Composition “Money and a man in the story of O. de Balzac“ Gobsek

The work of Honore de Balzac became the pinnacle of development Western European realism XIX century. Creative manner the writer absorbed all the best from such masters artistic word like Rabelais, Shakespeare, Scott and many others. At the same time, Balzac brought a lot of new things to literature. One of the most significant monuments of this outstanding writer became the story "Gobsek".

The story in a concentrated form reflects Balzac's understanding of the laws of the bourgeois world, which came to him during his work in a notary's office. The writer saw from the inside and therefore could so vividly portray the whole "oiled mechanism of any wealth." And in his story, he reveals the whole essence of bourgeois society, where robbery, betrayal, dirty machinations are in the law. With all the power of drama, the author demonstrates countless tragedies generated by the dominance of sales relations in society, typical conflicts on the basis of "omnipotence, omniscience, all the goodness of money." Struggle for

the state no longer becomes an addition or a detail, but the basis of the plot, the central idea of ​​the entire narrative.

Main character story - a millionaire usurer - one of the rulers of the new France. His image is very complex and contradictory. “Two creatures live in it: a miser and a philosopher, a vile creature and an exalted one,” the lawyer Derville says about him. The past of the hero is rather uncertain: perhaps he was a corsair and plowed all the seas and oceans, traded in people and state secrets. Full of mysteries too real life. The origins of his immense wealth are unknown. But one thing is beyond doubt - this is an exceptional, strong personality, endowed with a deep philosophical mindset. Gobsek is able to notice small parts and with unique insight to judge the world, life and man. These qualities of the hero are in some sense even sympathetic to the author. However, unfortunately, Gobsek directs his mind and insight into the wrong direction. Exploring the laws of the world, he comes to the conclusion that “all the forces of mankind are concentrated in gold ... what is life, if not a machine driven by money? Gold is the spiritual essence of the whole society.” It is around money that the whole social life revolves, only gold is directed to all the thoughts of people. And having come to such an understanding of the laws of life, Gobsek makes such an ideology a guide to his own actions. Money completely enslaved his mind and thoughts. “This old man,” says Derville, “suddenly grew in my eyes, became a fantastic figure, the personification of gold.” Yes, Gobseck's cult of gold is consecrated by the philosophically meaningful power of money and causes some social activity of the hero. However, gold has already become for him the very goal and content of his whole life, gradually ousting from his soul all the positive principles that might possibly have manifested under other circumstances. By lending money at incredibly high interest rates, the usurer openly robbed people, shamelessly taking advantage of their plight, extreme need and complete dependence on him. Callous, soulless, he has become not even just cruel man, but "man-machine", "man-promissory note".

The destructive principle contained in the hoarding passion, the passion for money, caused Balzac's irreconcilable critical attitude towards the bourgeoisie, who sought to assert their dominance in society with the help of gold. The image of Gobsek became for its creator a living embodiment of that powerful predatory force that irresistibly made its way to power, stopping at nothing, using any, even the lowest and meanest means to achieve its goal, and not for a second doubting itself. The author tried to understand the essence of this force, its origins, in order to reveal all its foundations as vividly and truthfully as possible, to expose, to show the world in all its meanness and baseness, to awaken human consciousness, morality, morality in people. The writer strongly criticizes the material interests on which the policy was based, government, laws. And he does it so convincingly and truthfully that, according to F. Engels, we learn more from his books, "than from the books of all specialists - historians, economists, statisticians of this period, taken together."

