Topic > Chekhov's Misery, the role of perspective

Written by realist master Anton Chekhov, "Misery" is the story of an old man's grief over losing his son. He continues to look for someone to talk to about his son's death. Throughout the book, the use of the narrative perspective of the old man allows the reader to understand the misery of Iona, the old man, through an approximate stream of consciousness technique that addresses the actual flow of human thoughts. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The beginning of the story takes place in a rather depressing and heavy atmosphere, where there is "full of monstrous lights, incessant tumult and hasty people" in "familiar gray landscapes" which seem to refer to the pain 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 the sadness in Iona. He is even described as “white as a ghost” to underline the fact that he is lifeless; Iona is only here because death came through the “wrong door.” Besides this, the pathetic mistake is also notable, as nature reflects the state of mind of Iona, who doesn't even bother to shake off the snow falling on him. This makes the reader understand how life has stopped moving for him he has been through worse losing his son and a lot of snow on him won't hurt much. He dissociates himself from the world and is involved in his own misery. The cold weather also symbolizes an atmosphere of mourning, a central 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 were unimportant in a materialistic world, a well-paid job or people of higher social status can bring a lost loved one back to life. Death is normalized by the words of revelers who say “death is inevitable,” but it is the person who loses someone who feels the impact. The passengers Iona encounters reflect real-life people who can't understand the pain of others just because they're all so worried about their own lives. No respect is given to Iona and the job she holds. Indeed, he is paid by his passengers, but that doesn't mean he should be treated in a way that makes him feel bad or inferior. The way the passengers treat him gives the impression that Iona is a slave who shouldn't have feelings instead of Iona earning his living honestly. This highlights the injustice towards Iona, whose "misery" is once again felt by readers. His misery “is immense, beyond all limits”. He is also a victim of class inequalities. The people he meets show no sympathy for him. Although humans live in the same world, the dichotomy between the people Iona encounters and the pain Iona experiences in the same world is seen when the expression "merry gentleman" is used in contrast to "the old man." “Me-er-ry gentleman” reflects the life of revelers, where there is no worry, while Iona leads an empty life, with no one but himself. The narrative perspective sympathizes with Iona but does not condemn the other characters for not listening to Iona's pain. Rather, it gives people the freedom to live independent existences. The above-mentioned quote “death is inevitable” can have a different meaning when they aim to console someone instead of emphasizing that we should accept it and continue living. Party people seem like people who love life and by saying these words they imply that there is much more to discover in life, so we should not miss any opportunities by only focusing on something that went wrong. Iona yes.".