History of creation
The story, remarkably, was written during the period of Stalin’s active work - from 1929 to April 1930. In those days, Andrei Platonovich Platonov worked in the land reclamation department in his specialty, in the People's Commissariat of Agriculture, located in the Voronezh region. Therefore, he was, if not a direct participant, then at least a witness to the liquidation of the kulaks and collectivization. As an artist who draws life, Andrei Platonovich Platonov painted pictures of the destinies of people and the events that happened to those caught in the meat grinder of depersonalization and equalization.
The themes of Andrei Platonovich’s works did not fit into the general ideas of building communism; the doubting and thinking hero of the story was subjected to sharp criticism from the authorities, which was picked up by the press. She conducted her own analysis, which was by no means flattering to the author.
Platonov’s “pit” was first published only in 1987, during the time of Gorbachev, in the magazine “Mir”. During this period, the Soviet Union was once again rebuilt.
This is, in brief, the story of creation written by Platonov (“The Pit”).
A brief history of the creation of the story “The Pit” by A.P. Platonov
Unique talent, distinctive style and an incredibly kind heart. This is exactly how one can describe the sensitive master of words A.P. Platonov. One of the author’s most striking works is the story “The Pit”. Some critics believe that this story can be called prophetic. The beginning of the creation of the story coincided with the formation of the socialist system in society. Already in the work “The Pit” the author hints that the idea of a bright future is doomed to failure if labor is not placed in first place in all human activities.
1929 Autumn. A.P. Platonov visited many collective and state farms. He traveled all over Central Russia as a business traveler. He was sent on this interesting trip by the People's Commissariat of Agriculture. It was at this time that A.P. Platonov came up with the idea of writing a story. He began to combine a work trip with creative activity. The author seriously began to create the work “The Pit”. The story of the story begins with the idea of A.P. Platonov to show the real life of a person during the formation of the socialist system.
The writer was familiar firsthand with the restructuring of the lives of ordinary people. The first five-year plan was a time of great changes that the people felt. This is a difficult period of dispossession of wealthy peasants. The first collective farms began to be created. Compatriots A.P. Platonov was painfully worried about the changes in their usual way of life. People had to face incredible suffering. A.P. Platonov was greatly impressed by what he saw. He could not simply observe the trials that befell his compatriots. The author wrote the work “The Pit” quickly. A.P.’s impressions were too fresh. Platonov, his feelings were too strong.
1930 Spring. The writer completed work on the story “The Pit”. But A.P. Platonov did not live to see the day when the work was published. It was only in 1969 that the story was published in a small edition in Germany. Then, in 1987, the work was published in the USSR.
The author himself believed that he did not create something fundamentally new. A.P. Platonov highlighted a topical topic of that time that concerned everyone. The dispossession of the wealthy peasantry hit the entire village hard. People were busy building a “common proletarian house.” However, not all residents understood the idea and its meaning.
The writer, who had a “naked” heart, acutely experienced the pain of ordinary people. He couldn't pass by. A.P. Platonov was a sincere man devoted to his native land. The author of the story “The Pit” was one of the first to note that along with the changes reigning in society, the process of decomposition of the “socialist soul” is underway. People lose their individuality by forming a crowd. A person becomes a machine that must strictly follow instructions. These events extremely worried A.P. Platonov. The writer tried to prevent this from happening. With the help of the story “The Pit” by A.P. Platonov tried to open the eyes of ordinary people to what was happening.
The work is filled with collective images that clearly showed the atmosphere prevailing in the country at that time. At A.P. Platonov had no task to embellish or distort events. The writer was always honest not only with himself, but also with ordinary people. It is the work of A.P. Platonov helps to recreate a picture of the existence of people during the formation and strengthening of Soviet power.
The story “The Pit” is a guide showing Russian life and the way of life of the common people during the introduction of collectivization. The turning point in society played a key role in the writing of the work. The story “The Pit” is a dystopia. A.P. Platonov was deeply convinced that without a happy present there is no future. The purpose of existence of diggers was to create a pit. They dug and dug it every day. The pit in the work appears in the image of faith in a better life. A common cause was supposed to unite people. Their hearts were filled with faith and hope for a bright future. Collective life was supposed to open new horizons for them. Gradually the size of the dug pit became larger. However, over time, it became clear that it began to more closely resemble a mass grave, where hope for a happy life and a cloudless future was buried.
