Maxim Gorky's play "At the Depths", written in 1902 and then staged at the Moscow Art Theater, was a phenomenal success. For the first time, real tramps appeared on stage (one of them was, in the recent past, the famous author of the play), in contrast to the romanticized tramps of Gorky’s early romantic stories about “former people.” However, keen interest in the play was caused not only by the topicality of problems about society’s responsibility for the lives of the disadvantaged, but also by the relevance of the philosophical questions posed by Gorky, the main one of which is what is truth, does a person need it, what is a person and in the name of what he lives.

The dramaturgical plot of the play rests on a dispute about the truth, and not on a traditional love affair. All elements of the play's cross-cutting action are connected with the image of Luke, with his philosophy and behavior in life, reflecting his views: the plot of the action is the appearance of Luke in the rooming house, who immediately becomes the center of attention of the rooming houses; The development of the action is determined by the influence that Luke’s personality, behavior and statements have on the lives of the inhabitants of the shelter. Luke awakens the feelings and consciousness of tramps, revealing their true essence. The climax is the attempt of the heroes of the play to change their lives, to fulfill the dream awakened by Luka, who made him believe in the possibility of its fulfillment (“You believe,” he inspires). The denouement - the collapse of all illusions - is connected with the disappearance of Luka and the ongoing dispute about his personality and the role he played in the lives of the inhabitants of the shelter and, more broadly, about the truth that people need.

Luka is an old wanderer, the only one of the inhabitants of the shelter about whose past we know almost nothing. Where he leaves the shelter in the fourth act is also unknown. But his stay in the shelter left a deep mark on the souls of the tramps.

Together with Luka, kindness and affection enter the shelter. He resembles Tolstoy’s Platon Karataev, as “something kind, Russian, round”: the same melodious speech, gentle words of greeting (“Good health, honest people”), from which the inhabitants of the “cave-like basement” have long been unaccustomed where from morning to night you can hear screams, curses, fights and even murders (“One day they will kill you,” says the Actor to Satin. “You fool, you can’t kill twice,” exclaims Satin calmly, that is, habitually); proverbs and sayings, which abound in Luke’s speech, are organically woven into the speech of the wise old man and reflect the people’s view of life (“For an old man, where it’s warm, there’s a homeland,” “not a single flea is bad: they’re all black, they all jump”). It exudes coziness and homeliness, something homeless people have long lost the habit of. No wonder Natasha immediately responds to his affection and lovingly calls him grandfather (“Go there, grandfather.”) Luka immediately wins people over because his words are wise and his sympathy is not offensive: “Ehe-he! I’ll look at you, brothers, - your life - oh!”

Compassionate for others, he never seeks to arouse sympathy for himself; Having experienced a lot in his long-suffering life (“They suffered a lot, that’s why he is soft,” he will say only once), he did not harden, did not become angry, but became softer, kinder, more humane, and this is a sign of a great soul and nobility.

Luka knows how to maintain dignity and stand up for himself (which is very much valued by people humiliated by life) not with shouting and abuse, but with the calm wisdom of a person who has lived and experienced a lot. When the Baron, out of preserved lordly habit, begins to interrogate him (“You have a passport!”), Luka immediately puts him in his place:

The confused Baron replies:

Well, what's there? I'm... kidding, old man! Brother, I don’t have any papers myself... That is, I have papers... but they are no good.

And Luke tactfully helps him get out of an awkward situation:

They, the pieces of paper, are all like that... they are all no good.

Luka knows how to understand every person at first sight, react kindly to a conflict situation, settle a quarrel, and prevent a fight. So, all morning the night shelters were quarreling because no one wanted to sweep the floor: the Baron forces the Actor, the Actor forces Nastya, Kvashnya forces the Actor again, and the Actor’s “body is poisoned with alcohol”, it is harmful for him to “breathe dust”; as a result, the owner Vasilisa threatens to “kick everyone out of the shelter.”

