Eugenia succinctly summarizes her experiences when she states, “As I lay awake on my plank bed, the most unorthodox thoughts passed through my mind-about how thin the line is between high principles and blinkered intolerance, and also how relative are all human systems and ideologies and how absolute the tortures which human beings inflict on one another” (Ginzburg, 113).
In the last quote of chapter twenty, Eugenia offers cigarettes to Derkosovya. Instead of accepting the kind gift, Derkosovya refuses and starts to send tapping messages to the woman in the other cell. Derkosovya questions the next door neighbor, Mukhina, if she can trust Eugenia because Eugenia is a communist. Derkosovya wants to know if Eugenia is secretly a part of the opposition. All this over a pack of cigarettes. This emphasizes the thin line between high principles and blinkered intolerance. Eugenia is just trying to be kind. However, Derkosovya is so stubbornly devoted to her own ideals she doesn’t even want to accept this simple gift.
Did Derkosovya cross the line between high principles and blinkered intolerance? Was she justified in her distrust of Eugenia? Was Derkosovya being prejudice or was she just being cautious??
