Essay on the topic: “A special person” Rakhmetov in Chernyshevsky’s novel “What to do?”
_________________________________________________________________________________________________ Composition. “A special person” Rakhmetov in Chernyshevsky’s novel “What is to be done?”
Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky is an honest and selfless politician and person. In his novel “What to do?” the writer not only gives specific answers to questions posed by society and time, but also paints the image of a future revolutionary. This is Rakhmetov—a “special person,” according to the author. What is its peculiarity? Let us consider and understand its originality. Rakhmetov is a young man who comes from a noble background. From a young age, he set a goal for himself - to become strong, strong and resilient. “At the halfway point of his seventeenth year, he decided that he needed to acquire physical wealth, and began to work on himself... For several hours a day, he became a laborer in jobs that required strength: he carried water, carried firewood, chopped wood, sawed wood, cut stones, dug earth, forged iron; By changing jobs, Rakhmetov develops different muscle groups. “He even walked as a barge hauler along the Volga, from Dubovka to Rybinsk...” In a competition with barge haulers, he pulled two or three, “and his fellow haulers dubbed him Nikitushka Lomov” in honor of the famous strongman barge hauler. This nickname was very flattering to the young man. Physical health is necessary. “This might come in handy,” he said. The next stage in Rakhmetov’s life was study. While studying at the university, he began to seek acquaintance with gifted, outstanding personalities. This is how he met Kirsanov. On the recommendation of an older comrade, Rakhmetov reads books. “After six months, even though he was only seventeen years old, and Lopukhov and Kirsanov were twenty-one years old, they no longer considered him a young man compared to themselves, and he was already a special person.” He was still willing to help anyone who needed help. He always talked to people specifically and to the point, taking care of his own and other people's time. Without any ceremony, he could approach anyone with whom he wanted to talk, and immediately walked away if the interlocutor was uninteresting. This was a little jarring at first, but those who knew Rakhmetov perceived his actions as normal. One day Rakhmetov saved a young woman whose caravan was being carried away by horses. The wounded hero was taken to her dacha, which was located nearby. In gratitude for the rescue, she herself looked after Rakhmetov. Love broke out between the young people. But the hero does not allow it to develop to its logical conclusion. The lady, being rich, herself proposed marriage to Rakhmetov, thinking that he was poor. He honestly admitted to the woman that he had no right to connect his life with anyone else’s. “I shouldn’t love...” Rakhmetov is sure that a revolutionary should not have a family. This will make him weak and vulnerable. In addition, he has no right to put his wife and children at risk. These are Rakhmetov’s moral principles. But this does not mean that he is devoid of human feelings. It is he who is sent to Vera Pavlovna after Lopukhov’s “suicide,” knowing that he will help. Rakhmetov is reasonable and calm, cold-blooded to the point of recklessness; he tests his endurance by lying overnight on nails with their points facing upward. This once again proved to the hero that he was ready, if necessary, to endure torture. Rakhmetov prepares himself for professional politics very seriously. One can have different attitudes towards the writer and revolutionaries, but one cannot help but respect the perseverance and determination with which Rakhmetov moves towards his high goal. He wants to devote his life to serving his Motherland, and his selflessness inspires respect, no matter what views you share. In recent years, Chernyshevsky has come under attack as a revolutionary writer. He is accused of all “sins,” even far-fetched ones, but the fact that Nikolai Gavrilovich is an honest person who said, wrote and thought the same thing deserves respect. It is impossible to brush aside your history and culture. I do not share the views of Chernyshevsky’s ill-wishers. He is a Russian writer and politician who gave his strength and talent for the sake of the prosperity of Russia, and this should not be forgotten.
Presentation: A special person Rakhmetov in the novel by Nikolai Chernyshevsky What to do
A special person Rakhmetov in the novel by Nikolai Chernyshevsky What to do While sitting in solitary confinement in the Alekseevsky ravelin of the Peter and Paul Fortress, in the intervals between interrogations and hunger strikes, N. G. Chernyshevsky wrote his programmatic work “What to do?” This novel had the effect of a bomb exploding in the political life of Russia and at the same time became a new word in Russian literature in form and content.
N.G. Chernyshevsky was the first in Russian literature to create the image of a practical revolutionary who prepared himself for a tough struggle against the autocratic serfdom system. At first glance, Rakhmetov (that’s the name of this hero) occupies very little space in the novel. Just in a dramatic moment, he gives the main character a letter from her supposedly dead husband and gives her a lecture on the topic of educating feelings. Immediately, in a few outlines, the author outlines the biography of the hero, mysteriously adding: “I know more about Rakhmetov than I say.” We understand - censorship. There is no consensus on who was the prototype of this hero, but, in my opinion, this is an image in which Chernyshevsky collected all the features of various people he admired that he met in his “antisocial” activities. The figure turned out to be significant.
