What is the meaning of the title of the story The Hidden Man. What is Platov’s story “The Hidden Man” about? Awareness of Foma Pukhov
The main character of the work, Foma Pukhov, looks very strange against the background of characters of proletarian origin traditional in Soviet art. Unlike the doubtless heroes A.A. Fadeev and N.A. Ostrovsky, Pukhov does not believe in the revolution, he doubts it. He worries about “where and to what end of the world all the revolutions and all human anxiety are going.” Rooted in his soul is a deep passion for true knowledge of the world, the desire to check everything and see for himself. A parallel arises with the Evangelical Apostle Thomas the Unbeliever. He was not with the other apostles when the resurrected Jesus Christ came to them, and Thomas refuses to believe in the resurrection of the Teacher until he himself touches his wounds. There is an interpretation according to which Thomas was the only apostle who was able to comprehend the secret, hidden meaning of the teachings of Christ.
Platonov’s hero, like Nekrasov’s men in the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus',” is attracted by the eternal mystery of happiness. He is interested not so much in everyday life as in being. The story opens with a very strange scene: a hungry Thomas cuts sausage on his wife’s coffin. In this episode, the eternal and the momentary are expressively correlated with each other, and the full extent of Thomas’s difference from an ordinary person is shown. Thomas is orphaned, but he has to continue living.
Thus, from the first episode, the story intertwines the everyday and philosophical dimensions of life. All the questions that concern Thomas will be of both an abstract spiritual and practical, everyday nature. Why, after all, a revolution, thinks Thomas, if it does not bring the highest justice and does not solve the problem of death? For Thomas’s acquaintances, the goal of the revolution is quite specific - material equality, practical improvement in the lives of workers. Pukhov is worried that, apart from this material goal, there is nothing in the revolution.
Foma Pukhov is an eternal wanderer. At first glance, he travels aimlessly, while everyone around him is busy with very specific things. He does not find a permanent refuge for himself, because there is no place for his soul in the revolution. Others find their place: Zvorychny, becoming the secretary of the party cell; sailor Sharikov, who got a job as a labor recruitment commissioner in Baku, became the foreman of the Perevoshchikov assembly shop. From their point of view, the revolution is fulfilling its promise to bring happiness to everyone. Thomas is looking - alas, to no avail - for confirmation of the revolutionary faith. Only the reality of the revolutionary storm is revealed to him - the reality of dying. Having left the house after the death of his wife, he works on a railway snowplow. Before his eyes, an assistant driver dies in a locomotive accident, a white officer kills an engineer, a red armored train is shot “outright” by a Cossack detachment. And there is no end to this feast of death.
Three deaths are depicted especially vividly in the story. Death of the worker Afonin, who fought on the side of the Reds. The death of the white officer Mayevsky, who shot himself: “and his despair was so great that he died before his shot.” The death of an engineer, the head of the distance, who is “saved” by a Cossack officer’s bullet from execution by decision of the Revolutionary Tribunal. The reality of the revolution that Thomas sees only strengthens his doubts about its holiness.
Does this mean that Pukhov does not find happiness in the world? Not at all. Joy and spiritual peace give him a feeling of communication with the whole world (and not with part of it). Platonov carefully describes Pukhov’s feeling of the fullness of life: “The wind stirred Pukhov, like the living hands of a large unknown body, revealing its virginity to the wanderer and not giving it, and Pukhov made noise with his blood from such happiness. This conjugal love of a whole, immaculate land aroused master's feelings in Pukhov. With homely tenderness he looked at all the accessories of nature and found everything appropriate and living in its essence.” This is Thomas’s happiness - the feeling of the need and relevance of everything in life, the organic connection and cooperation of all beings. It is interconnection and cooperation, not struggle and destruction. Foma is a person to whom all the hardships of the country’s life in conditions of civil war and the “luxury” of “desperate nature” are equally open to him, “Good morning!” - Pukhov says to the driver he replaces at the end of the story. And he answers: “Completely revolutionary.”
Another work in which the holiness of the revolutionary cause is “tested” is the novel “Chevengur” (1929). Chevengur is the name of a small town in which a group of Bolsheviks tried to build communism. In the first part of the novel, its heroes wander in search of happiness in Russia, engulfed in civil war. In the second part, they come to the peculiar city of the Sun - Chevengur, where communism has already come true. In revolutionary fervor, the Chevengurs exterminated most of the population “unworthy” to live under communism. Now they have to confront a regular army sent to pacify the city, which is evading state power. The ending of the novel is tragic: the road to communism ends in death. For the heroes, this death has the character of a collective suicide. The Cheven-Gurs die in battle with a feeling of joyful liberation from the futility of the earthly “paradise” they built. "Chevengur" - awareness of the falsity of the goals proclaimed by the Bolshevik revolution. True, there is no unequivocal condemnation of Platonov’s attitude towards his heroes. The author is on their side in a passionate desire to “make the fairy tale come true”, to bring the age-old dream to life. But he leaves them when they begin to divide people into “clean” and “impure”. Chevengur's heroes appear as victims of an incorrectly set goal, a misunderstood idea. This is their fault and misfortune.
The writer will return to the problems posed in the novel until the end of his creative career. Gradually the range of these problems will narrow, because in the 1930s. It will become more and more difficult to discuss them in print. However, the main result of the time travel undertaken by Platonov in the 20s, the result of the test of the past and the future, is the recognition of the “falseness of the project,” the falsity of the plan for a revolutionary remake of life. In the writer's work of the late 1920s - 1930s. the place of the alluring mirages of utopia will be taken by a formidable reality.
Such works of Platonov as the irony-filled story “City of Gradov” (1927), the “organizational-philosophical” essay “Che-Che-O” (1929), and the story “Doubting Makar” (1929) are devoted to the “test of the present.” Literary scholars sometimes call these works a “philosophical-satirical trilogy.” Platonov’s plays “Fourteen Red Huts” (1937-1938, published in 1987) and “Hurdy Organ” (1933, published in 1988) were created using modern material. The most significant works of this period are the stories “The Pit” (1930, published in 1986), “The Juvenile Sea” (1934, published in 1987) and “Jan” (1934).
It is known that the literature exam is one of the most difficult. The examinee must demonstrate good knowledge of historical and literary material, command of the Russian language, and the ability to express his thoughts coherently, consistently, logically and clearly. Any essay is written in a specific genre (literary critical article, review, review, essay, diary, etc.). Working on such essays develops students' creativity and independence. Essays of such genres are successful when the student is well acquainted with the material. Therefore, preparation for working on a composition of any of these genres should begin in classes studying the biography and creativity of the author of the work.
So, after studying A. Platonov’s story “The Hidden Man,” we invite students to write a review essay describing the main character. But we are preparing for work on the review step by step throughout the entire system of lessons on studying creativity.
A. Platonova.
5 hours are allocated for studying the works of A.P. Platonov and 2 hours for speech development. The following lesson topics are offered:
First lesson:“It’s an incredible opportunity to live...” A. Platonov. The fate of A. Platonov and his books.
Second lesson:“But without a soul and high thoughts, there are no living paths from heart to heart.” E.O. Galitsky. The artistic world of the writer.
Third lesson: The story “The Hidden Man”, history of creation, plot and composition, problems of the work.
Fourth lesson: The character of Foma Pukhov is unique. Understanding the revolutionary reality in the story. Selfless search for truth, the meaning of all things by Plato's heroes
Fifth lesson: The ideological content of the story, the author's style.
Lessons six to seven: Preparation for a review essay based on A.P. Platonov’s story “The Hidden Man” and analysis of students’ creative works.
On first lesson We designate a distant goal for the student: preparation for an essay-review based on the memo that they have.
Memo.
1. Read the work carefully. Determine the features of the writer’s work, his worldview, civic position, the place of this work compared to others created by the author; the conditions under which the book was written; when it was published, its path to the reader.
2. Determine the genre of the work, its features, plot and composition, its originality, the author’s intention and its implementation.
3. Determine the problems of the work, its main themes, ideological content, reflection of the past, future and eternity in it.
4. Determine the system of images created by the author. The main and minor characters, the author’s attitude towards them.
5. Determine the artistic features of the work, its style and language, and the power of impact on the reader.
6. Determine the meaning, the role of the work in the historical and literary process, the innovation of the writer.
We set aside a place in the notebook for collecting material and begin to record the necessary information from the teacher’s lecture and student messages.
On first lesson We make notes about the time when A. Platonov created his works, and about the fate of his books.
Records.
1. C .
Fate marked A. Platonov only 51 years old, but all the tragic events of the first half of the 20th century (revolution, civil war, collectivization, the Great Patriotic War) were imprinted in his work. A. Platonov was born into the family of a mechanic at railway workshops. He knew what poverty was, oppression by hard mechanical labor and monotonous life. He acutely felt the great injustice of life, so he perceived the revolution as a path to light. For many years he was on the edge of poverty, suffered the personal hostility of Stalin, the arrest and death of his son, but never adapted.
2. The fate of books.
Platonov’s biographies and works reflected his utopian ideas about revolution and socialism and the overcoming of these utopian views. His work at the turn of the 20s and 30s is a clear confirmation of this. At this time, he wrote the novel “Chevengur” (1929), the stories “The Pit” (1930), “The Juvenile Sea” (1934) and others. All of these works were not published during the writer’s lifetime and were published only in the late 80s. After the publication of the satirical stories "The State Resident",
The story “Return”, published in 1946 in the magazine “New World”, caused a new wave of negative reviews, after which the path to Platonov’s works was practically closed until his death in 1951.
The years of Khrushchev's thaw were the years of the writer's second birth. Separate collections are being published, and a two-volume collection of works is being published.
Since 1986, the “third birth” of the writer begins. “The Juvenile Sea” was published in the July issue of the magazine “Znamya”, “The Pit” was published in “New World” in 1987, and “Chevengur” was published in “Friendship of Peoples” in 1988.
On second lesson When we introduce students to Platonov’s artistic world, we identify the main leitmotifs of the writer’s prose, and pay attention to the features of Plato’s image of the world and man.
