At the start of the novel, Lev is young, naïve, and sexually inexperienced. Nonetheless, he has experienced far more than the average 17 year old. His father, a poet who expressed his political views too candidly, was taken away in 1937 and never returned. After this, Lev shows strength of character in standing up to his mother and asserting his wish to stay in Leningrad and defend the city against the Germans.

Lev longs to be a man and a hero figure, but he does not delude himself. He is flawed and loveable, demonstrating an admirable capacity for self-awareness and honesty. He openly admits to his weaknesses and shortcomings—for example, in Chapter 1 when he and his friends are caught looting, he is tempted to abandon Vera and save himself. Though he does choose the noble option and sacrifices himself, he is a somewhat reluctant hero.

Once imprisoned in the Crosses, Lev admits to being terrified and unable to live up to his ideal of heroism:

So many great Russians endured long stretches in prison. That night I learned I would never be a great Russian. A few hours alone in a cell, suffering no torture other than the darkness and the silence and the absolute cold, a few hours of that and I was already half broken (29-30).