The Fox knows many truths, but the Hedgehog knows one, but a big one.
Archilochus
The play “At the Bottom” is a socio-philosophical drama. More than a hundred years have passed since the creation of the work, the social conditions that Gorky exposed have changed, but the play is still not outdated. Why? Because it raises an “eternal” philosophical topic that will never cease to excite people. Usually for Gorky's play this theme is formulated as follows: a dispute about truth and lies. Such a formulation is clearly insufficient, since truth and lies do not exist by themselves - they are always associated with a person. Therefore, it would be more accurate to formulate the philosophical theme of “At the Bottom” in a different way: a dispute about true and false humanism. Gorky himself, in Satin’s famous monologue from the fourth act, connects truth and lies not only with humanism, but also with human freedom: “Man is free... he pays for everything himself: for faith, for unbelief, for love, for intelligence - man He pays for everything himself, and therefore he is free! Man, that’s the truth!” It follows that the author in the play talks about man - truth - freedom, that is, about the main moral categories of philosophy. Since it is impossible to unambiguously define these ideological categories (“the last questions of humanity,” as F.M. Dostoevsky called them), Gorky presented in his drama several points of view on the problems posed. Drama became polyphonic (the theory of polyphonism in a work of art was developed in his book “The Poetics of Dostoevsky’s Work” by M. M. Bakhtin). In other words, there are several ideologue heroes in the play, each with their own “voice”, that is, with a special point of view on the world and man.
It is generally accepted that Gorky portrayed two ideologists - Satin and Luka, but in fact there are at least four of them: Bubnov and Kostylev should be added to those named. According to Kostylev, the truth is not needed at all, since it threatens the well-being of the “masters of life.” In the third act, Kostylev talks about real wanderers and simultaneously expresses his attitude to the truth: “A strange person... not like others... If he is truly strange... knows something... learned something like that... . no one needs... maybe he learned the truth there... well, not all truth is needed... yes! He - keep it to himself... and - be silent! If he is truly strange... he is silent! Otherwise he says things that no one understands... And he doesn’t want anything, doesn’t interfere with anything, doesn’t bother people in vain...” (III). Indeed, why does Kostylev need the truth? In words he is for honesty and work (“It is necessary that a person be useful... that he work...” III), but in reality he buys stolen goods from Ash.
Bubnov always speaks the truth, but this is the “truth of fact,” which only captures the disorder and injustice of the existing world. Bubnov does not believe that people can live better, more honestly, helping each other, as in a righteous land. Therefore, he calls all dreams of such a life “fairy tales” (III). Bubnov frankly admits: “In my opinion, throw out the whole truth as it is! Why be ashamed? (III). But a person cannot be satisfied with the hopeless “truth of fact.” Kleshch speaks out against Bubnov’s truth when he shouts: “Which truth? Where is the truth? (...) No work... no power! That's the truth! (...) You have to breathe... here it is, the truth! (...) What do I need it for - is it true?” (III). Another hero also speaks out against the “truth of fact,” the same one who believed in the righteous land. This faith, as Luke says, helped him live. And when faith in the possibility of a better life was destroyed, the man hanged himself. There is no righteous land - this is the “truth of fact”, but to say that it should never exist is a lie. That is why Natasha explains the death of the hero of the parable this way: “I could not tolerate deception” (III).
The most interesting hero-ideologist in the play is, of course, Luke. Critics have varied assessments of this strange wanderer - from admiration for the old man’s generosity to exposure of his harmful consolation. Obviously, these are extreme estimates and therefore one-sided. The objective, calm assessment of Luka, which belongs to I.M. Moskvin, the first performer of the role of the old man on the theater stage, seems more convincing. The actor played Luka as a kind and intelligent person, whose consolations are not self-interested. Bubnov notes the same thing in the play: “Luka, for example, lies a lot... and without any benefit to himself... Why would he?” (III).
The reproaches leveled at Luke do not stand up to serious criticism. It should be specially noted that the old man does not “lie” anywhere. He advises Ash to go to Siberia, where he can start a new life. And it is true. His story about a free hospital for alcoholics, which made a strong impression on the Actor, is true, which is confirmed by special research by literary scholars (see the article by Vs. Troitsky “Historical realities in M. Gorky’s play “At the Lower Depths”” // Literature at school, 1980 , No. 6). Who can say that in describing Anna’s afterlife, Luke is being disingenuous? He consoles a dying man. Why blame him? He tells Nastya that he believes in her romance with the noble Gaston-Raoul, because he sees in the story of the unfortunate maiden not just a lie, like Bubnov, but a poetic dream.
