The idea of the story (summary) Chekhov "Gooseberry"

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, who became a recognized classic during his lifetime, was not destined to see revolutionary cataclysms. But with his talent, he certainly felt the approaching social collapse. Evidence of one of these forebodings can serve as the idea of the story (summary) by Chekhov "Gooseberry".

This work is the author's call to we althy people not to coarsen their souls, to take care, to remain a necessary and valuable part of society, not to isolate themselves from it. In its composition, the story echoes two others from the same trilogy: "On Conscience" and "The Man in the Case." Half a century later, another classic, Boris Pasternak, will give his own definition to such literature, speaking of it as a “cubic piece of smoking conscience.”

Let's turn to one of the stories of his "little trilogy", having comprehended the summary of Chekhov's "Gooseberry". Generally speaking, the trilogy is ideologically, plotly and compositionally connected by the images of three characters:veterinarian Ivan Ivanovich Chimshi-Gimalaysky, teacher of the Burkin gymnasium, landowner Alekhin. They are either actors, listeners or narrators. According to the plot of the work, friends, having met at the estate of the landowner Alekhine, over a cup of tea, listen to the story of Ivan Ivanovich. With such a plot line, Chekhov begins the story "Gooseberry". Its brief content boils down to an emotional and painful for the narrator coverage of the spiritual and spiritual split that has arisen and a fundamental misunderstanding of his blood brother Nikolai. In their youth, the brothers were friendly. Both of them, starting their lives, faced poverty (their father, being a nobleman, went bankrupt), then each went his own way.

Nikolai Ivanovich, an official, working in the Treasury, longed to become a landowner. Following his dream, he married at a cost, subsequently bringing his wife to death with his manic greed. For the money accumulated in the bank, he nevertheless bought the estate and lived in it as a landowner without the slightest remorse for his deeds. He is flabby, turned into a misanthrope, a squabbler, a callous person, unable to love, but very pleased with himself.

After visiting his rich brother and staying with him, Ivan Ivanovich was horrified - to what an empty state of mind did his unscrupulous pursuit of his material dream lead to. It can also be said that the summary of Chekhov's story "The Gooseberry" is consonant with the story of Nikolai Ivanovich's personal degradation.

The flow of emotions and feelingsIvan Ivanovich, who does not agree with the new look of his brother, the writer Chekhov directs to his readers. He seeks to heal souls with his word. This new modernist method of influencing the reader, invented by Anton Pavlovich, was later called the "stream of consciousness" (with the light hand of James Joyce). The main idea of this style is that the plot of the work is not so important for the classic, some external effects, the order of events - all this is secondary. The main thing is thoughts, feelings, experiences…

The intention of Chekhov's story (summary) "Gooseberry" is quite obvious. It comes down to the inner world of his characters. The words of Ivan Ivanovich that in the soul of a we althy person the “hammer” should not be silent all his life, reminding of the troubles of others and the need to take care of them, deserve attention. Chekhov's characters are not perfect, they are the same as people in real life. Sometimes, when expressing thoughts, they get lost, stumble from emotions. And then, in the impending ringing silence, we clearly feel the power of the sound of the subtext embedded in the work by the classic. Such is he - Chekhov!

It is characteristic that neither the teacher Burkin nor the landowner Alekhin fully understood what their friend wanted to tell them about. Everything is like in life…

Let's think. Why is our history so rich in social upheavals? Perhaps we, as the ancient inhabitants of Troy, rarely listen to the bold, honest truth of the classics. It was in a simple and understandable witness to people about the truth that Chekhov saw the role of real art. tirelessly andworking fruitfully, the writer sounded the alarm with each of his works, warning his compatriots about the accumulating imbalance of Russian society, which resulted a year after his death in the revolution of 1905. Practically in any work of Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, a conflict hidden to the idle eye, but clearly showing through, is shown between the outwardly decent form and the trampled humanistic foundations that hold society together. A county doctor himself by profession, Anton Pavlovich tried with his word to treat all the people of a vast country at once from greed, hypocrisy, spiritual blindness, and soullessness. The essence of the story (summary) of Chekhov's "Gooseberry" is just about this …