What It Is
The letters in the book: the one the Dreamer dictates in the name of Nastenka, the one she had already written and sealed for the lodger, the reply that does not come, and her letter to the Dreamer that opens the Morning. These are four forms of a single gesture, saying in writing what cannot be said face to face, and each of them changes the course of the story.
Where It Appears
On the Second Night, after Nastenka's story, the Dreamer proposes a letter; she says that would be offering herself, and he argues, more and more charmed by his own logic, that the lodger's promise gives her the right to take the first step. He dictates the whole letter. She says it is what she had been thinking, and he feels in his hand a sealed letter, written long ago:
R, o - Ro, s, i - si, n, a - na, R, o, Ro, s, i, si, n, a, na
The arrangement is that the Dreamer takes the letter to Nastenka's acquaintances, good, simple people who will get it to the lodger, and brings back the reply.
On the Third Night, she is certain that the lodger will come in reply to the letter, and the Dreamer, to console her, explains that perhaps he has barely received it and promises to fetch the reply at dawn. The next day there is no letter.
On the Fourth Night, her first word is about the letter, and there is none; she refuses to write another. The Dreamer offers to go to the lodger in her name.
On the Morning, Matryona brings him a letter by the city post. It is from Nastenka, who asks forgiveness and says she still loves him:
О боже! если б я могла любить вас обоих разом! О, если б вы были он!, Oh God! If only I could love you both at once! Oh, if only you were he!
He rereads the letter, lets it fall and covers his face.
What It Means
The letter is the way the characters draw close without risk. Nastenka asks for advice and already has the letter ready, like Rosina in the opera; the Dreamer, who speaks like a book, dictates a letter that will not be sent; the lodger answers by coming in person; and Nastenka, on the Morning, says in writing what she could not say to the Dreamer while looking at him.
The Dreamer carries the letter that calls back the man who is going to end his nights, and carries it eagerly, delighted by the arguments with which he persuaded Nastenka to write it on the Second Night. The last letter reverses the first: he dictated words for her to send to another, and now he receives from her words written for him, which confirm the choice of the other man. He, who lived by writing, ends the book answering a letter with a text she will never read.
Relationships
- Standard themes: Love, Dream and fantasy.
- Themes of the work: Love, Dream and fantasy.
- Characters: the Dreamer, Nastenka, the lodger, Matryona.
- Neighboring symbols: The Barber of Seville, because Nastenka's sealed letter repeats Rosina's.