The relevance of the dog's heart in our time. Relevance of Bulgakov's story "Heart of a Dog" essay

The story " Heart of a Dog", written in 1925, M. Bulgakov did not see published, since it was confiscated from the author along with his diaries by OGPU officers during a search. “Heart of a Dog” is the writer’s latest satirical story.

Everything that was called the construction of socialism was perceived by the writer Bulgakov as an experiment. The author of the story is skeptical about attempts to create a new, perfect society using revolutionary, that is, not excluding violence, methods and methods of educating a new person. For him, this was interference in the natural course of things, the consequences of which could be disastrous, including for the “experimenters” themselves. This is precisely what the author warns readers about with his work.

The story is based on a risky experiment. When Professor Preobrazhensky, in the course of his scientific experiments, unexpectedly for himself, gets a human out of a dog and then tries to raise this creature, he has reason to expect success. After all, he is a major scientist, a man of high culture and high moral rules. But he fails. Why? Partly because life itself interferes with the process of Sharikov’s upbringing. First of all, in the person of the house committee Shvonder, who strives to immediately turn this child of the experiment into a conscious builder of socialism. He is “stuffed” with slogans. Engels gives me to read. This is for yesterday's Sharik. What about heredity?..

The makings of a homeless person, always hungry and humiliated dog combined with the makings of a criminal and an alcoholic. This is how Sharikov turned out - a creature by nature aggressive, arrogant and cruel. There was only one thing he lacked: the famous revolutionary slogan: “He who was nothing will become everything.”

Shvonder armed Sharikov with an ideological phrase, that is, he is his ideologist, his “spiritual shepherd.” The paradox is that, by helping a creature with a “dog’s heart” to establish itself, he is also digging a hole for himself. By setting Sharikov against the professor, Shvonder does not understand that someone else could easily set Sharikov against Shvonder himself. A person with the heart of a dog just needs to point at anyone, say that he is an enemy, and Sharikov will humiliate him and destroy him. How reminiscent this is of Soviet times and especially the thirties... And even today this happens.

The ending of the story with the professor's experiment is almost idyllic. Preobrazhensky returns Sharikov to his original state, and since then everyone has been busy with their own business: the professor with science, Sharik with the dog’s service to the professor.

People like Sharikov are proud of their low origins and “average” education, because this distinguishes them from those who are high in spirit and mind, and therefore, in their opinion, should be trampled into the dirt. This is the only way Sharikov will rise above them. You involuntarily ask yourself the question: how many of them were there and how many of them are there among us now? Thousands, tens, hundreds of thousands? Outwardly, the Sharikovs are no different from people, but they are always among us.

This is, for example, a people's judge who, in the interests of his career and the fulfillment of a plan to solve crimes, condemns an innocent person. This could be a doctor who turns away from a patient, or an official for whom bribes have become the order of the day. This is a well-known deputy who, at the first opportunity to grab a tasty morsel, takes off his mask, and, showing his true essence, is ready to betray his voters. Everything that is highest and sacred turns into its opposite, because an animal always lives in such people.

The Sharikovs, with their truly canine vitality, do not look at anything, they will go everywhere over the heads of others. The heart of a dog in alliance with the human mind is the main threat of our time. That is why this story, written at the beginning of the century, remains relevant today and serves as a warning to future generations.

M. A. Bulgakov came to literature already during the years of Soviet power. He was not an emigrant and experienced first-hand all the difficulties and contradictions of Soviet reality in the 1930s. His childhood and youth were connected with Kiev, and the subsequent years of his life with Moscow. To Moscow...

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Bulgakov’s legendary work “The Heart of a Dog” is studied in literature lessons in the 9th grade. Its fantastic content reflects very real historical events. In “Heart of a Dog,” the analysis according to plan involves a detailed analysis of all artistic aspects works. It is this information that is presented in our article, including analysis of the work, criticism, issues, compositional structure and history of creation.

Brief Analysis

Year of writing- the story was written in 1925.

History of creation- the work is created quickly - in three months, sold in samizdat, but published in its homeland only in 1986 during the period of perestroika.

Subject– rejection of violent intervention in history, political changes in society, the theme of human nature, its nature.

Composition– a ring composition based on the image of the main character.

Genre– social and philosophical satirical story.

Direction– satire, fantasy (as a way of presenting literary text).

History of creation

Bulgakov's work was written in 1925. In just three months, a brilliant work was born, which subsequently gained a legendary future and national fame.

