Piece at the bottom of the appearance of bows. Essays

08.01.2022

The play "At the Bottom" was conceived by Gorky as one of four plays in a cycle showing the life and worldview of people from different strata of society. This is one of the two purposes of creating a work. The deep meaning that the author laid in it is an attempt to answer the main questions of human existence: what is a person and whether he will retain his personality, having sunk "to the bottom" of moral and social life.

The history of the play

The first evidence of work on the play dates back to 1900, when Gorky, in a conversation with Stanislavsky, mentions his desire to write scenes from the life of the flophouse. Some sketches appeared at the end of 1901. In a letter to the publisher K.P. Pyatnitsky, to whom the author dedicated the work, Gorky wrote that in the planned play all the characters, the idea, the motives of the actions are clear to him, and "it will be scary." The final version of the work was ready on July 25, 1902, published in Munich and went on sale at the end of the year.

Things were not so rosy with the staging of the play on the stages of Russian theaters - it is practically prohibited. An exception was made only for the Moscow Art Theater, the rest of the theaters had to receive special permission for staging.

The title of the play was changed at least four times in the process of work, and the genre was not determined by the author - the edition read “At the bottom of life: scenes”. The shortened and now familiar name first appeared on the playbill at the first production at the Moscow Art Theater.

The first performers were the star cast of the Moscow Art Academic Theater: the role of Satin was performed by K. Stanislavsky, the Baron - V. Kachalov, Luke - I. Moskvin, Nastya - O. Knipper, Natasha - M. Andreeva.

The main plot of the work

The plot of the play is tied to the relationship of the heroes and in the atmosphere of universal hatred that reigns in the shelter. This is the outer canvas of the work. Parallel action explores the depth of a person's fall “to the bottom”, the measure of insignificance of a socially and spiritually degraded individual.

The action of the play begins and ends with the storyline of the relationship between two characters: the thief Vaska Ash and the wife of the owner of the shelter Vasilisa. Ash loves her younger sister Natasha. Vasilisa is jealous, constantly beats up her sister. She also has another interest in her lover - she wants to free herself from her husband and pushes Ash to murder. In the course of the play, Ash actually kills Kostylev in a quarrel. In the last act of the play, the lodgers of the hostel say that Vaska will have to go to hard labor, and Vasilisa will “get out” anyway. Thus, the action is looped through the fates of the two heroes, but is far from limited to them.

The play is scheduled for several weeks in early spring. The season is an important part of the play. One of the first titles given by the author to the work, "Without the Sun". Indeed, there is spring around, a sea of sunlight, and darkness in the shelter and in the souls of its inhabitants. Luka, a tramp, whom Natasha brings in one of the days, became the ray of the sun for the hostels. Luke brings hope of a happy outcome to the hearts of those who have fallen asleep and have lost faith in the best. However, at the end of the play, Luca disappears from the shelter. The characters who trust him lose faith in the best. The play ends with the suicide of one of them - the Actor.

Analysis of the piece

The play describes the life of a Moscow shelter. The main characters, respectively, were its inhabitants and the owners of the establishment. Also in it there are persons related to the life of the institution: a policeman, who is also the uncle of the hostess of the hostel, a vendor with dumplings, loaders.

Satin and Luca

The sharper, the former convict Satin and the vagabond, the wanderer Luke are carriers of two opposing ideas: the need for compassion for a person, a saving lie out of love for him, and the need to know the truth, as proof of a person's greatness, as a sign of trust in his strength of mind. In order to prove the falsity of the first worldview and the truth of the second, the author also built the action of the play.

Other characters

All other characters are the backdrop for this battle of ideas. In addition, they are designed to show, measure the depth of fall to which a person is able to descend. The drunkard Actor and the terminally ill Anna, people who have completely lost faith in their strengths, fall under the power of a wonderful fairy tale, into which Luke takes them. They are the most dependent on him. With his departure, they physically cannot live and die. The rest of the inhabitants of the shelter perceive the appearance and departure of Luke, as a play of the sun's ray of spring - appeared and disappeared.

Nastya, selling her body "on the boulevard", believes that there is a light love, and she was in her life. The tick, husband of dying Anna, believes that he will rise from the bottom and start earning a living from work again. The thread that connects him to his working past is the toolbox. At the end of the play, he is forced to sell them in order to bury his wife. Natasha hopes that Vasilisa will change and stop torturing her. After another beatings, after leaving the hospital, she will no longer appear in the shelter. Vaska Pepel strives to stay with Natalia, but cannot get out of the networks of the imperious Vasilisa. The latter, in turn, expects the death of her husband to untie her hands and give her long-awaited freedom. The Baron lives his aristocratic past. The gambler Bubnov, the destroyer of "illusions", the ideologue of misanthropy, believes that "all people are superfluous."

