Just another blog to share with you the things that affect me, that move me - pictures, books, music, conversations, thoughts.
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Analysis of "The Death of a Government Clerk" (1883) - Anton Chekhov
(Constance
Garnett translation)
Other
Titles:
“The
Death of a Civil Servant”
“The
Death of a Clerk”
“Smert
chinovnika”
"Смерть чиновника"
"Смерть чиновника"
Characters:
Ivan
Dimitritch Tchervyakov
Brizzhalov
“But
suddenly… In stories one so often meets with this ‘But suddenly’. The authors
are right: life is so full of surprises!”
And
this is not to imply positive surprises, as the moral of this story teaches us.
A government clerk dies after a few days of anxiety. While at the theater, Ivan
Dimitritch Tchervyakov sneezed and bespattered a general that is not his direct
superior, but important enough in the Department of Transport. Tchervyakov
tries to apologize, but every time he attempts it, the general interrupts the
apology, so the clerk never gets the chance to express his apology completely.
Every
time Tchervyakov is cut off in the middle of a sentence, his anxiety rises to
explain even more about the sneeze, then about the first unfinished apology,
the second one, the first visit to the general’s house, the second visit… An innocent
situation quickly becomes a ridiculous occurrence by constantly bringing up the
incident. The story takes a satirical form, and the civil servant is reduced to
a mere caricature.
Analysis of "A Classical Student" - Anton Chekhov
Other Titles:
"Случай с классиком"
Characters:
"Случай с классиком"
Characters:
Vanya,
a high school student
Vanya’s
mom
Nastenka,
Vanya’s aunt
Yevtihy
Kuzmitch Kuporossov, the lodger
The
story opens up with a scene describing the characteristics of a great
performance anxiety experienced by young Vanya who was about to take his Greek
exam. He has about every symptom associated with extreme nervousness (except a
heart attack) – the throbbing heart, the terror of the unknown, the upset
stomach…He resorts to payers, to kissing the holy images in the house, to
superstitious rituals, such as giving a poor man two kopecks (cents) with the
hope that fate and the universe will show mercy for this high-school student
that day.
Unfortunately,
he fails Greek despite all his hard work and getting up early to study all
week. After he arrives home and informs his mom of the negative result, Chekhov
describes a situation between this boy and his mother that reveals more than a
conflict between efforts and expectations. It is apparent that
Vanya’s mom had high hopes for her boy by enrolling him in a school that
exceeds his intellectual aptitude. Vanya was trying to fulfill those
expectations by devoting a lot of time in his studies that particular week, but
the pressure of performance was too much. It was obvious in the story that the
confusion Vanya experienced during the verbal exam stemmed from that pressure
to get things right and from fearing failure, when in fact, he was aware of the
mistakes he was making and their respective correct answers. To illustrate how
awful his world was in the face of failure, Chekhov uses the mother character
as its main element:
“No,
it’s not you but I who am miserable, you wretched boy! It’s I that am
miserable! You’ve worn me to a threadpaper, you Herod, you torment, you bane of
my life! I pay for you, you good-for-nothing rubbish…”
For
Vanya this was not the only exam he failed. From the terrible words of his
mother, the reader gets the sense that he really does not fit in that school. The
mother chose that school because it represents the ideals and the future she
hopes to attain one day. She is criticized and ridiculed by her sister
regarding these ideals:
“It’s
not his fault! It’s your fault! You are to blame! Why did you send him to that
high school? You are a fine lady! You want to be a lady? A-a-ah! I dare say, as
though you’ll turn into gentry!”
It
seems that the mother is fighting against another set of expectations. She
wants to overcome the expectations set by society that everyone is born into a
socioeconomic position and cannot break its barriers to move up higher – and perhaps,
this should not even be attempted. Her efforts are failing just like Vanya is
failing at that school.
From
here, Chekhov moves the story in a direction that is quite thought-provoking,
to say the least. As always, he does not disappoint in terms of using the
typical ironic effects in his writing. The mother approaches the lodger,
Yevtihy Kuzmitch Kuporossov, to ask him for a favor – to go punish the boy:
“My
good friend… If you would have the generosity – thrash my boy for me… Do me the
favour!... I can’t punish him, through the weakness of my ill-health… Thrash
him for me, if you would be so obliging and considerate.”
Vanya
submits willingly to the punishment. The mother accepts the constraints of her
reality and makes a new resolution – to send the boy to a different school.
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Reflecting on “An Enigmatic Nature” by Anton Chekhov
Other Titles:
"Загадочная натура"
I reread this story a few times, and each time I found the lady on the train more likable. She may be a gold-digger, miserable because of her own choices in life and in love, but her words were sober. I think I recognize a lot of people living their lives with the thought that there is happiness waiting for them in the future. The universality of the moral of the story does not pertain to finding the next rich husband, but to the ability to recognize that the time to enjoy life has arrived. It is now – not tomorrow, not in five years, etc. It is never perfect, and there is always something more that we want. But despite the deficiencies, the best outcome is when we recognize what we have and take time to enjoy it.
