"Little Man" - type literary hero, which arose during the era of realism in the first half of the 19th century. Usually he is a minor official, a citizen with a quiet, inconspicuous life. He occupies a low level in society and has a meager spiritual world, not endowed with important life goals. Topic " little man"is one of the most important themes of Russian literature, to which writers of the 19th century constantly turned.
So, N.V. Gogol in the story “The Overcoat” describes the life of a poor, insignificant and inconspicuous official, whose role is to rewrite documents. Having spent his life subordinate to his superiors and doing simple “automatic” work, Bashmachkin did not have the opportunity to think much about work. And when he is offered a task that requires little mental effort, he decides: “No, better let me rewrite something.”
His life has meager aspirations: accumulating money for a new overcoat through hardship and suffering becomes the meaning of life, and its theft takes on the dimensions of a catastrophe. There are quite a few such “little people” in society, and Gogol calls for treating them with pity and understanding.
In addition, in Chekhov’s story “The Death of an Official” the life of another “little” person is presented - a minor official. His surname Chervyakov hints at the size of his world commensurate with the size of this animal. All minor events take on large proportions in his eyes. So, the fact that he sprayed the general in the theater, for whom it was a trifle, was of great importance for our hero. As a result of repeated apologies, Chervyakov died.
This catastrophe in his life is a consequence of limitation and emptiness. And such people, fixated on their own small world and there are a huge number of people who worry about little things.
The theme of little people is also revealed by Dostoevsky in the novel Crime and Punishment. The scene is a poor area of St. Petersburg. A picture of the life of the Marmeladovs, crushed by reality, opens before us. The official Marmeladov is drinking himself to death from his aimless life and grief. His wife Ekaterina Ivanovna also dies in poverty. And Sonya is forced to sell her body in order to escape starvation. Dunya, Raskolnikov's sister, wanting to help her brother, is ready to marry Luzhin, whom she is disgusted with. Raskolnikov himself commits a crime, the reason for which lies in the stratification of society. Dostoevsky's heroes protest against injustice in the world. He proves that the souls of poor “little” people can be beautiful and full of kindness, but broken by difficult living conditions.
Thus, the problem of the “little” person, raised writers of the XIX century, is no less relevant today, when there are a huge number of such people with an empty life, routine work and a meager spiritual world, and, basically, this is the result of the influence of society on them.
Updated: 2018-03-05
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Composition
“Pain about a person” - that’s probably main topic Russian literature of the 19th century. Compassion for the tragic fate of the “little man” formed the basis of the work of all Russian writers. And the first in this row was, of course, A.S. Pushkin.
In 1830, Pushkin wrote five stories, combined common name and the general narrator, “Belkin’s Tale.” Of these, the most touching and at the same time the saddest is, it seems to me, the story “ Stationmaster" In it, the poet first brought to the pages of Russian literature the “little man” - Samson Vyrin. Pushkin very accurately described his social position - “a real martyr of the fourteenth grade.”
The caretaker of the small postal station endured a lot in his miserable life, endured a lot. Almost every one of those passing by, wittingly or unwittingly, offended him, taking out their frustration on him, the unrequited official, for the bad roads and the delay of the horses. He had one joy - his daughter Dunya, whom he loved more than life itself. But he lost her too: Dunya was taken with him to St. Petersburg by a passing officer, Minsky. Vyrin tried to achieve the truth, but everywhere he was driven away. And the poor official could not bear the insult - he became an alcoholic and soon died. Pushkin clearly showed Samson Vyrin with sympathy, a deeply unhappy man, with his small, but no less sad drama.
