Bogachek A., Shiryaeva E.
Project "The image of the "little man" in the literature of the 19th-20th centuries."
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MBOU "Orangereininskaya Secondary School"
Project on the topic: “The image of the “little man” in the literature of the 19th – early 20th centuries”
Completed by students of grade 10 “B”
Bogachek Alexandra
Shiryaeva Ekaterina
Teacher
Mikhailova O.E.
2011-2012 academic year.
Plan:
“The Little Man” is a literary hero of the era of realism.
“The Little Man” - a little man from the people... became... a hero of Russian literature.
From Pushkin’s Samson Vyrin to Gogol’s Akaki Akakievich.
Contempt for the “little man” in the works of A.P. Chekhov.
The talented and selfless “little man” in the works of N.S. Leskova.
Conclusion.
Used Books.
Target : Show the diversity of ideas about the “little man” of writers of the 19th – early 20th centuries.
Tasks : 1) study the works of writers of the 19th – early 20th centuries;
3) draw conclusions.
The definition of “little man” is applied to the category of literary heroes of the era of realism, usually occupying a rather low place in the social hierarchy: a minor official, a tradesman, or even a poor nobleman. The image of the “little man” turned out to be all the more relevant the more democratic literature became. The very concept of “little man” was most likely introduced into use by Belinsky (1840 article “Woe from Wit”). The theme of the “little man” is raised by many writers. It has always been relevant because its task is to reflect the life of an ordinary person with all its experiences, problems, troubles and little joys. The writer takes on the hard work of showing and explaining the lives of ordinary people. “The little man is a representative of the entire people. And each writer represents him in his own way.
The image of a little man has been known for a long time - thanks, for example, to such mastodons as A.S. Pushkin and N.V. Gogol or A.P. Chekhov and N.S. Leskov - and inexhaustible.
N.V. Gogol was one of the first who spoke openly and loudly about the tragedy of the “little man,” oppressed, humiliated and therefore pitiful.
True, the palm in this still belongs to Pushkin; his Samson Vyrin from “The Station Agent” opens a gallery of “little people”. But Vyrin’s tragedy is reduced to a personal tragedy, its causes lie in the relationship between the station superintendent’s family - father and daughter - and are in the nature of morality, or rather immorality on the part of Dunya, the superintendent’s daughter. She was the meaning of life for her father, the “sun” with whom the lonely, elderly man felt warm and comfortable.
Gogol, remaining faithful to the traditions of critical realism, introducing his own Gogolian motives into it, showed the tragedy of the “little man” in Russia much more widely; the writer “realized and showed the danger of degradation of society, in which cruelty and indifference of people to each other are increasing more and more.”
And the pinnacle of this villainy was Gogol’s Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin from the story “The Overcoat,” his name became a symbol of the “little man” who feels bad in this strange world of servitude, lies and “blatant” indifference.
It often happens in life that cruel and heartless people who humiliate and insult the dignity of other people often look more pathetic and insignificant than their victims. The same impression of spiritual meagerness and fragility from the offenders of the petty official Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin remains with us after reading Gogol’s story “The Overcoat”. Akaki Akakievich is a real “little man”. Why? Firstly, he stands on one of the lowest steps of the hierarchical ladder. His place in society is not noticeable at all. Secondly, the world of his spiritual life and human interests is extremely narrowed, impoverished, and limited. Gogol himself characterized his hero as poor, mediocre, insignificant and unnoticed. In life, he was assigned an insignificant role as a copyist of documents for one of the departments. Brought up in an atmosphere of unquestioning submission and execution of orders from his superiors, Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin was not used to reflecting on the content and meaning of his work. Therefore, when he is offered tasks that require the manifestation of elementary intelligence, he begins to worry, worry, and ultimately comes to the conclusion: “No, it’s better to let me rewrite something.” Bashmachkin's spiritual life is also limited. Collecting money for a new overcoat becomes for him the meaning of his whole life, filling it with happiness in anticipation of the fulfillment of his cherished desire. The theft of a new overcoat, acquired through such hardships and suffering, becomes truly a disaster for him. Those around him laughed at his misfortune, and no one helped him. The “significant person” shouted at him so much that poor Akaki Akakievich lost consciousness. Almost no one noticed his death. Despite the uniqueness of the image created by the writer, he, Bashmachkin, does not look lonely in the minds of readers, and we imagine that there were a great many of the same humiliated people who shared the lot of Akaki Akakievich. Gogol was the first to talk about the tragedy of the “little man,” respect for whom depended not on his spiritual qualities, not on education and intelligence, but on his position in society. The writer compassionately showed the injustice and oppressiveness of society in relation to the “little man” and for the first time called on this society to pay attention to the inconspicuous, pitiful and funny people, as it seemed at first glance. It’s not their fault that they are not very smart, and sometimes not smart at all. But they don’t harm anyone, and this is very important. So why then laugh at them? Maybe you can't treat them with more respect, but you can't offend them. They, like everyone else, have the right to a decent life, to the opportunity to feel like full-fledged people.
“The Little Man” is constantly found on the pages of A.A. Chekhov’s works. This is the main character of his work. Chekhov's attitude towards such people is especially clear in his satirical stories. And this attitude is unambiguous. In the story “The Death of an Official,” the “little man” Ivan Dmitrievich Chervyakov constantly and obsessively apologizes to General Brizzhalov for accidentally spraying him when he sneezed. “I sprayed him!” thought Chervyakov. “Not my boss, a stranger, but still awkward. I need to apologize.” The key word in this thought is “boss”. Chervyakov probably wouldn’t endlessly apologize to an ordinary person. Ivan Dmitrievich has a fear of his superiors, and this fear turns into flattery and deprives him of self-respect. A person has already reached the point where he allows himself to be trampled into the dirt; moreover, he himself helps to do this. We must give the general his due; he treats our hero very politely. But the common man was not accustomed to such treatment. Therefore, Ivan Dmitrievich thinks that he was ignored and comes to ask for forgiveness several days in a row. Brizzhalov gets fed up with this and finally yells at Chervyakov. “Get out!” the general, suddenly blue and shaking, barked.
