- Essays
- On literature
- Bitter
- The meaning of life in the play At the Bottom
Philosophical questions have always been relevant among writers, but the most popular topic, of course, is the question of the meaning of life. Many have explored this topic in their works, expressing their own vision. One of these writers was Maxim Gorky, who wrote the play “At the Lower Depths,” in which he reflected the different views on the meaning of life that were widespread at the beginning of the 20th century.
In the play, the reader is offered different worldviews - the “truths” of three heroes: Bubnov, Luka and Satin. So, Bubnov believes that the fate of every person is predetermined, and no one can change this. The hero’s judgments are harsh and detract from human dignity: “All people on earth are superfluous...”. He does not know the concept of “compassion,” which is clearly demonstrated by his attitude towards his dying neighbor. Anna asked Bubnov not to make noise, but the hero only responded with rudeness. Bubnov is an egoist, and the meaning of life does not exist for him. He believes that life is just a series of planned events.
The second hero, Luke, has a completely opposite outlook on life. Faith is what Luke considers the main thing in this life. He believes in people, in their strengths and capabilities. The hero is able to cheer up any person: he supports Anna, promising a peaceful life after death, he inspires the Actor with a story about a free hospital for alcohol addicts, and he encourages Nastya not to betray her dreams of love. Thanks to Luke, people around him begin to believe that they are truly capable of changing their lives. Thus, for Luke, the meaning of life lies in the belief that each person can be the creator of his own destiny.
The third truth that M. Gorky portrays is Satin’s worldview. This hero denies Luke’s position, believing that one should not give a person false hope for the best. Satin thinks that the main thing in life is honor and truth: “Truth is the god of a free man!” Personality is really important for the hero, unlike Bubnov. But Satin himself shows apathy towards everything and does not want to do anything to achieve a better life.
So, in M. Gorky’s play, the reader is shown three worldviews, three views on the meaning of life: following what was destined, faith in the opportunity to change and become better, as well as an honest and open attitude towards people. Thus, the writer invites the reader to compare different views and determine his own path.
The legacy of Maxim Gorky
Alexey Maksimovich Peshkov cherished the dream that the world would be inhabited by “new people.” People who are impeccable in terms of intellectual and physical development, manners and principles. These new people are distinguished by their fearlessness and thirst for freedom, they don’t care about any obstacles, they can achieve anything they want. And even if their goals are beyond the realm of possibility, they can do it.
Filled with these thoughts, like a whirlwind, Maxim Gorky bursts into the literature of the 19th century. He decided that if he was going to dream about the impossible, then why not share his ideas with those around him, and suddenly among them there would be those people whom he wanted to see around him. Alexey Maksimovich turns into Maxim Gorky and for 44 years takes Russian literature by storm, releasing more and more new works into the world.
During this time, he managed to write 5 novels, 10 novellas, 18 stories and essays, 16 plays and published 3 cycles of journalistic articles. The writer, novelist and playwright was nominated 5 times for the Nobel Prize in Literature. He became known as one of the most famous Russian thinkers and writers. He left behind a rich legacy, and one of the pearls of his collection is the play “At the Bottom.”
"At the bottom"
The play “At the Bottom” saw the world in 1902. Before publishing the material, the author for a long time could not choose which title to choose. He had a choice among several options: “The Bottom”, “Nochlezhka”, “At the Bottom of Life”, “Without the Sun”. Ultimately, the play received the short and laconic title “At the Bottom.” Two years after its release, in 1904, the play was awarded the Griboyedov Prize.
The first performance based on the work was staged on December 18, 1902 at the Moscow Art Theater. During Soviet times, the production delighted audiences 9 times. The last time she was seen was in 1956. But this did not detract from her success. More than once the play was staged abroad in cities such as Berlin, Krakow, Helsinki, Paris, Tokyo, New York, London, Tunisia. From 1996 to the present, more than 20 productions have been staged in different countries of the world. The play was filmed 10 times not only by domestic cinema, but also in Hungary, Japan and France.
