Experience and mistakes in the production of fatal eggs. Analysis of the story "Fatal Eggs" (Bulgakov). Main characters and their characteristics

"Fatal Eggs" (1924) - a story written by M. A. Bulgakov in a special period of the cultural life of the country. At that time, many works were created only to motivate a wide range of the population to perform the tasks necessary for the survival of the country in critical conditions. Therefore, many different one-day authors appeared, whose creations did not linger in the memory of readers. Not only art, but also science was put on stream. Then all the advanced inventions went to the service of industry and agriculture increasing their efficiency. But scientific thought on the part of the Soviet authorities was subjected to ideological control, which (among other things) ridicules Bulgakov in Fatal Eggs.

The story was created in 1924, and the events in it unfold in 1928. The first publication took place in the Nedra magazine (No. 6, 1925). The work had different names - at first “Ray of Life”, in addition, there was another one - “Professor Persikov's Eggs” (the meaning of this name was to preserve the satirical tone of the story), but for ethical reasons this name had to be changed.

The central figure of the story - Professor Persikov, remotely contains some features of real prototypes - the brothers-doctors Pokrovsky, Bulgakov's relatives, one of whom lived and worked on Prechistenka.

In addition, the text does not just mention the Smolensk province, in which the events of the "Fatal Eggs" unfold: Bulgakov worked there as a doctor and briefly came to the Pokrovskys in a Moscow apartment. The position of the Soviet country during the period of war communism also comes from real life: then there were food shortages due to the unstable socio-political situation, unrest occurred in the administrative structures due to unprofessionalism, and the new government still could not fully cope with control over public life.

Bulgakov in "Fatal Eggs" ridicules both the cultural and socio-political situation of the country after the revolutionary upheaval.

Genre and direction

The genre of the work "Fatal Eggs" is a story. It is characterized minimal amount storylines and, as a rule, a relatively small amount of narrative (relative to the novel).

Direction - modernism. Although the events described by Bulgakov are fantastic, the action takes place in a real place, the characters (not only Professor Persikov, but everyone else) are also quite viable citizens new country. And the scientific discovery is not fabulous, it has only fantastic consequences. But in general, the story is realistic, although some of its elements are painted grotesquely, satirically.

This combination of fantasy, realism and satire is typical for modernism, when the author makes bold experiments on a literary work, bypassing the established classical norms and canons.

In itself, the modernist direction appeared in the special conditions of social and cultural life, when the old genres and trends began to become obsolete, and art required new forms, new ideas and ways of expression. "Fatal Eggs" is just such a work that met modernist requirements.

About what?

"Fatal Eggs" is a story about the brilliant discovery of a scientist - professor of zoology Persikov, which ended in failure, both for those around him and for the scientist himself. The hero opens a beam in his laboratory, which can only be obtained with a special combination of mirror glasses with beams of light. This ray affects living organisms so that they increase and begin to multiply at a supernatural rate. Professor Persikov and his assistant Ivanov are in no hurry to release their discovery "to the public" and believe that they still need to work on it and conduct additional experiments, since the consequences can be unexpected and even dangerous. However, sensational information about the "ray of life" quickly penetrates the press, recorded by the semi-literate but lively journalist Bronsky, and, filled with false, unverified facts, is distributed in society.

The discovery against the will of the scientist becomes known. Persikov is harassed by journalists on the streets of Moscow, demanding to talk about the invention. It becomes impossible to work in the laboratory due to a flurry of press staff, even a spy comes in who, for five thousand rubles, tries to find out the secret of the beam from the professor.

After that, Persikov's house and laboratory are guarded by the NKVD, not letting journalists in and thus providing the professor with a calm working environment. But soon an epidemic of chicken infection occurs in the country, because of which people are strictly forbidden to eat chickens, eggs, trade live chickens and chicken meat. Even an emergency commission to combat chicken plague has been created. But bypassing the law, someone still sells chicken and eggs, and soon an ambulance arrives for the buyers of these products.

The country is excited. On the occasion of the epidemic, topical works are created that meet the momentary moods of the public. When it begins to subside, Professor Persikov with a special document from the Kremlin is the head of a demonstrative state farm named Rokk, who, with the help of the “ray of life”, intends to resume chicken breeding.

The document from the Kremlin turns out to be an order to advise Rocca on the use of the "ray of life", and immediately a call is heard from the Kremlin. Persikov is categorically opposed to using the beam, which has not yet been fully studied, in chicken breeding, but he has to give Rocca cameras with which to get the desired effect. The hero takes the cameras to a state farm in the Smolensk province and orders chicken eggs.

