Composition.

Techniques of a satirical image in the novel by M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin "The History of a City"

M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin is one of the most famous literary satirists of the 19th century. The novel "History of a City" is the pinnacle of his artistic creativity.
Despite the name, a whole country is hidden behind the image of the city of Glupoza, namely Russia. So, in a figurative form, Saltykov-Shchedrin reflects the most terrible aspects of the life of Russian society that demanded increased public attention. The main idea of ​​the work is the inadmissibility of autocracy. And this is what unites the chapters of the work, which could become separate stories.
Shchedrin tells us the history of the city of Glupov, what happened in it for about a hundred years. Moreover, he focuses on the mayors, since it was they who expressed the vices of city government. In advance, even before the beginning of the main part of the work, an “inventory” of the mayors is given. The word "inventory" is usually referred to as things, so Shchedrin uses it deliberately, as if emphasizing the inanimate nature of city governors, who are key images in each chapter.
The satirical means used by the author of the chronicle are varied. Together, the images of all city governors create a single image of an autocratic ruler.
The essence of each of the mayors can be imagined even after a simple description of appearance. For example, Ugryum-Burcheev's stubbornness and cruelty are expressed in his "wooden face, obviously never illuminated by a smile." The more peaceful Pimple, on the contrary, was “blushed, had scarlet and juicy lips”, “he had an active and cheerful gait, a quick gesture.”
Images are formed in the reader's imagination with the help of such artistic devices as hyperbole, metaphor, allegory, etc. Even the facts of reality acquire fantastic features. Shchedrin deliberately uses this technique to reinforce the feeling of an invisible connection with the true state of affairs in feudal Russia.
The work is written in the form of annals. Some parts, which, according to the author's intention, are considered found documents, are written in heavy clerical language, and in the chronicler's address to the reader there are also vernacular, and proverbs, and sayings. The confusion in dates and the anachronisms and allusions often made by the chronicler (for example, references to Herzen and Ogarev) enhance the comic.
Shchedrin presents us most fully the mayor Ugryum-Burcheev. There is a transparent analogy with reality here: the name of the mayor is similar in sound to the name of the famous reformer Arakcheev. In the description of Grim-Gurcheev, there is less comic, but more mystical, terrifying. Using satirical means, Shchedrin endowed him with a large number of the most "bright" vices. And it is no coincidence that the narrative ends with the description of the reign of this mayor. According to Shchedrin, "history has stopped its flow."
The novel “The History of a City” is certainly an outstanding work, it is written in colorful, grotesque language and in a figurative form denounces the bureaucratic state. “History” has not lost its relevance to this day, because, unfortunately, we still meet people like Foolov's mayors.

Satirical tricks of Saltykov-Shchedrin: “History of one city”, “Lord Golovlyovs”

M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin is one of the most famous literary satirists of the 19th century. The novel "History of a City" is the pinnacle of his artistic creativity.

Despite the name, a whole country is hidden behind the image of the city of Glupov, namely, Russia. So, in a figurative form, Saltykov-Shchedrin reflects the most terrible aspects of the life of Russian society that demanded increased public attention. The main idea of ​​the work is the inadmissibility of autocracy. And this is what unites the chapters of the work, which could become separate stories.

Shchedrin tells us the history of the city of Glupov, what happened in it for about a hundred years. Moreover, he focuses on the mayors, since it was they who expressed the vices of city government. In advance, even before the beginning of the main part of the work, an “inventory” of the mayors is given. The word "inventory" is usually referred to as things, so Shchedrin uses it deliberately, as if emphasizing the inanimate nature of city governors, who are key images in each chapter.

The essence of each of the mayors can be imagined even after a simple description of appearance. For example, Ugryum-Burcheev's stubbornness and cruelty are expressed in his "wooden face, obviously never illuminated by a smile." The more peaceful Pimple, on the contrary, was “blushed, had scarlet and juicy lips”, “he had an active and cheerful gait, a quick gesture.”

Images are formed in the reader's imagination with the help of such artistic devices as hyperbole, metaphor, allegory, etc. Even the facts of reality acquire fantastic features. Shchedrin deliberately uses this technique to reinforce the feeling of an invisible connection with the true state of affairs in feudal Russia.

The work is written in the form of annals. Some parts, which, according to the author's intention, are considered found documents, are written in heavy clerical language, and in the chronicler's address to the reader there are also vernacular, and proverbs, and sayings. The confusion in dates and the anachronisms and allusions often made by the chronicler (for example, references to Herzen and Ogarev) enhance the comic.

