Abstract
This paper describes the life of the Underground Man in Dostoevsky's work, "Notes from the Underground". It analyzes his ways of thought from a naturalist perspective. The paper shows how the Underground Man is a romantic dreamer, living in a fantasy world and unable to make his own decisions.

From the Paper
"Dostoevsky's Notes from the Underground is a critical commentary and rebellion from the traditional romantic view that had been so popular in previous eras. Dostoevsky belongs to the naturalist and realist school of thought, which emphasize the idea that life is hard and complex, and we must deal with it. This contrasts with the romantic thoughts regarding life as simple, beautiful and correlated to nature. In his work Dostoevsky uses each of these conflicting views to build the mindset of the protagonist known as the Underground Man (UM). The UM is a very intricate individual. While he is very shy and reserved, he deeply craves attention. He desperately wants to succeed, but is constantly setting himself up for failure. He feels superior to others by recognizing he own inferiority. It seems that the UM's life is full of contradictions and it is this life that are meant to represent human nature."

Tags:cowardice, Liza, brotherhood

Abstract
This paper explores the issues of freedom and the futility of life, through the novel "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich", by Alexander Solzhenitsyn. The writer points out many of the negative issues faced by the main character Ivan, including his imprisonment and the hardships he faced but despite this, manages to explore the positive aspects as well, those of humanity and preservation of life among others. The writer believes that since the book was written, without the author knowing if it would ever be published, proves that ultimately hope was evident.

From the Paper
"The fact that people in the camps (or the characters in the book) did what they had to do to survive is not necessarily a negative characteristic, but speaks to the fact that life is precious, even if the human being seeking to stay alive is reduced to the level of a simple animal in the process. Certainly Ivan is not an animal himself, but he is a simple man, not an intellectual, but a good man trying to make his way from one day to the next, one moment to the next. And that is just the way that he looks at his life in the camps."

Tags:siberia, labor, camp, prison, rebellion, happiness, death

Abstract
This paper discusses how the experience of one's own death represents a major theme developed by Leo Tolstoy in "The Death of Ivan Ilych". It looks at how this theme begins its unfolding even in the opening to the story as Ivan's obituary in the local "Gazette" is shared amongst some of his old friend and colleagues. It examines how although the other characters are used throughout the story, "The Death of Ivan Ilych" is largely a tale of the individual's experience with his/her death.

From the Paper
"Ultimately, Tolstoy's story is one that demonstrates to humans how each of us can gain some control over that which seems beyond our control. As suggested by Kamm (2003), from a philosophical perspective, the experiences of Ivan as he confronts his death teaches us that we can have some control over our deaths, including the process of dying and what death it self signifies (i.e., the end of our mortal selves and existence), by how we choose to live it. As Tolstoy unravels Ivan's ongoing groping with his own mortality, the reader is faced with the challenge of considering his/her own life and the manner in which he/she presently has lived and continues to live in order to avoid finding himself/herself in the same situation as Ivan dying with the knowledge that life has not been well lived."

Tags:obituary, mortality, life

Abstract
The paper analyzes the title character of Leo Tolstoy's "The Death of Ivan Ilych", making clear the author's intention that each of us must discover how to lead a meaningful life. Tolstoy attempts to persuade us to his point of view by presenting two distinct sets of supporting characters and by demonstrating why Ivan Ilych is afraid to die and what causes his suffering. In addition, Tolstoy warns of the social conditions that prevent most people from accomplishing in life what Ivan Ilych could only achieve in death.

From the paper:

"Two hours before his death Ivan Ilych finally asks the right question. After three days of screaming through agonizing pain, he laments that his life "was all not the right thing," and passes into death wondering "what is the right thing?" (151). With this final realization and questioning, the title character of Leo Tolstoy's "The Death of Ivan Ilych" makes clear the author's intention that each of us must find the right thing and discover how to lead a meaningful life. Tolstoy explains that even at this final moment, Ivan Ilych is capable of redeeming himself and making this discovery, that though his life had not been what it should have been, this could still be rectified (151). If Ivan Ilych can do it at the last minute, the rest of us still can."

