Student Question
What is the summary of "Difficult People" by Anton Chekhov?
Quick answer:
In "Difficult People," Anton Chekhov focuses on the dysfunctional family of a farmer, whose son Pyotr needs money to return to college in Moscow. The father is miserly and withholding, so a fight breaks out. Pyotr stalks out in misery, then waves cheerfully at a wealthy old woman who drives by in a landau. He notes that many people lie about their family situations. Finally, he returns home, gets his money, and leaves the next day, feeling unhappy.
In "Difficult People," Pyotr, the son of Russian farmers, needs money from his father for train fare and living expenses so he can head back to college in Moscow. His father gives him the money for the train, but only ten of the fifteen roubles he needs to cover living expenses before he can get a job. Although Pyotr also needs money for books and clothes, he refrains from bothering his father. His father is miserly and withholding, so it is humiliating to keep asking him for money.
We see the father's withholding quality as he takes all the time in the world over washing his hands and saying prayers while his hungry children wait for the dinner of cabbage soup to begin.
Although Pyotr is unwilling to ask for more money, his mother begins to beg the father for new boots for Pyotr. Finally, the father explodes, throws his...
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wallet on the table and says to take what they want: why shouldn't they eat him alive? Pyotr shows he has learned well from his father's example as he screams back at him and says he can no longer put up with his verbal abuse. He then shouts at his mother and stalks from the house. Walking around, he imagines trying to walk the long distance to Moscow in his worn out boots and dying along the way. He also has more happy fantasies, such as happening on a manor house where the beautiful daughter of the owner falls in love with him.
Despite his misery, he waves cheerfully at an old lady, a landowner, who drives by in her landau. He marvels at his own capacity to lie and pretend to be cheerful, and also hers: he knows she has had an unhappy life despite her happy smile. He thinks of how often people, such as his mother, lie about their dysfunctional families.
He goes back home. The next day he leaves, after shouting at his father again. His father puts the money he needs on the table. Instead of feeling happy, Pyotr feels miserable as he heads to Moscow.