Soon, three boxes of eggs, unusual in appearance, spotted, arrive in foreign packaging. Rokk puts the resulting eggs under the beam and tells the watchman to keep an eye on them so that no one steals the hatched chickens. The next day, egg shells are found, but no chicks. The supply manager blames the watchman for everything, although he swears that he carefully watched the process.

In the last chamber, the eggs are still intact, and Rokk hopes that at least chickens will hatch from them. He decided to take a break and goes with his wife Manya to swim in the pond. On the bank of the pond, he notices a strange lull, and then a huge snake rushes at Manya and absorbs it right in front of her husband. From this he turns gray and almost falls into madness.

Strange news reaches the GPU that something strange is going on in the Smolensk province. Two agents of the GPU - Shchukin and Politis go to the state farm and find there a distraught Rocca, who cannot really explain anything.

Agents inspect the state farm building - the former Sheremetev's estate, and find cameras with a reddish beam and hordes of huge snakes, reptiles and ostriches in the greenhouse. Shchukin and Polaitis die in a fight with monsters.

Newspaper editors receive strange reports from the Smolensk province about incomprehensible birds the size of a horse, huge reptiles and snakes, and Professor Persikov receives boxes of chicken eggs. At the same time, the scientist and his assistant see a sheet with an emergency message about anacondas in the Smolensk province. It immediately turns out that the orders of Rocca and Persikov were mixed up: the supply manager received snake and ostrich, and the inventor received chicken.

By that time, Persikov had invented a special poison for killing toads, which later came in handy for fighting huge snakes and ostriches.

Red Army units armed with gas are fighting this scourge, but Moscow is still alarmed and many are about to flee the city.

Crazed people break into the institute where the professor works, destroy his laboratory, blaming him for all the troubles and thinking that he released huge snakes, kill his watchman Pankrat, the housekeeper Marya Stepanovna and himself. They then set fire to the institute.

In August 1928, frost suddenly sets in, which destroys the last snakes and crocodiles not finished off by special detachments. After the epidemics that were caused by the rotting corpses of snakes and people affected by the invasion of reptiles, by 1929 the usual spring comes.

The beam discovered by the late Persikov is no longer possible for anyone, even his former assistant Ivanov, now an ordinary professor.

Main characters and their characteristics

1. Vladimir Ipatievich Persikov- a brilliant scientist, professor of zoology, who discovered a unique beam. The hero opposes the use of the beam because his discovery has not yet been tested and investigated. He is cautious, does not like excessive fuss and believes that any invention requires many years of testing before the time comes for its operation. Through interference with his work, his life's work perishes with him. The image of Persikov symbolizes the humanism and ethics of scientific thinking, which are destined to perish under the conditions of the Soviet dictatorship. A lonely talent is opposed to an unenlightened and driven crowd that does not have its own opinion, scooping it from newspapers. According to Bulgakov, it is impossible to build a developed and just state without an intellectual and cultural elite, which was expelled from the USSR by stupid and cruel people who have neither the knowledge nor talent to build a country on their own.
2. Pyotr Stepanovich Ivanov- Professor Persikov's assistant, who helps him in his experiments and admires his new discovery. However, he is not such a talented scientist, so he fails to get the "ray of life" after the death of the professor. This is the image of an opportunist who is always ready to truly appropriate achievements. significant person, even if you have to step over his corpse.
3. Alfred Arkadyevich Bronsky- the ubiquitous, fast, dexterous journalist, a semi-literate employee of many Soviet magazines and newspapers. He is the first to enter Persikov's apartment and learn about his unusual discovery, then spreads this news everywhere against the will of the professor, embellishing and distorting the facts.
4. Alexander Semyonovich Rokk- a former revolutionary, and now the head of the Krasny Luch state farm. Uneducated, rude, but cunning person. He attends a report by Professor Persikov, where he talks about the “ray of life” he discovered, and he comes up with the idea to restore the chicken population after the epidemic using this invention. Rokk, due to illiteracy, does not realize the full danger of such an innovation. This is a symbol of a new type of people, tailored according to the standards of the new government. A dependent, stupid, cowardly, but, as they say, "punch" citizen, who plays only according to the rules of the Soviet state: runs around the authorities, seeks permission, tries by hook or by crook to adapt to new requirements.

