Essay Questions

Interpret the binary in “An Honest Thief” (“An Honest Thief”)

Honest thief versus dishonest thief: According to Astafy Ivanovitch, the thief who filches the narrator’s coat embodies a dishonest thief. Astafy Ivanovitch asserts, “It makes me angry though it is not my coat that was lost. To my thinking there is no vermin in the world worse than a thief. Another takes what you can spare, but a thief steals the work of your hands, the sweat of your brow, your time.” Astafy is affronted by the thief because he feels that he does not have the prerogative to snatch the green coat that he did not toil for.

However, Astafy deems Emelyan Ilyitch ‘an honest thief’ because prior to his death he confessed to have stolen Astafy’s breeches. Earlier, Emelyan Ilyitch had disavowed several times to have by no means touched or stolen the breeches. Astafy does not think through Emelyan Ilyitch’s preceding deceits regarding the breeches when he categorizes him as ‘an honest thief.’ The significant factor in Emelyan Ilyitch’s honesty is the admission that he makes before he breaths last.

How does Ivan Petrovitch uncover Pyotr Ivanitch’s consistent Red herrings? (“A Novel in Nine Letters”)

In the fourth letter, Ivan Petrovitch asserts, “you wrote, pretending personal friendship, letters in which, intentionally avoiding all mention of business, you spoke of utterly irrelevant matters; to wit, of the illnesses of your good lady for whom I have, in any case, every respect, and of how your baby had been dosed with rhubarb and was cutting a tooth.” Pyotr Ivanitch utilizes Red herrings in his letters to avert attention from the foremost issue. Although the matters relating to the aunt’s illness and the son are emotive for a father, they are distractive Red herrings because they are not connected with the central question (debt) that Ivan Petrovitch wants to be tackled.

How does Pyotr Ivanitch appeal to the Fallacy of Equivocation? (“A Novel in Nine Letters”)

In his letters, Pyotr Ivanitch incorporates with equivocal phrases such as : “ Most Precious Friend” and “My Dear and Honoured Friend”,. The phrases are not earnest. Ivan Petrovitch contemplates that the objective of such phrases is “ to put my conscience to sleep.” Pyotr Ivanitch is set to hoodwink Ivan Petrovitch using the charming phrases so that he can slacken the ultimatums to be paid his debts. If Ivan Petrovitch were cherished and revered, as Pyotr would want him to accept as true, then he would have would not exasperated Ivan Petrovitch.