It was being prepared for publication in the Nedra magazine. After reading the text, the editor-in-chief naturally refused to publish such a book, which was openly hostile to the existing political system. In 1926, the author’s apartment was searched and the manuscript of “Heart of a Dog” was confiscated. In its original version, the book was called “Dog's Happiness. A monstrous story,” she later received modern name, which is associated with lines from the book by A. V. Laifert.

The very idea of ​​the plot, according to researchers of Mikhail Bulgakov’s work, was borrowed by the author from the science fiction writer G. Wells. Bulgakov's plot becomes almost a covert parody of government circles and their policies. The writer twice read his story, for the first time at the literary meeting “Nikitin Subbotniks”.

After the next performance, the audience was delighted, with the exception of a few communist writers. During the author’s lifetime, his work was not published, largely due to its disgraced content, but there was another reason. “The Heart of a Dog” was first published abroad, which automatically “sentenced” the text to persecution in its homeland. Therefore, only in 1986, 60 years later, it appeared on the pages of Zvezda magazine. Despite the disfavor, Bulgakov hoped to publish the text during his lifetime; it was rewritten, copied, and passed on by the writer’s friends and acquaintances, admiring the courage and originality of the images.

Subject

The writer raises problem the ideology and politics of Bolshevism, the lack of education of those who rose to power, the impossibility of forcibly changing the order of history. The results of the revolution are deplorable; it, like Professor Preobrazhensky’s operation, led to completely unexpected consequences and revealed the most terrible diseases of society.

Subject human nature, nature, characters are also touched upon by the author. It gives a translucent hint that a person feels too omnipotent, but is not able to control the fruits of his activities.

Briefly about issues works: a violent change in the social system and way of life will inevitably lead to disastrous results, the “experiment” will be unsuccessful.

Idea Bulgakov's story is quite transparent: any artificial intervention in nature, society, history, politics, and other areas will not lead to positive changes. The author adheres to healthy conservatism.

Main idea The story says the following: uneducated, immature “people” like the “Sharikovs” should not be given power, they are morally immature, such an experiment will result in a disaster for society and history. The conclusion about the author’s artistic goals from the position of the political system and politics of the 20-30s would be too narrow, so both ideas have the right to life.

Meaning of the name works is that not all people are born with normal, spiritually “healthy” hearts. There are people on earth who live the life of Sharikov, they have dog (bad, evil) hearts from birth.

Composition

The story has a circular composition, which can be traced by following the content of the work.

The story begins with a description of a dog who soon becomes a man; ends where it began: Sharikov is operated on and again takes on the appearance of a contented animal.

A special feature of the composition are Bormenthal’s diary entries about the results of the experiment, the patient’s rebirth, his achievements and degradation. Thus, the history of Sharikov’s “life” was documented by the professor’s assistant. A striking key point of the composition is Sharikov’s acquaintance with Shvonder, who has a decisive influence on the formation of the personality of the newly minted citizen.

In the center of the story are two main characters: Professor Preobrazhensky and Polygraph Sharikov, they are the ones who have a plot-shaping role. In the beginning of the work, an interesting technique is used by the author, when life is shown through the eyes of the dog Sharik, his “dog” thoughts about the weather, about people and own life– a reflection of the little that is needed for a peaceful existence. The culmination of the story is the rebirth of Polygraph, his moral and spiritual decay, the highest manifestation of which was the plan to kill the professor. In the denouement, Bormetal and Philip Philipovich return the experimental subject to his original form, thereby correcting their mistake. This moment is very symbolic, as it defines what the story teaches: some things can be corrected if you admit your mistake.

Main characters

Genre

The genre “Heart of a Dog” is usually referred to as a story. It is essentially a social or political satire. Interweaving sharp satire with philosophical reflections about the future after the revolution gives the right to call the work a socio-philosophical satirical story with elements of fantasy.

Work test

Rating Analysis

Average rating: 4.7. Total ratings received: 1746.

In Heart of a Dog, the author ridiculed the proletariat in every possible way and, in my opinion, one of the most obvious and obvious interpretations is the inability of the proletariat to accept higher ideas. The various bright ideals of communism, new opportunities for ordinary people can be perceived as human existence in comparison with the “dog” existence of the oppressed worker. Only when he finds himself outside this oppressive framework, he cannot perceive anything, he demands control over himself.

