Ward No. 6

Summary

"Ward No. 6" is a short story by Anton Chekhov, published in 1892. The events unfold in a provincial hospital, depicting the life in psychiatric Ward No. 6, where the inmates live in appalling conditions. At the center of the plot is Dr. Andrey Yefimych Ragin, the hospital's chief physician, an educated and thoughtful man who gradually begins to question the meaning of life, normalcy, and madness. As the story progresses, Ragin becomes increasingly withdrawn and detached from reality until he is noticed for his musings on the futility of conventional norms and ends up in Ward No. 6 as a patient himself. The story addresses issues of bureaucracy, society's indifference to the problems of the mentally ill, and reflections on the fine line between sanity and insanity.