The relationship between Georg and the friend is complicated and does not like ordinary friendship. There are significant differences and gaps between these two’s career and life, which are revealed by Georg’s internal monologues, Georg and Frieda’s exchange, and later Georg and his father’s conversation.

Georg inherits and operates the business from his father domestically, but not thoroughly takes control. The friend runs a business in a foreign country. We observe the objective living distance between they two. The friend has not come back to his home country for a while and the only communication method between them is through letters. Georg’s mother’s death was a turning point in his life. Before, he was the pride of the parents and was fully controlled by his father. Right after his mother passing away, he has been more resolute in tackling his business to gradually escape from his father’s control and to take over his father. And the business has been quite unexpectedly prospered during these days. Then, Georg has gotten engaged to Frieda, a girl from a well-to-do family. Quite contrary to Georg’s situation, the friend’s running business in Russia was once initially promising, but later was declining. The friend also has no real ties with the local colony of his compatriots and almost no social dealings with native families. He is stuck between the options of being alone miserably without friends in foreign country or coming back to the homeland to resume all the old friendship. We observe the sharp comparison between Georg’s success and the friend’s failure, which makes their friendship relationship unbalanced.

Georg’s success has become the obstacle preventing Georg from opening his heart to the friend. In other word, Georg has become anxious and “dishonest” to the friend. Georg always limits himself to writing to his friend about trivial occurrences so that his friend has exactly no inkling of his life, even not his engagement. Georg personally thinks that his friend would be embittered by his “showing off” success if he does share his stories with the friend. Georg’s intentional concealing about his engagement offenses his fiancee, Frieda. Frieda insists that Georg should invite his friends, including this peculiar friend in Russia. She thinks that there is no harm to share happiness with friend and true friend will definitely give benediction, which I agree with her. Georg’s response, “That is how I am, and that is how he must take me” reveals his arrogance towards his friend that in Georg’s inner thought, he considers himself superior to his friend.  After the exchange between Georg and Frieda, Georg decides to write a letter to share the good news and to talk to his father about this letter. Both the uncomfortable content of the letter and the conversation between Georg and his father reveal that Georg’s so called considerations for his friend are only excuses to hide his true thought. His father knows Georg well and unmasks him. Georg actually has no friend in St.Petersburg as he does not treats his friend as friend. Georg deceives his friend by writing dishonest letters. Georg is even sparing of sharing happiness with this miserable old friend, even though sharing is such a common and sweet exchange between friends. However, that Georg thinks sharing as strutting jubilant is all because he intends to show off.