A student at the St. Petersburg University, Razumov, while not talkative or gregarious, is generally respected by the other students. His silences are attributed to profundity of thought, and his behavior inspires confidence and good opinion. Absorbed in his studies, Razumov remains largely indifferent to the impression he makes on his fellow students. He dreams of winning scholarly honors, and he has no wish to become involved in the revolutionary activities that occupy the minds of such acquaintances as Victor Haldin, a youth in whose company he occasionally spends some time. Razumov's mother is dead; his father, Prince K——, acknowledges his illegitimate son only to the extent of sending him money secretly, through an intermediary. As a result, the unspent feeling that Razumov is unable to direct toward parents or toward family finds its way into other channels. He lavishes much of it on his country and feels, in his loneliness, that if he were not a Russian, he would not be anything