Posts
Basic provisions | Student updates |
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Platonov created his own special world. | Plato's world is a reflection of the era of revolution and the construction of socialism. A time when socialist utopia (heaven on earth) is proclaimed as a goal to achieve which all means are used. But, according to Platonov, the utopia that was supposed to overcome all conflicts turns into a utopia that aggravated all conflicts to mass murder. |
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In Platonov's world, the essence of human existence is conflict. | The main conflict is between life and death. Other conflicts follow from it: between son and father, between mother and wife, between real estate and traffic, between man and nature. |
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The writer sees the utopia promised by the revolution as a place to overcome conflicts and achieve happiness. | The way to overcome all conflicts is to divide the world into “scientists” and “unscientists”, into “fools” and “smart people”. |
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The central place in Platonov’s world is occupied by Human, seeking happiness. | The writer chooses as his hero a man who has nothing. Heron Platonova - most often craftsmen, village truth-seekers, machinists are on a kind of journey, wandering. They are looking for a way to solve happiness, they believe that revolution will bring happiness. |
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Platonov develops a unique poetics, style and language that allowed him to become a chronicler of the era of utopian construction. | All of Platonov’s main works are built on the same model - this is a journey in search of happiness and into the depths of oneself. The writer uses the same signs: the search is carried out by “fools”. The goal of their search is happiness, which they understand as solving the mystery of death, meeting their father and finding their soul. The main plot of his work is the search for faith, doubts about it, disappointment and an insatiable longing for faith. |
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The main feature of Platonov's poetics is the combination of naturalism and metaphysics (idealistic idea of the world). | The extreme fantasy of the descriptions of death and love contrasts sharply with the transcendental dreams of the heroes. Platonov draws a fantastic world that extremely accurately reflects the real world. |
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Platonov would not have been able to create his world without creating his own language. | Semantic shifts within a sentence, episode, plot are the most accurate reflection of a shifted world order and worldview. Plato's language includes ordinary words, but the laws of word combinations make its structure fantastic. In other words, the language itself is a model of the fantastic reality in which Platonov’s characters live. A distinctive feature of Platonov’s language is its “unbalanced” syntax, “arbitrariness” in the combination of words. The language is rough, but memorable and bright. The writer uses various artistic techniques: hyperbole, grotesque, irony, rethinking of well-known concepts, slogans, cliches, clericalism. Platonov’s word is not only an independent semantic unit, it has many contextual meanings. |
N and the third lesson The most intensive work on preparing for the review begins.
Stages of work | Notebook entries |
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Determining the genre of the work. | It is a social and philosophical story, because it makes an attempt to understand the existential meaning of the civil war and new social relations by the hero of the story. |
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Working with a dictionary, writing down the definition of the word “story”. | Tale- an epic genre that occupies an intermediate position between a novel and a short story. Unlike a novel, a story selects less material, but recreates it with a greater degree of detail than a novel would do, and highlights the facets of the issues raised with extraordinary sharpness and brightness. In the story, the subjective element is expressed more strongly than in the novel - the author’s attitude towards the depicted phenomena, human types. The story reflects the development of character, and this or that (moral, social, economic) state of the environment, and the history of the relationship between the individual and society (“Encyclopedic Dictionary of a Young Literary Scholar”, M, “Pedagogy”, 1988) |
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"The Hidden Man" was part of a broader design to explore the recent past - a revolutionary cataclysm. In 1927 - 1929, Platonov wrote the stories “The Hidden Man”, “Yamskoye Field” and the novel “Chevengur”, from which he managed to publish only some chapters. The first part of the novel is connected with two stories by the time of action, theme, and characters. “The Hidden Man” is preceded by the author’s instructions: “I owe this story to my comrade F.E. Pukhov and T. Tolsky, commissar of the Novorossiysk landing behind Wrangel.” Consequently, the hero of the story - Fyodor Egorovich Pukhov - a worker, a proletarian railway worker - is indeed the writer's existing "former comrade", and his adventures are genuine adventures. A. Voronsky, editor of the magazine “Krasnaya Nov”, having read the manuscript, wanted to publish the story, but in the summer of 1927 he was removed from his post as editor-in-chief of the magazine. “The Hidden Man” was published as a book (together with “The Yamsky Field”) in 1928 and the following year it was republished in the collection “The Origin of the Master.” Foma Pukhov causes bewilderment among critics: his social background is impeccable, he takes part in the civil war. But his behavior is strange and he refuses to join the party. Since the end of 1929 (after the first wave of attacks on Platonov), Foma Pukhov has been declared a “superfluous man”, an “adventurer” who is not a real hero of those years. |
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Features of the plot of the story. | The plot of the story is Pukhov's journey in search of the meaning of the revolution. Most often we see him on the road. The road was the most important leitmotif in the works of Radishchev and Gogol, Leskov and Nekrasov. Like the Russian classics, Platonov’s road is a plot-forming element. The plot of the story does not consist in the clash of Reds and Whites, not in the hero’s confrontation with hostile forces, but in the intense life quest of Foma Pukhov, therefore plot movement is only possible when the hero is on the road. Becoming synonymous with spiritual search, Platonov’s road gradually loses its spatial meaning. The fact is that the hero does not have a spatial goal; he is looking not for a place, but for meaning. |
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Problems posed by Platonov in the story. | 1. Life and death. 2. Man and revolution. 3. Searching for the path to harmony (harmony between man and nature, man and society, man and man, harmony in the human soul). 4. The place and role of man in the universe. 5. The motive of death and general orphanhood. 6. The problem of happiness. |
On fourth lesson We practice proper citation of text for an essay. Students find passages in the novel that support their conclusions:
About Foma Pukhov: “The cell decided that Pukhov was not a traitor, but just a stupid guy... But they took a subscription from Pukhov to take evening courses in political literacy,” “... not an enemy, but some kind of wind blowing past the sails of the revolution.” “He jealously followed the revolution, ashamed of its every stupidity, although he had little to do with it.” “If you just think,” he declares, “you won’t get far, you also need to have a feeling.” “They’re okay, guys, Pukhov thought about the communists, although in vain they persecute God: not because Pukhov was a pilgrim, but because people are used to putting their hearts into religion, but in the revolution they didn’t find such a place.”
About the meaninglessness of life: “... the meaninglessness of life, just like hunger and need, has tormented the human heart.”
About the party: “There are already so many leaders, but no locomotives! I will not be a member of the parasites.”
About the people around Pukhov: “They were not interested in mountains, nor peoples, nor constellations, and they did not remember anything from anywhere...”
About the landscape: “And over everything lay a child of vague despair and patient sadness.” “... wild winds rustled over the Volga, and the entire space above the houses was oppressed with anger and boredom.”
On fifth general lesson We are working on the language of a work of art; for this lesson, students select epigraphs for the essay.
Since the central principle in the story is a person with his eternal question: how to live?, the epigraphs independently selected by the students reflect this idea. Here are examples:
The soul of the Universe is truth.
Avicenna
We can only bring salvation to humanity through our own good behavior; otherwise we will rush by like a fatal comet, leaving devastation and death everywhere in our wake.
Erasmus of Rotterdam
As an artist, the citizen (Platonov) did not simplify the picture of life, did not give himself a break from its problems. He certainly went into battle for the happiness of a person in a complex and difficult world to change towards happiness.
V. Akimov
Seeing and feeling is being, thinking, living.
W. Shakespeare
Truth and justice are the only things I worship in
The essence of human nature is movement. Complete rest means death.
B.Pascal
Everything is possible and everything succeeds, but the main thing is to sow souls in people.
A. Platonov
Truth is the fight for love, which embraces the whole world, and it makes everyone feel good.
M. Prishvin
I believe that the time will come, The power of meanness and malice will be overcome by the spirit of good.
B. Pasternak
A person is defined by what he is like alone with his conscience.
Hurry up to do good before it's too late.
Only man, and only he alone in the entire universe, feels the need to ask what is the nature around him? Where does all this come from? What is he himself? where? Where? For what? And the higher a person is, the more powerful his moral nature, the more sincerely these questions arise in him
When working on the language of the story, students note that the language is rough, but memorable. Distinctive features are called unusual syntax, a “strange” combination of words, examples are given: “... hungry due to the absence of the hostess.”
“His heart sometimes worried and trembled at the death of a relative and wanted to complain to the entire collective responsibility of people about their general defenselessness.”
Students note that the writer uses various artistic techniques: irony, rethinking of well-known concepts, slogans, cliches, clericalism; “in vain they persecute God”, “people are accustomed to putting their hearts into religion”, “reflected a world orphaned by one person”, “they are wasting the American locomotive”, “it’s a pity to lose your body” and others.
Students notice that Platonov’s abstract concepts are constantly reified: “... and history ran in those years...”, “... he jealously followed the revolution, ashamed of its every stupidity.”
Lessons six and seven- preparation for essay-review and analysis of students’ creative works.
Lesson objectives:
1. Teach how to select and systematize material for working on the text of an essay-review.
2.Develop students’ creative abilities, logic and speech.
3. Contribute to the development of a creative personality.
Lesson method: Conversation with elements of literary analysis.
Lesson equipment:
1.Text of A.P. Platonov’s story “The Hidden Man.”
2.Notes made by students in notebooks.
3.Memo “How to work on a book review.”
4. Samples of introduction and conclusion.
During the classes
I. Updating the studied material
Teacher. Completing the study of the story by A.P. Platonov’s “The Hidden Man”, having become acquainted with its hero, having identified the features of the plot, composition, and style of the writer, we will try to prepare for work on a review essay describing the central character. What is a review?
Students. This is a common type of statement about a read work of fiction, film or play. The reviewer must not only express his attitude, but also justify it by analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of the work, the features of its construction, and the author’s techniques for depicting characters and events.
Teacher. What knowledge is needed to write a review?
Teacher. Why do you need to analyze a work? Pay attention to the epigraphs of the lesson.
Students. Ushinsky and Rybnikova are absolutely right when they say that you need to understand what you are reading, what the author wanted to say with his work, what to teach the reader, what to warn against, that is, make the reader think, seek the truth, understand himself and the world around him.
II. Formation of new knowledge and concepts.
Teacher. A review essay, like any other essay, consists of three parts: introduction, main part and conclusion. Here are three examples of essay introductions. Which one is the most successful, in your opinion?
First introduction
“Face to face, you can’t see the face.
Big things can be seen from a distance.”
How often do we repeat these words of the poet, which seem to us almost an axiom. A. Platonov’s artistic vision of the world is fundamentally different. He has no time to wait! Only face to face can he comprehend the innermost essence of people living, acting, thinking, hoping for happiness today, and through the essence of an individual person - the global meaning of what is happening now, right before his eyes, on a nationwide scale and will, apparently, have far-reaching consequences.
