Composition on the topic: ““The Little Man” in Russian Literature. How do you understand the expression "little man"? The role of little people in the world

Nov 21 2016

For the first time, the theme of the "little man" was heard in "The Bronze Horseman" and "The Stationmaster" by A. S. Pushkin. In general, the “little man” is as follows: this is not a noble, but a poor one, insulted by people of higher rank, Driven to despair. At the same time, this person is not just not a bureaucratic, but a person who feels his Powerlessness in front of life. Sometimes he is capable of protest, to which he is led by a life catastrophe, but the outcome of the protest is always madness or death. Pushkin discovered a new dramatic character in the poor official, and Gogol continued the development of this theme in St. Petersburg novels (The Nose, Nevsky Prospekt, Notes of a Madman, Portrait, and Overcoat).

Life in St. Petersburg gave the young writer the opportunity to expand his circle of observations, as a result of which figures of officials began to appear next to the Images of Ukrainian peasants and landowners. Petersburg struck Gogol with pictures of deep social contradictions, tragic social catastrophes. It is in this terrible, Mad City that amazing incidents take place with the official Poprishchin, who became one of the first Characters of this type and, according to Belinsky, is “an ugly grotesque, a strange, whimsical dream of the Artist; this is the personification of a mockery of life and man, a miserable life, a miserable person. It is here that there is no life for poor Akaky Akakievich - “a completely ordinary, ordinary, unremarkable person, Almost not even a person, but a common place, a constant target for ridicule.”

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 are the main conflict underlying the St. Petersburg stories. One of the most tragic stories of this cycle is undoubtedly “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 feeling 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 does not even have an attack ... What importance in the eyes ... Not our brother is a couple!

speaks about director Poprishchin. In his opinion, a person's reputation is created by his rank. It is that person who is decent who has a high rank, position, money, so Aksenty Ivanovich believes. The hero is poor in spirit, his inner world is shallow and miserable; but Gogol did not want to laugh at his hero.

Poprishchin's consciousness is upset, and the question suddenly sinks into his head: why is he a titular adviser? Thus, Poprishchin finally loses his mind and raises a revolt, caused by the realization of offended human dignity. He thinks why "what is the best in the world, everything goes to either the chamber junkers or the generals."

As madness intensifies in Poprishchina, the 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 have I done to them? Why are they torturing me?

» . Blok noticed that in Poprishchin's cry "the cry of Gogol himself" is heard. "Notes of a Madman" is a protest against the Unfair foundations of a mad world, where everything is displaced and confused, where there is no reason and justice. Poprishchin is a product and a victim of this world. The cry at the end of the story embodies all the insults and sufferings of the "little man".

Another victim of Petersburg, a victim of poverty and arbitrariness, becomes Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin, the hero of the Story "The Overcoat". “Akaky represents in this absurd world both its innermost essence, and at the same time a pathetic attempt to overcome the absurd,” as V. Nabokov says about him. Gogol, on the other hand, does not hide his ironic grin when he describes the narrow-mindedness and squalor of his hero.

He emphasizes the typical insignificance of Akaky Akakievich: “the eternal titular adviser, over whom, as you know, various writers have taunted and sharpened enough, having a commendable habit of leaning on those who cannot bite.” And suddenly such a person was seized by an all-devouring passion to acquire a new overcoat, while the Force of passion and its subject are incommensurable. Thus, the solution of a simple everyday task for a l l soch 2005 is raised to a high pedestal, which is the irony of Gogol. When Akaky Akakievich is robbed, in a fit of despair he turns to a "significant person."

This "significant person" is a generalized image of a representative of power. The scene at the general with the greatest force reveals the social tragedy of the “little man”, when the almost motionless body of Akaky Akakievich is taken out of the office of This “significant person”. But only the dead Akaki Akakievich is capable of rebellion, which emphasizes the social meaning of the conflict, and revenge: the ghost, in which the poor official was recognized, begins to rip off his overcoats "from all shoulders, without understanding the rank and title." After this story, the opinions of Gogol's critics and contemporaries about this hero diverged.

