The Theme of “Misery” _Karina _Soboleva EASL 057 Academic Reading Skills _Karen _Densky December 2, 2008 In “Misery”, Chekhov pictures Iona Potapov as the round and dynamic character, the multi-dimensional character, who changes by the end of the story. Chekhov begins “Misery” by Iona Potapov is thinking “To Whom Shell I Tell My Grief?” (250) The main character lost his son a couple days ago. The first sentence lets readers understand that he needs somebody who can listen to his grief because to hold all misery inside is hardly possible. He tries to find a listener because he is alone on the damp earth, and he has nobody who can listen to him. When three men asked him, “Cabman, are you married?”(253). Sledgedriver answers, “I? ... The grave that [wife] is!” (253) The situational irony completes the picture of the theme of “Misery”, showing an incongruity between what was expected and what actually happened. Iona Potapov “wants to talk of it [misery] properly, with deliberation” (254). With first fare, an officer, he has a small conversation about his grief, but after a couple words the officer “keeps his eyes shut and is apparently disinclined to listen” (252). The lack of compassion goes farther and fare worse. The three men even do not show any interest. The author shows how people do not care for another’s grief and how they are heartless, selfish and callous. “To Whom Shell I Tell My Grief?” (250). “His listener ought to sigh and exclaim and lament...” (254). But whom did he find eventually? Whom did he tell everything? Iona disembogues his nag. His mare lets him flow out his misery. Chekhov compares the animal to folks; pointing that the mare, unlike people, feels his grief, and helps him to carry it away. “The little mare munches, listens, and breathes on her master’s hand” (255). No one human sympathized with his misery, but the animal did. References Thomson – Nelson, 2005. 120-123