Shchedrin presents us most fully the mayor Ugryum-Burcheev. There is a transparent analogy with reality here: the name of the mayor is similar in sound to the name of the famous reformer Arakcheev. In the description of Grim-Gurcheev, there is less comic, but more mystical, terrifying. Using satirical means, Shchedrin endowed him with a large number of the most "bright" vices. And it is no coincidence that the narrative ends with the description of the reign of this mayor. According to Shchedrin, "history has stopped its flow."

The novel "History of a City" is certainly an outstanding work, it is written in colorful, grotesque language and denounces the bureaucratic state in a figurative form. “History” has not lost its relevance to this day, because, unfortunately, we still meet people like Foolov's mayors.

In the final period of his work, M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin turns to the allegorical form of a fairy tale, where, describing everyday situations in the “Aesopian language”, he ridicules the vices of the modern writer of society.

The satirical form became for M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin the opportunity to speak freely about the pressing problems of society. In the fairy tale "The Tale of How One Man Feeded Two Generals" various satirical devices are used: grotesque, irony, fantasy, allegory, sarcasm - to characterize the characters portrayed and describe the situation in which the main characters of the fairy tale found themselves: two generals. Grotesque is the fact that the generals got on a desert island "at the behest of a pike, at my will." Fantastic is the writer's assurance that "generals served all their lives in some kind of registry, they were born there, brought up and grew old, therefore, they did not understand anything." The writer also satirically depicted the appearance of the characters: "they are in nightgowns, and they have an order hanging around their necks." Saltykov-Shchedrin ridicules the elementary inability of the generals to find food for themselves: both thought that "rolls will be born in the same form as they are served with coffee in the morning." Depicting the behavior of the characters, the writer uses sarcasm: “they began to slowly crawl towards each other and in the blink of an eye they went berserk. Shreds flew, there was a screech and groan; the general, who was a calligraphy teacher, bit off an order from his comrade and immediately swallowed it. The heroes began to lose their human form, turning into hungry animals, and only the sight of real blood sobered them.

Satirical techniques not only characterize artistic images, but also express the author's attitude to the depicted. The writer treats the peasant with irony, who, frightened by the mighty of this world, “first of all climbed a tree and picked the generals ten of the most ripe apples, and took one sour apple for himself.” M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin ridicules the attitude of the generals to life: “They began to say that here they are living on everything ready, and in St. Petersburg, meanwhile, their pensions are accumulating and accumulating.”

Thus, using various satirical techniques, the allegorical form of the "Aesopian language", M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin expresses his own attitude to the relationship between people in power and the common people. The writer ridicules both the inability of the generals to live, and the stupid fulfillment by the peasant of all the whims of the masters.

"History of a City"- one of the central works of M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. It was published in the journal Otechestvennye Zapiski in 1869-1870 and caused a wide public outcry. The main means of satirical denunciation of reality in the work are grotesque and hyperbole. IN in terms of genre, it is stylized as a historical chronicle. The image of the author-narrator is called in it "the last archivist-chronicler".

M.E. writes with subtle irony. Saltykov-Shchedrin on how the faces of these mayors change with the change of one or another historical era: “So, for example, the mayors of the time of Biron are distinguished by their recklessness, the mayors of the time of Potemkin are distinguished by their diligence, and the mayors of the times of Razumovsky are of unknown origin and chivalrous courage. All of them flog the townsfolk, but the first ones absolutely flog, the second explain the reasons for their management by the requirements of civilization, the third want the townsfolk to rely on their courage in everything. Thus, from the very beginning, a hierarchy is built and emphasized: higher spheres - local government - inhabitants. Their destinies mirror what is happening in the areas of power: “in the first case, the townsfolk trembled unconsciously, in the second, they trembled with the consciousness of their own benefit, in the third, they rose to awe filled with confidence.”

Issues

The "History of a City" denounces the imperfection of the social and political life of Russia. Unfortunately, Russia rarely had good rulers. You can prove this by opening any history textbook. Saltykov Shchedrin, sincerely worried about the fate of their homeland, could not stay away from this problem. A peculiar solution was the work "The History of a City". The central issue in this book is the power and political imperfection of the country, more precisely one city of Foolov. Everything - the history of its foundation, and the string of useless autocrats, and the people of Foolov - are so ridiculous that it looks like some kind of farce. This would be a farce if it were not so similar to the real life of Russia. "The history of one city" is not just a political satire on the state system existing in this country, but it fundamentally affects the very mentality of the people of the whole country.

