"Little Man" F.M. Dostoevsky
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky is one of the most significant and famous Russian writers and thinkers in the world of the 60s of the 19th century. In his works, he reflected the suffering of people from social reality. It was at that time that capitalism was developing, and people who could not exist in the conditions of difficult modernity found themselves in total poverty. Dostoevsky's work is centered around questions of the philosophy of the spirit—these are the themes of anthropology, philosophy, history, ethics, and religion.
Few Russian writers started their careers so brilliantly. literary activity like Dostoevsky. His first novel "Poor People" (1846) immediately put him among the most prominent representatives of " natural school". F.M. Dostoevsky explored the soul of the "little man", delved into his inner world. The writer believed that small man"does not deserve such treatment as shown in many works," Poor people "- this was the first novel in Russian literature where the "little man" spoke himself.
Main character novel - Makar Devushkin - a poor official, crushed by grief, want and social lawlessness. He is the subject of ridicule and his only joy is a distant relative - Varenka, the 17th orphan, for whom there is no one else to intercede except Makar. For her, he rents a more expensive and comfortable apartment. For the sake of buying flowers and sweets for her, he denies himself food. But from this cordial attachment he is happy. For a poor person, the basis of life is honor and respect, but the heroes of the novel "Poor People" know that it is almost impossible for a "small" person in social terms to achieve this. His protest against injustice is hopeless. Makar Alekseevich is very ambitious, and much of what he does, he does not for himself, but for others to see, for example, he drinks good tea. He tries to hide his shame for himself. Unfortunately, the opinion from the outside is more valuable to him than his own.
Makar Devushkin and Varenka Dobroselova are people of great spiritual purity and kindness. Each of them is ready to give the last for the sake of the other. Makar is a person who knows how to feel, empathize, think and reason, and this best qualities"little man" according to Dostoevsky.
The author shows the "little man" as a deep personality with a rich inner world. Spiritual world Makar Devushkin can be likened to a rapidly expanding universe. He is not limited in his intellectual development, neither in their spirituality, nor in their humanity. The potential of Makar Devushkin's personality is unlimited. This transformation of the hero takes place in spite of his past, his upbringing, origin, environment, in spite of the social humiliation and cultural deprivation of the hero.
Previously, Makar Alekseevich did not even imagine that he had great spiritual wealth. Love for Varenka helped him realize that he, it turns out, can be useful and useful to someone. Happens extremely important process"straightening" human personality. Love opened Devushkin's eyes to himself, allowed him to realize himself as a man. He writes to Varenka:
“I know what I am to you, my dear, I owe you! Knowing you, I began, firstly, to know myself better, and I began to love you; but before you, my angel, I was alone and seemed to be sleeping, and not living in the world. ... and as you appeared to me, you illuminated my dark life all my life, so that both my heart and soul were illuminated, and I found peace of mind and found out that I am no worse than others; that only in this way, I don’t shine with anything, there is no gloss, there is no tone, but still I am a man, that in my heart and thoughts I am a man.
These words sounded like a confession of faith, like a formula explaining and revealing the main humanistic pathos and the "natural school", and all of Dostoevsky's work. In essence, here his hero comes to the denial of injustice social structure a society that considers him only a rag, and not a person. The main thing in the "little man" is his nature.
The "little man" turned out to be "big". Unique deployment dynamics spiritual greatness"little man". In the end, Makar Devushkin turned out to be a worthy hero of the novel, which, among other things, should be an example of "education of feelings."
Makar Devushkin was the first revelation of Dostoevsky's "great idea" - the idea of the "restoration of man", the spiritual resurrection of downtrodden and poor people.
This is how it starts whole era in Russian literature of the 19th century, associated with a heightened attention to the inner world of a person, which naturally led to an increase in socio-psychological analysis, to a sharp denunciation of the foundations of the autocratic-serf system, which doomed "little people" to the role of humiliated and insulted.
2.2 Good and evil in the novel "Crime and Punishment". Striving for a moral ideal
The "little man" theme continues in Crime and Punishment. Here the “little people” are endowed with a certain philosophical idea. These are thinking people, but crushed by life. For example, Semyon Zakharych Marmeladov. He enjoys beatings, and he teaches himself not to pay attention to the attitude of those around him, and he is used to spending the night where he has to. Marmeladov is not able to fight for his life, for his family. He doesn't give a damn about family, society, and even Raskolnikov.
Dostoevsky describes a weak-willed man who brought his wife to consumption, let his daughter go on a “yellow ticket”, but while condemning him, the writer simultaneously appeals to people, asks them to show at least a drop of pity for him, to take a closer look at him, is he really that bad. After all, he “offered his hand to an unfortunate woman with three children, because he could not look at such suffering.” He is most tormented by the consciousness of guilt before the children. Is he so bad this "little man"? It can be said that it was a society that made him so, more indifferent and cruel than he himself in his drunkenness.
But still, the novel "Crime and Punishment" is a very bright work, although tragic. The writer expressed in it his innermost thoughts about the moral ideal of humanism.
The protagonist of the novel comes to a moral ideal, having experienced many sufferings. Tolstoy Dostoevsky moral hero
At the beginning of the work, this is a person who is disappointed in people and believes that only with the help of violence can one restore the desecrated goodness and justice. Rodion Raskolnikov creates a cruel theory according to which the world is divided into "the right to have" and "trembling creatures." The first is allowed everything, the second - nothing. Gradually, this terrible idea captures the whole being of the hero, and he decides to test it on himself, to find out what category he belongs to.
