Oblomov and Stolz

Stolz - Oblomov's antipode (Principle of antithesis)

All figurative system novel by I.A. Goncharov "Oblomov" is aimed at revealing the nature, essence of the protagonist. Ilya Ilyich Oblomov - a bored gentleman lying on a sofa, dreaming of transformations and happy life in the family circle, but doing nothing to make dreams come true. The antipode of Oblomov in the novel is the image of Stolz. Andrei Ivanovich Stolz is one of the main characters, a friend of Ilya Ilyich Oblomov, the son of Ivan Bogdanovich Stolz, a Russified German who manages an estate in the village of Verkhlev, five miles from Oblomovka. In the first two chapters of the second part there is a detailed account of the life of Stolz, of the conditions in which his active character was formed.

1. Common features:

a) age (“Stolz is the same age as Oblomov and he is already over thirty”);

b) religion;

c) studying at the boarding house of Ivan Stolz in Verkhlev;

d) service and quick retirement;

e) love for Olga Ilyinskaya;

e) kindness to each other.

2. Various features:

A ) portrait;

Oblomov . “He was a man of about thirty-two or three years of age, of medium height, of pleasant appearance, with dark gray eyes, but with absence: any definite idea, any concentration in facial features.

«… flabby beyond years: from lack of movement or air. In general, his body, judging by the matte, too white color of the neck, small plump hands, soft shoulders seemed too effeminate for a man. His movements, when he was even alarmed, were also restrained softness and laziness not devoid of a kind of grace.

Stolz- the same age as Oblomov, he is already over thirty. The portrait of Sh. contrasts with the portrait of Oblomov: “He is all made up of bones, muscles and nerves, like a blooded English horse. He is thin, he has almost no cheeks at all, that is, bone and muscle, but no sign of fat roundness ... "

Getting to know portrait characteristic of this hero, we understand that Stolz is a strong, energetic, purposeful person who is alien to daydreaming. But this almost ideal personality resembles a mechanism, not a living person, and this repels the reader.

b) parents, family;

Oblomov's parents are Russian, he grew up in a patriarchal family.

Stolz - a native of the bourgeois class (his father left Germany, wandered around Switzerland and settled in Russia, becoming the manager of the estate). “Stolz was only half German, according to his father; his mother was Russian; he professed the Orthodox faith, his native speech was Russian ... ". The mother was afraid that Stolz, under the influence of his father, would become a rude burgher, but the Russian environment of Stolz interfered.

c) education;

Oblomov passed "from embraces to embraces of relatives and friends", his upbringing was of a patriarchal nature.

Ivan Bogdanovich raised his son strictly: “From the age of eight, he sat with his father at a geographical map, sorted out the warehouses of Herder, Wieland, biblical verses and summed up the illiterate accounts of peasants, burghers and factory workers, and read sacred history with his mother, taught Krylov’s fables and disassembled the warehouses of Telemachus.”

When Stolz grew up, his father began to take him to the field, to the market, forced him to work. Then Stoltz began to send his son to the city with instructions, "and it never happened that he forgot something, changed it, overlooked it, made a mistake."

Upbringing, like education, was ambivalent: dreaming that a “good bursh” would grow out of his son, the father encouraged boyish fights in every possible way, without which his son could not do a day. If Andrei appeared without a lesson prepared “by heart”, Ivan Bogdanovich sent his son back to where he came from, and every time young Stlz returned with lessons learned.

From his father, he received a “labor, practical education”, and his mother introduced him to the beautiful, tried to put a love of art and beauty into the soul of little Andrei. His mother "in her son ... dreamed of the ideal of a gentleman," and his father taught him to work hard, not at all lordly work.

d) attitude towards studying in a boarding house;

Oblomov studied "out of necessity", "serious reading tired him", "but the poets touched ... to the quick"

Stolz always studied well, was interested in everything. And he was a tutor at his father's boarding school

e) further education;

Oblomov lived in Oblomovka until the age of twenty, then graduated from the university.

Stolz Brilliantly graduated from the university. Parting with his father, sending him from Verkhlev to St. Petersburg, Stolz. says that he will certainly fulfill his father's advice and go to an old friend of Ivan Bogdanovich Reingold - but only when he, Stolz, has a four-story house, like Reinhold. Such autonomy and independence, as well as self-confidence. - the basis of the character and worldview of the younger Stolz, which his father so ardently supports and which Oblomov lacks so much.

f) lifestyle;

“Lying at Ilya Ilyich’s was his normal state”

Stolz has a thirst for activity

g) housekeeping;

Oblomov did not do business in the village, received an insignificant income and lived in debt.

