dog's heart
As if he had turned grayer lately. The crime matured and fell like a stone, as it usually does. With a sucking bad heart, Poligraf Poligrafovich returned in the truck. Philip Philipovich's voice invited him into the examination room. The surprised Sharikov came and with vague fear looked into the muzzles on the faces of Bormental, and then of Philip Philipovich. A cloud walked around the assistant, and his left hand with the cigarette trembled slightly on the shiny arm of the obstetric chair. Philip Philipovich said with a very ominous calm: “Now take your things, trousers, coat, everything you need, and get out of the apartment.” - How come? – Sharikov was sincerely surprised. “Get out of the apartment today,” Philip Philipovich repeated monotonously, squinting at his nails. Some evil spirit possessed Poligraf Poligrafovich, obviously, death was already watching over him and fate stood behind him. He himself threw himself into the arms of the inevitable and barked angrily and abruptly: “What is this, really?” Why can't I find any justice for you? I am sitting here on sixteen arshins and will continue to sit! “Get out of the apartment,” Philip Philipovich whispered strangledly. Sharikov himself invited his death. He raised left hand and showed Philip Philipovich a bitten shisha with an unbearable cat smell. And then right hand , at the address of the dangerous Bormenthal, took a revolver out of his pocket. Bormental's cigarette fell like a shooting star, and a few seconds later Philip Philipovich, jumping on broken glass, rushed in horror from the closet to the couch. On it, prostrate and wheezing, lay the head of the purification department, and the surgeon Bormental was placed on his chest and suffocated him with a small white pillow. A few minutes later, Dr. Bormental, not looking his best, walked into the front door and pasted a note next to the bell button: “There is no appointment today due to the professor’s illness. They ask us not to bother you with calls.” With a shiny penknife, he cut the bell wire, in the mirror he examined his scratched, bloody face and his tattered, jumping hands. Then he appeared at the kitchen door and said to the wary Zina and Daria Petrovna: “The professor asks you not to leave the apartment.” “Okay,” Zina and Daria Petrovna answered timidly. “Let me lock the back door and take the key,” Bormental spoke, hiding behind the door in the shadows and covering his face with his palm. – This is temporary, not out of distrust of you. But someone will come, and you won’t be able to stand it and open it, but we can’t be disturbed, we’re busy. “Okay,” the women answered and immediately became pale. Bormenthal locked the back door, took the key, locked the front door, locked the door from the corridor to the hall, and his steps disappeared at the observation room. Silence covered the apartment, creeping into all corners. Twilight came, bad, wary, in a word - darkness. True, later the neighbors across the yard said that it was as if all the lights at Preobrazhensky’s were burning in the observation room windows facing the yard that evening, and they even allegedly saw the white cap of the professor himself... It is difficult to verify this. True, Zina, when it was all over, chatted that in the office, by the fireplace, after Bormental and the professor left the examination room, Ivan Arnoldovich scared her to death. Allegedly, he was squatting in the office and burning in the fireplace with his own hand a notebook with a blue cover from the pack in which the medical histories of the professor’s patients were recorded. It was as if the doctor’s face was completely green and everything, well, everything was scratched to smithereens. And Philip Philipovich did not look like himself that evening. And one more thing... However, maybe the innocent girl from the Prechistensky apartment is lying... You can vouch for one thing. There was complete and terrible silence in the apartment that evening. End of the story Epilogue One night, ten days after the battle, a sharp bell rang in the observation room in Professor Preobrazhensky’s apartment on Obukhov Lane. Zina was mortally frightened by voices outside the door: “The criminal police and the investigator.” Kindly open. Footsteps ran, knocked, and began to enter, and a crowd of people found themselves in the reception room sparkling with lights with newly glazed cabinets. Two in police uniform, one in a black coat with a briefcase, the gloating and pale chairman Shvonder, a young woman, the doorman Fyodor, Zina, Daria Petrovna and the half-dressed Bormental, bashfully covering his throat without a tie. The door from the office let Philip Philipovich through. He came out in the well-known azure robe, and everyone could immediately see that Philip Philipovich had gained a lot of weight in the last week. The former imperious and energetic Philip Philipovich, full of dignity, appeared before the overnight guests and apologized for being in a dressing gown. “Don’t be shy, professor,” the man in civilian clothes responded very embarrassedly. Then he hesitated and spoke: “Very unpleasant... We have a search warrant in your apartment and...” the man glanced sideways at Philip Philipovich’s mustache and finished: “and an arrest, depending on the results.” Philip Philipovich narrowed his eyes and asked: “And on what charge, dare I ask, and to whom?” The man scratched his cheek and began to read from a piece of paper from his briefcase: - On the charge of Preobrazhensky, Bormental, Zinaida Bunina and Daria Ivanova in the murder of the head of the cleaning department of M.K.Kh. Polygraph Poligrafovich Sharikov. Zina's sobs covered the end of his words. There was a movement. “I don’t understand anything,” answered Philip Philipovich, raising his shoulders royally, “what kind of Sharikov is this?” Oh, it’s my fault, this dog of mine... whom I operated on? - Sorry, professor, not a dog, but when he was already a man. That's the problem. - So he said? – asked Philip Philipovich. – This does not mean being human! However, it doesn't matter. Sharik still exists, and no one has definitely killed him. “Professor,” the black man spoke in great surprise and raised his eyebrows, “then we’ll have to present it.” It's been ten days since I disappeared, and the data, excuse me, is very bad. “Doctor Bormental, please present Sharik to the investigator,” Philip Philipovich ordered, taking possession of the warrant. Dr. Bormenthal, smiling wryly, left. When he returned and whistled, a dog of strange quality jumped out of the office door behind him. He was bald in spots, and fur grew on him in spots. He came out like a learned circus performer, on his hind legs, then sank down on all fours and looked around. Deathly silence