Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov was born in Kyiv, in the family of Afanasy Ivanovich Bulgakov, teacher of the Theological Academy. According to relatives, he began to compose early. Basically, these were short stories, satirical poems, dramatic scenes. Gradually, interest in Bulgakov's works increases. It becomes obvious that Bulgakov's talent as an artist was, as they say, from God. The novel The White Guard brought fame to the writer, later reworked into the play Days of the Turbins. The comedy "Zoyka's Apartment" and the humorous collection of short stories "The Devil" (1925) had great success. However, since 1928, an atmosphere of persecution has been created around the name of Bulgakov, the very name of the writer becomes, as it were, outside the law. The plays “Running”, “Ivan Vasilievich”, “Crimson Island”, the novel “The Master and Margarita” are far from a complete list of works that did not see the light of day during the author's lifetime. In the same list is the story "Heart of a Dog". This work, written in 1925, was published only in 1987 in the Znamya magazine. The story is based on a risky experiment. The choice of such a plot by Bulgakov is not accidental. Everything that happened then and what was called the construction of socialism was perceived by the author of The Heart of a Dog precisely as an experiment - huge in scale and more than dangerous. Bulgakov was skeptical about attempts to create a new perfect society by revolutionary, that is, not excluding violence, methods, to educate a new, free person by the same violent methods. For the author of the story, this was an unacceptable interference in the natural course of things, the consequences of which could be disastrous for everyone, including the “experimenters” themselves. The Heart of a Dog warns the reader about this.
Professor Preobrazhensky becomes one of the main characters, the spokesman for the author's thoughts in the story. This is a great physiologist. He appears as the embodiment of education and high culture. By conviction, this is a supporter of the old pre-revolutionary order. All his sympathies are on the side of the former homeowners, breeders, manufacturers, under whom, as he says, there was order and he lived comfortably and well. Bulgakov does not analyze Preobrazhensky's political views. But the scientist expresses very definite thoughts about the devastation, about the inability of the proletarians to cope with it. In his opinion, first of all, people need to be taught elementary culture in everyday life and at work, only then things will get better, devastation will disappear, there will be order. People will become different. But even this philosophy of Preobrazhensky suffers a crash. He cannot bring up a reasonable person in Sharikov: “I have been more exhausted in these two weeks than in the last fourteen years...”
What is the reason for the failure of Preobrazhensky and Dr. Bormenthal? And it's not just about genetic engineering. Preobrazhensky is sure that the purely animal instincts that affect the behavior of the former dog Sharikov can be eliminated: “Cats are temporary ... This is a matter of discipline and two or three weeks. Trust me. Another month, and he will stop attacking them.” The question is not in physiology, but in the fact that Sharikov is a type of a certain environment. The dog becomes a man, but his actions are determined by the genes received from the drunkard and boor Klim Chugunkin: “... he no longer has a canine, but a human heart. And the lousiest of all that exist in nature!” The contrast between the intellectual principle, embodied in intelligent people, the physiologists Preobrazhensky and Bormental, and the dark instincts of the “homunculus” Sharikov (with a low, sloping forehead) is so striking that it creates not only a comic, grotesque effect, but also paints in tragic tones.
Shvonder also plays an important role here. He tries to influence, educate Sharikov. This dog or man in a conversation with Preobrazhensky literally repeats the words and phrases of Shvonder not only about rights, but also about his superiority over the bourgeoisie: “We didn’t study at universities, we didn’t live in apartments of 15 rooms with bathtubs ... ” Naturally, an attempt to educate a new person in yesterday's Sharikovo is a satirical attack by the writer against the Shvonders. It is worth noting that Bulgakov's satire and humor in this story reach the highest degree of skill. Suffice it to recall a brilliantly written scene with a rejuvenated old man boasting of his love affairs, or a scene with a “passionate lady” of not the first youth who, in order to keep her lover, is ready for anything. These scenes are drawn through the perception of the dog. “Well, to hell with you,” he thought dully, resting his head on his paws and dozing with shame. The image of Shvonder, who decided to educate Sharikov in the "Marxist spirit" is also comical: the very process of humanizing Sharikov is depicted in harsh satirical and humorous tones. Plotally, it is built in contrast - a smart and affectionate dog becomes a rude, ill-mannered boor, in which the inherited properties of Klim Chugunkin are more and more clearly manifested. The vulgar speech of this character is merged with his actions. They become gradually more outrageous and intolerant. Either he frightens the lady on the stairs, then he rushes like a madman after the cats that are rushing away, then he disappears into taverns and taverns. As a result - a humorous scene with the criminal police, who came in the epilogue of the story on the denunciation of Shvonder to look for Sharikov; professor explains a lot. He presents the dog as proof of his innocence and explains: “That is, he said ... This does not mean to be a man ...”