The work was created in conditions when, after the economic crisis of the 90s of the XIX century, factories stood up in Russia, the population was rapidly becoming poorer, many found themselves at the bottom rung of the social ladder, in the basement. Each of the heroes of the play in the past experienced a fall “to the bottom”, social and moral. Now they live with the memory of this, but they cannot rise “into the light”: they cannot, they have no strength, they are ashamed of their insignificance.

main characters

Luke became the light for some. Gorky gave Luka a “telling” name. It refers both to the image of St. Luke and to the concept of "guile". Obviously, the author seeks to show the inconsistency of Luke's ideas about the beneficial value of Faith for a person. Gorky practically reduces Luka's compassionate humanism to the notion of betrayal - according to the plot of the play, the tramp leaves the shelter just when those who trusted him need his support.

Satin is a figure designed to voice the author's worldview. As Gorky wrote, Satin is not quite a character for this, but there is simply no other with the same powerful charisma in the play. Satin is the ideological antipode of Luke: he does not believe in anything, sees the ruthless essence of life and the situation in which he and the rest of the inhabitants of the shelter found themselves. Does Satin believe in Man and his power over the power of circumstances and mistakes? The passionate monologue that he utters, arguing in absentia with the departed Luka, leaves a strong but contradictory impression.

There is also a carrier of the "third" truth in the work - Tambourines. This hero, like Satin, "stands for the truth", only he is somehow very scary. He is a man-hater, but, in fact, a murderer. Only they die not from the knife in his hands, but from the hatred that he harbors for everyone.

The drama of the play increases from act to act. Luke's comforting conversations with those who suffer from his compassion and the rare remarks of Satin, which indicate that he is attentively listening to the vagabond's speeches, become a connecting canvas. The climax of the play is Satin's monologue, delivered after Luke's departure and flight. Phrases from it are often quoted because they look like aphorisms; "Everything in a person is everything for a person!", "Lies are the religion of slaves and masters ... Truth is the god of a free person!"

Conclusion

The bitter result of the play is the triumph of the freedom of a fallen person to perish, disappear, leave, leaving no trace or memories behind. The inhabitants of the shelter are free from society, moral norms, family and livelihood. By and large, they are free from life.

The play At the Bottom has been living for over a century and continues to be one of the most powerful works of Russian classics. The play makes one think about the place of faith and love in a person's life, about the nature of truth and lies, about a person's ability to withstand moral and social decline.