Coldly assessing everything, Raskolnikov comes to the conclusion that he is allowed to transgress the moral laws of society and commit a murder, which he justifies with the aim of helping the destitute.
But much changes in him when feelings are added to the voice of reason. Raskolnikov did not take into account the main thing - the warehouse of his own character, and the fact that murder is contrary to the very nature of man. Before committing a crime, the hero sees a dream: he feels like a child who witnesses a barbarously cruel act - beating a driven horse, which, in stupid anger, the owner beats to death. scary picture arouses in little Raskolnikov a violent desire to intervene, to protect the animal, but no one prevents this senseless, brutal murder. The only thing the boy can do is scream through the crowd to the horse and, clasping its dead, bloody muzzle, kiss it.
Raskolnikov's dream is ambiguous. Here is a clear protest against murder and cruelty, here is sympathy for someone else's pain.
Under the influence of the dream, two motives for the alleged murder take place. One is hatred for the tormentors. The other is the desire to rise to the position of a judge. But Raskolnikov did not take into account the third factor - the inability of a kind person to shed blood. And, as soon as this thought occurred to him, he abandoned his plans in fear. In other words, even without raising the ax, Raskolnikov understands the doom of his idea.
Waking up, the hero was almost ready to abandon his plan: “God! - he exclaimed, - really, really, I’ll take an ax, start hitting on the head, crush her skull ... I’ll slide in sticky, warm blood, pick the lock, steal and tremble; hide, all covered in blood ... with an ax ... Lord, really?
However, the terrible theory wins. Raskolnikov kills an old pawnbroker who is completely useless and even harmful, from his point of view. But along with her, he is forced to kill her sister, a random witness. The second crime is in no way included in the plans of the hero, because Lizaveta is the one for whose happiness he is fighting. Destitute, defenseless, not raising her hands to protect her face. Now Raskolnikov understands: you can’t allow “blood in conscience” - it will flow like a stream.
Hero by nature a kind person He does a lot of good things for people. In his actions, statements, experiences, we see a high sense of human dignity, true nobility, the deepest disinterestedness. Raskolnikov perceives someone else's pain more acutely than his own. Risking his life, he saves children from the fire, shares the last with the father of a deceased comrade, himself a beggar, gives money for the funeral of Marmeladov, whom he barely knew. The hero despises those who indifferently pass by human misfortunes. There are no bad and low traits in him. He also has an angelic appearance: "...he is remarkably good-looking, with beautiful dark eyes, dark Russian, taller than average, thin and slender." How could an almost perfect hero be carried away by such an immoral idea? The author shows that Raskolnikov was literally driven into a dead end by his own poverty, as well as the miserable, humiliated state of many worthy people around him. Rodion was disgusted by the power of the insignificant, stupid, but rich and the insulting position of the poor, but smart and noble soul. It's a shame, but the hero's youthful maximalism and adherence to principles, his pride and inflexibility did him a disservice, set him on the wrong path.
Having committed a villainous murder, the hero becomes seriously ill, which testifies to the great sensitivity of his conscience. And before the crime, good in his soul fought desperately against evil, and now he is experiencing hellish torments. It becomes very difficult for Raskolnikov to communicate with people, he seems to feel guilty before all of humanity. The warmer and more caring relatives treat him, the more he suffers. Subconsciously, the hero understands that he has violated the main law of life - the law of love for one's neighbor, and he is not only ashamed, it hurts him - he was too cruelly mistaken.
Mistakes must be corrected, one must repent in order to get rid of suffering. Way to moral life Raskolnikov begins with a confession. He talks about his crime to Sonya Marmeladova, relieving his soul and asking for advice, because he does not know how to live on. And a friend helps Rodion.
In the image of Sonya expressed moral ideal writer. This woman is love itself. She sacrifices herself for the people. Realizing that Raskolnikov needs, Sonya is ready to follow him to hard labor: “We’ll go to suffer together, we’ll bear the cross together! ..” Thanks to a friend, the hero gains new meaning life.
Dostoevsky leads Raskolnikov to the idea of the need to live in the present, and not an invented theory, to express oneself not through misanthropic ideas, but through love and kindness, through service to one's neighbors. Complicated and painful is Raskolnikov's path to a righteous life: from a crime that is atoned for by terrible suffering, to compassion and love for those people whom he wanted to despise, considering below himself, a proud young man.
The main philosophical question of the novel is the boundaries of good and evil. The writer seeks to define these concepts and show their interaction in society and in the individual.
In Raskolnikov's protest, it is difficult to draw a clear line between good and evil. Raskolnikov is unusually kind and philanthropic: he passionately loves his sister and mother; pities the Marmeladovs and helps them, gives the last money for the funeral of Marmeladov; does not remain indifferent to the fate of the drunk girl on the boulevard. Raskolnikov's dream of a horse slaughtered to death emphasizes the hero's humanism, his protest against evil and violence.
At the same time, he shows extreme selfishness, individualism, cruelty and ruthlessness. Raskolnikov creates an anti-human theory of "two categories of people", which determines in advance who will live and who will die. He owns the justification of the "idea of blood in conscience", when any person can be killed for the sake of higher goals and principles. Raskolnikov, loving people, suffering for their pain, commits the villainous murder of an old pawnbroker and her sister, meek Lizaveta. Having committed a murder, he tries to establish the absolute moral freedom of a person, which essentially means permissiveness. This leads to the fact that the boundaries of evil cease to exist.
