Tuesday, September 20, 2011
An Upheaval
by Anton Chekhov
1. Given what we know about Mashenka, what would be so bad for her about having her room searched. She herself says that it's insulting; she worries that she might end up in prison. But why, psychologically, do you suppose she has such a strong reaction to her having had her room searched?
2. When she learns who really stole the brooch, she feels "she really could not stay another minute." Why do you suppose she has this reaction?
3. Can you come up with an explanation for Nikolay Sergeitch confessing his crive to Mashenka?
4. Is Nikolay Sergeitch a good person (a sympathetic character) or not, or somewhere in between?
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When Nikolay Sergeitch confesses to Mashenka that it was he who stole the brooch from his own wife, Mashenka felt "she really could not stay for another minute." She probably feels that the atmosphere of the house is tense and awkward because the woman of the house will continue to search the maids rooms, and the husband will not fess up. If I were Mashenka, I would not want to be anywhere near a house such as this, where the husband lies to his wife and lets others take the blame for him. Nikolay is a weak man, he does not have the strength to have conversations with his wife where he could discuss his issues with their relationship. Instead, he chooses to steal from her just because he is sick of her taking his money. The marriage is so dysfunctional, which in turn creates a dysfunctional family and a dysfunctional household. Mashenka is wise not to want to be in involved in it. She could so easily become wrapped up in the ridiculousness that is this family. She might even be blamed one day for Nikolay's crimes. Her wanting to get out of there as soon as possible is not surprising in the least.
ReplyDeleteNikolay Sergeitch is not a sympathetic character. He seems very imature and deceptive to me. Nikolay Sergeitch is willing to let his proposterous wife search innocent people's personal rooms for her stolen brooch, when he knows, full well, it was he who took the brooch. This cowardly behavior in no way makes Nikolay a good man. He is incapable of owning up to his own actions and having a discussion with his wife about the trouble their marriage is suffering from. Nikolay feels robbed of his money (by his wife) and for that reason stole the brooch from her in order to obtain some money of his own. He is willing to let the others of the household be accused of stealing, but is not willing to fess up to what he has done. Being responsible and accountable for one's actions is very important, and expected of an adult. Nikolay's actions automatically make him irrisponsable and lacking in wisdom and judgment. Nikolay doesn't act like the adult he presumably is in age and therefore he doesn't deserve the title of "sympathetic character".
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ReplyDeleteMashenka is a young, poor, governess who has very little. It explains that she attends a boarding school and lives far away from her family. In the unknown world of the people she works for, Mashenka is poor, especially because she is surrounded by such wealthy people. She is hardworking, but not wealthy. I believe that Mashenka's belongings are very important to her since everything else in her life seems to be lacking. For these reasons it seems logical for a person with so little in the first place to feel a sort of attachment to what they truly do have, and for her to psychologically feel insulted when her room is searched.
ReplyDeleteIf i were Mashenka I would most defiantly feel upset if someone rummaged through my room, searching in all the drawers because I had so little. Without a doubt i know i would be offended if someone did that to me. If any innocent person is accused of something that they did not do, like Mashenka, i think that it can be very insulting and frustrating to deal with. The searching of her drawers shows lack of trust and morals in Mashenka. If I were here i would certainly be insulted.
Mashenka seems to be a very moral and confident person. For example, she stands up for herself when a person of higher stature than her betrays her on such a personal level. Mashenka notices this, and does not take back seat. She even decides to stand up at the dinner table when the subject was brought up and the lady of the manner insults the servants. Usually a servant would stare at their plates, as the others do, but Mashenka stands up in hysterics. This confidence, shows her ability to decipher what is right and what is wrong behavior. Once, Nikolay tells the truth to Mashenka she responds that she must leave without a question. This solidifys her decision to leave even furtehr because if she were to stay she would be faced with the classic moral dellimma. Ratting out a person who was honest with her, or turning him in for the sake of the greater good. Thus in order to extract herself from the situation, she does the mature thing and walks away.
