What is the truth of the bows at the bottom. What is more correct for me: Luke’s saving lie or “Truth is the god of a free man”

Three truths in Gorky's play “At the Lower Depths” occupy a special place in the narrative. Bubnov, Luka and Satin have their own idea of ​​what truth is.

Bubnov

The truth for Bubnov is the truth of the fact. The character argues that no one should lie, that all people should “tell” only the truth, even if it turns out to be difficult for the person who hears it. The statements of each person, according to Bubnov, should be constructed as an indisputable fact. The hero does not accept lies in any of its manifestations.

Luke

Luke believes that lying can give a person hope. The hero adheres to the position of white lies. Luke tells the drunken actor about a special city in which he will recover from alcoholism and change for the better. Luke tells the dying Anna that after death she will find real peace. Luka tells Nastya, who was striving to find love, that she will definitely achieve what she believes in. The hero who appears in the shelter tries to support everyone who is at the “bottom”. Luke's truth is mercy and compassion. It is built on love for all humanity. The hero strives to give every resident of the shelter hope for a better life, and lies become a weapon. Luka does not agree with Bubnov’s position; he believes that truth alone cannot cure a person’s soul.

Satin

Satin does not agree with Luke’s position. He is the exponent of the 3rd truth. Satin believes that lies are the religion of only slaves and masters. Truth is opposed to it; it is she who is the “god of a free man.” Satin does not support Luke’s pity towards the residents of the shelter; the hero believes that a lie covered with pity will not help anyone, that a person should not be pitied, but respected.

Table

To understand the difference in the understanding of truth by different heroes, consider the table “Three Truths (“At the Bottom”)”, built on quotes.

“THREE TRUTHS” IN GORKY’S PLAY “AT THE BOTTOM”

Goals : consider the characters’ understanding of Gorky’s play “truth”; find out the meaning of the tragic collision of different points of view: the truth of a fact (Bubnov), the truth of a comforting lie (Luke), the truth of faith in a person (Satin); determine the features of Gorky’s humanism.

During the classes

I. Introductory conversation.

Imagine for a moment that by the will of fate you found yourself in Moscow without money, without friends, without relatives, without cell phones. You have traveled to the beginning of the century. How would you try to improve your life or change the situation you find yourself in? Will you try to improve your life or will you immediately sink to the bottom?

The heroes of the play we are studying stopped resisting; she sank to the “bottom of life.”

The topic of our lesson: “Three truths in M. Gorky’s play “At the Bottom.”

What do you think will be discussed?

What questions will we consider?

(Suggested answers: What is truth? What kind of truth can there be? Why three truths? What thoughts about truth do the heroes express? Which of the heroes thinks about this question?

Teacher's summary: Each hero has his own truth. And we will try to find out the positions of the characters, understand them, understand the essence of the dispute that arose between the characters and decide whose truth is closer to us, modern readers.

Literary warm-up.

You know that you cannot competently defend your point of view without knowledge of a literary work. I offer you a literary workout. I read a line from the play, and you determine which character it belongs to.

What is conscience for? I'm not rich (Bubnov)

We must love the living, the living (Luke)

When work is a duty - life is slavery (Satin)

Lies are the religion of slaves and masters... Truth is the god of a free man! (Satin)

People live... like chips floating down a river... (Bubnov)

All love on earth is superfluous (Bubnov)

Christ had compassion on everyone and commanded us (Luke)

Petting a person is never harmful (Luke)

Human! It's great! It sounds proud! Human! We must respect the person!

Updating knowledge. Call.

You have demonstrated good knowledge of the text. Why do you think you were offered the lines of these particular characters? (Luka, Satin, Bubnov have their own idea of ​​truth).

– What is the main leitmotif of the play? Which character is the first to formulate the main question of the drama “At the Bottom”?

The dispute about truth is the semantic center of the play. The word “truth” will be heard already on the first page of the play, in Kvashnya’s remark: “Ah! You can’t stand the truth!” Truth – lie (“You’re lying!” – Kleshch’s sharp cry, sounded even before the word “truth”), truth – faith – these are the most important semantic poles that define the problematics of “At the Bottom”.