Dostoevsky saw in "The Overcoat" "a ruthless mockery of man." And Chernyshevsky called the Shoemaker "a complete idiot." But for Gogol, only the typical fate of the "little people" was important, the inevitability of their end in the conditions created by the Social Circle.

In the "Notes of a Madman" the boundaries of reason and madness are violated, and in the "Overcoat" the boundaries of Life and death are blurred. The death of the Shoemaker and the madness of Poprishchin are phenomena of the same order that tell us about the One: “only meanness, cruelty and the ability to kowtow to the powerful of this world can help make a Career and ensure a carefree existence for those who are given into the power of exploiters and serf-owners. Therefore, the fate of the “little man” is infinitely difficult, trying to break through to life with the help of work, Honesty and patience.

And in the "Notes" and in "The Overcoat" in the end we see not just a "little Man", but a person in general. These characters represent before us people who are lonely, insecure, deprived of reliable support, in need of sympathy. Therefore, we can neither mercilessly judge the "little man" nor Justify him: he causes both compassion and ridicule.

This is how Gogol portrays him. Gogol exalted social injustice and sympathy for the oppressed - ordinary people in his cycle of St. Petersburg stories with poignancy and persuasiveness. The theme was not only a cry of mercy to the fallen, but also a protest against the system that gives birth to the “fallen”.

"Gogol raised the image of the oppressed man to the heights of true Poetry". Compositions: Victoria F

Bogachek A., Shiryaeva E.

The project "The image of the "little man" in the literature of the 19th-20th centuries"

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MBOU "Orangereinskaya secondary school"

Project on the topic: “The image of the “little man” in the literature of the 19th - early 20th centuries”

Completed by students of 10 "B" class

Rich Alexandra

Shiryaeva Ekaterina

Teacher

Mikhailova O.E.

2011-2012 academic year.

Plan:

"Little Man" is a literary hero of the era of realism.

"Little Man" - a little man from the people ... became ... a hero of Russian literature.

From Pushkin's Samson Vyrin to Gogol's Akaky Akakievich.

Contempt for the "little man" in the works of A.P. Chekhov.

Talented and selfless "little man" in the work of N.S. Leskov.

Conclusion.

Used Books.

Target : To show the diversity of ideas about the "little man" of writers of the 19th - early 20th centuries.

Tasks : 1) to study the works of writers of the XIX - early XX centuries;

3) draw conclusions.

The definition of "little man" is applied to the category of literary heroes of the era of realism, usually occupying a rather low place in the social hierarchy: a petty official, a tradesman, or even a poor nobleman. The image of the "little man" turned out to be all the more relevant, the more democratic literature became. The very concept of "little man", most likely, was introduced by Belinsky (1840 article "Woe from Wit"). The theme of the "little man" is raised by many writers. It has always been relevant, because its task is to reflect the life of an ordinary person with all its experiences, problems, troubles and small joys. The writer takes on the hard work of showing and explaining the lives of ordinary people. "The little man is the representative of the whole people. And each writer represents him in his own way.

The image of a little man has been known for a long time - thanks, for example, to such mastodons as A.S. Pushkin and N.V. Gogol or A.P. Chekhov and N.S. Leskov - and inexhaustible.

N.V. Gogol was one of the first who spoke openly and loudly about the tragedy of the “little man”, crushed, humiliated and therefore pathetic.

True, the palm in this belongs all the same to Pushkin; his Samson Vyrin from "The Stationmaster" opens a gallery of "little people". But the tragedy of Vyrin is reduced to a personal tragedy, its causes lie in the relationship between the stationmaster's family - father and daughter - and are in the nature of morality, or rather immorality on the part of Dunya, the stationmaster's daughter. She was the meaning of life for her father, the “sun”, with which a lonely, elderly person was warm and comfortable.

Gogol, however, remaining true to the traditions of critical realism, introducing his own, Gogol's motives into it, showed the tragedy of the “little man” in Russia much more widely; the writer "realized and showed the danger of the degradation of society, in which cruelty and indifference of people to each other are increasing more and more."

And the pinnacle of this villainy was Gogol's Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin from the story "The Overcoat", his name became a symbol of the "little man", who feels bad in this strange world of servility, lies and "blatant" indifference.

