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A Dead Body
Dead Body is one of the stories by Anton Chekhov, a classic of world literature. The story is about two men serving and protecting a dead man. This story is based on an incident that happened to the author of the story in Zvenigorod.
PLEASE when you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
PLEASE when you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
32 pages, Paperback
First published September 9, 1885
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28 people want to read
About the author
Anton Chekhov
6,002 books9,831 followers
Antón Chéjov
(Spanish)
Dramas, such as The Seagull (1896, revised 1898), and including "A Dreary Story" (1889) of Russian writer Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, also Chekov, concern the inability of humans to communicate.
Born ( Антон Павлович Чехов ) in the small southern seaport of Taganrog, the son of a grocer. His grandfather, a serf, bought his own freedom and that of his three sons in 1841. He also taught to read. A cloth merchant fathered Yevgenia Morozova, his mother.
"When I think back on my childhood," Chekhov recalled, "it all seems quite gloomy to me." Tyranny of his father, religious fanaticism, and long nights in the store, open from five in the morning till midnight, shadowed his early years. He attended a school for Greek boys in Taganrog from 1867 to 1868 and then Taganrog grammar school. Bankruptcy of his father compelled the family to move to Moscow. At the age of 16 years in 1876, independent Chekhov for some time alone in his native town supported through private tutoring.
In 1879, Chekhov left grammar school and entered the university medical school at Moscow. In the school, he began to publish hundreds of short comics to support his mother, sisters and brothers. Nicholas Leikin published him at this period and owned Oskolki (splinters), the journal of Saint Petersburg. His subjected silly social situations, marital problems, and farcical encounters among husbands, wives, mistresses, and lust; even after his marriage, Chekhov, the shy author, knew not much of whims of young women.
Nenunzhaya pobeda , first novel of Chekhov, set in 1882 in Hungary, parodied the novels of the popular Mór Jókai. People also mocked ideological optimism of Jókai as a politician.
Chekhov graduated in 1884 and practiced medicine. He worked from 1885 in Peterburskaia gazeta.
In 1886, Chekhov met H.S. Suvorin, who invited him, a regular contributor, to work for Novoe vremya, the daily paper of Saint Petersburg. He gained a wide fame before 1886. He authored The Shooting Party , his second full-length novel, later translated into English. Agatha Christie used its characters and atmosphere in later her mystery novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd . First book of Chekhov in 1886 succeeded, and he gradually committed full time. The refusal of the author to join the ranks of social critics arose the wrath of liberal and radical intelligentsia, who criticized him for dealing with serious social and moral questions but avoiding giving answers. Such leaders as Leo Tolstoy and Nikolai Leskov, however, defended him. "I'm not a liberal, or a conservative, or a gradualist, or a monk, or an indifferentist. I should like to be a free artist and that's all..." Chekhov said in 1888.
The failure of The Wood Demon , play in 1889, and problems with novel made Chekhov to withdraw from literature for a period. In 1890, he traveled across Siberia to Sakhalin, remote prison island. He conducted a detailed census of ten thousand convicts and settlers, condemned to live on that harsh island. Chekhov expected to use the results of his research for his doctoral dissertation. Hard conditions on the island probably also weakened his own physical condition. From this journey came his famous travel book.
Chekhov practiced medicine until 1892. During these years, Chechov developed his concept of the dispassionate, non-judgmental author. He outlined his program in a letter to his brother Aleksandr: "1. Absence of lengthy verbiage of political-social-economic nature; 2. total objectivity; 3. truthful descriptions of persons and objects; 4. extreme brevity; 5. audacity and originality; flee the stereotype; 6. compassion." Because he objected that the paper conducted against [a:Alfred Dreyfu
Dramas, such as The Seagull (1896, revised 1898), and including "A Dreary Story" (1889) of Russian writer Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, also Chekov, concern the inability of humans to communicate.
Born ( Антон Павлович Чехов ) in the small southern seaport of Taganrog, the son of a grocer. His grandfather, a serf, bought his own freedom and that of his three sons in 1841. He also taught to read. A cloth merchant fathered Yevgenia Morozova, his mother.
