‘The
Student’ was an interesting read because it had so many ways to interpret the
story. The story is as if it’s enclosed by a thick fog. You never really know
the exact reason why the old widow cried or why this student suddenly preaches
on these widows or if this is the happy ending or not. So for the first time I
read it, I was confused. I didn’t get why Anton Chekhov had to leave everything
ambiguous and ends it so abruptly with no explanation. However, that was also a
strange charm of this quizzical short story. It leaves numerous
interpretations, and it was one of the main reasons why I began to reread and
began to appreciate the story.
I
believe the ultimate massage of the story is cynical, rather than optimistic. At
the second paragraph, it’s stated that “~ in the days of Rurik and in the time of
Ivan the Terrible and Peter, and in their time there had been just the same
desperate poverty and hunger, the same thatched roofs with holes in them,
ignorance, misery, the same desolation around, the same darkness, the same
feeling of oppression -- all these had existed, did exist, and would exist, and
the lapse of a thousand years would make life no better.” The story starts with
the big idea that the past and the present is linked with the same desperate
poverty and hunger and will exist even after thousand years. After the
preaching, the old widow cries and he realizes the message –
"The past," he thought, "is linked with
the present by an unbroken chain of events flowing one out of another."
And it seemed to him that he had just seen both ends of that chain; that when
he touched one end the other quivered.
From the first
paragraph, it is already initiated that the past and the present is unpleasantly
linked, and will so forever. What the student realizes in the end is also the
similar message. The past is linked with the present and just like the time of
Ivan the Terrible and Peter, Russians were desperate, miserable and sorrowful. Even when the student becomes
joyful after realizing the message, it doesn’t mean the hopeful future for
Russians. The last paragraph describes the scene: towards the west where the
cold crimson sunset lay a narrow streak of light. The sun sets in the west, and
the narrow streak of light is what the student saw, what would be vanished
inside total darkness of the night.
After I read the story, I thought the student
was stupid. I believe student can’t really preach to the widows in this way. Of
course, the older widow cried but the younger widow clearly hates him. The
widows may have unspeakable backgrounds or experiences more than the student,
yet the student brags his knowledge about “Jesus” and becomes proud after
learning a message that the future and the past is linked, thus future would be
miserable just like the past. Sometimes, the learned ones are the most stupid
in the society. They talk about theories, life-living methods or some cool
background knowledge but they are neither really helpful nor adequately
targeted for audiences. Even in the stories, the student think he’s preached
the widows well but maybe widows interpreted the Jesus story in completely
different aspect. Maybe older widow just became guilty because she recalled hitting
her daughter. This is a slightly different message student probably wanted to
teach. I believe Anton Chekhov tried to leave the message in the story that the
educated people can be the smartest, but maybe not the wisest. They interpret
the society and their effects in their own way and may lose the realistic
interpretation of their life.