The novelty of the story "The Heart of a Dog" is not only in Bulgakov's satirical and humorous skill, but also in the complex philosophical concept of this work. According to the author of The Heart of a Dog, humanity is powerless in the fight against the dark instincts awakening in people. The tragedy was that in life the Sharikovs quickly bred. And they, in the words of Polygraph Poligrafych, “strangled, strangled” ... Thus, we understand that Bulgakov in the story “Heart of a Dog” with great impressive force, in his favorite manner of grotesque and humor, raised the question of the power of dark instincts in human life. His satire about the Sharikovs, Shvonders, Klimov Chugunkins reached the highest degree of skill and expressiveness. Bulgakov's sympathies are on the side of Preobrazhensky. But the belief that the dark instincts in people's lives can be overcome either with the help of science, or with the help of the general effort of the collective - the writer does not have this faith. We can say that the story is painted in pessimistic tones.
Bulgakov burst swiftly into the wide and varied stream of literature of the twenties and occupied a prominent place in it. He created a number of classical works in many genres. Mikhail Afanasyevich became one of the founders of the new satire. He defended universal ideals, branded vices, which, unfortunately, have not been eliminated so far ...
In this work, the author raises many aspects that are of considerable importance for any person, including the topics of good and evil, the commission of a crime and subsequent punishment, the responsibility of the individual not only for his own actions, but also for the fate of other living beings.
In the center of the story is a prominent scientist Preobrazhensky, who is very passionate about working on changing the physical nature of people for the better, and the episode associated with a homeless dog is for him only one of many stages in his activity aimed at making the inhabitants of the planet more worthy and happy. .
The professor is an intelligent, insightful and at the same time a really high moral and truly moral individual. He is deeply outraged by everything that happens on the territory of Russia immediately after the revolution. In his opinion, life should be completely different, and an honest, decent person should, first of all, go about his business and do it as diligently as possible.
Among intellectuals and scientists, Philip Philipovich really enjoys considerable respect and authority, but he receives a significant lesson from fate, which makes him subsequently think about many things.
The name of the experimenter is associated with the great miracle of the Transfiguration, and just before the onset of Christmas, the professor begins an amazing operation to transplant the human pituitary gland into the dog Sharik. He himself is firmly convinced that he is doing a truly holy deed, but the writer looks at the situation differently, and when reading this episode, Preobrazhensky resembles an ordinary butcher or a robber, but by no means the real righteous man he feels himself to be. The operation is going well, and Bormental, a student of the professor, sincerely predicts a bright future for the new discovery.
Further, readers see how Sharik outwardly really turns into a person, masters speech and even "joins the proletarian class." But the professor soon realizes that in fact he did not achieve his goal at all, that he managed only to transform the “kind and sweetest” dog into an ordinary “scum”.
Preobrazhensky is unable to evict the disgusting Sharikov from his own living space in connection with the then “housing problem”. Seeing that he has created a genuine monster, the scientist immediately returns the object of his experience to the original, original canine appearance, and from now on he promises himself never to conduct such experiments again, not to interfere with the natural laws of nature.
According to Bulgakov, in the same way, a gradual “great evolution” should take place in social life, and by no means a hasty breakdown of everything that took shape over the centuries, as happened after the revolution. The representative of the new government, Shvonder, simply looks like an absurd, pitiful and repulsive creature, who can only add new Sharikovs to his supporters and fight such “irresponsible citizens” as Preobrazhensky, who refuses to cede the square meters belonging to him.
The ending of the story is happy. Sharik returns to his “dear dog” existence, Philip Philipovich also continues to do science and hardly remembers this story. He never thinks about the fact that the intelligentsia, to which Preobrazhensky belongs, is partly to blame for the most difficult situation that has arisen in the country.