The work of Honore de Balzac became the pinnacle of the development of Western European realism XIX century. The creative style of the writer absorbed all the best from such masters of the artistic word as Rabelais, Shakespeare, Scott and many others. At the same time, Balzac brought a lot of new things to literature. One of the most significant monuments of this outstanding writer was the story "Gobsek".
The story in a concentrated form reflects Balzac's understanding of the laws of the bourgeois world, which came to him during his work in a notary's office. The writer saw from the inside and therefore could so vividly portray the whole “oiled mechanism of any wealth”. And in his story, he reveals the whole essence of bourgeois society, where robbery, betrayal, dirty machinations are in the law. With all the power of drama, the author demonstrates countless tragedies generated by the dominance of sales relations in society, typical conflicts based on “omnipotence, omniscience, all the goodness of money”. Struggle for
The state no longer becomes an addition or detail, but the basis of the plot, the central idea of ​​the entire narrative.
The protagonist of the story is a millionaire usurer - one of the rulers of the new France. His image is very complex and contradictory. “Two creatures live in it: a miser and a philosopher, a vile creature and an exalted one,” the lawyer Derville says about him. The past of the hero is rather uncertain: perhaps he was a corsair and plowed all the seas and oceans, traded in people and state secrets. His real life is also full of mysteries. The origins of his immense wealth are unknown. But one thing is beyond doubt - this is an exceptional, strong personality, endowed with a deep philosophical mindset. Gobsek is able to notice small details and judge the world, life and man with unique insight. These qualities of the hero are in some sense even sympathetic to the author. However, unfortunately, Gobsek directs his mind and insight into the wrong direction. Exploring the laws of the world, he comes to the conclusion that “all the forces of mankind are concentrated in gold ... what is life, if not a machine driven by money? Gold is the spiritual essence of the whole society.” It is around money that the whole social life revolves, only gold is directed to all the thoughts of people. And having come to such an understanding of the laws of life, Gobsek makes such an ideology a guide to his own actions. Money completely enslaved his mind and thoughts. “This old man,” says Derville, “suddenly grew in my eyes, became a fantastic figure, the personification of gold.” Yes, Gobseck's cult of gold is consecrated by the philosophically meaningful power of money and causes some social activity of the hero. However, gold has already become for him the very goal and content of his whole life, gradually ousting from his soul all the positive principles that might possibly have manifested under other circumstances. By lending money at incredibly high interest rates, the usurer openly robbed people, shamelessly taking advantage of their plight, extreme need and complete dependence on him. Callous, soulless, he has become not even just a cruel person, but a “man-machine”, a “man-promissory note”.
The destructive principle contained in the hoarding passion, the passion for money, caused Balzac's irreconcilable critical attitude towards the bourgeoisie, who sought to assert their dominance in society with the help of gold. The image of Gobsek became for its creator a living embodiment of that powerful predatory force that irresistibly made its way to power, stopping at nothing, using any, even the lowest and meanest means to achieve its goal, and not for a second doubting itself. The author tried to understand the essence of this force, its origins, in order to reveal all its foundations as vividly and truthfully as possible, to expose, to show the world in all its meanness and baseness, to awaken human consciousness, morality, morality in people. The writer strongly criticizes the material interests on which politics, state power, and laws were built. And he does it so convincingly and truthfully that, according to F. Engels, we learn more from his books, "than from the books of all specialists - historians, economists, statisticians of this period, taken together."

(No ratings yet)

Other writings:

1. Composition French writer Honore de Balzac is rightfully considered one of the greatest novelists of the 19th century. main feature his work lies in the fact that he wrote not just a large number of novels, - he wrote the history of a whole society, which he later called “Human Read More ......
2. Creating the "Human Comedy", Balzac set himself a task still unknown to literature at that time. He strove for truthfulness and a merciless display of contemporary France, a display of the real, real life of his contemporaries. One of the many themes that sound in his works is the theme of destructive power Read More ......
3. The story "Gobsek" is a very important link in the ideological and thematic core of the entire "Human Comedy". From the outside, the story “Gobsek” is more comedic than other works of Balzac: regarding the coverage of life material, on the other hand, it is also more symptomatic, demonstrative, “visual”. It contains a concentrated characteristic of stinginess, and not only realistic-everyday, Read More ......
4. Gobsek is a negative personality, apparently. Moneylender, former corsair. A man with a heart of stone, playing with the fate of people. They are not born that way, they are made that way. Man is born with all human dignity and shortcomings, and life loses many of them. Depending on Read More ......
5. Experience convinces us that it is very difficult to comprehend the image of the protagonist of the story, since, to understand “Romantic and realistic features the ambiguous image of the “philosopher and miser” Gobsek” is very difficult. Combining the features of romanticism and realism in “ art system” Balzac in general and in the story “Gobsek” Read More ......
6. 1. The theme of the power of money in the world and in the human soul. 2. Accumulation and waste. 3. Moral degradation personality. Death awaits you - so spend, not sparing, wealth; But life is not over: take care of the good. Wise is only the person who, having comprehended and Read More ......
7. In world literature, we know many examples when writers comprehensively depicted their contemporary society, with all its shortcomings and positive traits. Writers reacted sharply to the events that happened to his people, depicting them in their novels, short stories, short stories and poems. Read More ......
8. “human comedy“Balzac, which includes the story of Gobsek”, has not lost its relevance to this day. Perhaps because people have changed little since then. Kindness, sensitivity, devotion, purity still resist evil, envy, cruelty, greed. Leaving aside the economic Read More ......

