The image of a small man in foreign literature. The history of the image of the "little man" in world literature and its writers

Introduction…………………………………………………………………………...3

Chapter 2

2.1. " Small man» in the works of A.S. Griboedova…………………9

2.2. The development of the image of the “little man” by N.V. Gogol………………..10

2.3. The theme of the "little man" in the work of M.Yu. Lermontov…………..10

2.4. F.M. Dostoevsky, as a successor to the theme of the "little man" ....11

2.5. Vision of the image of the "little man" L.N. Tolstoy…………………..13

2.6. The theme of the "little man" in the works of N.S. Leskova……………16

2.7. A.P. Chekhov and the "little man" in his stories………………………17

2.8. Creation of the image of the “little man” by Maxim Gorky…………..20

2.9. "Little Man" in "Garnet Bracelet" by A.I. Kuprin…………21

2.10. The theme of "Little Man" by A.N. Ostrovsky……………………...21

Conclusion………………………………………………………………………….23

List of literature sources………………………………………………...25

Definition "small man" applied to the category of literary heroes of the era realism, usually occupying a rather low place in the social hierarchy: a petty official, a tradesman, or even a poor nobleman. The image of the "little man" turned out to be all the more relevant, the more democratic literature became. The very concept of "little man" is most likely in use introduced Belinsky(Article 1840 "Woe from Wit"). The theme of the "little man" is raised by many writers. It has always been relevant, because its task is reflect the life of a simple person with all its experiences, problems, troubles and small joys. The writer takes on the hard work of showing and explaining life ordinary people. "The little man is the representative of the whole people. And each writer represents him in his own way.

In world literature, one can single out a novel-parable Franz Kafka“A castle that reveals the tragic impotence of a little man and his unwillingness to reconcile with fate.

In German literature, the image of the "little man" gravitated Gerhart Hauptmann in his dramas Before Sunrise and The Lonely. The wealth of images of the "little man" in the works of Hauptmann gives rise to many different options (from a poorly educated carter to a subtle intellectual). Continued the tradition of Hauptmann Hans Fallada .

In Russian literature of the 19th century, the image of the image of a small man became especially popular. Worked on it Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol, Gribodoev, Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Leo Tolstoy and many other writers.

The idea of ​​a "little man" changed throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. Each writer also had his own personal views on this hero. But since the second third of the 20th century, this image has disappeared from the pages literary works, since the method socialist realism does not imply such a hero.

Chapter 1. The image of the "little man" in the works of A.S.

Pushkin

Greatest Poet In the 19th century, A.S. Pushkin also did not leave unnoticed the theme of the “little man”, only he turned his gaze not to the image of a kneeling man, but to the fate of an unfortunate person, showing us his pure soul, unspoiled by wealth and prosperity, who knows how to rejoice, love, suffer . This is a story "Station Master" included in the cycle Belkin's Tale. Pushkin sympathizes with his hero.

Initially, his life is not easy.

"Who did not curse the stationmasters, who did not scold them? Who, in a moment of anger, did not demand from them a fatal book in order to write in it their useless complaint of oppression, rudeness and malfunction? Who does not consider them monsters of the human race, equal to the deceased let's be fair, let's try to understand their position, and maybe we'll judge them much more leniently. not always ... Peace, day or night. All the annoyance accumulated during a boring ride, the traveler vents on the caretaker. The weather is unbearable, the road is bad, the coachman is stubborn, the horses are not driven - and the caretaker is to blame. Entering his poor dwelling, the traveler looks at him as an enemy, it would be good if he could soon get rid of the uninvited guest, but if there were no horses, God, what curses, what threats would fall on his head! In rain and sleet he is forced to run around the yards; in the storm, in the Epiphany frost, he goes into the canopy, so that only for a moment can he rest from the screams and pushes of the irritated guest ... Let us delve into all this carefully, and instead of indignation, our heart will be filled with sincere compassion.

But the hero of the story Samson Vyrin stays happy and calm person. He is accustomed to his service and has a good assistant daughter.

He dreams of simple happiness, grandchildren, big family but fate decides otherwise. Hussar Minsky, while passing by, takes his daughter Dunya with him. After failed attempt return the daughter when the hussar " strong hand, grabbing the old man by the collar, pushed him onto the stairs, "Vyrin was no longer able to fight. And the unfortunate old man dies of longing, grieving about her possible deplorable fate.

Eugene, the hero of The Bronze Horseman, looks like Samson Vyrin.
Our hero lives in Kolomna, serves somewhere, shy of nobles. He does not make great plans for the future, he is satisfied with a quiet, inconspicuous life.

He also hopes for his personal, albeit small, but family happiness that he needs so much.

But all his dreams are in vain, because evil fate breaks into his life: the element destroys his beloved. Eugene cannot resist fate, he quietly worries about his loss. And only in a state of madness does he threaten the Bronze Horseman, considering the man who built the city on this dead place to be the culprit of his misfortune. Pushkin looks at his heroes from the side. They do not stand out either in intelligence or in their position in society, but they are kind and decent people, and therefore worthy of respect and sympathy. In the novel "Captain's daughter" the category of "little people" includes Petr Andreevich Grinev And captain Mironov. They are distinguished by the same qualities: kindness, justice, decency, the ability to love and respect people. But they have another very good quality- to remain faithful to this word. Pushkin took out the saying in the epigraph: "Take care of honor from a young age." They saved their honor. And just as dear to A.S. Pushkin, as are the heroes of his previously named works.

Pushkin puts forward a democratic theme in them
little man (the story "The Stationmaster"), anticipating Gogol's "Overcoat".

Here is what he writes in his critical article « Artistic prose Pushkin" literary critic S.M. Petrov:

"Tales of Belkin" appeared in print first realistic work Russian prose. Along with the traditional themes from the life of the nobility ("The Young Lady-Peasant Woman"), Pushkin puts forward in them democratic theme of the little man(the story "The Stationmaster"), anticipating Gogol's "Overcoat".

Belkin's Tales was Pushkin's polemical response to the main currents of contemporary Russian prose. the truthfulness of the image, deep insight into human nature, the absence of any didacticism "Station master" Pushkin put an end to influence
sentimental and didactic story about a little man like "Poor Liza" Karamzin. Idealized images, plot situations of a sentimental story deliberately created for didactic purposes are replaced by real types and everyday paintings depicting the true joys and sorrows of life.

deep humanism Pushkin's story is opposed to the abstract sensitivity of the sentimental story. The mannered language of the sentimental story, falling into moralistic rhetoric, gives way to a simple and unsophisticated narrative, like the story of the old caretaker about his Dun. Realism replaces sentimentalism in Russian prose.

D. Blagoy considers the image of the “little man”, the unpretentious “collegiate registrar”, to be the crown of Pushkin’s realism, its consistent completion, even going so far as to directly identify the life ideals of Eugene (“The Bronze Horseman”), the most typical of a series of such heroes, with the aspirations of the poet himself.

“In reality, Pushkin of the 1930s, who more than once sympathetically portrayed the life and life of “little people”, endowed the latter with warm human feelings, could not at the same time not see the limitations, the poverty of the spiritual needs of a petty official, a tradesman, a seedy nobleman. Pitying the "little man", Pushkin at the same time shows the petty-bourgeois narrowness of his requests.

How typical is the type of French teacher in Dubrovsky:

“I have an old mother, I will send half of the salary to her for food, from the rest of the money in five years I can save up a small capital - sufficient for my future independence, and then bonsoir, I’m going to Paris and embark on commercial operations.” - Emphasizes A. Grushkin in article "Image folk hero in the work of Pushkin in the 1930s.

Sometimes little man image at Alexander Sergeevich go into the description of the folk hero. Let us turn to a fragment of the same article by Grushkin:

"In" Songs Western Slavs“He found this hero. The latter, it would seem, is endowed with all the features of a “little man”. At first glance, we have before us an undemanding, simple person, whose way of life is primitive to the extreme. What, for example, would you like to tell the old father, who is already “beyond the grave”, the hero of the “Funeral Song?”

I am healthy and son Jan
My mistress gave birth to me.

My daughter lives in Lizgor;
With her husband she is not bored there,
Twark has long gone to sea,
Alive or not, you'll find out for yourself.

But in the everyday, unpretentious life of the "little man" the features of courageous combat heroism suddenly break in. It turns out that far from idyllic associations are associated with the little boy, whom the “hostess” gave birth to:

In honor of his grandfather, he is named Jan:
I have a smart boy;
Already owns a scimitar
And shoots a gun."

The hero of the "Songs", the so-called "little man" ceased to be "little", transformed, exalted by the liberation struggle. Thus, Pushkin created artistic images that outgrow the framework of the noble ideology, filled with deeply democratic exercise.

In a later period, the same Dmitry Blagoy in his book "The Creative Way of Pushkin" brings out a new interpretation of the "little man" of the poet - the one who opposes himself to autocracy:

“The deep regularity, organic nature for the post-December Pushkin theme of Peter is convincingly confirmed by the entire further course of his work, in which this theme becomes one of the leading ones, central themes, filling, as we will see later, with more and more complex ideological-philosophical and socio-historical content, acquiring an increasingly problematic character, due to the formulation and artistic development by Pushkin on this very topic of the central issues of his modernity and Russian historical life in general - about relationship between the state and the individual, autocratic power and a simple "little" person, about the ways of the Russian historical development about the fate of the country, nation, people. It is this issue that will be at the center of such Pushkin's works related to the theme of Peter the Great, as "Peter the Great's Moor", as "Poltava", as the deepest of the poet's creations - " Petersburg story" in verse, "The Bronze Horseman". The first in this series, as it were, a compressed, concentrated introduction to everything that follows is the poem "Stans".

2.1. "Little Man" in the works of A.S. Griboyedov

The writer who anticipated the image of a little man, even before Pushkin, was Alexander Sergeevich Griboyedov.

In comedy Griboyedov "Woe from Wit" shows the collision of the "current century" and "past century". The first are people who live guided by progressive ideas, people who understand what Russia will come to if life is left as it is and does not try to change anything. The latter are representatives of the Moscow nobility, who are quite satisfied with their life. They not only do not want to change anything, but also in every possible way prevent the implementation of the ideas of representatives of the "current century". These two opposing sides are personified by two main characters: Chatsky and Famusov. It is in the Famus world that he lives Molchalin, which we will classify as "little people". This young man learned from childhood the rule of pleasing everyone.

He perfectly feels the mood of the Moscow nobility, the whole society around him. And he behaves as the mighty of this world want, "because now they love the dumb." This contributes to the fact that soon he becomes an integral part of this society, the right hand of his boss, which means a good career in the very near future. The second step is to intermarry with everyone respected person. Sophia, in love not with Molchalin, but with an ideal that she herself invented, does not see his true face, but idealizes him.

In fact, Molchalin is a cunning, treacherous, vile liar who will stop at nothing to achieve his goal. His idea of ​​happiness is very one-sided: wealth, a successful career, a significant position in society. Molchalin, in the image of Griboedov, is not only pathetic and disgusting, but also dangerous and completely not like Pushkin's heroes .

