In the novel Sofia Petrovna, Lydia Chukovskaya presents the designs of society in which a great purge, courtesy of a ruling government [the Soviets], is responsible for the destruction of familial ties. Central to the plotline is Sofia Petrovna whose love for her country, coupled with misinformation, propels her to betray her only child. Subsequently, Sofia Petrovna depicts a woman’s descent into madness after losing everything to a government that is paranoid of its citizens.
As the narration commences, readers become aware of the fact that Sofia Petrovna identifies herself with the State. In other words, as a widow and a mother of one son, the woman rejoins the society by finding work with publishing houses in Leningrad (Chukovskaya 3). She promptly attains the position of a senior typist, and as evidenced by her the decision to end her vacation early, the protagonist is happy with her job and to an extent, the ruling government that allowed her to find employment. About Sofia’s son, Kolya, his prominence within society comes with his successes at the Ural Engineering Works and the subsequent invention of a technique to cut cogwheels. Evidently, mother and son are content with their lives and their positions within the community. The State is perfect.
Now, all the mentioned perks come to an abrupt end when Kolya gets arrested on unknown charges only for him to later confess that he is a terrorist. The problem was Sofia’s failure to see anything odd with the arrest and the multiple affirmations of the government remaining just in its dealings with the people. For instance, in one scene, while standing in line with the family members of other people detained by the law enforcers, she recognizes one Mrs. Kiparisova, who happens to be an old family friend searching for news about her husband. In the portrayal of extreme naivety, Sofia promptly informs her new companion that “nothing can happen to an honest man in [their] country”; hence, there was no need for them to worry (Chukovskaya 37). Concurrently, while the lead character believes that her son is innocent, everybody else is wrong to assume that the government would only arrest people without cause and for that reason they are fools to show such devotion. Thus, whenever she stands outside the prisons, with other people seeking to see their relatives also detained in the facilities, she regards them as one would a person trying to protect a traitor. In her words, the women were “mothers, wives and sisters of saboteurs, terrorists and spies” while the men were either brothers or sons of the same (Chukovskaya 50). By that logic, she distances herself from the same people who have the ability to aid her person as they share common problems; the seclusion becomes her undoing.
The first step in Sofia’s downward spiral is the news that her son confessed to being a terrorist; suddenly, she was no different than the people she judged and refused to interact with outside the prison. Next was the paranoia since anything she did had the potential to incriminate her alongside the son accused of being a radical. Notably, had Sofia befriended the friends and family members of the arrested people from the beginning, she would not have had to be so afraid of the situation. In other words, in times of crisis, converging people have a better chance of finding a solution as opposed to individuals. Thus, Sofia would have gained much support from the people going through what she was and found a sustainable solution. For the given reasons, the final stage encompasses Sofia losing everything, including her son whom she fails to help after learning that his confession was subject to torture (Chukovskaya 109).
In conclusion, Sofia Petrovna captures the negative effects of a government turning against its people. The novel’s subject loses her life and son to the whims of government appointed officials opt to terrorize the communities instead of protecting their numbers. Hence, just as she burns Kolya’s letter that not only informs her of the torture mentioned above but also pleads for her help, Sofia’s life becomes meaningless. In fact, as the flames eat the sheet of paper, they consume her life into nothingness because by failing to help her child, she loses herself completely.
Works Cited
Chukovskaya, Lydia. Sofia Petrovna. Trans. Aline Werth. Illinois: Northwestern University Press, 1967. Print.
