Alyohin is like a squirrel in a cage. He is trapped by reason, middle-class morality, and poverty. He is a man-of-thought. He fears to express his love for Anna because he is too much thinking about society's moral standards. He sacrifices his love thinking that his marriage to Anna Alexeyevna would ruin the lives of her, her children, her mother, and her husband. He fears that he could not make her happy in his country house.