Luka (“Well, at least I’ll sweep the broom here. Where’s your broom?”) swept the floor, brought the sick Anna into the room, helped her get to the bed (“... is it really possible to abandon a person like that? He, whatever he is, is always worth the price." Luka caressed the terminally ill Anna - and her soul felt lighter: “I look at you... you look like my father... like my father... just as affectionate... soft.” Deprived of love and compassion, both Anna and Natasha recognized Luke as a loved one - “grandfather”, “father”.

Luka has the talent to listen to every person with sympathy and understanding, to feel sorry for and console: “Oh, you girl! Tired? Nothing! Be patient a little longer,” he addresses the terminally ill Anna.

His kindness is active, active: he prevents the owner of the shelter Kostylev from fighting with Ash, although he does this not without slyness (Luka - slyness): he slowly climbs onto the stove and at the right moment reveals himself.

The inhabitants of the shelter open their souls to the kind old man: Satin, Baron, Nastya - they all confess to him - their need for sympathy and compassion is so great, because they have lost faith in themselves, in the ability to change their lives for the better. (“Actor: no talent,... no self-confidence...).

Throughout the entire play, Luke repeats that only love or pity can save people (in the popular understanding, “to love” and “to pity” are synonyms): “To love - you must love the living ... the living”; “We don’t feel sorry for the living... we can’t feel sorry for ourselves... where is this” “Girl, someone needs to be kind... we need to feel sorry for people! Christ had compassion on everyone and commanded us to do so.” Only love and kindness can save people from anger and violence. To prove that he is right, Luke cites an incident from his life.

At night, thieves broke into the dacha he was guarding. Instead of fighting and murder (thieves with an ax, a watchman with a gun), Luke punished them in a fatherly way, forcing each other to flog each other, and then fed the escaped convicts and left them until spring. “Good men! If I didn’t feel sorry for them, they might have killed me... or something else..." “And then - a trial, and a prison, and Siberia... what’s the point? Prison will not teach you goodness, but a person will teach you... yes, a person can teach you goodness... very simply!” Luke convinces us that man is good by nature (the exception is people like the Kostylevs, whom Luke compares to “disadvantage,” that is, to the soil on which nothing will be born), but the circumstances of life make people evil. Luke’s rightness is also confirmed by the fact that, having got to the bottom of the matter, he revealed the bright core of every person. It turns out that Nastya dreams of pure, selfless love, and life forces her to sell her body; Ash would like to work honestly, but it is written in his blood to be a thief (“Vaska is a thief, a thief’s son”). The actor would like to return to the stage - but there are no hospitals for alcoholics. However, life, unfortunately, makes one doubt Luka’s unconditional rightness , which claims that love and mercy will eradicate evil.

Having learned everyone's deepest desires, Luka tries to convince his interlocutors of the possibility of their dreams coming true. He inspired Ash and Natasha with the idea of ​​​​the possibility of starting a new, working, honest life in Siberia; supported Nastya’s faith in her “fatal love”; comforting the Actor, he makes him believe in the existence of a hospital for alcoholics. Luke resorts to deception to instill in people hope that their lives will change for the better, offering everyone an option that is possible for them. And even to the dying Anna he promises a heavenly life in the afterlife: “You die with joy, without anxiety...”

People believed Luke, believed in themselves, perked up - and they began to have faith and hope. The actor stopped drinking, started working and collecting money for the trip to the hospital with “marble stairs”; dreams of becoming an actor again, remembers his sonorous surname - Sverchkov-Zavolzhsky, long-forgotten lines from plays and poems come to mind. Ash begins to gather for Siberia, persistently persuades Natasha to run away with him, convincing her of his love. Nastya lives with the joyful faith that, although in the past, she had love. However, the fate of the people who believed Luka turned out to be tragic: Nastya was about to leave the shelter (“Oh, everything disgusted me…”); Ashes ended up in prison, Natasha was crippled by Vasilisa. And the Actor puts the final point in the drama of people who have lost faith: “In a vacant lot... there... The Actor... hanged himself!”