In the play At the Bottom, Gorky managed to combine everyday concreteness and symbols, real human characters and abstract philosophical categories.
As for the characters, then, according to the memoirs of the author, their composition was not immediately determined. The author removed some superfluous images, and then the "noble" old man Luka appeared. What in the play precedes his appearance?
The curtain rises, and immediately a beggarly, withered life: dirt, hunger, disease, anger. The usual existence of a shelter is going on, it cannot even be called life. Rather, it is the inevitable death of people in the conditions of the "bottom". And their conversations match: about death, fights, drunkenness. And in this atmosphere of common anger and hatred, suddenly, somehow imperceptibly, such an "old house-fellow" appears. None of the inhabitants of the shelter could have imagined that with his arrival sharp internal displacements would begin in their seemingly unshakable environment.
Luka's appearance is the most common, the appearance of a wanderer: "With a stick in his hand, with a knapsack on his shoulders, a kettle and a teapot at his belt." But still there is something that distinguishes him from the rest of the "tramp". Somehow gradually, unobtrusively, not contradicting anyone, Luka slowly begins to build relationships with the inhabitants of the flophouse. And his words are affectionate, heartfelt: "sweetheart", "good health", "thank you" ... Luka accepts "any option" of life: "I don't care, I respect crooks." He does not creep into the soul, but simply looks closely, listens, assent and agrees with everyone.
The first act of the play "At the Bottom" is, as it were, a prelude to Luke's philosophy.
We can say that the inhabitants of the shelter are just beginning to have sprouts of interest in this person. Ash says: "What an interesting old man they brought ...".
And for the viewer, Luke is still incomprehensible, only his speech betrays his peasant origin: "just now", "anything", etc.
Where did this mysterious man come from? To the question of Baron Luke answers evasively: "We are all pilgrims on earth ..."
Remaining a mystery to everyone, he "throws bridges" to new acquaintances. Yes, Luka lived a lot and saw. And he determines the essence of a person immediately. To the drunken shoemaker Alyoshka, he says: "You are confused ..." And Vasilisa gives an exact description: "Oh, and you are not kind, mother ..."
And you can also say that Luka is kind of in the mood for good: he sweeps the floors, helps Anna.
Yes, Luka's appearance in Gorky's play is not accidental. What does a tormented, tormented soul need? What does a dispossessed, useless person, living without hope for the future, want? At least a drop of sympathy, a kind look, an affectionate word, a drop of sympathy. And now the soul has already warmed up, it has opened up to meet this tiny sprout of goodness, hope has begun to glow in the heart ... That is why the "wanderer" Luke came to the lodging house.
The scene of Luke's appearance in the flophouse also carries a certain artistic meaning in the play. First, it should be noted that the speech style of each character is specific. After all, it was in her that the fate, origin, social ties, and the degree of culture of the heroes of the play were reflected. For example, Vasilisa demands that Luka bring her a "patchport", and Luka himself also pronounces this word. But the Baron, assuming a stern look, asks Luka if he has a passport. Gorky uses a double meaning of the word and skillfully introduces it into the speech of the characters. The word "draped" changes depending on the context.
Kostylev: I'll have to throw fifty dollars on you ...
Tick: Throw a noose over me ...
Luke, in response to Anna's affectionate words, replaces the word "soft" with the word "soft."
Anna: I look at you ... you look like my father ... like my father ... the same gentle, soft ...
Luca: Crumpled a lot, that's why it's soft ...
Luka's speech is aphoristic: "Where it is warm - there is homeland", "There is no order in life, cleanliness", "... not a single flea is bad: everyone is black, everyone is jumping ...".
The stage embodiment of the image of Luke has its own history. At first, when this play was staged for the first time at the art theater by Stanislavsky, the first performer of the role of Luka, the magnificent Russian actor I. Moskvin, understood the good beginning of Gorky's drama as a ray of light in the dark realm of the hostel.
However, subsequently, the interpretation of Luke's character underwent the most decisive changes both in critical literature and in the stage interpretation of this image. Luka began to be understood as the personification of Tolstoy's "non-resistance to evil by violence", as a lie for salvation.
My opinion is that it is in the first act that this stage character is perceived exclusively with emotional sympathy, his humanity and optimism make the light strings sound in the human soul, and this is already a lot.

Many heroes of M. Gorky's play "At the Bottom" - Actor, Ashes, Nastya, Natasha, Kleshch - strive to break free from the "bottom" of life. But they feel their own powerlessness over the constipation of this "prison". They have a feeling of hopelessness of their fate and a craving for a dream, an illusion that gives at least some hope for the future. The Baron has this past wealth, which he thinks about and dreams of returning. The Actor has his former service to art, Natasha has the expectation of some extraordinary event that will turn her whole life, Nastya has a fictional romance with a student.

Thus, the characters in the play are prepared for the appearance of such a hero as Luke with his "gospel of mirages." And he appears and maintains all illusions or sows new ones.

This character appears in the first act of the play. His first phrase is indicative: "Good health, honest people!" For the first time on the pages of this work there are good, uncorrected words, spoken without mockery. Such an appeal is so unusual for the inhabitants of the shelter that Luka is immediately called "amusing": "What an entertaining old man you brought, Natasha ...".

At first glance, he really seems to be a simple and sweet person, but a little later the reader is convinced of the opposite.

With the appearance of Luke, symbolism appears in the lines in the play, which was not there before. For example, here Ash is brave in front of his beloved Natasha, declaring that he is not afraid to die: “Really, I'm not afraid! Even now - I will accept death! Take a knife, strike against the heart ... I will die - I will not ohnu! ". At this time, Bubnov, as if going about his own business, says twice: "And the threads are rotten." Thus, the falsity of Ash's statements is emphasized, as well as the insincerity of Natasha's coldness towards him.

Further, as if echoing the words of Ash about boredom ("And it's boring ... why is it boring for me? You live, live, everything is good! And suddenly - as if you will freeze: it will become boring"), Luka sings a song. The words of this song, just after the words of Ashes, also acquire a symbolic meaning: "Eh, and do not see the way-and ...". And in fact, does a thief have a bright path?

Luka speaks to everyone affectionately. At first, this leads to the fact that they try to insult him. For example, the Baron called him: "Who are you, kikimora?" But Luka knows how to stand up for himself. He, in turn, laughs at the offender: “I saw the count and the prince I saw ... and the baron - for the first time I meet, and even then spoiled ...”.

