What is the meaning of human life? Many people have always thought about this question. For some, the problem of the meaning of human life does not exist at all as such, some see the essence of existence in money, some in children, some in work, etc. Naturally, the greats of this world also puzzled over this question: writers, philosophers, psychologists. They devoted years to this, wrote treatises, studied the works of their predecessors, etc. What did they say about this? What did you see as the meaning of life and the purpose of man? Let's get acquainted with some points of view, perhaps this will contribute to the formation of our own vision of the problem.
About the issue in general
So, what is the point? Both eastern sages and philosophers from completely different times tried to find the only correct answer to this question, but in vain. Every thinking person can also face this problem, and if we are not able to find the right solution, then we will at least try to reason and understand the topic a little. How to get as close as possible to the answer to the question of what is the meaning in human life? To do this, you need to determine for yourself the purpose, the purpose of your existence. Depending on what you want to achieve in a certain period, the meaning of a person’s life will change. This is easy to understand with an example. If at the age of 20 you firmly decided to earn a lot of money, that is, you set such a task for yourself, then with each successful deal the feeling that life is filled with meaning will only grow. However, after 15-20 years you will realize that you worked hard at the expense of your personal life, health, etc. Then all these years may seem, if not senselessly lived, then only partially meaningful. Which one in in this case can we conclude? That a person’s life should have a purpose (in this case, meaning), albeit a transitory one.
Is it possible to live without meaning?
If a person is devoid of meaning, it means that he has no internal motivation, and this makes him weak. The absence of a goal does not allow you to take your own destiny into your own hands, resist adversity and difficulties, strive for something, etc. A person without the meaning of life is easily controlled, since he does not have his own opinion, ambitions, or life criteria. In such cases, one’s own desires are replaced by those of others, as a result of which individuality suffers and hidden talents and abilities do not appear. Psychologists say that if a person does not want or cannot find his way, purpose, goal, then this leads to neuroses, depression, alcoholism, drug addiction, and suicide. Therefore, every person must look for the meaning of his life, even unconsciously, strive for something, wait for something, etc.
What is meant by the meaning of life in philosophy?
Philosophy about the meaning of human life can tell us a lot, so this question has always been in the first place for this science and its admirers and followers. For thousands of years, philosophers have been creating some ideals to which we had to strive, some laws of existence, in which lay the answer to the eternal question.
1. If, for example, we talk about ancient philosophy, then Epicurus saw the goal of existence in obtaining pleasure, Aristotle - in achieving happiness through knowledge of the world and thinking, Diogenes - in the pursuit of inner peace, in the denial of family and art.
2. To the question of what is the meaning of human life, the philosophy of the Middle Ages gave the following answer: one should honor ancestors, accept the religious views of the time, and pass all this on to posterity.
3. Representatives of philosophy of the 19th and 20th centuries also had their own view of the problem. Irrationalists saw the essence of existence in a constant struggle with death and suffering; existentialists believed that the meaning of a person’s life depends on himself; positivists considered this problem completely meaningless, since it is expressed linguistically.
Interpretation from a religious point of view
Each historical era poses tasks and problems for society, the solution of which most directly affects how an individual understands his purpose. Since living conditions, cultural and social demands change, it is natural that a person’s views on all issues change. However, people have never left the desire to find that one, so to speak, universal meaning of life that would be suitable for any segment of society, for each period of time. This same desire is reflected in all religions, among which Christianity is especially noteworthy. The problem of the meaning of human life is considered by Christianity inseparable from the teachings about the creation of the world, about God, about the Fall, about the sacrifice of Jesus, about the salvation of the soul. That is, all these questions are seen on the same plane; accordingly, the essence of being appears outside of life itself.
The idea of a "spiritual elite"
Philosophy, or more precisely, some of its followers, considered the meaning of human life from another interesting point of view. At a certain time, ideas about this problem became widespread, which cultivated the ideas of a “spiritual elite” designed to protect all of humanity from degeneration by introducing it to cultural and spiritual values. So, for example, Nietzsche believed that the essence of life is to constantly produce geniuses, talented individuals who would elevate the common people to their level and deprive them of the feeling of orphanhood. The same point of view was shared by K. Jaspers. He was sure that representatives of the spiritual aristocracy should be a standard, a model for all other people.
What does hedonism say about this?
The founders of this doctrine are the ancient Greek philosophers Epicurus and Aristippus. The latter argued that both bodily and spiritual pleasure are good for the individual, which should be positively assessed, respectively, displeasure is bad. And the more desirable the pleasure, the stronger it is. Epicurus' teachings this issue has become a household name. He said that all living things strive for pleasure, and every person strives for the same. However, he receives not only sensual, bodily pleasure, but also spiritual.
