The path of spiritual impoverishment of a person in the story of Jonah. Mental degradation of a person
The great Russian realist writer, an exposer of the world of vulgarity, philistinism and philistinism, A.P. Chekhov said his new word in drama and raised the genre of the short story to an unattainable height. The writer always considered the main enemies of man to be lies, hypocrisy, arbitrariness, and the thirst for enrichment. Therefore, he devoted all his work to a decisive struggle against these vices. The story “Ionych,” like many of his other works, became a response to the most pressing and pressing issues of our time.
In the story “Ionych” we see a typical picture of the philistine life of a provincial town, in which all visitors were oppressed by boredom and the monotony of existence. However, the dissatisfied were assured that the city was good, there were many nice, intelligent people. And the Turkins were always cited as an example of an interesting and educated family. However, looking at the lifestyle, inner world and morals of these characters, we see that in fact they are small, limited, insignificant and vulgar people. Startsev falls under their destructive influence, gradually turning from an intelligent and talented doctor into a layman and money-grubber.
At the beginning of the story, Dmitry Ionych Startsev appears before us as a sweet and pleasant young man looking for an interesting company. He reached out to the Turkins family because he could talk with them about art, about freedom, about the role of work in human life. And outwardly, everything in this family looked attractive and original: the hostess was reading her novel, Turkin repeated his favorite jokes and told anecdotes, and their daughter played the piano. But all this is good, new and original for the first time, but in fact, the Turkins do not go beyond this monotonous and devoid of any meaning pastime.
As the plot develops, we become more and more immersed in the philistine vulgarity of the society into which Chekhov's hero finds himself. The author, step by step, reveals to us the life story of a young talented doctor who chose the wrong path of material enrichment. This choice was the beginning of his spiritual impoverishment. The main object of the writer’s critical analysis is not only the deadening force of vulgarity and philistinism, under the influence of which Doctor Startsev turns into the disgusting Ionych, but also the hero himself.
The internal evolution of the hero is clearly revealed in his love for Ekaterina Ivanovna Turkina. Startsev really fell in love with Ekaterina Ivanovna. However, there is no life, no soul in his feeling. The romance of love and its poetry turn out to be completely alien to him. “And is it fitting for him, a zemstvo doctor, an intelligent, respectable man, to sigh and receive notes...” he reflects. And we see how his heart hardened, how he grew old spiritually and physically.
The hero’s attitude towards work is also indicative. We hear from his lips good and correct speeches “about the need to work, that one cannot live without work...”. And Ionych himself works constantly, every day. However, his work is not inspired by a “general idea”; he has only one goal - “in the evenings to take out of his pockets the pieces of paper obtained through practice” and periodically take them to the bank.
learned by practice” and periodically take them to the bank.
Chekhov clearly makes it clear that the hero’s spiritual development has stopped and gone in the opposite direction. Ionych has a past, a present, but no future. He travels a lot, but along the same route, gradually returning him to his original
Point. His entire existence is now determined only by the thirst for enrichment and accumulation. He fences himself off both from space and from people. And this leads him to moral death. In just a few years, the hero found himself completely defeated by the philistine vulgarity that he so hated and despised at the beginning. In fact, Startsev does not even resist these disastrous circumstances. He doesn’t fight, doesn’t suffer, doesn’t worry, but simply gives in easily. Losing his human appearance and soul, Ionych ceases to be a good specialist.
So, gradually a person, a personality, a talent dies in Startsev. At the end of the story, even the Turkins, whose mediocrity and limitations the author constantly ridicules, turn out to be spiritually superior to Ionych. In them, despite all the vulgarity and pettiness of their interests, there is still something human left, they at least evoke pity. There was absolutely nothing positive left in Startsev. “It seems that it is not a man who is riding, but a pagan god,” the author says about him, summing up his complete moral degradation.
