The Double

Fiction | Novella | Adult | Published in 1846

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-6

Chapters 7-9

Chapters 10-13

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Chapters 10-13Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 10 Summary

Golyadkin suffers nightmares of many doubles: They draw attention from him, distracting people from the true Golyadkin. They “usurp his place both at work and in society” (222). He wakes up late the next day, shocked that he slept so long, especially as Petrushka did not wake him. He writes another short letter to his double, demanding that he stop whatever he is doing and challenging him to a duel if he continues. Golyadkin then heads to his workplace.

At the office, Golyadkin meets a clerk and quizzes him about the double. He learns nothing but hands the clerk another letter for the double. Then, Golyadkin spots his double walking out of the office. The double leaves in a carriage but returns quickly. Golyadkin follows the double into the office, finding that the workplace seems relaxed and cheery. The clerks are chatting or playing games. Golyadkin tries to find Filippovich, but the clerks prevent him from entering his office. At the same time, the double begins to crack jokes. The clerks laugh, earning the double a popularity that Golyadkin never enjoyed. When he shakes the double’s hand, the double performatively cleans his fingers with a handkerchief, causing much laughter.

Eventually, Golyadkin manages to work his way into Filippovich’s office. He speaks to his boss, claiming that an imposter is working for the company. Filippovich does not care. The owner of the company, known as His Excellency, enters with several clerks at his side, including Antonovich. Golyadkin approaches Antonovich, asking him to clarify what is happening. Antonovich says that Golyadkin will find out “very soon” (238). Golyadkin is surprised to suddenly find himself standing “already in the office vestibule” (241), the goulashes on his feet soaking wet. He sets off in pursuit of “his enemy” (243).

Chapter 11 Summary

Golyadkin chases after his double, pleading to take a coffee with him in a nearby café. With a kind, calming demeanor, the double agrees. His manner is so sympathetic that Golyadkin almost feels guilty for his behavior. Outside the café, he holds out his hand to shake and seal their friendship. As he approaches the counter, however, he sees the double jokingly wipe his hand clean. Golyadkin does not like the joke. He angrily approaches the double, who flees the café. Golyadkin follows, only for the sound of the ringing bell in the café to call him back because he has not paid. Golyadkin rushes back, hands over the money in his pocket, and turns around to see the double leaving in a carriage.

Golyadkin jumps and grabs hold of the outside of the double’s carriage. The “two enemies” (250) ride through the snowy, foggy streets, with the double leaning out of the carriage to try to remove Golyadkin and deposit him in the roadside mud. When the carriage stops, Golyadkin finally falls. The double enters a house that Golyadkin recognizes. The house belongs to Olsufy Ivanovich. Golyadkin discovers a letter in his pocket, signed by Klara. In the letter, she tells Golyadkin that she is aware of what has happened. She is suffering, she says, and will soon be forced to marry a man whom she does not love. She asks Golyadkin to save her, suggesting that he meet her in a carriage outside her house in the early hours of the morning. Golyadkin is shocked, fumbling in his pockets and finding the forgotten vial of medicine prescribed by his doctor. Golyadkin returns home, where he is given a letter that suggests that he will soon be fired from his job. In his house, Golyadkin finds Petrushka packing his bags, about to quit.

Chapter 12 Summary

Petrushka is ready to quit. When Golyadkin asks Petrushka what he should do, Petrushka tells him to go to the woman downstairs and purchase a fur coat. Handing Petrushka some money, Golyadkin tells him to do exactly that. When Petrushka leaves the apartment, Golyadkin thinks about what could happen if he meets Klara. He fantasizes about running away with her and eloping, which may be illegal. Her parents would probably call for his arrest. Regardless, he calls for a cab and asks to be taken to the Izmaylovsky Bridge, then changes his mind and asks to make another stop first.

Golyadkin is outside the house of His Excellency, the man who owns the company Golyadkin works for. After arguing with the servants, he is admitted to the house. Golyadkin speaks to His Excellency, trying to describe his problems with the double, but he struggles to express himself. His Excellency does not want to listen. He claims that he does not know Golyadkin, which makes Golyadkin emotional and anxious. As Golyadkin stumbles over his words, the double appears. He criticizes Golyadkin for bringing such an unimportant and uncouth issue before His Excellency. Calling his servants, His Excellency tells them to throw Golyadkin out of the house. The double follows Golyadkin as he is marched from the premises. Golyadkin launches a barrage of insults at the double, accusing him of being a “depraved wretch” (266). The double taunts Golyadkin as Golyadkin is thrown out.

Chapter 13 Summary

Golyadkin waits for Klara in the yard outside Olsufy Ivanovich’s house. As he waits, he frets about everything. After dismissing the carriage driver, he leaves his post and then returns. He spots a group of people in the house, peering through the window and staring right at him. When Golyadkin hears someone say his name, he turns around and notices that the double has appeared at the door of the house. The double invites Golyadkin in. Golyadkin does not want to go inside, but he feels obliged to follow the double, who is now using his name.

