Question

from \gooseberries\ by anton chehov
in this excerpt, the narrator recounts how his brother nikolay ivanovitch fulfills his boyhood dream of becoming a landowner.
my brother nikolay bought through an agent a mortgaged estate of three hundred and thirty acres, with a house for the family, with servants quarters, with a park; there was a river, but the water in it was the color of coffee because on one side of the estate there was a brickyard and on the other a factory. but nikolay ivanovitch did not grieve much; he ordered twenty gooseberry - bushes, planted them, and began living as a country gentleman.
last year i went to pay him a visit. i thought i would go and see what it was like. in his letters my brother called his estate \tchumbaroklov waste, alias himalaiskoe.\ i reached \alias himalaiskoe\ in the afternoon. it was hot. everywhere there were ditches, fences, hedges, fir - trees planted in rows, and there was no knowing how to get to the yard, where to put ones horse. i went in to see my brother. he was sitting up in bed with a quilt over his legs; he had grown older, wrinkled.
3 we embraced each other and shed tears of joy and of sadness at the thought that we had once been young and now were both grey - headed and near the grave. he dressed and led me out to show me the estate.
4 \well, how are you getting on here?\ i asked.
5 \oh, all right, thank god; i am getting on very well.\
6 he was no more a poor timid clerk, but a real landowner, a gentleman. he was already accustomed to it, had grown used to it, and liked it. he ate a great deal.
how does the symbolism of the gooseberries develop the universal theme of the passage?
the gooseberries symbolize how people deceive themselves into believing they are happy rather than accepting the truth.
the gooseberries symbolize how nature provides both physical and emotional nourishment.
the gooseberries symbolize the rewards of working hard to achieve a lifelong goal.
the gooseberries symbolize the abundance of earthly pleasures that people often overlook or take for granted.

Explanation:

In the story, Nikolay achieves his dream of being a land - owner and the gooseberries he plants seem to represent his attainment of a long - sought goal. There is no indication in the text about self - deception, nature's nourishment in an emotional or physical sense in relation to gooseberries, or overlooking earthly pleasures. The gooseberries are tied to his lifelong goal of becoming a landowner.

Answer:

The gooseberries symbolize the rewards of working hard to achieve a lifelong goal.