“What, sir?” Chervyakov asked in a whisper, dying of horror.
Go away!! - the general repeated, stamping his feet.
Something came off in Chervyakov’s stomach. Seeing nothing, hearing nothing, he backed away to the door, went out into the street and trudged... Arriving mechanically home, without taking off his uniform, he lay down on the sofa and... died." This is what fear of higher ranks, eternal admiration and humiliation before them. To more fully reveal the image of his hero, Chekhov used a “speaking” surname Yes, Ivan Dmitrievich is small, pitiful, like a worm, he can be crushed without effort, and most importantly, he is just as unpleasant.
In the story “The Triumph of the Winner,” Chekhov presents us with a story in which a father and son humiliate themselves before their boss so that the son can get a position.
“The boss was telling the story and, apparently, wanted to seem witty. I don’t know if he said anything funny, but I just remember that my dad pushed me in the side every minute and said:
Laugh!…
... - Yes, yes! - Dad whispered. - Well done! He looks at you and laughs... This is good; Maybe he’ll actually give you a job as an assistant clerk!”
And again we are faced with admiration for superiors. And again this is self-deprecation and flattery. People are ready to please the boss to achieve their insignificant goal. It doesn’t even occur to them to remember that there is simple human dignity that cannot be lost under any circumstances. A.P. Chekhov wanted all people to be beautiful and free. “Everything in a person should be beautiful: face, clothes, soul, and thoughts.” Anton Pavlovich thought so, therefore, ridiculing primitive man in his stories, he called for self-improvement. Chekhov hated self-humiliation, eternal servility and admiration for officials. Gorky said about Chekhov: “His enemy was vulgarity, and he fought against it all his life.” Yes, he fought against it with his works, he bequeathed to us to “squeeze the slave out of ourselves drop by drop.” Perhaps such a vile lifestyle of his “little people”, their low thoughts and unworthy behavior are the result of not only personal character traits, but also their social position and the order of the existing political system. After all, Chervyakov would not have apologized so zealously and lived in eternal fear of officials if he had not been afraid of the consequences. The characters in the stories “Chameleon”, “Thick and Thin”, “Man in a Case” and many others have the same unpleasant character traits.
Anton Pavlovich believed that a person should have a goal, the fulfillment of which he will strive, and if there is none or it is completely small and insignificant, then the person becomes just as small and insignificant. A person must work and love - these are two things that play a major role in the life of any person: small and not small.
Nikolai Semenovich Leskov’s “little man” is a completely different person than his predecessors... In order to understand this, let’s compare the heroes of three works by this writer: Lefty, Ivan Severyanovich Flyagin and Katerina Izmailova. All three of these characters are strong personalities, and each is talented in their own way. But all the energy of Katerina Izmailova is aimed at creating personal happiness by any means. To achieve her goals, she resorts to crime. And therefore this type of character is rejected by Leskov. He sympathizes with her only when she turns out to be cruelly betrayed by her lovers.
Lefty is a talented man from the people who cares about his homeland more than the king and courtiers. But he is ruined by a vice that is so familiar to the Russian people - drunkenness and the reluctance of the state to help its subjects. He could have done without this help if he had been a strong man. But a drinking person cannot be a strong person. Therefore, for Leskov, this is not the hero who should be given preference.
Among the heroes belonging to the category of “little people,” Leskov singles out Ivan Severyanovich Flyagin. Leskov's hero is a hero in appearance and spirit. “He was a man of enormous stature, with a dark, open face and thick, wavy, lead-colored hair: his gray hair was so strangely cast... This new companion of ours, who later turned out to be a very interesting person, looked like he was in his mid-fifties; but he was in in the full sense of the word, a hero, and, moreover, a typical, simple-minded, kind Russian hero, reminiscent of grandfather Ilya Muromets... But with all this kind simplicity, it did not take much observation to see in him a person who has seen a lot and, as they say, “experienced.” He behaved boldly, self-confidently, although without unpleasant abandon, and spoke in a pleasant bass voice with a demeanor." He is strong not only physically, but also spiritually. Flyagin's life is an endless test. He is strong in spirit, and this allows him to overcome such difficult life vicissitudes. He was on the verge of death, saved people, and fled for his life. But in all these tests he improved. Flyagin, at first vaguely, and then more and more consciously, strives for heroic service to the Motherland; this becomes the spiritual need of the hero. In this he sees the meaning of life. The kindness inherent in Flyagin initially, the desire to help the suffering, ultimately becomes a conscious need to love his neighbor as himself. This is a simple person with his own merits and demerits, gradually eradicating these shortcomings and coming to an understanding of God. Leskov portrays his hero as a strong and brave man with a huge heart and a big soul. Flyagin does not complain about fate, does not cry. Leskov, describing Ivan Severyanovich, makes the reader proud of his people, of his country. Flyagin does not humiliate himself before the powers that be, like Chekhov’s heroes, does not become an alcoholic because of his insolvency, like Dostoevsky’s Marmeladov, does not sink to the bottom of life, like Gorky’s characters, does not wish harm to anyone, does not want to humiliate anyone, does not wait for help from others, does not sit idly by. This is a person who recognizes himself as a human being, a real person, who is ready to defend his rights and the rights of other people, who does not lose self-esteem and is confident that a person can do anything.