Stolz serves with success, retires to pursue his own business; makes a house and money. He is a member of a trading company that sends goods abroad; as an agent of the company, Sh. travels to Belgium, England, throughout Russia.

h) life aspirations;

Oblomov in his youth "prepared for the field", thought about the role in society, about family happiness, then he excluded from his dreams social activities, his ideal was a carefree life in unity with nature, family, friends.

Stoltz, chose an active principle in his youth ... Stoltz's ideal of life is unceasing and meaningful work, it is "the image, content, element and purpose of life."

i) views on society;

Oblomov believes that all members of the world and society are “dead, sleeping people”, they are characterized by insincerity, envy, a desire to “get a high-profile rank” by any means, he is not a supporter of progressive forms of housekeeping.

According to Stolz, with the help of the construction of “schools”, “marinas”, “fairs”, “highways”, the old, patriarchal “fragments” should turn into well-maintained estates that generate income.

j) attitude towards Olga;

Oblomov wanted to see loving woman capable of creating a serene family life.

Stolz marries Olga Ilyinskaya, and Goncharov tries in their active alliance, full of work and beauty, to imagine an ideal family, a true ideal that fails in Oblomov's life: “worked together, had lunch, went to the fields, played music< …>as Oblomov also dreamed ... Only there was no drowsiness, despondency with them, they spent their days without boredom and without apathy; there was no languid look, no word; the conversation did not end with them, it was often hot.

k) relationship and mutual influence;

Oblomov considered Stolz his only friend, able to understand and help, he listened to his advice, but Stoltz failed to break Oblomovism.

Stolz highly valued the kindness and sincerity of the soul of his friend Oblomov. Stolz is doing everything to awaken Oblomov to activity. In friendship with Oblomov Stolz. also turned out to be on top: he replaced the rogue manager, destroyed the intrigues of Tarantiev and Mukhoyarov, who tricked Oblomov into signing a fake loan letter.

Oblomov is used to living at the behest of Stolz in the smallest matters, he needs the advice of a friend. Without Stolz, Ilya Ilyich cannot decide on anything, however, and Oblomov is in no hurry to follow the advice of Stolz: their concept of life, work, and application of forces is too different.

After the death of Ilya Ilyich, a friend takes on the upbringing of Oblomov's son, Andryusha, named after him.

m) self-esteem ;

Oblomov constantly doubted himself. Stolz never doubts himself.

m) character traits ;

Oblomov is inactive, dreamy, sloppy, indecisive, soft, lazy, apathetic, not devoid of subtle emotional experiences.

Stolz is active, sharp, practical, accurate, loves comfort, open in spiritual manifestations, reason prevails over feeling. Stolz could control his feelings and was "afraid of every dream". Happiness for him was constancy. According to Goncharov, he "knew the value of rare and expensive properties and spent them so sparingly that he was called an egoist, insensitive ...".

The meaning of the images of Oblomov and Stolz.

Goncharov reflected in Oblomov the typical features of the patriarchal nobility. Oblomov absorbed the contradictory features of the Russian national character.

Stolz in Goncharov's novel was assigned the role of a person who could break Oblomovism and revive the hero. According to critics, the vagueness of Goncharov's idea of ​​the role of "new people" in society led to the unconvincing image of Stolz. As conceived by Goncharov, Stolz - new type Russian progressive figure. However, he does not portray the hero in a specific activity. The author only informs the reader about what Stoltz was, what he achieved. Showing the Parisian life of Stolz with Olga, Goncharov wants to reveal the breadth of his views, but in fact reduces the hero

So, the image of Stolz in the novel not only clarifies the image of Oblomov, but is also interesting to readers for its originality and the complete opposite of the main character. Dobrolyubov says about him: “He is not the person who will be able to tell us this almighty word “forward!” in a language understandable to the Russian soul. Dobrolyubov, like all revolutionary democrats, saw the ideal of a "man of action" in serving the people, in the revolutionary struggle. Stoltz is far from this ideal. However, next to Oblomov and Oblomovism, Stolz was still a progressive phenomenon.