At Gogol, a small man has great faith, exists where it seems impossible to exist in the social sense. He continuation of the image laid down by Alexander Sergeevich. But such people live everywhere. We do not notice them, because we do not know how to love in a person his immortal soul. Therefore, stories like "The Overcoat" do not reveal to us the tragic meaning of life. Where sensitivity disappears, wisdom declines.

In a big, cold city, the petty clerk is in terrible misery. No one appreciates his diligence, skill and honesty. Years of need have meant that he can no longer look decent, as required by his service. At the cost of superhuman efforts, he acquires new clothes, as if restoring his lost dignity, but happiness does not last long: malefactors replace new clothes with rags from someone else's shoulder. This man is dying of grief. Death frees from service, but not from service, which is the meaning of being for him. He wanders the city at night, looking for what he has lost. And nothing more. He doesn't need someone else.

M.Yu.Lermontov, unlike many other writers, set himself the goal of portraying an outstanding personality, suffering from inactivity. He was one of the first Russian prose writers to touch on the topic of the "little man". The image of Maxim Maksimovich is unforgettable. We first meet him in the story "Bela". The narrator on the way meets an elderly officer who gives him helpful tips. This is Maxim Maksimovich. He lived in the Caucasus for quite a long time, which means that he knows local customs, customs, and customs very well. At first glance, he wins over the reader.

By origin, Maxim Maksimovich was a nobleman, but, obviously, from the impoverished nobility. Without influential connections and money. Despite his age, he is only in the rank of staff. -captain. This man is not accustomed to curry favor the mighty of the world this. His words sound honest and sincere.

He is harmless, simple, it is difficult for him to understand complicated feelings Pechorin. But he knows one rule firmly - you can’t offend people. His whole protest is expressed in the fact that in the presence of Pechorin he began to put on a uniform, stopped accepting it as before, at home. An old campaigner and a decent man, Maxim Maksimovich understands only one thing, that he is to blame for the death of Bela less Pechorin, and internally constantly punishes himself for it. Bela and Pechorin replaced him with a family that he never had. But still, the environment to which he is accustomed, in which he lives, has left its mark on his soul and manner of behavior. A kind, taking everything to heart, a brave, resourceful person from the people - that's who Maxim Maksimovich is. Lermontov portrayed him not offended and humiliated, although pity still slips in the depths of the reader's soul. We, the readers, feel that Lermontov loves his hero, Sight him to "little man" the same as that of A.S. Pushkin. And Maxim Maksimovich himself in many ways resembles Captain Mironov.

In F. M. Dostoevsky, the “little man” fully understands his uselessness, uselessness. A vivid example of this is Marmeladov from the novel "Crime and Punishment". He is a drunkard, a rag, an insignificant person, from his point of view, but he is a philosopher.

“My dear sir,” he began almost with solemnity, “poverty is not a vice, but a truth. I know that drunkenness is not a virtue, and even more so. But poverty, dear sir, poverty is a vice. retain your nobility of innate feelings, but in poverty, never anyone. For poverty, they are not even driven out with a stick, but swept out of human company with a broom, so that it would be more insulting; and rightly so, because in poverty I myself am the first ready to insult myself. Marmeladov wants to improve, but he can't. He understands that he has condemned his family, and especially his daughter, to suffering, he is worried about this, but he cannot help himself. “Pity! Why pity me!” Marmeladov suddenly yelled, standing up with his hand outstretched ... “Yes! There’s nothing to pity me for! Crucify me on the cross, not pity me! In Chekhov, "little people" cause indignation, hostility, in Dostoevsky - pity and empathy. "And if there is nowhere else to go! After all, it is necessary that every person could at least go somewhere. For there is a time when you absolutely must go at least somewhere." "Compassion is the most important and, perhaps, the only law of human existence," said Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. Compassion helps to survive, helps to understand the "little man" that, despite his baseness and worthlessness, someone needs him, someone worries about him, and this is very important for every person.
Another hero who sympathizes with everyone and tries to help is Sonya Marmeladova. She has a good heart and great soul. Sonya is a "little person", she cannot change something in the life of the country, change the state, but she is able to help her neighbor, help those who need her help. We see in this fragile girl great spiritual wealth and inner beauty. Her beliefs will not allow anyone to confuse her, to commit acts that are contrary to moral standards. For her, every person is valuable. She can understand and forgive everyone.

And in the novel "Poor People" It's about "little people". Makar Devushkin and Varvara Alekseevna also belong to the lower stratum of society. They want to live well, work, hope for their happiness. Makar Devushkin loves Varenka very much, he is like a father to her: he buys her what she dreams of, although she does not ask him about it, and he himself remains virtually without food, becomes a debtor to the mistress of the house in which he lives. Varenka, having learned about Makar Devushkin's misfortune, tries to help him: she sends him money so that he can pay off the hostess and buy something for himself. It should be noted that she gives far from the extra money earned by her painstaking work. Pity and kindness are characteristic of this tender girl and her friend Makar Devushkin, who once saved her from an evil relative. Mutual assistance is very important here, because only these people can hope for it. The author wanted to point out the problems of the disadvantaged with his works. They are forced to live in gloomy, dirty, vile and smelly areas of the city. And why did so many of them deserve it? How did Sonya Marmeladova deserve this? How did Makar Devushkin and Varvara Alekseevna deserve this? This is what Dostoevsky draws attention to. His "little man" knows how to reason. He is not only "humiliated and insulted", understanding his insignificance, he is also a philosopher, posing questions of the greatest importance to society.

Pushkin's influence in "Poor People" turns out to be secondary- Gogol writes with an eye on Pushkin, and Dostoevsky - with an eye first of all on Gogol and his "Overcoat". Common features of Pushkin and Dostoevsky- these are similar interpretations of the image of a little man, posing the problem of permissiveness, interest in confession.

2.5. Vision of the image of the "little man" L.N. Tolstoy

L.N .Tolstoy in an epic novel "War and Peace" built in front of readers people of different walks of life, wealth and characters. His sympathy is on the side of those characters who are spiritually close to the people. Therefore, with such warmth, he draws the image of Captain Tushin. This is a hero who belongs to the category of "little people". And at first glance, he is clumsy, funny. But this is only at first glance, when he is not minding his own business. In battle it real hero, courageous, fearless. In Tolstoy's huge novel, Captain Tushin is given ten pages, but the image of this man turns out to be very important for understanding the entire work and the views of the author himself. This is how this hero appears to us at the first meeting:

“Prince Andrey involuntarily smiled, glancing at Staff Captain Tushin. Silently and smiling, Tushin stepped from bare foot to foot, looked inquiringly with large, intelligent and kind eyes first at Prince Andrei, then at the headquarters officer.

“The soldiers say: wiser more dexterously,” said Captain Tushin, smiling and shy, apparently wanting to go from his awkward position into a joking tone. But he had not finished yet, when he felt that his joke was not accepted and did not come out. He was confused.

- If you please go, - said the staff officer, trying to keep seriousness.

Prince Andrei once again looked at the figure of the artilleryman. There was something special in it, not at all military, somewhat comical, but extremely attractive.

And now this timid, insecure person is in a completely different situation, where a lot depends on him, where he forgets about himself, and thinks about the common cause. “The Tushin battery was forgotten, and only at the very end of the case, continuing to hear the cannonade in the center, Prince Bagration sent the staff officer on duty there and then Prince Andrei to order the battery to retreat as soon as possible. in the middle of the action, but the battery continued to fire and was not taken by the French only because the enemy could not imagine the audacity of firing four unprotected cannons.On the contrary, from the energetic action of this battery, he assumed that here, in the center, concentrated the main forces of the Russians, and twice tried to attack this point, and both times were driven off by shots of four cannons standing alone on this hill. And this man, a real hero, after the battle cannot even defend himself from the attacks of those officers who turned out to be cowards, but knew how to win the favor of their superiors by any means. “Tushin appeared on the threshold, timidly making his way from behind the backs of the generals. Bypassing the generals in a cramped hut, embarrassed, as always, at the sight of his superiors, Tushin did not see the flagpole and stumbled on it. Several voices laughed.

- How did the gun leave? - asked Bagration, frowning not so much at the captain as at the laughing ones, among whom Zherkov's voice was heard loudest of all.

Tushin now only, at the sight of the formidable authorities, in all horror imagined his guilt and shame in the fact that he, having remained alive, had lost two guns. He was so excited that until now he had no time to think about it. The laughter of the officers confused him even more. He stood in front of Bagration with a trembling lower jaw and barely said:

- I don't know... Your Excellency... There were no people, Your Excellency.
- You could take from the cover!

That there was no cover, Tushin did not say this, although it was the absolute truth. He was afraid to let the other boss down by this and silently, with fixed eyes, looked straight into Bagration's face, just as a student who has gone astray looks into the examiner's eyes. The silence was quite long. Prince Bagration, apparently not wanting to be strict, had nothing to say; the rest did not dare to intervene in the conversation. Prince Andrei looked at Tushin from under his brows, and his fingers moved nervously.

“Your Excellency,” Prince Andrei interrupted the silence with his harsh voice, “you deigned to send me to Captain Tushin’s battery. I was there and found two-thirds of the men and horses killed, two guns mangled and no cover.

Prince Bagration and Tushin equally stubbornly looked at Bolkonsky, who spoke with restraint and excitement.

“And if, Your Excellency, let me express my opinion,” he continued, “the success of the day we owe most of all to the action of this battery and the heroic stamina of Captain Tushin with his company,” said Prince Andrei and, without waiting for an answer, immediately got up and moved away from the window.

Prince Bagration looked at Tushin and, apparently not wanting to express distrust of Bolkonsky's harsh judgment and at the same time feeling unable to fully believe him, bowed his head and told Tushin that he could go. Prince Andrew followed him.

“Thank you, you helped me out, my dear,” Tushin told him.
For Leo Tolstoy, a "little man" is a man of the people, capable of performing miracles, but very modest and not understanding his own greatness.

2.6. The theme of the "little man" in the works of N.S. Leskova

At Nikolai Semenovich Leskov"little man" is quite another Human, than his predecessors, including Pushkin. In order to understand this, let's compare the heroes of three works of this writer: Lefty, Ivan Severyanovich Flyagin and Katerina Izmailova. All three of these characters strong personalities and everyone is talented in their own way. But all the energy of Katerina Izmailova is aimed at arranging personal happiness by any means. In order to achieve her goals, she goes to the crime. And therefore this type of character is rejected by Leskov. He sympathizes with her only when she is cruelly devoted to her beloved.

Lefty - talented person from the people who care about their homeland more than the king and courtiers. But he is ruined by a vice so well known to Russian people - drunkenness and the unwillingness of the state to help its subjects. He could do without this help if he had strong man. But a strong person cannot be a drunk person. Therefore, for Leskov, this is not the hero who should be given preference.
Among the heroes belonging to the category of "little people", Leskov singles out Ivan Severyanovich Flyagin. The hero of Leskov is a hero in appearance and spirit.

He is strong not only physically, but also spiritually. Flyagin's life is an endless test. He is strong in spirit, and this allows him to overcome such difficult life ups and downs. He was on the verge of death, he saved people, he himself fled. But in all these tests he improved.

