Part I, Chapter 7, Life Counted in Minutes Summary and Analysis

In Part I, Chapter 7, traveling back to Moscow, Ginzburg considers suicide. At her final hearing, Ginzburg discovers the charges against her have intensified. She is now accused of collaborating with the enemy, a criminal offense. She explodes in anger, and denounces Yaroslavsky for not denouncing Elvov, either. Yaroslavsky, an old man, has apparently paid for his wrongs by acknowledging them; Ginzburg wonders why she must pay for a false accusation with everything in her life. She is sent home to await her sentence.

Ginzburg's frustration over failing to prove her innocence increases to anger over the hypocrisy and corrupt nature of the hearings. The charges multiply against her. Suspicions, rumors, and false accusations are rippling throughout Soviet Russia, and as a result, no charges are being taken lightly. Ginzburg's...