The pinnacle of I.A. Goncharov’s creativity is the novel “Oblomov,” work on which was completed in 1859. At the center of the work - tragic fate Ilya Ilyich Oblomov, an untimely deceased nobleman, an intelligent, kind man, but weak-willed, apathetic, not adapted to work and life. In system artistic images In the novel, one of the important places is occupied by the image of Oblomov’s childhood friend, Andrei Ivanovich Stolts. This is a “hero of the cause”, a “man of action”.
Stolz and Oblomov are antipodes. They are different in everything, but they are connected by a long and faithful friendship. Andrei Stolts is the son of an estate manager in a village that once belonged to the Oblomovs. He studied with Ilya, doing him a “disservice”, either suggesting lessons or doing translations for him. And subsequently, Andrei Stolts will selflessly help his friend in all life’s difficulties.
The main trait in Stolz’s character is hard work. His father is German, and he gave his son a “working, practical education.” Ivan Bogdanovich explained to his son what clay is good for what, how tar is mined, lard is melted, etc. From the age of 14, Shlotz already went to the city alone and accurately, correctly carried out his father’s instructions. Andrey's mother is Russian. From her he inherited his language and faith. The mother would have “kept him close to her,” as Oblomov’s mother did, but Ivan Bogdanovich forbade preventing his son from learning about life.
After graduating from university, Stolz Sr. sent his son to St. Petersburg. He believed that he had fulfilled his duty by giving his son an education. Having left his parents' house, Stolz achieves everything he dreamed of. He recognized Europe “as if it were his own estate,” “saw Russia far and wide.” He made a career, “served, retired, went about his own business and actually made a house and money.” He maintained contacts with gold miners, visited Kyiv - mall beet sugar industry, Nizhny Novgorod, famous for its annual fairs, Odessa - the largest center of grain exports from Russia, a warehouse for foreign goods, visited London, Paris, Lyon - the commercial and industrial centers of Europe. Such is the scale of Stolz’s activities. Work becomes the goal and meaning of Stolz's life. He says this to Oblomov: “Labor is the image, content, element and goal of life, at least mine.” Stolz never stops working. He is always in action.
The portrait of Stolz emphasizes his dynamism: “He is all made up of bones, muscles and nerves, like a blooded English horse. He is thin; he has almost no cheeks at all, that is, there is bone and muscle, but no sign of fatty roundness.” He has no unnecessary movements: “If he was sitting, he sat quietly, but if he acted, he used as many facial expressions as necessary.” The desire for balance is the main thing in the hero’s appearance, his character and fate. He “lived on a budget, trying to spend every day, like every ruble.”
IN moral life Stolz also controlled his sorrows and joys, just as he controlled his affairs. The hero is used to being a leader. In his friendship with Oblomov, he plays the role of a strong mentor. It is Stolz who is trying to save his friend from the captivity of Oblomovism. He manages to do the incredible: he forces Oblomov to get up from the couch and, after many years of absence, appear in society. Stolz writes letters to his friend from abroad, inviting him to come to Switzerland and Italy.
Having met Oblomov two years later, when he would no longer think about changes in his own destiny, Stolz is forced to admit his powerlessness: “The hopes for the future are over: if Olga, this angel, did not carry you on her wings from your swamp , so I won’t do anything.” And yet he invites Ilya Ilyich to “choose a small circle of activity, set up a village, tinker with the peasants, get involved in their business, build, plant.” Stolz tries to instill in Oblomov confidence in his abilities: “... you should and can do everything.”
Stolz's loyalty to the ideals of his youth is manifested in the fact that he saves a friend from poverty, draws up a power of attorney in his name and takes Oblomovka for rent. The energetic and active Stolz put his friend’s estate in order, changed a lot in Oblomovka: he built a bridge, put a roof on the house, and appointed a new manager.
