Yuri Zhivago, a doctor and poet, is sensitive nearly to the point of mysticism. Zhivago's idealism and principles stand in contrast to the successive brutality of World War I, the February and October Revolutions, the subsequent Russian Civil War, and the Red Terror. A major theme of the novel is how mysticism and idealism are destroyed by both the Bolsheviks and the White Army alike, as both sides commit horrible atrocities.