Anton Pavlovich Chekhov is the author of many innovative works, where the reader sees not only subtle satire, but also a detailed description of the human soul. When you get acquainted with his work, it begins to seem that he is not only a prose writer, but also a very gifted psychologist.
"The Man in the Case" is one of three stories in the "Little Trilogy" series, on which the author worked for about two months in 1898. It also includes the stories "Gooseberry" and "About Love", which Anton Pavlovich wrote in Melikhovka, where he lived with his family. He barely had time to finish working on them, because he already suffered from tuberculosis and wrote less and less.
It is impossible to be sure that Chekhov wrote about some specific person, most likely central image"The Man in the Case" is collective. The writer's contemporaries put forward several candidates that could serve as prototypes for Belikov, but all of them had only a slight resemblance to the hero.
Genre, conflict and composition
It is quite easy for the reader to get acquainted with the work, because it is written plain language, which, nevertheless, is capable of causing a huge number of impressions. Style is expressed in compositions: the text is divided into small semantic fragments, focusing on the most important.
In the story we see conflict between two characters. The author contrasts Kovalenko (life-affirming, active position, positive thinking) and Belikov (passive and lifeless vegetation, internal slavery), which helps him to better reveal the problem. The case becomes artistic detail, which describes the whole essence and meaning of the work, shows the inner world of the hero.
literary genre- a story that is part of a "small trilogy" of three separate stories, but combined with one idea. "The Man in the Case" is written with a clear satirical coloring, with this technique the writer ridicules the very essence of " little man", who is simply afraid to live.
The meaning of the name
In his story, Chekhov warns us that absolutely any person, unwittingly, can imprison himself in a “case”, this is where such a name came from. The case refers to fixation on the unwritten set of rules and restrictions that people shackle themselves with. Dependence on conventions turns into a disease for them and prevents them from rapprochement with society.
The secluded world of prohibitions and barriers seems much better to the inhabitants of the cases, they surround themselves with a kind of shell so that the influence of the outside world does not touch them. However, to live locked up with their own orders and attitudes is cramped, the other person will not fit there. It turns out that a resident of a stuffy, clogged corner is doomed to loneliness, so the title of the story is fundamentally given in the singular.
Main characters
- The main character of the story is Belikov Greek teacher at the high school He sets certain rules in his life, and most of all he is afraid that something will not go as planned. Belikov, even in the clearest and warmest weather, is dressed in galoshes and a warm coat with a raised collar, he hides his face behind dark glasses and a hat in order to protect himself from influence as best as possible. environment: not only natural, but also social. It scares him modern reality and irritates everything that happens around, which is why the teacher puts on a kind of case both externally and internally.
- Mikhail Kovalenko — new teacher history and geography, who comes to work at the gymnasium with his sister. Michael is young, sociable and cheerful man tall, a big fan of laughing and even laughing heartily.
- His sister Varenka- a woman of 30 years old, very cheerful and happy, loves to have fun, sing and dance. The heroine shows interest in Belikov, who, in turn, devotes time to her and agrees to walks in order to argue that marriage is too serious a thing. The woman still does not lose hope to stir up the gentleman, which betrays in her such qualities as perseverance and determination.
Themes
- The main theme of Chekhov's story is closed and isolated human life who is shy of the world around him and shuns any manifestation of feeling. He hides his eyes from the people around him, constantly carries all his things in a case, whether it is a small knife designed for sharpening a pencil, or an ordinary umbrella, which is so convenient to hide his face. Many spiritual values were wild to the main character, and emotions were incomprehensible. This expresses his limitedness, which poisons existence.
- Love Theme the story reveals Varenka's attitude towards Belikov. The girl is trying to interest the hero and return him to a full life. She believes to the last that he can still change for the better. But he also closes himself from her, because the prospect of marriage and the obsessive conversations of his colleagues about their marriage begin to frighten him.
- Chekhov explains to the reader that the worst thing that can happen to a person is indifference to life. Belikov became so self-contained that he stopped distinguishing the colors of the world, enjoying communication, and striving for something. He no longer cares what happens outside of his case, as long as numerous decorums are observed.
- The man in the case collective image timid people who are afraid of their own feelings and emotions. They abstract from the world around them and withdraw into themselves. That's why theme of loneliness is also important in the story of Anton Pavlovich Chekhov.
