Johannes: The Seducer
Johannes is a ruthless seducer who runs after conquering a woman's heart. Selin reads about Johannes:" "the seducer, and how he was able, using his "mental gifts," to make a girl fall in love with him "without caring to possess her in any stricter sense." Ivan leaves her before they get intimate. Johannes's greatest pursuit is conquering a girl; after that, he leaves. He employs psychological manipulation that makes a girl fall for him. The seducer's approach is similar to Ivan, who ends his romance with Selin unexpectedly and quietly.
First Kiss
Selin and her coursemates recount their first kisses. Each one of them remembers when they had their foremost kisses. Selin narrates, "Julia said she had kissed a boy in a playground when she was nine. Andrei said he had kissed his girlfriend at a Christmas party when he was eleven. Svetlana said she had kissed her cousin's boyfriend at the zoo when she was thirteen." Selin's first kiss occurred when she was relatively older compared to her peers: at fifteen. The first kisses are memorable, and each one recalls the settings and ages when they occurred.
The “Repugnant Conclusion”
Ethics seminars focus on the theme of "the Repugnant Conclusion." The ideology of the seminar is to avoid the conclusion because it is not desirable. Selin expounds, "The Repugnant Conclusion said that it was possible to justify decreasing a population’s quality of life if you made the population bigger.” The conclusion comes about then the superiority of life for an existing population deteriorates after an upsurge in population. There should be a balance so that the existing population leads a worthwhile life. The conclusion requires one to consider the moral implication of birthing.