In fact, Bulgakov probably wrote about human nature in general, and therefore the story is relevant today, and indeed almost always. A little chauvinistically, Mikhail Afanasyevich divides human beings into worthy and educated and unworthy, those who by their nature are still animals, dogs. Such analogies are used in many traditions, for example, in Hinduism, a person who is interested only in animal affairs and pleasures is called a chanchala or a pasha; even Orthodox elders wrote about different types of people, including those who are simply dogs in the form of a human body .

If you look at the present day, the situation has not changed much, and probably will not change. After all, when reasonable people think about why, animals reproduce. As the famous punk musician Igor Letov sang: “Dogs rule the world, dogs inhabit bodies, dogs howl in our brains, and only dogs will remain here.” A very accurate diagnosis of humanity as a process, a similar diagnosis is made by Preobrazhensky when he clearly states: “Klim, Klim Chugunkin,” meaning not even the negative impact of dog nature, but the essence of the drunkard Chugunkin, who eked out a dog’s life, in essence.

Of course, all these concepts with gradations of who is an animal and who is an aristocrat often carry destructive elements. For example, such a worldview can result in extremely unproductive forms, which can also be observed in India, noted above, although, in general, the caste system there is very reasonable.

Bulgakov was ironic not only about dog-people, he was also critical of representatives of the intelligentsia, if you look at it, that’s why the story is relevant, it explores human society in many ways and the relationships between its various representatives and layers.

Essay 2

In Bulgakov’s work “The Heart of a Dog” there are two main characters: Professor Preobrazhensky and Sharikov, an artificial man created by the professor and his assistant Dr. Bormenthal from the street dog Sharik. The professor’s very idea was brilliant: to humanize the dog by transplanting an important endocrine gland – the pituitary gland. Expectations from the operation were enormous: new person should have been much better and more developed than everyone else. But something went wrong: although Sharikov’s heart remained a dog’s, his brain clearly worked like a proletarian. Apparently, the influence of the transplanted pituitary gland taken from the drunkard Klim Chugunkin had an effect.

Sharikov turned into a human very quickly: excess fur quickly came out, his tail fell off, and the beginnings of meaningful speech appeared. And at first, scientists were happy with everything: he began to smoke and eat herring, like a person. He allowed me to put on my trousers. But the positive emotions ended there. Having become humanized, Sharikov began to behave arrogantly and unceremoniously, believing that everyone around him owes him: they must feed him, since he must eat somewhere, they must register him, since he himself has no housing. The beggar Klim Chugunkin gained nothing during his short life and learned nothing. The only thing he could do was play the balalaika around the taverns. But he didn’t need anything more! Why bother if you can take everything away from the rich and divide it among the equally poor. This will be fair! All the skill of the drunken proletarian and his worldview are transferred to Sharikov. And he is trying to “divide everything,” especially since he has a lot of like-minded people - Shvonder and his company.

The action takes place after the revolution in the twenties of the last century. The “densification” of the rich and the division of their property begins: first, homeless people are moved into apartments, who begin to heat stoves with parquet floors and shit in toilets. This, unfortunately, was considered the norm for a long time and was recognized by the majority. After all, how many temples were simply polluted and destroyed. “Peace to the huts, war to the palaces.” This is the slogan of that time. And why everyone should destroy palaces and live in huts is difficult to say.

Sharikov, with his worldview, unexpectedly for the professor and Bormental, “goes uphill”: he even finds work “in his specialty” - clearing the city of stray animals and cats that he hates. They begin to send a car for him, he begins to wear a “leather jacket,” which was so fashionable then among executives. But that’s not so bad: he writes a slander against Professor and Doctor Bormental. And their calm world collapses: not only is the peace disturbed, but there is also a lot of physical inconvenience caused by Sharikov. But Sharikov brazenly explains everything that is happening: yes, he flooded the bathroom, but he wanted to teach the cat a lesson! And he taught me a lesson, no matter what. Everything is possible, everything is permitted. And nothing will happen for it.

The proverb says: Fear the wrath of a patient man. Both the patient Professor Preobrazhensky and the no less patient Bormental became angry with all the ensuing consequences: they turned the harmful Sharikov back into a dog. Moreover, the dog was kind and affectionate, according to the professor. This means that it’s not the dog’s heart that is to blame, but the genes of Klim Chugunkin, as they say now.

This is a fairy tale, and fairy tales always end well. Everyone got what they deserved. And the carriage turned back into a pumpkin, and the impudent Sharikov - into good dog, grateful, unlike Sharikov, for everything the professor did to him.

