Doctor Zhivago: Strelnikov's/Antipov's suicide

[rjs19 at COLUMBIA.EDU]

Dear colleagues,

when teaching DOCTOR ZHIVAGO (and struggling valiantly to pack the  
whole novel into four class sessions), I've always taken the suicide  
of Strelnikov aka Pasha Antipov at face value.  But a sharp-eyed  
student has just drawn my attention to the following details (page  
numbers refer to the Hayward/Harari translation, American editions):

    "It was Yuri [Zhivago] who decided it was suicide after observing  
that he was lying in the snow several steps from his house with blood  
streaming from his temple. Of course, it was reasonable for him to  
conclude he had been shot.  But Yuri apparently was not awoken from  
his deep sleep by the shot.  All he recalled was the sound of breaking  
glass when he was waking up (p 463-4).

    "Yuri never mentioned that any weapon was found at the scene.  
Antipov arrived with a rifle, but, I would say, that it would only be  
with great difficulty for one to shoot oneself in the temple with a  
rifle.

    "Curiously, Komarovsky, when departing with Lara, mentioned he had  
a gun and he certainly had unsavory colleagues in his pay.  Obviously,  
Antipov alive threatened him from fulfilling his obsession with Lara.

    "Finally, I am pleased that at least one person questioned whether  
Antipov killed himself: Lara (p 497)."

Has anyone on the list written, or encountered, a scholarly treatment  
of this question?  If so, I'd be very grateful to be directed to it!

Many thanks,
Rebecca Stanton

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