Which is better: pity or the truth at the bottom? Which is better: truth or compassion? (Based on the drama M

What is better - truth or compassion? It is impossible to give a definite answer. “At the Bottom” touches on and reveals to readers several problems: lies and truth, merciful deception and bitter truth. In my opinion, compassion is still better, because it is what gives hope for life to any of the characters in the play “At the Bottom.”

Each of them: Satin, Bubnov, Nastya, Actor, Kleshch found themselves “at the bottom of life” through their own fault. A person chooses his own destiny, he must have a goal, a dream, in order to have something to strive for. But the heroes don’t have this... They don’t live, they only exist, spending the rest of their lives in a dark, dirty shelter. Day after day the same thing: darkness, emptiness in the soul, complete indifference to everyone and everything... But it was like that until a certain moment. . .

With the appearance of a new character - Luka, it seemed that now everything would get better: people would get out of this hole on their own - they just needed a push. It is Luke who shows compassion, gives hope, and consoles. He, like no one else, has influence on these low people. Being near death, Anna listens to the old man, believes in his words of compassion, they help her - the woman dies with the hope that in the other world everything will be fine for her: no suffering, no poverty. Luke’s words did not go unnoticed by the Actor: a man who has lost all hope suddenly understands the meaning of life, that not all is lost, that everything can still be corrected and a fresh start. But, alas, this will not be... Just as instantly you gain hope, just as quickly you can lose it. Compassion is not just words that have an impact as long as you hear them - it is a spiritual revolution, a constant desire for aspiration and change.

It would be a mistake to say that it was Luke who was to blame for the death of the Actor, that it was words of compassion that ruined the man. He helped people. What if he did not console the inhabitants of the “bottom”, but, on the contrary, once again showed the truth of their lives, the place they occupy in society? This would not change anything for the better, it would only push him to take the “extreme step” of solving all problems - suicide.

The author does not accept a naive belief in miracles, but it is precisely the miraculous that the characters in this drama imagine, some in a marble hospital, others in honest work, others in love happiness. Luke’s speeches were effective because they “fell on the fertile soil of cherished illusions.”

The characters in the work, of course, touched the truth, but did not overcome the feeling of hopelessness. Their circle of existence has closed: from indifference to an unattainable dream, and from it to death and emptiness.

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“The arrival of Luke only for a minute accelerates the pulse of a dying life, but he can neither save nor raise anyone” (I.F. Annensky) (based on M. Gorky’s play “At the Depths”)

The meaning of the image of Luke in Gorky’s play “At the Lower Depths”

What is better - truth or compassion? (based on the works of M. Gorky)

Which is better, truth or compassion? (based on A.M. Gorky’s play “At the Lower Depths”)

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What is better - truth or compassion? based on the play At the Lower Depths (Gorky A.M.)

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Is it really necessary for a person to know the absolute truth, or can remaining in illusions and fantasies be much better and even more saving for him? This question is asked by the great Russian writer and playwright Maxim Gorky in his play “At the Depths”.

The heroes of Gorky’s work are ordinary people who, by the will of fate, are forced to fight for their survival, saving every penny they earn through labor and sweat in order to somehow make ends meet. Among them there are both once famous or noble people (Actor, Baron), and those who starved all their lives (Anna). But, despite the dirt and lawlessness that surrounds them, they still try to remain human and adhere to moral guidelines. In their conversations, they raise problems that sharply contrast with the disgusting conditions of their living with their sublimity and originality.

The purpose of their dialogues is to search for some universal truth of life, and each of the characters in the play sees it in their own way.

The first position is accepting the disappointing truth as it is, without softening embellishment. On the side of this position is Bubnov, once the owner of a dyeing workshop. This hero is skeptical, cynical and cruel, there is not a drop of compassion in him - even to the request of the dying Anna to behave more quietly, he replies: “Noise is not a hindrance to death...”

