Vanka (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Anton Chekhov
- First Published: 1886
- Type of Plot: Social realism
- Time of Work: The late nineteenth century
- Setting: Moscow
- Principal Characters: Ivan “Vanka” Zhukov, Konstantin Makarich
- Genres: Social realism, Short fiction
- Subjects: Children, Nineteenth century, Europe or Europeans, Grandparents or grandchildren, Orphans or orphanages, Boys, Old age or elderly people, Russia or Russian people, Moscow, Christmas
- Locales: Moscow, Russia
The Story
Ivan Zhukov, known by the diminutive “Vanka,” is an unhappy orphan who has been apprenticed for three months to the shoemaker Alyakhin in Moscow. On Christmas Eve, while his master and mistress and the senior apprentices are all at church, Vanka sits down to write a pleading letter to “Grandad” Konstantin Makarich in the nearby village where Vanka lived before being sent to the city. Vanka's mother, Pelageya, had been in service at a country estate, where his life had been idyllic as he roamed freely with Grandad, “one-eyed Yegor,” and other servants....
[The entire page is 1340 words long]
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