“The Little Man” is dedicated to N.V. Gogol’s story “The Overcoat,” which V.G. Belinsky called the writer’s “deepest creation.” Main character story - Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin, “eternal titular adviser.” All his life he “zealously and lovingly” copied papers in the department. This rewriting was not only his work, but also his calling, even, one might say, his life's purpose. Bashmachkin worked without straightening his back all day at work and took papers home, and copied some of the most interesting ones for himself - as a keepsake. His life was eventful and interesting in its own way. But one thing upset Akakiy Akakievich: the old overcoat, which had served him faithfully for decades, finally fell into such “decay” that the most skilled tailor could no longer repair it. Bashmachkin’s existence acquired a new content: he began to save money to sew a new overcoat, and dreams about it warmed his soul for many years. winter evenings. This overcoat, which became the subject of Bashmachkin’s constant thoughts and conversations, acquired almost mystical significance for him. And when it was finally ready, Bashmachkin, rejuvenated and spiritualized, appeared in it for service. It was the day of his celebration, his triumph, but it ended unexpectedly and tragically: at night, robbers took away his new overcoat. For the poor official it was a disaster, the ruin of his whole life. He turned to a certain “significant person” for help, begging him to find and punish the robbers, but his request seemed too insignificant to the important general to pay attention to. And the loss became fatal for Bashmachkin: he soon fell ill and died. Gogol urged the reader to love the “little man” because he is “our brother”, because he is also a person.
The theme of the “little man” was continued by F. M. Dostoevsky, who very accurately said about himself and his contemporaries: “We all came out of Gogol’s “The Overcoat.” Indeed, the main characters of almost all of his works were “little people”, “humiliated and insulted.” But, unlike Gogol’s hero, Dostoevsky’s heroes are capable of openly protesting. They do not accept the terrible reality; they are able to tell the bitter truth about themselves and about the society around them.
Their spiritual world is not as limited and wretched as Bashmachkin’s. They feel the injustice and cruelty of the world of profit and money more acutely than he does. Thus, the poor official Marmeladov, thrown to the very bottom of life, retained his soul and did not become a scoundrel and a scoundrel. He is much more humane than the “masters of life” - Luzhin and Svidrigailov. Marmeladov’s monologue in the tavern is not only a regret about his ruined life, but also a bitter reproach to the whole society.
Sonya Marmeladova was forced to sell herself in order to prevent the little children of her stepmother, Katerina Ivanovna, from starving to death. She suffers for the pain of all people, all the orphaned and wretched. Sonya helps not only her family, she strives to help complete strangers. It was Sonya who became the moral and spiritual support for Raskolnikov: Sonya bore his “cross” with him - she followed him to hard labor. This is her strength and her greatness - the greatness of self-sacrifice in the name of people, of which only an extraordinary personality was capable.
The works of Russian writers make us painfully think about the meaning human life, about the purpose of man. Together with their heroes we learn to respect human personality, to sympathize with her pain and empathize with her spiritual quest.
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The theme of the “little man” in the literature of the 18th-19th centuries. Teacher – Komissarova E.V.
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The theme of the “little man” in the literature of the 18th-19th centuries. Forgotten, humiliated people almost never attract special attention those around you. Their lives, their little joys and big troubles seem to everyone unworthy of special interest. But since the beginning of the 19th century, it is precisely such people who become the subject of close attention from the side of great Russian literature. With each work, she showed more and more clearly and truthfully the life of people of the “lower” class. Little officials, stationmasters - “little people” began to emerge from the shadows.
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The theme of the “little man” in the literature of the 18th-19th centuries. The theme of the “little man” is a “cross-cutting theme” of Russian literature. The appearance of this image is due to the Russian career ladder of fourteen steps, at the bottom of which petty officials, poorly educated, often single or burdened with families, worthy of human understanding, worked and suffered from poverty, lack of rights and insults, each with their own misfortune. In literary criticism, there are several interpretations of the concept “little man”. One of the definitions was proposed by literature researcher A.A. Anikin: “Little Man” is literary type people are victims of circumstances, government system, evil forces, etc.”
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The theme of the “little man” in the literature of the 18th-19th centuries. The main thematic features of this image will be: 1) low, disastrous, subordinate social position; 2) suffering that does not come from one’s own malice or guilt, but from weakness and mistakes; 3) to varying degrees, but – inferiority of personality, often squalor and underdevelopment; 4) the severity of life experiences; 5) finally, awareness of oneself as a “little person” and the desire to assert one’s right to life in precisely this capacity, but often with the dream only of making life easier; 6) turning to God as the only bearer of justice and equality: only before God are everyone equal. A literary hero must be characterized by the entire complex of characteristics; the presence of some of the listed traits does not yet introduce him into the mainstream of the “little man” theme. At the same time, it cannot be said that the presence of signs makes heroes different works identical: the image of each of them will lead the reader in a completely different way to thinking about this topic, revealing its different facets.
