The Lady with the Dog

In Chekov’s “The Lady with the Dog” when first reading it, it seems fairly straight forward with a man who can’t seem to be faithful in his marriage. The main character is Demetri is a player, he explains how he is not happy in his marriage and with his family so he goes outside his marriage to get pleasure. He is not a romanic man and does not view women in a positive light. Demetri views women as the inferior race yet in a strike of irony cannot live without them. When he is talking to Anna you can start to see a change in Demetri he went from seeming like he doesn’t care about anything but himself to seeming to actually having feelings for her. Anna starts to penetrate into Demetris thoughts all day every day, he just can’t seem to get her off his mind. He eventually decides to go find her, and when he finds her she is at the theater with her husband. it is made clear at the end of the story that they don’t just live happily ever after, but that they have a lot of work to do. With that I feel like it is just adding to the overall sense of unhappiness that consumes the story. I also feel as though the love that they had for each other really wasn’t love, but just the feeling of adventure that they both felt by going outside of their “confort zone” of marriage.

The Nose

I could say a lot about this story, most of which would be questioning why on earth someone would write a story about something so silly. It’s not like it was intended to be read by children or a younger crowd by any means, but for something so revered it is also quite trivial. Upon the first reading, I didn’t get it, not even a little bit. But when I read the story again, I realized that maybe if I can fit the pieces together and make some major metaphorical stretches then maybe, just

maybe I can find depth in this silly little story.

Toward the beginning, Major Kovaloff tells the barber that his hands always smell, he treats him disrespectfully and also treats him as an inferior. I believe that the interaction where he says his hands smell has something to do with why the Major loses his nose. For example, a theory could be that Major treated the barber so poorly that he had to lose a lesson through losing his nose. His nose becomes something intimidating to talk to, like he feels like he is inferior to the nose, which is irrational of course. I think this whole experience and story is a critique of classism in the society. People treat each other disrespectfully just because they don’t know them and don’t know the story behind them. The Major treated the barber poorly for no apparent reason, and he was also afraid to talk to the superior nose for no reason.

-Tayler Richter

God sees the truth, but waits.

This story was touching because Aksionov was blamed for murder that he did not commit and he was rotten in jail for a wrong accusation and it pretty much ruined his life. The wife’s dream was some sort of a warning in a way that he should not start that day because she saw him coming back home in white hair which was a warning to Aksionov to not go away that day. But he thought that was good luck for some odd reason and went anyway. He was blamed for murder that he didn’t commit because they had evidence of a bloody knife so even his wife doubted him . He was sentenced years in jail. He was respected in jail, because I think people knew he was truly a good man despite being there. When he met Makar, he knew he was the real murderer because of his unusual reaction and saying that he did something bad years ago and yet was thrown to jail now for something stupid. Makar wanted to confess after seeing how nice Aksionov was. Aksionov did not, however, have anywhere to go anymore since his wife was probably dead and his children did not know him. When Makar confessed, Aksionov was already dead and this was very tragic and ironic. The truth came out, even though it was after a long time. Makar did the right thing in the end. Aksionov lived an injustified but faithful life and prayed everyday, which paid off in the end despite him not being able to get out of jail (nor having anywhere to go) after Makar confesses. When someone has a bad dream, that might just be a warning so watch out. & also, just like in the title, God sees the truth and if you are innocent , the truth will most likely come out in the end.

The Dog is Dmitri

Dmitri Gurov is quite the dog. In fact, upon my first reading of Chekhov’s “The Lady With the Dog”, I thought that the title was a pun about the main character’s ethics. I would have to do some further research to figure out whether or not the word for dog in Russian at the time of its writing carried the same connotation that it does today in America. In any case, I thought it was an appropriate title. Whether the title turns out to be a pun or not, it is definitely reflective of the sort of impersonal way that Dmitri Gurov views women. He sees himself as superior to them, and even refers to them as “the lower race”. So, it makes sense that the actual name of the lady with the dog is not mentioned in the title. But I do think that ultimately, Dmitri Gurov changes throughout this story so that maybe the title does not reflect the man who exists at the end of the narrative. Anna excites Dmitri in an unusual way compared to most of his extramarital romances. He finds himself constantly musing about her when he is back in Moscow which is very unusual for him. She entranced him so much that he ends up going back to Yalta to meet her again. This is a bold and romantic gesture that he would never show his own wife now. Maybe this does not reflect on the way that he views women as a whole, but I believe that he holds respect for at least this one woman. That respect could very well end up carrying over to be a more broad view of the opposite sex in their ambiguous future.

The Lady with the Dog

In Anton Chekhov’s “The lady with the dog” we get a view into two unfaithful lovers during their vacation. The main character, Dmitri, is pretty much a player. He kind of reminds me of a Russian Ryan Gosling type guy, except with none of the romantic aspect. He does not like his wife, in fact he believes women are of a lower race than men. Yet he knows that without women he would not enjoy life as much. When Anna, the lady with the dog, comes by he tries his game with her, but succumbs to falling in “love” with her. We get this sense of love, which of course is fake, but for a few minutes we believe that maybe Dmitri has actually found love. Then we also get this sense that perhaps Anna still respects her relationship, where as we know Dmitri does not. Dmitri is a man who will never be satisfied with any one person, he doesn’t love, where as Anna who believes she is going to have this fantastic new relationship when she really isn’t. They illustrate how society views relationships, and how lust can overcome our rational thoughts. The two would not have endured such lust for one another if there was no one to catch them. The love they experienced was false, and they both realized that, leaving each other to go on their own ways.

