Man - that's the truth!
We must respect the person!
M. Gorky
It is unlikely that anyone will argue that Gorky is a humanist and great writer, who has gone through a great school of life. His works were not written to please the reading public - they reflect the truth of life, attention and love for people. And this can rightfully be attributed to his play “At the Bottom,” written in 1902. It still disturbs the questions posed by the playwright.
Indeed, what is better - truth or compassion? If the question had been formulated a little differently - true or false, I would have answered unequivocally: true. But truth and compassion cannot be made mutually exclusive concepts by opposing one to the other; on the contrary, the whole play is pain for a person, it is the truth about a person. Another thing is that the bearer of truth is Satin, a gambler, a sharpie, himself far from the ideal of a person, which he sincerely and with pathos proclaims: “Man! This is great! It sounds... proudly!” He is contrasted with Luke - kind, compassionate and “evil”, deliberately invoking a “golden dream” to the suffering shelters. And next to Luka and Satin there is another person who also argues about truth and compassion - M. Gorky himself. It is he, it seems to me, who is the bearer of the truth of compassion. This follows from the play itself, from how enthusiastically it was received by the audience.
The play was read in the shelter, the tramps cried, shouted: “We are worse!” They kissed and hugged Gorky. It still sounds modern now, when they began to tell the truth, but forgot what mercy and compassion are. So, the action takes place in the Kostylevs’ rooming house, which is a “cave-like basement” under “heavy stone vaults”, where prison twilight reigns. Here tramps eke out a miserable existence, having fallen “to the bottom of life”, where they were mercilessly thrown out by criminal society.
Someone very accurately said: “At the Bottom” is a stunning picture of a cemetery where people valuable in their inclinations are buried alive.” It is impossible to see the world of poverty and lawlessness drawn by the playwright, the world of anger, disunity, the world of alienation and loneliness, to hear without an internal shudder. screams, threats, ridicule. The heroes of the play have lost their past, they have no present, only Kleshch believes that he will break out of here: “I’ll get out... I’ll rip off my skin, but I’ll get out...” The thief has a faint hope for another life with Natasha, “ thief's son" Vaska Pepla, dreams of pure love prostitute Nastya, however, her dreams evoke malicious ridicule from those around her. The rest have resigned themselves, submitted, do not think about the future, have lost all hope and have finally realized their uselessness.
But in fact, all the inhabitants are buried here alive. The actor who drank himself to death and forgot his name is pitiful and tragic; crushed by life, patiently suffering Anna, who is near death, is not needed by anyone (her husband awaits her death as liberation); smart Satin, a former telegraph operator, is cynical and embittered; the Baron is insignificant, who “expects nothing”, “everything is already in the past” for him; Bubnov is indifferent to himself and others. Gorky paints his heroes mercilessly and truthfully, " former people", writes about them with pain and anger, sympathizes with them, who have found themselves in a dead end in life. Mite declares in despair: "There is no work... no strength! That's the truth! Shelter... there is no shelter! We must breathe out... this is the truth!..” It is to these people, it seems, indifferent to life and themselves, that the wanderer Luke comes, addressing with the greeting: “Good health, honest people!” It is to them, the rejected, the renounced from all human morality! Gorky’s attitude towards the passportless Luka is unambiguous: “And all the philosophy, all the preaching of such people is alms, given by them with hidden disgust, and under this preaching the words also sound beggarly, pitiful. And yet I want to understand.” Is he so poor, and what motivates him when he preaches his comforting lies, does he himself believe in what he calls for, is he a swindler, a charlatan, a scoundrel, or a sincerely thirsting for good?