How do you understand the meaning of the word “truth”?

IS IT TRUE, -s,and. 1. What actually exists corresponds to the real state of affairs.Tell the truth. Hear the truth about what happened. The truth hurts my eyes (last). 2. Justice, honesty, just cause.Seek the truth. Stand for the truth. The truth is on your side. Happiness is good, but truth is better (last). 3. Same as(colloquial).Your truth (You are right).God sees the truth, but will not tell you soon (last). 4.introductory sl. The statement of truth is true, in fact.I really didn't know this.

Those. truth can be private, but it can also be ideological

So, let's find out the truth of Luka, Bubnov, Satin.– What is truth for the heroes of the play? How can their views be compared?

II. Work on the problem stated in the topic of the lesson.

The philosophy of truth in Gorky's play.

"Luke's Truth" - In the work of every talented writer, the name of the hero necessarily means something. Let's turn to the origins of the name Luke. What meanings can it have?

1) Ascends on behalf of the Apostle Luke.

2) Associated with the word “Evil,” that is, cunning.

3) “Lukovka”, by the time you get to the middle, you’ll take off a lot of “clothes!”

How does Luke appear in the play? What are the first words he says? (“Good health, honest people,” he immediately announces his position, says that he treats everyone well, “I respect swindlers, too, in my opinion, not a single flea is bad.”

What does Luke say about attitude towards people around you?

Let's consider how Luka behaves with each of the inhabitants of the shelter.

How does he feel about Anna? (She regrets, says that after death she will find peace, consoles, helps, becomes necessary)

What advice does an actor have? (Find a city that offers treatment for alcoholism, it’s clean, the floor is marble, treatment is free, “A person can do anything, as long as he wants to.”)

How does he propose to arrange Vaska Pepl’s life? (Go to Siberia with Natasha. Siberia is a rich region, you can earn money there and become a master).

How does he console Nastya? (Nastya dreams of big, bright love, he tells her: “What you believe in is what it is”)

How does he talk to Medvedev? (Calls him “under,” that is, flatters him, and he falls for his bait).

So how does Luka feel about the inhabitants of the shelter? (Okay, he sees a person in everyone, reveals positive character traits, tries to help. He knows how to discover the good in everyone and instill hope).

Read the remarks that reflect Luke’s life position?

How do you understand the words: “What you believe in is what it is?”

In contrast to the “prose of fact,” Luke offers the truth of the ideal—the “poetry of fact.” If Bubnov (the main ideologist of literally understood “truth”), Satin, Baron are far from illusions and do not need an ideal, then Actor, Nastya, Anna, Natasha, Ashes respond to Luke’s remark - for them faith is more important than truth.

Luke’s hesitant story about hospitals for alcoholics sounded like this: “Nowadays they are curing drunkenness, listen! Free, brother, they treat... this is the kind of hospital built for drunkards... They recognized, you see, that a drunkard is also a person...” In the actor’s imagination, the hospital turns into a “marble palace”: “An excellent hospital... Marble.. .marble floor! Light... cleanliness, food... everything for free! And marble floor. Yes!" The actor is a hero of faith, not the truth of fact, and the loss of the ability to believe turns out to be fatal for him.

Which heroes need Luke's support? (Actor, Nastya, Natasha, Anna. What is more important to them is not the truth, but words of consolation. When the Actor stopped believing that he could recover from alcoholism, he hanged himself.

A person can learn goodness... very simply, says Luka. What story does he give as an example? (Incident at the dacha)

How do you understand the “story” of the righteous land?

So, Luke’s truth is comforting, he turns to the remnants of humanity in the souls of the night shelters, gives them hope.

- What is Luke’s truth? (Love and feel sorry for a person)

“Christ had pity on everyone and commanded us to”

“What you believe is what you believe”

“A man can do anything, he just wants to”

“To love – we must love the living, the living”

“If someone has not done good to someone, he has done something bad”

Which of the heroes (Luka, Satin or Bubnov) seemed to you the darkest character?