- Conservative. The author realizes with horror and pity that some of his contemporaries create a shell for themselves in which they perish morally and spiritually. They exist in the world, but do not live. People go with the flow, moreover, they cannot even allow fate to intervene and change something in better side. This fear of new events and changes makes people passive, inconspicuous and unhappy. Due to the abundance of such conservatives in society, stagnation is formed, through which it is difficult for young shoots to break through, capable of developing and developing the country.
- The problem of meaningless life. Why did Belikov live on earth? He never made anyone happy, not even himself. The hero is shaking over his every act and constantly repeats: "No matter how something happens." Bypassing fictitious sorrows and suffering, he misses happiness itself, thus, his price of psychological comfort is too high, since it destroys the very essence of people's existence.
- looms before the reader the problem of happiness, more precisely, the problem of its achievement, essence and price. The hero replaces him with peace, but, on the other hand, he himself has the right to determine what is the highest value for him.
- The problem of fear of love. The people who surround him are just as unhappy, they find themselves on the wrong side of a fictional case, Belikov simply cannot open up and let someone closer. The hero was never able to develop his feelings for the girl he liked, he just got scared of them and was left with nothing.
- The Problem of Sociopathy. The teacher is afraid of society, despises it, fences himself off, not allowing anyone from the people around him to help him. They would be happy, but he himself does not allow it.
Main problems
the main idea
Chekhov was not only a doctor by training, but also a healer of souls by vocation. He realized that a spiritual illness sometimes turns out to be more dangerous than a physical ailment. The idea of the story "The Man in the Case" is a protest against the lonely closed vegetation under the shell. The author puts into the work the idea that the case must be ruthlessly burned in order to feel freedom and treat life with ease.
Otherwise, the fate of a closed person can be deplorable. So, in the finale, the main character dies alone, leaving no grateful descendants, no followers, no achievements. The writer shows us how nothing can end earth path"case" person. Colleagues and acquaintances who are present at his funeral are mentally happy that they finally said goodbye to Belikov and his importunity.
Anton Pavlovich puts socio-political overtones into his work, emphasizing the importance social activity and civil initiative. He advocates a rich and fulfilling life, endows the protagonist with repulsive character traits in order to prove to people how miserable and pitiful the inhabitant of the “case” looks, wasting himself.
Thus, Chekhov describes the fate of many clerks who lived gray in a stuffy city, sorting out papers that no one needed. He ironically plays on the "little man" type, violating literary tradition portray him in idyllic colors. His authorial position is not contemplative or sentimental, but active, without compromise. The inhabitants of the case should not savor their insignificance and wait for pity, they need to change and squeeze a slave out of themselves.
What does the author teach?
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov makes us think about our own life and wonder interesting question: "But aren't we building ourselves the same case that the main character Belikov had?". Author in literally teaches us to live, showing by example how a person can grow dull and abyss, crawling before conventions and stereotypes. Chekhov was really able to instill in people an aversion to a gray, worthless life, to show that inaction and indifference is the worst thing that can happen to us.
The fear of discoveries and accomplishments destroys the personality in a person, he becomes miserable and helpless, unable to show even the simplest feelings. The writer believes that human nature is much richer and more capable than what fear and laziness turn it into. Happiness, according to Chekhov, lies in a full life, where there is a place strong emotions, interesting communication and individuality.
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He also could not bypass the theme of the "little man" in his work. His heroes are "little people", but many of them became so of their own free will. In Chekhov's stories, we will see oppressors of bosses, like Gogol's, there is no acute financial situation in them, humiliating social relations like Dostoevsky's, there is only a person who decides his own destiny. With his visual images of "little people" with impoverished souls, Chekhov calls on readers to fulfill one of his commandments, "Squeeze a slave out of yourself drop by drop." Each of the heroes of his "little trilogy" personifies one of the aspects of life: Belikov ("The Man in the Case") - the personification of power, bureaucracy and censorship, the story ("Gooseberry") - the personification of relations with the land, a perverted image of the landowner of that time, the story of love appears before us as a reflection of the spiritual life of people. All the stories together make up an ideological whole, create a generalized idea of modern life, where the meaningful side by side with the insignificant, the tragic with the funny.
Between opposites in the soul of Chekhov's hero for the most part there is no peaceful coexistence. If a person submits to the force of circumstances, and the ability to resist gradually fades away in him, then he eventually loses everything truly human that was characteristic of him. This is the mortification of the soul, "reducing it" to minimum dimensions- the most terrible retribution that gives life for opportunism.
