VANKA-CHARACTER SKETCH

Vanka-the hapless child eats up our conscience with tears rolling down his cheeks. An image so compelling  that would render us sleepless nights. Based on the story Vanka ,draft his character sketch.

Vanka, the nine year old orphaned child was the protagonist of the story titled as "Vanka "  scripted by the celebrated Russian short story writer Anton Chekhov. He was brought up by his grandpa ,Konstantin Makarich, an old man at his late sixties, the only relation left to him in this entire world. Vanka loved his grandpa too much and his grandpa too reciprocated the same. He was as happy as a lark when he was with grandpa .As Konstantin Makarich was getting older, he decided to send him to a safer hand, a safer place. It was getting hard for the Oldman to take care of little Vanka any longer. Therefore, Vanka was send to Moscow to learn shoe making as an apprentice under Alyakhin, the shoe maker. Little did Vanka and his old grandpa know about the trouble  they were inviting unwittingly.Vanka,the little boy and his childhood joys were thrown to wilderness at the hands of the cruel master. All the bliss and joys a child could hope for was crushed under his boots.Vanka had a hellish existence at the Alyakhins. He had to perform strenuous works and was beaten up all the while for no fault of his own

At times the master would beat him with anything that he gets in his hands.Once he had beaten  him with a last and dragged him by his hair. At night, Vanka had to rock their baby to sleep. He wasn't given bed to sleep in. He slept in the passage.Or he hadn't any sleep at all. Every day, he wakes up sleep deprived. In addition to all these, he wasn't provided enough food. A frugal gruel adorned his menu. All the other senior apprentices also made his life too miserable. They would send him to the tavern and force  him to get vodka from there and compel him to steal the Master's cucumbers. Vanka  was reared truthful and honest by his mother who died  at an early age.Hence ,he would protest and thereby incur more of their  tortures and punishments. He was insulted and harassed mentally as well as physically. Alyakhin's wife too wasn't far behind  in assaulting the child. She showers her wrath on him by smearing fish on him for unknowingly cutting the fish at the tail end. In short, life at Moscow for Vanka was below the dignity of a dog. But even amidst his woeful tales struggles ,he remembers fondly the happy days he spend with his grandpa. He has huge faith in him and he believes strongly that he would stand by him all the time. This hope in him made him write a letter to his grandpa pleading him to save him from the monster and his ilk. Vanka, was a God fearing, sincere, caring and thoughtful child. He assures ,in his letter to grandpa, that he would do anything for him and even would pray for his soul once he has boffensive farewell to this world. Vanka, shows infinite courage to withstand the hardships. Since he is a nine year  old child, he is too young to be send away. But obediently, he keeps the word of his grandpa. He is too quick  a learner and a good human being at heart. He forwards his regards to his acquaintances and close connections.He fell as victim of childlabour and repressents tens of thousands of such children under captivity. Children ,mostly poor and destitute were being exploited. It was sight that was so familiar  in Russia, at those times when child labour was too rampant a practice. The innocent image of Vanka leaves an indelible mark upon the conscience of the entire humanity.