Which character's position is opposed to Luke's?

"Bubnova's Truth"

Who is it? (Kartuznik, 45 years old)

What does he do? (trying old, torn trousers on blanks for hats, figuring out how to cut)

What do we know about him? (I was a furrier, I dyed furs, my hands were yellow from paint, I had my own establishment, but I lost everything)

How is he behaving? (Dissatisfied with everything, treats those around him with contempt, looks sullen, speaks in a sleepy voice, does not believe in anything sacred. This is the gloomiest figure in the text).

Find lines that characterize his worldview.

“Noise is not a hindrance to death”

“What is conscience for? I'm not rich"

“People all live... like wood chips floating down a river... They build a house, but the wood chips go away.”

“Everything is like this: they are born, they live, they die. And I will die... and you."

When Anna dies, he says: “That means she’s stopped coughing.” How would you rate it?

How do these words characterize him?

What is the truth about Bubnov? (Bubnov sees only the negative side of life, destroys the remnants of faith and hope in people. A skeptic, a cynic, he treats life with evil pessimism).

Bubnov’s truth consists in exposing the seamy side of existence, this is the “truth of fact.” “What kind of truth do you need, Vaska? And for what? You know the truth about yourself... and everyone knows it...” he drives Ash into the doom of being a thief when he was trying to figure himself out. “That means I’ve stopped coughing,” he reacted to Anna’s death.

After listening to Luke’s allegorical story about his life at his dacha in Siberia and the harboring (rescue) of escaped convicts, Bubnov admitted: “But I... I don’t know how to lie! For what? In my opinion, tell the whole truth as it is! Why be ashamed?

Bubnov sees only the negative side of life and destroys the remnants of faith and hope in people, while Luka knows that in a kind word the ideal becomes real:“A person can teach goodness... very simply,” he concluded the story about life in the country, and in setting out the “story” of the righteous land, he reduced it to the fact that the destruction of faith kills a person.Luka (thoughtfully, to Bubnov): “Here... you say it’s true... It’s true, it’s not always due to a person’s illness... you can’t always cure a soul with the truth...” Luke heals the soul.

Luka’s position is more humane and more effective than Bubnov’s naked truth, because it appeals to the remnants of humanity in the souls of the night shelters. For Luke, a person “no matter what he is, is always worth his price.”“I’m just saying that if someone hasn’t done good to someone, then they’ve done something bad.” "To caress a person – never harmful."

Such a moral credo harmonizes relationships between people, abolishes the wolf principle, and ideally leads to the acquisition of internal completeness and self-sufficiency, the confidence that, despite external circumstances, a person has found truths that no one will ever take away from him

Satin becomes the spokesman for another life truth. One of the culminating moments of the play is Satin’s famous monologues from the fourth act about man, truth, and freedom.

Reading Satin's monologue.

"The Truth of Satine"

How does this character appear in the play?

What do we understand from his first words?

(Appears with a growl. His first words indicate that he is a card sharper and a drunkard)

What have we learned about this man? (Once he served in a telegraph office, he was an educated man. Satin likes to pronounce incomprehensible words. Which ones?

Organon – translated means “tool”, “organ of vision”, “mind”.

Sicambrus is an ancient Germanic tribe that means “dark man.”

Satin feels superior to other night shelters.

How did he end up in the shelter? (He went to prison because he stood up for his sister’s honor).

How does he feel about work? (“Make the work pleasant for me - maybe I will work... When work is pleasure, life is good! Work is a duty, life is slavery!

What does Satin see as the truth of life? (One of the climaxes of the play is Satin’s famous monologues about man, truth, and freedom.

“Lies are the religion of slaves and masters”

“Man is free, he pays for everything himself: for faith, for disbelief, for love, for intelligence...”

“Truth is the god of a free man.”

How, in his opinion, should a person be treated? (Respect. Do not humiliate with pity. Man - this sounds proud, says Satin).

- According to Satin, pity humiliates a person, respect elevates a person. What's more important?

Satin believes that a person should be respected.

Luke believes that a person should be pitied.

