The Deaths

     Three Deaths is a short story that is split up into four chapters. The first and third chapters we are exposed to the story of a woman's death. The second and fourth chapters we are exposed to a man's death. Although their sickness is very similar, the way their deaths are handled is not. The short story is showing an example of how society, and social classes were different.
     Marya Dmitriyevna is attempting to flee the harsh Russian winter to reach the warm Italian climate in the hopes of curing her illness. The two carriages ironically intersect in sections 1 and 2 of the story, when the carriages of the upper-class make a quick stop at the post station, where most of the lower class characters work. At the station, all the passengers except Marya leave to go eat. Marya does not believe that her husband, or doctor for that matter, have her health in their interest "It makes no difference to them how I am, they are well, and it's all the same to them" (580). The doctor and the husband both discuss how they believe if Marya keeps traveling that she will not live to reach Italy.  Marya husband tries to come up with excuses to stop her because the trip will cause her to pass away even quicker. She entirely disagrees with him. When she comes to the realization that she will die soon she is at peace, but at the same time full of anger at her husband for not taking her to France. Her family also endures pain. Her mother has to see the death of her young daughter die and this is huge. The second is an old peasant driver, lying sick on an oven in a restroom for coach drivers. He is somehow more aware of his death as are the people around him. His attitude is completely different than the woman. He knows his death is coming and just simply accepts it and waits for it. On the night he dies, his niece dreams that he is on his feet and well again and has offered to help her cut wood from the jungle. We can even assume that this is true, and that his spirit has been set free, and that was in fact his spirit in her dream. The niece is the first to mention him the next morning describing her dream, then they find the old peasant has passed. The third death is that of a young tall tree in the center of the woods. Even the way the things around the tree handle the death is significant "The birds hopped about in the thicket, and, as if beside themselves, voiced their happiness." Also the other trees rejoiced "The trees, more joyously than ever, extended their motionless branches over the new space that had been made in their midst" (588).
     These three deaths signify that at some point we will all pass away, and that we will eventually have to face death on our own. These deaths show how not only the person passing away handled their death, but also those around them. It shows the difference between the social classes, and also the effects of nature.