-Kyle Blessing

God Sees the Truth, But Waits.

One of the better more interesting stories we have read is “God Sees the Truth, But Waits” by Leo Tolstoy. Not everyone will agree with me but the story gets to the point with out any unnecessary fluff you could say. It reminds me of the movie the Shawshank Redemption in many ways. In this story Ivan is a carefree merchant who decides not to listen to his wife who has a dream about him. Call me crazy but that is bad omens especially back when the story was written. Anyways he goes to the fair, which he was warned not to go to. Things do not go bad right away but sure enough the next day he is raided by soldiers and imprisoned for the murder of some random dude he shared a room at an inn with. Of course the soldiers found the bloody knife on him not a shocker there but it makes the story possible. So while is prison he is referred to as “The Saint” because he is unlike the other inmates and they come to him with their problems and life issues. While this sounds better than getting beat up his life is rough because he is in prison for no reason at all. Then 26 years later a man becomes an inmate and it so happens to be the man who actually committed the murder of the guy at the inn. Ivan has many chances to turn the guy in but doesn’t because the damage has done and towards the end the guy ask Ivan for forgiveness and he says that forgiveness is for God to give not me sir. At the end of the story Ivan dies in the prison that he did not deserve to be in at all. The ending was not that good because he did not get out but still a great story.

Vincent Ibarrola

God sees the truth, but waits

Leo Tolstoy’s “God sees the truth, but waits” was one of the best stories we have read in this class. Why? cause I could understand and follow along. The story is much shorter and less about the specifics than the others, it’s straight to the point. I also enjoyed the story because I am a religious person and I enjoy stories where the character’s have inspiring morals. Tolstoy illustrates the way man should constitute himself when faced with a situation of the such. The main character, Ivan, who is framed for a crime he did not even commit, shows that the greatest weapon we have as humans is forgiveness. Ivan destroys his enemy without even turning him in. Ivan seeks God’s forgiveness after all is loss, which give him the power to continue on. This story could be about religion in the sense that Tolstoy is trying to say that God’s punishments will come in time. He wants to test you and see what you will do when in the face of your enemy and with the means to destroy them. Although it seems like Ivan has just given up hope he actually decides that he must be a worse sinner than Makar, and that if he dies in jail his sins would be cleansed. Regardless the story illustrates a corrupted justice system and a man who’s morals are bigger than life.

-Kyle Blessing

The lady with the dog

In Anton Chekhov’s “The Lady with the Dog” we meet very detailed characters through out. This is a style seen by Chekhov in his many works. The main character goes by the name of Dimitri and is what we would call a player or half a man. He is married to a woman and has three kids. He thought of his wife as an unintelligent woman and did not respect her in ways. One way was that he has had multiple affairs with other women. This at the beginning means nothing to him well, when he sees the lady with the dog. He watches her as she walks and then pursues her in the public garden. Although he thinks of women as the lower race compared to men he is in a “I can’t live with them and can’t live without them situation.” And that is clear through out this story. As time goes on he becomes very committed to Anna Sergeyevna. This story interested me because of the ending for the most part. As the story comes to an end we the readers do not really know what is going to happen to Dmitri and Anna and their relationship. The story was good in my opinion because of all the craziness with both people being married and meeting in secrecy like they were hiding it from their parents in middle school or something like that. Overall the its makes for a good romantic and scandalous story.

Vincent Ibarrola

The Lady With The Dog

I found this story a lot less interesting then the other ones we have had so far.  Dominic’s character is by no means a gentlemen and loves the feeling of power.  However I did enjoy Chekov’s writing style.  He ties in his themes throughout the story very well especially the idea of elusiveness.  In my opinion the main character did not change at all throughout the story.  I think he may have cared for Anna, but it was a different feeling then love.  I think he liked the idea he could go on a vacation and cheat on his wife.  Even in the title they do not identify who the lady is.  If she meant anything the story she would of been worth naming.  This man Dominic is not a man at all in my opinion.  He’s someone living off his emotions and not realizing what he has.  Chekov’s writing was the only thing that kept me intrigued.  He has a very smooth style that keeps you waiting on every word even though I may not like the meaning of what he his saying.  Chekhov’s settings also set up his moods eloquently.  He may not have described it to a tee like Poe but it still plays nicely with the moods of the characters.

God Sees the Truth, But Waits

While reading God Sees the Truth, But Waits by Tolstoy i thought it was very different from the other stories we have read. it got right to the point and the plot was more complex rather than paying attention to every detail there is about the setting and the characters. Although the story’s title was with a divine spirit and through out the story Askionov talks about god I do not think that Tolstoy believes in God. The way the story pans out in the end it was like there was no God helping him at all. If God saw the truth why did he wait so long that Askionov died before he was let out of jail. Askionov even had a chance to escape and stayed honest and a good man and was still i think punished in a way because he died before getting out.

I like the use of foreshadowing in this story as well one could think that it was also a spiritual act. The wife had a dream that Askionov would not return and he did not. This could be seen as god sending a message to Askionov so it was contradictory to the title about seeing the truth but waiting. he did not wait he gave her the dream before the act. I enjoyed this story.