The Shot (Pushkin)

"The Shot" is a short story by Aleksandr Pushkin published in 1831. It is the first of five tales in Pushkin’s The Tales of the Late Ivan Petrovich Belkin, a cycle of five short stories. The Shot details events at a military outpost in a Russian province, and then several years later, on a country estate.

Pushkin discusses themes of honor, revenge and death, and places them within the broader context of Russian society. The Shot tells the story of a retired soldier named Silvio, who harbors a grudge for many years following an argument in which he was disrespected in front of his peers. Told from the perspective of an unnamed narrator, the story concludes with Silvio returning to seek his revenge against the man who wronged him, the Count.

Pushkin’s inspiration for The Shot was a combination of his own personal experience, as well as the works of his peers. Pushkin himself noted that Silvio’s character was influenced by the writing of a fellow Russian, Alexander Bestuzhev. Although a shorter work, The Shot served as an influence to later Russian literature, including Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Notes from Underground. This story continues to remain popular and relevant for modern readers. It gives readers insight into 19th century Russian society, and the air of mystery surrounding Silvio serve to attract and retain readers.

By placing the setting in the provincial region of Russia, Pushkin creates a setting that is relatively dull to the reader. He instead uses the plot and character development to fill the void. The village is home to a military outpost, which sets the scene for The Shot. The setting allows the reader to focus on the conflict between the characters rather than the significance of its placement in Russia and how that may affect the symbolism behind its location. The second part of The Shot takes place at the Count’s estate. The estate is large and luxurious, and a stark contrast from Silvio’s humble home. Pushkin uses the juxtaposition between the Count’s and Silvio’s living situations as a way to accentuate the differences in the two characters.

Many elements in The Shot can be connected to Pushkin’s experiences as a young adult. In 1817, during his last year of school, he befriended Russian soldiers stationed near his school in St. Petersburg and frequently socialized with them – often drinking and playing card games. His experiences drinking and gambling with idle Russian soldiers gave Pushkin a first-hand account of the behaviors of 19th-century Russian soldiers, which is reflected in The Shot. Furthermore, having lived in provincial Russia, Pushkin is familiar with the setting. From 1824 to 1826 Pushkin lived in his family’s Mikhailovskoye Estate in the provinces of western Russia, about 300 km southwest of St. Petersburg. He spent much of his time there in solitude; however, he did befriend a family nurse on the estate. The nurse often told Pushkin folk tales, which inspired many of his later works. Lastly, the dueling elements in The Shot are drawn heavily from Pushkin’s own dealings with dueling. Pushkin died in an 1837 duel with Georges D’Anthes; however, it was not Pushkin’s first run-in with dueling. He found himself in numerous duels during his early years, and was very lucky to escape them unscathed. The first duel between Silvio and The Count was directly based on one of Pushkin’s earlier duels. Biographer Robert Chandler writes, “As for dueling, Pushkin seems to have shown more bravado than ever; on one occasion he arrived with a hatful of cherries, eating them while his opponent took the first shot”. After his opponent Zubov missed, Pushkin walked off without taking his shot. In The Shot, the Count begins to eat a hatful of cherries in the middle of the duel, angering Silvio.

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