Heartache

The Fault of Society
“What kind of society isn't structured on greed? The problem of social organization is how to set up an arrangement under which greed will do the least harm”. This famous quote by Milton Fredmen sadly dictates what the fundamentals interests of society have become. In this short story, “Heartache” Anton Chekhov created a main character “Iona” who had recently lost his son. Iona throughout the story had tried to find someone who he can share his sorrows with but ultimately failed. It showed the selfish nature of society and its effects on Iona which in turn became his “heartache”. The author used the plot as a powerful tool to create a mood of darkness and despair which in turn helped to create the theme of the dying morals of society.
In “heartache” the setting is an essential device that helps to construct the overall mood of the story. Anton Chekhov used the weather as a mean to show the dying mood of Iona. “Large flakes of snow are circling lazily about the street lamps which have just been lighted, setting in a thin soft laver on roofs, horse’s back, people’s shoulder, and cap”. This scene is a door into Iona’s mood. At first it is lost, like a flake of snow falling, not knowing the outcome of the future, completely lost as his son died and letting the wind carry its future. But as time passes, something as lost or as pristine as a flake of snow will melt and turn into dirty sludge on the side of the road. This Quote also paints a picture of the well know grey landscape which can automatically relate to a sense of gloom.
Iona was a cabman in the old days of Russia who was suffering from the loss of his son. Iona finds himself lost and fundamentally isolated from the rest of the world as his mind is wrapped around his deceased son. Iona was described in the first paragraph as a man who has lost his fight, someone who doesn’t have the basic desire and willpower to live. “As hunched as a living body can be, he sits on the box without stirring if the whole snow drift was to fall on him, he would not find it necessary to shake it off.” Iona was unable to find the basic instinct of survival.
Anton Chekov utilized the suffering of Iona to show how we paint a blind eye over other peoples suffering as we do not want to deal with the pain that comes after it without any compensation. Throughout the story, Iona was trying to unburden his story to anyone he can find. He tried telling his sorrows to a military officer and later to a group of young man. No matter how much times Iona tries to bring out the fact that his son recently passed. Sadly none of them cared about what he was saying, they were only interested in arriving at their destination. His passengers even became annoyed and angry with Iona telling him to go faster or pay attention to the road without realizing the pain that Iona is going through. Everyone is this world is guilty of passing someone in need of help, such as a homeless man on the street, or a child stranded on the side of the road. We have rationalized that those are not our responsibility and is that belief is what cause Iona more suffering and is the most prevalent in society. After dropping of his last passengers, Iona tried to share his grief with the door keeper, but was roughly sent away with a reply of “What have you stopped here for? On your way!” Near the end of the story, Iona tried telling his story to his coworker without much luck. “Iona looks to see the effects of his words but he notices none. The young man has drawn his cover over his head and is already asleep. Iona’s soon realizes that no one have the compassion to listen to his story which much needed to get out rather than entangling his heart. Iona is succumbed by loneness and grief, a couple of time he “Bends himself double” as if he wants to escape, with no one who is willing to listen, Iona is collapsing from the inside. When it reach a point where Iona could not hold his feeling together much longer, Iona found the one thing which isn’t encased in selfishness, Iona found his horse and spilled his heart out.
Iona in the story was a flake of snow, lost and isolated at the beginning with no real directions, but became more isolated with feelings much more painful as time passes, as a snow would melt into sludge. Iona tried to unleash his pain by trying to speak out his feelings to anyone he can find but ultimately failed. Rather than getting the compassion and care from society, all Iona got was neglect and annoyance which in turn added on top of Iona’s pain.