Topics

• The central theme is the carelessness of people in handling new scientific inventions and a lack of understanding of the dangers of the consequences of such treatment. People like Rocca are narrow minded and want to get things done by any means necessary. They do not care what happens after, they are only interested in the momentary benefit from what may turn into a crash tomorrow.
• The second theme is social: confusion in the administrative structures, due to which any disaster can occur. After all, if the uneducated Rokk had not been allowed to manage the state farm, the catastrophe would not have occurred.
• The third theme is impunity and the huge influence of the media, irresponsible in the pursuit of sensationalism.
• The fourth topic is ignorance, which resulted in many people not understanding the causal relationship and unwillingness to understand it (they blame Professor Persikov for the disaster, although Rokk and the authorities who assisted him are actually to blame).

Issues

• The problem of authoritarian power and its destructive influence on all spheres of society. Science should be separated from the state, but this was impossible under the Soviet regime: distorted and simplified science, suppressed by ideology, was demonstrated to all people with the help of newspapers, magazines and other media.
• In addition, the “Fatal Eggs” discusses the social problem, which is the unsuccessful attempt of the Soviet system to combine the scientific intelligentsia and the rest of the population, far from science in general. It is not for nothing that the story shows how an NKVD officer (actually a representative of the authorities), protecting Persikov from journalists and spies, finds mutual language with a simple and illiterate watchman Pankrat. The author implies that they are on the same intellectual level with him: the only difference is that one has a special badge under the jacket collar, while the other does not. The author hints at how imperfect such power is, where insufficiently educated people try to control what they themselves do not really understand.
• An important problem of the story is the irresponsibility of the totalitarian government to society, which is symbolized by Rocca’s careless handling of the “ray of life”, where Rocca himself is power, the “ray of life” is the ways the state influences people (ideology, propaganda, control), and reptiles, reptiles and ostriches hatched from eggs - society itself, the consciousness of which is distorted and damaged. A completely different, more reasonable and rational way of managing society is symbolized by Professor Persikov and his scientific experiments, which require caution, taking into account all the subtleties and attentiveness. However, it is this method that is eradicated and disappears altogether, because the crowd is aware and does not want to independently understand the intricacies of politics.

Meaning

"Fatal Eggs" is a kind of satire on Soviet power, on its imperfection due to its novelty. The USSR is like one big, untested, and therefore dangerous invention for society, which no one knows how to handle yet, which causes various malfunctions, failures and disasters. The society in Fatal Eggs is experimental animals in the laboratory, subjected to irresponsible and unscrupulous experiments that serve clearly not for good, but for harm. Uneducated people are allowed to manage this laboratory, they are entrusted with serious tasks, which they are unable to perform due to their inability to navigate the social, scientific and other spheres of life. As a result, moral monsters can turn out from experimental citizens, which will lead to irreversible catastrophic consequences for the country. At the same time, the unenlightened crowd mercilessly falls upon those who can really help it overcome difficulties, who know how to use an invention of a national scale. The intellectual elite is being exterminated, but there is no one to replace it. It is very symbolic that after the death of Persikov, no one can restore the invention lost with him.

Criticism

A. A. Platonov (Klimentov), ​​considered this work as a symbol of the implementation of revolutionary processes. According to Platonov, Persikov is the creator of the revolutionary idea, his assistant Ivanov is the one who implements this idea, and Rokk is the one who decided for his own benefit to use the idea of ​​revolution in a distorted form, and not as it should be (for the common good) - as a result, everyone suffered. The characters of the "Fatal Eggs" behave as Otto von Bismarck (1871 - 1898) once described: "The revolution is prepared by geniuses, carried out by fanatics, and crooks use its fruits." Some critics believed that "Fatal Eggs" was written by Bulgakov for fun, but members of the RAPP (Russian Association of Proletarian Writers) reacted negatively to the book, quickly considering the political overtones in this work.

Philologist Boris Sokolov (b. 1957) tried to find out what prototypes Professor Persikov had: it could be the Soviet biologist Alexander Gurvich, but if we proceed from the political meaning of the story, then this is Vladimir Lenin.

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M.A. Bulgakov (1891-1940). Life and destiny. Writer's satire. Analysis of satirical works (" dog's heart"," Fatal eggs ").

The whole life of this restless and brilliant writer was, in essence, a merciless battle with stupidity and meanness, a struggle for the sake of pure human thoughts, for the sake of what a person should be and dare not not be reasonable and noble. K.Paustovsky

Andrey Sakharov

Lesson Objectives:

show the complexity and tragedy of the life and career of M. A. Bulgakov , arouse interest in the personality and work of the writer;

reveal the diversity of the problems of Bulgakov's stories, identify the principles of combining everyday reality and fantasy in the writer's work,show the relevance of satirical works, develop the skills and abilities of analyzing a prose work , helpunderstand what Bulgakov's stories warn us about;

develop the ability of ideological-compositional and stylistic analysis of the text;

proceedto form the ability to choose the main thing in the development of action , express your thoughts clearly and consistently, argue your statements, prepare a report; to develop the ability of students to draw up main ideas in a summary.

