Envy 97-110
Gypsy is a sometimes derogatory term to describe people for whom travelling is a way of life. They originated in northern India but now traveller communities are all across the world with many travelling within Europe and the UK and Ireland. The description of the gypsy "carrying the afternoon away" on this page comes in the midst of Kavalerov and Ivan referring to other homeless people as "fellow travellers," perhaps this exclusion is reflective of the xenophobia that Gypsies have historically experienced.
pg. 98 — The Poles
"The Poles" refers to Polish people. On this page, they are referred to so that Ivan can recount one of their sayings: "She has beer-coloured eyes."
pg. 101 — Cardiff
Cardiff is a major coal exporting city in Wales, UK where they would set the price for steam coal at the Cardiff Coal Exchange. Here,Cardiff coal is possibly meant as a joke as "coal" is not capitalised, Cardiff Coal was one of the most beautiful buildings of its time in Wales but the decapitalised 'coal' makes it more literal as you can chisel coal but cannot chisel a whole town out of a building.
pg. 101 — Samoteka
Samoteka is an area in the Meshchansky district in Moscow known for being home to a beautiful Trinity church.
pg. 105 — Golgotha
A skull-shaped hill just outside of the walls of Jerusalem atop of which Jesus was crucified. Ivan says to Kavalerov: "They're taking me to Golgotha. Go see my little girl" when being arrested and taken away by the police. This gives further evidence to the characterisation of Ivan as a crazy man with illusions of grandeur by comparing his situation to Jesus being arrested by the Romans to be crucified.
pg. 106 — James Watt
James Watt, contrary to the passage in Envy, did not invent the steam engine. He did however vastly improve it and make it easier for the Industrial Revolution to progress so much faster. His contribution to industry efficiency was so great that the unit of power was named after him. Perhaps there is something lying in Babichev's mistake, although Watt did not invent the steam engine he made it much better. Perhaps this is what is expected of Volodya and all the others that represent the new man in the Soviet Union at this time. Perhaps generations pinned their hopes on the new man to lead the country and the communist struggle to a period of prosperity.
pg. 108 — Young Communist
The capitalisation of the term here suggests a more formal reading of it. Young Communist may refer to the 'All-Union Leninist Young Communist League' or Komsomol, the official youth wing of The Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Again we see Volodya representing the hopes of an ideology placed in a younger generation. This takes place in the midst of describing a perfect young man that society would expect a communist to be. Amongst various deeds and attitudes towards society, being a Young Communist is the first thing that Volodya is described as.
pg. 109 — The 'Sea of Crises'
Known also as the Mare Crisium, a large basaltic plain on the moon's surface created by ancient volcanic eruptions.
pg. 110 — Murom
Situated about 300km outside of Moscow, Murom is one of the oldest cities in all of Russia being founded in 862AD. It serves as the administrative center for the Muromsky district however, it is not included in it. It is incorporated separately as the City of Murom as an administrative division with as much administrative power as a district.