This close, alarming and visionary look of A. Platonov on the life and fate of the people determined his own, personal fate and the fate of his main, secret works.
Although direct parallels between the writer’s life path and his favorite topics bear the stamp of deliberateness, in this case they are appropriate. A. Platonov did not need to observe the life of his heroes - artisans, peasants, Red Army soldiers, he knew it from the inside. And his artistic works embodied all the steps that the people went through in the revolution, in this “beautiful and furious world.” Such a hero, whose life the author knew from the inside, is Foma Pukhov - the central character of the story “The Hidden Man.” (1928)
Second introduction
A. Platonov’s genuine sensitivity to man, to the pain of others, makes his works vital and conveys the humanity of his heroes. Who are they, his favorite heroes? These are the romantics of life in the fullest sense of the word. They are not pretentious, they endure the inconveniences of everyday life easily, as if not noticing them at all. Where these people come from, what their biographical background is, cannot always be established, since for Platonov this is not the most important thing. All of them are world transformers. It is from them that we should expect to achieve our dreams. It is they who will someday be able to turn fantasy into reality and not even notice it themselves. This type of people is represented by engineers, mechanics, inventors, philosophers, dreamers - people of liberated thought. The hero of the story “The Hidden Man” (1928) - Foma Pukhov - belongs to them.
Third introduction
"The Hidden Man" was part of a broader plan to explore the recent past - the events of the revolution and civil war. A. Platonov wrote the stories “The Hidden Man”, “Yamskoye Field” and the novel “Chevengur” in 1927-1929. The first part of the novel is connected with two stories by the time of action, theme, and characters. The stories were published in 1928. The author's understanding of the hero is included in the title - “The Hidden Man”. However, Foma Pukhov causes bewilderment among critics: his social background is impeccable, he takes part in the civil war, but his behavior is strange and he refuses to join the party. The hero is declared "an extra person"
“an adventurer, a bully, a liar”, who was not a “real hero” of those years. What is the reason for such a radical discrepancy in the assessment of Plato's hero by critics and the author? What is unique about the very type of hero created by Platonov?
Students. The third introduction can be considered the most successful, since it contains a specific statement of the topic of the review - a description of the main character, it gives the necessary information about the book, about the time that is depicted in the story. Different points of view on the hero of the author and critics of the late 20s make it necessary to understand these discrepancies and understand the main character
The second introduction is more successful than the first, because it gives a general description of Plato’s favorite heroes, which includes Pukhov, the hero of “The Hidden Man,” but it does not contain information about the work in question.
Teacher. The story has been read. Let's try to summarize what we talked about at
previous lessons. What important issues does the author raise in the story?
Students. The key theme is life and death. What is a person? What is life? What is its meaning? - these questions concern both Platonov and his hero.
No less important is the theme of revolution. Seeing the death of his wife and comrades next to him, the hero not only understood, but rather felt the meaninglessness of a revolution that does not solve the issue of death.
And, of course, understanding these eternal questions leads the hero to search for harmony in life. Hence the peculiarity of the story's construction - the depiction of the hero's wanderings in search of truth and happiness.
Teacher. What is the plot of the work?
(after the students’ answers, we collectively compose a sample plot).
Plot
The hero - wanderer - railway worker Foma Pukhov travels across Russia in search of the meaning of the proletarian revolution and a new world order.
Teacher. The basis of the writer’s artistic world in the story is the main character Foma Pukhov, a railway worker. What are the similarities and differences between Foma Pukhov and the image of the proletarian that emerged in Soviet literature of the 20s?
Students.- With his social origin, Foma Pukhov resembles the traditional type of hero in Soviet literature of the 20s - the proletarian. He is fighting on the side of the Red Army and has no doubt that the workers must win. However, this is where the similarity ends, because in Pukhov’s soul there is no “remaking of people” in the “fire of civil war.” The hero is somewhat reminiscent of the fool from Russian fairy tales, who is not so much stupid as endowed with the ability to understand everything and do things in his own way.
Even the title of the story Platonov points to the unusualness of his hero, to the special, unique world hidden in his soul. Unlike other heroes of the civil war, whose sophisticated goals are dictated by ideological guidelines, Foma Pukhov strives for genuine knowledge of the world, to verify everything personally, to find out “where and to what end all revolutions and all human anxiety are going.”
Teacher. What demands does Thomas make for the revolution?
Students. Pukhov expects from the revolution what religion previously promised people: instilling hope for immortality, it filled his earthly existence with meaning. Pukhov’s reasoning “people are used to placing their hearts in religion, but in the revolution they did not find such a place” convinces us that he doubts the sanctity of the revolution, its ability to bring happiness to people.
Teacher. What position does Pukhov take in relation to the events described?
Students. The wanderer's position. True, this word in the story has multiple meanings. It denotes a wandering person. It is consonant with the word “strange” - this is how Pukhov seems to those around him. Finally, a wanderer is a person who not only participates in events, but also observes from the side, with a detached gaze. This look allows Pukhov to see the strangeness of the revolution itself.
And in the end, Platonov’s hero comes to the conclusion that in the revolution, every person must find the meaning of existence. But meeting people, communicating with them leads him to sad reflections: “They were not interested in mountains, nations, or constellations, and they did not remember anything from anywhere.”
Platonov's landscapes also help to understand the world in which the hero lives. The landscapes are united by the motif of death. Foma Pukhov sees the same thing: the death of trees, locomotives, people. Pukhov sees that people do not value their lives, therefore, they do not value the lives of other people. The hero becomes convinced that the civil war leads to death. Pukhov did not find a higher goal in the revolution, so he is not ready to give his life for it.
Teacher. So where does Foma Pukhov find happiness?
Students. In communication with the machine, because he sees in it a harmonious combination of parts working in mutual agreement. Then he discovers the same harmony in the natural world. It is no coincidence that the hero feels calm and happy when he moves in space.
Teacher. But why does the ending of the work remain open?
Students. Apparently because Platonov was not sure that such a revolution would bring happiness to humanity.
(After the students’ answers, we draw a conclusion.)
Conclusion. In Platonov’s prose there are practically no portrait characteristics; the characters live in a world devoid of interiors and material details. Therefore, the meaning of the name occupies a very important place in Platonov’s poetics, since this is almost the only source of information about the hero. Thus, in “The Hidden Man” the writer chooses for his hero a name that closely fits the character: Thomas does not believe the words, and like an apostle, puts his fingers into the wounds to make sure of their authenticity. So Pukhov is not convinced by other people’s attitudes and political literacy courses; he needs to be personally convinced of the holiness of the revolution, of its ability to overcome death. All of Platonov’s main works are built on the same model - this is a journey in search of happiness and into the depths of oneself. The writer uses almost fairy-tale images: the search is carried out by “fools” (like the fairytale Ivanushka the Fool); the goal of their search is happiness.
Teacher. The essay ends with a conclusion. Read your conclusion options. Which of them is the most successful, in your opinion?
Conclusion samples
First conclusion
In the last chapter of the story, after everything he experienced in the civil war, Thomas suddenly “saw the luxury of life again.” However, the ending of the work remains open:
"- Good morning! - he said to the driver.
He stretched, went outside and indifferently examined:
Quite revolutionary."
It is unlikely that Pukhov will find peace in a world where the beauty of the morning is determined by its “revolutionism,” which means that the search for it does not end and Pukhov is destined to be an eternal wanderer.
Second conclusion
Since the thirties, Platonov has been calling out to us with his special, honest and bitter, talented voice, reminding us that the path of a person, no matter what social and political system it takes, is always difficult, full of gains and losses. For Platonov, it is important that a person is not destroyed. The writer believed that one must experience someone else’s misfortune in the same way as one’s own, remembering one thing: “Humanity is one breath, one living warm being. It hurts one, it hurts everyone. If one dies, everyone dies. Down with humanity - dust, long live humanity - organism... Let us be humanity, and not a person of reality.” Truly, the words of A. S. Pushkin can rightfully be attributed to Andrei Platonov and his heroes: “I want to live in order to think and suffer...”
Third conclusion
So, from the very first sentence of A. Platonov’s story, we are presented with the image of a man who has not lost his personality, has not dissolved in the mass, a strange, “single” person, painfully thinking and seeking harmony in the world and in himself. The entire path of Foma Pukhov is an expression of protest against violence, expressed with the genius of Dostoevsky: if people are “sent in whole echelons” to the revolution, and the result of their struggle is death, if people are exiled on rafts into the ocean, and the wind is blowing in their houses, they are empty , and children - a symbol of the future - die from fatigue, homelessness, loneliness, then “no!” such a path and such a future.
Students. The most successful is the last conclusion, since it is thematically similar to the introduction and the main part.
Sh. I tog of the lesson. Today we worked on the genre of essay-review, we remembered its characteristic semantic and compositional means
IV. Homework. Write a review essay based on A. Platonov’s story “The Hidden Man” with a description of the central character.
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System of working on an essay-review (based on the story by A.P. Platonov “The Hidden Man”)
The work was carried out by: the leading teacher of Russian language and literature of the Arsk secondary school No. 1 named after V.F. Ezhkov Gerasimova Elena Semenovna.
It is known that the literature exam is one of the most difficult. The examinee must demonstrate good knowledge of historical and literary material, command of the Russian language, and the ability to express his thoughts coherently, consistently, logically and clearly. Any essay is written in a specific genre (literary critical article, review, review, essay, diary, etc.). Working on such essays develops students' creativity and independence. Essays of such genres are successful when the student is well acquainted with the material. Therefore, preparation for working on a composition of any of these genres should begin in classes studying the biography and creativity of the author of the work.
So, after studying A. Platonov’s story “The Hidden Man,” we invite students to write a review essay describing the main character. But we are preparing for work on the review step by step throughout the entire system of lessons on studying creativity.
A. Platonova.
5 hours are allocated for studying the works of A.P. Platonov and 2 hours for speech development. The following lesson topics are offered:
First lesson: “It’s an incredible opportunity to live...” A. Platonov. The fate of A. Platonov and his books.
Second lesson: “But without a soul and high thoughts, there are no living paths from heart to heart.” E.O. Galitsky. The artistic world of the writer.
Third lesson: The story “The Hidden Man”, history of creation, plot And composition, problems of the work.
Fourth lesson: The character of Foma Pukhov is unique. Understanding the revolutionary reality in the story. Selfless search for truth, the meaning of all things by Plato's heroes
Fifth lesson: The ideological content of the story, the author's style.