Inside, the guests of Olsufy Ivanovich greet Golyadkin. They stare at him with sympathetic expressions, huddling around him and leading him to Ivanovich and Filippovich. The latter then takes Golyadkin and leads him to the place where Dr. Rutenspitz is waiting. The doctor studies Golyadkin solemnly, then takes Golyadkin toward a carriage parked outside. They set off with no address mentioned. The doctor, speaking with a German accent, assures Golyadkin that, wherever they are headed, Golyadkin will be given quarters, wood, light, and service free of charge, even if he has done nothing to deserve such treatment. Golyadkin decides that this is a different version of his doctor—a “different, fearful Krestyan Ivanovich” (281). He screams and grabs his head, worried that this apparent sentence is exactly what “he had long been expecting” (282).

Chapters 10-13 Analysis

In this section, Golyadkin receives more important letters that provide insight into his character, highlighting the theme of Delusion and Conspiracy. These letters increase the tension first felt in the letter Golyadkin receives from Vakhrameyev, which condemns his character and dismisses him as a disgrace, though Golyadkin is unaware of what he has done. The letter from his office instructs him to pass along all vital tools and information to his colleague, implying that Golyadkin will soon be fired. If the letter from Vakhrameyev signifies the extent to which Golyadkin has been cut off from good society by his actions, this letter confirms the extent to which he will soon be cut off from his professional ties, foreshadowing a complete removal from society.

In contrast, the letter from Klara is optimistic. Though Golyadkin has not interacted with Klara since the night he caused an embarrassing scene at her birthday party, the letter plays on his deepest desires. Klara invites Golyadkin to rescue her, and he immediately makes plans to run away with her. Klara’s letter is positive, whereas the other letters are negative. Klara’s letter is also likely imaginary, a demonstration of the growing Delusion and Conspiracy in which Golyadkin is trapped. He finds the letter in his pocket and loses it before anyone can read it. He blames the double for this disappearance rather than question whether the letter actually exists, highlighting the Tension and Anxiety in Duality, as Golyadkin blames the double, who is perhaps imaginary also. Additionally, the unopened medication that Golyadkin finds in his pocket instead of the letter indicates his mental health disorder and a possible mental health breakdown, which is perhaps the cause of the double’s origin, as well as his subsequent removal from Saint Petersburg. When he goes to rescue Klara, she does not appear. The letter from Klara contrasts with the other letters; it is both optimistic and imaginary. Like the other letters, however, the letter from Klara confirms the extent to which Golyadkin is becoming estranged from his society. Nothing can be relied upon any longer, from friends to work to reality itself.

Golyadkin realizes that the many guests in Klara’s house are standing at the window, watching him. They are an audience, studying him for their apparent entertainment. Golyadkin has long felt ignored and overlooked by such people, longing to be part of the Saint Petersburg elite and spending time and money trying to present himself as a member of this clique. In reality, he is little more than a morbid fascination for an evening’s entertainment. Klara has not written to him and, as the reality of his situation begins to dawn on him, he completely forgets about her. From this crowd, the double emerges. The double seems genuinely sympathetic in his desire to help Golyadkin, and he leads him through the luxurious apartment as the crowd quietly watches. As preparations are made to take Golyadkin away to a psychiatric hospital, Golyadkin is treated to a moment of collective sympathy. No one is laughing at him, screaming at him, or gossiping about him. He may not be their equal, as he aspired to be, but Golyadkin at least earns their sympathy. This is conveyed to him through his double, the representation of all his anxieties and fears, his bodied other.

Golyadkin is placed in a carriage in preparation to be taken away. At this moment, there is time for a final break from reality for Golyadkin, as he does not believe his doctor, Krestyan Ivanovich Rutenspitz, is his usual self. There is something strange and uncanny about the doctor, who begins to speak with a new German accent. Golyadkin has been driven to the brink by the presence of a double in his life. Now, as he is removed from Saint Petersburg and bound for a psychiatric hospital, he is confronted with another double—the double of another person. Golyadkin, the conspiracy-minded, anxiety-riddled victim of the novel, is subjected to one last fear—that the world is full of men who have been replaced by doubles conspiring against him. As he screams, subtly mimicking the actions of Klara when he offered her to dance, Golyadkin’s thoughts confirm his worst fears: This is exactly what he worried would happen. This realization captures the theme of Agency Versus Fate, as Golyadkin has long suspected this fate and thus acted, at times, without agency. In doing so, he also absolves himself of blame. When he declines his doctor’s advice, he can blame fate, and when he is finally taken away, he can again blame fate rather than consider what he could have done to perhaps change the course of his life. This speaks to the sense of powerlessness of an individual who is aggressively othered and alienated, to the point of experiencing an entire split from reality.