The second position in this matter is the position of the eccentric wanderer Luke. He is trying to show the need for pity for every person. He consoles the dying Anna with the words that after death she will finally find peace. Luke tells the actor about a free hospital where he is treated for drunkenness. Some inhabitants of the shelter take Luka's words with hostility, accusing him of giving people only empty hopes, completely turning a blind eye to the true state of affairs. But is this truth so good? And is it worth blaming the wanderer for his sincere desire to help the residents of the shelter, at least with a kind word?

A saving lie is sometimes necessary. Anna needs her - her days are numbered, she is dying, and Bubny’s cruel truth would only make her death more painful. But then, do the other heroes of the play really need false hopes and compassion, and didn’t they lead some of the heroes to an even more tragic death? Even though the majority of the inhabitants of the shelter are not to blame for their fate, they are weak-willed on their own and do not want to correct the situation. The actor, who after Luka’s disappearance decided that there was no salvation, commits suicide; Bubnov still does not move beyond bilious and cynical reasoning. All heroes are united by their inability to do anything to rise from the social bottom.

We can say that only one character in the play is truly right - Satin. He doesn’t see the point in once again “chewing” obvious things, in illusions and blind consolation. Neither compassion nor any truth is worth anything without the desire to act, to fight the difficulties of life, without a person’s strong self-confidence.

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“Which is better: truth or compassion?” - essay based on the play “At the Lower Depths”

Maxim Gorky's play “At the Depths” asks fundamental questions, answers to which humanity is still looking for today. One such question is:

“WHAT IS BETTER: COMPASSION OR TRUTH?”

The heroes of the work, the inhabitants of the shelter, are people with different beliefs, ideals and backgrounds. Some dream of freedom, others of love, and still others no longer believe in anything at all. But they are all united by the search for the meaning of their worthless existence.

Luke's appearance gives hope to the desperate inhabitants of the shelter. These people, without a present or a future, gain faith thanks to Luke's sweet lies.

Luke himself is well aware that he is deceiving these unfortunate people, however, he does this with good intentions. His position is conscious and thoughtful. Luke strives to console people in any way. It doesn’t matter to him whether these words are true or false, the main thing is the result. After all, the bitter truth can finally finish off a person who finds himself at the bottom of his life, pushing him to commit suicide.

Luke's main opponent is Satin, who prefers to accept the truth, no matter how bitter it is, to accept all the absurdity of the world around him.

For him, living a lie is tantamount to a loss of self-respect, tantamount to recognizing oneself as weak and defeated. And Satin strives to hold out until the end, remaining a strong person.

The ending of the play is dramatic. The philosophy of compassion fails. Everyone whom Luke tried to help could not find a way out of their life’s dead ends. The preaching of compassion did not change the lives of the heroes.

However, Satin’s philosophy, which did not develop into concrete actions and actions, as a result is no different from empty promises of a better life. The world of the shelter's inhabitants is filled with a feeling of hopelessness. Nothing has changed in the lives of the heroes. Truth and compassion alone cannot bring the desired relief.

One should strive to find a middle ground, when the blade of truth becomes not a weapon of merciless murder, but an instrument of merciful healing of the human soul.

Essay "At the bottom - Gorky" "What is better: truth or compassion?" - essay based on the play “At the Lower Depths”

What is better - truth or compassion? What is more needed?

Reflections on the pages of M. Gorky’s play “At the Depths”

What is truth? Truth (in my understanding) is absolute truth, that is, the truth that is the same for all cases and for all people. I think that such truth cannot be. Even a fact, a seemingly obvious unambiguous event, is perceived differently by different people. So, for example, news of death can be understood as news of another, new life. Often the truth cannot be absolute, the same for everyone, because words are ambiguous, because the meaning of the same word is understood differently. Therefore, I would begin to talk not about truth - an unattainable concept - but about truth, which is designed for the “average” person. The juxtaposition of truth and compassion gives the word “truth” a certain connotation of harshness. Truth is the hard and cruel truth. Souls are wounded by the truth and therefore need compassion.

