Analysis of the work “The Double” (F. M. Dostoevsky)

History of creation

The idea for the story “The Double” arose from Dostoevsky in 1845 almost immediately after he finished the novel “Poor People”. In June of the same year, he began writing a new work and planned to complete it in August, but the work did not proceed very quickly. The story was completed only in January 1846 and on February 1 was published in the journal Otechestvennye zapiski with the subtitle “The Adventures of Mr. Golyadkin.”

Dostoevsky read the first chapters of the still unfinished story in Belinsky’s circle, where they were highly appreciated. But upon publication, The Double received mostly unfavorable reviews. Dostoevsky wrote to his elder brother in a letter dated April 1, 1846:

“... ours, ours, Belinsky and everyone, are dissatisfied with me for Golyadkin. The first impression was unaccountable delight, talk, noise, talk. The second is criticism; namely: ... our people and the entire public found that Golyadkin was so boring and lethargic, so drawn out that it was impossible to read.”

The writer, who previously thought that the story was a success, was disappointed in it.

Dostoevsky planned to rework The Double, but his arrest and exile immediately prevented him from doing so. Only in 1866, in the third volume of his collected works, the second edition of the story was published with a new subtitle “Petersburg Poem”.

Analysis of the story

Dostoevsky made his unique work “The Double” very difficult to understand. A brief summary of it will be presented below.

However, there is something to think about and reflect on, because Dostoevsky delves too deeply into the human soul, trying to pull out everything that many of us do not want to see and notice. And therefore it is not so easy to immediately come to the right conclusions.

Dostoevsky was 24 years old when he wrote this story, or poem, as he himself called it. It was published in the journal Otechestvennye zapiski after Poor People. In the image of the hero Golyadkin, the writer used the character traits of the writer Ya. P. Butkov, whose fate was somewhat similar to the life of the main character. And he wrote mainly on the topic of a small man - a petty official, the metropolitan poor, who was constantly in material need, always trembling with the people in charge. He knew this topic very well, since he was like that himself.

Genre, direction

Among Dostoevsky’s contemporaries one can find a definition of the genre of “The Double” as a novel. Now literary scholars more often call it a story, since the plot is centered around the main character, there are no side storylines, and a few events take place in a narrow period of time and space.

The author's idea is expressed by two subtitles of "The Double". “The Adventures of Mr. Golyadkin” refers both to the tradition of the adventure (picaresque) novel and to Gogol’s story about Chichikov’s journey. The second subtitle “Petersburg Poem” also indicates a connection with “Dead Souls” and introduces the story into the special context of “Petersburg stories”, the traditions of which go back to Pushkin (the short story “The House on Vasilyevsky Island”, the poem “The Bronze Horseman”).

The story was created in the tradition of Gogol's realistic movement of the 40s. Dostoevsky relied on the experience of his predecessors in developing the theme of the life of St. Petersburg, on physiological essays about the city. But his goal was to depict not isolated sketches from the life of officials, but a holistic picture of St. Petersburg reality. Therefore, “The Double,” like “Poor People,” is one of the first evidence of the increasing maturity of Russian realism.

Composition

The composition of “The Double” can be considered, on the one hand, circular, and on the other – mirrored.

Ring composition: at the beginning of the story Golyadkin leaves the house in a carriage, at the end he is taken in a carriage to his new home, the house of sorrow. The ring has closed.
Mirror composition: in the first chapter, the hero makes a visit to Doctor Krestyan Ivanovich. Golyadkin wants to strike up a friendly relationship with him. In the last chapter, he meets the doctor again, but Krestyan Ivanovich seems to him ominous, frightening, almost a devil. He takes the unfortunate madman to a psychiatric hospital. clinic. Events repeated themselves exactly the opposite.

The structure of the story is such that the hero exists simultaneously in two planes: in the real world and in his disordered consciousness.

Chapter 1

Titular councilor Yakov Petrovich Golyadkin woke up at eight o'clock on a gray autumn day in St. Petersburg in his own apartment on Shestilavochnaya Street. He was pleased with his appearance, his dim-sighted and bald figure, as well as his tightly stuffed wallet, in which he counted 750 rubles in banknotes.

