- Essays
- On literature
- Chekhov
- Images of case people in Chekhov's stories
When we hear the word “case,” we immediately imagine some tightly closed object, a box with a lid. There is a feeling that it is impossible to exist in such a confined space, however, when we open this box, we see a comfortably laid violin or flute, which is much more comfortable and reliable in the case than in the outside world. In the same way, a person called a case person withdraws into himself, fences himself off from the outside world, any emotions and experiences, closes himself in this box.
The concept of a case man was first introduced by A.P. Chekhov, who took his contemporary society as the basis for this concept, reflecting in his works the mistakes of the heroes so that we would not repeat them. We find images of case people living a case life in such works as “Man in a Case”, “Darling”, “Ionych”, “Death of an Official”.
The most vivid image of such a person is revealed in the story “The Man in a Case,” which, although written humorously, is written in gloomy tones. It describes the life of a Greek language teacher - Belikov, who, from the description of his appearance, seems to be a secretive, withdrawn person: he always wore a warm coat, all the attributes in his clothes, accessories in the form of watches, were put in cases, all elements of the outfit were dark tones.
The main character of the story hid in his own little world, into which he does not let anyone in, but on the contrary, tries to avoid people. Even when visiting his friends, Belikov did not join in the conversation, but sat quietly, silently. And he came only to maintain friendly relations with them. The question immediately arises: why did the hero behave this way?
An explanation of this behavior is given by the narrator, Mr. Burkin, who argued that this is a persistent, incessant desire to move away from people, to withdraw into oneself, one’s feelings, one’s own little world, protecting oneself from the influence of the outside world. Such people are capable of living only in solitude, loneliness into which they drive themselves of their own free will.
However, many live outside the “case”, outside this shell, without fear of the influence of society, then why can’t the main character live an ordinary life? There is no answer to this question. But perhaps it’s all about upbringing, forced solitude, that’s it. That people don’t understand him, and therefore don’t accept him as a person. They don’t see him as a person, because he is hidden somewhere deep there, in his own box, his own little world.
It is also worth noting the influence of Belikov himself on his surroundings, because under his influence the others began to live the same solitary, reclusive life. The life of active, enterprising people has turned into an ordinary, boring and gray existence.
Nowadays, many people, trying to protect themselves from other people and the pain that loved ones can cause them, also put themselves in a kind of shell, living their days like this. However, this way of life is wrong, which is what A.P. wants to convey to us. Chekhov through his stories.
Essay Images of Chekhov's Case People
Chekhov is one of the best writers, especially when it comes to symbolism and various allegories and comparisons. In his works, he clearly makes his point of view clear, putting himself in the shoes of his characters in order to see the situation from their point of view, thanks to which we can well “read” his point of view.
Reading his works, you involuntarily ask the question: “What did he mean here?” This is the beauty of his works, they make you think, think, pondering every written word, which cannot but rejoice.
As a person, Chekhov was an ardent liberal who did not tolerate conservatism in people and was alien to their way of life. He literally despised them for this, simply not understanding how one could live like this, avoiding everything new.
He called people in a case all those who rejected everything new, trying to live in a world convenient for them, passing all events, news, and new things through their prism of a recluse. By avoiding these things, according to Chekhov, they are avoiding progress, and will be thrown to the sidelines as obsolete equipment. Therefore, by showing these very people in his stories, he shows how not to live, and that you need to be more open to the new, the unknown, emphasizing that exploring the unknown has always been a weakness of humanity.
By showing such characters in his works, the author tries to show us how not to live, and how to live. Considering life situations from the point of view of his heroes, he conveys all their surprise at this way of life.
As described above, Chekhov is an amazing author, thanks to whom you can develop imaginative thinking and improve as a person. As for his opinion about the case people, it was described above and I consider it correct, and that this is exactly how the author wanted to convey it to future generations of readers. Thanks to these works, we learn not to be “Case people” who think narrowly and closed, isolating themselves from everything around them. Chekhov tried to instill a love for liberalism and everything connected with it. By showing us the insignificance of the existence of the “Case People”, he motivates us to independence, ownership in decision-making, and alienation from other people’s opinions.
"Man in a Case Then and Today"
Content
Introduction………………………………………………………………………………..3
Chapter 1. The image of a “small”, “case” man in the literature of different eras…………………………………………….……………………………4
Chapter 2. Methods of revealing the image of the “case” man by A.P. Chekhov and V. Pietsukha. ………………………………………………………………………………….7
Chapter 3. Reasons for “case” in modern life………..……….12
Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………….14
“It can’t be helped, how many more such people are left in the case, how many more will there be!”
