In The Ravine

In The Ravine (Russian: В овраге) ― is a short story written by Russian writer Anton Chekhov, that was first published in 1899 in "Zhizn" journal. Literary critic Dmitry Ovsyaniko-Kulikovsky believes that the essence of the story is a reflection of the picture of evil and sin which is associated with the emergence of a new "bourgeoisie" from peasantry.^[1]

Characters

In the opinion of critics, almost all the characters in the short story are "people without criteria of good and evil".^[1][2]

• Grigory Petrovich Tsybukin ― is a merchant.
• Anisim Grigoryevich Tsybukin ― is the eldest son of Grigory Petrovich Tsybukin, serves in detective department of the town.
• Stepan Grigoryevich Tsybukin ― is the youngest son of Grigory Petrovich Tsybukin, is engaged in helping his father, but there is little help from him - he is weak in health and deaf.
• Aksinya ― is Stepan's wife, a beautiful and well-shaped woman, rushing around everywhere and in everything.
• Varvara Nikolayevna ― is Grigory Petrovich's second wife, a prominent, beautiful and very religious woman. Constantly helps the poor, pilgrims. She is a symbol of non-resistance to evil.^[1]
• Lipa ― is a poor girl and Anisim's wife. She is a symbol of passive irreconcilability with evil, obedience to fate, the absence of the slightest feeling of anger and revenge.^[1][3][4]

Plot

Tsybukin decides to marry his eldest son, Anisim. He agrees calmly and without enthusiasm. The bride's name is Lipa, she is a very poor girl. Entering the Tsybukin's house for her, from any point of view, is a gift of fate, since she does not have a dowry.

Anisim arrives three days before the wedding and as a gift to everyone brings silver rubles, the main charm of which is that all the coins, as for selection, are brand new.

At the wedding, Anisim quickly gets drunk and boasts of a city friend named Samorodov, calling him "a special person." Five days later, Anisim leaves for the city. He speaks with Varvara, and she complains that they do not live in a pious way, that everything in their relationship is built on deception. Saying goodbye, Anisim says that Samorodov got him into a dark matter: "I will be rich or I will be lost." At the station Tsybukin asks his son to stay "at home, doing business", but he refuses.

It turns out that Anisim's coins are fake. He forged them with Samorodov and now he is charged with forgery. It shocks the old man. He mixed fake coins with real ones and cannot discern them. Although he had been a lifelong plodder, making false money does not fit into his mind and gradually drives him crazy. His son is condemned to hard labor, despite the efforts of the old man. In the house, Aksinya begins to run everything. She hates Lipa and the child Lipa gave birth to, realizing that in the future the main inheritance will be given to them. In front of Lipa, she spills boiling water at the baby, who dies after short suffering. Lipa runs away from home and meets wanderers along the way. When Lipa comes home, the old man says to her: "Eh, Lipa ... you did not save the grandson ..." It is Lipa who appears to be guilty, and not Aksinya, as the old man is afraid of her.

Lipa leaves for her mother. Aksinya finally becomes the main person in the family, although formally this title belongs to the old man. She enters into a share with the brothers-merchants Hrymins. Together they open a tavern at the station, wheel and deal, carouse and have fun. Old Tsybukin degrades to the point when he does not remember about food, he does not eat anything for days, when he is not fed by someone else. In the evenings, he stands on the street with peasants, listens to their conversations ― and one day, after getting in touch with them, he meets Lipa and Praskovya. They bow to him, but he is silent, tears in his eyes. It is evident that he had not eaten anything for a long time. Lipa gives him a pie with porridge. "He took and began to eat [...] Lipa and Praskovia went on and long afterwards were crossing oneselves."^[3][4]

Critics reception

Literary critic V.P. Albov writes that "in the depth of thought and subtlety of the plot this is the best work that Chekhov wrote." According to the critic, "In the ravine" is the manifestation of a new philosophy, which Chekhov discovered for himself.^[5]

References

1. 1 2 3 4 Овсянико-Куликовский Д. Н. «В овраге», повесть А. П. Чехова // Вопросы психологии творчества / Д. Н. Овсянико-Куликовский. 2-е изд. М., 2008. С. 248—256. 1-я публ.: Северный курьер. 1900. 4 мая.
2. ↑ "В овраге — РГБ". www.rsl.ru. Retrieved 2017-06-03. 
3. 1 2 "Краткое содержание повести Чехова «В овраге»". briefly.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2017-06-03. 
4. 1 2 Все шедевры мировой литературы в кратком изложении. Сюжеты и характеры. Русская литература XIX века / Ред. и сост. В. И. Новиков. — М. : Олимп : ACT, 1996. — 832 с.
5. ↑ Альбов В. П. Два момента в развитии творчества Антона Павловича Чехова: (крит. очерк) // Мир Божий. 1903. № 1. С. 104—112.