Features of presentation
The author's contemporaries, favored by the Bolsheviks - writers Kataev, Leonov, Sholokhov - in their works glorified the achievements of socialism, depicting collectivization from the positive side. Platonov’s poetics, in contrast, were alien to an optimistic description of pictures of selfless labor and construction. This author was not attracted by the scale of the tasks and aspirations. He was primarily interested in man and his role in historical events. Therefore, the work “The Pit,” as well as other works of this author, is characterized by a thoughtful, unhurried development of events. There are a lot of abstract generalizations in the story, since the author is focused on the thoughts and experiences of his characters. External factors only help the hero understand himself, and at the same time the symbolic events that Platonov tells us about.
“Pit”: summary of contents
The plot of the story is typical for works of that time dedicated to collectivization, and is not complex. It consists of dispossession with scenes of assassination attempts on party activists and peasants defending their property. But Platonov managed to present these events from the point of view of a thinking person who found himself unwittingly drawn into the events about which the story “The Pit” tells.
A summary of the chapters is not the subject of our article. We will only briefly describe the main events of the work. The hero of the story, Voshchev, after he was fired from the factory because of his thoughtfulness, ends up with the diggers who are digging a pit for the house of the proletarians. Brigadier Chiklin brings an orphaned girl whose mother has died. Chiklin and his comrades eliminate the kulaks by floating them on a raft at sea along with their families. After this, they return to the city and continue their work. The story “The Pit” ends with the death of a girl who found her last refuge in the wall of the pit.
"Pit" (Platonov): analysis
The theme of the story is the construction of socialism in the countryside and city. In the city, it represents the erection of a building into which the entire class of the proletariat must enter to settle. In the countryside, it consists of founding a collective farm, as well as eliminating the kulaks. The heroes of the story are busy implementing this project. Voshchev, the hero who continues Platonov’s series of searches for the meaning of life, is fired due to thoughtfulness, and he ends up with the diggers digging a foundation pit. Its scale continues to increase as it works and eventually reaches enormous proportions. Accordingly, the future “common home” is becoming increasingly large-scale. Two workers sent to the village to carry out collectivization are killed by “kulaks”. Their comrades deal with the latter, bringing their work to an end.
The title of the work “The Pit” (Platonov), which we are analyzing, takes on a symbolic, generalized meaning. This is a common cause, hopes and efforts, the collectivization of faith and life. Everyone here, in the name of the general, renounces the personal. The name has direct and figurative meanings: it is the construction of a temple, the “virgin soil” of the earth, the “shovelling” of life. But the vector is directed inward, downward, not upward. It leads to the “bottom” of life. Collectivism is gradually beginning to resemble more and more a mass grave where hope is buried. The funeral of Nastya, who had become, as it were, the common daughter of the workers, is the ending of the story. For the girl, one of the walls of this pit becomes a grave.
The heroes of the story are sincere, hard-working, conscientious workers, as shown by the content of Platonov’s “The Pit,” a novel that describes their characters in some detail. These heroes strive for happiness and are ready to work selflessly for it. At the same time, it does not consist in satisfying personal needs (like Pashkin, who lives in contentment and satiety), but in achieving the highest level of life for everyone. The meaning of the work of these workers is, in particular, Nastya’s future. The gloomier and more tragic is the ending of the work. The result is a reflection on the body of Voshchev’s girl.
Three motives in Platonov’s work
Platonov wrote that he was struck by three things in life - love, wind and long journeys. All these motifs are present in the work “The Pit”. A summary of the chapters, if you refer to it, will confirm our idea. But it should be noted that these motives are presented in the author’s original presentation. The plot is tied to the image of a road. However, Voshchev, Platonov’s hero, although he is a wanderer, is by no means in the tradition of Russian literature, since, firstly, he is forced to wander, or rather, wander, due to the fact that he was fired, and secondly, his goal is a search not for adventure, but for truth, the meaning of existence. Wherever this hero goes later, again and again the author returns him to the pit. It’s as if a person’s life closes in and goes in a circle.
Many events make up the story “The Pit,” but there are no cause-and-effect relationships between them. The heroes seem to be circling around the pit, dreaming of escaping from this pit. One wanted to go to study, having increased his experience, another expected retraining, the third dreamed of moving to the leadership of the party.
