Today it is impossible to open a newspaper and not find an article about yet another murder, rape or fight. Every year crime is growing more and more. People are angry and hostile to each other. But I believe that even the most evil man There is at least a grain of good feelings in the heart, and very rarely, but truly kind people are still found in our time. But it is very difficult for such people to live, because they are not understood, and are often despised and try to deceive or humiliate them in some way. Some authors tried to raise in their works questions of good and evil, good relations between people.
I believe that truly the kindest person who has never done anything bad to anyone is Jesus Christ, whom it would be even more correct to call a God-man. One of the authors who wrote about him in their works was M. A. Bulgakov. The writer showed in his novel “The Master and Margarita” a personal version of the life and death of Christ, whom the author called Yeshua Ha-Nozri. Throughout his short life, Yeshua did good and helped people. It is this kindness of his that leads Ga-Notsri to death, for the people in power saw some evil intentions in his actions. But, despite the betrayal and beatings received from people, Yeshua, bloodied and beaten, still calls all of them, even Mark the Rat Slayer - the “cold and convinced executioner” - good people. The procurator Pontius Pilate himself, who was never interested in the fates of the criminals who passed through him, admired Yeshua and the purity of his soul and actions. But the fear of losing power and falling out of favor took its toll: Pilate confirms Yeshua’s death sentence.
Another writer who mentioned Jesus was the wonderful contemporary author Chingiz Aitmatov. But I would like to draw attention not to Christ, but to a person who deeply loved and believed in him. This - main character novel "The Scaffold" by Avdiy Kallistratov. All short life this young man was connected with God: his father was a priest, and he himself studied at a theological seminary. All this left a deep imprint on the character of Obadiah: deep faith in God did not allow him to commit bad deeds. I believe that it was not in vain that the author turned to the image of Christ, because his and Obadiah’s fates are somewhat similar. Both lived short lives; both loved people and tried to put them on the right path; even their death was the same: they were crucified by those whom they wanted to help.
Good and evil in the works of Russian writers were the center of attention. The writers reflected in their Works of Russian writers these moral categories by different means.
Pushkin touches on the theme of evil several times. In the poem "Anchar" the author believes that evil should balance good. Nature has set aside a place for evil at the edge of the universe. People who are driven by the thirst for power, wealth, envy (of the king) and fear (of the slave) became the spreaders of evil throughout the earth. These feelings are conductors of evil. Money can play a similar role in a person’s life. They make people lose noble knightly qualities, family ties, love (“ Stingy Knight"). They poison the creative process (“Egyptian Nights”). One of the main manifestations of evil is violence. Its use leads to tragedy. Pushkin denies it in the ode “Liberty”, in prose works"Dubrovsky", "The Captain's Daughter".
Power acquired through violence will not receive recognition from the people (“Boris Godunov”). A person who chooses the path of crime cannot be a creative person.
Genius and villainy are incompatible (“Mozart and Salieri”), Pushkin’s humanism lies in the conclusion that any Evil always punishable. He sees a good beginning in nature (“I visited again...”), in art (the image of Mozart, “The Poet”), in natural human feelings of love and friendship (“I remember wonderful moment", "October 19, 1827").
Lermontov's creative heyday occurred in a darker decade than Pushkin's. Lermontov developed the theme of evil more sharply. He divides evil into two types. Evil The author respects the romantic for its strength and awareness of doom. This is revealed in the cycle of poems about Napoleon and in the poem “The Demon”. Another evil comes from society. This is the evil of the “mocking ignoramuses,” high-society philistines who persecuted Pushkin (“The Death of a Poet,” “How often, surrounded by a motley crowd...”).
Pushkin writes bitterly about the crowd that does not understand the poet. Lermontov strengthens this motive (“The Prophet”). For him, people of light are the bearers of evil. Lermontov's heroes, actively pursuing life, rush between good and evil (“Hero of Our Time”). Good in creativity Lermontov is concentrated in nature, where lyrical hero resonates with the psychological state (“I go out alone on the road”).
Gogol has a different concept. He put everything together Evil in Russia, contrasting him with faith in the spiritual revival of his homeland. Gogol gave pictures of evil from mystical images of ancient evil (“Evenings on a farm near Dikanka”, “Viy”, “Terrible Vengeance”) to evil in contemporary society. The spirit of demonism enters real people and intertwined with petty philistine evil. This is the story of the terrible portrait and the fate of the artist Chertkov, who exchanged his creative soul with money, who sold himself to the devil (“Portrait”). In "The Inspector General", "Overcoat", " Dead souls“The writer gives an extensive description of small but numerous evils, showing their danger to society and the human soul.
At Nekrasov's Evil has a specific social origin. The real source of evil is serfdom. It allows the nobleman to live in idleness and disdain the people (“ Railway", chapter 3). Serfdom transforms spiritually free man into a slave (“Hey, Ivan!” and chapters from the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus',” “The Last One,” “About the Faithful Yakov, an Exemplary Slave”). Good in creativity Nekrasova also has a social connotation. The poet's goodness has a connotation of sacrifice (“The Poet and the Citizen,” “On the Day of Gogol’s Death,” “N. G. Chernyshevsky,” “A Knight for an Hour”). The poet sees the moral principles of Russian life in the people’s soul:
Burned in slavery
The sun is free.