Even in love and marriage, Stolz went through “the school of observation, patience, and work.” Having met Olga Ilyinskaya in Paris, Stolz strives to unravel her mind and character. He acts, wins her love. Olga and Stolz are happy in family life. They lived “like everyone else, as Oblomov dreamed,” but it was not a plant existence. They “thought, felt, spoke together.”
For Goncharov, a “man of action” is a personality in which certain trends in Russian life of that time were reflected. Stolz strives for personal independence; he is a bourgeois businessman, but not a predator. Goncharov admires Stolz’s ebullient energy and entrepreneurial spirit, but also shows his weaknesses. Andrei Ivanovich has no poetry, no dreams, he does not have a program of public service. His activities are aimed only at personal well-being; he refuses to engage in a “bold struggle with rebellious issues.” Stolz’s activities are a disguised form of “Oblomovism.” The hero wants to achieve peace, to get rid of the “fog of doubt, the anguish of questions” about the meaning of life.
In Ivan Goncharov’s novel “Oblomov” there are many storylines. The variety of characters helps to better understand the meaning that the author puts into the work.
The image and characterization of Stolz with quotes prove that success is achieved by those who confidently move towards their own goals, without fear of difficulties.
Childhood and literacy
Stolz Andrei Ivanovich was born into a family of a German and a Russian noblewoman. His father was a manager in the village of Verkhlevo, he ran a local boarding house, where Andryusha met young Ilya Ilyich Oblomov. They soon became inseparable friends.
“Russian was a natural speech” Stolz, he learned it from his mother, from books, and adopted many words from peasants and village boys. Parents early began to introduce their son to all kinds of sciences.
“From the age of eight, the boy sat over geographical maps, learned Bible verses, Krylov’s fables.”
When he “looked up from the directions,” he ran to the neighbor’s kids.
He stayed on the street until late at night, destroyed birds' nests, and often got into fights. The mother complained to her husband that:
“Not a day goes by without the boy returning without a blue spot, and the other day he breaks his nose.”
Despite his violent temper, he never lost his talent for learning. When he played the piano four hands with his mother, she instantly forgot about the bad behavior of her beloved son.
From the age of fourteen, the father began to send his son to the city on certain errands.
“It never happened that the boy forgot, overlooked, changed things up, or made a mistake.” Mother did not like this kind of “work discipline.”
The woman dreamed of seeing her son as a gentleman, and not as a farmer with working hands.
Appearance
Andrei Ivanovich was the same age as his friend Ilya Oblomov. The author compares him to a thoroughbred English horse. It seemed that he was composed only of nerves and muscles. Stolz was thin. He was missing "a sign of fatty roundness".
On a dark face, green eyes looked very expressive. The look was sharp. Absolutely no detail escaped him. Ilya Oblomov enviously tells his friend that he exudes masculinity and health, because he “is not fat and does not have styes.”
Attitude to work. Financial situation
Andrey was persistent.
“He stubbornly walked along his chosen path. I haven't seen anyone think painfully about anything. Didn’t get lost in difficult circumstances.”
From childhood he was accustomed to any kind of work. After he resigned, he decided to start his own business. Thanks to this, I managed to acquire a house and money. “He is involved in a company that ships goods overseas.” Colleagues respect him and treat him with confidence.
Andrey's life is continuous movement. If work requires you to go abroad, then they definitely send him.
“When there is a need in society to visit Belgium or England, they send Stolz, it is necessary to write a project or adapt new idea to the point - they choose him.”
This kind of enterprise helped him:
“from the parents’ forty, make three hundred thousand capital.”
To Ilya Oblomov’s assurances that one cannot devote one’s whole life to work, he replies that such a thing is possible. He cannot imagine himself being idle.
“I will never stop working. Work is the goal, the element and the way of life.”
Lives on a budget, without excesses.
“I tried to spend every ruble, with vigilant control of time and labor, the strength of the soul and heart.”
Friendship and love.