A. P. Chekhov “Man in a Case”
“It would be interesting to transfer Chekhov’s heroes, who a hundred years ago raved about a bright future, into our ill-fated century. They would miss the gooseberry bush.”
V. A. Pietsukh “Plagiarism”
Introduction.
Traditionally, Russian poets and writers were perceived as prophets and teachers of life, called upon to bring the light of immutable moral truths. The views of writers largely depend on the characteristics of their worldview and on the diversity of human types that surrounds us in real life.
This work is devoted to the topic of “case life” in Russian literature.
It seems to me that the problem of “case” always remains relevant. Unbeknownst to yourself, everyone can fall into the box of their own prejudices, ceasing to think and reflect, search and doubt. And this is really scary, as it leads to spiritual devastation and personality degradation.
Problem: all over the world there are quite a lot of “little” people who want only one thing - to shut themselves up in their own case. They are afraid to start friendships, love, family, or any kind of interpersonal relationships. The hardest thing for them is communicating with people.
Hypothesis: A person plays some roles all his life. In different situations, with different people, we behave differently. Sometimes we may wonder: “What am I really like?” A person tries to keep his inner world intact, fearing misunderstanding or ridicule from other people. We are afraid of being funny, of seeming stupid, not kind, or something else. There is not a single action for which we would not find justification in our own eyes. So who are they, the people in the “case”? Victims of a society that forces people to reconcile and defend themselves? Or is a “case” existence a form of shelter from reality?
Object of study: the “case” man in the stories of A. P. Chekhov “The Man in the Case” and V. A. Pietsukh “Our Man in the Case”.
Methods for solving the problem:
- problem-chronological method;
- research method;
I set myself a goal: to identify why “caseness” as a possible path of human life turns out to be so strong and very often wins?
Achieving this goal determined the need to solve a number of specific tasks:
- To trace how the “small” “case” man is depicted in the literature of different eras.
- To identify the main ways of revealing the image of a “case” person in A.P. Chekhov and V.A. Pietsukh.
- Analyze the reasons for “caseness” in modern life.
Chapter 1. The image of a “small”, “case” person in the literature of different eras.
When creating a literary hero, a writer usually endows him with one or another character: one-sided or multi-sided, integral or contradictory, static or developing, evoking respect or contempt. The writer conveys his understanding and assessment of life’s characters to the reader, often conjecturing and implementing prototypes and creating fictional individuals. Few people succeed in discovering a new type and giving it life in literature. But when this happens, the character's own name becomes a household name. The literary type is usually represented by a whole series of characters who are far from identical in character.
A literary type is a generalized image of human individuality, the most possible, characteristic of a certain social environment at a certain time. The literary type reflects the laws of social development. It combines two sides: the individual (single) and the general. Typical (and this is important to remember) does not mean average; a type always concentrates in itself everything that is most striking, characteristic of an entire group of people - social, national, age, etc. In literature, types of positive heroes (Tatiana Larina, Chatsky), “superfluous people” (Eugene Onegin, Pechorin), Turgenev girls have been created.
“Little Man” is a type of literary hero that arose in Russian literature with the advent of realism, that is, in the 20-30s of the 19th century.
The first image of the “little man” was Samson Vyrin from A. S. Pushkin’s story “The Station Warden.” Pushkin’s traditions were continued by N.V. Gogol in the story “The Overcoat”.
A little man is a person of low social status and origin, not gifted with outstanding abilities, not distinguished by strength of character, but at the same time kind, does no harm to anyone, and is harmless. Both Pushkin and Gogol, creating the image of a little man, wanted to remind readers who were accustomed to admiring romantic heroes that the most ordinary person is also a person worthy of sympathy, attention, and support.
Writers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries also addressed the theme of the little man: A. Chekhov, M. Gorky, L. Andreev, F. Sologub, A. Averchenko. From the multifaceted literary gallery of “little people,” heroes stand out who strive to gain universal respect through changing their material status or appearance; gripped by fear of life, who, in conditions of overwhelming bureaucratic reality, develop mental disorders; in whom an internal protest against social contradictions coexists with a painful desire to elevate oneself, to acquire wealth, which ultimately leads them to loss of reason; whose fear of superiors leads to madness or death, who, fearing to expose themselves to criticism, change their behavior and thoughts.
The idea of the “little man” changed throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. Each writer also had his own personal views on this hero. But already from the second third of the 20th century, this image has disappeared from the pages of literary works. The little man, who did not fit into the canons of socialist realism, migrated to the literary underground and began to exist in the everyday satire of M. Zoshchenko, M. Bulgakov, V. Voinovich.