Concepts such as the concepts of good and evil, the search for the meaning of life, the influence of the environment on a person’s personality - all these are topics that worried Russian literature. Chekhov most clearly showed the process of changing the human soul under the influence of the environment and the years lived. Who did not dream in their youth about such lofty ideals as honor, equality, brotherhood, freedom, work for the benefit of society?! But years pass, and another person completely changes internally, wanting only peace and a well-fed, prosperous life. Chekhov was the first to reveal the social causes of this disease in the story “Ionych”.
Dmitry Startsev, a young, talented doctor, comes to work after graduating from university in the provincial town of S. He tries with all his might to be useful to people. Work is the meaning of his life, for the sake of it he is ready to forget about entertainment, so he works a lot, without knowing rest. However, Chekhov himself once noted that most often teachers and doctors become callous quite quickly.
Monotonous everyday life, filled with endless patients, does not irritate Startsev at first. He is advised, as an educated and intelligent person, to enroll in a club, entry to which was available only to the top of the city; he is introduced to the Turkin family, which, according to local inhabitants, is the most talented and extraordinary. Chekhov masterfully depicts this “talent” for us. The flat witticisms of the head of the family Ivan Petrovich, the mediocre piano playing of Katerina’s daughter and the far-fetched novels that her mother writes are understandable to Startsev, but still, after the hospital, the dirty men, it was pleasant and calm to sit in the Turkins’ soft chairs and not think about anything . Soon Startsev falls in love with Katerina, who is called Kotik in the family circle. Dmitry is ready to do anything for her, but Kotik only flirts with him, not responding to the passionate feelings of his lover. Startsev understands that it is indecent for him, an adult, to wander around cemeteries and receive notes like a yellow-eyed high school student, but nevertheless he rushes all over the city, looking for a tailcoat in order to propose to Turkina. However, he was refused. However, the doctor did not survive this for long. He was just “a little ashamed” that everything was so stupid and gone. Previously, in the city Startsev was called “the inflated Pole,” thereby emphasizing that he was a stranger here. Startsev rarely talked to anyone at the club, and more often he ate in silence, with his face buried in his plate, because no matter what he talked about, everything was perceived by the townsfolk as a personal insult. When the doctor tried to talk about the benefits of work, everyone felt reproached for this. The townspeople really did absolutely nothing. Day and time were spent on cards, gatherings, and idleness. He leaves the city of Kotik, Startsev greets this news with indifference, but from that time on he loses interest in work, despite the fact that he has a huge practice in the city and is paid well for his visits. In the evenings, he likes to count the money he earned during the day. He develops “harmless” passions: playing whist, gluttony, greed, indifference. He no longer has compassion for his neighbors as before, and allows himself to shout at the sick and hit with a stick. In the city they already call him Ionych at home, thereby accepting him into their midst. Chekhov, showing the “best” family of the Turkins, seems to lead us, following Startsev, to the conclusion: “If the most talented family is so mediocre and stupid, then what is the whole city like?” Even worse than the Turkins, because in this lovely family there is a touch of at least some intelligence.
Startsev had no family. Not knowing what to do with the money, he apparently bought real estate just for fun. Chekhov warns us: “Do not succumb to the destructive influence of the environment, do not betray your ideals, take care of the person within you.” The process of Startsev’s spiritual dying is all the more painful because he is fully aware of what a vile swamp he is plunging into, but does not even try to fight it. Complaining about the environment, he puts up with it. Even memories of love cannot awaken Startsev’s half-sleeping soul. Ionych died a long time ago, and nothing can bring him out of spiritual hibernation. He is not sorry for youth, love, unfulfilled hopes.
Chekhov wrote the history of a new form of severe social illness, which Russian literature has long studied. The name of this disease is spiritual degradation of personality. As an experienced doctor, Startsev could have diagnosed himself: the collapse of personality as a result of the loss of life ideals.
Chekhov's work was highly appreciated not only by his contemporaries, but also by writers of the 20th century. Alexey Nikolaevich Tolstoy, for example, said: “Chekhov is Pushkin in prose,” and his namesake, Leo Tolstoy, argued: “What an excellent language!.. None of us: neither Dostoevsky, nor Turgenev, nor Goncharov, nor I could write like that.”
