Moral problems of the play by M. Gorky “At the bottom

In his play, the great writer, playwright Maxim Gorky set out to denounce and show the vices of the society of that time. That is why, I think, he chose a rooming house as the setting for his work. A haven for the poor and downtrodden people. In this environment, most of the problems of society are not covered by masks of decency and tact.

What vices of society did Gorky decide to show? First of all - drunkenness and theft. These are the first problems we see in the play. Many people drink - both the Actor and the Baron, Nastya, Alyoshka, Bubnov. Everyone has different reasons: Bubnov, for example, from laziness. In this he confesses to Luka: “I have a binge ...”, “How old I don’t like to work.” Nastya drinks from hopelessness and the inability to find love, which romance novels describe. Many people see this drunkenness as the fault of society, although, in my opinion, these are problems inherent in every person. You can try what to do and change, or you can just forget yourself in vodka.

Theft is another matter. Gorky directly points to the guilt of Ash's entourage. Thief, son of a thief. The surrounding society left him no choice. Theft is encouraged by the homeowner by buying stolen items. The policeman looks at it through his fingers. Ashes is weighed down by this and, having listened to the advice of old man Luke, tries to break out of this circle. But the quagmire does not let him out, and instead of a thief, albeit by accident, he also becomes a murderer.

Another issue raised in the play "Down Under" is the position of women in this degraded society. It is terrible to read the conversations of Anna, the wife of Klesch, with other residents of the rooming house. They talk to her like a living corpse, without emotions and compassion. Even Vasilisa, who, it would seem, should live better than the others, suffers from unrequited feelings for Ashes, and continues to beat her younger sister out of jealousy, even realizing she was wrong. The position of women is even worse than that of men. Bubnov or Baron, even Kleshch - all of them have long been hardened in soul. And Nastya, for example, does not stop crying over love stories, so she is more worried about the hopelessness of life.

In his play, Gorky also shows the sameness and indistinguishability of the upper class and the very bottom of society. Baron. Already in what nickname the author awarded this character, Gorky's attitude towards him is clear. It's irony. There were no barons in Russia. Yes, he was a nobleman or a gentleman, but not a baron. And this person, educated and well-read, when he gets to the very bottom of society, begins to behave in the same way as the rest. The lordly habits did not pass, as Luka notes, “... nobility is like smallpox ... and a person will recover, but the signs remain ...” But even despite his education and good breeding, the Baron is ready to get down on all fours for vodka. This shows us that people are the same everywhere and there is no difference whether you are a nobleman or a peasant. In the same position, everyone behaves the same way. And if there are no differences, then why is life so unfair. Everyone is the same, but some live without knowing the problems, while others are malnourished? All people are equal, which means that something needs to be changed in this country.

The play was written more than a hundred years ago, but the problems raised in it have not lost their relevance today. On the contrary, today's Russia is very similar to the one at the time of writing "At the Bottom".

Drunkenness has not disappeared over the years. Added to that was drug addiction. The fight against theft does not lead to its eradication. Social division, which was not noticeable in the Soviet Union, became relevant again. You don’t even have to make an effort to find today’s Klesch, Ash or Nastya in modern society. This means that Gorky's call for change, although not openly written, is important even now.

The action of the play "At the Bottom" takes place in a gloomy, semi-dark basement, similar to a cave, with a vaulted, low ceiling that presses on people with its stone weight, where it is dark, there is no space and it is difficult to breathe. The furnishings in this basement are also wretched: instead of chairs, there are dirty stumps of wood, a rough-hewn table, along the walls - bunks

Thieves, cheaters, beggars, cripples have gathered here - everyone who is thrown out of life; different in their habits, life behavior, past fate, but equally hungry, exhausted and useless: the former aristocrat Baron, the drunken Actor, the former intellectual Satin, the artisan locksmith Kleshch, the fallen woman Nastya, the thief Vaska. They have nothing, everything is taken away, lost, erased and trampled into the mud.

The motley gallery of characters in the play are the victims of a soulless social order. Even here, at the very bottom of life, completely exhausted and destitute, they serve as an object of exploitation, even here the owners, petty-bourgeois owners, do not stop at any crime and try to squeeze a few pennies out of them.

The fate of all these people and the very existence of the “bottom” serve as a formidable accusation against the bourgeois world.