Utilitarian theory
This type of hedonism was developed mainly by the philosophers Bentham and Mill. The first, like Epicurus, was sure that the meaning of life and human happiness lies only in obtaining pleasure and striving for it and in avoiding torment and suffering. He also believed that the criterion of utility could mathematically calculate a specific type of pleasure or pain. And by drawing up their balance, we can find out which action will be bad and which will be good. Mill, who gave the movement its name, wrote that if any action contributes to happiness, then it automatically becomes positive. And so that he would not be accused of selfishness, the philosopher said that it is important not only the happiness of the person himself, but also of those around him.
Objections to hedonism
Yes, there were some, and quite a few. The essence of the objection comes down to the fact that hedonists and utilitarians see the meaning of human life in the pursuit of pleasure. However, as it shows life experience, a person, when committing an act, does not always think what it will lead to: happiness or grief. Moreover, people deliberately do things that are obviously associated with hard work, suffering, death, in order to achieve goals that are far from personal benefit. Each personality is unique. What is happiness for one is torment for another.
Kant deeply criticized hedonism. He said that the happiness that hedonists speak about is a very relative concept. It looks different to everyone. The meaning and value of human life, according to Kant, lie in the desire of everyone to develop within themselves goodwill. This is the only way to achieve perfection, to fulfill. Having a will, a person will strive for those actions that are responsible for his purpose.
The meaning of human life in the literature of Tolstoy L.N.
The great writer not only reflected, but even suffered over this question. In the end, Tolstoy came to the conclusion that the purpose of life lies only in the self-improvement of the individual. He was also sure that the meaning of the existence of one individual cannot be sought separately from others, from society as a whole. Tolstoy said that in order to live honestly, one must constantly struggle, struggle, get confused, because calmness is meanness. That is why the negative part of the soul seeks peace, but it does not understand that achieving what it wants is associated with the loss of everything that is good and kind in a person.
The meaning of human life in philosophy was interpreted in different ways, this happened depending on many reasons, the currents of a particular time. If we consider the teachings of such a great writer and philosopher as Tolstoy, then it says the following. Before deciding the purpose of existence, it is necessary to understand what life is. He went through all the then known definitions of life, but they did not satisfy him, since they reduced everything only to biological existence. However, human life, according to Tolstoy, is impossible without moral, ethical aspects. Thus, the moralist transfers the essence of life into the moral sphere. Afterwards, Tolstoy turned to both sociology and religion in the hope of finding that single meaning that is intended for everyone, but it was all in vain.
What is said about this in domestic and foreign literature?
In this area, the number of approaches to this problem and opinions is no less than in philosophy. Although many writers also acted as philosophers and talked about the eternal.
So, one of the oldest is the concept of Ecclesiastes. It talks about the vanity and insignificance of human existence. According to Ecclesiastes, life is nonsense, nonsense, nonsense. And such components of existence as labor, power, love, wealth, do not have any meaning. It's the same as chasing the wind. In general, he believed that there was no point in human life No.
The Russian philosopher Kudryavtsev in his monograph put forward the idea that each person independently fills existence with meaning. He only insists that everyone see the goal only in the “high” and not in the “low” (money, pleasure, etc.)
The Russian thinker Dostoevsky, who constantly “unraveled” the secrets of the human soul, believed that the meaning of a person’s life lies in his morality.
The meaning of being in psychology
Freud, for example, believed that the main thing in life is to be happy, to get maximum pleasure and enjoyment. Only these things are self-evident, but a person who thinks about the meaning of life is mentally ill. But his student, E. Fromm, believed that one cannot live without meaning. You need to consciously reach out to everything positive and fill your existence with it. In the teachings of V. Frankl, this concept is given the main place. According to his theory, under no circumstances in life can a person fail to see the goals of existence. And you can find meaning in three ways: in action, through experience, if you have a certain attitude towards life circumstances.
Is there really meaning in human life?
In this article we consider such an ever-existing question as the problem of the meaning of human life. Philosophy gives more than one answer to this, some options are presented above. But each of us, at least once, thought about the meaning of our own existence. For example, according to sociologists, approximately 70% of the planet's inhabitants live in constant fear and anxiety. As it turned out, they were not looking for the meaning of their existence, but simply wanted to survive. And for what? And that fussy and anxious rhythm of life is a consequence of the reluctance to understand this issue, at least for oneself. No matter how much we hide, the problem still exists. Writers, philosophers, thinkers were looking for answers. If we analyze all the results, we can come to three conclusions. Let's try to find the meaning too?