III.
The idea of the “little man” changed throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. Each writer also had his own personal views on this hero.
You can find commonality in the views of different writers. For example, writers of the first half of the 19th century (Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol) treat the “little man” with sympathy. Griboyedov stands apart, he looks at this hero differently, which brings his views closer to the views of Chekhov and partly Ostrovsky. Here the concept of vulgarity and self-humiliation comes to the fore. In the minds of L. Tolstoy, N. Leskov, A. Kuprin, a “little man” is a talented, selfless person. Such a variety of views of writers depends on the characteristics of their worldview and on the diversity of human types that surrounds us in real life.
Used Books:
1. Gogol N.V. Collected works in 4 volumes. Publishing house "Prosveshchenie", M. 1979
2. Pushkin A.S. “Stories by I.P. Belkina. Dubrovsky, Queen of Spades. Publishing house "Astrel, AST" 2004
3. Chekhov A.P. Stories. Publishing house "AST". 2010
4. Leskov N.S. All works by Nikolai Leskov. 2011
5. Gukovsky G.A. Gogol's realism - M., 1959
Wilhelm REICH
LOOK AT YOURSELF, LITTLE MAN!
WILHELM REICH(1897-1957), world famous psychiatrist, born in Austria. Student of Sigmund Freud. He was an analyst and teacher of Frederick Perls and Alexander Lowen. Founder of the school of psychoanalysis named after him (Reichian school).
He developed the theory of the “muscle shell”, linking constant muscle tension in the human body with his character and protection from painful emotional experiences. Reich attached great importance to the energetic organization of man, finding in it the causes of emotional disorders. The mental health programs he developed became widely known and widespread. One of the most striking manifestations of the implementation of such programs was the attempt to create analytical discussion clubs in Germany in the 1920s, designed to discourage young people from visiting brothels. His exposure of the inconsistency of the viral nature of cancer found worldwide recognition. He discovered and studied the energy of man and the cosmos, which he called “orgone”, and created the Orgone Institute in the USA.
Reich's notable contribution to psychoanalytic theory was the analysis of the nature and practice of vegetative therapy - the transition from talking to bodily therapy. The main work is considered to be “The Function of Orgasm” (1927).
During the scientist's lifetime, the bulk of his revolutionary ideas were not accepted by the majority of his colleagues. All his life he was surrounded by misunderstanding, slander, speculation, persecution by authorities and bans on conducting experiments in various countries.
The years from 1945 to 1947 were the time of greatest growth and enthusiasm for pedagogical and therapeutic practice. The scientist devoted the 50s to the study of orgone physics.
The American court's ban on the sale of orgone batteries invented by Reich, which restore human energy, caused his conflict with the authorities. For violating this court decision, the scientist was sentenced to two years in prison, where he died in 1957 at the age of sixty.
Reich's political views made it impossible to publish his works, as well as information about him, during Soviet times.
It is no coincidence that we begin publishing his works with the book “Look at you, little man!” It introduces the reader better than others to Wilhelm Reich and makes it possible to appreciate the scale of this outstanding personality.
Editorial Board of the Gestalt Institute Publishing House
You, hypocritical philistine, who makes fun of me! Tell me, how have your politicians lived since the world existed? Massacres and murders!
Charles de Coster "Till Eulenspiegel"
Preface
This is not a scientific book, but a confidential conversation with the reader.
Having written it in 1946 for an academic archive, the author had no intention of publishing it widely. This was just an attempt by a scientist and doctor to systematize his own internal confusion that gripped him after many years of studying the so-called “little man.” This confusion arose as a result of bewilderment, turning into horror, at the sight of what a little man does to himself: how he suffers, resists, exalts his enemies and kills his friends; how, having acquired power “in the name of the people,” he abuses it and imposes a tyranny even more cruel than the one he himself once experienced under the yoke of the rulers he overthrew.
This appeal to the little man was a worthy response to gossip and slander. Having written this work, the author could not imagine that the government department for public health, in alliance with careerists from politics and psychoanalysis, would launch a campaign against this research.
The decision to publish the work arose in response to the authorities’ intention to discredit the conclusions set out in it, and to do this not through scientific discussion, but simply by slandering the author and attempts to widely discredit him. There was a need to acquaint the “ordinary person” with what he represents from the point of view of a scientist - psychologist.
The common man must be aware of the only force that opposes his destructive desire for power and self-importance, and be aware of the enormous responsibility that lies with him, no matter what he does: work, love, hate, or even just talk.
A little person should know how he becomes a black or red fascist. Anyone who is concerned about the safety of their own lives and the lives of their children is obliged to resist both black and red fascism, and to do this not because they elevate the physical destruction of opponents to the rank of their ideology, but because their ideologies turn healthy children into moral cripples, puppets and ideological monsters, because they put the state over the interests of justice, lies over truth and war over peace; to resist fascism because children and the vitality they carry within themselves remain our only hope for a happy future.
For a teacher and a doctor, the most important subject of selfless service is precisely this vital force of students and patients. And if he is truly true to his calling, he will have to find solutions to the problems of his students and patients, including those related to politics.
This appeal is not a textbook or a guide through life. This is an attempt to describe those emotional storms that rage in the souls of ordinary individuals who love life.
The book does not set a goal to convince or win the reader's sympathy - it simply describes the movements of the consciousness of a little person.
A scientist and thinker needs only one thing from the reader - a personal attitude towards his work, and in this he is similar to a poet or philosopher. This is the result of the scientist's painful work, his protest against the secret and unnamed poisonous arrows of emotional distress fired from secret places that strike the little man. The book shows what emotional contagion is and how it hinders progress. In addition, it attempts to show man the enormous treasures that lie unclaimed in the depths of “human nature”, and are ready to be used to fulfill human aspirations.