A. M. Gorky, in one of his interviews, spoke about the problems of the play as follows: “The main question I wanted to pose is what is better, truth or compassion? What is more needed? "

A. M. Gorky attacked the bourgeois philosophy of consoling lies with great force. Luke considers all people insignificant, miserable, weak, incapable of actively fighting for their rights and in need of condolence and consolation. Luka is a sower of illusions, comforting tales, which desperate weak people greedily clutched at. "White lies" is the principle followed by Luke. He inspires Vaska Pepl with the idea of ​​a trip to Siberia, where he can start a new, honest life; The actor promises to name the city where they cure alcoholism in a luxurious hospital; dying Anna calms down with the hope that for her unbearable torments on earth, after death, she will find peace and eternal bliss in heaven. Luke's comforting lie meets with sympathy from the bed-seekers. They believe him, because they want to believe in the existence of another truth, because they passionately want to escape from the rooming house and make their way to another life, although the paths to it are unclear.

A. M. Gorky, in one of his interviews, spoke about the problems of the play as follows: “The main question I wanted to pose is what is better, truth or compassion? What is more needed? "

In the play "At the Bottom" the author combined many of his theories, thoughts, assumptions. Gorky made his heroes the inhabitants of the rooming house, people who had sunk to the social and moral bottom. And it is no coincidence. It is at that depth of falling, which is reflected in the play, that a person is able to discuss the eternal problems of being, because in real life he has nothing, and his existence comes rather from the mercy of those above. At the "bottom" all social signs and differences between people are erased: "There are no masters here ... everything faded, one naked man remained." So, what problems can be identified in this work? The author prompts us to think about man, about truth and saving lies, about mercy and cruelty, suffering and patience. The controversy about conscience is very interesting in the work. The question of whether she is needed in life arises after Kleshch’s remark that “a tear, a golden company lives in a rooming house ...” Objecting to Kleshch, Vaska Pepel notes that he agrees with those who, like Satin, consider having a conscience completely unprofitable. Bubnov's position is the same: "What's the conscience for?" And the reader begins to wonder if people really need it at the very “day” of life. Also in his work, Gorky outlined the problem of a real way out of the situation. It is associated with the image of the locksmith Klesch, who wants to return to a "normal" life through hard, honest work. At first, Kleshch proudly opposes himself to those around him, believes in the feasibility of his plan, and works hard. But then his dream is shattered by harsh reality: he loses his job, goes through a crisis. At the end of the play, the hero abandons his dreams of work, reconciles himself with the "idle tramps", gets drunk along with Satin, who preaches the principle of "non-doing". Through the image of Anna, the wife of the Tick, the problem of life and death, as well as compassion, develops. Anna - "patient", dutifully bears her cross and appeals only to sympathy. Also, thanks to her, the cruelty of the Mite is emphasized. At Anna's request not to shout, not to quarrel, he only tiredly throws: “Whined!” Anna suffocates, asks to open the door to the hallway, but Kleshch refuses to do so, fearing to catch a cold. In such social conditions, people have no room for elementary pity. In this sense, Bubnov acts as a preacher of the principle of indifference to one's neighbor, lack of compassion. By the way, it is Bubnov that can be called the special hero of the play, his statements often seem cynical, but they show the true meaning of the situation, not allowing illusions to succumb. A very important role in the work is played by the problem of cruel truth and saving lies. The philosophy of humane deceit in the play is preached by the wanderer Luke. He appears, and with him, pity and compassion enter the life of the roomers. For everyone, this old man has a warm, affectionate word. The Stranger believes that a person should be approached only through kindness and pity. With his story about two runaway convicts who climbed into the dacha, Luka confirms the connection between pity for a person and goodness: “If I didn’t take pity on them, they might have killed me ... or something else ... Prison will not teach goodness, but a person will teach ... Yes!" Here Luka is opposed to Bubnov. This hero says: “In my opinion, bring down the whole truth as it is! Why be ashamed?" But the truth, to which he calls, is not for everyone. And in this dispute, the Tick opens up in a new way. He “trembles with excitement”, “screams” about his hatred for the truth: “You need to breathe ... here it is, the truth! It does not let you breathe, you can’t live with it ... ”A peculiar culmination in this dispute between the heroes is the parable of Luke about the righteous land. One person was going to go looking for a righteous land where “good people live ... they respect each other, they help each other for anything and everything ... and everything is nice and good with them!” For this, he was ready to endure everything. He could not stand only the explanation of the scientist that the righteous land is not on the maps. After this news, he "went home and - strangled himself! .." Faith in the ideal of goodness helps to live, "gives joy." Trying to find out the truth, a person becomes convinced that its embodiment in reality is impossible, and this deprives him of his vitality, the ability to fight fate. Satin, in turn, said: “man is the truth!” And in fact, a dispute about a person occupies a significant place in the play. Bubnov says that “no matter how you paint yourself, everything will be erased ... everything will be erased, yes!” Luke does not see a big difference between people: “I don’t care! I respect crooks too; in my opinion, not a single flea is bad: all are black, all are jumping ... ”Satin, in his famous monologue, proclaims:“ What is a person? .. It's not you, not me, not them ... no! - it's you, me, they, the old man, Napoleon, Mohammed ... in one! .. Everything is in a person, everything is for a person! Human! It's great! That sounds…proud!”