Gold, gold -
People's heart.
(“Rus”, song by Grisha Dobrosklonov from the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'”)
L. Tolstoy agrees with Nekrasov in his assessment of serfdom and violence against the individual. Tolstoy views the concepts of good and evil philosophically. If a person lives in harmony with the world around him and his own nature, then he was created for good (Karataev). If people lose national roots, try to remake the human essence in order to rise above those around them, then they fall into evil. In War and Peace such characters are Napoleon and Kuragin. They are contrasted with Bolkonsky, Kutuzov, and Rostov, who are spiritually connected with nature and the people. Tolstoy considers war to be the greatest evil.
Dostoevsky talks about good and evil passionately. He reveals the origins of evil. The social side of life is the background of the story about the struggle between God and the devil in the human soul. good and evil exist in the world in balance.
Raskolnikov (“Crime and Punishment”) suffers from social evil and chooses the most terrible form in the fight against injustice. Compulsory good, based on violence, degenerates into evil. Initially, Raskolnikov feels like a liberator of humanity from harmful bloodsuckers. But in the end it turns out that he “killed it for himself.” Sonya helps Raskolnikov make a paradoxical turn towards goodness. Sonya steps over herself for the well-being of others, keeping her soul pure. The path from evil to good lies through suffering, repentance, and purification of the soul. Raskolnikov experiences all this in the epilogue, and the light of truth is revealed to him. Dostoevsky leaves any deeply fallen person the right to repent and rise to the light from the depths of hell.
Good and evil in the works of Russian writers occupy an important place because these moral categories are decisive in the spiritual life of humanity. Classic literature sought to reveal the deadly nature of evil and protect the soul from its destructive influence.
The eternal theme for every person, the most relevant in our time - “good and evil” - is very clearly expressed in Gogol’s work “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka”. We encounter this theme already on the first pages of the story “May Night, or the Drowned Woman” - the most beautiful and poetic. The action in the story takes place in the evening, at dusk, between sleep and reality, on the verge of the real and the fantastic. The nature surrounding the heroes is amazing, the feelings they experience are beautiful and trembling. However, there is something in a beautiful landscape that disturbs
This harmony worries Galya, who feels the presence of evil forces very close by, what is it? A wild evil happened here, an evil from which even the house changed in appearance.
The father, under the influence of the stepmother, kicked out my own daughter from home, pushed to commit suicide.
But evil is not only in terrible betrayal. It turns out that Levko has a terrible rival. His biological father. A terrible, evil man who, being the Head, pours on people in the cold cold water. Levko cannot get his father’s consent to marry Galya. A miracle comes to his aid: the lady, a drowned woman, promises any reward if Levko helps get rid of the witch.
Pannochka
He turns specifically to Levko for help, since he is kind, responsive to someone else’s misfortune, and with heartfelt emotion he listens to the lady’s sad story.
Levko found the witch. He recognized her because “she had something black inside her, while others had something glowing.” And now, in our time, these expressions are alive among us: “black man”, “black insides”, “black thoughts, deeds”.
When the witch rushes at the girl, evil joy and gloating sparkle on her face. And no matter how evil is disguised, a kind, pure-hearted person is able to feel and recognize it.
The idea of the devil as the personified embodiment of the evil principle has worried the minds of people since time immemorial. It is reflected in many spheres of human existence: in art, religion, superstitions and so on. This topic also has a long tradition in literature. The image of Lucifer - the fallen but unrepentant angel of light - seems to magical power attracts the uncontrollable imagination of a writer, each time revealing a new side.
For example, Lermontov's Demon is a humane and sublime image. It evokes not horror and disgust, but sympathy and regret.
Lermontov's demon is the embodiment of absolute loneliness. However, he did not achieve it himself, unlimited freedom. On the contrary, he is lonely against his will, he suffers from his heavy, curse-like loneliness and is filled with longing for spiritual intimacy. Cast down from heaven and declared an enemy of the celestials, he could not become part of the underworld and did not become close to people.
The demon is on the verge different worlds, and therefore Tamara presents it as follows:
It was not a celestial angel,
Her divine guardian:
Wreath of rainbow rays
Didn't decorate it with curls.
It was not a terrible spirit from hell,
Vicious Martyr - oh no!
It looked like a clear evening:
Neither day nor night - neither darkness nor light!
The demon yearns for harmony, but it is inaccessible to him, and not because in his soul pride fights with the desire for reconciliation. In Lermontov’s understanding, harmony is generally inaccessible: for the world is initially split and exists in the form of incompatible opposites. Even ancient myth testifies to this: during the creation of the world, light and darkness, heaven and earth, firmament and water, angels and demons were separated and opposed.
The demon suffers from contradictions that tear apart everything around him. They are reflected in his soul. He is omnipotent - almost like God, but both of them are unable to reconcile good and evil, love and hate, light and darkness, lies and truth.
