Victor Komarovsky in the novel ‘Doctor Zhivago’ by Boris Pasternak

The article deals with the image of the prominent Moscow lawyer Victor Komarovsky, one of the most negative characters in the novel by Boris Pasternak Doctor Zhivago. We study this character in the aspect of his professional activity, within the system of characters-lawyers and characters-doubles, in terms of the textual component. Being the character present throughout the novel, driving the plot, knowing all the subtleties of Russian legislation and entrepreneurship, Komarovsky is shown primarily in relations with Lara and Yuri, whose moral superiority is unbearable for him. Two motifs - the ‘enslavement of the girl’ and the rivalry with Zhivago, which permeate the entire narrative concerning Komarovsky, are framed by episodes where other characters of lawyers reveal dishonesty of the legal adviser. In creating the character of Komarovsky, Pasternak employs a whole range of techniques such as prospection, assimilation, aposiopesis, recognition, changing points of view, the principle of juxtaposition, speech portrait, reminiscences with the character of Fyodor Dostoevsky, and anthroponyms. All these techniques are intended to unmask Komarovsky as a person who uses the image of a human rights defender in achieving personal goals not only in relations with his principals and their relatives but also with colleagues; these devices expose the professional dishonesty of Komarovsky, who was inaccessible even to higher legal bodies. Another technique that contributes to deheroization of the character is a system of duality. It allows the writer not only to demonstrate the lawyer’s conformism, paucity of his interests, non-involvement in the fate of Russia but also to show activity of Kologrivov and Samdevyatov. Scrupulous work on the character of the lawyer exposes the methods he uses: without revealing himself in any transaction, he ruins a number of largest manufacturers, contributes to the death of their families, adapts in search for ways to wield power.