One of the main themes of A.P. Chekhov’s work is the vulgarization of man by the environment, his withdrawal from real life into a “case”, complete death. One of the brightest works devoted to this topic is the story “Ionych”.
In five small chapters, the writer managed to reflect the colossal fall of man.
Almost the entire conscious life of the doctor Dmitry Ionych Startsev passes before us, from his arrival in the provincial town of S. to his “reign” in it. At the beginning of the story we see a very young man, full of hopes and dreams. He dreams of a happy personal future, fruitful professional activity, and an interesting and meaningful life. And at first he begins to act, making his dreams come true. So, not having time to arrive in S., Startsev immediately meets the “most interesting” family in the city - the Turkins.
Having read the description of these people, we understand that this “interesting family” is the most ordinary people, ordinary people who consider themselves intellectuals. But does the “smart and subtle” Startsev understand this? Listening to another graphomaniac novel by Vera Iosifovna about noble activities for the benefit of the common people, the hero understands that she “read about something that never happens in life.” But still, “it was pleasant, comfortable to listen, and such good, calm thoughts kept coming into my head - I didn’t want to get up.”
Already during this period of his life, Dmitry Ionych begins to succumb to the “temptation of philistinism” - how good it is not to strive anywhere, to do nothing, not to think about anything, but just to rest in warmth and comfort...
Chekhov is in no hurry to accuse his hero. He shows that Startsev, who spent the whole winter in the village, treating men and seeing nothing but this, was new and interested in communicating with noble people, being in a warm family atmosphere. Can the young man be blamed for this?
But gradually the hero more and more often begins to choose peace rather than the development of the soul. Even in love affairs, he puts his own peaceful state first. Thinking that he is in love with Kotik, even going on a date with her (to the cemetery!), Startsev remains in the “mainstream” of everyday life. This hero does not suffer from insomnia from love, does not search every minute for a meeting with his beloved. No! Everything happens somehow “gray and everyday” for him. Without waiting for Kotik, Startsev gets into the stroller with the thoughts “Oh, I shouldn’t get fat!”, and the next day he goes to propose to Ekaterina Ivanovna.
Although during this period of his life the soul of Dmitry Ionych had not yet faded away. In the cemetery, where he was alone with eternity, thoughts come to his mind about the shortness of life and the need to live it interestingly and meaningfully. The hero realized that he thirsted for love: “How, in essence, Mother Nature jokes badly about man, how offensive it is to realize this! Startsev thought so, and at the same time he wanted to shout that he wanted it, that he was waiting for love at all costs..."
However, what did this man do to fulfill his desire? Even sitting waiting for his beloved, the hero thinks about the dowry. The ideal of family life is pictured in his head. And we see that this ideal does not go beyond the most limited ideas: “In the city, so in the city. They’ll give me a dowry, we’ll set things up...” As writers of the early 20th century would say, the most typical petty-bourgeois dreams...
The cat refused the hero - she had grandiose plans for the future. After this refusal, Startsev experienced unpleasant emotions - his offended pride did not give him peace, ... but nothing more. The author writes that “for three days things fell out of hand for him, he did not eat, there was no decline, but when the rumor reached him that Ekaterina Ivanovna had gone to Moscow to enter the conservatory, he calmed down and began to live as before.”
Further, starting from the fourth chapter, we observe a very rapid degradation of the hero. Apparently, no more events occurred that could excite his soul. Or rather, it seems to me that the hero decided not to “let” them near him. For what? This is unnecessary mental pain and insomnia. It’s much easier to live like everyone else, thinking only about your stomach and wallet.
This is how Startsev exists, gradually turning into Ionych. Already four years after the matchmaking event, the hero “put on weight, grew fat and was reluctant to walk, as he suffered from shortness of breath.”
It is important that Chekhov places part of the blame for the degradation of Dmitry Ionych on his entourage. With the residents of the city of S. it was painless to either play cards, or talk about the harvest, or drink. These people had no other topics for conversation, no other vital interests: “And Startsev avoided conversations, but only had a snack and played vint...”
