 In Doctor Zhivago, the life of a young doctor is intertwined with the fate of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. Yuri Zhivago is orphaned at a young age, and his uncle brings him to Moscow, where he studies medicine while living with his uncle s family. At a New Year s ball, he witnesses an assassination attempt on a high society lawyer named Komarovksy. What shocks Yuri is the identity of the shooter: Lara Gishar. By coincidence, he had been present earlier when Lara and Komarovsky first met at the Montenegro hotel. At the time, their magnetism and their unusual relationship, both extremely open and particularly secretive, revealed to the young doctor a world of emotions he had yet to experience. Yuri is told that Komarovsky played a role in his father s suicide, but this news has less effect on him than the chance meeting with Lara. At the beginning of WWI, Doctor Zhivago goes to the front, leaving his wife and children in Moscow. He is unaware that many years later Lara will touch his life again, changing it for ever; Yuri Zhivago s personal drama plays out against a backdrop of social and historical upheaval, with his generation s hopes and desires wiped out by war and revolution. Yuri s work and family suffer from his sense of having lost his bearings. Hoping to get back on his feet, he makes the fateful decision to leave Moscow and return to his family s house beyond the Urals. Yuri observes from the window of his train as a new Russia is born, and unexpected encounters during his travels come to symbolize for him the spirit of a new era. The people he meets in the train have been forged in this new world, and Yuri desperately tries to find his place among them, learning to live in the provinces and forgetting the dreams of his youth. As he lies on his bunk in the train, Yuri has no idea that Lara has also left Moscow, taking up residence not far from his family home.