What attracted the public so much to this play: the problem of moral choice; the realization that each person has his own truth; or did the very image of the bottom in the play “At the Bottom” touch the strings of the human soul? Let's try to figure it out.
M. - At the bottom - “The Bottom of Life” - a tragic image of the play by A. M. Gorky...
"The Bottom of Life" - a tragic image of A. M. Gorky's play "At the Bottom"
“The Bottom of Life” is a tragic image of A. M. Gorky’s play “At the Bottom”
Gorky’s play “The Bottom” was written in 1902 for the troupe of the Moscow Art Public Theater. For a long time, Gorky could not find the exact title for the play. Initially it was called “Nochlezhka”, then “Without the Sun” and, finally, “At the bottom”. The name itself already has a huge meaning. People who have fallen to the bottom will never rise to the light, to a new life. The theme of the humiliated and insulted is not new in Russian literature. Let us remember Dostoevsky’s heroes, who also “have nowhere else to go.” Many similarities can be found in the heroes of Dostoevsky and Gorky: this is the same world of drunkards, thieves, prostitutes and pimps. Only he is shown even more terrifyingly and realistically by Gorky.
In Gorky's play, the audience saw for the first time the unfamiliar world of the rejected. World drama has never known such a harsh, merciless truth about the life of the lower social classes, about their hopeless fate. Under the arches of the Kostylevo shelter there were people of very different characters and social status. Each of them is endowed with its own individual characteristics. Here is the worker Tick, dreaming of honest work, and Ash, longing for a right life, and the Actor, completely absorbed in the memories of his past glory, and Nastya, passionately striving for great, true love. They all deserve a better fate. All the more tragic is their situation now. The people living in this cave-like basement are tragic victims of an ugly and cruel order, in which a person ceases to be human and is doomed to drag out a miserable existence.
Gorky does not give a detailed account of the biographies of the characters in the play, but the few features that he reproduces perfectly reveal the author’s intention. In a few words the tragedy of Anna’s life’s fate is depicted. “I don’t remember when I was full,” she says. “I was shaking over every piece of bread... I was trembling all my life... I was tormented... so as not to eat anything else... I walked around in rags all my life... all my miserable life...” Worker Kleshch speaks about his hopeless lot: “There is no work... no strength... Here - Truth! There is no refuge, there is no refuge! We need to breathe out... That’s the truth!”
The inhabitants of the “bottom” are thrown out of life due to the conditions prevailing in society. Man is left to his own devices. If he stumbles, loses track, he is threatened with “the bottom”, inevitable moral, and often physical death. Anna dies, the Actor commits suicide, and the rest are exhausted, disfigured by life to the last degree.
And even here, in this terrible world of the outcasts, the wolf laws of the “bottom” continue to operate. The figure of the hostel owner Kostylev, one of the “masters of life”, who is ready to squeeze the last penny even from his unfortunate and disadvantaged guests, is disgusting. His wife Vasilisa is equally disgusting with her immorality.
The terrible fate of the inhabitants of the shelter becomes especially obvious if we compare it with what a person is called to. Under the dark and gloomy arches of the lodging house, among the pitiful and crippled, unfortunate and homeless vagabonds, words about man, about his calling, about his strength and his beauty sound like a solemn hymn: “Man is the truth! Everything is in man, everything is for man! Only man exists, everything else is the work of his hands and his brain! Human! It's great! It sounds proud!”
Proud words about what a person should be and what a person can be highlight even more sharply the picture of the actual situation of a person that the writer paints. And this contrast takes on a special meaning... Satin’s fiery monologue about man sounds somewhat unnatural in an atmosphere of impenetrable darkness, especially after Luka left, the Actor hanged himself, and Vaska Ashes was imprisoned. The writer himself felt this and explained it by the fact that in the play there should be a reasoner (an exponent of the author’s thoughts), but the heroes portrayed by Gorky can hardly be called exponents of anyone’s ideas at all. That is why Gorky puts his thoughts into the mouth of Satin, the most freedom-loving and fair character.
