Anatoly Shchurov and Yakov Mayakin
Gorky’s work presents a whole gallery of images of people who can be called “masters of life.” This is, for example, a large timber merchant Anatoly Savvich Shchurov. This man is the tycoon of the merchant world. Mayakin says of him that he is a “cunning old devil.” However, Yakov Mayakin himself is not inferior to anyone in cunning. Merchants call him a “brain man.” Yakov is an ideologist of the merchant class. He teaches his “philosophy” to his godson Thomas. Yakov says that in the state the merchant is the first force, since he has millions with him. That is why, he notes, officials and nobles should step aside in order to give space to merchants so that they can invest their capital and use their strength.
The representative of the patriarchal merchant class, old and wild, is Anatoly Shchurov. This person is against all kinds of innovations, against machines that make life easier. He angrily prophesies that man perishes from freedom. Note that Yakov Mayakin is also a representative of the old merchant class. However, he knows how to adapt to changing conditions.
Essay on the topic: Search for the meaning of life in the novel “Foma Gordeev”
Search for the meaning of life in the novel “Foma Gordeev”.
In Gorky’s realistic work, one of the recurring motifs is the motif of a representative of the bourgeoisie breaking away from his environment, “breaking out” from it.
Foma Gordeev, the son of a merchant, one of the richest people on the Volga, rebelled against the morality of bourgeois society, against its inhuman laws. Gorky traces the history of the formation of Thomas's character and views. Both the father, the predatory, intelligent Ignat Gordeev, and Yakov Mayakin saw in the younger Gordeev the heir and successor of the business. They instilled in Thomas their philosophy of life: be closer to those who can be useful; only money gives power - it is the strength and intelligence of a person, one should not “fight” for what belongs to others, “a person must be able to stand up for himself... for his own blood”; “Whoever wants to get some sense out of life is not afraid of sin”; “Either bite everyone, or lie in the dirt.” Observations of life gradually debunk the humanity of such morality. At first, Thomas begins to doubt his father's justice. Then he sees that all the people in his circle were equally “greedy for money, always ready to deceive each other.” It becomes difficult for Foma to live next to them. He feels first boredom and apathy, then attacks of angry melancholy, mental pain. Foma finds happiness neither in his father's business nor in love. He wants to live freely, and he imagines freedom as liberation “from the shackles of his wealth.” He takes the first step towards this by talking to Yakov Mayakin.
A feeling of discontent and protest pushes Foma Gordeev out of the merchant world. He is looking for the meaning of life and his place in it. But among the typesetters, among the loaders, Foma feels alien and unnecessary. He sees the hard work of some and the satiety of others, and doubts the legitimacy of the lives of those “who are in command.” Thomas hurls a sharp accusatory speech at the merchants: “Bloodsuckers! You live by someone else’s power... you work with someone else’s hands!” Thomas is alone in his own environment and his rebellion is suppressed.
A metaphor for his spiritual quest is an episode from his childhood when he scared an owl during the day, and it, blinded by daylight, darted helplessly along a ravine. “Another person, just like an owl during the day, rushes about in life... He searches, searches for his place, fights, fights - only feathers fly from him, but nothing is of any use.” Thomas looks like this owl. He seeks meaning and purpose in life, but has no positive ideal. He has no idea what he wants. He protests against bourgeois morality, but his protest is spontaneous and emotional. Foma Gordeev is the “prodigal son” of the bourgeoisie, whose tragedy lies in the lack of a specific goal.
Gorky historically correctly reflected the process of splitting bourgeois society, showing the guardians of its morality and the spontaneous rebel.
Essay on the topic: Search for the meaning of life in the novel “Foma Gordeev”
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Ignat Gordeev
Nevertheless, already in the older generation, already in the ranks of those who founded the state, there are people who internally protested against the unjust orders of this world. However, they could not change the economic relations that were developing at that time. Such, for example, is Ignat Gordeev. This is an intelligent and gifted man from the people. Ignat is greedy for life, he works with indomitable passion. He once served as a waterman, but now he has become a rich man. Ignat Gordeev owns a dozen barges and three steamships. The author notes that his life did not flow in a straight line, like many like him. She, seething rebelliously, tried to get out of the rut, tried to get away from profit. But profit for merchants is the main purpose of existence, as Maxim Gorky notes.
