Pirandello Likens Pardi To The Chair example essay topic

420 words
The objects and characters of this story are quite symbolic, of each other and of ideas. Pirandello likens Pardi to the chair, yet shows how they differ. He also shows how small, seemingly insignificant occurrences drive Pardi mad. After Pardi awakens and contemplates his loss, he thinks about and likens himself to the chair he resided in when the story began. Pardi feels that all is lost and that he has been reduced to nothing, that "there was hardly any difference between himself and the big chair". Pardi's position is desperate and he feels lost, as lifeless as the chair.

Yet it seems more that he doesn't want to confront reality, he wants to settle into a state of nothingness, like sinking into the big chair and forget, and be forgotten. Pardi then realizes that the chair has stability, of which he has none. He again desperately wants to be like the chair: stable and oblivious to the happenings around him. The thought of instability makes him uneasy, it makes him feel old even though he wants to be young and ambitious, like his son. Pardi's age slowly diminishes his social status.

Pardi goes through a wash of emotions while considering and finding out what his physical and social position is. Pardi feels young again due to the fact that he is now in a smaller, single bed and has no responsibilities. He feels refreshed and relaxed; he is now able to feel a certain liveliness returning to his weary body. It gives him a glimmer of hope during this time of great tragedy.

However, he finds that he is stowed away in the servant's room, and a young girl later curses him in the park after misinterpreting his completely innocent act. This erodes his hope at first, and then completely shatters his views of innocence and happiness. The girl, his room, and the arrangement of his furniture all drive him to madness, making his bed his coffin. In the end, his happy future is as blank as the wall the wall he is left staring at, and he is of little use to anyone. The quick and complex chain of events in this moment of Pardi's life reveal some very daunting issues associated with age and death. It also highlights how small things can drive seemingly happy people to rage.

As it began, this story ended with madness.