Stolz was a loyal and reliable comrade. He became friends with Oblomov when he was a teenager. Together they studied at the boarding school, where Andrei’s father was in charge. The guys were already very different in their aspirations.
Ilya did not like science. But when he developed a passion for poetry, Andryusha began to bring him all kinds of books from home, just to develop his knowledge.
“Stolz’s son spoiled Ilyusha, giving him lessons and doing many translations for him.”
Years later, he never ceases to support Oblomov. He claims that he is a close person to him.
“Closer than any relative: I studied and grew up with him.”
Andrey will always selflessly support his comrade. Ilya happily awaits his visit and trusts him with all his affairs, including financial ones. Stolz would come soon! He writes that it will be coming soon. He would have sorted it out. When Oblomov has serious problems with his estate, his friend himself offers to help restore order there; he understands that the estate manager is deceiving Ilya Ilyich. He does everything competently.
Even after Oblomov’s death, he never ceases to show concern for his loved ones. He sends his wife Agafya Pshenitsyna the money that the estate brings. He takes the son of his late comrade into his home.
“Andryusha was asked to be raised by Stolz and his wife. Now they consider him a member of their own family.”
Love.
Andrei Ivanovich was careful in relationships with the opposite sex.
“Among my hobbies, I felt the ground under my feet and enough strength to break free in case of emergency. I was not blinded by beauty, I did not lie at the feet of beauties.”
They had a long-standing friendship with Olga Ilyinskaya. The man was older than her and perceived her acquaintance as a child.
“I was in his eyes as charming, giving big hopes child."
After a painful break in relations with Oblomov, Olga and her aunt go abroad. They will meet Andrey in Paris, and will never part again.
Andrey will try in every possible way to brighten up her loneliness in a foreign city.
“Having covered it with notes and albums, Stolz calmed down, believing that he had filled his friend’s leisure time for a long time, and went to work.”
Soon they leave for Switzerland together. Here he becomes even more convinced that he cannot live without Olga.
The man is in love with her.
“During these six months, all the tortures of love, from which he so carefully guarded himself in relationships with women, played out over him.”
Having confessed to her sincere feelings, finds out that she feels reciprocity towards him. Soon the lovers get married and have children.
The family lives amicably and happily. The widow of the late Ilya Ilyich Oblomov comes to visit them to visit her son Andryushka. The woman understands that their feelings are sincere. “Both existences, Olga and Andrey, merged into one channel. Everything was harmony and silence with them.”
The absolute opposite of Oblomov is Stolz, who becomes the embodiment of calculation, activity, strength, determination, and determination. In Stolz’s German upbringing, the main thing was the development of an independent, active, purposeful nature. When describing the life of Stolz, Goncharov most often uses the words “firmly,” “straight,” and “walked.” And Stolz’s surname itself is sharp, abrupt, and his whole figure, in which there was not a fraction of roundness and softness, as in Oblomov’s appearance - all this reveals his German roots. His whole life was outlined once and for all; imagination, dreams and passions did not fit into his life program: “It seems that he controlled both sorrows and joys like the movement of his hands.” The most valued quality in a person for Stolz is “persistence in achieving a goal,” however, Goncharov adds that Stolz’s respect for a persistent person did not depend on the quality of the goal itself: “He never refused to respect people with this persistence, no matter how their goals were not important."
Stolz's goal in life, as he formulates it, is work and only work. To Oblomov’s question: “Why live?” - Stolz, without thinking for a moment, answers: “For the work itself, for nothing else.” This unequivocal “nothing else” is somewhat alarming. The results of Stolz’s work have a very tangible “material equivalent”: “He really made a house and money.” Goncharov speaks very vaguely, casually about the nature of Stolz’s activities: “He is involved in some company that sends goods abroad.” For the first time in Russian literature, an attempt appeared to show a positive image of an entrepreneur who, not having wealth at birth, achieves it through his work.