Judgment one: there is no meaning and there cannot be
This means that any attempt to find a goal is a delusion, a dead end, self-deception. This theory was supported by many philosophers, including Jean-Paul Sartre, who said that if death awaits us all, then there is no point in life, because all problems will remain unresolved. A. Pushkin and Omar Khayyam also remained disappointed and dissatisfied in their search for truth. It should be said that this position of accepting the meaninglessness of life is very cruel, not every person is even able to survive it. Much in human nature resists this opinion. On this subject, the next point.
Judgment two: there is a meaning, but everyone has their own
Admirers of this opinion believe that there is a meaning, or rather, there should be, so we must invent it. This stage implies important step- a person stops running from himself, he must admit that existence cannot be meaningless. In this position, the person is more frank with himself. If a question appears again and again, then it will not be possible to brush it aside or hide. Please note that if we recognize such a concept as meaninglessness, we thereby prove the legitimacy and right to exist of that very meaning. It's all good. However, representatives of this opinion, even recognizing and accepting the question, could not find a universal answer. Then everything went according to the principle “once you admit it, figure it out yourself.” There are so many roads in life, you can choose any of them. Schelling said that happy is the one who has a goal and sees in this the meaning of his whole life. A person with such a position will try to find meaning in all phenomena and events that happen to him. Some will turn to material enrichment, some to success in sports, some to family. Now it turns out that there is no universal meaning, so what are all those “meanings”? Just tricks to cover up the meaninglessness? But if there is still a common meaning for everyone, then where to look for it? Let's move on to the third point.
Judgment three
And it sounds like this: there is meaning in our existence, it can even be known, but only after you know the one who created this existence. Here the question will be relevant not about what is the meaning of a person’s life, but about why he is looking for it. So, I lost it. The logic is simple. Having committed a sin, a person has lost God. And you don’t need to come up with the meaning here yourself, you just need to know the Creator again. Even a philosopher and convinced atheist said that if you initially exclude the existence of God, then there is no point in looking for meaning at all, there will be none. A bold decision for an atheist.
Most common answers
If you ask a person about the meaning of his existence, he will most likely give one of the following answers. Let's take a closer look at them.
In continuation of the family. If you answer the question about the meaning of life in this way, then you thereby show the nakedness of your soul. Do you live for your children? To train them, to put them on their feet? And what's next? Then, when the children grow up and leave cozy nest? You will say that you will teach your grandchildren. Why? So that they, in turn, also do not have goals in life, but go in a vicious circle? Procreation is one of the tasks, but it is not universal.
At work. For many people, their future plans revolve around their career. You will work, but for what? Feed your family, clothe yourself? Yes, but that's not enough. How to realize yourself? Not enough either. Even the ancient philosophers argued that work will not bring joy for long if there is no general meaning in life.
In wealth. Many people are sure that saving money is the main happiness in life. It becomes excitement. But to live fully, you don’t need countless treasures. It turns out that making money constantly for the sake of money is pointless. Especially if a person does not understand why he needs wealth. Money can only be a tool to fulfill its meaning and purpose.
In existence for someone. This makes more sense, although it is similar to the point about children. Of course, caring for someone is grace, it is right choice, but insufficient for self-realization.
What to do, how to find the answer?
If the question posed still haunts you, then you should look for the answer in yourself. In this review, we briefly examined some philosophical, psychological, and religious aspects of the problem. Even if you read such literature for days and study all the theories, it is far from a fact that you will 100% agree with something and take it as a guide to action.
If you decide to find the meaning of your life, it means that something does not suit you in the current state of affairs. However, be careful: time is running, it won't wait for you to find something. Most people try to realize themselves in the above directions. Yes, please, if you like it, it brings you pleasure, then who will forbid it? On the other hand, who said that this is not possible, that it is wrong, that we do not have the right to live like this (for children, for loved ones, etc.)? Everyone chooses their own path, their own destiny. Or maybe you shouldn't look for him? If something is prepared, will it come anyway, without any extra effort on the part of man? Who knows, maybe this is true. And don’t be surprised if you see the meaning of life differently at each stage of your existence. This is fine. Human nature in general is such that he constantly doubts something. The main thing is to be filled, like a vessel, to do something, to devote your life to something.
Composition
Everyone who wrote and spoke about the work of Vasily Shukshin could not help but mention his almost incredible versatility without surprise and some feeling of confusion.
Shukshin the cinematographer organically penetrates Shukshin the writer, his prose is visible, his film is literary in in the best sense words, it cannot be perceived “in sections”; reading his books, we see the author on the screen, and looking at the screen, we remember his prose.
This fusion of the most diverse qualities and talents not only into a whole, but also into a very specific, completely complete one, pleases and surprises us today, and will always delight and surprise us.
