Gooseberries (Anton Chekhov)
Title: <Gooseberries>
Author: Anton Chekhov
Rating: 8.5 / 10
I think Ivan had his own strong belief about happiness. He criticizes Nikolay for only thinking about his own happiness. We can know this when Ivan says, "A higher standard of living, overeating and idleness develop the most insolent self-conceit" while thinking about Nikolay, who became rich. He also says that there should be someone who continually reminds a happy man that there are unhappy people. It shows that Ivan thinks someone should work for the world, not for himself. He thinks being happy alone is a sin.
I partially agree with Ivan. Nikolay spent his whole life only for one goal, and he was too stingy. He even treated his wife very badly because of the money. Moreover, he became very arrogant after becoming a landowner. His selfish happiness can be blamed.
However, I mostly disagree with Ivan because his opinion about happiness is too critical. Working for themselves' happiness is not a bad thing. Everyone has a right to be happy, and nobody should be blamed for working for his or her own happiness. Also, altruism is good, but humans are basically selfish. Nobody will choose to be unhappy on their own just because there are unhappy people. (200 words)
P.S. Please read the comments that I wrote. To not write over 200 words, I wrote more in comments.
I also thought that Ivan might have never been really happy or he might be little bit jealous about Nikolay. After Ivan ends his story about Nikolay, he says to Alyohin that "There is no happiness and there should be none." He says that himself had been contented and happy, but I do not think someone who really experienced happiness could say like this.
답글삭제Anyway, I rated 8.5/10 because it was a really great book that made me think about my own meaning of happiness. My 'happiness' is not like Nikolay's nor Ivan's. Reaching a goal like Nikolay can be a really great deal of happiness, but after achieving that goal, we might feel aimlessness. So, I think real happiness is not a big deal. It is right near us. Any tiny glad things in daily life can be happiness.
답글삭제The point is NOT to write over 200 words regardless of where they end up, so resist this urge to be verbose and save your energy and writing for other stories. We are definitely done with Chekhov so get to Joyce. Do not spend too much time on each one and the goal is to write less, not more, and to avoid summary. I agree with your analysis though, and Chekhov doesn't want us to fully accept Ivan's version of "happiness". There is a lot of room to disagree with him if we look for it.
답글삭제