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The theme of the “little man” in the literature of the 18th-19th centuries. The very concept of “little man” appears in literature before the type of hero itself takes shape. At first, this was a designation for people of the third estate, which became of interest to writers due to the democratization of literature. In the 19th century, the image of the “little man” became one of the cross-cutting themes of literature. The concept of “little man” was introduced by V.G. Belinsky in his 1840 article “Woe from Wit.” Originally it meant a “simple” person. With the development of psychologism in Russian literature, this image becomes more complex psychological portrait and becomes the most popular character in democratic works of the second half of the 19th century century. How did the theme of the “little man” arise in Russian literature? The first period of development of Russian literature, as we know, is ancient Russian literature, the heroes of whose works were princes, saints, and warriors. Only at the end of the period of existence ancient Russian literature a simple person is “allowed” into it, not a hero, not a saint, not a ruler. Then classicism came to literature from the West; this direction corresponded to the needs of the time: Peter I was building a strong state. The classicists were concerned with the needs of the state and the individual as a citizen useful to his country. Only with the advent of sentimentalism, again from Western literature, in Russian literature did writers become interested in the personal needs and experiences of people.
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The theme of the “little man” in the works of N.M. Karamzin. The first writer who opened the world of “little people” to us was N.M. Karamzin. The greatest influence on subsequent literature was exerted by Karamzin's story " Poor Lisa. “The author laid the foundation for a huge series of works about “little people”, took the first step in researching this previously unknown topic. It was he who opened the way for such writers of the future as Gogol, Dostoevsky and others. Social inequality heroes and natural difficulty human soul become an obstacle to Liza’s happiness. The fate of the poor girl unfolds against the backdrop of the dramatic history of Russia. Karamzin's little story is philosophical. The author challenges the philosopher Rousseau's assumption about the idyllic past of humanity. The history of mankind is entirely built on dramatic collisions, and before people were not happier than they are now, says the narrator. Big story consisted of the small troubles of ordinary people.
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The theme of the “little man” in the works of A.S. Pushkin. A.S. Pushkin was the next writer whose sphere of creative attention included the whole of vast Russia: its open spaces, the life of villages, St. Petersburg and Moscow opened up not only from a luxurious entrance, but also through the narrow doors of poor houses. For the first time, Russian literature so poignantly and clearly showed the distortion of personality by an environment hostile to it. For the first time, it was possible not only to dramatically depict contradictory human behavior, but also to condemn the evil and inhuman forces of society. “Belkin's Tales” were created in the fall of 1830 in the village of Boldino. Main acting character The “story” is a poor little man, his position in society, his desires, aspirations, social contradictions, in which he is drawn, moral dignity and simple human happiness.
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The theme of the “little man” in the works of A.S. Pushkin. Of the stories in this cycle, the story “The Station Warden” had the greatest influence on the entire further course of development of Russian literature. Pushkin's choice of the hero - the stationmaster - was not accidental. In the 20s of the 19th century, many morally descriptive essays and stories appeared in Russian literature, the heroes of which were people of the “lower class”. “The Station Agent” is a socio-psychological story about the “little man” and his bitter fate in noble society. This highest manifestation realism in Russian prose of the early 30s and a remarkable achievement of Pushkin himself. The fate of the “little man” is shown here for the first time without sentimental tearfulness, without romantic exaggeration, shown as the result of certain historical conditions, injustice of social relations.
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The theme of the “little man” in the works of A.S. Pushkin. The plot of “The Station Agent” itself conveys a typical social conflict, a broad generalization of reality is expressed, revealed in the individual case of the tragic fate of an ordinary person, Samson Vyrin. Pushkin showed in his hero the traits of humanity, protest against social injustice, which he revealed in a realistic depiction of fate common man. This is a genuine human drama, like there are many in life. A wise writer teaches us to pay attention not to the position, but to the soul and heart of a person, because then the world will become much cleaner and more honest. Humility, shows A.S. Pushkin, humiliates a person, makes life meaningless, eradicates pride, dignity, independence from the soul, turns a person into a voluntary slave, into a victim submissive to the blows of fate. For the first time, Russian literature was able to condemn the evil and inhuman forces of society. Samson Vyrin judged this society.