The demon yearns for justice, but it is also inaccessible to him: a world based on the struggle of opposites cannot be fair. An assertion of justice for one side always turns out to be injustice from the point of view of the other side. In this disunity, which gives rise to bitterness and all other evil, lies a universal tragedy. Such a Demon is not like his literary predecessors in Byron, Pushkin, Milton, Goethe.
The image of Mephistopheles in Goethe's Faust is complex and multifaceted. This is the image of Satan from folk legend. Goethe gave him the features of a concrete, living individuality. Before us is a cynic and a skeptic, a witty creature, but devoid of everything sacred, despising man and humanity. Acting as a specific personality, Mephistopheles is at the same time a complex symbol. Socially, Mephistopheles acts as the embodiment of an evil, misanthropic principle.
However, Mephistopheles is not only a social symbol, but also a philosophical one. Mephistopheles is the embodiment of negation. He says about himself: “I deny everything - And this is my essence.”
The image of Mephistopheles must be considered in inextricable unity with Faust. If Faust is the embodiment of the creative forces of humanity, then Mephistopheles represents the symbol of that destructive force, that destructive criticism that forces us to move forward, to learn and to create.
In "United physical theory"Sergei Belykh (Miass, 1992) can find words about this: “Good is static, peace is a potential component of energy.
Evil is movement, dynamics is the kinetic component of energy.”
This is exactly how the Lord defines the function of Mephistopheles in the “Prologue in Heaven”:
Man is weak: submitting to his lot,
He is glad to seek peace, because
I will give him a restless companion:
Like a demon, teasing him, let him excite him to action.
Commenting on “Prologue in Heaven,” N. G. Chernyshevsky wrote in his notes to “Faust”: “Denials lead only to new, purer and truer convictions... Reason is not hostile to denial and skepticism; on the contrary, skepticism serves its purposes...”
Thus, denial is only one of the turns of progressive development.
Denial, “evil”, the embodiment of which is Mephistopheles, becomes the impetus of the movement aimed
Against evil.
I'm part of that force
that always wants evil
and always does good -
This is what Mephistopheles said about himself. And M. A. Bulgakov took these words as the epigraph to his novel “The Master and Margarita.”
With the novel “The Master and Margarita” Bulgakov tells the reader about the meaning and timeless values.
In explaining the incredible cruelty of the procurator Pilate towards Yeshua, Bulgakov follows Gogol.
The dispute between the Roman procurator of Judea and the wandering philosopher over whether there will be a kingdom of truth or not sometimes reveals, if not equality, then some kind of intellectual similarity between the executioner and the victim. For minutes it even seems that the first one will not commit a crime against a defenseless stubborn person.
The image of Pilate demonstrates the struggle of the individual. The principles in a person collide: personal will and the power of circumstances.
Yeshua spiritually overcame the latter. Pilate was not given this. Yeshua is executed.
But the author wanted to proclaim: the victory of evil over good cannot be the end result of social and moral confrontation. This, according to Bulgakov, is not accepted by human nature itself, and the entire course of civilization should not allow it.
The author is convinced that the prerequisites for such faith were the actions of the Roman procurator himself. After all, it was he, who doomed the unfortunate criminal to death, who ordered the secret killing of Judas, who betrayed Yeshua:
The human is hidden in the satanic and retribution for betrayal is carried out, albeit cowardly.
Now, many centuries later, the carriers of devilish evil, in order to finally atone for their guilt before the eternal wanderers and spiritual ascetics, who always went to the stake for their ideas, are obliged to become creators of good, arbiters of justice.
The evil that has spread in the world has acquired such a scale, Bulgakov wants to say, that Satan himself is forced to intervene, because there is no other force capable of doing this. This is how Woland appears in The Master and Margarita. It is Woland who the author will give the right to execute or pardon. Everything bad in that Moscow bustle of officials and elementary inhabitants suffers the crushing blows of Woland.
Woland is evil, a shadow. Yeshua is good, light. The novel constantly contrasts light and shadow. Even the sun and moon become almost participants in the events..
The sun - a symbol of life, joy, true light - accompanies Yeshua, and the moon - fantasy world shadows, mysteries and ghostliness - the kingdom of Woland and his guests.
Bulgakov depicts the power of light through the power of darkness. And vice versa, Woland, as the prince of darkness, can feel his power only when there is at least some light that needs to be fought, although he himself admits that light, as a symbol of good, has one undeniable advantage - creative power.
Bulgakov depicts light through Yeshua. Yeshua Bulgakov is not exactly the Jesus of the Gospels. He's just a wandering philosopher, a little strange and not at all evil.
“Behold the man!” Not God, not in a divine aura, but just a man, but what a man!
All his true divine dignity is within him, in his soul.
Levi Matthew does not see a single flaw in Yeshua, therefore he is not even able to retell simple words your Teacher. His misfortune is that he never understood that light cannot be described.
Levi Matvey cannot object to Woland’s words: “Would you be so kind as to think about the question: what would your good do if evil did not exist, and what would the earth look like if all the shadows disappeared from it? After all, shadows come from objects and people? Don't you want to rip off every living thing because of your fantasy of enjoying the full light? You are stupid". Yeshua would answer something like this: “For there to be shadows, sir, not only objects and people are needed. First of all, we need light that shines even in the darkness.”