ReplyDeleteI feel Nikolay Sergeitch kind of likes Mashenka. I can infere this because of the way he looks at her and defends her. The moment he came into her room was the part when i realized he did liked her. He begged her to stay ("I can't go to law with her, you'll admit.... I beg you most earnestly, overlook it... stay on. Tout comprendre, tout pardonner. Will you stay?",") asked why was she leaving, told her reasons to stay ("If you go, there won't be a human face left in the house. It's awful!") , apologized in name of his wife and confessed he was the one who stole the brooch from his wife.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, as i stated before, Nikolay confessed this to her because he thought this was the one possible reason that could make Mashenka stay. It did not work because as soon as he told her, she decide to go immediately with no hesitation and asked her self how was she able to manage to live in this house for so long. I assume she thought they were all crazy.
I think that Mashenka left the house shortly after finding out that Nikolay had actually stolen his wife's brooch, because she was fearful. It seems that she could've been fearful because she had just been told an important secret that would create much tension in the household, if known. Nikolay asked her multiple times to not reveal any little trace that she knew who the thief was. Therfore, if Fedosya ever found out that Mashenka knew who the thief was and that she didn't tell the leading lady in the household that it was her husband who was causing her so much turmoil, then the anger could be channeled to Mashenka. Mashenka would then be stuck in the middle of the complications of the strange marriage between Fedosya and Nikolay. Who would want to be caught in the middle of those two whackos? I don't think Mashenka would...
ReplyDeleteThe other factor I thought of why Mashenka would want to leave the family so suddenly, is because perhaps she was alarmed by the intrusion of privacy. She seemed to be startled by the fact that the couple had the authority to search, meticulously, through all of her belongings, and that they didn't have any hesitation to do so.
There are many things that could've been going through her mind at the time when Nikolay revealed his secret. At one point in the story Mashenka mentions the possibility of her being thrown in prison for her unexistent actions of theft. Since Mashenka doesn't have much money or power in her family, in contrast to Fedosya and her husband, she is scared that if a situation came up, where they suspected that she was a thief, she wouldn't have much of a chance to prove her innocence. I think this is definitely a probable event because she doesn't have the advantage in the situation and if Nikolay went on lieing to his wife and allowed Mashenka to be blamed for his cruel action, then why would he feel obligated to get himself in trouble and save Mashenka the blame, in a situation if authorities got involved...? I think Nikolay is a very selfish man, and he would definitely choose to help himself over helping a poor, young governess. He uses her as the temporary distraction and focus for Fedosya, and I think Mashenka was aware of this, so her solution was to leave so Nikolay would have to face up to his own deeds without jeopardizing her own safety in their house.
I believe Mashenka feels violated of her personal space when she finds her room being searched by Fedosya Vassilyevna. Her room is like her home all put into one space. I have a feeling that because of her place in the house, she has been robbed of all things personal. Everyone knows what she is doing at every point in time; there are no secrets. However, her room is like a safe haven. "Mashenka remembered that under the sheets in her basket she had some sweetmeats, which, following the habits of her schooldays, she had put in her pocket at dinner and carried off to her room. She felt hot all over, and was ashamed at the thought that her little secret was known to the lady of the house;..." If I were in Mashenka's conditions, I definitely would have reacted the same way. It as if your dorm room was suddenly searched for something - and only yours. She is far away from her family, and her belongings are all she has.
ReplyDelete1,It does mean a lot to her. She is living outside by herself with many strengers, and what happened is she couldnt make a little respect and privacy. Especially when someone just get into your room, and rummage everything you have. Without even a little respect. Most people would freak out when they were at this situation, they could not have a clue, whats going to happen next.
ReplyDelete2, Its so weird when people say that, you will realize that you could not trust any of them. And she know he stole it, if she still stay, she have to make a choice, either spill out the truth or let everyone think she did it.
3, (dont get the question.)
4, neither. a chicken.
There are a few details in this short story that might explain Nikolay Sergeitch’s confessions to Mashenka.
ReplyDeleteNikolay Sergeitch is drunk first of all. He is said to drink wine after meal- this time his walk is proof of his drunkenness. He is pale and sweating. Also, he is described as nervous and shaky by Mashenka, the narrator.
Another observation I have made is that he is constantly rambling to Mashenka about her staying. His frantic and constant sentences show his nervousness and anxiety about his theft. The (…) and (---) and stuttering in his sentences is proof of alcohol intoxication and his lack of knowing how to solve his wife’s anger and confusion.
Nikolay feels he has to tell someone of his crime. Although he claims that his crime is an everyday/no big deal event, he feels that he must tell someone of his crime. The fact that he thinks his crime is no big deal also shows his disillusionment and even guilt. He is probably too scared to tell his huge wife that he stole the brooch, so he tells Mashenka. To his dismay, Mashenka leaves them, leaving him being the only one who knows his theft. Now he will have to find someone else to confess to, to avoid physical/verbal conflict with his wife.