All the heroes agree that Luke is to blame for the death of the Actor, who gave people false hope. Luke, on the other hand, considers his position to be the only correct one, and in support of this he tells a parable about the righteous land, with which he tries to convince the night shelters of the need for “white lies,” contrasting his point of view with the wingless truth of Bubnov and Baron, “which falls like a stone on the wings.” Luke talks about an old man who lived with faith in the existence of a “righteous land” - and was happy. When the scientist proved to him that the “righteous land” does not exist, he hanged himself. According to Luke, the scientist is to blame for destroying the old man’s faith. But another interpretation of this parable is also possible. After all, living in a world of illusions, a person sooner or later discovers self-deception, which often leads to tragic consequences.

Satin’s last remark in the play to the Actor who committed suicide suggests the same thoughts:

Eh... ruined the song... fool

Was he a “fool” because he believed Luke, or because he turned out to be weak after learning the truth? Or maybe Satin is also to blame, convincing him that Luka is deceiving him, seducing him into drinking, undermining his weak strength?

Is it possible to lie out of love for people, why do people so easily succumb to self-deception, and what tragic consequences does this belief in the non-existent lead to - a question that humanity has been trying to resolve for thousands of years. The actor recites Bérenger’s poems about “madmen”, who armed humanity with the radiant dream of socialism, which was called utopian, i.e. unrealizable:

Gentlemen, if the holy world cannot find the way to truth,
Honor to the madman who will bring a golden dream to Humanity.

The fourth act of the play is an ongoing dispute about the truth after the disappearance of the undocumented tramp Luka from the flophouse. (“Disappeared from the police”). Luke's position is justified by some, condemned by others. Kleshch says: “He didn’t like the truth, old man... that’s how it should be!” And without her we can’t breathe.”

Satin, while defending the old man (“he lied... but it was out of pity for you”), at the same time condemns lies out of compassion, out of pity for people: “Pity humiliates a person.” What did Satin really want to say? What humiliates a person - pity or lies? Maybe it's a lie after all? Lies are needed by hopelessly ill people, and therefore by very weak people who do not find the strength to overcome life’s circumstances. And about whether it is necessary to feel sorry for a person, to love him, to be merciful to him, the night shelters themselves said best of all, remembering Luka with a kind word:

“He was a good old man!” (Nastya);
“He was compassionate...” (Mite);
“The old man was good... he had law in his soul!..”;
“Do not offend a person - that is the law” (Tatar).

Satin noticed Luke’s words about the need for self-respect and respect for people, consonant with his thoughts about a proud man: “The old man lives from himself... He looks at everything with his own eyes. One day I asked him: “Grandfather, why do people live!” - And - people live for the best, dear! Because every person must be respected... Especially children must be respected... children!

Gorky himself had an ambivalent attitude towards the image of Luka he created, since he endowed him with his own traits that were characteristic of him both as a person and as a writer. He put his thoughts on the problem of which is better - the ruthless truth of a fact or a “white lie” in the fairy tale-parable “About the Siskin Who Lied, and About the Woodpecker, a Lover of Truth.” He was tormented by the question whether his call in romantic works to heroism in the name of freedom and happiness was not a deception.

The artists who embodied the image of Luke on stage most often emphasized the best human traits of Luke, his kindness, mercy, and desire to actively help people believe in themselves. And if kindness and mercy do not triumph in life, then aren’t the people themselves to blame for this because they have not found the strength to resist life’s circumstances? But if even such a strong person as Satin has lost hope of getting out of the “bottom,” then, obviously, the main culprit remains the state, the inhumane social system.