And here I remember Prishvin’s story “Light and Shadow” (the writer’s diary): “If flowers and trees rise into the light everywhere, then from the same biological point of view a person especially strives upward, towards the light, and, of course, he is his very movement upward, towards the light calls progress...
Light comes from the Sun, shadow from the earth, and life generated by light and shadow takes place in the usual struggle of these two principles: light and shadow.
The sun, rising and leaving, approaching and moving away, determines our order on earth: our place and our time. And all the beauty on earth, the distribution of light and shadow, lines and colors, sound, the outlines of the sky and horizon - everything, everything is phenomena of this order. But: where are the boundaries of the solar order and the human?
Forests, fields, water with its vapors and all life on earth strives for light, but if there were no shadows, there could be no life on earth, everything would burn in the sunlight... We live thanks to the shadows, but we do not thank the shadows and We call everything bad the shadow side of life, and everything that is best: intelligence, goodness, beauty - the light side.
Everything strives for light, but if there was light for everyone at once, there would be no life: clouds cover the sunlight with their shadow, so people cover each other with their shadow, it is from ourselves, we protect our children with it from the overwhelming light.
Whether we are warm or cold - what does the Sun care about us, it roasts and roasts, regardless of life, but life is structured in such a way that all living things are drawn to the light.
If there were no light, everything would plunge into night."
The necessity of evil in the world is equal to the physical law of light and shadows, but just as the source of light is outside, and shadows are cast only by opaque objects, so evil exists in the world only due to the presence in it of “opaque souls” that do not allow the divine to pass through them. light. Good and evil did not exist in the primordial world; good and evil appeared later. What we call good and evil are the result of imperfect consciousness. Evil began to appear in the world when a heart appeared that was capable of feeling evil, that which is evil in essence. At the moment when the heart first admits that evil exists, evil is born in this heart, and two principles begin to fight in it.
“A person is given the task of searching for the true measure within himself, therefore, among “yes” and “no,” among “good” and “evil,” he fights with the shadow. Evil inclination - evil thoughts, deceitful deeds, unrighteous words, hunting, war. Just as for an individual person the absence of spiritual peace is a source of anxiety and many misfortunes, so for an entire people the absence of virtues leads to famine, wars, world plagues, fires and all kinds of disasters. With his thoughts, feelings and actions, a person transforms the world, makes it hell or heaven, depending on its internal level” (Yu. Terapiano. “Mazdeism”).
In addition to the struggle between light and shadow, the novel “The Master and Margarita” examines another important problem - the problem of man and faith.
The word “faith” is heard repeatedly in the novel, not only in the usual context of Pontius Pilate’s question to Yeshua Ha-Nozri: “...do you believe in any gods?” “There is only one God,” answered Yeshua, “in Him I believe,” but also in a much broader sense: “Everyone will be given according to his faith.”
In essence, faith in the latter, broader sense, as the greatest moral value, the ideal, the meaning of life, is one of the touchstones on which moral level any of the characters. Belief in the omnipotence of money, the desire to grab more by any means - this is a kind of credo of Bosogo, the barman. Faith in love is the meaning of Margarita's life. Belief in kindness is the main defining quality of Yeshua.
It’s scary to lose faith, just as the Master loses faith in his talent, in his brilliantly guessed novel. It’s scary not to have this faith, which is typical, for example, of Ivan Bezdomny.
For belief in imaginary values, for inability and spiritual laziness to find one’s faith, a person is punished, just as in Bulgakov’s novel the characters are punished by illness, fear, and pangs of conscience.
But it’s completely scary when a person consciously devotes himself to serving imaginary values, realizing their falsity.
In the history of Russian literature, A.P. Chekhov has a firmly established reputation as a writer, if not completely atheistically inclined, then at least indifferent to issues of faith. It's a delusion. He could not be indifferent to religious truth. Brought up in strict religious rules, Chekhov in his youth tried to gain freedom and independence from what had previously been despotically imposed on him. He also knew, like many, doubts, and those statements of his that expressed these doubts were later absolutized by those who wrote about him. Any, even not quite definite, statement was interpreted in a completely in a certain sense. With Chekhov it was all the more simple to do this because he expressed his doubts clearly, and the results of his intense thoughts spiritual search I was in no hurry to expose it to human judgment.
Bulgakov was the first to point out the global significance of ideas" and the writer's artistic thinking: "In terms of the strength of his religious quest, Chekhov leaves even Tolstoy behind him, approaching Dostoevsky, who has no equal here."
Chekhov is unique in his work in that he searched for truth, God, the soul, the meaning of life, exploring non-sublime manifestations human spirit, but moral weaknesses, falls, powerlessness of the individual, that is, he set himself complex artistic tasks. “Chekhov was close to the cornerstone idea of Christian morality, which is the true ethical foundation of all democracy, “that all alive soul“, all human existence represents an independent, unchangeable, absolute value, which cannot and should not be considered as a means, but which has the right to the alms of human attention.”
But such a position, such a formulation of the question requires extreme religious tension from a person, because it is fraught with a danger that is tragic for the spirit - the danger of falling into the hopelessness of pessimistic disappointment in many life values.