But in this episode one should pay attention to one circumstance - the word "kikimora". It is no coincidence that Gorky puts precisely this appeal to Luka into the mouth of the Baron. The author makes a note: "Kikimora is an evil spirit in popular beliefs." Indeed, the old man has something truly folk, he looks like a character in Russian fairy tales. Luke's language is replete with folk sayings: "honest people", "not a single flea is bad", "an old man - where it is warm, there is a homeland", "lordship is like smallpox ... and a person will recover, but the signs remain", "Oprich", "you are not affectionate, mother" and many others. And the fact that Luke is an evil spirit will be emphasized by Gorky later. The author will show the terrible result of comforting ideas.

Luka casually asks about all the inhabitants of the shelter: Nastya, Natasha, Vasilisa, Peple and others. He intervenes imperceptibly in every case and gives his assessment to everything. For example: "I will look at you, brothers, - your life - oh-oh! ..".

In the first act, the author gives a short background story of all the heroes, which makes them more understandable to us. But the story of Luke, and even then not the whole, the reader learns much later, only in the third act "At the Bottom". That is why, in this episode, Luke appears as a somewhat mysterious figure and, at first glance, stands out from the general gallery of images. But this is not the case.

The Wanderer knows very well how to communicate with the police. So, he clearly flatters the precinct, calling him "under" (distorted "non-commissioned officer"). Medvedev does not yet have this title, but he is certainly pleased with this treatment. Luka adds: "And the visibility is the most heroic!" In addition, the hero is afraid of checking documents, which, apparently, he does not have. This means that there was something in his past that made him get rid of his passport. This is how Luca explains to Anna his softness and affection: "They crumpled a lot, that's why they are soft ...". After these words, the hero "laughs with a rattling laugh" (author's remark).

There are no positive characters in the play, and there cannot be any. Luka, on the other hand, is deliberately described by Gorky as an unpleasant person. And if in each character the author finds at least one positive trait, then all the good that is shown in the elder, Gorky deliberately interrupts with some one mark with a characteristic that reduces this image.
Already at the beginning, Gorky denotes the principle of Luke's relationship to a person - compassion. Its practical expression is a consoling deception, a consoling illusion, in the name of which one can sacrifice the terrible truth of life that oppresses a person. On the doorstep of the lodging house, Luke appears with words of sympathy and sympathy. From his first words, a dispute about a person and about an attitude towards a person begins. For Luke, people are weak and insignificant in front of the circumstances of life, which, in his opinion, cannot be changed.

In the play At the Bottom, one of the original genres of Gorky's drama - the genre of a social-philosophical play - was "coined".

In the famous play "At the Bottom" M. Gorky still managed to combine the symbolism and life of that society, as well as true philosophical concepts and human character traits. The main protagonists of the manuscript are degraded people who were placed in extremely rough and terrible conditions. All the characters are miserable and very poor creatures who live in a dirty hole, they are dressed in rags, are very sick, often malnourished. When they have money, they often have holidays in the flophouse. In addition, quarrels, scandals and intrigues that occur between these people are a constant and inalienable phenomenon. Thus, the heroes of the play try to drown out the pain in themselves, which becomes unbearable, they try to forget and not remember the terrible situation in which they find themselves, by the way, through their own fault. But the life of the heroes of the work changes radically for a while, and this change is connected with the appearance of an ambiguous person - the wanderer Luke. I wonder who is this Luca? And why did his appearance so affect all the heroes of this play "At the Bottom?"

M. Gorky gives his character the ambiguous name of the evangelist, which tells us about the author's decent and honest attitude to his character and how the writer's work shows. The second side of criticism shows the point of view in which it is indicated that the name of the character was not chosen by chance, because it comes from the common word "crafty".

So, the appearance of Luka is the beginning of the play, about which Russian writers write so well. Up to this point, all the inhabitants of the shelter had never even thought about it, everyone has their own secret thoughts and unrealizable dreams, for the realization of which they do nothing. So, for example, the fallen girl Nastya simply cannot live without the thought of true love, the impudent merchant Kvashnya boasts of imaginary freedom. Each hero tries to humiliate his roommate and strike him at the most lively place. It is in this setting that the mysterious Luke appears. It is also noteworthy that this character appears in a place that does not have enough light, it is, as it were, permeated with a stuffy and dirty atmosphere, from there you want to run and never return, but nevertheless Luka stays here and ties up communication with the inhabitants of the shelter. To begin with, you should pay attention to the personality of the wanderer, as well as to his behavior. The elder's appearance is the most ordinary, heroes and readers also understand almost immediately that this person is a wanderer. This can be recognized by some of the details of his image: "With a stick in his hand, with a knapsack on his shoulders ..." This all helps Luka extremely and he begins to twist the threads of relations with the heroes of the flophouse. He seems to be trying to get into the trust of these unfortunate people, without offending or speaking to them. In the process of communication, Luca uses only gentle and kind words that act on the characters, like a balm for the soul. Perhaps none of them have heard, much less used such expressions. Luka does not climb into the souls of the guests of the hostel, he tries to take a closer look, get used to, and also agrees with everyone and does not make hasty conclusions. Thus, perhaps, many characters, as well as readers, begin to sympathize with this new person and want to know more about the personality of this wanderer.