The revolutionaries are experimenting on society, as the professor had previously experimented on "a natural creation." But the scientist does not even think that he actually does not know real life, spending days and nights in his cozy apartment “behind heavy curtains”. The writer gradually leads readers to the idea that there are no innocent people in the changes taking place in the world, that everyone is responsible not only for himself, but also for the fate of all mankind.
This work is very relevant today. Any person should know that it is impossible to make anyone happy by force, against their will, as Preobrazhensky tried to do. The laws of morality and morality always remain unchanged and unshakable, and everyone who allows himself to violate them is responsible for such actions not only to his own conscience, but also to the era in which he happens to live.
With his story, M.A. Bulgakov wanted to show his attitude to the events taking place in the early 1920s in Russia. He thought about the revolution and what the new society would be like. It was for this that he came up with a scientific experiment allegedly carried out by a certain professor Preobrazhensky.
The professor imagined himself to be God, because he decided that he could create people. He transplanted a human pituitary gland into a stray dog. The person for this experiment was chosen unsuccessfully, since the pituitary gland of a drunkard and rowdy would not bring anything good. As a result, the professor created a man named Polygraph Sharikov, who had the most terrible heart. He took over all the habits and manners of that same alcoholic. He ridiculed the intelligentsia and successful people.
Bulgakov wanted to convey to the reader the idea that if such Sharikovs rule the country, then the country is doomed. Preobrazhensky understood that it is possible to create any person, even a scientist, but what's the point? God himself decides where and when a brilliant person should be born. The professor regretted his experiment. He says that in order to be a real person, one must not only look like a person, but have certain moral values.
M.A. Bulgakov showed that a person cannot be related to the Lord. The laws of nature must not be violated in the world. A person should think about upbringing, culture and education. Only educated and intelligent people will lead the state to prosperity.
What is the book Heart of a Dog about? The ironic story of Bulgakov tells of a failed experiment by Professor Preobrazhensky. What is it? In search of an answer to the question of how to "rejuvenate" humanity. Does the hero manage to find the desired answer? No. But he comes to a result that has a higher level of significance for society than the intended experiment.
Kyivian Bulgakov decided to become a singer of Moscow, its houses and streets. This is how Moscow chronicles were born. The story was written in Prechistinskiye lanes by order of the Nedra magazine, which is well acquainted with the writer's work. The chronology of writing the work fits into three months of 1925.
As a doctor, Mikhail Alexandrovich continued the dynasty of his family, describing in detail in the book the operation to “rejuvenate” a person. Moreover, the well-known doctor in Moscow N.M. Pokrovsky, the uncle of the author of the story, became the prototype of Professor Preobrazhensky.
The first reading of the typewritten material took place at a meeting of the Nikitsky Subbotniks, which immediately became known to the country's leadership. In May 1926, the Bulgakovs were searched, the result of which was not long in coming: the manuscript was confiscated. The writer's plan to publish his work did not come true. The Soviet reader saw the book only in 1987.
Main problems
The book has not in vain disturbed the vigilant guardians of thought. Bulgakov managed to gracefully and subtly, but still quite clearly reflect the burning issues - the challenges of the new time. The problems in the story "Heart of a Dog" that the author touches on do not leave readers indifferent. The writer discusses the ethics of science, the moral responsibility of a scientist for his experiments, the possibility of disastrous consequences of scientific adventurism and ignorance. A technical breakthrough could turn into a moral decline.
The problem of scientific progress is acutely felt at the moment of its impotence before the transformation of the consciousness of the new man. The professor coped with his body, but he could not control his spirit, so Preobrazhensky had to part with his ambitions and correct his mistake - to stop competing with the universe and return the dog's heart to the owner. Artificial people could not justify their proud title and become full members of society. In addition, endless rejuvenation could jeopardize the very idea of progress, because if new generations do not naturally replace the old ones, then the development of the world will stop.
Are attempts to change the country's mentality for the better really fruitless? The Soviet government tried to eradicate the prejudices of the past centuries - this is the process behind the metaphor for the creation of Sharikov. Here he is, the proletarian, the new Soviet citizen, his creation is possible. However, its creators face the problem of education: they cannot appease their creation and teach it to be cultured, educated and moral with a full set of revolutionary consciousness, class hatred and blind faith in the correctness and infallibility of the party. Why? This is impossible: either a pipe or a jug.
