Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Gooseberries, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Happiness, Suffering, and Meaning
Wealth and Status
Modernity, Isolation, and Nature
Summary
Analysis
On a bleak, cloudy day, veterinarian Ivan Ivanych and high school teacher Burkin are walking through vast fields outside the Russian village of Mironositskoe. Opposite the village, there are hills bordering a riverbank that stretch far into the distance. If one stands atop these hills in clear weather, one can see all of the surrounding scenery, a train that passes through the valley, and the town below. Ivan and Burkin are tired of walking, but they marvel at how beautiful the calm countryside is.
The opening passage focuses on a description of the lush scenery outside of Ivan and Burkin’s Russian village, rather than any exposition about the two men themselves, which sets up nature as a focal point of the story. The town below the hills is notably set apart from the fields that surround it, which gives the impression that the people who live there are separated from nature—physically, and perhaps mentally, too. But Ivan and Burkin are voluntarily forgoing the city’s modern comforts and instead immersing themselves in the outdoors, regardless of the dreary weather. Their contentment in this environment begins to suggest that insulating oneself from the elements may be comfortable, but it isn’t necessarily conducive to happiness.
Themes
Burkin reminds Ivan that he was supposed to tell him a story the last time they met, so Ivan lights his pipe and prepares to tell Burkin the story about his brother—but just then, it starts to rain. The dogs the men have with them are soon wet and forlorn-looking, so Burkin suggests that they take cover at their friend Alekhin’s home nearby, and Ivan agrees. They traipse through the fields until they reach Alekhin’s estate, Sofyino, which features red barns, a garden, a “sparkling river,” a large pond with a mill, and a bathing house. Everything looks dismal and unwelcoming in the rain, and as Ivan and Burkin approach Alekhin’s barns, they feel uncomfortable in their wet clothes and mud-caked shoes.
Alekhin’s large estate immediately signals that he’s wealthy and successful—the “sparkling river” in particular connotes cleanliness and luxuriousness. Sofyino’s many features offer a comfortable respite from the elements: whereas the fields and hills outside Mironositskoe represent untamed nature, Sofyino represents people’s ability to exert control over their environment (through farming and gardening) as well as their ability to insulate themselves and their possessions from the occasional harshness of the outside world (in structures like the barns and the bathing house). In this way, Burkin and Ivan’s decision to come to Sofyino suggests a conflict between their reverence for nature and their necessary desire to shield themselves from it.
Themes
Ivan and Burkin find Alekhin processing grain in one of the barns, “looking more like a professor or an artist than a landowner.” He’s wearing simple and dirty clothing and is covered head to toe in dust from the winnowing machine. Alekhin greets the men with a smile and instructs them to wait for him in the large main house. There, a young maid named Pelageya—whose beauty stuns Ivan and Burkin—invites the men inside, and Alekhin enters just after them. Alekhin tells Ivan and Burkin how happy he is to see them and invites them to wash up in the bathing house with him, so Pelageya brings the men some towels and soap.
Although Alekhin’s estate indicates that he’s quite well-off, he’s doesn’t look like a typical landowner: he seems “more like a professor or an artist,” and his clothing is more characteristic of a peasant than a rich man. Right away, this signals that Alekhin is more modest than one might expect someone of his social class to be. The fact that he’s doing manual labor (when he could presumably afford to hire employees to do this work) further shows that he’s humble. In addition, his warm hospitality toward Ivan and Burkin indicates that he’s kind, and generous. Meanwhile, Pelageya’s beauty may seem like a passing detail, but it subtly hints at the importance of youth and vitality in the story. To Ivan and Burkin, at least, these are characteristics worth noticing and appreciating.
Themes
As the three friends undress in the bathing house, Alekhin tells Ivan and Burkin that he hasn’t had time to bathe in months. While Alekhin and Burkin bathe inside, Ivan instead chooses to go out to the pond and swim in the rain, diving under the water and joyfully repeating “Ah, my God.” He keeps swimming until Alekhin and Burkin emerge from the bathing house, already dressed, and Burkin beckons him back to the main house.
