Gooseberries

Author

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860 - 1904) was Russian playwright and short-story writer is
recognized as a master of the modern short story and a leading playwright of the late 19th and
early 20th centuries [8]. His career as a playwright produced four classics and his best short
stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics [9]. The Seagull and Uncle Vanya,
highlighted the depths of human nature, the hidden meaning of everyday events, and the fine
line between comedy and tragedy. Gooseberries is the second in a set of three short stories
entitled "The Little Trilogy" treating desire forms. Chekhov died of tuberculosis on July 15, 1904,
in Badenweiler, Germany [8].

Summary

Chekhov's "Gooseberries," tell about the two companions, Ivan Ivanovitch, a veterinary
surgeon, and Burkin, a schoolmaster seeking shelter at a friend’s farm on a rainy day. In Aliokhin's
house, Ivanovich agrees to tell a story about his younger brother, Nikolai, who used to be an
unhappy civil servant, who has long desired and dreamed to buy a farmhouse near the water
with a garden, particularly gooseberry-bush. To make the dream comes true, he used to lives
stingily and meagrely and penny-pinching on food, drink, and clothes to save money. Then he
marries an elderly, ugly rich widow without love, and keeping her half-starved while he put her
money on his name. His wife later dies, leaving him with enough money to buy the estate. Ivan
visits his brother on his estate one day and now finds Nikolai a self-satisfied landowner. He feels
the suffering from the peasants so he criticizes his brother's way of life.

Themes

Selfishness

Chekhov discusses selfishness and selflessness through the two Ivanich brothers and
Aliokhin [4]. Aliokhin enjoys the good life with his cozy home and a pretty young chambermaid,
Pelagueya. Nikolai's selfishness is firstly selfish to himself due to saving money to buy an estate
he has abandoned for himself, he is indifferent to his body and his health. Second, the
unforgivable selfishness that he treated his wife is so stingy that it was unacceptable. It is also
because of obsessing over achieving success and riches, he marries "an elderly, ugly widow, not
out of any feeling for her, but because she had money. With her, he still lived stingily, kept her
half-starved, and put the money into the bank in his own name"[5]. He hoards his money and
dreams of buying land with a gooseberry bush for just one day.

After the death of his wife with the fortune left him, he is to "began to look out for an
estate" [4]. Now, he has all that he wanted, and from the joy of victory and satisfaction to the
present life, he seemed to fall asleep in triumph and become arrogant and selfish. From the
middle class, he became a rich man in society, "Your Lordship" of the peasants. He has a lot of
lands with the gooseberry garden and many servants but he does not know how to share with
the poor and miserable people around him. With his wealth, he could save a lot of people from
illness and poverty, but he did not do so. The readers have a feeling that Nikolay only thinks about
himself throughout the plot.

Ivan has a way of thinking that is opposite to Nikolai's, he does not see land ownership as
an important goal. Ivan thinks that a man needs "not a farm, but the whole earth, all Nature,
where. . . he can display all the properties and qualities of the free spirit". To Ivan, a life well-
spent is not one in pursuit of things to own, but of ways to help others [4]. He ends his story by
asking Aliokhin to 'do good' instead of pursuing his own selfish and petty goals. At the end of his
story, Ivan warns his friends that they are comfortable because they don't listen to the unhappy
people who are carrying their burdens in silence. Ivan continues to remind his companions that
trouble will find them someday and asking Aliokhin to ' do good ' rather than pursue his own
selfish and petty goals.

Social injustice

The different classes are causing inequality. The super-rich like Nikolai owns vast land to
grow gooseberries in which the mass of hunger can be accommodated and fed [1]. While the
below class as his peasants are hungry and have no land. Nikolai does not help them by sharing
his food and lending his land or giving a certain amount of his properties away for the poor, but
what he does is just treating all peasant’s aliments with all "kinds of diseases with soda and
castor-oil" and treating them with "half a bucket of vodka" on his birthday a through thanksgiving
service. He seems to be a benevolent landowner, but the hypocrisy of landowners who neglect
the plight of those less fortunate than themselves is evident in it.

"I look at this life and see the arrogance and the idleness of the strong, the ignorance and
bestiality of the weak, the horrible poverty everywhere, overcrowding, drunkenness, hypocrisy,
falsehood " [4]
 Readers recognize the opposition and the enormous difference between the upper and
lower classes in society from matter to consciousness on all sides. One side has it all and enjoys
what he has, while the other doesn't have any assets and is struggling with a harsh life, and social
injustice. Ivan believes that successful people are blind to reality because they believe they are
separated from misfortune. Ivan thus despairs at his happiness as he recognizes that "life will
sooner or later show its claws, and some misfortune will befall him --illness, poverty, loss".

Power and Change.

Nikolai eventually achieves his aim through the process of buying the farm changing
Nikolai. It is difficult to say how Nikolay went from a meek, gentle clerk to an egotistical dictator:
"He was no longer the poor, tired official, but a real landowner and a person of consequence"[4].
However, Chekhov likely suggests that if a man focuses on just one target and devotes all his
energy to that goal, they will not see others [7]. The changes help him be the rich although it is
not a fair way.

