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#2 The Student - Ordeal

The Student, By Anton Chekhov(1894)

Rating: 6.6/10

"ORDEAL," 

Hardships come when an inquisitive little skater receives a forceful temptation to surrender seconds before landing quadruples, when a direct attorney in a solemn court is about to show the white flag towards the opposing counsel. But when you also manage to survive, resurrect, and recreate the didactic moment of the old cliche, you win the fight against yourself.

When Peter relentlessly denied Jesus thrice, and the widows had supper on a Good Friday, they were facing an ordeal; A Devil's Whisper. However, just as repentance flooded in like a tide and the tear of realization burst like a flower, they have overcome the ordeal.

The parallel structure stood out to me between the two stories in Chekhov's frame narration. Both Peter and the widows had a barrier to overcome, which they did with the help of Jesus and Ivan. Although the structures were significantly archaic and confusing, <The Student> reminds me how the past is repeated in the present, and we shall learn from the past. (168)

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