The Death of a Government Clerk

Anton Chekhov was born in Russia in 1860. His most celebrated works include the plays Uncle Vanya and The Cherry Orchard and the short stories “The Peasants” and “The Lady With the Dog.” Chekhov was no stranger to comedy, but his humor is often couched within serious, unsettling situations, featuring characters who are unable or unwilling to overcome their shortcomings and help themselves. “The Death of a Government Clerk” contains some of these same elements. First published in 1883, the short story highlights the extreme anxiety of a low-level government worker after he accidentally sneezes on a high-ranking official at the opera. The story blends the absurd with realistic scenarios from late-19th-century Russian life. Some of its main themes include the struggle over class, the paranoia that results from a powerful bureaucratic state, and the dangers of conforming to the rules of that state.

This guide refers to the English version translated by Ronald Meyer and published in a 2014 Norton Critical Edition.

The story is told from a third-person perspective, with the narrator closely following the thoughts of the government clerk Ivan Dmitrich Chervyakov. One fine evening, the clerk attends a performance of the comic opera The Bells of Corneville.