Luke’s critics also claim that the harm from the old man’s consolations tragically affected the fate of the night shelters: the old man did not save anyone, did not really help anyone, the death of the Actor is on Luke’s conscience. How easy it is to blame one person for everything! He came to degraded people whom no one cared about, and consoled them as best he could. Neither the state, nor the officials, nor the homeless shelters themselves are to blame—Luke is to blame! It’s true, the old man didn’t save anyone, but he didn’t destroy anyone either - he did what was in his power: he helped people feel like people, the rest depended on them. And the Actor, an experienced heavy drinker, has absolutely no willpower to stop drinking. Vaska Pepel, in a stressed state, having learned that Vasilisa crippled Natalya, accidentally kills Kostylev. Thus, the reproaches expressed against Luke seem unconvincing: Luke is not “lying” anywhere and is not to blame for the misfortunes that happened to the night shelters.
Usually, researchers, condemning Luke, agree that Satin, in contrast to the crafty wanderer, formulates the correct ideas about freedom - truth - man: “Lies are the religion of slaves and masters... Truth is the god of a free man!” Satin explains the reasons for lying this way: “Whoever is weak at heart... and who lives on other people’s juices, those need lies... some are supported by it, others hide behind it... And who is his own master... who is independent and does not eat someone else’s - why would he lie?” (IV). If we decipher this statement, we get the following: Kostylev lies because he “lives on other people’s juices,” and Luka lies because he is “weak at heart.” Kostylev’s position, obviously, should be rejected immediately; Luka’s position requires serious analysis. Satin demands to look life straight in the eye, and Luka looks around in search of a comforting deception. Satin's truth differs from Bubnov's truth: Bubnov does not believe that a person can rise above himself; Satin, unlike Bubnov, believes in man, in his future, in his creative talent. That is, Satin is the only hero in the play who knows the truth.
What is the author's position in the debate about truth - freedom - man? Some literary scholars argue that only the words of Satin set out the author’s position, however, it can be assumed that the author’s position combines the ideas of Satin and Luke, but is not completely exhausted even by both of them. In other words, in Gorky Satin and Luke as ideologists are not opposed, but complement each other.
On the one hand, Satin himself admits that Luke, with his behavior and consoling conversations, pushed him (formerly an educated telegraph operator, and now a tramp) to think about Man. On the other hand, Luke and Satin both talk about goodness, about faith in the best that always lives in the human soul. Satin recalls how Luke answered the question: “What do people live for?” The old man said: “For the best!” (IV). But doesn’t Satin, when discussing Man, repeat the same thing? Luke says about people: “People... They will find and invent everything! You just need to help them... you need to respect them...” (III). Satin formulates a similar thought: “We must respect a person! Don’t feel sorry... don’t humiliate him with pity... you have to respect him!” (IV). The only difference between these statements is that Luke focuses on respect for a specific person, and Satin - on the Person. Diverging in particulars, they agree on the main thing - in the statement that man is the highest truth and value of the world. In Satin's monologue, respect and pity are contrasted, but it cannot be said for sure that this is the author's final position: pity, like love, does not exclude respect. On the third hand, Luka and Satin are extraordinary personalities who never clash in an argument in the play. Luka understands that Satin does not need his consolations, and Satin, carefully watching the old man in the shelter, never ridiculed him or cut him off.
To summarize what has been said, it should be noted that in the socio-philosophical drama “At the Bottom” the main and most interesting is the philosophical content. This idea is proven by the very structure of Gorky’s play: almost all the characters participate in the discussion of the philosophical problem of man - truth - freedom, while in the everyday storyline only four sort things out (Ashes, Natalya, the Kostylev couple). Many plays have been written showing the hopeless life of the poor in pre-revolutionary Russia, but it is very difficult to name another play other than the drama “At the Lower Depths”, in which, along with social problems, the “last” philosophical questions would be posed and successfully resolved.
The author's position (the fifth in a row, but perhaps not the last) in the play “At the Lower Depths” is created as a result of repulsion from false points of view (Kostylev and Bubnov) and the complementarity of two other points of view (Luka and Satin). The author in a polyphonic work, according to M.M. Bakhtin’s definition, does not subscribe to any of the points of view expressed: the solution to the posed philosophical questions does not belong to one hero, but is the result of the searches of all participants in the action. The author, like a conductor, organizes a polyphonic choir of characters, “singing” the same theme in different voices.
