Report: The image of a little man and his rethinking in the stories of Anton Chekhov. The image of a little man in Chekhov's stories essay

"Little Man" is a literary character characteristic of the era of realism. Such a hero works of art could be a petty official, a tradesman, or even a poor nobleman. As a rule, its main feature is low social status. This image is found in the works of both domestic and foreign authors. Topic little man occupies a special position in Russian literature. After all, this image has received a particularly vivid expression in the work of such writers as Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Gogol.

The great Russian poet and writer showed his readers a soul that is pure and unspoiled by wealth. Main character one of the works included in the Belkin Tale cycle, knows how to rejoice, sympathize and suffer. However, the life of Pushkin's character is initially not easy.

The famous story begins with the words that everyone curses the stationmasters, without analyzing which it is impossible to consider the topic “The Little Man in Russian Literature”. Pushkin portrayed a calm and happy character in his work. Samson Vyrin remained a good-natured and good-natured man, despite many years of hard service. And only separation from his daughter deprived him of peace of mind. Samson can survive a hard life and thankless work, but exist without the only one in the world. loved one he is unable to. Stationmaster dies of longing and loneliness. The theme of the little man in Russian literature is multifaceted. The hero of the story "The Stationmaster", perhaps like no other, is able to arouse compassion in the reader.

Akaki Akakievich

A less attractive character is the hero of the story "The Overcoat". Gogol character - collective image. There are many like Bashmachkin. They are everywhere, but people do not notice them, because they do not know how to appreciate in a person his immortal soul. The theme of the little man in Russian literature is discussed from year to year at school lessons literature. After all, thanks to a careful reading of the story "The Overcoat", a young reader can take a different look at the people who surround him. The development of the theme of the little man in Russian literature began precisely with this semi-fairytale work. Not in vain great classic Dostoevsky once said famous phrase: "We all left the Overcoat."

Until the middle of the 20th century, the image of a little man was used by Russian and foreign writers. It is found not only in the works of Dostoevsky, but also in the books of Gerhart Hauptmann, Thomas Mann.

Maksim Maksimovich

The little man in Lermontov's work is outstanding personality suffering from inactivity. The image of Maxim Maksimovich is first found in the story "Bela". The theme of the little man in Russian literature, thanks to Lermontov, began to serve literary device for critical image such vices social society like kneeling, careerism.

Maxim Maksimovich is a nobleman. However, he belongs to an impoverished family, and besides, he does not have influential connections. And therefore, despite his age, he is still in the rank of staff captain. However, Lermontov portrayed the little man not offended and humiliated. His hero knows what honor is. Maksim Maksimovich is a decent man and an old campaigner. In many ways, it resembles Pushkin from the story "The Captain's Daughter".

Marmeladov

The little man is pathetic and insignificant. Marmeladov is aware of his uselessness and uselessness. Telling Raskolnikov the story of his moral fall, he is hardly able to arouse sympathy. He states: “Poverty is not a vice. Poverty is a vice." And these words seem to justify the weakness and impotence of Marmeladov.

In "Crime and Punishment" special development receives the theme of the little man in Russian literature. An essay based on the work of Dostoevsky is a standard task in a literature lesson. But, no matter what name this written task has, it is impossible to complete it without first compiling a description of Marmeladov and his daughter. At the same time, it should be understood that Sonya, although she is also a typical little person, is significantly different from other “humiliated and insulted”. She is unable to change anything in her life. However, this fragile girl has great spiritual wealth and inner beauty. Sonya is the personification of purity and mercy.

"Poor People"

This novel also deals with "little people". Devushkin and Varvara Alekseevna are the heroes that Dostoevsky created with an eye on Gogol's "Overcoat". However, the image and theme of the little man in Russian literature began precisely with the works of Pushkin. And they have a lot in common with Dostoevsky's novels. The story of the stationmaster is told by him. The "little people" in Dostoevsky's novels are also prone to confession. They are not only aware of their insignificance, but also strive to comprehend its cause, act as philosophers. One need only recall Devushkin's lengthy messages and Marmeladov's long monologue.

Tushin

The system of images in the novel "War and Peace" is extremely complex. Tolstoy's characters are heroes from the highest aristocratic circle. There is little in them that is insignificant and pathetic. But why is the great epic novel remembered then, as the theme of the little man is discussed in Russian literature? An essay-reasoning is a task in which it is worth giving a characterization of such a hero as from the novel "War and Peace". At first glance, he is ridiculous and clumsy. However, this impression is deceptive. In battle, Tushin shows his masculinity and fearlessness.

In the huge work of Tolstoy, this hero is given only a few pages. However, the theme of the little man in Russian literature of the 19th century is impossible without considering the image of Tushin. The characterization of this character is very important for understanding the views of the author himself.