Shukshin belonged to Russian art in that tradition, due to which the artist not only humiliated himself, but did not notice himself in the face of the problem that he raised in his work, in the face of the object that became for him the subject of art.
Shukshin was not only uncharacteristic of, but also contraindicated in, any demonstration of himself, any indication of himself, although he had something to demonstrate to anyone. It was this attitude towards himself that made him unforgettable for others.
Last years Shukshin's life was a period when everything that surrounded him became a subject of art for him - whether it concerned a quarrel with a janitor at the hospital or studying the biography and deeds of Stepan Razin.
One thing can be said: to live among people, incidents, impressions, each of which demands its own, and rightful place in art, each of which, pushing away everything else, rushes through you onto paper, onto the stage, onto the screen, urgently demanding and complaining - It is very difficult.
Here is the film story by V. Shukshin "Kalina Red", written in 1973. The main character is Yegor Prokudin. Yegor is inconsistent: now he is touchingly lyrical and hugs one birch tree after another, now he is rude, now a ruffian, now a drunkard, a lover of drinking, now a good-natured man, now a bandit. And now some critics were very confused by this inconsistency, and they took it for a lack of character and “truth of life.”
Criticism did not immediately notice that until now, perhaps, no one had been able to create such an image - not a single writer, not a single director, not a single actor, but Shukshin succeeded because he - Shukshin, piercingly saw the people around him, their destinies, their life's vicissitudes, because he is a writer, a director, and an actor all rolled into one.
Prokudin's inconsistency is not at all so simple, spontaneous and unconditioned; it is by no means an empty place or a lack of character.
Prokudin is consistently inconsistent, and this is something else. This is already logic. His logic is not our logic, it cannot, and probably should not, be accepted and shared by us, but this does not mean at all that it does not exist, that it is not able to open up and be understood.
Not quickly and not quietly, but with an even step, Yegor moves across the arable land he has just plowed towards his death.
He goes, knowing where he is going.
He goes, first sending away his assistant at the plowing, so that he would not be a witness to what is now inevitably going to happen, so that the person who was in no way involved in Prokudin’s fate would not be in any danger, some kind of trouble as a witness.
The blows of Prokudin’s tarpaulin boots on the wooden walkways are loudly and continuously heard when he leaves prison to freedom, but now he almost inaudibly, but in the same rhythm, walks across the arable land from freedom to his death, and the circle closes, and everything becomes clear to us.
It is then that we understand that this is the only way this person should have acted - this is where all his previous inconsistency began to speak.
Prokudin neither pity, nor love, nor patronage, nor help - he would not accept anything from us, but he needs our understanding. It is necessary in his own way - after all, he resists this understanding all the time, it is not for nothing that he was so inconsistent and threw out his knees. But all this is because he needed our understanding.
And then you involuntarily begin to think that Prokudin gives us an understanding not only of himself, but also of his artist - Vasily Shukshin.
Time does not stand still, and those born in the year of Shukshin’s death today become his readers. For them, he is the name of the classic series. But the years that passed after his death in no way erased the original meaning of the words that he wrote with a capital letter: People, Truth, Living Life.
2. “On the meaning of life”
In the summer, in July, Knyazev received leave and went with his family to rest in the village. In the village lived his father-in-law and mother-in-law, silent, greedy people; Knyazev did not like them, but there was nowhere else to go, so he went to them. But every time he warned his wife that he would also work in the village - he would write. His wife, Alevtina, really wanted to go to the village in the summer, she didn’t swear or be sarcastic.
Write... At least sign up at all.
Like this. So that later there will be no: “Again for yours!” To prevent this from happening.
Write, write,” Alevtina said sadly. She painfully experienced this ineradicable, fireproof passion of her husband - to write, write and write in order to restore order in the state, she hated him for it, was ashamed, begged him - quit it! Nothing helped. Nikolai Nikolaevich hung over the notebooks, meddled with them everywhere, they told him that this was stupidity, nonsense, they tried to dissuade him... They tried to dissuade him many times, but to no avail.
Knyazev had acquaintances in the village, and as soon as they arrived, he went to visit them. And in his first family he met the person his irrepressible soul always wanted to meet. A certain Silchenko, also a son-in-law, also a city dweller and also somewhat bruised, came to that family - also to rest general questions. And they immediately grappled.
It happened like this.
Knyazev, in a good, peaceful mood, walked around the village, watched the “collective farmers-state farmers” (that’s what he called rural people) returning home from work, greeted two or three... Everyone was in a hurry, so no one stopped with him, only one asked come watch TV.
Turn it on and it’s snowing...
Okay, then somehow,” Knyazev promised.