M. Gorky, “At the Bottom”: summary
The events of the work take place in a place like a flophouse. The lodging house is the property of M.I. Kostylev. People live here who have long sunk to the bottom of society. Some of them still believe that they can get out of this hell and change their destiny for the better, while others have long given up and slipped into the farthest channels of the “bottom.”
There are complex relationships between the residents of the shelter. They have different destinies, different views on life, so it is difficult for them to find a common language, which is why quarrels constantly arise. The owner's wife, Vasilisa, loves Vaska Pepla, who earns his living by stealing. She persuades the thief to kill her husband so that they will be free and no one will bother them. Only Vaska does not reciprocate Vasilisa’s feelings, since he has long been in love with her younger sister Natalya. Vasilisa notices this and mercilessly beats Natalya, which is why she ends up in the hospital. After being discharged, she no longer returns to the shelter.
What next does the work that M. Gorky created (“At the Depths”) tell about? The summary even in the second part is tragic. A new man, Luka, appears among the guests and inspires everyone that life will get better. But when a conflict arises between Kostylev and Vaska, as a result of which Vaska accidentally kills Kostylev and the thief is arrested, Luka miraculously disappears. The actor, who had become attached to Luka and believed him, is upset by his disappearance and hangs himself in the yard. The reader is struck by the final phrase of the work, uttered by Satin after he learned of the death of the Actor: “What a fool, he just ruined the song.”
“Image of the “bottom””
The action of the drama “At the Bottom” takes place at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. This is a time of economic crisis for Russia, many remain unemployed, lose their status, position in society, and some sink to the “bottom” of life. It is no coincidence that Gorky paints this way of the place where his heroes huddle. Before us is a dirty basement, like a cave: a smoke-stained ceiling, heavy stone vaults with crumbling plaster. And everywhere along the walls there are bunks. The terrible picture is completed by the furniture of the shelter: “a large table, two benches, a stool - everything is unpainted and dirty.” After such descriptions, it becomes scary; is this really how the author sees Russia on the eve of a new century? The conflicts presented in the play are diverse: social and everyday, love, and philosophical. They flare up both between heroes belonging to different social classes, and within themselves. Indeed, people find themselves “at the bottom,” as a rule, experiencing an internal social conflict. Gorky gives the reader a backstory for each character. Thus, the Baron used to lead the intellectual life of a representative of high society: “Before, when my body was not poisoned by alcohol, I, an old man, had a good memory... And now... it’s over, brother!” Vaska Pepel responds to this: “You are a master... there was a time when you didn’t consider our brother to be a person... and all that...” It is clearly shown how arbitrary the division into social classes is in the human world and how easily a former master equaled his position with the sharper Bubnov and the thief Vaska Pepl.
In parallel with social and everyday conflicts, love conflicts also develop. Here the relationship between the Kostylevs and Vaska Pepla with Natalya, the sister of Vasilisa Karpovna Kostyleva, comes to the fore. With the appearance of Natasha in the shelter, Ash is ready to turn to another, new life. For her sake, Vaska leaves Vasilisa, his feelings for her have cooled. A hero cannot lie or be insincere. The climax is the scene in which Natasha is scalded with boiling water, and Vaska kills Kostylev. At first glance, Vasilisa emerges as the winner, having taken revenge on her former lover and harmed her rival. In addition, after the death of her husband, she remains the sovereign mistress of the shelter. However, now it becomes completely clear that there is nothing human left in Vasilisa, she will never be able to find human happiness. And in our eyes, its fall “to the bottom” is happening even more rapidly.
