The play "At the Bottom", published in 1902, is considered the most famous drama of M. Gorky. In this work, the author touched on one of the most important issues of Russian literature - the question of a person and his place in society. The problem of humanism, so relevant at the beginning of the 20th century, is also touched upon. It was at this time that events took place in the country in which the value of a person was lost. Even the most respected people could be "at the bottom." So the heroes of the play, who were once respected people, now find themselves in a wretched rooming house.

One of the most discussed issues in the work "At the Bottom" is the question of truth, its essence and role in the life of every person. Throughout the play, the characters argue about what is more important: truth or lies, harsh reality or illusions. Almost all guests at some stage express their opinion about the truth. So, for example, a girl of easy virtue Nastya, an Actor, a consumptive Anna and some other characters prefer to be in illusions. After all, the truth is so harsh, and without it it's hard to breathe. Thus, they keep in their hearts the belief in a better future in which they can become happy.

The conflict between dreams and reality escalates with the appearance of the wanderer Luke. This hero is distinguished by sincere kindness, compassion and love for people. His life philosophy is simply necessary for these lost people. He quickly realizes that they need approval and comfort. So, to the dying Anna, he says that in the next world a better life awaits her. The drunkard of the Actor is convinced of the existence of a hospital, where he is completely cured of alcoholism. Dreamy Nastya says that if she believes in the existence of a big and pure love will surely meet her. Vaska Peplu advises to go to work in Siberia.

Thus, with the arrival of Luke, the mood of many guests improves. They have hope for a brighter future. However, with his unexpected departure, everything again becomes as before, and the Actor, unable to withstand the harsh reality, commits suicide. Satin sees this as the fault of the old man and his "comforting lie". Satan has his own truth. He prefers to speak the ugly truth, so as not to belittle a person and not infringe on his freedom. He believes in the cult of a man who can realize himself. And consolation with a good lie is like humiliation. Lies are for slaves and their masters, and Man must be proud. This is the point of view of Satin - in the past an intelligent and educated telegraph operator.

Another form of truth is expressed by the character of Bubnov, the former owner of a dyeing workshop, now a cap maker who lives on credit. Due to certain circumstances, he became a skeptic and a fatalist. He consciously does not want to keep anything positive in himself and believes that it is “at the bottom” that the real character of a person manifests itself, when all social differences are erased. Bubnov is sure that a person is born for death, and why then feel sorry for him. After all, everyone will die. In his position, every person in this world is superfluous. He denies both himself and others. Thus, for a more effective solution of acute socio-philosophical problems, the author tried to consider them from different points of view.

Three truths in the play "At the Bottom" by Gorky occupy a special place in the narrative. Bubnov, Luka and Satin have their own idea of ​​what truth is.

Bubnov

The truth for Bubnov is the truth of a fact. The character claims that no one should lie, that all people should only “blame” the truth, even if it turns out to be difficult for the person who hears it. The statements of each person, according to Bubnov, should be built as an indisputable fact. The hero does not perceive lies in any of its manifestations.

Luke

Luke believes that lies can give a person hope. The hero adheres to the position of white lies. Drunkard Actor Luka talks about a special city in which he will recover from alcoholism and change for the better. To the dying Anna, Luka tells that after death she will find real peace. Nastya, who was striving to gain love, Luka says that she will definitely achieve what she believes in. The hero, who appeared in the rooming house, tries to support everyone who is at the "bottom".

The truth of Luke lies in mercy and compassion. It is built on love for all mankind. The hero seeks to give hope to every inhabitant of the rooming house. better life and lies become a tool. Luka does not agree with Bubnov's position, he believes that the truth alone cannot cure a person's soul.

satin

Satin disagrees with Luke's position. He is the spokesman for 3 truths. Satin believes that lies are the religion of only slaves and masters. The truth is opposed to her, it is she who is the "god of a free man." Satin does not support Luke's pity for the inhabitants of the rooming house, the hero believes that a lie covered with pity will not help anyone, that a person should not be pitied, but respected.

Table

To understand the difference in understanding the truth different heroes, consider the table "Three truths ("At the bottom")", built on quotes.

