Summary

Pages 169 - 174 – After officially joining the Russian Communist Party, Dmitri goes to Leningrad to stay with his sister, away from Moscow, the center of government. He tries to avoid being present for the formal announcement, but the government simply waits and lets the information slip out in the meantime. Dmitri recalls crying the day he joined the Party, the only time his son saw him cry other than the day his wife Nina died. Dmitri labels himself a coward and then reflects upon the ironic courage it takes to be the cowardly lackey of the government for one’s whole life. Then he considers the national soccer team, which he also depicts as means by which the Soviet government controlled its people and exercised its power.

Pages 175 - 181 – Dmitri contemplates the modest luxuries and minor influence he now possesses, and...