Character Analysis
Ivan is the coolest, smartest, most sensitive guy that Raisa has ever met. You might even think that he's too good to be true—and you'd be completely right.
In truth, Ivan is an MGB agent with the perfect plan for hunting freethinkers like Raisa. First, he gets into their good graces by making a big show of his anti-authoritarian beliefs. Then he lays the trap, lending them a copy of For Whom the Bell Tolls and marking their names on a secret list. Once that happens, it's only a matter of time until they're arrested.
This revelation turns Raisa's world upside-down: "the dissident had betrayed her, the policeman saved her" (4.37.7). Her mind is truly blown. Ultimately, this irony only serves to emphasize that things are never what they seem in Soviet Russia.