The meaning of the work by A.P. Platonov "Pit"
The theme of the story “The Pit” is typical of works of the first half of the 20th century. Social problems deeply worried not only writers, but also ordinary people. A.P. Platonov used unusual collective images of heroes to reveal the true meaning of the book.
The main idea of the story “The Pit” is the construction of a fundamentally new society in which there are no problems and misunderstandings. The author highlights ideas that were relevant to the population of that time. A.P. Platonov distinguishes between urban and rural ways of life. He tries to point out the pros and cons of living in different localities.
The book describes a difficult historical period. The person is on the path of significant change. The meaning of the work “The Pit” by A.P. Platonov's goal is to show the attitude of ordinary people to changing events. How urban and rural residents cope with difficult times in their lives. The author is interested in looking not only at the external acceptance or rejection of change. A.P. Platonov is trying to get to the bottom of the truth. It is important for him to find out the internal state of a person, his readiness to enter a new stage of his life.
Characters A.P. Platonova are real hard workers. These are exactly the people you want to follow as examples in life. They carry out their work with dedication, despite difficult and dangerous conditions. They were unable to cope with external circumstances, although they really hoped to change the situation for the better.
Method of editing episodes of a work
In the composition of the work, Platonov uses the method of montage of diverse episodes: there is a bear-hammer, and an activist who educates village women in politics, and kulaks who say goodbye to each other before going to sea on a raft.
Some of the episodes that Platonov’s work “The Pit” tells about seem completely random and unmotivated: suddenly, in the course of the action, insignificant characters pop up in close-up, and just as suddenly disappear. As an example, we can cite an unknown person dressed only in trousers, whom Chiklin brought to the office unexpectedly for everyone. The man, swollen with grief, demanded the return of the coffins, prepared for future use, which were found in the pit of his village.
Allegory
The author of the work, in addition to the grotesque, also uses allegory to convey the madness of events. Thanks to this and the previous techniques, the problems of this work are more fully revealed in the story “The Pit”. Not finding a character who could, like Judas, point to wealthy peasant families, he chooses a bear for this role. And considering that this animal in folklore has never been the personification of evil, we can talk here about a double allegory.
The plot of Voshchev’s journey is organically intertwined with another - the failed construction of a monumental all-proletarian house. But the workers believed until the last that the local proletariat would live there in a year. This building is associated with the Tower of Babel, because it became a grave for its builders, just as the foundation pit of the house for the proletarians turned into a grave for the girl for whom, in fact, it was erected.
Although at the beginning of the work Pashkin claims that happiness will still “come historically,” it becomes clear by the end of the story that there is no hope of finding the meaning of life in the future, since the present is built on the death of a girl, and the adults worked so persistently on the pit as as if they were trying to escape forever in its abyss.
The work “The Pit” leaves a heavy aftertaste on the soul after reading, but at the same time it is felt that Andrei Platonovich is a humanist writer who tells us about the sad events of the story with regret, love and deep compassion for the heroes who were hit by the merciless and uncompromising machine of power, trying to turn everyone into an obedient executor of a godless plan.
Subject
The analyzed story is a common phenomenon in Russian literature of the first half of the twentieth century, because at that time writers actively raised social problems. The work of A. Platonov stands out from others due to its unusual system of images, which helps to hide its true meaning.
The theme of the story is the construction of a new “ideal” society, collectivization. In the context of these topics, the author raised the following problems: people in conditions of change, forced collectivization, rural and urban way of life in the first half of the twentieth century, old and new, its influence on society, etc. The basis of the problem is social changes and eternal moral values.
At the beginning of the work, the author talks about a certain Voshchev. This is a thirty-year-old man who was fired from a mechanical plant. The hero's age has a symbolic meaning; it seems to hint at the fatal years of the 20th century for society. Voshchev decides to look for work in another city. On the way there, he stops for the night in a large pit. It turns out that this is a pit for a future building in which they plan to gather the entire local proletariat.
Voshchev remains with the diggers. The construction of a building for the proletariat symbolizes changes in society. Construction is not progressing beyond the foundation pit. The workers understand that they will not be able to build a new one on the ruins of the old.