Good people are unaware of the dangers that lurk in interpersonal relationships and living conditions. These people are convinced that others also think and act nobly and generously, in accordance with the life laws of kindness and mutual assistance.
This attitude, characteristic of healthy children and primitive people, undoubtedly poses a great threat in the struggle for a rational way of life as long as emotional stupidity exists, since emotionally obsessed people impose their perverted way of thinking and acting on others.
Kind people believe that everyone around them is good, while emotionally infected people believe that everyone around them lies, cheats and lusts for power. In this state of affairs, good people are at an obvious disadvantage. By being kind to the emotionally stupefied, they are exhausted, exposed to ridicule, and ultimately betrayed.
It has always been this way. For good people living today, the time has come to be tough, because toughness is necessary in the struggle to preserve and increase vitality - it will not detract from their positive qualities as long as they are on the side of justice. The hope for the best is based on the fact that among millions of honest workers there are only a handful of emotionally obsessed individuals who are capable of committing evil, operating with the dark forces contained in an ordinary person, and pushing this person to political murder. There is only one counteraction to the usual human predisposition to emotional contagion - this is his own sense of life's truth. Life force does not crave power, it only demands a worthy and conscious place in human affairs. It manifests itself in love, creation and knowledge.
Anyone who would preserve the life force from emotional contagion must use every opportunity of free speech that is afforded to the citizens of America to achieve good ends, since the emotional plague uses them for evil.
Guaranteed equal opportunities for self-expression determine the possibility of ultimate victory. This is our main hope for a happy future.
A look into the future
I can't tell you what your future will be. I have no idea whether you will ever reach the Moon or Mars with the help of the orgone I discovered. I have no idea how your spaceships will launch and land, whether you will use solar energy for space heating, or whether you will be able to talk to Australia or Baghdad through a crack in the wall of your room. However, I can definitely say what you are you won't do in five hundred or a thousand or five thousand years.
“Just listen to him! He's definitely quirky. He can tell me what I won't do! He’s just a dictator!”
I am not a dictator, little man, although given your insignificance I could well become one. Your dictators can only tell you what you shouldn't do today to avoid capital punishment. They would rather make a tree grow faster than tell you about your distant future.
“But where did you get this wisdom, you intellectual servant of the world proletariat?”
From your own depths, you are the eternal proletarian of the human mind!
"What?! He draws wisdom from my depths! Where do I get any depths from! And in general, what kind of individualistic conversation is he having with me!!”
You are mistaken, little man, you have depths, you just don’t know about it. You are afraid, mortally afraid of your own depths, so you don’t feel or see them. That's why your head is spinning when you look into the depths, that's why you try to turn away, as does someone standing on the edge of an abyss. You are afraid of falling and losing your “special character.” A little person will always appear on your path of self-knowledge, with his cruelty, envy, greed and tendency to steal. I would never have undertaken such a long appeal, little man, if you had no depth. I already know about these depths, since I discovered them in you more than once or twice when you came to me as a psychiatrist. Your depths are your great future. That is why I can tell you what you most definitely will not do in this future. The time will come when you will not understand how, during four thousand years of lack of culture, you could commit the acts that you did. Do you want to listen?
“Why not listen to a beautiful little utopia? In any case, nothing can be done about all this, dear doctor. I will always be a little man of the people who has no opinion of his own. And who am I to..?”
Calm down! You hide behind the myth of the little man because you are afraid to join the flow of life and what you have to swim in it only for the sake of your children and grandchildren, and not for your own sake.
So. The first of many things you will not do in the future is to consider yourself a little person who has the right to say: “Who am I to..?” At your place will own opinion. You will understand that this is a shame - don't have opinion, do not express it and do not insist on it.
“But what will public opinion say about my opinion? I will be crushed like a worm if I express my opinion!”
What you call public opinion, little man, is actually the aggregate of the opinions of little men and women. Every little man and every little woman has his own sound opinion and a small particle of erroneous opinion. Erroneous opinion grows out of fear of the erroneous opinion of all the other little men and women. That's why you hide your common sense deep inside. No longer will you accept that you “mean nothing.” You realize that you are the stronghold and foundation of human society. Don't bury your head in the sand! Don't be afraid! It's not a bad thing at all to be a responsible pillar of human society.
“Then what should I do to become a pillar of society?”
Nothing new or unusual. Just keep doing what you are already doing: cultivate the field, hammer nails, heal the sick, walk with the children and take them to school, write articles about the events of the day, discover the secrets of nature. You are already doing all this, you just consider it unimportant, and what is important in your understanding is only what is important for your Marshal Order Bearer or Prince Conqueror.
“You are a dreamer, doctor. Don’t you see that the Marshal Order Bearer and the Prince Conqueror have troops and weapons, they need wars, they need to mobilize me for these wars, after which they cannot do without blowing up my field, my factory, my laboratory or my office?"
You are mobilized, and your field and your factory are blown up, because you shout “Hurray, hurray!” when you are mobilized and called in, and when your field and your factory are blown up. The Prince Conqueror would never have had any troops or weapons if you had really realized that the field exists to grow wheat, and the factory exists to make furniture or shoes, that fields and factories are not meant to be blow up, and would firmly adhere to this position. Your Marshal Order Bearer and Prince Conqueror see things differently. They themselves do not work either in the field, or in the factory, or in the office. According to their concepts, you work not in order to feed and clothe your children, but in the name of the greatness of Germany or the Fatherland of Workers.