Still, there is no final solution to the question of truth - freedom - man in Gorky's drama. However, this is how it should be in a play that poses “eternal” philosophical questions. The open ending of the work forces the reader himself to think about them.
Luka is the most complex character in M. Gorky’s play “At the Lower Depths”. It is with this that the main philosophical question of the work is connected: “What is better: truth or compassion? Is it necessary to take compassion to the point of using lies, like Luke?”
Before the appearance...
Gorky's play "At the Lower Depths" was written in 1902 for the troupe of the Moscow Art Public Theater. For a long time, Gorky could not find the exact title for the play. Initially it was called “Nochlezhka”, then - “Without the Sun”, and finally -...
The play “At the Lower Depths” was written during the period of acute industrial and economic crisis that broke out in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century, therefore it reflects the facts and events of our time that actually took place. In this sense, the play was a verdict...
For Russian writers of the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries, a characteristic feature was that in their works they considered the inner, spiritual world of man, his moral quest. Gorky in some ways continues this tradition.
Peculiar...
Gorky began to write his works at a time when man, in essence, had become devalued. He became a slave to things, the value of the individual fell. In the play "At the Bottom" Gorky shows a very special type of people - people of the bottom, broken by life, doomed...
Gorky's play "At the Lower Depths" poses many rhetorical questions. It reveals not only the gradual moral “dying” of people who find themselves in difficult social conditions, but also the author’s philosophical views on various problems. Without any doubts,...
The play “At the Lower Depths” was written by M. Gorky in 1902, on the eve of the first Russian revolution. It gives a vivid idea not only of class antagonism and social ills of the old society, but also of those complex processes of mental fermentation that engulfed even the most backward, restless sections of the people.
The main philosophers of the flophouse in the play are Sa-tin and Luka. Satin's philosophy is cheerful cynicism, the perception of life as a game, since he himself is a sharper. And although Satin is a man with quirks and surprises, his thoughts are able to break out of the framework of the usual way of life of tramps.
In the image of Luke we see a common folk wandering philosopher, in whom the searches and wanderings of a significant part of the social lower classes, the desire for truth, high morality, and “order” are embodied. Luke is a representative of a Christian-colored, original system of views, in which there is a childish faith, and a desire to console and encourage, and a share of sensitivity, its own ethics and its own irony: “Listen, don’t interfere! Here the woman is dying... her lips are already covered with earth... don’t interfere!” But, preaching faith in man and respect for him, this wanderer pities people more than respects them.
Luke traveled a lot during an unusual period of history, when the spiritual life of the people took on an increasingly intense character. The old man treats government officials with coolness. To Medvedev’s question: “Who is he?” As if I don’t know you...” - Luka answers sharply and even a little contemptuously: “And do you know all the other people?”
Luka is a very attentive and observant person, he is interested in knowing how everything will work out in the future, what life will be like, at this time full of evil and injustice. He has a wealth of life experience, he knows many true stories and draws his own, very interesting conclusions: “Siberia cannot teach a person anything, but a person... he can teach a lot... and very quickly.”
But the weak point in Luke’s worldview concept is the lack of objective truths: “what you believe in is what it is.” It turns out that under the guise of consolation and faith, he sows disbelief and despair among the inhabitants of the shelter. Preaching faith in man, he gives the heroes of the play hope only for a short time, after which bitter disappointment sets in. This happens because the elder is secretly convinced that the real situation of a person is impossible to change.
As a result of Luke’s activities, people continue to live in a false world of their own invention. And one of the most terrible consequences of this is the suicide of the Actor, who was reassured by the old man and eventually realized that it was all a lie.
It turns out that Luka often prefers illusions and lies to truth, although “lies for the greater good”: “Why do you really need it badly... It really may be too much for you.”
Satin in M. Gorky’s play “At the Depths” is Luke’s ideological opponent. Although it was the old man who led him to think, Satin adheres to other principles and raises the thought of the value of man to an unattainable height: “Man is free!” If Luke puts forward the theory that people are valuable not in themselves, but as material for something better, Satin was able to go further in his reasoning: “Everything is in a person, everything is for a person! Human! It's great! It sounds... proud!.. We must respect the person! Don’t feel sorry... don’t humiliate him with pity... you have to respect him!”