But Raskolnikov commits all the crimes for the sake of good. A paradoxical idea arises: good is laid at the foundation of evil. Good and evil are fighting in the soul of Raskolnikov. Evil, brought to the limit, brings him closer to Svidrigailov, good, brought to self-sacrifice, makes him related to Sonya Marmeladova.
In the novel, Raskolnikov and Sonya are a confrontation between good and evil. Sonya preaches kindness based on Christian humility, Christian love for one's neighbor and for all who suffer.
But even in Sonya's actions, life itself blurs the line between good and evil. She takes a step full of Christian love and kindness towards her neighbor - she sells herself in order not to let her sick stepmother and her children die of hunger. And to herself, her conscience, she causes irreparable harm. And again good is at the root of evil.
The interpenetration of good and evil can also be seen in Svidrigailov's nightmare before suicide. This hero completes the chain of malicious crimes in the novel: rape, murder, child molestation. True, the author does not confirm the fact that these crimes were committed: they are mainly Luzhin's gossip. But it is absolutely known that Svidrigailov arranged for the children of Katerina Ivanovna, helped Sonya Marmeladova. Dostoevsky shows how a complex struggle between good and evil takes place in the soul of this hero. Dostoevsky tries to draw a line between good and evil in the novel. But human world too complex and unfair, it erases the boundaries between these concepts. Therefore, Dostoevsky sees salvation and truth in faith. Christ for him is the highest criterion of morality, the bearer of true goodness on earth. And this is the only thing the writer does not doubt.
Conclusion
Summing up all of the above, we can conclude that in the works of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, psychological portraits heroes. It seems to me that this is due to the fact that the authors are trying to convey to the reader what one can be, what one can become under the influence of society and how under these influence people remain themselves and not contradict their state of mind and moral principles.
In the work of Leo Tolstoy, we can observe how he depicts spiritual growth man and his fall. What is the meaning of the inner world for the author. How society influences a person, the morality of the environment and other people's actions.
In his work, Tolstoy touches and reveals the most important life problems- Problems of morality. Love and friendship, honor and nobility. His heroes dream and doubt, think and solve important problems for themselves. Some of them are deeply moral people, while the concept of nobility is alien to others. For the modern reader Tolstoy's heroes can be close and understandable. Solution by the author moral problems can be used at the present time.
The work of Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich is concentrated around questions of the philosophy of the spirit, these are the topics of anthropology, philosophy, history, ethics, and religion. In his works, Dostoevsky shows tragic fates"little people". What deep feelings the “little man” crushed by poverty, lack of rights, inhumanity is capable of, what a kind, compassionate soul he can have. In his works, the author reveals the enormous spiritual wealth of the "little man", his spiritual generosity and inner beauty who did not perish under unbearable living conditions. The beauty of the soul of the "little man" is revealed, first of all, through the ability to love and compassion. F. M. Dostoevsky protests against indifference and indifference to the fate of "poor people". He argues that every person has the right to empathy and compassion.
The heroes of the works of these two great Russian writers are memorable and atypical, which, nevertheless, are written in a deeply realistic way. Pierre Bezukhov, Natasha Rostova, Nekhlyudov, Raskolnikov, Makar Devushkin are unforgettable images. But at the same time, it is not difficult to notice a significant difference in their work. If Tolstoy analyzes his characters and the events taking place with them, then Dostoevsky, on the contrary, derives the entire logic of actions from psychological state their heroes. Thanks to these two writers, we can look into the 19th century from two sides, as it were.
Tolstoy focuses on outside events, for Dostoevsky the inner feeling of a person is more important. Tolstoy’s moral is reminiscent of Kant’s: “Act in a certain situation so that your choice can become moral law for all people". Dostoevsky believes that there are no identical situations, and a person always has to make a choice, and one cannot rely on standard solutions.
Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky never met, although each of them dreamed of meeting.
And yet the meeting took place - at a distance, not in space - in time. They read each other's works. They admired some and protested against others. They spared no effort for critical analysis. Despite their difference creative pursuits, they were united in the main thing - they believed in goodness and love, in the rebirth of man and mankind, in the moral progress of society through the free will of the individual.
List of sources used
1. Ethics. Basics general theory morals. Course of lectures Part one / P.E. Matveev / Vladimir State University - Vladimir, 2002.
2. Revelations about man in the work of Dostoevsky / N.A. Berdyaev / Library "Milestones", 2001
3. Russian literature and literary criticism / A.B. Esin / Moscow, 2003.
4. Psychological Dictionary./Ed. V. P. Zinchenko./Moscow, 1997.
5. Childhood. Adolescence. Youth./L.N. Tolstoy / St. Petersburg, 2009.
6. Collected works in 8 volumes. Volume 6. Resurrection / L.N. Tolstoy / Moscow, 2006
7. After the ball./L. N. Tolstoy / Moscow, 2006
8. Childhood. Adolescence, Youth / L.N. Tolstoy/Moscow, 1993
9. So what should we do? / Tolstoy L.N. / Collected. cit. / Moscow, 1983.
10. Resurrection / L.N. Tolstoy/
11. Russian literature of the XIX century / V. I. Novikov/Moscow, 1996
12. War and peace / L.N. Tolstoy/
13. Poor people / F.M. Dostoevsky
14. Crime and punishment / F.M. Dostoevsky
15. http:/mysoch.ru/sochineniya/dostoevskii
16. http://soch.na5.ru
17. http://istina.rin.ru
18. http://ru.wikipedia.org
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Other materials on the work of Dostoevsky F.M.
