Chekhov's stories often describe the small, complex moments of Russian life, focusing on a character's experience of a normal event and, doing so, commenting on the character himself. Agafya is one of Chekhov's longest short stories and is told from the point of view of a man who returns to his old village to spend a night with an old friend, Savka. Savka is handsome, but lazy – and he often entertains the village women in exchange for food or clothing. One of these women, Agafya, knew the narrator, who tries to warn her before leaving them alone. Agafya stays all night and returns in the morning to her husband who clearly sees where she was. The story contains elements of outsiders, social class in the countryside, illusion of love and despair. Throughout it all, Chekhov uses a gentle tone, sympathetic to all his characters, the different motifs and the little symbols in the story of these few hours. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay As in many Chekhov stories, the characters are familiar, but foreign. Although everyone in this story knows each other, they have not been in close contact for an uncertain period of time. This level of ignorance and blurred boundaries is evident. Although the narrator suggests that "I knew Agafya well" when they are alone together, he only speaks "when it seemed awkward not to say anything." Their conversation is brief, and the narrator almost expresses remorse when he warns her that Jacob might "find out," and she rejects this, but not with confidence. She is visibly surprised to have been found in this situation, as soon as she arrived she “hesitated, dropping a small package she was carrying and looking at me”. Without any further discussion of these two's pasts, Chekhov creates a sense of embarrassment, disappointment, and even defiant pride as Agafya stays despite her nerves and warnings. They are not strictly strangers, but they are no longer close. Elements of rich and poor, or class separation, are subtly acknowledged without comment. The three main characters all experience different situations, for different reasons. Savka, the guard, “is not worth a kopeck” despite his talent for hunting, his relaxation and his natural gift for relationships. He manages with his "old man's situation" and the food that is brought to him, and despite a harsh lifestyle, "this coarse gray salt, these dirty and greasy cakes, these eggs hard like Indian rubber: as they were all good”! » there is a sweetness to his freedom and he seems quite content with his way of life, "smiling with pleasure" – he does not seem to mind that "he was known to all as a failure". Agafya was “the switchman’s wife”, described as “a girl” – very young and who had married “a good and bold peasant”. Her simple life, however, is not satisfactory and she goes to great lengths to escape it; To meet Savka, she "crossed at night the river that had taken her breath away", fearing the arrival of her husband, she "wrung her hands impatiently", and she "tried, in a few hours of happiness, to catch up.” for the torture that awaited him. The narrator's class is not as clear... Agafya calls him "master", and he is a wise storyteller for Savka and he has clearly lived among these peasants before, but how or why he left is unclear. What's interesting is the class differences and what can be expected of people in these different classes. Relations between not only ;.