Lesson objectives:

Educational:

1. Give a brief overview of the life and career of M.A. Bulgakov; to acquaint with the peculiarities of the fate of Bulgakov as a writer and a person, to note the diversity of the writer's work, to acquaint with the author's methods of creating satirical works; improve the skill of searching for information about the life and work of the writer; improve the skill of monologue speech.

2. Introduce the stories "Heart of a Dog" and "Fatal Eggs", understand the meaning of the works, help understand what Bulgakov's stories warn us about, evaluate the topicality of the works; to prove that the satirical works of the writer are modern and relevant.

3. In the process of working on works, develop the ability of ideological-compositional and stylistic analysis of the text, continue to form the ability to choose the main thing in the development of action, express your thoughts clearly and consistently, argue your statements; improve your analysis skills literary work

Developing: contribute to the formationindependent cognitive activity, development of skillscarry out reflective activities; develop the ability to correctly generalize reflexive activity; develop the ability to correctly summarize data and draw conclusions.

Educational: to cultivate love and respect, respect for the national heritage, to promote the formation of patriotic feelings,rejection of hypocrisy, cruelty, arrogance and lack of culture.

Educational Resources: Literary dictation, lecture material, slide films about the life and work of M.A. Bulgakov, stories "Heart of a Dog", "Fatal Eggs", assignments for group work. Video by V.V. BortkO "Dog's heart".

I.

Stage 1

1 . Organizing time.

II. Knowledge update .

Today we are starting to study the work of the Russian writer, playwright, theater director of the 1st floor. 20th century. Author of novels and short stories, many feuilletons, plays, dramatizations, screenplays, opera libretto (Libretto- verbal text of a theatrical musical and vocal work),

Let's get acquainted with his difficult and tragic fate).

Before we start talking about it, let's first watch a slide film,and then we'll continue talking.(No. 1 Viewing a slide - film about the writer from 00.00 - 0.40)

Goal setting.

So ... what associations did you have after what you saw? Who will be discussed? Look at the desk. You see a portrait of the writer. The date below is 1935. This is practically his last years of life. In five years, the writer will be gone ... He was only49 years old. (see epigraph), + (Class board)

So, we will talk about M.A. Bulgakov.

1. And now acquaintance with creativity and way of life M.A. Bulgakov(№2Slide film "Biography of the writer" up to.030; before 1.03; up to 1.36; until 2.09); textbook, p.118

- What biography facts made an impression on you? Name the works of the writer known to you.

(Famous works of Bulgakov: « The Master and Margarita », « %A%D%BE%D%B%D%B%D%87%D%C%D%B_%D%81%D%B%D%80%D%B%D%86%D%B », « %97%D%B%D%BF%D%B%D%81%D%BA%D%B_%D%E%D%BD%D%BE%D%B%D%BE_%D%B %D%80%D%B%D%87%D%B », « %A%D%B%D%B%D%82%D%80%D%B%D%BB%D%C%D%BD%D%B%D%B_%D%80%D%BE %D%BC%D%B%D », « %91%D%B%D%BB%D%B%D%F_%D%B%D%B%D%B%D%80%D%B%D%B%D%F_%28%D %80%D%BE%D%BC%D%B%D », « %98%D%B%D%B%D%BD_%D%92%D%B%D%81%D%B%D%BB%D%C%D%B%D%B%D%B %D%87_%28%D%BF%D%C%D%B%D%81%D%B ”,“ Notes on cuffs ”,“ Fatal eggs ”,“ Diaboliad ”).

The story (addition) of the teacher about the life and work of M.A. Bulgakov.

Bulgakov the writer and Bulgakov the man are still largely a mystery. His political views, attitude to religion are unclear…. His life consisted, as it were, of three parts, each of which is remarkable for something.

- Before 1919 he is a doctor, only occasionally trying his hand at literature.

- In the 20s Bulgakov is already a professional writer and playwright.

In the 30s Mikhail Afanasyevich -theater worker.

Hisdid not print , plays were not staged, they were not allowed to work in their beloved Moscow Art Theater.

