Egorushka

Egorushka is the protagonist of the novella. He is a young boy from the village of N—. The narrator tells the story through his eyes. The purpose of Egorushka’s journey through the steppe is to get to his mother’s old friend who can look after him while he goes to school.

Egorushka had a quiet and peaceful life in N—. He laments having to leave his birthplace: “Egorushka remembered that when the cherry trees were in bloom, these white spots blended with the blossoms into a white sea; and when the cherries were ripe, the white tombstones and crosses were strewn with blood-red spots” (5). Egorushka’s vivid description of his grandparents’ gravestones captures the beauty of his native town. The start of his journey is a melancholy one, as Egorushka has to abandon all that he knows in favor of an uncertain future.

As the novella...