Revenge: Theme Analysis, discussion, stories and poetry based on "An Avenger"

An Avenger - A Summary

‘An Avenger’ is a short story written by Anton Chekov. He was a Russian playwright and short story writer, who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short fiction in history. The story revolves around a man named Sigaev. This short story is basically a small instance in the life of a Russian man which is been highlighted in the form of a story. In the story we find Sigaev standing in a shop named ‘Schmuck and Co.’s’, which sells revolvers, guns, and other weapons. Sigaev is seen to be filled with wrath and grief. The cause of his emotions is highlighted in the story in its very first line which says ‘Flagrante delicto Fyodor Fyodorovitch’ which means to catch someone Red-handed and in the context of this story it is his unfaithful wife who is been caught. Hence, he was in the weapon shop to buy one and murder his wife and her lover.
He wanted to be an avenger of all those citizens and men who had faced this kind of a betrayal from their spouse. His hatred towards his traitress was so much that even before buying a weapon, he had started imagining three corpses, brutally killed, the crowd with their gaping expressions, the commotions, the post-mortem and more. In his mind, he was plotting on how he can cause immense pain to his wife for her betrayal.His character in this story is seen to be very impulsive one. As this story is just an instance of his life, his complete character sketch cannot be concluded. As seen in the story, he is filled with anxiety, grief, and flickering mind.Next character in this story is that of the shopkeeper. He is described to be a sprightly little Frenchified figure with a rounded belly and wears a white waistcoat. He is seen to be displaying the revolvers to Sigaev and we can notice that he has a very respectful smile towards his customers. He is observed to scrape his feet often.As Sigaev goes on looking at the display, he is told about the Smith and Wesson pattern of a revolver with he can shot the wife and the lover to death accurately. The shopkeeper says that this pattern is the best for such cases. As the shopkeeper goes on telling about the displays, Sigaev mind travels to his plotting zones. He starts to think, how he has to kill them. First, he decides to kill the wife, the lover and himself after that. But he feels that if he kills himself, there won't be a way he could see them suffering from agony. Hence he decides to give them a more terrible death. He decides to kill the lover and then kill himself so that his wife is left alive with remorse and agony. In this way, he thinks she would suffer. But another question arises to him which was that if he killed himself, how will he be able to see her suffering. ‘Revenge is only sweet when one can see and taste its fruits, and what sense would there be in it if he were lying in his coffin, knowing nothing about it?’ thinks he. Hence, he decides to kill her lover first and then get arrested and then he would have plenty of time to think about how he can kill himself.In the meanwhile, the shopkeeper had shown him varieties of guns and revolvers. While describing them to Sigaev, the shopkeeper tells him that if the trial in the court is going on in the case of a marriage betrayal, the case wins For the lovers always because, in Russia, every husband has an affair with the wife of different men. He also says that every year their trade gets worse and worse but it doesn’t mean that wives are more faithful, but that husbands resign themselves to their position and are afraid of the law and penal servitude. Hearing to this Sigaev becomes cautious and decides that he can think about it later. While leaving, he just buys a net for catching quails for eight roubles and leaves.

Theme Analysis and Discussion

In the short story The Avenger there are the themes of trust, revenge, shame, and pride.Sigaev’s wife has been unfaithful to him. Sigaev wants to take revenge on both his wife and his wife’s lover. However, it is also noticeable that at times he also plans to kill himself after he is successful in killing his wife and her lover. He wants to let others know that he is the offended one in the entire scenario, that he himself has done nothing wrong. They are the guilty parties and their romantic engagements have driven him to the point of madness that he wants to take revenge. But after thinking a bit he gets to a conclusion that killing himself would not be a right step over the fact that his wife has been unfaithful. This is something that becomes clearer to Sigaev when he decides that the proper course of action is to divorce and shame his wife.It is also noticed that throughout the narration there is no reason mentioned as to why his wife has been unfaithful to him, also there is no background of Sigaev mentioned thus giving a whole lot of space for reader’s imagination.

The entire story is focused on how Sigaev feels and the importance of him being seen in a good light. Sigaev does not appear to mourn the fact that his wife has been unfaithful. Rather revenge is more important to Sigaev. Making his wife and her lover feel as he is feeling. As though this will solve the problem for Sigaev. In reality, Sigaev should probably follow the course of action he decides upon at the end of the story. 

Having done an analysis and discussion of the chapter and themes, here is a poem on one of the main themes of the chapter, that is, revenge, or vengeance.

Vengeance

I can see revenge as a rolling stone,
Place it up and will roll down on its own.
When we see the world as 'round',
Term "revenge" suits sound!
Whether you call it divine or humane,
There is vengeance, it's not just vain.
To the victim, it has importance much,
While others do not realise it as such.
When in limit, it gives justice,
When not, it loses the barrier's keys!
Some believe, 'Karma' is there to take care,
While others themselves perform it, without any share.
It is this 'revenge' that maddens people,
Again it is this alone that saddens people;
They believe, revenge can make the world blind,
Without it,but, they feel restless, one of a kind.
Yes, always revenge doesn't solve issues,
Instead, forgiving them and loving can spread innumerably unexpected hues!
- Epsita Mukherjee

Revenge or Karma? Call it luck, call it fate, call it destiny, or call it anything; never bother, let Karma do the dirty job.

Conclusion

No matter what, revenge will always remain a very controversial topic. Some might see revenge as a way of giving justice, but some might see it as injustice. Some believe in vengeance, whereas others believe in letting Karma do the job. All things said and done, there is no saying what is right and what is wrong. Situations, repercussions, consequences, all matter in the end, but what is most important, is being just and fair. 

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Amritanshu Das - 1640702 - 4BCB

Aishwarya R Mathai - 1640706 - 4BCB

Anarghya A Hegde - 1640707 - 4BCB

Anjaly Peter - 1640708 - 4BCB

Epsita Mukherjee - 1640710 - 4BCB

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