Savel Prokofich wild. The main characteristic of Wild in Ostrovsky's drama "Thunderstorm

The play "Thunderstorm" by Alexander Ostrovsky presents a vivid picture of serf society at the end of the 18th century. The playwright introduces us to the world of the Russian Volga city of Kalinov, which has been living the same patriarchal measured life for centuries. This is the world of philistines and merchants. Is he that good? Is there much light in the Russian patriarchal pre-bourgeois society?

Who keeps the "dark kingdom"?

Deprived of a positive vector of development, the urban community of the times of the disintegration of serfdom is socially ill to such an extent that Nikolai Dobrolyubov calls it a “dark kingdom.” By calling Ostrovsky “a connoisseur of Russian life,” he actually confirms the typicality of images presented by the playwright. Dikoy and Kabanikha in the play "Thunderstorm" really get a direct benefit from the suffering of others and in every way support the suffocating, anti-social atmosphere in society. The meaning of the "dark kingdom" they preserve is obvious: the transformation of human suffering into their personal wealth, into the capital of merchants - world-eaters. Both of the aforementioned negative images in Russian literature are considered classic. They are revealed by the author with great artistic power. The topic of our article is the type of merchant Saveliy Prokofyich Wild. Unfortunately, many critics emphasize its primitiveness. In our opinion, this is incorrect. In particular, it deserves attention that Savel Prokofich is both the ruler and the victim of the county "dark kingdom".

The specifics of the image of the merchant Wild

The image of Dikoy in the play "Thunderstorm" is typical for Russian society. This is a man who "made" a huge fortune, rising from the bottom. The author does not give us a direct comment on this, but the thoughtful reader will discover it. According to the psychotype of a merchant. Let's explain our version. There was once a proverb among the people: "There is no worse pan for his Ivan." The image of the Wild in the play "Thunderstorm" is a clear illustration of the justice of this idea. Savel Prokofievich, even having become the main tycoon of the city of Kalinov, cannot stop in his inertia of a kind of cyborg to earn money by any means.

Savel Prokofich Syndrome

Our task is to understand the image of the Wild in the play "Thunderstorm". Imagine that you are an actor "coming into this role." How to do it in the shortest way? What do you recommend? Let's say you're chronically devoid of mercy. Imagine: having caused a person suffering and even ruined him, you do not experience any moral remorse. "Entering the image", pretend that you do not know the sense of responsibility to society ... Did you feel it?

Agree, the terrible, destructive image of the Wild in the play "Thunderstorm" is typical and is often found in our society, only in other guises ... In his rapid and continuous enrichment, he has one strange advantage over other people - he is not tormented by conscience. Savel Prokofich aggressively expands his living space, stopping only before two factors: before the Force and before the Power. Consider the above condensed characteristic in more detail ...

Mercy of the Wild Merchant

As we have already mentioned, the image of the Wild in Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm" is not even a type of a person who makes a deal with his conscience (Savel Prokofich simply does not have it). His moral principles are very vague, and following the rites of the Orthodox Church is more like a deal with God for the remission of sins than a sincere desire to harmonize oneself and one's relationships with society and family.

Every day his wife prays to visitors not to anger him. After all, Wild in a rage does not control himself, even his family hides from him in attics and closets.

Reflex Fury

To manipulate a person through fear is his comfortable state, which he is embarrassed to openly say. (Aloud, he says: “My heart is like that!”) The image of Wild from the play “Thunderstorm” is a dangerous type of person who receives material benefits while in an inadequate state, bordering on schizophrenia.

It is in a state of consciousness altered by rage that he does things that he often cannot explain later. Let us recall at least his story to the godfather Marfa Kabanova about the unfortunate little man-beggar, who was almost "knocked to death."

The episode attracts attention when he talks about his uncontrollable fury of the Wild in Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm". The characterization given by him to himself is sly. Everything is understandable: his fits of rabies are initially selfish, they bring him money. After all, when he underpays hired people for work with a humiliated cry, then the principle works in his favor: “money saved is money earned!” Daily fits guarantee daily extra profit.