It often happens in life that cruel and heartless people who humiliate and insult the dignity of other people often look more pitiful and insignificant than their victims. The same impression of spiritual miserliness and fragility from the offenders of the petty official Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin remains with us after reading Gogol's story "The Overcoat". Akaky Akakievich is a real "little man". Why? First, he stands on one of the lowest rungs of the hierarchical ladder. His place in society is invisible at all. Secondly, the world of his spiritual life and human interests is narrowed to the extreme, impoverished, limited. Gogol himself characterized his hero as poor, ordinary, insignificant and inconspicuous. In life, he was assigned the insignificant role of a copyist of documents from one of the departments. Brought up in an atmosphere of unquestioning obedience and execution of orders from his superiors, Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin was not used to reflecting on the content and meaning of his work. Therefore, when he is offered tasks that require the manifestation of elementary intelligence, he begins to worry, worry, and eventually comes to the conclusion: "No, it's better to let me rewrite something." Bashmachkin's spiritual life is also limited. Collecting money for a new overcoat becomes for him the meaning of his whole life, filling it with the happiness of waiting for the fulfillment of his cherished desire. The theft of a new overcoat, acquired through such deprivation and suffering, becomes a disaster for him. Those around him laughed at his misfortune, and no one helped him. The "significant person" yelled at him so much that poor Akaky Akakievich lost consciousness. Almost no one noticed his death. Despite the uniqueness of the image created by the writer, he, Bashmachkin, does not look lonely in the minds of readers, and we imagine that there were a great many of the same humiliated, sharing the lot of Akaky Akakievich. Gogol was the first to talk about the tragedy of the "little man", respect for which depended not on his spiritual qualities, not on education and intelligence, but on his position in society. The writer compassionately showed the injustice and arbitrariness of society in relation to the "little man" and for the first time called on this society to pay attention to inconspicuous, pitiful and ridiculous, as it seemed at first glance, people. It is not their fault that they are not very smart, and sometimes not smart at all, but they do no harm to anyone, and this is very important. So why laugh at them then? Maybe they should not be treated with great respect, but they should not be offended. They, like everyone else, have the right to a decent life, to the opportunity to feel like full-fledged people.

"Little Man" is constantly found on the pages of the works of A. A. Chekhov. This is the main character of his work. Chekhov's attitude towards such people is especially vividly manifested in his satirical stories. And the relationship is clear. In the story "The Death of an Official", the "little man" Ivan Dmitrievich Chervyakov constantly and obsessively apologizes to General Brizzhalov for accidentally splashing him when he sneezed. "I sprayed him!" Thought Chervyakov. "Not my boss, someone else's, but still awkward. I must apologize." The key word in this thought is "boss". Probably, Chervyakov would not endlessly apologize to an ordinary person. Ivan Dmitrievich has a fear of the authorities, and this fear turns into flattery and deprives him of self-respect. A person already reaches the point where he allows himself to be trampled into the dirt, moreover, he himself helps to do this. We must pay tribute to the general, he treats our hero very politely. But the common man is not accustomed to such treatment. Therefore, Ivan Dmitrievich thinks that he was ignored and comes to ask for forgiveness for several days in a row. Brizzhalov gets fed up with this and finally yells at Chervyakov. "-Get out !! - the general suddenly turned blue and trembling."

"What, sir?" Chervyakov asked in a whisper, trembling with horror.

Go away!! repeated the general, stamping his feet.

Something broke in Chervyakov's stomach. Seeing nothing, hearing nothing, he backed away to the door, went out into the street and trudged along ... Arriving mechanically home, without taking off his uniform, he lay down on the sofa and ... died. For a more complete disclosure of the image of his hero, Chekhov used a "talking" surname.Yes, Ivan Dmitrievich is small, pitiful, like a worm, he can be crushed without effort, and most importantly, he is just as unpleasant.

In the story "The Triumph of the Victor" Chekhov presents us with a story in which father and son humiliate themselves before the boss so that the son can get a position.

“The boss was talking and, apparently, wanted to seem witty. I don’t know if he said anything funny, but I only remember that dad every minute pushed me in the side and said:

Laugh!…

... - So, so! - Dad whispered. - Well done! He looks at you and laughs... It's good; maybe he'll actually give you a job as an assistant clerk!"

