World Literature #1: The Student

After reading “The Student” in class, I noticed that this story was reputed as “the perfect short story.” I was shocked. Nothing notable happened in the story. A young man walked through an unfavorable weather, went to the widow’s garden, preached the story of Saint Peter’s denial, and realized something delightful. As a person who usually skims through the plot, I did not like this story much. I even doubted whether “The Student” is a short story. A story had to have some kind of conflict, which gives some “content.” However, this “perfect short story” lacked that conflict. There were some descriptions, but they were not conspicuous enough.

When I read “The Student” again, new things came into my mind. I read carefully to decipher the hidden messages between the seemingly useless descriptions. The idea that Ivan Velikopolsky could be an immature person interested me. I noticed that "Ivan," the name of the protagonist, appears in the whole story only once. The actual name of "the student" only appears when necessary— when the author introduces him. In other cases, the protagonist is addressed as "the student." I thought that the repetition of "the student" suggests the protagonist's immaturity. After all, a student is in the process of learning, so a student is immature compared to his teacher. This immaturity becomes clearer when the experienced woman Vasilisa is contrasted with the student. The author introduces Vasilisa as a woman with a lot of life experience just before the protagonist starts his story. The immature student preaching an experienced woman is ironic; this situation includes the element of humor that Chekhov claimed to be inside his stories. Investigating one characteristic of the protagonist through a careful reading was enjoyable.

I also thought about the overall mood of the story. Is the story pessimistic or optimistic? It might be pessimistic, considering the description of the setting. A cold wind blows “inappropriately” from the east, and the forest is “cheerless, remote, and lonely.” That negative situations “had existed, did exist, and would exist” reveals a pessimistic attitude towards life. On the other hand, this story could be interpreted as optimistic because of the hopeful tone near the end. After telling a biblical story to the two widows, the student receives an insight about the relationship between the past and the present. Then his life becomes joyful, happy, “enchanting, marvelous, and full of lofty meaning.”

Determining the mood of the story is complicated by the author’s detachment from the protagonist. The protagonists’ change of mood is obvious. He first thinks that life would not become better even though a lot of time passes. But he changes his mind, as his eyes turns from the west to the east, that life has some hope. However, the message of the story is formed by the combination of the protagonist and the author. Because the author’s attitude toward the protagonist is not revealed, I cannot conclusively say that this story is pessimistic or optimistic. Chekhov signals the protagonist’s musing with the phrase “the student thought” and “it seemed.” The revelation at the end is only the protagonist’s, not the author’s. The author may agree with the optimism, but believe that the student’s revelation is wrong. The author may also think in a pessimistic way. It is up to the readers to interpret this story in their own way and formulate their own impressions.

“The Student” is very real, but it is not real as well. The succinct sentences and direct expression makes the story seem like the epitome of reality. But the story leaves a large space for interpretation. This space is not completely blank because the author inserts some hints between the lines. However, this space contains infinitely many possibilities. Perhaps Chekhov wanted the readers to experience the irony of realism itself—transcendence within reality.