Question- Analyse the story with reference to its relevance in the present context.

Ans-

The story written by Anton Chekhov is a timeless classic. Chekhov has always written stories which essentially with different facets and aspects of human nature. The heroes of his stories are essentially people from the common of the society. The realities of 19th Century lower middle class and peasant life are reflected in his writings and theme of life's meaningless recurs in his work. Here too, the hero is a common man, an old cab driver from the lower middle class who has recently lost his son.

If we talk about its relevance, we can easily state that times, settings, backgrounds and even people may change but what remains a constant factor is the untainted, pure love of a father for his son. It is the love of the highest order. Therefore, it is unfathomable to even think what an old father goes through if his son passes away before him infront of his eyes. The world seems cracking down. Life is all in ruins. But, different people have different ways of dealing with it. Here, the protagonist is deeply immersed in sorrow. He is pained beyond belief. He needs a miraculous healing. The sadness has enveloped him so much so that he cannot see anything around. Though time heals everything yet the pain still remains hidden in some closet of the heart. Here too, the old man is trying in vain to busy the pain somewhere deep inside and feel a part of the universe. His utterances made hesistatingly to different people like 'My son er my son died this week, sir', 'This week - er my er --- son died!', --- But my son is dead, mate - 'Do you hear? This week in the hospital. It's a queer business etc only strengthen the notion that humanity is long dead.

Though the story is set in the late 19th Century, the author has vividly portrayed the base mean and selfish character of the human beings. Humans are two faced. They have a different face for the professional world and another face for the personal world. We all carry such faces and so did the people in the late 19th Century when this story was conceived and written. However, Iona being a naive character doesn't understand this difference. He looks at everyone with the same lens. There is no difference in his eyes between the clours black and white. Everything appears the same to him.

Therefore, without any objectivity, he tries everytime a passenger gets into his sledge. The story also says that innocence has no place in the world. It seems to have died prematurely. People think they are better off being insensitive, crude, rude and arrogant. Their personal world is their own and nobody is allowed to see them emotional and vulnerable. The three revellers, the army officer and the others Iona meets all must have developed this thinking. They are more practical than Iona is and therefore very smartly they avoid getting into a lengthy conversation with the man who is desperate to vent his emotions and indescribable pain.

The story thus is relevant in today's times even. The message was relevant then and is even now and would remain in the future too. It is us for human beings to shed our artificial exterior and look around the people who may be longing for a look of sympathy in your eyes, a smile on your lips or a hand to care for. This timeless classic is eternal in the message and the lesson it carries for humanity.

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