The drama "At the Bottom" is a landmark work in Gorky's creative biography. Description of the heroes of the play "At the Bottom" will be presented in this article.
This work was written at a turning point for the country. In Russia in the 90s of the XIX century a serious economic crisis erupted . The masses of impoverished, ruined peasants after each crop failure left the villages in search of income. Plants and factories were closing. Without a livelihood and shelter were thousands of people. This led to the fact that a large number of "tramp" appeared, sank to the bottom of life.
Who lived in shelters?
Entrepreneurial slum owners, taking advantage of the fact that people were in a hopeless situation, found how to benefit from the stinking cellars. They turned them into dugouts, in which the poor, unemployed, thieves, tramps and other representatives of the "bottom" lived. This work was written in 1902. The heroes of the play "At the Bottom" are just such people.
Maxim Gorky throughout his career was interested in personality, man, secrets of his inner world. Feelings and thoughts, dreams and hopes, weakness and strength - all this is reflected in the work. The heroes of the play āAt the Bottomā are people who lived at the beginning of the 20th century, when the old world collapsed and a new life arose. However, they differ from the rest in that they are rejected by society. These are bottom people, outcasts. The place where Vaska Ashes, Bubnov, Actor, Satin and others live is unsightly and scary. According to Gorky's description, this is a cave-like basement. Its ceiling - stone arches with crumbling plaster, smoked. Why, then, were the dwellers at the bottom of life, what brought them here?
Heroes of the play "At the Bottom": table
| hero | how was at the bottom | characterization of the hero | dreams |
| Bubnov | He owned a dyeing workshop in the past. However, circumstances forced him to leave. Wife Bubnova met with the master. | He believes that a person is not able to change fate. Therefore, Bubnov only goes with the flow. He often shows skepticism, cruelty, lack of positive qualities. | It is difficult to determine, given the negative attitude to the whole world of this hero. |
| Nastya | Life made this heroine become a prostitute. And this is the social bottom. | Romantic and dreamy person living love affairs. | She dreams for a long time about pure and great love, while continuing to engage in her profession. |
| Baron | He was a true baron in the past, but lost his wealth. | She does not perceive the ridicule of the inhabitants of the shelter, continuing to live in the past. | He wants to regain his former position, once again becoming a wealthy man. |
| Alyosha | A cheerful and eternally drunken shoemaker who never tried to rise from the bottom, where frivolity led him. | As he says, he doesnāt want anything. He reports about himself that he is "good" and "cheerful." | Everyone is always satisfied, it is difficult to say about his needs. Most likely he dreams of a āwarm breezeā and an āeternal sunā. |
| Vaska Ashes | This is a hereditary thief who was twice in prison. | Weak-minded, man in love. | Her dream is to go to Siberia with Natalia and become a respectable citizen, starting a new life. |
| Actor | Sank to the bottom due to drunkenness. | He often quotes literary works. | She dreams of finding a job, recovering from alcoholism and getting out of the shelter. |
| Luke | This is a mysterious wanderer. Not much is known about him. | Teaches empathy, kindness, comforts heroes, guides them. | Her dream is to help everyone in need. |
| Satin | He killed a man, as a result of which he ended up in prison for 5 years. | He believes that a person needs not consolation, but respect. | He dreams of conveying his philosophy to people. |
What ruined the lives of these people?
Addiction to alcohol killed the actor. By his own admission, he used to have a good memory. Now the actor believes that everything is over for him. Vaska Ashes - a representative of the "thieves' dynasty." This hero had no choice but to continue his father's work. He says that even when he was little, even then he was called a thief. Bubnov left the former furrier because of his wifeās infidelity, as well as out of fear of his wifeās lover. He went bankrupt, and then went to serve in one "treasury chamber" in which he committed embezzlement. One of the most colorful figures in the work is Satin. He was a telegraph operator in the past, and went to jail for killing a man who insulted his sister.
Whom do the dwellers blame?
Almost all the characters in the play "At the Bottom" tend to blame not the situation in the current situation, but the circumstances of life. Perhaps, if they had developed differently, nothing would have changed significantly, and all the same, the shelters would have suffered the same fate. The phrase that Bubnov uttered confirms this. He admitted that he actually drank the workshop.
Apparently, the reason for the fall of all these people is their lack of a moral core, which makes up the personality of a person. You can cite the words of the Actor as an example: "Why did he die? I had no faith ..."
Was there a chance to live a different life?
Creating images of the heroes of the play "At the Bottom", the author provided each of them with the opportunity to live a different life. That is, they had a choice. However, for everyone, the first test ended in the collapse of life. The Baron, for example, could fix his affairs not by stealing public funds, but by investing in profitable business that he had.
Satin could have taught the offender a different way. As for Vaska Ashes, would there really be few places on earth where no one would know anything about himself and his past? The same can be said of many inhabitants of the overnight stay. They have no future, but in the past they had a chance not to get here. However, the heroes of the play āAt the Bottomā did not use it.
What do the heroes console themselves with?
All that remains for them now is to live on unfulfilled hopes and illusions. Baron, Bubnov and Actor live memories of the past. Dreams of true love prostitute amusement Nastya. Moreover, the characterization of the heroes of the play āAt the Bottomā is supplemented by the fact that these people, rejected by society, humiliated, have endless debates about moral and spiritual problems. Although it would be more logical to talk about daily bread, because they live from hand to mouth. The authorās description of the heroes of the play āAt the Bottomā suggests that they are occupied with issues such as freedom, truth, equality, work, love, happiness, law, talent, honesty, pride, compassion, conscience, pity, patience, death, peace and much more. They are also worried about an even more important issue. They talk about what a person is, why he is born, what the true meaning of being consists of. The philosophers of the shelter can be called Luke, Sateen, Bubnov.
With the exception of Bubnov, all the heroes of the work "lodging" lifestyle reject. They hope for a successful turn of fortune, which will bring them to the surface from the bottom. A tick, for example, says that he works from an early age (this hero is a locksmith), so he will certainly get out of here. āWait a minute ... the wife will die ...ā he says. The actor, this chronic drunkard, hopes to find a luxurious hospital in which the health, strength, talent, memory and applause of the audience will miraculously return to him. Anna, an unhappy sufferer, dreams of the bliss and peace of the afterlife, in which she will finally be rewarded for torment and patience. Vaska Ashes, this desperate hero, kills Kostylev, the owner of an overnight stay, because he considers the latter the embodiment of evil. His dream is to go to Siberia, where he will begin a new life with his beloved girl.
The role of Luke in the work
Supports these illusions Luke, the wanderer. He owns the skills of a comforter and preacher. Maxim Gorky portrays this hero as a doctor who considers all people terminally ill and sees his calling as a way to alleviate their pain and hide it from them. However, at every step, life refutes the position of this hero. Anna, whom he promises divine retribution in heaven, suddenly wants to "live a little more ...." Having first believed in a cure for alcoholism, the Actor settles his life scores at the end of the play. Vaska Ashes defines the true value of all these consolations of Luke. He claims that that āfairy tale speaksā is pleasant, because there is so little good in the world.
Satin's opinion
Sincere pity for the inhabitants of the dormitory is full of Luke, but it can not change anything, help people live a different life. In his monologue, Satin rejects this attitude, since he considers it humiliating, suggesting the failure and wretchedness of those who are directed by this pity. The main characters of the play "At the Bottom" Satin and Luke express opposite opinions. Sateen says that it is necessary to respect a person and not humiliate him with pity. In these words, the authorās position is probably expressed: "Man! .. It sounds ... proud!"
The fate of the heroes
What will happen to all these people in the future, can the heroes of the play āAt the Bottomā of Gorky be able to change something? It is easy to imagine their future fate. For example, a tick. He is trying to get out of the "bottom" at the beginning of the work. He thinks that when his wife dies, everything will magically change for the better. However, after the death of his wife, the Tick remains without tools and money and sings gloomily with others: "I will not run away anyway." In fact, he will not run away, like the other inhabitants of the rooming house.
What is salvation?
Are there any ways of salvation from the bottom, and what are they? A decisive way out is perhaps outlined from this difficult situation in Satinās speech when he talks about the truth. He believes that the purpose of a strong person is to eradicate evil, and not comfort the suffering, like Luke. This is one of the most firm convictions of Maxim Gorky himself. "From the bottom" people can rise only by learning to respect themselves, gaining a sense of dignity. Then they will be able to carry the proud title of Man. He still needs to be earned, according to Gorky.
Declaring his faith in the creative powers, abilities and mind of a free man, Maxim Gorky affirmed the ideas of humanism. The author understood that in the mouth of Sateen, a drunken tramp, the words about a free and proud man sound artificially. However, they were supposed to sound in the play, expressing the ideals of the writer himself. There was no one to say this speech except Sateen.
Gorky refuted the main principles of idealism in the work. These are the ideas of humility, forgiveness, non-resistance. He made it clear what beliefs the future holds. This is proved by the fate of the heroes of the play "At the Bottom". By faith in man the whole work is permeated.