In Anton Chekhov’s short story ‘Heartache’ the main character, a cabby called Iona Potapov, feels painfully alienated since he thirsts for talk but nobody is willing to listen to him. He is desperately looking for someone to share his sorrow with in order to ease his heartache. However, everyone the cabby comes across, no matter their age or the social class they belong to, are so indifferent and heedless of his pain. His loneliness is a result of his sons' recent death and a lack of people to share his grief with. Therefore, it is obvious that Chekhov’s intention is to stress out the theme of alienation among people of different social classes in relation to their behavior to each other. Given the fact that alienation is considered one of
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The next few characters, to whom Iona seeks consolation for his misery, are a porter and a cabman, who represent the working poor as well. The porter, having a more prestigious occupation, is more concerned about the state of his masters’ neighborhood than on any pain a fellow human might be suffering since he chases Iona away(“What have you stopped here for? On your way!”, pp.87). The cabman, who wakes up as Iona enters the “yard”, is too wearied by his own work to trouble with the pain of another’s. He represents the inability of the poor to sympathize, due to the immensity of their own tribulations. Communication and its interruptions bear much importance throughout Chekhov's story. In particular, the author focuses on the extent of communication between people of different social classes in an attempt to highlight the harshness of man and his unwillingness to help one another. Whether it is caused by arrogance or impotence, every character who crosses his path denies him the sympathy of acknowledgment. None of his passengers ever care about his story. They mainly care about getting to their destination whereas his sleepy co-workers in the stabling yard show no emotion and simply go to sleep ("Iona looks to see the effect of his words, but notices
The next few characters, to whom Iona seeks consolation for his misery, are a porter and a cabman, who represent the working poor as well. The porter, having a more prestigious occupation, is more concerned about the state of his masters’ neighborhood than on any pain a fellow human might be suffering since he chases Iona away(“What have you stopped here for? On your way!”, pp.87). The cabman, who wakes up as Iona enters the “yard”, is too wearied by his own work to trouble with the pain of another’s. He represents the inability of the poor to sympathize, due to the immensity of their own tribulations. Communication and its interruptions bear much importance throughout Chekhov's story. In particular, the author focuses on the extent of communication between people of different social classes in an attempt to highlight the harshness of man and his unwillingness to help one another. Whether it is caused by arrogance or impotence, every character who crosses his path denies him the sympathy of acknowledgment. None of his passengers ever care about his story. They mainly care about getting to their destination whereas his sleepy co-workers in the stabling yard show no emotion and simply go to sleep ("Iona looks to see the effect of his words, but notices