Golyadkin put on smart new clothes, topped with a new, carefully cleaned uniform. He “as if in passing” decided to stop by Liteinaya to see his doctor Krestyan Ivanovich Rutenspitz, whom he had seen only once last week.

The gist: what is the story about?

In general terms, the plot of “The Double” is a story about how one official goes crazy. The discovery of the early Dostoevsky is that he was able to show what dark sides, dangerous and destructive forces can lurk in the soul of a seemingly harmless “little man,” and what consequences this can lead to.

The hero takes the place of a humble official. He is poor, lonely, insignificant, he has no friends and no bride. The story begins with him sitting at a doctor's appointment and telling contradictory things about himself. Afterwards he leaves, but convinces the doctor that the patient is not ready for independent life. Because of this impression, Golyadkin will soon be taken to an insane asylum, but in the meantime he finds his double - Golyadkin Jr. He behaves frivolously and insultingly: he humiliates his twin brother in every possible way, although at first he ingratiated himself and ingratiated himself. He appropriates all the achievements of Golyadkin Sr. and exposes him to ridicule. Every day, the hero’s colleagues and his other entourage are watching the hero more and more closely. He surprises them with his behavior. But he is no less surprised: when he looks for the address of his tormentor, he becomes convinced that the tormentor lives in his apartment! As a result, the double displaces Golyadkin Sr., and he ends up in the hospital.

Double

The story consists of thirteen chapters. The author called it “Petersburg poem”

Titular councilor Yakov Petrovich Golyadkin wakes up in his apartment on a gray autumn day. The mirror reflects “a sleepy, half-sighted and rather bald figure,” and its owner appears to be pleased with it. Taking out his wallet, Mr. Golyadkin finds 750 rubles in it - “a significant sum”!

Double. Dostoevsky F.M. summary.

Yakov Petrovich continues: “...I’m even proud of the fact that I’m not a big man, but a small one. Not an intriguer - and I’m proud of that too...” The nephew of Andrei Filippovich, Golyadkin’s boss, intends to woo Klara Olsufievna. Golyadkin is outraged by this matchmaking. Golyadkin notes that rumors have been spread about his “close acquaintance”, as if he “gave a subscription to get married, but he is already the groom on the other side,” and his bride is the shameless German Karolina Ivanovna. Golyadkin leaves, leaving Krestyan Ivanovich in bewilderment and thinking that the doctor is stupid.

Mr. Golyadkin goes to see Olsufy Ivanovich Berendeyev, but he is not allowed in. In honor of the birthday of his daughter, Klara Olsufievna, a dinner and ball are held in the apartment of the State Councilor. At this time, Mr. Golyadkin is standing in Berendeyev’s entryway. Having made up his mind, Yakov Petrovich secretly enters the dance hall. Immediately all eyes turn to him, “our hero” huddles in a corner, feeling “like a real bug.” Golyadkin is thrown out onto the street.

Double. Dostoevsky F.M. summary.

Mr. Golyadkin runs, “fleeing from his enemies.” It’s a terrible November night—“wet, foggy, rainy, snowy.” Mr. Golyadkin “now not only wanted to run away from himself, but even to completely destroy himself.” He stands on the embankment for a long time and unconsciously looks into the muddy black water. On the way, Golyadkin meets a passerby, mincing along the sidewalk just like him, a little cowardly. Yakov Petrovich meets the stranger several times. Finally, he finds him in his apartment on Shestilavochnaya Street: it was “none other than himself, ... another Mr. Golyadkin, ... his double in all respects.”

In the morning Golyadkin comes to his department. Here a new person appears - yesterday’s double of Yakov Petrovich, who has exactly the same last name. However, there is no surprise among his colleagues. After a working day, the double wants to talk to Yakov Petrovich, and “our hero” invites Golyadkin Jr. to his home for a conversation.

The guest's name is the same: Yakov Petrovich. Mr. Golyadkin feeds the guest dinner and drinks punch, feeling sympathy for him: “You and I, Yakov Petrovich, will live like fish and water, like brothers; ...we will be cunning, at the same time we will be cunning...to spite them, we will carry on intrigue...”