"The Man in the Case". The first part of the "small trilogy." Belikov, a Greek teacher, in love with his subject, could bring a lot of benefit to high school students with his knowledge.
Belikov's love for Greek, at first glance, more high form obsession than the passion for hoarding with Ionych, or the possession of a manor with gooseberries. But it is no coincidence that with his admiration for the wonderful subject that he teaches, this teacher does not infect his students, he is only a hated "man in a case" for them. Taking on the role of the guardian of morality, he poisons the lives of those around him: not only for students, but also for teachers, not only for teachers, but also for the director of the gymnasium, and not only for the entire gymnasium - for the whole city. That's why everyone hates him so much.
A product of the era of reaction of the 80s, Belikov, first of all, is himself in constant fear: "no matter what happens!" He is afraid of catching a cold. And let the sun shine in case of rain or wind, just in case, you need to dress warmly, you need to grab an umbrella, turn up your collar, put on dark glasses, galoshes, cover your ears with cotton wool and, getting into a cab, close the top. Details in the behavior of the hero, noted by the artist at the moment when the hero leaves the house and goes out into the street, from which he expects some intrigues, immediately cut into the memory, as the first and very strong impression"little case" man. Here strong points his literary portrait.
It would seem that such a person as Belikov, being afraid of the street, should feel out of danger at home. But Belikov's house is no better than on the street. Here at his disposal is no less sophisticated selection of protective items. No matter how things are damaged - and just in case, a watch, Belikov keeps a penknife in a case. No matter how the thieves get into the house, no matter how the cook Athanasius stabs him - shutters, latches, a canopy bed, himself under a blanket with his head tightly covered, are called upon to protect and protect the anxiety of Belikov, who walks around the house in a dressing gown and cap.
The abundance of objects enveloping the figure of Belikov on the street, at home, at school and painting us his portrait as a person makes us once again recall Chekhov's remarkable predecessors, who for the first time in Russian literature so closely connected the inner appearance of a person with the outside world, his environment - this is N .IN. Gogol and Goncharov.
So, the whole meaning of Belikov's life is in energetic protection from the outside world, from real life. Belikov is afraid not only of real life. Even more terrible for him is any manifestation of a living thought. Therefore, he does not like any official circulars. They were especially sweet to him if they contained prohibitions - a wide field for the implementation of the same immortal formula: "Case as a property of the human character, thus, goes far beyond the behavior of the individual in everyday life" reflects the whole worldview of a society languishing under oppression police-bureaucratic regime. And when you think about it, there seems to be an ominous connotation in Belikov's teaching children the ancient, dead language. “And the ancient languages that he taught were, in essence, the same galoshes and an umbrella for him when he was hiding from reality,” his colleague Burkin, also a teacher, explains his story about Belikov. Belikov resembles a non-commissioned officer in his passion for the voluntary protection of the police regime and for a long-term harmful effect on people.
Chekhov would not be Chekhov if he portrayed the "man in a case" in only one psychological state. His characters always change in the course of events. Belikov also changed, under the influence of a dim, timid spark - a semblance of love that flared up in his soul when he met the laughing Varenka. But this change was external: "... the decision to marry had an effect on him somehow painfully, he lost weight, turned pale and, it seemed, went even deeper into his case." Belikov's very first thought about marrying Varenka began with a new "no matter how it happened," and this case consideration finally crushed the semblance of love in his soul. In the first and last time for the hero, this fear was not in vain: the desire to marry turned into death for him. Thrown down the stairs by the teacher Kovalenko, Varenka's brother, Belikov rolled down with his galoshes. The detail with which this person seemed to have grown physically, suddenly broke away from him, and this could not pass without pain. In such an unusual form for him, without one of the most powerful cases, with the help of which he only had solid ground under his feet, Belikov felt completely disarmed. The fatal outcome came immediately. Belikov could not survive the public shame - the laughter of Varenka, who at that moment entered the house along with other people, Belikov returned to himself, lay down and did not get up again. This death is a retribution for a false dead worldview, therefore there is nothing tragic in it. It was not for nothing that Belikov's face in the coffin "was meek, pleasant, even cheerful, as if he was glad that at last they put him in a case from which he would never leave."