Among other characters, the homeless girl Nastya attracts attention. Her image symbolizes the future, life in the house that is being built. Details hint at this meaning of the symbol. The builders gave the heroine coffins so that she could use them as a bed and a toy box. The workers took the coffins from the peasants. This is how the author unobtrusively shows the position of the peasants in the new conditions. Nastya died before the construction was completed. Everything for construction . The hope for a new life also died.
The plot helps the work, the symbolic meaning of the images is the key to the meaning of the title of the story. The foundation pit symbolizes the unrealized Bolshevik ideas and hints at the fact that it is impossible to build a new one on the ruins of the old.
In the story one can distinguish an internal conflict - the feelings of people who are at the “edge of change” and an external one - the collision of the old and the new.
Description of the characters in the story
Platonov does not give a detailed external description of the heroes or their deep internal characteristics. He, like a surrealist artist who works by breaking logical connections at the subconscious level, only lightly touches with his brush the portraits of characters living in an insubstantial world, devoid of everyday details and interior design. For example, there is no information about the appearance of the main character, Voshchev, only that he is thirty years old at the time of the story. Pashkin’s description indicates an elderly face, as well as a bent body, not so much from the years he has lived, but from the “social” load. Safonov had an “actively thinking” face, and Chiklin had a head, which, according to the author’s definition, was “small stone”; Kozlov had “damp eyes” and a monotonous dull face. These are the heroes in the story “The Pit” (Platonov).
Nastya's image
To understand the meaning of the work, the image of a girl living with diggers during construction is very important. Nastya is a child of the 1917 revolution. Her mother was a potbelly stove, that is, a representative of an obsolete class. Rejection of the past, as is known, means the loss of cultural traditions, historical ties and their replacement by ideological parents - Lenin and Marx. According to the author, people who deny their past cannot have a future.
Nastya’s world is distorted, because her mother, in order to save her daughter, inspires her not to talk about her non-proletarian origin. The propaganda machine has already penetrated into her consciousness. The reader is horrified to learn that this heroine advises Safronov to kill the peasants for the cause of the revolution. What will a child turn into when he grows up if he keeps toys in a coffin? The girl dies at the end of the story, and with her the last ray of hope dies for Voshchev and all the other workers. The latter wins the peculiar confrontation between Nastya and the pit. The dead body of a girl lies at the foundation of a house under construction.
Essay on the topic: Problems of A. P. Platonov’s story “The Pit”
Composition. Problematics of A. P. Platonov’s story “The Pit”
Andrei Platonov became known to a wide circle of readers only recently, although the most active period of his work occurred in the twenties of our century. Platonov, like many other writers who opposed their point of view to the official position of the Soviet government, was banned for a long time. Among his most significant works are the novel “Chevengur”, the stories “For Future Use” and “Doubting Makar”. I would like to focus my attention on the story “The Pit”. In this work, the author poses several problems. The central problem is formulated in the very title of the story. The image of the pit is the answer that Soviet reality gave to the eternal question about the meaning of life. Workers are digging a hole to lay the foundation of a “common proletarian house”, in which a new generation should then live happily. But during the work it turns out that the planned house will not be spacious enough. The pit had already squeezed out all the vital juices from the workers: “All the sleepers were as thin as the dead, the tight space between the skin and bones of each was occupied by veins, and the thickness of the veins showed how much blood they must let through during the stress of labor.” However, the plan required expanding the pit. Here we understand that the needs for this “house of happiness” will be enormous. The pit will be infinitely deep and wide, and the strength, health and labor of many people will go into it. At the same time, work does not bring these people any joy: “Voshchev peered into the face of the unrequited sleeper - did it express the unrequited happiness of a satisfied person. But the sleeping man lay dead, his eyes were deeply and sadly hidden.” Thus, the author debunks the myth of a “bright future”, showing that these workers live not for happiness, but for the sake of the foundation pit. From this it is clear that the genre of “The Pit” is a dystopia. Horrible pictures of Soviet life are contrasted with the ideology and goals proclaimed by the Communists, and at the same time it is shown that man has turned from a rational being into an appendage of the propaganda machine. Another important problem of this work is closer to the real life of those years. Platonov notes that for the sake of industrialization of the country, thousands of peasants were sacrificed. In the story this is very clearly seen when the workers stumble upon peasant coffins. The peasants themselves explain that they prepare