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The theme of the "little man" has become one of the leading themes of Russian literature since the appearance of Pushkin's story "The Stationmaster". literature XIX century. We can say that it was in this topic that embodied salient feature perception of the world and man, characteristic of the Russian national consciousness. Nowhere else in world literature was the humiliated position of a person at the lowest rung of the social ladder so sharply perceived, nowhere did he evoke such a sympathetic attitude.
Samson Vyrin in "The Stationmaster" and Evgeny in " The Bronze Horseman” Pushkin, Poprishchin from “Notes of a Madman” and Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin in Gogol’s story “The Overcoat” open a long line of “small”, inconspicuous, unremarkable heroes who suffer, endure insults and humiliation “just because they are not given to be owners high rank and titles. Sometimes they lack courage and strength of character, often they are not even fully aware that they are being infringed upon. human dignity, sometimes they are so pathetic and insignificant that the reader's attitude towards them becomes ambiguous. But still, the leading line of the “little man” theme is always connected with the pathos of compassion and humanism.
That is how the writers perceived this topic, who in the mid-1840s united around Belinsky and formed the so-called “natural school”. For them, the theme of the "little man" becomes central and most significant from a social point of view. No wonder F.M. Dostoevsky, who started his creative way as a representative of the "natural school", said: "We all came out of Gogol's "Overcoat". But even then, when he not only parted with this group of writers, but even took a very critical position in relation to those whom he recently considered his like-minded people, and then for Dostoevsky the theme of “humiliated and insulted”, the theme of the suffering of the “little man” remained central. But in its disclosure, he went his own way, which in many respects changed both the interpretation of this topic and the attitude towards the “little man”.
For the first time, Dostoevsky appeared before the Russian reader as the author of the story "Poor People", published in! 845 in the "Petersburg collection", which was published by the writers of the "natural school". This story immediately put Dostoevsky in the forefront among young Russian writers and strengthened his fame as the “new Gogol”.
Indeed, much in this work continues Gogol's traditions in revealing the theme of the "little man". Makar Alekseevich Devushkin, the hero of the story "Poor People", in his own way social status clearly belongs to the "little people". This, like Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin from Gogol's "The Overcoat", is an eternal titular adviser living in extreme poverty. This is how he describes his dwelling in a letter to Varenka Dobroselova: “Well, what a slum I ended up in, Varvara Alekseevna. Well, it's an apartment! ... Imagine, roughly, a long corridor, completely dark and unclean. right hand it will be a blank wall, and on the left door yes doors, like numbers, all stretch out like that. Well, they hire these rooms, and they have one room in each: they live in one and two, and three. Do not ask in order - Noah's Ark. How this description resembles the dwellings of those heroes of Dostoevsky's novels; who will appear much later - Raskolnikov, Marmeladov, Sonechka and others from among the "small", "humiliated and insulted" people!
But here's what's interesting: Makar Devushkin, like Bashmachkin, does not at all see poverty and his low social status something that needs to be changed. He, like Gogol's hero, puts up with his social and service-hierarchical "smallness", sincerely believing that "every state is determined by the Almighty to the lot of man. That is determined to be in the general's epaulettes, this is to serve as a titular adviser; to command such and such, and to obey such and such meekly and in fear. Devushkin even writes the auto-characteristic in official style: “I have been in the service for about thirty years; I serve impeccably, sober behavior, I have never been seen in riots.
The central episode of Dostoevsky's story, like Gogol's "Overcoat", is the meeting of a "little" official with "His Excellency" - a "significant person", according to Gogol's definition. Like Akaky Akakievich, Makar Alekseevich is confused, timid, pitiful. Summoned to the boss about a poorly rewritten official paper, the timid official sees himself in the mirror and is amazed himself: “It was so easy to go crazy because of what I saw there.” And he saw his pitiful, fear-shaken figure. He does not inspire any respect for himself at this moment, and then the ill-fated button, which has long been hanging on a thread on an old uniform, suddenly breaks off and falls right "at the feet of his excellency." Devushkin, who was already completely lost, “rushed to catch” her, and this finally finished him off.
It seems that the ending of this scene should remind the reader sad story Akaky Akakievich Devushkin writes about this Varenka in this way: “Here I feel that last strength they leave me, that everything, everything is lost! All reputation is lost, the whole person is gone! The hero experiences at this moment a state similar in his eyes to death. But this death is completely different from that of Gogol's Bashmachkin, because, with all the outward resemblance, Devushkin is fundamentally different from the hero of "The Overcoat", as well as from Pushkin's "little people", and even more so from the type of this hero that has become so common. in the works of other writers of the "natural school". It can be said that Dostoevsky does not so much continue to develop the theme of the “little man” as Pogogol, as he polemicizes with previous interpretations, gives a completely new turn this topic.
M M Bakhtin, a researcher of Dostoevsky's work, called it "a Copernican revolution in small scale". He said that the writer “depicts not a “poor official”, but the self-consciousness of a poor official. We see not who he is, but how he is aware of himself.” This is a very fair idea, which is confirmed even by the very form of the story chosen by Dostoevsky.
Before us is a "novel in letters", the authors of which are two "little people" - Makar Devushkin and Varenka Dobroselova. It is hard to imagine that Bashmachkin or Vyrin could write something like that. Indeed, in his letters, Devushkin does not just talk about some events of his life, he evaluates them, analyzes them, talks about his experiences, reveals his inner world. It is in this - in the presence of an inner world in itself - that the fundamental difference between Dostoevsky's "little man" and all his predecessors already lies. But more than that - the writer seeks not only to show the existence of the inner world of such people, but also to study it in depth.
