Life and Fate - Main Characters

Main Characters

Viktor Pavlovich Shtrum:

Viktor Shtrum is the central figure in Grossman’s novel. Although there is a multitude of characters in Life and Fate, much of the novel’s plot revolves around Shtrum and his family. Shtrum is married to Lyudmila. He works as a nuclear physicist and is a member of the Academy of Sciences. A crucial aspect of Shtrum’s character is his academic work. He is constantly thinking about his exploration of nuclear physics. This obsession with his work is obvious from the very start of the novel through the thoughts of Lyudmila. Lyudmila and Viktor have drawn apart. Lyudmila acknowledges this disconnect, for she realizes that her husband no longer shares his work with her – something that he used to do constantly. Previous to the war, Shtrum’s family had been living in Moscow, yet the city’s evacuation caused them to move into Kazan. Throughout the novel, Shtrum hints at his opposition to the oppressive government. The war also forces Shtrum to come to terms with his Jewish heritage.

Lyudmila Nikolaevna Shaposhnikova:

Lyudmila is married to Viktor Shtrum and has a daughter with him named Nadya. This is her second marriage. She was originally married to Abarchuk, who has been sent to a Soviet Labor Camp. In the beginning of the novel, it is clear that Lyudmila and Viktor have drifted apart. Although their estrangement is not expressed openly by each character, it is evident through Lyudmila’s discussion of her eldest son, Tolya, who she had with Abarchuk. Lyudmila discusses how Viktor and his mother, Anna Semyonovna, always showed a preference to Nadya and ignored Tolya. Lyudmila describes this best when she says “Nadya, Nadya, Nadya…Nadya’s got Viktor’s eyes…Nadya’s absent-minded, Nadya’s quick-witted, Nadya’s very thoughtful.” Lyudmila’s separation and apathy towards Viktor and Nadya grow greater after the death of Tolya.

Yevgenia (‘Zhenya’) Nikolaevna Shaposhnikova:

Yevgenia is Lyudmila’s younger sister. She was originally married to Nikolay Grigorevich Krymov, but when the reader is introduced to her in the novel, she is in a relationship with Colonel Pyotr Pavlovich Novikov. After moving to Kuibyshev, Yevgenia lives with an old German woman named Jenny Genrikovna - a woman who had once worked as the Shaposhinikov family’s governess. Yevgenia had a good relationship with this pleasant lady, but after the old woman is taken to the Far North with other Germans living in Kuibyshev, Yevgenia begins to live alone. Although she is a beautiful and charming woman, Yevgenia has much trouble acquiring a residence permit or a ration-card. After many run-ins with Grishin, the head of the passport department, she is finally able to get these documents using societal connections. She receives aid in acquiring official documentation from Limonov, a man of letters, and Lieutenant-Colonel Rizin, her boss at the design office – both of whom are romantically interested in her.

Dementiy Trifonovich Getmanov:

Getmanov is the secretary of an obkom and is appointed commissar to Novikov’s tank corps. He is described as having large and distinct features: “his shaggy, graying head, his broad forehead, and his fleshy nose.” Getmanov is married to Galin Terentyevna. He has two daughters and a young son. His family lives in Ufa, where his comrades take care of them when Getmanov is away. Getmanov comes off as a strong supporter of the party. His prime objective in life is to move up in the party’s hierarchy. Thus, he is very cautious about what he says and what who are associated with him say, because he does not want to offend the party or Stalin in anyway. This is obvious when he is discussing politics with his friends before leaving for the front. When one man discusses how his young son once abused a picture of Stalin, Getmanov is overly critical and says that this behavior, even from a youngster, should not be tolerated. Getmanov is also quite arrogant. He feels insulted at being appointed the commissar to only a tank corps. It may be possible to see Getmanov as a portrait of Khrushchev.

