"Oblomov" is the pinnacle of I.A. Goncharov's creativity. The novel was published in 1859, but critics' disputes over the character of the protagonist still do not subside. Both attractive and repulsive features are intertwined in Oblomov. On the one hand, he is a gentle, kind, generous person. On the other hand, he is a lazy gentleman, not adapted to life, having no goals and interests.
Zakhar is a kind of double of the protagonist, a distorted mirror of Oblomov. The image of Zakhar plays an important ideological and compositional role in the novel. The servant not only "reflects" the worst in Oblomov, but also in a certain way influences the process of moral and physical extinction of Ilya Ilyich.
Zakhar is the serf of the Oblomovs. During the action of the novel, the servant is an elderly man in his fifties. In his youth, he served as a lackey in a manor house in Oblomovka, then he was promoted to uncle to Ilya Ilyich, later, in St. Petersburg, he became his valet. Laziness is given to Zakhar by nature. He was born and raised in a blessed corner, where "everything is quiet and sleepy." The peasants in Oblomovka lived a happy life, because they thought: it is impossible to plow, sow, reap, sell in any other way. They were sure "that all others live in exactly the same way and that it is a sin to do otherwise." The lackey service developed in Zakhar the laziness received from nature, to the extreme limits. In his youth, he was "an agile, gluttonous and crafty fellow." When Zakhar became a lackey, it became his duty to escort the gentlemen to church and guests. The rest of the time the servant dozed in the hallway, gossiped in the kitchen, stood at the gate for hours. After he was promoted to uncles to little Oblomov, Zakhar began to consider himself an aristocratic affiliation of the manor house. He dressed in the morning and undressed the barchon in the evening, and the rest of the time he did nothing.
Zakhar is very awkward. Everything falls from his hands, everything breaks in his hands: "Another thing ... stands for three years, four in place - nothing; as soon as he takes it, you look - it's broken." Oblomov does nothing at all, Zakhar, in principle, does the same: he only creates the appearance of activity. His awkwardness is a reflection of the same inability to live that exists in Ilya Ilyich.
The main detail of the portrait of Zakhar are sideburns, immensely wide and thick, with gray hair, "each of which would be enough for three beards." They, like a frock coat and livery, remind of the former grandeur of the manor house. Zakhar cherishes his sideburns, an aristocratic adornment of many of the servants he saw as a child.
Zakhar married at fifty-five. Anisya, "a lively, agile woman," became his chosen one. Anisya possessed all the qualities that Zakhar did not have: agility, lightness, flexibility. Against the background of Anisya, Zakhar's helplessness stands out more clearly. In exactly the same way, Olga Ilyinskaya, with her liveliness, set off the worst features of Oblomov. Anisya was smarter than her husband, Zakhar could not forgive her for this and sought to humiliate or offend her. Despite Zakhar's hostile attitude, Anisya becomes his savior. She smooths out conflicts between the master and the servant. After the death of Oblomov, Zakhar completely passes into the care of Anisya. Without her, he becomes helpless: “When Anisya was alive, I didn’t stagger, there was a piece of bread, but when she died of cholera ... the barynin’s brother didn’t want to keep me, they called me a parasite.” Zakhar's family life represents the inevitable everyday finale of Oblomov's romantic love. Olga Ilyinskaya did not want to accept Oblomov as he is, did not want to become a nanny for him; like Anisya for Zakhar.
On the one hand, Zakhar is boundlessly devoted to his master, and on the other, under the influence of life in the city, he learned to lie and be rude to Oblomov, drank with friends at his expense, robbed Ilya Ilyich, gossiped about him. Such a way of life in a different version, on a different level, Ilya Ilyich would have been forced to lead in the "high society". In this regard, Zakhar is the moral antipode of Oblomov. Ilya Ilyich has a mind, good inclinations, he rebels against worldly fuss, loves loneliness. Zakhar is a dark, serf peasant, long years of slavery have corrupted him, he has no worthy features.