Bubnov	Luke	satin
“But I… I can’t lie!”	“It’s true, it’s not always because of a person’s illness ... you can’t always cure the soul with the truth”	"Man - that's the truth!"
“In my opinion, bring down the whole truth as it is! Why be ashamed?	“To love - you need to be alive ... alive”	“Lie is the religion of slaves and masters! Truth is the god of a free man!”
	"To caress a person is never harmful"	"Human! It's great! That sounds…proud!”

One of the most fundamental questions of Russian literature is the question of man, his place in the world and his true value. The problem of humanism becomes especially relevant at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century, when history begins to develop in such a way that the real value of a person is lost. Many writers of that time turned to the topic of man, tried to find the truth, understand the purpose human life. Maxim Gorky was one of these writers.

The writer reveals his ideas about a person already in the first romantic works. Gorky's first story - "Makar Chudra" - was published in 1892, then other stories about "tramps" followed: "Grandfather Arkhip and Lenka" (1894), "Chelkash" (1895), "Konovalov" (1897), "Malva (1897). The main characters of these stories are vagabonds, " former people", but contrary to literary tradition, they are depicted not as outcasts, "humiliated and insulted", but as people who themselves rejected society with its morality and social laws. These heroes despise the petty-bourgeois craving for peace and satiety, any restriction of freedom. who are "at least hungry, but free." "Trump" are proud, cheerful, they hate suffering, they have no fear of life, but they have self-esteem. Therefore, the thief Chelkash looks much more attractive than the greedy peasant Gavrila.

At the same time, the author-narrator does not hide the fact that the level of self-awareness of these "tramps" is low. Only some of them began to really think about their own fate and the meaning of human life ("Konovalov"). But "the severity of their thoughts was increased by the blindness of their mind." In addition, Gorky perfectly saw the danger of the boundless self-will of such people, the tragedy of their loneliness. N. Minsky wrote about this: “Gorky depicts not just tramps, but some kind of super-tramps and super-tramps, preachers of some new provincial Nietzscheanism ... The strongest turns out to be right, because he demands more from life, and the weak is to blame, because that he does not know how to stand up for himself. It must be confessed that in our literature, thoroughly saturated with the doctrine of love and goodness, such a vivid preaching of the right of the strong is quite new and risky.

The search for the truth of life the writer continued throughout creative way. This search was reflected in the images of the heroes of many of his later works. But the most acute dispute about the truth of life sounds in the play "At the bottom". The peculiarity of this work is that all the characters have their own truth. And each of them openly speaks about his truth. Bubnov affirms the truth of the fact, Luke preaches the truth of a comforting lie, Satin defends the truth of faith in Man. Whose truth is really true?

“Everyone will be born like that, live and die. And I will die, and you ... What a pity,” these words of Bubnov contain a mundane, petty-bourgeois ideology, the truth of the Uzh and the Woodpecker, the truth of the Baron and the Tick. Bubnov is not able to understand the truth of people like Satin. Luke's stories about people who believed in a righteous land are also not available to him: "All inventions ... too! - he exclaims. - Ho! Ho! Righteous land! There too! Ho-ho-ho!" He reduces "elevating deceit" to "lower truths". He recognizes only the truth of the facts and the cruel laws of life.

The Baron recognizes only the truth of the past, so he is indifferent to the world, remaining entirely in the past. The past is his only truth. But what did she give him? “You reason...,” he says to Sateen, “... this must warm the heart... I don’t have it... I don’t know how!.. I, brother, am afraid... sometimes.. I'm afraid... Because - what's next?.. I never understood anything... It seems to me that all my life I only changed clothes... why? I don't remember! I studied - I wore the uniform of a noble institute... and why I don't remember... I got married - I put on a tailcoat, then a dressing gown... and took a bad wife... I lived everything that happened - I wore some kind of gray jacket and red trousers... but how I went bankrupt? ... I served in the Treasury Chamber ... uniform, squandered government money - they put on me a prisoner's robe ... And that's it ... like in a dream ... But ... why was I born ... huh? " The Baron doesn't believe in illusions. But in the end, faith in the truth of facts does not bring him satisfaction, does not show him the meaning of life. This is his main tragedy.

