Short Fiction · Chapter
Oysters explained
A starving boy and his father stand outside a Moscow restaurant on a rainy autumn evening.
What happens
A starving boy and his father stand outside a Moscow restaurant on a rainy autumn evening. The boy, suffering from extreme hunger, becomes fixated on a sign reading 'Oysters.' His father explains what oysters are, and the boy's imagination oscillates between a delicious marine dish and a revolting frog-like creature. Driven by hunger, he cries out for oysters, attracting two gentlemen who take him inside and feed him. He eats ravenously, even biting the shells. Later, at home, he suffers from heartburn and thirst while his father paces and mutters about his own hunger and missed opportunities to ask for money.
Themes in this chapter
Suffering and Compassion
The boy's physical suffering from starvation and his father's emotional anguish are central, while the gentlemen's amused feeding of the boy shows a detached form of compassion.
Illusion vs. Reality
The boy's initial fantasy of oysters as a delicious meal contrasts sharply with the reality of the slimy, revolting creature he actually eats.
Social Class and Inequality
The stark contrast between the impoverished father and son and the wealthy restaurant patrons highlights class divisions and the desperation of poverty.
Characters to notice
- The Boy (Narrator)
An eight-year-old boy suffering from extreme hunger, who becomes obsessed with the word 'oysters' and is taken into a restaurant to eat them.
- The Father
A poor, shabbily dressed man who has been unsuccessfully seeking work in Moscow for five months and finally attempts to beg for alms.
Key passages
“I had no pain at all, but my legs were giving way under me, the words stuck in my throat, my head slipped weakly on one side … It seemed as though, in a moment, I must fall down and lose consciousness.”
The boy felt no pain, but his body was failing: his legs buckled, he could barely speak, and his head drooped, as if he might collapse at any moment.
Describes the physical effects of extreme hunger on the narrator.
“I instantly pictured to myself this unknown marine animal. … I thought it must be something midway between a fish and a crab. As it was from the sea they made of it, of course, a very nice hot fish soup with savoury pepper and laurel leaves, or broth with vinegar and fricassee of fish and cabbage, or crayfish sauce, or served it cold with horseradish.”
The boy imagined oysters as a delicious sea creature, somewhere between a fish and a crab, and fantasized about the many tasty dishes that could be made from it.
Shows the boy's hopeful and hungry imagination before learning the truth about oysters.
“I imagined to myself a creature like a frog. A frog sitting in a shell, peeping out from it with big, glittering eyes, and moving its revolting jaws.”
He pictured oysters as frog-like creatures with shiny eyes and disgusting mouths, peering out from their shells.
Reveals the boy's revulsion after his father explains that oysters are eaten alive.
“I ate everything that caught my eye, because I felt that nothing but eating would take away my illness.”
He consumed whatever he saw, believing that only eating could cure his sickness of hunger.
Highlights the boy's desperate, almost delirious hunger.