Alexievich: will write a 3-5 pg analysis of Secondhand Time: The Last of the Sov

Alexievich: will write a 3-5 pg analysis of Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets, due Wed
in class on week 9, 2x spaced, standard margins. In her preface, the author quotes Dostoevskii
and the Grand Inquisitor, talking about free will and freedom – “There is no more pressing or
tortuous task for man, having found himself free, than to seek out someone to bow down to as
soon as he can…”. Why does she include this quote, what expectations and freedoms did the
Soviet Union provide and are they the same or different from post-Soviet Russia.