A bathing house would have been quite the luxury for someone in 19th-century Russia (where the story is set), as indoor plumbing was still a rarity in rural areas like this. The fact that Alekhin doesn’t use this amenity further characterizes him as humble and unconcerned with social status or superficial appearances—he’d rather spend his time working hard than primping. Ivan, meanwhile, opts to enjoy the pond amid the rainstorm rather than join his friends in the bathing house, which once again highlights the ecstasy that one can find through direct connection to nature. Indeed, Ivan seems to take delight in experiencing nature in its rawest form and perhaps even in mild suffering (the rain and pond water are likely cold, after all), eschewing the modern comfort of the bathing house in favor of fully immersing himself in the elements. The experience could also be read as a kind of symbolic baptism for Ivan, as he dunks his head underwater repeatedly and utters, “Ah, my God,” with a kind of religious awe. This seems to suggest that Ivan is trying to cleanse himself spiritually, and that connecting with nature in an authentic (and even uncomfortable) way is meaningful to him.
Themes
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The three friends, now warm and cozy in their clean clothes, settle into drawing room. Pelageya serves them tea and fruit preserves while Ivan begins telling the story about his younger brother, Nikolai. While Ivan was studying to become a veterinarian, then-19-year-old Nikolai began working at a government office. The brothers’ father, Chimsha-Himalaysky, was a military officer. After his death, the small estate where Ivan and Nikolai were raised was sold to pay off his debts—the boys had had an idyllic childhood on this land, frolicking in nature “like peasant children.”
Again, although Ivan seems to be at his happiest when he’s out in nature—weather notwithstanding—he also doesn’t resist comforts like a warm house, clean clothing, and tea brought to him by a servant. This hints at a conflict within Ivan, and perhaps within all people, between a love of the natural world and a temptation to indulge in modern conveniences. The beginning of Ivan’s story about Nikolai makes it clear that the brothers came from modest means and were raised to appreciate the outdoors “like peasant children” might—that is, without expensive comforts to distract from or dilute their experience of nature.
Themes
Ivan muses that once a person has experienced nature’s beauty, they’ll no longer feel at home in a town and will forever long to return to the countryside. This was certainly the case for Nikolai, who stagnated for years in his government office job, all the while daydreaming about moving to a modest country home near a lake or riverbank. Ivan never understood his brother’s desire; in his view, relegating oneself to an isolated piece of land is no different than allocating six feet of earth to a corpse. He declares that the town is where “the struggle and noise of life” happens, and that moving away to a plot of land is self-centered, lazy, and spiritually deadening—one needs to experience the entire world to truly be free.
Ivan believes that nature must be experienced in its full scope, and in an unrestrained way. This seems to be why he disapproves of Nikolai’s dream so vehemently, even though the brothers share a love of nature: Ivan thinks that limiting oneself to one confined, cultivated swath of land is an inauthentic way to experience the natural world. In his estimation, living on an estate is almost sinful—a curious opinion, given that Ivan led a happy childhood on a country estate, and that Alekhin (who’s listening to this story) is a landowner himself. Ivan’s comment that all of “the struggle and noise of life” happens in the city suggests that what’s missing from the countryside is suffering—that is, the challenges and obstacles that make life meaningful and interesting. In Ivan’s view, without “struggle and noise” to counterbalance easy happiness and comfort, one may as well be dead.
Themes
From his office, Nikolai would dream about growing and eating his own food and lounging outdoors. He loved to read agricultural books, almanacs, and newspaper advertisements of land for sale. Drawing inspiration from these materials, he’d imagine different features—gardens, birdhouses, ponds—for his own country home. These fantasies varied, but one element always remained the same: Nikolai knew that he wanted to grow gooseberries on his land. The plans he’d draw for his estate would always feature a master’s house, servants’ quarters, a kitchen garden, and gooseberry bushes.