But where did Luke come from - this question haunts some of the inhabitants of the shelter. We, in turn, only guess about the peasant origin of this person. We also know that Luke has seen a lot in his life, a lot of grief and loss befell him. We learn about this from his statement: "I crumpled a lot, that's why I am soft." In addition, Luke can easily determine the essence of human nature. For example, to a drunken shoemaker Alyoshka, the wanderer says: "You are confused ...", and Vasilisa makes an accurate description of her inner personality: "Oh, and you are unkind, mother ..." So, comparing all the information, we can say with confidence that that the appearance of the wanderer Luke in the play is by no means accidental. What else is needed for a tormented and tormented soul, which does not know the feeling of peace? Of course, a little kindness, compassion, and faith in a wonderful future. Even the very last loser and lost person wants someone to cheer him up, warm him up, and finally, lend a helping hand. This is precisely why the wanderer Luke came to the shelter.

The main scene of the appearance of the cunning and very cute Luke in the play has a style and a certain artistic note. It is important and necessary to note the peculiarity of the speech that the characters pronounce as they do it. After all, it is in them that the fate, origin, and cultural representation of the heroes of the work are reflected. For example, when Vasilisa asks to bring Luka a "patchport", Luka himself pronounces these words as well. But the Baron, on the contrary, demands from Luke that he show him his passport. M. Gorky masterfully introduces such a play on words and skillfully introduces these words into the speech of the characters. It is worth noting that Luke's speech is often aphoristic in nature, that is, the wanderer literally speaks the truth, which, unfortunately, is available to few. For example, the following sayings of Luke: "Where it is warm, there is homeland", ".. not a single flea is bad; everyone is black, everyone is jumping .." Of course, this episode plays a very important role in the context of the entire work. With the appearance of the mysterious wanderer Luke, the inhabitants of the work had faith in a bright life. Luca gave them a kind of starting point, around which each hero built his ideal world. The wanderer seems to be telling his roommates that if you cannot live in the real world, then create your own, in which you will feel at ease. For example, Luke made it clear to dying Anna that there is a new world called paradise, that it is very good and calm there, she will feel calm there. Anna believes him and dies with peace of mind. Thus, Luka is trying to "awaken" all the good and bright feelings that probably still remain in the souls of these degraded people.

It is also noteworthy that the fact that the image of Luke is interpreted as a bright "ray of light ... in the dark kingdom", but this was an erroneous opinion, because later the interpretation of the image of Luke was perceived as "a lie in salvation." In connection with this opinion, I would like to know: Did the appearance of Luka still harm or help the inhabitants of the shelter? Perhaps, after all, the appearance of the wanderer helped these unfortunate people. He was called to pity and caress these people when they became unnecessary and rejected asocial personalities. But Luka in no way disdained them, did not show disgust for them, but helped these people to some extent. Luke is finally reviving a faith that was lost a long time ago. One way or another, this mysterious wanderer helped every inhabitant who stood on the verge of life and death. There is no fault that Luke's good intentions were not destined to come true. He spoke from the bottom of his heart, sincerely and was ready to help everyone. In conclusion, I would like to say that the scene of the appearance of the mysterious wanderer Luke is a sign from above. If he had not come to this godforsaken shelter, then everything could have ended much worse: these degraded people would never have known that there is a good word in the world, that someone can help them, that there are still people who are ready support and encourage.

Unfortunately, at present such "wanderers" are becoming less and less, now they are afraid to approach asocial people, because they consider them infectious, aggressive and so on, but maybe if there was such a Luke among us, then everyone would changed for the better and among us there would be no "abandoned and forgotten" people who are not needed by anyone. Let their minutes be read, but we can make them happier and make them believe in a bright future, right?

Analysis of the first act of A.M. Gorky's drama "At the Bottom".