Before us is the lesson of a life crippled by social conditions, spent by the hero senselessly for himself and to the detriment of others.
Fear of any manifestations of life, stupid dislike for everything new, unusual, especially that goes beyond what is permitted by the boss - character traits whitewashed. Belikov oppresses those around him with his fear. Belikov is hated and feared, but even after his death, the stamp of Belikovism lies on the life of the city. Such is the spirit of the era, the spirit of the country.
The story "Gooseberry" has become a generalization of the entire Russian petty-bourgeois life. The reader feels the subtlety and simplicity of Chekhov's skill.
The writer rejected the option of the death of an official from cancer. It would look like tragic accident. He also rejected the other ending he wrote down: he ate a gooseberry, said: "How stupid" - and died. It was too much for him simple solution Problems. In the story, the official remained to live, pleased with himself. Self-satisfied, tenacious vulgarity - hidden danger the whole society. Such a completion of the story is striking in its accuracy and surprising simplicity, insignificance. The ending is ordinary and so it is real.
Chekhov's story denounces vulgarity, boredom, limited interests. Before us is revealed something small, insignificant, apparently almost harmless, constantly occurring, but terrible in its petty routine.
At the beginning of the story, a landscape is drawn - endless fields, distant hills. The great, beautiful country, its vastness, calling into the distance, is opposed to the life of an official, whose cherished goal is to acquire ownership of an insignificant piece of land, lock himself up for life in his own estate, eat "not bought, but his own gooseberry." Having visited his brother, who, after long hardships, fulfilled his dream: he acquired an estate in his old age, Ivan Ivanovich is indignant at the sight of this mundane happiness: not three arshins of land per estate, but the whole Earth, all nature, where in the open space he could show all the properties and features of his free spirit. "There were no people in the Himalayan estate, but there were creatures, according to the author's description, similar to pigs. There was a red dog that looked like a pig, the cook was also looks like a pig, finally, about the most flabby, plump official, sitting in bed, it is said, "and look he will grunt in a blanket." Another accurate, almost imperceptible everyday detail is the gooseberry. Gooseberries are planted in any small estate. gooseberry jam is an accessory of almost every small estate farm.
In the estate described by Chekhov, the gooseberry has the meaning of an epithet through it, firstly, it reveals the psychology of its hero - it doesn’t matter that the berry is sour, hard - it is its own and only for this reason it is tasty. This is his complacency and vulgarity, and secondly, when he sees his brother, who greedily devoured a sour, tough, completely tasteless gooseberry, the narrator abruptly changes his mind. What sad thoughts and feelings aroused by this seemingly harmless gooseberry. Ivan Ivanovich turns to young generation: "While you are young, strong, vigorous, do not get tired of doing good! ... If there is a meaning and purpose in life, then this meaning and purpose is not at all in our happiness, but in something more reasonable and great. Do good."
About broken happiness, about how "quiet, sad" love perished, and indeed the whole life of the dear one, intelligent person, about "how unnecessary, petty and how deceptive was everything that ... interfered with love," says Chekhov in the story "On Love."
The case also extends to the intimate area. human feelings. The feeling of love, free by nature, is surrounded by conventions, prejudices, because of this, the happiness of two people is destroyed, two lives perish. In the world of the Belikovs there is no room for living human feelings, people with gentle soul fading them fragile love. And the conclusion suggests itself: "To see and hear how they lie, and they call you a fool for putting up with this lie, enduring insults, humiliation, you do not dare to openly declare that you are on the side of the honest, free people. You have to lie yourself, smile, and all this because of a piece of bread, because of a warm corner, because of some benefit - no, it’s impossible to live like this anymore! Chekhov calls us to fight against vulgarity, pettiness, all his works are about this.
Conclusion
The 20th century in Russia brought the final formation of totalitarianism. During the period of the most cruel repressions, at a time when a person was completely impersonal and turned into a cog in a huge state machine, writers responded furiously, standing up for the individual.