With his play "At the Bottom" A. M. Gorky refuted idealistic ideas: the ideas of non-resistance, forgiveness, humility. The whole play is imbued with faith in a real person, a Man with a capital letter. The author raises in his play a lot of all sorts of problems that cannot be answered unambiguously. We can say that each of the heroes of the work, to one degree or another, reveals Gorky's position on moral issues.

Gorky's play "At the Bottom" was written in 1902 and soon brought world fame to the author. In this work, the most topical problems of our time were touched upon, so the play immediately attracted the attention of the Russian public.

With this play, Gorky completed a cycle of works about "tramps". Observation of the world of "former people" influenced the formation of the social consciousness of the author himself. In comparison with the stories written in the 90s of the 19th century, the play presents deeper socio-psychological characteristics of representatives of "tramp anarchism".

When Gorky painted images of the inhabitants of the rooming house, he sought to present them in the most generalized way from a socio-philosophical point of view.

Almost all the characters had their "twins" from real life. Each "tramp" has its own life story, complex and ambiguous.

At the beginning of the 20th century, an acute industrial and economic crisis broke out in Russia. The harsh picture of reality was reflected in the play, and it became a kind of verdict on the existing social system, which threw a huge number of smart and talented people to the "bottom of life", dooming them to a tragic death.

The play "At the Bottom" has a colossal power of accusation. Gorky argued that a society that has destroyed the human in a person cannot exist. Therefore, at the end of each act of the play, one of the inhabitants of the rooming house dies. A chain of various (from natural to murder) deaths symbolizes the tragedy of the life of such a society. Therefore, the genre of the play is defined as a tragedy, the distinctive feature of which is the maximum truthfulness and realism.

On the example of the life of Klesch, the problem of the “bottom” and “owners” is revealed, which acquires a political sound.

Gorky opposed all manifestations of consolation, considering them one of the forms of reconciliation with reality.

The problem of consoling illusions becomes the theme of many of Gorky's works ("The Rogue", "Sick", "Reader"), but it is most fully revealed in the play "At the Bottom". The writer exposes this problem in its various manifestations and condemns those who blindly succumb to the illusions of comforters.

The main question of the play is the question of which is better, compassion or truth? Is it worth it to bring compassion to such an extent that to use, like Luke, a lie? Around this problem, heated debates unfold in the play about the meaning of human life, about the future.

The writer contrasted this false philosophy of humility with the truth about a free man who rejects the pity that humiliates him. A person creates his own future, he has great opportunities and potential. A person should not be humiliated with pity, he should be respected and appreciated.

The problem of the "bottom" is vividly presented by the example of Natasha's fate. This image is strikingly different from other inhabitants of the rooming house. In the girl, purity, dignity and pride are clearly visible, it was these qualities that captivated Ash. But will Natasha be able to save them? Most likely no. The proof of this is the example of her sister Vasilisa. They have a lot in common with Natasha. Vasilisa has the same will and directness. Obviously, she used to be the same as Natasha, but life circumstances made her a "reptile". Vasilisa herself admits that she pities Natasha, but she cannot help herself, and therefore she torments her sister. Perhaps in the future Natasha will become the same.

The play "At the Bottom" has a socio-philosophical character. There are no positive characters in it, but they should not be here. The main idea of ​​the play is the idea that absolutely every person has the right to be happy.

Maxim Gorky's play "At the Bottom" is still the most successful drama in his collection of works. She won the favor of the public during the life of the author, the writer himself even described the performances in other books, ironically about his fame. So what is it about this book that has so captivated people?

The play was written in late 1901 - early 1902. This work was not an obsession or a burst of inspiration, as is usually the case with creative people. On the contrary, it was written specifically for the troupe of actors from the Moscow Art Theater, created to enrich the culture of all classes of society. Gorky could not imagine what would come of this, but he realized the desired idea of ​​​​creating a play about tramps, where about two dozen characters would be present.

The fate of Gorky's play cannot be called the final and irrevocable triumph of his creative genius. Opinions were different. People were delighted or criticized such a controversial creation. She survived the bans and censorship, and until now everyone understands the meaning of the drama in their own way.

The meaning of the name

The meaning of the title of the play "At the Bottom" personifies the social position of all the characters in the work. The name gives an ambiguous first impression, since there is no specific mention of which day it is. The author allows the reader to express his imagination and guess what his work is about.

Today, many literary critics agree that the author meant that his characters are at the bottom of life in a social, financial and moral sense. This is the meaning of the name.

Genre, direction, composition

The play is written in the genre called "social-philosophical drama". The author touches on such topics and problems. His direction can be described as "critical realism", although some researchers insist on the wording "socialist realism", as the writer focused the public's attention on social injustice and the eternal conflict between the poor and the rich. Thus, his work took on an ideological connotation, because at that time the confrontation between the nobility and the common people in Russia was only heating up.

The composition of the work is linear, since all actions are chronologically sequential and form a single thread of the narrative.

The essence of the work

The essence of the play by Maxim Gorky lies in the image of the bottom and its inhabitants. To show the readers in the characters of the plays of marginals, people humiliated by life and fate, rejected by society and severed their connection with it. Despite the smoldering flame of hope - with no future. They live, argue about love, honesty, truth, justice, but their words are just an empty sound for this world and even for their own destinies.

Everything that happens in the play has only one goal: to show the clash of philosophical views and positions, as well as to illustrate the dramas of outcast people to whom no one lends a helping hand.

Main characters and their characteristics

The inhabitants of the bottom are people with different life principles and beliefs, but they all have one condition in common: they are mired in poverty, which gradually deprives them of dignity, hope and self-confidence. She corrupts them, dooming the victims to certain death.

1. Mite– works as a locksmith, 40 years. Married to Anna (30 years old), suffering from consumption. Relations with the wife are the main characterizing detail. Klesh's complete indifference to her well-being, frequent beatings and humiliation speak of his cruelty and callousness. After Anna's death, the man was forced to sell his work tools in order to bury her. And only the lack of work unsettled him a little. Fate leaves the hero with no chance to get out of the rooming house and no prospects for a further successful life.
2. Bubnov- a 45-year-old man. Former owner of a fur workshop. Dissatisfied with the current life, but tries to maintain the potential to return to normal society. Lost possession due to divorce, as documents were issued to his wife. Lives in a rooming house and sews hats.
3. satin- Approximately 40 years old, drinks until he loses his memory and plays cards, where he cheats, which is how he earns his living. I read many books, which I constantly remind not so much to my neighbors as to myself as a consolation that not everything is lost. Served 5 years in prison for manslaughter during a fight for his sister's honor. Despite his education and an accidental fall, he does not recognize honest ways of existence.
4. Luke- a wanderer at the age of 60 years. Appeared unexpectedly for the inhabitants of the rooming house. He behaves intelligently, consoles and calms everyone around, but as if he came with a specific purpose. He tries to build relationships with everyone by giving advice, which incites even more disputes. The hero of a neutral character, despite his good tone, always wants to doubt the purity of intentions. According to his stories, it can be assumed that he served time in prison, but escaped from there.
5. Ash- name is Vasily, 28 years old. He constantly steals, but, despite the dishonest way of earning money, he has his own philosophical point of view, like everyone else. He wants to get out of the rooming house and start a new life. Several times he was in prison. He has a certain position in this society due to a secret relationship with the married Vasilisa, which everyone knows about. At the beginning of the play, the characters part, and Pepel tries to take care of Natasha in order to take her away from the rooming house, but, in a fight, he kills Kostylev and ends up in prison at the end of the play.
6. Nastya- a young girl, 24 years old. Based on her treatment and conversations, it can be concluded that she works as a call girl. Constantly wants attention to be needed. She has a connection with the Baron, but not the one that she comes up with in her fantasies after reading romance novels. In fact, she tolerates rudeness and disrespect from her boyfriend, while giving him money for alcohol. All her behavior is continuous complaints about life and requests to regret.
7. Baron- 33 years old, drinks, but due to unfortunate circumstances. He constantly reminds of his noble roots, which once helped him become a wealthy official, but did not have much significance when accused of embezzlement of state funds, because of which the hero went to prison, remaining a beggar. He has a love relationship with Nastya, but takes them for granted, transfers all his duties to the girl, constantly takes money for drinking.
8. Anna- Klesch's wife, 30 years old, suffers from consumption. At the beginning of the play, he is in a dying state, but does not live to the end. For all the heroes, the rooming house is an unfortunate item of "interior" that makes unnecessary sounds and takes up space. Until her death, she hopes for a manifestation of her husband's love, but dies in a corner from indifference, beatings and humiliation, which may have given rise to the disease.
9. Actor- a man, about 40 years old. Just like all the residents of the rooming house, he always remembers his past life. A kind and fair person, but overly self-pitying. Wants to stop drinking after learning from Luke about a hospital for alcoholics in some city. He begins to save money, but, not having time to find out the location of the hospital before the wanderer leaves, the hero despairs and ends his life by suicide.
10. Kostylev- Vasilisa's husband, 54-year-old owner of a rooming house. He perceives people only as walking wallets, likes to remind about debts and assert himself at the expense of the lowlands of his own tenants. He tries to hide his true attitude behind a mask of kindness. He suspects his wife of cheating with Ash, which is why he constantly listens to the sounds outside his door. He believes that he should be grateful for the lodging for the night. Vasilisa and her sister Natasha are treated no better than the drunkards who live at his expense. Buys things that Cinder steals, but hides it. Due to his own stupidity, he dies at the hands of Ash in a fight.
11. Vasilisa Karpovna - Kostylev's wife, 26 years old. No different from her husband, but hates him with all her heart. She secretly cheats on her husband with Ashes and incites her lover to kill her husband, promising that he will not be sent to prison. And she does not feel any feelings for her sister, except for envy and anger, which is why she gets the most. He is looking for his own benefit in everything.
12. Natasha- Vasilisa's sister, 20 years old. The most "clean" soul of the rooming house. He suffers bullying from Vasilisa and her husband. He cannot trust Ash with his desire to take her away, knowing all the meanness of people. Although she understands that she will disappear. Helps residents selflessly. He is going to meet Vaska in order to leave, but ends up in the hospital after the death of Kostylev and goes missing.
13. Kvashnya- A 40-year-old dumpling vendor who experienced the strength of a husband who beat her for 8 years of marriage. Helps the residents of the rooming house, sometimes tries to put the house in order. He argues with everyone and is no longer going to get married, remembering his late tyrant husband. Over the course of the play, their relationship with Medvedev develops. At the very end, Kvashnya marries a policeman, whom she herself begins to beat because of her addiction to alcohol.
14. Medvedev- uncle of the sisters Vasilisa and Natasha, policeman, 50 years old. Throughout the play, she tries to woo Kvashnya, promising that she will not be like her ex-husband. He knows that his niece is being beaten by his older sister, but does not interfere. He knows about all the machinations of Kostylev, Vasilisa and Pepel. At the end of the play, he marries Kvashnya, begins to drink, for which his wife beats him.
15. Alyoshka- Shoemaker, 20 years old, drinks. He says that he does not need anything, that he is disappointed in life. He drinks out of desperation and plays the harmonica. Due to riot and drinking, he often ends up in the police station.
16. Tatar– also lives in a rooming house, works as a housekeeper. He likes to play cards with Satin and Baron, but always resents their dishonest play. An honest person does not understand crooks. Constantly talks about the laws, honors them. At the end of the play, Crooked Goit hits him and breaks his arm.
17. crooked goiter- another little-known inhabitants of the rooming house, the key keeper. Not as honest as Tatarin. He also likes to pass the time playing cards, calmly treats the cheating of Satin and the Baron, finds excuses for them. He beats Tatarin, breaks his arm, because of which he has a conflict with policeman Medvedev. At the end of the play, he sings a song with the others.

Themes

Despite the seemingly simple plot and the lack of sharp climactic turns, the work is replete with themes that give rise to reflection.

1. Hope Theme stretches throughout the play until the very denouement. She is in the mood of the work, but not once does anyone mention their intention to get out of the rooming house. Hope is present in every dialogue of the inhabitants, but only indirectly. As once each of them hit the bottom, so someday they dream of getting out of there. In everyone there is a small opportunity to return to a past life again, where everyone was happy, although they did not appreciate it.
2. Destiny Theme is also very important in the play. It defines the role of evil fate and its meaning for the heroes. Fate can be in the work that driving force that could not be changed, which brought all the inhabitants together. Or that circumstance, always subject to treason, which had to be overcome in order to be able to achieve great success. From the life of the inhabitants, one can understand that they have accepted their fate and are trying to change it only in the opposite direction, believing that they have nowhere to fall below. If one of the tenants tries to make an attempt to change his position and get out of the bottom, he collapses. Perhaps the author wanted to show in this way that they deserved such a fate.
3. Theme of the meaning of life looks rather superficial in the play, but if you think about it, you can understand the reason for such an attitude towards the life of the heroes of the shack. Everyone considers the current state of affairs to be a bottom from which there is no way out: neither down nor, all the more so, up. Heroes, despite different age categories, are disappointed in life. They lost interest in her, and ceased to see any meaning in their own existence, to say nothing of sympathy for each other. They do not aspire to another fate, because they do not represent it. Only alcohol sometimes gives color to the existence, which is why the roommates like to drink.
4. Theme of Truth and Lies in the play is the main idea of ​​the author. This topic is a philosophical question in Gorky's work, about which he reflects through the lips of the characters. If we talk about the truth in the dialogues, then its boundaries are erased, because sometimes the characters say absurd things. However, their words hide secrets and mysteries that are revealed to us in the course of the plot of the work. The author raises this topic in the play, as he considers the truth as a way to save the inhabitants. Show the heroes the real state of affairs, opening their eyes to the world and to their own lives, which they lose every day in the hut? Or hide the truth under the masks of lies, pretense, because it is easier for them? Everyone chooses the answer independently, but the author makes it clear that he likes the first option.
5. Theme of love and feelings affects in the work, because it makes it possible to understand the relationship of the inhabitants. Love in a rooming house, even between spouses, is absolutely absent, and it hardly has the opportunity to appear there. The place itself is filled with hatred. All were united only by a common living space and a sense of the injustice of fate. Indifference is in the air, both for healthy and sick people. Only squabbles, like dogs squabbling, amuse the overnight stays. Along with the interest in life, the colors of emotions and feelings are lost.

Problems

The play is rich in subject matter. Maxim Gorky tried in one work to indicate the moral problems that were relevant at that time, which, however, exist to this day.

1. The first problem is conflict between the inhabitants of the rooming house, not only with each other, but also with life. From the dialogues between the characters, one can understand their relationship. Constant quarrels, differences of opinion, elementary debts lead to eternal skirmishes, which is a mistake in this case. The overnight stays need to learn to live above the same roof in harmony. Mutual assistance will make life easier, change the general atmosphere. The problem of social conflict is the destruction of any society. The poor are united by a common problem, but instead of solving it, they create new ones by common efforts. The conflict with life lies in the lack of an adequate perception of it. Former people are offended by life, which is why they do not take further steps towards creating a different future and simply go with the flow.
2. Another issue is the thorny question: Truth or Compassion? The author creates a reason for reflection: to show the heroes the realities of life or to sympathize with such a fate? In the drama, someone suffers from physical or psychological abuse, and someone dies in agony, but receives their share of compassion, and this reduces their suffering. Each person has their own view of the current situation, and we react based on our feelings. The writer in Satin's monologue and the disappearance of the wanderer made it clear which side he is on. Luka acts as an antagonist to Gorky, trying to bring the inhabitants back to life, show the truth and console the suffering.
3. Also in the play rises problem of humanism. More precisely, its absence. Returning again to the relations between the inhabitants, and their relation to themselves, one can consider this problem from two positions. The lack of humanism on the part of the characters towards each other can be seen in the situation with the dying Anna, to whom no one pays attention. During Vasilisa's mockery of her sister Natasha, Nastya's humiliation. There is an opinion that if people are at the bottom, then they do not need any more help, every man for himself. This cruelty to themselves is determined by their current way of life - constant drinking, fights, carrying disappointment and loss of meaning in life. Existence ceases to be the highest value when there is no goal for it.
4. The problem of immorality rises in connection with the lifestyle that residents lead based on their social location. Nastya's work as a call girl, playing cards for money, drinking alcohol with the ensuing consequences in the form of fights and drives to the police, theft - all these are the consequences of poverty. The author shows this behavior as a typical phenomenon for people who find themselves at the bottom of society.