froze in the waiting room like jelly. The nightmarish-looking dog, with a purple scar on his forehead, rose again to the hind legs and, smiling, sat down in a chair. The second policeman suddenly crossed himself with a sweeping cross and, retreating, immediately crushed both of Zina’s legs. The man in black, without closing his mouth, said the following: “How, excuse me?.. He served in the cleaning service...” “I didn’t appoint him there,” answered Philip Philipovich, “Mr. Shvonder gave him a recommendation, if I’m not mistaken.” . “I don’t understand anything,” the black man said confusedly and turned to the first policeman: “Is this him?” “He,” the policeman answered silently, “he is definitely him.” “He’s the same,” Fyodor’s voice was heard, “only, the bastard, he’s grown up again.” - He said that?.. Cough... Cough... - And now he still speaks, but only less and less, so take advantage of the opportunity, otherwise he will soon become completely silent. - But why? – the black man quietly inquired. Philip Philipovich shrugged his shoulders. – Science does not yet know a way to turn animals into people. So I tried, but it was unsuccessful, as you can see. I talked and began to return to a primitive state. Atavism! – Do not use indecent words! – the dog suddenly barked from his chair and stood up. The black man suddenly turned pale, dropped his briefcase and began to fall on his side, the policeman caught him from the side, and Fyodor from behind. There was a commotion, and three phrases were heard most clearly in it: Philip Philipovich: “Valerians! It's fainting." Doctor Bormental: “I will throw Shvonder down the stairs with my own hands if he appears in Professor Preobrazhensky’s apartment again!” And Shvonder: “Please put these words into the protocol!” Gray harmonies of trumpets warmed. The curtains hid the thick Prechistenka night with its lonely star. The supreme being, an important canine philanthropist, was sitting in a chair, and the dog Sharik, slumped, lay on the carpet next to the leather sofa. Due to the March fog, the dog suffered from headaches in the mornings, which tormented him with a ring along the head seam. But from the warmth they went away in the evening. And now it felt lighter, lighter, and the thoughts in the dog’s head flowed coherently and warmly. “I’m so lucky, so lucky,” he thought, dozing off, “simply indescribably lucky. I established myself in this apartment. I am absolutely sure that my origin is unclean. There is a diver here. My grandmother was a slut. The kingdom of heaven to her, old lady. Established. True, for some reason they cut my head all over, but it will heal before the wedding. We have nothing to look at.” In the distance, bottles clinked dully. The one who was bitten was cleaning the examination room cabinets. The gray-haired wizard sat and sang: “To the sacred banks of the Nile...” The dog saw terrible things. Hands in slippery gloves important person I plunged it into the vessel and took out the brains. A persistent man persistently sought something in them, cut, examined, squinted and sang: - “To the banks of the sacred Nile...” January - March 1925 Moscow Notes 1 My word of honor (from the French parole d "honneur). 2 Later (German). 3 Good (German). 4 Careful (German).! https://lbuckshee.com/ Forum Bakshi buckshee. Healthy image life. http://petimer.ru/ Online store, website Online clothing store Online shoe store Online store http://worksites.ru/ Development of online stores. Creation of corporate websites. Integration, Hosting. http://filosoff.org/ Philosophy, philosophers of the world, philosophical movements. Biography http://dostoevskiyfyodor.ru/ website http://petimer.com/ Happy reading!
Bulgakov wrote the story “Heart of a Dog” in 1925. At this time, ideas of improving the human race with the help of advanced scientific achievements were very popular. Bulgakov's hero, the world-famous professor Preobrazhensky, in an attempt to unravel the secret of eternal youth, accidentally makes a discovery that allows him to surgically transform an animal into a human. However, an experiment to transplant a human pituitary gland into a dog gives a completely unexpected result.
To get acquainted with the most important details of the work, we suggest reading summary Bulgakov's story “The Heart of a Dog” chapter by chapter online on our website.
Main characters
Ball- a stray dog. To some extent a philosopher, intelligent in everyday life, observant and even learned to read signs.
Polygraph Poligrafovich Sharikov– A ball after an operation to implant a human pituitary gland into the brain, taken from the drunkard and rowdy Klim Chugunkin, who died in a tavern fight.
Professor Philip Preobrazhensky- a medical genius, an elderly intellectual of the old school, extremely dissatisfied with the offensive new era and who hates her hero, a proletarian, for his lack of education and unfounded ambitions.
Ivan Arnoldovich Bormental- a young doctor, a student of Preobrazhensky, who deifies his teacher and shares his beliefs.
Shvonder- Chairman of the house committee at Preobrazhensky’s place of residence, the bearer and disseminator of the communist ideas so disliked by the professor. He is trying to educate Sharikov in the spirit of these ideas.
Other characters
Zina- Preobrazhensky’s maid, a young impressionable girl. Combines housework duties with nursing duties.
Daria Petrovna- Preobrazhensky's cook, a middle-aged woman.
Young lady typist- Sharikov’s subordinate and failed wife.
Chapter first
The stray dog Sharik freezes to death in a Moscow gateway. Suffering from pain in his side, on which the evil cook splashed boiling water, he ironically and philosophically describes his unhappy life, Moscow life and types of people, of which, in his opinion, the most vile are janitors and doormen. A certain gentleman in a fur coat appears in the dog’s field of vision and feeds him cheap sausage. Sharik loyally follows him, along the way wondering who his benefactor is, since even the doorman in a rich house, the terror of stray dogs, talks to him obsequiously.
From a conversation with the doorman, the gentleman in a fur coat learns that “tenants have been moved into the third apartment,” and he perceives the news with horror, although his personal living space will not be affected by the upcoming “densification.”
Chapter two
Having been brought to a rich, warm apartment, Sharik, who decided to make a scandal out of fear, is euthanized with chloroform and treated. After this, the dog, no longer bothered by his side, watches with curiosity as he sees patients. There is an elderly womanizer and an elderly rich lady in love with a handsome young gambler. And everyone wants one thing - rejuvenation. Preobrazhensky is ready to help them - for good money.
