The Shot by Pushkin has a theme which is immediately evident: “the nobleman who romanticizes life”. The Romantic Era was the time when Pushkin wrote. This theme is not only important because it was popular during that period, but also because of its importance for other reasons. In many ways, this “romanticization”, which is common in Pushkin’s work, guides the whole experience. This theme appears in a descriptive, emotionally charged narrative, as it does so often. The Shot, and Pushkin, are both romantic works.
Pushkin has his protagonist be an outsider right from the beginning. He lives in an outpost with Russians, but his name “Silvio” is not Russian. He has a mysterious quality and is older. He has paradoxical personality traits; he’s friendly and welcomes everyone into his home, but he’s also aloof. The other men are both frightened and respected by his aloofness. Pushkin claimed that “nobody was aware of his financial situation or circumstances, and no-one dared to ask him about it” (23). Silvio lives a life apart from the rest of us, and all the men want to know what makes him appear so powerful. Pushkin’s description of Silvio as aloof, with walls “riddled with bulletholes and like honeycombs in appearance”, makes the reader curious. The idea of an outsider who is noble and heroic is romantic.
From the beginning, it is clear that Silvio is a hero. Even the name of Silvio sounds heroic. Pushkin states that “nobody was aware of the reasons behind his decision to resign from his position and settle in this wretched, little town,” (22), which makes it clear that Silvio had once been a very important man. Silvio rejects wealth, as well. In the “wretched, mudwalled cottage” where he lives, his “rich gun collection was the sole luxury”. People who reject their material wealth have been viewed as heroes since before the Romantic Period.
The Romantic Era literature was heavily influenced by the individuality of Romantic Era authors. It reflected their environment. Many Romantic Era authors, like Pushkin, were oppressed by their governments and expressed themselves through their writing. The writers of the Romantic Era would create stories that would brighten a bleak world by imagining an outsider like themselves who was able to overcome stifling formality and oppression in order live passionately. This novel’s setting is similar to Pushkin, who struggled to live passionately in a military outpost. They see Silvio as a hero because he is an individualist in a conformist environment.
Pushkin slowly reveals more details to the readers about Silvio. The reader learns about a duel Silvio entered that ended unusually. Pushkin romanticizes the entire duel. Silvio shoots first, but his opponent refuses (27). The duel, where the life of one’s opponent is on the table, is not a time for heroics. Or maybe, as in a Russian Romanticist Novel, it is. Pushkin then focuses on the psychology of the man about to shoot the other man, giving him a glimpse into his thoughts. Silvio told the narrator that he was standing in the range of his pistol and spit out stones from his cap. I was enraged by his indifference. What was the point in taking his life if he didn’t care about it? Pushkin represents the duel, which is still considered barbaric today, as a show of pride that values sentiment and pride above victory.
In the end, it is revealed that Silvio was eager to complete the duel as soon as his opponent became more concerned about his own safety. Silvio waited 5 years for his rival to get married and practiced every day. Silvio forces his opponent to fire at him and ends the duel by saying, “I’m satisfied.” The alarm and confusion you have shown me is enough. You will never forget me. “I pledge you to the conscience of your mind” (32). Silvio did not wait to kill this man, but rather to keep him forever in his memory. Silvio fired, leaving a bullet-hole over the one made by his opponent to indicate that it was his life. It is emotionally moving to know that Silvio spent five years training to become an expert shot, only to let his adversary keep his life.
Works Cited
The citation for both the original and paraphrased versions would be the same as you would use the same source for both.
Gibian, George. The Portable Nineteenth-century Russian Reader. New York, NY, U.S.A.: Penguin, 1993. 22-33. Print.