Danger of mental disorder

He is worried about something else. Deprived of any spirituality, the image of Dikov in the play "Thunderstorm" falls into a kind of vicious circle, reminiscent of Tolkien's false ring of omnipotence. He understands that the reflex “initiating rabies - obtaining benefits” that he has developed over decades can play a cruel joke with him: completely drive him crazy and destroy him. It is about this that he expresses his anxiety to his godfather, the merchant's wife Kabanikhe. Savel Prokofich himself no longer notices when a mechanism is triggered in him that turns on madness ...

Why is the image of the Wild presented episodically?

A man terrorizing the city... The image of the Wild in Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm" is deliberately revealed by Ostrovsky in an unsystematic way. In the course of the action, he only appears three times in front of the viewer of the performance. And this is understandable. It is quite risky even to denounce the classics of their contemporaries - the powers that be.

What features, not disclosed by the author, may be inherent in Savel Prokofich? Most adult readers can easily guess this characterization themselves. Let us provide only two key thoughts for this discussion. Is the presence of the psychotype of the main merchant of the city of Kalinov typical of today's powerful people? Does the modern average citizen have real rights in court?...

Conclusion

This, of course, is a sad truth, but a host of modern unscrupulous merchants Diky, apologists for the neoversion of serfdom, flashes before us in the mass media every day. These are modern feudal lords, prospering among entire strata of society (according to Pelevin's apt expression, working "for food").

So, what features can complement the modernized image of Wild in Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm"? This practice, by the way, is demonstrated by the theaters of Israel, where the modernized version of Gogol's The Inspector General goes with a bang. Let's turn on the fantasy. What can help the type of Wild in modern society to “raise the mud in the water”, make money more efficiently and plant his “ego”?

Let's answer briefly. A talent for inciting hatred between people and representatives of different nationalities. Lack of moral brakes when authorizing a murder (or murders). The desire to rake in the heat with the wrong hands, using your money as a tool.

Finishing our reasoning, we note that such a sociopathy really poisons the harmony of society, turning relations in it into a "dark kingdom".

There are two groups of city dwellers. One of them personifies the oppressive power of the "dark kingdom". These are Wild and, oppressors and enemies of everything living and new. The other group includes , . Tikhon, Boris, Kudryash and Varvara. These are the victims of the “dark kingdom”, the oppressed, who equally feel the brute force of the “dark kingdom”, but express their protest against this force in different ways. Wild: In someone else's feast, a hangover ”the meaning of the word tyrant is defined like this:“ A tyrant is called if he doesn’t listen to anyone: you at least have a stake on his head, and he’s all his own ... This is an imperious person, a tough heart.

Such a tyrant, whose behavior is guided only by unbridled arbitrariness and stupid obstinacy, is Savel Prokofich Dikoy. Wild requires the unquestioning obedience of those around him, who will do anything to somehow not anger him. It is especially difficult for his family: at home, Wild unbelts without any restraint, and family members, fleeing from his fury, hide all day in attics and closets. He finally hunted down his nephew Wild! Boris Grigoryevich, knowing that he was completely financially dependent on him.

He is not at all shy about Wild and with strangers, over whom you can “show off” with impunity. Thanks to money, he holds in his hands the entire disenfranchised mass of the townsfolk and mocks them. The features of tyranny are especially pronounced in him in a conversation with Kuligin.

Kuligin turned to Diky with a request to give ten rubles for the installation of a sundial for the city.

Wild. Or maybe you want to steal; who knows you!

Kuligin. Why, sir, Savel Prokofievich, do you want to offend an honest man?

Wild. Will I give you a report? I don’t report to anyone more important than you. I want to think about you that way, and I think so. For others, you are an honest person, but I think that you are a robber, that's all. Would you like to hear it from me? So listen! I say that the robber, and horses! What are you going to sue, or something, you will be with me So, you know that you are a worm. If I want - I'll have mercy, if I want - I'll crush.