“What should I do? I hate war; my wife weeps, heartbroken, when I am drafted into the active army, my children are starving when the army of proletarians occupy my land, new corpses appear in the millions... All I want is to plow in my field and play with the children after work, to love my wife at night, and on weekends to dance, sing and listen to music. What should I do?"
Continue to do what you have always done and what you have always wanted to do: work, raise happy children, make love to your wife at night. If you firmly and wisely adhere to this program, the war will not start. Your wife will not become an amusing toy for the sex-starved soldiers of the Vaterland Workers, your orphaned children will not starve in the streets, and you yourself will not be left with wide open glassy eyes turned to the blue sky on some distant “field of military honor.”
“But if I want to live for my work, wife and children, then what if the barbarians, or the Germans, or the Japanese, or the Russians, or someone else, march and drag me into a war? Isn’t it true that I have to protect my home?”
You're absolutely right, little man. If barbarians of any nationality attack you, you will have to take up arms. What you don't take into account is that the "barbarians" of all nations are none other than millions of little people, just like yourself, who keep shouting "Hurray!" when the Conqueror Prince (who himself doesn't work) appeals to them for a “sacred struggle.” They are little people like you, who believe that their opinions are worthless and ask: “Who am I, exactly, to have an opinion of my own?”
“This is all great, but what to do with atomic bombs? Any one of them could claim hundreds of thousands of human lives!”
Think with your own head, little man! Do you think the bombs are made by the Prince the Conqueror? No, this is done by small people who shout “Hurray!”, instead of abandoning the production of products of this kind. You see, little man, that it all comes down to one thing - your good or bad opinion. And you, the most outstanding scientist of the twentieth century, if you were not a microscopically small person, you would think about the whole world, and not one, individual nation. Your powerful intellect would allow you not to create an atomic bomb, and if the logic of scientific development makes its creation inevitable, you should have used all your authority and all your influence to ensure that this bomb was never used. You are caught in a vicious circle of your own actions and you cannot break out of it because your thoughts and views are moving in the wrong direction. You made millions of people happy by promising that your atomic energy would cure cancer and rheumatism, but you knew that this was impossible, that you were using this energy only for the death industry and for nothing else. You and your physicists are going down the wrong path. You know this, but you don't want to do anything. WITH you're done! Once and for all. I offered you the healing power of his cosmic energy, little man! You know about this, I have already explained everything to you very clearly. But you remain silent and continue to die from cancer and cardiovascular diseases, and on your deathbed you shout: “Long live culture and technology!” I declare to you, little man, that you are digging your own grave with your eyes open. You think that the new “era of nuclear energy” has already arrived. It really has arrived, just not where you think. Not in your hell, but in my quiet manufacturing laboratory in the far corner of America.
Whether or not you go to war depends entirely on you, little man. If only you firmly realize that you are working in the name of life, not death! If only you firmly understood that all the little people on earth are the same as you, no worse and no better.
Someday (and when exactly will depend entirely on you) you will stop shouting “Hurray, hurray!” You will stop cultivating those fields and working in those factories that produce death. Someday, I tell you, you will not want to work for death.
“Should we call a general strike?” It's hardly worth it. Your general strike is a very weak weapon. You will be convinced of this very soon as soon as your family begins to starve. By declaring a strike, you avoid responsibility for the welfare or ruin of your society. To go on strike means don't work. I have already explained that you will someday stop working to create death, but this does not mean not working at all. If you insist on the word “strike,” then declare a “work strike.” Strike, but at the same time work for yourself, for your wife and children, for your community, for your factory or farm. Make it clear that you have no time for wars, that there are much more important things for you. And fence some area away from human habitats with a high fence, and let the marshals and diplomats shoot at each other on its territory. That's what you can do, little man, if you'll just stop shouting "Hurray, hurray!" and believe that you have no right to your own opinion...
Everything is in your hands, little man: not only your hammer or stethoscope, but also your life, as well as the lives of your family and friends. You shake your head. You consider me a utopian, if only not a “red”.
You ask me, little man, when will a happy, safe life come. The answer to this question lies in your nature.
You will get a happy, secure life when life is valued above prosperity, love above money, freedom above public or partisan opinion. When the mood of the music of Bach or Beethoven is transmitted to the entire mood of your life, they are already in you, little person, but somewhere deep, in the far corner of your being. When you think in harmony with your feelings, and not in conflict with them. When you learn to recognize the two times of your life: heyday and the onset of old age. When will you finally follow the great sages, and not the great criminals or warriors. When you will attach more importance to the love between a man and a woman than to a marriage certificate. When you learn to recognize your mistakes, it is not too late to correct them. When teachers and educators will earn more than politicians. When you will be inspired by the truth and you will abolish bureaucracy. When you will be able to communicate with your foreign friends and colleagues directly, and not through your diplomats. When, at the sight of a minor daughter, happy in her love, your heart will not overflow with anger, but with sublime joy. When will you just shake your head, remembering the times when children, under pain of punishment, were forbidden to touch their genitals? When the human faces you meet on the streets will no longer bear the stamp of unhappiness and sadness, but will be marked by a reflection of freedom, vitality and serenity. When human bodies are freed from the impenetrable shell, and the genitals will cease to be a subject of constraint.
You are asking for instructions and advice, little man. For thousands of years you have been instructed and given advice, both good and bad. But the reason for everything is not bad advice, but your eternal baseness and worthlessness. I could give you good advice, but the way you are and the way you think won't allow you to benefit from it.