The famous Russian writer I. A. Goncharov in 1859 publishes his next novel, Oblomov. It was incredible difficult period for Russian society, which seemed to be divided into two parts. A minority understood the need and advocated a better life ordinary people. The majority turned out to be landowners, gentlemen and wealthy nobles, who were directly dependent on the peasants who fed them. In the novel, Goncharov invites the reader to compare the image of Oblomov and Stolz - two friends who are completely different in temperament and fortitude. This is a story about people who, despite internal contradictions and conflicts, remained true to their ideals, values, their way of life. However, sometimes it is difficult to understand real reasons such trusting closeness between the main characters. That is why the relationship between Oblomov and Stolz seems so interesting to readers and critics. Next, we will get to know them better.

Stolz and Oblomov: General characteristics

Oblomov is undoubtedly the main figure, but the writer pays more attention to his friend Stolz. The main characters are contemporaries, however, they turn out to be completely different from each other. Oblomov is a man in his 30s. Goncharov describes his pleasant appearance, but emphasizes the absence of a definite idea. Andrey Stolz is the same age as Ilya Ilyich, he is much thinner, with an even dark complexion, with practically no blush. The green expressive eyes of Stolz are also opposed to the gray and hazy look of the protagonist. Oblomov himself grew up in a family of Russian nobles who owned more than one hundred serf souls. Andrey was brought up in a Russian-German family. Nevertheless, he identified himself with Russian culture, professed Orthodoxy.

The relationship between Oblomov and Stolz

One way or another, the lines connecting the fates of the characters in the novel "Oblomov" are present. It was necessary for the author to show how friendship arises between people of polar views and types of temperament.

The relationship between Oblomov and Stolz is largely predetermined by the conditions in which they were brought up and lived in their youth. Both men grew up together, in a boarding house near Oblomovka. Stolz's father served there as a manager. In that village of Verkhlev, everything was saturated with the atmosphere of "Oblomovism", slowness, passivity, laziness, and simplicity of morals. But Andrey Ivanovich Stolz was well educated, read Wieland, learned verses from the Bible, recalculated the illiterate summaries of peasants and factory workers. In addition, he read Krylov's fables, and with his mother he analyzed sacred history. The boy Ilya sat at home under the soft wing of parental care, while Stolz spent a lot of time on the street, talking with the neighbors. Their personalities were formed in different ways. Oblomov was the ward of nannies and caring relatives, while Andrei did not stop doing physical and mental labor.

The Secret of Friendship

The relationship between Oblomov and Stolz is amazing and even paradoxical. Differences between the two characters can be found a huge number, but, of course, there are features that unite them. First of all, Oblomov and Stolz are connected by strong and sincere friendship, but they are similar in their so-called "life dream". Only Ilya Ilyich is dozing at home, on the sofa, and Stolz falls asleep in the same way in his life full of events and impressions. Both of them do not see the truth. Both are unable to give up their own way of life. Each of them is unusually attached to his habits, believing that such behavior is the only correct and reasonable one.

It remains to answer the main question: "Which hero does Russia need: Oblomov or Stolz?" Of course, such active and progressive personalities as the latter will remain in our country forever, will be its driving force, will feed it with their intellectual and spiritual energy. But it must be admitted that even without the Oblomovs, Russia will cease to be the way our compatriots have known it for many centuries. Oblomov needs to be educated, patiently and unobtrusively awakened, so that he, too, would benefit the homeland.

Heroes of the novel by I.A. Goncharov "Oblomov" - Ilya Ilyich and Stolz - possess different characters and aspirations in life. However, their friendly union is strong: at the beginning of the novel, Ilya Ilyich is looking forward to the arrival of Stolz, and Andrei himself, throughout the novel, is trying to bring his friend back to an active life. So why couldn't Stolz convince Oblomov to change his usual way of life?

One of the factors that influenced the formation of Oblomov's personality was his family. In the chapter of the novel "Oblomov's Dream" the impact on the character of Ilya Ilyich of the lordly upbringing, life and customs is traced. As a child, he was protected in every possible way from duties and work, pampered. The Oblomov family cared only about delicious meals and devoted little time to solving household issues and work.

“Perhaps his childish mind had long ago decided that one should live in this way, and not otherwise, as adults live around him,” writes I.A. Goncharov. Stoltz, unlike Oblomov, was brought up by a strict father and from childhood showed active qualities of character, a desire to learn. Thus, it was upbringing that played an important role in Ilya Ilyich's unwillingness to change.

