29 pages • 58 minutes read
Anton ChekhovA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
For Chekhov and his contemporaries in 19th-century Russia, upward mobility was difficult and sometimes impossible to achieve. Part of the problem was government control. The enormous size and elaborate complexity of the administrative system proved tough to navigate. In fact, the overall purpose of national authority at the time was to hold people down, both socially and economically. Here enters Chervyakov, a low-level government clerk with aspirations for a higher status in life. By naming the clerk Chervyakov, which is similar to the Russian word for “worm,” Chekhov reinforces the notion that the protagonist is regarded as a repellent person. Far from having the desired effect, his exaggerated fawning behavior is met with disgust from the higher-up official.
Chekhov therefore compels the reader to see the futility of attempting to move up the class structure. He conjures the idea of an impermeable barrier that prevents people from elevating themselves: Something always gets in the way. With Chervyakov, for example, an insignificant sneeze is all it takes. As the story points out, “[s]neezing is not prohibited to anyone anywhere” (Paragraph 1), but the act itself reminds the clerk that his tenuous position in society is in constant danger.
By Anton Chekhov
At Home
At Home
Anton Chekhov
Gooseberries
Gooseberries
Anton Chekhov
The Bet
The Bet
Anton Chekhov
The Cherry Orchard
The Cherry Orchard
Anton Chekhov
The Darling
The Darling
Anton Chekhov
The Duel
The Duel
Anton Chekhov
The Lady With The Dog
The Lady With The Dog
Anton Chekhov
The Seagull
The Seagull
Anton Chekhov
Three Sisters
Three Sisters
Anton Chekhov
Uncle Vanya
Uncle Vanya
Anton Chekhov
Vanka
Vanka
Anton Chekhov