Let's look at the dictionary

Regret

Feel pity, compassion;

Reluctant to spend, spend;

To feel affection for someone, to love

Respect

Treat with respect;

Be in love

What do they have in common? What is the difference?

So, each of the heroes has their own truth.

Luke - the comforting truth

Satin – respect for man, faith in man

Bubnov - the “cynical” truth

It is interesting that Satin supported his reasoning with the authority of Luke, the man in relation to whom we at the beginning of the playrepresented Satin as an antipode. Moreover,Satin's references to Luke in Act 4 prove the closeness of both."Old man? He’s a smart guy!.. He... acted on me like acid on an old and dirty coin... Let’s drink to his health!” “Man – that’s the truth! He understood this... you don’t!”

Actually, the “truth” and “lies” of Satin and Luke almost coincide.

Both believe that “a person must be respected” (emphasis on the last word) is not his “mask”; but they differ on how they should communicate their “truth” to people. After all, if you think about it, it is deadly for those who fall into its area.

If everything has faded away and one “naked” person remains, then “what’s next”? For the actor, this thought leads to suicide.

What role does Luke play in addressing the issue of “truth” in the play?

For Luke, the truth is in “comforting lies.” Luke takes pity on the man and entertains him with a dream. He promises Anna an afterlife, listens to Nastya’s fairy tales, and sends the Actor to a hospital. He lies for the sake of hope, and this is perhaps better than Bubnov’s cynical “truth,” “abomination and lies.” In the image of Luke there are allusions to the biblical Luke, who was one of the seventy disciples sent by the Lord “to every city and place where He Himself wanted to go.” Gorky's Luka makes the inhabitants of the bottom think about God and man, about the “better man,” about the highest calling of people.

“Luka” is also light. Luka comes to illuminate the Kostylevo basement with the light of new ideas, forgotten at the bottom of feelings. He talks about how it should be, what should be, and it is not at all necessary to look for practical recommendations or instructions for survival in his reasoning.

Evangelist Luke was a doctor. Luke heals in his own way in the play - with his attitude to life, advice, words, sympathy, love.

Luke heals, but not everyone, but selectively, those who need words. His philosophy is revealed in relation to other characters. He sympathizes with the victims of life: Anna, Natasha, Nastya. Teaches, giving practical advice, Ashes, Actor. Understandingly, meaningfully, often without words, he explains with the smart Bubnov. Skillfully avoids unnecessary explanations.

Luke is flexible and soft. “They crumpled a lot, that’s why it’s soft...” he said in the finale of Act 1.

Luke with his “lies” is sympathetic to Satin. “Dubier... keep quiet about the old man!.. The old man is not a charlatan!.. He lied... but it’s out of pity for you, damn you!” And yet Luke’s “lies” do not suit him. “Lies are the religion of slaves and masters! Truth is the god of a free man!”

Thus, while rejecting the “truth” of Bubnov, Gorky does not deny either the “truth” of Satin or the “truth” of Luke. Essentially, he identifies two truths: “truth-truth” and “truth-dream”

Features of Gorky's humanism. Problem Human in Gorky's play "At the Depths".

Gorky put his truth about man and overcoming the dead end into the mouths of Actor, Luka and Satin.

At the beginning of the play, indulging in theatrical memories,Actor selflessly spoke about the miracle of talent - the game of transforming a person into a hero. Responding to Satin’s words about books read and education, he separated education and talent: “Education is nonsense, the main thing is talent”; “I say talent, that’s what a hero needs. And talent is faith in yourself, in your strength...”

It is known that Gorky admired knowledge, education, and books, but he valued talent even more highly. Through the Actor, he polemically, maximalistically sharpened and polarized two facets of the spirit: education as a sum of knowledge and living knowledge - a “system of thought.”

In monologuesSatina the ideas of Gorky's thoughts about man are confirmed.

Man – “he is everything. He even created God"; “man is the receptacle of the living God”; “Faith in the powers of thought... is a person’s faith in himself.” So in Gorky’s letters. And so - in the play: “A person can believe and not believe... that’s his business! Man is free... he pays for everything himself... Man is the truth! What is a person... it's you, me, them, the old man, Napoleon, Mohammed... in one... In one - all the beginnings and ends... Everything is in a person, everything is for a person! Only man exists, everything else is the work of his hands and his brain!”