"When I think back on my childhood," Chekhov recalled, "it all seems quite gloomy to me." Tyranny of his father, religious fanaticism, and long nights in the store, open from five in the morning till midnight, shadowed his early years. He attended a school for Greek boys in Taganrog from 1867 to 1868 and then Taganrog grammar school. Bankruptcy of his father compelled the family to move to Moscow. At the age of 16 years in 1876, independent Chekhov for some time alone in his native town supported through private tutoring.
In 1879, Chekhov left grammar school and entered the university medical school at Moscow. In the school, he began to publish hundreds of short comics to support his mother, sisters and brothers. Nicholas Leikin published him at this period and owned Oskolki (splinters), the journal of Saint Petersburg. His subjected silly social situations, marital problems, and farcical encounters among husbands, wives, mistresses, and lust; even after his marriage, Chekhov, the shy author, knew not much of whims of young women.
Nenunzhaya pobeda , first novel of Chekhov, set in 1882 in Hungary, parodied the novels of the popular Mór Jókai. People also mocked ideological optimism of Jókai as a politician.
Chekhov graduated in 1884 and practiced medicine. He worked from 1885 in Peterburskaia gazeta.
In 1886, Chekhov met H.S. Suvorin, who invited him, a regular contributor, to work for Novoe vremya, the daily paper of Saint Petersburg. He gained a wide fame before 1886. He authored The Shooting Party , his second full-length novel, later translated into English. Agatha Christie used its characters and atmosphere in later her mystery novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd . First book of Chekhov in 1886 succeeded, and he gradually committed full time. The refusal of the author to join the ranks of social critics arose the wrath of liberal and radical intelligentsia, who criticized him for dealing with serious social and moral questions but avoiding giving answers. Such leaders as Leo Tolstoy and Nikolai Leskov, however, defended him. "I'm not a liberal, or a conservative, or a gradualist, or a monk, or an indifferentist. I should like to be a free artist and that's all..." Chekhov said in 1888.
The failure of The Wood Demon , play in 1889, and problems with novel made Chekhov to withdraw from literature for a period. In 1890, he traveled across Siberia to Sakhalin, remote prison island. He conducted a detailed census of ten thousand convicts and settlers, condemned to live on that harsh island. Chekhov expected to use the results of his research for his doctoral dissertation. Hard conditions on the island probably also weakened his own physical condition. From this journey came his famous travel book.
Chekhov practiced medicine until 1892. During these years, Chechov developed his concept of the dispassionate, non-judgmental author. He outlined his program in a letter to his brother Aleksandr: "1. Absence of lengthy verbiage of political-social-economic nature; 2. total objectivity; 3. truthful descriptions of persons and objects; 4. extreme brevity; 5. audacity and originality; flee the stereotype; 6. compassion." Because he objected that the paper conducted against [a:Alfred Dreyfu
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
February 1, 2026
Very atmospheric and a curious glance into a more superstitious and religious world that no longer exists in a sense.
September 1, 2017
I have arranged my thoughts into a haiku:
"Neither one better,
The selfish and the stupid,
Both fail in the end."
"Neither one better,
The selfish and the stupid,
Both fail in the end."
October 15, 2024
This story is full of the irony of situation. Some people are watching over a corpse found in the woods. They encounter some strangers who comment on what a dead body signifies. A corpse can mean a range of things to different individuals.
September 25, 2018
Exposition: The story takes place on an August night at the side of a road. Two peasants are sitting with a dead body.
Rising Action: The two men are talking while they keep watch over the dead body before they hear a rustling in the bushes behind them. A religious traveler comes from behind them and they engage in brief conversation. The traveler explains that he cannot find his way and asks for directions. He then notices the dead body and becomes frightened. He explains that he is afraid of the dead and asks how the man died. The peasants reply that they do not know, and the traveler offers to pray for him, but they reply that it would not be prudent because he could have taken his own life. The traveler, too frightened to go on by himself, asks them to walk with him to his destination, but they say they have to stay and watch the body.
Climax: One of the peasants decides to go with the traveler while the other stays with the body.