And even though Satin is more a man of words than deeds, his speech, his understanding testify that faith in life, the spark of life itself did not go out “at the bottom.” In one of his aphorisms, Satin acts as a fierce opponent of Luke: “Lies are the religion of slaves and masters. Truth is the god of a free man.” Material from the site
Both of these characters are very valuable to me: their views, their worldview. With the appearance of Luka, the inhabitants of the shelter began to think, search, they wanted a brighter life, although they themselves probably understood this vaguely.
If you don't push the wheel, it won't turn. It was from Luke’s suggestion that Satin, in his reflections, came to the conclusion about the importance of man. He went further than Luke because he chose a more direct and honest path. It was Satin who managed to believe in man and reject Luke’s false humanism: “Man is the truth!” But, having come to the right conclusions, Satin remained the individualist he was before.
A person cannot change immediately; it takes time. So in life there are periods when Luke is needed with his consolation, encouragement, attention to others, but there are also moments when only Satin’s decisive word will carry the truth to the human heart.
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On this page there is material on the following topics:
- learn satin's words about truth
- who is right, Luka or Satin?
- quotes from bows and satin about the truth of life
- who is right in the debate about truth - bow or satin
- dispute between bows and satin about a person
Goals: consider the characters’ understanding of Gorky’s play “truth”; find out the meaning of the tragic collision of different points of view: the truth of a fact (Bubnov), the truth of a comforting lie (Luke), the truth of faith in a person (Satin); determine the features of Gorky’s humanism.
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Lesson topic:
“THREE TRUTHS” IN GORKY’S PLAY “AT THE BOTTOM”
Goals: consider the characters’ understanding of Gorky’s play “truth”; find out the meaning of the tragic collision of different points of view: the truth of a fact (Bubnov), the truth of a comforting lie (Luke), the truth of faith in a person (Satin); determine the features of Gorky’s humanism.
During the classes
Gentlemen! If the truth is holy
The world doesn’t know how to find a way,
Honor the madman who inspires
A golden dream for humanity!
I. Introductory conversation.
– Restore the sequence of events of the play. Which events take place on stage and which ones take place behind the scenes? What is the role in the development of dramatic action of the traditional “conflict polygon” - Kostylev, Vasilisa, Ashes, Natasha?
The relationships between Vasilisa, Kostylev, Ash, and Natasha only externally motivate the stage action. Some of the events that make up the plot outline of the play take place off stage (the fight between Vasilisa and Natasha, Vasilisa’s revenge - overturning a boiling samovar on her sister, Kostylev’s murder takes place around the corner of the flophouse and is almost invisible to the viewer).
All the other characters in the play are not involved in the love affair. The compositional and plot disunity of the characters is expressed in the organization of the stage space - the characters are dispersed in different corners of the stage and “closed” in unrelated microspaces.
Teacher. Thus, the play contains two actions in parallel. First, we see on stage (supposed and real). Detective story with conspiracy, escape, murder, suicide. The second is the exposure of “masks” and the identification of the true essence of a person. This happens as if behind the text and requires decoding. For example, here is the dialogue between Baron and Luke.
Baron. We lived better... yes! I... used to... wake up in the morning and, lying in bed, drink coffee... coffee! – with cream... yes!
Luke. And everyone is people! No matter how you pretend, no matter how you wobble, if you were born a man, you will die a man...
But Baron is afraid to be “just a man.” And he does not recognize “just a person.”
Baron. Who are you, old man?.. Where did you come from?
Luke. Me?
Baron. Wanderer?
Luke. We are all wanderers on earth... They say, I heard, that the earth is our wanderer.
The culmination of the second (implicit) action comes when the “truths” of Bubnov, Satin and Luka collide on the “narrow everyday platform”.
II. Work on the problem stated in the topic of the lesson.
1. The philosophy of truth in Gorky’s play.
– What is the main leitmotif of the play? Which character is the first to formulate the main question of the drama “At the Bottom”?
The dispute about truth is the semantic center of the play. The word “truth” will be heard already on the first page of the play, in Kvashnya’s remark: “Ah! You can’t stand the truth!” Truth – lie (“You’re lying!” – Kleshch’s sharp cry, sounded even before the word “truth”), truth – faith – these are the most important semantic poles that define the problematics of “At the Bottom”.
