Rachel Sinex

pg. 88 – Mechnikov Hospital 
Mechnikov Hospital is the Hospital where Natalia Sergeyevna is taken and dies after poisoning herself. This is a very dramatic moment in the novella, and it highlights the hardships of the Great Terror, because Natalia resorted to suicide after losing her job and falling deeper into despair. While Natalia was only fired, and not arrested as many were during the Great Terror, the political circumstances of her loss of job made it so she was put on a sort of black-list. Unable to find a new job and observing the horror occurring in Russia, Natalia took her life, leaving Sofia Petrovna eventually alone to bear the hardship. This is perhaps a play on the Socialist Realism framework, whereby often someone dies as a martyr and gains followers, therefore having a sort of afterlife through those followers. Instead, in Sofia Petrovna, Natalia serves as a vessel to display the suffering of the time and its widespread scope. 

pg. 91 – galoshes 
Galoshes are rubber shoe coverings used for cold or damp weather. Sometimes this term is used synonymously with rainbows; however, during the time Sofia Petrovna took place, it would have referred to a rubberized covering that surrounded shoes. 

pg. 93 – article 58, paragraph 11 (Counter Revolutionary Organization) 
This article refers to a law allowing people to be detained and jailed for connection to a criminal. In Sofia Petrovna, this article is referred to indirectly several times, but is mentioned specifically here when Kiparisova tells Sofia not to give money to Alik in prison, as it will connect her son to his case. The significance of this moment is that it shows the scope of terror that was experienced during this time. A couple lines down, Sofia responds by saying that the guard at the jail doesn't "ask who's handing over the money" so they couldn't connect the two cases, and Kiparisova responds by claiming "they don't need to ask...they know everything" (93). 

pg. 93 – Natasha’s letter 
Natasha's (Natalia) suicide is a dramatic moment in Sofia Petrovna; however, it isn't until slightly after her friend's death that Sofia reads her suicide note. This note is important in that it encapsulates Natasha's thinking behind her suicide, which was primarily that no one needed her and she did not have "enough strength to wait" (94). Natasha's loss of employment and subsequent deterioration in circumstance was a great struggle, and she decides that ultimately she can not bear to wait it out until things are sorted out. She leaves Sofia with hope that Sofia's son, Kolya will return, and tries to tell Sofia not to be sad about the suicide.