The image of Luke and the problem of truth and compassion in M. Gorky's play "At the bottom
Lord! If the truth is holy
The world can't find the way,
Honor to the madman who will inspire
Mankind has a golden dream!
The outset of the conflict in Gorky's play "At the Bottom" is the appearance of the wanderer Luke. He immediately finds himself in the center of attention of the overnight stays, and the whole development of the plot is concentrated on him.
Question
Find in the text and read what does Luka look like when he first appears in the rooming house?
Answer
Luka with a stick in his hand, with a knapsack over his shoulders, a bowler hat and a teapot at his belt.
Question
Who is Luca? What do the hostels learn about his past?
Answer
Luke doesn't say much about himself. He utters only a mysterious phrase: "They crumpled a lot, that's why he is soft." In addition, the overnight stays learn that Luka served as a watchman for an engineer near Tomsk, and when robbers attacked the house, he first, pointing a gun at them, forced them to flog each other, and then, as they say, gave his word to say. It turned out that these were runaway convicts who were tired of begging, and they decided to go on a robbery. Luka took pity on the robbers and left them to spend the winter.
Luka most likely has no documents. To Vasilisa's demand to give a passport, he answers evasively: "I will bring it to you ... I will drag it to your apartment ...". Perhaps Luka is hiding from the police, wandering around. In a conversation with Ash, Luke leaves unanswered the assumption that he also had problems with the law - perhaps he once killed a person.
Question
How does Luke affect the overnight stays?
Answer
Luke brings comfort to the inhabitants of the rooming house, inspires hope in their souls, faith in the best, tries to find the good in everyone.
Question
Who and how does Luke “comfort”? Prove your answers with examples from the text.
Answer
Luka "comforts" Anna, Nastya, the Actor and Pepel. He finds a “weak spot” in each of the heroes, so the words of consolation always turn out to be very timely. Luke finds kind words for a dying woman who is very afraid of death.
Ash, at first skeptical of Luka, gradually succumbs to his stories, decides to quit stealing and go to Siberia to start a new life.
Luca tells the actor about the hospital for alcoholics and gives him hope for recovery.
Nastya Luka does not promise anything, he simply becomes a grateful listener for her, pretends to believe in her stories about the beautiful and unhappy love that happened in her life.
Question
Is Luke pursuing any selfish goals by deceiving people?
Answer
Luca doesn't get any benefit by talking to bunkhouses, the only reason, prompting him to console - “I want to understand human affairs ...”
Question
What is the meaning of life for Luke?
Answer
According to Luke, all people live “for the best”, so that one day a special person will appear and improve human life with his skill and talent: “A hundred years ... or maybe more - for the best person live!
Question
What is the meaning of life, according to Satan? Comment on the role of the monologue about the Man in order to understand the problems of the play.
Answer
home life value, according to Satin, is the freedom to create and transform the world at will: “Everything is in a person, everything is for a person! Only man exists, everything else is the work of his hands and his brain! One should not humiliate a person with pity. Compassion is necessary only for those who are "weak in soul ... and who live on other people's juices."
The monologue about man contains the author's own answer to the question of truth. Luke, the “comforter,” leaves the stage quietly, stealthily, afraid of being taken to the police for participating in a fight, but Satin remains in Act IV, “a strong point in the drama,” utters words about a Man who must be respected and not humiliated with pity. In Satine's monologue, one can also see the justification of Luke's "consolation". Satin speaks of people who lie beautifully, with inspiration, excitingly, out of pity for a person. The importance of this episode for clarifying the author's position is emphasized by the fact that all the characters, except for Satin, seem to "freeze" for a while, their internal state commented by the author's note:
“Nastya stubbornly looks into the face of Satin. The tick stops working on harmony and also listens. The baron, bowing his head low, softly beats his fingers on the table. The actor, leaning out of the stove, wants to carefully climb down onto the bunk.
Question
How does Satin feel about work?