The power of tragedy of little people was correctly defined by P. Weil (journalist, writer, radio presenter): “The little man from great Russian literature is so small that he cannot be further reduced. Changes could only go upward. Soviet culture threw off Bashmachkin’s overcoat - onto the shoulders of the living Little Man, who, of course, did not disappear anywhere, simply disappeared from the ideological surface, died in literature.”
At the present stage of development of literature, both the language itself, the structure and genres of literary works, and the literary hero undergo changes. Literature at the turn of centuries and genres contains many different techniques for depicting both reality and heroes; along with society and human needs, the character and image of the main character changes. His goals, actions, his surroundings change along with the reader. There is also a clear collection of images associated with the influence of past literary experience.
The topic of searching and revealing the main characteristics of the hero of the time has been and remains relevant in the dynamic process of development of literature. The image of the hero reflects the main cultural and psychological aspects of his time, and its detailed consideration and analysis allows for a deeper understanding of the literature being studied and the literary process of a particular literary period and movement. During periods of deep crisis in various spheres of social life, the problem of choosing one’s own path becomes urgent, requiring leaving an environment that seems destructive or simply does not correspond to internal needs.
Chapter 2. Methods of revealing the image of the “case” man by A.P. Chekhov and V. Pietsukha.
"Man in a Case." This combination became familiar and familiar - something between a quote and a proverb. And it lives not only as the title of a story, but also as an integral part of the language. The basis of the expression is a contrast, a paradoxical combination of the living, spiritual, intelligent and - the case: it stores different things, but always things, inanimate objects, like glasses, a ring, an instrument. The title “Man in a Case” sounds like a quiet distress call, almost like “man overboard.” “The case of life” is internal slavery, the desire to subordinate oneself and society to a system of restrictions, written and unwritten rules that prevent the manifestation of natural human feelings, spiritual freedom and freedom of personal relationships. “Fullness” is opposed to openness, sociability, and goodwill in relation to people.
The main character of A.P. Chekhov, Belikov, is depicted as an image that embodies all the features of the “case of life.” He is a “case” person, first of all, in appearance: even in good weather, Belikov went out into the street in galoshes, with an umbrella and a warm coat with cotton wool. Here the author makes an intermediate conclusion that this manifested Belikov’s desire to acquire a shell, a case that would protect him from the outside world. In Belikov’s portrayal, there is an increase in tragic tone, a deepening of the idea of the evil that “case” brings both to the Greek teacher himself and to the surrounding society, and then acquires a broad generalizing social meaning. Behind such, at first glance, funny behavior lies a terrible spiritual phenomenon, the essence of which is gradually revealed by Chekhov. Fear of the present and exaggerated praise of the past, even that which was not in it (ancient languages became the same case for him), belong not only to Belikov alone, but also a quality inherent in a certain part of the intelligentsia of that time, although not expressed so grotesquely .
In addition to galoshes and an umbrella, in the characterization of Belikov and Belikovism as a social and moral phenomenon, an important detail is a gray suede case, a type of case in which things were placed - an umbrella, a penknife, a watch. The cover serves as a detail object and is associated by the author by its similarity with a constantly raised collar, which is also perceived as a cover worn over the face. The desire to pack everything in a case speaks of Belikov’s punctuality, his neatness to the point of limitation. Belikov is shown in different situations: in office conversations with colleagues about circulars and regulations, while visiting colleagues at home, at the director’s name day, in the story with the Kovalenki. He was always the same. His main principle that guides him in life is “no matter what happens.” The conflict with Kovalenko is based on the technique of antithesis - Belikov and his attitudes are opposed by youth, enthusiasm, love of life and love of freedom, the directness of a teacher who came from a Ukrainian farm, naturalness is opposed to “caseness”.
One of the main techniques in creating the image of Belikov is the grotesque technique. The hero's appearance, the constraint of his speech, and his reaction to Varenka's bicycle riding are grotesquely presented. The caricature “Anthropos in Love” is also grotesque. The grotesque technique was used by Chekhov when describing Belikov’s face in the coffin: “his expression was meek, pleasant, even cheerful, as if he was glad that he was finally put in a case from which he would never come out.” Having buried Belikov, the teachers hoped to enjoy complete freedom. “But no more than a week passed, and life went on as before, the same harsh, tiresome, stupid life, not circularly prohibited, but not completely permitted either; it didn't get any better. And in fact, Belikov was buried, but how many more such people are left in the case, how many more will there be?
A.P. Chekhov showed that the case lifestyle is connected not only with the character of the main character, but also with the social situation in the city, where there is widespread fear that “something might not work out.” Contemporary of the writer, critic A.I. Bogdanovich wrote that Chekhov does not give “the slightest consolation, does not open a single crack of light in this case that covers our life, “not circularly prohibited, but not completely permitted.” The picture he created takes on a tragic character.
