The Return of Chorb
The Return of Chorb
by Vladimir Nabokov

The Return of Chorb Themes

Little Words, Big Ideas

The Supernatural

"The Return of Chorb" is full of eerie, supernatural occurrences. Because the story traces one man’s (Chorb’s) attempt to re-create an image of his dead wife, you can expect a fair amou...

Mortality

"The Return of Chorb" explores the aftermath of death and how we deal with the loss of a loved one. What are the consequences of death, and is there some way to overcome it? Spinning off from the m...

Versions of Reality

The high level of artifice in "The Return of Chorb" creates an other-worldly atmosphere. Because the story includes references to myth (the tale of Orpheus) and legend (the opera Parsifal), reality...

Suffering

"The Return of Chorb" deals with the grief felt over a lost loved one. Rather than ignore or escape the pain, the story’s main character forces himself to re-live every moment of the past, as...

Love

Love transcends death in "The Return of Chorb." The story’s main character has lost his wife in a freak accident, but his feelings for her are unwavering and dictate his (rather bizarre) acti...