Little people in the work of Leskov

The theme of the little man in Russian literature of the 18-19th century is revealed to the maximum. Leskov in his work also did not bypass her. However, his characters are significantly different from the image of a little man, which can be seen in Pushkin's stories and Dostoevsky's novels. Ivan Flyagin is a hero in appearance and soul. But this hero can be classified as "little people." First of all, because many trials fall to his lot, but he does not complain about fate and does not cry.

The image of a little man in Chekhov's stories

Such a hero is often found on the pages of the works of this writer. The image of a small man is especially vividly depicted in satirical stories. The petty official is a typical hero of Chekhov's works. In the story "The Death of an Official" there is an image of a little man. Chervyakov is driven by an inexplicable fear of his boss. Unlike the heroes of the story "The Overcoat", the character from Chekhov's story does not suffer from harassment and bullying from colleagues and the boss. Chervyakov is killed by fear of the highest ranks, eternal admiration for the authorities.

"Celebration of the Winner"

The theme of admiration for the authorities Chekhov continued in this story. However, the little people in "The Celebration of the Victor" are portrayed in a much more satirical light. The father, in order to obtain a good position for his son, humiliates himself with fawning and coarse flattery.

But it is not only the people who express them who are guilty of low thoughts and unworthy behavior. All this is the result of the orders prevailing in the social and political system. Chervyakov would not have asked for forgiveness so zealously if he had not known about the possible consequences of the mistake he had made.

In the work of Maxim Gorky

The play "At the Bottom" tells about the inhabitants of the rooming house. Each of the characters in this work is a small person, deprived of the most necessary for normal life. He is unable to change anything. The only thing he has the right to believe in the fables of the wanderer Luke. Sympathy and warmth - this is what the heroes of the play "At the Bottom" need. The author urges readers to compassion. And in this his views coincide with the point of view of Dostoevsky.

Zheltkov

« Garnet bracelet"- the story of Great love little person. Zheltkov once falls in love with married woman, and he remains true to this feeling until the last minutes of his life. There is an abyss between them. And the hero of the work "Garnet Bracelet" does not hope for a reciprocal feeling.

Yolks have characteristic features a small person, not only because he occupies a low social position. He, like Bashmachkin and the stationmaster, is left alone with his pain. Zheltkov's feelings serve as the basis for jokes and ironic sketches of Prince Shein. Other heroes are able to appreciate the depth of suffering of the “little man” only after his death.

Karandyshev

The image of a small man in common features with similar characters in the works of Dostoevsky and Chekhov. However, the humiliated Karandyshev in the play "Dowry" does not cause either pity or sympathy. He strives with all his might to get into a society in which he is not expected. And for the insults that he endures for many years, he is ready to take revenge.

Katerina Kabanova also belongs to the category of little people. But these heroines are integral personalities, and therefore they do not know how to adapt and dodge. Death for them becomes the only way out of the situation in which they find themselves due to the inertia of the social system.

The image of the little man in literature developed in the nineteenth century. However, in contemporary literature he gave way to other heroes. As you know, many foreign authors were influenced by Russian literature. Proof of this are the works of writers of the 20th century, in which there are often characters reminiscent of Chekhov's and Gogol's heroes. An example is Thomas Mann's "Little Mr. Friedemann". The hero of this novel lives his short life imperceptibly and dies in the same way, from the indifference and cruelty of others.

Introduction

The theme of the little man is interesting in that almost always forgotten, by everyone humiliated people. Their life, their small joys and big troubles seem to everyone insignificant, unworthy of attention. The epoch produced such people and such an attitude towards them. The cruel time and royal injustice forced the “little people” to close in on themselves, completely go into their soul, which suffered, with the sore problems of that period, they lived an inconspicuous life and died unnoticed. But it was precisely such people, sometimes by the will of circumstances, obeying the cry of the soul, that began to fight against the mighty of this world. Therefore, they became interested in their life, the writers gradually began to pay attention in their works to some scenes from the life of such people. With each work, the life of people of the lower "class" was shown more clearly and more truthfully.

Petersburg, a city that has worried many Russian writers for so long, has become even more terrible and cruel. He is a symbol of that powerful force that suppresses the weak sprouts of humanity, he is the focus of human grief, the mirror of all Russian reality, the reflection of which we see throughout the country, in the walls of camps and in the backyards of provincial towns.

They became interested in small people, writers, gradually, began to devote some scenes in their works to just such people, their lives. With each work, the life of people of the "lower" class was shown more clearly and more truthfully. Little officials, "little people" who went mad, against their will, began to emerge from the shadows surrounding the world.

In Gogol, Chekhov, the image of the “little man” acquires a different sound. In the works, the "little man" is in ordinary social conditions. These heroes, as a rule, are petty officials (titular advisers), which means they are on the lowest rung of the career ladder. It can be assumed that they will have almost the same psychology. However, this is not true. We must consider how each writer imagines the character and psychology of the little man.