Falling Action: The peasant that opts to stay with the body falls asleep while the other peasant and the traveler walk off into the distance.
Resolution: The resolution of this story is left up to the reader. The story is left open-ended with the traveler and peasant walking off into the distance, and the other peasant falling asleep while the fire dies down and casts a shadow over the dark body. One interpretation was that the two peasants had murdered and robbed the man and were possibly waiting for a third peasant to come back and tell them what to do with the body. It can be assumed that the peasant that leaves with the traveler may do the same to him.
Rising Action: The two men are talking while they keep watch over the dead body before they hear a rustling in the bushes behind them. A religious traveler comes from behind them and they engage in brief conversation. The traveler explains that he cannot find his way and asks for directions. He then notices the dead body and becomes frightened. He explains that he is afraid of the dead and asks how the man died. The peasants reply that they do not know, and the traveler offers to pray for him, but they reply that it would not be prudent because he could have taken his own life. The traveler, too frightened to go on by himself, asks them to walk with him to his destination, but they say they have to stay and watch the body.
Climax: One of the peasants decides to go with the traveler while the other stays with the body.
Falling Action: The peasant that opts to stay with the body falls asleep while the other peasant and the traveler walk off into the distance.
Resolution: The resolution of this story is left up to the reader. The story is left open-ended with the traveler and peasant walking off into the distance, and the other peasant falling asleep while the fire dies down and casts a shadow over the dark body. One interpretation was that the two peasants had murdered and robbed the man and were possibly waiting for a third peasant to come back and tell them what to do with the body. It can be assumed that the peasant that leaves with the traveler may do the same to him.
May 27, 2016
"If you don't gain some sense for yourself you'll be a simpleton and of no account at all to your dying day."
August 19, 2021
In a cold and foggy forest, two men attend a camp fire while guarding a corpse. A third man (a cassock) arrives, asking for directions. At the sight of the corpse he becomes fearful and asks to be accompanied to his place of destination. The younger of the two men goes along, leaving behind his companion who has agreed to stay with the corpse.
At no stage does the writer gives us an insight into prior events or motives. We are not told how the man died, nor are we told about the relationship between the dead man and the two individuals guarding his corpse.
The writer's use of the present tense adds immediacy to place and action. As readers, we are simply observant of what happens, as thought we've just stumbled upon what can be described as a vignette.
The open ending of the story leaves the conclusion to us.
The many sensorial details used by the writer encourages the reader's imagination to conjure up all sorts of scenarios for what happened before and after the current events.
At no stage does the writer gives us an insight into prior events or motives. We are not told how the man died, nor are we told about the relationship between the dead man and the two individuals guarding his corpse.
The writer's use of the present tense adds immediacy to place and action. As readers, we are simply observant of what happens, as thought we've just stumbled upon what can be described as a vignette.
The open ending of the story leaves the conclusion to us.
The many sensorial details used by the writer encourages the reader's imagination to conjure up all sorts of scenarios for what happened before and after the current events.
July 27, 2025
I enjoyed A Dead Body for its own sake.
Subsequently I read an interpretation of it I found fascinating, alluding to Christ's temptation by Satan using the Psalms to misrepresent God’s word, and equally "an Eden-like temptation ... of pride".
Subsequently I read an interpretation of it I found fascinating, alluding to Christ's temptation by Satan using the Psalms to misrepresent God’s word, and equally "an Eden-like temptation ... of pride".
"Like Tolstoy’s (a contemporary of whom Chekhov was both a student and critic) “How Much Land Does a Man Need?,” this Faustian account is a warning against pride relative to station."5 Stars for A Dead Body. I wish I was a perceptive as Luther Ray Abel, the writer of the interpretation I've quoted.
July 19, 2021
It's why it's called a wake. . . The Devil's minion succeeds and the Devil plunders.
March 13, 2022
Brief and contiguous, play it.
May 8, 2024
Started out really intriguing but got bored towards the end unfortunately didn’t meet expectations
December 20, 2025
Classic Chekhov, with the multiple POVs clashing, all wrapped up in a nice depressing bow.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews