Boris Pavlikovsky and his father (Mr. Pavlikovsky)

Boris Pavlikovsky's relationship with his father, Mr. Pavlikovsky, is the crucible in which his fierce independence and self-destructive streak were forged. It is a bond defined by chronic neglect, explosive violence, and a paradoxical, almost tribal loyalty that Boris extends to a man who has beaten him, abandoned him, and nearly been killed by him in return. Mr. Pavlikovsky is a ghostly, menacing presence in Boris's life, a figure who appears and disappears without warning, leaving a trail of fear and chaos in his wake.

Identity and Background

Mr. Pavlikovsky is a Ukrainian national, a mining engineer whose work takes him to remote and dangerous locations around the world, from the Seward Peninsula in Alaska to the jungles of New Guinea. He is a severe alcoholic, a condition that has ravaged his health and his relationship with his son. Boris describes him as a man who "drinks, mainly," and whose drinking has led to a diagnosis of peripheral neuropathy, a nerve damage that once required him to be re-taught how to walk. Despite his shabby, often unwashed appearance, he wears expensive shoes and gold jewelry, a contradiction that hints at a life lived on the edge of legality and respectability. He is small-boned and sharp-faced, but his frailty is deceptive; he possesses a wiry, intense, and bad-tempered energy that makes him seem like a "rabid fox."

A Pattern of Violence and Neglect

The violence is a constant, brutal undercurrent of Boris's life. When Boris's father comes home drunk, he is prone to sudden, vicious attacks. On one occasion, after finding beer bottles on the floor, he beats Boris so badly that he gives him a black eye. Boris explains this away with a chilling matter-of-factness: "He was drunk as a log—I don't think he knew it was me he was hitting." Another time, Boris is forced to flee his own house with his friend Theo and the dog Popchik when his father arrives in a rage. From outside, Theo witnesses Mr. Pavlikovsky knock Boris to the ground with a cane, kick him, and then slap him repeatedly before cracking him across the face with the hooked end of the cane. Boris, bleeding from the nose and a gash on his forehead, dismisses the attack as "nothing," noting that his father once broke one of his ribs. This normalization of extreme violence is a key feature of their relationship.

Twisted Loyalty and a Failed Patricide

Despite the abuse, Boris feels a profound, if twisted, loyalty to his father. He defends him to Theo, arguing that his father loves him and that he could have abandoned him in Ukraine like other parents did to their friends. This loyalty is tested by a dark secret: Boris once tried to kill his father. During their last winter in Ukraine, Boris tricked his drunken father into going outside, locked the door, and left him in the snow, hoping he would die. His father survived, picked up by a woman, and returned a few days later with no memory of the event, bringing Boris a soccer ball. Boris tells this story with a mixture of shame and a strange, rueful pride, revealing the depth of his desperation and the extreme measures he was willing to take to escape his situation. This act of near-patricide is the dark mirror of his loyalty, showing that his bond with his father is not one of simple love or hate, but a complex, survival-based attachment.

The Father's Influence and Legacy

Mr. Pavlikovsky's influence on Boris is profound and largely negative. Boris's own alcoholism, his casual relationship with violence, and his nomadic, rootless lifestyle are all echoes of his father. Boris learned from his father that a "nice cold beer" is the best cure for a hangover, a piece of advice that encapsulates their shared reliance on substances to cope with life. Yet, there is also a strange, grudging respect. When Mr. Pavlikovsky meets Theo, he takes his hands and thanks him for letting Boris into his family, a gesture that surprises Theo and reveals a capacity for formal, if awkward, sentiment. This moment, however, is undercut by Boris's own admission that he gave his father Theo's wrong address to prevent him from showing up drunk at their house. The relationship is a cycle of violence, apology, and repetition, a pattern that Boris recognizes and is determined, in his own way, to survive.