Gooseberry heroes. Analysis of Chekhov's Gooseberry. A.P. Chekhov, "Gooseberry": the main characters. Has anything changed since the lesson?

History of creation

For the first time the story "Gooseberry" was published in the August issue of the magazine "Russian Thought" in 1898. The stories "Gooseberries" and "About Love", which continued the "small trilogy" begun by the story "The Man in the Case", were created by Chekhov in Melikhovo in July 1898.

Characters

Ivan Ivanovich Chimsha-Gimalaysky - main character works, narrator
Nikolay Ivanovich- Ivan Ivanovich's younger brother. Nicholas worked in the Treasury.
Alekhin- a poor landowner, to whom Ivan Ivanovich looks in
Burkin- a friend and interlocutor of Ivan Ivanovich.

Plot

Ivan Ivanovich and Burkin are walking across a field near the village of Mironositskoye and decide to visit their friend, the landowner Pavel Konstantinovich Alekhin, whose estate is located nearby in the village of Sofyino. Alekhin, “a man of about forty, tall, stout with long hair, looking more like a professor or an artist than a landowner,” greets guests on the threshold of a barn in which a winnowing machine makes noise. His clothes are dirty and his face is black with dust. He welcomes the guests and invites them to go to the bath. After washing and changing clothes, Ivan Ivanovich, Burkin and Alekhin go to the house, where, over a cup of tea with jam, Ivan Ivanovich tells the story of his brother Nikolai Ivanovich.

The brothers spent their childhood in the wild, on the estate of their father, who served as an officer and left the children a hereditary nobility. After the death of their father, their estate was sued for debts. From the age of nineteen, Nikolai sat in the state chamber and dreamed of buying himself a small estate and simply could not think of anything else. All the time he imagined a future estate, where gooseberries were bound to grow. Nikolai saved up money, was malnourished, married without love to an ugly but rich widow. He kept his wife starving, and put her money in his name in the bank. His wife could not bear such a life and died, and Nikolai bought an estate for himself, ordered twenty gooseberry bushes, planted them and lived as a landowner. When Ivan Ivanovich came to visit his brother, he was unpleasantly struck by how he sank, aged and flabby. He became a real gentleman, ate a lot, sued neighboring factories. Nikolay regaled his brother with gooseberries, and it was evident from him that he was pleased with his fate and himself.

At the sight of this happy man, Ivan Ivanovich "was seized by a feeling close to despair." All the night he spent at the estate, he thought about how many people in the world suffer, go crazy, drink, how many children die from malnutrition. And how many other people live “happily”, “eat during the day, sleep at night, talk their nonsense, get married, grow old, complacently drag their dead to the cemetery.” He thought that “someone with a hammer” should stand behind the door of every happy person and remind him with a knock that there are unfortunate people, that sooner or later trouble will befall him, and “no one will see or hear him, as he is now sees and does not hear others. Ivan Ivanovich, finishing his story, says that there is no happiness, and if there is a meaning in life, then it is not in happiness, but in "doing good."

Neither Burkin nor Alekhin are satisfied with Ivan Ivanovich's story. Alekhin does not delve into whether his words are true. It was not about cereals, not about hay, but about something that had no direct relation to his life. But he is happy and wants the guests to continue the conversation. However, the time is later, the owner and guests go to bed.

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Notes

An excerpt characterizing the Gooseberry (story)

- Careful about what? I asked.
“You were born…” was the answer.
His tall figure began to waver. The field swirled. And when I opened my eyes, to my great regret, my strange stranger was nowhere to be found. One of the boys, Romas, stood in front of me and watched my "awakening". He asked what I was doing here and if I was going to pick mushrooms ... When I asked him what time it was, he looked at me in surprise and I realized that everything that happened to me took only a few minutes! ..
I got up (it turned out that I was sitting on the ground), dusted myself off and was about to go, when I suddenly noticed a very strange detail - the whole meadow around us was green!!! As amazingly green as if we found it in early spring! And what was our general surprise when we suddenly noticed that even beautiful spring flowers appeared on it from somewhere! It was absolutely amazing and, unfortunately, completely inexplicable. Most likely, it was some kind of "side" phenomenon after the arrival of my strange guest. But unfortunately, I could not explain or at least understand this at that time.
- What have you done? Romas asked.
"It's not me," I muttered guiltily.
“Well then, let’s go,” he agreed.
Romas was one of those rare then friends who were not afraid of my “antics” and were not surprised at anything that constantly happened to me. He just believed me. And so I never had to explain anything to him, which for me was a very rare and valuable exception. When we returned from the woods, I was shaking with chills, but I thought that, as usual, I just had a little cold and decided not to disturb my mother until something more serious happened. The next morning everything was gone, and I was very pleased that this fully confirmed my “version” about a cold. But, unfortunately, the joy was short-lived ...