In the morning, Yakov Petrovich does not find his guest. Now Golyadkin Sr. regrets accepting his twin. He goes to work and runs into Golyadkin Jr. at the door, but he does not notice yesterday’s hospitable host. Now Golyadkin Jr. is trying to curry favor with his superiors by dishonest means: he passes off the well-written paper of the real Golyadkin as his own. In front of other officials, Golyadkin Jr. exposes his twin to abuse: he pinches his cheek in front of everyone and gives him a slap in the belly. Then, pretending to be busy, he disappears. But the real Golyadkin cannot allow himself to be offended and decides to protest. After the service, he intends to explain himself to Golyadkin Jr., but he leaves him in a carriage.

“...he has such a playful, nasty disposition, - he’s such a scoundrel, ... a licker, a sycophant, he’s such a Golyadkin!” - Yakov Petrovich thinks about his enemy. Yakov Petrovich writes him a letter demanding an explanation. He gives the letter to the servant Petrushka and instructs him to find out the address of the titular adviser Golyadkin. Petrushka reports that Golyadkin lives on Shestilavochnaya Street, but this is the address of the real Golyadkin! Deciding that the slacker is drunk, Yakov Petrovich leaves him.

Half asleep, Golyadkin sees that he is in pleasant company, but every time one famous person appears and denigrates Mr. Golyadkin. He wants to run wherever his eyes look, but an “abyss of completely similar people” has formed around him.

Golyadkin wakes up at one o'clock in the afternoon. With horror, he realizes that he is late for work. He approaches his department and, through the clerk, delivers a letter to Mr. Golyadkin Jr.

Already at dusk, Yakov Petrovich enters his department. His colleagues look at him with some kind of offensive curiosity. Mr. Golyadkin Jr. appears among the officials and extends his hand to the real Yakov Petrovich. He squeezes it warmly and in a friendly way. “Suddenly, with unbearable impudence and rudeness,” the double pulls out his hand and shakes it off as if he had soiled it, then wipes his fingers with a handkerchief. The offended Golyadkin Sr. seeks sympathy from his colleague, Anton Antonovich Setochkin, but he openly condemns his indecent act regarding two noble persons.

Having caught up with Golyadkin Jr., Yakov Petrovich offers to explain himself in the coffee shop: “... I have never been your enemy. Evil people have unfairly described me... For my part, I’m ready...” The enemy repeats the morning joke with a handshake, repeatedly insulting his namesake, and disappears. Suddenly Golyadkin Sr. discovers in his possession a letter handed over by the clerk in the morning. In it, Klara Olsufyevna asks to save her from death, from a person who is disgusting to her, and makes an appointment with Golyadkin at two o’clock in the morning. After reading the message in the tavern, Yakov Petrovich sees the sexton next to him. Deciding that he did not pay for lunch, he reaches into his pocket and finds a bottle of medicine prescribed to him by Krestyan Ivanovich four days ago. “The dark, reddish-disgusting liquid flashed with an ominous glow...” The bottle falls out of the hands and breaks.

Yakov Petrovich, thinking about Klara Olsufievna, notes the spoiledness of young romantic persons who have read a lot of French novels. He hires a carriage, goes to His Excellency and asks for protection from enemies. His Excellency promises to consider the case, and Yakov Petrovich is expelled to the hallway. Golyadkin rushes to Berendeev to wait for Klara Olsufievna’s signal. Soon Yakov Petrovich is noticed, and Golyadkin Jr. asks him to come in. Golyadkin Sr. is sitting next to Olsufy Ivanovich, all eyes are turned to them. Finally, “It’s coming, it’s coming!” sweeps through the crowd. Krestyan Ivanovich appears in the room and takes Yakov Petrovich with him. The twin runs after the carriage for a while, but soon disappears completely. Here the hero notices with horror that this is not the former, but another, terrible Krestyan Petrovich: “Alas! He had a presentiment of this for a long time!”

The main characters and their characteristics

For convenience, the wise Litrekon created a table that presents the main characters of the story and their characteristics.