This hero is not able to understand the feelings of the master. For him, Oblomov is also a kind of property. He is jealous of him for Olga Ilyinskaya. So, on the eve of the arrival of the girl, Oblomov asks Zakhar to leave the house, but he muffledly refuses, excuses himself, looks lazily out the window. With his rudeness, earthiness, Zakhar destroys in Oblomov's imagination the poetic ideal of a wedding and family happiness. The colors in Oblomov's romantic dreams become different. He clearly saw suddenly that “right there, in the crowd, was the rude, untidy Zakhar and the entire Ilyinsky household, a row of carriages, strangers, coldly curious faces ... everything seemed so boring, terrible ...” Zakhar never changes his habits, it doesn’t come out for the scope of their duties. It is Zakhar who prevents the master's attempts to get out of the state of Oblomovism. In response to Oblomov’s message about his intention to go abroad, Zakhar ironically remarks: “And who will take off your boots there? Yes, you will disappear there without me!”
Despite the constant quarrels between the servant and the master, they cannot do without one another. Without the help of Zakhar, Ilya Ilyich "could neither get up, nor go to bed, nor be combed and shod, nor dine." Zakhar, on the other hand, “could not imagine another gentleman, except for Ilya Ilyich, another existence, how to dress, feed him, be rude to him, dissemble, lie, and at the same time inwardly revere him.”
Zakhar is a mirror image of Oblomov, there is a deep similarity between them. Zakhar embodies one of the worst features of the owner - nobility, idleness. After the death of Oblomov, the fate of Zakhar also ends. He cannot live in other houses, he cannot serve in other places. The author shows how feudal orders spiritually devastate a person, deprive him of a goal in life. Oblomov did not find his way, did nothing to preserve his best qualities. N.A. Dobrolyubov wrote about Oblomov: "He is the slave of his serf Zakhar, and it is difficult to decide which of them is more subject to the authority of the other."
Introduction
Goncharov's novel "Oblomov" was published in 1859 at a turning point for Russian society. At the time of writing the work, there were two social strata in the Russian Empire - supporters of new, pro-European, educational views and carriers of outdated, archaic values. The representatives of the latter in the novel are the protagonist of the book, Ilya Ilyich Oblomov, and his servant Zakhar. Despite the fact that the servant is a minor character, only thanks to the introduction of this hero into the work by the author, the reader receives a realistic, and not idealized by Oblomov, picture of “Oblomovism”. The characterization of Zakhar in the novel "Oblomov" by Goncharov is fully consistent with the "Oblomov" values and lifestyle: the man is sloppy, lazy, slow, likes to embellish his speech and firmly clings to everything old, not wanting to change to new conditions of life.
Zakhar and Oblomovka
According to the plot of the novel, Oblomov's servant Zakhar began serving with the Oblomovs in his early youth, where he was assigned to little Ilya. This led to a strong attachment of the characters to each other, which eventually turned into a playfully friendly relationship rather than a “master-servant” relationship.
Zakhar moved to St. Petersburg already at a mature age. All his happy years of youth passed in Oblomovka, and the most vivid memories were connected precisely with the village of the master, so the man, even in the city, continues to hold on to his past (as, indeed, Ilya Ilyich), seeing in him all the best that happened to him .
Zakharov in "Oblomov" appears as an elderly man "in a gray frock coat, with a hole in the armpit, from which a piece of shirt stuck out, in a gray waistcoat, with copper buttons, with a skull bare as a knee, and with immensely wide and thick blond whiskers with gray hair, from each of which would have become three beards. Although Zakhar had lived for a long time in St. Petersburg, he did not try to start dressing in a new fashion, did not want to change his appearance, he even ordered clothes according to a model taken from Oblomovka. The man loved his old, worn-out gray frock coat and waistcoat, because “in this semi-uniform clothes he saw a faint recollection of the livery that he once wore when seeing off the late gentlemen to church or on a visit; and the livery in his memoirs was the only representative of the dignity of the Oblomov house. Clothes sewn according to the old fashion became for Zakhar the thread that connected him in the present, updated, noisy and restless world with the “heavenly” calm and tranquility of Oblomovka, its outdated but familiar values.
