Taking advantage of nice people has become the
social norm these days. For this reason, parents today have given up on raising
their children to be nice, but there still remain some exceptions. Yulia
Vasilyevna is one of those few exceptions. She is one of the main characters in
Anton Chekhov's short story "The Ninny". The main theme this story
speaks about is how many people are taken advantage of these days.
The story begins with the master of the house meeting
with the governess of his children, Yulia Vasilyevna, to discuss her paycheck. He
then begins to list wrong accusations at the governess, all the while subtracting
money from her salary, until her money is reduced from eighty rubles to eleven.
The interesting thing is that Yulia barely spoke throughout the whole ordeal,
tears sitting still in her eyes, and when he handed her the money, she took it
and uttered a single word of thank you.
The ending to the story was quite surprising,
because it turned out that the master was acting all the time, trying to test
her patience. He was outraged when the governess thanked him, and when he asked" is it
possible that there is anyone in this world who
is so spineless?" she replied back with an embarrassed smile.
The message that is conveyed in this story is a very
profound and contemporary one. There will always be people around the world
that prefer to take the safe side and not stand up, even if their rights are
taken. It is a question that we always ask ourselves, whether we want to stay
quiet and get through life peacefully, or if we would prefer to abide by the
saying "if you do not be a wolf you will be eaten by wolves".
ليست هناك تعليقات:
إرسال تعليق