Q&A about "The Kiss" By Anton Chekhov

The Kiss starts on an evening when the officers of the Reserve of Artillery Brigade are invited by Lieutenant-General Von Rabbek to take tea at his home. Once in the house the officers meet the family of Von Rabbek and are invited to have a drink and dance. While most of the officers dance, Ryabovich, the protagonist, wanders around the house because he does not know how to dance. Then, when he is alone inside a bedroom, a woman enters, kisses him, and leaves right away. Ryabovich does not know what to do next. He is just confused thinking whether the kiss was intentional or not. On the one hand he becomes glad thinking that it could be the beginning of a love story, but on the other hand he thinks that it was just an accident and that he will never be loved by anybody because he is not an attractive person.

This short story written by Anton Chekhov analyzes the psychology of the protagonist, especially his decision making process after he is kissed by the mysterious woman. The Kiss is a modern short story because its conclusion is an expression of disenchantment.

The protagonist has a very low perception of himself. He considers himself to be somebody not attractive and not capable of accomplishing much. Therefore he lives a dull life in which he does not feel confident enough to undertake high projects. However, after Ryabovich is kissed, he begins to see the world in a new light. He starts thinking that after all he is not that unattractive, and that he is competent and capable of doing great things. Then, what he just hopes is to see again the woman who kissed him and to talk with her, and propose her to get married and live a happy life together until the end of their lives.

Ryabovich tries hard to find again that woman. He even went back to Von Rabbek’s house to ask whether she was back. However, there are no traces anywhere of that woman. Therefore, Ryabovich begins thinking that it was just an illusion; something beautiful to think of and that is. Ryabovich thinks that to be kissed suddenly and be looked for by someone who really loves you is something that only happen in romances, but not in real life. As a consequence that new light enkindled by the kiss just fades away with these new thoughts.

The two above mentioned positions do not succeed each other chronologically, but rather intermingle along the story. It is a fight of two opposite ways of looking at reality; that is a positive one and a negative one. The positive one looks at the future, whereas the negative one looks at the past. The positive one keeps hope, whereas the negative just damns itself to a terrible fate. The positive one enkindles a light of joy in one’s life, whereas the negative one encircles one’s horizons with the darkness of sadness. Between these two opposed forces lies Ryabovich.



Unfortunately, at the end it is the negative way of looking at reality the one that conquers the other. Ryabovich looses hope and decides to forget that kiss and give up his search for the woman. It is disenchantment that conquers the soul of Ryabovich and makes him think that in this life there is no room for joy and hope. It is disenchantment that makes Ryabovich a victim of sadness and despair. This disenchantment is a trait of Modernism, so this short story belongs to Modernism. However this is a very early type of Modernism, which does not contain some of the characteristics of Modernism. Another characteristic of Modernism in Chekhov’s stories is the stream of consciousness that later on authors like Joyce would makes use of.

A noiseless patient spider

A noiseless patient spider

A noiseless patient spider,

I mark'd where on a little promontory it stood isolated,

Mark'd how to explore the vacant vast surrounding,

It launch'd forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself,

Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them.

And you O my soul where you stand,

Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space,

Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect them,

Till the bridge you will need be form'd, till the ductile anchor hold,

Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my soul.

We really like "A noiseless patient spider" because of the way Whitman expresses the theme; that is, through the comparison of the speaker in the poem and a spider. The theme is: "yearn for companionship". Like the spider, the poem's speaker is patiently waiting  in wonder in the middle of a vast open world for something to fulfill it’s yearns. While the spider yearns for food , the soul of the speaker yearns for a certain someone , maybe a companion  with whom to share thoughts and feelings and to end his loneliness.

Reflections after watching the film "Dead Poet's Society"

What do you think about the ending of the story?

Well, I think the ending of the story is really sad, not just because one of the talent students (Neil) ended his life by committing suicide, but also because a teacher (John Keating), who gave a good influence and succeeded to motivate his students to find their own potential, was treated without respect by the school and was fired from his position, poetry teacher, because of unacceptable reasons.

At the end of the story, if you watched the film. We will remember that the students gave their last respect and farewell by going up on top of the table and standing up in front of the teacher (John Keating), even with the new teacher present in the class. With sadness and calm, John Keating replies  two times: "Thank you". He really appreciates what the students do.   

What's your opinion about poetry before and after watching the movie?

My opinion about poetry before watching the movie, was that poetry is an ou of date subject that is useless to learn. Besides that, nowadays when you speak with  other people and use poetry, people will think that you are flirting. My opinion was like the one of other people; that is, that poetry is not a common lesson.

After I watched "Dead Poet's Society", I realized my thoughts about poetry were too shallow. Poetry actually is very entertaining. But also, very difficult to understand.

Reflections after watching the fim "Dead Poets Society"

What does "seize the day" mean?
Seize the day is the translation of Carpe diem which are the words that begin the last line of a Latin poem written by Quintus Horatius Flaccus (65 BC – 8 BC), more widely known as Horace. The poem is in Horace's Odes Book 1, number 11. It has become an aphorism.