And so he came to the family where Silchenko was. He knew the old man there who they were talking to. That is, Knyazev usually spoke, and the old man listened, he knew how to listen, he even loved to listen. He listened, nodded his head, and sometimes was just surprised:
Look!.. - he said quietly. - This is serious. The old man was just in the fence, and that same Silchenko was also in the fence, they were setting up fishing rods.
Ahh! - the old man said cheerfully. - Don’t have the desire to fish? Otherwise, we’re getting better with Yuri Viktorovich.
I don’t like it,” said Knyazev. - But I’ll sit with you on the bank.
Don't like fishing? - asked Silchenko, a thin man about the same age as Knyazev - about forty. - Why so?
Waste of time.
Silchenko looked at Knyazev, noted his alien appearance - a tie, cufflinks with yellow circles... He said condescendingly:
Rest is rest, it doesn’t matter how you spend your time.
There is active rest,” Knyazev rebuffed this ridiculous attempt to teach him, “and passive rest.” Active involves some purposeful activity along with rest.
These events are already making my head spin,” Silchenko laughed.
I’m not talking about “these events,” but about expedient ones,” Knyazev emphasized. And he looked at Silchenko firmly and calmly. - Do you notice the difference?
Silchenka also didn’t like that they were talking to him instructively... He, too, was a man with thoughts.
No, I don’t get it, explain yourself, do me a favor.
What is your profession?
What does it matter?
Well still...
Make-up artist.
Here Knyazev became completely bolder; blue eyes he was lit up with a cheerful, mocking fire; he became impudently condescending.
Do you know how burial mounds are filled? - he asked. One could feel the pleasure with which he approached the presentation of his thoughts.
Silchenko was not expecting these mounds; he was perplexed.
What do the mounds have to do with it?
Have you ever seen how they are poured?
Have you seen it?
Well, you saw it in the movies!
Let us suppose.
You have an idea. I want you to call up this picture with your mental gaze: how a mound is being poured. People walk, one by one, each taking a handful of earth and throwing it. First the hole is filled up, then the hill begins to grow... Can you imagine?
Let's say.
Knyazev became more and more inspired - these were precious moments in his life: there was a listener before his eyes who, although he hesitated, listened.
Then pay attention to this: the discrepancy between the size of the hill and the handful of earth. What happened? After all, here is a handful of earth,” Knyazev showed a palm folded into a handful, “and on the other side is a hill. What happened? Miracle? No miracles: accumulation of quantity. This is how states were created - from Urartu to modern supers. It's clear? What can a weak person do? human hand?.. - Knyazev looked around, a fishing rod caught his eye, he took it from the old man’s hands and showed it to both of them. - Fishing rod. This is also a product of human hands - a fishing rod. Right? - He returned the fishing rod to the old man. - This is when one person. But when they continuously follow each other and throw a handful of earth, a hill is formed. A fishing rod and a hill,” Knyazev looked triumphantly at Silchenko and at the old man too, but more at Silchenko. - Do you get it?
I don’t get it,” Silchenko said defiantly. This victory of Knyazev irritated him. - What does one have to do with it and what does the other have to do with it? We started talking about how to spend free time... I expressed the idea that whatever you do, if you like it, then you had a good rest.
Nonsense, nonsense,” Knyazev said sternly and cheerfully. - Reasoning at the Stone Age level. As soon as you start thinking like this, you automatically leave that uninterrupted chain of humanity that goes on and accumulates quantity. I gave you a very clear example: how a hill is filled! - Although Knyazev was excited, he was also patient. - Just imagine: everyone walked by and threw a handful of earth... But you didn’t throw it! Then I ask you: what is the meaning of your life?
Some nonsense. This is truly nonsense. What hill? I’m telling you, I came here to relax... Into nature. I like to fish... so I will fish. What's the matter?
And I also came to rest.
So what, are you going to build a hill here?
Knyazev laughed condescendingly, but not very patiently, angrily.
Sometimes we don’t understand when they think in categories, sometimes we don’t like it... Such a clear example! - Knyazev himself, apparently, really liked this example with a hill, he came across it by chance and rejoiced at it, its simplicity and striking clarity. - What is the meaning of our life in general? - he asked directly.
“It’s up to anyone,” Silchenko avoided.
No, no, you answer: what is the universal meaning of life? - Knyazev waited for an answer, but impatience had already completely taken possession of him. - In general statehood. If the state prospers, we prosper too. So? So or not?
Silchenko shrugged his shoulders... But he agreed - for now, waiting to see where Knyazev’s thought would go next.
Well, like this…
So. Figuratively speaking, again, we all carry a certain load on our shoulders... Just imagine,” Knyazev became even more worried at the new visual example, “the three of us - me, you, grandfather - are carrying a log. We carry it - we need to carry it a hundred meters. We carried fifty meters, suddenly you stop carrying and step aside. And say: “I’m on vacation, I’m resting.”
