[4] The story is set in the city of Erzurum in Western Armenia, the Armenian-populated area of the Ottoman Empire at the end of the 19th century.

The status of town inhabitants was measured by the number of visits to the butcher shop, which was pretty much the center of the Armenian universe.

[9][10] At the end of the story, Nerses buys the liver he owned and after finding Nikoghos Agha throws it into his face in the presence of several others screaming "Here is your tjvjik."

The 2006 book Armenian Food: Facts, Fiction & Folklore jokingly concludes ""Charity exacerbated the resentment felt by the recipient", modern psychoanalysts would say.

[13][7] In 2006, DJ Serjo, one of the most notable Armenian house music producers, released his first album named Tjvjik.