2 ms·
Wiser than the author? Where do you get that from? Also, while I agree that the piece is more philosophical than literary, it's more than just an argument for
by bdr 17y ago
Wiser than the author? Where do you get that from?
Also, while I agree that the piece is more philosophical than literary, it's more than just an argument for the younger man's perspective. After all, if the argument were irrefutable, the banker, who knows everything that we know, would have adopted the younger man's perspective. Instead, he hides the papers in the safe. Why? And in what other ways do people "put the papers in the safe" so to speak?
- hugh3 17y agoPerhaps my reading of the letter was excessively influenced by what I expected to happen, but I thought the story was more literary than philosophical. I expected the piece to end with the young man achieving so much enlightenment from his studies that he no longer needed the money, and by the time I got to the letter I was disappointed by its contents. I suppose it's equally possible to read the letter as showing that the young man is thinks he's become wise but hasn't really. I think the story would be enhanced if we were never shown what was in the letter. The banker goes to the cell and finds the man missing and the letter in his place, reads the letter and goes and locks it in his safe. I think that would be a better ending, but then again there's probably a reason why Chekhov is considered a great writer and I'm not.
- DrSprout 17y agoYou're an atheist, Checkov was not. For the theist the giving up earthly wealth ensures eternal bliss.