Lessons six to seven:Preparation for a review essay based on A.P. Platonov’s story “The Hidden Man” and analysis of students’ creative works.
At the first lesson We designate a distant goal for the student: preparation for an essay-review based on the memo that they have.
Memo.
1. Read the work carefully. Determine the features of the writer’s creativity, his worldview, civic position, the place of this work ina number of others created by the author; the conditions under which the book was written; when it was published, its path to the reader.
2. Determine the genre of the work, its features, plot and composition, its originality, the author’s intention and its implementation.
3. Determine the problems of the work, its main themes, ideological content, reflection of the past, future and eternity in it.
4. Determine the system of images created by the author. The main and minor characters, the author’s attitude towards them.
5. Determine the artistic features of the work, its style and language, and the power of impact on the reader.
6. Determine the meaning, the role of the work in the historical and literary process, the innovation of the writer.
We set aside a place in the notebook for collecting material and begin to record the necessary information from the teacher’s lecture and student messages.
At the first lesson We make notes about the time when A. Platonov created his works, and about the fate of his books.
Records.
1. C the fate of A. Platonov, the time in which his works were created.
Fate marked A. Platonov only 51 years old, but all the tragic events of the first half of the 20th century (revolution, civil war, collectivization, the Great Patriotic War) were imprinted in his work. A. Platonov was born into the family of a mechanic at railway workshops. He knew what poverty was, oppression by hard mechanical labor and monotonous life. He acutely felt the great injustice of life, so he perceived the revolution as a path to light. For many years he was on the edge of poverty, suffered the personal hostility of Stalin, the arrest and death of his son, but never adapted.
2. The fate of books.
Platonov’s biographies and works reflected his utopian ideas about revolution and socialism and the overcoming of these utopian views. His work at the turn of the 20s and 30s is a clear confirmation of this. At this time, he wrote the novel “Chevengur” (1929), the stories “The Pit” (1930), “The Juvenile Sea” (1934) and others. All of these works were not published during the writer’s lifetime and were published only in the late 80s. After the publication of the satirical stories "The State Resident",
The story “Return”, published in 1946 in the magazine “New World”, caused a new wave of negative reviews, after which the path to Platonov’s works was practically closed until his death in 1951.
The years of Khrushchev's thaw were the years of the writer's second birth. Separate collections are being published, and a two-volume collection of works is being published.
Since 1986, the “third birth” of the writer begins. “The Juvenile Sea” was published in the July issue of the magazine “Znamya”, “The Pit” was published in “New World” in 1987, and “Chevengur” was published in “Friendship of Peoples” in 1988.
In the second lesson When we introduce students to Platonov’s artistic world, we identify the main leitmotifs of the writer’s prose, and pay attention to the features of Plato’s image of the world and man.
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Basic provisions | Student updates |
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Platonov created his own special world. | Plato’s world is a reflection of the era of revolution and the construction of socialism. A time when socialist utopia (heaven on earth) is proclaimed as a goal to achieve which all means are used. But, according to Platonov, the utopia that was supposed to overcome all conflicts turns into a utopia that aggravated everything conflicts to mass murder. |
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In Platonov's world, the essence of human existence is conflict | The main conflict isbetween life and death. Other conflicts follow from it: between son and father, between mother and wife, between real estate and traffic, between man and nature. |
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The writer sees the utopia promised by the revolution as a place for overcoming conflicts and achieving happiness. | The way to overcome all conflicts is to divide the world into “scientists” and “unscientists”, into “fools” and “smart people”. |
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The central place in Platonov’s world is occupied by a person seeking happiness. | The writer chooses as his hero a man who has nothing. Heron Platonova - most often craftsmen, village truth-seekers, machinists are on a kind of journey, wandering. They are looking for a way to solve happiness, they believe that revolution will bring happiness. |
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Platonov develops a unique poetics, style and language that allowed him to become a chronicler of the era of utopian construction. | All of Platonov’s main works are built on the same model - this is a journey in search of happiness and into the depths of oneself. The writer uses the same signs: the search is carried out by “fools”. The goal of their search is happiness, which they understand as solving the mystery of death, meeting their father and finding their soul. The main plot of his work is the search for faith, doubts about it, disappointment and an insatiable longing for faith. |
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The main feature of Platonov’s poetics is the combination of naturalism and metaphysics (idealistic idea of the world). | The extreme fantasy of the descriptions of death and love contrasts sharply with the transcendental dreams of the heroes. Platonov draws a fantastic world that extremely accurately reflects the real world. |
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Platonov would not have been able to create his world without creating his own language. | Semantic shifts within a sentence, episode, plot are the most accurate reflection of a shifted world structure and worldview. Plato's language includes ordinary words, but the laws of word combinations make its structure fantastic. In other words, the language itself is a model of the fantastic reality in which Platonov’s characters live. A distinctive feature of Platonov’s language is its “unbalanced” syntax, “arbitrariness” in the combination of words. The language is rough, but memorable and bright. The writer uses various artistic techniques: hyperbole, grotesque, irony, rethinking of well-known concepts, slogans, cliches, clericalism. Platonov’s word is not only an independent semantic unit, it has many contextual meanings. |
In the third lesson The most intensive work on preparing for the review begins.
Stages of work | Notebook entries |
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Determining the genre of the work. | It is a social and philosophical story, because it makes an attempt to understand the existential meaning of the civil war and new social relations by the hero of the story. |
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Working with a dictionary, writing down the definition of the word “story”. | Tale - an epic genre that occupies an intermediate position between a novel and a short story. Unlike a novel, a story selects less material, but recreates it with a greater degree of detail than a novel would do, and highlights the facets of the issues raised with extraordinary sharpness and brightness. In the story, the subjective element is expressed more strongly than in the novel - the author’s attitude towards the depicted phenomena, human types. The story reflects the development of character, and this or that (moral, social, economic) state of the environment, and the history of the relationship between the individual and society (“Encyclopedic Dictionary of a Young Literary Scholar”, M, “Pedagogy”, 1988) |
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"The Hidden Man" was part of a broader design to explore the recent past - a revolutionary cataclysm. In 1927 - 1929, Platonov wrote the stories “The Hidden Man”, “Yamskoye Field” and the novel “Chevengur”, from which he managed to publish only some chapters. The first part of the novel is connected with two stories by the time of action, theme, and characters. “The Hidden Man” is preceded by the author’s instructions: “I owe this story to my comrade F.E. Pukhov and T. Tolsky, commissar of the Novorossiysk landing behind Wrangel.” Consequently, the hero of the story - Fyodor Egorovich Pukhov - a worker, a proletarian railway worker - is indeed the writer's existing "former comrade", and his adventures are genuine adventures. A. Voronsky, editor of the magazine “Krasnaya Nov”, having read the manuscript, wanted to publish the story, but in the summer of 1927 he was removed from his post as editor-in-chief of the magazine. “The Hidden Man” was published as a book (together with “The Yamsky Field”) in 1928 and the following year it was republished in a collection« Origin masters." Foma Pukhov causes bewilderment among critics: his social background is impeccable, he takes part in the civil war. But his behavior is strange and he refuses to join the party. Since the end of 1929 (after the first wave of attacks on Platonov), Foma Pukhov has been declared a “superfluous man”, an “adventurer” who is not a real hero of those years. |
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Features of the plot of the story. | The plot of the story is Pukhov's journey in search of the meaning of the revolution. Most often we see him on the road. The road was the most important leitmotif in the works of Radishchev and Gogol, Leskov and Nekrasov. Like the Russian classics, Platonov’s road is a plot-forming element. The plot of the story does not consist in the clash of Reds and Whites, not in the hero’s confrontation with hostile forces, but in the intense life quest of Foma Pukhov, therefore plot movement is only possible when the hero is on the road. Becoming synonymous with spiritual search, Platonov’s road gradually loses its spatial meaning. The fact is that the hero does not have a spatial goal; he is looking not for a place, but for meaning. |
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Problems posed by Platonov in the story. | 1. Life and death. 2. Man and revolution. 3. Searching for the path to harmony (harmony between man and nature, man and society, man and man, harmony in the human soul). 4. The place and role of man in the universe. 5. The motive of death and general orphanhood. 6. The problem of happiness. |
In the fourth lesson We practice proper citation of text for an essay. Students find passages in the novel that support their conclusions:
About Foma Pukhov : “The cell decided that Pukhov was not a traitor, but just a stupid guy... But they took a subscription from Pukhov to take evening courses in political literacy,” “... not an enemy, but some kind of wind blowing past the sails of the revolution.” “He jealously followed the revolution, ashamed of its every stupidity, although he had little to do with it.” “If you just think,” he declares, “you won’t get far, you also need to have a feeling.” “They’re okay, guys, Pukhov thought about the communists, although in vain they persecute God: not because Pukhov was a pilgrim, but because people are used to putting their hearts into religion, but in the revolution they didn’t find such a place.”
About the meaninglessness of life: “... the meaninglessness of life, just like hunger and need, has tormented the human heart.”
About the party : “There are already so many leaders, but no locomotives! I will not be a member of the parasites.”
About the people around Pukhov: “They were not interested in mountains, nor peoples, nor constellations, and they did not remember anything from anywhere...”
About the landscape : “And over everything lay a child of vague despair and patient sadness.” “... wild winds rustled over the Volga, and the entire space above the houses was oppressed with anger and boredom.”
On fifth general lessonWe are working on the language of a work of art; for this lesson, students select epigraphs for the essay.
Since the central principle in the story is a person with his eternal question: how to live?, the epigraphs independently selected by the students reflect this idea. Here are examples:
The soul of the Universe is truth.
Avicenna
We can only bring salvation to humanity through our own good behavior; otherwise we will rush by like a fatal comet, leaving devastation and death everywhere in our wake.
Erasmus of Rotterdam
As an artist and citizen he (Platonov) did not simplify the picture of life, did not give himself a break from its problems. He certainly went into battle for the happiness of a person in a complex and difficult world to change towards happiness.
V. Akimov
Seeing and feeling is being, thinking, living.
W. Shakespeare
Truth and justice are the only things I worship in
earth.
M. Luther
The essence of human nature is movement. Complete rest means death.
B.Pascal
A. Platonov
Truth is the fight for love, which embraces the whole world, and it makes everyone feel good.
M. Prishvin
I believe that the time will come, The power of meanness and malice will be overcome by the spirit of good.
B. Pasternak
A person is defined by what he is like alone with his conscience.
O.Volkov
Hurry up to do good before it's too late.