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The theme of the “little man” in the works of A.S. Pushkin. The significance of the theme of the “little man” for Pushkin was not in exposing the downtroddenness of the hero, but in the discovery in the “little man” of a compassionate and sensitive soul, endowed with the gift of responding to someone else’s misfortune and someone else’s pain. From now on, the theme of the “little man” will be heard in Russian classical literature constantly.
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The theme of the “little man” in the works of N.V. Gogol. The theme of the “little man” reached its apogee in the works of Gogol. Gogol reveals to the reader the world of “little people”, officials in his “Petersburg Tales”. The story “The Overcoat”, which was of great importance for all subsequent literature, is especially significant for the disclosure of this topic. Gogol had a great influence on the further movement of Russian literature, “responding” in the work of its most diverse figures, from Dostoevsky and Shchedrin to Bulgakov and Sholokhov.
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The theme of the “little man” in the works of N.V. Gogol. The story brings the “little man” face to face with the cruel bureaucratic machine of old Russia. And this machine mercilessly crushes and humiliates him. Gogol changed and processed real material in such a way that a humane idea came to the fore. He took the hero who occupied one of the last places in the hierarchical system of Tsarist Russia, a most harmless creature, who never caused any harm to anyone, who meekly endured all kinds of hardships and ridicule, who never showed any claims, except perhaps the claim to the most necessary thing - an overcoat, and then only when it is no longer possible without it it was possible to make do. And life mercilessly punishes this person like a criminal!
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The theme of the “little man” in the works of N.V. Gogol. The “little man” is not destined to be happy in this unjust world. And only after death is justice done. Bashmachkin’s “soul” finds peace when it regains lost item. Akaki Akakievich dies, but N.V. Gogol revives him. Why is he doing this? It seems to us that N.V. Gogol revived the hero in order to further show the timidity of the hero’s soul, and even after reviving, he changed only on the outside, but in his soul he still remained only a “little man.” N.V. Gogol showed not only the life of the “little man”, but also his protest against injustice. Even if this “rebellion” is timid, almost fantastic, the hero stands for his rights, against the foundations of the existing order.
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The theme of the “little man” in the works of A.P. Chekhov Later, Chekhov would sum up the development of the theme in a peculiar way; he doubted the virtues traditionally glorified by Russian literature - the high moral virtues of the “little man” - a petty official. Voluntary groveling, self-abasement of the “little man” - this is the turn of the topic proposed by A.P. Chekhov. If Chekhov “exposed” something in people, then, first of all, their ability and willingness to be “small”. A person should not, does not dare, make himself “small” - this is Chekhov’s main idea in his interpretation of the theme of the “little man”. Summarizing all that has been said, we can conclude that the theme of the “little man” reveals the most important qualities of Russian literature of the 19th century - democracy and humanism.
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The theme of the “little man” in the literature of the 18th-19th centuries. The idea of the “little man” changed throughout the 18th-19th centuries. Each writer had his own personal views on of this hero. Writers of the 18th century - N.M. Karamzin - and the first half of the 19th century - A.S. Pushkin, N.V. Gogol - treat the “little man” with sympathy. At first, the “little man” could love and respect himself, but was powerless before the state machine. Then he could not love, could not respect, and could not even think about fighting the state. Later, the “little man” acquires self-esteem, the ability to love, and at the same time acutely feels his insignificant position. But the most important thing is that he is no longer insignificant in his soul!
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The theme of the “little man” in the works of N.V. Gogol. The theme of the “little man” was developed in detail in the works of A.S. Pushkin, who repeatedly addressed the problems of such people in his works. You can even trace the change in this image in different works of the writer (“The Station Agent”, “ Captain's daughter», « Bronze Horseman"). Continuing the theme of the “little man” is N.V. Gogol, who in his story “The Overcoat” for the first time shows the spiritual stinginess and squalor of poor people, but also draws attention to the ability of the “little man” to rebel and for this purpose introduces elements of fantasy into his work.
