The Goal: Read. Reflect. Respond. Over two hundred Chekhov stories. Constance Garnett translations.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
THE HEAD-GARDENER'S STORY
Crime.
Faith.
Idealism.
The point of the story makes total sense. If we had total faith in the goodness of people then our world would be a better world. Most people would probably be uplifted by this spirit and would conform to doing good rather than evil.
I'm a believer than many people act out of expectation. If people are treated poorly and are expected to be criminal and violent -- they most likely won't disappoint and behave criminally and violent. The opposite is also true -- if the expectation is that they will behave properly and productively -- they probably will.
Society is actually fashioned in many ways based on these expectations. What's the last time there was a riot at an opera? But look at soccer(football) and hooliganism is a common place occurrence. It's not that the people at an opera are less violent than people at soccer matches but the expectation society has placed on these events are different.
While I admire the sentiment in the story, I'm well aware that society can't implement a system of justice that doesn't punish anyone. One bad apple and people would want revenge or justice and all good feelings would fly out the window. But living with a benevolent attitude towards each other makes an ideal fantasy. Like Communism.
Communism is where we all live equally and share everything. There are no upper classes or lower classes. But trying to implement this ideal to practice leads to countless problems. Some don't want to be equal but superior. What happens to the lazy person -- is he entitled to the same benefits as the hard-working person?
Idealism always sounds good in theory.
Therefore, the spirit of the story -- that we should all try to love each other and respect each other and try to have faith in our goodness -- sounds in our cynical age as being naive and foolish and frankly . . . refreshing.
Peace!
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Ideally, idealism sounds ideal!
ReplyDeleteYour opera/football analogy is way off the mark. I would say the demographic that attends a football match is scientifically more inclined to be violent then that which would typically attend an opera.
Your point would be more well made by contrasting rugby crowds with football crowds, and even that's a stretch due to historical class differentiation between those that compete.
Nice blog tho!
Remember Chekhov is studying human beings. He's putting the head-gardener under his microscope.
ReplyDeleteDidn't Mihail strike you as rather harsh? He doesn't like to be contradicted. What he says is the final word. At the end, he leaves before anyone can discuss his story.
Everyone mistakes him for being German.
He reminds me of religious zealots who believe they alone possess the truth and no amount of argument can ever convince them otherwise. His story, told to him by his grandma, reflects this. Despite overwhelming evidence that the vagrant killed the doctor, the jury stamps their feet down and refuses to believe it. Facts don't matter, just blind faith.
Curiously, Mihail is regarded as an intelligent man who discusses Ibsen and reads in several languages. He seems cultured. He's also regarded as good-hearted. But, I find something dangerously arrogant about him. How could a man be so stupid and so smart at the same time? This contradiction is what makes Mihail a human being.