Goncharov "An Ordinary Story": a summary and history of creation

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Decade. Is it a lot or a little? Ten years after Pushkin published his novel in verse Eugene Onegin, Ivan Alexandrovich Goncharov decided to make adjustments to the “hero of time”. He comprehended the trends of the era with his mind and understood that these thoughts and reasoning should have poured out on paper …

New time… New characters

Life has accelerated. The country was changing… The death of Pushkin, who was the idol of his youth, prompted the writer to rethink modernity. He mourned his death "like the death of his own mother." The new book was conceived by the young Goncharov. "An Ordinary Story" - this is the name of the first novel by an aspiring author. The idea was grandiose, and it was difficult to underestimate it. Objectively, a new novel of the great Russian literature of the 19th century, following after Pushkin and Lermontov, was in demand! Ivan Alexandrovich, while working on the book, showed due insight, supplying his creation with progressive problems, ideology, and confrontation of views. The writer felt: Eugene could no longerOnegin, "an extra person" in his Fatherland, reflect the realities of development. It was beyond the power of Pechorin.

Goncharov decided to write about the people of the new formation in the novel "An Ordinary Story". The history of the creation of the work is evolutionary. It should be noted that this was Goncharov's first novel. Before publication, he read it in the Maykov family. Then he made the changes suggested by Valerian Maikov. And only when Belinsky enthusiastically approved the work, Ivan Alexandrovich published his novel. Contemporaries, inspired by Russian literary critic No. 1 (Belinsky), willingly bought a new book with the inscription "Goncharov" Ordinary History "on the cover.

The summary of the chapters presented by us in this article is determined by the structure of the novel, containing two parts and an epilogue.

Design

. Goncharov managed to describe these two socio-cultural systems, two successive stages in the development of Russian society. It should be noted that, having realized his idea of the work, Goncharov made a huge contribution to Russian literature. "An Ordinary Story" reviews caused a variety. However, all critics agreed on one thing: the novel is timely, truthful, necessary. By the way, while working on the planned essay, Ivan Goncharov formulated the most interesting idea that all Russian realistic novels of the 19th century are rooted in Pushkin's novel.

FromGrachi estate in St. Petersburg

Ivan Goncharov begins to narrate the first part of his work from an ironic scene. "An Ordinary Story" begins with the abandonment of one of the main characters, Alexander Fedorovich Aduev, the son of a poor local noblewoman Anna Pavlovna Adueva, of his family estate Grachi. The estate is in turmoil: a bewildered loving mother gathers her child… This scene is both touching and ironic.

The reader at the same time has the opportunity to notice a typical picture of unreformed Russia: serfdom turned this landownership (in the language of Goncharov's later novel) into a "sleepy kingdom". Even time here has "its own dimension": "before lunch" and "after lunch", and the seasons of the year are determined by field work.

Twenty-year-old Alexander leaves with the valet Yevsey, whom she assigned to wait on the young master Agrafena. His mother, sister, Sonechka, who was in love with him, remained in Grachi. On the day of Alexander's departure, Pospelov's friend rushed sixty miles away to hug his friend goodbye.

In style of presentation, Goncharov writes a novel unlike typical books of his time. The “Ordinary Story”, the characters of which seem to be revealed in the course of an ordinary story of an ordinary person, does not look like a literary work (the novel does not contain summaries). The content of the book is presented as if not by the author, but by a contemplator, accomplice, contemporary of the events described.

About Aduev's motivation

In his family estate, Alexander would certainly have taken place. If he had remained in Grachi, then his further life would, of course, have been settled. His well-being, measured by the harvest, did not require effort. The young gentleman was automatically provided with a comfortable existence in these parts. However, the author Goncharov clearly sympathizes with this literary image - the young landowner. “An Ordinary Story” therefore contains a kind irony in his description … What attracts him to St. Petersburg? He, who composes poetry and tries himself in prose, dreams of glory. They are driven by dreams. In some way, in his warehouse, he resembles Lermontov Lensky: naive, with inflated self-esteem …

What prompted him to take such a decisive step? First, read French novels. The author mentions them in his narrative. These are Shagreen Skin by Balzac, Memoirs of the Devil by Soulier, as well as the popular “soap fiction” that flooded Europe and Russia in the middle of the 19th century: “Les sept péchés capitaux”, “Le manuscrit vert”, “L'âne mort”.

The fact that Alexander Aduev really absorbed the naive and kind views on life taken from novels is shown by Ivan Goncharov. “Ordinary History” in the episodes of Alexander’s explanatory words contains quotes from the novels “Green Manuscript” (G. Druino), “Atar-Gul” (E. Xu) … With a slight sadness, the writer lists all those books that he “had been ill” in his youth. Then the author will write about this work of his, that he showed in it “himself and those like him”, who arrived in cold, tough, competitive Petersburg (a place where careers are made)from "good mothers".