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The theme of the “little man” in the literature of the 18th-19th centuries. This topic occupied significant place in Russian literature. The problem of the “little man” vividly worried the writers, although each of them reveals the image of the “little man” in his own way and makes us think about the problems of such people, exposing the spiritual poverty and misery of the “poor little people” in order to help them change. Thus, the theme of the “little man” underwent significant changes in the work of writers. It is very important for understanding all Russian literature, since in the 20th century it was developed in the images of the heroes I. Bunin, A. Kuprin, M. Gorky, and even at the end of the 20th century one can find its reflection in the works of V. Shukshin, V. Rasputin and other writers.
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Bibliography. 1. Anikin A.A., Galkin A.B. Themes of Russian classics. Tutorial. – M.: Prometheus, 2000. 2. Arkhangelsky A.N. "Russian literature XIX century. 10th grade." - M., 2000. 3. Vinogradov I. From “Nevsky Prospekt” to “Rome”. / Gogol N.V. Petersburg stories. – M.: Synergy, 2001. 4. Gogol N.V. Overcoat. Petersburg stories. – M.: Synergy, 2001. 5. Gorelov P. O. Essays on Russian writers M.: “ Soviet writer”, 1984. 6. Gukovsky G. Realism of Gogol. – M.: graduate School, 1959. 7. Karamzin N.M. Poor Liza [electronic resource] http: az.lib.ru\k\karamzin 8. Kozhinov V.V. About the idea of "The Overcoat". /Gogol N.V. Petersburg stories. – M.: Synergy, 2001. 9. Lebedev Yu.V. “Russian literature of the 19th century. 10th grade." M., 2002. 10. Korovina V., Zhuravlev V., Korovin V. Literature. 9th grade. Textbook-reader for educational institutions. At 2 hours - M.: Education, 2007. 11. Mann Yu. Poetics of Gogol. M.: Fiction, 1988. 12. Markovich V. Gogol’s Petersburg Stories. L.: Fiction, 1989. 13. Mendeleeva D. A few words about the “little man” and “ dead souls"[electronic resource] http:lit.1september.ru\2004 14. Nezdvitsky V.A. "From Pushkin to Chekhov." M., 1997 15. Pushkin A.S. Stationmaster. Works in 5 volumes - M.: Synergy, 1999. 16. Ulyanov N.I. On Gogol's themes. Who is the true creator of “demonic” St. Petersburg? / Gogol N.V. Petersburg stories. – M.: Synergy, 2001. 17. Shenrok V.I. Petersburg stories by Gogol. /Gogol N.V. Petersburg stories. – M.: Synergy, 2001
The work of many Russian writers is imbued with love for the ordinary person and pain for him.
One of the first to put forward the democratic theme of the “little man” in literature was Pushkin. In “Belkin’s Tales,” completed in 1830, the writer paints not only pictures of the life of the nobility (“The Young Lady-Peasant”), but also draws the readers’ attention to the fate of the “little man.”
Already in the stories of sentimentalists, especially Karamzin (the story “Poor Liza”), a “little man” was shown. It was an idealized image, not very realistic.
Pushkin makes his first attempt to objectively and truthfully portray the “little man.” The hero of the story “The Station Agent” is alien to sentimental suffering; he has his own sorrows associated with the unsettled life.
There is a small postal station somewhere at the crossroads of roads. Here live 14th grade official Samson Vyrin and his daughter Dunya - the only joy that brightens up the difficult life of a caretaker, full of shouts and curses from passers-by. And suddenly she is taken to St. Petersburg, taken away secretly from her father. The worst thing is that Dunya left with the hussar of her own free will. Having crossed the threshold of a new one, rich life, she abandoned her father. Samson Vyrin goes to St. Petersburg to “return the lost sheep,” but he is kicked out of Dunya’s house, and in the end he receives several banknotes for his daughter. “Tears welled up in his eyes again, tears of indignation! He squeezed the pieces of paper into a ball, threw them on the ground, stamped with his heel and walked away...” Vyrin dies alone, and no one notices his death. About people like him, Pushkin writes at the beginning of the story: “We will, however, be fair, we will try to enter into their position and, perhaps, we will begin to judge them much more leniently.”