Whereas Ivan believes that struggle and variety are what constitute a meaningful life, Nikolai places more importance on comfort, security, and aesthetic beauty. Nikolai’s plans for his estate also hint at a preoccupation with wealth and status, since having enough money to employ servants is central to his vision. Most important, though, are the gooseberry bushes: it's unclear why Nikolai fixates on gooseberries specifically, but the ability to grow and eat them on his own land seems to symbolize his dream of a financially prosperous, peaceful, self-sufficient lifestyle. Nikolai’s ideal relationship with nature—cultivating and shaping his environment rather than basking in its raw form—is Ivan’s nightmare.
Themes
With this vision in mind, Nikolai lived frugally for decades, eating little and wearing threadbare clothes to save every penny he could. When he was in his forties, his job transferred him to a different province. Still focused on the country home with the gooseberries, Nikolai married an old, unattractive widow—whom he didn’t love—simply because her previous husband had left her a modest sum. He remained stingy to keep saving as much money as possible, however, and his wife grew resentful of never having enough to eat. She died three years into their marriage, and Ivan reflects that Nikolai never thought to blame himself for her death.
Up until this point in Ivan’s story, Nikolai’s dream of becoming a landowner seemed innocent enough. Here, however, it becomes clear that he’s a man obsessed: he’ll embitter his own and other people’s lives in order to accumulate wealth and build the estate of his dreams. In fact, Nikolai’s behavior hints that he sees his future property primarily as a status symbol. It’s unclear if the way Nikolai deprived his wife directly caused her death—but the fact that he took advantage of her for her money, treated her poorly, and didn’t seem to care that she died is disturbing, regardless. In Nikolai’s case, at least, a fixation on money seems to have a morally corrosive effect. Having witnessed all of this, it makes sense that Ivan detests people who are only focused on their own happiness and material wealth rather than trying to live morally and meaningfully.
Themes
Ivan points out that money, like alcohol, can have strange effects on people. He tells Burkin and Alekhin how once, when a merchant in his town was dying, the man covered all of his money and lottery tickets in honey and ate them so that no one else could have his riches. Another time, when Ivan was inspecting cows at the train station, one of the cattle dealers fell under a train and had his foot cut off. Ivan helped carry the dealer to the hospital, his wound pouring blood—and all the while, the man begged the others to find his amputated foot because he didn’t want to lose the 20 rubles he kept in his boot.
The anecdotes Ivan shares in this passage are darkly humorous, highlighting the absurd lengths people will go to for money. The man who ate his riches—and particularly the man who was more concerned with 20 rubles (a few dollars in modern currency) than with his missing foot—are further examples of the maddening effect that money can have on a person. As a veterinarian, Ivan likely makes a decent living himself—but the difference between him and the men in his stories comes down to personal values and attitude. Even though Ivan has money, he doesn’t center his life around it.
Themes
Returning to the story about his brother, Ivan recounts that after his wife’s death, Nikolai began looking for an estate to buy. He ended up buying 300 acres of land with a master’s house, servant quarters, and a park—but there were no gooseberries, and the river bordering the estate was contaminated with factory runoff. But this didn’t bother Nikolai, who planted 20 gooseberry bushes and quickly settled into “living like a landowner.”
Beyond literal aesthetic differences, the contrast between the polluted river by Nikolai’s estate and the “sparkling river” by Alekhin’s is also symbolic. It hints thatNikolai’s success is inherently dirty and contaminated, like the polluted river, because he was only able to achieve his dream by becoming miserly, greedy, and cruel. Alekhin, on the other hand, is implied to have acquired Sofyino through honest means, and he certainly isn’t money-hungry or status-obsessed—his morals, like his river, are pure and clean. Ivan’s comment that Nikolai was “living like a landowner” is interesting, then, since it implies that all landowners are the same.
Themes
Last year, Ivan went to visit Nikolai at the estate, nicknamed Himalayskoe. The land was covered in thick brush and ditches, making it difficult for Ivan to get to the house. When the brothers reunited, Nikolai looked old and fat, and he and Ivan wept and embraced, depressed by the fact that they were both grey-haired and nearing death. When Nikolai showed Ivan around the estate, Ivan saw that his brother was living like “a real landowner, a squire”—Nikolai now ate well and bathed regularly. He made a big show of helping the local peasants, but he also took great offense whenever one of them failed to address him as “Your Honor.”