Trying to elevate his hero, Goncharov convinces the reader that from his mother, a Russian noblewoman, Stolz learned the ability to feel and appreciate love: “he developed for himself the conviction that love, with the power of Archimedes’ lever, moves the world.” However, in Stolz’s love everything is subordinated to reason; it is no coincidence that the “reasonable” Stolz never understood What happened between Oblomov and Olga, What became the basis of their love: “Oblomov! Can't be! – he added again affirmatively. “There’s something here: you don’t understand yourself, Oblomov, or, finally, love!” “This is not love, this is something else. It didn’t even reach your heart: imagination and pride, on the one hand, weakness, on the other.” Stolz never understood that there are different types of love, and not just the kind that he calculated. It is no coincidence that this inability to accept life in its diversity and unpredictability ultimately leads to the “Oblomovism” of Stolz himself. Having fallen in love with Olga, he is ready to stop, freeze. “I found mine,” thought Stolz. – I’ve waited!.. here it is, the last happiness of a person! Everything has been found, there is nothing to look for, there is nowhere else to go!” Having already become Stolz’s wife, experiencing true love for him, realizing that she has found her happiness in him, Olga often thinks about the future, she is afraid of this “silence of life”: “What is this? - she thought. -Where should we go? Nowhere! There is no further road. Is it really not, have you really completed the circle of life? Is everything here, everything?”
Their attitude towards each other can say a lot about the characters. Oblomov sincerely loves Stolz, he feels true selflessness and generosity towards his friend; one can recall, for example, his joy at the happiness of Stolz and Olga. In his relationship with Stolz, the beauty of Oblomov’s soul is revealed, his ability to think about the meaning of life, activity, and its focus on man. Oblomov appears as a man who passionately seeks, although he does not find, a standard of life. In Stolz there is some kind of “lack of feeling” towards Oblomov; he is not capable of subtle emotional movements: on the one hand, he sincerely sympathizes with Ilya Ilyich, loves him, on the other hand, in relation to Oblomov he often turns out to be not so much a friend as “formidable” teacher." Stolz was for Ilya Ilyich the embodiment of that stormy life that always frightened Oblomov, from which he tried to hide. To Oblomov’s bitter and annoying: “Life touches,” Stolz immediately responds: “And thank God!” Stolz sincerely and persistently tried to force Oblomov to live more actively, but this persistence sometimes became harsh and sometimes cruel. Without sparing Oblomov and not considering that he has the right to do so, Stolz touches on the most painful memories of Olga, without the slightest respect for his friend’s wife he says: “Look around, where are you and who are you with?” The very phrase “now or never,” menacing and inevitable, was also unnatural to Oblomov’s soft nature. Very often, in a conversation with a friend, Stolz uses the words “I will shake you,” “you must,” “you must live differently.” Stolz drew up a life plan not only for himself, but also for Oblomov: “You must live with us, close to us. Olga and I decided so, so it will be!” Stolz “saves” Oblomov from his life, from his choice - and in this salvation he sees his task.
What kind of life did he want to involve his friend in? The content of the week that Oblomov spent with Stolz was inherently different from the dream on Gorokhovaya Street. There were some things to do this week, lunch with a gold miner, tea at the dacha in a large society, but Oblomov very accurately called it vanity, behind which no person is visible. In his last meeting with his friend, Stolz said to Oblomov: “You know me: I set myself this task a long time ago and will not give up. Until now I was distracted by various things, but now I am free.” So the main reason emerged - various matters that distracted Stolz from his friend’s life. And indeed, between the appearances of Stolz in Oblomov’s life - like failures, like abysses - years pass: “Stolz did not come to St. Petersburg for several years,” “a year has passed since Ilya Ilyich’s illness,” “it’s been five years since we have seen each other.” It is no coincidence that even during Oblomov’s life, “an abyss opened up” between him and Stolz, “a stone wall was erected,” and this wall existed only for Stolz. And while Oblomov was still alive, Stolz buried his friend with an unequivocal sentence: “You are dead, Ilya!”
