Self-Obsession In Balmashev's Short Story 'Salt'

During the era of Soviet Russia, there was a lot of suffering under the rule of harsh dictators. These dictators (Lenin, and later Stalin) desired a Communist State, in which every citizen cared about and worked for the good of the State. However, the literature of the time (specifically “Salt” and Everything Flows) indicates that the opposite was occurring in many cases (Babel, Grossman). Self-obsession is a major element of the Russian identity of the Soviet era, creating an interesting paradox to the idea of Communism. Self-obsession was prevalent in the era of the Soviet Union, but what does self-obsession really mean? Self-obsession is thinking only of oneself, even when others are struggling. Self-obsession is relating everything one …show more content…
However, the whole letter is really a testament to the self-obsession of Balmashev. Though he claims that it is about “the political unconsciousness of women,” the actual content is Balmashev brandishing the way he dealt with a leadership dilemma (Babel, 242). The story is one piece of anecdotal evidence of the lack of political knowledge of women, though Balmashev was attempting to say something about all women. One piece of anecdotal evidence is not enough to make a claim about fifty percent of the population… but it is enough to show off one’s leadership skills (and Balmashev did just that). Balmashev used this letter to stroke his …show more content…
The novel starts before Ivan is released from the prison, before Stalin’s death. The beginning of the story follows Nikolay Andreyevich, Ivan’s cousin, and his realization of Ivan’s imminent return. Examples of self-obsession are evident in the first paragraph introducing Nikolay: when he finds out about the near-future return of his cousin, his wife immediately considers how his return will affect the party she has planned for the night Ivan will return. Nikolay silently admits that he had the same thought moments earlier. Thirty years his cousin was in the Gulag, and the first thought he has is how his dinner party guests will be put-off by this strange man coming into their party. We then find out how Nikolay avoided the Gulag. In this time of the Soviet Union, whistle-blowers were looked kindly upon by the police, and when Nikolay came under some scrutiny, he immediately blew his whistle. Anti-Semitism was also a pervasive theme at the time (apparent in Everything Flows as well as “Salt”), and Nikolay turned in two Jewish doctors for giving their patients the wrong medicine, though the doctors had done nothing wrong. Nikolay had again put his own interests over all others, by taking advantage of the general attitude toward Jews and using it to stay a free man. When Nikolay hears about Ivan coming home, all these old