Misery – Analysis

Plot

The way Chekhov builds this story shows his mastery of the short story form. In the opening lines, he uses a description of the setting to create an atmosphere of grayness and depression. He then introduces us to Iona, and we can see that something is very wrong before learning anything about him. His mind is not on the job as he picks up his first passenger. He moves about nervously on his seat; he looks around as though he does not know where he is or why he is there; his driving seems to create chaos on the road. At first Iona finds it difficult to speak, and it is not until we are over 500 words (22% of the way) into the story that Iona utters the fateful words: My son… Er… My son died this week, sir.

The main theme of the story does not become evident until the passenger (the officer) asks gruffly: H’m! What did he die of?. Iona is desperate to share his grief and turns around, no longer watching the road. In short, sharp sentences he begins to pour out his story. But he is quickly cut short. The officer closes his eyes, signaling that he does not want to listen. This experience appears to affect Iona’s mind. When the next passengers (the three young men) start to make fun of Iona, his responses begin to include a rather out of place, mad-sounding laugh.

Next comes a roller-coaster of emotions for the old man. As they start off, one of the men (the hunchback) makes fun of Iona’s cap and swears at him for going too slowly. Shortly after this, Iona becomes aware that there are many people in the streets and we are told that: the feeling of loneliness begins little by little to be less heavy on his heart. This gives Iona the courage to try to tell his story again. This time there is even less sympathy expressed than before. We shall all die! says the hunchback, telling Iona once more to go faster and hitting him on the back of the neck. One of the other men seems to be embarrassed by this and asks politely (but in poor taste since Iona has just said that his son has died) if Iona is married. Iona uses this as an excuse to try to pour out his story once more. But he does not get a chance: they have reached their destination. As Iona watches the men leave we are told that: the misery which has been for a brief space eased comes back again and tears his heart more cruelly than ever. He looks around among the crowds and asks himself: Can he not find among those thousands someone who will listen to him?

One of the powerful things about this story is that almost all adults who read it will have experienced grief at some point in their lives. And any of those who had to face it alone, without the support of family or friends, will know exactly how poor Iona must feel.

Themes: grief; discomfort, indifference (by government, aristocracy & peer group); cruelty; loneliness; the healing power of animals.

Characters

Neither of the two sets of sledge passengers show any concern for Iona as a person or for his grief. The first is a military officer: demanding, aloof, perhaps symbolic of the government of the day. Next comes three young men: well-off party-goers, perhaps symbolic of Russian aristocracy or youth in general. One of the main themes of the story is how many people feel uncomfortable when faced with the problems of others, especially strangers. Another is indifference, the tendency to either overlook or show no interest in the problems of those of a different generation or social status.

An interesting question is why Chekhov chose a passenger with a hunchback as Iona’s main tormentor. The hunchback is cruel to Iona from the moment he steps into the sledge. He shows no respect, kindness or empathy towards the older man. Yet in those days (and sadly, perhaps even today) a man with a hunchback would probably have experienced great feelings of isolation and “being different” himself while growing up. The hunchback introduces two other possible themes. His behavior may be a conditioned (unthinking) response as a result of bitterness towards the world due to past experiences. On the other hand, peer pressure and the desire to “fit in” with his friends may have caused him to act in a way that deep inside he knew was wrong.

It is easy to overlook the importance of the next character in the story: the young man at the yard who wakes up for a drink of water. First, he shows us that Iona’s isolation is not just because of his station in life. The young man is a fellow sledge driver who also shows no interest in listening to Iona’s story. We learn through this that Iona does not appear to have shared news of his son’s death with the men he works with. This raises the question of whether Iona is partly responsible for his own misery by not talking earlier about it with his colleagues… especially since there is a hint that his son may also have been a sledge driver!

Then we come to the last paragraph (the climax of the story) where the faithful horse takes on an almost human-like quality:

The little mare munches, listens, and breathes on her master’s hands. Iona is carried away and tells her all about it.

This is the second time that Chekhov uses the imagery of feeling breath in the story. The first was when the hunchback was breathing down Iona’s neck as he settled into the sled. This suggested an uncomfortable closeness and perhaps even threat. The sensation of the horse breathing on Iona’s hands suggests an intimacy between the two. And it is this intimacy which finally enables Iona to open up and share his grief with a most unlikely friend.

This introduces another theme to the story, and one which probably wasn’t in Chekhov’s mind as he was writing. Misery was first published in 1886. From the early 1860s, trials in British mental hospitals (including the infamous ‘Bedlam’) had shown that introducing small domestic animals to wards improved patient socialization and morale. However, it wasn’t until a hundred years later that the role of animals in patient healing was formally documented and Animal Therapy was recognized as a valuable tool in mainstream medical treatment.