I, for example, advise you to put an end to all kinds of diplomacy, and instead create a professional and human brotherhood of all shoemakers, blacksmiths, carpenters, mechanics, engineers, doctors, teachers, writers, administrators, miners and farmers in England, Germany, Russia, the United States America, Argentina, Brazil, Palestine, Arab countries, Turkey, Scandinavia, Tibet, Indonesia, etc., which would allow all the shoemakers of the world to decide among themselves how best to put shoes on Chinese children, and miners - how best to protect people from the cold , educators - how best to protect children from physical and mental disorders in later life, etc. And what will you do, little man, when faced with such an obvious truth?
You will try to put me behind bars, and if that doesn’t work, then you will answer me personally or through speakers of your party, church, trade union or government something like the following:
“Who am I to change diplomatic relations between countries to professional and personal ones?” Or: “It is impossible to overcome economic and social contradictions between countries.”
Or: “Is it possible to unite with the fascists of Germany or Japan, the communists of Russia or the capitalists of America?”
Or: “First of all, I am concerned about the interests of my Russian, or German, or American, or English, or Jewish, or Arab fatherland.”
Or: “I worry about my union, and let someone else worry about others.”
Or: “Don’t listen to this capitalist, Bolshevik, fascist, Trotskyist, internationalist, sexual maniac, Jew, foreigner, intellectual, dreamer, utopian, deceiver, idiot, lunatic, individualist and anarchist! Where is your American, Russian, German, English or Jewish patriotism?
You will definitely make one of these or similar statements - just to evade responsibility for human communication.
“Am I really of absolutely no use? You deny me honor and dignity. You're making me into some kind of mess. But I work hard, support my wife and children, strive for a good life, serve my country. It can’t be that I’m that worthless!”
I know that you are an honest, highly organized, social animal like a bee or an ant. All I did was expose you to the little man who has been perverting your life for several millennia. And when you are not pathetic and insignificant - you great, little man, and your greatness is the only hope we have left for a better future.
You are great when you practice your craft, when you inspiredly carve wood, build, draw, sew, reap. Your greatness is in the blue sky and in the deer running through the morning dew, in music and dancing, in raising children and in the beautiful body of your wife (or husband). You are great when you study the stars in the planetarium, when you gain wisdom in the library. You are great when you tell your grandchildren stories about the distant past sitting on your lap and look into the uncertain future with amusing childish spontaneity. You carry greatness, a mother cradling her child, when you, with tears in your eyes, fervently pray for his future happiness, and then, hour after hour, year after year, you yourself build this happiness for him.
You are great, little man, when you sing good, heartfelt folk songs or when you dance old dances to the accordion, for folk songs come from the soul and contain the whole world. And finally, you are great when you can say to your friend: “I am grateful to fate for giving me the opportunity to live without falling into filth and greed, to see my children grow up, to hear their first words, to practice my craft, walk in nature, play, ask questions, laugh and love. Thank you to fate for not taking away my freedom and purity, for giving me tender spring feelings, for rinsing the stream near my house and singing birds in the neighboring forest, for for the happiness with which I hug my wife (husband) and feel the strength of life in her (his) body, for the fact that I did not lose patience in difficult times, and that my life has meaning and continuation. I thank fate that I always listened to my inner voice, which told me: “There is only one thing that matters: a good happy life. Follow the call of your heart, even if it carries you away. to the path that the cowardly avoid. No matter how difficult it is for you, don’t allow yourself to become bitter.”
When on a quiet evening after work I sit on the lawn near the house with my beloved or with my son enjoying the breath of nature, my favorite song about humanity and the future sounds within me. I turn to life with a prayer for the rights of workers, for the liberation of human hearts from cruelty and fear, from the desire to start wars. People start wars only because life passes them by. I hug my little boy tightly, who tells me: “Daddy! Sunset. When will it rise again? Will it come back soon? And I answer him: “Of course, my boy, it will return soon and again give us its warmth.”
My appeal to you is coming to an end, little man. I could leave you with a feeling of uncertainty. But if you read my words carefully and impartially, you will be able to discover the little person in yourself. You will find it in your actions and thoughts.
Regardless of what you have already done to me and what you will do again, whether you elevate me as a genius or try to isolate me as a madman, follow me as a shepherd or torture me as a spy, your illnesses will sooner or later make you understand that I discovered the laws of life energy. I have given you a tool with which you can manage your life consciously and purposefully, without wasting it on trifles, as you are doing now. I stood guard over your physical and mental health. Your grandchildren will follow in my footsteps. They will become true engineers of human nature. I have opened the gates for you to the vast kingdom of life energy within you, your cosmic essence. This is my main reward.
And to dictators and tyrants, to treacherous and evil people, to vultures and hyenas, I will address words from an ancient saga:
Wilson Thomas Woodrow - President of the United States.
A great man - meaning Sigmund Freud.
La Maitre Julien - French sensualist philosopher of the 18th century.
"Little Man" in literature is designation of rather heterogeneous heroes, united by the fact that they occupy one of the lowest places in the social hierarchy and that this circumstance determines their psychology and social behavior (humiliation combined with a sense of injustice, wounded by pride).
Therefore, “The Little Man” often acts in opposition to another character, a high-ranking person, a “significant person” (according to the usage adopted in Russian literature under the influence of “The Overcoat”, 1842, N.V. Gogol), and the development of the plot is built mainly as a story of resentment, insult, misfortune.
The "Little Man" theme has an international reach, and its origins date back to ancient times. The neo-Attic comedy already showed interest in the life of the “Little Man”; The point of view of the “Little Man” was used in Juvenal’s satires, which exposed the moral degradation of those in power. In medieval literature, an example of the implementation of such a point of view is “Prayer” by Daniil Zatochnik (13th century). One of the first works in European literature devoted to the theme of “The Little Man” is considered to be “The Vicar of Wakefield” (1766) by O. Goldsmith, where a typical plot outline for this topic has already been outlined (persecution of a poor man, seduction of his daughter by a landowner).