F.P. Gaaz
Only man, and only he alone in the entire universe, feels the need to ask what is the nature around him? Where does all this come from? What is he himself? where? Where? For what? And the higher a person is, the more powerful his moral nature, the more sincerely these questions arise in him
A. Fet
When working on the language of the story, students note that the language is rough, but memorable. Distinctive features are called unusual syntax, a “strange” combination of words, examples are given: “... hungry due to the absence of the hostess.”
“His heart sometimes worried and trembled at the death of a relative and wanted to complain to the entire collective responsibility of people about their general defenselessness.”
Students note that the writer uses various artistic techniques: irony, rethinking of well-known concepts, slogans, cliches, clericalism; “in vain they persecute God”, “people are accustomed to putting their hearts into religion”, “reflected a world orphaned by one person”, “they are wasting the American locomotive”, “it’s a pity to lose your body” and others.
Students notice that Platonov’s abstract concepts are constantly reified: “... and history ran in those years...”, “... he jealously followed the revolution, ashamed of its every stupidity.”
Lessons six and seven- preparation for essay-review and analysis of students’ creative works.
Lesson topic: Preparation for a review essay based on A.P. Platonov’s story “The Hidden Man” with a description of the central character.
Lesson objectives:
1. Teach how to select and systematize material for working on the text of an essay-review.
2.Develop students’ creative abilities, logic and speech.
3. Contribute to the development of a creative personality.
Lesson method: Conversation with elements of literary analysis.
Lesson equipment:
1.Text of A.P. Platonov’s story “The Hidden Man.”
2.Notes made by students in notebooks.
3.Memo “How to work on a book review.”
4. Samples of introduction and conclusion.
During the classes
I. Updating the studied material
Teacher. Completing the study of the story by A.P. Platonov’s “The Hidden Man”, having become acquainted with its hero, having identified the features of the plot, composition, and style of the writer, we will try to prepare for work on a review essay describing the central character. What is a review?
Students . This is a common type of statement about a read work of fiction, film or play. The reviewer must not only express his attitude, but also justify it by analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of the work, the features of its construction, and the author’s techniques for depicting characters and events.
Teacher. What knowledge is needed to write a review?
Teacher . Why do you need to analyze a work? Pay attention to the epigraphs of the lesson.
Students . Ushinsky and Rybnikova are absolutely right when they say that you need to understand what you are reading, what the author wanted to say with his work, what to teach the reader, what to warn against, that is, make the reader think, seek the truth, understand himself and the world around him.
II. Formation of new knowledge and concepts.
Teacher . A review essay, like any other essay, consists of three parts: introduction, main part and conclusion. Here are three examples of essay introductions. Which one is the most successful, in your opinion?
First introduction
“Face to face, you can’t see the face.
Big things can be seen from a distance.”
How often do we repeat these words of the poet, which seem to us almost an axiom. A. Platonov’s artistic vision of the world is fundamentally different. He has no time to wait! Only face to face can he comprehend the innermost essence of people living, acting, thinking, hoping for happiness today, and through the essence of an individual person - the global meaning of what is happening now, right before his eyes, on a nationwide scale and will, apparently, have far-reaching consequences.
This close, alarming and visionary look of A. Platonov on the life and fate of the people determined his own, personal fate and the fate of his main, secret works.
Although direct parallels between the writer’s life path and his favorite topics bear the stamp of deliberateness, in this case they are appropriate. A. Platonov did not need to observe the life of his heroes - artisans, peasants, Red Army soldiers, he knew it from the inside. And his artistic works embodied all the steps that the people went through in the revolution, in this “beautiful and furious world.” Such a hero, whose life the author knew from the inside, is Foma Pukhov - the central character of the story “The Hidden Man.” (1928)
Second introduction
A. Platonov’s genuine sensitivity to man, to the pain of others, makes his works vital and conveys the humanity of his heroes. Who are they, his favorite heroes? These are the romantics of life in the fullest sense of the word. They are not pretentious, they endure the inconveniences of everyday life easily, as if not noticing them at all. Where these people come from, what their biographical background is, cannot always be established, since for Platonov this is not the most important thing. All of them are world transformers. It is from them that we should expect to achieve our dreams. It is they who will someday be able to turn fantasy into reality and not even notice it themselves. This type of people is represented by engineers, mechanics, inventors, philosophers, dreamers - people of liberated thought. The hero of the story “The Hidden Man” (1928) - Foma Pukhov - belongs to them.
Third introduction
"The Hidden Man" was part of a broader plan to explore the recent past - the events of the revolution and civil war. A. Platonov wrote the stories “The Hidden Man”, “Yamskoye Field” and the novel “Chevengur” in 1927-1929. The first part of the novel is connected with two stories by the time of action, theme, and characters. The stories were published in 1928. The author's understanding of the hero is included in the title - “The Hidden Man”. However, Foma Pukhov causes bewilderment among critics: his social background is impeccable, he takes part in the civil war, but his behavior is strange and he refuses to join the party. The hero is declared "an extra person"
“an adventurer, a bully, a liar”, who was not a “real hero” of those years. What is the reason for such a radical discrepancy in the assessment of Plato's hero by critics and the author? What is unique about the very type of hero created by Platonov?
Students. The third introduction can be considered the most successful, since it contains a specific statement of the topic of the review - a description of the main character, it gives the necessary information about the book, about the time that is depicted in the story. Different points of view on the hero of the author and critics of the late 20s make it necessary to understand these discrepancies and understand the main character
The second introduction is more successful than the first, because it gives a general description of Plato’s favorite heroes, which includes Pukhov, the hero of “The Hidden Man,” but it does not contain information about the work in question.
Teacher. The story has been read. Let's try to summarize what we talked about at
previous lessons. What important issues does the author raise in the story?
Students. The key theme is life and death. What is a person? What is life? What is its meaning? - these questions concern both Platonov and his hero.
No less important is the theme of revolution. Seeing the death of his wife and comrades next to him, the hero not only understood, but rather felt the meaninglessness of a revolution that does not solve the issue of death.
And, of course, understanding these eternal questions leads the hero to search for harmony in life. Hence the peculiarity of the story's construction - the depiction of the hero's wanderings in search of truth and happiness.
Teacher. What is the plot of the work?
(after the students’ answers, we collectively compose a sample plot).
Plot
The hero - wanderer - railway worker Foma Pukhov travels across Russia in search of the meaning of the proletarian revolution and a new world order.
Teacher. The basis of the writer’s artistic world in the story is the main character Foma Pukhov, a railway worker. What are the similarities and differences between Foma Pukhov and the image of the proletarian that emerged in Soviet literature of the 20s?
Students. - With his social origin, Foma Pukhov resembles the traditional type of hero in Soviet literature of the 20s - the proletarian. He is fighting on the side of the Red Army and has no doubt that the workers must win. However, this is where the similarity ends, because in Pukhov’s soul there is no “remaking of people” in the “fire of civil war.” The hero is somewhat reminiscent of the fool from Russian fairy tales, who is not so much stupid as endowed with the ability to understand everything and do things in his own way.
Even the title of the story Platonov points to the unusualness of his hero, to the special, unique world hidden in his soul. Unlike other heroes of the civil war, whose sophisticated goals are dictated by ideological guidelines, Foma Pukhov strives for genuine knowledge of the world, to verify everything personally, to find out “where and to what end all revolutions and all human anxiety are going.”
Teacher. What demands does Thomas make for the revolution?
Students. Pukhov expects from the revolution what religion previously promised people: instilling hope for immortality, it filled his earthly existence with meaning. Pukhov’s reasoning “people are used to placing their hearts in religion, but in the revolution they did not find such a place” convinces us that he doubts the sanctity of the revolution, its ability to bring happiness to people.
Teacher. What position does Pukhov take in relation to the events described?
Students. The wanderer's position. True, this word in the story has multiple meanings. It denotes a wandering person. It is consonant with the word “strange” - this is how Pukhov seems to those around him. Finally, a wanderer is a person who not only participates in events, but also observes from the side, with a detached gaze. This look allows Pukhov to see the strangeness of the revolution itself.
And in the end, Platonov’s hero comes to the conclusion that in the revolution, every person must find the meaning of existence. But meeting people, communicating with them leads him to sad reflections: “They were not interested in mountains, nations, or constellations, and they did not remember anything from anywhere.”
Platonov's landscapes also help to understand the world in which the hero lives. The landscapes are united by the motif of death. Foma Pukhov sees the same thing: the death of trees, locomotives, people. Pukhov sees that people do not value their lives, therefore, they do not value the lives of other people. The hero becomes convinced that the civil war leads to death. Pukhov did not find a higher goal in the revolution, so he is not ready to give his life for it.
Teacher . So where does Foma Pukhov find happiness?
Students . In communication with the machine, because he sees in it a harmonious combination of parts working in mutual agreement. Then he discovers the same harmony in the natural world. It is no coincidence that the hero feels calm and happy when he moves in space.
Teacher . But why does the ending of the work remain open?
Students. Apparently because Platonov was not sure that such a revolution would bring happiness to humanity.
(After the students’ answers, we draw a conclusion.)
Conclusion. In Platonov’s prose there are practically no portrait characteristics; the characters live in a world devoid of interiors and material details. Therefore, the meaning of the name occupies a very important place in Platonov’s poetics, since this is almost the only source of information about the hero. Thus, in “The Hidden Man” the writer chooses for his hero a name that closely fits the character: Thomas does not believe the words, and like an apostle, puts his fingers into the wounds to make sure of their authenticity. So Pukhov is not convinced by other people’s attitudes and political literacy courses; he needs to be personally convinced of the holiness of the revolution, of its ability to overcome death. All of Platonov’s main works are built on the same model - this is a journey in search of happiness and into the depths of oneself. The writer uses almost fairy-tale images: the search is carried out by “fools” (like the fairytale Ivanushka the Fool); the goal of their search is happiness.
Teacher. The essay ends with a conclusion. Read your conclusion options. Which of them is the most successful, in your opinion?
Conclusion samples
First conclusion
In the last chapter of the story, after everything he experienced in the civil war, Thomas suddenly “saw the luxury of life again.” However, the ending of the work remains open:
"- Good morning! - he said to the driver.
He stretched, went outside and indifferently examined:
Quite revolutionary."
It is unlikely that Pukhov will find peace in a world where the beauty of the morning is determined by its “revolutionism,” which means that the search for it does not end and Pukhov is destined to be an eternal wanderer.