In the morning, as usual, I went to breakfast. Before I had time to stretch out my hand to a cup of milk, the same heavy glass cup abruptly moved in my direction, spilling some of the milk on the table... I felt a little uneasy. I tried again - the cup moved again. Then I thought about bread... Two pieces lying next to each other jumped up and fell to the floor. To be honest, my hair moved… Not because I was scared. At that time, I was not afraid of almost anything, but it was something very “earthly” and concrete, it was nearby and I absolutely did not know how to control it ...
I tried to calm down, took a deep breath and tried again. Only this time I didn’t try to touch anything, but decided to just think about what I want - for example, to have a cup in my hand. Of course, this did not happen, she again just moved sharply. But I rejoiced!!! All my insides just squealed with delight, because I already understood that it was sharp or not, but it happened just at the request of my thought! And it was absolutely amazing! Of course, I immediately wanted to try the “novelty” on all the living and non-living “objects” around me ...
The first one I came across was my grandmother, who at that moment was calmly preparing her next culinary “work” in the kitchen. It was very quiet, my grandmother was humming something to herself, when suddenly a heavy cast-iron frying pan jumped like a bird on the stove and crashed to the floor with a terrible noise ... Grandmother jumped in surprise no worse than the same frying pan ... But, we must pay tribute to her, immediately pulled herself together and said:
- Stop doing that!
I felt a little offended, because, no matter what happened, out of habit, they always blamed me for everything (although this moment this, of course, was absolutely true).
- Why do you think it's me? I asked pouting.
“Well, we don’t seem to have ghosts yet,” Grandma said calmly.
I loved her very much for her equanimity and unshakable calmness. It seemed that nothing in this world could truly "unsettle her." Although, naturally, there were things that upset her, surprised or made her sad, but she perceived all this with amazing calmness. And so I always felt very comfortable and secure with her. Somehow, I suddenly felt that my last “trick” interested my grandmother ... I literally “felt in my gut” that she was watching me and waiting for something else. Well, of course, I didn’t keep myself waiting long ... After a few seconds, all the “spoons and ladles” hanging over the stove flew down with a noisy roar behind the same pan ...
- Well, well ... Breaking - not building, would have done something useful, - my grandmother said calmly.
I choked with indignation! Well, please tell me, how can she treat this "incredible event" so coolly?! After all, this is ... SUCH !!! I couldn’t even explain what it was, but I certainly knew that it was impossible to treat what was happening so calmly. Unfortunately, my indignation did not make the slightest impression on my grandmother, and she again calmly said:
Don't waste so much energy on something you can do with your hands. Better go read it.
My indignation knew no bounds! I couldn’t understand why something that seemed so amazing to me didn’t cause her any delight?! Unfortunately, at that time I was still too small a child to understand that all these impressive “external effects” really do not give anything but the same “external effects” ... And the essence of all this is just intoxication with the “mysticism of the inexplicable” gullible and impressionable people, which my grandmother, of course, was not ... But since I had not yet matured to such an understanding, at that moment I was only incredibly interested in what else I could move. Therefore, without regret, I left my grandmother who “did not understand” me and moved on in search of a new object of my “experiments” ...
At that time, my father's favorite lived with us, a beautiful gray cat - Grishka. I found him sleeping sweetly on a warm stove and decided that this was just a very good moment to try my new “art” on him. I thought it would be better if he sat at the window. Nothing happened. Then I concentrated and thought harder... Poor Grishka flew off the stove with a wild cry and crashed his head against the window sill... I felt so sorry for him and so ashamed that I, all around guilty, rushed to pick him up. But for some reason, the unfortunate cat's fur suddenly stood on end and, meowing loudly, rushed away from me, as if scalded by boiling water.

The end of the 19th century was a time marked by a period of stagnation in the social and political life of Russia. In these difficult days for our Fatherland famous writer A.P. Chekhov is trying to convey good ideas to thinking people. So, in the story "Gooseberry" he asks the reader questions about the meaning of life and true happiness, exposing the conflict between material and spiritual wealth.

Included in the "little trilogy" is the story of A.P. Chekhov's "Gooseberry" was published by the publishers of "Russian Thought" in 1898. It was created by a writer in the village of Melikhovo, Moscow region. This story is a continuation of the work "The Man in the Case", which also tells about a dead human soul with a distorted concept of happiness.