The play was read, and, at first glance, the appearance of Luke brought only harm, evil, misfortune, and death to the shelters. He disappears, disappears unnoticed, but the illusions that he planted in the devastated hearts of people make their lives even more bleak and terrible, deprive them of hope, plunge their tormented souls into darkness. Let's once again see what motivates Luka when, after taking a close look at the tramps, he finds words of consolation for everyone. He is empathetic, kind to those who need help, and gives them hope. Yes, with his appearance under the arches of the gloomy shelter, hope settles in, previously almost imperceptible against the background of swearing, coughing, growling, groans. And a hospital for drunkards for Actor, and saving Siberia for the thief Ash, and true love for Nastya. “People are looking for everything, everyone wants what’s best... give them, Lord, patience!” - Luka says sincerely and adds: “Whoever seeks will find... You just need to help them...” No, it is not self-interest that drives Luka, he is not a swindler or a charlatan. Even the cynical Bubnov, who doesn’t trust anyone, understands this: “Luka... he lies a lot... and without any benefit for himself...” Ash, unaccustomed to sympathy, asks: “No, tell me - why are you doing all this. ..” Natasha asks him: “Why are you so kind?” And Anna simply asks: “Talk to me, honey... I feel sick.” And it becomes clear that Luka is a kind person who sincerely wants to help and instill hope.
But the trouble is that this good is built on lies and deception. Sincerely wanting good, he resorts to lies, believes that earthly life there cannot be another, therefore it takes a person into the world of illusions, into a non-existent righteous land, believing that “the truth cannot always cure the soul.” And if it is impossible to change life, then you can at least change a person’s attitude towards life. I wonder what Gorky’s attitude is towards his hero in the play? Contemporaries recall that the writer was best able to read the role of Luke, and the scene at the bedside of the dying Anna brought tears to his eyes and delight from his listeners. Both tears and delight are the result of the merger of the author and the hero in a fit of compassion. And wasn’t it because Gorky argued so fiercely with Luka because the old man was part of his soul?! But Gorky is not against consolation in itself: “The main question that I wanted to pose is what is better: truth or compassion? Is it necessary to take compassion to the point of using lies, like Luke?”
That is, truth and compassion are concepts that are not mutually exclusive. Luka leads away from the truth that Kleshch realizes: “To live is a devil - you can’t live... here it is - the truth! heal with a butt? The old man thinks: “...You need to feel sorry for people!.. I’ll tell you - it’s time to feel sorry for a person... it can be good!” And he tells how he pitied and saved the night robbers. Bubnov opposes Luke’s stubborn, bright faith in man, in saving power pity, compassion, kindness: “In my opinion, I’ll give the whole truth as it is! Why be ashamed?” For him, the truth is a cruel, murderous oppression of inhumane circumstances, and Luke’s truth is so unusually life-affirming that the downtrodden, humiliated night shelters do not believe in it, mistaking it for a lie. But Luke wanted to inspire faith and hope in his listeners: “What you believe in is what it is...”
Luke brings to people the true, saving, human faith, the meaning of which he grasped and clothed in famous words Satin: "Man - that's the truth!" Luke thinks that with words, pity, compassion, mercy, attention to a person, you can raise his soul, so that the lowest thief understands: “You have to live better! You have to live like that... so that you can... respect yourself...” Thus, for Luke there is no question: “Which is better - truth or compassion?” For him, what is human is true. Then why is the ending of the play so hopelessly tragic? Although we hear what is said about Luke, he inspired Satin to make a fiery speech about beauty and proud man, but the same Satin indifferently says to the Actor in response to his request to pray for him: “Pray yourself...” And to him, who is leaving forever, after his passionate monologue about the man he shouts: “Hey, you, sicambre! Where to?” His reaction to the death of the Actor seems creepy: “Eh... ruined the song... stupid cancer!” It's scary that an inhumane society kills and maims human souls.
But the main thing in the play, in my opinion, is that Gorky made his contemporaries feel even more acutely the injustice of the social system, which destroys people, ruins them, and made them think about man and his freedom. And what moral lessons did we extract? We must live without putting up with untruth, injustice, lies, but not destroy the person within us with his kindness, compassion and mercy. We often need consolation, but without the right to speak the truth, a person cannot be free. "Man - that's the truth!" And he gets to choose. A person always needs real hope, not a comforting lie, even if it is for salvation.
What is better - truth or compassion? What is more needed? Reflections on the pages of M. Gorky’s play “At the Depths”
What is truth? Truth (in my understanding) is absolute truth, that is, the truth that is the same for all cases and for all people. I think that such truth cannot be. Even a fact, a seemingly obvious unambiguous event, is perceived differently by different people. So, for example, news of death can be understood as news of another, new life. Often the truth cannot be absolute, the same for everyone, because words are ambiguous, because the meaning of the same word is understood differently. Therefore, I would begin to talk not about truth - an unattainable concept - but about truth, which is designed for the “average” person.