Only faith, true faith, which is subjected to a serious test in Chekhov’s formulation of the “riddle of man,” can save a person from hopelessness and despondency - but otherwise the truth of faith itself cannot be discovered. The author forces the reader to approach the edge beyond which boundless pessimism reigns, arrogance is powerful “in the decaying lowlands and swamps of the human spirit.” In his short work “The Head Gardener's Tale,” Chekhov argues that the spiritual level at which faith is affirmed is invariably higher than the level of rational, logical arguments at which unbelief resides.
Let's remember the content of the story. In a certain town there lived a righteous doctor who devoted his life completely to serving people. One day he was. found murdered, and the evidence indisputably exposed the scoundrel “known for his depraved life”, who, however, denied all charges, although he could not provide convincing evidence of his innocence. And at the trial, when the chief judge was ready to announce the death sentence, he unexpectedly shouted to everyone and to himself: “No! If I judge incorrectly, then may God punish me, but I swear it’s not his fault! I cannot imagine that there could be a person who would dare to kill our friend, the doctor! Man is not capable of falling so deep! “Yes, there is no such person,” the other judges agreed. - No! - the crowd responded. - Let him go!
The trial of a murderer is an exam not only for the residents of the town, but also for the reader: what will they believe - the “facts” or the person who denies these facts?
Life often requires us to make a similar choice, and sometimes our fate and the fate of other people depend on such a choice.
In this choice there is always a test: will a person maintain faith in people, and therefore in himself and in the meaning of his life.
Preservation of faith is affirmed by Chekhov as the highest value in comparison with the desire for revenge. In the story, the town's residents chose to believe in people. And God, for such faith in man, forgave the sins of all the inhabitants of the town. He rejoices when they believe that man is His image and likeness, and grieves when human dignity is forgotten, people are judged worse than dogs.
It is easy to notice that the story does not deny the existence of God at all. In Chekhov, faith in man becomes a manifestation of faith in God. “Judge for yourselves, gentlemen: if judges and juries believe in a person more than in evidence, material evidence and speeches, then isn’t this faith in a person in itself above all everyday considerations? Believing in God is not difficult. The inquisitors, Biron, and Arakcheev believed in him. No, you believe in the person! This faith is available only to those few who understand and feel Christ.” Chekhov reminds us of the inextricable unity of Christ’s commandment: love for God and man. As was said earlier, Dostoevsky has no equal in the power of religious quest.
Dostoevsky's way to achieve true happiness is to join the universal feeling of love and equality. Here his gaze meets Christian teaching. But Dostoevsky’s religiosity went far beyond the scope of church dogma. The Christian ideal of the writer was the embodiment of the dream of freedom and harmony of human relations. And when Dostoevsky said: “Humble yourselves, proud man!” - he did not mean submission as such, but the need for refusal
everyone from the selfish temptations of the individual, cruelty and aggressiveness.
The work that brought the writer worldwide fame, in which Dostoevsky calls for overcoming selfishness, for humility, for Christian love for one’s neighbor, for purifying suffering, is the novel “Crime and Punishment.”
Dostoevsky believes that only through suffering can humanity be saved from defilement and get out of a moral impasse, only this path can lead it to happiness.
The focus of many researchers studying Crime and Punishment is the question of the motives for Raskolnikov’s crime. What prompted Raskolnikov to commit this crime? He sees how ugly St. Petersburg is with its streets, how ugly the always drunk people are, how ugly the old woman pawnbroker is. All this disgrace repels the smart and handsome Raskolnikov and evokes in his soul “a feeling of deepest disgust and malicious contempt.” From these feelings the “ugly dream” is born. Here Dostoevsky with extraordinary power shows the duality of the human soul, shows how in the soul man is walking the struggle between good and evil, love and hate, high and low, faith and unbelief.
The call to “Humble yourself, proud man!” couldn't be more suitable for Katerina Ivanovna. By pushing Sonya onto the street, she actually acts according to Raskolnikov’s theory. She, like Raskolnikov, rebels not only against people, but also against God. Only with pity and compassion could Katerina Ivanovna save Marmeladov, and then he would save her and the children.
Unlike Katerina Ivanovna and Raskolnikov, Sonya has no pride at all, but only meekness and humility. Sonya suffered a lot. “Suffering... is a great thing. There is an idea in suffering,” says Porfiry Petrovich. The idea of purifying suffering is persistently instilled in Raskolnikov by Sonya Marmeladova, who herself meekly bears her cross. “Accepting suffering and redeeming yourself through it, that’s what you need,” she says.
In the finale, Raskolnikov throws himself at Sonya’s feet: the man has come to terms with himself, throwing away selfish daring and passions. Dostoevsky says that Raskolnikov is expected to undergo a “gradual rebirth,” a return to people, to life. And Sonya’s faith helped Raskolnikov. Sonya did not become embittered, did not become bitter under the blows of an unfair fate. She maintained her faith in God, in happiness, love for people, helping others.
The question of God, man and faith is even more touched upon in Dostoevsky's novel The Brothers Karamazov. In “The Brothers Karamazov” the writer sums up his many years of searching, thinking about man, the fate of his Motherland and all humanity.