Essay on literature. The image of Foma Gordeev in the story of the same name by M. Gorky.
At the turn of the 20th century, a new stage in Gorky’s creativity was determined. It reflected the growth of the labor movement in the second half of the 90s, it reflected Gorky’s impressions, on the one hand, of clashes with the world of employers, big capitalists, bourgeois politicians, and on the other hand, of communication with workers, with the labor movement. And at the end of 1900, Gorky came out with the story “Foma Gordeev”. Before readers is a rich and diverse picture of Russian life, the world of the Russian bourgeoisie - from lack of culture and open predation to Europeanized forms of capitalism. This is the pious, Old Testament Ananiy Izurov, who got rich through crime, and the money-grubbing philosopher Yakov Malenin, a “brain-driven” man who “is already able to think more broadly than his narrowly personal interests require, he is politically sharp and feels the importance of his class, “wants, so that the bourgeoisie and merchants have in their hands not only economic, but also political power.”
The greatest attention in the novel is paid to two figures: the guardian and affirmer of bourgeois consciousness, Yakov Malenin, and Foma Gordeev, who becomes a “side” to him.
“Foma Gordeev” is a story about the growing Russian bourgeoisie, about how it is gaining strength. Gorky's story, however, not only shows the growth of the Russian bourgeoisie, not only reveals the inhumanity of capitalist relations, the lies and hypocrisy of bourgeois morality.
The main idea of the story is to show, in the words of Gorky himself, how in modern bourgeois reality “an energetic, healthy person, looking for work within his strength, looking for space for his energy, must beat furiously.”
Already in the older generation, among those who founded the fortune, there were people who internally protested against the bestial orders of the proprietary world, although they could not resist the emerging economic relations. This is Ignat Gordeev - a gifted and intelligent man from the people, greedy for life, “seized with an indomitable passion for work,” a former waterman, and now a rich man - the owner of three steamships and a dozen barges.
His son Thomas cannot follow the path of hoarding and money-grubbing; he is instinctively drawn to beauty, truth and justice, and does not want and does not know how to lie. The world of possessive relationships is a “prison” for him: “... it’s stuffy for me... After all, is this really life? Is this how they live? My soul hurts! And that’s why it hurts because it can’t be reconciled!”
Thomas is a “healthy person” who wants freedom of life, who is cramped within the framework of perfection. He stands out from the world of his masters, and in this Gorky sees an indicator of the instability of modern life, an indicator that the time will come to change it.
Thomas does not fully understand the structure of life, does not know the ways and methods of its changes, is far from the advanced intelligentsia and people, does not find a common language with them, although in his soul he is drawn to them. He thinks a lot about life, but he has no desire for knowledge, for books; the society of smart and educated people scares Thomas away. He does not feel the desire to have friends. The world of property, which Thomas rejects, the merchant's way of life left their mark on him; he early learned “condescending pity for the hungry.”
At the end of the story, Thomas is defeated and humiliated. The petty-bourgeois world triumphs over the rebel. Victory over a weak and confused person, but not over the reader, to whom the writer revealed the abomination of the kingdom of the Shchurovs, Mayanins, Rezinkovs, Konokovs.
Foma Gordeev
The summary presented below will introduce you in detail to the events in the life of this hero. Now we will focus on his inner world. Thomas does not want to follow the path of money-grubbing and hoarding. Instinctively, this hero is drawn to beauty; he does not know how and does not want to fake it. For him, the world of possessive relationships is a prison. Foma says that he is “stifling”, that his soul hurts. This is exactly that “healthy person” who longs for freedom in life. He feels cramped within the framework of this reality. Thomas persistently tries to leave the world of his masters, and the author sees in this an indicator of the instability of modernity, of the fact that the time will come to change it.
This hero cannot fully understand the structure of life. He does not know the methods and ways of changing it. Foma Gordeev is far from both the people and the progressive intelligentsia. The summary presented below indicates that he does not find a common language with either one or the other, although he is drawn to them in his soul. Gordeev thinks a lot about life, but he has no desire for books and knowledge. Thomas is scared off by the company of educated and smart people. He doesn't feel the need to have friends. The world of property, rejected by the hero, the merchant's way of life left a mark on his soul. Thomas learned early on what kind of condescending pity a well-fed person shows towards the hungry. This hero at the end of the story is humiliated and defeated. The Mayakin world triumphs in absolute victory over the rebel.