In the USSR, this work of Bulgakov was kept silent for a long time, because it was not the proletarian Sharikov who aroused sympathy, as we would have liked, but the bourgeois Philip Philipovich - smart, intelligent and educated. And the revolutionary figures did not inspire confidence. And this fundamentally contradicted the teachings of Marxism-Leninism and the correct course of the party, which our country followed for many years. Almost a hundred years have passed since the writing of “The Heart of a Dog,” but this masterpiece of Bulgakov has become no less, but more relevant and in demand: a plot with a touch of fantasy, wonderful language and the triumph of justice make this work one of best works world classics. As, indeed, all the other works of Bulgakov.

Everything that M. Bulgakov wrote about passed through his heart. The writer was especially concerned about the violent transformations taking place in society. This theme is revealed in two satirical stories by Bulgakov: “ Fatal eggs” and “Heart of a Dog.”

The story “Dog”

Heart” is distinguished by the originality of its idea. The revolution that took place in Russia was not the result of natural socio-economic and spiritual development, but an irresponsible and premature experiment. A revolution can be compared to an operation on a living organism.

The story is based on a great experiment. The hero of the story, Professor Philip Filippovich Preobrazhensky, decided to improve nature itself: to create a new person, to transplant part of the human brain into a dog.

And so the professor accomplishes the main task of his life - a unique experimental operation: he transplants a human into the dog Sharik

Pituitary gland from a man who died a few hours before the operation. This man is Klim Petrovich Chugunkin, twenty-eight years old, convicted three times. “Profession - playing the balalaika in taverns, short in stature, poorly built. The liver is dilated (alcohol). Cause of death: stabbed in the heart in a pub.” As a result of a most complex operation, an ugly, primitive creature appeared - a non-human, who completely inherited the “proletarian” essence of his “ancestor”. The first word he uttered was “bourgeois.” And then - swearing: “don’t push!”, “Scoundrel”, “...get off the bandwagon.” He was a disgusting “man of short stature and unattractive appearance. The hair on his head grew coarse... His forehead was striking in its small height. A thick head brush began almost directly above the black threads of the eyebrows.”

The monstrous homunculus, a man with a canine disposition, the “basis” of which was the lumpen-proletarian Klim Chugunkin, feels like the master of life, he is arrogant, swaggering, and aggressive. The conflict between Professor Preobrazhensky, his assistant Doctor Bormenthal and the humanoid lumpen is absolutely inevitable. The life of the professor and the inhabitants of his apartment becomes a living hell. “The man at the door looked at the professor with dull eyes and smoked a cigarette, sprinkling ashes on his shirtfront...”; “Don’t throw cigarette butts on the floor - I ask you for the hundredth time. So that I never hear a single curse word again. Don't spit in the apartment! Stop all conversations with Zina. She complains that you are stalking her in the dark. Look!” – the professor is indignant. “For some reason, dad, you’re painfully oppressing me,” he (Sharikov) suddenly said tearfully... Why aren’t you letting me live?”

Sharikov is becoming more impudent every day. In addition, he finds an ally - the house manager Shvonder, who raises Sharikov as a dog and recommends him for public service.

Lumpen Sharikov instinctively “smelled” the main credo of the new masters of life, all the Sharikovs: rob, steal, take away everything created, and also main principle the created so-called socialist society: general equalization, called equality. What this led to is well known. Sharikov, supported by Shvonder, is becoming more and more relaxed and openly hooligans.

The finest hour for Poligraf Poligrafovich was his “service” in the department of cleaning the city from stray animals.

So, Bulgakov’s Sharik made a dizzying leap: from stray dogs to orderlies to cleanse the city of stray dogs and cats.

Sharikov is alien to conscience, shame, and morality. He has no human qualities except meanness, hatred, malice. He brazenly lays claim to Preobrazhensky’s living space and “writes” a denunciation against the professor.

On the pages of the story, the surgeon-sorcerer manages to return the dog to its canine form. The professor understood: nature does not tolerate violence against itself.

Bulgakov in the story “Heart of a Dog” not only laughed at all aspects of the new life, when the one “who was nobody” became “everyone,” but also showed what could happen as a result of such a metamorphosis. The writer warns us all about this, says that it is impossible to forcibly change a person’s way of thinking, the moral foundations of society. It can be destroyed, but it cannot be created overnight. This is a long evolutionary process.

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