And again we are faced with admiration for superiors. And again, this is self-humiliation and flattery. People are ready to please the boss in order to achieve their insignificant goal. It doesn’t even occur to them to remember that there is a simple human dignity that cannot be lost in any case. A.P. Chekhov wanted all people to be beautiful and free. "Everything in a person should be beautiful: the face, and clothes, and the soul, and thoughts." So Anton Pavlovich thought, therefore, ridiculing a primitive person in his stories, he called for self-improvement. Chekhov hated self-humiliation, eternal subservience and admiration for officials. Gorky said of Chekhov: "Vulgarity was his enemy, and he fought against it all his life." Yes, he fought against it with his works, he bequeathed to us "drop by drop to squeeze a slave out of ourselves." Perhaps such a vile way of life of his "little people", their low thoughts and unworthy behavior is the result not only of personal traits of character, but also of their social position and the orders of the existing political system. After all, Chervyakov would not have apologized so diligently and lived in eternal fear of officials if he had not been afraid of the consequences. The characters of the stories "Chameleon", "Thick and Thin", "The Man in the Case" and many others have the same unpleasant qualities of character.

Anton Pavlovich believed that a person should have a goal to which he will strive, and if it is not there or it is very small and insignificant, then the person becomes just as small and insignificant. A person must work and love - these are two things that play a major role in the life of any person: small and not small.

Nikolai Semenovich Leskov's "little man" is a completely different person than that of his predecessors. All three of these characters are strong personalities, and each is talented in its own way. But all the energy of Katerina Izmailova is aimed at arranging personal happiness by any means. In order to achieve her goals, she goes to crime. And therefore this type of character is rejected by Leskov. He sympathizes with her only when she is cruelly devoted to her beloved.

Lefty is a talented person from the people who cares about his homeland more than the king and courtiers. But he is ruined by a vice so well known to Russian people - drunkenness and the unwillingness of the state to help its subjects. He could do without this help if he were a strong man. But a strong person cannot be a drunk person. Therefore, for Leskov, this is not the hero who should be given preference.

Among the heroes belonging to the category of "little people", Leskov singles out Ivan Severyanovich Flyagin. The hero of Leskov is a hero in appearance and spirit. “He was a man of enormous stature, with a swarthy, open face and thick, wavy lead-colored hair: his gray cast so strangely ... in the full sense of the word, a hero, and, moreover, a typical, simple-hearted, kind Russian hero, reminiscent of grandfather Ilya Muromets ... But with all this good innocence, it didn’t take much observation to see in him a man who saw a lot and, as they say, "experienced". he behaved boldly, self-confidently, although without unpleasant looseness, and spoke in a pleasant bass with habit. He is strong not only physically, but also spiritually. Flyagin's life is an endless test. He is strong in spirit, and this allows him to overcome such difficult life ups and downs. He was on the verge of death, he saved people, he himself fled. But in all these tests he improved. Flyagin at first vaguely, and then more and more consciously, strives for heroic service to the Motherland, this becomes the spiritual need of the hero. In this he sees the meaning of life. Flagin's inherent kindness, the desire to help the afflicted, eventually becomes a conscious need to love one's neighbor as oneself. This is a simple person with his own virtues and shortcomings, gradually eradicating these shortcomings and coming to an understanding of God. Leskov portrays his hero as a strong and brave man With a huge heart and a big soul. Flyagin does not complain about fate, does not cry. Leskov, describing Ivan Severyanovich, evokes pride in the reader for his people, for his country. Flyagin does not humiliate himself before the powers that be, like the heroes of Chekhov, does not become an inveterate drunkard because of his insolvency, like Marmeladov in Dostoevsky, does not sink "to the bottom" of life, like Gorky's characters, does not wish harm to anyone, does not want to humiliate anyone, does not wait for help from others, does not sit idly by. This is a person who recognizes himself as a person, a real person, ready to defend his rights and the rights of other people, not losing his dignity and confident that a person can do anything.

III.

The idea of ​​a "little man" changed throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. Each writer also had his own personal views on this hero.

