Set against the backdrop of WWII Leningrad, The Bronze Horseman explores the ways a person’s choices reveal their true nature. Throughout the novel, Tatiana, Alexander, Dimitri, and Dasha are thrust into an changing world where they are tested by upheaval, violence, starvation, and fear. The longer the war drags on, the more difficult it is for the characters to maintain a balanced sense of self—and to present a collected front to the war. Their harrowing historical context tests their morality and loyalty, but their actions ultimately prove who they truly are.

The tangle of romantic relationships between the four characters causes Tatiana, Alexander, Dimitri, and Dasha to behave in new ways, as their heightened emotions influence their actions and reveal the individual natures. Tatiana initially refuses to act on her attraction to Alexander because she doesn’t want to betray her sister. She refuses to officially give her heart to Alexander because she knows Dasha is in love with him. Alexander also refuses to break his promise to Dasha although he loves Tatiana, because he does not want to hurt Dasha or to go back on his word. In this way, Simons positions personal integrity and loyalty as intrinsic to both Tatiana and Alexander’s characters. Both characters are inherently good at heart, which further reinforces their bond.

In contrast, Dasha’s choices reveal the ways she becomes increasingly self-interested over the course of the novel. She loves Tatiana, but remains focused on her own feelings, dismissing her sister’s, and often takes advantage of Tatiana’s self-sacrificial nature for her own gain. When circumstances worsen in Leningrad, Dasha lies in bed complaining about her hunger and depleted physical state, refusing to go to the ration store or to help Tatiana cook or clean. Similarly, Dimitri devotes all of his energy to competing with Alexander, desperate to get his revenge after Alexander failed to prioritize Dimitri’s wants over the life of one of the members of their platoon. Dimitri harasses and pressures Tatiana, repeatedly threatening her and Alexander to manipulate them for his own gain. Dimitri’s sustained antagonistic behaviors convey his innately self-centered nature and refusal to change.

Dimitri and Dasha act as foils for Alexander and Tatiana, as their negative traits magnify the protagonists’ positive qualities. The more selfish and small-minded Dimitri and Dasha appear, the more self-sacrificial and heroic Alexander and Tatiana appear. Tatiana’s reflections on Alexander’s character at the end of Part 3 underscore this notion:

He was the man who, a few meters away from freedom, from America, had chosen to turn his back on his lifelong dream. […] Alexander may have hoped for America, but he believed more in himself. And he loved Tatiana most of all. Alexander knew who he was. He was a man who kept his word (643).

Having only recently learned of her husband’s decision to sacrifice his dream of a life in America to save a member of his platoon, Tatiana’s reflections underscore the significance of Alexander’s actions. This passage reiterates how a person’s behaviors reveal their moral integrity. Tatiana admires at Alexander’s goodness because it’s a quality she prioritizes and cultivates in herself. They understand one another because they have similarly long-suffering natures.