However, this duality in character led to Hertzen 's estrangement from Russian society. The element of alienation he experienced started as a young boy. Throughout his adolescent life of solitude and social isolation characterized most of his associations or lack thereof with those of his own social class. Authority, which was closely linked with class in Russia, appeared arbitrary and therefore unjust and further alienated him from the Russia’s noble elites. In contrast among his beloved cohort at Moscow State University, he did feel quite at home. Herzen utilized the residual effects of his alienation to write his memoirs. The constant alienation Herzen experienced, juxtaposed by the acceptance of like-minded social revolutionaries, affected