For Chekhov and his contemporaries in 19th-century Russia, upward mobility was difficult and sometimes impossible to achieve. Part of the problem was government control. The enormous size and elaborate complexity of the administrative system proved tough to navigate. In fact, the overall purpose of national authority at the time was to hold people down, both socially and economically. Here enters Chervyakov, a low-level government clerk with aspirations for a higher status in life. By naming the clerk Chervyakov, which is similar to the Russian word for “worm,” Chekhov reinforces the notion that the protagonist is regarded as a repellent person. Far from having the desired effect, his exaggerated fawning behavior is met with disgust from the higher-up official.

Chekhov therefore compels the reader to see the futility of attempting to move up the class structure. He conjures the idea of an impermeable barrier that prevents people from elevating themselves: Something always gets in the way. With Chervyakov, for example, an insignificant sneeze is all it takes. As the story points out, “[s]neezing is not prohibited to anyone anywhere” (Paragraph 1), but the act itself reminds the clerk that his tenuous position in society is in constant danger.