these coffins in advance, as they foresee imminent death. The surplus appropriation system took everything away from them, leaving them with no means of subsistence. This scene is very symbolic, as Platonov shows that new life is built on the dead bodies of peasants and their children. The author especially dwells on the role of collectivization. In his description of the “organizational yard,” he points out that people were arrested and sent to re-education even for “fell into doubt” or “crying during socialization.” “Education of the masses” in this yard was carried out by the poor, that is, power was given to the most lazy and mediocre peasants who were unable to run a normal economy. Platonov emphasizes that collectivization hit the backbone of agriculture, which were the rural middle peasants and wealthy peasants. When describing them, the author is not only historically realistic, but also acts as a kind of psychologist. The peasants’ request for a short delay before being accepted into the state farm in order to comprehend the upcoming changes shows that the village could not even get used to the idea of not having their own allotment of land, livestock, and property. The landscape corresponds to the gloomy picture of socialization: “Night covered the entire village scale, the snow made the air impenetrable and tight, in which the chest was suffocated. A peaceful blanket covered the entire visible earth for the coming sleep, only around the barns the snow melted and the earth was black, because the warm blood of cows and sheep came out from under the fences.” The image of Voshchev reflects the consciousness of an ordinary person who is trying to understand and comprehend new laws and foundations. He has no thoughts of opposing himself to others. But he started to think, and so he was fired. Such people are dangerous to the existing regime. They are needed only to dig a pit. Here the author points out the totalitarianism of the state apparatus and the lack of true democracy in the USSR. The image of a girl occupies a special place in the story. Platonov's philosophy here is simple: the criterion of social harmony in society is the fate of the child. And Nastya’s fate is terrible. The girl did not know her mother’s name, but she knew that there was Lenin. The world of this child is disfigured, because in order to save her daughter, her mother inspires her to hide her non-proletarian origin. The propaganda machine has already penetrated her consciousness. The reader is horrified to learn that she advises Safronov to kill the peasants for the cause of the revolution. What kind of person will a child whose toys are kept in a coffin grow up to be? At the end of the story, the girl dies, and along with her, a ray of hope for Voshchev and other workers dies. In a peculiar confrontation between the pit and Nastya, the pit wins, and her dead body is laid at the foundation of the future house. The story “The Pit” is prophetic. Its main task was not to show the horrors of collectivization, dispossession and the hardship of life in those years, although the writer did it masterfully. The author correctly identified the direction in which society will go. The pit became our ideal and main goal. Platonov's merit is that he showed us the source of troubles and misfortunes for many years. Our country is still floundering in this pit, and if the life principles and worldview of people do not change, all forces and resources will continue to go into the pit.
The meaning of the title of the story “Pit”
The title of the story is symbolic. Not only construction means a foundation pit. This is a huge grave, a hole that workers dig for themselves. Many die here. A happy home for the proletarians cannot be built on a slavish attitude towards human labor and humiliation of personal dignity.
The pessimism that Platonov did not hide (the story “The Pit” and other works), of course, could not fit into the vigorous pace of Russian literature of that time with positive images of party members, meetings and overfulfillment of plans. This author was not at all in step with the times: he was ahead of them.
The meaning of the ending of A.P.’s work Platonov "Pit"
The ending of the work “The Pit” confirms one of the ideas of the symbolic title of the book. People tried, worked, fought, but everything was in vain. At the end of the book, the girl Nastya died. Now one of the walls of the huge pit has become a grave for the heroine. A symbolic and very sad ending to the work, which leaves an unpleasant aftertaste in the soul.
The heroes of the story sincerely believed in a happy outcome. They were hungry for change. To do this, they not only relied on others, but also made incredible efforts themselves. For the inhabitants of that difficult time, happiness did not lie in satisfying personal needs. The primary goal for them was to create comfortable living conditions for the entire society. The highest level of existence is the main goal of the life of a common person.
Over time, people realized that they were not destined to see the changes with their own eyes. However, they were not upset. After all, they believe that the desired result will be achieved by other generations. To do this, they have already created a strong, indestructible foundation on their own. Mutual assistance and mutual assistance have made ordinary residents sincere and devoted people who value the work and participation of everyone. The characters in the story “The Pit” do not die forgotten and useless to anyone. They invested all their energy in a good deed, which will definitely bear fruit.