In Horace, the phrase is part of the longer Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero, which can be translated as "Seize the day, put very little trust in tomorrow (the future)". The ode says that the future is unforeseen and that one should not leave to chance future happenings, but rather one should do all one can today to make one's future better. This phrase is usually understood against Horace's Epicurean background. It is important to note that the "Carpe diem" phrase is often misinterpreted and misused in contemporary popular culture, to justify reckless behaviour ("you only live once"). However, the meaning of Carpe diem is not to ignore the future, but rather not to trust that everything is going to fall into place for you and taking action for the future today.

What is the students' attitude to poetry before Mr. Keating teaches them?

Most of the students at Welton, come from well-off families, where the parents work as doctors, engineers, businessmen, etc. Therefore they think that poetry is something not as important as mathematics, physics or chemistry, so that is why they are not very interested in learning poetry.

Theme in “God Sees the Truth, but Waits": Forgiveness

After we read "God Sees the Truth, but Waits" in class, we were asked by our teacher to think whether the message of this short story is Christian or not, and if not, what kind of message it is. At the beginning I was not sure because as everybody knows, Tolstoy developed a radical anarcho-pacifist Christian philosophy which led to his excommunication from the Russian Orthodox Church in 1901. So, I did not think that such a person could write a short story with a Christian message. However, after a thorough analysis I came to the conclusion that this short story actually has a Christian message. I think it is a support for Christianity because the topic is forgiveness, which is one of the characteristics of Jesus Christ and his followers. This short story gives a wonderful example of forgiveness. Aksionov, the main character in the work, is accused of murder and sent to Siberia where he is forced to work in a mine for twenty six years. Therefore he loses everything, absolutely everything, including his family. Worst of all is the fact that the accusation and punishment are false; that is, Aksionov did not kill the merchant who was found dead. This is one of the most painful experiences one can have, the one of being unfairly accused of something. When someone experiences something like Aksionov does, what one wishes is that truth may be known by everybody, particularly the truth about the crime. Besides this desire, there is another desire which is directed towards the person who actually committed the crime. This desire can take many different forms, but only one is the perfect one, the sublime one; that is, forgiveness. It is sublime, but difficult in these circumstances. Nevertheless, Aksionov forgives the person who actually committed the crime, Makar Semenyonich. This is a high level kind of forgiveness because what is forgiven is a lot; that is, the lost of one’s job, family, external freedom, friends, house, city, and so on. How can be possible to forgive something like that? Why on earth should someone forgive a person like Makar Semenyonich? The only answer is found in the teaching of Jesus Christ. That’s why I do believe that this short story has a Christian message.

If you haven’t read the story yet, please click the following link:  http://www.online-literature.com/tolstoy/2061/

Presentation In The Class

This picture was taking during our presentation on "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty."

Considerations on the theme of "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty"

Recently Jonatan, Jordan, and I were asked in class to deliver a presentation on the short story entitled, "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" published in 1939. This short story written by the American, James Thurber, is about a man, Walter Mitty, who lives a very simple life and is married with a nagging wife. However, the life of Walter Mitty sometimes gets exciting due to his daydreams. He has five daydreams during the short story. In the first one he is a pilot of a U.S. Navy flying boat in a storm, in the second one he is a famous surgeon, in the third one he is an assassin testifying in a courtroom, in the fourth one he is a Royal Air Force pilot volunteering for a suicide mission to bomb an ammunition dump, and in the fifth one he faces a firing squad. This short story presents an interesting question, which is how to face a hard life. Actually the life of Walter Mitty is not really hard, but it is true that he suffers because everybody nags him, especially his wife. So, what does Walter Mitty do to face this difficulty? The answer is, to escape from reality by daydreaming. Therefore, one of the topics of this short story is “escapism.” As a consequence Walter Mitty has a secret life.

After reading "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" I started asking myself whether I have a secret life. At first I thought it was not the case, but little by little I realized that actually I have a secret life. "How can this be possible?" the reader of this blog will ask. The answer is by reading literature. When we read a book, we are doing something deeper and greater than just looking at a number of words put together. We actually live the story we are reading, we become the protagonist of the story, and we can think and feel like the character of the story. By reading we visit new places where perhaps it might be impossible for us to go in the real life. Likewise we get acquainted with new people who in the case of biographies really existed or exist. So, this is the secret of my secret life and I really think that it is very beneficial because the number of things I can learn is unlimited. Besides, it is so fun.

Although I said that I have a secret life, I do not mean that I have a secret life as Walter Mitty does. The difference lies in the line separating the real life from the secret life. Walter Mitty does not have such a line, whereas I do have because I can distinguish between what is inside the books and what is outside the books. The difference might seem just a matter of perception, but it goes deeper because it influences our behavior. That is, when I read literature I escape from the real life, but I am fully aware of it and ready to face the problems of real life. On the other hand, Walter Mitty daydreams to escape from real life, and his daydreams become his real life. By doing that, he runs away from the problems of real life. I think we need to be brave and face our difficulties, instead of running away from them. By stating this, I do not mean that daydreaming is wrong, but rather I mean that to explode the line between real life and daydreams is wrong because it causes us to run away from our responsibilities and alienate ourselves from those people who surround us.