So, the central problem of the work is the motive of power and political imperfection.. In the city of Foolovo, the mayors are replaced one after another. Their fates are tragic to some extent, but grotesque at the same time. For example, busty turned out to be a doll with an organ in its head, which uttered only two phrases “I won’t stand it!” and "I'll break it!", and Ferdyshchenko forgets about his duties when it comes to food, especially goose and boiled pork, because of which he dies of gluttony. Acne turns out with a stuffed head, and vans dies of effort, trying to comprehend the meaning of the decree, sadilov dying of melancholy... The end of the reign of each of them is sad, but funny. The mayors themselves do not inspire respect - someone is impassibly stupid, someone is excessively cruel, liberal rulers are also not the best way out, since their innovations are not vital, but, at best, a tribute to fashion or an empty whim. For some completely incomprehensible reason, city governors do not think about the people, about what people need. There are many rulers, they are different creatures, but the result is the same - life does not get better or worse. Yes, and rulers become mayors more by misunderstanding than by necessity. Who was not among the chiefs of Foolov - a cook, a barber, a fugitive Greek, small army ranks, a batman, state advisers and, finally, a scoundrel Gloomy Burcheev. And, what is most surprising, there was not a single mayor who would have an idea of ​​​​his duties and the rights of the people A. For Foolov's mayors there was no clear concept of their own actions. As if from nothing to do, they transplanted birch trees in the alley, introduced gymnasiums and sciences, abolished gymnasiums and sciences, introduced olive oil, mustard and bay leaves into everyday life, charged arrears ... and, in fact, that's all. This limited their functions.

The author emphasizes that the appearance of the chronicler is very real, which does not allow for a moment to doubt his authenticity. M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin clearly indicates the boundaries of the period under consideration: from 1931 to 1825. The product includes "Appeal to the reader from the last archivist-chronicler". To give a documentary character to this fragment of the narrative, the author places a footnote after the title that the appeal is transmitted exactly, in the words of the chronicler himself. The publisher allowed himself only a spelling correction of the text in order to edit individual liberties in the spelling of words. The appeal begins with a conversation with the reader about whether there are worthy rulers and chiefs in the history of our country: “ Is it possible that in every country there will be glorious Nerons, and Caligulas, shining with valor, and only in our own country we will not find such?» All-Knowing Publisher complements this quote with a reference to poem by G.R. Derzhavin: "Caligula! Your horse in the Senate Could not shine, shining in gold: Good deeds shine! This addition aims to emphasize the value scale: it is not gold that shines, but good deeds. Gold in this case is a symbol of money-grubbing, and good deeds are proclaimed the true value of the world.

Further in the work talk about man in general. The chronicler encourages the reader to look at his own person and decide what is more important in it: the head or the belly.. And then judge those in power.

At the end of the address, Foolov is compared to Rome., this again emphasizes that we are not talking about a particular city, but about the model of society in general. Thus, the city of Foolov is a grotesque image not only of all of Russia, but of all power structures on a global scale, for Rome has been associated with the imperial city since ancient times, the same function is embodied by the mention of the Roman emperors Nero (37-68) and Caligula (12- 41 years) in the text of the work. For the same purpose, to expand the information field of the narrative, surnames are mentioned in the work Kostomarov, Pypin and Solovyov. Contemporaries imagined what views and positions in question. N.I. Kostomarov - famous Russian historian, researcher of the socio-political and economic history of Russia and Ukraine, Ukrainian poet and novelist. A .N. Pypin (1833-1904) - Russian literary critic, ethnographer, academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, cousin of N.G. Chernyshevsky. B.C. Solovyov (1853-1900) - Russian philosopher, poet, publicist, literary critic of the late XIX - early XX century.

Further, the chronicler relates the action of the narrative to the era the existence of tribal strife . At the same time, M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin uses his favorite compositional technique: the fairy tale context is connected with the pages of real Russian history. All this creates a system of witty subtle hints that are understandable to the sophisticated reader.

Having come up with funny names for fabulous tribes, M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin immediately reveals to the reader their allegorical meaning, when representatives of the bungler tribe begin to call each other by name (Ivashka, Peter). It becomes clear that we are talking about Russian history.

thought up bunglers to find a prince for themselves, and since the people themselves are stupid, they are looking for a ruler who is not wise. Finally, one (the third in a row, as is customary in Russian folk tales) "princely lordship" agreed to own these people. But with a condition. “And you will pay me many tributes,” the prince continued, “whoever brings a sheep to a bright one, write a sheep on me, and leave a bright one for yourself; whoever has a penny, break it into four: give one part to me, the other to me, the third again to me, and keep the fourth for yourself. When I go to war - and you go! And you don’t care about anything else!” From such speeches, even unreasonable bunglers hung their heads.

In this scene M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin convincingly shows that any power is based on the obedience of the people and brings them more troubles and problems than real help and support. It is no coincidence that the prince assigns a new name to the bunglers: “ And since you didn’t know how to live on your own and you yourself, stupid, wished for yourself bondage, then you will henceforth be called not bunglers, but Foolovites».

The experiences of deceived bunglers are expressed in folklore. It is symbolic that one of them sings a song on the way home “Don’t make noise, mother green oak tree!”.

