Chekhov's Real Intentions in "The Student"

On a chill, lonely evening when winter has begun to show signs of its arrival, Ivan Velikopolsky, a 22-year old student of the clerical academy, walks in the brooding meadow and meets two widows to experience a sudden yet huge moment of revelation on the grandeur of life. Despite the blunt exclamation of joy and optimistic realization on the surface, however, Chekhov ultimately seems to convey a sense of cynicism in his work, “The Student,” through the implied callowness of Ivan and the use of literary techniques. His pessimistic view towards Ivan, and by extension, life in general, also echoes his own personal situations in which he had been around the time he wrote this short story.

One thing readers should keep in mind when reading and analyzing Chekhov’s famed short story is Ivan’s callowness regarding life and theological studies. The title itself, “The Student,” implies that Ivan is an inexperienced learner, not at all a sage of wisdom. The abrupt and somewhat needless mentioning of his age at the moment of revelation actually serves its purpose of adding on to Chekhov’s hints of Ivan’s inexperience. Perhaps Ivan’s puerile words and condescending attitudes – how he looks down on the two widows (who have had more life experiences) and makes extremely abrupt connections to arbitrary objects or situations to those mentioned in the Biblical story of Peter and Jesus – are due to his lack of experience. Learned clerics wouldn’t make such irrelevant relations to Apostle Peter based on mere instance of standing in front of a camp fire and mutter out, “At just such a fire the Apostle Peter warmed himself.” Later on, Ivan takes it too far again by calling the diachronic links as “unbroken chain of events” after witnessing emotional responses of widows. Once readers become aware of Ivan’s callowness, it is hard for them to truly empathize with his “transcendent” realization, as Ivan is stigmatized as an unreliable character.

Chekhov utilizes not only untrustworthy characterization, but also literary devices to create an ending infused with cynicism. The narration develops as the student proceeds along with the “cold, penetrating wind…from the east,” heading to the “west where the cold crimson sunset lay a narrow streak of light.” This directional symbolism regarding the east and west is a universally-shared common ground with respect to the sun’s movement. Since the student is heading toward the west – the direction where the sun goes down – he seems to be proceeding toward the downhill of life, not at all in line with the overly explicit exaltation at the ending. Also, the blended juxtaposition of the Biblical allusion and Ivan’s encountering with the two widows creates a verisimilitude between Ivan and Jesus, and Apostle Peter and Vasilisa, especially because of the imagery of weeping and sobbing bitterly is held in common. The extended Biblical resemblance surrounds Ivan with his own absurd fantasies, leaving him with nothing more than pity and dim-wittedness, rather than elated expectation for the upcoming future.

The cynicism readers feel towards Ivan and in more broad terms, life in general, reflects Chekhov’s personal life. Born into a devout Russian Orthodox household, Chekhov led a generally miserable childhood and was often economically pressured. Even when he started to gain recognition from literary critiques, earning him a Pushkin Prize, he had to go through some of the toughest times in his life – his brother’s sudden death and his deteriorating health. Around the time Chekhov wrote “The Student,” he had been traveling to the penal colony in Sakhalin Island in search for a true purpose in his life. When Chekhov’s interest in prison reform and his interviews with thousands of convicts in the penal colony are taken into consideration along with his misfortunes, it is natural to conclude that he turned away from optimism.

On the superficial level, “The Student” may be seem to be dealing with a heavenly revelation on the meaningfulness of life, possibly owing to the excessive usage of inflated diction. However, when the text is scrupulously analyzed and Chekhov’s personal background is taken into account, readers can no longer bear to stand in his shoes, and they can truly grasp the originally intended cynicism toward both Ivan and life itself.