(256 words) Anton Pavlovich Chekhov is familiar to all Russian-speaking readers with his short stories containing deep meaning. And the work "Chameleon" in his repertoire is no exception. It reads a wise message: the cause of his inner slavery is often the man himself. But, starting to read the work, we see that we are not talking about the lizard at all, that is, the name is perplexing. What is its meaning?
Chekhov's story is told about police overseer Ochumelov, who is the protagonist and thus the chameleon. The essence of the hero manifests itself during a situation when a dog attacks the “golden affairs of Master Khryukin”. Looking at the culprit, and realizing that she is a vagabond or belongs to some simple hard worker, the overseer threatens to fine the owner, and the animal to destroy. Ochumelov’s behavior begins to change when it turns out that the dog belongs to General Zhigalov himself! The guard becomes hot, he asks Eldirin to take off his coat. “It must be assumed before the rain,” he says. The author makes a very vivid emphasis on this action, because when clarifying new circumstances, the temperature and pressure of the hero always jump. Constant changes in mood are noticeable in the behavior and conversation with Khryukin, whom the policeman accuses and regrets. This behavior allows us to understand the fear that Ochumelov feels when he finds out that the dog is not a stray dog, the brother of the general, and he just threatened to kill her.
A chameleon is a designation of the behavior of police overseer Ochumelov, who changes his “color” —location and behavior — depending on the rank of the dog owner. The policeman adapts to all the superior officers for his own benefit and because of a strong fear of people with great powers. The principle of the chameleon is used by the protagonist in problematic situations in order not to spoil relations with more dominant personalities and preserve his "skin".
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