Like Bubnov and Baron Kleshch, He does not want illusions: he voluntarily shouldered the truth of the real world. "Why do I need it - the truth? What am I to blame for? .. Why do I need the truth? I can’t live ... Here it is - the truth! .." He is proud that he is a working man, and therefore treats the inhabitants of the rooming house with contempt . He hates the owner and strives with all his heart to escape from the rooming house. But he will also be disappointed. The death of his wife knocked down Tick, deprived him of faith in the truth, whatever it was. "There is no work ... there is no strength! That's the truth! Shelter ... no! I need to die ... here it is, really! .. What do I need it for, right? .."

Luke opposes his truth to this ideology. He calls on everyone to respect a person: "A person, whatever he is, is always worth his price." Luke's position is the idea of ​​compassion, the idea of ​​active goodness, which arouses faith in a person, capable of leading him further. He promotes the idea of ​​personal improvement and even sublime deceit.

But in Luke's ideas, the notes of opportunism and duality are striking, which he puts in the form of ideas about the freedom of human consciousness: to Ash's question, is there a God, Luke answers: "If you believe, - there is; if you don't believe, - no ... What do you believe , that is..."

Thus, he does not deceive people, he sincerely believes in them, believes in his own truth. The only question is that this truth, it turns out, can be different - depending on the person himself. "Man - that's the truth. He understood it!" - this is how Sateen interprets the ideology of Luca. And with all the difference in views, he admires the old man: "He is a clever one! .. He ... acted on me like acid on an old and dirty coin ..." It was under the influence of Luka's views, under the influence of conversations with him, that Satin subsequently said his monologue about man: "A man is free... he pays for everything himself, and therefore he is free!"

Satin proves that "a person is above satiety", that a person has higher goals, higher needs than caring about being fed: "I have always despised people who care too much about being fed. Not in this business! A man is higher! A man is higher than satiety!"

Sateen has an independent character. He is not afraid of the owner of the rooming house. He may sometimes seem cynical: "Give me a nickel," he addresses the Actor, "and I will believe that you are a talent, a hero, a crocodile, a private bailiff." His remark in response to the Baron's message about the death of the Actor sounds just as cynical: "Eh ... ruined the song ... fool." This position is due to the disappointment of the hero in life itself. He no longer believes in anything. He considers his life and the life of the rest of the inhabitants to be over: "You cannot kill twice." But in fact, compassion is not alien to him, he is a good comrade, those around him treat him with sympathy.

It is Satin's monologues that sum up everything that happens and formulate the ethical position of the author: "Man is the truth! does not wait for someone else's - why should he lie? Lies are the religion of slaves and masters ... Truth is the god of a free man. He expresses the author's confidence that "A man... that sounds proud! One must respect a man!"

The truth of Luke excited the inhabitants of the rooming house. However, lies, consolation can not help anyone, even the people of the "bottom", says Gorky. The truth of Luka, faced with the realities of life of the inhabitants of the rooming house, with the truth of Bubnov, Baron, Klesh, leads to tragic consequences. The Actor hanged himself when he realized that the wonderful hospital for "organisms" was an invention of Luke.

Nastya is experiencing a mental crisis. A surge of illusions obscures the true state of affairs from the unfortunate inhabitants of the rooming house, which ultimately leads to the complete collapse of their hopes, and then a chain reaction of tragedies begins (the beating of Natasha Vasilisa, the arrest of Ash, who killed Kostylev in a fight, the shock of Klesch, who lost everything, etc.) . Comprehension of the truth "Everything is in a person, everything is for a person" fascinates Satin and other heroes of the play. The more painful for them is the incompatibility of this discovery with reality ...

Thus, in the play "At the Bottom" M. Gorky sought not only to depict the terrible reality to draw attention to the fate of disadvantaged people. He created a truly innovative philosophical and journalistic drama. The content of seemingly disparate episodes is masterfully organized by him in big picture tragic collision of "three truths" about life. It makes us think and draw certain conclusions. If the position of Baron, Kleshch and Bubnov is unacceptable for us, then we can both agree and argue with the positions of Luka and Sateen.