One can find common ground in the views of different writers. For example, writers of the first half of the 19th century (Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol) treat the "little man" with sympathy. Standing apart is Griboyedov, who looks at this hero in a different way, which brings his views closer to those of Chekhov and partly Ostrovsky. Here the concept of vulgarity and self-humiliation comes to the fore. In the view of L. Tolstoy, N. Leskov, A. Kuprin, a "little man" is a talented, selfless person. Such a variety of views of writers depends on the peculiarities of their worldview and on the diversity of human types that surrounds us in real life.

Used Books:

1. Gogol N.V. Collected works in 4 volumes. Publishing house "Enlightenment", M. 1979

2. Pushkin A.S. “Tales of I.P. Belkin. Dubrovsky, Queen of Spades. Publishing house "Astrel, AST" 2004

3. Chekhov A.P. Stories. Publishing house "AST". 2010

4. Leskov N.S. All works by Nikolai Leskov. 2011

5. Gukovsky G.A. Gogol's realism - M., 1959

The writing

“Pain for a man” is, perhaps, the main theme of Russian literature of the 19th century. Compassion for the tragic fate of the "little man" formed the basis of the work of all Russian writers. And the first in this series was, of course, A. S. Pushkin.

In 1830, Pushkin wrote five stories, united by a common title and a common narrator - Belkin's Tales. Of these, the most touching and at the same time the saddest is, it seems to me, the story "The Stationmaster". In it, the poet for the first time brought to the pages of Russian literature the "little man" - Samson Vyrin. Pushkin very accurately described his social position - "a real martyr of the fourteenth grade."

The caretaker of a small postal station endured a lot in his miserable life, endured a lot. Almost every one of the passers-by, voluntarily or involuntarily, offended him, taking out on him, an unrequited official, annoyance at bad roads and the delay of horses. He had one consolation - his daughter Dunya, whom he loved more than life itself. But he lost her too: Dunya was taken with him to St. Petersburg by a passing officer Minsky. Vyrin tried to get the truth, but everywhere he was driven away. And the poor official could not bear the insult - he drank himself and soon died. Pushkin clearly showed Samson Vyrin with sympathy, a deeply unhappy man, with his little, but no less sorrowful drama.

“The Little Man” is dedicated to the story of N. V. Gogol “The Overcoat”, which V. G. Belinsky called the “deepest creation” of the writer. The protagonist of the story is Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin, "the eternal titular adviser." All his life he "zealously and lovingly" copied papers in the department. This rewriting was not only his work, but also his vocation, one might even say, his life's mission. Bashmachkin, without straightening his back, worked all day in the service and took papers home, and rewrote some of the most interesting ones for himself - as a keepsake. His life was rich and interesting in its own way. But one thing upset Akaky Akakievich: the old overcoat, which had served him faithfully for more than a dozen years, eventually fell into such a “decline” that it could no longer be repaired by the most skilled tailor. Bashmachkin's existence acquired a new content: he began to save money for sewing a new overcoat, and dreams of it warmed his soul on long winter evenings. This overcoat, which became the subject of Bashmachkin's constant thoughts and conversations, acquired an almost mystical meaning for him. And when she was finally ready, Bashmachkin, rejuvenated, inspired, appeared in her service. It was the day of his triumph, his triumph, but it ended unexpectedly and tragically: at night the robbers took away his new overcoat. For the poor official it was a catastrophe, the collapse of his whole life. He turned to some "important person" for help, begging to find and punish the robbers, but his request seemed too insignificant to the important general to pay attention to. And the loss became fatal for Bashmachkin: he soon fell ill and died. Gogol urged the reader to love the "little man" because he is "our brother", because he is also a man.

The theme of the “little man” was continued by F. M. Dostoevsky, who very accurately said about himself and his contemporaries: “We all came out of Gogol’s Overcoat.” Indeed, the protagonists of almost all of his works were "little people", "humiliated and offended". But, unlike Gogol's hero, Dostoevsky's heroes are able to openly protest. They do not accept the terrible reality; they are able to tell the bitter truth about themselves and about the society around them.