Tags:leo, literature, meaning, russian, gerasim, vasya, praskovya

Abstract
This paper reviews Mikhail Bulgakov's book "The Master and Margarita" and examines his views on the accepted Soviet stand on fate, human nature, atheism, censorship, personal identity documentation and forced literature. It looks at how through the use of the fantastic in his novel Bulgakov seeks to ridicule and undermine the foundations of these Soviet certainties. It shows how throughout the novel Bulgakov's use of implausible and incredible happenings effectively undermine the "certainties" of the materialist world. It analyzes how Massolit is destroyed, bureaucracy is ridiculed, xenophobic attitudes are parodied and institutions and theories are mocked relentlessly, even in the epilogue. It examines how the Soviet machine is even able to rationalize the supernatural and how this rationale creates such absurdities as people arresting cats and furthermore, giving glowing references for their release. Bulgakov's use of the fantastical as a device to satirize and thereby undermine accepted "certainties" of his time is genuinely masterful.

From the Paper
"Throughout the novel, Bulgakov bends the parameters of space, time and imagination, for the Moscow residents, and the reader. Passports, papers, people and money all come and go at Woland's will. Parties that last for hours take only minutes. Guns have no effect and people start to fly. Despite the fact that Soviet Citizens are generally used to mysterious disappearances, and unexplained circumstances, such as those that often lead to arrest, during the Devil's stay in Moscow, they are understandably bewildered. The rumors cannot be put down until the Devil and his retinue have left."

Tags:bureaucracy, devil, moscow, satire, soviet, surreal

Abstract
An analysis of Mikhail Bulgakov's "The Master and Margarita". The author describes the use of structure, text and style in the novel often referred to as 'fantasy'. The author discusses how these reveal the theme of good and evil in the novel.

From the Paper
"Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita is a tale of black magic and of a spiritual journey. Ivan Bezdomy, whose surreal spiritual adventure, is the eye of the story's illusionary hurricane, doesn't even get his name in the title. This discussion, based on the premise that this is more Ivan's story than the Master's, attempts to track the trickery that masquerades as Bulgakov's search for a hero. Careful analysis of structure, text and style reveals that Ivan and the Master are actually schizophrenic halves of the same character. The style in which Bulgakov chooses to write this novel, has been variously described as "magical realism" (Grenier 286), - bizarre phantasmagoria? (Wakeman 240), and a "fantasy" (Calendar 76). This style is brilliantly suited to Bulgakov's intent which is not only to satirize Stalinist Russia, but to deeply ponder the nature of good and evil and to present the union of Ivan and the Master as a foil for Satan."

Tags:evil, good, russia, satire, stalinist

Abstract
This paper relates the plot of Fyodor Dostoevsky's "The Grand Inquisitor" in which Christ comes back to earth in Seville at the time of the Spanish Inquisition. He is recognized, performs a number of miracles and is then arrested by Inquisition leaders and sentenced to death. The author points out that the story sets the person of Christ against the church, particularly against persons within the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church. The paper asks the question, "Can we draw a parallel to the modern evangelical church that aligns itself with the Republican Party and the war on terrorism?"

From the Paper
""The Grand Inquisitor" is in a way a lamentation of the course the organized church has chosen. Having a number of fast days annually set aside for lamentation is not something that would be generally encouraged within modern Christianity. We are pre-occupied with our creature comforts and want a 'feel good' faith, so tend to avoid discussions that remind us of our sins (individual and collective) or pain. The journey of the Church (Roman Catholic and others), with its individual and collective sorrows could be lamented. "Lamentations 3:39-42 says, "Why should any living man complain when punished for his sins?""