Second conclusion
Since the thirties, Platonov has been calling out to us with his special, honest and bitter, talented voice, reminding us that the path of a person, no matter what social and political system it takes, is always difficult, full of gains and losses. For Platonov, it is important that a person is not destroyed. The writer believed that one must experience someone else’s misfortune in the same way as one’s own, remembering one thing: “Humanity is one breath, one living warm being. It hurts one, it hurts everyone. If one dies, everyone dies. Down with humanity - dust, long live humanity - organism... Let us be humanity, and not a person of reality.” Truly, the words of A. S. Pushkin can rightfully be attributed to Andrei Platonov and his heroes: “I want to live in order to think and suffer...”
Third conclusion
So, from the very first sentence of A. Platonov’s story, we are presented with the image of a man who has not lost his personality, has not dissolved in the mass, a strange, “single” person, painfully thinking and seeking harmony in the world and in himself. The entire path of Foma Pukhov is an expression of protest against violence, expressed with the genius of Dostoevsky: if people are “sent in whole echelons” to the revolution, and the result of their struggle is death, if people are exiled on rafts into the ocean, and the wind is blowing in their houses, they are empty , and children - a symbol of the future - die from fatigue, homelessness, loneliness, then “no!” such a path and such a future.
Students. The most successful is the last conclusion, since it is thematically similar to the introduction and the main part.
Sh. And then the lesson . Today we worked on the genre of essay-review, we remembered its characteristic semantic and compositional means
IV. Homework. Write a review essay based on A. Platonov’s story “The Hidden Man” with a description of the central character.
Review of A. Platonov’s story “The Hidden Man”.
The hero-wanderer in A. Platonov’s story “The Hidden Man”.
A person wants to understand himself in order to free himself from the false concepts of sin and debt, possible and impossible, truth and lies, harm and benefit, etc. When a person understands himself, he will understand everything and will be free forever. All the walls fall before him, and he will finally rise again, for there is no real life yet.
APlatonov.
The place of a writer in literature is determined by his ability to create his own special world. Plato's world is a reflection of the era of revolution and construction of socialism. The central place in this world is occupied by a person seeking happiness. The writer chooses as his hero a man who has nothing - poor, dark, but obsessed with the dream of reaching the heights of happiness. Plato's hero is looking for a solution to the mystery of existence, believing that revolution will bring happiness.
Foma Pukhov, the central character of the story “The Hidden Man,” is such a hero. The story was part of a broad plan to explore the recent past - the tragic events of the revolution and civil war. Published in 1928, it attracted the attention of critics with its unusual hero. Although the author’s understanding of the hero is included in the title, in literary criticism of the late 20s Foma Pukhov was characterized as “an extra person,” “an adventurer, a liar, a bully,” and “a petty person.” What is the reason for such a radical discrepancy in the assessment of Plato's hero by critics and the author? What is unique about the very type of hero created by Platonov?
With his social origin, Foma Pukhov resembles the type of proletarian hero traditional in Soviet literature of the 20s. He also fights on the side of the Red Army, and also knows that the workers must win. However, this is where the similarity ends, because the psychological process that became the subject of depiction in the prose of socialist realism - the “remaking of people” “in the fire of civil war” - does not take place in Pukhov’s soul. Rather, Platonov’s hero is somewhat reminiscent of a fool from Russian fairy tales, who understands everything and does everything in his own way, and is not guided by generally accepted ideas about life.
The story begins with Foma Pukhov “cutting boiled sausage on his wife’s coffin.” The writer explains Thomas’s action by saying that the hero is “not gifted with sensitivity,” but he immediately points out another reason: Thomas was hungry. It is difficult to believe in the hero’s insensitivity, since more than once throughout the story he will remember his dead wife. Pukhov's gesture, which seems blasphemous at first glance, is connected primarily with the need to move on with life. But is it worth living if death is the only outcome of life? So already on the first page one of the main themes of the story is indicated - life and death. The second will be a revolution.
The plot of the story is very simple - the hero-wanderer-railroad worker Foma Pukhov travels across Russia in search of the meaning of the proletarian revolution and a new world order. But everywhere he finds death. Pukhov's journey through a country engulfed in civil war is a journey from death to death. Leaving the house after his wife's funeral, he gets on a snowplow: the driver's assistant dies in a locomotive accident; a white officer kills the engineer-chief of the range; a red armored train is shot by a Cossack detachment. People die in battles, from disease, hunger, or shoot themselves. Involuntarily, Pukhov has a question: what is a revolution that does not solve the issue of death? The hero approaches the revolution with demands for supreme justice; he expects from her what religion previously promised people: instilling hope for immortality, filling his earthly existence with meaning. However, reality, according to Pukhov’s observations, states the opposite: “People are used to putting their hearts in religion, but in the revolution they did not find such a place.” The hero is not convinced by other people's attitudes; he needs to personally convince himself of the sanctity of the revolution, of its ability to overcome death. In this, he is similar to his biblical namesake, the Apostle Thomas (hence the name of the main character), who refuses to believe in the resurrection of the teacher until he himself sees the wounds from the nails and puts his fingers into them.
The peculiarity of the composition of the story is connected with the plot: the journey presupposes the obligatory presence of a road that connects the seemingly chaotic, logically unmotivated movements of the hero across the expanses of Russia together. Like the Russian classics, Platonov’s road is a plot-forming element. The plot of the story does not consist in the hero’s confrontation with hostile forces, but in the intense life quest of Foma Pukhov, therefore plot movement is only possible when the hero is on the road.
Consequently, Pukhov’s position in the story is that of a wanderer. This word is ambiguous: it means a wandering person, consonant with the word strange (this is how Pukhov seems to those around him). Finally, a wanderer is a person who not only participates in events, but also observes them from the outside. Peering into the faces of people meeting on his way. Pukhov is trying to understand whether the revolution changed their lives. But Thomas sees that “they were not interested in mountains, nor peoples, nor constellations, and they did not remember anything from anywhere...” Loss of meaning, loss of feeling, loss of meaningful movement - these are the results of tragic historical transformations. The symbolic image of a train “of an unknown route and direction, the image of a story compared to a steam locomotive that drags a load of poverty and despair, landscapes united by the motif of death - all this confirms the hero’s sad conclusions.
And even in the language of the story, Platonov managed to reflect that transitional stage when the living language of the people was broken by clericalism, ideological cliches, and bureaucratic sterilization. Hence the roughness, clumsiness, and combination of incompatible words and expressions of different styles into one whole. Therefore, Platonov’s word is a word of warning, a word of prophecy.
And yet, is the problem of happiness solved in the story? Partially. Foma Pukhov feels the fullness and joy of life in his communication with the machine, because he sees in the mechanism a harmonious combination of parts, gradually he discovers the same harmony in the natural world, which is why he is so calm and happy, moving in space. However, the ending of the work remains open. Why? Apparently, neither the author nor the hero were able to find the same harmony in the revolution.
So, from the very first sentence of A. Platonov’s story, we see the image of a man who has not lost his personality, who has not dissolved into the mass, a strange man, who thinks painfully and seeks harmony in the world and in himself. The entire path of Foma Pukhov is an expression of protest against violence, expressed with the genius of Dostoevsky: if people are sent “in whole echelons” to the revolution, and the result of their struggle is death, if people are exiled on rafts into the ocean, and the wind is blowing in their houses, they are empty , if children - a symbol of the future - die from fatigue, homelessness, loneliness, then “no!” such a path and such a future.
The student coped with the task assigned to him - to write a review essay describing the main character. The work is deep, meaningful, and illustrates the author’s desire to penetrate the world of the hero’s spiritual experiences. The writer is well versed in the peculiarities of the genre of this work, therefore the work gives a general description of the work, determines its relevance, notes the artistic features of the story, its difference from the works of other writers about the revolution. Taking into account the peculiarity of the topic, the author analyzes in sufficient detail the image of the main character, notes those methods and techniques with the help of which he reveals the character of the hero.
The student knows the content of the story well, skillfully selects material and comments on it, presenting thoughts logically and consistently.
The introduction and conclusion are organically connected with the main part, their proportionality is maintained, and the logic of connections is thought out.
The work demonstrates good command of the correct literary language, the author’s ability to select the necessary vocabulary, and use the intonation and punctuation richness of speech.
Essay-review.
Everything is possible and everything succeeds, but the main thing is to sow souls in people.
A. Platonov.
Our recognition of Platonov was long: from the 20s to the present day. There is an opinion that the long-awaited, when it appears, tends to disappoint. The same cannot be said about Platonov. His work is rather a mystery; it is unlike anything that was known before, and in many ways it is even inexplicable.
Why were many of Andrei Platonov’s works not published at all during his lifetime, and those that were published aroused sharply critical attitudes? Why did Stalin, having read the poor peasants’ chronicle “For Future Use,” not spare the most abusive expressions; Gorky, having highly praised “Chevengur”, believed that this novel would not be published; the central character of “The Hidden Man”, published in 1928, would be declared by critics to be a “superfluous person”?
Platonov’s paradox lies in the fact that he was a genuine proletarian writer, an ideal model of the writer that the creators of the new socialist culture dreamed of in the first years after October. The son of a worker, a worker himself, who without hesitation believed that the revolution would realize humanity’s dream of universal happiness, an inventor and poet, a builder of village power plants and a publicist, the author of stories about a bright future, a dark past and the everyday work of today, it would seem that firmly count on an honorable place in Soviet literature. But he turned out to be unsuitable for her. Boris Pasternak wrote about the 30s: “It was a misfortune so inhuman, so unimaginable, a catastrophe so terrible...” A. Platonov managed to portray this catastrophe, which could not but lead to a clash between Platonov and the state.
A. Platonov is one of those writers of the 20th century whose works are characterized by a system of stable, cross-cutting motifs that run through their entire work. And one of the key images in his works is the image of a wanderer. So Foma Pukhov, the hero of the story “The Hidden Man,” sets off on a journey to search for the meaning of the proletarian revolution and eternal truth.