The truth of life, sympathy for the “little man”, insulted at every step by bosses higher in rank and position - this is what we feel when reading the story. Pushkin cares about this “little man” who lives in grief and need. The story, which so realistically depicts the “little man,” is imbued with democracy and humanity.
In 1833, Pushkin’s “The Bronze Horseman” appeared, in which the “little man” with tragic fate expresses a timid protest against the inhuman autocracy. “Welcome, miraculous builder! -//He whispered, trembling angrily, -//Too bad for you!..”
Pushkin's traditions were continued and developed by Gogol, Dostoevsky, and Chekhov.
In the story “The Overcoat” the idea of a humane attitude towards the “little man”, which is hidden in all Gogol's works, expressed directly and decisively.
Akakiy Akakievich Bashmachkin - “eternal titular adviser.” The senseless clerical work killed every living thought in him. He finds his only pleasure in copying papers. He lovingly wrote out the letters in a clean, even handwriting and completely immersed himself in his work, forgetting the insults caused to him by his colleagues, and the need, and worries about food and comfort. Even at home, he only thought that “God will send something to rewrite tomorrow.”
But the man in this downtrodden official also woke up when the goal of life appeared - a new overcoat. “He somehow became more lively, even stronger in character. Doubt and indecision naturally disappeared from his face and from his actions...” Bashmachkin does not part with his dream for a single day. He thinks about it like another person thinks about love, about family. So he orders himself a new overcoat, “...his existence has somehow become fuller...” The description of the life of Akaki Akakievich is permeated with irony, but there is also pity and sadness in it. Introducing us into the spiritual world of the hero, describing his feelings, thoughts, dreams, joys and sorrows, the author makes it clear what a happiness it was for Bashmachkin to acquire an overcoat and what a disaster its loss turns into.
There was no happier person than Akaki Akakievich, when the tailor brought him an overcoat. But his joy was short-lived. When he was returning home at night, he was robbed. And none of those around him take part in the unhappy official. In vain did Bashmachkin seek help from a “significant person.” He was even accused of rebelling against his superiors and “higher ones.” The upset Akaki Akakievich catches a cold and dies. In the finale, a small, timid person, driven to despair by the world of the powerful, protests against this world. Dying, he “blasphemes”, utters the most scary words, following the words “Your Excellency.” It was a riot, albeit in a dying delirium.
It is not because of the overcoat that the “little man” dies. He becomes a victim of bureaucratic “inhumanity” and “ferocious rudeness,” which, as Gogol argued, lurks under the guise of “refined, educated secularism.” This is the deepest meaning of the story.
High St. Petersburg society shows criminal indifference towards Captain Kopeikin (in Gogol’s poem “ Dead souls"). It turned out to be callous, soulless not just to a little person, but to a defender of the Motherland, a hero of the War of 1812, a disabled person who had lost all means of livelihood... No wonder further fate Captain Kopeikin is associated with the riot: a warning that the patience of the downtrodden and humiliated will someday end, that there is a limit to everything. And if the broad Russian soul rebelled, then woe to those who oppressed and offended the poor man.
Dostoevsky’s novel “Poor People” is imbued with the spirit of Gogol’s “The Overcoat.” This is a story about the fate of the same “little man”, crushed by grief, despair and social lack of rights. The correspondence of the poor official Makar Devushkin with Varenka, who has lost her parents and is being pursued by a pimp, reveals the deep drama of the lives of these people. Makar and Varenka are ready to endure any hardship for each other. Makar, living in extreme need, helps Varya. And Varya, having learned about Makar’s situation, comes to his aid. But the heroes of the novel are defenseless. Their rebellion is a “revolt on their knees.” Nobody can help them. Varya is taken away to certain death, and Makar is left alone with his grief. The lives of two are broken and crippled wonderful people, broken by cruel reality.
Dostoevsky reveals the deep and strong experiences of “little people.”