"Загадочная натура"
I reread this story a few times, and each time I found the lady on the train more likable. She may be a gold-digger, miserable because of her own choices in life and in love, but her words were sober. I think I recognize a lot of people living their lives with the thought that there is happiness waiting for them in the future. The universality of the moral of the story does not pertain to finding the next rich husband, but to the ability to recognize that the time to enjoy life has arrived. It is now – not tomorrow, not in five years, etc. It is never perfect, and there is always something more that we want. But despite the deficiencies, the best outcome is when we recognize what we have and take time to enjoy it.
Of
course, this does not mean that we need to give up on our goals. But some
compromising can have its benefits. Regarding compromising when it comes to the
next rich husband – well, the lady on the train has her own choices to make.
…And
because my thoughts about this story lack a summary and analysis, here are a
couple of quotes to illustrate the main theme:
“Poverty,
the struggle for daily bread, the consciousness of insignificance – ah, do not
force me to recall it! I had to make my own way…. And the agonies of losing
faith in life, in oneself!”
Friday, August 9, 2013
The Prison Alcatraz
What is appealing to me about this photo is its resemblance to an aquarelle painting. It was a cloudy day, which I find very fitting for this subject.
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Analysis of “At the Barber's” – Anton Chekhov
(Constance
Garnett translation)
Other Titles:
"В цирульне"
Characters:
Makar
Kuzmitch Blyostken
Erast
Ivanitch Yagodov
Anna
Erastovna (mentioned)
The
story opens up with a description of a barber’s shop belonging to the young
Makar Kuzmitch. He is portrayed as a hard-working man: opening up his shop
early and trying to maintain everything clean. But the place is in such a need
of remodeling that Makar’s efforts to keep it nice are lost. Chekhov hints that
Makar is probably alone in the world. The death of his father is the only
immediate family connection that is mentioned, which points to the assumption that
the young man relies on nobody for help and support.
After
setting up this type of background, Chekhov introduces Erast Ivanitch Yagodov
who is Makar’s godfather. He is the epitome of a cold-hearted, insensitive, and
self-absorbed person who is only concerned with attaining some sort of benefits
from life – from getting a haircut for free to having his daughter engaged
(against her will) to an affluent man.
[Yagodov]
“Now my hair’s coming out. The doctor says I must be shaved. He says the hair
will grow again strong. And so, I thought, I’ll go to Makar. Better to a
relation than to anyone else. He will do it better and he won’t take anything
for it.”
[Makar]
“I’ll do it with pleasure.”
Yagodov’s
words confirm that the only reason he is going to his godson for a haircut is
that the job will be done for free. Shaving a head can be performed by any
barber without the slightest concern that the “hair style” will be ruined. It
will, however, cost Yagodov money.
While
Makar is working on Yagodov’s head, he hears the news that Anna Erastovna is
engaged to be married. Anna is Yagodov’s daughter, and the reader finds out
that she and Makar were secretly in love with the hope and intention to wed one
day. Makar is shocked, and in his apparent devastation from the news, he pauses
shaving Yagodov’s head.
[Yagodov]
“Only, what sort of a match would you be, Makar? You are nothing of a match.
You’ve neither money nor position, your trade’s a paltry one.”
But
Makar possesses an endearing sincerity in his words that show a true human
being behind his poor looks and dingy shop. From one paragraph the reader can
reach down to his soul and understand the pain and sadness he is going through.
He
cannot finish shaving Yagodov and asks him to leave. The next day, at Yagodov’s
return, Makar kindly asks for a payment before he proceeds with the cut.
Yagodov refuses.
“Erast
Ivanitch has half his head shaven to the skin and looks like a convict. It is
awkward to be left with a head like that, but there is no help for it… He
regards it as extravagance to pay for having his hair cut and is waiting for
the hair to grow of itself on the shaven side.
He
danced at the wedding in that condition.”
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Analysis of “A Living Chattel” - Anton Chekhov
(Constance
Garnett translation)
Other Titles:
“Zhivoy
Tovar” (1882)
“Living
Merchandise”
“Living
Goods”
“Wife
for Sale”
"Живой товар"
"Живой товар"
Characters:
Elisaveta
– Liza,
Grigory
Vassilyevitch Groholsky – Grisha,
Ivan
Petrovitch Bugrov – Vanya
Divided
into three parts, this short story represents a more mature writing style for
Anton Chekhov, even though this is one of his earliest works. Each part
intrigues the reader with a complex plot development that follows the lives of
three people and their subsequent love triangle.