In the evening, the professor is visited by members of the house committee, led by Shvonder - they want Preobrazhensky to give away two of his seven rooms in order to “compact”. The professor calls one of his influential patients with a complaint about the arbitrariness and invites him, if so, to undergo surgery with Shvonder, and he himself will leave for Sochi. As they leave, members of the house committee accuse Preobrazhensky of hating the proletariat.
Chapter Three
Over lunch, Preobrazhensky rants about food culture and the proletariat, recommending not reading Soviet newspapers before lunch to avoid digestive problems. He is sincerely perplexed and indignant at how it is possible to stand up for the rights of workers all over the world and steal galoshes at the same time. Hearing a meeting of fellow tenants singing revolutionary songs behind the wall, the professor comes to the conclusion: “If, instead of operating every evening, I start singing in chorus in my apartment, I will be in ruins. If, entering the restroom, I start, excuse the expression, urinating past the toilet and Zina and Daria Petrovna do the same, devastation will begin in the restroom. Consequently, the devastation is not in the closets, but in the heads. This means that when these baritones shout “beat the destruction!” - I am laughing. I swear to you, I find it funny! This means that each of them must hit himself in the back of the head! .
There is also talk about the future of Sharik, and the intrigue has not yet been revealed, but the pathologists familiar to Bormental promised to immediately inform about the appearance of a “suitable corpse”, and for now the dog will be observed.
They buy Sharik a status collar, he eats deliciously, and his side finally heals. The dog is playing pranks, but when the indignant Zina offers to tear him out, the professor strictly forbids this: “You can’t tear anyone up, you can influence a person and an animal only by suggestion.”
As soon as Sharik has settled down in the apartment, suddenly after the phone call there is a rush of running around, the professor demands lunch earlier. Sharik, deprived of food, is locked in the bathroom, after which he is dragged into the examination room and given anesthesia.
Chapter Four
Preobrazhensky and Bormental operate on Sharik. He is implanted with testes and a pituitary gland taken from a fresh human corpse. This should, according to doctors, open new horizons in their research into the mechanism of rejuvenation.
The professor, not without sadness, assumes that the dog will definitely not survive after such an operation, just like those animals that came before him.
Chapter Five
Dr. Bormental's diary is a history of Sharik's illness, which describes the changes occurring in the operated dog, which still survived. His hair falls out, the shape of his skull changes, his barking becomes similar to a human voice, and his bones grow quickly. He utters strange words - it turns out that street dog I learned to read signs, but I read some from the end. The young doctor makes an enthusiastic conclusion - changing the pituitary gland does not give rejuvenation, but complete humanization - and emotionally calls his teacher a genius. However, the professor himself gloomily sits over the medical history of the man whose pituitary gland was transplanted to Sharik.
Chapter Six
Doctors are trying to nurture their creation, instill the necessary skills, and educate. Sharik's taste in clothes, his speech and habits unnerve the intelligent Preobrazhensky. There are posters hanging around the apartment prohibiting swearing, spitting, throwing cigarette butts, and gnawing seeds. Sharik himself has a passive-aggressive attitude towards education: “They grabbed the animal, slashed its head with a knife, and now they abhor it.” After talking with the house committee, former dog confidently uses clerical terms and demands to issue an identity card for him. He chooses the name “Poligraf Poligrafovich” for himself, and takes the “hereditary” surname - Sharikov.
The professor expresses a desire to buy any room in the house and evict Poligraf Poligrafovich there, but Shvonder gloatingly refuses him, recalling their ideological conflict. Soon a communal disaster occurs in the professor's apartment: Sharikov chased the cat and caused a flood in the bathroom.
Chapter Seven
Sharikov drinks vodka at dinner, like an experienced alcoholic. Looking at this, the professor sighs incomprehensibly: “Nothing can be done - Klim.” In the evening, Sharikov wants to go to the circus, but when Preobrazhensky offers him a more cultural entertainment - the theater, he refuses, because this is “one counter-revolution.” The professor is going to give Sharikov something to read, at least Robinson, but he is already reading the correspondence between Engels and Kautsky, given to him by Shvonder. True, he manages to understand little - except perhaps “take everything and divide it.” Hearing this, the professor invites him to “share” the lost profit from the fact that on the day of the flood the appointment of patients was disrupted - to pay 130 rubles “for the faucet and for the cat,” and orders Zina to burn the book.
Having sent Sharikov, accompanied by Bormental, to the circus, Preobrazhensky looks for a long time at the preserved pituitary gland of the dog Sharik and says: “By God, I think I’ll make up my mind.”
Chapter Eight
A new scandal - Sharikov, waving documents, claims living space in the professor’s apartment. He promises to shoot Shvonder and, in exchange for eviction, threatens Polygraph with deprivation of food. Sharikov quiets down, but not for long - he stole two ducats from the professor’s office, and tried to blame the theft on Zina, got drunk and brought drinking buddies into the house, after whose expulsion Preobrazhensky lost his malachite ashtray, beaver hat and favorite cane.
Over cognac, Bormental confesses his love and respect to Preobrazhensky and offers to personally feed Sharikov arsenic. The professor objects - he, a world-famous scientist, will be able to avoid responsibility for murder, but the young doctor is unlikely. He sadly admits his scientific mistake: “I sat for five years, picking out appendages from brains... And now, the question arises - why? So that one day sweetest dog turn into such scum that your hair stands on end. […] Two criminal records, alcoholism, “divide everything”, a hat and two ducats are missing, a boor and a pig... In a word, the pituitary gland is a closed chamber that defines a given human person. Given!” Meanwhile, the pituitary gland for Sharikov was taken from a certain Klim Chugunkin, a repeat offender, alcoholic and rowdy, who played the balalaika in taverns and was stabbed to death in a drunken brawl. Doctors gloomily imagine what kind of nightmare, given such “heredity,” Sharikov could get out of under the influence of Shvonder.
At night, Daria Petrovna kicks the drunken Polygraph out of the kitchen, Bormenthal promises to make a scandal with him in the morning, but Sharikov disappears, and upon returning, he reports that he has got a job - the head of the department for clearing Moscow of stray animals.