This is a simple person with his own virtues and shortcomings, gradually eradicating these shortcomings and coming to an understanding of God. Leskov portrays his hero as a strong and brave man With a huge heart and a big soul. Flyagin does not complain about fate, does not cry. Leskov, describing Ivan Severyanovich, evokes pride in the reader for his people, for his country. Flyagin does not humiliate himself before the mighty of this world, like Chekhov's heroes, does not become an inveterate drunkard because of his insolvency, like Dostoevsky's Marmeladov, does not sink "to the bottom" of life, like Gorky's characters, does not wish harm to anyone, does not want to humiliate anyone, does not wait for help from others, does not sit idly by. This is a person who is aware of himself as a person, a real person, ready to defend his rights and the rights of other people, not losing his feelings dignity and confident that a person can do anything.

Little Man" is constantly found on the pages of works A.A. Chekhov. This is the main character of his work. Chekhov's attitude towards such people is especially vividly manifested in his satirical stories. And the relationship is clear. in the story "Death of an Official" the "little man" Ivan Dmitrievich Chervyakov constantly and obsessively apologizes to General Brizzhalov for accidentally splashing him when he sneezed.

"I sprayed him!" Thought Chervyakov. "Not my boss, someone else's, but still awkward. I must apologize."

The key word in this thought is "boss". Probably, Chervyakov would not endlessly apologize to an ordinary person. Ivan Dmitrievich has a fear of the authorities, and this fear turns into flattery and deprives him of self-respect.

A person already reaches the point where he allows himself to be trampled into the dirt, moreover, he himself helps to do this. We must pay tribute to the general, he treats our hero very politely. But the common man is not accustomed to such treatment. Therefore, Ivan Dmitrievich thinks that he was ignored and comes to ask for forgiveness for several days in a row. Brizzhalov gets fed up with this and finally yells at Chervyakov.

"-Get out !! - the general suddenly turned blue and trembling."

"What, sir?" Chervyakov asked in a whisper, trembling with horror.

Go away!! repeated the general, stamping his feet.

Something broke in Chervyakov's stomach. Seeing nothing, hearing nothing, he backed away to the door, went out into the street and trudged along ... Arriving home mechanically, without taking off his uniform, he lay down on the sofa and ... died.

This is what the fear of the highest ranks brings, eternal admiration and humiliation before them. For a more complete disclosure of the image of his hero, Chekhov used a "speaking" surname. Yes, Ivan Dmitrievich is small, pitiful, like a worm, you can crush him without effort, and most importantly, he is just as unpleasant.

in the story "Celebration of the Winner" Chekhov presents us with a story in which father and son humiliate themselves in front of the boss so that the son can get a position.

“The boss was talking and, apparently, wanted to seem witty. I don’t know if he said anything funny, but I only remember that dad every minute pushed me in the side and said:

Laugh!..

... - So, so! - Dad whispered. - Well done! He looks at you and laughs... It's good; maybe he'll actually give you a job as an assistant clerk!"

And again we are faced with admiration for superiors. And again, this is self-humiliation and flattery. People are ready to please the boss in order to achieve their insignificant goal. It doesn’t even occur to them to remember that there is a simple human dignity that cannot be lost in any case. A.P. Chekhov wanted all people to be beautiful and free. "Everything in a person should be beautiful: the face, and clothes, and the soul, and thoughts." So Anton Pavlovich thought, therefore, ridiculing a primitive person in his stories, he called for self-improvement. Chekhov hated self-humiliation, eternal subservience and admiration for officials. Gorky said of Chekhov: "Vulgarity was his enemy, and he fought against it all his life." Yes, he fought against it with his works, he bequeathed to us "drop by drop to squeeze a slave out of ourselves." Perhaps such a vile way of life of his "little people", their low thoughts and unworthy behavior is the result not only of personal character traits, but also of their social position and the orders of the existing political system. After all, Chervyakov would not have apologized so diligently and lived in eternal fear of officials if he had not been afraid of the consequences. The characters of the stories "Chameleon", "Thick and Thin", "The Man in the Case" and many others have the same unpleasant qualities of character.

Anton Pavlovich believed that a person should have a goal to which he will strive, and if it is not there or it is very small and insignificant, then the person becomes just as small and insignificant. A person must work and love - these are two things that play a major role in the life of any person: small and not small. Unlike Pushkin, Chekhov precisely focuses on human dignity"little man" and relationships with superiors in society.

Maksim Gorky wrote a play "At the bottom", in which everything characters are "little people". The action takes place in a rooming house. All the dregs of society are gathered here: drunkards, murderers and thieves. All of them are cruel, they have no feeling of compassion, no desire to help their neighbor. Klesch's wife dies, but he doesn't care. The sister cripples her own sister, everyone always drinks and no one cares about the other. They themselves are to blame for what happened to them, they do not have the strength and perseverance to fight fate. Insults in this society are becoming the norm. No one wants to say a kind, warm word to each other. Then Luke appears in their monotonous, cruel and vile life. He is able to sympathize, comfort people. And gradually, over time, some people become a little kinder. Luke brings them hope for a better life, he is gentle and kind to them. When he leaves, everyone is going to run after him, look for him. And all just because this simple and also "little man" gave them hope and sympathy, all that they had been waiting for so long. Luke is like a biblical character, like a pilgrim. He is the embodiment of goodness and justice. And this similarity is not accidental. Gorky draws the reader's attention to the fact that in our life there is not enough sympathy and warmth. He calls to help your neighbor, and this is important for any person.

This is how Gorky painted the "little man" for us in realistic works, which is fundamentally different from the heroes of his early romantic works. In the play "At the Bottom" we can draw an analogy with "Crime and Punishment".

Dostoevsky also called for compassion. In this, the views of Gorky and Dostoevsky coincide, which means that Gorky also was influenced by the image of the "little man" of Pushkin mediated by Nikolai Gogol.

At A.I. Kuprin V " Garnet bracelet"Yeltkov is a "little man." Again, the hero belongs to the lower class. But he loves, and he loves in a way that many of the high society. Zheltkov fell in love with the girl and all his later life he loved only her. He understood that love is an exalted feeling, it is a chance given to him by fate, and it should not be missed. His love is his life, his hope. Zheltkov commits suicide. But after the death of the hero, the woman realizes that no one loved her as much as he did. The hero of Kuprin is a man of an extraordinary soul, capable of self-sacrifice, able to truly love, and such a gift is a rarity. Therefore, the "little man" Zheltkov appears to us a figure towering above the surrounding. He not oppressed like the heroes of Pushkin's "little man" rather, on the contrary, he is morally superior to everyone else, but this is what destroys him.

At A.N. Ostrovsky ideas about the "little man" are more like Chekhov's, but there is also something from Dostoevsky in them. In a play "Dowry""little man" is Karandyshev. He does not want to feel like a third-class person, as Chekhov did, but at the same time he is aware of his failure in society, like Dostoevsky's characters. Karandyshev wants to join this society, a society where he is not expected, where no one needs him. But at the same time, he wants to humiliate those who humiliated him. This desire for revenge makes him insensitive towards his fiancee, who is tormented by Karandyshev's behavior. In The Thunderstorm, Tikhon and Boris, despite their outward dissimilarity, are equally weak-willed. Neither the author nor the readers have any respect for them.
Women's images in these plays, on the contrary, they are very bright. main character play "Dowry" - Larisa Ogudalova. Her mother's advice is as follows: "We are poor people, we have to humiliate ourselves all our lives. So it's better to humiliate yourself from a young age, so that later you can live like a human being ... And pretend and lie! Happiness will not follow you if you run away from it yourself." But Larisa Ogudalova is a solid person, unable to dodge and lie. Her soul is open to people. And she doesn't want to live any other way. Katerina Kabanova, like Larisa, is ready to die, but not to live in a vulgar, false world. Death for both of them becomes the only way out. Larisa Ogudalova and Katerina Kabanova look like Sonya Marmeladova. They do not merge with the general mass of petty and bilious people. Sonya is a spiritual person, she does not take offense at anyone and helps everyone. Larisa is also not like everyone else, she does not follow the rule: “You cannot live without tricks in the world.” Before her death, she forgives everyone, although she probably does not take offense at anyone. For all their identical spiritual qualities, external manifestations these characters are different. Sonya looks very modest and even timid person. Larisa and Katerina are more resolute and strong in appearance, but they are all equally strong spiritually. The position of Ostrovsky coincides with the position of Turgenev, who portrayed his girls in an order of magnitude higher morally than the men around them.

The image of the "little man" appeared in world literature in the 19th century and became very popular. This hero was a person from low social strata, with his own strengths and weaknesses, joys and sorrows, dreams and aspirations. During the heyday realistic direction in literature inner world, the psychology of the "little man" has occupied many writers. Especially often Russian classics turned to the theme of the “little man”. The first of them were Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin and Alexander Sergeevich Griboyedov. Even the term itself was first used by the critic Belinsky when considering Griboedov's work Woe from Wit.

Pushkin, as one of the first classics who described the image of the "little man" in the early stages of his work, tried to show the high spirituality of the characters, as, for example, in the story "The Stationmaster". Later, in his works, the motives of the transition of the image of the “little man” and the merger with the image of the national hero sounded - “Songs of the Western Slavs”. In their historical poems Alexander Sergeevich considers the eternal ratio of the "little man" and unlimited power - "Arap of Peter the Great", "Poltava".

All of Pushkin's works were characterized by a deep penetration into the character of each hero - a "little man", a masterful writing of his portrait, from which not a single feature escaped.

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol became a direct successor to the theme of the "little man" of Pushkin. She expressed herself most fully in the story "The Overcoat". Later, in the footsteps of Pushkin and Gogol, Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky followed, giving us not a single image of the “little man” in the novels Crime and Punishment and Poor People.

Standing apart is Griboyedov, who looks at this hero in a different way, which brings his views closer to those of Chekhov and partly Ostrovsky. Here

the concept of vulgarity and self-humiliation comes to the fore

In the view of L. Tolstoy, N. Leskov, A. Kuprin, a "little man" is a talented, selfless person. The most striking of these images came out in the novel "War and Peace" and the story "Lefty".

Such diversity in the interpretation of the image of the little man and its evolution in Pushkin himself are explained by constant social changes and the variability of life itself. Each era gives its "little man".

But, since the beginning of the 20th century, this topic has gradually faded away and the image of the “little man” in Russian literature has disappeared, giving way to other heroes.

1. Pushkin A.S. Collected works in 10 volumes. T.5. Novels, short stories. - M: State Publishing House of Fiction, 1960.

2. A. Grushkin. The image of a folk hero in the works of Pushkin in the 1930s. In the book: Pushkin. Vremennik of the Pushkin Commission, vol. 3. Ed. Academy of Sciences of the USSR, M. - L., 1937.

3. Blagoy D.D. Pushkin's creative path. M., 1967.

4. E.P. Pedchak. Russian literature late XVIII-XIX century. Foreign literature. –M: Phoenix, 2003.

5. Khramtsev D.V. Pushkin and Dostoevsky // Magazine Samizdat from 09/06/2004.

6. Sokolov A.G. History of Russian literature of the late XIX - early XX century: Proc. -4th ed., additional and revised - M .: Vyssh. school; Ed. Center Academy, 2000.

