"Heart of a Dog". The problem of boundless immorality

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

The works of Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov make me scrupulously analyze the plots of the stories and the ideas embedded there. The latter, distinguished by their specificity and versatility, remain in the minds of the people for quite a long time. They are in no hurry to waste their potential for discussion.

The story "The Heart of a Dog" is a famous work of the master, written in 1925, but missed the press sixty years later. The ban was provoked precisely by the sharp content of the manuscript, which describes the life and life of the Soviet period in the 1920s.

The plot of the "monstrous story"

Before us is the corpse of a young man who until recently was alive and bore the name of Klim Chugunkin. Professor Preobrazhensky, feeling the need for experiments, removes the most important endocrine gland, the pituitary gland, as well as the sex glands, and decides to transplant these fragments to the yard dog Sharik, who should eventually become a “man”. It is no wonder that such a fantasy was quite rightly described by the author himself as monstroushistory.”

Regarding the actual title of the story, we can say that the word "dog" here means "extremely bad". A kind and affectionate dog turns into a disgusting, evil and ill-mannered likeness of a person, personifying all the low vices of the family. This is one of the essential problems of Heart of a Dog.

Characteristics of the characters in the story

Known at home and abroad, the talented professor of medicine Filipp Filippovich Preobrazhensky is the main protagonist of the story. His work and aspirations are focused on anti-aging operations. During the day, patients come to him, and before going to bed, the hardworking professor gains new knowledge by studying medical tomes.

This man, who strongly sympathizes with pre-revolutionary beliefs, symbolizes high education and undoubted good breeding. However, the professor does not refuse the pleasure of satisfying his stomach with delicious dishes or ex alting his pride in high circles of society.

Dog Sharik is a very smart and good-natured four-legged creature that could well become a friend of Hoffmann's cat Murr if it were not transformed into a human. Sharik fairly approached the definition of people, seeing the soul in their eyes.

Sharik ignored the uniform as the wisest of people. Professor Preobrazhensky made a great impression on the dog in their first meeting, which provoked great changes in the fate of the heroes. It is worth noting that the organs transplanted to Sharik were taken from a person convicted three times,drinking and fighting.

What are the problems in the story "Heart of a Dog"

The first problem is that the professor "wanted the best", but it turned out differently. The experiment, conceived for good purposes, gave frightening and disgusting results. The very appearance of a humanoid creature expressed a low and vicious nature. His forehead sat rather low, suggesting that rational behavior should not be expected from him. The "human" qualities of the donor overpowered the "dog" features of the recipient.

The evolution of a dog, which can be characterized by degradation, gives the creator a lot of trouble. Preobrazhensky understands that the newly created Polygraph Poligrafovich needs cultural ennoblement, seeing how he conducts dialogues with others, how dissolute and vicious.

Attempts to change the natural mentality of Sharikov become the second insoluble task for the professor. A man with a dog's heart completely denies theater and books, good manners and humility, passionately rushing into vices, games and boundless selfishness. This "Heart of a Dog" problem is superimposed on the first one, further inflating the unbearable rejection of the negative element by a decent environment.

The problem of the relationship between the intelligentsia and the common people after the revolution is displayed in an ironic grotesque in "The Heart of a Dog". The scum should also have their own mentor. Walking the path of hatred and envy, Sharikov finds such a teacher in the person of Shvonder, chairman of the house committee. Bulgakov vividly describesthrough the prism of the actions and aspirations of the "subhuman", the actual attitude towards such people.

The marginal hates a person who works with his head, and having come to power, greedily rushes to riches, destroys beauty and does not know mercy at all, especially to those who used to be in his environment. What issues does Heart of a Dog address? Including the interaction of various strata of society.

How to deal with the monster?

Having found in his creation, on which he placed great hopes, an enemy and an informer, the professor saw only one way - to return everything to its place. A wise saying says: nature does not tolerate violence against itself. Preobrazhensky realized his mistakes and heeded the voice of reason, saying that such experiments do not lead to good. Let the return to the original state be the fair ending of the story, the main purpose of which was a sarcastic ridicule of the existing order and grotesque attempts to correct the essence of the individual.

Prerequisites for writing the story

It is quite obvious that the revolutionary events of 1917 excited everyone who is not alien to the history of the great Russian state. M. A. Bulgakov had his own opinion, gracefully deployed on the pages of the sensational story “Heart of a Dog”. Great feelings about the landmark coup, which, like any revolution, brought huge human losses, gave enormous potential for thinking people. A penetrating glance from the outside sees more clearly the shortcomings of the government. But criticismglad to hear only those who want the best for others.

Summary

• Sharikov, thanks to his own agility, envious mind and denial of everything intellectual, rises from the bottom of the social ladder to unprecedented heights, which promise him the right to do evil with impunity.
• The immoral intentions of the once good dog are denied by people who wish him well, and are encouraged by cunning and gloating "friends" who can betray when you are no longer needed.
• Professor Preobrazhensky, who has, as it were, the right of paternity, decides to return everything to its place. “I gave birth to you, I will kill you,” the doctor could well say, who raised a monster, personifying cunning and envious depravity.
• The problems of Bulgakov's "Heart of a Dog" are still relevant, not to mention that they existed at the dawn of mankind.