th
already formulated for her, and does not have to grope about for it.
Nevertheless, the essential characteristics of the two girls are the
same. They both have the same joyous self-denial, the same love of
life, the same courage in face of difficulties, and also the same
faith in a better future. Tanya has lived during the whole winter
with her comrades in a region devastated by the famine, and she has
spent there all that she possesses. At Toliminsk, where she arrives
after a long walk, she speaks of her meagre living and tells amusing
stories without suspecting her wonderful heroism.

But this young girl, full of the joy of life and ready for any
sacrifices, is pitiless towards her theoretical adversaries and has
absolutely no compassion for them. The passage in "Crime and
Punishment," in which Dostoyevsky depicts one of his heroes in the
following manner: "He was young, he had abstract ideas, and was,
consequently, cruel," perfectly fits Tanya. Veressayev tells the
following incident: "One day, when she was at the station, some
peasants rushed down from the platform. A railroad guard struck one
of the peasants. The peasant put his head down and ran off....
Tanya, knitting her brows, said: 'That's good for him! Oh, these
peasants!' And her eyes lighted up with scorn and hate...."

Just as Tanya brings Natasha to our mind, so does Varenka make us
think of Dr. Chekanhov; the same feeling of duty governs them both.
But, while Chekanhov wanted to devote himself to the social problem,
without ever succeeding in doing so, because he did not exactly see
the principles, Varenka was able to devote herself to her work
without mental reservation. However, she refuses to, because she has
not enough enthusiasm for this sort of research. Her understanding,
which is deeper and broader than Tanya's, sees the error, the
narrowness of her doctrine; she cannot admit it, and, fired by a
desire to devote herself body and soul to some useful work, she
chooses the laborious profession of a school-mistress in the
village. But this humble and unpleasant career does not satisfy her.
Little by little ennui and anguish drive her to suicide.

Between Tokarev, Tanya's brother, and Varenka, the contrast is
complete. While still a student, he had accepted, with all the ardor
of youth, the idea of duty, and he desired to give himself up to the
cause of justice and truth; but, having encountered many obstacles,
he felt, when he had reached his t