In this chapter, the narrator tries to convince the reader that the district is not part of the Russian Empire. He says that he is not a soldier or a noble, and that he does not plan to use his money to rebuild the town. He explains that he has decided what reconstruction should look like in this far-from-peaceful environment. He compares the situation to that of a side-arm in a battle, where one tries to accomplish something modest, but the obstacles are too great and the battle is lost. The narrator concludes that the people of district zero are like the "ron out of dario" who succumb to the "absurdities" of life. He asks if the townspeople would like to pay the "hell is this sum," and the narrator replies that they would.