One by one, the prince sends his thieving deputies. The satirical description of the mayors gives them an eloquent description, testifying to their business qualities.

Klementy p received the proper rank for the skillful cooking of pasta. lamvrokanis traded Greek soap, sponge and nuts. Marquis de Sanglot liked to sing obscene songs. You can list the so-called feats of mayors for a long time. They did not stay in power for a long time and did nothing worthwhile for the city.

Techniques for a satirical image of mayors

The publisher considered it necessary to present detailed biographies of the most prominent leaders. Here M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin resorts to N.V. Gogol to the classical reception. Just as Gogol portrayed the landowners, he presents to the reader's judgment a whole gallery of typical images of city governors.

The first of them depicted in the work of Dementy Varlamovich Brudasty nicknamed Organ. In parallel with the story about any particular mayor M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin constantly draws a general picture of the actions of the city authorities and the perception of these actions by the people.

So, for example, he mentions that the Foolovites remembered for a long time those bosses who flogged and collected arrears, but at the same time they always said something kind.

The organ struck everyone with the most severe severity. His favorite word was the cry: "I won't stand it!" Further M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin tells that at night he secretly came to the mayor of organ affairs master Baibakov. The secret is suddenly revealed at one of the receptions, when the best representatives come to Brodasty for a reception. stupid intelligentsia" (this phrase itself contains oxymoron, which makes the story ironic. There it happens with the mayor breakage of the organ, which he used instead of a head. Only Brodysty allowed himself to portray an uncharacteristically friendly smile, like “... suddenly something inside him hissed and buzzed, and the longer his mysterious hissing lasted, the more and more his eyes spun and sparkled.” No less interesting is the reaction of urban secular society to this incident. M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin emphasizes that our ancestors were not fond of revolutionary ideas and anarchist sentiments. Therefore, they only sympathized with the mayor.

In this fragment of the work, another grotesque move is used: the head, which is being taken to the mayor after repairs, suddenly starts biting around the city and utters the word: “I will ruin!” A special satirical effect is achieved in the final scene of the chapter, when two different mayors are brought to the rebellious Foolovites almost simultaneously. But people are used to not being surprised at anything: “The impostors met and measured each other with their eyes. The crowd dispersed slowly and in silence.

After that, anarchy begins in the city, as a result of which women seized power. These are the childless widow Iraida Lukinishna Paleologova, the adventuress Clementine de Bourbon, the Reval native Amalia Karlovna Stockfish, Anelya Aloizievna Lyadokhovskaya, Dunka the fat-fifth, Matryonka the nostril.

In the description of these mayors, subtle hints are discerned about the personalities of the persons reigning in Russian history: Catherine 2, Anna Ioannovna and other empresses. This is the most stylistically reduced chapter. M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin generously rewards governors with offensive nicknames and offensive definitions("fat-meat", "fat-fifted", etc.) . All their reign is reduced to outrage. The last two rulers in general are more reminiscent of witches than real people: “Both Dunka and Matryonka committed unspeakable outrages. They went out into the street and knocked down the heads of passers-by with their fists, went alone to taverns and smashed them, caught young guys and hid them in the underground, ate babies, and they cut out the breasts of women and also ate.

An advanced person who seriously looks at his duties is named in the work of S.K. Dvoekurov. It correlates in the author's understanding with Peter the Great: “The mere fact that he introduced mead and brewing, and made the use of mustard and bay leaves obligatory” and was “the founder of those bold innovators who, after three-quarters of a century, waged wars in the name of the potato.” Main Dvoekurov's achievement was an attempt to establish an academy in Glupov. True, he did not achieve results in this field, but in itself the desire to implement this plan was already a progressive step in comparison with the activities of other mayors.

The next ruler Peter Petrovich Ferdyshchenko was simple and even liked to equip his speech with the caressing word "brother-sudarik." However, in the seventh year of his reign, he fell in love with a suburban beauty Alena Osipovna. All nature has ceased to be favorable to the Foolovists: From the very spring of Nikola, from the time the water began to enter the low water, and until Ilyin's day, not a drop of rain fell. The old-timers could not remember anything like this, and not without reason attributed this phenomenon to the brigadier's fall into sin.

When the pestilence went through the whole city, he found in it truth-loving Evseich who decided to talk to the foreman. However, he ordered to put on the old man a prisoner's dress, so Yevseich disappeared, as if he had not been in the world, disappeared without a trace, as only the "miners" of the Russian land know how to disappear.

Light on the real plight of the population of the Russian Empire is shed by the petition of the inhabitants of the most unfortunate city of Glupov, in which they write that they are dying out, that they see the bosses around them as inept.