A young lady typist appears in the apartment, whom Sharikov introduces as his bride. They open her eyes to Polygraph’s lies - he is not the commander of the Red Army at all and was not wounded at all in battles with the whites, as he claimed in a conversation with the girl. Sharikov, exposed, threatens the typist with layoffs; Bormental takes the girl under protection and promises to shoot Sharikov.
Chapter Nine
His former patient comes to the professor - influential man in military uniform. From his story, Preobrazhensky learns that Sharikov wrote a denunciation against him and Bormental - they allegedly made death threats against Poligraf and Shvonder, made counter-revolutionary speeches, illegally stored weapons, etc. After this, Sharikov is categorically asked to get out of the apartment, but he first becomes stubborn, then becomes impudent, and in the end even pulls out a pistol. The doctors subdue him, disarm him and sedate him with chloroform, after which a ban on anyone entering or leaving the apartment sounds and some activity begins in the examination room.
Chapter Ten (Epilogue)
The police come to the professor’s apartment on a tip from Shvonder. They have a search warrant and, based on the results, an arrest on charges of murdering Sharikov.
However, Preobrazhensky is calm - he says that his laboratory creature suddenly and inexplicably degraded from a human back into a dog, and shows the police and the investigator a strange creature in which the features of Poligraf Poligrafovich are still recognizable.
The dog Sharik, who had his canine pituitary gland restored through a second operation, remains to live and blissfully live in the professor’s apartment, never understanding why he was “slashed all over his head.”
Conclusion
In the story “Heart of a Dog” Bulgakov, in addition to philosophical motive punishment for interfering with nature, outlined his characteristic themes, stigmatizing ignorance, cruelty, abuse of power and stupidity. The carriers of these shortcomings for him are the new “masters of life” who want to change the world, but do not have the wisdom and humanism necessary for this. The main idea of the work is “the devastation is not in the closets, but in the heads.”
Brief retelling“The Heart of a Dog” chapter by chapter is not enough to fully appreciate the artistic merits of this work, so we recommend that you take the time and read this short story fully. We also advise you to familiarize yourself with the two-part film of the same name by Vladimir Bortko from 1988, which is quite close to the literary original.
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The great Russian writer is widely known for his brilliant and, at the same time, humorous works. His books have long been dismantled into quotes, witty and apt. And even if not everyone knows who wrote “Heart of a Dog,” many have seen the magnificent movie based on this story.
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Plot Summary
How many chapters are in “Heart of a Dog” - including the epilogue 10. The action of the work takes place in Moscow at the beginning of winter 1924.
- First, the dog's monologue is described, in which the dog appears smart, observant, lonely and grateful to the one who fed it.
- The dog feels how its beaten body hurts, remembers how the windshield wipers beat it and poured boiling water on it. The dog feels sorry for all these poor people, but more for himself. How compassionate women and passers-by fed me.
- A passing gentleman (Professor Preobrazhensky) treats her to Krakow-quality boiled sausage and invites her to follow him. The dog walks obediently.
- The following tells how the dog Sharik acquired his abilities. And the dog knows a lot - colors, some letters. In the apartment, Preobrazhensky calls Dr. Bormental's assistant, and the dog feels that he has again fallen into a trap.
- All attempts to fight back do not yield results and darkness sets in. Nevertheless, the animal woke up, albeit bandaged. Sharik hears how the professor teaches him to treat him kindly and carefully, to feed him well.
The dog woke up
Preobrazhensky takes the well-fed and well-fed dog with him to the reception. Then Sharik sees patients: an old man with green hair who feels like a young man again, an old woman in love with a sharper and asking to have monkey ovaries transplanted into her, and many, many others. Unexpectedly, four visitors from the management of the house arrived, all in leather jackets, boots and dissatisfied with how many rooms there were in the professor’s apartment. After calling and talking with the unknown person, they leave embarrassedly.
Further events:
- The lunch of Professor Preobrazhensky and the doctor is described. While eating, the scientist talks about how he brought only destruction and deprivation. Galoshes are stolen, apartments are not heated, rooms are taken away. The dog is happy because he is well-fed, warm, and nothing hurts. Unexpectedly, in the morning after the call, the dog was again taken to the examination room and euthanized.
- An operation is described to transplant the seminal glands and pituitary gland into Sharik from a criminal and brawler killed during arrest.
- The following are excerpts from the diary kept by Ivan Arnoldovich Bormental. The doctor describes how the dog gradually becomes a human: it stands on its hind legs, then its legs, begins to read and speak.
- The situation in the apartment is changing. People walk around depressed, there are signs of disorder everywhere. Balayka is playing. A former ball has settled in the apartment - a short, rude, aggressive little man who demands a passport and comes up with a name for himself - Poligraph Poligrafovich Sharikov. He is not embarrassed by the past and does not care about anyone. Most of all, Polygraph hates cats.
- Lunch is described again. Sharikov changed everything - the professor swears and refuses to accept patients. The polygraph was quickly adopted by the communists and taught their ideals, which turned out to be close to him.
- Sharikov demands to be recognized as the heir, to allocate a part in Professor Preobrazhensky’s apartment and to obtain registration.
- Then he tries to rape the professor's cook.
- Sharikov gets a job catching stray animals. According to him, cats will be made into “polts”. He blackmails the typist into living with him, but the doctor saves her. The professor wants to kick Sharikov out, but we threaten him with a pistol. They twist him and there is silence.
Main characters
The symbol of science in this story becomes the luminary of medicine - the professor, the name of Preobrazhensky from the story “The Heart of a Dog,” Philip Philipovich. The scientist is looking for ways to rejuvenate the body, and finds - this is the transplantation of the seminal glands of animals. Old people become men, women hope to lose ten years. The transplantation of the pituitary gland and testes, and the heart that was transplanted into the dog in “Heart of a Dog” from a murdered criminal is just another experiment of the famous scientist.