So, you don’t need vacations, or what? - Silchenko became worried. - This is also bullshit.
In this particular case, vacation is possible when we carry this log the required hundred meters and drop it - then rest.
“I don’t understand what you want to say,” Silchenko spoke angrily. - Either a hill, or some kind of log... Have you come to rest?
I came to rest.
What does it mean that you threw a log along the road? Or what... do you think?
Knyazev looked at Silchenko soulfully and sternly for some time.
Do you not understand on purpose?
I seriously don't understand! Some kind of stupidity, nonsense!.. Some kind of stupidity! - Silchenko was nervous about something and therefore said a lot of unnecessary things. - Well, it’s complete stupidity!.. Well, honestly, it’s impossible to understand anything. Do you understand anything, grandfather?
The old man listened with interest to this intelligent exchange. He was caught off guard by the question.
A? - he perked up.
Do you understand at all what this... comrade is threshing here?
“I’m listening,” the grandfather said vaguely.
But I don’t understand anything. I don’t understand anything!
“Be calmer, calmer,” Knyazev advised condescendingly and unkindly. - Calm down. Why be nervous?
Why bother talking about nonsense here?!
But you haven’t even gotten to the heart of the matter, and it’s already nonsense. But why... When will we learn to reason logically!
Yes, you yourself...
If I don’t understand, it means it’s nonsense, nonsense. Great logic! How long will we continue to shrug it off like this?
“Okay,” Silchenko pulled himself together. And he even sat down on his grandfather’s workbench. - Well, clear, simple, precise - what do you want to say? Normal Russian. So?
Where do you live? - asked Knyazev.
In Tomsk.
No, wider... In general, - Knyazev showed his hands widely.
I don't understand. Well, I don't understand! - Silchenko began to get nervous again. - Which “in general”? What is it? Where?
“You live in the state,” Knyazev continued. - What are your main interests? What do they coincide with?
Don't know.
With state interests. Your interests coincide with the interests of the state. Am I clear now?
Well well well?
What then is your meaning in life?
Well well well?
Yes, not “well,” but a line is already needed: what is the meaning of the life of every citizen?
Well, what?.. To work, to be honest,” Silchenko began to list, “to defend the Motherland when necessary...
Knyazev nodded his head in agreement. But he was waiting for something else, and Silchenko could not grasp what again.
“This is all correct,” said Knyazev. - But these are all branches. In what main meaning? Where is the main trunk, so to speak?
I'm asking you.
I do not know. Well, I don’t know what you want to do! You're just a fool! Damn... - and Silchenko cursed. And he jumped up from the workbench. - What do you want from me?! - he shouted. - What?! Can you tell me directly? Or I’ll trample you out of here with a log!.. You’re a fool! Cudgel!..
Knyazev has already encountered such nervous people. He wasn’t afraid of this psychopath himself, but he was afraid that people would come running, they would stare, they would... Ugh!
Quiet, quiet, quiet,” he said, stepping back. He looked sadly and hopelessly at the neurasthenic make-up artist. - Why is that so? Why shout?
What do you want from me?! - Silchenko kept shouting. - What?
People came out of the house onto the porch...
Knyazev turned and walked out of the fence.
Silchenko shouted something else after him.
Knyazev did not look back, walked at a brisk pace, and there was sadness and pain in his eyes.
"Humlo," he said quietly. “What a rude person... He opened his mouth,” he paused and said bitterly: “We won’t understand - we don’t need it.” We'd better yell. That's rude!
The next day, in the morning, the local chairman of the village council came to the Nekhoroshevs (Knyazev’s father-in-law). The old men Nekhoroshev and Knyazev and his wife were having breakfast.
“Bon appetit,” said the chairman. And he looked carefully at Knyazev. - Welcome to your arrival.
Thank you,” answered Knyazev. His heart sank with foreboding. - With us... don't you want to?
No, I had breakfast,” the chairman sat down on the bench. And again he looked at Knyazev.
Knyazev finally understood: this was to his liking. He got out from the table and went outside. A minute or two later the chairman followed him out.
“I’m listening,” said Knyazev. And he smiled sadly.
What happened there? - asked the chairman. Once (last year, in the summer too) the chairman already discussed something similar. Then they also complained about Knyazev that he was “propaganda.” - They’re telling me something again...
What can I tell you?! - Knyazev exclaimed. - My God! What is there to tell! I wanted to give my friend... a clearer idea...
Why should I? What am I?.. I don’t understand, by God, what did I do? I just wanted to explain to him... but he screamed like crazy. I don’t know... Is he normal, this Silchenko?