The thing is that in the image of Sateen with his undoubted truth - the truth of man - we see the image of a man of the future. His lofty ideas are still only declarative. Whereas Luke, despite the duality of ideas, confirms his convictions with deeds. And therefore is more human present. Both Luke and Satin sought to reveal to people the real truth - the truth of the human person. But until the world is ready to understand this truth, humanity will be doomed to death.

"Three truths in the play by M Gorky" At the bottom "

Development of a literature lesson with elements of communicative learning and technology of RKCHP;

Goals:

educational - to reveal the position of the characters of the play in relation to the question of truth,find out the meaning of the tragic collision of different points of view: the truth of a fact (Bubnov), the truth of a comforting lie (Luke), the truth of faith in a person (Satin);create a problematic situation, awaken students to express their own opinions about the life principles of Luka, Bubnov, Satin.

Educational - to contribute to the formation of one's own point of view in relation to such a concept as "truth", to create situations that will help to understand that there is a way out of every situation.

Educational – formation of public speaking skills, the ability to defend one’s point of view, activation creativity students.

During the classes:

I want to start our lesson with verses. Listen, please.

Is it fog? Haze? Is there smoke from fires?
The sinister world of an unknown era ...
Was this world really like this?
Or scary to us, because we know poorly? ..

We will slide along the spiral of time
In times where we can't be...

Imagine for a moment that by the will of fate you ended up in Moscow without money, without friends, without relatives, without cell phones. You have moved to the beginning of the century. How would you try to improve your life or change the situation you find yourself in? Will you try to improve your life, or did you immediately sink to the "bottom"?

The heroes of the play we are studying stopped resisting, they sank to the “bottom of life”.

The topic of our lesson: “Three truths in the play by M. Gorky“ At the bottom.

What do you think it will be about?

What questions will we consider?

(Suggested answers: What is truth? What truth can there be? Why three truths? What thoughts do the characters express about truth? Which of the characters thinks about this question?

Teacher summary: Every character has their own truth. And we will try to find out the positions of the characters, understand them, understand the essence of the dispute that arose between the characters and decide whose truth is closer to us, modern readers.

Literary workout.

You know that you can not competently defend your point of view without knowledge literary work. I offer you a literary warm-up. I read a line from a play, and you determine which of the characters it belongs to.

What is the conscience? I'm not rich (Bubnov)

It is necessary to love the living, the living (Luke)

When work is duty - life is slavery (Satin)

Falsehood is the religion of slaves and masters... Truth is the god of a free man! (Satin)

People live ... like chips floating down the river ... (Bubnov)

All love on earth is superfluous (Bubnov)

Christ pitied everyone and commanded us (Luke)

To caress a person is never harmful (Luke)

Human! It's great! It sounds proud! Human! You have to respect the person!

Knowledge update. Call.

You have demonstrated good knowledge of the text. Why do you think you were offered replicas of these particular characters? (Luka, Satin, Bubnov have their own notion of truth).

How do you understand the meaning of the word "truth"?

IS IT TRUE, -s,and. 1. What exists in reality corresponds to the real state of things.Tell the truth. Hear the truth about what happened. The truth pricks the eyes (last). 2. Justice, honesty, a just cause.Look for the truth. Stand up for the truth. The truth is on your side. Happiness is good, truth is better (last). 3. Same as (colloquial).Your truth (You are right).God sees the truth, but will not tell soon (last). 4.introductory sl. The truth statement is true, indeed.I really didn't know this.

Those. the truth is private, but it is ideological

So, let's find out the truth of Luka, Bubnov, Satin.

"Luke's Truth"

In the work of every talented writer, the name of the hero necessarily means something. Let us turn to the origins of the name Luke. What meanings can it have?

1) Arises from the name of the Apostle Luke.

2) Associated with the word "Cunning", that is, cunning.

3) "Onion", until you get to the middle, take off a lot of "clothes!

How does Luke appear in the play? What are the first words he says? (“Good health, honest people,” he immediately announces his position, says that he treats everyone well, “I respect crooks, in my opinion, not a single flea is bad.”