The theme of the little man in the works of N.V. Gogol

gogol little chekhov man

The theme of the "little man" in literature Gogol developed in St. Petersburg stories. The “little man” is not a noble man, but a poor man, insulted by people of higher rank, driven to despair. But not just not chinned, but it is social psychological type, that is, a person who feels his powerlessness in front of life. Sometimes he is able to protest. A life catastrophe always leads to the rebellion of the "little man", but the outcome of the protest is madness, death. (“The Nose”, “Nevsky Prospekt”, “Notes of a Madman”, “Portrait”, “Overcoat”). Petersburg struck Gogol with pictures of profound social contradictions and tragic social catastrophes. According to Gogol, Petersburg is a city where human relations distorted, vulgarity triumphs, and talents perish. It is in this terrible, crazy city that amazing incidents occur with the official Poprishchin. It is here that poor Akaky Akakievich has no life. Gogol's heroes go crazy or die in an unequal struggle with the cruel conditions of reality. Man and the inhuman conditions of his social existence - main conflict, underlying the Petersburg stories.

Gogol purposefully defended the right to portray the "little man" as an object of literary research.

In the story "The Overcoat" Gogol addresses the world of officials, and his satire becomes harsh and merciless. This short story made a huge impression on the readers. Gogol, following other writers, came to the defense of the "little man" - an intimidated, powerless, miserable official. He expressed the most sincere, warmest and most sincere sympathy for the destitute person in the beautiful lines of the final argument about the fate and death of one of the many victims of heartlessness and arbitrariness.

Gogol's "little man" is limited by his social position, and spiritually limited by him. In fact, the spiritual aspirations of Akaky Akakievich are simple - this is a calm life, no changes. His relatives are favorite letters, his favorite is an overcoat. He doesn't care about his appearance, which is also a reflection of self-esteem in a person.

Gogol says that Akaky Akakievich has no self-consciousness. Bashmachkin has only one feeling in full - fear. The hero of Gogol dies not from humiliation and insult, but from fear, frightened by the “scoldling” of a “significant person”.

Everything in Akaki Akakievich was ordinary: both his appearance and his inner spiritual humiliation. Gogol truthfully portrayed his hero as a victim of unjust activities. In The Overcoat, the tragic and the comic complement each other. The author sympathizes with his hero, and at the same time sees his mental limitations and laughs at him. For the entire time of his stay in the department, Akaki Akakievich did not advance at all through the ranks. Gogol shows how limited and miserable was the world in which Akaky Akakievich existed, content with squalid housing, dinner, a shabby uniform and an overcoat coming apart from old age. Gogol laughs, but he laughs not just at Akaky Akakievich, he laughs at the whole society.

But Akaky Akakievich had his own "poetry of life", which had the same humiliated character as his whole life. In copying papers, he "saw some kind of diverse and pleasant world of his own."

He expressed the most sincere, warmest and most sincere sympathy for the destitute person in the beautiful lines of the final argument about the fate and death of one of the many victims of heartlessness and arbitrariness.

Bashmachkin - "eternal titular adviser." The senseless clerical service killed every living thought in him. His only pleasure was in copying papers. He lovingly drew letters in even handwriting and completely immersed himself in work, forgetting the insults caused to him by his colleagues, and poverty, and worries about daily bread.

But even in this downtrodden official, a man woke up when the goal of life appeared - a new overcoat. “He even became somehow more alive, even firmer in character. He thinks about it, as another person thinks about love, about family. So he orders a new overcoat for himself, and "... his existence has become somehow fuller ...". The description of the life of Akaky Akakievich is permeated with irony, but there is both pity and sadness in it.

The victim of Petersburg, poverty and arbitrariness is Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin - the hero of the story "The Overcoat". “He was what is called the eternal titular adviser. The author does not hide an ironic smile when he describes the limitedness and squalor of his hero. Gogol emphasizes the typicality of Akaky Akakievich: “One official Bashmachkin served in one department - a timid man crushed by fate, a downtrodden, dumb creature, meekly enduring the ridicule of his colleagues. Akaky Akakievich “didn’t answer a single word” and behaved “as if there were no one in front of him” when his colleagues “poured papers on his head.” And such a person was seized by an all-devouring passion to acquire a new overcoat. At the same time, the power of passion and its object are incommensurable. This is the irony of Gogol: after all, the solution of a simple everyday problem is elevated to a high pedestal. When Akaky Akakievich was robbed, in a fit of desperation he turned to " significant person". It is the general's scene that reveals the social tragedy of the "little man" with the greatest force. Gogol emphasizes public sense conflict, when the wordless and timid Bashmachkin, only in his deathbed delirium, begins to utter the most scary words. And only the dead Akaki Akakievich is capable of rebellion and revenge. The ghost, in which the poor official was recognized, begins to rip off the overcoats "from all shoulders, without disassembling, rank and rank."