It is believed that Chekhov took the story that the famous lawyer Anatoly Koni told the writer L.N. Tolstoy. This story tells about one official who, like N.I. Chimshe-Himalayan, saved his savings all his life for the sake of fulfilling his dream. The official believed that a dress uniform with gold embroidery would bring him honor and respect, make him happy. But during his lifetime, the “happy” thing was not useful to him. Moreover, the uniform, tarnished from mothballs, was put on the poor fellow only at his own funeral.

Genre and direction

The work "Gooseberry" is written in the genre of a story and belongs to such a direction in literary creativity like realism. A laconic prose form allows the author to express his thoughts as briefly as possible, and as a result, to attract the attention of the reader, to reach his heart.

As you know, the story is distinguished from other genres by the presence of only one storyline, the presence of one or two main characters, a small number of secondary actors and small volume. We observe all these signs in the Gooseberry.

About what?

The veterinarian Ivan Ivanovich Chimsha-Gimalaysky and the teacher of the gymnasium Burkin were caught in the rain in the field. The heroes wait out the bad weather in the estate of Alekhine, a friend of Ivan Ivanovich. Then the doctor shares with his companions the story of his brother, whose fate was sad.

Brothers from childhood knew one simple truth- you have to pay for the pleasure. They came from a poor family, tried to provide for themselves.

The youngest of the brothers especially strove for enrichment - Nikolai Ivanovich. The limit of all his dreams was a manor and a garden in which ripe and fragrant gooseberries would grow. In order to achieve his goal, Chimsha-Gimala even killed his wife, albeit not on purpose. He saved on everything, seemed to notice nothing around, except for the advertisements for the sale of "acres of arable land and a meadow with an estate." In the end, he still managed to acquire the coveted plot. On the one hand, the main character is happy, he eats his gooseberries with pleasure, pretends to be a stern but fair gentleman ... But on the other hand, the current situation of Nikolai Ivanovich does not please his brother, who came to visit. Ivan Ivanovich understands that there are things whose value is much more significant than the pleasure of eating your own gooseberries. It is at this moment that the conflict between the material and the spiritual reaches its apogee.

Composition

The plot of "Gooseberry" is built on the principle of "story within a story". Non-linear narration helps the author to deepen the meaning of the work.

In addition to the story of the main character of the story, Nikolai Ivanovich Chimshi-Himalayan, there is another reality in which Ivan Ivanovich, Alekhin and Burkin live. The last two give their assessment of what happened to Nikolai Ivanovich. Their ideas about life are the most common version of the existence of people. It is important to pay attention to the exposition of the story, which contains detailed description nature. The landscape in the estate of Nikolai Ivanovich confirms the spiritual poverty of the newly minted master.

Main characters and their characteristics

Chimsha-Himalaisky Ivan Ivanovich- a representative of the nobility, who serves in the medical field - treats animals. He is also a character in the stories "The Man in the Case" and "About Love". This hero performs important functions in the story "Gooseberry". First, he is a storyteller Secondly, a reasoning hero, since from his lips the reader can hear the author's appeal, his main thoughts. For example, the words of Ivan Ivanych about the transience of life, the need to act and live here and now.
Chimsha-Gimalaysky Nikolai Ivanych- a representative of the nobility, a petty official, and then a landowner. He is two years younger than his brother, "a kind, meek man." The character sought to return to the village - to lead a quiet life of a landowner. He dreamed about how he would feed the ducks on the pond, walk in the garden, bathing in the rays of the warm sun, pick ripe gooseberries from the branches still wet from the morning dew. For the sake of a dream, he denied himself everything: he saved, he married not for love. After the death of his wife, he was finally able to buy the estate of his dreams: he settled down, began to gain weight and put on airs, talk about his noble origin, and asked the peasants to address himself as “Your Honor”.

Themes

This work deals with themes of happiness, dreams, the search for the meaning of life. All three themes are closely related to each other. The dream of his own estate with gooseberries led Nikolai Ivanych to his happiness. He not only ate gooseberries with relish, but also talked intelligently about public education, sincerely believed that thanks to him, every simple man could become a full-fledged member of society. Only now the happiness of the protagonist is false: it's just peace, idleness, which lead him to stagnation. Time around him literally stopped: he does not need to bother himself, try and deny himself anything, because now he is a gentleman. Previously, Nikolai Ivanovich was firmly convinced that happiness must be won, deserved. Now, in his opinion, happiness is a gift from God, and only a chosen one like him can live in paradise on earth. That is, his dubious achievement was only fertile soil for selfishness. A man lives only for himself. Having become rich, he became impoverished spiritually.