What does Luke say about the attitude towards other people?

Consider how Luka behaves with each of the inhabitants of the rooming house.

How does he feel about Anna? (He regrets, says that after death she will find peace, consoles, helps, becomes necessary)

What advice does the actor have? (Find a city in which they treat alcohol, it’s clean, the floor is marble, they treat for free, “A person can do anything, if only he wants to”).

How does Vaska Peplu propose to arrange life? (Leave for Siberia with Natasha. Siberia is a rich land, you can earn money there, become a master).

How does Nastya console? (Nastya dreams of great bright love, he tells her: “What you believe is what you are”)

How does he talk to Medvedev? (He calls him "under", that is, he flatters, and he falls for his bait).

So how does Luke feel about the inhabitants of the rooming house? (Well, he sees a person in everyone, opens positive features character trying to help. He knows how to bring out the good in everyone and inspire hope.

Read the remarks that reflect Luke's position in life?

How do you understand the words: “What you believe is what you are?”

What other thoughts of Luke are consonant with your thoughts?

Which hero needs Luke's support? (To the Actor, Nastya, Natasha, Anna. It is not the truth that is more important to them, but words of consolation. When the Actor stopped believing that he could recover from alcoholism, he hanged himself.

A person can learn good things .. very simply, says Luka. What story is he citing? (A case in the country)

How do you understand the “story” of the righteous land?

So, the truth of Luke is comforting, he addresses the remnants of the human in the souls of the rooming houses, gives them hope.

What is Luke's truth? (To love and pity a person)

“Christ pitied everyone and commanded us”

"What you believe is what you are"

“A man can do anything - he just wants to”

"To love - you need to be alive, alive"

"If someone did not do well to someone, he did badly"

Which of the heroes (Luka, Satin or Bubnov seemed to you the most gloomy character?

Which character's position is opposed to Luke's?

"The Truth of Bubnov"

Who is it? (Kartuznik, 45 years old)

What does he do? (trying on old, ripped trousers on blanks for hats, thinking how to cut)

What do we know about him? (He was a furrier, tinted furs, his hands were yellow from paint, had his own establishment, but lost everything)

How does he behave? (Dissatisfied with everything, treats others contemptuously, looks sullenly, speaks in a sleepy voice, does not believe in anything sacred. This is the most gloomy figure in the text).

Find the lines that characterize his worldview.

"Noise is not a hindrance to death"

“What is conscience? I'm not rich"

“People all live ... like chips floating down the river .. They are building a house, and the chips are away.”

“Everything is like this: they are born, they live, they die. And I will die ... and you.

When Anna dies, he says: "That means she stopped coughing." How would you rate it?

How do these words characterize him?

What is the truth of Bubnov? (Bubnov sees only the negative side of life, destroys the remnants of faith and hope in people. A skeptic, a cynic, he treats life with evil pessimism).

Satin becomes the spokesman for another life truth.

"The Truth of Sateen"

How does this character appear in the play?

What do we understand from his first words?

(Appears with a growl. His first words are that he is a card cheat and drunkard)

What do we know about this person? (Once he served on the telegraph, was an educated person. Satin likes to pronounce incomprehensible words. What?

Organon - translated means "tool", "organ of vision", "mind".

Sicambre is an ancient Germanic tribe, meaning "dark man".

Satin feels superior to other overnight stays.

How did he end up in a rooming house? (Went to prison because he stood up for the honor of his sister).

How does he feel about work? (“Make it so that the work is pleasant for me - maybe I will work ... When work is pleasure - life is good! Labor is a duty, life is slavery!

In what does Satin see the truth of life? (One of the climaxes of the play is Sateen's famous monologues about man, truth, freedom.

"Lies are the religion of slaves and masters"

“A person is free, he pays for everything himself: for faith, for unbelief, for love, for the mind ...”

Truth is the god of the free man.

How, in his opinion, should a person be treated? (Respect. Do not humiliate with pity Man - it sounds proudly, Satin believes).

- According to Satin, pity humiliates a person, respect elevates a person. What's more important?

Sateen believes that a person should be respected.