Strikes savagery and cruelty crowds in the scene when the inhabitants of Glupov throw the unfortunate Alenka from the bell tower accusing her of all mortal sins. As soon as the story with Alenka was forgotten, the foreman found himself a different hobby - archer Domashko. All these episodes, in fact, show women's lack of rights and defenselessness in front of the voluptuous foreman.

Another disaster that hit the city is fire on the eve of the feast of the Kazan Mother of God: two settlements burned down. All this was perceived by the people as another punishment for the sins of their brigadier. The death of this mayor is symbolic. He drank and overate folk treats: “ After the second break (there was a pig in sour cream) he became ill; however, he overcame himself and ate another goose with cabbage. After that, his mouth twisted. It was evident how some kind of administrative vein on his face trembled, trembled, trembled, and suddenly froze ... The Foolovites jumped up from their seats in confusion and fright. It's over..."

Another city lord turned out to be agile and capricious. Vasilisk Semenovich Borodavkin, like a fly, flickered around the city, loved to scream and take everyone by surprise. It is symbolic that he slept with one eye open (a kind of hint to the "all-seeing eye" of the autocracy). However, Wartkin's indefatigable energy is spent for other purposes: he builds castles in the sand. Foolovites aptly call his way of life the energy of inaction. Wartkin leads wars for education, the reasons for which are ridiculous (for example, the refusal of the Foolovites to breed Persian chamomile). Under his leadership, the tin soldiers, having entered the settlement, begin to break down the huts. It is noteworthy that the Foolovites always learned about the subject of the campaign only after it was over.

When he comes to power Mikoladze, gentleman of manners, Foolovites are overgrown with hair and begin to suck their paws. And from the wars for education, on the contrary, they become dumber. Meanwhile, when enlightenment and legislative activity were stopped, the Foolovites stopped sucking their paws, their hair was completely shed, and soon they began to dance. Great impoverishment is prescribed in the laws, and the inhabitants come to a fat state. The "Charter on Respectable Cookie Pies" convincingly shows how much stupidity is concentrated in legislative acts. For example, it states that it is forbidden to make pies from mud, clay and building materials. As if a person of sound mind and solid memory is able to bake pies from this. In fact, this charter symbolically shows how deeply the state apparatus can interfere in the everyday life of every Russian. Now he is already being given instructions on how to bake pies. Moreover, special recommendations are given for stuffing positions. Phrase " Let everyone use the stuffing according to their state» testifies about a clearly defined social hierarchy in society. However, the passion for legislation also did not take root on Russian soil. Mayor Benevolensky was suspected of connections with Napoleon, accused of treason and sent "to the land where Makar did not drive calves."So, with the help of figurative expression M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin writes allegorically about exile. Contradictions in the artistic world of M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, which is a caustic parody of the author's contemporary reality, is waiting for the reader at every turn. So, during the reign of lieutenant colonel Pimple people in Foolovo completely spoiled, because he preached liberalism in the board.

“But as freedom developed, its primordial enemy, analysis, also arose. With the increase in material well-being, leisure was acquired, and with the acquisition of leisure came the ability to explore and experience the nature of things. This always happens, but the Foolovites used this “newly discovered ability among them” not in order to strengthen their well-being, but in order to undermine it, ”writes M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin.

Pimple became one of the most desirable rulers for the Foolovites. However, the local leader of the nobility, who did not differ in the special qualities of mind and heart, but had a special stomach, once, on the basis of gastronomic imagination, mistook his head for stuffed. Description of the death scene Pimple writer boldly resorts to the grotesque. In the final part of the chapter, the leader in a rage rushes at the mayor with a knife and, cutting off pieces of the head chunk by chunk, eats it to the end.

Against the background of grotesque scenes and ironic notes M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin reveals to the reader his philosophy of history, in which the stream of life sometimes stops its natural course and forms a whirlpool.

The most painful impression Gloomy-Grumbling. This a man with a wooden face never lit up by a smile. His detailed portrait eloquently tells about the character of the hero: “Thick, comb-cut and pitch-black hair covers a conical skull and tightly, like a yarmulke, frame a narrow and sloping forehead. The eyes are grey, sunken, overshadowed by somewhat swollen eyelids; the look is clear, without hesitation; nose dry, descending from forehead almost straight down; lips thin, pale, trimmed with trimmed mustache stubble; jaws developed, but without an outstanding expression of carnivory, but with some inexplicable bouquet of readiness to split or bite in half. The whole figure is lean with narrow shoulders raised upwards, with an artificially protruding chest and with long, muscular arms.

M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, commenting on this portrait, emphasizes that before us is the purest type of idiot. His manner of government could only be compared with the random felling of trees in a dense forest, when a person waves it to the right and left and steadily goes wherever his eyes look.