Pushkin A.S. Collected works in 10 volumes. T.5. Novels, short stories. - M: State Publishing House of Fiction, 1960.

A. Grushkin. The image of a folk hero in the works of Pushkin in the 1930s. In the book: Pushkin. Vremennik of the Pushkin Commission, vol. 3. Ed. Academy of Sciences of the USSR, M. - L., 1937.

Blagoy D.D. Pushkin's creative path. M., 1967.

E.P. Pedchak. Russian literature of the late 18th-19th centuries. Foreign literature. –M: Phoenix, 2003.

Khramtsev D.V. Pushkin and Dostoevsky // Magazine Samizdat from 09/06/2004.

Sokolov A.G. History of Russian literature of the late XIX - early XX century: Proc. -4th ed., additional and revised - M .: Vyssh. school; Ed. Center Academy, 2000.

"Small man"- a type of literary hero that arose in Russian literature with the advent of realism, that is, in the 20-30s of the XIX century.

The theme of the "little man" is one of the cross-cutting themes of Russian literature, which was constantly addressed by writers of the 19th century. A.S. Pushkin was the first to mention it in the story “The Stationmaster”. The successors of this theme were N.V. Gogol, F.M. Dostoevsky, A.P. Chekhov and many others.

This person is small precisely in social terms, since he occupies one of the lower rungs of the hierarchical ladder. His place in society is little or completely invisible. A person is considered "small" also because the world of his spiritual life and claims is also extremely narrow, impoverished, filled with all sorts of prohibitions. For him there are no historical and philosophical problems. He lives in a narrow and closed circle of his vital interests.

The best humanistic traditions are associated with the theme of the "little man" in Russian literature. Writers invite people to think about the fact that every person has the right to happiness, to their own outlook on life.

Examples of "little people":

1) Yes, Gogol in the story "The Overcoat" characterizes the protagonist as a poor, ordinary, insignificant and inconspicuous person. In life, he was assigned the insignificant role of a copyist of departmental documents. Brought up in the sphere of subordination and execution of orders of superiors, Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin not accustomed to reflect on the meaning of his work. That is why, when he is offered a task that requires the manifestation of elementary ingenuity, he begins to worry, worry, and in the end comes to the conclusion: “No, it’s better to let me rewrite something.”

The spiritual life of Bashmachkin is in tune with his inner aspirations. The accumulation of money to buy a new overcoat becomes for him the goal and meaning of life. The theft of a long-awaited new thing, which was acquired through hardship and suffering, becomes a disaster for him.

And yet Akaky Akakievich does not look like an empty, uninteresting person in the mind of the reader. We imagine that there were a great many such small, humiliated people. Gogol urged society to look at them with understanding and pity. Indirectly, this is demonstrated by the surname of the protagonist: diminutive suffix -chk-(Bashmachkin) gives it the appropriate shade. "Mother, save your poor son!" - the author will write.

Calling for justice the author raises the question of the need to punish the inhumanity of society. As compensation for the humiliation and insults suffered during his lifetime, Akaky Akakievich, who rose from the grave in the epilogue, comes through and takes away their overcoats and fur coats. He calms down only when he takes away the outer clothing of the "significant person" who played a tragic role in the life of the "little man". 2) In the story Chekhov "Death of an official" we see the slavish soul of an official whose understanding of the world is completely distorted. There is no need to talk about human dignity here. The author gives his hero a wonderful last name: Chervyakov. Describing the small, insignificant events of his life, Chekhov seems to look at the world with Chervyakov's eyes, and these events become huge. So, Chervyakov was at the performance and “felt on top of bliss. But suddenly ... sneezed. Looking around like a "polite person", the hero was horrified to find that he had sprayed a civilian general. Chervyakov begins to apologize, but this seemed not enough to him, and the hero asks for forgiveness again and again, day after day ... There are a lot of such little officials who know only their little world and it is not surprising that their experiences are made up of such small situations. The author conveys the whole essence of the official's soul, as if examining it under a microscope. Unable to bear the cry in response to the apology, Chervyakov goes home and dies. This terrible disaster his life is the catastrophe of his limitations. 3) In addition to these writers, Dostoevsky also addressed the theme of the “little man” in his work. The main characters of the novel "Poor people" - Makar Devushkin- a half-impoverished official, crushed by grief, want and social lawlessness, and Varenka- a girl who has become a victim of social ill-being. Like Gogol in The Overcoat, Dostoevsky turned to the theme of the disenfranchised, immensely humiliated "little man" who lives his inner life in conditions that trample on the dignity of man. The author sympathizes with his poor heroes, shows the beauty of their soul. 4) Theme "poor people" develops as a writer in the novel "Crime and Punishment". One by one, the writer reveals before us pictures of terrible poverty, which humiliates the dignity of a person. The scene of the work becomes Petersburg, and the poorest district of the city. Dostoevsky creates a canvas of immeasurable human torment, suffering and grief, peers penetratingly into the soul of the “little man”, discovers in him deposits of enormous spiritual wealth. Family life unfolds before us Marmeladov. These are people crushed by reality. He drinks himself with grief and loses his human appearance official Marmeladov, who has "nowhere else to go." Exhausted by poverty, his wife Ekaterina Ivanovna dies of consumption. Sonya is released into the street to sell her body in order to save her family from starvation. The fate of the Raskolnikov family is also difficult. His sister Dunya, wanting to help her brother, is ready to sacrifice herself and marry the rich Luzhin, whom she feels disgusted with. Raskolnikov himself conceives a crime, the roots of which, in part, lie in the sphere social relations in society. The images of “little people” created by Dostoevsky are imbued with the spirit of protest against social injustice, against the humiliation of people and faith in their high calling. The souls of the "poor" can be beautiful, full of spiritual generosity and beauty, but broken by the hardest conditions of life.

The Russian world in the prose of the 19th century.

For lectures:

Depiction of reality in Russian literature of the 19th century.

Scenery. Functions and types.

Interior: detail problem.

The image of time in a literary text.

Road motif as a form of artistic development national painting peace.

Scenery - not necessarily an image of nature, in literature it may involve a description of any open space. This definition corresponds to the semantics of the term. From French - country, area. In French art theory, the landscape description includes both the depiction of wildlife and the depiction of man-made objects.

The well-known typology of landscapes is based on the specifics of the functioning of this text component.

Firstly, landscapes stand out, which are the background of the story. These landscapes, as a rule, indicate the place and time against which the depicted events take place.

The second type of landscape- a landscape creating a lyrical background. Most often, when creating such a landscape, the artist pays attention to meteorological conditions, because this landscape should first of all influence the emotional state of the reader.

Third type- a landscape that creates/becomes a psychological background of existence and becomes one of the means of revealing the character's psychology.

Fourth type- a landscape that becomes a symbolic background, a means of symbolic reflection of the reality depicted in a literary text.

The landscape can be used as a means of depicting a particular artistic time or as a form of presence of the author.

This typology is not the only one. The landscape can be expositional, dual, etc. Modern critics isolate Goncharov's landscapes; it is believed that Goncharov used the landscape for perfect performance about the world. For a person who writes, the evolution of the landscape skill of Russian writers is fundamentally important. There are two main periods:

pre-Pushkin, during this period, landscapes were characterized by the completeness and concreteness of the surrounding nature;

post-Pushkin period, the idea of ​​an ideal landscape has changed. It assumes the stinginess of details, the economy of the image and the accuracy of the selection of details. Accuracy, according to Pushkin, involves identifying the most significant feature perceived in a certain way by feelings. This idea of ​​Pushkin, then will be used by Bunin.

Second level. Interior - image of the interior. The main unit of the interior image is a detail (detail), attention to which was first demonstrated by Pushkin. The literary test of the 19th century did not show a clear boundary between the interior and the landscape.

Time in literary text in the 19th century it becomes discrete, intermittent. Heroes easily go into memories and whose fantasies rush into the future. There is a selectivity of the attitude to time, which is explained by the dynamics. Time in a literary text in the 19th century has a convention. The most conditional time in a lyrical work, with the predominance of the grammar of the present tense, for lyrics, the interaction of different time layers is especially characteristic. Artistic time is not necessarily concrete, it is abstract. In the 19th century, the image of historical color becomes a special means of concretizing artistic time.

One of the most effective means of depicting reality in the 19th century is the motive of the road, becomes part of the plot formula, a narrative unit. Initially, this motif dominated the travel genre. In the 11th-18th centuries, in the genre of travel, the motive of the road was used, first of all, to expand ideas about the surrounding space (cognitive function). In sentimentalist prose, the cognitive function of this motif is complicated by evaluativeness. Gogol uses travel to explore the surrounding space. The renewal of the functions of the road motif is associated with the name of Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov. "Silence" 1858

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The 19th century is called the "Golden Age" of Russian poetry and the century of Russian literature on a global scale. It should not be forgotten that the literary leap that took place in the 19th century was prepared by all means. literary process 17-18 centuries. The 19th century is the time of the formation of the Russian literary language, which took shape largely thanks to A.S. Pushkin. But the 19th century began with the heyday of sentimentalism and the formation of romanticism. These literary trends found expression primarily in poetry. Poetic works of poets E.A. Baratynsky, K.N. Batyushkova, V.A. Zhukovsky, A.A. Feta, D.V. Davydova, N.M. Yazykov. Creativity F.I. Tyutchev's "Golden Age" of Russian poetry was completed. However, the central figure of this time was Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. A.S. Pushkin began his ascent to the literary Olympus with the poem "Ruslan and Lyudmila" in 1920. And his novel in verse "Eugene Onegin" was called an encyclopedia of Russian life. Romantic poems by A.S. Pushkin's "The Bronze Horseman" (1833), "The Fountain of Bakhchisaray", "Gypsies" opened the era of Russian romanticism. Many poets and writers considered A. S. Pushkin their teacher and continued the traditions of creating literary works laid down by him. One of these poets was M.Yu. Lermontov. Known for his romantic poem "Mtsyri", poetic story "Demon", a lot of romantic poems. Interestingly, Russian poetry of the 19th century was closely connectedwith the social and political life of the country. Poets tried to comprehend the idea of ​​their special purpose. The poet in Russia was considered a conductor of divine truth, a prophet. The poets urged the authorities to listen to their words. Vivid examples of understanding the role of the poet and influence on the political life of the country are the poems of A.S. Pushkin "Prophet", ode "Liberty", "The Poet and the Crowd", a poem by M.Yu. Lermontov "On the Death of a Poet" and many others. The prose writers of the beginning of the century were influenced by the English historical novels of W. Scott, whose translations were very popular. The development of Russian prose of the 19th century began with the prose works of A.S. Pushkin and N.V. Gogol. Pushkin, influenced by English historical novels, creates story "The Captain's Daughter" where the action takes place against the backdrop of grandiose historical events: during the Pugachev rebellion. A.S. Pushkin did an enormous job, exploring this historical period. This work was largely political in nature and was directed to those in power. A.S. Pushkin and N.V. Gogol identified the main artistic types that would be developed by writers throughout the 19th century. This is the artistic type of the “superfluous person”, an example of which is Eugene Onegin in the novel by A.S. Pushkin, and the so-called type of "little man", which is shown by N.V. Gogol in his story "The Overcoat", as well as A.S. Pushkin in the story "The Stationmaster". Literature inherited its publicism and satirical character from the 18th century. In a prose poem N.V. Gogol "Dead Souls" the writer in a sharp satirical manner shows a swindler who buys up dead souls, various types of landowners who are the embodiment of various human vices(the influence of classicism affects). Comedy is in the same vein. "Inspector". are full satirical images and works by A. S. Pushkin. Literature continues to satirically depict Russian reality. The tendency to depict the vices and shortcomings of Russian society - characteristic all Russian classical literature. It can be traced in the works of almost all writers of the 19th century. At the same time, many writers implement the satirical trend in a grotesque form. Examples of grotesque satire are the works of N.V. Gogol "The Nose", M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin "Gentlemen Golovlevs", "History of one city". WITH mid-nineteenth century, the formation of Russian realistic literature takes place, which is created against the background of the tense socio-political situation that prevailed in Russia during the reign of Nicholas I. The crisis of the feudal system is brewing, the contradictions between the authorities and the common people are strong. There is a need to create a realistic literature that sharply reacts to the socio-political situation in the country. Literary critic V.G. Belinsky marks a new realistic trend in literature. His position is being developed by N.A. Dobrolyubov, N.G. Chernyshevsky. A dispute arises between Westernizers and Slavophiles about the paths of Russia's historical development. Writers address to the socio-political problems of Russian reality. The genre of the realistic novel is developing. Their works are created by I.S. Turgenev, F.M. Dostoevsky, L.N. Tolstoy, I.A. Goncharov. Socio-political and philosophical problems prevail. Literature is distinguished by a special psychologism. people. The literary process of the late 19th century discovered the names of N. S. Leskov, A.N. Ostrovsky A.P. Chekhov. The latter proved to be a master of a small literary genre - a story, as well as an excellent playwright. Competitor A.P. Chekhov was Maxim Gorky. The end of the 19th century was marked by the formation of pre-revolutionary sentiments. The realist tradition was beginning to fade. It was replaced by the so-called decadent literature, the hallmarks of which were mysticism, religiosity, as well as a premonition of changes in the socio-political life of the country. Subsequently, decadence grew into symbolism. This opens a new page in the history of Russian literature.