Introducing us into the spiritual world of the hero, describing his feelings, thoughts, dreams, joys and sorrows, the author makes it clear what happiness it was for Bashmachkin to acquire an overcoat and what a disaster its loss turns into. In the finale, a “small” timid person, driven to despair by the world of the strong, protests against this world.

One of the most tragic stories, of course, is the Notes of a Madman. The hero of the work is Aksenty Ivanovich Poprishchin, a small official offended by everyone. He is a nobleman, very poor and does not pretend to anything. With a sense of dignity, he sits in the director's office and sharpens feathers "for his excellency", filled with the greatest respect for the director. “All learning, such learning that our brother doesn’t even have an attack ... What importance in the eyes ... Not our brother is a couple!” - speaks about the director Poprishchin. In his opinion, a person's reputation is created by rank. It is that person who is decent who has a high rank, position, money, - this is how Aksenty Ivanovich thinks. The hero is poor in spirit, his inner world shallow and miserable; but Gogol did not want to laugh at him, Poprishchin’s consciousness is upset, and the question suddenly sinks into his head: “Why am I a titular adviser?” and “why a titular adviser?”. Poprishchin finally loses his mind and raises a rebellion: an offended human dignity wakes up in him. He thinks why he is so powerless, why "what is best in the world, everything goes to either the chamber junkers or the generals." As madness intensifies in Poprishchina, a sense of human dignity grows. At the end of the story, he, morally enlightened, cannot stand it: “No, I no longer have the strength to endure. God! what are they doing to me! What did I do to them? Why are they torturing me?" Poprishchin is a product and a victim of this world. The cry of the hero in the finale of the story absorbed all the insults and sufferings of the "little man".

In the "Petersburg Notes" of 1836, Gogol puts forward the idea of ​​a socially saturated art from a realistic position, which notices the common elements of our society, moving its springs. He gives a remarkably deep definition of realistic art, following romanticism, embracing the old and the new with its effective look. Gogol's realism contains the disclosure of the complexity of life, its movement, the birth of the new. A realistic view is affirmed in the work of N.V. Gogol in the second half of the 1930s.

"Petersburg Tales", especially "The Overcoat", had great value for all subsequent literature, the assertion in it of the social and humanistic direction and natural school. Creativity N.V. Gogol greatly enriched Russian literature.

So obvious were the delays of the bureaucracy, the problem of “higher” and “lower”, that it was impossible not to write about it. exclaims Gogol, as if in surprise. But also more amazing ability Gogol himself with such depth to reveal the essence of the social contradictions of the life of a huge city in short description only one street - Nevsky Prospekt.

After "Petersburg Tales" Gogol does not leave the theme of the relationship between the "little man" and the bureaucratic world of the capital. This theme constantly lives in every work, he never misses an opportunity not to say two or three caustic words about her.

The theme of the little man in the works of A.P. Chekhov

Chekhov, a great artist of the word, like many other writers, also could not bypass the theme of the “little man” in his work.

His heroes are "little people", but many of them became so by their own will. In Chekhov's stories, we will see oppressors of bosses, like Gogol's, there is no acute financial situation in them, humiliating social relations like Dostoevsky's, there is only a person who decides his own destiny. With his visual images of "little people" with impoverished souls, Chekhov calls on readers to fulfill one of his commandments, "Squeeze a slave out of yourself drop by drop." Each of the heroes of his "little trilogy" personifies one of the aspects of life: Belikov ("The Man in the Case") - the personification of power, bureaucracy and censorship, the story ("Gooseberry") - the personification of relations with the land, a perverted image of the landowner of that time, the story of love appears before us as a reflection of the spiritual life of people.

All the stories together make up an ideological whole, create a generalized idea of modern life where the meaningful side by side with the insignificant, the tragic with the funny.

In the story "The Death of an Official" Chekhov's innovation was manifested. The writer turns everything around. It is not the social system that is to blame, but the person himself. There are many details in the story about this. Firstly, this story is comic in its situation, and the “little man” himself is ridiculed in it. But he is ridiculed not because he is poor, invisible, cowardly. Chekhov shows that the true pleasure of Chervyakov (that's speaking surname) - in humiliation, in groveling. At the end of the story, the general himself is offended, and the dying Chervyakov is not at all sorry. Exploring the psychology of his hero, Chekhov discovers a new psychological type - a serf by nature, a reptile creature. According to Chekhov, this is the real evil.

Secondly, Chervyakov's death is not given as a tragedy. This is not the death of a person, but downright some kind of worm. Chervyakov dies not from fear and not because he could be suspected of lack of self-esteem, but because he was deprived of the opportunity to crawl, his spiritual need, the meaning of life.

The "little man" of our city of the 60s - 70s is not able to get to the surface of life and loudly declare his existence. But after all, he is also a man, and not a louse, as Raskolnikov wanted to prove to himself, and he deserves not only attention, but also better share. The way to achieve this was opened to him by those who in our time sought to "straighten their backs with humpbacks." New writers come to the defense of truth and conscience, they formed a new man. Therefore, you can not close the last page in a huge book dedicated to him - "the little man!"