Human defenselessness in the whirlwind of events associated with the construction of a socialist society, hatred of violence and hypocrisy, the absence and suppression of the remaining human dignity in all its manifestations - all these are slaps in the face with which the author branded his era, and all because it does not put individuality in a penny . Collectivization affected not only the village, but also the souls. It became more and more difficult to remain a person, because the public presented more and more rights to her. General equalization and equalization did not make people happier, but turned them into ranks of meaningless biorobots, where the most gray and mediocre of them set the tone. Rudeness and stupidity have become the norm in society, they have replaced revolutionary consciousness, and in the image of Sharikov we see a sentence for a new type of Soviet person. From the dominion of the Shvonders and their ilk arise the problems of trampling on intelligence and intelligence, the power of dark instincts in the life of an individual, total gross interference in the natural course of things ...
Some of the questions posed in the work remain unanswered to this day.
What is the meaning of the book?
People have long been looking for answers to the questions: What is a person? What is its public purpose? What role does everyone play in creating the environment that would be “comfortable” for those living on planet Earth? What are the "paths" to this "comfortable community"? Is it possible to reach a consensus between people of different social origins, holding opposite views on certain issues of being, occupying alternative “steps” in intellectual and cultural development? And, of course, it is important to understand the simple truth, which is that society develops due to unexpected discoveries in this or that branch of science. But can these "discoveries" always be called progressive? Bulgakov answers all these questions with his characteristic irony.
A person is a person, and the development of a person implies independence, which is denied to a Soviet citizen. The social destiny of people is to masterfully do their job and not interfere with others. However, the "conscious" heroes of Bulgakov only chant slogans, but do not work for the benefit of their embodiment in reality. Each of us, in the name of comfort, must be tolerant of dissent and not prevent people from confessing it. And again in the USSR, everything is exactly the opposite, but the opposite: Preobrazhensky's talent is forced to fight to defend his right to help patients, and his point of view is brazenly condemned and persecuted by some nonentities. They can live in peace if everyone minds their own business, but there is no equality in nature and cannot be, because from birth we are all different from each other. It is impossible to maintain it artificially, since Shvonder cannot start operating brilliantly, and the professor cannot play the balalaika. Imposed, not real equality will only harm people, prevent them from adequately assessing their place in the world and occupying it with dignity.
Humanity needs discoveries, this is understandable. But you should not reinvent the wheel - try to reproduce a person artificially, for example. If the natural way is still possible, why does it need an analogue, and even such a laborious one? People are facing many other, more significant threats, to which it is worth turning the full power of scientific intellect.
Main Topics
The story is multifaceted. The author touches on important topics that are characteristic not only of the era of the early twentieth century, but are also “eternal”: good and evil, science and morality, morality, the fate of man, attitudes towards animals, building a new state, homeland, sincere human relations. I would especially like to highlight the theme of the responsibility of the creator for his creation. The struggle of ambition and adherence to principles in the professor ended with the victory of humanism over pride. He resigned himself to his error, admitted defeat, and used his experience to correct his mistakes. This is exactly what every creator should do.
Also relevant in the work is the theme of individual freedom and those boundaries that society, like the state, cannot cross. Bulgakov insists that a full-fledged person is one who has free will and beliefs. Only he can develop the idea of socialism without caricatured forms and offshoots that deform the idea. The crowd is blind and always driven by primitive stimuli. But a person is capable of self-control and self-development, she must be given the freedom to work and live for the good of society, and not set her against it with futile attempts at forcible merging.
Satire and humor
The book opens with a stray dog's monologue addressed to "citizens" and giving precise characteristics to Muscovites and the city itself. The population through the "eyes" of the dog is heterogeneous (which is true!): citizens - comrades - gentlemen. "Citizens" buy goods in the cooperative of Tsentrokhoz, and "gentlemen" - in Okhotny Ryad. Why do rich people need a rotten horse? You can get this "poison" only in Mosselprom.
You can “recognize” a person by their eyes: who has “dryness in the soul”, who is aggressive, and who is a lackey. The last one is the most disgusting. If you are afraid, then you should be “punched”. The most vile "scum" - janitors: rowing "human cleaning".