Ivan and Nikolai’s reaction to seeing each other—emotionally lamenting their old age—suggests that the brothers have a common interest in making the most of their lives. The difference is that Nikolai’s path to fulfillment seems to rely on wealth and status—that is, ensuring that he has enough money and resources to insulate himself from suffering—whereas Ivan believes that a person needs to experience ups and downs to live meaningfully. Again, Ivan’s observation that Nikolai was “like a real landowner, a squire” ignores the fact that not everyone in the landowning class is the same. After all, Alekhin’s estate is much nicer than Nikolai’s, meaning that he’s even wealthier, yet he isn’t lazy or arrogant like Nikolai is. It seems that the two men’s attitudes toward their prosperity is what sets them apart: Alekhin works hard for what he has and stays humble, while Nikolai demands respect from the lower classes without doing any of the work that would actually warrant respect.
Themes
In Ivan’s opinion, Nikolai’s luxurious new lifestyle had made him insufferably conceited. While he used to be afraid of sharing his opinions, he now boldly stated his views on issues like education and corporal punishment, the way a government minister would. Nikolai spoke arrogantly about his influence over the peasants and continuously referred to himself as a nobleman—conveniently forgetting that their grandfather was a peasant and their father a soldier.
“Gooseberries” takes place in late 19th-century Russia, soon after Emperor Alexander II dissolved the country’s centuries-old feudal system. Under feudalism, the peasant class was made up of serfs (indentured servants) whom landowners essentially treated like slaves. With this context in mind, it’s understandable that Ivan finds Nikolai’s attitude so distasteful: since the Ivanych brothers have peasant roots, it’s likely that their ancestors (and perhaps even their living relatives) were serfs who suffered under the rule of landlords. This makes Nikolai’s haughtiness, self-appointed noble status, and abuse of power over the local peasants particularly egregious. His transformation from frugal civil servant to entitled landowner certainly gives credence to Ivan’s opinion that a such a sheltered, indulgent life is meaningless and spiritually corrupting.
Themes
On the evening of Ivan’s visit, while he and Nikolai were having tea, the cook served them a plate of gooseberries that Nikolai had grown on his own bushes. Nikolai gobbled down the berries and raved about how delicious they were, but Ivan found them “tough and sour.” Ivan pauses his story about his brother to quote the Russian author Alexander Pushkin, who said that people prefer their “exalted illusions”—their delusional fantasies—to the truth. Seeing Nikolai happy and fulfilled that night filled Ivan with despair; as he lay in bed, he heard Nikolai repeatedly getting up to eat more gooseberries.
For years, the ability to grow and eat his own gooseberries has symbolized the lifestyle Nikolai dreamed of, so the fact that he now has them represents his achievement of that dream. The fact that Nikolai finds the berries sweet, while Ivan finds them “tough and sour” thus represents the brothers’ different opinions about Nikolai’s success: while Nikolai seems happy and fulfilled on the surface, Ivan thinks that his brother is only deluding himself into happiness, just as he’s deluding himself into thinking that the berries are sweet. Nikolai was, after all, only able to purchase Himalayskoe by depriving himself and his late wife for years. And now that he has the estate, the land isn’t what he imagined (it’s covered in brush and backs up against a polluted river), and Nikolai has become lazy, pompous, and cruel. For those reasons, Ivan thinks that Nikolai’s success is tainted by the means he used to achieve it, as well as the kind of person that success has turned him into. But it’s impossible for readers to know what the gooseberries actually taste like, so it’s unclear which of the brothers is really deluding themselves: Nikolai does seem genuinely happy, so it’s possible that Ivan is the one imagining the “tough and sour” taste out of resentment.
