Fat and Thin
The story is very short but there's a lot to chew on. (He-he-he!)
The fat and thin man know each other from their school days.
They meet accidentally. Not having seen each other since they were boys, they begin trying to catch up.
The thin man loves to talk -- mostly about himself. He tells the fat man all about his family and work. And then the bomb drops. The thin man is a head clerk in the civil service but the fat man is now a privy councilor, a high official.
The news is too much to digest for the thin man. All he can do is compliment the fat man and as the young generation today would say "gas him up".
The thin man now feels like a failure. He is comparing his accomplishments with the fat man and there's not much meat on the bone. What we get with the thin man is a lot of superficiality. He is not very deep. His whole life it seems is mainly show and the inner happiness and satisfaction is not well-developed. His body is thin and so is his soul.
The fat man is proud to be a privy councilor but he doesn't stand on his rank. He prefers for his old friend to treat him as an equal. You get the sense that he is a decent man and well-rounded. In fact, the fat man never brags about his accomplishments and only tells the thin man he is a privy councilor when asked.
The fat man is more content. He has achieved more in the civil service. Maybe his personality helped him move forward or possibly his success has given him comfort. Either way, he is now in the position of being charitable to those less fortunate.
The thin man might've wanted to get ahead too much and like a lover who is overeager turned people off with his runaway desire. Not attaining his goals has left him bitter and jealous of those who have.
The fat man could've helped the thin man if the thin man was honest. All that obsequiousness was too heavy a load for the fat man to deal with -- so instead he walks away leaving the thin man with the stress of failure for the rest of his life.
Meanwhile, the thin man undervalues his greatest possession, his ace in the hole, which is right in front of him and something which the fat man may be missing.
A family.
The fat man wins by default.
thank you.it is really a great help.thumbs up!
ReplyDeleteNice explanation of the story. Good interpretation. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteTHNX FOR EXPLAINING...IT WAS MY EXAM AND I UNDERSTOOD WELL...
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ReplyDeleteThanks for the translation. I have two questions. Why does Chekhov say the thin man, his wife and son were all three "agreeably astounded", when they had walked away humiliated? And what is the thin man's secret advantage (ace in the hole) which the fat man may be missing?
ReplyDeleteThey walk away agreeably astounded because they don't have the self-awareness to understand their own humiliation -- they work on appearances and the inner self is not developed enough to fully see what is taking place. Why is that? Because they take their cue from the thin man who wants to get ahead by sucking up and has no convictions of his own except trying to move up.
DeleteThe ace in the hole is that the thin man has a family in his corner -- if instead of trying to get ahead he would appreciate the time he spends with his wife and son -- then he could build up the character to actually get ahead and gain the respect he so desperately craves.
Interesting discussion. Chekhov seems to be commenting on the corrupting
Deleteeffect of rigid social divisions on the successful as well as on the unsuccessful. It is the fat man who introduces the topic of civil service grades when he asks what grade the thin man has reached. He goes out of his way to say he is a privy councillor and has two stars. This sounds like boasting, which isn't very tactful, especially when he is talking to an old friend who has just told him his (lower) grade. His attempt to put the thin man at his ease is short lived and he turns away very quickly. I wonder if he is jealous of the fact that the thin man has a wife and son.
Well, the effects of rigid social divisions are vividly captured by Orwell in his essay Shooting an Elephant.
DeleteA great read!
http://orwell.ru/library/articles/elephant/english/e_eleph
Yes, a great essay. Thanks!
DeleteI am reading Andre Gregory's (My Dinner With Andre, Uncle Vanya on 42nd Street)This Is Not My Memoir and this is what he says about Chekhov: "Chekhov writes about yearning--the very human error of yearning for what you can never have, instead of celebrating what you do have."
ReplyDelete