Ivan Shatov

Ivan had romantic relationships with women, but nothing serious came of it. Among the men of the community, he was practically an untouched virgin. For Ivan was shy with women.

Ivan's mother and father had died long ago. He was survived by his younger sister, Daria, who runs the Barskaya kitchen. Over time, he grew to feel that he and his sister were alone in the world, but he and the other peasants always supported each other. They became like a big family.

A tragedy has occurred at the master's estate: the old master has died, and all the serfs are at a loss as to what to do. They sent a letter to his son, who ignores all messages from the master's estate. Ivan hasn't seen him, but he's heard from other serfs that the young master is an extremely nasty person, everyone calls him "the demon."

Unlike the other serfs, Ivan knew a little writing and literacy, a little, but already something

Ivan is a shepherd at the estate, basically looking after the various livestock, feeding and watering them, walking the animals, grazing them in the meadows and fields

Vanya was handsome in appearance. His face was framed by light brown curls, and above his lips was a strip of the same small mustache. His eyes were light blue, delicate, with a slight admixture of gray.
He's well-built and tall, a peasant groom

Ivan is a serf, and his entire family has served the Verkhovensky family for generations. They consider the Verkhovenskys almost gods, calling them princes and "father," as was the custom with peasants.
For example, "Don't be angry, father!" and so on, but if the gentleman was still little, then they called him "Tsarevich"
Therefore, Ivan got used to the position of a serf peasant, got used to groveling before his masters and behaved respectfully

Ivan easily finds common ground with simple peasants, but things take a different turn when he interacts with people of higher rank than himself. He treats the lord of his community with respect, but if he really doesn't like something, he won't tolerate it and will speak out, and he'll fight back.

Ivan is a religious man, he observes the commandments and fasts. However, he often reflects on the correctness and necessity of religion and sometimes doubts his faith.