Ward No. 6 – Discussion (Manasa Book Club - Online Edition)

by Cibi

This story is an allegory of the then Russian state, where people who are perceived as different or
identified as obtrusive to society are sent to Siberia, prison, or a madhouse. This is one of Anton
Chekhov’s long stories. It is said to have influenced politician Lenin and writer Thomas Mann.
It is a heavy, thought-provoking story requiring multiple readings. It prods one to ponder the
possibility of life’s unexpected nosedive, the extent of internal transformation brought by
philosophical discussion, doing wrong knowingly and unknowingly, and which is worse, and
about social stigmas.

It tells the downturn in the life of a doctor after he develops acquaintance with a mental ward
inhabitant. The doctor who has the conscience to identify immorality in the hospital but not the will to
enforce change, uses reasoning to numb himself. He is frustrated by his job and takes refuge in his
comforts. He is a savoring reader and longs for intellectual discussion. After each read, ruminating
about his past and present, he feels the prick of conscience. His chance meeting with Ivan, a mental
ward inhabitant, and his arguments with him ignite his mind. He then visits him often and carries
on the game of philosophy to feed his intellectual ego, all along not understanding the passion
of Ivan.

Ivan, whose life spirals out after successive calamities in his family, develops the fear of
persecution. Slowly his fear spreads out to his nerves and is put in the ward by the doctor. The
seemingly unfounded fear may have taken root from his father’s unexpected conviction. There is a
line in story “... the agelong experience of the simple people teaches that beggary and prison are ills
none can be safe from “.

The doctor who loathes society but wants to stay within its edge unknowingly crosses its border
when meeting Ivan. He senses the change in people’s interaction after that – from the little daughter
of the superintendent to his postmaster friend.

The postmaster has respect for the doctor because of his breeding and visits him often. When the doctor is
judged mentally unstable by the committee, he suggests a vacation with him. In that vacation the
mean, unsympathetic acts of the postmaster vex him, and he senses his resentment testing its walls.
After returning home, at the encounter with two of the most unbearable persons at the same time, he erupts
and for the first time in his life, gives way to his anger. This lands him in the ward.

In the ward he first accepts his imprisonment from a philosophical platform, but seeing Ivan, the
platform sinks. Sensing the inevitable suffering in wait, he exercises his will for the first time, asking
the porter to let them out. But a few blows from the porter bring him to resignation.
His ending has the possibility of nuanced reading- he still carries his ego and hopes vainly for
unrooted philosophy to alleviate his suffering or for fleeting moments he empathises with his ward
mates and feels liberation.

The story shows the interplay of society, philosophy and conscience in an individual’s life.
Importantly, it shows the need for tremendous Will for actualising the voice of conscience and
realising the ideas of philosophy.