Becoming
Rakhmetov comes from a wealthy landowner family. The family did not have enormous wealth, but as a student Rakhmetov could lead a quite wealthy, even luxurious life compared to others. The meeting with Kirsanov turned his thoughtless and carefree existence upside down. After talking with Alexander Matveevich for several hours, the young man looked at the world with different eyes. The conversation shocked him and ended with a request to make a list of books necessary for self-development. Rakhmetov devotes some time to self-education. Having filled the room with books, the student reads continuously, forgetting about sleep and lunch. He needs to find a path in life worthy of a real person, concerned about the fate of the Motherland. Then Rakhmetov limited his reading to only those works in which he could discover something new, original thoughts and judgments. Rakhmetov owes the formation of his worldview only to himself. From Kirsanov’s older friend, the young man only learned about the direction in which to move.
Rakhmetov's essay in the novel What to do?
The image of Rakhmetov is in some sense truly unique and amazing. It was the highest pure nature, which embodied the features of the era. Chernyshevsky admires the character of his character, he is deeply sympathetic to him. Rakhmetov is endowed with incredible character traits.
This man was an aristocrat by origin, his ideas and thoughts were of a democratic nature. Chernyshevsky himself says about his hero that there are very few such people left.
Lifestyle
When self-education no longer took much time, the hero turned to real affairs. First of all, the already not weak guy intensively took up physical self-improvement. Gymnastics and a boxing diet strengthen his health, and hard work allows him to acquire unprecedented strength and get closer to ordinary people. Excellent health, endurance, the ability to endure pain and strength will be needed in the difficult life to which the character has decided to devote himself.
Rakhmetov invests the money he has in the future. He provides for several students without financial support, rightly believing that by receiving an education they will benefit the cause to which he has dedicated his life. After the character disappears from the pages of the novel, news reaches the main characters about a “strange Russian” person who has deposited a large sum into the account of a writer known for his progressive views. So he sponsored the appearance of new articles.
Friends and acquaintances of the hero
Rakhmetov cannot be called sociable (in his circle of friends he is called “stern” or even “fierce”), but he has many acquaintances. He himself determines his social circle. According to his own explanation, a conversation with a person is possible for him for two reasons:
- it is important to obtain new information;
- it is necessary to explain something to the interlocutor that will force the latter to act correctly. And in this case it is impossible to refuse dialogue with him.
Rakhmetov willingly spends time with close, well-known people: he enthusiastically debates, playfully “convicts” his opponents of a socially harmful position, even organizes wrestling or other competitions of strength. A “rigorist,” that is, a supporter of strict observance of the rules, enjoys unquestioned authority and the complete trust of those who are familiar with him. It is to him that Lopukhov entrusts a delicate task that requires perseverance, rigor, patience and understanding of psychology. “Fierce” Rakhmetov must reveal to Vera Pavlovna the secret of her husband’s “suicide” and explain the degree of her and his guilt in the current situation.
Thoroughly aware of the personal lives of his friends, the hero does not consider it necessary to involve anyone in his affairs. What he’s doing, where he’s going, what his immediate plans are, few people know, and that’s mostly based on random rumors. When asked why he needs this or that business, Rakhmetov almost always answers briefly: “It’s necessary.” A more comprehensive explanation cannot be achieved.
Role in the novel
Rakhmetov does not have any influence on the plotline of the novel. The artistic function of this character is to fully reveal the author's thoughts. The work was supposed to demonstrate to the reading public a whole gallery of people of a new kind, building their relationships and family life on reasonable, practical grounds. Such are Kirsanov and Lopukhov, Vera Pavlovna, the Mertsalovs, other young families and students who make up their circle. These are people who bring into the present the laws of mutual understanding, humanism, reasonable egoism, and common benefit, according to which the life of society will be organized in the near future. Not everything that will become common practice tomorrow can be applied today without getting into trouble. But everything can be introduced into everyday life gradually. Rakhmetov stands apart from other characters precisely because he is preparing society for radical changes. These reforms will require decisive action, struggle and sacrifice. The hero’s harsh disposition is explained by the fact that he is completely absorbed in his destiny, devotes almost every minute of his life to it and cannot afford entertainment, weaknesses, or personal attachments, like people who share his views, but at the same time lead an ordinary life. “The Rakhmetovs merge with the common cause,” says Vera Pavlovna. He is inseparable from his goal. All his behavior, his modest life and tough character are explained by the high destiny that he chose for himself.
