Anton Chekhov's story "Home" is actually a story about a father's love for his son.
Here is the paragraph in which the father, lawyer Yevgeny Petrovitch Bykovsky tells his son that he has been disowned:
"Excuse me, Sergey Yevgenitch," answered the prosecutor, removing him from his knee. "Before kissing we must have a talk, and a serious talk . . . I am angry with you, and don't love you any more. I tell you, my boy, I don't love you, and you are no son of mine. . . ."
After reading the full story, you understand that the father was told that his son had been caught smoking tobacco taken from the father's office. Throughout the story, he is trying to find a way to explain to his son why he shouldn't smoke.
The full story makes it clear that Yevgeny has no desire to actually disown his child. Here is another quote from the story:
He looked at the boy's big dark eyes, and it seemed to him as though from those wide pupils there looked out at him his mother and his wife and everything that he had ever loved.
However, without knowing the full story, what can you infer from the paragraph about Yevgeny's anger?
First let's take a look at the wording. He starts off by saying "Excuse me," which is rather formal for a father talking to his son. It's a very calm introduction, showing that their conversation isn't an outburst of anger on the part of the father.
We then see that the boy had been sitting on his father's knee. This shows that before the chastising began, the two had embraced. Yevgeny clearly loves his son.
He then says: "before kissing," which implies that once the talk has finished and the boy has understood, they will be able to kiss after all.
All of these pieces of evidence show that the father is not actually disowning his child in an outburst of anger. Instead, he is trying to convey the severity of his lecture and make sure he has his son's full attention.
In Anton Chekhov's short story "Home," the lawyer Yevgeny Petrovitch Bykovsky is told that his son Seryozha has been smoking tobacco from Yevgeny's own supply. When his son runs up to kiss him, Yevgeny Petrovitch assumes a harsh demeanor and says:
Excuse me, Sergey Yevgenitch...Before kissing we must have a talk, and a serious talk...I am angry with you, and don't love you any more. I tell you, my boy, I don't love you, and you are no son of mine...
It is a testament to the bond between father and son that Seryozha does not believe him for a moment. Indeed, the lawyer's speech is far from convincing. Having begun sternly with the boy's formal name and patronymic in place of the diminutive form, Seryozha, which he normally uses, the lawyer spoils the effect by saying that they must have a serious talk before kissing. If he were really disowning his son, presumably...
See This Answer Now
Start your 48-hour free trial to unlock this answer and thousands more. Enjoy eNotes ad-free and cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
he would not kiss the boy immediately afterwards. Although this is only the beginning of the story, it is quite self-contained. Yevgeny Petrovitch's feelings are made evident without the need to look beyond this section.
Upon hearing that his father has returned home, Seryozha is filled with joy:
"Pa-pa has come!" carolled the child. "Papa has co-ome. Pa! Pa! Pa!"
The final "Pa! Pa! Pa!" here, combined with the use of the word "carolled" and the description of the boy's governess as being "shrill as a frightened bird" in the next line strongly suggest the perfect love and unity expressed by the bird-catcher Papageno and his beloved Papagena in Mozart's Magic Flute, an opera particularly popular with children, and one which Chekhov undoubtedly knew. Although the boy's love for his father is of a different type, his affection has the same spontaneity and certainty as Papageno's (duet attached below).
Further Reading
Inthe beginning of the story, Yevgeny Petrovitch Bykovsky (a circuit court prosecutor), has just been told by his seven year old son's governess that the boy has been smoking. What's more, the governess asserts that the tobacco came from the prosecutor's own drawer.
Petrovitch tells the governess to send the boy to him so that he can talk to his son. However, when he tries to imagine his son smoking, the vision of his son 'with a huge cigar, a yard long, in the midst of clouds of tobacco smoke' causes him to smile at the absurd image. Petrovitch then reminisces about his youth when boys at his high school were either expelled or flogged mercilessly for the crime of smoking. It seemed to him as if the teachers and parents of his time were unduly terrified of an evil they could not fully understand nor explain.
In short, Petrovitch does not believe that smoking is an evil to be avoided at all costs. This is why he has a hard time presenting a stern image to his son in order to impress on Seryozha the dangers of smoking. Seryozha's affectionate "Pa-pa has come!" further shows that the relationship between father and son is a close one. We have further proof of this when Petrovitch laughingly refers to Seryozha as the 'little cherub' when the governess presents her indignant report of the boy smoking.
In a grand attempt to appear uncompromisingly severe, Petrovitch proceeds to inform the boy that he does not love Seryozha anymore, nor does he consider Seryozha his own son on account of such bad behavior. By threatening to withdraw the obvious affection he feels for his son, Petrovitch hopes to inspire his son to give up using his father's tobacco.
Hope this helps! I have used textual evidence from the story the way it was presented to you.