– How do you understand Luke’s words: “What you believe is what you believe”? How are the heroes of “At the Depths” divided depending on their attitude to the concepts of “faith” and “truth”?
In contrast to the “prose of fact,” Luke offers the truth of the ideal—the “poetry of fact.” If Bubnov (the main ideologist of literally understood “truth”), Satin, Baron are far from illusions and do not need an ideal, then Actor, Nastya, Anna, Natasha, Ashes respond to Luke’s remark - for them faith is more important than truth.
Luke’s hesitant story about hospitals for alcoholics sounded like this: “Nowadays they are curing drunkenness, listen! Free, brother, they treat... this is the kind of hospital built for drunkards... They recognized, you see, that a drunkard is also a person...” In the actor’s imagination, the hospital turns into a “marble palace”: “An excellent hospital... Marble.. .marble floor! Light... cleanliness, food... everything for free! And marble floor. Yes!" The actor is a hero of faith, not the truth of fact, and the loss of the ability to believe turns out to be fatal for him.
– What is truth for the heroes of the play? How can their views be compared?(Work with text.)
A) How does Bubnov understand “truth”? How do his views differ from Luke's philosophy of truth?
Bubnov’s truth consists in exposing the seamy side of existence, this is the “truth of fact.” “What kind of truth do you need, Vaska? And for what? You know the truth about yourself... and everyone knows it...” he drives Ash into the doom of being a thief when he was trying to figure himself out. “That means I’ve stopped coughing,” he reacted to Anna’s death.
After listening to Luke’s allegorical story about his life at his dacha in Siberia and the harboring (rescue) of escaped convicts, Bubnov admitted: “But I... I don’t know how to lie! For what? In my opinion, tell the whole truth as it is! Why be ashamed?
Bubnov sees only the negative side of life and destroys the remnants of faith and hope in people, while Luka knows that in a kind word the ideal becomes real:“A person can teach goodness... very simply,”he concluded the story about life in the country, and in setting out the “story” of the righteous land, he reduced it to the fact that the destruction of faith kills a person.Luka (thoughtfully, to Bubnov): “Here... you say it’s true... It’s true, it’s not always due to a person’s illness... you can’t always cure a soul with the truth...” Luke heals the soul.
Luka’s position is more humane and more effective than Bubnov’s naked truth, because it appeals to the remnants of humanity in the souls of the night shelters. For Luke, a person “no matter what he is, is always worth his price.”“I’m just saying that if someone hasn’t done good to someone, then they’ve done something bad.” "To caress a person– never harmful."
Such a moral credo harmonizes relations between people, abolishes the wolf principle, and ideally leads to the acquisition of internal completeness and self-sufficiency, the confidence that, despite external circumstances, a person has found truths that no one will ever take away from him.
B) What does Satin see as the truth of life?
One of the culminating moments of the play is Satin’s famous monologues from the fourth act about man, truth, and freedom.
A trained student reads Satin's monologue by heart.
It is interesting that Satin supported his reasoning with the authority of Luke, a man in relation to whom at the beginning of the play we imagined Satin to be an antipode. Moreover, Satin's references to Luke in Act 4 prove the closeness of both."Old man? He’s a smart guy!.. He... acted on me like acid on an old and dirty coin... Let’s drink to his health!” “Man – that’s the truth! He understood this... you don’t!”
Actually, the “truth” and “lies” of Satin and Luke almost coincide.
Both believe that “a person must be respected” (emphasis on the last word) is not his “mask”; but they differ on how they should communicate their “truth” to people. After all, if you think about it, it is deadly for those who fall into its area.
If everything has faded away and one “naked” person remains, then “what’s next”? For the actor, this thought leads to suicide.
Q) What role does Luke play in addressing the issue of “truth” in the play?
For Luke, the truth is in “comforting lies.”
Luke takes pity on the man and entertains him with a dream. He promises Anna an afterlife, listens to Nastya’s fairy tales, and sends the Actor to a hospital. He lies for the sake of hope, and this is perhaps better than Bubnov’s cynical “truth,” “abomination and lies.”
In the image of Luke there are allusions to the biblical Luke, who was one of the seventy disciples sent by the Lord “to every city and place where He Himself wanted to go.”
Gorky's Luka makes the inhabitants of the bottom think about God and man, about the “better man,” about the highest calling of people.