7. Literary situation at the end of the 19th century.

Realism

The second half of the 19th century is characterized by the undivided dominance of the realistic trend in Russian literature. basis realism as an artistic method is socio-historical and psychological determinism. The personality and fate of the depicted person appears as the result of the interaction of his character (or, more deeply, universal human nature) with the circumstances and laws of social life (or, more broadly, history, culture - as can be observed in the work of A.S. Pushkin).

Realism of the 2nd half of the 19th century. often call critical, or socially accusatory. IN Lately In modern literary criticism, attempts are increasingly being made to abandon such a definition. It is both too wide and too narrow; it levels out the individual characteristics of the writers' work. The founder of critical realism is often called N.V. Gogol, however, in Gogol's work, social life, the history of the human soul is often correlated with such categories as eternity, supreme justice, the providential mission of Russia, the kingdom of God on earth. Gogol's tradition to one degree or another in the second half of the 19th century. picked up by L. Tolstoy, F. Dostoevsky, partly N.S. Leskov - it is no coincidence that in their work (especially later) there is a craving for such pre-realistic forms of comprehension of reality as a sermon, a religious and philosophical utopia, a myth, a life. No wonder M. Gorky expressed the idea of ​​the synthetic nature of Russian classical realism, about its non-delimitation from the romantic direction. At the end of XIX - beginning of XX century. the realism of Russian literature not only opposes, but also interacts in its own way with the emerging symbolism. The realism of the Russian classics is universal, it is not limited to the reproduction of empirical reality, it includes a universal content, a “mystical plan”, which brings realists closer to the search for romantics and symbolists.

Socially accusatory pathos in its purest form appears most in the work of writers of the second row - F.M. Reshetnikova, V.A. Sleptsova, G.I. Uspensky; even N.A. Nekrasov and M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, with all their closeness to the aesthetics of revolutionary democracy, are not limited in their work posing purely social, topical issues. Nevertheless, a critical orientation towards any form of social and spiritual enslavement of a person unites all realist writers of the second half of the 19th century.

XIX century revealed the main aesthetic principles and typological properties of realism. In Russian literature of the second half of the XIX century. It is conditionally possible to single out several directions within the framework of realism.

1. The work of realist writers who strive for the artistic recreation of life in the "forms of life itself." The image often acquires such a degree of reliability that literary heroes are spoken of as living people. I.S. belong to this direction. Turgenev, I.A. Goncharov, partly N.A. Nekrasov, A.N. Ostrovsky, partly L.N. Tolstoy, A.P. Chekhov.

2. Bright in the 60s and 70s the philosophical-religious, ethical-psychological direction in Russian literature is outlined(L.N. Tolstoy, F.M. Dostoevsky). Dostoevsky and Tolstoy have amazing pictures of social reality, depicted in the "forms of life itself." But at the same time, writers always start from certain religious and philosophical doctrines.

3. Satirical, grotesque realism(in the 1st half of the 19th century, it was partly represented in the works of N.V. Gogol, in the 60-70s it unfolded in full force in the prose of M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin). The grotesque does not act as hyperbole or fantasy, it characterizes the writer's method; it combines in images, types, plots what is unnatural, and is absent in life, but is possible in the world created by the creative imagination of the artist; similar grotesque, hyperbolic images emphasize certain patterns that prevail in life.

4. Completely unique realism, "hearted" (Belinsky's word) by humanistic thought, presented in art A.I. Herzen. Belinsky noted the “Voltaireian” warehouse of his talent: “talent went into the mind”, which turns out to be a generator of images, details, plots, biographies of a person.

Along with the dominant realistic trend in Russian literature of the second half of the 19th century. the direction of the so-called "pure art" also developed - it is both romantic and realistic. Its representatives eschewed "damned questions" (What to do? Who is to blame?), but not reality, by which they meant the world of nature and the subjective feeling of a person, the life of his heart. They were excited by the beauty of life itself, the fate of the world. A.A. Fet and F.I. Tyutchev can be directly comparable with I.S. Turgenev, L.N. Tolstoy and F.M. Dostoevsky. The poetry of Fet and Tyutchev had a direct influence on the work of Tolstoy in the era of Anna Karenina. It is no coincidence that Nekrasov discovered F.I. Tyutchev to the Russian public as a great poet in 1850.

Problematics and Poetics

Russian prose, with all the flourishing of poetry and dramaturgy (A.N. Ostrovsky), occupies a central place in the literary process of the second half of the 19th century. It develops in line with the realistic direction, preparing, in the variety of genre searches of Russian writers, an artistic synthesis - a novel, the pinnacle of world literary Development XIX V.

The search for new artistic techniques images of a person in his connections with the world appeared not only in the genres story, story or novel (I.S. Turgenev, F.M. Dostoevsky, L.N. Tolstoy, A.F. Pisemsky, M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, D. Grigorovich). Striving for an accurate recreation of life in the literature of the late 40s and 50s begins to look for a way out in memoir-autobiographical genres, with their installation on documentary. At this time, they begin to work on the creation of their autobiographical books. A.I. Herzen and S.T. Aksakov; the trilogy partly adjoins this genre tradition. L.N. Tolstoy ("Childhood", "Adolescence", "Youth").

Another documentary genre goes back to aesthetics natural school", This - feature article. In its very pure form it is represented in the works of democratic writers N.V. Uspensky, V.A. Sleptsova, A.I. Levitova, N.G. Pomyalovsky (“Essays on Bursa”); in a revised and largely transformed form - in Turgenev's Notes of a Hunter and Saltykov-Shchedrin's Provincial Essays, Dostoevsky's Notes from the House of the Dead. Here, a complex interpenetration of artistic and documentary elements is observed, fundamentally new forms of narrative prose are created that combine the features of a novel , essay, autobiographical notes.

The desire for epicness is a characteristic feature of the Russian literary process of the 1860s; it captures both poetry (N. Nekrasov) and dramaturgy (A.N. Ostrovsky).

The epic picture of the world as a deep subtext is felt in novels I.A. Goncharova(1812-1891) “Oblomov” and “Cliff”. Thus, in the novel “Oblomov”, the description of typical character traits and way of life subtly turns into the image of the universal content of life, its eternal states, collisions, situations. , which has firmly entered the Russian public consciousness under the name "Oblomovism", Goncharov contrasts it with the preaching of the deed (the image of the Russian German Andrei Stolz) - and at the same time shows the limitations of this sermon. Oblomov's inertia appears in unity with genuine humanity. The composition of the "Oblomovism" also includes the poetry of a noble estate, the generosity of Russian hospitality, the touchingness of Russian holidays, the beauty of Central Russian nature - Goncharov traces the primordial connection of noble culture, noble consciousness with folk soil. The very inertia of Oblomov's existence is rooted in the depths of centuries, in the distant corners of our national memory. Ilya Oblomov is somewhat akin to Ilya Muromets, who sat on the stove for 30 years, or the fabulous simpleton Emelya, who achieved his goals without applying his own efforts - "at the behest of the pike, at my will." "Oblomovism" is a phenomenon of not just noble, but Russian national culture, and as such it is not idealized by Goncharov at all - the artist explores both its strengths and weaknesses. In the same way, purely European pragmatism, opposed to Russian Oblomovism, reveals strong and weak features. In the novel, on a philosophical level, the inferiority, insufficiency of both opposites and the impossibility of their harmonious combination are revealed.

In the literature of the 1870s, the same prose genres dominate as in the literature of the previous century, but new trends appear in them. The epic tendencies in narrative literature are weakening, there is an outflow of literary forces from the novel, to small genres - a story, an essay, a story. Dissatisfaction with the traditional novel was a characteristic phenomenon in literature and criticism in the 1870s. It would be wrong, however, to assume that the genre of the novel entered a period of crisis during these years. The work of Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Saltykov-Shchedrin serves as an eloquent refutation of this opinion. However, in the 1970s, the novel underwent an internal restructuring: the tragic beginning sharply intensified; this trend is associated with a heightened interest in the spiritual problems of the individual and its internal conflicts. Novelists pay special attention to a personality that has reached its full development, but is put face to face with the fundamental problems of being, deprived of support, experiencing deep discord with people and with itself (“Anna Karenina” by L. Tolstoy, “Demons” and “The Brothers Karamazov” by Dostoevsky ).

In the short prose of the 1870s, a craving for allegorical and parable forms is revealed. Particularly indicative in this regard is the prose of N.S. Leskov, the flowering of his work falls precisely on this decade. He acted as an innovative artist, combining the principles of realistic writing into a single whole with the conventions of traditional folk poetic techniques, with an appeal to the style and genres of ancient Russian literature. Leskov's skill was compared with icon painting and ancient architecture, the writer was called an "isographer" - and not without reason. Gorky called the gallery of original folk types painted by Leskov “the iconostasis of the righteous and saints” of Russia. Leskov introduced into the sphere of artistic representation such layers of folk life that had hardly been touched upon in Russian literature before him (the life of the clergy, the bourgeoisie, the Old Believers and other layers of the Russian provinces). In the depiction of various social strata, Leskov masterfully used the forms of a tale, whimsically mixing the author's and folk points of view.

