The Cherry Orchard Act IV: When The Axe Falls

The word monotonous describes the final act of The Cherry Orchard. The whole act is spent in the farewell of all the characters who lived in the house. Regardless of it being monotonous it contains very important information about what happens to each of the characters after the house is sold. Monotony leads to dullness and boredom but it doesn't mean that it is not useful. In fact many monotonous activities are very important. Mathematics could be considered monotonous by the constant repetition of equations and numbers but at the end they turn out to be rather useful. This final act clarifies many events and actions that had been building intrigue and interest in the reader from previous acts.

The cherry orchard was the source of life for Andreyevna and her family. When Lopakhin announces that his recent acquisition was this property everyone acted as if they couldn't live without their cherry orchard. The question of what their life would be without their fountain of life had grown in the reader since Lopakhin bought it. Chekhov adds to the suffering of the family through the phrases, "The sound of axes chopping down trees is heard in the distance … Mama asks you not to start cutting down the cherry orchard until she's gone" (Chekhov 382). There is nothing more painful than to see the thing you love the most being destroyed in front of you. Andreyevna's pain is increased by the chopping of the trees in her presence. Varya's attempt to stop this is useless since the family has already heard the sound of the deadly axes chopping down their hopes of life.

The cathartic moment in this final act of The Cherry Orchard happens when the family makes a choice on what to do. Trofimov, the eternal student, says, "Hail to the new life" (Chekhov 392)! This marks the moment where the family accepts their fate and realizes that their life has to move on with or without the cherry orchard. Chekhov makes this an important phrase, especially because it is said by Trofimov. The fact that he honors and wants this new life shows that he, as the scholar, understands the facts and his life will not end with the chop of an axe. Since he appears is the wisest, everyone will follow his example, desiring for a new life.

The Cherry Orchard Act III: Trofimov, The Joker

Perhaps something intended to be funny turns out to not be funny at all. Maybe the joke was done in a very incorrect time or to the wrong audience. Regardless of this there exists the chance that something that had no funny intentions or planning behind it turns out to be incredibly funny. The idea if something is funny or not depends a lot on the person and not so much on the joke. One person might not like offensive jokes so any joke that contains any vulgar comment will not be funny to them. Other people may be pastusos and certainly they will not find funny jokes about them. There are some cases humor in Act III of The Cherry Orchard. Some made me laugh and others not at all, yet again jokes are rather subjective.

Trofimov seems like a scholar who studies plenty as well as concentrating a lot on his works. We are now presented with the image of a Trofimov who jokes around and mocks people. This can be seen when Trofimov says, "You know, there really is something equine about your figure" (Chekhov 363). He mocks Pishchik who says that he has descended from Caligula's horse. The use of the word equine in Trofimov's line shows to the reader his scholar side. He could have simply said horse like but Chekhov prefers to use a scientific word which would show the intellect of Trofimov. This type of comment falls into the category of planned funny jokes. Trofimov certainly planned to mock Pishchik and I thought his comment was funny. Of course Pishchik would not have laughed at this since this joke was laughing about him.

Trofimov is the funny guy in this act since he also causes laughter even without trying. According to Chekhov: "In the hall there is a sound of someone running quickly downstairs and suddenly falling with a crash. Anya and Varya scream, but a moments later laughter is heard" (Chekhov 370). Anya and Varya seem like the kind of persons that laugh at people falling. Personally I don't laugh too much when a person falls but I have to admit that there have been cases where I have laughed a great deal when a person falls. I did not laugh at this fall of Trofimov even after seeing the video of his fall. It all depends on the person, I think that the funniest fall I have seen is La Caida De Edgar, but others may have not laughed even once with it.

The Cherry Orchard Act II: Chilling In The Orchard

The school's amphitheater is a place where almost every student goes to chill there during break. Students normally chill where people from their same grade are and generally talk with their groups of friends. Today during break I experienced something similar to The Cherry Orchard. Every person was talking about a different thing. One boy was talking about FC Barcelona and their match, while another one was talking about golf, yet another one was talking about stocks. Two girls were talking about clothing and two others were talking about the party they attended during the week end. I felt as if every person there was talking of a completely different thing than the ones around, and none actually understood what they were pretending to be listening to.

In his play Chekhov tries to capture reality as a picture and he achieves this through dialogue. As in real life each character talks about whatever he or she pleases. The conversations shift quickly from one subject to another and there is no real central theme as in life. Lyubov Andreyevna says "Oh my sins…. I've always squandered money recklessly, like a mad woman", Gayev responds "That's our famous Jewish band. You remember. Four violins, a flute and a double bass", and finally Lyubov Andreyevna responds "It's still in existence? We ought to send for them some time and give a party" (Chekhov, 351). The way the theme changes from money to music to money again is quick and without depth in any of the previous subjects. This is exactly how conversations in life work, they change quickly and vary a lot in subjects. The other thing that Chekhov captures perfectly about reality is the quickness in which people forget things. In the first line Lyubov Andreyevna feels guilty for she has always "squandered money recklessly" but the next time she talks she says we have to "give a party" (Chekhov, 351). What this shows is how a real person feels bad for doing something but quickly does it again. In real life people do things even though they know it is bad. Andreyevna knows that they are losing all their money but still she wants to throw parties because what she likes is to squander money.

The King Of Norway by Amoz Oz

In this short story by Amoz Oz, the main character has an addiction for forecasting the tragedies and deaths around the world. Zvi Provizor, or the Angel of Death, is always listening to the news and telling everyone about the deaths around the world. He has little human contact except for the news about people from across the world. Oz portrays this character as a lonely human being that his only interest in life is learning about deaths and tragedies. The pessimism and the addiction to death Zvi has, shows how death and talking about it is his only purpose in life. His purpose has a drastic turn when he meets Luna Blank and starts forming a relationship with her. Even though, Zvi and Luna are both mocked with the nicknames Angel of Death and Black Widow, he at least is developing a human relationship with someone. Luna touches her breast with Zvi's hand one day, bringing this relationship to an end. Zvi continually avoids Luna and his death addicted life returns. Human contact scares Zvi as seen when he decided to avoid Luna, the only person in the kibbutz who cared for him. This problem is linked to his obsession of telling tragic events and deaths. His life is so concentrated on the news around the world that he is not able to live a life where his body is. The title refers to a place far away from where he lives but still his mind is in Norway because news came that the King of Norway had cancer. Zvi's obsession with news around the world prevents him from living his present life in the kibbutz.