The Actor was the first to speak about talent and self-confidence. Satin summarized everything. What is the roleBows ? He carries the ideas of transformation and improvement of life, dear to Gorky, at the cost of human creative efforts.

“And yet, I see, people are becoming smarter, more and more interesting... and even though they live, they are getting worse, but they want to be better... they are stubborn!” - the elder confesses in the first act, referring to the common aspirations of everyone for a better life.

Then, in 1902, Gorky shared his observations and moods with V. Veresaev: “The mood for life is growing and expanding, cheerfulness and faith in people are becoming more and more noticeable, and - life is good on earth - by God!” The same words, the same thoughts, even the same intonations in the play and the letter.

In the fourth actSatin remembered and reproduced Luke’s answer to his question “Why do people live?”: “And - people live for the best... For a hundred years... and maybe more - they live for the better person!.. That’s it, dear , everyone, as they are, lives for the best! That’s why every person must be respected... We don’t know who he is, why he was born and what he can do...” And he himself, continuing to talk about a person, said, repeating Luke: “We must respect a person! Don’t feel sorry... don’t humiliate him with pity... you have to respect him!” Satin repeated Luke, speaking about respect, did not agree with him, speaking about pity, but something else is more important - the idea of ​​​​a “better person”.

The statements of the three characters are similar, and, mutually reinforcing, they work on the problem of the triumph of Man.

In one of Gorky’s letters we read: “I am sure that man is capable of endless improvement, and all his activities will also develop with him... from century to century. I believe in the infinity of life...” Again Luka, Satin, Gorky - about one thing.

3. What is the significance of the 4th act of Gorky’s play?

In this act, the situation is the same, but the previously sleepy thoughts of the tramps begin to “ferment.”

It started with Anna's death scene.

Luke says over the dying woman: “Much merciful Jesus Christ! Receive the spirit of your newly departed servant Anna in peace...” But Anna’s last words were the words about life : “Well... a little more... I wish I could live... a little more! If there is no flour there... here we can be patient... we can!”

– How to evaluate these words of Anna - as a victory for Luke or as his defeat? Gorky does not give a clear answer; this phrase can be commented on in different ways. One thing is clear:

Anna spoke for the first timeabout life positively thanks to Luke.

In the last act, a strange, completely unconscious rapprochement of the “bitter brethren” takes place. In the 4th act, Kleshch repaired Alyoshka’s harmonica, after testing the frets, the already familiar prison song began to sound. And this ending is perceived in two ways. You can do this: you can’t escape from the bottom - “The sun rises and sets... but it’s dark in my prison!” It can be done differently: at the cost of death, a person ended the song of tragic hopelessness...

SuicideActor interrupted the song.

What prevents homeless shelters from changing their lives for the better? Natasha’s fatal mistake is in not trusting people, Ash (“I somehow don’t believe... any words”), hoping together to change fate.

“That’s why I’m a thief, because no one ever thought of calling me by another name... Call me... Natasha, well?”

Her answer is convinced, mature:“There’s nowhere to go... I know... I thought... But I don’t trust anyone.”

One word of faith in a person could change the lives of both, but it was not spoken.

The Actor, for whom creativity is the meaning of life, a calling, also did not believe in himself. The news of the Actor's death came after Satin's famous monologues, shading them with contrast: he couldn't cope, he couldn't play, but he could have, he didn't believe in himself.

All the characters in the play are in the zone of action of the seemingly abstract Good and Evil, but they become quite concrete when it comes to the fate, worldviews, and relationships with the lives of each of the characters. And they connect people with good and evil through their thoughts, words and deeds. They directly or indirectly affect life. Life is a way of choosing your direction between good and evil. In the play, Gorky examined man and tested his capabilities. The play is devoid of utopian optimism, as well as the other extreme - disbelief in man. But one conclusion is indisputable: “Talent is what a hero needs. And talent is faith in yourself, your strength...”