But the cook is an important object. Nutrition is a serious indicator of the state of society. So, the lordly cook of Counts Tolstoy is a real person, and the cooks from the Council of Normal Nutrition do things that even a dog is indecent. If I became the chairman, then I actively steal. Ham, tangerines, wine - these are the “former Eliseev brothers”. The doorman is worse than cats. He lets a stray dog pass, currying favor with the professor.
The education system "assumes" Muscovites "educated" and "uneducated". Why learn to read? "Meat smells like a mile away." But if you have at least some brains, you will learn to read and write without courses, like, for example, a stray dog. The beginning of Sharkov's education was an electrician's shop, where a tramp "tasted" insulated wire.
The techniques of irony, humor and satire are often used in combination with tropes: comparisons, metaphors and personifications. A special satirical technique can be considered the way of the initial presentation of the characters according to the preliminary descriptive characteristics: “mysterious gentleman”, “rich eccentric” - Professor Preobrazhensky”; "handsome-bitten", "bitten" - Dr. Bormental; "someone", "fruit" - a visitor. Sharikov's inability to communicate with residents, to formulate his demands, gives rise to humorous situations and questions.
If we talk about the state of the press, then through the mouth of Fedor Fedorovich, the writer talks about the case when, as a result of reading Soviet newspapers before dinner, patients lost weight. An interesting assessment by the professor of the existing system through the “hanger” and “galoshes rack”: until 1917, the front doors were not closed, as dirty shoes and outerwear were left below. After March, all galoshes disappeared.
main idea
In his book M.A. Bulgakov warned that violence is a crime. All life on earth has the right to exist. This is an unwritten law of nature that must be followed in order to prevent a point of no return. It is necessary to preserve the purity of the soul and thoughts for life, so as not to indulge internal aggression, not to splash it out. That is why the professor's forcible intervention in the natural course of things is condemned by the writer, and therefore leads to such monstrous consequences.
The civil war hardened society, made it marginal, boorish and vulgar at its core. Here they are, the fruits of violent interference in the life of the country. All of Russia in the 1920s is a rude and ignorant Sharikov, who does not at all strive for work. His tasks are less lofty and more selfish. Bulgakov warned his contemporaries against such a development of events, ridiculing the vices of a new type of people and showing their failure.
Main characters and their characteristics
- The central figure of the book is Professor Preobrazhensky. He wears gold-rimmed glasses. Lives in a rich apartment, consisting of seven rooms. He is alone. He devotes all his time to work. Philip Philipovich conducts a reception at home, sometimes he operates here. Patients call him a "magician", "sorcerer". “Creates”, often accompanying his actions with singing excerpts from operas. Loves the theatre. I am convinced that every person should strive to become a specialist in their field. The professor is a great speaker. His judgments line up in a clear logical chain. He says about himself that he is a man of observation, facts. Leading a discussion, he gets carried away, gets excited, sometimes turns to shouting if the problem touches him to the quick. The attitude towards the new system is manifested in his statements about terror, which paralyzes the human nervous system, about newspapers, about devastation in the country. Carefully treats animals: "hungry, poor fellow." In relation to living beings, he preaches only kindness and the impossibility of any violence. The suggestion of humane truths is the only way to influence all living things. An interesting detail in the interior of the professor's apartment is a huge owl sitting on the wall, a symbol of wisdom, so necessary not only for a world-famous scientist, but for every person. At the end of the "experiment" finds the courage to admit that the experiment rejuvenation failed.
- Young, handsome Ivan Arnoldovich Bormenthal, assistant professor, who fell in love with him, sheltered him as a promising young man. Philipp Philippovich hoped that a talented scientist would emerge from the doctor in the future. During the operation, literally everything flickers in the hands of Ivan Arnoldovich. The doctor is not just scrupulous about his duties. The doctor's diary, as a strict medical report-observation of the patient's condition, reflects the whole gamut of his feelings and experiences for the result of the "experiment".
- Shvonder is the chairman of the house committee. All his actions resemble the convulsions of a puppet controlled by someone invisible. The speech is confused, the same words are repeated, which sometimes causes a condescending smile from readers. Shvonder doesn't even have a name. He sees his task in fulfilling the will of the new government, without thinking whether it is good or bad. For the sake of achieving his goal, he is capable of any step. Vengeful, he distorts the facts, slanders many people.