It is interesting to note that Makar Devushkin reads “The Station Agent” by Pushkin and “The Overcoat” by Gogol. He is sympathetic to Samson Vyrin and hostile to Bashmachkin. Probably because he sees his future in him. So, Dostoevsky, the most complex and contradictory realist artist, on the one hand, shows a “humiliated and insulted” person, and the writer’s heart is filled with love, compassion and pity for this person and hatred for the well-fed, vulgar and debauched, and on the other hand, he speaks out for humility, submission, calling: “Humble yourself, proud man!”
Marmeladov from Dostoevsky’s novel “Crime and Punishment” turns out to be a victim in a society of arbitrariness and lawlessness. This drunken retired official says to Raskolnikov: “In poverty you still retain your nobility of innate feelings, but in poverty no one ever does.” Marmeladov explains his thought: “Poverty is not a vice, poverty is a vice,” because in poverty the sense of human dignity in the poor person himself is not yet distorted; the beggar ceases to be a person, ceases to respect himself, humiliates himself, reaching the last degree of moral decline.
Further, in the development of the image of the “little man,” a tendency toward “bifurcation” is emerging. On the one hand, common democrats emerge from among the “little people,” and their children become revolutionaries. Nekrasov will say about Dobrolyubov: “What a lamp of reason has gone out!” On the other hand, the “little man” sinks, turning into a limited bourgeois. We observe this process most clearly in Chekhov’s stories “Ionych”, “Gooseberry”, “Man in a Case”.
Teacher Belikov is not an evil person by nature, but timid and reserved. In conditions when the formula was in effect: “If the circular does not allow, then it is not allowed,” he becomes a terrible figure in the city.
Everything living, moving forward, frightened Belikov; in everything he saw “an element of doubt.” Belikov could not arrange his personal life either. Once he saw his bride on a bicycle, he was very surprised and went to her brother for an explanation, believing that it was not appropriate for a woman to ride a bicycle. The result of the conversation was a quarrel between Belikov and Kovalenko, after which the teacher died. The townspeople buried Belikov with joy, but even after his death the stamp of “Belikovism” remained on the residents of the city. Belikov continued to live in their minds, he permeated their souls
Fear.
Over time, the “little man,” deprived of his own dignity, “humiliated and insulted,” arouses not only compassion but also condemnation among progressive writers. “You live a boring life, gentlemen,” Chekhov said through his work to the “little man” who had come to terms with his situation. With subtle humor, the writer ridicules the death of Ivan Chervyakov, from whose lips the lackey “Yourness” has never left his lips. In the same year as “The Death of an Official,” the story “Thick and Thin” appears. Chekhov again speaks out against philistinism, against servility. The collegiate servant Porfiry giggles, “like a Chinese,” bowing obsequiously, upon meeting his ex-friend who has a high rank. The feeling of friendship that connected these two people has been forgotten.
Drawing images of “little people,” writers usually emphasized their weak protest and downtroddenness, which subsequently leads the “little man” to degradation. But each of these heroes has something in life that helps him endure existence: Samson Vyrin has a daughter, the joy of life, Akaky Akakievich has an overcoat, Makar Devushkin and Varenka have their love and care for each other. Having lost this goal, they die, unable to survive the loss.
“Little people” are people of the lower classes, and their language is folk, it contains vernacular (“clean up, old fool”), clerical words (“compasses”), and the expression “I have something to say.” To enhance the emotional sound of the image, writers use inappropriately direct speech (for example, the story about the grief of the old caretaker is told in the third person, although he himself talks about what happened).
To more fully describe the hero, Chekhov uses the technique of a story within a story. The hero is spoken about by another person who knows him and evaluates his actions (teacher Burkin in the story “The Man in a Case”, veterinarian Ivan Ivanovich in the story “Gooseberry”). All techniques for depicting heroes are aimed at a deeper disclosure of the images of “little people”.
In conclusion, I would like to say that a person should not be small. In one of his letters to his sister, Chekhov exclaimed: “My God, how rich Russia is.” good people! The keen eye of the artist, noticing vulgarity, hypocrisy, stupidity, saw something else - beauty good man. Such, for example, is Doctor Dymov, the hero of the story “The Jumper,” a man who lives for the happiness of others, a modest doctor, with kind hearted, beautiful soul. Dymov dies saving a child from illness.
So it turns out that this “little man” is not so small.