The aphoristic language of Gorky's play.

Teacher. One of the characteristic features of Gorky’s work is aphorism. It is characteristic of both the author’s speech and the speech of the characters, which is always sharply individual. Many aphorisms of the play “At the Depth,” like the aphorisms of the “Songs” about the Falcon and the Petrel, became popular. Let's remember some of them.

– To which characters in the play do the following aphorisms, proverbs, and sayings belong?

a) Noise is not a hindrance to death.

b) Such a life that you get up in the morning and howl.

c) Expect some sense from the wolf.

d) When work is a duty, life is slavery.

e) Not a single flea is bad: all are black, all jump.

e) Where it is warm for an old man, there is his homeland.

g) Everyone wants order, but there is a lack of reason.

h) If you don’t like it, don’t listen, and don’t bother lying.

(Bubnov - a, b, g; Luka - d, f; Satin - g, Baron - h, Ash - c.)

Bottom line. Whose truth is closer to you?

Sinkwine

Express your attitude towards your work in class.

Subject - your name

Appendix 2 – evaluation of your work in class

Verb 3 – describing the actions of the object, i.e. how you worked in the lesson

A 4-word phrase expressing your attitude towards your work in class

Summary – assessment

Today we are convinced that everyone has their own truth. Perhaps you have not yet decided what positions in life you will adhere to in the future. I hope you choose the right path.

IV. Homework. Write your reasoning, expressingyoursattitude towards the work read

– What is the meaning of the dispute between Luke and Satin?

– Which side do you take in the “truth” debate?

– What problems raised by M. Gorky in the play “At the Lower Depths” did not leave you indifferent?

Man - that's the truth!

M. Gorky. At the bottom

The play “At the Lower Depths” was written by M. Gorky in 1902, on the eve of the first Russian revolution. It gives a vivid idea not only of class antagonism and social ills of the old society, but also of those complex processes of mental fermentation that engulfed even the most backward, restless sections of the people.

The main philosophers of the flophouse in the play are Sa-tin and Luka. Satin's philosophy is cheerful cynicism, the perception of life as a game, since he himself is a sharper. And although Satin is a man with quirks and surprises, his thoughts are able to break out of the framework of the usual way of life of tramps.

In the image of Luke we see a common folk wandering philosopher, in whom the searches and wanderings of a significant part of the social lower classes, the desire for truth, high morality, and “order” are embodied. Luke is a representative of a Christian-colored, original system of views, in which there is a childish faith, and a desire to console and encourage, and a share of sensitivity, its own ethics and its own irony: “Listen, don’t interfere! Here the woman is dying... her lips are already covered with earth... don’t interfere!” But, preaching faith in man and respect for him, this wanderer pities people more than respects them.

Luke traveled a lot during an unusual period of history, when the spiritual life of the people took on an increasingly intense character. The old man treats government officials with coolness. To Medvedev’s question: “Who is he?” As if I don’t know you...” - Luka answers sharply and even a little contemptuously: “And do you know all the other people?”

Luka is a very attentive and observant person, he is interested in knowing how everything will work out in the future, what life will be like, at this time full of evil and injustice. He has a wealth of life experience, he knows many true stories and draws his own, very interesting conclusions: “Siberia cannot teach a person anything, but a person... he can teach a lot... and very quickly.”

But the weak point in Luke’s worldview concept is the lack of objective truths: “what you believe in is what it is.” It turns out that under the guise of consolation and faith, he sows disbelief and despair among the inhabitants of the shelter. Preaching faith in man, he gives the heroes of the play hope only for a short time, after which bitter disappointment sets in. This happens because the elder is secretly convinced that the real situation of a person is impossible to change.

As a result of Luke’s activities, people continue to live in a false world of their own invention. And one of the most terrible consequences of this is the suicide of the Actor, who was reassured by the old man and eventually realized that it was all a lie.

It turns out that Luka often prefers illusions and lies to truth, although “lies for the greater good”: “Why do you really need it badly... It really may be too much for you.”