The idea of the novel: ideological conflict

But let's get back to the novel… Secondly, Alexandra brought to the city on the Neva the example of his uncle, Pyotr Aduev, who seventeen years ago came from the provinces to St. Petersburg and "found his way". It was about the resolved worldview conflict of the above-mentioned characters that Goncharov wrote the novel. "An Ordinary Story" is not just a different look at the lives of two people, it is a trend of the times.

The summary of this book, therefore, is the opposition of two worlds. One - dreamy, lordly, spoiled by laziness and the other - practical, filled with awareness of the need for work, "real". It should be recognized that the writer Ivan Goncharov managed to notice and expose to the reading public one of the main conflicts of the 40s of the XIX century: between patriarchal corvée and the emerging business life. They show the characteristic features of the new society: respect for work, rationalism, professionalism, responsibility for the result of their work, honoring success, rationality, discipline.

Nephew arrives

How did the St. Petersburg uncle react to the arrival of his nephew? For him it was like snow on his head. He is annoyed. Indeed, in addition to the usual worries, a letter from his daughter-in-law Anna Pavlovna (Alexander's mother) naively puts on his shoulders the care of an infantile and excessively ardent and enthusiastic son. Of the many ironic scenes like this, Goncharov creates a novel. "An Ordinary Story", a summarywhich we cite in the article, continues with the reading of a message written by Aduev’s mother without punctuation marks and sent along with a “jar of honey” and a bag of “dried raspberries”. It contains a mother's request to "do not spoil" her son and look after him. Anna Pavlovna also notified that she would provide her son with money herself. In addition, the letter contains more than a dozen requests from neighbors who knew him as a twenty-year-old guy before leaving for St. Petersburg: from a request for help in a court case to romantic memories of an old friend about the yellow flowers that she once plucked. The uncle, having read the letter and having no heartfelt affection for his nephew, decided to give him complicity, guided by the “laws of justice and reason.”

Help from Aduev Sr

Pyotr Ivanovich, who successfully combines public service with economic activity (he is also a breeder), unlike his nephew, lives in a completely different, businesslike, "dry" world. He understands the futility of his nephew's views on the world in terms of career, which he shows in his book Goncharov ("Ordinary History"). We will not describe the brief content of this ideological clash, but only say that it consists in the victory of the material world.

Peter Ivanovich dryly and businesslike takes on teaching his nephew to city life. He equips a young man with housing, helps to rent an apartment in the house where he lives. Aduev Sr. tells Alexander how to organize his life, where it is better to eat. Uncle can not be blamed for inattention. He is looking forfor his nephew a job that matches his inclinations: translations of articles on the topic of agriculture.

Social adaptation of Alexander

St. Petersburg's business life gradually draws the young man in. After two years, he already occupies a prominent place in the publishing house: he not only translates articles, but also selects them, proofreads other people's articles, writes himself on the topic of agriculture. About how the social orientation of Aduev Jr. goes, tells in the novel Goncharov. The “Ordinary Story”, a brief summary of which we are considering, tells about the changes that have taken place with a young man: his acceptance of a bureaucratic-bureaucratic paradigm.

Disappointment in love and friend

Alexander has a new love, Nadenka Lyubetskaya. Sonechka from Rooks has already been thrown out of her heart. Alexander is deeply in love with Nadenka, he dreams of her … The prudent girl prefers Count Novinsky to him. Young Aduev completely loses his head with passion, he wants to challenge the count to a duel. Even an uncle is unable to cope with such a volcano of passions. At this stage of the novel, Ivan Goncharov introduces a significant nuance. "An Ordinary Story" tells that romance from a dangerous crisis (possibly threatening suicide) is rescued by another romantic - this is Pyotr Ivanovich's wife, Alexander's aunt, Lizaveta Alexandrovna. The young man is no longer mad, a dream has come to him, but he is indifferent to his surroundings. However, a new blow of fate awaits him further.

Accidentally in St. Petersburg on Nevskyon the avenue, he sees a childhood friend of Pospelov. Alexander is delighted: finally, someone who can always find support, in whom the blood has not cooled down, has finally appeared … However, the friend turns out to be the same only outwardly: his character has undergone significant changes, he has become unpleasantly materialistic and prudent.

How Uncle Convinced His Nephew

Alexander is completely depressed morally, as the novel "An Ordinary Story" testifies. Goncharov, however, further narrates how the young Aduev, who lost faith in people, is brought to life by his uncle. He pragmatically and harshly returns his nephew to the realities of life, first accusing him of heartlessness. Alexander agrees with the words of Peter Ivanovich that those who love and care for him in the real world (mother, uncle, aunt) should be valued more and hover less in the fictional world. Aduev Sr. consistently leads his nephew to pragmatism. To do this, he constantly, step by step (water wears away a stone) logically analyzes every desire and phrase of Aduev Jr. from the point of view of the experience of other people.

