ŷ������

** spoiler alert ** "Ivanov" by Anton Chekhov

Who is Ivanov? Is he what people think about him? Like what Lebedevs, Lvov, and the others think he is? Or he is someone else? Chekhov confronts the reader with a vast amount of narratives about Nikolai Ivanov. Ivanov has only a single narrative, therefore, his own voice about himself is not heard easily. People consider him someone who was looking for his wife's dowry and when failed, his love towards her disappeared. They don't even ask Ivanov what he feels and what he thinks. They judge him without knowing his inner intentions.
Lvov, the doctor who treats Ivanov's wife, is a prototype of those people who consider themselves absolutely moral and therefore, let themselves judge other people without knowing the story completely.

Everyone feels pity for Ivanov's wife because she has tuberculosis (TB), but nobody feels pity for Ivanov. That's because depression isn't considered a major illness in the society though it can somehow have more impacts on the patient, his family, and his society. He's depressed and because of that, he feels old while he's just 35. He feels guilty why he cannot love her wife anymore and it seems to be a sign of depression rather than because of his failure to achieve an expensive dowry, as the people say.

Ivanov's wife who converts to Christianity wants to meet her parents in her last months of life, but her parents reject because this is their faith. Alright, keep your faith for yourself.

Ivanov is paralyzed and cannot decide between Anna (his wife) and Sasha (Lebedev's daughter who loves him) and this makes the situation more complicated. By this way, he hurts them in addition to himself. However, it's not in a way that Ivanov shifts the responsibility on concepts like "love" and similar things. In contrast, he accepts the responsibility of his actions and it makes him feel guilty for that, thinking that he is killing his wife by not paying enough attention and love to her.

Ivanov is almost the most incomprehended person in his society. Nobody understands him and empathizes with him, maybe except Sasha. Sasha wants to help him, and I don't know why. Maybe it's due to some kind of so-called Savior complex and by this way, Sasha wants to prove herself by saving and rescuing him from his inaction and depression. In other words, some women (in contrast to the other portion of them) tend to so-called weak lost men. Maybe this is somehow a psychic defensive mechanism and by this way they want to save their own past traumatized self. This is why some statistics show that a higher than average rate of mental healthcare providers have struggled with mental illnesses even before entering the these professions.

Anyway, at last, when Ivanov understands that even Sasha, a new love, cannot save him, he decides to cancel the marriage, but Sasha and her father insist. They think his problem is something other than his mental state, like money. When Lvov comes to marriage party and insults Ivanov publicly, they defend Ivanov and this is admirable. However, Ivanov is tired of all these comedies and decides to kill himself.

Chekhov drowns the reader in the others' narratives about Ivanov, so that at last, it will be hard to hear and notice what he really feels and thinks. This makes him naked and undefended and he chose to end his life because of that. He's surrounded by many, but he is alone.

Chekhov's ability in thinking, creating characters and writing dialogues is impressive. Claps.