Comrade Knyazev...
Well, okay, okay. Fine! - Knyazev spat nervously. - I won’t do it anymore. To hell with them, let them live as they want. But, my God!.. - he was amazed again. - What did I tell him?! Suggested that he understand his tasks in life more clearly!.. What's wrong with that?
The man came to rest... Why bother him? No need. No need, Comrade Knyazev, I beg you.
Good good. Let them do what they want... After all, he’s a make-up artist!
I wanted to bring him to the idea of speaking at the club and talking about his work...
It's interesting! I would love to listen myself. He probably does the artists’ makeup... I would tell you about the artists.
And what does this have to do with... life's tasks?
He would have done something useful! That’s how I started yesterday: a line of people walks, everyone takes a handful of earth and throws it - a hill is formed. Hill dash is an expedient state. If we assume that the meaning of every citizen’s life is, figuratively speaking...
“Comrade Knyazev,” the chairman interrupted, “I don’t have time now: I have a meeting at nine... I’ll be happy to listen to you someday.” But once again I want to ask...
“Okay, okay,” Knyazev said hastily and sadly. - Go to the meeting. Goodbye. I don't need you to listen.
The chairman was surprised, but didn’t say anything and went to the meeting.
Knyazev looked after him... And said quietly, as he was in the habit of speaking to himself:
He will be happy to listen! I'm glad... Go sit down! Wipe your pants at your meetings, assessors. He will do a favor - listen...
The writer managed to express the world in his works modern man, a complex, “confused” world of the era of stagnation.
Shukshin reveals and explores in his heroes the qualities inherent in the Russian people: honesty, kindness, hard work, conscientiousness. But this is a world in which the best is forced to fight for its existence in human souls with enormous “pressure” of hypocrisy, philistinism, indifference, and lies.
In Shukshin's stories one can always feel psychological depth and inner intensity state of mind hero. They are small in volume, reminiscent of ordinary, familiar everyday scenes, casually overheard ordinary conversations.
Shukshin's heroes solve the problem of the meaning of life in their own way. They too
asking eternal questions: why was I born, why am I living? But they do it somehow absurdly, clumsily, again from the point of view of village morality. For example, Alyosha Beskonvoyny in story of the same name. The hero’s name was actually Kostya Valikov - he was nicknamed “Unescorted” for his uncontrollability of character, although he was known on the collective farm as a diligent and hardworking worker, and did not shy away from any work. But on Saturday and Sunday, under no circumstances could he be forced to work. Saturday was generally a holy day for him - “on Saturday he heated the bathhouse.”
On this day he reflected on life, remembered the past, thought about the future. The very process of preparing the bathhouse evoked in Beskonvoyny a feeling of extraordinary joy - his soul was ringing. First, he chopped wood and carried water, then in his own special way, in his own way, he lit the heater. Looking at the fire, he philosophized: “Two logs burn differently, but you want people to live the same life.” He was also excited by the discovery he made while looking at the fire: “Any brand, when it burns out, will burst into flames - just like a person before death burns with the desire to live.” And this simple discovery brought peace to my soul. No one in the village would have believed that Alyosha was seriously thinking about life, “what kind of secret is there, is it necessary to feel sorry for it (life).” I was thinking, however, within the same everyday coordinates in which I lived. About how the children will grow up, start their own families, come to visit the old people, and he will be proud of them. He set aside one Saturday day for all these thoughts, but it was his day, his personal space, into which no one was allowed to enter.
The writer pays a lot of attention to the moral and spiritual values of a person. The search for one’s place in the world is often accompanied by the rejection of those values that were previously dear to a person. And this is also a tragedy, because the moral degradation of a person affects not only himself, but also those close to him.
Shukshin paid a lot of attention to the so-called village theme. In his works, he talked about how peasants were losing the values that were dear to their ancestors. But they gain nothing in return for what they lost. This is why the common man falls into drunkenness and debauchery. The lack of meaning in life is the reason for this. Shukshin's work touches on the problem of fate. For example, fate common man, peasant, worker, is labor. This is both a duty and at the same time the meaning of life. Torn away from his roots, the toiling peasant becomes unhappy. But life ordinary people not at all sad and hopeless. In addition to work, there are many joys in their lives. Perhaps to some people these joys may seem simple and primitive. But for the peasants themselves they mean a lot. Shukshin often shows what place holidays occupy in the simple life of peasants.
Shukshin does not spare his heroes. He sometimes puts them in the most unpleasant situations. And the reader understands perfectly well that these situations are not invented, they are real.
