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• 1 2020-10-07T11:16:55-04:00 The Aviator 1-28 23 Eugene Vodolazkin plain 2020-12-12T15:55:35-05:00

  Hannah Bartoshesky
  
  pg. 4 — Dr. Geiger
  Innokenty's Doctor and the first man Innokenty encounters upon waking up. He treats Innokenty very patiently and kindly, helping him to regain his memory a bit at a time, and encouraging him to write all his recollections and day to day experiences in a journal, which is the structure of the novel itself. Geiger is a German surname meaning "violin player."

  pg. 4 — Innokenty Petrovich Platonov
  The protagonist of the story. He suffers from amnesia, waking up in a hospital in Russia, in the year 1999 — 99 years since his birth. As he works towards regaining his memories he comes to terms with his situation, stranded in the future, trying to learn more about this new reality and how the world has changed since his own lifetime. The name "Innokenty" means innocent, which is fitting for an amnesiac reinterpreting the world and learning about his own memories as well as recent Russian history with fresh eyes. The last name "Platonov" may be in reference to the great twentieth century prose-stylist and anti-Stalinist author Andrei Platonov, whose work was only recognized after his death in 1951.

  pg. 7 — Valentina the nurse
  Described as a shapely woman, she is one of only two people Innokenty interacts with in the hospital. She reminds Innokenty of his first love, whom he slowly remembers more and more. She doesn't speak much but treats Innokenty very kindly, even laying next to him to keep him company.

  pg. 7 — Innokenty’s Grandmother
  Innokenty's memories of his grandmother are tied to his childhood and specifically the reading of Robinson Crusoe when he was home sick in bed. He specifically recalls small details like his grandmother's cough and crumbs that would spray accross the pages when she ate bread while reading.

  pg. 7 — Robinson Crusoe
  A recurring motif in the book. Robinson Crusoe, a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719, is the story of a man who sets sail from England and after a quite eventful journey, becomes shipwrecked on an isolated and deserted island. He survives on this island by creatively using resources from the wrecked ship and his wits. He has many adventures in his years on the island, fighting off cannibals, and eventually boarding a ship to head back home. Robinson Crusoe provides many parallels to Innokenty's situation. Just as Crusoe was stranded, indefinitely separated from all that he's ever known, Innokenty awakes to find himself stranded in a completely foreign future. The structure of this story even takes a similar form, that of a log or journal labeled with each day of the week. Innokenty draws these parallels directly, reflecting that like Robinson Crusoe he is "in a different time now, with his previous experiences and previous habits, and he needs either to forget them or recreate an entire lost world, something's that's not simple at all" (33).

  pg. 10 — Chekhov
  Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860-1904) was a Russian playwright and short story writer, considered to be among the greatest writers of short fiction in history. He is a prime example of the nineteenth century realist writer, describing the Russian life of his time deceptively simple writing style without obtrusive literary devices.

  pg. 10 — Stanislavsky
  Konstantin Sergeevich Stanislavsky (1863-1938) was a Russian theatre actor and director, known for his "system" of actor training and rehearsal technique.

  pg. 10 — “war-time sister of mercy. 1914”
  The nurses who served during "The Great War" (World War I).

  pg. 13 — Innokenty’s mother
  Again we only get snippets of her character, from Innokenty's slowly returning childhood memories.

  pg. 15 — Kuokkala/ Repino
  An area of Saint Petersburg Russia, it is 30 kilometers northwest of the city of St. Petersburg on the Karelian Isthmus and Gulf of Finland. Kuokkala is where Innokenty remembers flying kites with his cousin Seva; running up and down the beach and playing make-believe as "Aviator Platonov".

  pg. 16 — cousin Seva
  The cousin, close to his own age, that Innokenty recalls running along the beach playing "aviator" with. He also recalls him as a timid boy, never taking the lead in their games, even when they were just flying kites.

  pg. 18 — Innokenty’s Father
  A lawyer, who, in Innokenty's few retrieved memories of him, appears to be quite keen and proud of his son's education, bringing him to a gathering where he is prompted to recite memorized poetry and teaching him the name of the Greek Goddess of justice as he is just learning to talk.

  pg. 19 — Terenty Osipovich Dobrosklonov
  An old man Innokenty encounters at a holiday party. He counsels him to "go intrepidly" as he recites poems for a group of adults. Innokenty repeats this phrase at other points in the novel; it seems this is not just advice for a young child in the bewildering world of a holiday party, but words to be heeded throughout life. Life, Innokenty's life in particular, is confusing and sometimes scary, and so it seems the best solution is often just to continue forward with a brave heart.

  pg. 22 — Petersburg
  This city seems to be a source of security and grounding for Innokenty. He enjoys seeing the city from afar as he returns by train, and reflects on how the waves crash harmlessly on its shores. 

  pg. 24 — Anastasia
  Innokenty's old flame, and the first name he is able to remember. She is described as a beautiful and sensitive girl, 5 years younger than Innokenty, at least in his original time. Their relationship begins with late night talks in the communal apartment kitchen, and becomes a commited loving relationship. Anastasia, significantly, means "resurrection". And, true to the name, Innokenty's relationship with Anastasia is in a way "resurrected" after her death, when he falls in love with her grandaughter of the same name.

  pg. 27 — Ligovo in Polezhayevsky Park
  A park in the southern part of the St. Petersburg where Innokenty and his father enjoyed a July afternoon. In contrast to Innokenty's cheery and carefree memories of this place, the park was devistated in the early 1940s due to its location at the frontlines of the blockade of Leningrad which lasted for over two years during the Great Patriotic War. The park has since been restored, and now includes several monuments in homage to these battles.

  pg. 28 — ration cards
  In 1929, the elimination of New Economic Policy (NEP) resulted in food shortages and the introduction of food rationing in most Soviet industrial centres.

  pg. 28 — Vasilevsky island
  The largest of St. Petersburg's islands, bordered by the Bolshaya Neva and Malaya Neva Rivers in the south and northeast, and by the Gulf of Finland in the west. It was envisaged by Peter the Great as the center of his new capital.

  pg. 28 — Tuchkov Bridge
  A drawbridge across Little Neva in Saint Petersburg, Russia, connecting Vasilievsky Island and Petrogradsky Island.