
Chekov's play the "Cherry Orchard" is an interesting and highly emotional look at various points of view about a family controversy, namely, should the family property be sold because it if is, the cherry orchard will be torn down and sold. The meaning of the cherry orchard tends to equate with "the days of old" or the "way things used to be". Their life used to consist of being comfortable and just taking in the money that the land could make. The characters suggest various ways a person can deal with change:
For Lopahin, the cherry orchard represented opportunity to renew the family fortune and progress to a new way of life. All the old life needed to be removed and cleared out in order for the new life to progress into the future and even provide some of the old benefits provided by the old way of life.
For Lyubov, who owned the Cherry Orchard, it was the place of her youth and innocence where nothing had ever changed. Her attitude is the most appealing because she is able to walk in her memories, almost like a dream while life is changing around her.
For Firs, the Cherry Orchard is life, the way it is and nothing will ever change it. He dies along with the attitude.
Cherry Orchard is an appealing drama because of the conflict inherent in the story and how people deal with change. The cycle of denial, anger, fear, acceptance etc. is present in every step along a person's life. When dealing with software changes as a system analyst, we always had to balance the invested money in the old application, develop a transition plan, and were often impatient that the much lower costs of a newer system couldn't be accepted with relief. All things change, life moves on.