The play “At the Lower Depths” is an innovative work by M. Gorky. At its center is not so much human destinies as a clash of ideas, a dispute about a person, about the meaning of his life. The core of this dispute is the problem of truth and lies. the perception of life as it really is, or life with illusions, in whatever various forms they may appear.
People from the bottom, tramps, live in the shelter. - former rich man, former actor, former worker, thief, prostitute. Having sunk to the “bottom”, they were unable to escape life; it overtakes them here too. These people are cruel to each other, life has made them that way. And this cruelty is manifested primarily in the persistence with which they destroy the illusions of other people, for example, Nastya, the dying Anna, Kleshch, the Actor.
Among these hardened people, Luke appears. He is a wanderer. With his appearance, the already begun dispute about man, about truth and lies in his life, intensifies. Let's take a closer look at the image of Luke. First of all, we note that it is this character in the play that causes the most heated controversy. Luke consoles people. How can one console these thrown out of life, degraded former barons, actors, a working man who has lost his job, a dying woman who has nothing good to remember in life, a hereditary thief? And Luke resorts to lies as a verbal drug, as a painkiller. He instills illusions in the inhabitants of the shelter, and his life experience is such that he subtly feels people, knows what is most important to each of them. And he unmistakably presses the main lever of the human personality, promising Anna peace and rest on that sow, free hospitals for alcoholics for the Actor, and a free life in Siberia for Vaska Ash.
Why is Luka lying? Readers and critics have asked themselves this question more than once when reflecting on Gorky’s play. For a long time, negative assessments prevailed in the interpretation of Luke’s image; he was accused of indifference to people and self-interest. However, if you look closely at what Luke does, listen to his speech, you understand that the mechanism of his consolation is both simpler and at the same time more complex. He simply did not harden his soul. One cannot but agree with the assessments that Satin gives to Luke: “He lied... but it was only out of pity for you.” Luka doesn’t just deceive, he does real, active good: he consoles Anna before her death, tries to reassure Vasilisa. It is this wanderer who prevents Ash from killing Kostylev. And he advises Ash to leave for Siberia as soon as possible, because he foresees that this matter will not end well, and his foresight turns out to be correct.
Luke doesn't lie to people, he just believes in them and trusts them. He believes in the strength of the weak Actor, and as long as they believe in him, he himself lights up with the belief that he can change and correct his life. And having lost support, having lost his temper, drinking, he hangs himself. Not because the fragile lie about the hospital where he is treated for alcoholism is broken (which, by the way, is not a lie), but because the fragile truth about his human dignity, about the respect that another person can have for him, is broken. Luka believes in the purity of the soul of the prostitute Nastya, believes that she too had pure and high love, and Nastya comes to life, straightens up, and begins to feel like a human being. But isn’t longing for pure and high love love? Isn't this the truth of finding love? But when there are only people around her who mock her, she loses all love and wishes them death.
Luke is not just a comforter, he philosophically substantiates his position. One of the ideological centers of the play is the wanderer's story of how he saved two escaped convicts. The main idea of ​​Gorky’s character here is that only goodness can save a person, and not violence and prison: “A person can teach goodness... While a person believed, he lived, but he lost faith and hanged himself.”
So, in the play the main bearer of good is Luke. He wishes people well, takes pity on them, tries to help in word and deed.
Usually Satin's monologue is turned against Luke. But, firstly, Satin himself at the beginning of his monologue says that no one understands what Luka is, but he, Satin, understands and appreciates him. And then - you need to think about the words that Satin says.
He says that lies are the religion of slaves and masters, and truth is the god of a free man. But everyone we see in the play does not at all look like free people. They are the worst of slaves and the worst of masters. Lazy slaves and cruel masters. Losers. They are those who are weak in soul, and those who live on other people's juices. And about such people, Satin says that they need a lie, that some are supported by it, while others hide behind it. “And who is his own master... who is independent and does not eat other people’s things - why does he need lies?” - says Satin. But in the play there is no one who could claim to be his own master.
A person should not be humiliated with pity, Satin further asserts. A person must be respected. But what is a person for him? “It’s not you, not me, not them... no! - it’s you, me, them, the old man, Napoleon, Mohammed... 3 in one!.. This is huge! In this are all the beginnings and ends... Everything is in man, everything is for man.” But Luke is less radical; his explanation of why a person must be respected is much more conducive to respecting those people who live next to us, even the most lost and unfortunate. "All. dear, everyone, as they are, lives for the best! - says Luka. - That’s why every person must be respected... we don’t know who he is, why he was born and what he can do... maybe he was born for our luck... for our great benefit?.. Especially Children must be respected, children! Children need space! Don’t interfere with the children’s lives... Respect the children.” It turns out that a person should be respected not because he is huge and known to everyone, but because he is small and has not yet proven himself, for the potential contained in him, for what he can still do for the benefit of everyone, if the people themselves will not interfere with him.
The nasty things that the other characters say to each other are not the truth at all. This is some kind of appearance of truth, this is the human soul, seen without love for it. And without love, even the most beautiful things can seem disgusting. Luka felt the pain and humiliation of every person with whom life brought him together, so he knew how to give hope to everyone. His main words in the play, it seems to me, are: “Every man is worth his price.” This means that anyone, no matter how low he may fall, can always rise.

