Oh, truthfulness! It’s by that they conquer us. How exquisite it was in her!
The young girl coming to the money-lender’s store “conquered” him and he decided to marry her. What he admired the most was her gentleness and mildness, her obedience, and all these traits united with youth he calls “truthfulness” – her inner world, apparently. The young girl is not yet spoiled by society’s realities, so she has her spirit clearness with her.
Proud, is she! “I like proud people,” I thought. Proud people are particularly nice when . . . well, when one has no doubt of one’s power over them, eh?
It gave him satisfaction to think that he is superior over his future wife. This feeling filled him with emotions close to ecstasy, and it shows what kind of a person he is. He wants to control and rule over everything and decides to start with controlling his wife. But he failed, not just in controlling or being superior, but he failed in life. He understood only to the very end that he never really was above her, because she did not care for him and it was her infinite power.
I almost spoke without words, and I am masterly at speaking without words. all my life I have spoken without words, and I have passed through whole tragedies on my own account without words. Why, I, too, have been unhappy! I was abandoned by every one, abandoned and forgotten, and no one, no one knew it!
The narrator makes a confession of his life, there come up situation which happened before his marriage. And what becomes clear – his strategy, which was based only on “silence”; he has never told anyone what he really thought, felt and what he wanted, he never shared his fortunes and misfortunes and never had a friend. But it never occurred to him that it was his own mistake as he never tried to open his heart to anyone and had such a high opinion of himself that was sure people would find out his feelings themselves and would think good of him.
No, take the deed of heroism that is labourious, obscure, without noise or flourish, slandered, in which there is a great deal of sacrifice and not one grain of glory — in which you, a splendid man, are made to look like a scoundrel before every one, though you might be the most honest man in the world — you try that sort of heroism and you’ll soon give it up!
One of the main ideas of philosophy and life in represented in these words – try to do good – nobody will notice this and care, and if you do bad – all the stones would be thrown into your direction. This idea is widely developed in the works of Dostoevsky, and “A Gentle Creature” shows some analysis and insight on this idea.
