The Lottery Ticket by: Anton Chekov
In his beautiful story "The Lottery Ticket," Anton Chekov breaks down a really complex part of emotional life. Chekov shows us through a real life setting that joy and happiness are not dependent on how much or what one has in life, but how they perceive it. Through the theme of the story the author brings out loud and clear, that ironically, the riches the protagonist dreams of actually mess up his entire life.
In the beginning Ivan Dimitrich is a very satisfied person. Although he is not from the upper class he has a happy life along with his wife and children. His "income of twelve hundred a year" is all they really need. Later on, as Ivan starts dreaming that the family unexpectedly becomes 75,000 richer his views, thoughts, and feelings change. Ivan suddenly becomes a greedy egocentric man. Realizing that it is not truly 'his' win to be spent the way he wants, Ivan would rather not win at all.
The irony in the story is outrageous; the fortune that could make life so much more pleasant and happy tears their life apart. Both Ivan and Marsha swell up with anger and hatred as they only dream of their imaginary winnings. “They are such reptiles" Ivan now feels of his relatives. Only later, when their hopes disappear and reality sets back in do their feelings return to normal. Along with the wealth, the hatred vanishes.
We find in this story two very important perspectives on happiness and luck.
First of all, happiness is not always reached via what we wish for ourselves. Ivan’s simple life holds much more satisfaction than the rich one he luckily never got. Secondly, what we think we want can actually harm us greatly. Happiness is definitely up to us to choose no matter how much we have. If life gives you lemons you ought to make lemonade.