The master's estate was for a man not just a place where he was born, grew up and received his first life lessons. Oblomovka became for Zakhar an example of that ideal embodiment of the landlord, house-building values that were instilled in him by his parents, grandfathers and great-grandfathers. Once in a new society that wants to completely discard the past experience and live a new life, a man feels lonely and abandoned. That is why, even if there was an opportunity, the hero would not leave Ilya Ilyich and change his appearance, because in this way he would betray the ideals and values of his parents.
Zakhar and Ilya Ilyich Oblomov
Zakhar knew Oblomov from a very young age, so he perfectly saw his advantages and disadvantages, understood when it was possible to argue with the master, and when it was better to remain silent. Ilya Ilyich was for the servant a link between Oblomovka and the big city: “in some signs preserved in the face and manners of the master, reminiscent of his parents, and in his whims, to which, although he grumbled, both to himself and out loud, but which, meanwhile, he respected internally, as a manifestation of the lord's will, the master's right, he saw faint hints of obsolete greatness. Brought up as a devoted servant of his master, and not an independent person, as part of a large house and family, “without these whims, he somehow did not feel the master over him; without them, nothing revived his youth, the village, which they left long ago.
Zakhar did not perceive his life in another form, not as a servant of Oblomov, but, for example, as a free artisan. His image is no less tragic than the image of Ilya Ilyich, because, unlike the master, he cannot change his life - step over the "Oblomovism" and move on. Zakhar's whole life is centered around Oblomov and his well-being, comfort and importance for the servant are the main meaning of life. Illustrative evidence is the episode of the dispute between the servant and Ilya Ilyich, when Zakhar likened the master to other people and he himself felt that he had said something really offensive to Oblomov.
As in the childhood of Ilya Ilyich, in his mature years the servant continues to take care of his master, although this concern sometimes looks somewhat strange: for example, Zakhar can serve dinner on beaten or unwashed dishes, drop food and, lifting it from the floor, offer Oblomov. On the other hand, the whole life of Ilya Ilyich rests precisely on Zakhara - he knows all the master's goodness without exception (even forbids Tarantiev to take Oblomov's things when he does not mind), he is always ready to justify his master and show him the best (in conversations with other servants).
Ilya Ilyich and Zakhar complement each other, as they represent two main manifestations of Oblomov's values - the lord's and his devoted servant. And even after the death of Oblomov, the man does not agree to go to Stolz, wanting to stay near the grave of Ilya Ilyich.
Conclusion
The image of Zakhar in Oblomov is a metaphor for the dilapidated Oblomovka and outdated, archaic views on the world and society. Through his ridiculous costume, constant laziness and peculiar concern for the master, one can trace the endless longing for those distant times when Oblomovka was a prosperous landowner's village, a truly paradise, full of calm, peace, understanding that tomorrow will be as quiet and monotonous as today . Ilya Ilyich dies, but Zakhar remains, as does Oblomovka itself, which, perhaps in the future, will pass to the son of Ilya Ilyich, but will become a completely different estate.
Artwork test
Oblomov and Zakhar are characters in Goncharov's most famous novel. The main character traits of Ilya Ilyich Oblomov, the protagonist of the novel, are laziness, apathy and inaction, which lead him to decline and degradation, despite the fact that he, having a poetic soul and a “deep heart”, could achieve a lot in life.
Zakhar is Oblomov's servant. Even before the writing of Goncharov's novel, the image of a servant was a separate important topic in Russian literature. (For example, Lizanka in Griboyedov's Woe from Wit, parodying the images of gentlemen; Osip is a servant helping Khlestakov in Gogol's The Government Inspector). But in the literature of the second half of the 19th century, actual social problems are superimposed on these literary masks, and therefore the images become completely different. The image of Zakhar also belongs to this new trend.
