in Yama by Aleksandr Kuprin.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Gavrila Petrovich Yarchenko

**First appearance:** 0005-yama

## Snapshot

A sub-professor among the Yamkas' boat-riding revelers, he turns a drunken night of pity into a rash rescue of one woman from Anna Markovna's house.

## Who they are

Yarchenko belongs to the loose set of students, reporters, and gentlemen who drift from the river to the publican's and finally to Anna Markovna's, and it is his name Nijeradze catches when the party is recounted. Half ashamed of his weakness and half exalted by it, he converts a morning of cognac-soaked sentiment into a plan to snatch a girl out of the slough and teach her to read. His impulsive philanthropy sets in motion the novel's central experiment, making him the pivot on which the brothel's private lives open to the outside world.

## In the story

### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/yama_se/chapters/part-i-ix)

A sub-professor of Roman history; he argues against visiting prostitutes, condemning the hypocrisy of the group.

### [X](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/yama_se/chapters/part-i-x)

Remarks that Sonechka Marmeladova is an abstract type, prompting Platonov's heated response.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/yama_se/characters/yarchenko
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/yama_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/yama_se/characters