The arrival of Luke provokes the maturation of a philosophical conflict in the society of the night shelters. The reader follows its development through the dialogues and monologues of the characters. Luke reveals the bright sides of their nature in the heroes and encourages them to remember their dreams. According to Luke, people need “sweet lies” more than “bitter truth.” In conversations with a wanderer, a girl of easy virtue, Nastya, begins to dream of pure love, the Actor seriously thinks about returning to the stage, Vaska Ash strives for honest earnings and a life without deception. Gorky believed in man and his ability to control his own destiny. The hero of his play, Luka, does not want to see swindlers and deceivers in the night shelters, he respects them all, believes that “not a single flea is bad: all are black, all are jumping...” The Wanderer sincerely believes that a person becomes overgrown with sins and vices when life itself “dumps him in the mud.” Even when confronted with real thieves, Luka does not hand them over to the police, because he understands that it was not a sweet life that pushed them down this path: “Give me some bread for Christ’s sake!” Let's go, they say, without eating. I tell them: you devils should have just asked for bread. And I’m tired of them, they say... you ask and ask, but no one gives... it’s a shame!.. So they lived with me all winter.” Luka sincerely wishes the best to his interlocutors and shows real paths to a new, better life.
After Luke leaves, everything happens not at all as the heroes who believed in the words of the wanderer expected. Having lost his last hope, the Actor commits suicide. After killing Kostylev, Ash goes to Siberia, not as a free settler, but as a convict. However, the old man's sermon gave impetus to Satin's monologue. It is he, paradoxically, who continues the work of Luke, does not allow people who have lost faith to despair, and offers them a new “philosophy of life” that can raise people from the “bottom.”
Thus, the social concept of “bottom” acquires a philosophical meaning. Gorky tried to consider not only the reasons for the social and moral decline of people, but also to show different ways for people to overcome despair, spiritual desolation and pessimism.
People of the bottom
The people of the bottom in Gorky's play "At the Depth" are the most ordinary. They found themselves in a difficult life situation. The main characters of the work:
- Mikhail Kostylev is in charge of the shelter.
- Vasilisa is Kostylev’s wife, loves the thief Ash.
- Natalya, Vasilisa’s sister, suffers beatings from her older sister and disappears after leaving the hospital.
- Luke is a wanderer who suddenly appears and disappears, skillfully comforting everyone with lies.
- Vaska Pepel is a thief who wants to change his destiny.
- The tick is an ordinary hard worker who wants to return to his past life.
- The Baron is an impoverished aristocrat, confident that the best moments of his life are in the past.
- Satin is a sharper, he is sure that the most important thing for a person is spiritual freedom
- An actor who once really performed on the big stage, is now a drunkard who couldn’t think of anything better than to commit suicide.
Play Analysis
At the beginning of the 19th century, the country had an unstable economic situation. Due to the crop failure, many bankrupt peasants and landowners appeared who were looking for an opportunity to make money. Plants and factories were closed en masse. Tens of thousands of people are left without a livelihood and sink to the bottom of society. At this time, enterprising property owners open “flophouses” in their basements, in which depressed people can spend the night or live. In such seemingly terrifying conditions, the author is trying to show that the residents of the shelter have not lost their sense of self-worth. Yes, not all of them cherish dreams of a bright future; for some, it’s not bad at all to parasitize on others and become morally rotten. But if you conduct a detailed analysis of the play, it will be clearly visible that even in a gloomy basement among a crowd of “former people,” the author insists that you need to believe in a person. This contrast is characteristic of many of his works.
Why did Gorky write “At the Lower Depths”? Analysis of this work shows that among the moral dirt of outcasts of society there is a small smoldering ember that unobtrusively hisses: “Man is proud, man is good!” This is especially clearly visible when guests face a small problem.
Truth or lie?
The problem of moral choice in Gorky's play “At the Lower Depths” is very acute. What should people believe? A sweet lie or a bitter truth, which is what Gorky flavored his play “At the Depths” with? The analysis shows that the wanderer Luke is the master of sweet lies in the work; he is sure that people need to be told what they want to hear. He reassures all the inhabitants of the shelter. Gives you faith that there is a chance to change your life if you do this or that. But when he suddenly disappears, everyone becomes uneasy. The guests feel abandoned, and the Actor, who believed Luke’s words more than anyone else, commits suicide.