Answer
Satan doesn't want to work. He believes that people work in order to be full. And man is above satiety.
Question
Whose beliefs of Luke or Sateen are closer to you?
Question
What is the meaning of the name Luke?
Answer
On the one hand, this name is reminiscent of the biblical evangelist Luke and means “bright”, and on the other hand, Luke is associated with the word “evil”, that is, “devil”.
Question
What is the difference between the life beliefs of Sateen and Luke?
Answer
The life positions of Luke and Sateen in criticism are traditionally opposed. The philosophy of Luke is concentrated in the parable of the righteous land, the views of Sateen - in a monologue about Man. Luke is a comforter, evoking a “golden dream” for the overnight stays. Satin, on the other hand, exposes his “slave” worldview and affirms the ideal of a free person.
For both Satin and Luke, the only value and measure of morality is a person, his convictions and internal law. Both of them offer overnight stays to "overcome" life only on your own. No values from the outside exist for them: for Sateen there are no social laws, but for Luke there is no God (“What you believe is what it is”).
Proclaiming the value specific person, and Satin and Luka stand up for a person in general. According to Luke, all people live for the sake of the emergence of a better, perfect person. Satin sees in outstanding personality embodiment of all mankind.
Both life positions do not go beyond conversations. Luka only promises to change the life of Nastya, Natasha, Actor, Ash. Satin's reasoning is also self-valuable, aesthetic in nature and does not bring any practical benefit.
The methods of escaping reality proposed by Satin and Luke turn out to be ultimately untenable; they do not bring relief either to their authors or to the overnight stays. The drunkard and cheat Satin rots on the bunk, talking about the greatness of a proud man, the wanderer Luka again goes on the run, the deceived rooming houses are left with nothing.
Criticism often accused Luka of the Actor's suicide, but Sateen's preaching did not save him either. Therefore, the formulation of the problem of true and false humanism in the play, and even more so the correlation of true love for a person with the image of Sateen, do not seem fair. Satin and Luke are not even two different solutions to the problem of the relationship between truth and man. These are two equal opinions on how one can try to solve an unsolvable problem. The choice between truth and fiction, hatred for the dirt of life and compassion for people, pride in a person and awareness of his imperfection was not made by the author in all certainty, so the final play remains open.
Results
Gorky does not accept passive consciousness, the ideologist of which he considers Luka. According to the writer, it can only reconcile a person with the outside world, but will not move him to change this world. Although Gorky does not accept Luka's position, this image seems to be getting out of the author's control. According to the memoirs of the actor I.M. Moskvin, in the production of 1902, Luka appeared as a noble comforter, almost the savior of many desperate inhabitants of the rooming house.
Luke is a living image precisely because he is contradictory and ambiguous.
Literature
D.N. Murin, E.D. Kononova, E.V. Minenko. Russian literature of the twentieth century. Grade 11 program. Thematic lesson planning. St. Petersburg: SMIO Press, 2001
E.S. Rogover. Russian literature of the XX century / St. Petersburg: Paritet, 2002
N.V. Egorova. Lesson developments in Russian literature of the twentieth century. Grade 11. I semester. M.: VAKO, 2005
Description of Luka in Gorky's play "At the Bottom". In the play "At the Bottom" Maxim Gorky shows us the life and customs of the inhabitants of the rooming house. Nochlezhka is a dirty and semi-dark basement. It is crowded and stuffy here, but the inhabitants of the rooming house have nowhere to escape from this world, they have long been morally broken The image of Luka in Gorky is the brightest image of all the inhabitants of the rooming house. Gorky himself is ambivalent about Luka, but considers him a positive hero. For many residents of the rooming house, the appearance of Luka causes irritation, but someone is glad to see him, for example, Anna. Luka tries to calm her down before her death: “If you die, you will be calm ... you won’t need anything else, and there’s nothing to be afraid of!” Many believe that this is a lie, but for a believer, such as Luke, this is not a lie, but the truth.
Luka tells the actor about a hospital where he will be cured of drunkenness. He listens with compassion to all the inhabitants of the rooming house, Nastya with her romantic fantasies. Luke deliberately tells a lie, says what his interlocutors want to hear. Let Luka lie, but after talking with him, people feel better, they gain faith and hope. Luke helps the bunkies see dark sides his souls, but does not blame them for this, but blames the circumstances. The inhabitants of the rooming house have no future, they live for today, they have one destiny, and they no longer hope to change it. But Luke comes, and everyone reacts one way or another to his appearance, no one remains indifferent. Some see him as a rogue and a deceiver, while others see him as an affectionate and kind person.
Luke's lies are sometimes misunderstood. What is this? good side Siberia, where does he propose to go to Ashes with Natasha? Siberia is far from a fertile land, and the way there is difficult. But it is not in vain that Ashes, a thief from early childhood, so clings to the dream of a better life in Siberia. There is something about Luca that makes people trust him.
Luke has seen and experienced a lot in his lifetime. He believes that every person is worthy of pity. He was convinced by his bitter experience that there was almost no truth or justice left in the world.
Luka - amazing person. He captures the dreams of every inhabitant of the rooming house and helps them come true. The overnight stays no longer have goals in life, which is so important for every person. The key to understanding Luke's philosophy of life is the parable he told about a man who dreamed of a righteous land where they live good people. But it turned out that this land does not exist, and out of grief he hanged himself.
The roomers believed that Luke instilled false hope in their souls, but he did not lie, but only supported their faith in themselves, in their strengths and capabilities. But faith turned out to be fragile, and with the disappearance of Luke, it immediately faded away. It's all about the weakness of the heroes themselves, the inability and unwillingness to do anything to resist the circumstances that doom them to exist in the Kostylevs' rooming house.
People are drawn to Luka because he always empathizes with them. His philanthropy, his need to do good, his desire to help those in need, than he can, disposes to him. Luke doesn't have any particular beliefs. Luka can become an echo of other people. He is a mirror in which the souls of those with whom he speaks are reflected. Luka is wise because he not only shares his experience, but also absorbs the experience of other people. People want a simple, easy life, because it is easier for them to believe the tales of Luke than the slogans of Sateen.
The heroes of the play relate to Luke in different ways. This is especially true towards the end. The actions that Luke provokes people to do not always lead to the expected result. More often than not, the outcome is disastrous. The most bitter and tragic example is the death of an Actor. But after all, initially Luke’s motives are the kindest, it’s not for nothing that the old man is protected by his antipode Satin. Luka is neither a negative nor a positive character. Everyone can treat him in his own way. But there is no doubt that if there were no false ideas about the life of Luke, then the truth of Satina would not have been born.
Maxim Gorky writes his play "At the Bottom" in 1902. This is the time when human life depreciates, when the tramps and the poor flourish, having lost faith in themselves and in people.
The heroes of the drama are the inhabitants of the Kostylevo rooming house, drunkards, people who have lost hope, who find themselves at the “bottom” of life. Living in one place, they do not want to help each other, these people have lost everything human, largely due to the fact that they good relationship did not see. The overnight stays are rejected by the society. There is not a single bright day in their life.
Suddenly, the wanderer Luka appears in the rooming house. It is he who instills a grain of hope in the heroes and gives rise to a dispute about a person, about cruel truth and saving lies.
Luke in translation is “evil”, but he also “brings light”, which means Luke’s lie is bright, in the name of good, he sympathizes with the inhabitants of the rooming house and wants to awaken in them the best, but hidden, sides of their nature. Luke tells stories and parables that remind people that hope, faith in the best and, in general, a dream is the support of life, and if this disappears, then the person dies. Luca as a doctor, but in a hospital with terminally ill patients, he cannot completely remove the pain, but he can reduce it, making the bed-seekers dream of a new better life. In addition, he does not divide people into good and bad, for him the people of the “bottom” are “honest people”: “I respect crooks, in my opinion, not a single flea is bad: everyone is black, everyone jumps.” All people are initially equally honest and kind, and only social circumstances make them vicious.