The juxtaposition of truth and compassion gives the word “truth” a certain connotation of harshness. Truth is the hard and cruel truth. Souls are wounded by the truth and therefore need compassion.
It cannot be said that the heroes of the play “At the Lower Depths” represent a more or less homogeneous mass of people - impersonal, characterless. Each of the characters feels, dreams, hopes or remembers. More precisely, they carry something precious and sacred inside them, but since the world in which they live is heartless and cruel, they are forced to hide all their dreams as far as possible. Although a dream for which there would be at least some proof in the harsh real life, could help weak people - Nastya, Anna, Actor. They - these weak people - are depressed by the hopelessness of real life. And in order to live, just live, they need a saving and wise lie about the “righteous land.” As long as people believe and strive for the best, they will find the strength and desire to live. Even the most pitiful of them, even those who have lost their name, can be cured and even partially resurrected with pity and compassion. If only the people around him knew about it! Maybe then, out of self-deception, even a weak person would build a better life for himself, one that would be acceptable to him? But those around him don’t think about it, they expose the dream, and the man... “went home and hanged himself!..”
Is it worth accusing an old man of lying, who is the only one of the inhabitants of the shelter who thinks not about himself, not about money, not about drink, but about people? He tries to caress (“It is never harmful to caress a person”), he inspires hope with calmness and pity. It was he who, in the end, changed all the people, all the inhabitants of the shelter... Yes, the Actor hanged himself. But not only Luke is guilty of this, but also those who did not spare, but cut the heart with the truth.
There is some stereotype regarding the truth. It is often considered,that the truth is always good. Of course, it is valuable if you always live in truth, in reality, but then dreams are impossible, and after them - a different vision of the world, poetry in the broad sense of the word. It is a special view of life that gives birth to beauty and serves as the basis for art, which in the end also becomes a part of life.
How do stronger people perceive compassion? Here is Bubnov, for example. Bubnov, in my opinion, is the toughest and most cynical of all the inhabitants of the shelter. Bubnov “mumbles” all the time, stating naked, heavy truths: “no matter how you paint yourself, everything will be erased,” he doesn’t need a conscience, he’s “not rich”... Bubnov, without hesitation, calmly calls Vasilisa a fierce woman, and in In the middle of the conversation he says that the threads are rotten. Usually no one specifically talks to Bubnov, but from time to time he inserts his comments into a variety of dialogues. And the same Bubnov, Luka’s main opponent, sad and cynical, in the finale treats everyone to vodka, growls, screams, and offers to “take your soul away”! And only the drunken, generous and talkative Bubnov, according to Alyosha, “looks like a person.” Apparently, Luka also touched Bubnov with kindness, showed him that life is not in the despondency of everyday melancholy, but in something more cheerful, hopeful - in dreams. And Bubnov dreams!
The appearance of Luka rallied the “strong” inhabitants of the shelter (Satin, Klesch, Bubnov in the first place), and even a solid general conversation arose. Luke is a man who had compassion, pity and love, and managed to influence everyone. Even the Actor remembered his favorite poems and his name.
Human feelings and dreams, his inner world are the most precious and valuable of all, because a dream does not limit, a dream develops. The truth does not give hope, the truth does not believe in God, and without faith in God, without hope, there is no future.
Tasks and tests on the topic “Which is better – truth or compassion? What is more necessary? Reflections on the pages of M. Gorky’s play “At the Depths”"
- Spelling of some prefixes - Spelling parts of words 3rd grade
Lessons: 1 Assignments: 9 Tests: 1
- About the offer. Punctuation marks at the end of a sentence (without division into types) - Offer 2nd grade
Lessons: 2 Assignments: 12 Tests: 1
Man - that's the truth!
We must respect the person!
M. Gorky
It is unlikely that anyone will argue that Gorky is a humanist and a great writer who has gone through a great school of life. His works were not written to please the reading public - they reflect the truth of life, attention and love for people. And this can rightfully be attributed to his play “At the Bottom,” written in 1902. It still disturbs the questions posed by the playwright.