- Sharikov is a creature, something, the result of an “experiment”. A sloping and low forehead indicates the level of its development. Uses all swear words in his vocabulary. An attempt to teach him good manners, to instill a taste for beauty was not successful: he drinks, steals, mocks women, cynically insults people, strangles cats, “performs bestial acts.” As they say, nature rests on it, because you cannot go against it.
The main motives of Bulgakov's work
The versatility of Bulgakov's work is amazing. You seem to be traveling through the works, meeting familiar motifs. Love, greed, totalitarianism, morality are just parts of one whole, “wandering” from book to book and creating a single thread.
- In "Notes on Cuffs" and in "Heart of a Dog" sounds faith in human kindness. This motif is also central in The Master and Margarita.
- In the story "The Diaboliad" the fate of a little man, an ordinary cog in the bureaucratic machine, is clearly traced. This motif is typical for other works of the author. The system suppresses the best qualities in people, and the scary thing is that over time this becomes the norm for the people. In the novel The Master and Margarita, writers whose works did not correspond to the ruling ideology were kept in the "psychiatric hospital". Professor Preobrazhensky told about his observations, when he gave the patients to read the newspaper Pravda before dinner, they lost weight. It was impossible to find anything that would help broaden one's horizons and allow one to look at events from opposite angles in the periodical press.
- Selfishness is what guides most of the negative characters in Bulgakov's books. For example, Sharikov from "Heart of a Dog". And how many troubles could have been avoided, provided that the "red ray" would be used for its intended purpose, and not for selfish purposes (the story "Fatal Eggs")? The basis of these works are experiments that run counter to nature. It is noteworthy that Bulgakov identified the experiment with building socialism in the Soviet Union, which is dangerous for society as a whole.
- The main motive of the writer's work is the motive of his native home. The comfort in the apartment of Philipp Philippovich ("a lamp under a silk shade") resembles the atmosphere of the Turbins' house. Home is a family, homeland, Russia, about which the writer's heart ached. With all his work, he wished well-being and prosperity to his homeland.
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Bulgakov's work is the pinnacle of Russian artistic culture of the 20th century. Tragic is the fate of the Master, deprived of the opportunity to be published, heard. From 1927 to 1940, Bulgakov did not see a single line of his in print.
Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov came to literature already during the years of Soviet power. He experienced all the difficulties and contradictions of the Soviet reality of the thirties. His childhood and youth are connected with Kiev, the subsequent years of his life - with Moscow. It was during the Moscow period of Bulgakov's life that the story "Heart of a Dog" was written. With brilliant skill and talent, it reveals the theme of disharmony, brought to the point of absurdity due to human intervention in the eternal laws of nature.
In this work, the writer rises to the top of satirical fiction. If satire states, then satirical fiction warns society of impending dangers and cataclysms. Bulgakov embodies his conviction that normal evolution is preferable to a violent method of intrusion into life, he speaks of the terrible destructive power of self-satisfied aggressive innovation. These themes are eternal, and they have not lost their significance even now.
The story "Heart of a Dog" is distinguished by an extremely clear author's idea: the revolution that took place in Russia was not the result of the natural spiritual development of society, but an irresponsible and premature experiment. Therefore, the country must be returned to its previous state, without allowing the irreversible consequences of such an experiment.
So, let's look at the main characters of "Heart of a Dog". Professor Preobrazhensky is a democrat by origin and convictions, a typical Moscow intellectual. He sacredly serves science, helps a person, never harms him. Proud and majestic, Professor Preobrazhensky keeps pouring out old aphorisms. Being the luminary of Moscow genetics, the ingenious surgeon is engaged in profitable operations to rejuvenate aging ladies.
But the professor plans to improve nature itself, he decides to compete with life itself, to create a new person by transplanting part of the human brain into a dog. So Sharikov is born, embodying the new Soviet man. What are its development prospects? Nothing impressive: the heart of a stray dog and the brain of a man with three criminal records and a pronounced passion for alcohol. This is what the new man, the new society, must develop from.
Sharikov, by all means, wants to break out into the people, to become no worse than others. But he cannot understand that for this it is necessary to go through the path of a long spiritual development, it requires work to develop the intellect, horizons, and mastery of knowledge. Polygraph Polygraphovich Sharikov (as the creature is now called) puts on patent-leather shoes and a poisonous tie, but otherwise his suit is dirty, untidy, tasteless.
