Analysis of “Rapture” by Anton Chekhov

(Peter Russell translation)

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 29^th 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.

In the heat of the moment, Mitya even forgets that it is the middle of the night. He is resolved and excited to start making his rounds to the neighbors and share the news. Just like his parents, they will be ready to embrace Mitya’s excitement and probably pleased to have heard the story from his own mouth in the early hours of the new day. And it is very likely that this dramatic way of relating the experience will be welcomed for the sake of breaking the monotonous rhythm of their quiet lives and will justify the foregone hours of sleep.