Each era has its own problems and priorities. In France in 1789, financial well-being was in the first place. But the writer showed what destructive power gold can have. After all, by providing people with greater opportunities for well-being and achieving their goals, at the same time, the precious metal puts on a pedestal material values. Society in the race for prosperity forgets about the spiritual. The French bourgeoisie of those times: merchants, bankers, usurers, entrepreneurs - that's new look the master of life, the embodiment of success. But Honore de Balzac focused the attention of readers precisely on the negative impact of wealth, which makes a person a greedy, cruel creature who does not know conscience and honor, ready to commit not only secret, but also obvious crimes for the sake of his fortune.

The pernicious power of capital creeps into all spheres of social and privacy of people. Gold, like poison, changes a person's personality. As a result, he degrades, his needs are reduced to the level of an animal. In such an atmosphere, family ties are not valued, there is no respect for the family, friendship and love collapse. The rich have selfish natures and make those who do not fall under the destructive influence of money suffer.

The power of gold is very expressively shown by Balzac in the guise of Gobsek, a rich usurer. He managed to become a millionaire, but this in no way affected his lifestyle. He is still closed and modest, does not have his own housing, but rents a tiny room in a damp and gloomy house. He became a victim of his own unhealthy economy and regularity.

Wealth made Gobsek lonely. But it doesn't seem to bother him at all. He himself would not allow someone to inherit all his savings after his death. Therefore, he has no friends and family, and he cut off all family ties. He is alien to normal human feelings: pity, sympathy, love and friendship. He has only one passion - to accumulate.

Honore de Balzac specifically details the portrait of the protagonist in such a way as to demonstrate his true essence as much as possible. His external deadness, immobility and detachment from everything earthly is transformed into sinister and predatory features. It was gold that made him dead during his lifetime and killed the human element in him.

Gobsek is presented in the work against the background of a two-sided social environment. These are the rich who have devoted their lives to pleasure and luxury. Their moral character is shown repulsively. On the other hand, they are poor, but at the same time honest workers. They are doomed to a miserable and dull existence, and sometimes even survival. Gobsek, seeing such a contrast in society, quickly decided which side he wanted to be on. He realized that main force V modern life are money. The usurer emphasizes that only financial well-being can be life goal. This is the reliable support that makes you confidently live the days allotted by fate.

Gobsek owes his passion for hoarding to the bourgeois system that divided society into rich and poor. And he had a choice: either they would crush him, or he himself would do it with others. Gobsek chose the latter, as no one wishes the worst for himself.

It cannot be said that absolutely any relationship is alien to the main character. But then again, the only ones that were in his life are of a business nature. It's about on the relationship between creditors and debtors. True, in this role, Gobsek is still devoid of any humanity. He is terrible in dealing with people. No one has been able to pity him yet. He profits from the needs, vices, grief and absolutely does not feel the pangs of conscience.

At the end of the story, the destructive power of gold is revealed to its full potential. Gobsek's greed and insatiability in old age develops into madness and hoarding mania. After his death, a lot of damaged property was found in the pantries. And no one regretted the death of Gobsek ...

The destructive power of money is not the only thing Balzac wrote about:

• Summary of the novel by Honore de Balzac "Gobsek"
• "Gobsek", artistic analysis of the novel by Honore de Balzac
• Composition based on the story of Honore de Balzac "Gobsek"

I read Balzac's novel "Gobsek". In this story, the author tells about the life story of Gobsek. This man was engaged in usury in Paris. He did not see anything shameful in his profession, he devoted himself entirely to this. During his life, Gobsek met many people. He saw worthy people on the verge of poverty, the rich, who deserved contempt. Gobsek sincerely admires honest people. He tries to make money on everything and everyone. He even agrees to lend money to his friend Derville at interest.