In a day memory of the apostles Peter and Paul The mayor ordered the people to destroy their homes. However, this was only the beginning of the Napoleonic plans of Ugryum-Burcheev. He began to sort people into families, taking into account their height and physique. Six months or two months later, there was no stone left unturned from the city. Gloomy-Grumbling tried to create his own sea, but the river refused to obey, tearing down dam after dam. The city of Foolov was renamed Nepreklonsk, and the holidays differed from weekdays only in that instead of labor worries, it was prescribed to engage in enhanced marching. Meetings were even held at night. In addition to this, spies were appointed. The end of the hero is also symbolic: he instantly disappeared, as if melted into thin air.

The unhurried, viscous style of narration in the work of M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin shows the insolubility of Russian problems, and satirical scenes emphasize their severity: rulers change one after another, and the people remain in the same poverty, in the same lack of rights, in the same hopelessness.

Grotesque

satire, irony

Allegory

Forms of folklore: fairy tales, proverbs, sayings…

Real + fantasy

Composition

M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin is a recognized master of satire. It was satire that helped the writer to illuminate historical events in a new way and look at the present. In the novel "The History of a City" it was important for the author to reveal the essence of each era, to determine the patterns of development of society, the causes of political violence. That is why the narration in the novel is conducted not by the author, but by the chronicler, who is entirely subordinate to the cruel state machine.

At the beginning of the novel, the chronicler gives a brief description of all the mayors of Glupov, indicating their role in the life of the city. The order of the images is not random. All characters are built on the principle of satirical parallels, as well as on the principle of growth, strengthening of certain qualities.

The chronicler leads the line of city governors, who begin with external automatism, mechanicalness (Organchik, Pimple) and end with internal devastation, inhumanity (Gloomy-Grumbling). Many city governors have prototypes among historical figures, emperors and empresses (Nikolai I, Arakcheev, Speransky, Potemkin, Catherine II, Anna Ioannovna, etc.). Satire allowed the writer to clearly show the insignificant essence of the rulers of Foolov. The whole history of this city is a history of despotism, oppression, senseless cruelty.

Among the twenty-two mayors, the chronicler singles out only the most prominent. Their biographies occupy whole chapters in the novel. The first image that appears before the reader is Dementy Varlamovich Brudasty. In the memory of the Foolovites, he remained under the name Organchik. The author describes his senseless automatic activity with the help of grotesque and hyperbole.

Grotesque allows you to create artistic exaggeration, reaching the point of absurdity. Organchik's activity is essentially useless and cruel. The essence of this ruler is expressed in just two words: “I will ruin”, “I will not tolerate”. It is not surprising that the inhabitants suspect that he is not a person, but a mechanism. Brodasty's active work consisted in issuing decrees that allowed flogging the townsfolk. The consequences of this legislative activity are depicted hyperbolically: “unheard of activity suddenly began to boil in all parts of the city: private bailiffs galloped; quarterly galloped; the assessors galloped; the guards have forgotten what it means to eat… They seize and catch, flog and smack, describe and sell…”.

Grotesquely, the breakdown of the Organ is depicted, which until the last plays the same melody. The grotesque is also used in the episode when Organchik's head bites the boy in the cart. Even without a torso, the mayor's mechanical head continues to commit violence.

The disappearance of Organchik's head marked anarchy, anarchy in the city. Using fantasy, the chronicler speaks of the murder of a Life Campanian who was beheaded in order to restore a broken Organ. The meeting of two impostors with an empty mechanical head is fantastically depicted. The people no longer believe any of them, they are still waiting for the return of their "father". The essence of the organ is revealed gradually: first, the chronicler uses hyperbole, then it develops into the grotesque and ends with fantasy. These techniques allow the reader to get a complete picture of the insignificance of all the innovations of the Organ, its mechanical essence.

Satirically shown in the novel, the mayor Pyotr Petrovich Ferdyshchenko, in the past foreman, batman of Prince Potemkin (head "Straw City" and "Fantastic Traveler"). At first, his activities as head of the city were unremarkable. But the authorities discovered the essence of this ruler - selfishness, greed, stupidity. With his lust and connivance, he almost destroyed the city.

To characterize this hero, the chronicler uses not only satire, he includes a love affair in the image. His love affairs are depicted using the technique of gradation. At first, his sympathies relate to the townsman's wife, Alena Osipovna, who was famous for her beauty. The rough, dirty shooter Domashka completes the love line.

Ferdyshchenko eventually settled on choosing his own kind. Famine and fires fell upon the Foolovites. The chronicler depicts these disasters with the help of hyperbole. Fantasy and irony permeate the description of the brigadier's absurd journey. He planned to benefit his subjects with his grace, to bring about a harvest with his beneficence.