The truth in Gorky’s play “At the Lower Depths” is personified by its hero, Satin. This man is not the best representative of the human race - he is dishonest, likes to drink, gets into fights, and is pessimistic about the future. But there is a little more knowledge and understanding of what is happening. It is from him that the simple truth comes: “You need to be proud of being a human being.” Satin is not a charismatic personality who can lead a crowd, he is not a revolutionary, not a psychologist or a politician - he simply pointed out the obvious, which lit a special spark in the eyes of every inhabitant who had not yet completely despaired. And it will not fade away when Satin disappears, as happened with Luke’s beautiful lie.
“The Bottom of Life” is a tragic image of M. Gorky’s play “At the Bottom”
In all ages, man has strived to know his “I”.
One of the main, perhaps the main goals of art is to reveal this secret. To reveal to a person the depths of his soul, to make him better, stronger - to one degree or another, every writer achieves this. This is especially true of Russian literature with its deepest moral and philosophical roots. Great minds, people who suffered and experienced a lot - Pushkin, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky tried to solve the problem of good and evil, strength and weakness of man. Gorky faced this problem very early. Already in the first works of the young writer, not only his extraordinary talent as a storyteller and artist was evident, but also his ability to defend his beliefs. And later, the experience of life did not dull his talent, and his belief in his rightness only grew stronger. M. Gorky's play “At the Lower Depths” was written in 1902, at a turning point for Russia. Gorky introduces a new lumpen hero, the tramp, into Russian literature, but talks about him in a new way. The theme of people from the bottom is not new for Russian literature. Gogol, Dostoevsky, Gilyarovsky also addressed this topic. Gorky himself noted that the play was the result of his almost 20 years of observations of the world of “former people.” For a long time he could not find the exact name of the play. Initially it was called “Nochlezhka”, then “Without the Sun” and, finally, “At the Bottom”. The name itself already has a huge meaning. People who have fallen to the bottom will never rise to the light, to a new life. Many similarities can be found in the heroes of Dostoevsky and Gorky: this is the same world of drunkards, thieves, prostitutes and pimps. Only he is shown even more terrifyingly and realistically by Gorky. The gloomy life of the Kostylevo doss house is depicted by Gorky as the embodiment of social evil. The author describes this shelter for the poor and “orphaned”: “A basement like a cave. The ceiling is heavy stone vaults, smoked, with crumbling plaster. The light comes from the viewer and, from top to bottom, from the square window on the right side.” Under the arches of the Kostylevo dungeon there were people of the most varied character and social status. Each of them is endowed with its own individual characteristics. Here are the worker Mite, living in the hope of returning to honest work, and Ash, yearning for a proper life, and the Actor, absorbed in the memories of his past glory, Nastya, passionately striving for true great love. All these people, of course, deserve a better fate - and their situation is all the more tragic. When we meet the inhabitants of the shelter, we see that before us are people who are deeply suffering and lonely. Having reached the very bottom of life after many hardships, they became ruthless towards themselves and others. Everyone is closed in on their own grief and talks about it endlessly, not listening to anyone and not wanting to be heard. The answer to complaints is laughter and mockery. The Baron, who lives off Nastya, is only amused by her tears and fantasies. The tick despises everyone: he is a “working man”, he will break out of the shelter, he is not like all its inhabitants. And only after Anna’s death, having sold all his tools, having lost all hope, he understands and accepts them as comrades in misfortune. Each character in the play seeks support in escaping cruel reality. Natasha and Vaska Ash dream about the future. Anna hopes for peace after death. The actor “dreams” about the past, each time coloring it with ever brighter colors. Nastya, who has neither a past nor a future, leaves the present for the imaginary world of “pure love.” But then a new character appears in the play, from nowhere - Luke. Along with it, a new motive appears in the play: the possibility of consolation or exposure. Gorky himself pointed out what the main problem of the play was: “The main question that I wanted to pose is what is better, truth or compassion? What is more needed? Is it necessary to take compassion to the point of using lies, like Luke?” This phrase from Gorky was included in the title of the essay. Behind this phrase of the author there is a deep philosophical thought, more precisely, the question: what is better - truth or compassion, truth or lies for salvation? Perhaps this question is as complex as life itself. Many generations have struggled with its solution. Nevertheless, we will try to find an answer to the question posed. The wanderer Luke plays the role of a comforter in the play. He calms Anna down by talking about blissful silence after death. He seduces Ash with pictures of a free, free life in Siberia. He informs the unfortunate drunkard Actor about the construction of special hospitals where alcoholics are treated. So he sows words of consolation and hope everywhere. The only pity is that all his promises are based on lies. There is no free life in Siberia, there is no salvation for the Actor from his serious illness. Unhappy Anna will die, having never seen real life, tormented by the thought “how not to eat anything else.” Luke's intentions to help other people seem clear. He tells a parable about a man who believed in the existence of a righteous land. When a certain scientist proved that there was no such land, the man hanged himself out of grief. With this, Luke wants to once again confirm how saving a lie is sometimes for people and how unnecessary and dangerous the truth can be for them. Gorky rejects this philosophy of justifying saving lies. Elder Luke’s lies, Gorky emphasizes, play a reactionary role. Instead of calling for a struggle against unrighteous life, he reconciles the oppressed and disadvantaged with the oppressors and tyrants. This lie, according to the author of the play, is an expression of weakness, historical impotence. The inhabitants of the “bottom” are thrown out of life due to the conditions prevailing in society. Man is left to his own devices. If he stumbles, gets out of line, he is threatened with “the bottom”, inevitable moral, and often physical death. Anna dies, the Actor commits suicide, and the rest are exhausted, disfigured by life to the last degree. And even here, in this terrible world of the outcasts, the wolf laws of the “bottom” continue to operate. The figure of the hostel owner Kostylev, one of the “masters of life,” who is ready to squeeze the last penny even from his unfortunate and destitute guests, is disgusting. His wife Vasilisa is equally disgusting in her immorality. The terrible fate of the inhabitants of the shelter becomes especially obvious if we compare it with what a person is called to. Under the dark and gloomy arches of the lodging house, among the pitiful and crippled, unfortunate and homeless vagabonds, words about man, about his calling, about his strength and his beauty sound like a solemn hymn: “Man is the truth, everything is in man, everything is for man!” Only man exists, everything else is the work of his hands, his brain! Human! It's great! It sounds proud!” Proud words about what a person should be and what a person can be highlight even more sharply the picture of the actual situation of a person that the writer paints. And this contrast takes on a special meaning... Satin’s fiery monologue about man sounds somewhat unnatural in an atmosphere of impenetrable darkness, especially after Luka left, the Actor hanged himself, and Vaska Ashes was imprisoned. The writer himself felt this and explained it by the fact that in the play there should be a reasoner (an exponent of the author’s thoughts), but the heroes portrayed by Gorky can hardly be called exponents of anyone’s ideas at all. That is why Gorky puts his thoughts into the mouth of Satin, the most freedom-loving and fair character.
The image of the bottom in the play “At the Bottom”
What else can be said about this creation of a classic of Russian literature? Why is it so captivating even to our contemporaries? Maybe because the topic raised by Alexei Maksimovich is relevant at all times?
The play written by M. Gorky (“At the Depths”) can rightfully be called social and philosophical. Here, social life and philosophical reflections do not intersect, but complement each other perfectly, making the play a full-fledged, living and real work. The image of the bottom in the play “At the Bottom” represents the harsh reality of the lower strata of society. There are no fictitious facts here, but only real life, such as it is. The fate of the outcasts, those who no longer have a chance to rise. For the first time in world drama, the hopeless fate of “former people” was shown. In the sticky darkness of the musty basement, crippled people, disfigured by fate, gathered. Every day they desperately fight for their existence. Some people have enough strength to survive, while others surrender to the embrace of death. The only ray of hope in this pitchless darkness was brought by Luke, who reassured people and then disappeared. It is difficult not to give up in such a situation, but Satin’s words instill in people faith not in the future, but in their own human dignity. The image of the bottom in the play “At the Bottom” is a torture chamber, where His Majesty disappointment acts as the executioner. It mercilessly beats people who have long been covered in dirt.