Dostoevsky finds truth and consolation in religion. Christ for him is the highest criterion of morality.
Mitya Karamazov was innocent of the murder of his father, despite all the obvious facts and irrefutable evidence. But here the judges, unlike Chekhov’s, preferred to believe the facts. Their lack of faith in the person forced the judges to find Mitya guilty.
The central question of the novel is the question of the degeneration of the individual, cut off from the people and work, trampling on the principles of philanthropy, goodness, and conscience.
For Dostoevsky, moral criteria and laws of conscience are the basis of human behavior. Loss moral principles or oblivion of conscience is the highest misfortune, it entails the dehumanization of a person, it dries up an individual human personality, it leads to chaos and destruction of society. If there is no criterion of good and evil, then everything is permitted, as Ivan Karamazov says. Ivan Karamazov subjects faith to repeated doubts and tests, that Christian faith, faith not just in some super-powerful being, but also the spiritual confidence that everything done by the Creator is the highest truth and justice and is done only for the good of man. “The Lord is righteous, my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him” (Ps. 91: 16). He is the rock: his works are perfect, and all his ways are righteous. God is faithful and there is no untruth in him. He is righteous and true...
Many people have broken down on the question: “How can God exist if there is so much injustice and untruth in the world?” How many people come to logical conclusion: “If so, then either there is no God, or He is not omnipotent.” It was along this well-worn track that the “rebellious” mind of Ivan Karamazov moved.
His rebellion boils down to denying the harmony of God’s world, for he denies the Creator justice, showing his unbelief in this way: “I am convinced that suffering will heal and smooth out, that all the offensive comedy of human contradictions will disappear, like a pathetic mirage, like a vile invention of the weak and small.” , like an atom of the human Euclidean mind, that, finally, in the world finale, at the moment of eternal harmony, something so precious will happen and appear that it will be enough for all hearts, to drown all indignations, to atone for all the atrocities of people, all the blood they have shed, enough so that it is not only possible to forgive, but also to justify everything that happened to people - let it all be and appear, but I don’t accept it and don’t want to accept it! »
Human creative activity can be directed for good or evil, depending on the worldview and moral principles of each individual. What should I devote my life to? Creation or destruction - this is the classic question of being or not being human.
The end result of any creativity is a created object, a work of art, a product, i.e. then the last link in creative activity, which performs a function planned before its creation to meet the needs of the customer, buyer or consumer. Even if you create something for yourself, the author and the consumer-customer merge into one person. The criterion for assessing creative activity is the purpose of the created object.
There is a special article in the patent legislation of countries around the world that prohibits even the consideration of applications for inventions that do not comply with the standards of morality and humanity. However, although no one patents, many inhumane developments are ordered and used - this is a paradox that has political roots, and politics is impersonal and immoral.
The reason for creating something may be partly humane, but the ultimate purpose is main criterion the humanity of the work. For example, the author of the guillotine wanted to eliminate the suffering of people during execution, guaranteeing instant death without pain.
If you look into ancient times, when people first appeared, then everything that they created was aimed at survival in the animal world. The goal was noble and the tools created and weapons for defense were one and the same. A stone knife or axe, spear or arrow was used for killing and butchering animals. But a line arose when it was necessary to defend ourselves from our own kind - attacking neighboring tribes. Murder assumed legal status and was not punished, but encouraged, because the goal was the same - survival, but man became a predator, a beast, killing his own kind not for food, but for the sake of achieving political the goals of enslaving other tribes and seizing living space occupied by competitors. This is a milestone, the line that separated man from the animal world, which for millions of years lived according to the laws of nature, very fair and humane, where the strongest won, but without cruelty, malice and hatred. In the animal world, generosity and nobility are still preserved in fights for territory or for females. For example, if two leaders wolf packs enter into a duel for power over the pack, then, having given all his strength to achieve victory, the weaker one admits himself defeated, lying on his back and opening his neck. This is where the fight ends and the loser leaves the pack. No one is finishing off or bullying anyone. Predators never kill excessively, i.e. more than they can eat due to physiological natural needs. The principle of minimal necessity and sufficiency in the animal world is impeccably observed. The man became proud and denied him.
Only a person developed greed and cruelty, obviously as a developmental pathology, unexpected by-effect. Since then, specialized weapons have emerged for killing people by people, designed to fulfill ambitions, greed and cruelty leaders, who later became known as politicians. The era of wars without “rules of the game” began, the goal of which was the destruction of people and their places of residence. Entire cities were wiped off the face of the earth along with their cultural heritage, knowledge and skills. To increase the productivity of destruction, weapons of destruction, sophisticated methods and tools for killing people began to be created and improved. This process is still ongoing, the apogee of which was the creation and use of nuclear, chemical and bacteriological weapons, and “conventional” types of weapons have become very advanced and effective in use. Consequently, humanity has lost humanity, morality and humanity in constant wars among themselves. Political ambitions have become priorities in decision-making of national importance, and people have become expendable in achieving political goals through military means. The trade in arms and their use has become very profitable business. It is a fact. Who will challenge?