And even the second appearance of Kotik could not change the direction of Ionych’s life: “And now he liked her, liked her very much, but something was already missing in her, or something was superfluous - he himself could not say what exactly, but something was already preventing him from feeling as before.” And the hero was now even glad that he did not marry Ekaterina Ivanovna - that would have been “extra trouble.”
The ending of the story sums up the existence of the hero: “He is lonely. His life is boring, nothing interests him.” Outwardly, Ionych’s life is rich - he has a huge practice, many acquaintances, a lot of money. However, internally this person is dead. The “case” he put on himself completely absorbed this man, turning him into a walking mummy.
The title of the story fully reflects the degree of degradation of the hero - from a young promising doctor Dmitry Ionovich Startsev, he turned into an ordinary money-grubber Ionych, having lost the respect of not only the people around him, but also his own. What could be worse than this?
(based on the story “Ionych” by A.P. Chekhov)
The temple is still doing a little work.
But my hands fell
And in a flock, diagonally
Smells and sounds go away.
B. Akhmadulina
Chekhov tends to show heroes as already formed people, without saying anything about their past - about the ways and difficulties of formation and development. But just as one can judge its age and living conditions by looking at the cut of an adult tree, so one can see his past in a person.
Doctor Startsev is hardworking, smart, and full of hope. This means that in the past he thought a lot, worked, communicated with smart and kind people, graduated from a course at some higher educational institution, where many thoughts and ideas were in the air. The beginning of his work as a zemstvo doctor is promising: he is passionate about his work, works hard and willingly, he is healthy mentally and physically, he is happy with the knowledge of this health. But he's young. And this energy is the fruit of youth. Who among the people was not happy in his youth at least for a moment, who did not laugh while falling asleep! This is not merit or dignity - it is a pattern. A new age is always a reassessment of values. Unfortunately, only a few are given the opportunity to preserve its gifts after the passing of youth. And the most priceless of them is interest in life. And those people who are able to live fully until the end of their days are divided, in my opinion, into two categories.
Some are those in whom a certain unquenchable torch is lit. In any conditions - whether in society or alone - they will always relentlessly strive for something, look for something. Others need to constantly draw strength from someone; in solitude, their supply is depleted, the fire goes out. Startsev belongs to the latter. He still lives, still acts, but subconsciously feels the depletion of his supply. And that’s why he’s looking for support. Chekhov subtly shows the unconsciousness of this attraction. Startsev “somehow came by itself... the invitation came to mind.” Later, he will consider Kotik’s offer to visit the cemetery at night stupid and unconditionally decide not to go. And in the evening he “suddenly took it and went to the cemetery.” This apparent suddenness is prepared internally. A visit to the cemetery is Startsev’s last impulse towards another person, the last flash of his soul. If Kotik had come, Startsev’s reserve would have been replenished for a while, but she’s not there - “they lowered the curtain,” the fire went out, “suddenly everything went dark all around.” One phrase explains the entire instant revolution in Startsev’s soul. He will live for a long time, but here, at the gates of the cemetery, is the beginning of his agony.
And the next day, Startsev, by inertia, goes to propose, sees the same Turkins, hears the same “goodbye, please,” but he himself is no longer the same - and the scenery changed in the play (“When we change, the world changes”).
He knows that any disease can be treated at an early stage, otherwise it may be too late. That’s why he so carefully describes everything that aggravates the disease: the constant stupidity of the Turkins (the “foreignness” of the surname alone is worth it), and Ekaterina Ivanovna’s theatrical refusal.
Diagnosis: “Startsev’s heart has stopped beating restlessly.” This is the next stage of the death of the soul. Chekhov chose the most painful death for his hero - gradual, slow and inevitable. Here comes Kitty. It would seem that salvation is possible. But it’s too late, the disease is progressing, and medicine is no longer effective. What could be more terrible than the fate of a patient who knows that he is doomed? And Startsev knows: “How are we doing here? “No way,” he tells Kotik. True, Kitty revives him for a moment. “He remembered everything that happened. A fire began to ignite in my soul.” But this is the “recovery” of a consumptive patient before death. He immediately remembered the symptoms of the disease - “about the pieces of paper that he took out of his pockets with such pleasure in the evenings, and the light in his soul went out.”