The author's attitude towards Stolz is ambiguous. Goncharov, on the one hand, hoped that soon “many Stolts would appear under Russian names,” on the other hand, he understood that in artistically It is hardly possible to call the image of Stolz successful, full-blooded; he admitted that the image of Stolz is “weak, pale - the idea from it looks too bare.”
The problem of the hero in the novel “Oblomov” is connected with the author’s thoughts about the present and future of Russia, about the generic traits of the Russian national character. Oblomov and Stolz are not just different human characters, they are different systems moral values, different worldviews and ideas about the human personality. The hero’s problem is that the author does not give preference to either Oblomov or Stolz, reserving to each of them his right to the truth and choice of life path.
Oblomov and Stolz
Stolz is the antipode of Oblomov (The principle of antithesis)
All figurative system I. A. Goncharov’s novel “Oblomov” is aimed at revealing the character and essence of the main character. Ilya Ilyich Oblomov is a bored gentleman lying on the sofa, dreaming of transformations and happy life surrounded by family, but doing nothing to make dreams come true. The antipode of Oblomov in the novel is the image of Stolz. Andrei Ivanovich Stolts is one of the main characters, a friend of Ilya Ilyich Oblomov, the son of Ivan Bogdanovich Stolts, a Russified German who manages an estate in the village of Verkhlev, which is five miles from Oblomovka. In the first two chapters of the second part there is detailed story about the life of Stolz, about the conditions in which his active character was formed.
1. General features:
a) age (“Stolz is the same age as Oblomov and is already over thirty”);
b) religion;
c) training at the boarding house of Ivan Stolz in Verchlöw;
d) service and quick retirement;
e) love for Olga Ilyinskaya;
f) kind attitude towards each other.
2. Various features:
A ) portrait;
Oblomov . “He was a man about thirty-two or three years old, of average height, pleasant appearance, with dark gray eyes, but with absence of any definite idea, any concentration in facial features.”
«… flabby beyond his years: from lack of movement or air. In general, his body, judging by its matte finish, too white color necks, small plump arms, soft shoulders, seemed too effeminate for a man. His movements, even when he was alarmed, were also restrained softness and not devoid of a kind of graceful laziness.”
Stolz- the same age as Oblomov, he is already over thirty. The portrait of Sh. contrasts with the portrait of Oblomov: “He is all made up of bones, muscles and nerves, like a blooded English horse. He is thin, he has almost no cheeks at all, that is, bone and muscle, but no sign of fatty roundness...”
Getting to know portrait characteristic this hero, we understand that Stolz is strong, energetic, purposeful personality, which is alien to daydreaming. But this almost ideal personality resembles a mechanism, not a living person, and this repels the reader.
b) parents, family;
Oblomov's parents are Russian; he grew up in a patriarchal family.
Stolz comes from the philistine class (his father left Germany, wandered around Switzerland and settled in Russia, becoming the manager of an estate). “Stolz was only half German, on his father’s side; his mother was Russian; He professed the Orthodox faith, his native speech was Russian...” His mother was afraid that Stolz, under the influence of his father, would become a rude burgher, but it was prevented Russian entourage Stolz.
c) education;
Oblomov moved “from hugs to hugs of family and friends,” his upbringing was patriarchal in nature.
Ivan Bogdanovich raised his son strictly: “From the age of eight he sat with his father for geographical map, sorted through the warehouses of Herder, Wieland, biblical verses and summed up the illiterate accounts of the peasants, townspeople and factory workers, and with his mother he read sacred history, learned Krylov’s fables and sorted through the warehouses of Telemachus.”
When Stolz grew up, his father began to take him to the field, to the market, and forced him to work. Then Stolz began sending his son to the city on errands, “and it never happened that he forgot something, changed it, overlooked it, or made a mistake.”
