Critics have praised ‘‘The Stationmaster’’ as a masterpiece of the short story genre. Generally regarded as the ‘‘father of Russian literature,’’ Pushkin was a great innovator in many mediums, including poetry, drama, and the novel, in addition to the short story. The Realist school of Russian literature owes much to Pushkin, and ''The Station-master" exemplifies a realistic depiction of Russian life in the time of the author.

Analysis of the story really began in 1919, when M. O. Gershenzon became the first critic to analyze the symbolic significance of the pictures depicting the Biblical parable of the Prodigal Son. While he may not have been the first to notice the parallels between the pictures and the story itself, Gershenzon was the first to speculate on the affect the pictures may have had on the story's characters.

Gershenzon contends that the stationmaster allowed the pictures to dictate his understanding of Dunia's departure. Rather than being happy for his daughter, who has found not only love, but also wealth, the stationmaster instead sees Dunia as an embodiment of the Prodigal Son. This is why he follows the couple to St. Petersburg. The station-master's belief in the story of the Prodigal Son clouds his judgment, Gershenzon insists, forcing him to see things not as they are, and deceiving himself into despair.

Willis Konick agrees with Gershenzon regarding the importance of the Prodigal Son pictures, but suggests that Gershenzon perhaps overstates Dunia's happiness. The point of the story, Konick argues, is that sin does not necessarily lead to catastrophe and a moral slip does not always result in a fall.

Walter Vickery, in his book-length study Alexander Pushkin, shares this view of the story, calling it"a rebuttal of the sentimentalist fallacy that poor girls are by nature innocent, that they are ensnared and deceived by rich men, and that the results of their seduction or abduction are bound to be catastrophic.’’

Konick also stresses the emotional effect the story has on the narrator, who is as important to the story as the stationmaster and Dunia. While Konick is interested in how the narrator becomes involved emotionally, Paul Debreczeny, in The Other Pushkin, asserts that the narrator ‘‘stands for eighteenth-century and early-nineteenth-century sentimentalism.’’

Whereas Konick notices—but does not question—the narrator's emotional involvement, Debreczeny maintains that the narrator's point of view is "narrow,’’ incapable of seeing that ''Dunia is running away from a suffocatingly close relationship with her father as well as from the boredom and poverty of provincial life.’’ While Vickery insists that the element of parody must not be overemphasized, and that emphasis should be placed on the story's ‘‘clear and concise’’ style, ‘‘with no attempt at psychological analysis and very few comments from the narrator,’’ Debreczeny shows how the narrator's sympathetic view of the stationmaster's story ‘‘is at times obstructed by a ludicrous presentation.’’

Debreczeny points to the narrator's penchant for literary allusion, breaking into quotation when recalling Dunia's kiss or comparing the stationmaster's wiping of tears to a character in a ballad, as examples of his ‘‘ludicrous presentation.’’ This refusal to comply with the narrator's perspective allows Debreczeny to question the narrator's notion of "poor" Dunia. Instead of viewing her as a victim, subject to the seduction of the hussar, Debreczeny insists, ‘‘there is something attractive in her daring. Against all odds, she makes a dash for a better life.’’

However, he cautions, not all of the details of her life are clarified by the story's conclusion. Most critics assume that Dunia has married the young officer. This is, Debreczeny notes, ‘‘despite the scarce evidence of the text.’’ The officer...