The theme of the “Little Man” was consistently developed in Russian literature of the 19th century, especially after “The Station Agent” (1830) by A.S. Pushkin. One of the first cases of the use of the concept is found in V.G. Belinsky’s article “Woe from Wit” (1840), with a clear description of the entire opposition: “Become our mayor<из «Ревизора» Гоголя>a general - and when he lives in a county town, woe to the little man... then a tragedy for the “little man” could emerge from the comedy...”
In the 1830-50s, the theme of “The Little Man” was developed in Russian literature mainly in line with the story about a poor official; At the same time, there was an evolution of the central character, a rethinking of the motives of his behavior. If the object of Akakiy Akakievich Bashmachkin’s aspirations is a thing, an overcoat, then in the works of the natural school (Ya.P. Butkov, A.N. Maikov, etc.) the hero’s affection for his daughter, bride, lover was pointedly brought to the fore, and the discrepancy between the official ( official) and his home life, primary attention was paid to the motives of honor, pride, and “ambition.”
This process reached its culmination point in “Poor People” (1846) by F.M. Dostoevsky, which was emphasized by the polemical repulsion of the main character of the story from Gogol’s Bashmachkin. In the literature of the second half of the 19th century, the theme of the “Little Man” continued to develop in the works of Dostoevsky, A.N. Ostrovsky, E. Zola, A. Daudet, and among verists (see Verism). At the origins of the theme in modern literature is Svejk (J. Hasek. The adventures of the good soldier Svejk during the World War, 1921-23), whose naivety and “idiocy” are the flip side of wisdom that protects him from the omnipotence of militarism and bureaucracy.
Even through the darkness, Tokarev saw Sergei’s deathly pale face with fixed eyes looking at him. Suddenly Sergei said decisively:
This can’t be!.. She could do it, she’s capable of it. But she would never admit this to you or anyone!
Yes. See, it is so. But one day - remember, on the evening when you had a seizure - she confessed to me that she felt the approach and victory of the “invisible”. In order not to submit to him, she saw only one way - death. But so that this death causes less grief to loved ones. The conversation was purely abstract... Well, before her death, almost delirious, she made me promise not to tell anyone about our conversation... Do you think anything can be concluded from this?
Chche-errt, chche-errt!.. - Sergei groaned and squeezed his head with his hands. He put his elbows on his knees and sat, still clutching his head.
So what? Did she do the right thing? Is this the real solution?.. No, this is terrible and insanely abnormal! And yet it is your views, your straightforward demands that make such horrors possible. You cannot deny this. And you also cannot deny that you are closing all exits for a living person. It is necessary to take a serious and close look at the “invisible”. And only then, calling on all its strength and inevitability, is it possible to come to some way out.
Sergei jumped to his feet. His eyes flashing, he shouted:
Why are you saying all this?! You want to justify yourself with Varina’s death! Don't you really feel what the difference is between her and you? From her death a huge question arises - yes, huge and terrible in its seriousness. But you don’t touch this issue sideways!
Tokarev fell silent, knocked out of position, not knowing what to object. He spoke in a depressed voice:
Fine! Let's say you're right. I see the difference between her and myself no worse than you. But think a little about what I tell you. Listen. I am an ordinary, small person. I am destined for one thing: to live peacefully and quietly, without fussing anywhere, without any serious life tasks, to live as everyone else around me lives: one way or another to earn money, curse the work by which I live, have children and play vint in the evenings. . But, you see, in the life of every swamp soul there comes an age when this soul is transformed - it grows wings. If the surrounding circumstances are favorable, then her vague, uncertain impulses take shape in the desire for clear ideals. And a person goes to fight for them, to death, and cannot understand how one can live without looking for meaning in life, without having an all-encompassing life task. Several years pass. The wings dry out and fall off, and the person himself shrivels up. Everything recent becomes completely alien and dead to him.
And now I find myself in exactly this position. But the point is that this past has already poisoned me - I am horrified by the emptiness into which I am going, I cannot live without meaning and without purpose. But there are no wings that would lift it above the swamp.
Glory to the faith that destroyed us, Glory to the lost youth, Untainted by shame...
Yes, I remember it with a warm, passionate feeling, this honest youth. But its glory is buried, because youth itself is buried, and it cannot be resurrected... Where can I find a foundation on which I could now rest? What can give me the strength to live as a human being? Philosophy? Religion? My soul is pouring out of me, do you understand that? The soul rolls out!.. How to hold it? There are no such forces in life, there are no such forces in ideas and religion... All strength is only in feeling. Once it has disappeared, then all the oaths and vows are nonsense, all the self-contempt and melancholy... What should I do?
Sergei answered disgustedly:
It's your business! Unfortunately, I can't help you with anything.
Oh, Sergey Vasilievich! Don't be so dismissive about it! I assure you, all this concerns you very closely! Just today you talked about how every fluctuation in the barometer affects your soul. Do you really think that only one barometer has such amazing power?.. No, Sergei Vasilyevich, you, like me, are completely in the power of the mighty “invisible”. You persistently preach the joy of life and strength of spirit, but you yourself live in a dark world of nervous melancholy and lack of will. You argue that a person must act from myself, that in this case he will discover the enormous riches of the soul, and all your wealth lies only in amazing callousness, self-confidence and narcissism. Only for now all this is brightened up by youth. And when your youth passes, what will be left of you? You and I are equally bankrupt, we are equally too poor and sick at heart to pay off the enormous demands of our minds... There are other people, healthy and strong, people of the inside. They can be killed, but cannot be split in two. For them, a thought, by the very fact that it is a thought, is at the same time an action... Here is the person we saw at Varvara Vasilievna’s house then. It seems to me that Tanya is like that. It’s okay that it’s so undeveloped and narrow - that’s where its strength lies!.. But our cause is lost. I already realize this, you don’t realize it yet. But the time is not far when the same question will arise before you... And over the corpse of Varvara Vasilievna, this issue needs to be resolved honestly and seriously.