Further in the development of the image of the "little man" there is a tendency of "bifurcation". On the one hand, raznochintsy-democrats appear from among the "little people", and their children become revolutionaries. On the other hand, the "little man" descends, turning into a limited tradesman. We see this process most clearly in the stories of A.P. Chekhov "Ionych", "Gooseberry", "The Man in the Case".

Teacher Belikov is not an evil person, but timid and withdrawn. In conditions when the formula “Life, not circularly prohibited, but not completely resolved,” was in effect, he becomes a terrible figure in the city.

Everything living, progressive scarecrow Belikov, in everything he saw "an element of doubt." Belikov could not arrange his personal life either. When he saw his fiancee riding a bicycle one day, he was very surprised. Belikov went to explain to his brother Varenka, believing that a woman could not afford such liberty. But the result of the conversation was very sad - the Greek teacher died. The townspeople of Belikov gladly buried, but even after his death, the stamp of "Belikovism" remained on the inhabitants of the city. Belikov continued to live in their minds, he saturated their souls with fear.

Over time, the "little man", deprived of his own dignity, "humiliated and insulted", causes writers not only compassion, but also condemnation. “You live boringly, gentlemen,” said A.P. Chekhov, with his work, to the “little man”, resigned to his position. With subtle humor, the writer ridicules the death of Ivan Chervyakov, from whose lips the lackey “Yourself” has not left his lips all his life. In the same year as "The Death of an Official", the story "Thick and Thin" appears. Chekhov again opposes philistinism, servility. Giggling, "like a Chinese", bowing in obsequious bow, collegiate servant Porfiry, having met his former friend who has a high rank. The feeling of friendship that connected these two people is forgotten.

Chekhov made his debut with stories and sketches in small humorous magazines and did not immediately stand out against the general background. His early works are far from homogeneous in artistic merit, in their structure they are close to the genre of an anecdote. After all, humorous magazines of the 80s were mainly entertaining, purely commercial in nature, and therefore it is impossible to connect the birth of Chekhov's great talent with humorous fiction of a low flight. The cradle of this talent was classical literature, the traditions of which the young Chekhov successfully mastered.

The theme of the “little man” is characteristic of early Chekhov; one can name such stories as “The Death of an Official”, “The Man in a Case”, “Gooseberry”, etc.

In a number early works Chekhov, Shchedrin's images of a "triumphant pig", "hedgehog gloves", "pompadours" flash by. Uses Chekhov and Shchedrin artistic techniques zoological assimilation, grotesque. In the story "Unter Prishibaev" hyperbolism is replaced by laconicism, drawing out capacious artistic details that give the character of the hero an almost symbolic meaning. Without violating the everyday authenticity of the type, Chekhov selects the most essential features, carefully eliminating everything that can obscure or obscure these features.

Chekhov's early stories are entirely humorous, and the humor in them is very original and sharply different from the classical literary tradition.

Very often in early work Chekhov comically plays up dramatic situations traditional in Russian literature.

The "victim" is not sympathetic here. It is not a person who dies, but some kind of official-soulless creature. Let's pay attention to the key details of the story. "Something came off" not in the soul, but in Chervyakov's stomach. With all the psychological reliability in the transfer of mortal fright, this detail also acquires a symbolic meaning, because the soul really did not turn out to be in the hero. It is not a person who lives, but a government cog in a bureaucratic machine. That is why he dies, "without taking off his uniform."

century in Russia brought the final formation of totalitarianism. During the period of the most cruel repressions, at a time when a person was completely impersonal and turned into a cog in a huge state machine, writers responded furiously, standing up for the individual.

Blinded by the grandeur of goals, stunned by loud slogans, we completely forgot about the individual person who remained a person after forty-five, and after fifty-three, and after sixty-four - a person with his daily worries, with his desires and hopes that no one can cancel political regime. The one whom Belinsky once called the “little man”, about whom Dostoevsky lamented, whom Chekhov and Gorky tried to raise from their knees, whom Bulgakov wrote about as a great Master, got lost in the expanse of a huge state, turned into a small grain of sand for history, having disappeared in the camps. It cost the writers a lot of effort to resurrect him for readers in their books. The traditions of the classics, the titans of Russian literature, were continued by writers of the urban direction of prose, those who wrote about the fate of the village during the years of oppression of totalitarianism and those who told us about the world of camps. There were dozens of them. It is enough to mention the names of several of them: Solzhenitsyn, Trifonov, Tvardovsky, Vysotsky, in order to understand what a huge scope the literature about the fate of the "little man" of the twentieth century has reached.

Petersburg, a city that has worried many Russian writers for so long, has become even more terrible and cruel. He is a symbol of that powerful force that suppresses the weak sprouts of humanity, he is the focus of human grief, the mirror of all Russian reality, the reflection of which we see throughout the country, in the walls of camps and in the backyards of provincial towns.