Against this background, let's look at the topic of creativity. It would seem that creativity is creation for the benefit and prosperity of humanity, but every type of activity has two sides of the coin. The law of unity and struggle of opposites is universal and manifests itself in everything material. Man is dual by nature and his activity is dual by the facts of the final results. The creativity of creation and destruction has a common basis - novelty is created from thoughts and the mechanisms of creativity are the same, and the technology for creating innovations in different fields of activity is the same. What are the differences, especially the opposites, in creativity?
Firstly, in the worldview of the creators, in their moral principles, principles, views, i.e. in the subjective factor.
Secondly, in the goals pursued and civic position.
Thirdly, in a sense of belonging to humanity and responsibility for the results of creative activity on a global scale.
Fourthly, in the “selfishness” of interests.
The opposite is that in creative activity aimed at creation, the material and spiritual values of humanity are multiplied and accumulated, which leads to prosperity and prosperity, strengthening and development of each person and humanity as a whole - everyone becomes richer. Culture is the world of created values. Wars eradicate culture.
In creative activity aimed at destruction and destruction, material and spiritual values are removed from the possession, use and disposal of each person and society as a whole - everyone becomes poorer, but a separate group of politicians and those in power become richer, because For them, war is a profitable business. They hire creators and pay them to create inhumane and immoral products, ordering research and development aimed at destroying life and culture.
In all states, scientific discoveries and developments are censored and all achievements of scientific and technological progress are first assessed from the point of view of the possibility of use in the sphere of the military-industrial complex for the production of weapons, or at least for political blackmail of states and the public, and what is unsuitable for these purposes , are allowed to be launched into the civilian sphere of activity for so-called peaceful purposes. Hence the whole secrecy regime and a colossal diversion of the intellectual and material resources of humanity, which, in addition to the direct extermination of people in military conflicts, actually robs all of humanity, creating a shortage of resources for people’s lives. This is the main cause of mass poverty on earth.
As a result of competition, the latest research and development results quickly become outdated and the loss of resources becomes irreplaceable and thrown away. The stupidity becomes obvious. Despite the understanding that Natural resources The lands are exhaustible and irreplaceable, a crazy arms race continues due to the fault of individual, powerful politicians, super-rich people who turn politics into business. To satisfy the ambitions of this handful of people, millions of creators and high professionals are hired quite deliberately to work at enterprises and institutions of the military-industrial complex in any country, because the most favorable conditions for creative activity are created there, which allows creators to realize themselves and have a livelihood. Creators are faced with a choice: to work for good, but at the same time be poor with a high moral level, or to work for evil, prospering materially, but degrading spiritually, because... drowning out the voice of conscience, spiritual development becomes impossible.
A person has free will and the right to choose who to be and what to do.
Human duality creates a paradox in creativity. It is impossible to create and destroy at the same time - you can go crazy trying to find a compromise. For example, Nobel invented dynamite for mining and excavation, but the military used it for destruction and murder. Here it is appropriate to give a harsh but convincing allegory: after the birth of a child, parents raise and raise him in order to kill him. However, the comedy of the absurd is popular among modern politicians.
Good and evil in creativity is a philosophical and inexhaustible topic, but is the problem solvable in principle?
Homework and the topic of the essay for the module test:
Topic 1. “My understanding of creativity of creation and creativity of destruction.”
Topic 2. “Can politicians be creators?”
Topic 3. “Can there be destroyers in humanitarian creativity or is this phenomenon inherent only in technical creativity?”
Topic 4. “Is it possible to creatively kill or creatively destroy?”
Topic 5. “Can creativity be neutral, and the creator indifferent?”
Topic 6. “Can a creator be an executioner?”
Description of the presentation by individual slides:
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Literature project at the intermediate certification in the 2015-2016 academic year GOOD AND EVIL IN LITERATURE Completed by: Natalia Ovchukhova, 5a student of MBOU "General Educational School No. 2" Teacher Shuvakina O.A., teacher of Russian language and literature
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Relevance of the project The theme of good and evil is eternal problem which excites and will always excite humanity
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The purpose of the project research is 1. To get acquainted with works of literature where good and evil are present, to identify the relevance of this topic. 2. Find out whether in all works of Russian literature there is a confrontation between good and evil, and who wins in this battle? 3. Justify the significance of writers’ works about good and evil.
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Objectives: 1. Study and analyze works containing the problem of good and evil. 2. Explore a number of works of literature containing the problem of good and evil. 3. Carry out a classification of works in order to determine the winners in the confrontation. 4. Identify the level of interest among my peers and the attitude of adults towards works in which there is a confrontation between good and evil. 5. Systematize and summarize the results obtained.
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Hypothesis: Suppose there was no evil in the world. Then life wouldn't be interesting. Evil always accompanies good, and the struggle between them is nothing more than life. Fiction is a reflection of life, which means that in every work there is a place for the struggle between good and evil, and probably good or, conversely, evil wins.
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Object of study: Oral folk art and literary creativity of writers Subject of study: Fairy tales, legends and works of literature
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Research methods: 1. Study of oral folk art And literary creativity writers. 2. Analysis of works and fairy tales. 3. Survey and questionnaire. 4. Comparison and classification of works. 5. Generalization and systematization of the results obtained.