However, this is a victory over a confused and weak person, and not over the reader. All the ugliness of the kingdom of the Mayakins and Shchurovs was revealed to us by M. Gorky (“Foma Gordeev”). A brief summary of the work will introduce you more closely to this kingdom. After reading the story, perhaps you will understand the main character better.
The image of Foma Gordeev in the story of the same name by M. Gorky.
At the turn of the 20th century, a new stage in Gorky’s creativity was determined. It reflected the growth of the labor movement in the second half of the 90s, it reflected Gorky’s impressions, on the one hand, of clashes with the world of employers, big capitalists, bourgeois politicians, and on the other hand, of communication with workers, with the labor movement. And at the end of 1900, Gorky came out with the story “Foma Gordeev”. Readers are presented with a rich and diverse picture of Russian life, the world of the Russian bourgeoisie - from lack of culture and open predation to Europeanized forms of capitalism. This is the pious, Old Testament Ananiy Izurov, who got rich through crime, and the money-grubbing philosopher Yakov Malenin, a “brain-driven” man who “is already able to think more broadly than his narrowly personal interests require, he is politically sharp and feels the importance of his class, “wants, so that the bourgeoisie and merchants have in their hands not only economic, but also political power.”
The greatest attention in the novel is paid to two figures: the guardian and affirmer of bourgeois consciousness, Yakov Malenin, and Foma Gordeev, who becomes a “side” to him.
“Foma Gordeev” is a story about the growing Russian bourgeoisie, about how it is gaining strength. Gorky's story, however, not only shows the growth of the Russian bourgeoisie, not only reveals the inhumanity of capitalist relations, the lies and hypocrisy of bourgeois morality.
The main idea of the story is to show, in the words of Gorky himself, how in modern bourgeois reality “an energetic, healthy person, looking for work within his strength, looking for space for his energy, must beat furiously.”
Already in the older generation, among those who founded the fortune, there were people who internally protested against the bestial orders of the proprietary world, although they could not resist the emerging economic relations. This is Ignat Gordeev - a gifted and intelligent man from the people, greedy for life, “seized with an indomitable passion for work,” a former waterman, and now a rich man - the owner of three steamships and a dozen barges.
His son Thomas cannot follow the path of hoarding and money-grubbing; he is instinctively drawn to beauty, truth and justice, and does not want and does not know how to lie. The world of possessive relationships is a “prison” for him: “... it’s stuffy for me... After all, is this really life? Is this how they live? My soul hurts! And that’s why it hurts because it can’t be reconciled!”
Thomas is a “healthy person” who wants freedom of life, who is cramped within the framework of perfection. He stands out from the world of his masters, and in this Gorky sees an indicator of the instability of modern life, an indicator that the time will come to change it.
Thomas does not fully understand the structure of life, does not know the ways and methods of its changes, is far from the advanced intelligentsia and people, does not find a common language with them, although in his soul he is drawn to them. He thinks a lot about life, but he has no desire for knowledge, for books; the society of smart and educated people scares Thomas away. He does not feel the desire to have friends. The world of property, which Thomas rejects, the merchant's way of life left their mark on him; he early learned “condescending pity for the hungry.”
At the end of the story, Thomas is defeated and humiliated. The petty-bourgeois world triumphs over the rebel. Victory over a weak and confused person, but not over the reader, to whom the writer revealed the abomination of the kingdom of the Shchurovs, Mayanins, Rezinkovs, Konokovs.
First chapter
The summary of “Foma Gordeev” begins with a description of the appearance and life of Ignat Gordeev. This is a lucky, intelligent and beautiful person. He is one of those who was able to make a million dollar fortune on the Volga. By the age of 40, this man was the owner of a dozen barges and three steamships. He was considered a smart and rich man. However, he was given the nickname “Shaly”, since his life did not flow smoothly, but always exploded with shocks. Ignat Gordeev dreams of a son. And his dream comes true - his second wife finally gives birth to a boy. Unfortunately, the woman dies during childbirth. Ignat, having arranged his wife’s funeral and christened his son Foma, reluctantly gives him up to be raised in the family of Mayakin, his godfather. The author notes that the death of his wife added a lot of gray hair to his beard, but something new appeared in the sparkle of Ignat’s eyes - affectionate and soft.