Indeed, what is better - truth or compassion? If the question had been formulated a little differently - true or false, I would have answered unequivocally: true. But truth and compassion cannot be made mutually exclusive concepts by opposing one to the other; on the contrary, the whole play is pain for a person, it is the truth about a person. Another thing is that the bearer of truth is Satin, a gambler, a sharpie, himself far from the ideal of a person, which he sincerely and with pathos proclaims: “Man! This is great! It sounds... proudly!” He is contrasted with Luke - kind, compassionate and “evil”, deliberately invoking a “golden dream” to the suffering shelters. And next to Luka and Satin there is another person who also argues about truth and compassion - M. Gorky himself. It is he, it seems to me, who is the bearer of the truth of compassion. This follows from the play itself, from how enthusiastically it was received by the audience.
The play was read in the shelter, the tramps cried, shouted: “We are worse!” They kissed and hugged Gorky. It still sounds modern now, when they began to tell the truth, but forgot what mercy and compassion are. So, the action takes place in the Kostylevs’ rooming house, which is a “cave-like basement” under “heavy stone vaults”, where prison twilight reigns. Here tramps eke out a miserable existence, having fallen “to the bottom of life”, where they were mercilessly thrown out by criminal society.
Someone very accurately said: “At the Bottom” is a stunning picture of a cemetery where people valuable in their inclinations are buried alive.” It is impossible to see the world of poverty and lawlessness drawn by the playwright, the world of anger, disunity, the world of alienation and loneliness, to hear without an internal shudder. screams, threats, ridicule. The heroes of the play have lost their past, they have no present, only Kleshch believes that he will break out of here: “I’ll get out... I’ll rip off my skin, but I’ll get out...” The thief has a faint hope for another life with Natasha, “ the thief's son" Vaska Pepla, the prostitute Nastya dreams of pure love, however, her dreams evoke evil ridicule from those around her. The rest have resigned themselves, submitted, do not think about the future, have lost all hope and have finally realized their uselessness.
But in fact, all the inhabitants are buried here alive. The actor who drank himself to death and forgot his name is pitiful and tragic; crushed by life, patiently suffering Anna, who is near death, is not needed by anyone (her husband awaits her death as liberation); smart Satin, a former telegraph operator, is cynical and embittered; the Baron is insignificant, who “expects nothing”, “everything is already in the past” for him; Bubnov is indifferent to himself and others. Gorky mercilessly and truthfully depicts his heroes, “former people”, writes about them with pain and anger, sympathizes with them, who have found themselves in a dead end in life. The tick declares in despair: “There is no work... there is no strength! This is the truth! Shelter... there is no refuge! We must die... this is the truth!..” These people, it seems, are indifferent to life and themselves and the wanderer Luke arrives, greeting him: “Good health, honest people!” This is for them, the rejected ones, those who have renounced all human morality! Gorky’s attitude towards the passportless Luka is unambiguous: “And the whole philosophy, the whole preaching of such people is alms, given by them with hidden disgust, and under this preaching the words also sound beggarly, pitiful.” And yet I still want to understand it. Is he so poor, and what motivates him when he preaches his comforting lies, does he himself believe in what he calls for, is he a swindler, a charlatan, a scoundrel, or a sincerely thirsty person for good?
The play was read, and, at first glance, the appearance of Luke brought only harm, evil, misfortune, and death to the shelters. He disappears, disappears unnoticed, but the illusions that he planted in the devastated hearts of people make their lives even more bleak and terrible, deprive them of hope, plunge their tormented souls into darkness. Let's once again see what motivates Luka when, after taking a close look at the tramps, he finds words of consolation for everyone. He is empathetic, kind to those who need help, and gives them hope. Yes, with his appearance under the arches of the gloomy shelter, hope settles in, previously almost imperceptible against the background of swearing, coughing, growling, groans. And a hospital for drunkards for Actor, and saving Siberia for the thief Ash, and true love for Nastya. “People are looking for everything, everyone wants what’s best... give them, Lord, patience!” - Luka says sincerely and adds: “Whoever seeks will find... You just need to help them...” No, it is not self-interest that drives Luka, he is not a swindler or a charlatan. Even the cynical Bubnov, who doesn’t trust anyone, understands this: “Luka... he lies a lot... and without any benefit for himself...” Ash, unaccustomed to sympathy, asks: “No, tell me - why are you doing all this. ..” Natasha asks him: “Why are you so kind?” And Anna simply asks: “Talk to me, honey... I feel sick.” And it becomes clear that Luka is a kind person who sincerely wants to help and instill hope.