Sergei grinned evilly and painfully.
Oh, how you want this “honest” solution!.. Excuse me, here it is, in my opinion: come to terms with your “invisible”, climb back into the swamp and prosper in good health. You really want this solution. But leave me alone. Rest assured, I will never end up in a swamp alive!
Tokarev silently waved his hand. He sat on a hillock, clasping his knees with his hands, and looking into the distance. A dull, furious hatred of Sergei gripped him. Sergei mockingly and angrily emphasized exactly what Tokarev wanted. Well, yes, that’s exactly what he wanted, so that his right to live as he is was recognized - where is the other way out? Sergei doesn’t want to admit this solution... Good! - thought Tokarev, overcome with melancholy and trembling.
He said hoarsely:
Lord, what a difficult night!.. Sergei Vasilyevich, do me a favor, bring me water from the spring. My head is so dizzy - I think I’m going to fall... It’s not far here, over the hill... Just scoop it into my cap, it’s cloth, it won’t spill... For God’s sake!..
Sergei looked carefully at Tokarev and slowly answered:
Let's get a cap.
He disappeared over a hill. Tokarev quickly jumped up and looked around. The damp, gray wall of rain silently advanced in the darkness and seemed to be beginning to waver. There was deafening silence all around; the strange outlines of bushes stood motionless and black near the river. A young vine above his head quietly rustled dry leaves. Crazy joy overwhelmed Tokarev. He thought: “Well, get your decision!” - and began to quickly unbelt himself. It was belted with a twice as long and strong silk cord.
Excited and in a hurry, Tokarev, with trembling hands, made a loop on the cord and pulled it, testing his strength. The noose was strong. He smiled joyfully, stood on tiptoes and began tying a noose to the branch of the vine.
Get your decision, Sergey Vasilievich!
And he imagined Sergei returning in front of his corpse on the Lozin.
There was a rustling sound in the distance, like footsteps. Tokarev shuddered, jumped away from the tree and began to peer. No, everything was quiet. Sergei could not return so soon. It must have been Sbogar running below.
- “Little man” is a type of literary hero that arose in Russian literature with the advent of realism, that is, in the 20-30s of the 19th century.
The first image of a little man was Samson Vyrin from A. S. Pushkin’s story “The Station Warden.” Pushkin’s traditions were continued by N.V. Gogol in the story “The Overcoat”.
A little man is a person of low social status and origin, not gifted with outstanding abilities, not distinguished by strength of character, but at the same time kind, does no harm to anyone, and is harmless. Both Pushkin and Gogol, creating the image of a little man, wanted to remind readers who were accustomed to admiring romantic heroes that the most ordinary person is also a person worthy of sympathy, attention, and support.
Writers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries also addressed the theme of the little man: A. P. Chekhov, A. I. Kuprin, M. Gorky, L. Andreev, F. Sologub, A. Averchenko, K. Trenev, I. Shmelev, S. Yushkevich, A. Meshcheryakov. The power of tragedy of little people - “heroes of fetid and dark corners” (A. Grigoriev) - was correctly defined by Peter Weil:
The little man from the great Russian literature is so small that it cannot be further reduced. Changes could only go upward. This is what the Western followers of our classical tradition did. From our Little Man came the heroes of Kafka, Beckett, Camus […] who grew to global proportions […]. Soviet culture threw off Bashmachkin's overcoat - onto the shoulders of the living Little Man, who, of course, did not disappear anywhere, simply disappeared from the ideological surface, died in literature.
The little man, who did not fit into the canons of socialist realism, migrated to the literary underground and began to exist in the everyday satire of M. Zoshchenko, M. Bulgakov, V. Voinovich.
From the multifaceted literary gallery of little people, heroes stand out who strive to gain universal respect through changing their material status or appearance (“Luka Prokhorovich” by E. Grebenka, 1838; “The Overcoat” by N. Gogol, 1842); gripped by fear of life (“Man in a Case” by A. Chekhov, 1898; “Our Man in a Case” by V. Pietsukha, 1989); who, in conditions of overwhelming bureaucratic reality, become ill with mental disorders (“The Double” by F. Dostoevsky, 1846; “The Diaboliad” by M. Bulgakov, 1924); in whom an internal protest against social contradictions coexists with a painful desire to elevate oneself, to acquire wealth, which ultimately leads them to loss of reason (“Notes of a Madman” by N. Gogol, 1834; “The Double” by F. Dostoevsky); whose fear of superiors leads to madness or death (“Weak Heart” by F. Dostoevsky, 1848, “The Death of an Official” by A. Chekhov, 1883); who, fearing to expose themselves to criticism, change their behavior and thoughts (“Chameleon” by A. Chekhov, 1884; “Jolly Oysters” by A. Averchenko, 1910); who can find happiness only in love for a woman (“Senile Sin” by A. Pisemsky, 1861; “Mountains” by E. Popov, 1989; “Garnet Bracelet” by A. I. Kuprin, 1910); who want to change their lives through the use of magical means (“The Right Medicine” by E. Grebenka, 1840; “The Little Man” by F. Sologub, 1905); who, due to failures in life, decide to commit suicide (“Senile Sin” by A. Pisemsky; “The Story of Sergei Petrovich” by L. Andreev, 1900).
Also, the problem of the little man is present in Andrei Platonov’s story “Yushka”.
