Summary

Pages 123 - 128 – In 1960, 12 years after the central scene of Section 2, Dmitri Shostakovich sits in his car as it is driven by his chauffeur. Nikita Khrushchev is now the leader of the Soviet Union, succeeding Stalin, who died in 1952. Dmitri notes that the Soviet government no longer kills many citizens, but that it still kills in a less literal sense. The narration mentions the musical tribute to Stalin that Dmitri wrote after he returned from New York. The narration also notes the many awards that Dmitri has received from the government, and Dmitri privately reflects on these awards as a dishonor.

Pages 129 - 138 – Dmitri recalls the tutor—“Comrade Troshin,”—assigned to him by the Communist Party to better instruct him on Marxism, Leninism, and other Soviet political matters. Troshin believes wholeheartedly in the values of the Soviet government, and Dmitri pretends...