Using satire and irony, the chronicler paints a pasture for cattle, along which Ferdyshchenko makes his journey from one end to the other along with his retinue - two disabled soldiers. So M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin parades the famous travels in the south of Russia by Count Orlov. The essence of such trips is an empty pastime and magnificent receptions, dinners. It is lunch that crowns the entire journey of the foreman. After the pig in sour cream, “some kind of administrative vein” on his face trembled, trembled, and suddenly “froze”. Ferdyshchenko died of gluttony. This is the result of his inglorious life.

Completes Foolov's story Ugryum-Murcheev (chapters "Confirmation of repentance", "Conclusion"). His reign is the most tragic for the entire city. Despite the fact that the chronicler depicts him as a man, Grim-Grumbling has long lost his human essence. To characterize this image, the leading technique is hyperbole. His portrait is hyperbolic: “wooden face”, “conical skull”, “developed jaws”, ready to “crush and bite in half” everything. In all the paintings, he invariably appears in a soldier's overcoat against the backdrop of the desert. This is very symbolic, because Grim-Grumbling hated all living things. "He slept on the bare ground", gave orders himself and carried them out himself. He turned all the members of his family into dumb, downtrodden creatures that languished in the basement of his house.

This is a "leveller" to the highest degree, seeking to equalize, depersonalize everything around. The drill of the Foolovites is described hyperbolically, their grandiose efforts aimed at destroying the city in order to fulfill the order of Ugryum-Burcheev. The use of hyperbole culminates when the Foolovites try to block the flow of the river with a dam. Here, the images-symbols of the river and the image of the mayor himself come to the fore. The river, disobedient to his will, personifies life here, which cannot be stopped at the behest of a gloomy nonentity.

Gloomy-Grumbling is a symbol of destruction, death, violence, which, ultimately, is doomed to self-disintegration. Life took over the arbitrariness of the "scoundrel". The element of grotesque and fantasy of the first chapters of the novel develops into hyperbolization, no less terrible and tragic. Thus, with the help of a rich arsenal of satirical techniques, M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin reveals to the reader the essence of each mayor.

Other writings on this work

The history of one city "- one of the central works of M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. It was published in the journal Otechestvennye Zapiski in 1869-1870 and caused a wide public outcry. The main means of satirical denunciation of reality in the work are the grotesque and hyperbole. In terms of genre, it is stylized as a historical chronicle. The image of the author-narrator is called in it "the last archivist-chronicler".

M.E. writes with subtle irony. Saltykov-Shchedrin on how the faces of these mayors change with the change of one or another historical era: “So, for example, the mayors of the time of Biron are distinguished by their recklessness, the mayors of the time of Potemkin are distinguished by their diligence, and the mayors of the times of Razumovsky are of unknown origin and chivalrous courage. All of them flog the townsfolk, but the first ones absolutely flog, the second explain the reasons for their management by the requirements of civilization, the third want the townsfolk to rely on their courage in everything. Thus, from the very beginning, a hierarchy is built and emphasized: higher spheres - local government - inhabitants. Their destinies mirror what is happening in the areas of power: “in the first case, the townsfolk trembled unconsciously, in the second, they trembled with the consciousness of their own benefit, in the third, they rose to awe filled with confidence.”

Issues

The "History of a City" denounces the imperfection of the social and political life of Russia. Unfortunately, Russia rarely had good rulers. You can prove this by opening any history textbook. Saltykov Shchedrin, sincerely worried about the fate of his homeland, could not stay away from this problem. A peculiar solution was the work "The History of a City". The central issue in this book is the power and political imperfection of the country, or rather one city of Glupov. Everything - the history of its foundation, and the string of worthless autocrats, and the people of Glupov themselves - are so ridiculous that it looks like some kind of farce. This would be a farce if it were not so similar to the real life of Russia. "The history of one city" is not just a political satire on the state system existing in this country, but it fundamentally affects the very mentality of the people of the whole country.

So, the central problem of the work is the motive of power and political imperfection.. In the city of Foolovo, the mayors are replaced one after another. Their fates are tragic to some extent, but grotesque at the same time. For example, busty turned out to be a doll with an organ in its head, which uttered only two phrases “I won’t stand it!” and "I'll break it!", and Ferdyshchenko forgets about his duties when it comes to food, especially goose and boiled pork, because of which he dies of gluttony. Acne turns out with a stuffed head, and vans dies of effort, trying to comprehend the meaning of the decree, sadilov dying of melancholy... The end of the reign of each of them is sad, but funny. The mayors themselves do not inspire respect - someone is impassibly stupid, someone is excessively cruel, liberal rulers are also not the best way out, since their innovations are not vital, but, at best, a tribute to fashion or an empty whim. For some completely incomprehensible reason, city governors do not think about the people, about what people need. There are many rulers, they are different creatures, but the result is the same - life does not get better or worse. Yes, and rulers become mayors more by misunderstanding than by necessity. Who was not among the chiefs of Foolov - a cook, a barber, a fugitive Greek, small army ranks, a batman, state advisers and, finally, a scoundrel Gloomy Burcheev. And, what is most surprising, there was not a single mayor who would have an idea of ​​​​his duties and the rights of the people A. For Foolov's mayors there was no clear concept of their own actions. As if from nothing to do, they transplanted birch trees in the alley, introduced gymnasiums and sciences, abolished gymnasiums and sciences, introduced olive oil, mustard and bay leaves into everyday life, charged arrears ... and, in fact, that's all. This limited their functions.