Introduction

M. Gorky's play “At the Lower Depths” is the first socio-philosophical drama in Russian literature, raising questions of human existence, the meaning of life, truth and lies. Written in 1902, the work realistically depicts the life of the marginalized, “people who find themselves at the bottom of life,” who do not believe in themselves or in the future.

Mite, Actor, Ash, Nastya and others are weak people, unable to defend their interests, and who do not see the point in this.

Luke's image

The most controversial hero of the play is considered to be Luke, a traveling preacher who came to the shelter in the midst of disputes about honor and justice. The main question of the work is directly related to the image of the old man - “What is better – truth or compassion?”

Luke is a comforter, trying to calm everyone down and give hope for an end to suffering. It is significant that he knows how to see in everyone the trait that particularly concerns a person. To the dying Anna he promises deliverance from pain and resentment in the next world, to the drinking Actor he tells a fairy tale about hospitals for alcoholism, to Nastya that an unearthly happy love awaits her, to Vaska Peplu he helps to take a fresh look at Siberia.

The night shelters like his unrealistic stories; they believe in them. Luke himself says that what you believe is what it is. In other words, the wanderer is trying to save people, give them the opportunity to believe in themselves and change their attitude towards life, to give them a kind of impetus.

righteous man

The appearance of the righteous man divides the inhabitants of the shelter into two camps - those who believe in Luke’s sermons and those who are prejudiced and skeptical about them. Nastya, after Luka’s disappearance, says that he was a good old man, Kleshch notes his compassion, even Satin, who does not accept a position of compassion, claims that the old man lied solely out of love for people.

The opinions of literary critics were also divided. Some compared him to the tempter. The name Luke is similar in sound to the name of Satan - the Evil One. The old man was accused, first of all, of unwillingness to confront reality. Other researchers correlated his name with the image of the Evangelical Apostle Luke, thereby associating him with wisdom and biblical commandments.

Another interesting fact is that by lying to save Luke, he violates one of the commandments - do not lie. But it seems to me that he simply does not think in these categories; for him it does not matter where the truth is, where the lie is. The main thing for a righteous person is to do good to a person. Probably, the commandment is closer to him - do no harm.

Author's attitude

The author's attitude towards Luke is ambiguous. Sometimes he condemns him, sometimes his image becomes so strong that it goes beyond Gorky’s plan. Readers must decide for themselves whether to accept a lie for salvation, or to share Satin’s statements about the priority of truth. In my opinion, the truth lies somewhere in the middle of their positions.

Luka is a character from Maxim Gorky's play "At the Lower Depths".

Luke is sixty years old in the play. He was bald and walked with a kettle at his belt, leaning on a stick. Like all the inhabitants of the shelter, he did not have his own home. This old man was a wanderer.