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol is a writer whose work can be discussed endlessly. He was talented and spontaneous. His range was limitless. Each book is imbued with subtle humor, patriotism, national flavor, and maybe even creepy fantasy that terrifies. Gogol has stories for different ages, which is why we are familiar with his work from an early age.
Gogol's work was of great importance for the development of Russian literature, and his services to the Russian people are immeasurable.
He became the founder of a whole movement in Russian literature, which was called “ natural school“, had a great influence on the development of the creativity of many Russian writers, and his work continues to inspire Russian composers and artists in our time.
Throughout his career, N.V. Gogol raised a lot important topics in his works he denounced the autocratic-serf system and sympathetically portrayed “little people” in his stories.
Who is this “little man,” you ask? This is a type of literary hero that arose in Russian literature with the advent of realism, that is, in the 20-30s of the 19th century. This is an ordinary, undistinguished, poor, ignorant person who occupies a certain place in life and usually becomes the object of ridicule and humiliation from people of higher rank. Such people feel powerless and try with all their might to hide from their surroundings and live in their own little world. But as a result of some upheaval that has occurred in their life, they become capable of rebellion.
The first person to write about such people was A.S.
Pushkin in the story “The Station Agent”. F.M. belonged to the same direction. Dostoevsky and his “Crime and Punishment”, A.P. Chekhov “Man in a Case”, A.I. Kuprin " Garnet bracelet"and many others. Among them was also Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol and his stories “Chanel”, “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin”, “The Nose”, “Portrait”, “Nevsky Prospekt” and most tragic story cycle “Petersburg Tales” - “Notes of a Madman”.
“Notes of a Madman” is written in the form of a diary, allegedly kept by a minor official, Aksentiy Poprishchin. He is a rather unattractive, educated, but uncultured employee of the department, where his duties are reduced mainly to sharpening feathers for “His Excellency” the director. This is a man of the lowest rank, but his dreams, on the contrary, are great and unattainable. His dream is to be among secular people, and to be on an equal footing with them. He falls madly in love with the director's daughter, but he is so afraid to find out about her more he wanted her dog Medzhi. When Aksentiy finds out about her wedding and sees sidelong glances from Sofia and Medzhi, he falls into a rage. And when a couple of days later the shrewd boss finds out about this, he scolds him and says that “he, a forty-year-old zero who doesn’t have a penny to his name, has decided to pursue the director’s daughter.” His next apathy was the thought of why everything goes to senior officials, but not him, he becomes convinced that he is the Spanish king. Thus, feelings of hopelessness and resentment, unsatisfied ambition, combined with unhappy love, first bring Poprishchin to nervous disorder, and then to absolute madness.
“The Tale of Captain Kopeikin” is another work by Nikolai Vasilyevich, in which he reveals the image of the “little man” and his relationship with the supreme power. Captain Kopeikin is an officer who lost a leg and an arm in the War of 1812. After the war, he, a disabled person, was left without a means of subsistence, so he soon goes to St. Petersburg and asks for mercy from the sovereign. In the city, he gets a reception with a nobleman, who in the story is a representative of the same supreme authority. The nobleman treated him favorably for the first time and ordered him to “see him one of these days,” but this happened again and again. Coming to the nobleman every day, the disabled Kopeikin was unable to take his well-deserved pension. Gogol shows us a rather tragic ending to this story. Kopeikin, disillusioned with the help of the state, is put into a cart and taken to God knows where, where he will eventually form his own gang of robbers. Thus, Gogol shows that the hero took life into his own hands as best he could.
Thus, N.V. Gogol in his stories showed us the image of a “little man”. He told us that this is a short man social status, with petty desires and needs, still remains a kind person who does no harm to anyone, harmless. But with people like this high society does not want to be considered, so he leaves their needs unnoticed by all means. The “little man” always gets lost in the crowd, since he doesn’t attract his attention with anything special. He is too ordinary and invisible. But still, such a hero is not as simple as it seems at first glance. The author puts a vulnerable character and soul into each of his characters. And if he is driven to despair, he will be able to resist everything. But no matter how strong such a person is in a fit of anger, he always “breaks down,” which leads to either madness or death.