Wild feels his strength and power - the power of capital. "Moneybags" were then revered by "eminent people", before whom the poor were forced to curry favor and grovel. Money is his passion. To part with them, if they have already fallen into his pocket, is painful for him. “In his house, no one dares to utter a word about salary: he will scold what the world is worth.” Best of all, Dikoy himself speaks about this: “Yes, what do you order me to do with myself when my heart is like that! After all, I already know what I need to give, but I can’t do everything with kindness! .. I will give, give, but curse. Therefore, just give me a hint about money, "I will kindle the whole interior: it kindles the whole interior, and that's all"; well, and in those days I will not scold a person for anything. “A piercing man,” is how Kudryash characterizes Diky for his rudeness and cursing.

Passes Wild only to those who are able to repulse him. Once on the ferry, on the Volga, he did not dare to contact a passing hussar, and after that he again took out his offense at home, dispersing everyone to attics and closets. He restrains his temper in front of the Kabanikha, seeing in her his equal.

The power of money was, however, not the only reason that created the ground for unbridled arbitrariness. Another reason that helped tyranny to flourish was ignorance. Dikoy's ignorance is especially evident in the scene of his conversation with Kuligin regarding the lightning rod device.

Wild. Yes, a thunderstorm, what do you think, huh? Well speaking!

Kulagin. Electricity.

Wild (stomping his foot). What else there elgstrichestvo? Well, how are you not a robber! A thunderstorm is sent to us so that we feel, and you want to defend yourself with some kind of poles and horns, God forgive me. What are you, a Tatar, or what?

A person's language, manner of speaking, and the very intonation of speech usually correspond to the character of a person. This is fully confirmed in the language of the Wild. His speech is always rude and full of abusive, offensive expressions and epithets: a robber, a worm, a parasite, a fool, a damned one, etc. And his distortion of foreign words (Jesuit, elestrichestvo) only emphasizes his ignorance.

Despotism, unbridled arbitrariness, ignorance, rudeness - these are the features that characterize the image of the tyrant Wild, a typical representative of the "dark kingdom".

Savel Prokofievich Wild is a representative of wild morals, a mercilessly harsh attitude towards life and people, a petty tyrant in the fullest sense of the word. Whatever gets into his limited head, he does, and no one, in his opinion, dares and should interfere with his temper.
“I told you once, I told you twice: don’t you dare to meet me!” He shouts at Boris’ nephew, “everything is itching for you! Is there enough space for you? Wherever you go; here you are! Fuck you, you damned one!"

Dikoy is greedy for money - and there is nothing worse for him than to give money away; he does not assign salaries to any of his employees. “Is there something you can know about my soul?” he says. “Or maybe I will come to such an arrangement that you will have five thousand ladies.” It goes without saying that he "in all his life never came to such and such an arrangement," as Kudryash says. When it is necessary to pay, he deliberately tries to annoy himself in order to yell at the person asking for money.
“You are a friend to me,” he himself explains his disposition, “and I have to give it to you, but if you come and ask me, I will scold you. I will give - I will give, but I will scold. Therefore, just give me a hint about money, it will start to inflame my whole internal.

He is a "warrior", according to Kabanikhi's definition, and, in his own words, there is constantly "a war going on" in his house. Dikoy's selfishness is completely shameless and completely naive, and therefore speaks out quite frankly. According to the absurd will of Boris's grandmother, he must give to his nephew and niece the inheritance he has kept only under the condition that they will be respectful to him. He takes advantage of this circumstance, forces Boris to serve himself for nothing, breaks down over him and begins to say ingenuously: “I have my own children, why would I give money to someone else? Through this, I must offend my own!