“Luka” is also light. Luka comes to illuminate the Kostylevo basement with the light of new ideas, forgotten at the bottom of feelings. He talks about how it should be, what should be, and it is not at all necessary to look for practical recommendations or instructions for survival in his reasoning.
Evangelist Luke was a doctor. Luke heals in his own way in the play - with his attitude to life, advice, words, sympathy, love.
Luke heals, but not everyone, but selectively, those who need words. His philosophy is revealed in relation to other characters. He sympathizes with the victims of life: Anna, Natasha, Nastya. Teaches, giving practical advice, Ashes, Actor. Understandingly, meaningfully, often without words, he explains with the smart Bubnov. Skillfully avoids unnecessary explanations.
Luke is flexible and soft. “They crumpled a lot, that’s why it’s soft...” he said in the finale of Act 1.
Luke with his “lies” is sympathetic to Satin. “Dubier... keep quiet about the old man!.. The old man is not a charlatan!.. He lied... but it’s out of pity for you, damn you!” And yet Luke’s “lies” do not suit him. “Lies are the religion of slaves and masters! Truth is the god of a free man!”
Thus, while rejecting the “truth” of Bubnov, Gorky does not deny either the “truth” of Satin or the “truth” of Luke. Essentially, he distinguishes two truths: “truth-truth” and “truth-dream”.
2. Features of Gorky’s humanism.
The Problem of Man in Gorky’s play “At the Depths” (individual message).
Gorky put his truth about man and overcoming the dead end into the mouths of Actor, Luka and Satin.
At the beginning of the play, indulging in theatrical memories, Actor selflessly spoke about the miracle of talent - the game of transforming a person into a hero. Responding to Satin’s words about books read and education, he separated education and talent: “Education is nonsense, the main thing is talent”; “I say talent, that’s what a hero needs. And talent is faith in yourself, in your strength...”
It is known that Gorky admired knowledge, education, and books, but he valued talent even more highly. Through the Actor, he polemically, maximalistically sharpened and polarized two facets of the spirit: education as a sum of knowledge and living knowledge - a “system of thought.”
In Satin's monologues the ideas of Gorky's thoughts about man are confirmed.
Man – “he is everything. He even created God"; “man is the receptacle of the living God”; “Faith in the powers of thought... is a person’s faith in himself.” So in Gorky’s letters. And so - in the play: “A person can believe and not believe... that’s his business! Man is free... he pays for everything himself... Man is the truth! What is a person... it's you, me, them, the old man, Napoleon, Mohammed... in one... In one - all the beginnings and ends... Everything is in a person, everything is for a person! Only man exists, everything else is the work of his hands and his brain!”
The Actor was the first to speak about talent and self-confidence. Satin summarized everything. What is the role Bows ? He carries the ideas of transformation and improvement of life, dear to Gorky, at the cost of human creative efforts.
“And yet, I see, people are becoming smarter, more and more interesting... and even though they live, they are getting worse, but they want to be better... they are stubborn!” - the elder opens up in the first act, referring to the common aspirations of everyone for a better life.
Then, in 1902, Gorky shared his observations and moods with V. Veresaev: “The mood for life is growing and expanding, cheerfulness and faith in people are becoming more and more noticeable, and - life is good on earth - by God!” The same words, the same thoughts, even the same intonations in the play and the letter.
In the fourth act Satin remembered and reproduced Luke’s answer to his question “Why do people live?”: “And - people live for the best... For a hundred years... and maybe more - they live for the better person!.. That’s it, dear , everyone, as they are, lives for the best! That’s why every person must be respected... We don’t know who he is, why he was born and what he can do...” And he himself, continuing to talk about a person, said, repeating Luke: “We must respect a person! Don’t feel sorry... don’t humiliate him with pity... you have to respect him!” Satin repeated Luke, speaking about respect, did not agree with him, speaking about pity, but something else is more important - the idea of a “better person”.
The statements of the three characters are similar, and, mutually reinforcing, they work on the problem of the triumph of Man.
In one of Gorky’s letters we read: “I am sure that man is capable of endless improvement, and all his activities will also develop with him... from century to century. I believe in the infinity of life...” Again Luka, Satin, Gorky - about one thing.
3. What is the significance of the 4th act of Gorky’s play?
In this act, the situation is the same, but the previously sleepy thoughts of the tramps begin to “ferment.”
It started with Anna's death scene.
