In the Ravine
I was reminded of Thornton Wilder's Our Town -- when I first began to read the story -- here was a small village where nothing much happened -- but under the eye of Chekhov we begin to see that like any other place it's full of stories -- birth -- death -- weddings -- good and evil. But soon one realizes this isn't Grover's Corners in New Hampshire but Ukleevo in Russia.
And while the evil in Ukleevo -- might occur in any village -- Chekhov creates a very deliberate moral universe.
Little by little he places the characters in front of us -- the old man who runs his business without any mercy -- the incompetent deaf son -- the daughter-in-law who appears to be a natural merchant just like the old man -- the cherished detective son who is never home -- the charitable wife -- and the poor beautiful bride.
And just when we get comfortable in our little village -- we start to see things unravel.
The detective son is involved in counterfeiting and is sent off to Siberia -- and that's just the beginning of the fraud.
Let me just say that when the baby is burned to death -- that was shocking -- but even more shocking was that the culprit -- not only goes unpunished but gains power from her actions.
But that really shouldn't be shocking -- when we see the world for what it is -- people who are agressive -- violent -- have no compassion -- no conscience -- have acquired a lot of power and still do.
I guess -- it's the expectations -- when Aksinya -- the sinner -- kills the baby -- one expects that she is going to pay for it -- that she will go to jail -- that she will forever be seen as a baby killer -- not that she will become more powerful -- more respected -- more wealthy.
When Lipa gets blamed for the baby's death -- one feels the injustice of the situation -- it gets one mad -- but then again you realize that's the way things work -- as Leo Durocher once said: " Nice guys finish last."
Or do they?
At the end of the story it is Lipa who is singing and provides food for the old man. Evil may have the material possessions and much of the power in the world but it is only the good that can achieve riches of the spirit.
And isn't that what really counts?
Isn't it?
Yes it is.
ReplyDeleteThis story is very dense, like a piece of holiday fruitcake. I found the opening remarks about the gluttonous church official setting a tone for me; the helplessness of greed:
ReplyDelete“the old verger spotted black caviar among the hors d’oeuvres and greedily began to eat it; they pushed him, pulled him by the sleeve, but he was as if frozen with pleasure; he felt nothing and simply ate. He ate all the caviar, and there were about four pounds of it in the jar.”
The town itself is equally poisoned by the same impulses; water contaminated by the factories, the cattle sickened with anthrax. The residents don’t fare much better.
But, there are many angles to this story:
1. Tsybukin reminds me King Lear; his slow mental decline, his ill placed attraction/admiration for his daughter (in law), Aksinia, his inability to appreciate his more virtuous daughter (in law) , Lipa, and the destruction of his “kingdom.”
2. With The Student, I experienced a sense of neutrality from Chekhov in terms of the central characters. In The Student, there is a vague sense that the characters are good (or at least not bad) and this allowed for more interpretation, more of an opportunity to fill in the blanks, more room for speculation. In The Ravine reads, in part, like a Tolstoyan moral tale; anti capitalist with a clear tilt towards the peasants and away from the blood sucking merchants. A liking for the simple “doers” in society, like the old carpenter, Crutch.
3. Most of the characters have some redeeming features (this now seems like Chekhov’s overall intent). Aksinya’s beauty, her naive smile; Varvara’s rudimentary compassion; Tsybukin’s lighter moments (dancing at the wedding). But these features do not override the direction Chekhov wants the narrative take. For all of Aksinya’s animal charm (which, for me, reached its apex when she bedded down for the night in the threshold of the barn), it’s impossible to look at her objectively after she murders Lipa’s infant. The idea that Varvara is capable of compassion but does not approach Lipa from a place of love and kindness after Nikifor’s death only makes Varvara more reprehensible.
4. The ending, in which Lipa experiences an element of joy when immersed in simple labor reminds me of Tolstoy; being happy despite poor external conditions. The best is her choice to extend compassion to the rapidly declining Tsybukin. Perhaps the entire story is one of choice; pushing past primitive impulses (the gluttonous church official again comes to mind) and looking past the “each of us to our own place” mentality.
Between Chekhov and Tolstoy -- is there anything left unsaid by them? And if you include Dostoevsky -- the greatness of Russian literature is truly a marvel!
DeleteThanks again for your post.