Thus, in Dostoevsky, the interest in psychology, so characteristic of his subsequent work, comes to the fore. The writer sought to find in the "small" person a "big" person capable of deep feelings. Indeed, for him, Varenka is both a lover, and a friend, and an attentive, understanding listener, and the object of his constant concern. In his feeling for this girl, there is such a gamut rich in all shades, so much kindness and compassion that we cannot help but see a truly human face in this hero.
Apparently, this is his main difference from all the "little people" in Russian literature that preceded him - and many subsequent ones. The leitmotif of this theme in Dostoevsky is the assertion of the right of the "little man" to a person and the recognition of him as such by all members of society. That is why Devushkin is so humiliated by the comparison with a “rag”, that is, a thing. For him, the most important thing is to be seen as a unique, original personality, as in every other person.
I wonder how Makar evaluates those literary heroes in which he finds some analogy with himself. Comparing yourself to the heroes stationmaster"Pushkin and Gogol's Overcoat, he prefers Pushkin's Samson Vyrin - it seems too cruel and merciless to him (the hero of Poor People) to look at such a person in Gogol's story, where Akaky Akakievich is so impersonal that he becomes a kind of symbol of a titular adviser in general. For Devushkin, such a situation seems the most humiliating of all that is happening to him or can happen to him. For him, there is nothing more painful than to turn into a symbol of a petty official. It becomes torture for him when “in the whole department” “they introduced Makar Alekseevich into the proverb”: “everyone is against Makar Alekseevich”. This is what it means for the hero of Dostoevsky to turn out to be a rag-thing that other people have the right not to distinguish and not to single out from the general series.
That is why the kindest and meek Makar Alekseevich is capable of indignation, anger and even rage when an attempt is made to touch him. privacy. Among his neighbors is the mediocre writer Ratazyaev, whom Devushkin calls "a literary official." Like Devushkin's other neighbors, he learns about the correspondence between Makar and Varenka, and is going, as Makar Alekseevich says with horror, "to put into his literature" "the whole private ... life" of them. “A poor person, in their opinion, should have everything inside out; that he should have nothing cherished, there are some ambitions no-no-no!” Devushkin says indignantly. He is right that, in fact, writers like Ratazyaev, satirically shown by Dostoevsky, depersonalize the “little man”, whose true feelings turn under their pen into the common stereotype of a novel about “poor love”.
It is from this point of view - the assertion of the right of the "little man" to a person - that the final scene of "His Excellency" should be considered. Continuing the comparison with The Overcoat, we can say that Gogol's Bashmachkin dies because they stole from him new overcoat, with which the hero connects his human self-consciousness, unnoticed by anyone, even by the all-powerful "significant person", whose indifference finally finishes Akaky Akakievich. In Dostoevsky, Devushkin is going through a state similar to death, because it can lose its personal self-respect, which has nothing to do with an overcoat, or with a uniform, or anything like that. Physical death sets in for Gogol's hero, while spiritual and moral death can overtake Makar.
But, fortunately, this does not happen: after all, Dostoevsky's "significant person" also changes fundamentally. According to the traditional scheme of the relationship between the “little man” and his boss, “His Excellency” had to not only “scold” him, but also completely humiliate him - and Makar would not have endured this. But something completely unexpected happens, even for Devushkin himself. After all, the boss did not just give him a hundred rubles - the amount itself is huge for a poor official and really helps him improve his situation. But the main thing here is different: this is the human gesture of the boss, whom, according to Makar, “they themselves, straw, drunkard, deigned to shake his unworthy hand!” This is what saves Devushkin, "resurrects" him; “In doing so, they returned me to myself. With this act, they resurrected my spirit!
This was not given to Akaki Akakievich, who ended his sad story with an act of revenge on a significant person from whom the ghost of Bashmachkin rips off his overcoat, or to any other of the many "little people" portrayed by other writers. The story of Makar Alekseevich Devushkin does not become happy because of this - after all, his life remains difficult, full of hardships and humiliations, and he still loses the girl with whom he has a deeply held love in his soul. But Dostoevsky accomplished the “Copernican coup”: after his “Poor People” there will appear “The Humiliated and Insulted”, “Crime and Punishment” and other novels, where the Personality of man will be affirmed as a creation of God, regardless of the conditions in which this person is forced to exist . After all, the main thing is to always remain human. And in this it is difficult to argue with Dostoevsky, no matter how we feel now that "poverty is not a vice."
Man!… That sounds… proud!
M. Gorky "At the bottom"
"Little Man" is one of the main themes of Russian literature. It appeared during the formation of the realistic method. "Little Man" is a social, ethical and psychological phenomenon.
In the story of A. S. Pushkin "The Stationmaster" Samson Vyrin evokes sympathy, pity, compassion. The author wants to draw the attention of his contemporaries to it. The “little man” of N.V. Gogol, the main character of the story “The Overcoat”, is even “smaller” than the stationmaster of A.S. Pushkin. Akaki Akakakievich is poor both socially and spiritually, he was completely crammed with life. But Gogol began to study the inner world of the “little man”, although he presented him to us as an ordinary, downtrodden person almost no different from others.
