An immediately apparent theme in Pushkin's Shot is “the noble man with a romanticized view of life.” This theme was common during the Romantic era, the period in which Pushkin wrote, but it is important for more than historical reasons; in many ways, such "romanticization" drives the entire reading experience of Pushkin's plot. As often happens, this theme unfolds in an emotionally charged descriptive narrative. Yet the real importance of Pushkin's romanticism, here, is the way in which romantic ideals guide the life of Silvio, the central character of The Shot. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay From the beginning of the story, Pushkin makes his protagonist an outsider. While living in a military outpost surrounded by Russian men, his name is “Silvio,” which is clearly not of Russian origin. He is older than the rest of the men and has mysterious qualities to him. His personality traits are paradoxical; he is inviting and keeps his front door open to everyone, but mentally he is detached from the rest. This coldness makes other men respect him and fear him at the same time. Pushkin wrote that "no one knew what his circumstances were, or what his income was, and no one dared to inquire about it" (23). While Silvio keeps his life separate from everyone else's, the other men are quick to figure out what makes him seem so powerful. Pushkin intrigues the reader about this detached character when he writes that Silvio's walls “were riddled with bullet holes and had the appearance of a honeycomb” (23). The idea of ​​a noble outsider is already romantic and embodies the larger romantic theme of the isolated, heroic man. The reader knows from the beginning that there is something heroic about Silvio. Even his name sounds subjectively heroic. Pushkin writes that "no one knew the reasons that led him to resign his post and settle in a miserable town" (22), making it clear that Silvio's life was once much more important. Silvio also rejects material wealth; his “rich collection of guns was the only luxury in the miserable mud-walled house in which he lived” (23). Even before the Romantic period, dating back to the religious philosophy of Buddhism and Christianity, people who rejected their material wealth were historically considered heroic. Heroism resulting from individuality was an important theme in literature during the Romantic era because it paralleled the surrounding environment that the Romantic authors of the era experienced. Many authors writing during the Romantic era, such as Pushkin, experienced oppression by their government and expressed their agency through writing. Writers often illuminated their otherwise bleak reality by writing imaginative stories in which an outsider, just like them, bucked a formal, oppressive lifestyle to live passionately. The setting of this novel parallels Pushkin's struggle to achieve this goal; a group of men are trapped in a monotonous military outpost where "there was nothing to look at but their respective uniforms" (22) and create a more exciting life for themselves by considering Silvio as "the hero of some strange story" (24 ). Silvio is a hero to them because he practices individuality in an otherwise conformist environment. Pushkin continues to slowly reveal more and more details about Silvio's life to the reader. The reader discovers that Silvio once entered into a duel that ended in an unusual way. Pushkin romanticizes this duel in its entirety. At the beginning of the duel, Silvio offers the first shot to his opponent, who does not accept to take it (27). A duel in which.