Youth Chapters 17-20

In which a young gentleman, instructed by his father to navigate the intricate social duties of Moscow's upper class, visits various acquaintances with a mixture of youthful apprehension and tentative reflection on past affections and family ties. He encounters a spectrum of demeanours—from cold formality to genuine sorrow—that reveal the subtle complexities of relationships and the uneasy consciousness of his own place within this world.