MAA NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

MA-A, DAVAO CITY

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE

REQUIREMENTS

IN

ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC AND

PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES

ALFRE JANE R. ALINSONORIN

Submitted by:

REX M. PALES, MAT – RE, MAED –

Eng. (CAR)
 Submitted to:

July, 2018

(REVIEW)

Fat and Thin is a satirical short story by Anton Chekhov, first

publishe in NO. 40, 1 October 1883 issue of OSKOLKI magazine,

signed A. It was included into Chekhov’s 1886 collection Motley

Stories published in Saint Petersburg and later in the volume 1 of the Adolf Marks’s,

Chekhov’s collected works (1899). Anton PAULOVICH Chekhov was born in the

small seaport of Taganrog, Southern Russia. Time and again, Chekhov use his

stories to attack and pillory the strict vertical nature of Russian society during his

time. Here he is revisiting that theme in Fat and Thin, where he uses the friendship

of two old classmates to draw out the lesson, using a marked changed in the

conversation between old friends who meet after many years at the NIKOLAEVSKY

station and they begin trying to catch up.

 The story begins at the railway station, the fat one, Mischa who accidentally

meets the thin one, Porphyry. The thin man travels accompanied by his wife and son.

The two old school friends greet each other in an exuberant and informal manner. A

conversation follows and it is about careers of both of them as government officials.

The thin one appears to be an office chairman with a low salary, and his wife gives

music lessons. The fat has become a Privy council and has a greater authority than

the thin. The thin shrinks and at once addresses to his school friend as “Your

Excellency “. The thin rejects “this respect”. The thin man continues to talk in a

formal way with his old friend. The Privy Councilor is repelled by such

submissiveness then he says goodbye and leaves.

So as what I have read, I have learned that the Fat and Thin is a very realistic

story where demonstrating Russian’s society or could be our society that can place

someone in a category of judging by looks without even communicating or asking

with them. According to the bible, John 7:24 “Do not judge by appearances, but judge

with right judgment.” This just says that we can judge but we must judge in a proper

way and in a good manner. I could really relate with this story because nowadays we

all judge people without even planning on it. Then I have also experienced this kind

of manner, I have a friend and I always saw him for example on this his Sadly, it

comes natural for most of us, then I really enjoyed the message from this story as

well as the characters and the story seemed so simple. However, I thought it got a bit

of confusing at times and the author expected that you would quickly catch on when

sometimes the reader didn’t. Overall this short story is very great and it can really

help you to realize and relate it to yourself on how people treated each other

nowadays.