Chapter two
We move on to the second chapter, describing the summary of “Foma Gordeev”. It tells about the house in which Yakov Mayakin lives. It is very large, two-story. This house is surrounded by old linden trees. The Mayakin family consists of Yakov, his daughter and wife, as well as five relatives. In addition, he has a son, Taras, but Mayakin disowned him because he acted against his will by marrying some girl in Moscow. By occupation, Yakov Mayakin is a merchant. He owns a rope factory and also runs a shop near the pier. Foma Gordeev lived in Yakov's family for six years. The very brief summary does not allow us to dwell in detail on his life here. Let's just say that this time was, in general, not bad.
Foma looked older for his years, both internally and externally. After some time, Ignat took his son home. Yakov, who became attached to him, asked to leave him. However, Gordeev objected that he did not give birth to Thomas for him. After returning home, Anfisa began to look after our hero. From then on, Thomas fell asleep every day to the sound of this old woman’s voice. The boy was eight years old when his father informed him that it was time to start studying. After he studied for the winter, Ignat promised to take him sailing in the spring. The father kept his promise, and in the spring he set off on the Ermak with his son. Ignat reminded the boy that they were masters, and sailors should be treated as servants. The child heard disgruntled whispers from team members about his father. The incident with the drowned man is described by the author at the end of this chapter. The sailors push the dead man away from the sides so that the drowned man does not get stuck in the wheel. The boy is scared, but his father explains to him that this is necessary. A dead person doesn’t care what happens to his body, and the ship doesn’t need unnecessary problems with the authorities. Foma Gordeev records all this in his memory. The chapter summary continues with the events of the third chapter.
Chapter Three
Foma enters the school. Here he meets Smolin, who was the son of a wealthy factory owner. In addition, he is friends with an ordinary poor guy, Yezhov. Foma does childish things with them - chasing pigeons and stealing apples from the orchards. When he turns 19, he goes on his first independent voyage. Efim is the captain of the leading ship. This is an experienced sailor whom Foma knows well. This man enlightens him “on women’s affairs” and also introduces him to Pelageya. At this time, Ignat begins to drink heavily out of boredom. When his son returns from the voyage, he is already ill and dies after a while.
Retelling of the first chapters
The main events of the story unfold in the Volga region. Ignat Gordeev, who worked as a waterman for the entrepreneur Zaev, by the age of forty had managed to accumulate a considerable sum, which allowed him to purchase several river vessels for transporting goods. The man had a restless and capricious character. He could easily leave all the proceeds in the drinking establishment, and then, kneeling in front of the icon, atone for his sins.
Ignat was obsessed with a passionate desire - he wanted to have a son who would continue his work. During the entire marriage, Gordeev’s wife gave birth to four girls, but they all died at an early age.
After each birth, the man expressed his dissatisfaction, showing anger directed at the woman who once again did not give him a son.
One day, when Ignat was solving economic issues in Samara, he received a telegram with the news of the death of his wife. Less than six months later, Gordeev got a new wife. This time she was Natalya Fominishna, the daughter of a wealthy Cossack Old Believer.
The woman could not stand the difficult birth and died, giving birth to her husband's long-awaited son. Gordeev named the boy Foma. Since the man did not have the opportunity to raise his son, he sent him to the house of Yakov Tarasovich Mayakin. The family of Thomas's godfather lived piously, the boy did not need anything, but life among strangers seemed gray and insipid to him. Just friendship with little Lyuba Mayakina brought notes of joy into monotonous everyday life. Thomas spent six years in his godfather's house, after which his father took him in with him. The elder sister Ignata took over the further upbringing of the child.
Gordeev believed that a merchant could be quite successful, even if he was an uneducated person, but still insisted that Foma enter the district school, from which he graduated five years later. The young man did not demonstrate any outstanding abilities, but it was impossible to call him a mediocre student. At the educational institution, Foma's friends became:
- African Smolin, son of a wealthy factory owner;
- Nikolai Yezhov, whose father served in the city treasury chamber.
Gordeev Sr. began to gradually introduce the heir to his affairs. The man wanted the fortune acquired through back-breaking labor to be in good hands, so he increasingly took the young man on short flights and talked about the intricacies of entrepreneurship.