It cannot be said that the heroes of the play “At the Lower Depths” represent a more or less homogeneous mass of people - impersonal, characterless. Each of the characters feels, dreams, hopes or remembers. More precisely, they carry something precious and sacred inside them, but since the world in which they live is heartless and cruel, they are forced to hide all their dreams as far as possible. Although a dream, which would have at least some proof in harsh real life, could help weak people - Nastya, Anna, Actor. They - these weak people - are depressed by the hopelessness of real life. And in order to live, just live, they need a saving and wise lie about the “righteous land.” As long as people believe and strive for the best, they will find the strength and desire to live. Even the most pitiful of them, even those who have lost their name, can be cured and even partially resurrected with pity and compassion. If only the people around him knew about it! Maybe then, out of self-deception, even a weak person would build a better life for himself, one that would be acceptable to him? But those around him don’t think about it, they expose the dream, and the man... “went home and hanged himself!..”

Is it worth accusing an old man of lying, who is the only one of the inhabitants of the shelter who thinks not about himself, not about money, not about drink, but about people? He tries to caress (“It is never harmful to caress a person”), he inspires hope with calmness and pity. It was he who, in the end, changed all the people, all the inhabitants of the shelter... Yes, the Actor hanged himself. But not only Luke is guilty of this, but also those who did not spare, but cut the heart with the truth.

There is some stereotype regarding the truth. It is often believed that the truth is always good. Of course, it is valuable if you always live in truth, in reality, but then dreams are impossible, and after them - a different vision of the world, poetry in the broad sense of the word. It is a special view of life that gives birth to beauty and serves as the basis for art, which in the end also becomes a part of life.

How do stronger people perceive compassion? Here is Bubnov, for example. Bubnov, in my opinion, is the toughest and most cynical of all the inhabitants of the shelter. Bubnov “mumbles” all the time, stating the bare, heavy truths: “no matter how you paint yourself, everything will be erased,” he doesn’t need a conscience, he’s “not rich”... Bubnov, without hesitation, calmly calls Vasilisa a fierce woman, and in In the middle of the conversation he says that the threads are rotten. Usually no one specifically talks to Bubnov, but from time to time he inserts his comments into a variety of dialogues. And the same Bubnov, Luka’s main opponent, sad and cynical, in the finale treats everyone to vodka, growls, screams, and offers to “take your soul away”! And only the drunken, generous and talkative Bubnov, according to Alyosha, “looks like a person.” Apparently, Luka also touched Bubnov with kindness, showed him that life is not in the despondency of everyday melancholy, but in something more cheerful, hopeful - in dreams. And Bubnov dreams!

The appearance of Luka rallied the “strong” inhabitants of the shelter (Satin, Klesch, Bubnov in the first place), and even a solid general conversation arose. Luke is a man who had compassion, pity and love, and managed to influence everyone. Even the Actor remembered his favorite poems and his name.

Human feelings and dreams, his inner world are the most precious and valuable of all, because a dream does not limit, a dream develops. The truth does not give hope, the truth does not believe in God, and without faith in God, without hope, there is no future.

M. Gorky's drama “At the Depths” is a complex, multifaceted work with deep philosophical content. What makes a person human? What helps and hinders life? What are the paths to finding happiness? The author is looking for an answer to these questions together with his heroes - the inhabitants of the Kostylevo shelter.

It is interesting that on issues that have long troubled the minds of thinkers, the play speaks not from masters of philosophical debate, but from people of the “bottom,” uneducated or degraded, tongue-tied or unable to find the right words. Each of the night shelters has a certain outlook on life, professes his own “truth”: Bubnov and Baron, insensitive people far from illusions, are supporters of the cruel “truth of fact”, content with crude reality; Anna, Ash, Kleshch, Nastya, Actor live a dream, but at the same time they suffer and crave sympathy.