Luke says over the dying woman: “Much merciful Jesus Christ! Receive the spirit of your newly departed servant Anna in peace...” But Anna’s last words were the words about life : “Well... a little more... I wish I could live... a little more! If there is no flour there... here we can be patient... we can!”
– How should we regard these words of Anna – as a victory for Luke or as his defeat? Gorky does not give a clear answer; this phrase can be commented on in different ways. One thing is clear:
Anna spoke for the first timeabout life positively thanks to Luke.
In the last act, a strange, completely unconscious rapprochement of the “bitter brethren” takes place. In the 4th act, Kleshch repaired Alyoshka’s harmonica, after testing the frets, the already familiar prison song began to sound. And this ending is perceived in two ways. You can do this: you can’t escape from the bottom - “The sun rises and sets... but it’s dark in my prison!” It can be done differently: at the cost of death, a person ended the song of tragic hopelessness...
The actor's suicide interrupted the song.
What prevents homeless shelters from changing their lives for the better? Natasha’s fatal mistake is in not trusting people, Ash (“I somehow don’t believe... any words”), hoping together to change fate.
“That’s why I’m a thief, because no one ever thought of calling me by another name... Call me... Natasha, well?”
Her answer is convinced, mature:“There’s nowhere to go... I know... I thought... But I don’t trust anyone.”
One word of faith in a person could change the lives of both, but it was not spoken.
The Actor, for whom creativity is the meaning of life, a calling, also did not believe in himself. The news of the Actor's death came after Satin's famous monologues, shading them with contrast: he couldn't cope, he couldn't play, but he could have, he didn't believe in himself.
All the characters in the play are in the zone of action of the seemingly abstract Good and Evil, but they become quite concrete when it comes to the fate, worldviews, and relationships with the lives of each of the characters. And they connect people with good and evil through their thoughts, words and deeds. They directly or indirectly affect life. Life is a way of choosing your direction between good and evil. In the play, Gorky examined man and tested his capabilities. The play is devoid of utopian optimism, as well as the other extreme - disbelief in man. But one conclusion is indisputable: “Talent is what a hero needs. And talent is faith in yourself, your strength...”
III. The aphoristic language of Gorky's play.
Teacher. One of the characteristic features of Gorky’s work is aphorism. It is characteristic of both the author’s speech and the speech of the characters, which is always sharply individual. Many aphorisms of the play “At the Depth,” like the aphorisms of the “Songs” about the Falcon and the Petrel, became popular. Let's remember some of them.
– Which characters in the play do the following aphorisms, proverbs, and sayings belong to?
a) Noise is not a hindrance to death.
b) Such a life that you get up in the morning and howl.
c) Expect some sense from the wolf.
d) When work is a duty, life is slavery.
e) Not a single flea is bad: all are black, all jump.
e) Where it is warm for an old man, there is his homeland.
g) Everyone wants order, but there is a lack of reason.
h) If you don’t like it, don’t listen, and don’t bother lying.
(Bubnov - a, b, g; Luka - d, f; Satin - g, Baron - h, Ash - c.)
– What is the role of the aphoristic statements of the characters in the speech structure of the play?
Aphoristic judgments receive the greatest significance in the speech of the main “ideologists” of the play - Luka and Bubnov, heroes whose positions are indicated extremely clearly. The philosophical dispute, in which each of the characters in the play takes its own position, is supported by general folk wisdom, expressed in proverbs and sayings.
IV. Creative work.
Write a reflection expressing your attitude to the work you read.(Answer to one question of your choice.)
– What is the meaning of the dispute between Luke and Satin?
– Which side do you take in the “truth” debate?
– What problems raised by M. Gorky in the play “At the Lower Depths” did not leave you indifferent?
When preparing your answer, pay attention to the speech of the characters and how it helps to reveal the idea of the work.
Homework.
Select an episode for analysis (oral). This will be the topic of your future essay.
1. Luke’s story about the “righteous land.” (Analysis of an episode from the 3rd act of Gorky’s play.)
2. Dispute among shelters about a person (Analysis of the dialogue at the beginning of the 3rd act of the play “At the Depths.”)
3. What is the meaning of the ending of Gorky’s play “At the Lower Depths”?
4. Luka's appearance in the shelter. (Analysis of a scene from the 1st act of the play.)
Gorky's play "At the Depth" certainly has a socio-philosophical character. It reveals not only the gradual moral “dying” of people who find themselves in difficult social conditions, but also the author’s philosophical views on various problems. Without any doubt, we can say that one of the main themes of the work is thinking about Man.
