house. Olenka’s care is not only for a man, but also for others who have given attention and care for her. Olenka’s love to everyone shows that she is an
affectionate person. The author shows it directly: In earlier days she had love her papa, who now sat in a darkened room,
breathing with difficulty; she had love her aunt who used to come other year from Bryansk; and before that, when she was at school, she had love
her French master p.179.
Olenka also loves children. She loves to have a child. Her love to children can be seen from her attention towards Sasha, the son of Vladimir Platonitch.
Vladimir Platonitch or Smirnin is a man who entertains Olenka when her second husband, Pustovalov, passed away. He works as a veterinary surgeon. Olenka
gives all of her care and attention to Sasha, because Sasha’s parents entrust him to Olenka. She gives her full attention to Sasha as her own son. Every morning
Olenka comes into Sasha’s room to wake him up, because Sasha has to go to school. Olenka always prepares the breakfast for Sasha and likes to accompany
him in studying. Olenka loves Sasha very much as her own son. Ah, how she loved him Of her former attachments not one had been so
deep; never had her soul surrendered to any feeling spontaneously, so disinterestedly, and so joyously as now that her maternal instincts were
arouse. For this little boy, with the dimple in his cheek and the big school cap, she would have given her whole life; she would have given it with joy
and tears of tenderness p.186.
3. Dependent
Olenka does not have an orientation in life without another person at her side. Her life depends on other people. Everything she tells and does is based on
others’ point of view. She always has the same opinion with everyone who is close to her. She does not have capability to give her own opinion by her own
thought. She is a person who needs the love and affection from another person. She is always fond of someone, and cannot exist without loving p.179. Without
love and care from others, she cannot do anything independently in her life. When Olenka has relationship with Smirnin, the veterinary surgeon, she repeats the
veterinary surgeon’s words, talks about veterinary concerns, and has the same opinion as him about everything. It is evident that she cannot live a year without
someone p.183. When she marries Kukin, her first husband, her opinion is based on
Kukin’s ideas. When she marries with Pustovalov, her second husband who works as a manager of the timber merchants, what Olenka’s talking about is about the
timber. Without having someone to be loved and who cares about her, she will not be able to give her opinion about something p.184. Olenka’s thought and feeling
always depend on someone she loves. Everything that Olenka told is always based on others’ thought and opinion.
Her ideas are always based on her husband’s point of view. She likes what her husband likes, and she does what her husband does. Her husband’s thoughts
and ideas are hers. If he thinks the room is too hot, or that business is slack, she thinks the same. Her husband does not care for entertainments, and on holidays he
stays at home. She does likewise p.182. Love gives big contribution for Olenka’s life. If she has love, she will be able to give her ideas about anything,
and makes her have a purpose in life, but if she has not love, it will not happen. She wants a love that will absorb her whole being, her whole soul and reasons-that
will give her ideas and an object in life, and will warm her old blood