Kuligin tells how one day the peasants went to complain to the mayor that none of them would be counted by the way.
The mayor began to say to him: “Listen,” he says, “Savel Prokofievich, you count the peasants well! Every day they come to me with a complaint.
And he patted the mayor on the shoulder and said: “Is it worth it, your honor, to talk about such trifles with you! A lot of people stay with me every year; you understand: I won’t pay them a penny per person, but I make thousands of this, so it’s good for me!

He will scold anyone Wild, he will stop at no one. In front of one person, only he gives in - this is the Boar; she alone can "talk" him, as he puts it. He sometimes tries to shout at her: “Well, then, what am I a warrior! Well, what of this? But she knows how to put him down. When he scolded the wanderer Feklusha, Kabanikha calmly and sternly told him: “Well, don’t open your throat very much! Find me cheaper! And I love you!” Wild restrains himself: “Wait, godfather, wait! Don't be angry!" he asks. Kabanikha, a representative of life principles, is firmly supported by the law, therefore Savel Prokofievich humbles himself before her; unrestrained tyrant, he, however, is generally afraid of the moral law. In this sense, his story of Kabanikhe is very interesting, as a govea about Great Lent, he scolded the peasant who came for money, “he scolded him so much that it was impossible to demand better,” and how he later asked this peasant for forgiveness:
“Truly I tell you,” Savel Prokofievich narrates, “I bowed at the peasant’s feet. That's what my heart drives me to; here in the yard in the mud he bowed to him, bowed to him in front of everyone.

It goes without saying that Dikiy's respect for the law is purely external: he worships the peasant before confession, and then the peasant will feel bad.

In the play by A.N. Ostrovsky shows the image of S. Wild as a representative of a wild temper. He can be called a tyrant, merciless not only to strangers, but also to his family and friends. Wild believes that no one should contradict him in anything, he considers all his words and deeds to be correct.

This power gives him wealth. This person is very greedy for money, therefore he does not assign a salary to any of his employees. When it comes time to pay, he pretends to be angry and yells at the person who asks him for the money he has earned. His workers even tried to complain about him to the official, but it was useless.

He calls Wild "warrior", since in his house, in his own words, "there is a war going on." Dikoy can speak very frankly. According to the grandmother's will, Dikoy must give Boris and his sister part of the inheritance he keeps. But there was a condition in the will that the inheritance could be given if the nephews would respect their uncle. And now Dikoy takes advantage of this condition, pretends that he is not satisfied with Boris's behavior, makes him serve himself for free.

A wild one can scold anyone, except Kabanikh, since he believes that she alone understands him, and can besiege him. Kabanikha was a representative of life principles, she knew the laws, and for this reason, Savel Prokofievich behaved calmly in front of her. This woman believed that Wild was a weak man, since he himself sometimes suffers from his temper. Although he was a tyrant, he was afraid of moral laws. As an example of this, his story to Kabanikhe about how he scolded a peasant who came for money, and then asked for forgiveness from him, bowing to him in public. And he respects Marfa Ignatievna, because she understands him. But sometimes Dikoy himself is not happy with his temper, but can do nothing with himself. Therefore, Kabanikha considers him a weak person. What they have in common is that they both belong to the patriarchal system, which they do not want to change.

The author gave his character the surname Wild, as it most clearly expresses the rude and ignorant character of the hero of the play. In this way, Ostrovsky clearly shows such a phenomenon as tyranny. Showing permissiveness, Dikoy considers himself the master of life. Even with his family, he behaves rudely, which is why his family rejoices when he goes somewhere. They do not know how to please the head of the family, they try not to anger him.

Merchant Dikoy and Kabanikha are to blame for most of the problems of the small town of Kalinov. If not for their character and their customs, then in the life of the city there would be more justice and less cruelty. The city is dominated by old customs and traditions, as their adherents are Wild and with him Kabaniha, who do not strive for changes in society, they do not need it. If change comes, they will miss the opportunity to influence the life of the city.

