Chapter 3: Men at Bay Summary

Chapter three begins with a beautiful snowstorm blanketing Moscow. Rublev enjoys the view from his window at the Academy of Sciences. Later, he walks home to his apartment on the eighth floor of an eleven story building. Children playing in the street call him Ivan the Terrible, because he resembles portraits of the Bloody Czar, but he only laughs. He greets Dora, his wife of sixteen years, at the door, and they spend the evening listening to the radio—as they do most evenings.

Dora is mortified to continually hear their friends on the radio admitting to crimes they never committed. Rublev explains to her that they were probably tortured and believe that admitting to the complete lie is the only way they can save their lives. Rublev knows that he will soon be in the...