<Gooseberries>, by Anton Chekhov

Rating: 9/10

    What is happiness, and how do we achieve it? It seems these two questions are what Chekhov wanted us to think about deeply.  I believe that there is no definition of happiness, but wrong perspectives on happiness do exist.  However, the "hammer quote" really hit me, and it must be written for a meaningful purpose. I believe Nikolay was caught up in this thought that he must always move towards bigger success and material wealth. If you must compare your position in the society to others in order to feel secure and happy, that happiness will not be worth it in a long term. It's very impressive how this story reflects today's society although it has been written more than 100 years ago. It's truly sad to see so many people feel insecure and dreary if it's not for "someone standing with a little hammer." Even the ending where Alyohin and Burkin is unsatisfied, unmoved, and not interested in Ivan's sincere sermon perfectly completes the story showing how people are negligent on wisdom and foolish beings we are. This story struck me with a deep theme we must ponder about away from our hectic lives once in a while.

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 <The Student>, by Anton Chekhov Rating: 8/10      This story didn't have a dramatic scene or very creative factors, but the meaning was still powerful enough to give us an impact. As a Christian, it was meaningful to read the inner story of Peter's denial and the outer story of Velikopolsky altogether forming a complete meaning. Velikopolsky thinks that the past is linked to the present by an unbroken chain of events. The whole coincidence-like situation where Velikopolsky's preach about Peter's denial reflected the widows' past they don't want to be reminded of, making Vasilisa cry was impressive as it's proof that his thought is correct, and it represented that the message of the Gospels is relatable to people of the present.      "The Student" contained the 8th stage of a hero's journey, ordeal. Velikopolsky preached to the two widows, one of which didn't like his presence. He completed his preach, consequently touching Vasilisa...
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 <The Sisters>, by James Joyce Rating: 7/10      This story's ambiguity made me concentrate and delve into it more. We readers cannot know exactly about Father Flynn's confess nor the relationship of him and the boy. However, in my perspective, it was pretty predictable given the details throughout the story. The most notable point was the presence of Father Flynn remaining despite his death. After seeing the corpse, the boy doesn't eat crackers worrying if the eating sound would bother Father Flynn in his coffin. This shows the impact Father Flynn had on people around him, making me think that him and the boy would've had an inappropriate relationship. Considering how it's reasonable to see Father Flynn's paralysis is coming from Catholic and the fact that the Catholic society was corrupt and so wrong in the past, it makes my thoughts more certain. A confess is something you do when you have something in your heart that bothers you and want to spit it out...
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