His assistant, Doctor Bormenthal, a young representative of miraculously preserved noble norms and decency, was the best student and remained a faithful follower.
The former dog - Polygraph Poligrafovich Sharikov - is a victim of the experiment. Those who just watched the movie especially remembered what the hero from “Heart of a Dog” played. Obscene couplets and jumping on a stool became the author's find of the scriptwriters. In the story, Sharikov simply strummed without interruption, which terribly annoyed Professor Preobrazhensky, who appreciated classical music.
So, for the sake of this image of a driven, stupid, rude and ungrateful man, the story was written. Sharikov just wants to live beautifully and eat deliciously, does not understand beauty, the norms of relationships between people, lives by instincts. But Professor Preobrazhensky believes that the former dog is not dangerous for him; Sharikov will do much more harm to Shvonder and the other communists who look after and teach him. After all, this created man carries within himself all the lowest and worst that is inherent in man, and does not have any moral guidelines.
The criminal and organ donor Klim Chugunkin seems to be only mentioned in “Heart of a Dog,” but it was him negative qualities switched to a kind and smart dog.
Theory of the origin of images
Already in last years existence of the USSR, they began to say that the prototype of Professor Preobrazhensky was Lenin, and Sharikov’s was Stalin. Their historical relationship is similar to the story with the dog.
Lenin brought the wild criminal Dzhugashvili closer, believing in his ideological content. This man was a useful and desperate communist, he prayed for their ideals and did not spare his life and health.
True, in recent years, as some close associates believed, the leader of the proletariat realized the true essence of Joseph Dzhugashvili and even wanted to remove him from his circle. But animal cunning and rage helped Stalin not only hold out, but also take a leadership position. And this is indirectly confirmed by the fact that, despite the year “Heart of a Dog” was written - 1925, the story was published in the 80s.
Important! This idea is supported by several allusions. For example, Preobrazhensky loves the opera “Aida”, and Lenin’s mistress Inessa Armand. The typist Vasnetsova, who repeatedly appears in close connection with the characters, also has a prototype - the typist Bokshanskaya, also associated with two historical figures. Bokshanskaya became Bulgakov’s friend.
Problems posed by the author
Bulgakov, confirming the status of a great Russian writer, in a relatively short story was able to put a series of extremely acute problems, still relevant today.
First
The problem of the consequences of scientific experiments and the moral right of scientists to interfere with the natural course of development. Preobrazhensky first wants to slow down the passage of time, rejuvenating old people for money and dreaming of finding a way to restore youth to everyone.
The scientist is not afraid to use risky methods when transplanting animal ovaries. But when the result is a human, the professor first tries to educate him, and then generally returns him to the appearance of a dog. And from the moment Sharik realizes that he is a human, that same scientific dilemma begins: who is considered a human, and whether the scientist’s action will be considered murder.
Second
The problem of relations, or more precisely, the confrontation between the rebel proletariat and the surviving nobility, was painful and bloody.
The impudence and aggressiveness of Shvonder and those who came with them is not an exaggeration, but rather a frightening reality of those years.
Sailors, soldiers, workers and people from the bottom filled the cities and estates quickly and brutally. The country was flooded with blood, former rich people were starving, gave their last for a loaf of bread and hastily went abroad. A few were able not only to survive, but also to maintain their standard of living. They still hated them, although they were afraid of them.
Third The problem of general devastation and the error of the chosen path has arisen more than once in Bulgakov’s works. The writer mourned the old order, culture and the smartest people
dying under the pressure of the crowd.
Bulgakov - prophet
And yet, what did the author want to say in “Heart of a Dog”. Many readers and fans of his work feel such a prophetic motive. It was as if Bulgakov was showing the communists what kind of man of the future, a homunculus, they were growing in their red test tubes.
An expected discovery, a breakthrough in science, a new word in the social order turns out to be just a stupid, cruel, criminal, strumming a balayka, strangling unfortunate animals, those from among whom he himself came. Sharikov’s goal is to take away the room and steal money from “daddy.”
“Heart of a Dog” by M. A. Bulgakov - Summary
Dog's heart. Michael Bulgakov
Conclusion
The only way out for Professor Preobrazhensky from “Heart of a Dog” is to pull himself together and admit the failure of the experiment. The scientist finds the strength to admit his own mistake and correct it. Will others be able to do this...
What is the book “Heart of a Dog” about? Bulgakov's ironic story tells about the failed experiment of Professor Preobrazhensky. What is it? In search of an answer to the question of how to “rejuvenate” humanity. Does the hero manage to find the answer he is looking for? No. But he comes to a result that is more important for society high level significance than the intended experiment.
Kiev resident Bulgakov decided to become a singer of Moscow, its houses and streets. This is how the Moscow chronicles were born. The story was written in Prechistinsky Lanes at the request of the Nedra magazine, which was well acquainted with the writer’s work. The chronology of the writing of the work fits into three months of 1925.
Being a doctor, Mikhail Alexandrovich continued the dynasty of his family, describing in detail in the book an operation to “rejuvenate” a person. Moreover, the famous Moscow doctor N.M. Pokrovsky, the uncle of the author of the story, became the prototype of Professor Preobrazhensky.
The first reading of the typewritten material took place at a meeting of the Nikitsky Subbotniks, which immediately became known to the country’s leadership. In May 1926, a search was carried out at the Bulgakovs’ place, the result of which was not long in coming: the manuscript was confiscated. The writer’s plan to publish his work did not come true. The Soviet reader saw the book only in 1987.
Main problems
It was not for nothing that the book disturbed the vigilant guardians of thought. Bulgakov managed to gracefully and subtly, but still quite clearly reflect the pressing issues of the day - the challenges of new times. The problems in the story “Heart of a Dog” that the author touches on do not leave readers indifferent. The writer discusses the ethics of science, the moral responsibility of a scientist for his experiments, the possibility of the disastrous consequences of scientific adventurism and ignorance. A technical breakthrough could turn into a moral decline.
