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• 1 2020-09-28T09:48:46-04:00 Sofia Petrovna 65-74 6 Lydia Chukovskaya plain 2020-10-20T11:12:49-04:00

  pg. 65 — political vigilance
  "The criminal relaxation of political vigilance" is a common criticism of people and institutions. It seems to be vague enough term where the masses can agree on it as a negative influence on society, but it also demands everyone to become a hyper-political, exaggerated version of whatever they believe to be the ideal Soviet citizen. So long as they maintain that exhausting ideal, people like Sofia Petrovna and her neighbors believe they will be left alone by the state and live ordinary lives. Yet this is merely an illusion that the state perpetuates, as no one is really safe or innocent under this government.

  Pg. 65 — proletarian
  Proletarians are the workers and human laborers that make up the foundation of the social class structure. In Soviet ideology, there only existed two non-competing classes (workers and peasants) although society was further stratified in reality (the bureaucratic elites, intelligentsia, white-collar workers; blue-collar workers; and peasants and laborers). The proletarians fell in the last category. 

  Pg. 66 — class hostility 
  Class hostility is also a common term thrown around to criticize members (or ex-members) of the intelligentsia for their privilege and social standing. Here, the representatives of the state use it to target Natasha Frolenko and further dissolve the social fabric of the community. By fostering distrust and suspicion, the state is able to stay in control and fragment communities to prevent political discourse and gatherings. 

  Pg. 69 — shockworker 
  Shockworkers were highly productive Communist workers and represented an ideal laborer. In this context, Sofia's neighbors are discussing a shockworker who has been taken in by the police, highlighting how no one (ordinary, at least) is impervious to the state's encroachment into people's lives. 

  Pg. 73 — Central Committee of the Komsomol
  The Central Committee of the Komsomol was the executive leadership of the Komsomol, or the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League, that targeted young men and women.