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"

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.

But this type of portrayal is indicative of the despotic nature that defines the relations between clerks and their superiors. The theme of the chinovnik (clerk) illustrates the fear that exists for the clerk’s career and the complete surrender to the authority of the higher rank. The death of the clerk has a significant figurative meaning – gaining the disposition of this general means preserving the job, may be even receiving some types of career benefits; injuring this rapport means career suicide. Ironically enough, the clerk dies during this period of a severed relationship, symbolizing the loss of purpose and identity that are gone along with the job.