Gorky's play "At the Bottom" excited society with its appearance. The first performance of it caused a shock: did real bed-lodgers appear on the stage instead of actors?

The action of the play in the basement, which looks like a cave, attracts attention not only with the unusualness of the characters, but also with its polyphony. It is only at the first moment when the reader or viewer sees the "heavy stone vaults" of the ceiling, "Bubnov's bunk", "a wide bed covered with a dirty chintz canopy" it seems that the faces here are all the same - gray, gloomy, dirty.

But then the heroes started talking, and ...

- ... I-say, - a free woman, her own mistress ... (Kvashnya)

Who beat me yesterday? And why did they beat? (Satin)

It's bad for me to breathe dust. My body is poisoned with alcohol. (Actor)

What different voices! What different people! What different interests! The exposition of the first act is a discordant chorus of heroes who, as it were, do not hear each other. Indeed, everyone lives in this basement the way they want, everyone is preoccupied with their own problems (for someone it is a problem of freedom, for someone it’s a problem of punishment, for someone it’s a problem of health, survival in the current conditions).

But here the first turning point of the action - the dispute between Satin and the actor. In response to the words of the actor: "The doctor told me: your body, he says, is completely poisoned with alcohol", - Satin smiling pronounces the completely incomprehensible word "organon", and then adds to the Actor - "sycamber".

What's this? A play on words? Nonsense? No, this is the diagnosis that Satin gave to society. Organon is a violation of all the rational foundations of life. This means that it is not the Actor's organism that is poisoned, but that human life, the life of society, is poisoned, perverted.

Sicambr is translated into Russian as "savage". Of course, only a savage (according to Satin) can fail to understand this truth.

Sounds in this dispute and the third "incomprehensible" word - "macrobiotics". (The meaning of this concept is known: the book of the German doctor, honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences Hufeland was called "The Art of Extending Human Life", 1797). The "recipe" for prolonging human life, which is proposed by the Actor: "If the body is poisoned, ... it means that it is harmful for me to sweep the floor ... breathe dust ..." It is in response to this statement of the Actor that Satin says mockingly:

"Macrobiotics ... ha!"

So, the thought is indicated: life in a flophouse is absurd and wild, because its very rational foundations have been poisoned. This is understandable to Satin, but the hero, apparently, does not know the recipes for the treatment of the basics of life. The response "Macrobiotics ... ha!" can be interpreted in another way: what is the point of thinking about the art of renewal such life. The turning point of the first scene attracts attention not only by the fact that the reader defines the dominant thought about the foundations of life, it is also important because it gives an idea of the level of intelligence of the night shelters in the person of Satin. AND the thought that there are smart, knowledgeable people in the shelter is striking.

Let's pay attention to how Satin presents his beliefs.... It would be quite understandable if the night-lodger who was beaten up on the eve would directly speak about the abnormal state of society, which makes people behave in an unhuman manner. But for some reason he utters completely incomprehensible words. This is clearly not a demonstration of knowledge of foreign language vocabulary. What then? The answer that suggests itself makes one think about the moral qualities of Satin. Maybe he spares the Actor's pride, knowing about his increased emotionality? Maybe he is not at all inclined to offend a person, even one who does not know much? And in fact, and in another case we are convinced of the delicacy and tact of Satin. Isn't the presence of such qualities in a person of the “bottom” strange ?!

Another point that cannot be ignored: just recently we saw: "Satin has just woken up, lies on a bunk and growls" (remark to act 1), now, talking with the Actor, Satin smiles. What caused such a sudden change in mood? Perhaps Satin is interested in the course of the dispute, perhaps he feels in himself that strength (both intellectual and spiritual) that distinguishes him favorably from the Actor, who admits his own weakness, but perhaps this is not a smile of superiority over the Actor, but a kind, compassionate smile in relation to a person in need of support. No matter how we evaluate Satin's smile, it turns out that real human feelings live in him, whether it be pride from the realization of his own importance, be it compassion for the Actor and a desire to support him. This discovery is all the more surprising because the first impression of the roar of the voices of the lodgers, not listening, insulting each other, was not in favor of these people. ("You red-headed goat!" / Kvashnya - to the tick /; "Be quiet, old dog" / Tick - to the mite / etc.).