Upbringing, like education, was dual: dreaming that his son would grow up to be a “good bursh,” the father in every possible way encouraged boyish fights, without which the son could not do a day. If Andrei appeared without a lesson prepared “by heart,” Ivan Bogdanovich sent his son back to where he came from - and every time young Stlts returned with the lessons he had learned.
From his father he received a “hard-working, practical upbringing,” and his mother introduced him to beauty and tried to instill in little Andrei’s soul a love of art and beauty. His mother “seemed the ideal of a gentleman in her son,” and his father accustomed him to hard, not at all lordly, work.
d) attitude towards studying at a boarding house;
Oblomov studied “out of necessity”, “serious reading tired him”, “but the poets touched... a nerve”
Stolz always studied well and was interested in everything. And he was a tutor at his father's boarding school
e) further education;
Oblomov lived in Oblomovka until he was twenty, then graduated from the university.
Stolz graduated from the university with flying colors. Parting with his father, who was sending him from Verkhlev to St. Petersburg, Stolz. says that he will certainly follow his father’s advice and go to Ivan Bogdanovich’s old friend Reingold - but only when he, Stolz, has a four-story house, like Reingold. Such independence and independence, as well as self-confidence. - the basis of the character and worldview of the younger Stolz, which his father so ardently supports and which Oblomov so lacks.
f) lifestyle;
“Ilya Ilyich’s lying down was his normal state.”
Stolz has a thirst for activity
g) housekeeping;
Oblomov did not do business in the village, received little income and lived on credit.
Stolz serves successfully, resigns to do his own business; makes a house and money. He is a member of a trading company that ships goods abroad; as an agent of the company, Sh. travels to Belgium, England, and throughout Russia.
h) life aspirations;
Oblomov in his youth “prepared for the field”, thought about his role in society, about family happiness, then he excluded from his dreams social activities, his ideal was a carefree life in unity with nature, family, and friends.
Stolz chose an active beginning in his youth... Stolz’s ideal of life is continuous and meaningful work, this is “the image, content, element and purpose of life.”
i) views on society;
Oblomov believes that all members of the world and society are “dead men, sleeping people”, they are characterized by insincerity, envy, the desire to “get a high-profile rank” by any means, he is not a supporter of progressive forms of farming.
According to Stolz, with the help of the establishment of “schools”, “piers”, “fairs”, “highways”, the old, patriarchal “detritus” should be turned into comfortable estates that generate income.
j) attitude towards Olga;
Oblomov wanted to see loving woman, capable of creating a serene family life.
Stolz marries Olga Ilyinskaya, and Goncharov tries to imagine their active alliance, full of work and beauty, ideal family, a true ideal that fails in Oblomov’s life: “we worked together, had lunch, went to the fields, played music< …>just as Oblomov dreamed... Only there was no drowsiness, no despondency, they spent their days without boredom and without apathy; there was no sluggish look, no words; their conversation never ended, it was often heated.”
k) relationship and mutual influence;
Oblomov considered Stoltz his only friend, capable of understanding and helping, he listened to his advice, but Stoltz failed to break Oblomovism.
Stolz highly appreciated the kindness and sincerity of the soul of his friend Oblomov. Stolz does everything to awaken Oblomov to activity. In friendship with Oblomov Stolz. also rose to the occasion: he replaced the rogue manager, destroyed the machinations of Tarantiev and Mukhoyarov, who deceived Oblomov into signing a false loan letter.
Oblomov is accustomed to living according to Stolz’s orders; in the smallest matters, he needs the advice of a friend. Without Stoltz, Ilya Ilyich cannot decide on anything, however, Oblomov is in no hurry to follow Stoltz’s advice: their concepts of life, work, and application of strength are too different.
After the death of Ilya Ilyich, a friend takes in Oblomov’s son, Andryusha, named after him.
m) self-esteem ;
Oblomov constantly doubted himself. Stolz never doubts himself.
m) character traits ;
Oblomov is inactive, dreamy, sloppy, indecisive, soft, lazy, apathetic, and not devoid of subtle emotional experiences.