The meaning of the play

The idea of ​​Gorky's play is that all people are exactly the same, regardless of their social and financial status. Everyone is made of flesh and blood, the differences are only in upbringing and character, which give us the opportunity to react differently to the current situations and act on them. Whoever you are, life can change in a moment. Any of us, having lost everything that we had in the past, sinking to the bottom, will lose ourselves. It will no longer make sense to keep yourself within the decency of society, to look and behave appropriately. When a person loses the values ​​set by others, he becomes confused and falls out of reality, as happened with the heroes.

The main idea is that life can break any person. To make him indifferent, bitter, having lost any incentive to exist. Undoubtedly, indifferent society will be guilty of many of his troubles, which will only push the falling one. However, the broken poor are often to blame for the fact that they cannot rise, because in their laziness, depravity and indifference to everything, it is still difficult to find the guilty ones.

Gorky's author's position is expressed in Satin's monologue, which shattered into aphorisms. "Man - sounds proud!" he exclaims. The writer wants to show how to treat people in order to appeal to their dignity and strength. Endless regret without concrete practical steps will only harm the poor, because he will continue to feel sorry for himself, and not work in order to get out of the vicious circle of poverty. This is the philosophical meaning of drama. In a dispute about true and false humanism in society, the one who speaks directly and honestly, even at the risk of incurring indignation, wins. Gorky in one of Sateen's monologues connects truth and lies with human freedom. Independence is given only at the cost of comprehending and searching for truth.

Conclusion

Each reader will draw their own conclusion. The play "At the Bottom" can help a person understand that in life one should always strive for something, because it gives strength to move on without looking back. Don't stop thinking that nothing will work.

On the example of all the heroes, one can see absolute inaction and disinterest in their own destiny. Regardless of age and gender, they are simply mired in their current position, excused by the fact that it is too late to resist and start all over again. A person must himself have a desire to change his future, and in case of any failure, do not blame life, do not be offended by it, but gain experience by experiencing the problem. The inhabitants of the rooming house believe that suddenly, for their suffering in the basement, a miracle should fall on them that will bring them a new life, as it happens - Luke comes to them, wanting to cheer up all the desperate, to help with advice to make life better. But, they forgot that the word did not help the fallen, he extended his hand to them, but no one took it. And everyone is just waiting for action from anyone, but not from themselves.

Criticism

It cannot be said that before the birth of his legendary play, Gorky did not have any popularity in society. But, it can be emphasized that interest in him has intensified precisely because of this work.

Gorky managed to show everyday, ordinary things that surround dirty, uneducated people from a new angle. He knew what he was writing about, since he himself had experience in achieving his position in society, because he was from the common people and an orphan. There is no exact explanation why the works of Maxim Gorky were so popular and made such a strong impression on the public, because he was not an innovator of any genre, writing about well-known things. But Gorky's work was fashionable at that time, the society liked to read his works, attend theater performances based on his works. It can be assumed that the degree of social tension in Russia was rising, and many were dissatisfied with the established order in the country. The monarchy had exhausted itself, and the popular actions of subsequent years were severely suppressed, and therefore many people were happy to look for minuses in the existing system, as if reinforcing their own conclusions.

The features of the play lie in the way of presenting and presenting the characters' characters, in the harmonious use of descriptions. One of the issues raised in the work is the individuality of each hero and his struggle for it. Artistic tropes and stylistic figures very accurately depict the living conditions of the characters, because the author saw all these details personally.