It is possible to single out such a topic as indifference and responsiveness. The narrator, discussing this topic, notes that neither Alekhine nor Burkin fully understood his ideas, they showed passivity to a very instructive story about the meaning of life. Ivan Ivanovich Chimsha-Himalayan himself urges everyone to seek happiness throughout their lives, to remember people, and not just themselves.

And thus, the hero admits, the meaning of life lies not in the satisfaction of carnal desires, but in more sublime things, for example, helping others.

Problems

Greed and vanity. The main problem in the story "Gooseberry" are the delusions of a person that true happiness is material wealth. So, Nikolai Ivanovich worked all his life for the sake of money, lived in the name of them. As a result, his ideas turned out to be erroneous, which is why he ate sour gooseberries, smiling and saying: “Oh, how delicious!”. In his view, only money gives a person significance: being a gentleman, he himself began to exalt himself, as if without an estate
An equally important issue is selfishness. The protagonist, like many people on earth, forgot or did not want to remember the misfortunes of others. He followed this rule: I feel good, but the rest do not care.

Meaning

The main idea of A.P. Chekhov is expressed in the phrase of Ivan Ivanovich that one cannot rejoice when others feel bad. You can not close your eyes to other people's problems, it is important to remember that trouble can knock on any house. It is important to be able to respond to requests for help in time, so that they can help you in difficult times. Thus, the author expresses his contempt for the constant rest and stagnation in human life. Happiness, according to Chekhov, is a movement, an action aimed at doing good and just deeds.

The same idea can be traced in all parts of the trilogy.

Criticism

Positively rated the story "Gooseberry" V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko:

Well, because there is a color inherent in you, both in the general tone and background, and in the language, and also because very good thoughts ...

But not only critics and literary critics spoke about what they read. Letters were actively written to Anton Pavlovich simple people. For example, once a writer received a letter from Natalia Dushina, a student at a technical school. Here is her quote:

When I read something of yours, I always feel that I lived with these people, that I want to say the same thing about them that you said, and I am not the only one who feels this, and this is because you write only the truth and everything that is said not as you said will be a lie ...

The most detailed description of Chekhov's creative manner of describing the realities of Russian life was given by B. Eichenbaum in his article in the magazine "Star" :

Over the years, Chekhov's artistic diagnoses were refined and deepened. The sickness of Russian life took on sharper and brighter outlines under his pen.<…>From diagnoses, Chekhov began to move on to issues of treatment. This came out with particular force in the story "The Gooseberry".<…>Chekhov never composed - he heard these words in his life and was delighted with them, because he himself was this man with a hammer. He knocked at the very heart of Russia - and got through.

He spoke especially emotionally about the story G.P. Berdnikov, declaring that "it's a shame to be happy" in the reality that Chekhov describes. :

Drama ... is revealed to us in the story "Gooseberry".<…>However, under the pen of Chekhov, the dream-passion that seized the official absorbs him so much that in the end he completely deprives him of a human appearance and likeness.

History of creation

"Gooseberry" was highly appreciated by some critics, Nemirovich-Danchenko found that it had very good thoughts.

Characters

Ivan Ivanovich Chimsha-Gimalaysky- protagonist, narrator
Nikolay Ivanovich- Ivan Ivanovich's younger brother. Nicholas worked in the Treasury.
Alekhin- a poor landowner, to whom Ivan Ivanovich looks in
Burkin- a friend and interlocutor of Ivan Ivanovich.

Plot

Notes

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
Plays	Fatherless ("A play without a title", "Platonov"; 1870s-1880s) On the high road () About the dangers of tobacco () Calhas () Ivanov (1887-1888) Bear () Offer () Wedding () Goblin () Tatyana Repina () Reluctant tragedian () Anniversary () Uncle Ivan () Seagull (1895-1896) Three sisters () The Cherry Orchard ()
Tale
stories	Bride Man in a case Mysterious nature Steppe Student In his native corner Vanka
"Small trilogy"	man in a case Gooseberry About love
Related articles	Bibliography of Anton Chekhov Chekhov in Philately Museum of A.P. Chekhov's Letters Museum of Chekhov (Badenweiler) House-Museum of Anton Pavlovich Chekhov in Moscow House-Museum of Chekhov (Belaya Dacha) Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk City Literary and Art Museum of A.P. Sakhalin" Taganrog City Public Library. A. P. Chekhov

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010 .