Stolz is active, sharp, practical, neat, loves comfort, open in spiritual manifestations, reason prevails over feeling. Stolz could control his feelings and was “afraid of every dream.” Happiness for him lay in consistency. According to Goncharov, he “knew the value of rare and expensive properties and spent them so sparingly that he was called an egoist, insensitive...”.
The meaning of the images of Oblomov and Stolz.
Goncharov reflected in Oblomov the typical features of the patriarchal nobility. Oblomov absorbed the contradictory features of the Russian national character.
Stolz in Goncharov’s novel was given the role of a person capable of breaking Oblomovism and reviving the hero. According to critics, the unclear idea of Goncharov about the role of “new people” in society led to the unconvincing image of Stolz. According to Goncharov's plan, Stolz - new type Russian progressive figure. However, he does not depict the hero in a specific activity. The author only informs the reader about what Stolz has been and what he has achieved. By showing Stolz's Parisian life with Olga, Goncharov wants to reveal the breadth of his views, but in fact reduces the hero
So, the image of Stolz in the novel not only clarifies the image of Oblomov, but is also interesting to readers for its originality and complete opposite to the main character. Dobrolyubov says about him: “He is not the person who will be able, in a language understandable to the Russian soul, to tell us this almighty word “forward!” Dobrolyubov, like all revolutionary democrats, saw the ideal of a “man of action” in serving the people, in the revolutionary struggle. Stolz is far from this ideal. However, next to Oblomov and Oblomovism, Stolz was still a progressive phenomenon.
Andrei Ivanovich Stolts has been communicating with Oblomov since childhood and has become his close friend. By character he is a man of action, a practitioner, and by origin he is half German. Stolz's mother is a Russian noblewoman. For all his rationalism, Stolz has a good disposition. The hero is honest, understands people, and at the same time tends to calculate every action and approach everything in life from the side of practical benefit. Stolz was written out as an antipode to Oblomov and should, according to the author’s plan, be perceived as a role model.
Stolz is married to a noblewoman, a woman with whom Oblomov is in love. Olga loved Oblomov at first, but broke up with him. Oblomov was listless and dreamy, before proposing to Olga, he thought a lot and retreated.
Stolz at times brings Oblomov out of his apathy and makes him remember about life, encourages him to get down to business, invest in the establishment of schools, building roads, but Oblomov brushes aside such ideas.
Ilya Oblomov is taken advantage of by scammers, the hero’s affairs and economy pass into their hands, and he himself plunges into even greater inactivity than usual. When Oblomov hears rumors about his own upcoming wedding, the hero is horrified because nothing has been decided for him yet. During this period, Olga visits the hero and, seeing him in such a weak-willed and pitiful state, breaks off this relationship. This is where the love story between Olga and Oblomov ends.
The heroine is not going to get involved in a new relationship, but Stolz convinces Olga that the first relationship turned out to be a mistake and only laid the foundation for new love- to him, Stolz. Olga appreciates hard work and determination in Stolz - something that she did not see in Oblomov. And she trusts her husband unlimitedly, “like a mother.”
Stolz holds progressive (for that time) views on the role of women in society. According to the hero, a woman is called upon to contribute to social life, engaged in raising worthy citizens, and for this she herself must be well educated. Stolz studies with his wife, teaches her science, and these activities bring the spouses even closer together. Stolz argues heatedly with his wife and is surprised at Olga's intelligence.
Stolz saves Oblomov from the clutches of scammers who would otherwise have robbed him completely. Later, Oblomov names his son after Stoltz, who is born to him from a woman from the bureaucratic environment, a landlady with whom Oblomov goes to live. Due to a sedentary lifestyle, Oblomov suffers an early stroke, and Stolz visits a sick friend. During this visit, Oblomov asks Stolz, in the name of friendship, to look after his little son Andrei. When Oblomov dies two years later, the Stolts take his son to be raised.