But the trouble is that this good is built on lies and deception. Sincerely wanting good, he resorts to lies, believes that earthly life cannot be different, and therefore takes a person into the world of illusions, into a non-existent righteous land, believing that “it is not always possible to cure a soul with the truth.” And if it is impossible to change life, then you can at least change a person’s attitude towards life. I wonder what Gorky’s attitude is towards his hero in the play? Contemporaries recall that the writer was best able to read the role of Luke, and the scene at the bedside of the dying Anna brought tears to his eyes and delight from his listeners. Both tears and delight are the result of the merger of the author and the hero in a fit of compassion. And wasn’t it because Gorky argued so fiercely with Luka because the old man was part of his soul?! But Gorky is not against consolation in itself: “The main question that I wanted to pose is what is better: truth or compassion? Is it necessary to take compassion to the point of using lies, like Luke?”
That is, truth and compassion are concepts that are not mutually exclusive. Luka leads away from the truth that Kleshch realizes: “To live is a devil - you can’t live... here it is - the truth! heal with a butt? The old man thinks: “...You need to feel sorry for people!.. I’ll tell you - it’s time to feel sorry for a person... it can be good!” And he tells how he pitied and saved the night robbers. Bubnov opposes Luke’s stubborn, bright faith in man, in the saving power of pity, compassion, kindness: “In my opinion, I’ll give the whole truth as it is! Why be ashamed?” For him, the truth is a cruel, murderous oppression of inhumane circumstances, and Luke’s truth is so unusually life-affirming that the downtrodden, humiliated night shelters do not believe in it, mistaking it for a lie. But Luke wanted to inspire faith and hope in his listeners: “What you believe in is what it is...”
Luke brings people the true, saving, human faith, the meaning of which was captured and expressed in the famous words of Satin: “Man is the truth!” Luke thinks that with words, pity, compassion, mercy, attention to a person, you can raise his soul, so that the lowest thief understands: “You have to live better! You have to live like that... so that you can... respect yourself...” Thus, for Luke there is no question: “Which is better - truth or compassion?” For him, what is human is true. Then why is the ending of the play so hopelessly tragic? Although we hear that they say about Luke, he inspired Satin to make a fiery speech about a beautiful and proud man, but the same Satin indifferently asks the Actor to pray for him: “Pray yourself...” And to him, leaving forever, after his a passionate monologue about a person shouts: “Hey, you, Sicambrian! Where to?” His reaction to the death of the Actor seems creepy: “Eh... ruined the song... stupid cancer!” It is scary that an inhumane society kills and maims human souls.
But the main thing in the play, in my opinion, is that Gorky made his contemporaries feel even more acutely the injustice of the social system, which destroys people, ruins them, and made them think about man and his freedom. What moral lessons have we learned? We must live without putting up with untruth, injustice, lies, but not destroy the person within us with his kindness, compassion and mercy. We often need consolation, but without the right to speak the truth, a person cannot be free. "Man - that's the truth!" And he gets to choose. A person always needs real hope, not a comforting lie, even if it is for salvation.
What is better - truth or compassion? This is a question that, upon closer examination, raises more doubts than certainties.
True
What is truth? This is something that exists in reality, a statement verified by experience. What is compassion? - empathy, sympathy for the misfortunes of another person. These concepts are difficult to contrast with each other. But this is exactly what M. Gorky, the author of the play “At the Lower Depths,” does.
The play takes place in a shelter for tramps, “former people.” This place looks more like a prison basement than a place suitable for living. The inhabitants of the shelter are people embittered by life, who have lost all hope for a better future, indifferent to each other and to themselves. They have forgotten their past, they have no present, they will not have a future. They themselves say that they do not live, but exist. Some critic noted that “At the Bottom” is a stunning picture of a cemetery where people valuable in their inclinations are buried alive.”
The bright wanderer Luka bursts into this black world. He tries to console people, give them new look for life, to expand the isolation of the shelter with dreams and hopes. And people are drawn to him. Nastya finds hope for true love, Ashes is thinking about a trip to new life to Siberia, the Actor begins to dream of an infirmary for drunkards, Anna dies with thoughts of heavenly tranquility.
