“my lodger was certainly a man of experience. From his passport it appeared that he was an old soldier, a fact which I should have known indeed from his face. An old soldier is easily recognised. Astafy Ivanovitch was a favourable specimen of his class. We got on very well together. What was best of all, Astafy Ivanovitch would sometimes tell a story, describing some incident in his own life. In the perpetual boredom of my existence such a story-teller was a veritable treasure.”
Astafy Ivanovitch is fascinating due to his poignant stories. His familiarity is flattering to the narrator who lives like a recluse. If it were not for Astafy Ivanovitch, the story concerning “An Honest Thief” would not have come to be. Astafy Ivanovitch’s attention-grabbing stories diminishes the dullness of the narrator’s unsociable life.
"Well, Emelyan Ilyitch,' said I, 'as you will, forgive me if I, in my foolishness, have accused you unjustly. As for the breeches, let them go hang; we can live without them. We've still our hands, thank God; we need not go thieving or begging from some other poor man; we'll earn our bread.”
Astafy Ivanovitch’s admission of guilt is ironic bearing in mind that it is he who deserves an expression of regret from Emelyan Ilyitch. He wants to alleviate Emelyan’s torment regarding the vanished breeches. Arguably, he conjectures that Emelyan may have been liable for the loss of the breeches but he is so compassionate towards him that he does not want to antagonize him. Astafy’s act of contrition sanctions that he values Emelyan more than the breeches.
“You did not find me yesterday, Ivan Petrovitch, because I was suddenly and quite unexpectedly called away to a death-bed. My aunt, Yefimya Nikolaevna, passed away yesterday evening at eleven o'clock in the night. By the general consent of the relatives I was selected to make the arrangements for the sad and sorrowful ceremony.”
Pyotr Ivanitch appeals to pity when he refers to his aunt’s demise. Losing an aunt is sorrowful incident that plunges one into grieve. Pyotr Ivanitch validates his inability to meet with Ivan Petrovitch by recounting his aunt’s final instants. For Pyotr Ivanitch, rushing to his aunt’s death-bed is more noteworthy than meeting up with Ivan Petrovitch.
"From the very beginning of our acquaintance you captivated me by your clever manners, by the subtlety of your behaviour, your knowledge of affairs and the advantages to be gained by association with you. I imagined that I had found a true friend and well-wisher. Now I recognise clearly that there are many people who under a flattering and brilliant exterior hide venom in their hearts, who use their cleverness to weave snares for their neighbour and for unpardonable deception, and so are afraid of pen and paper, and at the same time use their fine language not for the benefit of their neighbour and their country, but to drug and bewitch the reason of those who have entered into business relations of any sort with them. Your treachery to me, my dear sir, can be clearly seen from what follows."
Ivan Petrovitch conjectures that Pyotr Ivanitch is a deceitful friend who exploits their affiliation for his egoistic comforts. According to Ivan Petrovitch , Pyotr is noxious because he perceptively engrosses in activities that are unfavorable to Ivan’s benefits. For Ivan, Pyotr is far from an unqualified acquaintance because his activities indicate that he is bent on deceiving people who take him to be their earnest companion. Pyotr circumvents written pledges with his friends, in matters involving business, because the proclivity of honoring his word is trivial.
“I will end my letter. I have explained myself. Now in conclusion. If, sir, you do not in the shortest possible time after receiving this letter return me in full, first, the three hundred and fifty roubles I gave you, and, secondly, all the sums that should come to me according to your promise, I will have recourse to every possible means to compel you to return it, even to open force, secondly to the protection of the laws, and finally I beg to inform you that I am in possession of facts, which, if they remain in the hands of your humble servant, may ruin and disgrace your name in the eyes of all the world.”
Unmistakably, Ivan Petrovitch has overstretched the bounds of his perseverance. He is persuaded that Pyotr Ivanitch’s uncooperative nature is a signal that he does not want to advance him the entire overdue amount. Pyotr Ivanitch’s elusiveness is anticipated to procrastinate the settlement of the amount. Ivan Petrovitch mentions the option of legal recourse to make evident ,to Pyotr Ivanitch, the weightiness of his concern.