The author emphasizes that the appearance of the chronicler is very real, which does not allow for a moment to doubt his authenticity. M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin clearly indicates the boundaries of the period under consideration: from 1931 to 1825. The product includes "Appeal to the reader from the last archivist-chronicler". To give a documentary character to this fragment of the narrative, the author places a footnote after the title that the appeal is transmitted exactly, in the words of the chronicler himself. The publisher allowed himself only a spelling correction of the text in order to edit individual liberties in the spelling of words. The appeal begins with a conversation with the reader about whether there are worthy rulers and chiefs in the history of our country: “ Is it possible that in every country there will be glorious Nerons, and Caligulas, shining with valor, and only in our own country we will not find such?» All-Knowing Publisher complements this quote with a reference to poem by G.R. Derzhavin: "Caligula! Your horse in the Senate Could not shine, shining in gold: Good deeds shine! This addition aims to emphasize the value scale: it is not gold that shines, but good deeds. Gold in this case is a symbol of money-grubbing, and good deeds are proclaimed the true value of the world.

Further in the work talk about man in general. The chronicler encourages the reader to look at his own person and decide what is more important in it: the head or the belly.. And then judge those in power.

At the end of the address, Foolov is compared to Rome., this again emphasizes that we are not talking about a particular city, but about the model of society in general. Thus, the city of Foolov is a grotesque image not only of all of Russia, but of all power structures on a global scale, for Rome has been associated with the imperial city since ancient times, the same function is embodied by the mention of the Roman emperors Nero (37-68) and Caligula (12- 41 years) in the text of the work. For the same purpose, to expand the information field of the narrative, surnames are mentioned in the work Kostomarov, Pypin and Solovyov. Contemporaries imagined what views and positions in question. N.I. Kostomarov - famous Russian historian, researcher of the socio-political and economic history of Russia and Ukraine, Ukrainian poet and novelist. A .N. Pypin (1833-1904) - Russian literary critic, ethnographer, academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, cousin of N.G. Chernyshevsky. B.C. Solovyov (1853-1900) - Russian philosopher, poet, publicist, literary critic of the late XIX - early XX century.

Further, the chronicler relates the action of the narrative to the era the existence of tribal strife . At the same time, M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin uses his favorite compositional technique: the fairy tale context is connected with the pages of real Russian history. All this creates a system of witty subtle hints that are understandable to the sophisticated reader.

Having come up with funny names for fabulous tribes, M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin immediately reveals to the reader their allegorical meaning, when representatives of the bungler tribe begin to call each other by name (Ivashka, Peter). It becomes clear that we are talking about Russian history.

thought up bunglers to find a prince for themselves, and since the people themselves are stupid, they are looking for a ruler who is not wise. Finally, one (the third in a row, as is customary in Russian folk tales) "princely lordship" agreed to own these people. But with a condition. “And you will pay me many tributes,” the prince continued, “whoever brings a sheep to a bright one, write a sheep on me, and leave a bright one for yourself; whoever has a penny, break it into four: give one part to me, the other to me, the third again to me, and keep the fourth for yourself. When I go to war - and you go! And you don’t care about anything else!” From such speeches, even unreasonable bunglers hung their heads.

In this scene M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin convincingly shows that any power is based on the obedience of the people and brings them more troubles and problems than real help and support. It is no coincidence that the prince assigns a new name to the bunglers: “ And since you didn’t know how to live on your own and you yourself, stupid, wished for yourself bondage, then you will henceforth be called not bunglers, but Foolovites».

The experiences of deceived bunglers are expressed in folklore. It is symbolic that one of them sings a song on the way home “Don’t make noise, mother green oak tree!”.

One by one, the prince sends his thieving deputies. The satirical description of the mayors gives them an eloquent description, testifying to their business qualities.

Klementy p received the proper rank for the skillful cooking of pasta. lamvrokanis traded Greek soap, sponge and nuts. Marquis de Sanglot liked to sing obscene songs. You can list the so-called feats of mayors for a long time. They did not stay in power for a long time and did nothing worthwhile for the city.