And finally, in his struggle with the romanticism of his nephew, Peter Ivanovich delivers a decisive blow. He decides to show Alexander the real power of his writing talent. For this, Aduev Sr. even makes certain material sacrifices. He offers his nephew, as an experiment, to publish his story in his own name. The publisher's response was devastating for an aspiring aspiring writer… It was, figuratively speaking, a shot that finally killed the romance in him.

Qud for a favor

Now both nephew and uncle speakin one businesslike, dry language, without bothering with sentimentality. Nobility has been eradicated from the soul of Alexander … He agrees to help his uncle in one rather unscrupulous business. Uncle has a problem: his partner, Surkov, ceases to be a reliable partner under the influence of passion. He falls in love with the widow Yulia Pavlovna Tafaeva. Aduev Sr. asks his nephew to recapture a young woman from Surkov, making her fall in love with him, which Alexander manages to do. However, his relationship with Tafaeva does not end there, but develops into a mutual passion. Romantic Yulia Pavlovna unleashes such a stream of emotions on young Aduev that Alexander cannot stand the test of love.

Psychological breakdown of Aduev Jr

Pyotr Ivanovich manages to dissuade Tafaeva. However, Alexander is overcome by complete apathy. He converges with Kostikov, whom Pyotr Ivanovich recommended to him. This is an official, devoid of any spiritual world and imagination. His destiny is relaxation: "to play checkers or to fish", to live without "mental disturbances". One day, my aunt, Lizaveta Alexandrovna, trying to stir up Alexander, who is indifferent to everything, asks him to accompany him to a concert.

Influenced by the music of the romantic violinist, Alexander decides to drop everything and return to his small homeland, to Grachi. He arrives at his native estate with his faithful servant Yevsey.

Short-term self-finding

It is noteworthy that the returned "Petersburger" Aduev Jr. has a different, not youthful idyllic vision of the way of the landowner economy. He notices heavy and regularpeasant labor, mother's tireless care. Alexander begins to creatively rethink that much of what he translated on agricultural technology in the publishing house is far from practice, and takes up reading special literature.

Anna Pavlovna, on the other hand, is sad that her son's soul has lost its former ardor, and he himself has grown bald, plump, that he was swallowed up by the maelstrom of St. Petersburg life. Mom hopes that staying in the house will return the lost to her son, but she does not wait - she dies. The main character of the novel, whose soul was cleansed by suffering, comes to an understanding of true values, true faith. However, he is not destined to remain at this spiritual height for long. Alexander returns to Petersburg.

What is the "commonness" of the story?

From the epilogue, we learn that in four years Aduev Jr. becomes a collegiate adviser, he has a rather big income, and he is going to marry profitably (a bride's dowry of three hundred thousand rubles and an estate of five hundred souls of serfs await him).

In the uncle's family, the opposite changes took place. Aduev Sr. comes to an obvious dead end, where the business world inevitably pushes him. After all, his whole life is entirely subordinated to a career, entrepreneurship, service. Due to money interests, he completely abandoned his individuality, turned himself into a part of a single machine.

Elizaveta Alexandrovna lost her romanticism, becoming a calm lady. At the end of the novel, she turned into a “home comfort device” that does not bother her husband with emotions,worries and questions. Goncharov clearly shows that the new bourgeois society, just like the patriarchal-feudal society, is capable of destroying the personality of a woman. This metamorphosis unexpectedly disturbed Peter Ivanovich, who wants to give up his career as a court adviser and leave the capital with his wife. In the epilogue of the book, he rebels against that society, the conductor of whose interests he was throughout the novel.

Note: Watch out for these scenes from the novel

• There is an episode in which Goncharov's special attitude towards Pushkin is visible. Alexander Aduev, who has just arrived in St. Petersburg, goes to the Bronze Horseman (one of Alexander Sergeevich's favorite places).
• Goncharov's picture of summer Petersburg, the Neva, the author's description of the white nights is very romantic… These fragments of the novel are of high quality artistically. They are worth re-reading from time to time. Goncharov is a maestro!

Conclusion

Typical for his time trend displayed in the novel Goncharov. "Ordinary History" analyzes historical authenticity and shows that in the 40s of the 19th century, the influx of poor nobles and raznochintsy to St. Petersburg began, and in the 60s reached a maximum, eager to make a career and take place professionally. At the same time, the most important, you see, was the moral aspect. Why was the young man driving: to serve the Fatherland or just to make a career at any cost?

However, in addition to the problematic component, Goncharov's novel has undoubted artistic value. She marks the beginningcreation by Russian novelists of a detailed picture of the reality surrounding them. In his article “Better late than never”, Ivan Goncharov suggested to readers (which, unfortunately, neither Dobrolyubov nor Belinsky did) that his three novels, the first of which was “An Ordinary Story”, are, in fact, a single trilogy about the era of sleep and awakening of a vast country. Thus, we can say that a complete literary cycle, consisting of three novels, about his time was created by Goncharov ("Oblomov", "Cliff", "Ordinary History").