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inevitability. And indeed, the all-Russian feeling of fear does not disappear over time, it is only modified, acquiring new shades, as V.A. convincingly says. Pietsukh.
At V.A. Pietsukha, parody becomes the leading literary device that shapes the artistic structure of stories, and the traditional genre is the anecdote. Laughter equalizes and brings all characters together. The truth evokes Gogol’s “laughter through tears.” According to the general belief of critics, the prose of V.A. Pietsukha continues the traditions of classical Russian literature, in particular A.P. Chekhov. In the stories “The Man in the Case” and “Gooseberry” we are talking about the fact that if an individual submits to circumstances and the ability to resist gradually disappears in him, then he loses everything truly human. The death of the human soul is the leitmotif of these stories. The images of the heroes of the indicated works are interpreted in their own way by V.A. Pietsukh.
In the story “Our Man in a Case” V.A. Pietsukh abandons the old ideas and stereotypes of the “case”, but at the same time retains the main plot collisions and openly appeals in his text to Chekhov’s story, thereby provoking certain reader expectations. The writer destroys the stereotypes that have developed in the reader’s mind regarding the characters of A.P. Chekhov.
The plot of the story, compared to Chekhov's, is simple and linear. The teacher of Russian literature Serpeev, unlike Belikov, who was selectively afraid, was afraid of “almost everything: dogs, various kinds of gatekeepers, police officers, passers-by, including ancient old women who can also casually slander, incurable diseases, the subway, ground transport, thunderstorms, heights , water, food poisoning, elevators - in a word, almost everything, it’s even stupid to list.”2 By adding to the list of his hero’s fears in each new paragraph, the author convinces the reader that they are all completely justified: from early childhood, Serpeev began to fear death , since “his unfortunate father informed him that all people are in the habit of dying, that Serpeev Jr. will not escape such a fate” 3, and violence, since “he was often beaten by his children’s playmates”; in his youth he was afraid of hunger, standing “in line for three hours for bread”; in his student years - women, due to the too active attention of “a fellow student named Godunova who miraculously fell in love with him,” etc. Moreover, in the entire rich palette of Serpeev’s fears, there are both universal ones (fear of water, heights, incurable diseases, dogs, etc. ), as well as socio-political fears (fear of police officers, summonses in the mailbox, anonymous denunciations, people's court). The peculiarity of the hero Pietsukh is that he suffers from all possible human fears at once: “In the end, Serpeev was completely saturated with such horror of life that he took a whole series of constructive measures in order to, so to speak, become completely enveloped.” However, unlike Chekhov’s hero, who, despite all the ambiguity of his interpretation, does not evoke sympathy and sympathy from the reader, I feel sorry for Serpeev. The author portrays him as a decent person, a good teacher, who teaches literature not just as an academic subject, but as a humanitarian discipline - “teaching the soul,” guided by the ideals of “light literature.” Serpeev's fears have nothing to do with Belikov's cowardice and cowardice. Moreover, he constantly commits bold (and even risky) actions: he is not afraid to replace “stupid planned topics” with unauthorized ones (he “did this more or less regularly”); does not want to change his mind in front of the inspector, because retreating from his moral principles, losing faith and respect from his students turns out to be worse for him than real punishment from his superiors; finally, after leaving school, he organizes classes at home for interested children, great
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realizing that he could be “arrested and put in jail for subversive agitation among students” (cf. Chekhov: “since this is not permitted circularly, then it is impossible”, “you must behave very, very carefully, you’re skimping like that, oh, how you’re skimping!”, “after all, now the whole city will know, it will reach the director, the trustee - oh, how could something happen!” 4, etc.).
So, in Serpeev we see a mirror image of Belikov: Chekhov’s hero fully corresponds to the society in which he lives, and differs from the rest of the city’s residents only in a more exaggerated desire to hide in a shell, and “our man in a case” Pietsukha is one of the few who managed to preserve soul, heart, their inner world at a time when “students could freely take revenge for an unsatisfactory o, when around “everyone is a little crazy,” and we have to work among “those evil scoundrels who for some reason cling to our children and who Unfortunately, they made up the majority of the teachers at his school.” By repeating the phrase “no, after all, life does not stand still,” Pietsukh convinces the reader that significant changes are undoubtedly taking place in society, and the word “our” in the title of the story takes on an additional meaning: not only our contemporary, but also a person our circle, sharing our beliefs. In the story by V.A. Pietsukha hears melancholy, bitterness, suffering and hopelessness. But if A.P. Chekhov leaves his reader some hope, then V.A. Pietsukh is skeptical. Humility, awareness of hopelessness and lack of hope for salvation distinguish the stories of the modern writer
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Chapter 3. Reasons for “caseness” in modern life.
