Nina Kulikova Character Analysis in A Gentleman in Moscow

One of the first friends the Count makes during his imprisonment in the hotel. At the start of the novel, Nina is a precocious nine-year-old who is obsessed with the aristocracy and the rules and etiquette of being a princess, which the Count is happy to explain to her. In return, Nina also helps alleviate some of the Count’s boredom, as she explores the hotel with him and shows him each back room and hidden passageway. She does so by way of a passkey that she has acquired, which she eventually gifts to him on Christmas. But gradually, as Nina grows older, she becomes more serious, more immersed in her schooling, and a very loyal Communist Party member. The Count watches her transformation with a kind of fatherly concern, as he hopes that she will not miss the joys of youth. At seventeen, she joins an agricultural planning committee and travels to Ivanovo to aid in agricultural collectivization. But when she sees millions of people starving as a result of the Party’s efforts, she and her new husband’s loyalty becomes tested. When her husband is arrested eight years later and sent to Siberia, she brings her five-year-old daughter Sofia to the Metropol, asking if the Count can watch her while she goes to find her husband. Unfortunately, Nina never returns, continuing the narrative pattern in which characters who are unable to accept the values of the new Russia become completely exiled from it.

Nina Kulikova Quotes in A Gentleman in Moscow

The A Gentleman in Moscow quotes below are all either spoken by Nina Kulikova or refer to Nina Kulikova. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Imprisonment, Freedom, and Purpose Theme Icon

Ever since its opening in 1905, the hotel’s suites and restaurants had been a gathering spot for the glamorous, influential, and erudite; but the effortless elegance on display would not have existed without the services of the lower floor.

Related Characters: Nina Kulikova, The Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov

Page Number and Citation: 33

Explanation and Analysis:

On the second day of the Count’s imprisonment, he goes to his religiously kept appointment with the hotel barber at the stroke of noon. On his way down the stairs, the narrator takes a moment to acknowledge the working-class members of society who have allowed the world to run both outside and inside the Metropol. While the Count has certainly experienced the fruits of that excellent service and accommodation, and while he appreciates the skill of those who are good at their jobs, it is only after his imprisonment that he starts to gain a true view of those jobs Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut

For if a room that exists under the governance, authority, and intent of others seems smaller than it is, then a room that exists in secret can, regardless of its dimensions, seem as vast as one cares to imagine.

Related Characters: Nina Kulikova, The Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov

Page Number and Citation: 64

Explanation and Analysis:

After the Count goes on his first day of adventures with Nina, he discovers that his closet is attached to the closet of a neighboring room. He breaks into the other room, takes out all of the debris and broken furniture, and nails the door shut so that someone could only enter it through his room. He then makes a study for himself. Even though this second room is exactly the same size as the first, the fact that it is secret makes it full of possibility, as the Count describes here. Though his space hasn’t increased by much, his Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae volu

With the slightest turn of the wrist the shards of glass tumble into a new arrangement. The blue cap of the bellhop is handed from one boy to the next, a dress as yellow as a canary is stowed in a trunk, a little red guidebook is updated with the new names of streets, and through Emile’s swinging door walks Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov—with the white dinner jacket of the Boyarsky draped across his arm.

Related Characters: Emile Zhukovsky , Nina Kulikova, The Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov, Andrey Duras

Page Number and Citation: 176

Explanation and Analysis:

This quote comes at the beginning of 1930, four years after the Count attempts suicide. The narrator explains how the late 1920s could be described like turns of a kaleidoscope, as the pieces make small adjustments, but reconfigure into what looks like a completely new pattern. This passage gives examples of these small shifts in the scope of the city, but which mark big adjustments on the part of the characters. The staffing at the Metropol continues to change; Nina moves away; the streets continue to be renamed. All of these are examples of the ways in which the Count Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae

In the end, a parent's responsibility could not be more simple: To bring a child safely into adulthood so that she could have a chance to experience a life of purpose and, God willing, contentment.

Related Characters: The Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov, Sofia, Nina Kulikova

Page Number and Citation: 309

Explanation and Analysis:

When Sofia is thirteen years old, she often plays a game with the Count in which she appears to teleport through the hotel, appearing in one room when she had just been sitting in another. One day while she plays this game, she falls on the stairs and hits her head. While the Count sits in surgery waiting for her, he thinks about his relationship with her and experiences a turning point in his personal sense of parenthood. He realizes that unlike Nina, with whom he only played games, Sofia has fully become his daughter, and how she has given Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Acc

Looking back, it seems to me that there are people who play an essential role at every turn […] as if Life itself has summoned them once again to help fulfill its purpose. Well, since the day I was born, Sofia, there was only one time when Life needed me to be in a particular place at a particular time, and that was when your mother brought you to the lobby of the Metropol.

Related Characters: The Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov (speaker), Nina Kulikova, Sofia

Page Number and Citation: 420-421

Explanation and Analysis:

When the Count and Sofia share a final dinner together before her tour, the Count explains how he feels he has fulfilled Life’s purpose in becoming her father. This sentiment also plays into the Count’s philosophy as a whole, because there were little pieces of luck along the path that ultimately led to his introduction to Sofia. The man who clipped his moustache off led to his introduction to Nina, when she asked them where his moustache had gone; her adventures and friendship in turn led to her trust that the Count could take care of Sofia. But as much Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commod

Nina Kulikova Character Timeline in A Gentleman in Moscow

The timeline below shows where the character Nina Kulikova appears in A Gentleman in Moscow. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...Count then notices a young girl in a yellow dress (who is later introduced as Nina) spying on him from her table. According to Vasily, she is the daughter of a... (full context)