Conclusion

In all works where images of "little people" are created, writers usually emphasized their weak protest, downtroddenness, which subsequently leads the "little man" to degradation. But each of these heroes has something in life that helps them bear the weight of their situation.

Forgotten, humiliated people, their life, small joys and big troubles for a long time seemed insignificant, unworthy of attention.

Suffering, they lived an imperceptible life and also imperceptibly died.

The “little man” of the 1960s and 1970s is not able to get to the surface of life and loudly declare his existence. But after all, he is also a man, and he deserves not only attention, but also a better share. The new writers come out in defense of truth and conscience, they formed a new man, so you can not close the last page in a huge pile dedicated to him - the "little man"!

Bibliography

1. History of Russian literature. (1800-1830s), M. Education, 1989

N.V. Gogol - creative way. M. Fiction, 1955

History of Russian literature of the 19th century, volume 1 (edited by Petrov). Enlightenment, 1970

N.V. Gogol. Collected works, goslitizdat, 1959

Gurvich. "Prose of Chekhov". Publishing house "Fiction literature." Moscow, 1979

E.A. Polotsk. "The Ways of Chekhov's Heroes" (a book for students). Moscow, Enlightenment, 1992

A.P. Chekhov is a writer of a very interesting orientation. He loves to write stories that, on the one hand, have a bit of humor, and on the other, regret and condolences. Many of his stories are full of sarcasm.

Anton Pavlovich wrote not only humorous stories, but also serious plays and novels. The heroes of his stories are so diverse that it seems that each hero has been created over the years. However, the most famous image of the hero was the image of a little man.

The little man is the image that is found in such stories as "The Overcoat", "The Death of an Official", "The Man in the Case", "Ward 6". All these heroes are united by the inability to cope with the situation, with their feelings, to resist the opinions of other people. They are all “little people” who cannot control themselves, cannot get rid of their thoughts, they wind themselves up, invent, and eventually become hostages of any situation

Very sad events are taking place in "Ward No. 6". But sad - for the hero himself, but they make the reader smile. The doctor treated mentally ill people. Once he met a patient who seemed to him a very good conversationalist. After long conversations with him, the doctor ceased to be interested in what was happening around. He abandoned his friends, his work. For him, the main thing was to communicate with this psychologically unhealthy person. After some time, he himself becomes mentally ill and is assigned to the same ward. He failed to prove to the rest that he was absolutely healthy.

Each " little hero» A.P. Chekhov becomes a hostage of his own thoughts. He cannot control himself and his life, he cannot show his "I". Because of this, each of their lives ends tragically.

Gogol also had "little people".

For example, in the story "The Overcoat", the main character, Akaki Akakievich, could not cope with the loss of his overcoat. He was so imbued with her, he had been waiting for her tailoring for so long, he believed that with the advent of a new overcoat, his life would change. However, after the theft of the overcoat, he could not cope with his feelings and died.

Another hero is the teacher Belikov, who has closed himself off from people so much that the reader gets the impression that he has no soul, but only an outer shell. He had no goals in life, friends, his whole essence was simple and invisible. What did he live for? What for? So questions remain unanswered.

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In his early stories, Chekhov continues the theme of the "little man", traditional for Russian classical literature start and mid-nineteenth century. However, this topic is revealed by Chekhov in an innovative way for two obvious reasons: firstly, the writer had talent, that is, his own original view of the world; secondly, Russian social conditions have changed ( late XIX century), which are reflected in the work of Chekhov.

First artistic feature early stories the writer is their comic pathos in all varieties (ironic, humorous and satirical). The second feature was expressed in the fact that in Russian literature before Chekhov the “little man” was portrayed mainly sympathetically, the reader’s attention was drawn to the sorrows and life disorder of the “little man” (“The Stationmaster” by A.S. Pushkin, “The Overcoat” by N.V. . Gogol), but by the mid-80s of the XIX century (the first collection of Chekhov's stories "Colorful Stories" was published in 1886) in public consciousness a new attitude towards "little people" was formed. It was expressed in the fact that society stopped being touched by “little people” and crying over their misfortunes, but began to treat them with respect, which inevitably leads to exactingness: Chekhov does not forgive “little people” for vulgarity, sycophancy, cowardice, etc. Such exactingness to the heroes does not negate humane treatment to them from the side of the writer. You can be touched by a weak, defenseless, inferior being, and the Chekhovian approach suggests: this person is not small, the attack is the same as myself. A New Look on the "little man" and the man in general was reflected not only in the stories of Chekhov, but also in the works of other Russian writers - his contemporaries. For example, M. Gorky in the play "At the Bottom" (1902) formulated this idea in Satin's monologue (IV act): one must not pity, not humiliate a person with pity - one must respect him.

