He has become completely isolated from society, adopting the city, buildings, and streets as his human companions. Despite being in the city for eight years, he knows no one. Meeting Nastenka on the banks of the Fontanka one evening creates a revolution in his abstract life. He falls in love with her. He escapes the freezing reality of existence to live out the novels in his head, but when Nastenka leaves him, he returns to that isolated life again; the only difference is that he has now tasted genuine happiness, if only for a moment.
