Response to Lament

  This is a short story that seems easy, but means much.

  This short story talks about Iona, the cabdriver, whose son died but none of his passengers were willing to listen to his grief.

  The title "Lament" has a lot of meanings. Firstly, Iona lived a poor live and was looked down upon. Secondly, his son died. Furthermore, people in the society were cold-hearted and selfish. The comparison between Iona's horse and his passengers stress out how cold-hearted the people were, even worse than a horse.

  So Chekhove wrote this story to express his disappointment of that society and call on the government to care more about the lives of people in the bottom of the society.