Officer Mishin Character Analysis in Only the Animals

In “A Letter to Sylvia Plath,” Officer Mishin is a Soviet officer who, after the end of the Cold War, comes to work for the U.S. Navy with her dolphin Kostya. She’s small with extremely pale skin, and Officer Bloomington falls immediately in love with her. Much to Bloomington’s surprise, he discovers that Mishin trains dolphins as gently as he does. Indeed, Mishin is one of the loudest proponents of training dolphins kindly and not making them kill enemy divers—dolphins, Mishin insists, will refuse to perform tasks if they know they’ll cause harm. But Mishin’s first responsibility is to trying to keep her dolphins safe and happy, so she goes along with the Navy’s training plans so that she doesn’t have to allow other trainers to train her dolphins. She and Bloomington get married right after 9/11, and Sprout ends her story by revealing that at the time of her death in 2003, Mishin was very early in her pregnancy with a baby girl.

Officer Mishin Character Timeline in Only the Animals

The timeline below shows where the character Officer Mishin appears in Only the Animals. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

The Interconnectedness of Humans and Animals Theme Icon

...from the Soviets, and his handler is going to come too. Kostya arrives with Officer Mishin to be the lead dolphin/handler pair in a classified training program. To Sprout’s surprise, Bloomington... (full context)

...enemy submarines, or that he knows how to tag enemy divers with a lethal device. Mishin denies this and insists dolphins won’t hurt or kill people—they’d refuse to obey those commands.... (full context)

...to train a special dolphin team to tag divers with a locating device. Bloomington and Mishin refuse to participate at first, but they give in when they realize the Navy will... (full context)

The island changes Bloomington and Mishin’s relationship over the months that they’re there. Mishin starts to return Bloomington’s affections. Bloomington is... (full context)

On their days off, Bloomington and Mishin hike the island, looking for a feral goat. Bloomington tells Sprout that sailors brought the... (full context)

This experiment reminds Sprout of when she overheard Bloomington and Mishin discussing how most people have a persecution complex. It makes Sprout wonder why humans feel... (full context)

The shock of 9/11 leads Bloomington and Mishin to set a date for their wedding. The ceremony takes place beside the pens where... (full context)

...Gulf. As usual, they’ll find underwater mines and mark them, but halfway through the journey, Mishin and Bloomington receive special orders: the specially trained dolphins will be authorized to tag enemy... (full context)

...talking about life. Right before she was released on her final mission, she scanned Officer Mishin and discovered she was pregnant with a baby girl. Addressing Sylvia Plath, Sprout says she... (full context)