However, in my opinion, only two inhabitants of the shelter can be considered unique “ideologists” of the “bottom” - Luka and Satin. After all, Gorky formulated the “main question” of the drama as follows: “What is better: truth or compassion? What is more needed? In the play, Satin advocates for truth, Luke preaches compassion.

Satin is a strong man who has received a certain education. He once served in a telegraph office, where he picked up some “smart” words. Now he is a clever gambler. It is paradoxical that the truth is glorified by a sharper, that is, a person living a lie. Nevertheless, Satin’s monologues are bright, emotional, aphoristic: “Man - that’s the truth! Lies are the religion of slaves and masters... Truth is the god of a free man!..” Satin’s views are close to Gorky. In one of his letters, the author seems to echo his hero: “Only man exists, everything else is opinion.”

Satin affirms the “bottom” as the norm of existence, the only one worthy of a real person. He himself neglects the opportunity to live on honestly earned money. According to Satin, people should be respected, and not “humiliated with pity,” not lie to them, but finally finish them off with the truth: it’s more noble.

The wanderer Luke adheres to a different point of view. This hero is kind, forgiving of weaknesses, tolerant of the sins of others, and responsive to requests for help. “They crushed it a lot, that’s why it’s soft,” he says about himself.

Another attractive feature of Luka is his genuine interest in life, in other people, in each of whom he is able to discern individuality, a “zest”: “Every flea is not bad...”

Luke, of course, is needed by the sufferers, of whom there are many in the play: Nastya, Ash, Natasha, Actor, Anna, Tick. They need consolation and encouragement - a kind of anesthesia from the troubles that haunt them and a stimulator of interest in life. To console his interlocutor, Luka does not come up with any recipes, he only skillfully supports the dream that each of the night shelters has: he convinces the actor of the existence of a hospital for alcoholics, in Anna he strengthens faith in the afterlife, in Nastya - in ideal love.

“What you believe in is what it is,” says the wanderer. In my opinion, a good motto for the “bottom”. As if confirming his words, Luke tells the night shelters a parable: the dream of a “righteous land” gave a man the strength to live, but the truth pushed him to commit suicide.

According to Satin, Luke’s speeches are “a comforting lie, a reconciling lie,” “a lie for salvation.” One can argue for a long time about the appropriateness of such deception. However, in my opinion, one cannot but agree with Beranger, whose poem the Actor constantly recites:

Gentlemen, if the truth is holy

The world doesn't know how to find a road,

Honor the madman who inspires

A golden dream for humanity!

I think Luke is such a “madman.”

Reflecting on the “main question” of the drama “At the Lower Depths,” Gorky tests the philosophies of Satin and Luke with life, shows how the speeches of the sharper and how the monologues of the wanderer influenced the night shelters.

Before Luka’s unexpected departure, the well-being of the inhabitants of the “bottom” noticeably improves; Most of them have a growing belief in the possibility of living a better life. The old man advises dying Anna to be patient and promises a heavenly life in heaven. The woman believed him and died calmly. According to the philosophy of Satin, who, by the way, looked quite calmly at the suffering of a dying woman, it was not worth humiliating her: after all, a lie under the guise of pity cannot but humiliate a person.

Thanks to Luka, Ash lives the dream of an honest life in Siberia, and Nastya lives with faith in ideal love. According to Satin, it is necessary to return them to prosaic reality...

Heeding Luke’s assurances, inspired by the hope of healing, the Actor begins to work and even stops drinking for a while. But now Satin gets down to business, whose name, probably not by chance, is consonant with the name of Satan. He takes away the most valuable thing from the Actor - his dream, and he has no choice but to hang himself.

So, the drama “At the Bottom” is a sample of the possibility of helping people with the help of compassion or truth. There is an absolutely unambiguous answer to the question: “What is better: truth or compassion? What is more necessary? - not in the work.