Luke believes that a person should be pitied.

Let's go to the dictionary

regret

Feel pity, compassion;

Reluctant to spend, spend;

Feel affection for someone, love

Respect

Treat with respect;

Be in love

What do they have in common? What is the difference?

So, each of the characters has its own truth.

Luke - comforting truth

Satin - respect for a person, faith in a person

Bubnov - "cynical" truth

Outcome. Whose truth is closer to you?

cinquain

Express your attitude to your work in the lesson.

Subject is your name

2 app - assessment of your work in the lesson

3 ver. - describing the actions of the object, i.e. how you worked in the lesson

4-word phrase expressing your attitude to your work in the lesson

Summary - evaluation

Today we are convinced that everyone has their own truth. Perhaps you have not yet decided what life positions you will adhere to in the future. I hope you choose the right path.

M. Gorky's play "At the Bottom" raises many deep and philosophical themes. The characters show different points of view on the problems of life. The main conflict is in the clash of three different truths: fact, consolation and lies and faith.

the first the truth - the truth of the fact - is represented by Bubnov. He prefers to express his thoughts directly and accurately, based on proven knowledge. Bubnov does not like people and is not going to feel sorry for them, but he believes that everyone has their own purpose. Human understanding, support or humanism are alien to him. His truth is straightforward and callous, as he is convinced that it is pointless to lie, because all people will die sooner or later. He will not choose words, try to soften his speech so as not to offend a person. The main principle of Bubnov is to say everything as it is.

Second truth This is Luke's truth. This person teaches others compassion, consolation, the ability to accept and hear another. He helps people to gain faith in God and in themselves, to survive difficult life situations, to cope with difficulties. He lies to almost all the inhabitants of the rooming house, but he does it for good. Luca is convinced that hope, however false, will give people the strength to improve their lives. The truth, however, is not always good for him, because it can hurt and completely deprive a person of the meaning of existence. Luke believes that without some lies, people may not survive life's trials. In addition, he is sure that it is faith, not facts, that gives people strength.

Third the hero who expresses his opinion on this topic is Satin. It is to his thoughts that it is worth paying special attention, since Gorky expresses his thoughts through him. The basis of his thoughts is faith in man. Satin is convinced that a person changes this world, creates new laws, and controls the main processes. For him, man is the highest being. He believes that the truth must be respected and expressed. For him, lies are the basis for the existence of the world of slaves and masters. At the same time, the truth is necessary for a free person. He argues with Luke, believing that a person should not be pitied, but respected.

The three truths in Gorky's play are three opposite points of view on the world. Bubnov is convinced of the power of straightforward facts that must be expressed without hesitation and fear. Luke advocates a gentle approach and deceit for the good, if it gives hope and faith in a brighter future. Sateen believes only in man, his strength and freedom. Such different points of view reveal the topic as deeply as possible and help the reader decide for himself which of the characters to support.

Option 2

The play by A. M. Gorky "At the bottom" is one of the strongest dramatic works that time. This play deals with the main issues of the existence of mankind, its perception of the world.

The play describes episodes from the life of people living in the same rooming house. Each of them was once someone, and now they are at the "bottom". Some of them live in an illusory world, some simply go with the flow, but among them there are those who are ready to defend their truth.

One day, out of nowhere, Luka appeared in the rooming house, unremarkable from the outside, but with his concept of life stirred the souls of people. In appearance, a kind and compassionate person, but it is impossible to understand what is in his soul, he talks little and reluctantly about himself, at the same time he tries to get into the soul of every person. He is interested in absolutely everything: why Nastya is crying over the book, and why Vasilisa behaves this way, he cares about everything. With his words, he tries to help everyone, encourage, support, and reassure everyone. This is his truth, Luca believes that his philosophy is necessary for people. He instilled faith in the future for the guests of the rooming house, made him take a different look at life, and left as suddenly as he appeared. And what did it give people? A bitter disappointment of unfulfilled hopes, and the weak-willed Actor completely took his own life.