The name Luke has two meanings: the first – as “the evil one”, and the second – as the Gospel apostle Luke. This name is closely related to the character's character. There is still debate about his significance in the play: some believe that Luka is a negative character, while others say he is positive. The author himself claimed that the old man turned out to be more positive and wiser than he had planned.

Luka served as a watchman near Tomsk for an engineer. One can guess that he appeared in the shelter after he escaped from Siberia from hard labor, where he ended up for some crime. He loved to sing and thought that he sang well, but that was not the case. Luke was a gentle person, because, according to him, he experienced a lot in this life. He believed that he became bald because of women, because of difficulties in relationships with them. He had more women than hairs on his head. But he was a very smart man. Luke did not always tell the truth, because he believed that the truth destroys a person and takes away faith in himself.

Natasha brought him to Kostylev’s shelter. The old man immediately began to be considered kind, sweet and compassionate. Luke believed that all people should be pitied and supported with a kind word, as Christ himself commanded. He began to console everyone in the shelter, even if it was not true. I thought that a person should have faith in something that will help him live on and achieve something better for himself. So he told the actor that there is a clinic that treats alcoholics for free. The actor then stopped drinking and began saving money to go to this clinic. Luke told the dying Anna that after death she would be free from all pain and torment. He advised Vaska Peplu to go to Siberia and said that he would find liberation there together with Natasha.

Luka sincerely tried to help everyone, but he did not expect that this, on the contrary, could take someone’s life. For example, an actor committed suicide after the unexpected departure of an old man. Ash, trying to take Natasha and go to Siberia, lost everything.

After the murder of Pepel, the owner of Kostylev’s flophouse, Luka went to Ukraine. His departure had a mixed effect on the inhabitants. They tried to condemn the old man, but Satin began to stand up for him, who spoke in the words of Gorky himself, and who was at first skeptical of Luke.

These people have no future. The old man knew this very well. But he wanted them to have at least some hope, so that they could move on with something warm in their souls.

Essay about Luke

Maxim Gorky's play "At the Lower Depths" touches on important issues, for example, philosophical or social ones. This play features a variety of characters, but undoubtedly the most important of them is Luke. His views on the world cause constant controversy and questions. Luke talks about the truth, whether it is necessary to tell it if a person becomes ill after learning it, or whether it is better to show compassion, which will make a person’s life a little easier.

Luke is a preacher, he wanders around the country, he does not have his own home. He is trying to spread his views, his worldview. His appearance in the shelter has a strong influence on its inhabitants. The people gathered in the shelter are very different, some love life and enjoy every moment, others, on the contrary, want to die, because life does not bring them pleasure.

Luke appears in the play at the most important moment, when Anna dies. After her death, the residents of the shelter argue about conscience and honor. Many, being in the shelter, completely forgot about them. Luka helps everyone survive grief, he consoles, instills faith in good things, and tries to inspire that all problems can be solved. Thanks to the fact that Luka can find a common language with every person, he understands at a glance what a person is silent about.

Luke believes that life is about dreams and hope. Before Anna's death, Luke talks with her, helping her accept her fate. Luka helps the Actor realize what is happening, Luka assures him that he will be able to overcome his alcohol addiction, thanks to the hospital.

The author is trying to show Luke in the image of a righteous man; he brings wisdom and truth to people. This is proven by the situation that happened to him - thieves broke into the house, but the main character feeds the quiet people, responding to evil with good.

As soon as Luka appears in the shelter, one can note his positive qualities - responsiveness, desire to help others without demanding something in return, the ability not only to listen, but also to hear others.

Although Luka lies to other heroes, he does this to console, to restore hope and the desire to live. But the most important thing is that after Luka leaves, no one condemns or reproaches him; on the contrary, they are grateful to him, and the author himself calls Luka a swindler, a negative hero of his work.