The problem of scientific progress is acutely felt at the moment of its powerlessness before the transformation of the consciousness of a new person. The professor dealt with his body, but could not control his spirit, so Preobrazhensky had to give up his ambitions and correct his mistake - stop competing with the universe and return dog's heart to the owner. Artificial people were unable to justify their proud title and become full-fledged members of society. In addition, endless rejuvenation could jeopardize the very idea of progress, because if new generations do not naturally replace the old ones, then the development of the world will stop.
Are attempts to change the country's mentality for the better completely fruitless? The Soviet government tried to eradicate the prejudices of past centuries - this is the process behind the metaphor of Sharikov’s creation. Here he is, the proletarian, the new Soviet citizen, his creation is possible. However, its creators face the problem of education: they cannot calm down their creation and teach it to be cultured, educated and moral with a full set of revolutionary consciousness, class hatred and blind faith in the correctness and infallibility of the party. Why? This is impossible: either a pipe or a jug.
Human defenselessness in the whirlwind of events associated with the construction of a socialist society, hatred of violence and hypocrisy, the absence and suppression of the remaining human dignity in all its manifestations - all these are slaps in the face with which the author branded his era, and all because it does not value individuality . Collectivization affected not only the village, but also souls. It became more and more difficult to remain an individual, because the public laid more and more rights on her. General equalization and equalization did not make people happier, but turned them into ranks of meaningless biorobots, where the tone is set by the most dull and mediocre of them. Rudeness and stupidity have become the norm in society, replacing revolutionary consciousness, and in the image of Sharikov we see a verdict on a new type Soviet man. From the rule of the Shvonders and others like them arise the problems of trampling on intelligence and the intelligentsia, the power of dark instincts in the life of an individual, total gross interference in the natural course of things...
Some questions posed in the work remain unanswered to this day.
What is the point of the book?
People have long been looking for answers to the questions: What is a person? What is its social purpose? What role does everyone play in creating an environment that would be “comfortable” for those living on planet Earth? What are the “paths” to this “comfortable community”? Is a consensus possible between people of different social origins, holding opposing views on certain issues of existence, occupying alternative “steps” in the intellectual and cultural development? And, of course, it is important to understand the simple truth that society develops thanks to unexpected discoveries in one or another branch of science. But can these “discoveries” always be called progressive? Bulgakov answers all these questions with his characteristic irony.
A person is a personality, and the development of a personality implies independence, which is denied to a Soviet citizen. The social purpose of people is to do their job masterfully and not interfere with others. However, Bulgakov’s “conscious” heroes only chant slogans, but do not work to translate them into reality. Each of us, in the name of comfort, must be tolerant of dissent and not prevent people from practicing it. And again in the USSR everything is exactly the opposite: Preobrazhensky’s talent is forced to fight to defend his right to help patients, and his point of view is brazenly condemned and persecuted by some nonentities. They can live in peace if everyone minds their own business, but there is no equality in nature and there cannot be, because from birth we are all different from each other. It is impossible to maintain it artificially, since Shvonder cannot begin to operate brilliantly, and the professor cannot begin to play the balalaika. Imposed, unreal equality will only harm people and prevent them from adequately assessing their place in the world and occupying it with dignity.
Humanity needs discoveries, this is understandable. But there is no point in reinventing the wheel - trying to reproduce a person artificially, for example. If the natural method is still possible, why does it need an analogue, and even such a labor-intensive one? People face many other, more significant threats that require the full power of scientific intelligence to be addressed.
Main topics
The story is multifaceted. The author touches on important topics that are characteristic not only of the era of the beginning of the twentieth century, but are also “eternal”: good and evil, science and morality, morality, human destiny, attitude towards animals, building a new state, homeland, sincere human relations. I would especially like to highlight the topic of the creator’s responsibility for his creation. The struggle between ambition and integrity in the professor ended with the victory of humanism over pride. He accepted his mistakes, admitted defeat, and used the experience to correct his mistakes. This is exactly what every creator should do.
Also relevant in the work is the theme of individual freedom and the boundaries that society, like the state, has no right to cross. Bulgakov insists that a full-fledged person is one who has free will and beliefs. Only he can develop the idea of socialism without caricatured forms and branches that disfigure the idea. The crowd is blind and always driven by primitive incentives. But the individual is capable of self-control and self-development; she must be given the will to work and live for the good of society, and not be turned against it by vain attempts at forced merger.
Satire and humor
The book opens with a monologue from a stray dog addressed to “citizens” and giving precise characteristics of Muscovites and the city itself. The population “through the eyes” of a dog is heterogeneous (which is true!): citizens – comrades – gentlemen. “Citizens” shop at the Tsentrokhoz cooperative, and “gentlemen” shop at Okhotny Ryad. Why do rich people need a rotten horse? You can only get this “poison” in Mosselprom.
You can “recognize” a person by their eyes: who is “dry in the soul,” who is aggressive, and who is a “lack.” The last one is the nastiest. If you are afraid, you are the one who should be “plucked.” The most vile “scum” are the wipers: they sweep away “human cleaning”.
But the cook is an important object. Nutrition is a serious indicator of the state of society. So, the lordly cook of Count Tolstoy is a real person, and the cooks from the Council of Normal Nutrition do things that are indecent even for a dog. If I became chairman, then I actively steal. Ham, tangerines, wines - these are the “former brothers of Elisha.” The doorman is worse than cats. He lets a stray dog pass, ingratiating himself with the professor.
The education system “presumes” Muscovites to be “educated” and “uneducated.” Why learn to read? “The meat smells a mile away.” But if you have any brains, you will learn to read and write without taking courses, like, for example, a stray dog. The beginning of Sharikov’s education was in an electrical store, where a tramp “tasted” insulated wire.
The techniques of irony, humor and satire are often used in combination with tropes: similes, metaphors and personification. Special satirical device can be considered a way of initially presenting characters based on preliminary descriptive characteristics: “mysterious gentleman”, “rich eccentric” - Professor Preobrazhensky”; “handsome bitten”, “bitten” - Dr. Bormenthal; “someone”, “fruit” - visitor. Sharikov’s inability to communicate with residents and formulate his demands gives rise to humorous situations and questions.
