Part I, Chapter 4, Snowball Summary and Analysis

In Part I, Chapter 4, Mikhail Razumov is a builder and a close friend of Ginzburg and her husband. Razumov has built Livadia, the regional committee's country villa. There, in the spring of 1935, she is introduced to Comrade Beylin, the new chairman of the bureau of Party Political Control. Beylin calls her to his office later on, and interrogates her over her association with Elvov. They have daily meetings over the topic. Tolerance toward Elvov is construed as disloyalty to the Party. Another unnamed man joins in the interrogations, which continue for two months.

At the same time, Ginzburg tells of her friend Pitkovskaya, a militant communist who loses her husband, whom she condemns as a traitor to the Party. Pitkovskaya loved him dearly, but she loved the Party more. She ultimately committed suicide by drinking...