Gooseberries, By Anton Chekhov(1898)
Rating: 7.9/10
As an animal with instinct, consisting of genes that seek to convey the most immaculate components to the next generation, mankind ought to pursue Happiness. While it is erroneous to violate moral standards, man should be allowed to attain the opportunity of seizing Happiness under the ethical codes. With Happiness as a source of motivation, they survive another day in the world of disharmony.
Whether or not I should buy a new laptop to replace my old, malfunctioning laptop purely depends on the amount of Happiness I can acquire out of it. As long as I'm affordable, there is no reason for me to get mad over the laptop that freezes every 10 seconds and experience the pain of those who are unaffordable. It does no good to anyone unless the money is donated to those in need.
This story simply made me feel thankful for how capable I am of feeling Happiness. Alyohin lives such an ascetic and moral life, yet he seems unhappy with self-neglect. Superficially he's cut off from luxuries; however, he doesn't share his money with those in need nor hesitates to go up to the second floor and join the talk of luxury. (198)
Good interpretation that "guesses" at some things about the characters we know very little about. Chekhov wants us to guess a bit. But can we guess that Alyohin is unhappy at all? We don't get any clues about that. He's very simple in this story. We don't know if he shares his money or doesn't. He seems good to his servants. Perhaps Chekhov should have given us more about each character - but then that wouldn't be a Chekhov story. Good stuff.
ReplyDeleteI feel like it is plausible to say that Alyohin isn't happy by how he never hesitates to enter the world of bourgeois(the second floor), and is reluctant to leave alone, back to the world of peasants. Or at least unconsciously.
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