F. M. Dostoevsky repeatedly said that he continued the traditions of Gogol (“We all came out of Gogol’s “Overcoat”). N. A. Nekrasov, having become acquainted with the first work of F. M. Dostoevsky, handed over the manuscripts to V. Belinsky with the words: “ New Gogol has appeared!" F.M. Dostoevsky continued to study the soul of the "little man", delved into his inner world. The writer believed that the "little man" did not deserve such treatment, as shown in many works, for example, in the novel "Poor People". It was the first novel in Russian literature where the "little man" spoke himself.
Terrible is the life around Varenka Dobroselova, a young woman who has experienced many sorrows in her life (the death of her father, mother, beloved, the persecution of low people), and Makar Devushkin, a poor elderly official. Dostoevsky wrote the novel in letters, otherwise the characters would hardly have been able to open their hearts, they were very timid. This form of narration gave soulfulness to the whole novel and showed one of Dostoevsky's main positions that the main thing in the "little man" is his nature.
For a poor person, the basis of life is honor and respect, but the heroes of the novel “Poor People” know that it is almost impossible for a “small” person to achieve this socially: “And everyone knows, Varenka, that a poor person is worse than a rag and no one from anyone can’t get respect, so don’t write there. ” His protest against injustice is hopeless. Makar Alekseevichi is very ambitious, and much of what he does, he does not for himself, but for others to see (he drinks good tea). He tries to hide his shame for himself. Unfortunately, the opinion from the outside is more valuable to him than his own.
Makar Devushkin and Varenka Dobroselova are people of great spiritual purity and kindness. Each of them is ready to give the last for the sake of each other. Makar is a person who knows how to feel, empathize, think and reason, and these are the best qualities of a “little man” according to Dostoevsky.
Makar Alekseevich reads Pushkin's The Stationmaster and Gogol's The Overcoat. They shake him, and he sees himself there: “... after all, I’ll tell you, mother, it will happen that you live, and you don’t know that you have a book at your side, where your whole life is laid out on your fingers” . Random meetings and conversations with people (organ grinder, little beggar boy, usurer, watchman) prompt him to think about public life, constant injustice, human relationships that are based on social inequality and money. The "little man" in Dostoevsky's works has both a heart and a mind. The end of the novel is tragic: Varenka is taken away to certain death by the cruel landowner Bykov, and Makar Devushkin is left alone with his grief.
According to Dostoevsky, a “little man” is aware of himself as “small”: “I am used to it, because I get used to everything, because I am a quiet person, because I am a small person; but, nevertheless, what is all this for? ... ". Main character " sentimental romance» "White Nights" (1848) - "dreamer". Realizing the horror of his situation, the "little man" tries to save himself from a humiliating, gray life in daydreams, dreams, and dreams. This, perhaps, in many ways saves his soul from constant humiliation. The heroes of the novel "White Nights" have spiritual beauty, sublime nobility, poetry of nature. The “dreamer”, selflessly in love with the girl Nastenka, who met on the street, selflessly helps her find her beloved and considers this love a great happiness: “May your sky be clear, may your smile be bright and serene, may you be blessed for a moment of bliss and happiness, which you gave to another, lonely, grateful heart. These are the words of a "little man" devoid of love. Purity and selflessness exalt him. The theme of the "little man" was continued in F. M. Dostoevsky's social, psychological, philosophical reasoning novel "Crime and Punishment" (1866). In this novel, the theme of the "little man" sounded much louder.
The scene of action is “yellow Petersburg”, with its “yellow wallpaper”, “bile”, noisy dirty streets, slums and cramped courtyards. Such is the world of poverty, unbearable suffering, the world in which sick ideas are born in people (Raskolnikov's theory). Such pictures appear one after another in the novel and create a background against which tragic fates"little people" - Semyon Marmeladov, Sonechka, Dunechka and many other "humiliated and insulted". The best, purest, noblest natures (Sonechka, Dunechka) are falling and will continue to fall as long as there are sick laws and a sick society that created them.
Marmeladov, who lost his human appearance from hopelessness, drunk himself and stricken with immeasurable grief, did not forget that he was a man, did not lose the feeling of boundless love for his children and wife. Semyon Zakharovich Marmeladov was unable to help his family and himself. His confession in a dirty tavern says that only God will pity the "little man", and the "little man" is great in his endless suffering. These sufferings are taken out into the street into the huge, indifferently cold Petersburg. People are indifferent and laugh at Marmeladov’s grief (“Amuser!”, “Why feel sorry for you!”, “Listen”), at the madness of his wife, Katerina Ivanovna, at the dishonor of a young daughter, and at beating a half-dead nag (Raskolnikov’s dream ).
"Little Man" is a microcosm, it is a whole universe on a micro scale, and many protests, attempts to escape from a difficult situation can be born in this world. This world is very rich in bright feelings and positive qualities, but this microscale universe is humiliated and oppressed by the vast yellow universes. The "little man" is thrown out into the street by life. "Little people" according to Dostoevsky are small only in their social position, and not in the inner world.
F. M. Dostoevsky opposes the endless moral humiliation of the "little man", but he rejects the path chosen by Rodion Raskolnikov. He is not a "little man", he is trying to protest. Raskolnikov's protest is terrible in its essence (“blood according to conscience”) - it deprives a person of his human nature. Also, F. M. Dostoevsky opposes the social, bloody revolution. He is for moral revolution, because the edge of the ax of the bloody revolution will fall not on the one because of whom the "little man" suffers, but on the "little man" who is under the yoke of ruthless people.