Themes
Ivan marvels aloud at how, when one is in public, it seems as though everyone is happy—but in private, many people are actually lazy, ignorant, poor, or degenerate. The horrible aspects of life happen behind closed doors, and Ivan thinks that this is the only way happy people can remain as such. He wishes that happy people could be continuously reminded of others’ unhappiness—which they, too, will inevitably experience one day. But alas, happy people remain blissfully ignorant.
This aside hearkens back to Ivan’s earlier comments about associating land ownership with selfishness and laziness. In his view, a comfortable and happy lifestyle like Nikolai’s is only able to exist because his land and wealth insulate him from the suffering that goes on around him. This state of blissful ignorance may make for a happy life, but it doesn’t make for a particularly meaningful or fulfilling one. After all, as Ivan points out, happiness is fleeting—it can be (and inevitably will be) easily disrupted by tragedy.
Themes
Returning to his story, Ivan tells Burkin and Alekhin that he recognized his own happiness that night too. Like Nikolai, Ivan would lecture others about proper living, religion, and politics—he’d say that education and freedom were necessary, but that achieving these things for everyone in society takes time. But now, looking angrily at Burkin, Ivan rhetorically questions this thinking—he demands to know who it is that’s telling people to wait, and why people trust in the natural order of things when they could act instead.
Here, Ivan recognizes his own hypocrisy in acting as though he knows the key to a fulfilling life. Although he believes that people shouldn’t aspire to happiness because it causes them to stagnate and miss out on life’s meaningful ups and downs, he admits that he himself has fallen into this trap. Having condemned Nikolai for being happy at the cost of other people’s unhappiness, Ivan recognizes that he, too, lectures people about bearing their suffering and waiting for their lives to improve, all the while enjoying the very privileges (such as education, freedom, and a decent standard of living) that others are denied.
Themes
Ivan says that he left Nikolai’s house the next morning, and that from that point forward, he’s found it unbearable to live in town—the peacefulness and the sight of happy people pain him. Ivan laments to Burkin and Alekhin that he’s old and weak, and he’s haunted by his own miserable thoughts. “If only I were young!” he exclaims twice.
Although Ivan previously characterized the city as the environment where “the struggle and noise of life” happens, here he admits that he now finds it just as oppressive as Nikolai’s lifestyle. It seems he’s recognized that both of these modern living situations—a house in town or an estate in the countryside—are equally manmade and artificial compared to being out in nature without any creature comforts. However, Ivan’s reaction to other people’s peace and happiness, combined with his exclamation, “If only I were young!” suggest that his distaste for modern lifestyles is rooted in resentment. Perhaps the reason why he disapproves of other people experiencing sustained comfort and happiness is because he’s envious and feels that he’s wasted his own life.
Themes
Suddenly, Ivan grasps Alekhin’s hand and pleads with him to avoid settling down and becoming complacent when he’s still young, strong, and capable of doing good. A happy life is one without purpose—meaning is found elsewhere, in “something more intelligent and great.” “Do good!” Ivan exclaims.
Ivan’s plea with Alekhin to “Do good!” again hints that Ivan is speaking out of resentment and fear that he squandered his own youth and potential. (This is perhaps why Ivan was so struck by Pelageya’s youthful beauty earlier in the story—vitality is something Ivan clearly values and perhaps even covets.) But, contrary to Ivan’s opinion, Alekhin’s life does seem meaningful as well as happy, at least to Alekhin himself. Notably, Ivan never defines what “something more intelligent and great” means—that is, what he believes is a superior path in life. And Ivan certainly doesn’t seem more fulfilled than Alekhin despite positioning himself as a voice of reason and wisdom. Perhaps, then, a meaningful life is more subjective than Ivan would like to admit—just because he doesn’t find Nikolai and Alekhin’s lifestyles fulfilling doesn’t mean that they don’t.
Themes
The three friends fall silent—Ivan’s story bored Alekhin and Burkin. Something about the atmosphere of the drawing room, with its hung portraits of generals and ladies in gold-frames, is more suited to stories about “fine people” than one about an awful civil servant eating gooseberries. The people in those portraits once sat in this very room, drinking tea just as Ivan, Alekhin, and Burkin are being served by Pelageya now—and that fact alone is a better story than Ivan’s tale about Nikolai.