Aspiration and Greed

Toward the end of the story, Ivan tells the story of his brother, Nikolai, who is greedy
about his desire to live freely with his aspiration-country life. He also maintains that he wanted
to have land on which to grow his gooseberries more than anything else. Due to living in debt,
"We were just like peasant's children, spent days and nights in the fields and the woods minded
the horses, barked the lime-trees, fished, and so on... " [4]. Nikolai wants to become rich by saving
money to the minimum to buy real estate. Greed was growing in Nikolai, when he doesn't pay
attention to family happiness, he married an ugly, old woman, and most of all, he doesn't love
her for the sole reason that she has a lot of money when the material is the most important goals
in life, the greed dominates himself which makes him go further. The action of starvation his wife
while having lots of money in the bank is a cruel fact "She had been the wife of a postmaster and
was used to good living, but with her second husband she did not even have enough black bread"
causing the pitiful death of a rich hunger.

Control, ego

He is, in essence, self-centered and the purchase of the farm is control his mind and his
action. After he becomes the owner of the farm, he starts to control the peasants in the village.
"Would treat the peasants to half a bucket of vodka, which he thought the right thing to do"[4].
He sees them as below him, and it is obvious to the reader that the ego of Nikolay has grown too
large. Now that there are no points he thinks about others, just for himself that why he believes
himself to be better than others.

Paralysis

At first, Nikolay feels stuck in his work and is looking forward to having enough money to
buy his own farm. On the other hand, by the end of the story, Ivan realizes that "a happy man
only feels so because the unhappy bear their burden in silence". He recognizes everything how
much suffering of the poor but he cannot do anything to help them and change. He feels helpless
with this life, he wants to help but he unable to do because "I am an old man now and am no
good for the struggle. I commenced late. I can only grieve within my soul, and fret and sulk" is to
regret and to blame himself for not doing anything to change "The peace of it oppresses me ".
He expects the change from his imagination: "Every happy man should have someone with a little
hammer at his door to knock and remind him that there are unhappy people", however, "there
is no man with a hammer, and the happy go on living, just a little fluttered with the petty cares
of every day, like an aspen tree in the wind and everything is all right. "[5].

Happiness

In the story, Chekhov displays this theme in more detail with two distinct perceptions
between Ivan and Nicholai. Is happiness a selfish illusion? For Nikolai, happiness is about
achieving your dreams and aspirations almost by any means. He is willing to sacrifice and trade
to achieve his dream. "Was much offended if the peasants did not call him 'Your Lordship.' And,
like a good landowner, he looked after his soul and did good works pompously, never simple.",
by the end of the story, his epiphany is gradually opening, he realizes that happiness still bases
on the suffering of others who are poor and building for the happiness of the rich who is " the
arrogance and the idleness". Nikolai is wealthy, healthy, and happy with all the superficial
indicators of happiness. When Ivan visits, the two sit down and Nicholai exclaims over the
deliciousness of his home-grown gooseberries, which to him symbolize the pinnacle of his
achievement. As Ivan visits, the two sit down and Nicholai exclaims about the deliciousness of his
home-grown gooseberries, symbolizing the height of his success... "How good they are," he
repeats, with tears of joy in his eyes as he gorges himself on the berries.

Symbol "Gooseberries"

In this story, gooseberries symbolize Nikolai's achievement. Although at first, the berries
may seem sweet, the taste becomes bitter and sour later [3]. To Nikolai, the gooseberries
symbolize the dream of pastoral life he has long sought. Also, the gooseberries represent the
fundamental loss of humanity from the struggle and suffering of the common man undergo. It
demonstrates how much difficulty he was facing to gain the winning, to achieve his dream
consisting of the wealth and the power. Ivan wishes nothing more than to remind men who are
content that there are unhappy people. The gooseberries that Nikolai plants are said to be "sour
and unripe."[6]. He admits that he was guilty of ignoring those who are sad, and his story aims to
try and tell others (like Alehin) not to forget about unhappy people and help them if you can [7].
Ivan may also mean being happy without sharing and helping is selfish.

Works Cited

[2] “Gooseberries Essay - Gooseberries, Anton Chekhov - ENotes.com.” Enotes.com.

https://www.enotes.com/topics/gooseberries/critical-essays/gooseberries- anton-

chekhovt. Accessed in 28 November, 2016.

[1] Chekhov, Anton. “Gooseberries”.

SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Chekhov Stories.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. n.d..

Web. 6 Apr. 2017.

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[4] Colorado.edu. (2019). [online] Available at:

https://www.colorado.edu/globalstudiesrap/sites/default/files/attached-
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[5] Study.com. (2019). [online] Available at: https://study.com/academy/lesson/gooseberries-

by-anton-chekhov-theme-analysis.html' [Accessed 9 Dec. 2019].

[6] Anon, (2019). [online] Available at: https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-do-

gooseberries-chekhovs-gooseberries-198875 [Accessed 9 Dec. 2019].

[7] McManus, D. (2019). Gooseberries by Anton Chekhov. [online] The Sitting Bee. Available at:
http://sittingbee.com/gooseberries-anton-chekhov/ [Accessed 9 Dec. 2019].

[8] Biography. (2019). Anton Chekhov. [online] Available at:

https://www.biography.com/writer/anton-chekhov [Accessed 9 Dec. 2019].
[9] PenguinRandomhouse.com. (2019). Anton Chekhov | Penguin Random House. [online]
Available at: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/4761/anton-chekhov
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