The literary movement of the 1870s, important changes in the style and poetics of prose genres, necessarily prepared new period in the development of Russian realistic prose.

The 1880s are a strange, intermediate time in the history of Russian literature and Russian social thought. On the one hand, they were marked by a complete crisis of the populist ideology and the mood of pessimism that it caused, the absence of a common idea; “Sleep and darkness reigned in the hearts” - as A.A. Blok in the poem "Retribution". However, it was precisely the exhaustion of the revolutionary ideology of the 1860s and 1870s that led to the formation of a new attitude towards reality. The 1980s was a time of radical reassessment of the history and culture of the past. Fundamentally new for Russian culture was the orientation towards the calm, peaceful development of society; for the first time, conservatism became an important part of the national consciousness. In society, an attitude began to take shape not to remake the world (which prevailed in the 1860s and 70s), but to change (self-change) a person (F.M. Dostoevsky and L.N. Tolstoy, Vl.S. Solovyov and K. N. Leontiev, N. S. Leskov and V. M. Garshin, V. G. Korolenko and A. P. Chekhov).

The 1880s were perceived by contemporaries as an independent period, opposed in their minds to the sixties and seventies. The specificity of the period was associated with the idea of ​​the end of the era of the Russian "classics", with a sense of the boundary, the transition of time. The eighties sum up the development of Russian classical realism. The end of the period does not coincide with 1889, but rather should be attributed to the mid-1890s, when a new generation of writers announced itself and trends associated with the emergence of symbolism appeared. As a literary event that ended the 1880s, one can consider the publication in 1893 of a brochure by D.S. Merezhkovsky "On the Causes of the Decline and New Trends in Modern Russian Literature", which became the program document of literature and criticism at the turn of the century. At the same time, this document is a starting point new era in the history of Russian literature. We can say that the Russian literature XIX V. ends in 1893, its last period chronologically covers the years 1880-1893.

Russian literature of the 1880s is the literature of realism, but qualitatively changed. Classical realism of the 1830-70s strove for a synthesis in artistic research and depiction of life, focused on the knowledge of the whole, the universe in all its diversity and inconsistency. Realism in the 80s proved unable to give a clear and meaningful picture of being from the point of view of some general universal idea. But at the same time in Russian literature there is an intense search for a new generalized view of life. Russian literature of the 1880s interacts with religious-philosophical and ethical concepts; writers appear in whose work philosophical ideas find their expression in artistic, literary form (Vl. Soloviev, K.N. Leontiev, early V.V. Rozanov). The realistic setting in the work of the classics of Russian realism is changing; prose by I.S. Turgenev is saturated with mysterious, irrational motives; in the work of L.N. Tolstoy's realism is gradually but steadily transforming into realism of a different kind, densely surrounded by moralistic and preachy journalism. The most characteristic feature of the literary process of the 80-90s is the almost complete disappearance of the genre form of the novel and the flourishing of small epic genres: story, essay, story. The novel assumes a generalizing view of life, and in the 1980s life empiricism, a fact of reality, comes to the fore. Hence the emergence of naturalistic tendencies in Russian prose - in the work of second-line fiction writers (P.D. Boborykin, D.N. Mamin-Sibiryak), partly even A.P. Chekhov, who is included in the literature of the 1880s as the author of humorous stories, skits and parodies. Chekhov, perhaps more acutely than any of the artists, feels the exhaustion of the old artistic forms - and subsequently it is he who is destined to become a true innovator in the field of new means of artistic expression.

Simultaneously with the naturalistic tendencies in the prose of the 1880s, the desire for expressiveness, for the search for more capacious forms of artistic expression, is intensifying. The desire for expressiveness leads to the predominance of the subjective principle not only in lyric poetry, which is experiencing a new flowering in the 80-90s, but also in narrative prose genres (V.M. Garshin, V.G. Korolenko). hallmark The prose of the 80s is becoming an energetic development of mass fiction and mass dramaturgy. However, in the same years he creates his own latest plays A.N. Ostrovsky: "sad" comedies "Slaves", "Talents and Admirers", "Handsome Man", "Guilty Without Guilt" and L.N. Tolstoy (folk drama "The Power of Darkness", satirical comedy "The Fruits of Enlightenment"). Finally, at the end of the 1880s, Chekhov began to reform the dramatic genre (the plays Ivanov, Leshy, later reworked into the play Uncle Vanya).

The poetry of the 80s occupies a more modest place in the general literary process than prose and dramaturgy. It is dominated by pessimistic or even tragic notes. However, it is in the poetry of the 80s that the artistic tendencies of the new era, leading to the formation of the aesthetics of symbolism, most clearly appear.

For lectures:

Ivan Alekseevich Bunin (1870-1953) is the last Russian classic, but new Russian literature begins with him.

Received the Pushkin Prize for translating the text of the Song of Goyate.

« Antonov apples» 1900, «The Gentleman from San Francisco», «Light Breath» - Bunin's trilogy about the meaning of being. Innovation is determined by the fact that the artist moves away from the study of class contradictions. The focus is on the civilizational conflict, the world of people in general. Bunin believed that in "Antonov apples" he presented new principles for creating a literary image. The ideological and artistic space allows us to pose completely different problems. "Antonov apples" are expressed:

plotless plot;

in this story, Bunin has the opportunity to describe the "crystal" silence; a special subject of study was the state of sadness, "great and hopeless";

the unique rhythm of Bunin's prose;

"brocade" language.

Bunin connected the secret of life with the motive of love and with the motive of death, but he sees the ideal solution to the problems of love and death in the past (peace, harmony, when a person felt himself a part of nature).

In the 20th century, Bunin in The Gentleman from San Francisco reveals the theme of death, which he began to think about from childhood. I express the idea that money gives only the illusion of life.

8. The literary situation of the early twentieth century.

Modern (The general name for various trends in art of the late 19th - early 20th centuries, which proclaimed a break with realism, the rejection of old forms and the search for new aesthetic principles.) - the interpretation of being

Lyric poetry (Sensitivity in feelings, in moods; softness and subtlety of the emotional beginning)

The idea of ​​art synthesis

Russian literature of the late XIX - early XX centuries. (1893 -1917) - rather short, but a very important period, independent in its meaning, in the history of Russian literature. In October 1917 Russian culture has undergone a tragic cataclysm. The literary process of that time is characterized by unprecedented tension, inconsistency, and the clash of the most diverse artistic tendencies. Not only in Russia, but throughout the world culture, a new modernist aesthetics, which sharply contrasted its philosophical and artistic program, its new worldview with the aesthetics of the past, which included essentially all the classical heritage of world culture.

A distinctive feature of the culture of the 1st quarter of the 20th century is an unprecedented one since Pushkin's time. flowering of poetry and above all - lyric poetry, development of a completely new poetic language, new artistic imagery. The very notion of silver age"owes its emergence to a new rise in poetic art. This rise is a direct consequence of the general process associated with search for more capacious means of artistic expression. The literature of the beginning of the century as a whole is characterized by the element of lyricism. At the turn of the century, lyricism becomes one of the most effective means of revealing the worldview of the author and the man of modern times portrayed by him. The flowering of poetry in this period is a natural consequence of deep processes in the history of Russian literature and culture, it is associated primarily with modernism as the leading artistic direction of the era.

Article by V.I. Lenin "Party Organization and Party Literature" (1905) with the thesis that that literary work should be part of the general proletarian cause- followed from the principles proclaimed by "real criticism" and carried to its logical conclusion. The article provoked a sharp rebuff in the literary and philosophical thought of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century; Lenin's opponents were D. Merezhkovsky, D. Filosofov, N. Berdyaev, V. Bryusov, who was one of the first to react with the article "Freedom of Speech", which appeared at the same time in November 1905 in the journal "Scales". V. Bryusov defended the already established in the decadent environment beliefs about the autonomy of literature as the art of speech and the freedom of artistic creativity.

The literature of the turn of the century entered into close relationships with religion, philosophy, and other forms of art, which also experienced a revival at that time: with painting, theater, and music. No wonder the idea of ​​the synthesis of arts occupied the minds of poets and artists, composers and philosophers. These are the most general trends in the development of literature and culture in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

During the late XIX - XX centuries. Russian literature includes a group of young writers who continue high traditions of classical realism. This is V.G. Korolenko, A.I. Kuprin, M. Gorky,I.A. Bunin,B. Zaitsev, I. Shmelev, V. Veresaev, L. Andreev. In the works of these writers, it is peculiar reflected the interaction of the realistic method with the new trends of the era . The bright and clear talent of V.G. Korolenko was distinguished by his attraction to romantic motifs, plots, and images. The prose and dramaturgy of Leonid Andreev more and more experienced the influence of expressionist poetics. The lyrical prose of B. Zaitsev, his plotless miniatures gave critics reason to talk about impressionistic features in his creative method. Fame I.A. Bunin was brought first of all by his story "The Village", in which he gave a harsh image of modern folk life, sharply arguing with the poeticization of the peasantry, coming from the Turgenev tradition. At the same time, the metaphorical figurativeness of Bunin's prose, the associative connection of details and motifs, bring it closer to the poetics of symbolism. Early work M. Gorky associated with romantic tradition. Revealing the life of Russia, an acutely dramatic spiritual state modern man, Gorky created a picture of life common with Kuprin, Bunin, Remizov, Sergeev-Tsynsky.

Modernist and avant-garde movements

The word "modernism" comes from the French. moderne - "newest". The aesthetics of realism meant reflection of the surrounding reality in the works of the artist in its typical features ; aesthetics of modernism brought to the fore the creative will of the artist, the possibility of creating many subjective interpretations of being. Avant-gardism is a private and extreme manifestation of modernist culture; The motto of the avant-garde could be the words of Pablo Picasso: "I depict the world not as I see it, but as I think it." The avant-garde believed that vital material can be deformed by the artist to the ground. Avant-garde art meant first of all a fundamental break with the traditions of the XIX century. Avant-gardism in Russian culture reflected in poetry futurists and in similar searches in the field of painting (K.Malevich, N.Goncharova) and theater (V.Meyerhold).

"Little Man" is a type of literary hero that arose in the era of realism in the first half of the 19th century. Usually he is a petty official, a citizen with a quiet, inconspicuous life. He occupies a low level in society and has a meager spiritual world, not endowed with important life goals. The theme of the "little man" is one of the most important themes of Russian literature, which was constantly addressed by writers of the 19th century.

So, N.V. Gogol in the story "The Overcoat" describes the life of a poor, insignificant and inconspicuous official, whose role is to rewrite documents. Having spent his life in submission to his superiors and in simple "automatic" work, Bashmachkin did not have much to think about work. And when he is offered a task that requires little mental effort, he decides: “No, it’s better to let me rewrite something.”

His life has meager aspirations: the accumulation of money for a new overcoat by deprivation and suffering becomes the meaning of life, and its theft takes on the dimensions of a catastrophe. There are quite a lot of such “little people” in society, and Gogol calls for treating them with pity and understanding.