The narration in this passage further suggests that Ivan’s ranting about wealth and happiness is rooted in personal resentment rather than genuine wisdom about what makes life worth living. Instead of feeling inspired to eschew happiness and embrace suffering in order to find meaning, Alekhin and Burkin are bored by the story about Nikolai—they would rather hear about “fine people” achieving great things than focus on resenting what others have. It is, after all, somewhat hypocritical that Ivan is condemning wealthy, happy people and modern comforts, all the while luxuriating in a fancy drawing room and drinking tea served by a maid.
Themes
By this time, Alekhin is exhausted—farm work makes him an early riser—but he doesn’t want to go to bed and miss Ivan and Burkin discussing something of interest. He doesn’t know if anything Ivan has said is correct or particularly profound, but he doesn’t want to end the conversation because it’s unrelated to the practical concerns of his own life as a farmer.
As someone focused on the manual labor on his own land, Alekhin doesn’t understand Ivan’s concerns with pursuing a meaningful path. For Alekhin, life is straightforward: he fulfills his responsibilities on his farm, and he seems happy and content to focus on these practical matters. This perhaps suggests that rejecting comfort and happiness in favor of suffering and deliberately trying to find meaning is misguided. Instead, people might be better of following Alekhin’s lead, simply pursuing what makes them happy and gives them a sense of fulfillment. Moreover, this passage again shows that wealth doesn’t necessarily make a person lazy or arrogant: both Nikolai and Alekhin are affluent landowners, yet Alekhin is notably down-to-earth. At the same time, Alekhin is interested in the potential of the conversation precisely because it isn’t related to his practical concerns, so even he who seems mostly content has some sense of there being a part of life that he is missing out on.
Themes
Burkin announces that it’s time for bed, however, and he and Ivan go upstairs while Alekhin goes to his bedroom on the first floor. Pelageya makes up two beds with fresh-smelling linens for Ivan and Burkin in a guest room. In the corner of the room, there’s an ivory crucifix. Leaving his pipe on the nightstand, Ivan says, “Lord, forgive us sinners,” and goes to sleep in one of the beds. In the other bed, Burkin lays awake and wonders where the strong smell of stale tobacco is coming from. Rain beats down on the windows through the night.
The crucifix in the guestroom implies that Alekhin is religious to some degree, and it does seem like he lives his life according to Judeo-Christian principles like responsibility, integrity, and kindness. Yet Ivan’s us of the pronoun “us” in his comment, “Lord forgive us sinners,” seemingly lumps himself, Alekhin, and Burkin into the category of “sinner.” It’s unclear exactly what he means by this—but given how he’s expressed his distaste for modern comforts throughout the story, it’s likely that what he finds sinful is his and his friends’ indulgence in comfort and convenience. Yet Ivan makes no effort to resist these things himself, allowing Pelageya to make his bed and settling in for a warm night, safely insulated from the rainstorm. This perhaps suggests that seeking out comfort and happiness is a natural human instinct—even someone like Ivan, who recognizes his own hypocrisy believes that he’s a “sinner” for enjoying these things, can’t help but find solace in them. Meanwhile, the scent of stale tobacco emanating from Ivan’s bedside could be read as a subtle parallel to Ivan’s own staleness and unpleasantness—something he himself is unaware of but that bothers others. Rather than being inspired by the story Ivan told and sympathizing with Ivan’s tirade against Nikolai, Burkin was put off by Ivan’s bitterness and resentment, just as he’s repelled by the smell that now envelops his friend. Ultimately, “Gooseberries” is a story that portrays various ways of living—striving for wealth and status; enduring suffering; enjoying nature; focusing on practical matters—and never settles on any of them as obviously correct or right. The story captures the complexity and even the impossibility of the human search for fulfillment and happiness rather than easy answers about how to succeed in that search.
Themes
