Anton Chekhov's short story titled "A Joke" is an interesting read for curious readers. Written with great care, the story offers readers the chance to dive deeper into the unconscious of the characters and extract layers of meaning behind the seemingly normal words spoken and ordinary actions performed by the pair of characters introduced in the story. The story ends, shockingly enough, with the narrator being confused about why he fooled around with his girlfriend. Throughout the story, the reader gets the feeling that the narrator carelessly took the idea of ​​saying "I love you Nadia" to his girlfriend and perhaps did it on purpose over and over again to joke with her. On a deeper level of analysis, however, the binaries seem to change quite quickly as the reader traces hints of the intensity the narrator experiences with his growing emotions. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Let's look at the apparent meanings that intervene in the plot of the story. First of all, the universally recognized dogma according to which the male is imprudent and the female sensitive has proven to be somewhat true. It is stated that whispering "I love you Nadia" in her beloved's ears becomes a sort of sport for the narrator while, on the other hand, Nadia begins to "crave this phrase like some people crave morphine or wine". Secondly, whatever happens in the story somehow explains the miserable condition Nadia finds herself in, while there is no hint that the narrator takes anything seriously. Upon closer inspection, however, revealing facts may come to light. First of all, the story is told entirely from the narrator's point of view and understanding. If the narrator was simply “joking” with his girlfriend, then why did he remember every detail of how he felt? What evidence do we have that the whole thing wasn't just the narrator's imagination arising from some emotional turmoil? Could it be that the narrator was in love with the girl but couldn't find the courage to say it openly? Couldn't this be the reason why he kept whispering and, without finding an answer, creating everything in his mind? Perhaps that is why her memories are even more vivid than ever as she lives a happy married life with her husband and children and the story makes no mention of the narrator settling down in life later on. Interestingly, the narrator is able to remember the smallest details of how it all began and the whole atmosphere, his girlfriend's physical appearance and the surrounding details are clearer than ever in his mind. We learn that "the air was crisp with frost, and Nadia, walking beside me, found her curls and the delicate down of her upper lip silvered by her own breath." The point is, if it was a joke to him, why is his mind perfectly recapturing a memory that was seemingly so trivial to him? Later, we find out that he is the one who pushes her to slow down in the first place while she is absolutely reluctant to do so. "Let's move on, Nadia!" he begs, “just once! I promise you that nothing will happen." To our surprise, Nadia is “shy” and thinks that if she took a ride “she would die, she would go crazy”. This reluctance, on a superficial level, is interpreted by readers as an act of female cowardice which is quite just an understanding.However, there could be other explanations if the tracks here were even slightly shaken. If we assume that this reluctance is due only to the fact that she did not want to go with “him”, sufficient evidence from the text supports this hypothesis Even whenshe agrees to go with him because of his constant begging and pleading, the discomfort is present. “I could see from his face,” the narrator says, “that he did it, he thought, at the risk of his life.” When they finally sit on the sleigh, the narrator puts his "arm around" it and the sleigh flies "like a gunshot." The description here is very vivid. The narrator now begins to use “we” instead of “she” or “I” when describing feelings of fear and anxiety. This shift from a singular pronoun to “we” may refer to the narrator's need to be one with his beloved. “The torn wind lashed our faces; it howled and whistled in our ears and pinched us furiously, trying to tear our heads off our shoulders; its pressure suffocated us; we felt as if the devil himself had seized us with his claws and dragged us with a scream down to the infernal regions. Now, this is pretty scary. The images used are intimidating enough to jolt your memory. Yet, surprisingly, the narrator, in the midst of such a horrible situation, manages to whisper “I love you Nadia” in the ears of his companion. One explanation for this surprise could be that the narrator thought this was the end of his life and wanted some emotional confessions before he died. Soon after his statement, the entire scenario begins to change. We deduce that "now the sled began to slow down, the howling of the wind and the rustling of the skates seemed less terrible, we began to breathe again". It seems like pure magic. When they get out, Nadia's response is another shock to the readers: "I wouldn't do it again for anything in the world," says the "terrified" woman. Could his confession be taken as an insult? From here on out, the story dives deeper into more intriguing moments. “It was obvious that the riddle gave her no peace,” the narrator assumes. It seems that Nadia suddenly decides to joke with the narrator and the story takes a very confusing turn. Sufficient evidence supports the idea that it was Nadia and not the narrator who emotionally joked. It might seem like a far-fetched idea at first, but considering the textual evidence that supports it, the idea seems to be taking shape. "Oh, what a beautiful play of expressions hovered over her sweet face!" notes the narrator assuming that he cannot decide whether the words were spoken by him or not. But it seems she clearly knows he said them and, instead of accepting his confession, is up to some mischief. The naïve narrator sees that “she was struggling with herself; he wanted to say something, ask some questions, but the words wouldn't come. We also learn that "she was terrified, embarrassed and happy." If he already intends to make his lover suffer, these feelings tend to have different origins. She's terrified because she's about to play with his feelings by making him confess over and over again. She's embarrassed because maybe deep down she realizes she shouldn't be doing something and she's happy because maybe she can visualize all the fun this prank will bring. After this, despite all the slides she does with the narrator, Nadia clearly plays with his emotions. The questioning look he has every time they get off could be a quest for his open admission as she flirts with him so freely. After their continuous cycling every other day, Nadia probably gets tired of his company and goes to the hills alone. The solitary journey she undertakes, which is mistaken by the narrator as her need to discover the source behind the words she hears, may in fact just be an escape trick played by her. Maybe she's tired of his company and since he's blindly in love with her and can't see her disapproval, she plans to go alone.