Reading Journal 1 : The Student

Yoo Sun Sung / 111064 / 12v3

Mr. Garrioch

World Literature

Feburary 19 2013

 

Reading Journal: The Student

 

           The name of Anton Chekhov was familiar, probably hearing from other literature teachers here and there, but it was the first time actually reading one of his stories. Honestly at first when students popcorn-read the story in class, I did not understand what was taking place. The sudden lengthy allusion of the Bible was probably the reason, but after reading "The Student" several times -as with other stories- I understood the plot, not completely but better than the first time.  I believe that Anton Chekhov purposefully inserted the short well-known excerpt about Jesus and his Last supper, but first I want to focus more on whether the story is based on Realism or not.

           What is Realism? Again, the term itself is familiar. To grasp a better understanding of the story, I looked up the exact definition of the term realism: attempt to depict subjects as they are considered to exist in third person objective reality, without embellishment or interpretation and "in accordance with secular, empirical rules." In the class, some students provided their opinions about how they thought "The Student" was not an example of Realism (maybe they do now), because the student Ivan Velikopolsky's reactions to the woman were maybe too extreme. However, I thought that "The Student" was quite matching with the definition that I looked up. The story does take place in the third person omniscient, focusing on the dialogue between Ivan and the two widows. Other than that, the two factors of setting and the characters' behaviors were also made the story more realistic.

           From the start of the story, Anton Chekhov presents the specific details of the setting, which seemed realistic enough.

 

At the first the weather was fine and still. The thrushes were calling, and in the swamps close by something alive droned pitifully with a sound like blowing into an empty bottle. A snipe flew by, and the shot aimed at it rang out with a gay, resounding note in the spring air. But when it began to get dark in the forest a cold, penetrating wind blew inappropriately from the east, and everything sank into silence. Needless of ice stretched across the pools, and it felt cheerless, remote, and lonely in the forest. There was a whiff of winter.

 

           Personally, I do not think that in order to be realistic, the author has to be stiff with simple unembellished sentences. The similes and the adjectives used in the above paragraph seem to convey the atmosphere of the forest and the swamp appropriately. The elaborate details were not to romanticize the swamp, but to portray the likely thoughts racing through one's mind when passing the forest swamp in early spring. This mind can be seen clearly when the story first narrates the liveliness in the day and sudden emptiness in the night, when most diurnal creatures become inactive. The details of the setting continue throughout the story following the path of Ivan.

           The second aspect of human psychology I was able to see in somewhat awkwardly looking progress of conversation between Ivan and the two widows. Ivan is depicted as a son of a sacristan and a "student" of the clerical academy. For a person related deeply into religions, it is not awkward or unnatural for them to fervently talk about religion and the Bible. People become more passionate about subjects they are well related to. Maybe the reason why we feel that the conversation is weird is because we have few chance to actually discuss about religion or learn it, especially for the atheists. According to "The Student," both Vasilissa and Ivan are familiar with the story of Peter and Jesus, so their conversation and Vasilissa's emotional reaction to the issue is understandable. The story is more realistic, because Anton Chekhov did not forge the natural.

           I still do not really comprehend to the root of the story, most likely because I am not that familiar with the Christ story. Still, from what I had read and within my scope of comprehension, I believe that Anton Chekhov had succeeded in making a Realism short story.