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Research Questions: Good and Evil? Can there be good without evil or evil without good? How does it happen in life: does good or evil win?
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The Legend of Good and Evil Once upon a time there lived a beautiful bird. Near her nest there were people's houses. Every day the bird fulfilled their cherished desires. But once happy life people and birds - the sorceress is over. Because an evil and terrible dragon flew to these places. He was very hungry, and his first prey was the Phoenix bird. Having eaten the bird, the dragon did not satisfy its hunger and began to eat people. And then there was a great division of people into two camps. Some people, not wanting to be eaten, went over to the side of the dragon and became cannibals themselves, while the other part of the people constantly looked for a safe refuge, suffering from the oppression of a cruel monster. Finally, the dragon, having had enough, flew away to his dark kingdom, and people began to inhabit the entire territory of our planet. They did not stay under the same roof because they could not live without a good bird, and besides, they constantly quarreled. This is how good and evil appeared in the world.
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“Vasilisa the Beautiful” Good has prevailed over evil. The stepmother and her daughters turned into coal, and Vasilisa began to live happily ever after with the prince in contentment and happiness.
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“The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights” A.S. Pushkin Tale of A.S. Pushkin's film is based on a traditional fairy tale plot about an evil stepmother and a beautiful, kind stepdaughter. But Pushkin managed to fill the traditional plot with special depth, permeated with the light of goodness. Like everything Pushkin, this fairy tale, like gem, sparkling with thousands of facets of meaning, striking us with the multicolored words and the clear, even radiance emanating from the author - not blinding, but enlightening our unseeing eyes and spiritually sleeping hearts.
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Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale The Snow Queen“The forces of good are personified, first of all, by Gerda, a brave girl who opposed the Snow Queen herself, powerful and invincible. No force could resist the cold look, much less the kiss of the sorceress. But Gerda’s kindness and courage attracts both people and animals to her side.
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Analysis of the legends “THE WORLD FLOOD” When people settled the earth, they first learned to sow bread, and then began to grow grapes and make wine from them. And when they drank wine, they became stupid and angry, offended the weak, praised themselves and deceived each other. God looked at people, and he was very sad. And people became worse and angrier every year. And God became so angry that he decided to destroy all the people and all the animals that he had created.
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Analysis works of art Gerasim loved Mumu very much, he treated her like a mother treats her child, and the fact that he decided to take her life speaks of enormous power the will of the hero. If she is destined to die, he would rather do it himself. Only a very courageous man. And Gerasim’s unauthorized departure from the city is a protest of a powerless person against humiliation. What happened to Gerasim forever deprived him of the opportunity to be happy, forever separated him from people. The story of I. S. Turgenev “Mumu”
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V. Kataev “Flower-Semitsvetik” This good fairy tale Valentina Kataeva teaches us: when desires appear, first think whether what you now wished for is necessary, whether the fulfillment of your desire will bring trouble, inconvenience to others. And most importantly, you must try to fulfill your desires yourself. And it is not at all necessary to have the petals of a seven-flowered flower in order to perform reasonable actions. Enough to have kind heart to come to the aid of others in difficult times and not wait to be asked for it.
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G. Troepolsky “White Bim Black Ear” The book tells about a dog who went in search of an owner who was hospitalized. As a result, she found herself rootless. The story and the film show characters who reacted differently to the dog’s misfortune. Having endured many humiliations and beatings, Bim ended up in a shelter, where he died.
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Fairy tale by K. G. Paustovsky “Warm Bread” Filka corrected his mistake and by this he proved that he was a strong and courageous man, he had enough mental and physical strength to correct the evil deed that he had done, which means he came closer to the beautiful. He walked this ladder from the first to the fourth step and thereby redeemed himself.
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CONCLUSION: At the heart of all the works studied fiction lies the idea of the struggle between good and evil. In the vast majority of works, the winner in this confrontation is evil. The triumph of goodness is observed only in works of oral folk art - fairy tales. WORKS OF RUSSIAN LITERATURE IMAGES PERSONIFYING GOOD IMAGES PERSONIFYING EVIL THE TRIUMPH OF GOOD THE TRIUMPH OF EVIL FAIRY TALES - 3 3 3 3 0 LEGENDS – 1 1 1 0 1 WORKS OF WRITERS – 4 4 4 0 4
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Table: Comparative characteristics themes of good and evil in works of different times. No. P/P NAME OF WORKS GOOD EVIL 1 Russian folk tale“Vasilisa the Beautiful” + + 2 Author's fairy tale. A.S. Pushkin "The Tale of dead princess and the seven heroes" + + 3 Classical Russian literature of the 19th century. I.S. Turgenev “Mumu” + + 4 Modern Russian literature of the 20th century. 1 KG. Paustovsky “Warm Bread” 2.V.Kataev “Seven-flowered Flower” 3.G.Troepolsky “White Bim Black Ear” + + + + + + 5 Legend. “The Flood” + + 6 Foreign literature. H.K. Andersen “The Snow Queen” + +
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