Satin in M. Gorky’s play “At the Depths” is Luke’s ideological opponent. Although it was the old man who led him to think, Satin adheres to other principles and raises the thought of the value of man to an unattainable height: “Man is free!” If Luke puts forward the theory that people are valuable not in themselves, but as material for something better, Satin was able to go further in his reasoning: “Everything is in a person, everything is for a person! Human! It's great! It sounds... proud!.. We must respect the person! Don’t feel sorry... don’t humiliate him with pity... you have to respect him!”

And even though Satin is more a man of words than deeds, his speech, his understanding testify that faith in life, the spark of life itself did not go out “at the bottom.” In one of his aphorisms, Satin acts as a fierce opponent of Luke: “Lies are the religion of slaves and masters. Truth is the god of a free man.” Material from the site

Both of these characters are very valuable to me: their views, their worldview. With the appearance of Luka, the inhabitants of the shelter began to think, search, they wanted a brighter life, although they themselves probably understood this vaguely.

If you don't push the wheel, it won't turn. It was from Luke’s suggestion that Satin, in his reflections, came to the conclusion about the significance of man. He went further than Luke because he chose a more direct and honest path. It was Satin who managed to believe in man and reject Luke’s false humanism: “Man is the truth!” But, having come to the right conclusions, Satin remained the individualist he was before.

A person cannot change immediately; it takes time. So in life there are periods when Luke is needed with his consolation, encouragement, attention to others, but there are also moments when only Satin’s decisive word will carry the truth to the human heart.

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On this page there is material on the following topics:

• learn satin's words about truth
• who is right, Luka or Satin?
• quotes from bows and satin about the truth of life
• who is right in the debate about truth - bow or satin
• dispute between bows and satin about a person

The play “At the Lower Depths” was written on June 15, 1902, and premiered on stage on December 31 of the same year. It changed many names during the development process and overcame many obstacles due to censorship in Russian theaters, but remains interesting to this day, because in it you can find the truth about the life of “former people”, that is, the social lower classes of society, hence its name , to which we are so accustomed.

You can talk a lot about why Gorky didn’t give it a title, for example, “Without the Sun” or “Nochlezhka,” but the most interesting thing, in my opinion, is to talk about the conflict of this play.

I want to start with the fact that in the play we can notice three “truths”, each of which is true in its own way, they are the ones that make up the conflict of the work.

The “truth” of the wanderer Luke is that if a person needs a lie in order to live, he needs to lie, for this will be a lie for the greater good. Without it, a person may not be able to withstand the difficult truth and die altogether, since everyone needs consolation to continue the fight against despondency. The hero’s speech is aphoristic, and in it you can see his position in life. For example, the hero believes that: “What you believe in is what it is.”

There is also a second “truth”, which is displayed in the image of Satin, who is a cheater and an alcoholic. In the past, he was a telegraph operator, but he dared to kill a man and went to prison, and so he ended up in a shelter, carrying his “truth” that lying is a religion of slaves and you can’t lie to anyone, anywhere. Satin believes that a person should be respected, and not humiliated with pity. According to Konstantin, a person should not despair, and it is in his monologues that the author’s position is observed: “Truth is the god of a free man!”

The third “truth” is that you need to say everything straight, as it is, and this is Bubnov’s truth. He believes that there is no point in lying, since everyone will die sooner or later anyway.

Each person decides for himself which “truth” is closer to him, but the most difficult thing is to make the right choice, because the life of a person, or even hundreds of people, can depend on it. I believe that the truth proposed by Satin is closer to me, since I think that a person should always be aware of his worth and be respected. Lies will always exist, whether we like it or not, because without evil, as we know, there would be no good. However, it cannot be cultivated and turned into an idea, justifying it with an illusory good. Everyone has their own understanding of “good,” and if we begin to deceive each other in order to achieve a “higher” goal, then we will sow only evil. The dispute over whose truth is more truthful will be resolved by force, and there will no longer be time for respect and value of human life and personality.

Luka leaves, like abstract ideals under the pressure of real life. What can he, a tramp and a beggar, advise people? How can I help you? Only to instill destructive vain hope, which, when it leaves, will break a person into smithereens.