The writer called his favorite hero a “hidden man,” spiritually gifted, “hidden,” that is, outwardly seemingly simple, even indifferent, some kind of Ivan the Fool, but in reality a deep philosopher and truth-seeker. “Without me, the people are incomplete,” he says, making it clear that he is connected with the nation by blood and flesh. He is used to traveling, this Pukhov, and if the people go on a campaign for the Golden Fleece, then he also leaves his home. "Do you agree You, Comrade Pukhov, lay down your life for the proletariat?” - the commissioner asked him. “I agree to shed blood, as long as I don’t act like a fool,” answered Pukhov sternly, who perceived the revolutionary idea as a distant rumble, because the main thing for him was to be with his own people. He knew and did not consider it a special heroism that his generation was working for the future, drawing an analogy between human life and nature: “The leaves were compacted by rain into the soil and melted there for fertilizer, seeds were also placed there for preservation. This is how life sparingly and firmly prepares for the future.”
Thomas is a “hidden man”; a soul is hidden in him, for which he finds no place in the revolution. Everywhere he finds death. The Civil War is portrayed in the story as a murderous war. The writer sympathizes with the young Red Army soldiers, “full of courage and the last courage,” because they strive for happiness, “which they were taught by the political instructor.” But Foma Pukhov did not want to take the political instructor’s word. He wanted to test the “dream of happiness”. Hence his name. Thomas does not believe the words and, like the apostle, puts fingers into the wounds to make sure of their authenticity.
Pukhov’s attitude towards the revolution and its leaders is a model of the relationship between “fools” and “smart guys”, which are considered by the writer in all his works of the 20s - the first half of the 30s. Pukhov is a fool, because he does not want power, and the Communist Party for him is synonymous with power. Self-interest or grief can lead a working person to the party, that is, to power - this is how the proletarian Pukhov argues. But he is not an enemy of the revolution, he just wants to understand its meaning. He asks her moral questions, to which she answers him, from his point of view, unsatisfactorily. Pukhov does not want to limit himself to love for the proletariat; he sympathizes with all those who suffer. Thomas does not believe in the possibility of changing a person in a revolutionary way. He saw it, the Revolution, and did not believe in it. I doubted her.
But Pukhov reaches “happiness”. His happiness is a working machine, life without bosses, male friendship. But joy turns out to be a mirage, and the writer knows this well.
With his works, Platonov wanted to warn: hatred and anger destroy, not create; people have a business - life. A life worthy of a person is deciphered by the writer as follows: “Everything is possible and everything succeeds, but the main thing is to sow souls in people.”
Review of essay-review.
The essay seems to turn over the pages of history and the story “The Hidden Man.” The author shares his impressions of what he read and connects literature with life. The student demonstrated knowledge of the content of the story and skillfully selected episodes for analysis. In the course of presenting the material, the necessary conclusions were drawn. Good epigraph.
The conclusion is organically connected with the main part, its proportionality is maintained. However, there are shortcomings in the work. Firstly, the introduction is too lengthy; it contains many general phrases that are not related in topic to the main part. Secondly, in this work there is a deviation from the given genre: the work is written in the genre of a literary critical article. The work lacks the necessary information about the book and the author, its relevance is not noted, and there is no description of the author’s artistic style.
The work is written correctly, without speech and grammatical errors.
Literature.
1. M. Gedler. "Andrey Platonov in search of happiness." Publishing house MIK, M., 2000.
2. L.A. Trubina. "Russian literature of the 20th century." M. Flint Publishing House, Science Publishing House, 1999.
3. V.DSerafnmovich. "Russian literature (1st half of the 20th century)." M., “Humanitarian Publishing Center VLADOS”, 1997.
4. “Russian writers. XX century.” Bibliographical dictionary. 4.2. M, "Enlightenment", 1998.
5. T.O. Skirgailo. "Works of different genres." Kazan. 2001
6. G. A. Koteliikova “Abstract - review - review - essay.” Magazine “Russian Language at School”, 1998, No. 1.
7. “Russian literature from “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” to the present day.” Kazan University Publishing House, 1995.
8. E. Gorbunova. “My heart is welded to everyone...” "Literature". Supplement to the newspaper “First of September”, 2000, No. 5.
Andrey Platonov is an author who is a recognized master of words in Russian literature. In this article we will tell you about the work and introduce you to this story. She was published in 1928. The story was published as a separate edition ("The Hidden Man" by Platonov). A summary of the events described in the work is as follows.
Foma Pukhov, the main character, was not gifted with sensitivity. For example, he cut boiled sausage on his wife’s coffin because he was hungry due to the absence of the mistress. Having worn himself out, after her burial, Pukhov goes to bed. Someone knocks loudly on his door. This is the watchman of his boss’s office, who brings the hero a ticket to clear snow from the railway tracks. Pukhov signs this order at the station - try not to sign at that time!
Pukhov clears the way from snow drifts
Together with other workers who service a snowplow being transported on two steam locomotives, the main character begins to clear the way so that Red Army armored trains and trains can pass. The front is located 60 versts from this place. The snowplow suddenly brakes on one snow block. The workers fall, breaking their heads. Falls to death A mounted detachment of Cossacks surrounds the workers, ordering them to deliver the snowplow and locomotives to the station occupied by the whites. A red armored train arriving at the scene shoots the Cossacks stuck in the snow and frees their comrades.
Rest at Liski station
They rest at Liski station for three days. Pukhov reads an announcement on the wall of the barracks that mechanics are being recruited for the Southern Front, in the technical units. He invites Zvorychny, his friend, to go south, explaining that there is nothing left to do at the snow removal: spring is approaching. The revolution will pass, and the workers will have nothing left. Zvorychny does not agree, because he does not want to leave his wife and son.
The main character goes to Crimea
A week later, Pukhov, together with five mechanics, goes to Novorossiysk. On three ships, the Reds are equipping a landing force of 500 people behind Wrangel, in the Crimea. Pukhov sets off on a steamship called "Shanya", serves on it. The landing force passes through the impenetrable night, but the ships lose each other due to the storm. The raging elements do not allow landing on the coast of Crimea. People are forced to return to the city of Novorossiysk.
Life in Novorossiysk
Here comes the news that the Red troops have taken Simferopol. Pukhov spends four months in the city as a senior fitter at a base belonging to the Azov-Black Sea Shipping Company. He is bored from lack of work: few ships arrive, and the main character is mainly engaged in writing reports on mechanical breakdowns. He often walks around the area, enjoying nature. The main character, remembering his deceased wife, is sad, burying his face in the ground, warmed by his breath. Pukhov, Platonov’s “secret man,” wets it with reluctant, rare drops of tears. The summary of the story allows only a passing mention of his state of mind.
Pukhov in Baku, meeting with Sharikov
Let's continue our story. Andrei Platonov further writes that after some time Pukhov leaves the city of Novorossiysk, but heads not home, but to Baku, in order to walk along the shore of the Caspian Sea, and then along the Volga to his homeland. In Baku, he meets Sharikov, a sailor establishing a shipping company in the Caspian Sea. This man provides him with a business trip to the city of Tsaritsyn in order to attract qualified proletariat to Baku. Having arrived there, the main character shows Sharikov’s mandate to some mechanic who met him at the plant’s office. This person reads it, after which, smeared with saliva, he sticks the piece of paper to the fence - an interesting detail that Andrei Platonov introduces. “The Hidden Man” Pukhov looks at the piece of paper and drives a nail in so that the wind does not tear off the document. After that, he goes to the station, where he boards the train. Pukhov asks the passengers where they are going. One man's meek voice replies that they don't know either. “He’s coming, and we’re with him,” he says.
Life at home
Pukhov returns to his homeland, settles in the house of Zvorychny, who worked as the secretary of a cell of workshops, and serves here as a mechanic. After a week, he goes to live in his apartment, which he calls the “exclusion strip,” because Pukhov is bored here. The main character often goes to visit his friend Zvorychny and tells him various stories about the Black Sea - so that he doesn’t drink tea for nothing. Thomas, returning home, remembers that a human dwelling is called a hearth. He complains that his house doesn’t look like a hearth at all: no fire, no woman. The thoughts of the main character created by Platonov (“The Hidden Man”) are very interesting. Their analysis, unfortunately, is not the subject of our article. However, we will try to briefly describe the transformation that he ultimately undergoes.
Pukhov's failed idea
The whites are approaching the city. Gathered in groups, the workers defend themselves. A white armored train is shelling the city with hurricane fire. Foma proposes to organize several sand platforms in order to launch them onto the armored train from a slope. But they shatter into pieces without causing him any harm. The workers who rushed to attack fall under machine-gun fire. Two Red Army armored trains come to the aid of workers in the morning: the city is saved.
After these events, the cell is being investigated: is Pukhov a traitor? Or maybe he came up with this stupid idea because he is simply a stupid guy? That's what they decided on. Foma Pukhov is burdened by work in the workshop - with despondency, not heaviness. Remembering Sharikov, he writes him a letter.
Pukhov is back in Baku
The answer comes in a month. A friend invites him to work in the oil fields in Baku. Foma goes there, serves as a driver on one of the engines that pumps oil from a well into an oil storage facility. Time goes by, the main character feels good. He regrets only one thing: that he has aged a little and there is no longer something desperate in his soul, as there was before.
Awareness of Foma Pukhov
Once the main character, about whose life Platonov’s story “The Hidden Man” tells us, went fishing from Baku. He spent the night with his friend Sharikov, to whom his brother had returned from captivity. Unexpectedly awakened sympathy for people suddenly becomes clearer in Pukhov’s soul. He walks with pleasure, feeling the kinship of all other bodies to his body, the luxury of life, as well as the fury of nature, bold, incredible both in action and in silence. Gradually, the main character realizes the most painful and important thing: desperate nature has passed into people, into revolutionary courage. The spiritual foreign land leaves Pukhov, and he feels the familiar warmth of his homeland, as if he had returned to his mother from an unnecessary wife. Warmth and light strained over the surrounding world, gradually turning into human power. He says to the driver he meets: “Good morning!” He answers: “Completely revolutionary.”
This is how Platonov’s “The Hidden Man” ends. The summary introduces the reader only to the main events. After reading the original work, you will get to know the main character better and better understand why Platonov used such an unusual definition in his regard - “a hidden person.” The characters in the story are very interesting. Their characters deserve more detailed consideration.
Composition
Andrei Platonovich Platonov began publishing in 1921. He made his debut with poetry and journalism, published a collection of short stories in 1927, and became famous. The story “The Hidden Man” was published in 1928. Platonov's artistic world is contradictory and tragic. He addresses the theme of the “little man” with his innermost soul, continuing the traditions of N. M. Karamzin, A. S. Pushkin, N. V. Gogol, F. M. Dostoevsky, A. P. Chekhov. Platonov calls the “little man” “secret” because he is special, unusual, even eccentric.
