# Brethren explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by Ivan Bunin.

## What happens

The chapter explores the lives of Senegalese rickshaw-men in Ceylon, focusing on an old man and his son. The son, after his father's death, takes up rickshaw work, falls in love, loses his bride, and becomes consumed by running and hoarding money. The old man, driven by love for his family, endures abuse from a European passenger. The narrative contrasts the natural paradise of the forest with the exploitation and sorrow of colonial labor, reflecting on love, suffering, and desire.

## Themes in this chapter

### Mortality and the Futility of Wealth

The old man's death and the son's obsessive hoarding of money highlight the futility of wealth against mortality.

### Obsessive Love and Idealization

The son's love for his bride and later for running and money reflects obsessive desire.

### Social Class and Inequality

The power dynamic between the Englishman and the rickshaw-man underscores colonial class oppression.

## Character check-ins

### Theodot

The old Senegalese rickshaw-man, thin and unsightly, who runs for his family despite abuse.

### The Gentleman from San Francisco

Not directly present; the Englishman passenger serves as a colonial oppressor figure.

### The Englishman

The intoxicated European passenger who orders the rickshaw-man around, indifferent to his suffering.

### The Colonel

Not present; no match in excerpt.

## Key lines

> Forget not, O Youth, longing to enkindle life with life, even as fire is enkindled with fire, that all the torments of this universe, where everyone is either slayer or slain, that all its sorrows and plaints, come from love.

The Exalted One warns that all suffering and conflict arise from love and desire.

_Buddhist teaching on the origin of suffering._

> From longing is born the desire for joy, from happiness is born sorrow; out of joy and sorrow doth fear arise.

Desire leads to joy, which leads to sorrow and fear.

_Cycle of desire and suffering._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_30_se/chapters/brethren
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_30_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_30_se/chapters