Tags:freedom, sins, lamentations, death, organized, church

Abstract
The paper examines how the character of Ivan, in Tolstoy's "The Death of Ivan Ilyich", gradually isolates himself from his environment through a series of revelations concerning the nature of his society. The paper discusses how, after Ivan's accidental fall, Ivan's need for understanding and empathy strips the illusions from his relationships and exacerbates his isolation from the family, professional and social relationships that comprised his life.

From the Paper
"Ivan is repeatedly described as holding himself 'aloof' from the others who inhabit his world, and the recollection of his life that comprise the majority of the text describe how Ivan's isolation began long before his accident. "[F]rom earliest youth [Ivan] had been drawn to those who stood above him...he had adopted their manners and views, and he had established friendly relations with them" (241). In his attempt to associate himself with those elders and symbols of success through imitation, Ivan isolated himself from his peers and began the lifelong quest for satisfaction through superficial goals. His marriage reinforces this tendency, for he "married her because...in acquiring this particular wife he did what brought him pleasure as well as doing what those in high position considered it proper" (246). His marriage is based solely on the need to present the right appearance, and consequently the realities of the relationship, in the necessity to devote thought and attention to his wife, become to him an 'unpleasantness' that he must escape from."

Tags:relationships, contact, society, aloofness, accident

Abstract
This paper discusses the plot and the development of love in the short story, "A Lady with a Little Dog," written by Anton Chekhov. The paper discusses the character of the protagonist in the story and his relationship with the love of his life. The paper also describes the style of writing and the use of the narrator in the development of the plot.

From the Paper
"They spend this first day together, idly wandering Yalta, and the first appearance of beauty makes itself known. While Gurov is sitting with the lady (whose name we still do not know - at this point she is merely a simulacrum of Gurov's desire for diversion and not her own character) this almost meditative state of mind gives rise to one of the few exterior descriptions in the story: "The water was the warm, soft colour of lilac and a golden strip of moonlight lay across it." (225) While it is a cliche that when in love the sun shines more brilliantly and the birds sing more melodically, it is nevertheless a truism of human existence. This mention of the unusual beauty of the sea while they sit in Yalta subtly cues the reader that Gurov's attention is opening up to beauty - an indication that he is opening up to love, as well."

Tags:love, style, character

Abstract
This paper analyzes Yevgeny Zamyatin's use of imagery and symbolism in his masterpiece, the anti-Utopian novel, "We," in an attempt to uncover this relatively unknown Russian writer's contribution to Russian and world literature. After a brief examination of Zamyatin's theory of imagery in terms of his connection to Neo-Realism and Impressionism, the paper proceeds to detail his use of three categories of images: (1) color symbolism; (2) nature images; (2) mathematical symbolism. For each image or symbol, the paper provides an interpretation of its meaning and its significance for the ideas that Zamyatin is presenting in the novel. The paper concludes that Zamyatin's innovative use of this sort of imagery is evidence of his skill as a writer, his mastery of the use of imagery and his insight into human nature.

From the Paper
"Zamyatin associates yellow and its variation, gold, with the Sun, and uses both colors to symbolize "ardent passion, the life-giving force in man" (Shane 1968 157) and to depict "elemental passionate love" (Shane 1968 170). In the scene where I-330 seduces D-503, she is described as having golden eyes, and wearing a saffron dress, and the room is saturated with a golden-rosy sap (life-force) as "a smiling, golden Buddha looks on" (Shane 1968 157). However, in We yellow is "paradoxically, both the color of sunlight and life and also the color of death and decay" (Collins 58). The city's dictator turns out to be an "aging bald-headed man with the enormous yellow parabola on a forehead furrowed by yellow, illegible lines, and clutching a book with his yellow hands, [...] a humorless rationalist" (Collins 58). And just as Zamyatin contrasts red and blue, so he contrasts yellow and blue. The warm golden sun outside the Green Wall is quite a different sun from the light blue one that shines on the rational One State (Shane 1968 157)."

Tags:1984, dystopian, One, State