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Book 2, Chapter 10
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Resurrection, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Moral and Spiritual Resurrection
Class and the Penal System
Double Standards and the Abuse of Women
The Role of Conscience
Hypocrisy and Self-Deception
Summary
Analysis
At the advocate’s office, Nekhlyudov discusses several legal cases, beginning with the Menshovs, whose conviction the advocate finds baseless and driven by prosecutorial zeal rather than evidence. He promises to defend them for free if the case stays in town. They also discuss an appeal for Theodosia, which the advocate advises Nekhlyudov to deliver directly to high-ranking officials in St. Petersburg. When Nekhlyudov brings up a sectarian peasant prosecuted for reading and discussing the Gospels, the advocate cynically explains how vague laws and indifferent officials make such persecution entirely legal.
The advocate’s office reinforces the grim truth Nekhlyudov has come to understand: the law often serves power, not justice. The Menshovs’ conviction, based on ambition rather than facts, shows how easily the system sacrifices people to maintain appearances. Theodosia’s appeal, requiring personal influence in the capital, similarly shows that outcomes depend less on fairness than on access. The advocate, though helpful, speaks with a resignation that reflects how cynicism reigns supreme in this system.
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