I think Gorky has certain sympathy for both Satin and Luka. But there cannot be a single correct solution to such a problem: truth is, of course, better than deception, but sometimes compassion, a “comforting lie” is more necessary.

Nikolay Basenko

Gorky's play “At the Lower Depths” was written in 1902, at a time of vibrant political life in Russia. Capitalism and Russian entrepreneurship developed at a rapid pace in the country. Industrial and commercial activities were reflected in literary works, sometimes not the best. Nevertheless, literature reflected reality, actual events. These were often the ugliest manifestations of developing capitalism. Gorky’s play “At the Depths” was written about this “wrong side of life.” Gorky himself noted:

That the play was the result of his almost twenty years of observations of the world of “former people.”

Drawing the inhabitants of the Kostylevskaya flophouse and emphasizing in them human traits worthy of compassion, Gorky at the same time with all decisiveness reveals in the play the powerlessness of the tramps, their unsuitability for the task of rebuilding Russia. Everyone from the shelter lives with hopes, but cannot do anything or change their deplorable situation due to a tragic combination of circumstances. And only declarations remain that “man. sounds proud." But then a new character appears in the play, from nowhere -

Luke. Along with it, a new motive appears in the play: the possibility of consolation or exposure.

Gorky himself pointed out what the main problem of the play was: “The main question that I wanted to pose is what is better, truth or compassion? What is more needed? Is it necessary to take compassion to the point of using lies, like Luke?” This phrase from Gorky was included in the title of the essay. Behind the author’s phrase there is a deep philosophical thought, or rather, the question: what is better – the truth or a white lie. Perhaps this question is as complex as life itself. Many generations have struggled to resolve it. Nevertheless, we will try to find the answer to it.

The wanderer Luke plays the role of a comforter in the play. He calms Anna down by talking about blissful silence after death. He seduces Ash with pictures of a free and free life in Siberia. He informs the unfortunate drunkard Actor about the construction of special hospitals where alcoholics are treated. So he sows words of consolation and hope everywhere. The only pity is that all his promises are based on lies. There is no free life in Siberia, there is no salvation for the Actor from his serious illness. Unhappy Anna will die, having never seen real life, tormented by the thought “how not to eat anything else.”

Luke's intentions to help other people seem clear. He tells a parable about a man who believed in the existence of a righteous land. When a certain scientist proved that there was no such land, the man hanged himself out of grief. With this, Luke wants to once again confirm how saving a lie is sometimes for people and how unnecessary and dangerous the truth can be for them.

Gorky rejects this philosophy of justifying saving lies. Elder Luke’s lies, Gorky emphasizes, play a reactionary role. Instead of calling for a struggle against unrighteous life, he reconciles the oppressed and disadvantaged with the oppressors and tyrants. This lie, according to the author of the play, is an expression of weakness, historical impotence. The author thinks so. What do we think?

The very composition of the play, its internal movement exposes Luke's philosophy. Let us follow the author and his plan. At the beginning of the play, we see how each of the characters is obsessed with his dream, his illusion. The appearance of Luke with his philosophy of consolation and reconciliation strengthens the inhabitants of the shelter in the correctness of their obscure and illusory hobbies and thoughts. But instead of peace and silence, acute dramatic events are brewing in the Kostylevskaya shelter, which reach their climax in the scene of the murder of old man Kostylev.

Reality itself, the harsh truth of life itself, refutes Luke’s comforting lies. In light of what is happening on stage, Luke's benevolent rantings seem false. Gorky resorts to an unusual compositional technique: long before the finale, in the third act, he removes one of the main characters of the play: Luka quietly disappears and does not appear in the last, fourth act.

Luke's philosophy is rejected by Satin, who opposes him. “Lies are the religion of slaves and masters. Truth is the god of a free man!” - he says. It does not at all follow from this that Satin is a positive hero. Satin's main advantage is that he is smart and sees lies farther than anyone else. But Satin is unsuitable for the present case.

