A father’s grief—this is the essence of the story “Misery”
by Anton Chekhov. Anyone who has suffered the loss of a loved one can understand the
feelings of Iona Potapov, whose son died about a week ago. Chekhov provides
introspection into the attitudes and lack of human involvement. when men are confronted
with the intense pain felt by the protagonist in the story, they choose to look the
other way.
The narration of the story is third person
point of view with a limited omniscient narrator. The tone of the story circulates
around the deep sadness and lack of compassion given to Iona as he searches for an
outlet for his sorrow
The story takes place in a Russian
city in the middle of winter. It is extremely cold and snowing in the late nineteenth
century.
Iona is an old man who has suffered the worst loss
a parent can have: his son has died in a hospital from a fever. The old man has to
drive a sleigh to take people around the city. During the course of the evening, Iona
will have several situations that frustrate him in his effort to discuss and gain
sympathy for his predicament.
1st
fare
A military officer gets in to the sleigh. Because the
old man does not normally drive the sleigh, he makes several mistakes. The officer
yells at the driver in anger. Iona tells the soldier about his son. The officer
initially shows a little interest in the son’s death when he asks of what did the son
die. When Iona begins to tell his story, the officer loses interest and continues to
yell about Iona’s driving.
2nd
fare
Three young men enter the sleigh. They find it
difficult to sit comfortably. One of the men is a hunchback who is sarcastic and makes
fun of the old man. Again, Iona tries to tell his story with the hunchback
reacting:
‘This week…er…my…er….son
died!’
‘We shall all die…’ says the hunchback with a high,
wiping his lips after a cough.
The three continue to yell
and berate the old man.
3rd
situation
Iona sees a house porter who is carrying a
package. The old man decides to speak to the porter. “What time will it be, friend?’
he asks.
“Going on ten…Why have you stopped here? Drive
on!”
Pushing ahead a little
ways, misery overtakes the driver. He gives into his grief and decides to return to the
cab barn. He gives his little mare some hay because he cannot afford to give her
oats.
Iona goes inside the drivers’ room. Here he sees a
young cab driver who gets up to get a drink of water. Again, the old man tries to tell
the story of his son’s death. The other driver acts as though he did not hear him and
returns to his seat and falls asleep.
Frustration eats at
Iona. He longs for someone to talk to. His daughter lives in the country. A woman
would be good to talk to because they cry at
anything.
Returning to check on the horse, Iona finds the
little mare munching on her hay.
‘Are you munching?’ Iona asks his mare, seeing
her shining eyes. My son ought to be driving, not I. He was the real coachman…The
little mare munches, listens, and breathes on her master’s hands. Iona is carried away
and tells her about his
son.
What a sad indictment of
the treatment of one man to another! No one was willing to comfort Iona. All the old
man needed was someone to listen to him for just a few minutes.
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