UPROOTED

Uprooted

What did I get from this story? People are searching for meaning. For a place to belong. That some are willing to give up everything for a chance to expand their horizons.

Alexandr Ivanitch is a good character study. A converted Jew -- he seems to have gone through quite a journey. He has left all he knew for a chance to live a different life than his parents planned for him.

But it has come at a cost. He is fragile. His conscience is troubling him. Or is he just tired of being on the road alone not knowing where he is going to find his next meal? And there appears to be many in Russia at the time -- homeless -- hobos if you want to call them that -- searching for food -- for a job -- for a place. 

And many are drawn to monasteries where the Church provides some relief -- like a soup kitchen -- but there is also the question of finding spiritual solace.

We are left feeling that Alexandr Ivanitch and the countless others out there trying to survive -- while there might be a lot of masses and prayers -- finding their place -- their connection to God is more complicated --  few will get to the place where they're truly at peace with themselves and with their soul.

Alexandr Ivanitch formerly Isaac -- talks a lot of moving from the Old Testament to the New Testament -- but he doesn't sound convincing -- whatever his reasons he is not going to proselytize anyone -- his is a personal journey -- a young man wanting more than his immediate surrounding can afford him -- and as we have seen in many other Chekhov stories -- the quest for identity -- for meaning -- is something that bounds the young and old from many places and many backgrounds.

And it goes on -- when a young man or woman leave their family and small town and head out to the big city -- they may give you a reason or two for their action -- but the yearning that propels will always have its mystery and may take a lifetime to finally get an answer.

If ever.

After all, once uprooted -- you are at the mercy of the wind.