Within this story of a man’s preferred connections to the literary communities there is a relationship between his sister and him that begs attention. A disillusioned and heartbroken woman, Vera Semyonovna spends her time pondering the meaning of life.
“I’ve been haunted by a strange idea since yesterday. I keep wondering where we should all be if human life were ordered on the basis of non-resistance to evil?”
An interesting thought, and her brother cannot come up with an answer that puts her mind at ease. She cannot forget it and a short time later,
“You are probably right, but it seems to me, I feel something false in our resistance to evil, as though there were something concealed or unsaid. God knows, perhaps our methods of resisting evil belong to the category of prejudices which have become so deeply rooted in us, that we are incapable of parting with them, and therefore cannot form a correct judgement of them.”
Her logic carries it to a conclusion:
“Perhaps man is mistaken in thinking that he is obliged to resist evil and has a right to do so, just as he is mistaken in thinking, for instance, that the heart looks like an ace of hearts. It is very possible in resisting evil we ought not to use force, but to use what is the very opposite of force–if you, for instance, don’t want this picture stolen from you, you ought to give it away rather than lock it up.”
Chekhov has a knack for recognizing the diversity in human thinking. He makes the lady’s theory clear and concise, and yet while we may (or may not, granting that many believe this very thing) see it as illogical, it is presented in true and honest form, exactly as our adversaries do. What Chekhov is showing us is realism.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology