Many of us remember the famous play by M. Gorky, in which there are two heroes: Luke and Sateen. Each of them defends his point of view, and only the audience can decide which of them is right.
Consider the dispute of these characters in more detail.
The plot and the main characters of the play of Gorky
The play “At the Bottom” was written by the author at the beginning of the last century. Its first premiere, held in 1902 at the Moscow Art Theater, made a huge impression on the audience.
This was not surprising, because the young playwright was able to create not only touching for a lively plot, but also brilliant images of the main characters.
The plot was the life of the inhabitants of the shelter for the poor, people who have nothing: no money, no status, no social status, or even simple bread. Their fate is tragic, they do not see the meaning of their existence, their future is only death and poverty.
Among the heroes, two antipodes stood out - Luke and Satin, which conveyed to the audience the main meaning of the play.
Luke's Position
Luke, an old wanderer of about 60, does not appear in the play right away. He comes to a rooming house and, in his own way, is trying to console the inhabitants there.
He promises Anna dying from illness, heavenly bliss for the torment suffered on earth, the robber Vaska - the opportunity to start a new life in distant and cold Siberia, the alcoholic - the hospital where he will be treated, the prostitute - the opportunity to find true love, etc.
Some residents of this institution begin to believe the good old man, but some of them reject his stories, considering (and deservedly considering) them to be a lie.
Luke's Philosophy
In fact, Luke offers his listeners a primitively understood Christian philosophy of life: a person must endure everything, because he is sinful, he bears the deserved punishment on earth, and after death will be awarded according to his deeds.
This philosophy essentially justifies the evil on earth, turns God into a powerful and ferocious ruler of people, who pays tribute to everyone according to his deserts.
Therefore, Luke and seeks to deceive the unfortunate people who fell into the shelter, believing that such a deception will help them cope with life's difficulties. Luke is ready to accept social injustice as a given, considering it a consequence of the imperfection of human nature.
Satin Position
Sateen is the only character in the shelter who is trying to maintain his human dignity in the inhuman conditions of extreme poverty.
Once he was a more significant person (although he was a cheater and gambler), however, he lost his status after standing up for the honor of his sister, was sentenced to 5 years in prison.
Luke and Satin are very different. They are distinguished not so much by age as by conviction.
Sateen is a humanist, in difficult conditions he did not lose faith in people, he does not want to believe Luke’s sweet speeches, believing that every person is a “blacksmith of his own happiness”.
Satin Philosophy
The dispute between Luke and Satin begins with the fact that the latter begins to contradict the old man's words. No, Satin does not need consolation, he is looking for vigorous activity. His truth is not a Christian philosophy. Satin is closer to the position of atheism, which believes that everything is in the hands of man himself, and does not depend on the action of higher forces. Sateen does not believe in the immortality of the human soul, he does not need God, he believes that he was "at the bottom" not because his fate was so, but because he acted nobly and honestly and was punished unjustly.
“Truth is the god of a free man!” Exclaims Satine. He seeks to build a new socially fair society of free people who could live in harmony with themselves.
The characterization of Satin and Luke shows us that these two people demonstrate by their example two completely different positions, two different attitudes to life and understanding of a person’s place in this world.
Luke's position is compassionate, but passive, Satin's position is active, transformative, active. In the play, the actual victory in the dispute was won by Satine, because it was Luke who left the rooming house.
The dispute between Luke and Satine: the reaction of contemporaries
The play of Gorky was a huge success with the audience also because the author was able to feel and convey the spirit of his time in it.
Society longed for change. The philosophy of Luke did not suit young people seeking to transform society in new patterns. They were opposed by the more conservative part of the older generation, who wanted to maintain the state and social system.
Luke and Sateen just expressed a social split. They revealed these two irreconcilable positions and philosophies of life.
By the way, the author of the play, of course, belonged to the latter, he shared the position of Satin, for him this hero embodied what he himself thought. All his life Gorky fought with those who tried to preach tolerance and all-forgiveness, his values were struggle and faith in the great future of his country.
In fact, Gorky himself could be called a “revolutionary in Russian literature”, who in his works vividly and vividly conveyed the atmosphere of expectation of a new life as part of a progressively-minded youth.
People wanted to abandon the monarchical system, they wanted to abandon the power of the capitalists, believed that they themselves could build a new and more just state.
As a result, the truth of Luke and Satin turned out to be unequal. A revolution took place in the country, the Bolsheviks seized power, who, like Sateen, decided to abandon religion as an extra social link.
So Gorky's play really turned out to be prophetic. And this is the genius of this work of Russian literature.