To Whom Shall I Tell My Sorrow

To Whom Shall I Tell My Sorrow

Title: To whom shall I Tell my Sorrow
Author: Anton Chekhov
Author’s Background: Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short fiction in history.

Vocabulary:

mare – an adult female horse or equine.

nag – old horse.

galosh – a waterproof overshoe. Typically made of rubber.

epithet – an adjective or phrase expressing a quality or attribute regarded as characteristic of the person or thing mentioned.


Characters:

Iona Potapov – The driver, takes several fares and each time
tries to share his grief with his passengers.
Iona’s Horse – Iona potav's horse
An officer –  The officer that  is in a hurry.
The three young men –  They have their own problems. They are loud and abusive toward Iona. They are numbed by alcohol. One of the men is a sick hunchback. He is especially miserable. The hunchback reacts to Iona’s story by saying that We all shall die.

Setting: A winter night in Russia

Exposition: The character has lost his son; to an untimely death and he is having a difficult time coping with his lost. He is an elderly, nineteenth century cab driver and his wish is to find someone he can share his terrible grief with, by only sharing his sons’ life.


Rising Action: An officer who has a harsh manner softens a little when he hears of the man’s son. He yells at the man’s incompetent driving. After a brief inquiry as to how the son died, the matter is dropped, and the officer returns to wanting Iona to hurry.

Climax: Three young men, one of whom is hunchbacked, get in the sleigh. The crippled one is the harshest toward Iona. They curse and shove each other for room in the small sleigh. The more that the men curse, yell, and call him names, the lonelier that Iona feels. He finally tells them that his son has died this week. The hunchback reacts by saying that everyone has to die.

Falling Action: He goes to check on his white mare. She is eating the hay. Iona talks to the little horse which seems to listen to him.

Ending: He begins to tell the horse about his son. This does give him some relief. Iona tries to relate to the horse that if she had a little colt and it died, the mare would be sad just as the old man. As he talks to her, the  little horse looks at him, munches her hay, and breathes on the old man’s hands. Iona can share his grief with someone who will listen to him.

Symbolism: The symbolism is the title of the story it symbolizes the feelings of the protagonist Iona Potapov, a Russian driver, who is suffering from intense grief.
Theme: The theme of the story is grief encircles the protagonist Iona. He is isolated from the rest of humanity because he has no one with whom to share his pain.
Lesson: Learn to listen to others in the story The people that he tries to talk with about his loss do not care and brush his misery aside. The harshness of human nature