I believe that of all the characters in the story, Nikolay is the most deceitful and disloyal, as well as being a bit foolish. Clearly he had not thought out every circumstance, and has a terrible relationship with his wife, creating an even worse environment in the household. Even more selfish is how he lets his wife insult the entire household only to gain some money by selling the brooch. I feel that at the end of the story when he tells Mashenka that he stole the brooch is a last minute attempt at keeping a friend. Nikolay is described as "a dependent and hanger-on, even with the servants, and his apology meant nothing either." Mashenka is the smarter one in this situation and refuses to accept his apology. I do believe, however, that Niikolay has some justification. Mrs. Kushkin is very disrespectful in her manner of searching everyone, in addition to wasting all of her husbands money on a house and possessions. I doubt she was worried about losing the brooch for anything other than monetary value, seeing as it belonged to Nikolay's mother.
ReplyDeleteNikolay Sergeitch is a good man but honestly, with no back bone. What man would steal from his wife because he feels she is taking all his money?
ReplyDeleteNikolay may want to get his point across because he has been keeping his anger to himself but instead of talking to him wife he acts out like a child and steals from her. Not many people would do that and that makes him a deceitful and dishonest man, but to me there is some justification to why he would steal from his own wife. She was acting a bit out of control by wasting money of non-essentials. She could have spent the money on something more sentimental that would help there crumbling marriage.
I feel like Mashenka's character is very, very naive. As the governess for the family, I would expect her to have composure and be mature, but her reaction to the suspected of theft is quite dramatic and over the top. Not only does she complain about her room being searched, but she throws herself onto her bed and starts balling her eyes out. Usually, when I think of governess, I think of Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music and how composed and confident she was. Every time the thievery was mentioned, Mashenka got worse and worse. When it was brought up at dinner, she actually had to leave the table because she could not handle the situation.
ReplyDeleteAs I continued reading the story, I was hoping to find a reason Mashenka was so terrified. I was thinking that maybe she did steal the brooch but she was in denial and couldn't bring herself to admit it. But even when Nikolay confessed to theft, she still left! WHYY!!!???? I was really looking for an explanation for her behavior. Maybe something happened in the past? Did she get in trouble maybe for something she didn't even do before she was a governess for this new family? I really wanted an answer.
Whilst i was reading the story, the idea that Mashenka had stolen the brooch obviously crossed my mind due to her passionate aversion towards being searched. But, i didn't vacillate on this thought too much because if it actually was the reality, the story would be unoriginal, boring, and i knew we wouldn't be reading it in the first place. So, i started contemplating ulterior motives why Mashenka could be acting in such a manor, other than stupidity. One of the more curious thoughts that crossed my mind was the prospect that Mashenka was acting in such a way in order to cognizantly cause the people around her to believe she had stolen the brooch, just so she could later prove them wrong. She then could use the shame her prosecutors felt to her advantage in a later situation, one in which she truly was the culprit. This time around Mashenka could have stolen, perhaps, a necklace, and when the time came around in which she was to be searched, she could use the memory of what happened last time to embarrass the people who would find her out. Ergo successfully diverting the adversity that was potentially on its way.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion Nikolay Sergeitch is a sympathetic character. He is a man who is the "master of the house" but in reality he has no power at all. He is a man who is completely humiliated by his overbearing and selfish wife. You have to feel bad for a man who is so desperate to have any kind of power that he would even steal from his own wife. And would allow chaos to ensue in his own house due to what he did. He is desperate to have someone there for him who isn't under the constant eye of his wife or out to get him. That's why he likes Mashenka so much because she is exactly the kind of person he wants to have around. He is desperate and that is why he decides to reveal to her what he has done in a last ditch effort to get her to stay at the house. He is a desperate man in a bad situation and you have to feel sorry for him.
ReplyDeleteAdding to what Claire said, I would go further and say that Sergeitch is pathetic. He can't stand up to his wife and take charge of his own house, so he steals her jewelry. That is incredibly childish and not how a grown man should act. He has no dignity whatsoever. It is a very sad situation he has gotten himself into. So i would not say that he is a sympathetic or empathetic character. I think he is just pitiful.
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