Image
Stolz is in his early thirties. The hero's appearance emphasizes his character - he is strong, thin, muscular, with high cheekbones, and no excess fat. Goncharov compares the hero to a “blooded English horse.” Stolz has greenish eyes, the hero is dark-skinned, calm in his movements as well as in character. The hero is not characterized by excessive facial expressions, sharp gestures or fussiness.
Stolz's father, a German, came from the burghers and was not a nobleman. The boy was raised in the traditions of the burghers - he was taught to work and practical activities, which Andrei’s mother, a Russian noblewoman, did not like. My father studied geography with Andrey. The hero learned to read from the texts of German writers and biblical verses, and from a young age he helped his father in business, summing up accounts. Later he began to work as a tutor in a small boarding house set up by his father, and received a salary for this, like an ordinary artisan.
By the age of fourteen, the hero already went to the city alone on errands for his father and carried out his assignments exactly, without mistakes, errors or bouts of forgetfulness. Andrei's father forbade his mother to interfere with the boy's activity and keep him with him. Stolz grew up active and was often absent from home for a long time. The young man received a good university education and speaks Russian and German equally well. At the same time, the hero continues to study throughout his life and constantly strives to learn new things.
Portrait of Andrey Stolts Stolz did not receive nobility at birth, but soon rose to the rank of court councilor, which gave the hero the right to personal nobility. Further along career ladder he does not advance, but leaves the service to engage in trade. The company in which Stolz invested is engaged in the export of goods. Andrei was able to increase his father’s fortune many times over, turning forty thousand in capital into three hundred, and bought a house.
Stolz travels a lot and rarely stays at home for long. The hero traveled the length and breadth of Russia, visited abroad, studied at foreign universities and studied Europe “as his estate.” At the same time, Stolz is no stranger to social interaction, attends parties, and knows how to play the piano; interested in science, news and “all life.”
Characteristics of Stolz
The hero is restless, cheerful, firm and even stubborn. Always takes active position: “if society needs to send an agent to Belgium or England, they send him; you need to write some project or adapt a new idea to business - they choose it.” Stolz's time is clearly planned, he does not waste a minute.
At the same time, the hero knows how to restrain unwanted impulses and remain within the boundaries of natural, rational behavior, controls his own feelings well and does not rush to extremes. Stolz is not inclined to blame others for his own failures and easily takes responsibility for the suffering and troubles that have occurred.
Oleg Tabakov and Yuri Bogatyrev as Ilya Oblomov and Andrei Stolts In contrast to Oblomov, the hero does not like to dream, avoids fantasies and everything that cannot be analyzed or applied in practice. Stolz knows how to live within his means, is prudent, is not prone to unjustified risks, and at the same time easily navigates difficult or unfamiliar circumstances. These qualities, coupled with determination, make the hero a good businessman. Stolz loves order in affairs and things, and navigates Oblomov’s affairs better than Oblomov himself.
Actors
The novel "Oblomov" was filmed in 1979. The director of the film entitled “A few days in the life of I. I. Oblomov” was, and the role of Andrei Stolts was played by the actor. Stolz in the film is depicted as cheerful and active person, as it is presented in Goncharov’s novel.
At the same time, the actor admitted that he rather saw himself in the image of Oblomov, and Stolz, whose role Bogatyrev had to play, was in character the complete opposite of the actor himself.
The word “Oblomovism,” which became a household word after the release of the novel, was first heard from Stolz as a characteristic of Oblomov’s lifestyle. This word denoted a tendency toward laziness, apathy, and stagnation in business. In a word, what we would now call “procrastination.”
Quotes
“Labor is the image, content, element and purpose of life. At least mine."
“Life and work itself are the goal of life, not a woman.”
“Man is created to arrange himself and even change his nature.”