Throughout life, there is less and less in the character of Gobsek positive qualities. The people around him cause him less and less sympathy. He does not want to give the inheritance to the young Comte de Restaud. But the thirst for money in this work suffered not only Gobsek, but also the Countess de Restaud. In the heat of anger at her dead husband, out of fear for the future of her children, she burns her husband's papers. Because of this, the entire inheritance passes into the power of Gobsek. The narrator tries to milk Gobseck for the return of de Resto's inheritance, but Gobsek refuses to do so.

At the end of his life, Gobsek turns out to be a lonely rich man. He is insanely rich, but lives a beggarly lifestyle. After his death, the narrator discovered untold riches. It was gold gems, pates, sausages, coffee beans, sugar, spices and much more. The worst thing was that most of product was damaged. Gobsek, because of his irrepressible greed, could not agree on a price with merchants in order to sell them these goods. As a result, they deteriorated and disappeared without bringing any benefit.

This was precisely what destructive power money over Gobsek and over the Comtesse de Restaud.

The accuracy and breadth of the image of French reality are combined in Honore de Balzac with a depth of penetration into internal patterns. public life. He reveals the class conflicts of the era, exposes the bourgeois character community development France after the revolution of 1789. In the images of merchants, usurers, bankers and entrepreneurs, Balzac captured the appearance of the new master of life - the bourgeoisie. He showed people greedy and cruel, without honor and conscience, making their fortunes through overt and secret crimes.

The pernicious power of capital penetrates into all spheres human life. The bourgeoisie subjugates the state (“Dark Deed”, “Deputy from Arsi”), runs the countryside (“Peasants”), spreads its pernicious influence on the spiritual activity of people - on science and art ("Lost Illusions"). The destructive effect of the "financial principle" affects the private life of people. Under the poisonous action of calculation, the human personality degrades, family ties and family break up, love and friendship collapse. Egoism, which develops on the basis of monetary relations, becomes the cause of human suffering.

The destructive effect of money on human personality and human relations with artistic expressiveness shown in the story "Gobsek".

In the center of the story is the rich usurer Gobsek. Despite the millionth fortune, he lives very modestly and closed. Gobsek rents a room resembling a monastic cell in a gloomy, damp house that was formerly a monastery hotel. On interior decoration his dwelling, his whole way of life bears the stamp of austerity and regularity.

Gobsek is alone. He has no family, no friends, he broke all ties with relatives, because he hated his heirs and "did not even think that anyone would take over his fortune even after his death." One single passion - the passion for accumulation - swallowed up in his soul all other feelings: he knows neither love, nor pity, nor compassion.

Balzac uses the details of the portrait to reveal the inner essence of his hero. In appearance Gobsek immobility, deadness, detachment from all earthly, human passions are combined with something predatory and sinister. Ash yellow tones and comparisons with precious metals make it clear to the reader that it was the passion for gold that destroyed the human element in him, made him dead even during his lifetime.

The story depicts the social environment in which Gobsek operates, accurately outlines the two opposite poles of his contemporary society. On the one hand, the poor, honest workers, doomed to a dull existence (the seamstress Fanny Malvaux, the solicitor Derville), on the other hand, a handful of rich people who spend their days in pursuit of luxury and pleasures (the young Comte de Tray, Comtesse de Resto), whose moral character presented in a sharply repulsive form.

With great practical experience and penetrating mind, Gobsek deeply comprehended the inner essence of contemporary society. He saw life in its naked nakedness, in its dramatic contrasts, and realized that in a society where there is a struggle between the poor and the rich, genuine driving force public life are money. Gobsek says: “What is life but a machine that is set in motion by money”, “of all earthly blessings, there is only one that is reliable enough to make it worth it for a person to chase after it. Is this gold". Hobsek's passion for hoarding is a natural product of the bourgeois system, a concentrated expression of its inner essence.

Using the example of Gobsek, Balzac shows that money not only kills the human personality, but also brings destruction to the life of the whole society. Gobsek, closed in his cell, is not at all as harmless as it might seem at first glance. His moral: "It's better to push yourself than to let others push you."

With tremendous power, the destructive nature of Gobsek's hoarding is revealed at the end of the story. By the end of his life, his greed turns into an insane mania. He becomes an insatiable "boa constrictor", completely absorbing the various gifts brought by clients. When, after the death of Gobsek, his pantries were opened, it turned out that huge masses of goods lay and rotted in them without any use.

The writer masterfully shows the destructive processes that take place both in the spiritual and material spheres of bourgeois society.