But main character was not an apathetic nature without aspirations and feelings. On the contrary, he was a searching person with deep thoughts and experiences. Oblomov sincerely considered the official Sudbinsky, the secular man Volkov and the writer Penkin a parody of active and happy people. In his monologue, the hero asks: "And this is life! Where is the person here? What is he crushed and crumbled into?". These thoughts allow us to consider Oblomov a person with extraordinary spiritual needs and requirements. After all, Ilya Ilyich acquired indifference to life precisely after the first day of work as an official. Vanity, the unrestrained pursuit of imaginary values ​​are alien to the inner ideas of the protagonist. However, he is not able to get out of the usual way of life, and rejects Stolz's offer to go on a trip, because he does not see the point in it. The period of an active lifestyle, which he takes after falling in love with Olga Ilyinskaya, has shown by experience the inconsistency of Stolz's plan to "save" the protagonist.

Thus, Andrey Stolts could not help Ilya Oblomov because of the differences in their views on the world, which stem from the upbringing and attitude of the characters. No matter how much Stoltz wanted to help the main character and no matter how much effort he made for this, he still could not. After all, Oblomov is, as it were, ousted from the social life of his era, he does not understand active people and does not see the point in work. However, this is a hero who can sincerely love and deeply empathize. Stolz himself at the end of the work speaks of Oblomov's "honest, faithful heart", which he "carried unscathed through life", and of his "crystal, transparent soul", which distinguished him from the rest.

Updated: 2018-07-09

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Introduction

Reasons for friendship between Stolz and Oblomov

The friendship between Oblomov and Stolz began during their school years. At the time of their acquaintance, the characters were similar in character and had common hobbies. Little Ilya is depicted as a curious child who was interested in many things. He wanted to know the world and to learn as much as possible new things, even as a young man he was still preparing for the fact that his life would “take on other, broader dimensions”, he was full of various aspirations and hopes, preparing for an important role in society. However, due to the "hothouse", "Oblomov" upbringing and the influence of relatives, the hero remains in place, continuing only to hope and plan, never moving on to action. All Oblomov's activity passes into the world of dreams and dreams, which he himself invents and lives by.

Little Andrei Stoltz was just as curious a child as Ilya, but he was not limited in his knowledge of the world and was even allowed to leave home for a few days. And if in Oblomov upbringing killed an active, active principle, then the formation of Stolz's personality was influenced by the death of his mother, who dearly loved her son. A strict, unemotional father could not give his son all the love and warmth that he lost after the loss of his mother. Apparently, it was this event, coupled with the need, by order of his father, to leave for another city and build a career on his own, made a strong impression on young Andrei Ivanovich. Mature Stoltz is a person who finds it very difficult to understand his feelings, moreover, he does not understand love, since he cannot grasp it with a rational mind. That is why many researchers compare Andrey Ivanovich with an insensitive mechanism, which is fundamentally wrong - in fact, Stolz, no less sincere and a kind person than Oblomov (remember how often and absolutely disinterestedly he helps a friend), but all his sensuality is hidden deep inside his soul, incomprehensible and inaccessible even to the hero himself.

The relationship between Stolz and Oblomov begins as a friendship of two very similar in nature and character personalities, but different upbringing makes them completely different and even opposing characters, who, nevertheless, continue to see in each other something important and close that brought them together in school years.

Features of friendship between Oblomov and Stolz in adulthood

Stolz, at any opportunity, tries to “stir up”, activate Oblomov, force him to act “now or never”, while Ilya Ilyich gradually, unconsciously for both heroes, instills in a friend those same “Oblomov” values ​​that Andrei Ivanovich was so afraid of and to which in eventually came - to a calm, measured, monotonous family life.

Conclusion

The theme of friendship in the novel "Oblomov" is revealed on the example of the relationship between two opposing characters. However, the differences between Oblomov and Stolz are only external in nature, since both of them are individuals who are in constant search of their own happiness, but have not been able to fully open up and realize their full potential. The images of the heroes are tragic, since neither the active Stolz, constantly striving forward, nor the passive, living in the illusions of Oblomov, find harmony between the two main principles - rational and sensual, which leads to the death of Ilya Ilyich and internal confusion and even greater confusion Stolz.

