The Pit by Alexandr Kuprin. Short summary

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A novella about the inhabitants of a brothel in a provincial town. The writer describes the life of this brothel and introduces readers to the stories of girls whose lives have led to such an existence.

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Anna Markovna’s brothel was located in Yamskaya Sloboda, in short, in Yama. It was not a luxurious place, but it was not the worst either. Men from all walks of life drop in here.

One day a brave and intelligent girl, Zhenya, approaches Platonov and the anarchist student Likhonin. They begin to argue whether it is possible to return a prostitute to a normal way of life. Likhonin wants to prove that it can be done. To do this, he takes the girl Lyuba from the entertainment establishment.

Likhonin tries to educate the girl, but all his efforts are in vain. Lyuba falls in love with him. But her feelings, and she herself, become a heavy burden for the student, and he is waiting for a good excuse to break up. The girl has no choice but to go back to the brothel.

Zhenya confesses that she has syphilis and infects all the men who come to her. After a few days, she hangs herself. All the girls either die or escape from the Pit. Thus ends the story of the brothel.