In addition, Chekhov's story "The Death of an Official" presents the life of another "little" person - a petty official. His surname Chervyakov hints at the size of his world commensurate with the size of this animal. All insignificant events in his eyes take on large proportions. So, the fact that he sprayed the general in the theater, for whom it was a trifle, was of great importance for our hero. As a result of repeated apologies, Chervyakov died.

This catastrophe in his life is a consequence of limitation and emptiness. And such people, obsessed with their own small world and those who worry about the little things, a huge number.

The theme of little people is also revealed by Dostoevsky in the novel Crime and Punishment. The place of action is a poor district of St. Petersburg. Before us opens a picture of the life of the Marmeladovs crushed by reality. The official Marmeladov drinks himself from an aimless life and grief. His wife Ekaterina Ivanovna also dies in poverty. And Sonya is forced to trade her body in order to escape starvation. Dunya, Raskolnikov's sister, wanting to help her brother, is ready to marry Luzhin, whom she is disgusted with. Raskolnikov himself commits a crime, the cause of which lies in the stratification of society. Heroes of Dostoevsky protest against injustice in the world. He proves that the souls of poor "little" people can be beautiful and full of kindness, but broken by difficult living conditions.

Thus, the problem of the "small" person, raised writers of the 19th century, is no less relevant today, when there are a lot of such people with an empty life, routine work and a meager spiritual world, and, basically, this is the result of the influence of society on them.

Updated: 2018-03-05

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The theme of depicting the "little man" is not new in Russian literature. The problem of man was once given great attention N. V. Gogol, F. M. Dostoevsky, A. P. Chekhov and others. The first writer who opened the world of “little people” to us was N.M. Karamzin. The greatest influence on subsequent literature was his story “ Poor Lisa". The author laid the foundation for a huge cycle of works about “little people”, took the first step into this hitherto unknown topic. It was he who opened the way for such writers of the future as Gogol, Dostoevsky and others.

A.S. Pushkin was the next writer, in the sphere creative attention which the whole vast Russia began to enter, its expanses, the life of villages, Petersburg and Moscow opened not only from a luxurious entrance, but also through the narrow doors of poor people's houses. For the first time, Russian literature so poignantly and clearly showed the distortion of the individual by a hostile environment. Samson Vyrin ("The Stationmaster") and Evgeny ("The Bronze Horseman") represent the petty bureaucracy of that time. But A. S. Pushkin points us to the “little man”, whom we must notice.

Even deeper than Pushkin, this topic was revealed by Lermontov. Naive charm folk character recreated by the poet in the image of Maxim Maksimych. The heroes of Lermontov, his “little people”, are different from all the previous ones. These are no longer passive people, like in Pushkin, and not illusory, like in Karamzin, these are people in whose souls the ground is already ready for a cry of protest against the world in which they live.

N. V. Gogol purposefully defended the right to depict the “little man” as an object literary studies. According to N.V. Gogol, a person is completely limited by his social status. Akaky Akakievich gives the impression of a man who is not only downtrodden and pitiful, but also not at all close-minded. He certainly has feelings, but they are small and come down to the joy of owning an overcoat. And only one feeling in it is huge - it is fear. According to Gogol, the social structure is to blame for this, and his “little man” dies not from humiliation and insult, but more from fear.

For F. M. Dostoevsky, the “little man” is, first of all, a personality that is certainly deeper than Samson Vyrin or Akaky Akakievich. F. M. Dostoevsky calls his novel “Poor People” that way. The author invites us to feel, experience everything together with the hero and leads us to the idea that “little people” are not only personalities in the full sense of the word, but their personal feeling, their ambition is much greater even than that of people with a position in society. "Little people" are the most vulnerable, and they are afraid that everyone else will not see their spiritually rich nature. Makar Devushkin considers his help to Varenka a kind of charity, thus showing that he is not a limited poor man, thinking only about collecting and keeping money. Of course, he does not suspect that this help is driven not by a desire to stand out, but by love. But this once again proves to us the main idea of ​​​​Dostoevsky - the "little man" is capable of high deep feelings. We find a continuation of the theme of the “little man” in F. M. Dostoevsky’s first big problematic novel “Crime and Punishment”. The most important and new, in comparison with other writers who have covered this topic, is Dostoevsky's downtrodden man's ability to look into himself, the ability of introspection and appropriate actions. The writer subordinates the characters to a detailed introspection, no other writer in essays, stories, sympathetically depicting the life and customs of the urban poor, had such a leisurely and concentrated psychological insight and depth of depiction of the character of the characters.

The theme of the “little man” is especially clearly revealed in the work of A.P. Chekhov. Exploring the psychology of his heroes, Chekhov discovers a new psychological type - a serf by nature, a creature like a reptile for the soul and spiritual needs. Such, for example, is Chervyakov, who finds true pleasure in humiliation. The reasons for the humiliation of the "little man", according to Chekhov, are himself.

The image of the "little man" in Russian literature

The very concept of "little man" appears in literature before the very type of hero is formed. Initially, this is the designation of people of the third estate, which became of interest to writers due to the democratization of literature.

In the 19th century, the image of the "little man" becomes one of the cross-cutting themes of literature. The concept of "little man" was introduced by V.G. Belinsky in his 1840 article "Woe from Wit". Initially, it meant a "simple" person. With the development of psychologism in Russian literature, this image becomes more complex. psychological picture and becomes the most popular character democratic works of the second half XIX century.

Literary Encyclopedia:

"Little man" - a number of diverse characters in Russian literature of the 19th century, united by common features: a low position in the social hierarchy, poverty, insecurity, which determines the peculiarities of their psychology and plot role- victims of social injustice and a soulless state mechanism, often personified in the image of a "significant person". They are characterized by fear of life, humiliation, meekness, which, however, can be combined with a sense of the injustice of the existing order of things, with wounded pride and even a short-term rebellious impulse, which, as a rule, does not lead to a change in the current situation. The type of "little man", discovered by A. S. Pushkin ("The Bronze Horseman", "The Stationmaster") and N. V. Gogol ("The Overcoat", "Notes of a Madman"), creatively, and sometimes polemically in relation to tradition , rethought by F. M. Dostoevsky (Makar Devushkin, Golyadkin, Marmeladov), A. N. Ostrovsky (Balzaminov, Kuligin), A. P. Chekhov (Chervyakov from "The Death of an Official", the hero of "Tolstoy and Thin"), M. A. Bulgakov (Korotkov from the "Diaboliad"), M. M. Zoshchenko and other Russian writers of the 19th-20th centuries.

“Little man” is a type of hero in literature, most often it is a poor, inconspicuous official who occupies a small position, his fate is tragic.

The theme of the "little man" is a "cross-cutting theme" of Russian literature. The appearance of this image is due to the Russian career ladder of fourteen steps, on the lower of which small officials worked and suffered from poverty, lack of rights and insults, poorly educated, often lonely or burdened with families, worthy of human understanding, each with his own misfortune.

Little people are not rich, invisible, their fate is tragic, they are defenseless.

Pushkin "The Stationmaster" Samson Vyrin.

Hard worker. Weak person. He loses his daughter - she is taken away by the rich hussar Minsky. social conflict. Humiliated. Can't take care of himself. Got drunk. Samson is lost in life.

Pushkin was one of the first to put forward the democratic theme of the “little man” in literature. In Belkin's Tales, completed in 1830, the writer not only paints pictures of the life of the nobility and county ("The Young Lady-Peasant Woman"), but also draws the attention of readers to the fate of the "little man".

The fate of the "little man" is shown here realistically for the first time, without sentimental tearfulness, without romantic exaggeration, shown as the result of certain historical conditions, injustice of social relations.

In the plot itself stationmaster» a typical social conflict is conveyed, a broad generalization of reality is expressed, revealed in an individual case tragic fate ordinary man Samson Vyrin.

There is a small postal station somewhere at the crossroads of carriageways. The official of the 14th class Samson Vyrin and his daughter Dunya live here - the only joy that brightens up hard life caretaker, full of shouting and cursing passing. But the hero of the story - Samson Vyrin - is quite happy and calm, he has long adapted to the conditions of service, the beautiful daughter Dunya helps him run a simple household. He dreams of simple human happiness, hoping to babysit his grandchildren, spend his old age with his family. But fate prepares a difficult test for him. The passing hussar Minsky takes away Dunya, not thinking about the consequences of his act.

The worst thing is that Dunya left with the hussar of her own free will. Crossing the threshold of a new rich life she abandoned her father. Samson Vyrin goes to St. Petersburg to "return the lost lamb", but he is kicked out of Dunya's house. The hussar "with a strong hand, grabbing the old man by the collar, pushed him onto the stairs." Unhappy father! Where can he compete with a rich hussar! In the end, for his daughter, he receives several banknotes. “Tears again welled up in his eyes, tears of indignation! He squeezed the papers into a ball, threw them on the ground, stamped them with his heel and went ... "

Vyrin was no longer able to fight. He "thought, waved his hand and decided to retreat." Samson, after the loss of his beloved daughter, got lost in life, drank himself and died in longing for his daughter, grieving about her possible deplorable fate.

About people like him, Pushkin writes at the beginning of the story: “Let us, however, be fair, we will try to enter into their position and, perhaps, we will judge them much more condescendingly.”

Life truth, sympathy for the "little man", insulted at every step by the bosses, standing higher in rank and position - that's what we feel when reading the story. Pushkin cherishes this "little man" who lives in grief and need. The story is imbued with democracy and humanity, so realistically depicting the “little man”.

Pushkin "The Bronze Horseman". Eugene

Eugene is a "little man". The city played a fatal role in fate. During the flood, he loses his bride. All his dreams and hopes for happiness perished. Lost my mind. In sick madness, he challenges the "idol on a bronze horse" Nightmare: the threat of death under bronze hooves.

The image of Eugene embodies the idea of ​​confrontation between the common man and the state.

"The poor man was not afraid for himself." "The blood boiled." “A flame ran through the heart”, “Already for you!”. Yevgeny's protest is an instant impulse, but stronger than that of Samson Vyrin.

The image of a shining, lively, magnificent city is replaced in the first part of the poem by a picture of a terrible, destructive flood, expressive images raging elements over which man has no power. Among those whose lives were destroyed by the flood is Eugene, whose peaceful cares the author speaks at the beginning of the first part of the poem. Eugene is an “ordinary man” (“small” man): he has neither money nor ranks, he “serves somewhere” and dreams of making himself a “humble and simple shelter” in order to marry his beloved girl and go through life with her.

…Our hero

Lives in Kolomna, serves somewhere,

The nobles shy away…

He does not make great plans for the future, he is satisfied with a quiet, inconspicuous life.

What was he thinking about? About,

That he was poor, that by labor

He had to deliver

And independence, and honor;

What could God add to him

Mind and money.

The poem does not indicate either the hero's surname or his age, nothing is said about Yevgeny's past, his appearance, character traits. By depriving Evgeny of individual features, the author turns him into an ordinary, typical person from the crowd. However, in the extreme critical situation Eugene seems to wake up from a dream, and throws off the guise of "insignificance" and opposes the "copper idol". In a state of madness, he threatens the Bronze Horseman, considering the man who built the city on this dead place to be the culprit of his misfortune.