It
all begins with a scene informing of a secret love affair between Liza and
Groholsky in which the two lovers are pondering the future of their
relationship. Groholsky, a man in and out of love quite frequently, has finally
found the woman he cannot live without. She is married to Bugrov who loves her
very much as well, and it is suggested later in the story that his love had
been tried four times before when young Liza presumably had experienced an
infatuation with other men. When he interrupts a sad embrace between Liza and
Groholsky, he understands the meaning of it immediately. A foreseeable jealous
reaction ensues, which depicts the typical position and behavior of the male
and the female in the family as dictated by the 19th century Russian
society:
[Bugrov
to Liza] “Love your husband! You have been given to your husband, so you must
love him.”
This
sets the foundation upon which love is initially defined – love must follow the
conventions and be obedient to commands. Love assumes the identity of its
carrier – a husband, wife or mother. Love does not possess agency but is very
deliberate and confined. In addition, a woman given to her husband must exact
the orders regarding her feelings in a manner acceptable by rationale.
In
these first paragraphs of the story, the confrontation scene between the
husband and the wife does not stray from the stereotypical tyrannical
cohabitation of a dominant male figure with an inferior female counterpart who
is lacking the power to speak up, explain, defend, or even stand up and make a
choice of her own. The husband is the authority that bestows forgiveness where
even God cannot show mercy:
[Bugrov
to Liza] “I forgive you for the fifth time, but I shall not forgive you for the
sixth, as God is holy. God does not forgive such as you for such things.”
Groholsky’s
entrance into Liza’s life represents an attempt to add a new layer to the
definition of love. His suffering is enormous, and he is ready to end the
secrecy and to do something about his relationship.
[Groholsky
to Liza] “Love cannot bear anything vague or indefinite….I love you and a man
in love is not fond of sharing. He is more than an egoist. It is too much for
me to go shares with your husband. …Perfect freedom is an essential condition
for love.”
This
last sentence heightens the irony in the alluded symbiosis that exists between
perfect freedom and love. The resolution to set Liza free from Bugrov comes at
a price of 150,000 roubles. However, freedom does not come after the price is
paid. The transaction is a mere transfer of ownership, which explains the title
of this story.
“Groholsky
spread out all the money, and moved restlessly about the room, looking for the
Dulcinea who had been bought and sold.”
The
price offered to Bugrov to let Liza go is Groholsky’s way to appease his own
guilt. He did try to blame fate for robbing Bugrov of his happiness, but even
then, he was not able to escape the fact that he is the reason behind this
difficult situation. He is very well aware of the harm he is causing by
wrecking this family, and money is the only remedy he can offer as a
compensation. However, the anxiety he experiences regarding the situation remains
with him for the years to come, even during the times when he was leading a
content life with Liza in Crimea:
“I
am very happy, Liza, very happy indeed. My happiness is so great that I am
really afraid of its destruction. The greatest things are usually destroyed,
and do you know, Liza, in spite of all my happiness, I am not absolutely… at
peace…”
It
turns out that Groholsky is not the only one being uneasy about the current
situation. Liza is miserable because she misses her son, Bugrov misses Liza,
and Groholsky lives under the constant threat of his happiness being shattered.
All these inner reflections start clashing in the second part of the story.
Fate brings all the characters together when Bugrov rents a villa across from
Liza and Groholsky. Frequent visits illuminate the past with a different light,
and once again, the two men are brought to a new negotiation. Groholsky implores
Bugrov to leave, and in exchange the former is willing to compensate the latter
with 10,000 roubles – a humble amount enough to cover Bugrov’s new furniture
expenses.
Bugrov
accepts the price for a second time. Chekhov does not offer any explanation why
the character agrees to it so easily, and the reader is left thinking that the
only motivation is money itself. But in contrast to the first amount of 150,000
roubles, this second deal is so much less. It seems that Bugrov is becoming
accustomed to never leaving empty-handed regardless of the amount. His first experience
was a great deal introspective. He reflected upon the kind of life, happiness,
and luxury he wanted for himself and his son, a symbol of which was the
carriage he saw passing outside his windows. Therefore, Bugrov could not help
but accept the price of 150,000 roubles with the hope of attaining that dream.
It
is surprising that Bugrov agrees to the 10,000 roubles during the second
negotiation. His actions are in opposition to his feelings. During an emotional
outburst one evening, the reader gets a glimpse of Bugrov’s inner turmoil when
reading his remorseful words:
“The
Lord be our judge! I cannot think of sleep while I know that my wife is a
slave… But it is not Groholsky’s fault… The goods were mine, the money his…
Freedom for the free and Heaven for the saved.”