A man with a canine disposition, based on a lumpen, feels like the master of life, he is arrogant, swaggering, aggressive. The conflict between Professor Preobrazhensky and the humanoid lumpen is absolutely inevitable. The life of the professor and the inhabitants of his apartment becomes a living hell. Here is one of their domestic scenes:
“- ... Do not throw cigarette butts on the floor, for the hundredth time I ask. So that I no longer hear a single swear word in the apartment! Don't give a damn! There is a spittoon, - the professor is indignant.
“Something you me, dad, painfully oppress,” the man suddenly uttered whiningly.
Despite the dissatisfaction of the owner of the house, Sharikov lives in his own way: during the day he sleeps in the kitchen, idles, does all sorts of outrages, confident that "nowadays everyone has his own right." And in this he is not alone. Polygraph Poligrafovich finds an ally in the person of Shvonder, the local chairman of the house committee. He bears the same responsibility as the professor for the humanoid monster. Shvonder supported Sharikov's social status, armed him with an ideological phrase, he is his ideologist, his "spiritual shepherd". Shvonder supplies Sharikov with "scientific" literature and gives him the correspondence between Engels and Kautsky for "study". The animal-like creature does not approve of any author: “They write, they write ... Congress, some Germans ...” He draws one conclusion: “We must share everything.” So the psychology of Sharikov developed. He instinctively sensed the main credo of the new masters of life: rob, steal, take away everything created. The main principle of a socialist society is universal leveling, called equality. We all know what this led to.
Finest hour for Polygraph Poligrafovich was his "service". Having disappeared from the house, he appears before the astonished professor as a kind of young man, full of dignity and self-respect, “in a leather jacket from someone else’s shoulder, in worn leather trousers and high English boots.” The incredible smell of cats immediately spread all over the hallway. To the dumbfounded professor, he shows a paper that says that Comrade Sharikov is the head of the department for cleaning the city from stray animals. Shvonder arranged it there.
So, Bulgakov's Sharik made a dizzying leap: from a stray dog, he turned into an orderly to clean up the city from stray dogs and cats. Well, the pursuit of their own is a characteristic feature of all ballrooms. They destroy their own, as if covering up the traces of their own origin...
The last chord of Sharikov's activity is the denunciation of Professor Preobrazhensky. It should be noted that it was in the thirties that denunciation became one of the foundations of a socialist society, which would be more correctly called totalitarian.
Sharikov is alien to shame, conscience, morality. He has no human qualities, there is only meanness, hatred, malice.
However, Professor Preobrazhensky still does not leave the thought of making a man out of Sharikov. He hopes for evolution, gradual development. But there is no development and there will not be if the person himself does not strive for it. The good intentions of Preobrazhensky turn into a tragedy. He comes to the conclusion that violent intervention in the nature of man and society leads to disastrous results. In the story, the professor corrects his mistake by turning Sharikov back into a dog. But in life, such experiments are irreversible. Bulgakov managed to warn about this at the very beginning of those destructive transformations that began in our country in 1917.
After the revolution, all the conditions were created for the appearance of a huge number of balloons with dog hearts. The totalitarian system is very conducive to this. Due to the fact that these monsters have penetrated into all areas of life, Russia is now going through hard times.
Outwardly, the balls are no different from people, but they are always among us. Their non-human essence is constantly manifested. The judge convicts an innocent in order to carry out a plan to solve crimes; the doctor turns away from the patient; mother abandons her child; officials, whose bribes are already in the order of things, are ready to betray their own. Everything that is most lofty and holy turns into its opposite, as the non-human woke up in them and tramples them into the mud. Coming to power, a non-human tries to dehumanize everyone around, since non-humans are easier to control. They have all human feelings replaced by the instinct of self-preservation.
The heart of a dog in union with the human mind is the main threat of our time. That is why the story, written at the beginning of the century, remains relevant today, serving as a warning to future generations. Today is so close to yesterday... At first glance, it seems that everything has changed, that the country has become different. But consciousness and stereotypes remained the same. More than one generation will pass before the balls disappear from our lives, people will become different, there will be no vices described by Bulgakov in his immortal work. How I want to believe that this time will come! ..