If we talk about the state of the press, then through the mouth of Fyodor Fedorovich the writer discusses the case when, as a result of reading Soviet newspapers before lunch, patients lost weight. The professor’s assessment of the existing system through the “hanger” and “galosh stand” is interesting: until 1917, the front doors were not closed, since dirty shoes and outer clothing was left below. After March all the galoshes disappeared.
main idea
In his book M.A. Bulgakov warned that violence is a crime. All life on earth has the right to exist. This is an unwritten law of nature that must be followed to avoid the point of no return. It is necessary to maintain purity of soul and thoughts throughout your life, so as not to indulge internal aggression, not to splash it out. Therefore, the professor’s violent intervention in the natural course of things is condemned by the writer, and therefore leads to such monstrous consequences.
The Civil War hardened society, made it marginal, boorish and vulgar at its core. These are the fruits of violent interference in the life of the country. All of Russia in the 20s was rude and ignorant Sharikov, who did not at all strive for work. His goals are less lofty and more selfish. Bulgakov warned his contemporaries against such a development of events, ridiculing the vices of a new type of people and showing their inconsistency.
The main characters and their characteristics
- The central figure of the book is Professor Preobrazhensky. Wears glasses with gold frames. Lives in a rich apartment consisting of seven rooms. He's lonely. He devotes all his time to work. Philip Philipovich conducts receptions at home, sometimes he operates here. Patients call him “magician”, “sorcerer”. He “creates,” often accompanying his actions by singing excerpts from operas. Loves the theater. I am convinced that every person should strive to become a specialist in their field. The professor is an excellent speaker. His judgments are built into a clear logical chain. He says about himself that he is a man of observation and facts. While leading a discussion, he gets carried away, gets excited, and sometimes starts shouting if the problem touches him to the quick. His attitude towards the new system is manifested in his statements about terror, paralyzing nervous system people, about newspapers, about the devastation in the country. Treats animals with care: “I’m hungry, poor thing.” In relation to living beings, he preaches only affection and the impossibility of any violence. Instilling humane truths is the only way to influence all living things. An interesting detail in the interior of the professor’s apartment is a huge owl sitting on the wall, a symbol of wisdom, so necessary not only for a world-famous scientist, but for every person. At the end of the “experiment”, he finds the courage to admit that the experiment rejuvenation failed.
- Young, handsome Ivan Arnoldovich Bormental, an assistant professor, who fell in love with him and took him in as a promising young man. Philip Philipovich hoped that the doctor would become a talented scientist in the future. During the operation, literally everything flashes in the hands of Ivan Arnoldovich. The doctor is not just scrupulous about his duties. The doctor's diary, as a strict medical report-observation of the patient's condition, reflects the whole gamut of his feelings and experiences about the result of the “experiment”.
- Shvonder is the chairman of the house committee. All his actions resemble the convulsions of a puppet, which is controlled by someone invisible. The speech is confused, the same words are repeated, which sometimes causes a condescending smile in the readers. Shvonder doesn't even have a name. He sees his task as fulfilling the will of the new government, without thinking about whether it is good or bad. He is capable of taking any step to achieve his goal. Vengeful, he distorts the facts and slanderes many people.
- Sharikov is a creature, something, the result of an “experiment”. A sloping and low forehead indicates the level of its development. Uses everything in his vocabulary swear words. An attempt to teach him good manners and instill a taste for beauty was unsuccessful: he gets drunk, steals, mocks women, cynically insults people, strangles cats, “commits bestial acts.” As they say, nature rests on it, because you can’t go against it.
The main motives of Bulgakov's creativity
The versatility of Bulgakov's creativity is amazing. It’s as if you are traveling through the works, encountering familiar motifs. Love, greed, totalitarianism, morality are just parts of one whole, “wandering” from book to book and creating a single thread.
- “Notes on Cuffs” and “Heart of a Dog” convey a belief in human kindness. This motif is central in The Master and Margarita.
- In the story "Diaboliad" the fate of little man, an ordinary cog in the bureaucratic machine. This motif is characteristic of other works by the author. The system suppresses them in people best qualities, and the scary thing is that over time this becomes the norm for the people. In the novel “The Master and Margarita,” writers whose creations did not correspond to the ruling ideology were kept in a “psychiatric hospital.” Professor Preobrazhensky talked about his observations: when he gave patients the Pravda newspaper to read before lunch, they lost weight. It was impossible to find anything that would help broaden one’s horizons and allow one to look at events from opposite angles in the periodical press.
- Selfishness is what most people are motivated by negative characters Bulgakov's books. For example, Sharikov from “Heart of a Dog”. And how many troubles could have been avoided, provided that the “red ray” would have been used for its intended purpose, and not for selfish purposes (the story “Fatal Eggs”)? The basis of these works are experiments that go against nature. It is noteworthy that Bulgakov identified the experiment with the construction of socialism in the Soviet Union, which is dangerous for society as a whole.
- The main motive of the writer’s work is the motive of his native home. The comfort in Philip Philipovich’s apartment (“a lamp under a silk lampshade”) resembles the atmosphere of the Turbins’ house. Home is family, homeland, Russia, about which the writer’s heart ached. With all his creativity, he wished well-being and prosperity for his homeland.
Michael Bulgakov
DOG'S HEART
Woo-hoo-goo-goo-goo! Oh look at me, I'm dying. The blizzard in the gateway howls at me, and I howl with it. I'm lost, I'm lost. A scoundrel in a dirty cap - a cook in the canteen of Normal Nutrition for Employees of the Central Council of National Economy - splashed boiling water and scalded my left side. What a reptile, and also a proletarian. Lord, my God - how painful it is! It was eaten to the bones by boiling water. Now I’m howling, howling, but howling can I help?
