A lesson from Count Alexander Rostov by Jacob

A lesson from Count Alexander Rostov by Jacob - October 2025 Scholarship Essay

In A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles, Count Alexander Rostov’s behavior under confinement serves as a lesson in resilience, dignity, and purpose. After being sentenced to life under house arrest by a revolutionary tribunal in the newly formed Soviet Union, the young aristocrat trades his lifestyle of traveling through Europe and living in vast estates for a cramped room in the attic of the Grand Hotel Metropol. Despite this extraordinary setback, the Count manages to form lifelong connections with the hotel’s many guests and build a meaningful life within its walls.

From very early on in the novel, the Count adopts a series of guiding principles to help him cope with his new life—the most important of these being that “if a man does not master his circumstances, he is bound to be mastered by them.” Rather than mourning the loss of the freedom he once had, the Count forms new friendships, works hard to perfect the art of waiting tables as a reflection of his former grace and elegance, and even learns how to become a father.

One of the ways the Count manages to stay sane during his confinement is by finding meaning in the minute. Another belief he takes to heart is that “by the smallest of one’s actions, one can restore some sense of order to the world.” Whether it’s his weekly trim at the hotel barber or his focus on pairing the correct wine with its corresponding flavors in a meal, the Count pays attention to every detail. By treating even the most minuscule tasks in his life with the utmost respect and grace, he finds meaning within himself and retains his aristocratic sense of self.

Later in the novel, the Count finds purpose through fatherhood by imparting important lessons to Sofia, the young girl he raises. One of the most important lessons he gives her is this: “One does not fulfill one’s potential by listening to Scheherazade in a gilded hall… one does so by setting forth into the vast unknown.” Ironically, his time confined within the walls of the Metropol becomes his own version of the vast unknown. He encourages Sofia to use the experience granted to her through the orchestra to explore the world beyond the Metropol, Moscow, and the Soviet Union at large.

The Count’s lessons are valuable not because they are theories derived from obscure philosophers or ideas thought up on a whim—they stem from his life experiences spanning Tsarist Russia, the Russian Revolution, and into the Cold War era. During the Revolution, he narrowly escaped death thanks to a small poem supportive of the Bolsheviks that his friend published under his name. Ironically, this poem saved the Count’s life while his friend was sentenced to the gulag and perished under communism. This inadvertent lesson shows the unpredictable nature of life and how our smallest actions can shape our future in drastic ways.

In some ways, we all live in our own Hotel Metropol. We each face our own confinements that result from uncertainty, fear, or circumstance. But like the Count, we can choose how to respond to these setbacks. Count Alexander Rostov taught me that by acting with courage, appreciating the small bits of luck in our lives, finding meaning in the minute, and forming connections with others, we can live rich and fulfilling lives no matter what walls surround us.