The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories · Chapter
Too Dear! explained
In the tiny kingdom of Monaco, a man is sentenced to death for murder.
What happens
In the tiny kingdom of Monaco, a man is sentenced to death for murder. The state, lacking an executioner and guillotine, finds the cost of importing them from France and Italy too high. The sentence is commuted to life imprisonment, but the cost of guarding and feeding the prisoner is also deemed excessive. After dismissing the guard, the authorities try to persuade the man to leave, but he refuses, arguing his reputation is ruined. The kingdom ultimately settles the matter by offering him a pension to emigrate, which he accepts, living comfortably just across the border.
Themes in this chapter
Hypocrisy and Social Pretense
The entire kingdom operates on a pretense of full statehood (with a king, army, and courts) while its primary revenue comes from a morally dubious gambling monopoly. The justice system is a hollow ceremony, more concerned with cost and appearances than morality or fairness.
Fate, Injustice, and Suffering
The criminal's fate is determined not by the gravity of his crime or principles of justice, but by budgetary calculations. He suffers an absurd form of injustice where the state first condemns him, then finds him too expensive to punish, and finally pays him to go away.
Characters to notice
- The King
The ruler of Monaco, preoccupied with the financial burden of executing or imprisoning a criminal. He repeatedly seeks cheaper alternatives, ultimately approving a pension to get rid of the prisoner.
- The Master
The keeper of the kingdom's sole gaming house, whose payments from the roulette profits form a crucial part of the King's revenue.
- The General
Asked to find a soldier to perform the execution cheaply, but reports that none of his men are willing or trained for the task.
- The Ministers
The King's advisors who hold repeated councils, commissions, and committees to find a cost-effective solution for dealing with the condemned man.
- The Criminal
The unnamed murderer. After his death sentence is commuted, he passively resists all attempts to make him leave prison or the kingdom, ultimately negotiating a pension for his emigration.
Key passages
“"You can’t earn stone palaces by honest labour," as the proverb says; and the Kinglet of Monaco knows it is a dirty business, but what is he to do?”
The King is aware his primary income from gambling is immoral, but he feels he has no other viable option to sustain his court and position.
Highlights the compromised morality of the state's foundation.
“"Why 16,000 francs is more than two francs a head on the whole population. The people won’t stand it, and it may cause a riot!"”
The King objects to the execution cost not on moral grounds, but because it translates to a per-person tax increase that might provoke public unrest.
Demonstrates how state decisions are driven by financial and political expediency, not justice.
“"I daresay the King would not mind," replied the man, "but I have nowhere to go. What can I do? You have ruined my character by your sentence..."”
The criminal refuses to leave because the state's sentence has made him a social outcast, leaving him with no better alternative than state-supported imprisonment.
Shows the unintended consequences and human cost of the state's absurd bureaucratic machinations.