Pushkin looks at his heroes from the side. They do not stand out either in intelligence or in their position in society, but they are kind and decent people, and therefore worthy of respect and sympathy.

Conflict

Pushkin for the first time in Russian literature showed all the tragedy and insolubility of the conflict between the state and state interests and the interests of the private individual.

The plot of the poem is completed, the hero died, but remained and was handed over to readers central conflict, not resolved even in reality itself, remained the antagonism of the "tops" and "bottoms", the autocratic power and the destitute people. The symbolic victory of the Bronze Horseman over Eugene is a victory of strength, but not of justice.

Gogol "Overcoat" Akaki Akikievich Bashmachkin

"Eternal titular adviser". Resignedly takes down the ridicule of colleagues, timid and lonely. poor spiritual life. Irony and compassion of the author. The image of the city, which is terrible for the hero. Social conflict: "little man" and soulless representative of the authorities "significant person". The element of fantasy (casting) is the motive of rebellion and retribution.

Gogol opens the reader to the world of "little people", officials in his "Petersburg Tales". The story "The Overcoat" is especially significant for the disclosure of this topic, Gogol had a great influence on the further movement of Russian literature, "responding" in the work of its most diverse figures from Dostoevsky and Shchedrin to Bulgakov and Sholokhov. “We all came out of Gogol's overcoat,” wrote Dostoevsky.

Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin - "eternal titular adviser." He resignedly endures the ridicule of his colleagues, he is timid and lonely. The senseless clerical service killed every living thought in him. His spiritual life is poor. The only pleasure he finds in the correspondence of papers. He lovingly drew the letters in a clean, even handwriting and completely immersed himself in work, forgetting the insults caused to him by his colleagues, and the need, and worries about food and comfort. Even at home, he only thought that "God will send something to rewrite tomorrow."

But even in this downtrodden official, a man woke up when the goal of life appeared - a new overcoat. In the story, the development of the image is observed. “He became somehow more alive, even firmer in character. Doubt, indecision disappeared by itself from his face and from his actions ... ”Bashmachkin does not part with his dream for a single day. He thinks about it, as another person thinks about love, about family. Here he orders a new overcoat for himself, “... his existence has become somehow fuller ...” The description of Akaky Akakievich’s life is permeated with irony, but there is both pity and sadness in it. Introducing us into the spiritual world of the hero, describing his feelings, thoughts, dreams, joys and sorrows, the author makes it clear what happiness it was for Bashmachkin to acquire an overcoat and what a disaster its loss turns into.

There was no happier person than Akaky Akakievich when the tailor brought him an overcoat. But his joy was short-lived. When he returned home at night, he was robbed. And none of those around him takes part in his fate. In vain Bashmachkin sought help from a "significant person." He was even accused of rebellion against superiors and "higher". Frustrated Akaki Akakievich catches a cold and dies.

In the finale, a small, timid man, driven to despair by the world of the strong, protests against this world. Dying, he "badly blasphemes", utters the most terrible words that followed the words "your excellency." It was a riot, albeit in a deathbed delirium.

It is not because of the overcoat that the “little man” dies. He becomes a victim of bureaucratic "inhumanity" and "ferocious rudeness", which, according to Gogol, lurks under the guise of "refined, educated secularism." This is the deepest meaning of the story.

The theme of rebellion finds expression in the fantastic image of a ghost that appears on the streets of St. Petersburg after the death of Akaky Akakievich and takes off his overcoats from offenders.

N.V. Gogol, who in his story "The Overcoat" for the first time shows the spiritual stinginess, squalor of poor people, but also draws attention to the ability of the "little man" to rebel and for this he introduces elements of fantasy into his work.

N. V. Gogol deepens the social conflict: the writer showed not only the life of the “little man”, but also his protest against injustice. Let this "rebellion" be timid, almost fantastic, but the hero stands up for his rights, against the foundations of the existing order.

Dostoevsky "Crime and Punishment" Marmeladov

The writer himself remarked: "We all came out of Gogol's Overcoat."

Dostoevsky's novel is imbued with the spirit of Gogol's "Overcoat" "Poor people And". This is a story about the fate of the same "little man", crushed by grief, despair and social lawlessness. The correspondence of the poor official Makar Devushkin with Varenka, who lost her parents and is persecuted by a procuress, reveals the deep drama of the life of these people. Makar and Varenka are ready for each other for any hardships. Makar, living in extreme need, helps Varya. And Varya, having learned about the situation of Makar, comes to his aid. But the heroes of the novel are defenseless. Their rebellion is "rebellion on their knees." Nobody can help them. Varya is taken away to certain death, and Makar is left alone with his grief. Broken, crippled life of two wonderful people shattered by harsh reality.

Dostoevsky reveals deep and strong feelings"little people".

It is curious to note that Makar Devushkin reads Pushkin's The Stationmaster and Gogol's The Overcoat. He is sympathetic to Samson Vyrin and hostile to Bashmachkin. Probably because he sees his future in him.

About the fate of the "little man" Semyon Semyonovich Marmeladov told F.M. Dostoevsky on the pages of the novel "Crime and Punishment". One by one, the writer reveals before us pictures of hopeless poverty. Dostoevsky chose the dirtiest part of strictly St. Petersburg as the scene of action. Against the background of this landscape, the life of the Marmeladov family unfolds before us.

If Chekhov's characters are humiliated, do not realize their insignificance, then Dostoevsky's drunken retired official fully understands his uselessness, uselessness. He is a drunkard, insignificant, from his point of view, a person who wants to improve, but cannot. He understands that he has condemned his family, and especially his daughter, to suffering, worries about this, despises himself, but cannot help himself. “Pity! Why pity me!” Marmeladov suddenly yelled, standing up with his hand outstretched… “Yes! There’s nothing to pity me for! Crucify me on the cross, and don’t pity me!

Dostoevsky creates the image of a real fallen person: Marmelad's importunate sweetness, clumsy ornate speech - the property of a beer tribune and a jester at the same time. Awareness of his baseness (“I am a born cattle”) only strengthens his bravado. He is disgusting and pitiful at the same time, this drunkard Marmeladov with his ornate speech and important bureaucratic posture.

The state of mind of this petty official is much more complex and subtle than that of his literary predecessors - Pushkin's Samson Vyrin and Gogol's Bashmachkin. They do not have the power of introspection, which the hero of Dostoevsky achieved. Marmeladov not only suffers, but also analyzes his state of mind, he, as a doctor, puts a merciless diagnosis of the disease - the degradation of his own personality. Here is how he confesses in his first meeting with Raskolnikov: “Dear Sir, poverty is not a vice, it is the truth. But ... poverty is a vice - p. In poverty, you still retain all the nobility of innate feelings, but in poverty, never anyone ... for in poverty I myself am the first ready to offend myself.

A person not only perishes from poverty, but understands how he is spiritually devastated: he begins to despise himself, but does not see anything around him to cling to, which would keep him from the decay of his personality. The finale of Marmeladov's life fate is tragic: on the street he was crushed by a dandy gentleman's carriage drawn by a pair of horses. Throwing himself under their feet, this man himself found the outcome of his life.

Under the pen of the writer Marmeladov becomes a tragic way. Marmelad's cry - "after all, it is necessary that every person could at least go somewhere" - expresses the last degree of despair of a dehumanized person and reflects the essence of his life drama: there is nowhere to go and no one to go to.

In the novel, Raskolnikov sympathizes with Marmeladov. Meeting with Marmeladov in a tavern, his feverish, as if delirious, confession gave the protagonist of the novel Raskolnikov one of the last proofs of the correctness of the “Napoleonic idea”. But not only Raskolnikov sympathizes with Marmeladov. “More than once they have already pitied me,” says Marmeladov to Raskolnikov. The good general Ivan Afanasyevich also took pity on him, and again accepted him into the service. But Marmeladov could not stand the test, he took to drink again, drank all his salary, drank everything, and in return received a tattered tailcoat with a single button. Marmeladov in his behavior reached the point of losing the last human qualities. He is already so humiliated that he does not feel like a man, but only dreams of being a man among people. Sonya Marmeladova understands and forgives her father, who is able to help her neighbor, to sympathize with those who so need compassion

Dostoevsky makes us feel sorry for the unworthy of pity, to feel compassion for the unworthy of compassion. "Compassion is the most important and, perhaps, the only law of human existence," said Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky.

Chekhov "Death of an official", "Thick and thin"

Later, Chekhov would sum up a peculiar result in the development of the theme, he doubted the virtues traditionally sung by Russian literature - the high moral merits of the "little man" - a petty official. Chekhov. If Chekhov “exposed” something in people, then, first of all, it was their ability and readiness to be “small”. A person should not, does not dare to make himself "small" - this is Chekhov's main idea in his interpretation of the "little man" theme. Summing up all that has been said, we can conclude that the theme of the "little man" reveals essential qualities Russian literature XIX century - democracy and humanism.

Over time, the "little man", deprived of his own dignity, "humiliated and insulted", causes not only compassion, but also condemnation among progressive writers. “Your life is boring, gentlemen,” Chekhov said with his work to the “little man”, resigned to his position. With subtle humor, the writer ridicules the death of Ivan Chervyakov, from whose lips the lackey “Yourself” has not left his lips all his life.

In the same year as "The Death of an Official", the story "Thick and Thin" appears. Chekhov again opposes philistinism, servility. The collegiate servant Porfiry giggles, "like a Chinese", bowing in an obsequious bow, having met his former friend, who has a high rank. The feeling of friendship that connected these two people is forgotten.

Kuprin "Garnet bracelet".Zheltkov

In AI Kuprin's "Garnet Bracelet" Zheltkov is a "little man". Once again, the hero belongs to the lower class. But he loves, and he loves in a way that many of the highest society are not capable of. Zheltkov fell in love with a girl and for the rest of his life he loved only her alone. He understood that love is a sublime feeling, it is a chance given to him by fate, and it should not be missed. His love is his life, his hope. Zheltkov commits suicide. But after the death of the hero, the woman realizes that no one loved her as much as he did. The hero of Kuprin is a man of an extraordinary soul, capable of self-sacrifice, able to truly love, and such a gift is a rarity. Therefore, the "little man" Zheltkov appears as a figure towering above those around him.

Thus, the theme of the "little man" underwent significant changes in the work of writers. Drawing images of "little people", writers usually emphasized their weak protest, downtroddenness, which subsequently leads the "little man" to degradation. But each of these heroes has something in life that helps him endure existence: Samson Vyrin has a daughter, the joy of life, Akaky Akakievich has an overcoat, Makar Devushkin and Varenka have their love and care for each other. Having lost this goal, they die, unable to survive the loss.

In conclusion, I would like to say that a person should not be small. In one of his letters to his sister, Chekhov exclaimed: “My God, how rich Russia is in good people!”

In XX century, the theme was developed in the images of the heroes of I. Bunin, A. Kuprin, M. Gorky, and even at the end XX century, you can find its reflection in the work of V. Shukshin, V. Rasputin and other writers.