F.M. Dostoevsky showed enormous human torments, sufferings and sorrows. But in the midst of such a nightmare, a "little man" possessing pure soul, immeasurable kindness, but "humiliated and insulted", he is great in morally, in its nature.
The "little man" portrayed by Dostoevsky protests against social injustice. main feature Dostoevsky's worldview - philanthropy, paying attention not to a person's position on the social ladder, but to nature, his soul - these are the main qualities by which a person should be judged.
F.M. Dostoevsky wished a better life for a pure, kind, disinterested, noble, sincere, honest, thinking, sensitive, reasoning, spiritually elevated and trying to protest against injustice; but poor, practically defenseless, "humiliated and insulted" "little man".
In preparing this work, materials from the site http://www.studentu.ru were used.
The theme of the "little man" in the works of F. M. Dostoevsky
The theme of the "little man" was first touched upon in the works of A.S. Pushkin ("The Stationmaster"), N.V. Gogol ("The Overcoat"), M.Yu. Lermontov ("Hero of Our Time"). The heroes of these prominent writers- Samson Vyrin, Akaki Akakievich, Maxim Maksimych - became common nouns, and the topic has firmly entered the literature. F.M. Dostoevsky is not just a continuer of traditions in Russian literature, but becomes the author of one leading theme - the theme of "poor people", "humiliated and insulted". Therefore, Dostoevsky's work is so integral thematically. Dostoevsky, as it were, says with his work that every person, no matter who he is, no matter how low he stands, has the right to sympathy and compassion. little man." The protagonist of the novel - Makar Devushkin - is a poor official, crushed by grief, want and social lawlessness. Like Gogol in the story "The Overcoat", Dostoevsky turned to the theme of the disenfranchised, immensely humiliated and downtrodden "little man" who lives his own life. inner life in conditions that grossly violate human dignity. Dostoevsky himself wrote: "We all came out of Gogol's Overcoat." The humanistic orientation of "Poor People" was noticed by critics. Belinsky enthusiastically greeted Dostoevsky: "This is an unusual and original talent, which immediately, even with its first work, sharply separated from the entire crowd of our writers ...". The social theme, the theme of "poor people", "humiliated and insulted", was continued by the author in Crime and Punishment. Here it is even stronger. One by one, the writer reveals before us pictures of hopeless poverty. Dostoevsky chose the dirtiest part of old Petersburg, the cesspool of the capital, as the scene of action. Against the background of this landscape, the life of the Marmeladov family unfolds before us. The fate of this family is closely intertwined with the fate of the protagonist, Rodion Raskolnikov. Marmeladov, an official who drinks himself with grief and loses his human appearance, who has "nowhere else to go" in life. Exhausted by poverty, Marmeladov's wife, Katerina Ivanovna, dies of consumption. Sonya goes out into the street to sell her body in order to save her family from starvation. Raskolnikov's family His sister Dunya, wanting to help her brother, is ready to sacrifice herself and marry the rich Luzhin, whom she feels disgusted with. big picture immeasurable grief. Raskolnikov understands that the cruel force that creates dead ends for the poor and a bottomless sea of suffering in life is money. And in order to get them, he commits a crime under the influence of a far-fetched idea of "extraordinary personalities." Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky created a vast canvas of immeasurable human torment, suffering and grief, peered intently and penetratingly into the soul of the so-called "little man" and discovered deposits in it great spiritual wealth generosity and beauty, not broken by the hardest conditions of life. And this was a new word not only in Russian, but throughout the world literature. Dostoevsky - brilliant writer, considering the sick sides of contemporary society and drawing vivid pictures of Russian reality. The images of "little people" created by the author are imbued with the spirit of protest against social injustice, against the humiliation of a person and faith in his high calling. Dostoevsky's worldview is based on one enduring fundamental value - on love for a person, on the recognition of a person's spirituality as the main thing. And all the searches of Dostoevsky are aimed at creating the best, worthy man the conditions of his life.
Man!… That sounds… proud!
M. Gorky "At the bottom"
"Little Man" is one of the main themes of Russian literature. It appeared during the formation of the realistic method. "Little Man" is a social, ethical and psychological phenomenon.
In the story of A. S. Pushkin "The Stationmaster" Samson Vyrin evokes sympathy, pity, compassion. The author wants to draw the attention of his contemporaries to it. The “little man” of N.V. Gogol, the main character of the story “The Overcoat”, is even “smaller” than the stationmaster of A.S. Pushkin. Akaki Akakakievich is poor both socially and spiritually, he was completely crammed with life. But Gogol began to study the inner world of the “little man”, although he presented him to us as an ordinary, downtrodden person almost no different from others.
F. M. Dostoevsky repeatedly said that he continued the traditions of Gogol (“We all came out of Gogol’s “Overcoat”). N. A. Nekrasov, having become acquainted with the first work of F. M. Dostoevsky, handed over the manuscripts to V. Belinsky with the words: “A new Gogol has appeared!”. F.M. Dostoevsky continued to study the soul of the "little man", delved into his inner world. The writer believed that the "little man" did not deserve such treatment, as shown in many works, for example, in the novel "Poor People". It was the first novel in Russian literature where the "little man" spoke himself.
Terrible is the life around Varenka Dobroselova, a young woman who has experienced many sorrows in her life (the death of her father, mother, beloved, the persecution of low people), and Makar Devushkin, a poor elderly official. Dostoevsky wrote the novel in letters, otherwise the characters would hardly have been able to open their hearts, they were very timid. This form of narration gave soulfulness to the whole novel and showed one of Dostoevsky's main positions that the main thing in the "little man" is his nature.
