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The Death Of Dolgushov

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The short story “The Death of Dolgushov” by Isaak Babel is a gut wrenching story, at times literally, about the dilemmas of killing. Babel, a master of the short story, challenges readers’ morality by contrasting two soldiers plights. On the one hand, a soldier, Dolgushov, pleads that he has “had it (241),” meaning that he wants his comrade to kill him after being mortally wounded by machine gun fire; while on the other hand, another soldier, unnamed, cannot bring himself to kill Dolgushov. Throughout the story, war is depicted as a game until a soldier gets seriously hurt. This device, combined with the vivid imagery associated with both soldier’s plights, complicates how readers’ judge the act of killing and war in general.
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The exchange begins with the telephonist saying “I’ve had it…(Babel 241),” to which Grishchuk responds “I understand (Babel 241).” At first glance, it appears that the telephonist is replying to the joke, however, in reality, Dolgushov is saying that he is injured and wants to “be put out of his misery,” in other words, killed. If the real meaning in the exchange escaped the reader, the following passage that reads: “without taking his eyes off me, he carefully lifted his shirt. His stomach had been torn out, his intestines were slithering down onto his thighs, and his heartbeats were visible (Babel 241)” would certainly clarify things. Although the entire story is about violence and death, this scene is the beginning of the author’s true intention which is asking the bigger question of how to weigh moral dilemmas of killing someone, especially a comrade; which is asked through the debate of whether someone, specifically, the unnamed soldier, but later Afonka, should kill Dolgushov and why or why

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