Essay on the topic: Rakhmetov and the path to a bright future in Chernyshevsky’s novel “What is to be done?”
_________________________________________________________________________________________________ Composition. Rakhmetov and the path to a bright future in Chernyshevsky’s novel “What is to be done?”
Rakhmetov is the brightest and most memorable hero of Nikolai Grigorievich Chernyshevsky’s novel “What is to be done?” The novel is subtitled “From Stories about New People.” Of these new people, Rakhmetov is the most successful image. According to Chernyshevsky, he is a determined, uncompromising person with an exceptionally strong will. Rakhmetov’s entire life is subordinated to the sole goal of the revolution. This hero, by his very existence, seems to answer the question posed in the title of the novel. At the same time, we must remember the specifics of creating “What to do?”. The novel was written in the dungeon of the Peter and Paul Fortress, where its author was imprisoned on charges of revolutionary propaganda. In "What to do?" Chernyshevsky, in relation to censorship conditions, sought to show sympathetic readers a panorama of that part of Russian society that gravitates towards revolution, and to give a philosophical and utopian perspective of a bright future - a society that should be created in Russia after the victory of the revolution (and in victory, quite an ambulance, Nikolai Gavrilovich believed sacredly). The new people in the novel are those who sympathize with the goals and objectives of the revolution, but for the most part do not themselves directly participate in anti-government activities. Rakhmetov, according to the writer’s definition, is “a special person.” And new people clearly feel the difference between him and themselves. “The Rakhmetovs are a different breed,” says Vera Pavlovna, “they merge with the common cause in such a way that it is a necessity for them, filling their lives; for them it even replaces personal life. But for us... this is not available. We are not eagles." In the image of Rakhmetov, Chernyshevsky seemed to predict the emergence of a type of professional revolutionary. The first professional revolutionaries - Narodnaya Volya members - appeared in Russia only in the 1870s, and the novel “What is to be done?” was written in 1862-1863. and became a reference book for several generations of revolutionaries. We can say that many future professional revolutionaries, and not only in Russia, built their lives “according to Rakhmetov.” For example, one of the leaders of the Bulgarian communists, Georgi Dimitrov, stated in 1935: “The novel “What is to be done?” 35 years ago he had an unusually deep, irresistible influence on me. And I must say - neither earlier nor later there was a single literary work that would have had such a strong influence on my revolutionary upbringing as Chernyshevsky’s novel. For months I literally lived with Chernyshevsky’s heroes. My favorite in particular was Rakhmetov. I set myself the goal of being firm, self-possessed, of strengthening my will and character in the struggle against difficulties and hardships, of subordinating my life to the interests of the great cause of the working class - in a word, to be what this impeccable hero of Chernyshevsky seemed to me to be.” Nikolai Gavrilovich himself, when he wrote “What is to be done?”, was, of course, thinking about the interests of the working peasantry, since there was almost no working class in Russia at that time. But in that this work is a kind of novel for the education of revolutionaries, the Bulgarian communist is absolutely right. Rakhmetov is a purely, screamingly positive hero, completely devoid of the slightest flaws. He has extraordinary physical strength, which gave Rakhmetov the nickname of the legendary Volga barge hauler Nikitushka Lomov, a unique ability to endure pain, developed according to the method of Indian yogis: the “special person” slept on nails. And Rakhmetov’s mental abilities are completely extraordinary. And his pedigree is unusually rich, dating back to the Tatar temniks of the Golden Horde, and the family is dominated by generals. So Rakhmetov was simply destined to be the leader of a revolutionary uprising. He has no time for love or private life. He has “an abyss of things to do” that are clearly related to the preparation of the revolution, but Chernyshevsky cannot talk about them in any detail due to censorship. As the writer states: “There are a great mass of honest and kind people, but such people are few; but they are in it—tein in tea, bouquet in noble wine; from them strength and aroma; this is the color of the best people, this is the engines of engines, this is the salt of the earth.” People like Rakhmetov, according to Chernyshevsky, should illuminate the path to a