Starec Z p.07 (Patreon)

I don't know how many of you care about this, but for those who enjoy learning the reasoning behind certain choices I make, here you go (spoiler: it's all about Russian literature)!

Two pages ago, I revealed that Zora's last name is Marmeladova. I picked it from Dostoevsky's novel Crime and Punishment, which features a character named Sonja Marmeladova—a very pious young woman forced into prostitution to support her family, especially after the death of her alcoholic father.

The count Karataevsky, on the other hand, is inspired by a mix of:

Writer Lev Tolstoy (whose full name was Lev Nikolayevich), who was not only a count but also a deeply religious man, especially in his later years. Tolstoy was also an anarchist who used his wealth to improve the lives and education of the people living and working on his estate, Yasnaya Polyana. He even attempted to leave his land to them (much to the dismay of his family). Tolstoy truly "put his money where his mouth was." A complex and fascinating man (and a brilliant writer, of course). The character I created also resembles Tolstoy in his later years.

Prince Myshkin, the protagonist of another of Dostoevsky's novels, The Idiot, which tells the story of a good man surrounded by selfish and corrupt people. Myshkin's first name is also Lev Nikolayevich.

Platon Karataev, a character from Tolstoy's War and Peace. Karataev is a peasant whom Pierre (one of the novel's main characters) encounters while imprisoned (they're both prisoners of war). Karataev lives entirely in the present, indifferent to both past and future, and shows Pierre—who is at his lowest—that a simple, fulfilled life is achievable.

The names I chose reflect the themes of Zora's story one way or another: redemption, the struggle of the self, self-acceptance, faith... I take the "man of culture" meme very seriously, folks! lol

Next page Jan 28th!

P.S. doch' moya means "my daughter" in Russian. I forgot to include the note on the page.