The characterization of Wild from the play "Thunderstorm" by Ostrovsky is important for revealing the ideological meaning of the work. The image of this character must be analyzed to understand what the author wanted to show. Was this person invented or had a prototype? Why did Ostrovsky call him that? What traits endowed the hero? All this will be discussed in the essay.

Brief description of Wild from the play "Thunderstorm"

Savel Prokofich Dikoy is a resident of the town of Kalinov, where the action of Thunderstorm takes place. A merchant with a very large income. Money loves him, and he parted with them extremely hard. In his city, Wild is a respected person. He is considered an authority and feared. The main reason for this is wealth. In Kalinovo Wild - the wealthiest resident.

Ostrovsky gives a rather meager description of Wild. Virtually no description of the appearance of this character. The reader can get an idea about the hero only by “observing” his behavior in the course of the plot.

Features of the image of the Wild

The image of the Wild can be called integral. He is not characterized by any hesitation, doubt, throwing. He is not busy searching for the meaning of life, does not aspire to some heights, does not suffer from remorse. It's a bulldog man. He is confident in himself and in everything he does. He goes through life like a tank, not caring that he might crush someone along the way.

At the same time, Wild is completely uneducated and ignorant. Art, science, political and social processes are very far from it and are not interesting. Moreover, Dikoy considers all this empty, ridiculous, unworthy of respect, and even harmful. The rich man lives, guided by prejudices or superstitions.
This is clearly shown when Kuligin turns to the merchant for help in arranging a lightning rod. The inhabitants of Kalinovo are very afraid of thunderstorms, which is why such an idea arises. However, Diko ridicules Kuligin's idea and himself. He claims that a thunderstorm with thunder and lightning is a sign of God to people. A reminder to live right. And it is foolish to try to fight with a higher power with the help of some kind of "poles and gongs." The rich man does not recognize another opinion.

The only thing that matters to Wild is money. If they fell into his pocket, then Savel Prokofich would never part with them. Even the salaries of the employees of Dikoye have to beg. However, this does not always work out, and if it does, you will have to listen to a lot of abuse from the rich man.
The main feature of the Wild is rudeness. It can be traced throughout the work. From the lips of Savel Prokofich swear words are constantly pouring out. He is absolutely not shy in expressions, does not restrain himself, without any twinge of conscience humiliates, insults the interlocutor. He calls everyone around "parasites", "asps".

The merchant manifests himself everywhere as a rude and petty tyrant. However, more than others goes to his family. Nephew Boris Dikoy just hounded. And all because he depends on him financially. The wife of the moneybag, driven to despair, ashamed of her husband's behavior, trembling before him, with tears in her eyes, asks all her friends and relatives not to anger Savel Prokofich. However, it is difficult to fulfill her request even if desired. The aggressiveness of the Wild is often not justified. He may not like the appearance of a person, some of his word, look - and scolding begins.

The meaning of the image of the merchant in the work

Why did the author introduce this character into his work? To understand the meaning of the image of the Wild in "Thunderstorm", you need to remember one more feature of this person. Kalinov's richest and most respected man is, in fact, an ordinary coward. Wild behaves boorishly only with those who cannot "give back", who are weaker morally.

If on the way there is a person who is ready to fight back, a brawler and a petty tyrant "tucks his tail". For example, Diky's relationship with his clerk Curly. He is not at all afraid of the boss and can answer him with rudeness. For this reason, the merchant prefers not to contact the worker. With respect, the moneybags also treat the imperious and cruel Kabanikhe. Next to such people, the aggressiveness of the merchant disappears.

In the play "Thunderstorm" Dikoy is a representative of the "dark kingdom". Moreover, his zealous guardian. Wild - the opposite of the "kingdom of light." It wins if a person does not bow his head, he can fight back.
Such thoughts are prompted by the image of Wild, to whom the author even gave an eloquent surname. Perhaps the character's shortcomings are somewhat exaggerated - there is hyperbole here.