On the surface, Tolstaya’s short story Night depicts the day of a mentally challenged man named Alexei who is being cared for by his mother, but I think that this story is an allegory for Russia in the contemporary world. The man acts as a child would, understanding the world not for what it was, unable to live an independent life.
We know the main character is a fully grown man by the several allusions to his balding head and his beard, as well as the way people treat him. They’re uncomfortable with his childish and immature actions, and treat him like a pariah when they see him outside. This is because he can’t control himself, and he acts like a child. I think this is an allegory for Russia in the late Soviet period, with a child that was born out of pain, and never really grew up to be what he was supposed to be, instead becoming a misfit.
I interpret this “birth from pain” to be the Russian revolution and the wars surrounding the Soviet Union’s inception. In addition to that parallel, the Soviet Union had ambitions to become a global powerhouse, but as time went on, that vision faded and the country sort of floundered, much like Alexei, who wanted to be a writer but is instead a man who hasn’t matured in a normal, healthy way.
Based on this analysis, I’m not exactly sure who the mother is meant to represent. Based on her tired and disheartened appearance, I imagine she’s meant to represent somebody who tried to set the USSR on a positive path, but is now a sort of caretaker. If Night is meant to be an allegory, who do you think Alexei is, and who do you think the mother is?
As we talked about in class, I thought that the mother represented the overly protective Soviet state and that Alexei represented the Russian people, and their new attempts to live free from these restrictions. One moment that stood out to me in its depiction of this symbolism was Alexei’s possession of the Sea Maiden’s money when Mommy is not in the room.
“Alexei Petrovich snatches, jingles, overturns, runs, bangs the door, breathes noisily and hastily, stumbles. The street. Darkness. Which way? That way? Or this? What’s that in his fist? Money! Somebody else’s money! The money glows through his hairy fist. Put your hand in your pocket. No, it glows through anyway. Somebody else’s money! He took somebody else’s money!” (193)
Alexei Petrovich does not know how to deal with money in a normal and appropriate manner. I thought that this ineptitude was an allegory for Russia’s rocky transition to capitalism.
One thing I find interesting is the idea of maturing. If we are to understand Alexei as a metaphor for the USSR and its failed promises. You say that “it never grew up how it should’ve been.” I agree with that statement when it comes to the metaphor, but if we are to think about the story it is far more likely that Alexei was born with his disability. I get your idea of “born out of pain,” but I understood text suggesting that there were inherent flaws with the USSR and soviet system from the outright and that as it aged these flaws became more obvious. I wonder if that’s what Tolstoya meant or if I’m simply extrapolating too much.
Colby, this is an excellent point! I don’t think you’re extrapolating too much at all. The inherent deformities in the system seem to be important here. And Eva, your point about Alexei’s unhealthy and unnatural response to money being highlighted is really perceptive also! Such great readings of this difficult story!!