reaction paper

Reaction Paper

Thomas Vargas

ENG/125

June 26, 2014

Edward Garcia

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Reaction Paper

In the short story "Misery" by Anton Chekhov, Iona Potapov is a cab driver in St. Petersburg whose only son has died. It may seem Iona would have many friends and people to converse to about his misery, but Iona lacks the communication skills and people person skills to portray his thoughts. The author uses grief and despair to bring out the theme of the story. The story starts with a quote Chekhov (1886) stated, "To whom shall I tell my grief" (p.85). The author addresses this quote to give an idea to the reader on what the main character is feeling through this short story. The main character, Iona, has much tragedy hidden in him, and he wants to tell someone, but no one cares to listen.

English: Chekhov

English: Anton Chekhov

English: Young Anton Chekhov

There was a time when I was overwhelmed with the problems life brings, I was about 26 years of age making the transition to the civilian world with little cash and not much knowledge and dealing with financial situations. I had no one to turn to, because I always kept to myself. When I would converse with someone, I would talk to him as if I was hiding something, waiting for them to ask, but they never asked.

Chekhov (1886) stated, "Turn round, you devil!" comes out of the darkness. "Have you gone cracked, you old dog? Look where you are going!" (p.86) Iona begins to tell his tragedy to the officer and begins to forget about what his task is at hand, and the officer just cares to get to his destination. When I found a person to...