In order to answer the question of whether Zakhar is in slavery to Oblomov or Oblomov - Zakhar's slave. It is necessary to trace their relationship throughout the novel.
Their fates are closely linked. Even in Oblomov's childhood, Zakhar, together with other servants, did everything for the owner, looked after him, not allowing him to do anything on his own. Goncharov writes: “Zakhar, as a nanny used to, pulls on his stockings, puts on his shoes, ... pulls on his jacket, carefully driving Ilya Ilyich’s hands into the sleeves so as not to disturb him too much ... If Ilya Ilyich wants something, he only has to blink, already three or four servants rush to carry out his desires. Quotations like this can go on almost endlessly. However, Goncharov mentions that sometimes Ilya felt that something in the life to which he was accustomed was wrong.
Oblomov grew up, and Zakhar became his devoted servant, although they often quarreled. Zakhar cannot serve anyone else, and therefore he endures how Oblomov scolds him
"poor words." The servant has a “reverent feeling” for the master, although he may, in a conversation with other servants, speak of him dismissively (“mad with fat”, “you won’t please”). Zakhar could not imagine another existence, another way of life, except for life with master Oblomov.
Oblomov himself also cannot live without Zakhar, as he is used to the fact that the servant will bring, serve and do everything that is needed for the master. “Ilya Ilyich could neither get up, nor lie down, nor sleep, nor be combed and put on shoes, nor dine without the help of Zakhar,” writes the author of the novel.
The master and his servant are equally faithful to the traditions of the patriarchal conditions of society. Both of them were born and raised in Oblomovka, and therefore they consider this way of life to be the only correct one. According to N.S. Leskov, "Oblomovism is not only a purely landlord phenomenon, but in general a national Russian one."
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Ivan Alexandrovich Goncharov created his work in 1859, just two years before the abolition of serfdom. One of the main ones is the image of Zakhar in the novel Oblomov. Ivan Alexandrovich Goncharov dedicated a separate essay to this type called "Servants of the Old Age", in which the author recalls the representatives of this class, whom he knew, people of the old school, hard to get used to the changed living conditions.
Zakhar's literary genealogy
Zakhar had his own literary pedigree. It comes from Pushkin's servant Savelich from the work "The Captain's Daughter". Despite all the difference in the characters of these two persons (Savelyich, corrupted by Petersburg life and laziness of his master, and the eternal uncle, for whom Oblomov always remains an unreasonable little child, Zakhar), they are brought together by fidelity turning into obsession not only to their masters, but also to the entire landowner family .
Portrait of Zakhar
The image of Zakhar in the novel "Oblomov" characterizes his portrait. Ivan Alexandrovich Goncharov describes this servant in this way. This is an elderly man, “in a gray frock coat” and a waistcoat of the same color with copper buttons, with a bare skull, “like a log”, and with thick and wide blond sideburns with gray hair, each of which would be enough for “three beards”. The portrait of Zakhar, depicting an absurd and funny appearance, is complemented by the author and a special voice: the hero either wheezes or grumbles like a dog, and does not speak. God-given voice, according to Zakhar, he "lost on the hunt" when, together with the old master, he went there and when a strong wind seemed to blow in his throat.
Servant Zakhar: characteristic
Indifference to dirt, dust and rubbish distinguishes this person from other servant characters depicted in Russian literature by various authors. Servant Zakhar has his own philosophy on this matter, which does not allow him to fight bedbugs and cockroaches, since they are invented by the Lord. When Ilya Ilyich cites the family of the tuner who lives opposite him as an example, he responds with arguments in which one can feel his extraordinary powers of observation. Zakhar says that the Germans do not have dirt because these heroes of Oblomov are starving, and the frock coat from the father’s shoulder goes to the son, so the family does not have a worn-out dress lying in closets like in Ilya Ilyich’s house.
