ACT 2 WK BK NO 4 PGS 121 TO 123

ACT 2 WK BK NO 4 PGS 121 TO 123

(i)                  The secret that Nicola is talking about is the fact that Raina had hidden a Serbian soldier in her room to protect him from the Bulgarian soldiers who were searching for him. Raina’s mother, Catherine, was a part of the conspiracy as she had assisted her daughter in disguising the soldier in the coat of the master of the house, so that he would not be detected when he was sent off the following morning.

(ii)                Nicola had been advising Louka t be respectful to the members of the household for whom they worked. He was explaining to her that as they worked in positions of trust in the house, they were sure to privy to secrets f the family. They were expected as faithful servants to keep the confidences of the household. Both Louka and Nicola needed the positions they had in the Petkoff household and thus he advised Louka she was expected to keep secrets confidential and to be depended upon.

(iii)               Louka tells Nicola that he has the “soul of a servant” because she believes that being a servant is only a job and she is an equal as a human being to any other person, even the persons she worked for and she wanted to be treated as such. She was not willing to humble herself in a manner which would take away her dignity as a human being. Nicola on the other hand, believed that he could in no way change the ways things were. He believed that it was unrealistic that they would be allowed to rise above their social class.

         Louka is partly correct in her assessment of Nicola, because he wants her to be respectful to Raina and Catherine, just as he is. He will accept, as we shall see later in the play being accused wrongly, but he will never let down the people he works for.

(iv)              According to Nicola, the secret of success in service is to so prove that one is good and dependable servant that the person one works for has absolute in the servant – the servant can then expect advantages of that relationship – as he hopes to have – he wants open a shop in Sofia and he would like that venture to be a success by having the Petkoffs and all the people of their class, whom the Petkoff will direct to him, as his customers.

(v)                Both Nicola and Louka makes the “most out of” the higher classes in the play. In the end Louka marries Sergius. Nicola, however, gains the favour of Bluntschli who notes that he is “the ablest man” he’s met in Bulgaria and that he would be willing to make him the manager of one of his six hotels. Thus, both Louka dn Nicola get what they want – Louka rises in social class and Nicola gets a position in which he could earn a lot more money. Both are appreciated for who they are.