Abarchuk:

Abarchuk is Lyudmila’s first husband. He was arrested in 1937 and sent to a Soviet Labor Camp. Abarchuk is a strong supporter of the party. He feels as though he has been wrongly imprisoned, yet does not fault the party for its actions. He believes that such erroneous arrests are justifiable in the large scheme of party stability. Abarchuk works with tools and materials in the camp. He works with a criminal named Barkhatov, who blackmails many people and even kills one of Abarchuk’s friends, Abrasha Rubin. Abarchuk’s actions are shaped by his need of approval by the party. He refuses to even allow Tolya to take his surname, for Abarchuk believes that this might hurt his standing and party image.

Pyotr Lavrentyevich Sokolov:

Sokolov is a mathematician in Viktor’s laboratory. In the beginning of the novel, Sokolov and Viktor are good friends. They love talking about their academic work and often get together at Sokolov’s home to discuss life and politics. As the novel progresses, however, it is evident that Viktor and Marya Ivanovna Sokolova, Sokolov’s wife, have feelings for each other. As Sokolov becomes aware of this, his relationship with Viktor obviously changes. They became even more competitive academically and are less friendly with each other.

Mikhail Sidorovich Mostovskoy:

Mostovskoy is an Old Bolshevik in a German Concentration Camp. He is the first major character that the reader is introduced to and he appears in the very beginning of the novel. Mostovskoy was involved in the Russian Revolution of 1917 and had strong ties to the Bolshevik party. Before his imprisonment, he was exiled in London and Switzerland. Although the living conditions in the camp are horrible, Mostovskoy is reasonable and optimistic. He says that the great mixture of prisoners in the camps, all from different ethnic, political and religious backgrounds, leads to an interesting environment. He can use his knowledge of foreign languages in the camp and he can attempt to understand new perspectives. Those inside the camp, including Mostovskoy, are extremely interested in what is going on in the war. Grossman uses Mostovskoy’s character to reveal the philosophical tension that pervaded Europe during WWII. Mostovskoy is constantly involved in philosophical arguments with fellow prisoners such as Major Yershov and Ikonnikov, a former Tolstoyan.

Sofya Osipovna Levinton:

When the reader first meets Levinton, she is in a train on the way to a German death camp. We later find out that she is an army doctor and an old friend of Yevgenia. On the train, Levinton meets a small boy named David. She soon realizes that he has no relatives with him. He was separated from his family before the war and his grandmother died in a Jewish ghetto. Over the course of the novel, Levinton grows to love David as a son. When, at the camp, the Germans offer to spare certain prisoners of value (such as doctors), she does not save herself; rather, she stays with David and heads with him to the gas chamber to die. This sequence of events in Life and Fate is especially powerful. It demonstrates how human compassion can rise above the atrocities that defined WWII.

Captain Grekov:

Grekov is the ‘house-manager’ in House 6/1 – a Soviet stronghold surrounded by German troops. He is the emotional leader in this house and is highly respected. As a fierce and courageous soldier, he can truly inspire those around him to keep fighting in the direst situations. Tension forms between Krymov and Grekov as the novel progresses, because Grekov desires to act independently. He does not want Krymov to command him or control his actions, even if Krymov is the acting commissar. In this way, Grekov is a stubborn leader.

Nikolay Grigorevich Krymov:

Krymov is Yevgenia’s former husband. He is the commissar - a political functionary - and is in control of the region in which House 6/1 is located. While Krymov seems to be a good communist, he has had a history of run-ins with party officials. Thus, he must watch everything that he does and says. Although Yevgenia claims to be over Krymov, she constantly thinks about him. Later in the novel, Yevgenia and Krymov reunite and rekindle their love. Krymov, however, is soon arrested and interrogated for unclear connections to ‘anti-party’ activity.

Colonel Pyotr Pavlovich Novikov:

Novikov is Yevgenia’s lover and the commanding officer of a Soviet Tank Corps. At the front, Novikov interacts with Getmanov. In many ways, Grossman juxtaposes these two characters in the novel. Novikov’s relationship with Yevgenia is focused on throughout Life and Fate. While he believes that he is getting closer to Yevgenia, the reader realizes that Yevgenia is slowly drifting away from him and growing closer to Krymov, her former husband.