Kolenkhov Wrestles Kirby, Explained

What happens

At dinner, hobbies become a dangerous topic. Mrs. Kirby admits she studies spiritualism, which Penny promptly calls a fake. Kolenkhov then argues that wrestling is the perfect hobby and demonstrates it on Kirby, who ends up on the floor with broken glasses.

What's really going on

The chapter is the evening collapsing, and it collapses because everyone is honest at the wrong moment. Penny cannot let spiritualism pass, Kolenkhov cannot resist a demonstration, and Kirby cannot resist participating. The result is the host's guest on the floor with broken glasses, which is both slapstick and a social catastrophe. What matters is what it does to Alice and Tony: they have watched their families fail to meet, and by the end she tells him, "There's nothing to talk about." The wrestling match is funny, and it is also the moment the romance almost ends.

Key lines & what they mean

“The perfect hobby should improve the body as well as the mind.”

Kolenkhov's theory of hobbies, which he is about to prove in the worst possible way.

“If you don't mind, I think we better be going.”

Mrs. Kirby's polite exit line, the only reasonable response to what just happened.

“I have not done it for six years, but I forget nothing.”

Kolenkhov's confidence before the demonstration, which explains the disaster that follows.

“I am sorry, but when you wrestle again, Mr. Kirby, you will of course not wear your glasses.”

His absurd apology, offering advice to a man who never intends to wrestle again.

Theme

• Class — Two families with opposite ideas of fun cannot get through a single dinner without disaster.
• Romance — Alice and Tony watch their worlds collide, and the evening leaves their relationship in doubt.