The Double

The Double is set in Saint Petersburg. At the time of the novel, Saint Petersburg was the capital city of Russia and the home to the country’s cultural elite. Saint Petersburg functions as the epicenter of the Russian world in a cultural and political sense. The elite social class of Saint Petersburg is the elite of Russian society. Golyadkin is from another province of the country, making him an outsider in Saint Petersburg, someone who has struggled to acclimatize to the social mentality of the capital city. This relationship is echoed in the double’s life story: He is also from a more provincial part of the country. While he inherited a considerable sum of money from his aunt, it did not last long after arriving in the capital. These outsider relationships with the cultural capital of 19th-century Russia bond Golyadkin and his double; in his double’s sad story, he finds a hitherto unknown capacity for sympathy. To Golyadkin, Saint Petersburg represents a form of cultural elitism that is both enviable and unknowable. He wishes to enter this society, but he remains an outsider, even being forcefully removed and taken to a psychiatric hospital at the novel’s close.

Within the city itself, the weather is in a constant state of aggression. The other characters are unmoved by the rain, sleet, and snow of Saint Petersburg; Golyadkin alone is affected by the adverse weather. He feels the cold more, and he sees his coat splashed with mud while other people’s clothes are pristine. The weather in the city is an example of pathetic fallacy, a literary device in which a character’s environment begins to reflect their emotional state. The inclement weather of Saint Petersburg is reflective of Golyadkin’s mood, while the way it targets Golyadkin is symbolic of his separation from the other characters. While they are well-adjusted to society, he feels as though he is operating in a hostile climate. The bad weather reflects his bad mental state, while the cheeriness and indifference of other people reflect their sense of belonging in Saint Petersburg.

Golyadkin’s relationship to the physical infrastructure of Saint Petersburg is also symbolic. He often finds himself outside buildings, waiting to sneak inside uninvited. He seeks access to the lavish buildings and apartments of the Saint Petersburg elite, but he is denied access to their physical spaces just as he is denied access to their social spaces. At the climax of the novel, Golyadkin waits outside in the cold. His double comes to him, and Golyadkin is ushered inside amid a sympathetic silence from the social elite. Soon, he is bundled into a carriage with his doctor and physically removed from the city. His forcible removal from Saint Petersburg is a symbol of his rejection by its society. His emotional and mental alienation is made manifest, as he is proven unwanted by the social elite. They send him to a psychiatric hospital, not only removing him from the city but also questioning his mental health in believing that he belonged among them.