Option 3

The play “At the Bottom” was published in 1902. It tells about those who could not stay afloat and, having crossed the line, found themselves at the very bottom. Their familiar world collapsed, they lost faith in the future, the callousness of harsh everyday life overwhelmed them. The play takes place in a rooming house.

The elderly wanderer Luke is one of the main characters in the work. He is as poor as the rest of the inhabitants of the shelter, but has not lost his humanity. With kind words and advice he helps everyone who needs it. Ingenuously, with intelligible words, he finds an approach to the other inhabitants of the rooming house. For everyone, there is compassion and mercy in his heart. His words confirm that by nature he is very good-natured and sympathetic.

The old man’s attentive attitude towards people, his ability to listen and support the dream of his interlocutor gives them hope for a bright future. Luke’s ability to find an individual approach to everyone makes his “neighbors in misfortune” listen to his words. Only the Baron does not lose his cynicism and hatred of people, he makes an attempt to expose the wanderer. But Luke’s recent opponent Satin unexpectedly stands up for the old man.

To Anna, who is on her deathbed, Luke describes a heavenly life without earthly torment. He tells an actor who likes to drink about a non-existent clinic where they can help get rid of alcohol addiction. Recommendations to the thief Vaska to start a new life increase the self-esteem of the homeless shelters. Most of them begin to believe that not everything is lost, and that everything in life is still possible. Some even make an attempt to gain human dignity. Luke managed to warm their souls with his sympathetic attitude. His main intention to awaken hope in people has been achieved.

Luke's eloquence divides the residents of the shelter into 2 camps: dreamers and skeptics. His speeches excite some and embitter others. At the end of the story, the inhabitants of the lodging house attempt to judge Luka. The actions they take after listening to him do not always lead to the expected result. In most cases, the outcome is sad, for example, the death of an Actor. Of course, the night shelters themselves are to blame for this, but the consequences of Luke’s speeches become fatal.

Critics have long assessed Luke's image as negative. They blamed the old wanderer for lying and for showing indifference to the deceived inhabitants of the shelter. His disappearance is not interpreted in his favor either, but more criticism concerns his position towards people. He brings empathy and compassion to the masses, which at that time was regarded as something suspicious and unnecessary.

Several interesting essays

• Essay Man - it sounds proud based on Gorky's play At the Bottom

  Gorky wrote the play “At the Lower Depths” in 1902 during a difficult period for Russia. The first Russian revolution is approaching, discontent is brewing among the people, there is confusion in power. The people are coming out of the shadows and are increasingly asserting themselves to the tsarist regime

• The image of Lisa in the novel An Ordinary Story by Goncharov essay

  Roman Goncharova “Ordinary history is a person’s view of the events around him, people and changes in his character under the influence of society and the events happening to him.

• Essay based on the painting by Grigoriev Goalkeeper 7th grade (description 4 pieces)

  The painting “Goalkeeper” depicts a scene familiar to our yards: boys playing football. The artist did not show us the entire field, but focused only on one character - the goalkeeper of one of the teams.

And no one except the boy has the desire to quickly find himself there, behind the glass, where there are no gray and boring frames and window sills and there are absolutely no conventions and restrictions.

• The role of family in Sholokhov's work Quiet Don

During their school years, many probably had the opportunity to become acquainted with the work of the respected Russian writer Maxim Gorky - the play “At the Lower Depths,” which without embellishment describes to all of us the familiar archetypes of people living in Russian realities.

Despite the fact that more than a century has passed since the publication of the drama, the situations that it touches on remain relevant today.

In this article we will analyze in detail the image of the character Luke from this play, get acquainted with his statements and talk about the attitude of other heroes of the work towards him.

In contact with

Where did the wanderer come from?

doesn't reveal the secret Luke's origins, only fleetingly speaks of his wandering life. The wanderer has neither a homeland nor any specific place of residence. He himself talks about it this way: "To the old man – Where it’s warm, there’s homeland.”

