Anton Chekhov's stories often portray a gradual decline and the cyclic self-crushing conditions of his characters, however, in this extended meditation focus will remain on Chekhov's Death of a Government Clerk will illuminate not simply the physical death of the clerk, but of the metaphorical demise he suffers through the socioeconomically induced death of his dignity. As the story begins, Chekhov paints a picture of our antagonist, the clerk, Dmitritch Chervyakov, enjoying himself at the opera as any "fine clerk" would do. Shortly after his respectable introduction of our main character he interjects with a "But suddenly" and goes on to foreshadow that this "but suddenly" will be a catalyst in the story. This interjection is followed by an unbridled sneeze. .
After the sneeze Chekhov makes a point to explain that every man sneezes, "It is not reprehensible for anyone to sneeze anywhere. Peasants sneeze and so do police superintendents, and sometimes even privy councilors. All men sneeze." It is this last sentence that seems to undermine the rest of the story, for as the clerk sees it, his sneeze has become a transgression for he accidentally sprayed a government General with that sneeze. The general-throughout the story-follows true to Chekhov's idea that indeed, all men sneeze. The clerk, in his unfairly underprivileged mind understands his natural bodily function to be an offense, which must be atoned for. Originally, the clerk sees his sneezing transgression as simply, "awkward," and leans forward to apologize to him during the opera performance. As the general disregards his efforts it is not out of disgust or offense but out of simple want to be undisturbed while he enjoys the opera. Had the clerk had the mindset of the general-that all men sneeze-it would have been taken no further, but the clerks position in society in contrast to the position of the general in the same society begins to manifest in increasingly tragic ways for the clerk and increasingly annoying ways for the general.
As in his treatment of Parsi society, he transforms the historical situations and the reality of Indian life into a metaphor that shows how the individual reacts to widespread corruption when entangled in its grasp, as in Such a Long Journey, and how people respond to the endless forms of tyranny that government and society inflict, as in A Fine Balance. ...
As in his treatment of Parsi society, he transforms the historical situations and the reality of Indian life into a metaphor that shows how the individual reacts to widespread corruption when entangled in its grasp, as in Such a Long Journey, and how people respond to the endless forms of tyranny that government and society inflict, as in A Fine Balance. ...