How did I bother him? Will I really eat the Council of the National Economy if I rummage through the trash? Greedy creature! Just look at his face someday: he’s wider across himself. Thief with a copper face. Ah, people, people. At noon the cap treated me to boiling water, and now it’s dark, about four o’clock in the afternoon, judging by the smell of onions from the Prechistensky fire brigade. Firemen eat porridge for dinner, as you know. But this is the last thing, like mushrooms. Familiar dogs from Prechistenka, however, told me that on Neglinny in the Bar restaurant they eat the usual dish - mushrooms, pican sauce for three rubles seventy-five kopecks per serving. This is not an acquired taste - it’s like licking a galosh... Oooh-ooh-ooh...
My side hurts unbearably, and the distance of my career is visible to me quite clearly: tomorrow ulcers will appear and, one wonders, how will I treat them? In the summer you can go to Sokolniki, there is a special, very good weed there, and besides, you will get drunk on free sausage heads, the citizens will scribble on greasy paper, you will get drunk. And if it weren’t for some grimza that sings in the circle under the moon - “dear Aida” - so that your heart falls, it would be great. Now where will you go? Did they hit you on the behind with a boot? They beat me. Did you get hit in the ribs with a brick? There is enough food. I have experienced everything, I am at peace with my fate, and if I cry now, it is only from physical pain and cold, because my spirit has not yet died out... The dog’s spirit is tenacious.
But my body is broken, beaten, people have abused it enough. After all, the main thing is that when he hit it with boiling water, it was eaten under the fur, and, therefore, there is no protection for the left side. I can very easily get pneumonia, and if I get it, I, citizens, will die of hunger. With pneumonia, one is supposed to lie on the front door under the stairs, but who, instead of me, a lying single dog, will run through the trash bins in search of food? It will grab my lung, I will crawl on my stomach, I will weaken, and any specialist will beat me to death with a stick. And the wipers with plaques will grab me by the legs and throw me onto the cart...
Janitors are the most vile scum of all proletarians. Human cleaning is the lowest category. The cook is different. For example, the late Vlas from Prechistenka. How many lives did he save? Because the most important thing during illness is to intercept the bite. And so, it happened, the old dogs say, Vlas would wave a bone, and on it there would be an eighth of meat on it. God bless him for being a real person, the lordly cook of Count Tolstoy, and not from the Council for Normal Nutrition. What they do there in a normal diet is incomprehensible to a dog’s mind. After all, they, the bastards, cook cabbage soup from stinking corned beef, and those poor fellows don’t know anything. They run, eat, lap.
Some typist receives four and a half chervonets for the ninth grade, well, however, her lover will give her fildepers stockings. Why, how much abuse does she have to endure for this phildepers? After all, he doesn’t do it in any ordinary way, but exposes her to French love. These French are bastards, just between you and me. Although they eat it richly, and all with red wine. Yes... The typist will come running, because you can’t go to the “Bar” for four and a half. She doesn’t even have enough for cinema, and cinema is the only consolation in life for women. He trembles, winces, and eats... Just think: forty kopecks from two dishes, and both of these dishes are not worth five altyn, because the supply manager stole the remaining twenty-five kopecks. Does she really need such a table? The top of her right lung is not in order, and she has a female disease on French soil, she was deducted from service, fed rotten meat in the dining room, here she is, there she is... Runs into the gateway in lover's stockings. Her feet are cold, there is a draft in her stomach, because the fur on her is like mine, and she wears cold pants, just a lace appearance. Rubbish for a lover. Put her on flannel, try it, he’ll shout: how graceful you are! I'm tired of my Matryona, I'm tired of flannel pants, now my time has come. I am now the chairman, and no matter how much I steal, it’s all female body, on cancer necks, on Abrau-Durso. Because I was hungry enough when I was young, that’s enough for me, but there is no afterlife.
I feel sorry for her, I feel sorry for her! But I feel even more sorry for myself. I’m not saying this out of selfishness, oh no, but because we really are not on an equal footing. At least she’s warm at home, but for me, but for me... Where am I going to go? Woo-oo-oo-oo!..
Whoop, whoop, whoop! Sharik, and Sharik... Why are you whining, poor thing? Who hurt you? Uh...
The witch, a dry blizzard, rattled the gates and hit the young lady on the ear with a broom. She fluffed up her skirt to her knees, exposed her cream stockings and a narrow strip of poorly washed lace underwear, strangled her words and covered up the dog.
My God... What is the weather... Wow... And my stomach hurts. This is corned beef, this is corned beef! And when will this all end?
Bowing her head, the young lady rushed into the attack, broke through the gate, and on the street she began to twist, twist, and scatter, then she was screwed in with a snow screw, and she disappeared.
But the dog remained in the gateway and, suffering from a disfigured side, pressed himself against the cold wall, suffocated and firmly decided that he would not go anywhere else from here, and then he would die in the gateway. Despair overwhelmed him. His soul was so painful and bitter, so lonely and scary, that small dog tears, like pimples, crawled out of his eyes and immediately dried up. The damaged side stuck out in matted, frozen lumps, and between them were red, ominous spots of scald. How senseless, stupid, and cruel the cooks are. “Sharik” - she called him... What the hell is “Sharik”? Sharik means round, well-fed, stupid, eats oatmeal, the son of noble parents, but he is shaggy, lanky and ragged, a lean little guy, a homeless dog. However, thank you for your kind words.
The door across the street to a brightly lit store slammed and a citizen emerged. It is a citizen, not a comrade, and even - most likely - a master. Closer - clearer - sir. Do you think I judge by my coat? Nonsense. Nowadays, many proletarians wear coats. True, the collars are not the same, there’s nothing to say about that, but from a distance they can still be confused. But by the eyes, you can’t confuse them both up close and from a distance. Oh, eyes are a significant thing. Like a barometer. You can see everything - who has a great dryness in their soul, who can poke the toe of a boot into the ribs for no reason, and who is afraid of everyone. It’s the last lackey who feels good when he’s tugging on the ankle. If you're afraid, get it. If you’re afraid, that means you’re standing... rrrr... wow-wow...