For a poor person, the basis of life is honor and respect, but the heroes of the novel “Poor People” know that it is almost impossible for a “small” person to achieve this socially: “And everyone knows, Varenka, that a poor person is worse than a rag and no one from anyone can’t get respect, so don’t write there. ” His protest against injustice is hopeless. Makar Alekseevichi is very ambitious, and much of what he does, he does not for himself, but for others to see (he drinks good tea). He tries to hide his shame for himself. Unfortunately, the opinion from the outside is more valuable to him than his own.
Makar Devushkin and Varenka Dobroselova are people of great spiritual purity and kindness. Each of them is ready to give the last for the sake of each other. Makar is a person who knows how to feel, empathize, think and reason, and these are the best qualities of a “little man” according to Dostoevsky.
Makar Alekseevich reads Pushkin's The Stationmaster and Gogol's The Overcoat. They shake him, and he sees himself there: “... after all, I’ll tell you, mother, it will happen that you live, and you don’t know that you have a book at your side, where your whole life is laid out on your fingers” . Random meetings and conversations with people (organ grinder, little beggar boy, usurer, watchman) prompt him to think about social life, constant injustice, human relations, which are based on social inequality and money. The "little man" in Dostoevsky's works has both a heart and a mind. The end of the novel is tragic: Varenka is taken away to certain death by the cruel landowner Bykov, and Makar Devushkin is left alone with his grief.
According to Dostoevsky, a “little man” is aware of himself as “small”: “I am used to it, because I get used to everything, because I am a quiet person, because I am a small person; but, nevertheless, what is all this for? ... ". The protagonist of the "sentimental novel" "White Nights" (1848) is a "dreamer". Realizing the horror of his situation, the "little man" tries to save himself from a humiliating, gray life in daydreams, dreams, and dreams. This, perhaps, in many ways saves his soul from constant humiliation. The heroes of the novel "White Nights" have spiritual beauty, sublime nobility, poetry of nature. The “dreamer”, selflessly in love with the girl Nastenka, who met on the street, selflessly helps her find her beloved and considers this love a great happiness: “May your sky be clear, may your smile be bright and serene, may you be blessed for a moment of bliss and happiness, which you gave to another, lonely, grateful heart. These are the words of a "little man" devoid of love. Purity and selflessness exalt him. The theme of the "little man" was continued in F. M. Dostoevsky's social, psychological, philosophical reasoning novel "Crime and Punishment" (1866). In this novel, the theme of the "little man" sounded much louder.
The scene of action is “yellow Petersburg”, with its “yellow wallpaper”, “bile”, noisy dirty streets, slums and cramped courtyards. Such is the world of poverty, unbearable suffering, the world in which sick ideas are born in people (Raskolnikov's theory). Such pictures appear one after another in the novel and create a background against which the tragic fates of “little people” are shown - Semyon Marmeladov, Sonechka, Dunechka and many other “humiliated and insulted”. The best, purest, noblest natures (Sonechka, Dunechka) are falling and will continue to fall as long as there are sick laws and a sick society that created them.
Marmeladov, who lost his human appearance from hopelessness, drunk himself and stricken with immeasurable grief, did not forget that he was a man, did not lose the feeling of boundless love for his children and wife. Semyon Zakharovich Marmeladov was unable to help his family and himself. His confession in a dirty tavern says that only God will pity the "little man", and the "little man" is great in his endless suffering. These sufferings are taken out into the street into the huge, indifferently cold Petersburg. People are indifferent and laugh at Marmeladov’s grief (“Amuser!”, “Why feel sorry for you!”, “Listen”), at the madness of his wife, Katerina Ivanovna, at the dishonor of a young daughter, and at beating a half-dead nag (Raskolnikov’s dream ).
"Little Man" is a microworld, it is a whole universe on a micro scale, and in this world many protests, attempts to escape from a difficult situation can be born. This world is very rich in bright feelings and positive qualities, but this microscale universe is subjected to humiliation and oppression by huge yellow universes. The "little man" is thrown out into the street by life. "Little people" according to Dostoevsky are small only in their social position, and not in the inner world.
F. M. Dostoevsky opposes the endless moral humiliation of the "little man", but he rejects the path chosen by Rodion Raskolnikov. He is not a "little man", he is trying to protest. Raskolnikov's protest is terrible in its essence (“blood according to conscience”) - it deprives a person of his human nature. Also, F. M. Dostoevsky opposes the social, bloody revolution. He is for moral revolution, because the edge of the ax of the bloody revolution will fall not on the one because of whom the "little man" suffers, but on the "little man" who is under the yoke of ruthless people.
F.M. Dostoevsky showed enormous human torments, sufferings and sorrows. But in the midst of such a nightmare, a “little man” with a pure soul, immense kindness, but “humiliated and insulted”, he is great in moral terms, in his nature.
The "little man" portrayed by Dostoevsky protests against social injustice. The main feature of Dostoevsky's worldview is philanthropy, paying attention not to a person's position on the social ladder, but to nature, his soul - these are the main qualities by which a person should be judged.
F. M. Dostoevsky wished a better life for the pure, kind, disinterested, noble, sincere, honest, thinking, sensitive, reasoning, spiritually exalted and trying to protest against injustice; but poor, practically defenseless, "humiliated and insulted" "little man".
In preparing this work, materials from the site http://www.studentu.ru were used.