Bubnov has another truth. Being skeptical of everything, he denies everyone, including himself. His truth is that social differences play no role, they are all washed off like paint from the hands, seemingly ingrained forever. Having sunk to the “bottom” of life, everyone becomes the same, just as they were born naked, they will die, no matter how hard they try to embellish themselves during life. Bubnov does not recognize any pity, for anyone, and for nothing, everyone around him is equal and superfluous, like himself.

Sateen's truth consists in exalting a person, Luke's pity is unacceptable for him, he believes that pity only humiliates a person, and in his concept: "A person sounds proud!" He admires a man as a strong and strong-willed person, capable of reshaping the whole world according to his own understanding. Satin is convinced that the strength of a person is in himself, there is no need to rely on anyone, and pity no one, a proud person is capable of anything.

His truth is also in his discussions about work, where Satin argues that if work is a pleasure for a person, then his life will be pleasant, and if you work out of duty, you will again become a slave, slavery is humiliating, a proud and freedom-loving person should strive for achieving higher goals.

Gorky's play makes every person think about their own existence, and decide for themselves how to live in this world. All these three characters are right in their own way, which means that there is no single truth, and cannot be. Each person is an individual, and each judges in his own way, evaluating the truth of these heroes.

Of course, everyone should have kindness and philanthropy, compassion, but at the same time without humiliating human dignity and have the strength to resist injustice and cruelty.

Essay 3

Maxim Gorky's play "At the Bottom" is a drama that tells about the lives of people who, for various reasons, found themselves at the very bottom of life. Once they had a decent job, a position in society, families ... Now their life is survival in a rooming house, in mud and drunkenness, without money, among the same as them. Each of the characters experiences this fall in their own way, but the opinions expressed most clearly are three characters, three truths colliding with each other.

The first one is the truth of Bubnov, the former owner of a dyeing workshop, and now a card-taker with debts. Because of a quarrel with his wife, who cheated on him, Bubnov was left with nothing, and this, no doubt, left an imprint on his attitude to life. The absence of a sense of compassion for a person, disbelief in people and in oneself, a dry statement of facts, straightforwardness - these are his principles. Bubnov does not want the best in this life, because “Everything is like this: they will be born, live, die. And I will die ... and you ... ". For this person, there is no point in life, having taken his place at the very bottom, he inevitably and calmly goes to death.

The second truth belongs to the wanderer Luka, who appears for a short time, illuminating the dark corners of the rooming house with a ray of light, and again disappears into nowhere. The elder is kind to everyone without exception, he sincerely sympathizes with each hero of the play in his trouble. He tells the actor about the existence of a hospital where drunkenness is treated for free, Vaska Pepla calls to move to Siberia, where life is good, reassures the dying Anna that peace and tranquility await her in the afterlife, supports Nastya's romantic hopes to find her betrothed. “I respect crooks too, in my opinion, not a single flea is bad: everyone is black, everyone jumps ...” - this is Luka's life principle. It gives people a chance, allows them to believe in themselves in the most difficult situation. After all, every person deserves to feel respect for himself, to gain faith. Yes, it becomes clear to the reader of the play that Luke is lying, but this is a lie for the good. A lie that gave people hope.

Satin, a card sharper who was once an educated telegraph operator, has his own truth. He disagrees with Luke that people should be pitied. In his opinion, in every person there is a power with which he can achieve whatever he wants, change not only his life, but also the world around him. Satin's words "Man - sounds proud!" famous for all time. Respect yourself, do not feel sorry for anyone, do not rely on anyone. This character does not accept lies, tells people only the truth, no matter how cruel it is. Alas, this truth does not bring happiness to people, but only returns from the illusions inspired by Luke to the mortal earth.

Gorky's play "At the Bottom" makes the reader wonder who is right in this dispute, whose truth is true? Perhaps, this question cannot be answered unambiguously, because each hero is both right and wrong in his own way. Without a doubt, philanthropy and empathy are important in our world, without them people will become tough and bitter. But no less important is sincerity and honesty towards people. It is important that in any life situation a person remains a person.

Some interesting essays

• Levi Matvey in the novel The Master and Margarita Bulgakov

  Levi Matthew is a minor character, very little text is given to him in the novel. But despite this, his image is important, and carries a great semantic load.