acceptable reasons for an act or an opinion which is socially unacceptable and so deemed blameworthy by the individual 222. The behavior of Olenka that does
not care about her appearance makes her surrounding feel strange because before, they know Olenka as an interesting person.
e. Olenka’s Rigidity of Thinking
Olenka’s behavior after the trip of Smirnin, a man who entertains Olenka when she is sad caused by the death of her second husband, shows that she has no
interest to anything. She does not have desire to do anything. Her thought is blank and she cannot express her feeling about anything. When her love leaves her, it is
difficult for her to think about new ways and ideas. It is because she is a dependent person. She does not have something to be survived because her life
always depends on someone she loves. She looks into her yard without interest, thinks of nothing, and wishes for nothing, and when night comes on, goes to bed
and dreams of her yard. She eats and drinks as it is unwillingly p.184. Olenka cannot form an opinion to anything she has seen. She can
understand the object she sees, but she is unable to express that into words. She becomes have no orientation in life because she does not have someone to rely on.
She does not know what she has to do in her life, because it is difficult for her to express her feeling without someone who can give her guidance.
When she has Kukin or Pustovalov, or the veterinary Surgeon, Olenka could explain everything, and give her opinion about anything you like,
but now there was the same emptiness in her brain and her heart as there was in her yard outside. And it was as harsh and as bitter as worm wood in
the mouth p.184.
The memory about a man she loves brings her into thought of nothing. When she remembers her past life, she feels empty and her heart is broken.
Olenka herself had grown plain and elderly; in summer she sat in the porch, and her soul, as before, was empty and dreary and full of bitterness.
In winter she sat at her window and looked at the snow. When she caught the scent of spring, or heard the chime of the church bells, a sudden rush of
memories from the past came over her, there was a tender ache in her heart, and her eyes brimmed over with tears; but this was only for a
minute, and then came emptiness again and the sense of the futility of life p.184.
The quotation above shows that Olenka is in depression. According to Kalish, person in depression feels that everything is going wrong, that nothing
matters 171. Everything she does in her life depends on someone she loves, so when someone she uses to rely on goes, she cannot form her thought to do new
things in her life. Her behavior also shows that she is in the condition of unhappiness and tension, as what Hurlock defines that someone who experiences
the deprivation of love will be deprived of experiencing the happiness, joy and elation that come from achievement 210-214.
When Olenka thinks of nothing, her behavior shows rigidity as one symptom of non-normal behavior. Kalish states that in rigidity, people have
difficulty in behaving or thinking in new ways and have a tendency to follow rituals in behavior 171. Olenka cannot give her opinion about anything, because
there is emptiness in her brain after her husband passed away. Her behavior also shows overly strict emotional control, in which according to Kalish, people with
overly strict emotional control will not show their emotion, and even when appropriate circumstances occurred 171.