The residents of the shelter are also not interested in the old man’s past; they are preoccupied with their problems and attempts "go out into the public", and not drag out an existence “at the bottom” for the rest of your life.

Character Characteristics Analysis

Luke appears before us in the form a kind-hearted old man, preaching goodness, love, pity and the will of man to create his life as his heart dictates.

The hero really emanates an aura of peacefulness and understanding, which, of course, endears him to the characters in the play, making them believe that the future is not hopeless and there is a chance to improve their social situation, fulfill their dreams and desires.

To everyone who, willy-nilly, ended up in a shelter, Luka selects the right words, gives everyone hope and encourages them to believe in their dreams, no matter how funny they may seem to themselves and others.

But no matter how sweet and comforting the stranger’s words sounded, they were only empty sounds, distracting homeless people from everyday troubles, and not real support that gives strength to get out of poverty and ignominy.

Nevertheless, Luka is not a liar, he just sincerely feels sorry for those around him and encourages them, even if it is absolutely meaningless and useless.

Luke's relationship with other characters in the play "At the Lower Depths"

The characters relate to the old man in two ways:

• alone ( thief Vaska Ash, Actor, Anna, Nastya, Natasha) with relief they tell him about their life, confess and receive in response the necessary pity, sympathy and soothing statements;
• other ( card cap Bubnov, Satin, Baron, Klesch) do not trust a stranger too much and talk to him briefly and skeptically.

One thing is certain - no one remained indifferent to the appearance of such an extraordinary personality in such a dirty and doomed place.

After the sudden disappearance of the wanderer, the fate of some characters changed dramatically. The locksmith Kleshch's wife, Anna, died of tuberculosis, the Actor could not come to terms with the hopelessness of his life and hanged himself, Vaska Ash went to hard labor in Siberia because of an accidental murder, his dreams of an honest life with Natasha came to an end. The remaining heroes continued to while away their time in the shelter, but at the same time started to think about the meaning of one’s existence, one’s actions and the problems of others.

Parable of the Righteous Land

Luke's parable tells us about a man who endured all the hardships and suffering of earthly life, believing that there is a righteous land, where people live in excellent relationships, help each other and never lie. One day he went to a local scientist he knew and asked him to show the righteous land on a geographical map. He tried to find what he was looking for, but could not. Then the man got angry, hit the scientist, and then went home and hanged himself.

This parable seems to have predetermined the fatal fate of several characters - the death of Anna and the Actor, the imprisonment of the thief Vaska. They believed that their own righteous land would be found for them, that it was possible to get out of the bottom, poverty, but this did not happen. Luke soon left, and with him the hope that warmed the characters in the play went away.

Quotes

The play "At the Bottom" is rich thoughtful phrases and the statements of the characters, but, perhaps, the most significant of them are the words of Elder Luke.

Here are a few of his quotes that everyone who has read Gorky’s play “At the Lower Depths” should analyze and reflect on:

“And everyone is people! No matter how you pretend, no matter how you wobble, if you were born a man, you will die a man...”

"I don't care! I respect swindlers too, in my opinion, not a single flea is bad: all are black, all jump..."

“You, girl, don’t be offended... nothing! Where is it, where are we supposed to feel sorry for the dead? Eh, honey! We don’t feel sorry for the living... we can’t feel sorry for ourselves... where is it!”

“So, you’ll die, and you’ll be at peace... you won’t need anything else, and there’s nothing to be afraid of!”

“...it’s not the word that matters, but why the word is said? - that's the problem!"

Bottom line

Maxim Gorky's image of the wanderer Luke turned out to be very multifaceted and reflective main philosophical questions about life, love, principles and priorities of a person.

And not only Luke - all the characters in one way or another reflect those who we meet in real life.

The writer managed to reflect in his work entertaining philosophical and psychological ideas:

All of the above is important for a correct understanding of the work and simply situations happening to people around us, it teaches us to sympathize and correctly set life priorities.