Ivan Dmitritch- Middle-Class Husband.
Masha Dmitritch- Middle-Class Wife
- This stereotype of a middle-class married couple really helps develop the story well because it is such a typical type that you see relatively everyday. For example your parents (depending on the person). When you read, " Ivan Dmitritch, a middle-class man...", you can instantly picture a man about his thirty's sitting in a chair reading a newspaper after work, or some may picture a couple very similar to their parents. But overall a very good developing stereotype.
Categorize Characters
Ivan- Protagonist
The point of view really dictates how we categorize characters in a story, so since this story is written in Ivan's perspective that will typically mean that he is the protagonist. Ivan also goes through a transformational arc throughout this whole story that is the main focus, so this leads me to believe that he is the protagonist.
Masha-Antagonist
Although Masha also goes through a transformational arc during this short story the efficiency of this story is not centered around this change, it is the match that starts Ivan's arc, but not the most important fact in this story. This makes me believe she is the antagonist, along with the fact that the change she sparks, she does so with a lie. This lie being considered bad, so she is the antagonist.
Relatibility
Ivan is relatible because he goes through the problem of greed, something that is a universal problem no matter your race, occupation, or citizenship. People from the firsts days of the human-race were even greedy. Ivan being a middle-class man never really had a huge abundance of money, a little more then enough to pay the bills. So when the possibilities were endless for him, and his current life seemed like all aspects could be largely better then its present state.
Masha is also very relatible in the sense that every person in a relationship of some kind has trust issues, so they test this trust to see if it actually excites. Another very universal problem but not as much universal as Ivan's problem of greed. That is something that is not so complex to who it happens to, when it happens, and why it happens. But greed on the other hand is such a simple concept that it really is universal to everyone old and young.
Transformational Arc
Ivan goes through a very large character arc, he starts out a very happy, content, married man. Then when his wife leads him to believe they would be coming into a large amount of cash he gets greedy like so many folks do. The twist in this story is that the greed and transformation was all in his head, making this a very strange situation. The starting product is a happily-married man, to ending being a greedy, betrayed husband. A weird arc for any story considering that most stories have a good transformational arc, or in other words a good ending for the character.
Masha goes through a small character arc. Starting a haply-married women, to becoming a even happier woman due to the imaginary money, then turning into a very paranoid women also due to this none existent cash, then transforming to the end product of a satisfied, spiteful wife. This occurring because she tricked her husband into showing her how he truly acts. A very weird arc again, because although satisfied she still does not transform into a better person due to this scenario.