After the dispute between Satin and the Actor, the tone of the conversation changes sharply. Let's hear what the heroes are talking about now:

I love incomprehensible, rare words ... There are very good books and a lot of curious words ... (Satin)

I was a furrier ... I had my own establishment ... My hands were so yellow - from paint ... I really thought that I would not wash my hands until my death ... But they are just dirty ... Yes! (Tambourines)

Education is nonsense, talent is the main thing. And talent is faith in yourself, in your own strength. (Actor)

Work? Make the work pleasant to me - maybe I will work, yes! (Satin)

What kind of people are they? Rag, golden company ... People! I am a working person ... I am ashamed to look at them ... (Tick)

Do you have a conscience? (Ash)

What are the heroes of the “bottom” thinking about, what are they thinking about? Yes, about the same thing that any person thinks about: about love, about faith in one's own strength, about work, about the joys and sorrows of life, about good and evil, about honor and conscience.

The first discovery, the first amazement associated with what Gorky read - here it is: people of the “bottom” are ordinary people, they are not villains, they are not monsters, they are not scoundrels. They are the same people as we are, only they live in different conditions. Maybe it was this discovery that shocked the first spectators of the play and is shaking more and more new readers ?! May be…

If Gorky completed the first act with this polylogue, our conclusion would be correct, but the playwright introduces a new face. Luka appears "with a stick in his hand, with a knapsack on his shoulders, a kettle and a teapot at his belt." Who is he, a person who welcomes everyone: "Good health, honest people!"

Who is he, the person who claims: “I don't care! I also respect crooks, in my opinion, not a single flea is bad: everyone is black, everyone is jumping ... " name. Luke Is a saint, it is the same biblical hero?

(Let's turn to the Biblical Encyclopedia. Let us ask what it says about Luke: “Luke the Evangelist is the writer of the third Gospel and the book of the Acts of the Apostles. According to the testimony of Esenius and Jerome, Luke was a native of Antiochus. The Apostle Paul calls him beloved doctor. His thorough acquaintance with Jewish customs, way of thinking, phraseology make it somewhat probable that he was at first a proselyte, a foreigner who adopted the Jewish faith, although on the other hand, according to his classical style, purity and correctness of the Greek language in his Gospel, one can rather conclude, that he did not come from the Jewish, but from the Greek race. We do not know what prompted him to accept Christianity, but we know that by his conversion, having sincerely attached himself to the Apostle Paul, he devoted his whole life to the service of Christ. There is an ancient tradition that Luke was from 70 disciples sent by the Lord to every city and place where he himself wanted to go(Luke X, 1) Another ancient legend says that he was also a painter and ascribes to him the inscribed icons of the Savior and the Mother of God, of which the latter is hitherto kept in the Great Dormition Cathedral in Moscow. Regarding the manner in which he entered the apostolic ministry, we find precise and definite information that he himself described in the book of Acts. They think that in his touching Gospel story about the appearance of the risen Lord, to two disciples who went to Emmanus under another disciple, whose name is not mentioned, of course Luke himself (Chapter XIV). It is not known for certain when Luke joined the apostle Paul and became his companion and collaborator. Maybe it was AD 43 or 44. Then he accompanied the apostle to Rome, until the time of his first imprisonment in it and remained with him. And during the second bondage of the Apostle, shortly before his death, he was also with him, while all the others left the Apostle; This is why Paul's words at the end of II Timothy sound so touching: “Damas left me, loving the present age, and went to Thessaloniki, Criscentes to Galatea, Titus to Dalmatia. Luke alone with me. " After the death of the Apostle Paul, nothing is known from the Holy Scriptures about Luke's subsequent life. There is a tradition that he preached the Gospel in Italy, Macedonia and Greece and even in Africa and died peacefully at the age of 80. According to another legend, he died a martyr's death under Domitian, in Achaia, and for lack of a cross was hanged on an olive tree. ").

Based on these ideas about Luke, we can say that Luke is a healer of hearts, a wanderer, a bearer of Christian morality, a teacher of lost souls in many ways resembles the Evangelist Luke.

At the same time, another question arises: maybe Luke is a crafty, two-faced person? Or maybe Luke is "luminiferous" (after all, this is how this name is translated)?

It is very difficult to answer these questions unequivocally, because even the playwright himself sometimes saw in his hero a saint, sometimes a liar, sometimes a comforter.

Luke's first words are alarming: he is so indifferent towards people that they are all the same for him ?!("Everyone is black, everyone is jumping") Or maybe he is so wise that he sees in anyone just a Human ?!("Good health, honest people!"). Ash is right when he calls Luka "amusing." Indeed, he is humanly interesting, ambiguous, old-man wise: “This is how it always turns out: a person thinks to himself - I’m doing well! Grab it - but people are unhappy! "

Yes, people can be unhappy with the fact that the "old man" sees their secret desires, understands more than the heroes themselves (remember Luke's conversations with Ash); people may be dissatisfied with the fact that Luke speaks so convincingly and so wisely that it is difficult to dispute his words: "How many different people on earth are in control ... and frightens each other of all sorts of fears, but there is no order in life and there is no purity ...".