This servant, for all his external looseness, nevertheless, is quite collected. So, the eternal habit of servants of the old school does not allow him to waste his noble goodness - when the swindler Tarantiev, countryman Ilya Ilyich, asks him to borrow a tailcoat for a while, Oblomov's servant Zakhar immediately refuses: he will not receive anything else until he returns the vest and shirt. Ilya Ilyich is at a loss before his persistence.
Loyalty to Ilya Ilyich Oblomov
The image of Zakhar in the novel "Oblomov" cannot be imagined without mentioning the most important feature of this hero - devotion to Ilya Ilyich. This servant's loyalty to his master, adherence to all the foundations of his native Oblomovka, long forgotten, are portrayed especially vividly in the episode when Ilya Ilyich instructs Zakhar in the most effective and familiar way - calling him "pathetic words", in particular "poisonous man". The servant, in a moment of irritation, allowed himself to compare Ilya Ilyich with others who move easily from one apartment to another and go abroad. This inspires Oblomov to a proud and formidable rebuke that it is impossible to compare him with someone else. Such an answer hurts Zakhar more than all the curses: he feels that he has crossed some forbidden border when he likened his master to other people.
The seal of two eras, reflected in the image of Zakhar
This servant is not without flaws, like other heroes of Oblomov. Ivan Alexandrovich Goncharov defines his hero by the term "knight with fear and reproach", which belonged simultaneously to two eras that left their mark on this character. From one to him, by inheritance, boundless devotion to Oblomovka passed, and from the other, later, depravity of morals and refinement. Zakhar loves to gossip with other servants in the yard, while often embellishing his master or exposing him as he never was, he also does not refuse to drink with friends. This servant is not averse to sometimes pocketing money - copper, medium-sized, but he always takes the change left over from purchases. All objects that Zakhar touches break, beat - so, by the beginning of the story, there are already very few whole things left in Oblomov's house, be it a cup or a chair. This servant serves food to the master, as a rule, while dropping either a fork or a roll ...
Another feature that Ivan Aleksandrovich Goncharov points out is characteristic of mixing two different eras: Zakhar was ready to die instead of his master, regarding this as his natural and inevitable duty, but when it was required to sit all night without closing his eyes by his bed, if only from the health and even the life of Ilya Ilyich depended on this, then this hero of the work "Oblomov" would certainly fall asleep. The problems of connection between the two eras are thus also raised in this novel.
Inextricable connection with Oblomovka
Over time, the indissoluble bond between Oblomov and his servant becomes clearer - as the last two inhabitants and representatives of Oblomovka, which is just a beautiful dream, each of them in his own way keeps in his soul the holy "traditions of antiquity" that shaped their relationships, characters, lives, conflicts . The problems raised in the work of "Oblomov" are largely due to the fact that two worlds are opposed - the sleepy world of the native Oblomovka and the prosaic objective reality. Even when Zakhar, in the middle of the novel, unexpectedly marries the cook Anisya, who is much more clean, skillful and dexterous than he is, this servant tries to the best of his ability to keep her away from Oblomov, himself performing the usual duties, without which he cannot imagine his life.
Connection with Oblomov
The existence of Zakhar really ends with the death of the owner, after which his life turns into a bitter and unnecessary vegetative existence. Soon after the death of Ilya Ilyich, Zakhar's wife, Anisya, also died, and Agafya Matveevna Pshenitsyna, Oblomov's wife, was unable to keep Zakhar in the house with a stern "brother". She only occasionally feeds him and gives him some warm clothes for the winter.
The image of Zakhar in the novel "Oblomov" is fully revealed in the final scene of the work. In the finale, Andrei Stolz, a friend of Ilya Ilyich, meets Zakhar, an almost blind, impoverished old man begging for alms near the church. But the offer of this hero to leave for the village does not tempt him: he cannot leave the grave of Ilya Ilyich unattended, because only near it he finds peace.