Chekhov's story "Gooseberry" is based on the plot of the story told by the lawyer Koni to Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy. That story told about an official who dreamed of a ceremonial uniform with gold galloons, and never used it during his lifetime. The purpose of Chekhov's work is to draw the reader's attention to the correct understanding of the meaning of life, to awaken in him responsiveness and concern for his neighbor. Chekhov calls for constant movement forward, due to the manifestations of the best human qualities. "Gooseberry" is part of a cycle of short stories created by the writer in 1898.

Characteristics of the heroes "Gooseberry"

Main characters

Ivan Ivanovich Chimsha-Gimalaysky

Coming from a noble family, he currently serves as a veterinarian. He is a hero in the story "Gooseberry", through whose mouth the thoughts of the author are expressed. He is also a storyteller who introduced his friends to his brother's story. Regrets that he is no longer too young to participate in the struggle against the vices of society, leading to moral decay. Self-critical of himself, as he is also subject to various vices. Calls on Alekhine to hurry to do good.

Nikolay Ivanovich Chimsha-Gimalaysky

The younger brother of Ivan Ivanovich, a nobleman, now a landowner. He served in the city as an official, was meek and kind person. He was very homesick for village life, and he had a dream - to buy a small estate, somewhere closer to nature. Gooseberries were to become an indispensable attribute of the estate. For the sake of achieving the goal, he turned into a miser - he was undernourished, underdrink, walked in rags. Having reached the goal, he turned into a flabby tradesman.

Minor characters

Alekhine, landowner	A tall, stout man in his forties, long hair makes him look like an artist. The landowner, mired in his economic affairs. In addition to hay, tar and cereals, he is not interested in anything. He does the housework himself so much that he forgot when he last washed. He is glad to guests, hospitable and hospitable, has a large two-story house.
Burkin	Gymnasium teacher, friend of Ivan Ivanovich. Burkin, like Alekhine, is a representative of the “case”. He does not understand the meaning of the story told by Ivan Ivanovich, for him this is an ordinary situation, of no interest. He is interested in completely different topics - women, elegant people. Indifferent and silent.
Pelagia	Attractive young maid Alekhina. Delicate and silent, she struck Burkin and Ivan Ivanovich with her beauty. Gently and unobtrusively gives the host's guests towels, clean clothes, waits at the table.

The main characters of "Gooseberry", Ivan Ivanovich and Nikolai Ivanovich, completely different people understanding the meaning of life in different ways. The only thing they have in common is their names. Thus, Chekhov continues to develop the theme of "case" in his cycle of stories, which includes three stories. main theme of this trilogy, the writer tries to awaken people from a meaningless existence, from their base and petty goals. Through the mouth of Ivan Ivanovich, Chekhov tries to awaken in a person the desire for high moral and moral values, for the realization of their insignificant desires. The characterization of the heroes in Chekhov's work gives an idea of the time that was called the period of stagnation. The writer's trilogy reflected the course of events taking place in the sphere of socio-political relations. With his works, Chekhov tried to spark a spark in the minds of progressive and thinking people who could radically influence the events taking place in the country. Comprehension of the story "Gooseberry" makes you think about life priorities.

The protagonist of the story - Nikolay Ivanovich, younger brother of Ivan Ivanovich. Nicholas worked in the Treasury. This is a representative of the nobility, a petty official, and then a landowner. He is two years younger than his brother, "a kind, meek man." The character sought to return to the village - to lead a quiet life of a landowner. He dreamed about how he would feed the ducks on the pond, walk in the garden, bathing in the rays of the warm sun, pick ripe gooseberries from the branches still wet from the morning dew. For the sake of a dream, he denied himself everything: he saved, he married not for love. After the death of his wife, he was finally able to buy the estate of his dreams: he settled down, began to gain weight and put on airs, talk about his noble origin, and asked the peasants to address himself as “Your Honor”.

Chimsha-Himalaisky Ivan Ivanovich- narrator. This is a representative of the nobility, who serves in the medical field - treats animals. He is also a character in the stories "The Man in the Case" and "About Love". This hero performs important functions in the story "Gooseberry". Firstly, he is a narrator, and secondly, a reasoning hero, since from his lips the reader can hear the author's appeal, his main thoughts. For example, the words of Ivan Ivanych about the transience of life, the need to act and live here and now.

Pavel Konstantinovich Alekhin- a poor landowner, to whom Ivan Ivanovich looks in. “He was wearing a white shirt that had not been washed for a long time, mud and straw also stuck to his boots. His nose and eyes were black with dust” (but, mind you, this does not cause a feeling of disgust and disgust - on the contrary, he is beautiful in his work)