Meeting with Shchurov and Ukhtishchev
Mayakin once sent Foma to Anania Savvich Shchurov on business. This man is a timber merchant. There are terrible rumors about him. He allegedly sheltered a convict in his bathhouse who made counterfeit money for him, and then killed him and burned him in the bathhouse. In addition, he outlived two wives, and then took his wife away from his own son. During the meeting, Shchurov speaks poorly of Mayakin.
Then Foma goes to the club, where he meets Ukhtishchev. He learns from him that Sophia is leaving tomorrow for the whole summer abroad. Some person (as it turned out, the son-in-law of the vice-governor) interferes in the conversation and speaks poorly of Medynskaya. Foma grabs him by the hair. This arouses Ukhtishchev's interest in him.
Revelry of Foma Gordeev
After 3 days, Foma is carousing on a forest pier. His lady is Alexandra. They write about Thomas’s outrages in the newspaper. Mayakin scolds him, but cannot stop him. Sasha alone, amid the hustle and bustle of revelry, is even and calm. Thomas is attracted by the secret hidden in her. However, he feels that he does not love this woman.
Sasha warns him that Foma Gordeev will definitely disappear. The summary (Chapter 9 ends here) continues with the fact that the main character cannot find his place in life. He walks with women, laughs at them, but never raises a hand to them.
Soon Foma learns that Mayakin has started a rumor that he is out of his mind and needs care. Our hero came to terms with this and continued to revel. Eventually there was a scene on the ship. Thomas looked at the listeners with hatred and said that they made a prison, not life, forged chains on a person. Gordeev remembered everything that was criminal about the merchants present.
Final Events
3 years have passed, like oh). A summary of the final events is as follows. Mayakin died after painful agony, leaving his entire fortune to his son, daughter and African Smolin, his son-in-law. Yezhov was expelled from the city for something. A trading house appeared in the city, the sign on which read “Taras Mayakin and African Smolin.” Nothing was heard from Gordeev. They said that Mayakin sent him to his mother’s relatives beyond the Urals.
One day he appears in the city. Thomas, almost always drunk, is sometimes gloomy, sometimes smiling with the sad and pitiful smile of a blessed one. He now lives in an outbuilding in his godsister's yard. Townspeople and merchants often laugh at him. Thomas avoids people and rarely approaches the caller.
This ends the summary of “Foma Gordeev” (the author’s photo is presented above). Please note that we have described only the main events. This story is quite voluminous, so the summary of “Foma Gordeev” presented above gives only the most general idea of it.
Analysis 2
In the late 90s and early 1900s, Gorky's struggle for realism against decadence acquired great social significance. It is not without reason that the literary struggle around the writer takes on sharp forms. The story shows the life of the merchants in the Volga region at the time of its heyday, depicted from the point of view of the growing Russian proletariat. It was not for nothing that the Nizhny Novgorod millionaire Bugrov spoke with hostility about Gorky, believing that such an author deserved hard labor.
The work depicts the struggle that goes on within the class, and Thomas becomes a victim of relations hostile to human nature, created by his class. We see how a whole gallery of types of merchants is drawn here, who believe that if you don’t get through in this life with the help of evil intentions. In the story they are portrayed especially convincingly and expressively. And this world of businessmen is contrasted with a morally healthy person. His tragic fate exposes the basic laws of capitalist society. The main character is not a fighter or a revolutionary, but he is a rebel, painfully searching for a different meaning in life, does not want to give up his requests, does not succumb to the influence of his environment and stubbornly strives to find some way out.
Gorky reflected various types of merchants. For example, Yakov Mayakin, an ideologist of the merchant class, who was able to generalize the experience of his class. He is shown as a greedy, cruel and predatory bourgeois. African Smolin, a liberal young merchant of European training, is also typical. And among them, Gordeev has a special difference, for whom it is inconvenient to be in this merchant world. He persistently separates himself from them. The proprietary way of life left its mark on Thomas. From an early age he understood the lives of poor people.
At the end of the story, Thomas is humiliated and ultimately defeated. Mayakin's entourage triumphs over a rebellious man, weak and confused. The work with irrefutable convincingness shows the inevitability of the collapse of the class, the future fate of capitalism. The writer reflects what great potential forces lie dormant in the Russian people, what rich opportunities there are. But under the capitalist system, these forces do not manifest themselves where and in the way that the people need.
