Discuss the story "Misery" and the characters of Iona and the horse by Anton Chekhove.

Grief strikes all men at some time in their lives.  The
stages of grief are similar for everyone; however, some people hold their feelings
inside. There are those who need to share their feelings.  This is true of the
protagonist in the story “Misery” by Anton Chekhov.  Iona Potapov wants and needs to
talk to someone. Chekhov addresses the indifference that man can show to one
another. 

The setting of the story is winter in Russia.  It
is extremely cold with snow falling. The narration is third person point of view with an
omniscient limited narrator.

Iona is elderly. He has
recently suffered a grievous loss.  After a brief illness, his son has died.  Iona is
beside himself with sorrow. There is no one to talk with about this tragedy, and no one
with which to share his misery.  Iona "thirsts for
speech."

He has been sitting in his sleigh with his little,
white horse. As the story progresses, he does gain several fares.  None of which are
interested in talking to the driver as each hurries to his
destination. 

• The first is an officer.  He does
  show some interest in the story of the death of the driver’s
  son.

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      'H’m! What did he die
of?’

        Iona turns his whole body round to his fare,
and says

      ‘Who can tell! I must have been from
fever…He lay      three days in the hospital and then he died…God’s
will.’

That is the end of the
discussion.  Iona is left with nothing to satisfy his longing to share his
story.

• The second fare is three young men. One
  of them is a hunchback.  He is particularly sarcastic and bitter about life.  The
  sustenance he receives from them is “We all have to
  die.”

• The third encounter is a house
  porter.  He tells the driver to go on and leave him
  alone.

After this encounter, Iona gives up and
returns to the yard for the evening. 

Iona sits in the cab
room.  He thirsts for human conversation.  His son has been dead for a week.  He has
been unable to talk to anyone about it.  He has a daughter who lives in the country, yet
he has not been able to see her either. There is a young cabby in the room; however, he
is thirsty and too sleepy to have any interest in the old
man.

Finally, Iona decides to go outside and see about his
horse.  When he sees her, she is munching on hay.  He begins to talk to her.  It as
though she understands that he must talk about his son’s death. Iona is reduced to
experiencing some relief in the warm, animal companionship of his
horse.

The old man feels some release that the horse
listens, eats, and breathes on him as he talks to her.  Having lost faith in man, he is
warmed by his old friend, the horse, with whom he shares his life. Psychologically, his
sorrow cannot be contained any longer.  He rushes to talk to anyone or anything.  He
finds comfort being able to communicate even with an
animal. 

The horse symbolizes what man will not give Iona:
attention, reflection, and love.  This the horse willingly gives to the old man.  Sadly,
humanity turns away from the old man who needs the attention.  The animal does
not.