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: Dear Folks, : Been studying "The Double," I wish I could remember the name of the translator but I can't and the book's in the car. It's a volume called "The Great Short Works of Dostoevsky." : Anyway, I've been reading the early works while reading and re-reading Volume One of Frank's biography. It's all been very exciting. : There's a scene in "The Double" where Golyadkin goes to the dinner party held in honor of Klara's birthday. He's told at the door by a servant that there are instructions not to admit him. : At that point the "old butler" (Geriasich or something like that) appears, calls the other servant a fool and tells him to fetch Semyonovich (I think that's his name), a co-worker of Golyadkin and his competitor for the hand of Klara. (Semyonovich is the guy who is promoted over Golyadkin due to the influence of his uncle, a high-up in their office.) The old butler refers to Semyonovich as a "soundrel." I think he says "Go fetch that scoundrel Semyonovich." : Golyadkin seems to imagine a friend in the old butler, seems to trust him. (Although Golyadkin leaps to trust anyone at a moment's notice -- baring that, for the moment) He calls the old butler by his name and when "his enemies" (Semyonovich and his uncle) appear he directs all his attention to a rather colligial interchange with the butler -- as though in him he imagines an ally (again not too odd a bit of behavior from Golyadkin). The butler even tells Golyadkin that he announced him, persumably even tho he had prior orders to bar him from the door... Such a thing raises the thought that perhaps the butler has some sympathy for Golyadkin. : There's very little more info about the butler in the text. It struck me as a rather curious moment. : The butler is the only character other than Golyadkin who expresses contempt for the petty bureaucrats in Golyadkin's millieu (although the narrator does so, but indirectly, through extreme irony.) He seems like his own man -- capable of judging men for their merits as opposed to in regard to their social status. Golyadkin claims to be capable of the same, but he reserves his critique to those who stand in the way of his ambitions -- his critique looses credibility due to his overarching egosim. : This old servant seems to understand his social position but reserves the right to his own opinion, his own individuality. His critique appears disinterested. He seems to find a place to stand with dignity apart from whatever dignity or lack thereof his social position allows. He seems so different from any other character in that he presents a critique and FD does nothing to shade the grounds upon which it's made. : The butler's relationship to these folks is totally determined by the nature of his and social position -- why should he have particularly strong positions against one or another in particular? Or if he does, why would he voice them? Or is it simply that Golyadkin is such a nonentity that anyone of any station would disregard him as someone with whom you'd have to hold to any formality? : Maybe I'm injecting a stereotype here... the image of the wise old servant who's been with the family for years and observes everything with a sense of clear detachment. If FD had the same thing in mind then this character's bit is of some significance. : This butler is secure in his place (no fear of being fired... he's been there forever) and has no reason to believe he can ever rise above, if only because social rules would never make such a thing possible. Unable to rise, relatively secure in the belief that he won't tumble down into beggary, he avoids the pitfalls of social ambition. He stands outside the game, secure in his place, nowhere to go, nothing to do but observe... Unlike Golyadkin He has some critical capacity, is aware of the schism between ideals and reality, but is too caught up in the game to separate the issues from the crisis of his own ego, his own life, his own position... : Is there anything to this?

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