Yakov Petrovich Golyadkin Sr.	Titular Advisor. Unpretentious, but completely satisfied with his appearance. He says to himself that he is “a simple, unpretentious person”, without outward splendor. “I only wear a mask for masquerade parties.” Despite the insignificance of his person, he thinks that he has enemies who want to destroy him. He has a sense of self-esteem, which he tries in every possible way to defend. Painfully suspicious and touchy. Golyadkin is a collective image that combines two literary types of officials: a downtrodden, pathetic, but honest servant (who he is) and a clever rogue careerist (who he wants to be). The hero’s surname is derived from “golyad”, “golyadka”, which according to Dahl means “beggar, poor”. Another version is from the word “look back” using metathesis.
Yakov Petrovich Golyadkin Jr.	Double of Golyadkin Sr. Arrogant, cunning, sneaky, resourceful. At first he pretends to be a friend of Golyadkin Sr., but then plots against him. He is gradually pushing him out of the service and out of his own apartment. Golyadkin Jr. embodies what Golyadkin Sr. would like to be, but does not dare.
Krestyan Ivanovich Rutenspitz	Doctor of Medicine and Surgery. “A very healthy, although already elderly, man, gifted with thick graying eyebrows and sideburns, an expressive sparkling gaze, which alone apparently drove away all illnesses, and, finally, a significant order.” At the end of the story, he came for Golyadkin to take him to a madhouse. To the latter, he seems to be the devil incarnate.
Berendeev Olsufiy Ivanovich	Golyadkin's benefactor, father of Klara Olsufievna. “The venerable old man and state councilor Olsufiy Ivanovich, who lost the use of his legs in long-term service and was rewarded by fate for such zeal with a capital, a house, villages and a beautiful daughter...”
Berendeeva Klara Olsufievna	Daughter of Olsufy Ivanovich. Golyadkin wants to marry her. She is a beauty, sings “sensitive” romances and dances beautifully. At the ball in honor of his birthday, he shows clear preference for assessor Vladimir Semyonovich. Then he allegedly writes a letter to Golyadkina with a declaration of love and a request to take her away from her parents’ house.
Vladimir Semyonovich	Collegiate assessor, nephew of the head of the department where Golyadkin serves. The main contender for Klara Olsufievna's hand.
General	Head of the department in which Golyadkin serves. Yakov Petrovich turns to him for protection from Golyadkin Jr.

Double briefly

The titular councilor considers himself a small person, but at the same time wants to realize his high ambitions. However, the appearance of a vile double destroys his reputation in high society. The story consists of thirteen chapters. The author called it “Petersburg poem”.

Yakov Petrovich goes to see his doctor, Krestyan Ivanovich Rutenspitz. With him, Mr. Golyadkin speaks inconsistently, gets confused, calls himself a humble, unpretentious man: “... I love peace, not secular noise. There... you need to be able to polish parquet floors with boots... you need to be able to make a perfumed compliment, sir... I didn’t learn all these tricks.” Yakov Petrovich continues: “...I’m even proud of the fact that I’m not a big man, but a small one. Not an intriguer - and I’m proud of that too...” The nephew of Andrei Filippovich, Golyadkin’s boss, intends to woo Klara Olsufievna. Golyadkin is outraged by this matchmaking. Golyadkin notes that rumors have been spread about his “close acquaintance”, as if he “gave a subscription to get married, but he is already the groom on the other side,” and his bride is the shameless German Karolina Ivanovna. Golyadkin leaves, leaving Krestyan Ivanovich in bewilderment and thinking that the doctor is stupid.

Golyadkin wakes up at one o'clock in the afternoon. With horror, he realizes that he is late for work. He approaches his department and, through the clerk, delivers a letter to Mr. Golyadkin Jr.

Themes

In The Double, Dostoevsky raises the following themes:

Theme of duality
. The human soul combines opposite principles. He wrote in a letter to E.F. Junge: “What do you write about your duality? But this is the most common trait in people... not quite ordinary, however. A trait characteristic of human nature in general, but far from being found in every human nature in such strength as yours... This is great torment, but at the same time great pleasure.”
Little man theme.
In “The Double,” Dostoevsky further develops the image of the “little man.” This is no longer just a “rag” suffering under the yoke of the state machine. This is a person with self-awareness, who began to think of himself as a significant figure, began to distinguish himself from the general mass of bureaucrats.
The theme of St. Petersburg
is one of the central ones in Dostoevsky’s work. This city is dual in its essence; reality is mixed with fantasy. Divided himself, he dooms a person to the duality of the soul. He produces either real or ghostly doubles. The patronymic of the main character makes it clear that he is the son of St. Petersburg, the son of Peter the Founder.

