Pasha Antipov (Strelnikov) Timeline and Summary

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• We first run into Pasha when he falls in love with Lara Guichard, who has moved into the same building as him. He's younger than Lara, though, and it takes a few years for him to get her attention.
• As Pasha grows older, Lara starts paying more attention to him. Little does he know, though, that he's basically her "safety guy" after her sexual affair with an older man goes sour. When he finds out about this, Antipov becomes jaded and bitter. But he still marries Lara.
• Lara loves Pasha to no end. But Pasha is so bitter that he loses interest in the idea of unconditional love. He's more interested in the kind of love and admiration you have to earn by accomplishing great things. So he leaves behind his quiet life with Lara and enlists in the Russian army.
• During combat, Antipov gets captured by the enemy and doesn't get released until several years later. By this time, everyone back home thinks he's dead. He uses the opportunity to start over with a new identity, calling himself Strelnikov.
• During the Russian Revolution, Antipov becomes a sort of war hero and rises up through Russia's military ranks. He makes a name for himself as a ruthless general who will kill anyone he needs to in order to get what he wants.
• One day, Pasha (as Strelnikov) meets Doctor Zhivago on a train. He wants to kill Zhivago then and there, but lets him go out of honor. It's only a short while after that he finds out Zhivago is having an affair with his wife Lara.
• When the Russian Communist army takes control of Russia for good, they decide they don't need Antipov anymore and send out word for his execution. Antipov flees, though, and spends the next year or so trying to regain contact with Lara. By the time he finds out where she is and goes to her, he finds that Lara has left that country and that only her lover, Zhivago, is still around.
• Antipov knows his time is coming to an end, so he sits up all night with Zhivago talking about life. The next morning, he goes outside and shoots himself in the head.