How we cite our quotes: (Section.Paragraph)
Quote #7
I like going to the theater. As soon as I have a penny in my pocket, I can't keep myself from going. But there are such pigs among our fellow clerks: they decidedly will not go to the theater, the clods, unless you give them a free ticket. (4.1)
Before insulting his fellow clerks for their lack of interest in culture, Poprishchin should realize that vaudeville isn't exactly highbrow theater.
Quote #8
Today I sat in our director's study and sharpened twenty-three pens for him […] He likes very much having more pens. Oh, what a head that must be! Quite silent, but in his head, I think, he ponders everything. I wish I knew what he thinks about most; what's cooking in that head? […] I've meant several times to strike up a conversation with His Excellency, only devil take it, my tongue wouldn't obey me. I'd just say it was cold or warm outside, and be decidedly unable to say anything else. (6.1)
Sharpening pens was one of the usual tasks of a minor Russian clerk, and it sometimes did help him get ahead, but because Poprishchin doesn't do his job properly, sharpening twenty-three pens isn't really going to get him anywhere. And discussing the weather is probably the world's greatest cliché about foolish small-talk.
Quote #9
It seems to me that if she likes that kammerjunker, she'll soon be liking the clerk who sits in Papa's study. Ah, ma chère, if you only knew how ugly he is. A perfect turtle in a sack [...] He has the strangest name. He always sits and sharpens pens. The hair on his head looks very much like hay. Papa always sends him out instead of a servant. (8.22-24)
Ouch! Even the dogs make fun of Poprishchin. That's sad for him, but good for us. These comments, along with the ones the section chief makes, give us hints about how others see him. He's ugly, even the Russians think he has a strange name, all he does is sharpen pens, and he gets treated like a servant even though he is supposed to be a nobleman.