Luka’s first step in the flop is the desire to “put in”: “Well, at least I’m dropping here. Where is your broom? " The subtext of the phrase is obvious: Luka appears in the basement to make people's lives cleaner. But this is one part of the truth. Gorky is philosophical, so there is another part of the truth: maybe Luke appears, raises dust (excites people, makes them worry, take care of his existence) and disappears. (After all, the verb “sweep” also has such a meaning. Otherwise, it was necessary to say “sweep”, “sweep”).

Luke, at the very first appearance, formulates several basic principles of the attitude towards life:

1) - They pieces of paper-that's all like that - all are worthless.

2) - And everything is people! No matter how you pretend, no matter how you wiggle, you were born a man, you will die a man ...

3) –I all I look people become smarter, more and more amusing ... and even though they live worse and worse, but want everything - better ... Stubborn!

4) - A is it possible for a person commercials throw? He- whatever it is - a always worth its price!

Now, reflecting on some of the points of the life truth of Luke, we can approach the moment of truth: in a terrible, unrighteous life there is one value and one truth that cannot be disputed. This truth is man himself. Luke declares this when he appears.

The playwright has been thinking about the problem of man for many years. Probably, the appearance of Luke in the first act of the play "At the Bottom" is the culminating moment of this action, not only because the hero outlines one of the main problems of the play - how to relate to a person; Luke's appearance is the most striking moment also because the rays of thoughts are drawn from him to the next actions of the drama.

"There is no man without a name" - the opening of the Actor in the second act;

“Man is the truth,” is the final confession of Satin. Such confessions are phenomena of the same order.

The insight of the characters in the finale of the play, the optimistic sounding of “At the Bottom” became possible, among other things, because Luka appeared in the play, acting on the dark world like “acid” on a rusty coin, highlighting both the best and worst sides of life. Of course, Luka's activities are diverse, many deeds and words of this hero can be interpreted in exactly the opposite way, but this is quite natural, because a person is a living phenomenon, changing and changing the world around him. Whatever you say Luke, no matter how he argues this or that position, he is humanly wise, sometimes with a grin, sometimes with a sly one, sometimes seriously leads the reader to an understanding of what a Man is in the world, and everything else is the work of his hands, his mind, conscience. It is this understanding that is valuable in the hero of Gorky, who appeared among disbelieving people and disappeared when people hatched, woke up, revived that HUMAN GRAIN, which for the time being had been dormant. With the appearance of Luke, the life of the lodgers takes on new, human facets.

The first act of the play is read. The interrelationships of the heroes, the personal characteristics of the night shelters are considered, the compositional features of this action, which is important for the play, are revealed. Along with the intermediate conclusions that we drew in the course of the analysis, it is probably worth making a general conclusion about the sound of the first action.

Let's ask ourselves a question What role does the first act play in the context of the drama? This question can be answered in different ways: firstly, it outlines the themes that will sound throughout the play; secondly, here are formulated (still very roughly) the principles of attitudes towards a person, which will be developed by both Luke and Satin in the course of the drama; thirdly, and this is especially important, already in the first act of the play, in the arrangement of the characters, in their words, we see the attitude of the writer to the MAN, we feel that the main thing in the play is the author's view of man, his role and place in the world. It is interesting from this point of view to refer to the confession of Gorky, which sounded in the article "On Plays": what we call culture, in which a huge amount of his energy is embodied and that is a colossal superstructure over nature, much more hostile than friendly to him - this person as an artistic image is the most excellent being! But a modern writer, playwright is dealing with a being a little man who was brought up for centuries under conditions of class struggle, deeply infected with zoological individualism and, in general, is an extremely variegated, very complex, contradictory figure ... we must show him to himself in all the beauty of its confusion and fragmentation, with all the "contradictions of heart and mind."

The very first action of the drama “At the Bottom” realizes this task, which is why we cannot unambiguously interpret any character, not a single remark, not a single act of the heroes. The historical layer that interested the writer is also obvious in the first act: if we take into account the historical roots of Luke, then the reader can trace the path of Man from the very origins to the modern playwright of the moment, to the beginning of the XX century. Another layer, social and moral, is obvious in the first action: Gorky examines the Man in all the diversity of his manifestations: from the saint to the one who finds himself "at the bottom" of life.