In fact, it seems unusual that each of the inhabitants of the shelter has his own position regarding this problem. Gorky in his work shows us a terrible world of complete poverty, hopeless suffering, a world of people placed in extremely inhumane conditions. And it is in this society that the dispute about Man is born.
The wanderer Luke and Satin are considered to be textbook opponents in disputes about man. It is in the contrast of their positions that the reader can see the position of the author himself.
The philosophy of humane deception in the play is preached by the wanderer Luke. He appears, and with him pity and compassion enter the lives of the night shelters. Luka can be called a humane person. But what is Luke's humanism? He has no faith in man. For him, all people are equally insignificant, weak, they only need compassion and consolation: “I don’t care! I respect swindlers too; in my opinion, not a single flea is bad: all are black, all of them jump...” I think it would not be a mistake to assume that in fact Luka believed that the real situation of a person cannot be changed. You can only change a person’s attitude towards himself and towards others, change his consciousness, well-being, self-esteem, and reconcile him with life. Hence Luke's comforting lies. He has a kind word for every suffering inhabitant of the shelter. For the dying Anna, he paints a tender, comforting death, a calm afterlife, and for Nastya, he maintains faith in the existence of the student Gaston and his fatal love. Luke tells the drunken actor about a free clinic for alcoholics... His philosophy is that a person must always be supported by inner faith. A clear picture of this is Luke’s story about the search for a righteous land. In this parable we are talking about the fact that a scientist, who destroyed the faith in the righteous land of one of its seekers, destroyed this man: he hanged himself after his illusion dissipated. Thus, Luke wanted to show the weakness of this person in the case when he has no goal in life, even a ghostly one.
It cannot be denied that Luke, in his own way, stands up for a person, his dignity: “And everyone is people! No matter how you pretend, no matter how you wobble, but you were born a man, you will die a man...” Defending Anna, Luke says: “... is it really possible to abandon a person like that? Whatever he is, he is always worth his price...” But still, first of all, Luke’s position is that a person is worthy of pity; it is pity and affection that can return a human form to a frightened creature, brutalized by fear. He confirms this with his story about a meeting at the dacha with escaped convicts: “Good men!.. If I didn’t feel sorry for them, they might have killed me... And then - a trial, and a prison, and Siberia... what’s the point? Prison will not teach you goodness, and Siberia will not teach you... but man will teach you...".
The wanderer Luke is contrasted with the position of the inhabitant of the rooming house Satin. He speaks of a free Man with a capital F. Satin considers Luke’s compassionate humanism humiliating: “We must respect a person! Don’t feel sorry... don’t humiliate him with pity...” Satin also condemns comforting lies: “Lies are the religion of slaves and masters...”, “Truth is the god of a free man!”, “Man is the truth!”, “Only man exists, everything else is the work of his hands and brain! Human! It's great! That sounds… proud!” But what is a person for Satin? “What is a person?.. It’s not you, not me, not them... no! - it’s you, me, them, the old man, Napoleon, Mohammed... in one!” But Satin’s romantic dream of a proud, free, strong Man is contrasted with the reality of his life, his character. Satin is a skeptic. He is apathetic, passive in life. His protest consists of a call for “doing nothing”: “I’ll give you one piece of advice: don’t do anything! Just - burden the earth!..” Satin was not just thrown to the “bottom”. He himself came there and settled there. It's more convenient for him. And so he lives in the basement and drinks and loses his opportunities. Although by nature he is endowed with a lively mind, the ability to think. We would like to believe that meeting Luka could somehow change his life, give him more activity, but we understand that this will not be the case. This person will continue to deliberately ruin his life; he can only philosophize and remain inactive.
So what is the position of the author himself? It seems to me that Satin’s thoughts about man are in many ways the thoughts of Gorky himself. But the writer, of course, condemns the weak-willed position of his hero. He does not accept the discrepancy between reasoning and action. It cannot be said that Gorky condemned Luka’s position. Lies really can be life-saving sometimes. And every person needs warmth, attention and compassion. Man – that sounds proud. But we must not forget that this word means, first of all, a living creature that from time to time simply needs help and support. That is why we can say that Gorky’s view of man is a reasonable combination of the positions of Luke and Satin.
