The family Barszczewski lives on the limits of ethnographical Poland.  The province of Grodno has a mixed Polish, Lithuanian, and White Ruthenian population.  As it lies outside of the kingdom of Poland fixed in 1815, the efforts at Russification have always been stronger and more continuous there; thus, there is a certain influence of Russian culture.  These two factors explain certain differences in attitudes when compared with the normal psychology of the Polish peasant.  The infiltration of eastern influences may perhaps be the reason for the marked dissolution of the family relation which we find here.  The father does not live with the mother (No. 322), Stanisław quarrels with Józefa, with Kryszczak, with Aleksander B., and breaks off relations almost completely with his parents—all because of certain economic misunderstandings. (Znaniecki)