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The use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities. An example of symbolism in the ninny is “thinking how very easy it is in this world to be strong” meaning how easy it is easy to have power of someone if that person is spineless meaning not self grounded.
Another symbol in The Ninny is money. This signifies how difficult it was for women to make money, as they were though of as inferior to their male counterparts. Yulia's job was to raise her employer's children while they went off to work in order to support their family, and yet did not get paid at all at her previous job.
Imagery is “visually descriptive or figurative language” meaning the use of words to paint a picture of what’s going on the scene to add some depth. Some examples in the story would be, when the author described “Yulia Vassilyevna “ “left eye redden and filled with tears. Her chin trembled. She began to cough nervously, blew her nose and said nothing.” There was some undeniable tension that was indirectly implied. Throughout the story, the author slowly described her as a young female, named Yulia Vassilyevna, who was shy and spineless.
The story is told in first person from the perspective of the narrator, who is the employer of the governess, Yulia.
He is very cruel and mean.
He accepts and admits to playing and awful tricks on her.
He is the antagonist in the story.
He calls her inappropriate names like the ninny.
This short story has two examples of Irony. “You ought to have kept your eyes open. You get a good salary” said the employer – This is an example of irony because Yulia Vasilyevna did not received a good salary, plus, he was stealing money from her by playing dirty tricks on her. The next example of irony is when Yulia Vasilyevna said “Merci”, this is another example of irony because the employer was not being honest with her, he was playing a dirty trick on her and not paying her the salary that she deserves. Yulia Vasilyevna said thank you for the money she received even if it was not fair.
The Ninny takes place in the late 19th century, the time when the author lived.
The story takes place in Russia, in a home of a wealthy family.
The story starts with a man inviting the governess of his children, Yulia Vassilyevna, into his study.
“I’m sure you need some money, but you keep standing on ceremony and never ask for it.” (Chekhov 43)
This quote means that although Yulia needs the money she earned, she will act formally and professionally and without complaint wait until her boss decides to finally pay her.
This foreshadows how Yulia will act throughout the story and how she will react to the amount of money she is given. From this quote we can tell that Yulia will not protest or stand up for herself because she never even asks for her paycheck in the first place.
“Her eyes filled with tears, and her thin, pretty little nose was shining with perspiration. Poor little child!” (Checkhov 44)
This quote shows us that the boss feels pity towards the governess and how even though she is visibly affected from being robbed by her own boss, she does not protest, already knowing she will never be treated right. It seems as if he is playing a trick on her to test her patience and see if she protests.
It foreshadows that he may stop this horrible trick he was playing on her and give her the right amount of money that she earned because he feels bad for her.
The theme of this story is : Everyone in this world must have a voice, and must use this voice to protect themselves. You must be able to stand up for yourself no matter who you are. Every human being deserves justice and no one in this world doesn't have a right to take this justice away from a person. If you don't speak up for yourself this may lead to others manipulating you and your rights. "Dammit, don't you realize Ive been cheating you? I steal your money and all you say is 'merci' ! ... Why didn't you protest?... Why are you such a ninny?" (Chekhov 44-45)
Yulia Vassilyevna:
She is the governess of her employer's children. Yulia Vassilyerna is a foolish person, she's timid and weak. She is working as a tutor. On the other hand, Yulia's employer plays a trick on her by cheating her out of money she earned. Yulia Vassilyevna knows that her employer is cheating on her but she didn't complain. Her eyes is filled with tears and does not speak up for herself. She doesn't protest and defend herself. At the end, she just took eleven rubles.
Yulia's Employer:
Yulia Vassilyevna employer is a smart and kindness person. At first, she played a trick on Yulia. She just want Yulia know how to fight for herself and how to protect herself in this dirty trick.
The examples of personification are: “Yulia Vasilyevna’s left eye reddened and filled with tears. Her chin trembled. She began to cough nervously, blew her nose, and said nothing.” This shows us that Yulia needed the money and she was sensitive and shy. “In my other places they gave me nothing.” – Yulia Vasilyevna. This shows that Yulia was grateful for the money she had received because in her other places she did not get payed. “I apologized for having played this cruel trick on her, and to her great surprise gave her the eighty rubles” This shows us that the employer was a good man, polite and generous.
The climax of the story takes place when Yulia's employer calls her a ninny.
The falling action is when Yulia's employer explains that he was playing a dirty trick on Yulia. He goes on to get mad at her for being so spineless and not standing up for herself. Yulia tries to explain that whatever the employer gave her would be better than her last employers, who gave her nothing.
In your opinion, do you think that Yulia Vassilyevna was a ninny? Why?
The story resolves when Yulia's employer gives her eighty rubles and tells her that she needs to stand up for herself.
Yulia's employer starts accusing Yulia of things that she did not do, decreasing her earnings even more.
The main conflict in The Ninny is man versus man between Yulia and her employer. He wanted to teach her a lesson about standing up for yourself by cheating her of money that she deserved.
In our opinion, we think that Yulia was not a ninny. This story takes place in a time where people of a lower social standing could not stand up for themselves. They would fear their employers because they were not only wealthy but also the ones who supplied their income. In order to keep her job and receive some money rather than nothing like in her past jobs, Yulia timidly let her boss trick her and steal her rubles in hopes that she receives some sort of income.
Yulia's employer begins to name all of the things that Yulia did not do (work on holidays, or when she was ill, etc.), and starts to subtract those values from her total earnings.
The short story “The Ninny” by Anton Chekhov revolves around the idea on how women were inferior to men during the older ages. With a governess that was very timid and had no power stood there and watched as how the master of the house slowly cheated her of her earnings. As the master of the house decreased the money for false charges the governess was not able to do anything, until the end where she had been only given an eighth of her earnings all she was able to say was “Merci”. In the end the master was furious that she was not able to stand up for herself that he had called her a ninny, it seemed that he was playing a cruel trick on her and had paid her the rightful earning of eighty rubles in the end.
Yulia's employer invites her into his study in order to settle their accounts.
1. Raise your hand if you have a job.
2. How many of you would stand up for yourself if you didn't think that you were being paid fairly?
3. Would you willingly ask somebody for more money than they are already giving you?
4. How do you think women were treated in the late 19th century?