There are different opinions about the reasons for the “case” life. For example, the literary critic M. Epstein, seeing in Belikov the heir to Gogol’s Bashmachkin, considers the cause of the heroes’ secluded lifestyle to be a disease called social phobia: “In both cases we are talking about a severe form of social phobia. This is the name of the disease that affects many “little” people all over the world, who want only one thing - to shut themselves up in their own case (for example, in the USA, 13 percent of the population belongs to this group).
Social phobia is the fear of making friends, love, family, or any kind of human relationships. In about half of those suffering from social phobia, a clear correlation was found between psychological trauma associated with a humiliating or traumatic social event. Not only does personal social experience matter, but simply observing the negative experiences of others makes the development of social phobia more likely. Social anxiety can also be the cause of the inability to “fit in” to a team, rejection or rejection by peers, and many years of psychological bullying. Shy teenagers and anxious adults especially emphasize in their resumes that they have often encountered peer rejection in their lives, expressed in various forms of psychological and physical violence. One study found that children who were unpopular with their peers reported higher levels of anxiety and fear of being judged negatively. It is clear that children with social phobia tend to receive less positive feedback from peers and this may lead to avoidant behavior.
Researchers have also demonstrated that the risk of being diagnosed with social phobia increases by 2-3 times if someone in your immediate family also suffers from this disorder. Possibly due to genetic inheritance and/or children picking up their parents' social fears through observation. Excessive care or criticism of children in the family also increases the risk of developing social phobia. Approximately 10-15% of people have peculiarities in the functioning of the nervous system, in which a person is more focused on himself and fears the world around him. This is also a risk factor for the development of social anxiety disorder (social phobia).
I decided to conduct a survey and identify possible manifestations of social phobia among my peers. For this purpose, we conducted a survey, which showed that the causes of social phobia are family factors (53.2%), the influence of past episodes of negative communication (34.7%), prolonged exposure to a stressful situation (10.1%) and others (2% ). A test to determine self-esteem revealed that only 3% of respondents had low self-esteem. This means that the causes of “caseness” are largely social phobia.
Conclusion.
As a result of the work, I came to the conclusion that a person is not just a physiological and social being living among other people, but also a person endowed with his own rich inner world, feelings, thoughts, and rights. I became convinced that not only the heroes of A.P. Chekhov and V.A. Pietsukha are fully consistent with the society in which they live, but also many of the people around me. Thus, my assumption that the people in the “case” are victims of society turned out to be correct. And so that a person does not shut himself up in his own box, we need to treat each other with great respect, we cannot offend anyone. Each of us has the right to a decent life, to the opportunity to feel like a full member of society. And then we will not be afraid to disrupt the way of our lives, to change everything completely for our own benefit. Everyone will have enough courage and strength to step over their own case, to break the shell they have created. Perhaps then “caseness” as a possible path of human life will not be so strong and it will have less chance of winning.
Information sources:
1. V.I.Kuleshov. "Peaks: A Book about Outstanding Works of Russian Literature." M.: Det.lit., 1983
2. M.N. Epstein. “Little man in a case: Bashmachkin-Belikov syndrome”// Questions of Literature: Journal of Criticism and Literary Studies/ – N. 6 /2005. – P. 193 – 202.
3. Karpov I. P. A. P. Chekhov. "Authorological interpretations: Materials for a school textbook." - Yoshkar-Ola: 2004. - 98 p. 4. Vsevolod Sakharov “Chekhov: the cruel realism of a sad storyteller” https://www.russianlife.nl/kritika/zhestokij_realizm.html
5. Kataev V.B. "Man in a Case." Living life and carrion [Electronic resource] // Electronic library on Russian literature of the 19th century. – [B.m.], 2006.
https://www.ruslibrary.ru/default.asp?trID=278
6. www.slovesnik.ru
Case theme in Chekhov's stories (Unified State Examination in Literature)
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov is rightfully considered a master of the story. With ease, a smile and irony, the writer skillfully immerses the reader in intense thoughts. Having learned the lessons of Turgenev, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, Anton Pavlovich, in the best traditions of realism, creates his own world with hundreds of characters familiar to his contemporaries. On the pages of his books, people met the inhabitants of their city: officials, students, mayors, and dying nobles. Continuing the work of his classic predecessors, Chekhov looked into the very soul of the heroes with the help of his subtle artistic insight.