For example, the machinist Foma Pukhov, the hero of the story “The Hidden Man,” is distinguished by his spontaneity, childish, naive perception of the world. Pukhov has a keen sense of people and nature, he meets different people and tries to understand something important about himself. Those around him cannot understand Thomas. He seems to them either a “silly man”, or “a wind blowing past the sails of the revolution”, a “gnarly man” who cuts sausage on his wife’s coffin. But no one understands that he does this out of hunger, and not out of a desire to be violated. The word “hidden” in the context of the story is understood as natural, with an open soul, having that treasure that cannot be lost.
Such heroes are fused with nature, have preserved the ideal of human life and a sense of kinship with all people. Platonov's heroes are not typical, they are endowed with the same traits, they are all “intimate people”.
Pukhov searches for the meaning of the revolution, setting out on the road. He breaks with his settled way of life and home comfort and enthusiastically begins to move. The most important thing for a hero is comfort in his soul. Pukhov thinks about his place in life, his connection with nature. To reveal the character of his hero, Platonov chooses the motif of wandering. And the image of a righteous man in search of truth is closely connected with this motif in Russian literature. In the story, the plot of the journey has a secondary meaning: it symbolizes the new birth of a person. This theme runs through Platonov’s works related to the revolution. From it the author moves on to the theme of the awakening of the entire people. The leitmotif of the road, the journey of Pukhov traveling to Baku, Novorossiysk, and Tsaritsyn forms the plot of the story, it is a symbol of the hero’s spiritual search. He walks without a goal and without looking for it.
Pukhov cannot bear loneliness and, imbued with feelings for the world, seeks eternal truths that could fill the emptiness in his soul. It is not by chance that he is called Thomas: like Thomas, an unbeliever, he wants to see everything for himself, and he is not afraid of dangers. And the Apostle Thomas is also the only one who understood the innermost, secret meaning of the teachings of Christ. Pukhov wants to comprehend the meaning and results of the revolution, looking at it from the inside of people's life. Not everything he sees pleases him. “Why revolution if it does not bring the highest justice? Only a feast of death, more and more victims,” thinks Thomas, not finding a place for it in his soul. As an observer, Thomas sees that the revolution has no moral future. This disappointment gives rise to irony. The ironic author shows us a portrait of Trotsky painted over St. George the Victorious with “bad paint.” The era of bureaucracy and nomenklatura vulgarized the revolution. “History ran in those years like a locomotive, dragging behind it the worldwide burden of poverty, despair and humble inertia,” the writer testifies.
We can say that Platonov’s hero is autobiographical and expresses the feelings and thoughts of the author. For Platonov, the main thing in creativity was not skill, but sincerity. In his works about war and revolution, the writer reflects on how people exist during a period of revolutionary catastrophe. In particular, the fate of a person from the people in the pre-revolutionary and revolutionary era is considered. The author did not believe in revolution. Platonov’s journalism of these years expresses a utopian view of what is happening, a sense of history as an apocalypse.
Platonov has a satirical beginning in works that are not so in terms of pathos. Unusual language in the style of slogans and cliches, the author’s hidden irony, grotesque and hyperbole reveal to the reader the meaning of the work. Platonov quickly felt what bureaucracy was and showed the reader how the “innermost man” changes and degenerates, turning into an official, like the former “simple” sailor Sharikov, who now considers himself the “universal leader of the Caspian Sea” and drives around in a car. He trains himself in the ability to “sign his name so famously and figuratively that later the reader of his name will say: Comrade Sharikov is an intelligent man,” he moves “large papers on an expensive table.” Sharikov does not speak, but agitates. He also offers Pukhov “to become the commander of an oil flotilla,” but the hero does not want to be in charge. Sarcastic satire and skepticism regarding the revolutionary process, “depicting the terrible features of my people,” as Platonov wrote, caused constant rejection of criticism. The author does not support the poeticization of the civil war in literature. “Platonov’s irony was an expression of the pain of a writer who believed in both utopia and its language... Platonov alone shows that collectivization was, from a psychological point of view, the infantilization of the peasantry... Platonov can be called a religious writer, despite the fact that his heroes the writer is aware of this, they are looking for an “imaginary faith”, they are the apostles of pseudo-religion,” concludes M. Geller in his book “Andrei Platonov in Search of Happiness.” He believes that Platonov's heroes accept communism as a new religion, but one that distorts Christianity.
The hero goes through a rather difficult path from the “external” in himself to the “inner.” In the finale, Pukhov sees “the luxury of life and the fury of bold nature” and is reconciled in his moral and philosophical quests. He sees his uniqueness and sows the soul in people, which is the main thing, according to Platonov. The writer expresses a thesis about the unique value of each person, his warmth and compassion, saying that everyone should find their “I”, like Pukhov. This is his faith in man. In the finale, Pukhov feels “his life in all its depth to the innermost pulse” and comes to the conclusion that universal brotherhood is necessary for the integrity of the world.
The purpose of the lesson:
- Comprehend the most important features of Plato’s hero;
- Determine the specifics of the spatio-temporal organization of the text.
Teacher: “Foma Pukhov is not gifted with sensitivity: he cut boiled sausage on his wife’s coffin, being hungry due to the absence of the hostess...”
The first phrase of the story makes you think about the hero and comprehend his actions. Who is Platonov’s “hidden man”?
What characteristics does the hero give himself?
Students: “A stupid guy”, “A confused person”, I am a natural fool”, “I am a lightweight person”. (The entry appears on the board)
Teacher: Today we will try to understand the features of Plato’s hero, the features of his worldview and understanding of the world.
The writer loved the word “hidden”, in which one can simultaneously hear shelter, blood, frankness, cover, and treasure.
Today in the lesson we will lift the veils of the secrets in a person.
Teacher: What is the meaning of the word “hidden”?
Student: Kept secret, protected from others, secret; kept in the depths of the soul, cherished. We find this definition in the Russian language dictionary. In the dictionary V.I. Dahl we read the following definition: “Hidden, concealed, concealed, secret, hidden, hidden or hidden from someone.” (The student is prepared in advance. Write on the board)
Teacher: What is behind the concept of the innermost in a person?
Student: The sacred, kept in the depths of the soul, is what determines the essence of a person, the truth.
Student: Through the portrait of the hero, attitude towards other people, actions, attitude towards oneself...
Student: In the story there is no picturesque, fine portrait as a description of appearance. There is only a behavioral portrait. Nevertheless, we can imagine a hero: simple, primitive, a man from the crowd, a working bone...
Teacher: How does the story reveal the essence of Foma Pukhov?
Student: Through the hero’s attitude to work. Foma Pukhov “...feels a strange pleasure from the upcoming difficult anxiety...”
Teacher: In Andrei Platonov’s notebook it was written: “Work is conscience.” How do you understand this statement? Let us turn to the meaning of the concept of “conscience”.
Student: The essence of the hero is revealed through his attitude to the revolution. In the story we read: “He jealously followed the revolution, ashamed of every stupidity, although he had little to do with it.”
After the death of his wife, “I sensed where and to what end of the world all revolutions were heading.”
“I’m ready to shed blood myself, just so it’s not in vain and I’m not being a fool.”
If Thomas saw a higher goal in the revolution, he might have given his life for it, but he does not find such a goal. The hero doubted the sanctity of the revolution. Foma is not convinced by other people’s attitudes and political literacy courses; he personally needs to be convinced of the sanctity of the revolution.
Teacher: This disbelief brings Plato’s hero closer to the biblical Thomas.
Disciple: (prepared in advance) Thomas is a faithful and practical, down-to-earth disciple of Jesus, who lived by the principle of “seeing is believing,” whose doubts about the Resurrection of Christ were dispelled only in the presence of the risen Lord.
Teacher: But the image of Thomas is most clearly revealed through his attitude towards the machine. How does the author show this inextricable connection?
- “If only he had a car, he considered himself at home there...”
- “He was always good-natured around the car...”
- “Wrote reports about machine illnesses...”
- “I rebuilt the engine according to my understanding...”
Teacher: We can hardly call such a person a natural fool. Originality of self-expression is the principle of his behavior.
In relation to the machine, Platonov creates his own philosophy, the philosophy of technology. What is its essence?
Student: She is a living being. “The machine rotates day and night - smart, like a living thing, tireless and faithful, like a heart.”
Teacher: A car is a special substance for Platonov. “There are many people, few cars; people are alive and can stand up for themselves, but a machine is a gentle, defenseless, fragile creature…” the author continues in “Chevengur”. Next to the car, Foma seems to release hidden feelings hidden somewhere in his soul - care, love, kindness. Initially, Foma feels the fullness and joy of life only in communication with the machine, because he sees in a well-functioning mechanism a harmonious combination of parts.
What else seems harmonious to Pukhov? What gives you the feeling of happiness?
Student: The natural world, space, movement.
- “Pukhov was always surprised by space...”
- “I felt the ground...
- “An unexperienced feeling of complete pleasure...”
Teacher: How then can one come to terms with the words “Pukhov is not gifted with sensitivity...”?
Teacher: Andrei Platonov points out another reason for Pukhov’s action: he was hungry. Gesture of an eccentric person. The first phrase of the story reveals the key opposition: life and death, the unity of the eternal and the everyday, the everyday and the existential. The hero is shown not only through his attitude towards nature and people, but also through the movement, the path made by him. The student presents a map of Foma Pukhov’s travels.
Teacher: Pukhov’s movements are very chaotic, not logically motivated: “almost unconsciously he chased life through all the gorges of the earth.” The hero does not have a spatial goal, he is looking not for a place, but for meaning, so Platonov’s road loses its spatial meaning, becoming synonymous with spiritual search.
In many mythopoetic and religious traditions, the mythologem of the path appears metaphorically, as a designation of a line of behavior, especially spiritual. The structure of the path archetype is characterized by testing. A constant and inalienable property of the path is its difficulty. The path is built along a line of ever-increasing difficulties and dangers, so overcoming the path is a feat. The marking of the beginning and end of the path as two extreme points - states - is expressed objectively - by a change in the status of the character who has reached the end.
How do we see the hero at the end of the journey?
Student: Pukhov passed the tests, did not commit meanness, found friends, did not betray, comprehended himself, retained a pure, bright beginning, a pure soul.
Teacher: Thus, Andrei Platonov leads us to a global conclusion, to the thought about the possibilities of the human soul, to the thought that was his torment, his joy, an ever elusive and enticing mystery: “The main thing is to sow souls in people.”