Life and Fate Read Along, Part 3 Chapter 27

This post, covering Part 3, Chapter 27 is part of The Slavic Literature Pod’s chapter a day read along of Vasily Grossman’s Life and Fate. Learn more about our project here.

Viktor is given the chance to speak and repent (for what? To whom?) at an institute meeting; he decides not to. 

The following day, Savostyanov phones and — somewhat ruefully — rebukes Viktor for not doing so. From this moment onward, there is a marked shift in the tone of Viktor’s life. 

Before he was constantly worried about what comes next, ashamed when a colleague crossed the street to avoid him. Now the ultimate axe is yet to fall; yet all the same, Viktor has already crossed over into the world of being persona non grata. 

One of the fundamental features of humanity is our nature as a social species. This very fact also opens the possibility of banishment from a social group. Every age and every time has its own forms.