Bolshevism and Class Struggle Theme Icon

Nina questions the Count about his life as a count, and whether he has known any... (full context)

The Count becomes more engaged with Nina, telling her a story about how a duel had begun in the lobby of the... (full context)

Nina interrupts the Count’s story, that Lensky was killed by Onegin in a duel. He finds... (full context)

Five days later, Nina invites the Count for afternoon tea. As soon as the tea is poured, Nina begins... (full context)

...tea, she graciously accepted the invitation, missing a ball at the Tushins in the process. Nina asks if the princess then married the old woman’s son. The Count assures her that... (full context)

The Count holds out the tea cakes for Nina, and she takes two. He tells her that princesses say please and thank you when... (full context)

On July 12, Nina catches the Count’s eye on the way to dinner, giving him a signal that they... (full context)

...July, while the Count is sitting in the lobby with nothing to do, he notices Nina zipping by. (full context)

The Count catches Nina and asks where she is headed. She reluctantly tells him the card room. When he... (full context)

...inner workings of the hotel. He has lived in the Metropol for four years, but Nina has had ten months of her own kind of confinement. Her father had not put... (full context)

To initiate the Count’s explorations, Nina starts in the basement. She shows him the furnace room—where one could destroy secret messages... (full context)

Nina and the Count opens the door to reveal the hotel’s silver service. From floor to... (full context)

In the following days, Nina leads the Count from room to room, including the hotel suites, as each room has... (full context)

Nina is convincing the Count to join her on one of her favorite excursions: spying from... (full context)

When the Assembly concludes, Nina and the Count crawl off the balcony. The Count is pleased to discover so many... (full context)

...bit disappointed to find it undecorated for Christmas. He is cheered, however, when he sees Nina at her usual table, and that she has ordered a tower of ice creams for... (full context)

The Count tells Nina that school will broaden her horizons; Nina counters by saying that travel would broaden her... (full context)

The Count moves on to say how fortunate he feels to have become Nina’s friend. He gives her a Christmas present: his grandmother’s opera glasses. She is surprised by... (full context)

After Nina leaves the Piazza, the Count notices a young couple at a table nearby who seem... (full context)

...A Christmas Carol until the clock strikes twelve and he can open his present from Nina. The Count’s mind wanders to his youth as he remembers his Christmases as a child.... (full context)

When the clock chimes midnight, the Count sets his book aside and opens Nina’s gift. Inside lies a smaller box, then another and another until the sixth box is... (full context)

...reading of these visits, or perhaps by the chance meeting with the Prince, or by Nina’s friendship, he thinks. He falls asleep with a great sense of well-being. (full context)

The Count asks Vasily where Nina is. He responds that she is in the card room, and the Count goes to... (full context)

The Count begins to help Nina, looking over her list. He points out that 1,173 is not a prime number because... (full context)

The Count leaves Nina to her work and decides to read the paper before his dinner with Mishka, but... (full context)

...everything seems in order, and leaves. He returns to the lobby and asks Vasily about Nina’s whereabouts; Vasily responds that Nina is in the ballroom. (full context)

Now thirteen, Nina has given up many of her favorite pastimes in exchange for books and professors. When... (full context)

...hiring inexperienced waiters at the Boyarsky has continued, Marina now has a junior seamstress, and Nina is moving with her father to an apartment for Party officials. Mishka had followed Katerina... (full context)

The Count realizes that the young woman is Nina (due to her lack of thanks). He is delighted to see her. Nina tells the... (full context)

As the Count sews, he mentions to Marina that he ran into Nina. He tells Marina that Nina is still self-assured, passionate, and curious, but that she seems... (full context)

...He thinks about the day he has had, and how Marina had been right about Nina. In stories, Death often lurks in the shadows and waits to pay a visit. But... (full context)

The same morning that the Count looks for Mishka’s letter, Nina and her comrades board a train headed for Ivanovo in order to help increase agricultural... (full context)

A footnote states that Nina and many other young loyalists would have their faith in the Party tested by what... (full context)

But at the time, when Nina’s train arrives in the fields of Ivanovo, she is overwhelmed by the beauty of the... (full context)

...in the lobby, because it is so warm out even at seven o’clock at night. Nina then arrives unexpectedly, now twenty-five years old. She quickly explains that her husband had been... (full context)

The Count and Nina cross the lobby to where Sofia is sitting. Nina introduces Sofia to the Count and... (full context)

...knows that he would have agreed to it no matter what, because his friendship with Nina has been so valuable to him. The Count takes Sofia upstairs to the attic. Once... (full context)

...of worries keeps him awake. He is worried about Mishka’s battle with the editor, about Nina and her journey east, and about Sofia. He is concerned that some bureaucrat will become... (full context)

The narrator states that the Count is also probably right to worry about Nina, for she will never return to the Metropol. The Count will try to contact her... (full context)

...also thinks about how he had presumed that she would be a dark-haired version of Nina when she grew up, but in fact she is very different in demeanor. Where her... (full context)

...she conveys so much heartache in her playing; Sofia tells him that she thinks of Nina, and how her memories of her mother seem to be fading. The Count tells Sofia... (full context)

The Count then tells another story about the Christmas that he celebrated with Nina in 1922. He tells Sofia about her mother’s argument that if one wished to broaden... (full context)

Nina Kulikova Character Analysis

Nina Kulikova Quotes in A Gentleman in Moscow

Book 1, An Appointment Quotes

Book 1, Around and About Quotes

Book 3, Arachne’s Art Quotes

Book 3, Antics, Antitheses, an Accident Quotes

Book 5, Anecdotes Quotes

Nina Kulikova Character Timeline in A Gentleman in Moscow