And
yet, he takes the money once again. This kind of sale does not end here,
however. There is another visit to Cremea where Liza lives, and this time, it
is very clear that she is not happy with her situation. She wants to return to
Bugrov. Her confession is overheard by Groholsky, and in his desperation, he
approaches Bugrov for a third time – he offers him an estate in Tchernigov. And
once again, the offer is accepted.
An
ironic twist to the story is added when Liza runs away from Groholsky at night
and returns to Bugrov. Groholsky squanders all his fortune, and being sick,
ends up living with Liza and Bugrov in the same house. It is clear that Liza is
trying to make a life with Bugrov, but Groholsky, seemingly suffering from a
delusion, maintains his belief that Liza is still in a relationship with him.
As
mentioned earlier, despite the criticism this story receives, the plot offers
an interesting insight and thematic development that concerns love and relationships.
The story also represents an early attempt for Chekhov to explore the novella
style of writing, which he truly masters in his later works.
Friday, August 2, 2013
Analysis of "A Naughty Boy" by Anton Chekhov
(Marian
Fell translation)
In
this story two young people who are in love, Ivan Lapkin and Anna Zamblitskaya,
are constantly interrupted during their moments together by her little brother
Kolia. A small kiss on the hand and on the lips exchanged by the young couple
and witnessed by Kolia sets the beginning of an annoying ritual of bribing the
little “rascal” with all sorts of presents so that he does not tell on them.
“But perfect bliss does not exist
on earth, it often bears a poison in itself, or else is poisoned by some
outside circumstances.”
On
a first read, the ending of the story appears unfulfilling even when one reads:
“The pleasure depicted on the
faces of the lovers when Kolia wept and begged for mercy was well worth seeing.”
The
ultimate revenge of the couple is a mere immediate reaction by two people who
are finally free to publicize their relationship through their engagement and
therefore, able to deal with Kolia’s naughty behavior. Chekhov does not offer a
clever way to punish the boy so that the reader gets the satisfaction with the moral
of the story. He simply describes what the first action would be of people
quite annoyed with the boy who was so persistent in his spying on them and
extorting them each time for a bigger prize.
Interestingly
enough, the story opens up with a fishing scene where the young man makes his
declaration of love for Anna, but during his emotional revelation, he is being
interrupted by the fishing process. In the middle of his love message he interjects
with instructions on what Anna should be doing and helping her with the catch
of a nice perch. The motif of being interrupted achieves new heights with the
inconvenient presence of Kolia everywhere Ivan and Anna wanted to share some
moments alone.
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Analysis of “Rapture” by Anton Chekhov
(Peter Russell translation)
Other Titles:
"Joy"
"Радость"
Other Titles:
"Joy"
"Радость"
All
the excitement in this story stems from the fact that a young man, Dimitry (Mitya) Kuldarov, had his name mentioned in a newspaper article, and he is overwhelmed
with joy that all of Russia will now know him. Although in reality this is an
extraordinary event, the reason for being mentioned could be considered quite
the opposite of extraordinary and even a bit embarrassing. But Mitya does not care
under what circumstances his name is cited – he was drunk, slipped, fell and
scared a cab-horse causing an accident; – his name is now shown side by side with
the names of celebrities!
“A short time ago only you knew
Dimitry Kuldarov, the clerical officer of the fourteenth grade, but now everyone
in Russia knows me!... O God, I’m so happy! Only celebrities get their names in
the paper.”
There
is a certain charm about his simple interpretation of what this experience means
to him. His reaction is honest, and the reader can feel its contagious effect. One
can affectionately smile when imagining how the whole neighborhood will continually
be hearing of this article for the weeks to come.
“Parents, you live here like
savages; you don’t read the newspapers, you’ve no idea what’s going on and yet
the papers are full of such extraordinary things!”
Through
these words, Chekhov captures the psychology of the person that has found his
fifteen minutes of fame when fame came so unexpectedly. Mitya Kuldarov tries to appear informed through a regular review of the press, but
he probably read the newspaper for the first time that night in a long time,
and it only happened because he was expecting the report of the accident to
appear in the morning issue.
Just
to recapture the chain of events: The accident happened on December 29th
at 11 pm. He arrived home really late, probably in the small hours of the night
with the morning print of the paper in his hands. His own extraordinary
experience reminded him that newspapers do contain extraordinary stories. But
he only realized this now, and being caught up in his own fame, he saw himself
as the person to enlighten the ones who are leading a simple life, the ones
that are the generation of interpreting life only through superstition mingled
with religion. For example, the mother could not comprehend an event such as this
one without looking to her icon and crossing herself.
Embarkment
Tonight I begin a new literary journey in the world of short stories written by Anton Chekhov. My goal is to follow the chronological order of their creation and to discover Chekhov's artistry through my own impressions, insights, and analysis. You are invited to join me in this journey and please, feel free to share your favorite quotes and moments from the stories.
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