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What is better - truth or compassion? Reflections on the pages of the play "At the Bottom" What is truth? Truth (in my understanding) is absolute truth, that is, the truth that is the same for all cases and for all people. I think that such truth cannot be. Even a fact, a seemingly obvious unambiguous event, is perceived differently by different people. So, for example, news of death can be understood as news of another, new life.

Often the truth cannot be absolute, the same for everyone, because words are ambiguous, because the meaning of the same word is understood differently. Therefore, I would begin to talk not about truth - an unattainable concept - but about truth, which is designed for the “average” person. The juxtaposition of truth and compassion gives the word “truth” a certain connotation of harshness. Truth is the hard and cruel truth. Souls are wounded by the truth and therefore need compassion. It cannot be said that the heroes of the play “At the Lower Depths” represent a more or less homogeneous mass of people - impersonal, characterless. Each of the characters feels, dreams, hopes or remembers. More precisely, they carry something precious and sacred inside them, but since the world in which they live is heartless and cruel, they are forced to hide all their dreams as far as possible. Although a dream, which would have at least some proof in harsh real life, could help weak people - Nastya, Anna, Actor.

They - these weak people - are depressed by the hopelessness of real life. And in order to live, just live, they need a saving and wise lie about the “righteous land.” As long as people believe and strive for the best, they will find the strength and desire to live. Even the most pitiful of them, even those who have lost their name, can be cured and even partially resurrected with pity and compassion. If only the people around him knew about it! Maybe then, out of self-deception, even a weak person would build a better life for himself, one that would be acceptable to him? But those around them don’t think about it, they expose the dream, but the person...

“I went home and hanged myself!..” Is it worth accusing an old man of lying, who is the only one of the inhabitants of the shelter who thinks not about himself, not about money, not about drink, but about people? He tries to caress ("It is never harmful to caress a person"), he inspires hope with calmness and pity. It was he who, in the end, changed all the people, all the inhabitants of the shelter... Yes, the Actor hanged himself. But not only Luke is guilty of this, but also those who did not spare, but cut the heart with the truth. There is some stereotype regarding the truth. It is often believed that the truth is always good.

Of course, it is valuable if you always live in truth, in reality, but then dreams are impossible, and after them - a different vision of the world, poetry in the broad sense of the word. It is a special view of life that gives birth to beauty and serves as the basis for art, which in the end also becomes a part of life. How do stronger people perceive compassion? Here is Bubnov, for example. Bubnov, in my opinion, is the toughest and most cynical of all the inhabitants of the shelter. Bubnov “mumbles” all the time, stating the bare, heavy truths: “no matter how you paint yourself, everything will be erased,” he doesn’t need a conscience, he is “not rich”... Bubnov, without hesitation, calmly calls Vasilisa a fierce woman, and in In the middle of the conversation he says that the threads are rotten. Usually no one specifically talks to Bubnov, but from time to time he inserts his comments into a variety of dialogues.

And the same Bubnov, Luka’s main opponent, sad and cynical, in the finale treats everyone to vodka, growls, screams, and offers to “take your soul away”! And only the drunken, generous and talkative Bubnov, according to Alyosha, “looks like a person.” Apparently, Luka also touched Bubnov with kindness, showed him that life is not in the despondency of everyday melancholy, but in something more cheerful, hopeful - in dreams. And Bubnov dreams! The appearance of Luka rallied the “strong” inhabitants of the shelter (Satin, Klesch, Bubnov in the first place), even a solid general conversation arose. Luke is a man who had compassion, pity and love, and managed to influence everyone. Even the Actor remembered his favorite poems and his name. Human feelings and dreams, his inner world are the most precious and valuable of all, because a dream does not limit, a dream develops.

The truth does not give hope, the truth does not believe in God, and without faith in God, without hope, there is no future.