The image of the bottom in the play “At the Bottom” is something dark and hopeless, but with a person inside. And where there is a person, there will always be a little hope, because a person is wonderful.
Gorky's play “At the Lower Depths” was written in 1902 for the troupe of the Moscow Art Public Theater. For a long time, Gorky could not find the exact title for the play. Initially it was called “Nochlezhka”, then - “Without the Sun”, and finally - “At the Bottom”. The name itself already has a huge meaning. People who have fallen to the bottom will never rise to the light, to a new life.
The theme of the humiliated and insulted is not new in Russian literature. Let us remember Dostoevsky’s heroes, who also “have nowhere else to go.” Many similarities can be found in the heroes of Dostoevsky and Gorky: this is the same world of drunkards, thieves, prostitutes and pimps. Only the latter shows it even more scary and realistic. In Gorky's play, the audience saw for the first time the unfamiliar world of the outcasts. World drama has never known such a harsh, merciless truth about the life of the lower social classes, about their hopeless fate. Under the arches of the Kostylevo shelter there were people of the most diverse characters and social status. Each of them is endowed with its own individual characteristics. Here is the worker Mite, dreaming of honest work; and Ash, yearning for the right life; and the Actor, all absorbed in the memories of his past glory; and Nastya, passionately striving for great, true love. They all deserve a better fate. All the more tragic is their situation now. The people living in this cave-like basement are victims of an ugly and cruel order, in which a person ceases to be human and is doomed to drag out a miserable existence. Gorky does not give a detailed account of the biographies of the characters in the play, but even those few of their features that he reproduces perfectly reveal the author’s intention. Literally a few words indicate the entire tragedy of Anna's fate. “I don’t remember when I was full...,” she says. “I was shaking over every piece of bread... I was trembling all my life... I was tormented... so as not to eat anything else... I walked around in rags all my life... all my miserable life...” Worker Mite sighs about his hopeless lot: “There is no work... no strength... Here - Truth! There is no refuge, there is no refuge! We need to breathe out... That’s the truth!” The inhabitants of the “bottom” are thrown out of life due to the conditions prevailing in society. Man is left to his own devices. If he stumbles, gets out of line, he is threatened with “the bottom”, inevitable moral, and often physical death. Anna dies, the Actor commits suicide, and the rest are exhausted, disfigured by life to the last degree. Here, in this terrible world of the outcasts, the wolf laws of the “bottom” operate. The figure of the hostel owner Kostylev, one of the “masters of life,” who is ready to squeeze the last penny even from his unfortunate and destitute guests, is disgusting. His wife Vasilisa is equally disgusting in her immorality. The terrible fate of the inhabitants of the shelter becomes especially obvious if we compare it with what a person is called to. Under the dark and gloomy arches of the lodging house, among the pitiful and crippled, unfortunate and homeless vagabonds, words about man, about his calling, about his strength and beauty sound like a solemn hymn: “Man is the truth!” Everything is in man, everything is for man! Only man exists, everything else is the work of his hands and his brain! Human! It's great! It sounds proud!” Lofty words about what a person should be and what a person can be highlight even more sharply the picture of the actual situation of a person that the writer paints. And this contrast takes on a special meaning... Satin’s fiery monologue about man sounds somewhat unnatural in an atmosphere of impenetrable darkness, especially after Luka left, the Actor hanged himself, and Vaska Ashes was imprisoned. The writer himself felt this and explained it by the fact that in the play there should be a reasoner (an exponent of the author’s thoughts), but the heroes portrayed by Gorky can hardly be called exponents of anyone’s ideas at all. Therefore, Alexey Maksimovich puts his thoughts into the mouth of Satin, the most freedom-loving and fair character.
Related materials:
- “Which is better, truth or compassion?” (Based on M. Gorky’s play “At the Lower Depths”) - .
- “Former people” in M. Gorky’s play “At the Lower Depths” - .
- “The Bottom of Life” is the tragic image of the play.
- The “bottom” of life in M. Gorky’s play “At the Bottom” - .
- “At the Lower Depths” by M. Gorky as a philosophical drama - .