Oblomov and Zakhar in the novel by I.A. Goncharov "Oblomov"
In 1858 I.A. Goncharov completed his work on the novel Oblomov and published it in the first four issues of the Otechestvennye Zapiski magazine. I would like to tell you about the main character of this novel Oblomov and his servant Zakhara.
Ilya Ilyich Oblomov is a man “about thirty-two or three years old, of medium height, of pleasant appearance. His complexion was neither ruddy, nor swarthy, nor pale, but indifferent ... perhaps because Oblomov was somehow flabby beyond his years ... In general, his body, judging by the dull, too white color of the neck , small plump hands, soft shoulders, seemed too pampered for a man. The main character was wearing a robe made of Persian fabric, very roomy, so that Oblomov could wrap himself in it twice. “Lying down with Ilya Ilyich was neither a necessity, like a sick person or a person who wants to sleep, nor an accident, like someone who is tired, nor a pleasure, like a lazy person: this was his normal state.”
The room where Ilya Ilyich lay seemed at first glance to be beautifully furnished. But looking closer, one could understand that all this situation was just a desire to maintain the appearance of inevitable propriety.
Every room was in terrible disarray. Cobwebs hung in patterns on the walls, from paintings. There was such a layer of dust on the mirrors that one could write on them. A rare morning on the table was not a plate that had not been removed from yesterday's dinner, and bread crumbs were not lying on the table.
Now I would like to talk about the human qualities of the protagonist. Oblomov is educated, not stupid, but he is too lazy to do anything to solve this or that problem. All day long he just lies and thinks. Sometimes he seems to decide to do something, but rarely brings his impulses to the end. There is nothing better for him than to lie quietly and do nothing. Even his village is run by a trustee. For him, ordinary dressing becomes an obstacle to business, because he does not want to part with his favorite bathrobe. Oblomov is trying to understand himself, to understand why he is like that, and recalls his childhood, maternal affection, care. Little Ilyusha was not allowed to be independent: to dress himself, to wash himself. For this, there were a huge number of nannies and servants. Accustomed to such guardianship, Oblomov, having matured, cannot do without the help of a servant. A faithful friend and servant of Ilya Ilyich was and remains Zakhar, whom he knew when he was still a child.
Zakhar was over fifty years old. He wore a worn gray frock coat with golden liveries, never taking off this clothes, she reminded him of his youth, the years spent in Oblomovka. His face was decorated with wide, thick sideburns. Zakhar is devoted to his master, but a rare day does not lie to him at least in something. The servant of the old time kept the owner from squandering, and Zakhar himself likes to drink with friends at the master's expense. Moreover, he is also a gossip. Zakhar complains to everyone that he has no life, that such a bad master has not yet been seen: he is capricious, and stingy, and angry. Oblomov's servant, moreover, is very awkward. Almost all things in Ilya Ilyich's office are broken - and all by the grace of Zakhar. And if Zakhar wants to put things in order in the house, then there will be no end to the losses. Breaking will begin, the fall of various things, the beating of dishes.
Zakhar is also lazy. This is an important similarity between him and Oblomov. They complement each other. Zakhar nursed little Ilya in his arms, and he remembers Zakhar as “a young, agile, gluttonous and crafty guy.” They have known each other for many years. But there is also a significant difference in their characters. Zakhar can live without Oblomov, but Oblomov cannot live without Zakhar. Because he is absolutely helpless, he cannot do anything on his own, without someone's help. And in this situation it is difficult to say who is the master and who is the servant.
Zakhar and Ilya Ilyich Oblomov are a product of “Oblomovism”, a disease of their time, where apathy and laziness kill in a person all the best that is given to him by nature.
Bibliography
For the preparation of this work, materials from the site http://ilib.ru/