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Goncharov's novel "Oblomov" was written in the 19th century, but remains interesting for modern readers. The reasons for the relevance of the work lie in a wide range of issues raised by the author and "eternal" topics that have worried people throughout almost the entire human civilization: the themes of love, friendship, the meaning and purpose of life. The problematics of the work are revealed especially clearly through the opposition in the book of Ilya Ilyich Oblomov and Andrei Ivanovich Stolz, as characters reflecting different views on the world and leading a different lifestyle. According to the plot of the novel, Oblomov is the antipode of Stolz, they have different appearance, different aspirations and different fate, but there is something that connects the characters over the years - a strong mutual friendship that both characters need.

Differences in the personalities of Oblomov and Stolz

In Goncharov's novel, Oblomov appears as a dreamy, kind, gentle and indecisive person. He attracts with his calm, disposable character, but also repels with constant laziness, unwillingness to strive forward and gradual degradation. He tries to move as little as possible, spends all his days on the couch, making all kinds of plans and experiencing fictional situations more fully and emotionally than the real events of his life. The reasons for this attitude of Ilya Ilyich to the world lie in his "hothouse" upbringing and the pacifying atmosphere of Oblomovka - the hero's native estate, a distant corner of Russia. In the village they lived not according to a real calendar, but from rite to rite, all new values ​​​​were denied here and outdated, partially archaic norms were cherished. Oblomov grew up as a "hothouse plant", which was protected from everything new from childhood, instilling in him an aversion to work and activity.

As mentioned above, Oblomov has an antipode in the novel - this is Andrei Ivanovich Stolz. Unlike Ilya Ilyich, Stolz leads an active public life, considers labor and activity to be the main active forces in the world. Andrei Ivanovich is always in the center of attention, he is known in many secular circles, he is a valuable worker, rapidly climbing the career ladder, many people want to be friends with him. However, like Oblomov, Stolz is not an ideal person. If Ilya Ilyich’s “weak” point is activity and diligence, the desire for comprehensive development, then for Andrei Ivanovich the sphere of feelings that cannot be rationally explained has become a “stumbling block”. The reasons for the hero's misunderstanding of the essence of love also lie in his childhood - educating his son industriousness and the ability to confidently move forward in any situation, the rational German father did not care about the sensual side of his personality. With the death of his mother, which became a great grief for the character, Andrei Ivanovich fenced himself off even more from the sphere of feelings (including dreams and illusions), further guided solely by the dictates of the mind, but continuing to look for in others that sensual beginning, which he himself was deprived of.

Stolz and Oblomov: antipodes or twins?

Most researchers are inclined to think that heroes are undoubtedly antipodes, reflecting different views of the world. This is confirmed by the text of the novel. However, with a detailed analysis, it becomes clear that they are also mirror counterparts, and the characters' images have as much in common as dissimilar. Stolz, as the antipode of Oblomov in the novel Oblomov, tries to restore spiritual harmony through communication with a friend, which he loses in the daily bustle. Ilya Ilyich also finds in a friend what he lacks in himself - activity and determination. It is Stolz who deals with all issues related to Oblomovka and the material support of a friend.

The characters not only complement each other, but also see their distorted reflection in each other. So, Stolz is the embodiment of activity, rationalism, extroversion, work and striving for the future, and Oblomov is the embodiment of passivity, irrationalism, daydreaming, introversion and orientation to the past. Both characters are “extra” heroes of the novel, who do not fit into their era and are unable to find true happiness, which is why Oblomov falls into illusions, and Stolz does not find harmony in relations with his wife, for whom he always needs to be the best, to meet her excessively high demands .

Brings together the heroes and love for Ilyinskaya, who attracted them with her openness, intellect and determination. However, due to the fact that the girl was a person of “her era”, both heroes did not find their true happiness next to her (whereas, for example, Oblomov finds peace precisely in marriage with Agafya, who lives in the world of the past close to him and shares the Domostroevsky way of life ).

Looking at each other, the characters see what they could be if their upbringing would have been somewhat different. For example, if Oblomov protested against Oblomovka's way of life and went against his parents, he could have turned out to be a prototype of Stolz. That is, no matter how paradoxical it may be, Ilya Ilyich and Andrei Ivanovich, from a different angle of consideration, are both twins and antipodes in the novel Oblomov. In addition, given the history of the creation of the work and the prototypes of the characters, there is a version that both characters are reflections of different sides of Goncharov's personality. In letters to friends, the author indicated that he described in brilliant novel himself: Oblomov - as the personification of his daydreaming and escapism and Stolz - as a rational, active and career streak.

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