The author used the plot as a powerful tool to create a mood of darkness and despair which in turn helped to create the theme of the dying morals of society.

In “heartache” the setting is an essential device that helps to construct the overall mood Of the Story. Anton Chekhov used the weather as a mean to show the dying mood of Ion. “Large flakes of snow are circling lazily about the street lamps which have just been lighted, setting in a thin soft leaver on roofs, horse’s back, people’s shoulder, and cap”. This scene is a door into Ion’s mood.At first it is lost, like a flake of snow falling, not knowing the outcome of the future, completely lost as his son died and letting the wind carry its future. But as time passes, something as lost or as pristine as a flake of snow will melt and turn into dirty sludge on the side of the road. This Quote also paints a picture of the well know grey landscape which can automatically relate too sense of gloom. Ion was a cabman in the old days of Russia who was suffering from the loss of his son.

Ion finds himself lost ND fundamentally isolated from the rest of the world as his mind is wrapped around his deceased son.Ion was described in the first paragraph as a man who has lost his fight, someone who doesn’t have the basic desire and willpower to live. “As hunched as a living body can be, he sits on the box without stirring if the whole snow drift was to fall on him, he would not find it necessary to shake it off.

” Ion was unable to find the basic instinct of survival. Anton Chekhov utilized the suffering of Ion to show how we paint a blind eye over other peoples suffering as we do not want to deal with the pain hat comes after it without any compensation.Throughout the story, Ion was trying to unburden his story to anyone he can find. He tried telling his sorrows to a military officer and later to a group of young man.

No matter how much times Ion tries to bring out the fact that his son recently passed. Sadly none of them cared about what he was saying, they were only interested in arriving at their destination. His passengers even became annoyed and angry with Ion telling him to go faster or pay attention to the road without realizing the pain that Ion is going through.Everyone is this world is guilty of passing someone in need of help, such as a homeless man on the street, or a child stranded on the side of the road.

We have rationalized that those are not our responsibility and is that belief is what cause Ion more suffering and is the most prevalent in society. After dropping of his last passengers, Ion tried to share his grief with the door keeper, but was roughly sent away with a reply of ‘What have you stopped here for? On your way! Near the end of the story, Ion tried telling his story to his coworker without much luck. Ion looks to see the effects of his words but he notices none. The young man has drawn his cover over his head and is already asleep.

Ion’s soon realizes that no one have the compassion to listen to his story which much needed to get out rather than entangling his heart. Ion is succumbed by loneness and grief, a couple of time he “Bends himself double” as if he wants to escape, with no one who is willing to listen, Ion is collapsing from the inside.When it reach a point where Ion could not hold his feeling together much longer, Ion found the one thing which isn’t encased in selfishness, Ion found his horse and spilled his heart out. Ion in the story was a flake of snow, lost and isolated at the beginning with no real directions, but became more isolated with feelings much more painful as time passes, as a snow would melt into sludge. Ion tried to unleash his pain by trying to speak out his feelings to anyone he can find but ultimately failed. Rather than getting the compassion and care from society, all Ion got was neglect and annoyance which in turn added on top of Ion’s pain.