Entry Two

     There are two main characters in City of Thieves, Lev and Kolya, who met in jail. Lev was walking in the street with his friends when a dead Nazi landed in front of them after falling from the sky with a parachute. They took his liquor and knife, and, then, when the cops were chasing them, his friend, Vera, slipped on ice. He went back to get Vera, helped her over the gate, and then the police grabbed Lev's foot just as he was escaping. Nobody helped him, and he was taken into jail for looting. When he got to the jail cell, his inmate, Kolya, arrived. He was a deserter, and the first thing he asked Lev was if he was Jewish. Lev was Jewish and Kolya was not, and, fortunately, it didn't matter to Kolya. The next day, the soldiers took Lev and Kolya out of the jail cell and led them to a colonel's home. Lev and Kolya were pretty scared because they were not sure what was going to happen to them. The colonel saved their lives because instead of executing them, he gave them a mission; it was an extremely difficult mission to complete, but it wasn't impossible. The mission was to get a dozen eggs for his daughter's wedding cake. Sounds simple right? But, in Leningrad during World War II, they barely had any food or other goods because the Nazis and the Finns completely cut off Leningrad from the rest of Russia. Lev and Kolya have to either steal the eggs or bargain everything they have to get the eggs for the colonel in less than one week.

     Lev and Kolya are very different in their behaviors. Lev is quiet, shy, and down-to-earth. Kolya is loud, rude, and somewhat obnoxious. I think Lev and Kolya are opposites, but opposites attract, and Lev and Kolya develop a unique friendship. Kolya says a lot of stupid things that could get him in a lot of trouble or a lot of pain. He is generally not scared of anything or anybody. He also talks back to a lot of people, including the colonel and a huge man who was going to sell them eggs Everything Kolya says something stupid, Lev tries to stop him or thinks to himself that he shouldn't have said that. It's like when somebody does something dumb, and you put your head into your hands as if to show that you know the person shouldn't have said that. Most of the time, Kolya is just trying to be funny (and most of the time I laugh), but usually, he is talking to someone who deserves more respect. Also, Lev and Kolya are both very smart, but Kolya is loud about it, and Lev is not. There are two times in the first reading section where Lev and Kolya get into a tiff about who's right and who's wrong. The first time is when Lev directly asks Kolya why he thinks he's such an expert at everything. Kolya replies, "I'm twenty. I'm not an expert at everything. Just girls, literature, and chess. Mm. And dancing" (Benioff 43). This shows that Kolya really is a know-it-all, and he thinks that is really is an expert at those things.

     Another time, that they have a quarrel is when they hear somebody playing the piano and argue about a pianist named Shostakovich. Kolya said that he was evacuated and Lev says he wasn't. Kolya said, "I know that Shostakovich was on the radio in September talking about our great patriotic duty to fight Fascism, and three weeks later he's in Kuybishev, eating porridge...Anna Akhmatova, she was on the radio, too. You remember? Telling all the women of Leningrad to be brave, to learn how to fire a rifle. Now, where is she? Shooting Germans? No, I believe not. At the Works, grinding shell casings? No, she's in f***ing Tashkent, pumping out more of that narcissistic that made her famous" (Benioff 67-68). This reminded me a lot of the article that Mr. McDaniels showed us called President Obama, say the "D-word" (http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/01/201112811331582261.html). It is about Obama's speech in Egypt about how the Egyptians deserve to have a democracy, and then they asked to have a democracy, and it resulted in a revolution. President Obama is at no fault here (sarcastically) and he's still the President of the United States of America. There are no consequences for him for basically encouraged the Egyptians to start a revolution against America's second leading receiver of foreign aid. This just goes to show that people who do wrong, don't always get punished for their sins. (Other example currently in the news: Charlie Sheen.) I just wanted to make a connection to Kolya's train of thought and current events.

     One thing that surprised me was why the colonel chose two random inmates to complete his mission. He does say that it is because he thinks nobody could find a dozen eggs in a country with no eggs better than two thieves. I think that he should've sent one of his soldiers to complete the mission, but I guess that would put them at risk. Also, to be honest with you, if I was just released from prison with a letter from the colonel making sure the police don't arrest me for anything, I would probably try to escape Leningrad. But, Lev has a very good point: "If Leningrad fell, Russia would fall; if Russia fell, Fascism would conquer the world" (Benioff 10). This is the reason that Lev didn't leave with his mother and sister; he wanted to stay and help fight the Fascists. Throughout the section, I have been laughing at Kolya because he is so foolish. He says stupid things to higher people than he, and he isn't worried that he could be killed in one second. He tries to play mind games with the huge "giant" that was going to sell them the eggs before Kolya punched his wife in the face. He also got dissed by a child because he thought he was being cool by bullying him about being a painter, but he was working for the government and could have gotten Kolya in a lot of trouble. Kolya also says random stuff that are very hilarious. He talks about everything from girls to poop, and a lot of the time it is very funny.

     One prediction I have is that Kolya will get in trouble for something that he says and Lev will have to rescue him. He can't get in trouble by the police, so I think that he will be too much of a wise-guy to one of the vendors at the Haymarket again. But, this time, it will be a different person, and he won't be able to deal with Kolya. Another prediction I have is that every time they thing they have a seller for the eggs, they will mess up the transaction, like with the "giant." I think (because it is a book) that Lev and Kolya will not be able to find any eggs until the night before they are due. Lastly, another scenario that could occur is that Kolya spends all of the money from the colonel for the eggs on something stupid like the library candy. But, in the long-run, I think that Lev and Kolya will eventually find the eggs, even if it means risking their lives.