World Literature

“Peter exhausted, worn out with misery and alarm, hardly awake …He was beaten”

Anton Chekhov alludes the idea of Westernization by incorporating story of Jesus and his disciples. The time this short story was written was after Peter the great lead Russia where he was able to westernize Russia between the time of 1672 to 1725. It is not ironic that Chekhov out of all of the disciples he could mention, mentions Peter. Even though Peter denied the fact that he didn’t know Jesus because at the time he was found in a state of darkness both literally and figuratively Peter continued to be a loyal disciple and found forgiveness and that forgiveness was his light, his hope to continue. Westernization also serves as hope for a better life to those who are in moments of “darkness” like the two widows the student found in the gardens. The widows, just like peter the disciple, were in the gardens in the dark going through tough times themselves. Westernization provides a guiding light and that’s what Chekhov was trying to convey by including the allegory of Jesus and his disciples.