In conclusion, I want to write that an honest person is much stronger and kinder than a liar: he is not indifferent if he tries to find the truth and show it to you, and not hide it or “not notice” out of banal indifference to your fate. A liar irresponsibly and cold-bloodedly takes advantage of gullibility and betrays it, while an honest person has to break through the armor of mistrust and act directly for your good. He doesn't use you or fool you for fun. Luka was also neither calculating nor funny, but he was far from real life and immersed in his own illusions. Satin is a realist; he has seen more in his time. This kind of prodigal son learned from his own experience how a person needs respect and truth, which, who knows, could have warned him in due time from a fatal mistake.

“At the Bottom” is a complex, contradictory work. And, like any truly great creation, the play does not tolerate a one-line, unambiguous interpretation. Gorky gives in it two completely different approaches to human life, without clearly showing his personal attitude towards any of them.

The main characters of this work are Luka and Satin. They express two truths, two points of view on human destiny. As much as these two truths differ from each other, the images of their bearers differ just as much.

Luke is a wanderer who has come from nowhere and is heading to nowhere. He is soft both in speech and in movements, affectionate and kind to everyone, does not have and does not want to have enemies. The only words coming out of his mouth are words of comfort. And the hero finds such words for almost every inhabitant of the shelter. Luka tells thief Vaska Pepl about the happy life that a free person can lead in Siberia. To the chronic drunk Actor - about a wonderful clinic that provides free treatment for alcoholism. For poor Anna, dying of consumption, the old man finds other words: “So, you will die, and you will be at peace... You will not need anything else, and there is nothing to be afraid of!.. Death - it calms everything down... If you die, you will rest ...” But these consolations did not help anyone, since the hero did not strengthen a person’s faith in his own strength, did not prepare him for life’s struggle. For example, before her death, Anna, despite Luke’s assurances about a happy afterlife, dreams of living at least a little. Ash will have to go to hard labor for the murder of Kostylev. After the old man left, the actor lost the faith he had found and hanged himself. The wanderer's weakness is obvious. But we must not forget about his positive role in the play. It was he, the “old yeast,” as Satin called him, who “fermented” the inhabitants of the shelter, aroused in them all the good things that lay dormantly, and above all, a sense of human dignity. But does Luke himself believe his own words? No, he does not believe, and does not believe in the possibility of a decisive restructuring of life, because he believes that a person is weak from the very beginning. Based on this worldview, the hero strives not to change social foundations, but to lighten the cross that ordinary people bear. His truth is a comforting lie.

A completely different human type, a completely different life position is shown in the image of the tramp Satin. Satin is a fighter for truth. He went to prison only because he stood up for the honor of his sister. Human injustice and years of terrible need did not embitter the hero. And he remembers this easily, with love for the girl: “Nice, brother, I had a little human sister!” He sympathizes with people no less than Luke, but does not see a way out - alleviation of suffering - in the simple consolation of people. And although it cannot be said that this hero acts as a supporter of more radical aspirations, it is in his mouth that the writer puts a monologue in defense of man and human rights: “Man is free, he pays for everything himself.” The image of Satin leaves an ambiguous feeling, a feeling of contrast between high thoughts, noble aspirations and the general passive existence of the character. Satin likes to drink and play cards. He is superior to everyone in intelligence and strength of character, but still feels comfortable in the Kostylevo shelter. What is his truth? Satin does not have any positive program, but, in contrast to Luke’s position, the hero resolutely and irrevocably denies lies, calling it “the religion of slaves and masters.”

Thus, two truths coexist in the drama: the truth of Luke, with its impersonal kindness, Christian humility, with its “holy lie,” and the truth of Satin, somewhat cruel, but proud - the truth of the denial of lies. And the internal conflict of these two positions, so different from each other, was resolved by history. History has shown that the world can only be remade by strong means and that words of consolation will not help people become happier. But, it seems to me, this does not mean that Satin’s path is the best, this is simply the structure of our ruthless world, where even goodness “must be with fists.”