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  • Essay / Chekhov's Misery, the role of perspective

    Written by master realist Anton Chekhov, "Misery" is the story of an old man's grief after losing his son. He continues to look for someone to talk to about his child's death. Throughout, the use of the old man's narrative perspective allows the reader to understand the misery of Iona, the old man, through a rough stream-of-consciousness technique that deals with the actual flow of human thoughts. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The beginning of the story takes place in a rather depressing and heavy atmosphere, where there are "full of monstrous lights, incessant tumult and hurrying people" in "familiar gray landscapes" which seem linked to sorrow and to the misery of Iona. The range of vocabulary relating to the depressing atmosphere, employed by Chekhov in the first paragraph, describes the intensity of Iona's sadness. He is even described as "white as a ghost" to emphasize the fact that he is lifeless; Iona is there simply because death came to the “wrong door.” In addition to this, a pathetic error is also remarkable, since nature reflects the state of mind of Iona, who does not even bother to get rid of the snow that falls on her. This makes the reader understand how life stopped moving for him. has been through worse losing his son and so much snow on him won't do him much harm. He dissociates himself from the world and is caught in his own misery, he too symbolizes an atmosphere of mourning. point of the story, linked to the title of his story. He justifies the title by emphasizing Iona's misery and gives it a lot of weight. The narrative perspective seems to emphasize how feelings had little importance in a world of materialism but no money. , a well-paid job or people from the upper social ladder can bring back a lost loved one. Death is normalized through the words of partygoers that “death is inevitable,” but it is the person who loses someone who feels the impact. The passengers Iona meets reflect people in real life who don't understand the grief of others simply because they are all so preoccupied with their own lives. No respect is given to Iona and the job he has. Indeed, he is paid by his passengers but that is no reason for him to be treated in a way that makes him feel bad or inferior. The way the passengers treat him makes it seem like Iona is a slave who shouldn't have feelings instead of Iona earning an honest living. This highlights the injustice towards Iona whose “misery” is once again felt by the readers. His misery “is immense, beyond all limits”. He is also a victim of class inequalities. The people he meets have no sympathy for him. Although human beings live in the same world, the dichotomy between the people Iona encounters and the sorrow Iona feels in the same world is noted when the phrase "merry gentleman" is used in contrast with "the old man. " “Me-er-ry gentleman” reflects the life of party people, where there are no worries, while Iona leads an empty life, with no one except himself. The narrative perspective sympathizes with Iona but does not condemn the other characters for not listening to Iona's grief. On the contrary, it gives people the freedom to live an independent existence. The above mentioned quote “death is inevitable” can have a different meaning when it aims to console someone instead of emphasizing that we should accept it and continue living. The party people seem to be people who love life and pronouncing.