Chekhov: Ward no. 6 (1892)

Anton Chekhov

I must write about Tolstoy's estate soon because there is much to tell! On the way back, Ford and I did find that time had, yet again, born us into the future. I will soon write of my trip to Tolstoy's estate, but am much more interested in writing about an important writer named Anton Chekhov. My usual perusal of the book shops here in Moscow has produced a great short story called, "Ward no. 6." 

Since I have caught up with Chekhov's published works, I have noticed some trends in his writing that "Ward no. 6" follows and, in some cases, differs. He often disrupts the expectations of the reader and switches plots or narratives, introduces new characters, or ends the story without getting to the point of the story (Terras 469). I cannot place him with other writers because of his contrariness to what I understand to be the general morality of our time. Even though he despises sin, he only seems to condemn the pettier sins like dishonesty and selfishness rather than adultery (468). He embraces how random life can be and does not write deep psychological stories like Dostoevsky. I see him, instead, following what Turgenev did by presenting a situation rather than analyzing it (470). Chekhov can also resemble Turgenev in that they both write “slice of life” stories (370). Without a doubt, Chekhov defies classification.

While discussing Chekhov with some friends in literary circles, I was told that Chekhov once identified with Tolstoy's philosophies of "quietism and doctrine of nonresistance to evil" (Terras 467). He has recently changed, and I was told evidence of this could be found in "Ward no. 6." After reading the story, I can also see places where Chekhov seems to be responding to Dostoevsky (Durkin 51).

An artist's interpretation of Ward no. 6

The first half of the short story is told from the point of view of a narrator who describes the town as if he too is a resident. He leads the reader through a description of the characters and who they are. Two of the five patients in Ward no. 6 hospital are the Jew Moseika and Ivan Dmitrich Gromov (Chekhov 172-3). They are supervised by Nikita, a retired soldier who beats the mentally unstable patients (171-2). The narrator describes Gromov’s descent into madness, unfolding the death of his father and brother and his eventual obsession with the degeneracy of humankind (174-9). Next the doctor of the town hospital, Andrei Yefimych Ragin, is introduced to the reader as a passive lover of intellect who begins to visit Ward no. 6. Ragin becomes fascinated with his intellectual debates with Gromov who attended university before his illness.

It is during the philosophical debates between Gromov and Ragin that I can see the parallels between how Chekhov structures the discourse and how Dostoevsky structure his discourse in novels like Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov, but the parallels extend beyond that (Durkin 51-2). Gromov’s cynicism and disgust for humanity echoes back to Ivan Karamazov’s attitude about humanity in that humans are hopeless and will tend to degenerate (52). Ragin’s passive stoicism begins to change as he ruminates on his discussions with Gromov, and soon, he begins to despair over the faults of humanity too and descend into insanity (58). Both Gromov and Ragin allow themselves to become so defined by their philosophies and literature that they soon despair because they cannot approach the ideals of philosophy and literature (Durkin 59).

Chekhov does not completely follow Dostoevsky’s philosophical patterns, however. “Ward no. 6” can also exist as commentary of the state of Russia. Russian literature, for a long time now, has voiced the wider societal and political issues in literature. This story can be a cautionary tale about over-internalizing philosophy instead of gaining real-life experience. Both Gromov and Ragin read extensively and conceptualize so much in their minds that they lose track of reality.

Here I really commend Chekhov for his dynamic and unpredictable writing. I still haven’t uncovered all the layers of “Ward no.6,” but I look forward to re-reading this text to admire his mastery.

Works Cited:

Chekhov, Anton. Ward no. 6. Bantam Books, translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, November 2000, pp. 171-221. Stories. Bantam Books, translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, November 2000.

Durkin, Andrew R. “Chekhov's Response to Dostoevskii: The Case of ‘Ward Six.’” Slavic Review, vol. 40, no. 1, 1981, pp. 49–59., www.jstor.org/stable/2496427.

Terras, Victor. A History of Russian Literature. Yale University Press, 1991.