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// Social problems of Gorky's play "At the Bottom"

Despite the fact that Maxim Gorky's play "" is already over a hundred years old, it continues to be staged in many theaters around the world. This work, which showed the life of people who have sunk to the bottom, has not lost its relevance in our time. Gorky showed us the daily life of the poorest stratum of the population in its usual expression.

The action of the play takes place in a rooming house, which sheltered people of different age categories, different professions. Many of them used to have another life, but now they are all at the bottom of this life.

Speaking about the social conflict of the play, it is worth noting that it is ambiguous and multifaceted. It is revealed in the confrontation between the inhabitants of the rooming house and its owners, and also manifests itself in the personal tragedy of each hero of the work and the reasons that made them sink to the bottom of life.

To understand the conflict between the inhabitants of the rooming house and its owners, it is necessary to understand what kind of people they were.

So, Mikhail Kostylev was the owner of the rooming house. He was a hypocritical and greedy person. On the one hand, he gave shelter to the needy, and on the other hand, he ripped off their last money for living.

His wife Vasilisa was also disgusted with the inhabitants of the rooming house. She was in love with Vaska Ash, and was constantly jealous of him for her sister Natalya. Over Natalia Vasilisa, together with her husband, were tormented with special zeal. Natalya, on the contrary, was a quiet girl and did not allow herself to argue with her sister and her husband.

In the relationship between two sisters, Gorky showed us how social status affects the relationship of two people, even though they were sisters.

Vaska Pepel was one of the inhabitants of the Kostylevo rooming house. He said to himself that since childhood he was called a thief. Therefore, all his life he did nothing more than steal. It should be noted that Vasilisa encouraged the occupation of Ash by buying stolen things from him.

An unenviable fate was another inhabitant of the rooming house - Anna. She was sick with a fatal disease and was living her last days. Her husband, a locksmith Kleshch, has been waiting for the death of his wife for a long time. She was a burden to him. He thought that after Anna's death he would be able to earn money and start a new life. But this was not destined to happen. Anna lived and endured, endured daily humiliation, beatings from her husband. There was no place for joy and happiness in her life. The girl no longer remembered when she ate and dressed to the full, something different from old rags.

The person who could not find an application for his knowledge and skills, and now found himself in a rooming house with its other inhabitants, was Satin. From an early age he worked on the telegraph, was fond of reading. But now he has become a beggar, not expecting anything from life. From the old days, he had only a few intricate words in a foreign language, which he liked to show off to the others.

Orphan Nastya was forced to sell her body in order to somehow make ends meet. She was a dreamer. Nastya was fond of love stories and believed that someday true love would overtake her. For her dreaminess and naivety, the girl endured daily ridicule from other inhabitants of the rooming house.

Another inhabitant of the rooming house was Bubnov. Here he found himself because he found out about the betrayal of his wife and, not finding a better option, went to the rooming house to Kostylev.

In my opinion, the most tragic fall to the bottom was the fall of the Baron. He was a former nobleman, held a high position. But now he is forced to spend time with those people whom he simply did not notice before. The baron often recalled his past "well-fed" years. From that life, he only had an arrogant manner of communicating with others.

The next inhabitant of the rooming house was a man of the scene, a man who bathed in applause, but who, succumbing to a bad habit, rolled down. The worst thing is that the Actor understands the cause of his suffering, but he cannot do anything about it.

Now all these once different people are equal in their lack of rights. They find themselves at the bottom of life and are forced to accept their fate. These people have no future, they only have memories of a past life. All of them are united by one road - the road down into the abyss. Such a life destroyed all human feelings and qualities in the inhabitants of the rooming house and gave rise not only to social, but also to moral degradation.

A ray of light for the inhabitants of the rooming house is the old man Luka, who tried to "stir up" them, giving them hope. Unfortunately, it was already too late, no one could find the strength to climb up again. The actor commits suicide, Vaska Pepel was exiled to Siberia, the rest of the inhabitants of the rooming house suffered a bad fate.

Maxim Gorky in his play "At the Bottom" tried to show us the powerlessness of a person burdened with social problems, how important it is to be able to solve them in time in order to change your life.