Blinded by the grandeur of goals, deafened by loud slogans, we completely forgot about individual person who remained a man after the forty-fifth, and after the fifty-third, and after the sixty-four - a man with his daily worries, with his desires and hopes that no one can cancel political regime. The one whom Belinsky once called a "little man", about whom he lamented, whom Chekhov and Gorky tried to raise from their knees, whom Bulgakov wrote about as a great Master, got lost in the expanse of a huge state, turned into a small grain of sand for history, having disappeared in the camps . It cost the writers a lot of effort to resurrect him for readers in their books. The traditions of the classics, the titans of Russian literature, were continued by the writers of urban prose, those who wrote about the fate of the village during the years of oppression of totalitarianism and those who told us about the world of camps. There were dozens of them. It is enough to mention the names of several of them: Solzhenitsyn, Trifonov, Tvardovsky, in order to understand what a huge scope has reached the fate of the "little man" of the twentieth century.
Petersburg, Moscow, a city that has been disturbing many Russian writers for so long, has become even more terrible and cruel. He is a symbol of that powerful force that suppresses the weak sprouts of humanity, he is the focus of human grief, the mirror of all Russian reality, the reflection of which we see throughout the country, in the walls of camps and in the backyards of provincial towns.
The "little man" of our city of the 1960s and 1970s is not able to get to the surface of life and loudly declare his existence. But after all, he is also a man, and not a louse, as Raskolnikov wanted to prove to himself, and he deserves not only attention, but also better share. The way to achieve this was opened to him by those who in our time sought to "straighten their backs with humpbacks." New writers come to the defense of truth and conscience, they formed a new man. So you can't close last page in a huge book dedicated to him - "little man!"
A.P. Chekhov addressed the problem of the little man many times in his famous works: "Man in a case", "Death of an official", "Chameleon" ... But it is in last story, the image of such a person is revealed in a new way, and in two characters at once: Ochumelov and Khryukin.
The police overseer changes his mind several times, he is "thrown into the heat, then into the cold", and the problem of servility is immediately visible.
He is a man without principles, in whatever situation he gets into, he behaves like that. In this little man, there is a constant struggle within himself, and, from time to time, it seems that it is no longer possible to guess what kind of appearance he will now take - who he will turn to, so that it is beneficial for him.
Khryukin, unlike Ochumelov, on the contrary, makes a scandal. It was he who came up with the idea of making a fuss about some unimportant thing - a small dog that bit or did not bite his finger. Why so much ado about nothing? Yes, because in Khryukin, as in every person, there lives a personal beginning that is crushed, but he tries to express himself in every way.
In another Chekhov's work "Tosca" a "little man" is visible.
Jonah, a poor cab driver whose son has recently died, wants to speak out about what is sore, to release all the anguish that has been imposed on Jonah's soul. But he has no one, everyone rejects him, they are not interested. And he finds an interlocutor in his horse and tells her everything. But the driver cannot be called a "little man", because in his morality and understanding of life he is higher than other characters.
Thus, we can conclude that A.P. Chekhov knew very well human soul, and he was able to introduce us to all types of "small" people. He singles out among them such traits of character as veneration of rank, hypocrisy, narrow-mindedness ... Such coverage of this image makes it more expressive and makes you think again about the essence of the problem.
Updated: 2018-03-21
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In their early stories Chekhov continues the theme of the "little man", traditional for Russian classical literature start and mid-nineteenth century. However, this theme is revealed by Chekhov in an innovative manner in two obvious reasons: firstly, the writer had a talent, that is, his own original view of the world; secondly, Russian social conditions have changed ( late XIX century), which are reflected in the work of Chekhov.
First artistic feature early stories the writer is their comic pathos in all varieties (ironic, humorous and satirical). The second feature was expressed in the fact that in Russian literature before Chekhov the “little man” was portrayed mainly sympathetically, the reader’s attention was drawn to the sorrows and life disorder of the “little man” (“ Stationmaster» A.S. Pushkin, «Overcoat» N.V. Gogol), but by the mid-80s of the XIX century (the first collection of Chekhov's stories "Colorful Stories" was published in 1886) in public consciousness a new attitude towards "little people" was formed. It was expressed in the fact that society stopped being touched by “little people” and crying over their misfortunes, but began to treat them with respect, which inevitably leads to exactingness: Chekhov does not forgive “little people” for vulgarity, sycophancy, cowardice, etc. Such exactingness to the characters does not negate the humane attitude towards them on the part of the writer. You can be touched by a weak, defenseless, inferior being, and the Chekhovian approach suggests: this person is not small, the attack is the same as myself. A New Look on the "little man" and the man in general was reflected not only in the stories of Chekhov, but also in the works of other Russian writers - his contemporaries. For example, M. Gorky in the play "At the Bottom" (1902) formulated this idea in Satin's monologue (IV act): one must not pity, not humiliate a person with pity - one must respect him.
