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Jesse Harris
February 25, 2007
Lit. 2110, Sec. 10466

Misery’s Miserable Mood

From beginning to end, Anton Chekhov’s short story “Misery” utilizes elements

of character and setting to create a pervading dark, miserable and lonesome mood. The

dreariness of the setting and the numerous inconsiderate actions toward the main

character and Russian sledge driver Iona Potapov distinctly reflect the story's tragic

mood. Throughout the story, Iona is distressed and unsuccessfully seeks someone to talk

to about his deceased son. Although he ends up talking to a horse in the end, the animal

is a poor substitute for a human being who could actually understand and give feedback,

helping Iona grieve and recover from his loss. While his conflict is partially resolved, the

denouement, like the exposition, portrays a miserable mood.

The characters that Iona encounters in “Misery” demonstrate one of the story’s

essential themes; “Human beings are indifferent to the sufferings of others” (Barnet Burto

Cain 101). “Misery” begins with the question “To Whom Shall I Tell My Grief?”

(Chekhov 94). This question summarizes Iona’s preoccupation and is the basic conflict

of the story which is not resolved until the end. Iona asks himself, “Can he not find

among those thousands someone who will listen to him? But the crowds fitl by heedless

of him and his misery” (97). “His misery is immense, beyond all bounds. If Iona’s heart

were to burst and his misery to flow out, it would flood the whole world” (97). Iona is

very distressed from the death of his son and having no one to talk to about it certainly

does not help. In order to alleviate his grief he continually attempts to talk to people

about his loss. However, everyone he tries to talk to is indifferent to his suffering and the
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story he is trying to tell. After one failed attempt to talk about his situation, Iona becomes

overwhelmed by his anxiety. The story states “Again he is alone and again there is

silence for him…. The misery which has been for a brief space eased comes back again

and tears his heart more cruelly than ever” (97) Iona’s suffering appears to be somewhat

relieved in the denouement when he is able to grieve by talking to a horse. This in turn

helps Iona think about his son with less anxiety since “He cannot think about his son

when he is alone… To talk about him with someone is possible, but to think of him and

picture him is insufferable anguish” (98). Still, talking to the horse is a poor substitute

for talking to his son or another person that would understand and care. This makes the

ending less happy than it is sad, reinforcing the tragic mood once again.

Iona’s own thoughts and actions add to the feeling of lonely sadness that

permeates the whole story. When describing Iona, a sense of stagnation and poverty adds

to the mood when the third-person narrator says, “It is a long time since Iona and his nag

have budged. They came out of the yard before dinner-time and not a single fare yet”

(94). The nature of Iona’s job also portrays his miserable condition, since he must put up

with doing the same task repetitively, brave the cold, and serve customers that are rude

and bossy to him. For example, one of his passengers, an officer, exclaims “You don’t

know how to drive!” (95), while commanding him to keep to the right. When trying to

talk to a hunchback, Iona says “This week…er…my…er…son died!” (96). The

hunchback responds “We shall all die…come, drive on! Drive on! My friends, I simply

cannot stand crawling like this! When will he get us there?” (96). Again, this

demonstrates the passenger’s indifference, rudeness, and aggravation toward Iona who

just wants someone to talk to about his grief. Even strangers who Iona passes while
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driving his sledge are mean to him. For example, “A coachman driving a carriage swears

at him; a pedestrian crossing the road and brushing the horse’s nose with his shoulder

looks at him angrily” (95). Another pedestrian angrily asks “Where are you shoving, you

devil?” (95), and Iona is commanded to “Keep to the right” (95).

The cold and dreary setting also does much to create an atmosphere of misery as

well. When first introduced Iona is described as “All white like a ghost” (94). The

description reminds us of death. He appears this way since he is covered in snow which

is also symbolic of death. Snow falls during the winter, the season when plants and other

organisms die, and snow is found in inhospitable landscapes where life does not thrive.

Over and over, the sad and lonely themes of “Misery” are reflected in the

indifferent and angry characters, sad conflict and cold dreary setting. Symbols of death,

stagnation and suffering contribute to these themes greatly reinforcing the mood of the

story. To some extent this mood of suffering is resolved in the end, but only a little.
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Work Cited

Chekhov, Anton. “Misery.” A Little Literature. Ed. Sylvan Barnet, William

Burto, and William E. Cain. New York: Longman, 2007. 94-101
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Literary Elements

A Performance of Words
Allegory
Anecdote
Antecedent Noun
Anthropomorphic
Auditor
Characters
Clarity
Climax
Complication
Conflict
Connotation
Critical Thinking
Delineate
Denotation
Diction
Dramatic Irony
Dramatic Monologue
Editing
Editorial Omniscience
En Medias Res
Epic
Episodic
Euphemism
Evidence
Explication
Exposition
Fable
First-person Point of View
Flat Characters
Fly-on-the-Wall Narrator
Foreshadowing
Genre
Hubris
Informative Verbs
Innocent Eye
Interpretation
Moral
Motif
Motivation
Neutral Omniscience
Non-participant
Objective Point of View
Omniscience
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Organization
Parable
Participant
Perfect Template
Persuasive Argument
Plot
Point of Evidence
Polish
Resolution
Round Characters
Setting
Stream of Consciousness
Symbolism
Syntax
Theme
Thesis
Third-person Point of View
Unreliable Narrators
Unity
Vanity
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