better future for others. But neither the author nor his hero have clear ideas about what the “brave new world” will be like. Chernyshevsky tries to present pictures of a “bright future” to readers in “The Fourth Dream of Vera Pavlovna.” Here there is complete harmony in an ideal society, where people have conquered the forces of nature, eliminated the difference between mental and physical labor, and have learned to painlessly respect the interests of everyone. The trouble is, and Chernyshevsky could not help but understand, that such an idyll can only be a dream. He considered the main condition for approaching the ideal to be the achievement of universal equality. A beautiful woman who appears in a dream to Vera Pavlovna, the sister of the queen of the country of victorious utopia, symbolizing the coming revolution, says to the heroine: “...If you want to express in one word what I am, this word is equality. Without it, pleasure in the body, admiration for beauty are boring, gloomy, disgusting; Without it there is no purity of the heart, there is only deception by the purity of the body. From it, from equality, there is freedom in me, without which there is no me.” And at the end of the dream, she warns Vera Pavlovna: “What we showed you will not soon be in its full development, which you have now seen. Many generations will pass before what you foresee is fully realized. No, not many generations: my work is now going quickly, faster and faster every year, but still you will not yet enter this complete kingdom of my sister; at least you saw it, you know the future. It's light, it's beautiful. Tell everyone: this is what is in the future, the future is bright and beautiful. Love him, strive for him, work for him, bring him closer, transfer from him to the present, as much as you can transfer: your life will be as bright and good, rich in joy and pleasure as you can transfer into it from the future. Strive for it, work for it, bring it closer, transfer from it to the present everything that you can transfer.” The twice repeated slogan, calling to work for a bright socialist future and, if possible, transfer its features into the harsh autocratic present, is clearly addressed to the future Rakhmetovs from among the youth who sympathized with Chernyshevsky. Rakhmetov, like his creator, sincerely believed, in today's language, in total equality, and did everything to hasten the time of its onset. Chernyshevsky did not realize that people cannot be equal to each other in everything, that this is contrary to human nature, and yet inequality in abilities, for example, will force different people to use completely differently even the equal rights and opportunities they have received, and as a result it turns out , that the strictly regulated harmony advocated by the author of “What is to be done?” is, in principle, impossible to achieve. Chernyshevsky directly calls Rakhmetov the main character of his novel. This is a mythological hero, intended for the mythological perception of the revolutionary youth of that time. To other readers, this figure will undoubtedly seem too stilted and lifeless. And we learn about Rakhmetov mainly from the words of the author and other characters. He is not shown through his inner world, and plays almost no role in the development of the plot; he does not perform any significant actions. After all, the time has not yet come to talk about the revolutionary exploits of the hero. Chernyshevsky believed that it would come very soon. And at the end of the novel they began to talk about 1865 (“What to do?” was published in 1863). Interrupted by imaginary readers surprised by such a bold leap into the future, the author concludes with slight irony: “If you don’t want to listen now, I, of course, must postpone the continuation of my story until the time when you want to listen to it. I hope to see it pretty soon." Thus, the writer directly hinted that the revolution could break out in two years. However, that “bright future” for which Rakhmetov worked, although it was later established and existed in our country for seven whole decades, left behind bitter memories. This could not but affect the perception of Chernyshevsky’s hero by today’s readers. Also, the complicated form of the novel, with the help of which the writer managed to carry out the “What to do?” through censorship, is designed to be understood by an ideologically close “insightful reader” - a like-minded person, and makes it very difficult for the majority of readers to perceive the work. But we must not forget that thousands and thousands of people read the novel “What is to be done?” It was precisely because of the image of Rakhmetov that this hero gave birth to a legion of imitators who played an important role in the history of Russia and the whole world.
