Dost uses his traditional mirroring technique to compare the Yepanchin and Ivolgin families, especially the decadence of the former and the ambition of the latter. Nastasya Fillippovna is one of his best-executed characters, and is the prime example of someone bent entirely on self-destruction. Lebyedev and his gang (in particular Ippolit) add a great deal of social critique, and I must say I enjoyed their crazy antics