Conventionally, Chekhov's early stories can be divided into three groups. They present different author's attitude to the "little man". The first group includes such stories as "Salted" (1885), "Boots" (1885), "Siren" (1887). These are humorous works that describe various comic scenes from the life of "little people". The story "Salted" is reminiscent of a joke. The cowardly surveyor Smirnov so intimidated his driver that he himself got into a ridiculous situation: Klim ran away, leaving his horse and cart, and the surveyor remained in the middle of an unfamiliar forest alone at night. A funny confusion is depicted in the story "Boots", but significant details are also noted here: Murkin, an old and rheumatic tuner of musical instruments, has only one boots - the loss of them becomes a real misfortune for him. This old man lives alone in hotel rooms, and no one in the world cares about him.

In their humorous stories Chekhov deliberately simplifies the plot and creates a comic situation, but not comic characters. The images of “little people” turn out to be deep, even tragic: the terrible fear that the land surveyor Smirnov possesses is a consequence of general fear in modern Russian society; the restlessness and poverty of old Murkin is a reflection of the hard life of the poor.

The second group can be combined satirical stories: "Thick and thin" (1883), "Death of an official" (1883), "Chameleon" (1884), "Unter Prishibey" (1885). Here the writer criticizes-ridicules the existing public order and presents vivid images of petty officials - "little people". These characters show and satirically exaggerate stupidity, rudeness (in the non-commissioned officer Prishibeev), sycophancy (in the “thin” Porfiry), unscrupulousness (in the policeman Ochumelov), fear (in the executor Chervyakov).

The story "The Death of an Official", as literary critics have already noted many times, is very reminiscent of Gogol's "Overcoat" in plot. But what's the difference in revealing the image of the protagonist! Gogolevsky Akaki Akakievich, having lost his overcoat, turns to a "significant person" for help, but the formidable general in response only "scolds" a petty official. Chekhov's Chervyakov, on the other hand, runs into quite a worthy civilian general Brizzhalov, who calmly accepted an accidental incident in the theater. Ivan Dmitrievich Chervyakov is so frightened by life that he cannot believe in the general's good intentions, so he asks Brizzhalov's forgiveness five times. Chervyakov humiliates his human dignity himself. He is small man not by position, but by spiritual qualities. Admiration for "persons", as the executor calls senior officials, has become for the hero not only the norm of life, but has turned into character. He dies because the general neglected "respect for persons", that is, he did not accept the apology properly, and for the executor, as a result, the usual world order collapsed. At the very end of the story, Chekhov emphasizes a remarkable detail: Chervyakov died without taking off his uniform, which, undoubtedly, will be on him and in the coffin, which emphasizes the admiration of a petty official for bureaucratic order and form.

For all that, Ivan Dmitrievich evokes pity rather than contempt. He did no harm to anyone; in the story with Brizzhalov, he defends his life principles. Is it his fault that the rules of life inspired by him are more suitable for a slave than a citizen? Chervyakov is ridiculous in his absurd persistence and pitiful in that he himself renounces his own human dignity.

Chekhov's satirical heroes are described more plausibly than, for example, by M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. The mayors in the novel "The History of a City" are more like puppets or talking cars than on people. Them satirical image leads to the grotesque. Chekhov chooses more real, life-like situations. Interesting in this sense is the story "Thick and Thin", where the meeting of former gymnasium friends takes place in the most ordinary setting (at the station) and where the petty official Porfiry is satirically ridiculed. He is a coward and voluntarily servile even in front of his school friend Misha, who is not his boss, cannot influence him in any way. service career and shows a friendly feeling towards Porfiry without a shadow of contempt and arrogance.

The third group consists of stories that are closest to the traditional depiction of the "little man", they express piercing pity and sympathy for simple, inconspicuous people. The driver Iona Potapov from the story “Tosca” (1886) is certainly a “little man”, he has no one to go to with his grief. He carries various riders all evening, but no one wants to listen to him and sympathize. The story ends with a terrible scene when, not finding sympathy from people, Jonah tells his horse about the death of his only son. In the story "Anyuta" (1886), Chekhov portrays a meek and generous seamstress girl. She helps poor but brisk students (such as the physician Stepan Klochkov) survive the difficult years of study. They, having completed the course at the university and settled down well in life, do not even remember the quiet and patient Anyuta, who took care of them, fed them from her meager earnings, without demanding anything in return.

Summing up the above, we note that Chekhov's early stories formed a portrait of Russian society in the 80s of the 19th century, as the writer saw and understood it. Usually, in early stories, the author describes a short everyday scene, but it reveals the deep psychological drama of the “little man”. The idea of ​​Chekhov's early stories is the denunciation of philistinism and vulgarity, the lack of spiritual interests, high life goals for the heroes, who most often belong to petty bureaucracy and the urban lower classes. The analyzed stories do not use the grotesque, but the satirical and ironic images are intricately intertwined, which will gradually turn into a unique artistic manner Chekhov.