Problems

The problems that the writer touches on in the story “The Double”:

The problem of finding your place in the world
. From the very beginning, two desires struggle in Golyadkin: the desire to oppose himself to a hypocritical and unfair society (“... I go my own way, a special road, ... I don’t depend on anyone,” “I go ... straight, openly and without roundabout paths”) and the desire to be part of it (“he’s like everyone else, ... he’s no worse than others”). This contradiction is one of the reasons why the hero goes crazy.
The problem of depersonalization of a person.
The system of society is built in such a way that it degrades and depersonalizes a person. He is reduced to the level of a dirty “rag.” But the hero realizes that he has free will, he seeks to declare his existence and the right to happiness. In order to establish himself in this world, Golyadkin is forced to face the choice of his human essence: to be honest, but inconspicuous, or successful, but deceitful.
The problem of lack of spirituality
is revealed through the example of bureaucracy. Golyadkin is a representative of this social organism. He strives for freedom, but his freedom does not go beyond the boundaries of this system. Therefore, Golyadkin Jr., who embodies the person that Golyadkin Sr. would like to be, is far from the ideal of a highly spiritual personality. His most important desire is to occupy a high position in society. He follows the path of external transformation, material, but not internal, spiritual and moral.

main idea

The meaning of the story “The Double” is that in any person, even the most inconspicuous, there is an “underground” hidden from him, “double” thoughts and desires. This is due not so much to the social environment or personal qualities, but to the fact that human nature itself is unpredictable and contradictory. This is the eternal struggle between good and evil. And it is impossible to predict who will win.

The main idea of the story “The Double” is the versatility of the human personality, which is torn apart by contradictions of desires and possibilities, personal principles and imposed standards of behavior, activity and passivity, courage and cowardice. If we do not work on ourselves and let personal development take its course, then these internal wars may end in a madhouse. Every person needs spiritual formation.

What does it teach?

The story “The Double” makes you think about the fact that each of us has a dark side, something that we suppress, that we struggle with, but that can still break out. It is impossible to get rid of this part of your essence. But if you recognize and accept it in yourself, you will be able to curb it. To do this, you need to work on yourself, developing comprehensively.

Dostoevsky teaches us that a person cannot limit himself to a set of official functions and a physiological description. He must analyze himself, strive to suppress his dark sides and develop his light ones. A person must pay attention to his inner world and become spiritually enriched. If we limit our nature to career interests and everyday worries, then everything unhealthy, gloomy, evil that sleeps in the shadows can burst out.

What does the story teach?

Work by F.M. Dostoevsky gives reason to reflect on the versatility of human nature and unpredictability. Each of us has positive and negative personality traits - a light and a dark side. It is impossible to expel the dark part, but you can control it by continuously working on yourself, improving and developing comprehensively.

The writer points out to us that a person should not be guided only by success in career advancement, his physiological needs and instincts, or everyday comfort. He must enrich himself spiritually, work on himself, strive for his inner harmony with the world, and then everything dark, evil, unhealthy will not break out.

Criticism

The first critics (Ap. A. Grigoriev, S. P. Shevyrev, K. S. Aksakov, I. V. Brant) considered “The Double” a work of failure both in terms of content and artistically. In the unconventional form of storytelling, where reality is mixed with a sick consciousness, they saw a weak attempt to imitate Gogol and Hoffmann. What also turned out to be unusual for them was that the writer depicted inadequate manifestations of the psychophysical nature of man. Grigoriev wrote: “The Double” is a pathological, therapeutic work, but not at all literary...” They did not understand that Dostoevsky brought out a new type of “underground” person.

In general, Belinsky gave a positive review of The Double, making allowance for the author’s youth and inexperience: “... the character of the hero is one of the deepest, boldest and truest concepts that Russian literature can boast of.” The critic also noted the innovative manner of presentation: the story is told from the author’s point of view, but in the language of the protagonist.