Contrast with Luke
Bubnov is clearly opposed to Luka - a cynical and gloomy person with whom no one wants to talk, he only manages to insert his phrases into someone else's conversation. He is convinced that one must directly tell the whole truth as it is, without hesitation. And when Luka disappears, Bubnov accuses the old man of disturbing the souls of the night shelters with false hope and abandoning them.
Satin takes a slightly different position. Satin is a former telegraph operator, a man who supports the views of the philosopher F. Nietzsche, shouting after him that “God is dead!” He says that Luke is not a charlatan, because he lies out of compassion, out of the kindness of his soul. And Satin exclaims: “Man, that’s the truth!” He is sure that compassion humiliates people; because of self-pity, a person is not able to change cruel world. For revolution, people need to look at life soberly.
Answer to the question
Which one is right? Gorky does not give a clear answer. On the one hand, Luke's compassion leads to the Actor committing suicide. On the other hand, perhaps those who discovered the truth about the fictitious hospitals for drunkards are to blame for his death.
We also don’t know whose side the author is on. Contemporaries claim that M. Gorky cried when he read the scenes of Elder Luke consoling Anna. Perhaps it is his position that is closest to the writer, and the positions of the other characters were introduced to confirm that Luke was right?
In my opinion, the truth is certainly important for a person, but there come moments when without consolation, without faith in something better life It just can't go on. And faith is life itself.
What is truth? This question occupies the minds of philosophers and writers, and sometimes we also think about this question. For me, truth is not simple, truth, there is only one truth, you can’t argue with it. Regardless of a person, his beliefs and outlook on life, the truth remains the same for everyone. Truth cannot be good or bad, it simply is, and it is unshakable. What is compassion? This is a sincere feeling, it is never selfish. To sympathize means to take on part of the suffering of another person, to suffer with him.
At first glance, Gorky’s work “At the Lower Depths” does not seem interesting, there are few events, not beautiful life inhabitants. But if you read carefully, put yourself in the shoes of each character, if you feel the characters, it becomes clear how much the author invested in his characters.
The monotonous life of the shelter, it was like a stagnant body of water. They all suffered, but each suffered separately from the other. Finding themselves together, they lived each on their own. The appearance of the wanderer Luke woke them up. He didn't bring fresh ideas, thoughts, he just paid attention to everyone. Gorky is ambivalent about this character; Luka is described as a kind, cunning old man. So it seems good words he says, but it’s unpleasant. Why? And this is unpleasant because Luka did not have compassion, he felt sorry for the inhabitants of the shelter. He didn't feel their pain, he spoke kind words, but his heart remained cold.
And yet, Luke changed people, they began to think. The scary thing is that Luke did not instill hope in these people.
Hope not only makes you dream, it sets a goal and awakens the desire for this goal. Luke gave the night shelters an illusion, the illusion is passive, it does not call for itself, it immerses itself. When Luka left, the inhabitants returned from their illusory worlds and saw how terrible they were living, hopelessness, poverty, illness, it would seem that everything was the same as before, but all this became simply unbearable. Luka gave the children a beautiful toy and then took it away, it broke their hearts.
Another main character, truth-lover Satin. His words are harsh but true, he is not pretending. But is his truth really that good? How did she help any of the shelters? Why is he so passionate in his monologue about a person, and was absolutely indifferent to the death of the Actor?
Reading the play, one becomes afraid of the callousness of people, one becomes bitter and hurtful. It is scary that an inhumane society kills and maims human souls. But the main thing in the play, in my opinion, is that Gorky made his contemporaries feel even more acutely the injustice of the social system, which destroys people, ruins them, and made them think about man and his freedom.
What is better, “bitter truth” or “sweet lie”? I don't know. How can you tell this bitter truth to a seriously ill person and extinguish the spark of hope in his eyes? Does he want to hear the words: “You are dying”? I believe that the most important thing is to love a person, then the heart will tell you what to say.
What is better, truth or compassion? Is it possible to choose? Truth is not chosen; it is either accepted or not. And compassion is what we should live for. Do not flatter, do not pity, but rather have compassion, share suffering with others, take away part of their pain. If we understand this, we will be human.
Updated: 2012-03-10
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