First, we see Anna, a woman tormented by illness, who interferes with everyone with her constant cough, even her own husband. And Luke becomes her outlet on the verge of death, she can speak out to him and receive understanding, compassion. Luke convinces Anna that after death everything will be fine and calm, that there she will find rest from the misfortunes that have befallen her.
In Actor, a drunkard who once really worked as an actor, Luka gives hope that there are hospitals for alcoholics. The Stranger says that, having recovered, the Actor will be able to improve his life. And when the fragile dream of the faint-hearted Actor about returning to the stage is broken, he hangs himself.
Nastya, a girl of "easy virtue", is consoled and supported by a wanderer. She dreams of pure love, which is absurd in her position. Luka fully supports Nastya, assures the girl that there will definitely be exceptional love in her life.
For Satin Luka, "like acid for an old and dirty coin." Luke provokes him to think about truth and man. "Truth is the god of a free man!" Satin says. In his views, the position of the author of the play is visible, he believes in the best that is in man.
Luke convinces Vaska Ash, a hereditary thief, of the possibility of an honest life.
Luka talks to the residents of the rooming house, instilling faith in them. He lies, but he does it for salvation, out of pity for people. But Luke could only help with words, his "comforting lie" only exacerbates the conflict. Coming out into society, inspired by its lies, these humiliated people faced the harshness of life and could not get up. Perhaps they never gained faith in themselves, but the main thing, according to Gorky, is to see a person in yourself. Therefore, the author nevertheless condemns Luke's position and his theory of the "saving lie."
Luka is the most complex image in M. Gorky's play "At the Bottom". It is with him that the main philosophical question of the work is connected: “Which is better: truth or compassion? Is it necessary to bring compassion to the point of using lies, like Luke?
Before Luka appears in the rooming house, the relationship between the two groups of characters is clearly in favor of the "insensitive" truth-seekers: for example, the Baron behaves boorishly towards Nastya, forces her to clean the rooming house instead of himself (in this "hostel" a system of "duties" has been established) ; the unsympathetic Bubnov rudely dismisses the complaints of Anna and Kleshch (“noise is not a hindrance to death”). In general, "dreamers" suffer, they are dependent, they crave compassionate kindness, but they do not find sympathy with the supporters of the "truth of the fact." Such sympathy they will find in the wanderer Luke.
This person is first of all kind: he is indulgent to weaknesses, tolerant of other people's sins, responsive to a request for help. Another attractive feature of Luka is his genuine interest in life, in other people, in each of whom he is able to discern an individual “zest” (by the way, wandering and interest in the “weirdo” - common features Luke and the hero-narrator of early Gorky stories). Luka does not impose his views on others at all, does not burn with the desire to share life experience with the first person you meet or demonstrate your extraordinary mind. That is why he does not try to "convert" Bubnov and Baron to his faith - they simply do not need him, and "imposing" is not in his character.
The "sufferers" need it: they need consolation and encouragement - a kind of anesthesia from life's troubles and a stimulant of interest in life. Like an experienced psychoanalyst, Luka knows how to listen carefully to the “patient”. The tactic of his spiritual “healing” is interesting: in order to console the interlocutor, he does not come up with any of his own recipes, but only skillfully supports the dream that has developed for each of them (let us repeat once more Luke’s motto: “What you believe is what it is”).
In this regard, his recommendations to the Actor are especially interesting. The actor is a hero of faith, not the truth of fact, and the loss of the ability to believe will be fatal for him (this will happen after Luka leaves the rooming house).
However, before the forced departure of Luka, the well-being of the overnight stays noticeably improves: most of them have a stronger faith in the possibility of living better, some are already taking the first steps towards gaining human dignity. Luke managed to breathe faith and hope into them, warmed their souls with his sympathy. The disarming effect of the “truth” of Bubnov and Baron, not enlightened with good, was neutralized for a while. Even Bubnov himself softens somewhat in relation to his comrades in misfortune (in the last act he will invite "roommates" to share a simple meal with him); only the Baron, perhaps, remains an incorrigible cynic and misanthrope.
It is the Baron - the least sympathetic of the roomers - who tries to expose Luka as a "charlatan" and a deceiver in the last act of the play. It is important to note here that from the moment Luke disappeared until the time last action a lot of time passes (judging by the "meteorological" remarks, about six months). It turns out that the hopes awakened in the souls of the overnight stays turned out to be fragile and have almost faded away. The return to prosaic reality is hard for yesterday's "dreamers" (the Actor reacts especially painfully to the new situation). The culprit of their heavy sobering up, some rooming houses tend to consider Luke.
It would seem that yesterday's adversary Luke Satin should have supported the Baron in his denunciations. But the unexpected happens: Satin stands up for Luka and utters an angry rebuke to the Baron: “Silence! You are all cattle! ...shut up about the old man! (Calm down.) You, Baron, are the worst of all! .. You - do not understand anything ... and - you are lying! The old man is not a charlatan! What is truth? Man is the truth! He understood it ... you - no! Outwardly motivated by Luke's "protection" and the argument with the Baron, Satine's monologue outgrows its functional limits. It becomes a compactly stated declaration - a declaration different from Luka's (but also sharply different from Bubnov's) life position.
In the play's finale, the roomers try to "judge" Luka, but the author, through the mouth of Sateen, denies them this right. Gorky creates a complex, contradictory, extremely ambiguous image. On the one hand, it is Luka who is the most interesting personality among the characters in the play, it is he who “excites” the rooming houses and gives impetus to the awakening consciousness of Sateen. On the other hand, his strengths(kindness, condescension, subjective desire to help others) turn into fatal consequences for the “weak in spirit”. True, the blame for this largely falls on the hostels themselves. Gorky managed to reveal one of the most dangerous and painful features of the "tramp" consciousness and psychology of the social lower classes in Russia: dissatisfaction with reality, anarchic criticism of it - and at the same time dependence on external assistance, weakness for the promises of a "miraculous" salvation, complete unpreparedness to independent living.
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1. The "truth" of Luke.
2. Interpretation of the image of Luke.
3. The role of Luke in the life of the inhabitants of the "bottom".
The socio-philosophical drama "At the Bottom" was conceived by Gorky in 1900. The play was first published in Munich in 1902. In Russia, the work was published by the Znanie publishing house in 1903. The play shows the life of the inhabitants of the rooming house. These are degraded, unfortunate, destitute people. There is nothing bright in their lives.
The image of Luke is rightfully considered the most complex in the play. This man is trying to console the suffering. His position directly contradicts the phrase: "Truth is the god of a free man." Luke does not accept the cruel and evil "truth". For him, the truth is the “truth” in which a person believes.
Luka is very kind to those around him. He finds for everyone exactly those words that a person needs. Let this consolation have nothing to do with the real truth life. But on the other hand, if you can make a person even a little happier, why neglect this opportunity? The play raises a complex philosophical question, whether Luke's compassion is better than the bare "truth" that reveals to the inhabitants of the "bottom" all the wretchedness of their existence... Everyone can answer this question in different ways. But one cannot but admit that the role of Luke in the life of other characters in the play is great.
Luke is not trying to convince anyone of anything: He simply consoles those who need it. He does not impose his point of view, and this shows his wisdom. Luke is sure: "What you believe is what you are." One cannot but agree with this. A person's subjective perception of the surrounding reality can be very different from the opinions of others. But the opinion of others is not necessarily considered true. Luke helps the underprivileged find hope. But this is very important for a person.
Critics could not come to unambiguous conclusions about the image of Luke. Some believed that Luka is a positive hero, because he helps people find something good in themselves. Others considered Luka a negative character, because after he left the rooming house, the inhabitants of the "bottom" had even more difficulty, because they were forced to say goodbye to illusions. The attitude of Gorky himself towards Luka was very contradictory. In 1910, the writer spoke of the hero of the play: “Luka is a crook. He doesn't really believe in anything. But he sees how people suffer and rush about. He feels sorry for these people. Here he tells them different words- for consolation.
The inhabitants of the rooming house treat Luka as a storyteller. They do not delude themselves about the words of the old man. For example, Pepel says: “You lie well ... You speak tales nicely! Lie! Nothing...". So, Luke's words still find a response in the souls of tormented people.
Anna Luca consoles with talk about the peace that will come after death. For a dying woman, these words can mean much more than the reasoning of the "working man", her husband Klesch, that after her death he will be able to arrange his life. So, in this case, the role of Luke is certainly positive. To an actor suffering from drunkenness, Luke talks about special hospitals where alcoholics can be cured. This hope could give strength. And Luka cannot be blamed for the fact that, having lost hope, the Actor decides to commit suicide. hope for better share could make a person stronger if he initially had at least a little more strength and the desire to break out of the vicious circle.
Vaska Peplu Luka says that his life in Siberia will not turn out so badly. “And the good side is Siberia! Golden side! Whoever is in power and in the mind is there - like a cucumber in a greenhouse! Let the old man's words be doubtful. But on the other hand, an attempt to instill confidence in the future is better than the intention to trample a person into the dirt, to deprive him of his last dream.
It is no coincidence that Luke tells a parable about how a certain person believed that somewhere there is a righteous land. And when the faith was destroyed by a scientist who managed to prove that this land does not exist, the man hanged himself. He could not survive the collapse of his hopes. The old man is sure that a lie can bring salvation, but the truth, on the contrary, is dangerous and cruel.
The image of Luke is the personification of humanity and philanthropy. Paradoxically, he himself is the same inhabitant of the "bottom" as the others. But he has not lost his human qualities, he finds in himself kindness and compassion for those around him. The rest for a long time no longer find in themselves at least a drop of sympathy for those who are nearby. How did Luke manage to keep kindness in himself? Perhaps the reason for this is that, unlike those around him, he does not cease to love and respect the people around him. Even in those cases when there is nothing to love and respect them for. Attempts to console the suffering for Luke are not valuable in themselves. He does not revel in his role as a comforter, he uses lies as a means to awaken something human in the dead souls of the inhabitants of the "bottom". And it is not his fault for the lack of results. Luka can be reproached for the fact that after his departure, the life of the inhabitants of the rooming house became even more difficult. They had to part with illusions, again they found themselves face to face with the realities of life. But on the other hand, the reproaches against the elder look unfounded. The trouble with the inhabitants of the “bottom” is that they are inactive, submit to circumstances, do not try to do anything to change their fate. Luke could be a guiding light for the Actor. But it's easier to believe Sateen. Not Luca, but Satin and the Baron caused the Actor's suicide. After all, it was they who convinced the unfortunate that there are no hospitals for alcoholics. On the other hand, was it in hospitals? Couldn't the Actor believe in his future and make attempts to change something in life? Luka tried to influence him, said to Sateen: “And you, why are you confusing him?” The rest are indifferent to the words, both their own and those of others.
Luca leaves the rooming house because he can't change the course of things. It is not in his power to help people leave the "bottom", to become full members of society. Luke understands that his help to the disadvantaged cannot be something material, tangible. The role of the comforter cannot be permanent, otherwise it will depreciate. Attempts to inspire hope, encourage should resemble a flash of light in impenetrable darkness. And then people will decide for themselves whether to do something or not. The play does not answer whether the life of at least one of the inhabitants of the bottom will change. And, in my opinion, this is not accidental; Gorky in the work put the toughest questions, to which everyone can answer in their own way.
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