Lushkoff was a middle aged man who belonged to a Russian choir. On being found in a state of drunkenness, he was sacked. This made him resort to begging. His face was dull and he wore torn clothes. Sometimes he introduced himself as a student and sometimes as a teacher.

According to me, he had become a beggar by choice and not by circumstances. It is not a person’s circumstances which force him to drink and leave work. Had the realization dawned upon him that it was his drunkenness which made his life worse he would have never made such a decision.