Their spiritual world is not as limited and miserable as that of Bashmachkin. They are sharper than he, feel the injustice and cruelty of the world of profit and money. So, the poor official Marmeladov, thrown to the very bottom of life, retained his soul, did not become a scoundrel and a scoundrel. He is much more human than the "masters of life" - Luzhin and Svidrigailov. Marmeladov's monologue in the tavern is not only regret about his ruined life, but also a bitter reproach to the whole society.

Sonya Marmeladova was forced to sell herself in order not to let her stepmother's little children, Katerina Ivanovna, die of hunger. She suffers for the pain of all people, all orphans and the poor. Sonya helps not only her family, she strives to help complete strangers. It was Sonya who became the moral and spiritual support for Raskolnikov: Sonya carried his “cross” with him - she followed him to hard labor. This is her strength and her greatness - the greatness of self-sacrifice in the name of people, which only an extraordinary person was capable of.

The works of Russian writers make us painfully think about the meaning of human life, about the destiny of man. Together with their heroes, we learn to respect the human personality, to sympathize with its pain and empathize with its spiritual quest.

"Little Man" is a literary character characteristic of the era of realism. Such a hero in works of art could be a petty official, a tradesman, or even a poor nobleman. As a rule, its main feature is a low social position. This image is found in the works of both domestic and foreign authors. The theme of the little man in Russian literature occupies a special position. After all, this image has received a particularly vivid expression in the works 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. The protagonist of 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 he is not able to exist without the only close person in the world. The 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's character is a 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 year after year at school literature lessons. 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. No wonder the great classic Dostoevsky once uttered the famous phrase: "We all came out of 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 an outstanding personality suffering from inaction. 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 as a literary device for critically portraying such vices of social society as kneeling and 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 the novel "Crime and Punishment" the theme of the little man in Russian literature is especially developed. An essay based on a work by 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 himself. The "little people" in Dostoevsky's novels are also prone to confession. They are not only aware of their insignificance, but also seek 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 Triumph 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 a 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" - a story about the great love of a little man. Zheltkov once falls in love with a 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.

Zheltkov has the characteristic features of 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 little man in has 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 modern literature, he has given 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 short story lives his short life unnoticed and dies in the same way, from the indifference and cruelty of those around him.

The image of the "little man" is characteristic of realism and is found in many works of Russian and foreign writers. They tried by this technique to show the indifference of the state to ordinary, small, people. In my opinion, a small person is a hero whose role in society is insignificant: an ordinary worker, employee or peasant. Such people were not loved by the top of society, because they did not have enough funds and influence. Officials did not notice that it is thanks to these people that society is being built, they are its strength.

The most famous example of a “little man” in literature is Samson Vyrin from A.S. Pushkin. The hero of this work is a calm and good-natured man. Due to the long separation from his daughter, he slowly dies. But society and the state do not care. They didn't even try to fix the problem. An inconspicuous person passed away, and no one even noticed this. Pushkin tells readers to be more attentive to others. It was Alexander Sergeevich who first introduced the concept of "little man" in literature.

In the novel "War and Peace" L.N. Not much time has been devoted to Tolstoy Tushin, this is due to the fact that he is the “little man” in this work. Everyone sees him as funny and awkward. However, in battle, his best qualities are manifested: fearlessness, the desire to fight. L.N. Tolstoy assures that it is impossible to judge a person at once, it is better to know him better.

Semen Semenovich Marmeladov from the novel by F.M. Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment" lives on the very outskirts of St. Petersburg in deep poverty. This hero is a drunken official who himself is aware of his worthlessness and uselessness. Marmeladov kills himself spiritually, he does not strive to rise in society, he gives up and dies. The tragic fate of this character, who is nowhere needed by anyone, does not withstand all the tests. The dream of Semyon Semenovich to benefit society never became a reality. It seems to me that Dostoevsky depicted a huge number of people throughout Russia in the image of this hero. People avoid them, do not want to help, and yet no one knows the real reasons for their life. Such people are forced to become an inveterate drunkard and degrade.

The image of the "little man" is central in the literature of Russian realism. Describing the hard life of such heroes, the writers tried to describe the real existence of ordinary citizens of that time, to provoke a protest to the state.