Korsakov’s book has lots of choices which leaves the reader wondering what will happen next. Army vs. Navy, Lenin prayer vs. the slave labor city, joining a crime syndicate vs. staying clean, telling the truth about suicide vs. telling a lie. All of these choices lead to such and interesting life, but also a very difficult one. From reading, someone can tell that this man’s life was very difficult, and the things he was choosing were not great either. There are many instances, where these are legitimately life changing decisions, that not all of us would be able to make.
One of Kourdakov’s most difficult and important decisions is when he had the choice to stay clean, or join the crime syndicate. In the book, he wrote about the gigs he worked. He was getting paid 25 rubles, something he had never even dreamed of. It was such high pay for work he didn’t believe in. His job was to persecute Christians. His job was to basically beat them up, and then steal their bible so they could not continue their practice. He would do this all the time. This of course, led to the failed assignment.
The failed assignment was when he was going to beat up Christians and steal their bibles. This however, failed. When Kourdakov got to the cabin, they were having a meeting, and Kourdokov knocked on the door. A Christian answered and asked if they were police. Kourdakov responded yes. The person said that they had religious freedom and they were right. However, two people gave themselves up. He brought them to the police station. There they were arrested. He had failed the assignment. He did not take the bibles, nor did he beat them up, scaring them. He had failed.
Of course, if he had not taken the job, he would have not failed. However the 25 rubles was too much for him to pass by. Kourdavov was not doing this for what he believed in, but for the money and he really wanted the money. Every action was for the next 25 rubles. Money led him to the job, and money caused him to fail. I believe without the 25 rubles, he never would have gone into doing these jobs. Money almost controlled his life, and for money, he was doing very bad things that no one should do.
JBSchool 