The Rakhmetov surname has been known in Rus' for a very long time. By the nineteenth century she had amassed substantial fortunes. Consequently, Rakhmetov grew up in wealth, but could closely observe on his estate all the injustices perpetrated by his serf-owner father. He came to St. Petersburg as an “ordinary kind and honest young man” of sixteen years old and entered the Faculty of Natural Sciences. After meeting Kirsanov, Rakhmetov’s transformation into a “special person” begins. God, of course, did not offend this young man with his talents. But his character was indefatigable. If you read smart and fair books, then without stopping for three days until you drop dead. If you develop physical strength, then become Nikita Lomov, pulling a barge for four. If you train your will, then sleep on nails and starve. If you learn about the people’s grief, then don’t forget about it for a minute, be a “gloomy monster.” If you fall in love, then all of humanity will be humiliated and insulted, leaving no room for personal life. “It’s necessary,” he said to his comrades. In my opinion, this character trait is called “maximalism”. But friends called Rakhmetov a “rigorist.” Translated from Latin, “rigorism” means excessively petty strictness in observing any principles. N.G. Chernyshevsky himself believed that strictness in observing principles cannot be excessive. He admired his hero and said that among his many acquaintances there were only eight people of this type: “They are few, but with them everyone’s life blossoms; without them it would have stalled, gone sour; There are few of them, but they allow all people to breathe, without them people would suffocate. There are a great number of honest and kind people, but such people are few; but they are in it—tein in tea, bouquet in noble wine; from them comes the strength and aroma; it is the color of the best people, it is the engine of engines, it is the salt of the earth.”
I respect N.G. Chernyshevsky very much, but I cannot agree one hundred percent with his opinion about Rakhmetov. That is, Rakhmetov himself may have been as good as the author says. But his image carries very dangerous seeds. Firstly, I cannot trust a person who says about himself: “I shouldn’t love,” because I think it’s easier to love abstract humanity than the nasty neighbor from the second entrance. And if her harmful and irresponsible character becomes an obstacle on the path to a new society, what will Rakhmetov’s follower do with her? If Kirsanov says: “I accept the rule: you should not do anything for him against a person’s will,” then Rakhmetov, without any delicacy, says to Vera Pavlovna: “You know that a conversation with me cannot be avoided if it seems to me that a conversation is needed.” . He has already assumed the role of a judge who knows better than others what someone needs. Ruthlessness towards oneself often provides a false basis for mercilessness towards others.
Many people raised themselves on the image of Rakhmetov. Among them, of course, there were devotees and real heroes. But next to the “special person” a “superman” grows up. And from rigorism there is one step to terrorism. Therefore, I end my work with lines from Vladimir Mayakovsky that are worth thinking about:
In the mounds of books,
buried the verse,
string glands are accidentally discovered,
You
touch them with respect, like an old but formidable weapon.
Essay “A Special Person” Rakhmetov
Chernyshevsky created his novel “What is to be done?” during the era of the rise of the revolutionary movement in Russia. The hero of the novel, Rakhmetov, was more suitable for revolutionary activity than anyone else. Rakhmetov is distinguished by toughness, asceticism, iron will, and hatred of the people's oppressors. It was not without reason that the Bolshevik leader V.I. Lenin set this literary hero as an example to his comrades, saying that only with such people is a revolutionary coup in Russia possible. Who is this special person who still attracts the attention of those who crave social upheaval for the common good today? Rakhmetov is a nobleman by origin. His father was a very rich man. But the free life did not keep Rakhmetov on his father’s estate. He left the province and entered the Faculty of Science in St. Petersburg. Without difficulty, Rakhmetov became close to progressive-minded people in the capital. Chance brought him together with Kirsanov, from whom he learned a lot of new and politically advanced things. He began to read books voraciously. It seems that he measured out a time period for himself and stuck to it exactly. After just six months, Rakhmetov put the books aside and said: “Now reading has become a secondary matter for me; I’m ready for life on this side.” In these words of the hero one can discern something beyond the scope of a normally developing person. Rakhmetov began to accustom his physical essence to obey the spiritual, that is, he began to order himself and carry out these orders accurately and on time. Next, he began to harden the body. He took on the hardest work. He was even a barge hauler. He did all this in preparation for great revolutionary deeds. He brilliantly managed to create himself as a physically powerful and spiritually strong person. Rakhmetov fanatically followed the path he had chosen once and for all. He ate only what ordinary people ate, although he had the opportunity to eat better. He explained it simply: “This is necessary - it gives respect and love from ordinary people. This is useful, it may come in handy." Apparently, in order to emphasize his extreme revolutionary spirit, Chernyshevsky forced his hero to abandon personal human happiness for the sake of the ideals of the revolutionary struggle. Rakhmetov refused to marry a rich young widow. He explained it this way: “I must suppress love in myself; love for you would tie my hands, they won’t be untied anytime soon - they’re already tied.” A democratic writer, Chernyshevsky in the image of Rakhmetov portrayed a revolutionary leader, a special person. The author wrote about such people: “This is the color of the best people, these are the engines of engines, this is the salt of the earth.” But time has shown the inconsistency of Bolshevik ideas. And now it’s clear to me why the leaders of the October Revolution chose Rakhmetov as their ideal. They developed those Rakhmetov-like qualities with which it was convenient for them to carry out cruel deeds: they did not spare themselves, much less others, they carried out orders with the chilling, thoughtless clarity of an iron engine, they treated dissenters as supermen treat subhumans. As a result, Russia was drenched in blood, and the world was shocked by the brutality of revolutionary actions. Our society is again on the path to a civilized future. And personally, I dream that in this future of ours there will be fewer “special” people, and more ordinary people: kind, smiling, living their own lives. I want this future to become reality.