Conventionally, Chekhov's early stories can be divided into three groups. They present different author's attitude to the "little man". The first group includes such stories as "Salted" (1885), "Boots" (1885), "Siren" (1887). This humorous works, which describe various comic scenes from the life of "little people". The story "Salted" is reminiscent of a joke. The cowardly surveyor Smirnov so intimidated his driver that he himself got into a ridiculous situation: Klim ran away, leaving his horse and cart, and the surveyor remained in the middle of an unfamiliar forest alone at night. Ridiculous confusion is depicted in the story "Boots", but significant details are also noted here: an old and rheumatic tuner musical instruments Murkin has only one boots - the loss of them becomes a real misfortune for him. This old man lives alone in hotel rooms, and no one in the world cares about him.
In their humorous stories Chekhov deliberately simplifies the plot and creates a comic situation, but not comic characters. The images of “little people” turn out to be deep, even tragic: the terrible fear that the land surveyor Smirnov possesses is a consequence of general fear in modern Russian society; restlessness and poverty of the old man Murkin - a reflection hard life the poor.
The second group can be combined satirical stories: "Thick and thin" (1883), "Death of an official" (1883), "Chameleon" (1884), "Unter Prishbeev" (1885). Here the writer criticizes and ridicules the existing social order and presents vivid images petty officials - "little people". These characters show and satirically exaggerate stupidity, rudeness (in the non-commissioned officer Prishibeev), sycophancy (in the “thin” Porfiry), unscrupulousness (in the policeman Ochumelov), fear (in the executor Chervyakov).
The story "The Death of an Official", as literary critics have already noted many times, is very reminiscent of Gogol's "Overcoat" in plot. But what's the difference in revealing the image of the protagonist! Gogolevsky Akaki Akakievich, having lost his overcoat, turns to a "significant person" for help, but the formidable general in response only "scolds" a petty official. Chekhov Chervyakov, on the contrary, is faced with quite worthy civilian general Brizzhalov, who calmly accepted an accidental incident in the theater. Ivan Dmitrievich Chervyakov is so frightened by life that he cannot believe in the general's good intentions, so he asks Brizzhalov's forgiveness five times. Own human dignity Chervyakov humiliates himself. He is small man not by position, but by spiritual qualities. Worship of "persons", as the executor calls senior officials, became for the hero not just the norm of life, but turned into a character. He dies because the general neglected "respect for persons", that is, he did not accept the apology properly, and for the executor, as a result, the usual world order collapsed. At the very end of the story, Chekhov emphasizes a remarkable detail: Chervyakov died without taking off his uniform, which, undoubtedly, will be on him and in the coffin, which emphasizes the admiration of a petty official for bureaucratic order and form.
For all that, Ivan Dmitrievich evokes pity rather than contempt. He did no harm to anyone; in the story with Brizzhalov, he defends his life principles. Is it his fault that inspired by him life rules fit more a slave than a citizen? Chervyakov is ridiculous in his absurd persistence and pitiful in that he himself renounces his own human dignity.
Chekhov's satirical characters are described more plausibly than, for example, by M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. The mayors in The Story of a City are more like puppets or talking cars than people. Their satirical image leads to the grotesque. Chekhov chooses more real, life-like situations. Interesting in this sense is the story "Thick and Thin", where the meeting of former gymnasium friends takes place in the most ordinary setting (at the station) and where the petty official Porfiry is satirically ridiculed. He is a coward and voluntarily servile even in front of his school friend Misha, who is not his boss, cannot influence his career in any way and shows a friendly feeling towards Porfiry without a hint of contempt and arrogance.
The third group consists of stories that are closest to the traditional depiction of the "little man", they express piercing pity and sympathy for simple, inconspicuous people. The driver Iona Potapov from the story “Tosca” (1886) is certainly a “little man”, he has no one to go to with his grief. He carries various riders all evening, but no one wants to listen to him and sympathize. The story ends with a terrible scene when, not finding sympathy from people, Jonah tells his horse about the death of his only son. In the story "Anyuta" (1886), Chekhov portrays a meek and generous seamstress girl. She helps poor but brisk students (such as the physician Stepan Klochkov) survive the difficult years of study. They, having completed the course at the university and settled down well in life, do not even remember the quiet and patient Anyuta, who took care of them, fed them from her meager earnings, without demanding anything in return.