The great Russian realist writer, an exposer of the world of vulgarity, philistinism and philistinism, A.P. Chekhov said his new word in drama and raised the genre of the short story to an unattainable height. The writer always considered the main enemies of man to be lies, hypocrisy, arbitrariness, and the thirst for enrichment. Therefore, he devoted all his work to a decisive struggle against these vices. The story “Ionych,” like many of his other works, became a response to the most pressing and pressing issues of our time.In the story “Ionych” we see a typical picture of the philistine life of a provincial town, in which all visitors were oppressed by boredom and the monotony of existence. However, the dissatisfied were assured that the city was good, there were many nice, intelligent people. And the Turkins were always cited as an example of an interesting and educated family. However, looking at the lifestyle, inner world and morals of these characters, we see that in fact they are small, limited, insignificant and vulgar people. Startsev falls under their destructive influence, gradually turning from an intelligent and talented doctor into a layman and money-grubber.
At the beginning of the story, Dmitry Ionych Startsev appears before us as a sweet and pleasant young man looking for an interesting company. He reached out to the Turkins family because he could talk with them about art, about freedom, about the role of work in human life. And outwardly, everything in this family looked attractive and original: the hostess was reading her novel, Turkin repeated his favorite jokes and told anecdotes, and their daughter played the piano. But all this is good, new and original for the first time, but in fact, the Turkins do not go beyond this monotonous and devoid of any meaning pastime.
As the plot develops, we become more and more immersed in the philistine vulgarity of the society into which Chekhov's hero finds himself. The author, step by step, reveals to us the life story of a young talented doctor who chose the wrong path of material enrichment. This choice was the beginning of his spiritual impoverishment. The main object of the writer’s critical analysis is not only the deadening force of vulgarity and philistinism, under the influence of which Doctor Startsev turns into the disgusting Ionych, but also the hero himself.
The internal evolution of the hero is clearly revealed in his love for Ekaterina Ivanovna Turkina. Startsev really fell in love with Ekaterina Ivanovna. However, there is no life, no soul in his feeling. The romance of love and its poetry turn out to be completely alien to him. “And is it fitting for him, a zemstvo doctor, an intelligent, respectable man, to sigh and receive notes...” he reflects. And we see how his heart hardened, how he grew old spiritually and physically.
The hero’s attitude towards work is also indicative. We hear from his lips good and correct speeches “about the need to work, that one cannot live without work...”. And Ionych himself works constantly, every day. However, his work is not inspired by a “general idea”; he has only one goal - “in the evenings to take out of his pockets the pieces of paper obtained through practice” and periodically take them to the bank.
Chekhov clearly makes it clear that the hero’s spiritual development has stopped and gone in the opposite direction. Ionych has a past, a present, but no future. He travels a lot, but along the same route, gradually returning him to his original
Point. His entire existence is now determined only by the thirst for enrichment and accumulation. He fences himself off both from space and from people. And this leads him to moral death. In just a few years, the hero found himself completely defeated by the philistine vulgarity that he so hated and despised at the beginning. In fact, Startsev does not even resist these disastrous circumstances. He doesn’t fight, doesn’t suffer, doesn’t worry, but simply gives in easily. Losing his human appearance and soul, Ionych ceases to be a good specialist.
So, gradually a person, a personality, a talent dies in Startsev. At the end of the story, even the Turkins, whose mediocrity and limitations the author constantly ridicules, turn out to be spiritually superior to Ionych. In them, despite all the vulgarity and pettiness of their interests, there is still something human left, they at least evoke pity. There was absolutely nothing positive left in Startsev. “It seems that it is not a man who is riding, but a pagan god,” the author says about him, summing up his complete moral degradation.