Shukshin's creativity in the first half of the 1960s. - is an attempt to express the “logic of life” in moral quests specific heroes; the creativity of subsequent years is the intention to correct the “logic of life” with the “logic of art” and thereby help a person. On this path, the writer faced many difficulties, disappointments and dead ends.
The heroes of Shukshin's stories are mainly people with unsatisfied spiritual needs. Hence their eccentricities, sometimes completely innocent, and sometimes on the verge of breaking the law and even beyond this line. V. Shukshin himself constantly doubted, thought painfully about our life, asked endless questions to himself, often not finding satisfactory answers to them. And many of his heroes are similar to his creator: restless, often acting contrary to common sense, to their own detriment. But the writer always valued sincerity, directness, and a good beginning in a person. Even in lost man he wanted to see something good that would elevate him above the prose of life.
- Category: Shukshin V.
I. Moral issues in the writer's stories.
II. The fate of the heroes of V. Shukshin's stories.
1. Kindness and pity are the main human values of Shukshin’s heroes.
2. The attitudes of others towards the actions of the “eccentric” from the story of the same name.
3. The power of a mother's heart.
III. Shukshin and his heroes.
Vasily Shukshin is one of those writers who are not just needed by people. People desperately need his works. The works of this writer attract with the sharpness of their production. eternal problem about the meaning of life. "What's happening to us?" - V. Shukshin seems to want to ask with his stories. External Events in the works of V. Shukshin are not the main ones. His plot is just an excuse to start a conversation. More often than not, the heroes of the writer’s stories are simple people, but always caring. They think about the fundamentals of existence and increasingly turn to the so-called “eternal questions.”
Shukshin occupies a special place among human values with kindness. He saw the heart’s ability to do good as the most precious wealth: “If we are strong and truly smart in anything, it is in a good deed.” Shukshin believed that life would be wonderful only when people do good and make each other happy. Thus, in “Kalina Krasnaya” changes in the soul of the main character Prokudin occur only under the influence of the force of “counter good”. Shukshin believed that “reserves of good” in human soul limitless.
In V. Shukshin’s stories, one of the leading places is occupied by the fates of unusual people, with complex characters, the so-called “eccentrics”. “Freaks” are strange, dreamy, simple-minded people who cannot and do not want to put up with a gray and boring life. They strive to free themselves from everything material and base. They seek the meaning of life in something sublime and beautiful. That's how main character story "Freak". The author persistently emphasizes his eccentricity, which distinguishes the hero from other, “correct” people. This technique helps to reveal the best human qualities Crank: love of truth, conscientiousness, kindness. The story is constructed in the form of a presentation of the events that happened during Chudik’s vacation trip “to his brother in the Urals.” Different stories, which were not understood by others, happened to the hero of the story. Nevertheless, these episodes reveal the wonderful properties of the hero’s soul: honesty, modesty, shyness, the desire to do good to people. But what is happening to us? Why do many people cannot understand the Freak and consider him strange man? Was it really impossible to forgive the eccentricities of the main character and feel sorry for him? After all, when, for example, he painted a baby carriage, he thought only about the good, about making it more beautiful and better.
And here is another “eccentric” from the story “A Mother’s Heart”. Vitka Borzenkov went to the city to sell lard to earn money for the wedding. And then I walked a little. And when the money was stolen, he decided to take revenge by severely beating several city residents, including a policeman. The mother, having learned about the trouble that befell her son, tries to justify him. “A mother’s heart is wise, but where trouble looms for her own child, the mother is not able to perceive outside intelligence, and logic has nothing to do with it.” Mother is mother. She is ready to give everything for her son. But do children always appreciate their mothers’ self-sacrifice, the warmth and strength of their mother’s heart?
Vasily Shukshin himself considered his mother the most dear and close person. He inherited from his mother a rare gift - warmth of the heart. And later the desire for a “celebration of the soul” was inherited by Shukshin’s heroes. In his last works, V. Shukshin wrote: “Mother is the most respected thing in life, the dearest, everything consists of pity... Take pity away from her, leave it to her higher education, the ability to educate, respect... Leave everything to her, and take away the pity... Why do people rise all in anger when the enemy is on the doorstep? Because everyone feels sorry for mothers, children, and their native land.”
The heroes of Shukshin's stories are mainly people with unsatisfied spiritual needs. Hence their eccentricities, sometimes completely innocent, and sometimes on the verge of breaking the law and even beyond this line. V. Shukshin himself constantly doubted, thought painfully about our life, asked endless questions to himself, often not finding satisfactory answers to them. And many of his heroes are similar to his creator: restless, often acting contrary to common sense, to their own detriment. But the writer always valued sincerity, directness, and a good beginning in a person. Even in the most lost person he wanted to see something good that would elevate him above the prose of life.