Summing up the above, we note that Chekhov's early stories formed a portrait of Russian society in the 80s of the 19th century, as the writer saw and understood it. Usually, in early stories, the author describes a short everyday scene, but it reveals the deep psychological drama of the “little man”. The idea of Chekhov's early stories is the denunciation of philistinism and vulgarity, the lack of spiritual interests, high life goals for the heroes, who most often belong to petty bureaucracy and the urban lower classes. The analyzed stories do not use the grotesque, but the satirical and ironic images are intricately intertwined, which will gradually turn into a unique artistic manner Chekhov.
Chekhov's works of the 80s demonstrate a new, Chekhovian attitude towards traditional heroes: the writer not only condemns, but also regrets his characters. Thus, traditional sympathy is being replaced by complex relationship to the “little man”, which includes both sympathy, and regret, and condemnation.
The little man lives his little life not only in reality. He turned to the pages of novels, stories, and from there he peers out with his little eyes, afraid to go out into outer space. And their brightest outputs, those unforgettable ones that the reader remembers more than once, which he quotes and tries to keep in memory, undoubtedly fall on the work of Anton Pavlovich Chekhov.
In Chekhov's work, this is almost the main character. IN satirical stories the author, this character is especially pronounced. Chekhov rethought this man, his role in the world around him.
He is not offended, he is not offended. But at the same time, there is something sad in his eyes, his own atmosphere in his eyes, and, yes, although they offend him, he is persistent, aggressive, sometimes he tries to intimidate others. And yet, there are moments when he is kind of painfully funny.
Let's open our souls, take them out of their cases and look at the world differently, find traces of a little man on this big planet. Chekhov speaks of a different case when he writes his story with a similar title "The Man in the Case". Main character even seems to be pleased with his position as a little man. And why should this person dislike his position? He himself created his own world, from which he does not want to leave. Little happiness for these little people in this inner world and consists. They don't care what others think of them. And maybe they are right about that? Belikov spends his whole life in a case. A jersey, dark glasses, and ears stuffed with cotton - everything is hidden from people. But the case also contains an umbrella, a watch, and a knife. And Belikov's house looks like one big case. He dreamed about it - he created it for himself. The whole city is in fear of this man's oddities, but he does not understand this at all. Yes, and all the "little" people do not really care about how they influence other residents of this city, this world with their behavior, as can be seen from the rash actions of the hero of the story "Intruder".
There is something tragic in them, in these images, and at the same time so funny that you don’t even know whether to laugh here or cry. Death for Belikov was the embodiment of his ideal. Isn't that why in the coffin he had a "meek, pleasant, even cheerful" expression on his face? He ended up in that main case, which he had dreamed of all his life. If in life he constantly put this case on himself, then death gave him an excellent opportunity, putting it in a case, leaving it there forever.
Little people walk slowly in many of Chekhov's works. They live, influence others even by their inactivity. An ideal example is Chervyakov from the story "The Death of an Official" and his persistent fuss in front of General Brizzhalov. Porfiry, known as Thin from the story "Fat and Thin" also shows the typical reaction of a small person.
Ochumelov, little hero story "Chameleon", also wants to hide himself deeper from the outside world, but in a slightly different way. He is like a lizard, like a chameleon that changes color depending on what environment it gets into. He is a man without principles, in whatever situation he gets into, he behaves like that. In this little man, there is a constant struggle within himself, and sometimes it seems that it is already impossible to guess what color he will become now - who he will turn into, so that it is beneficial for him. He will change his attitude towards the puppy only after learning that his owner is different. Ochumelov rushes between thousands of his "I", never finding, not showing that, the only and real. It is possible that he is not.
A small person is often oppressed, ripped off and humiliated, as can be seen in the example of the governess from the story "The Scum". The problem raised in this laconic work is that it is not he who makes a person small, but society and society generates such patterns of behavior.
But the little man in Chekhov's writings is not always a pity. Sometimes these negative qualities, which are embedded in them, and do not want to accept. After all, who would approve of servility and narrow-mindedness? Who likes insincerity and greed? But little people live not only on the pages of stories. Each of them comes home in the evening, sits in his case, and closes there until better times. And sometimes he sits in this case all his life. And, after all, Chekhov correctly noted: “And how many more such people are left in the case, how many more there will be.”
