ce of profession was logical.In the Army he held on to that image of being dutiful and his preoccupation with cleanliness. The idea of having o uniform was very pleasing to him because he knew people would know his stature without him having to exert it. Shponka stays extremely neat because it would show that his life is in a orderly fashion as well.; I think that He feels that neatness equals success. Shponka has a light case of obsessive compulsive disorder. Even while he is on his trip back home he feels the need to check: “his trunk, took out his linen, checked it over to see if it was properly laundered and folded, carefully picked the fluff off his new uniform, which was made without epaulettes, and then put everything back as neatly as he could.”(166). We can see here the manifestation of this light disease; He has to prepare his trunk as if it was going to be showcased upon his arrival. Shponka’s desire is for his stature to be seen by everyone but his fears come once his stature or rank is threatened.Shponka’s has a complex about giving up his status or independence; these are his fears. His fears rise when Auntie speaks about setting him up for marriage: “Listen, Ivan Fyodorovivh, I want to have a serious talk with you. Good God, you’re thirty-eight now. You have a good position. It’s time to think about having children. You must get yourself a wife…”(185) the he answered “What, Auntie! Ivan Fyodororvich cried out in horror.”(185). He if afraid to lose his rank and gain the one of “Ivan and his wife” instead of “Ivan and his uniform”: He would never be alone in his room any more, because there would always be two of them, together, everywhere!”(186). His uniform represented his masculinity and his character; he feels that all he has gained in life will be crushed by the arrival of a wife. These fears manifest themselves in his d...
