Out of the Shadows

The life of secrecy that Gurov lives is the life he realizes that he wants to be living fully. He comes to this realization in the middle of the story, when explaining the differences between the surface temperature and the atmospheric temperature. The difference between what people live out on the surface, and the lives they live in secrecy, is that they live more for their secret lives than their real ones. Gurov feels this way about the life he was living with Anna, that he felt more alive with her than in his mundane life in Moscow. This realization comes with a shift, where instead of being around her in secrecy, he embraces her more, evidenced by telling his friend about her and embracing her in the presence of others at the theater. This is an attempt to break the life he enjoys living so much out of secrecy.