Chekhov's works of the 80s demonstrate a new, Chekhovian attitude towards traditional heroes: the writer not only condemns, but also regrets his characters. Thus, traditional sympathy is being replaced by complex relationship to the “little man”, which includes both sympathy, and regret, and condemnation.

The image of a little man is one of the most important for Russian literature, permeated with the idea of ​​justice as the basic norm of human relationships. The image of a little man in Chekhov's stories also found its visible expression. A.P. Chekhov is generally full of attention to the personality of someone whom few people pay attention to due to his low official position or lack of education.

The little man lives in stories and dramatic works writer, reminding people around him of mercy, compassion and patience.

What is he Chekhov's little man?

First of all, Chekhov's little man is very different. He can be funny and insignificant (as in the story "The Death of an Official", whose hero Chervyakov dies from experiences, accidentally sneezing at the general in the theater); can be a kind and honest loser (like Petya Trofimov - the "eternal student" from "The Cherry Orchard"); may be outwardly quite a prosperous person, but tormented by some strong experience (like the hero of the story "The Lady with the Dog" Gurov, who fell in love with a provincial lady and could not extinguish his passion for her); may be the errand boy Vanka, composing a letter to his grandfather, which will never reach the addressee.

In many, many of Chekhov's stories, we encounter images of "little people". But each "little man" has his own soul, has his own desires and even abilities that he could not realize.

"Case Man" in the work of Chekhov

The little man in Chekhov's works often appears before us in the form of a "case personality", that is, someone who, during his lifetime, has already lost his human soul, only the shell remained - a case that no one needed. With such a person we meet on the pages famous story"The Man in the Case".

The hero of this story, the teacher of the gymnasium Belikov, deliberately closes himself from people all his life: he dresses as if hiding himself in a small case, he built himself the same house-case, finally, having died, he also lies down in a coffin case. It is not clear why such a person lived on earth? After all, he did not make anyone happy, did not help anyone ?! He lived and hid from people all his life. Unenviable fate.

The same intricacies of the plot, which tells about a small man in a case, we meet in the stories "Gooseberry" and "Ionych". In the first of them, the main character limits himself to one dream - about a garden with gooseberries growing in it. He does everything to achieve his goal, but having achieved it, he does not understand that he has driven himself into a “case”, has lost live connection with people. In the second story, the main character, Dr. Ionych, once in a provincial town, gradually withdraws into himself: he parted with the illusions of youth and becomes a cynical person. Another Chekhovian doctor from the story "Ward No. 6" - Dr. Ragin, working with mentally ill patients, gradually refuses to fulfill his medical duty. The doctor withdraws into himself, ceasing to pay attention to the suffering of the people he is called upon to help. As a result of such a closure in his own case, the doctor loses his mind and ends up in his own room as a patient. Unable to withstand the humiliation, he suddenly dies.

It should be noted that the writer quite critically assesses the image of his "case little man", believing that such people make their lives boring and uninteresting of their own free will. They become "small" because they begin to live with their petty worries, pleasing only themselves and their desires.

The little man who evokes sympathy

In Chekhov, a small person can also evoke sincere sympathy. Following the tradition of Dostoevsky, the writer tells us about people who become victims of fate, but do not lose their human face. This is how the hero of the story “Tosca” appears before us, the coachman Jonah, who lost his son the day before and wants to speak out in front of some passenger in order to alleviate his suffering a little. However, people are indifferent to the experiences of the old coachman. Then he turns to his horse, telling her about his heartache.

Or another work of the writer - the story "Student", which tells about the rebellion of a little man. The protagonist of this story, seminarian Ivan, came to inner despair, he is ready to break with the world of Christian morality and faith, to which he was accustomed from childhood. During Passion Week, instead of visiting the church, Ivan went hunting. Returning to it, he went to the fire, around which two widowed women were warming themselves. The eldest widow began to ask Ivan about the events of the gospel story, and the student felt a living connection between the past and the present, realized that even he, a small person, could count on consolation in Christ's kingdom of truth and supreme justice.

For Chekhov, the personality of a person is very important; it was not for nothing that the writer strongly advised his friends: "Take care of the person."

It is necessary for each of us throughout our lives to be able to preserve in ourselves conscience, compassion for people, striving for the highest moral values. According to Chekhov, a small person can become a person with capital letter, regardless of what social position he will occupy, if he retains his soul, retains a living connection with people. And vice versa, if a person closes in on himself, in the world of his own illusions and desires, then no matter what position he occupies, he will become a “case” person who has lost his soul.

The image of a small man is understood differently in Chekhov's work. A small person can be such only outwardly, according to his position in society. Or maybe a small person is internally. And then it doesn't matter what position he occupies. All the same, such a person remains a person in a “case”.

This description of the theme of the "little man", his problems, his evolution in the stories of Anton Chekhov will help students in grades 9-10 when writing an essay on the topic "The Little Man in Chekhov's Works".