He had a special relationship with Stalin. The leader criticized many of his works, directly alluding to anti-Soviet agitation in them. But despite this, Mikhail Afanasyevich did not experience what was called a terrible wordGulag (Main Department of Camps and Places of Detention – subdivision %D%D%B%D%80%D%BE%D%B%D%BD%D%B%D%B_%D%BA%D%BE%D%BC%D%B%D%81 %D%81%D%B%D%80%D%B%D%B%D%82_%D%B%D%BD%D%83%D%82%D%80%D%B%D %BD%D%BD%D%B%D%85_%D%B%D%B%D%BB_%D%A%D%A%D%A%D%A , %C%D%B%D%BD%D%B%D%81%D%82%D%B%D%80%D%81%D%82%D%B%D%BE_%D%B %D%BD%D%83%D%82%D%80%D%B%D%BD%D%BD%D%B%D%85_%D%B%D%B%D%BB_%D %A%D%A%D%A%D%A" who managed the places of mass forced imprisonment and detention in 1930-1956. ). And diednot on the bunk (although in those days they were taken away for much smaller sins), and in their own bed (fromnephrosclerosis inherited from the father).(No. 3 see film from 00.51).

Robbed to the skinE Removed from readers and viewers, "sealed" in his apartment with government seals, terminally ill, knowing that his days were numbered, Bulgakov remained himself: he did not lose his sense of humor and sharpness of language. So, he didn't lose his freedom.

This was M. A. Bulgakov . A doctor, journalist, prose writer, playwright, director, he was a representative of that part of the intelligentsia, which, without leaving the country in difficult years, sought to preserve itself even in the changed conditions. He had to go through an addiction to morphine (when he worked as a zemstvo doctor), a civil war (which he experienced in its two burning centers - his native city of Kyiv and in the North Caucasus), severe literary persecution and forced silence, and in these conditions he managed to create such masterpieces that are read all over the world.

Anna Akhmatova called Bulgakov succinctly and simply - a genius, and dedicatedhis memory poem(student reads):

Here I am for you, instead of grave roses,

Instead of incense smoking;

You lived so harshly and brought it to the end

Great contempt.

You drank wine, you joked like no one else

And suffocated in stuffy walls,

And you yourself let in a terrible guest

And he was alone with her.

And there is no you, and everything around is silent

About the mournful and high life,

And on your silent feast...

2. Blitz Poll

“Life and work of M.A. Bulgakov"

When and where was M.A. Bulgakov? (05/15/1891 in Kyiv)

III. stage Analytical conversation .

2. Satire writer

Teacher: Today, the focus of our attention is the satirical works of the writer.

Question: let's Let us recall the theory of literature: what is satire and its types.

Satire - kind of comic.

Image Subject - vices.

Source - the contradiction between universal human values ​​and the reality of life.

Types of satire:

Humor is a good laugh.

Irony is a joke.

Sarcasm is a caustic, caustic mockery, the highest degree of irony.

Means of satire:

Hyperbole is an exaggeration

Grotesque - a combination of fantastic and real

Contrast - opposition

The satirical stories of M.A. Bulgakov, written in1925 ., sounded very timely, became a reflection of the mindset of a number of scientists and cultural figures who felt alarmed by the changes taking place in Russia.

Question: What worried the writer himself? This is where we will look into it.

Teacher: The stories are satirical and therefore today we will talk about what ? (O satirical skill of the writer - the successor of the best traditions of Russian satire of the 19th century in the person of N.V. Gogol, M.E. Saltykov - Shchedrin).

- What are the main problems the author poses in his works? (Eternal struggle good and evil , morality and immorality , freedom and unfreedom the issue of human responsibility for one's actions - these are all eternal, basic problems human life.)

- What are the names of such works in which universal human problems are affected? (Such works are called philosophical )

- What is the peculiarity of the creative manner of the writer Bulgakov? (In his works - combination of real and fantasy , monstrous grotesque and real norm; the speed of the plot; flexibility of lively colloquial speech.)

Why did Bulgakov write satirical works at this particular time? To answer this question, remember how Bulgakov perceivedOctober Revolution.
(Everything that happened around, which was called the construction of socialism, was perceived by the writer as dangerous and huge experiment . Bulgakov believed that the situation that had developed in the first decades after October revolution, tragic . People are turned into gray, homogeneous, featureless mass . Perverted concepts of eternal values. Stupidity, wretchedness, lack of spirituality, primitiveness prevail. All this causes the writer a feeling of hostility, indignation. Apparently, this contributed to the fact that in the first decades after the October Revolution, satirical works .)

So what kind of works will we talk about today? ( "Fatal Eggs" (1925), "Heart of a Dog" (1925).
In literature, Bulgakov first acted as a newspaperman, wrote feuilletons.

Until the mid 20s he is a satirist writer, author of the stories "Diaboliad" (1923), "Fatal Eggs" (1925), "Heart of a Dog" (1925) complete the cycle of the author's satirical works.

Teacher: We have seen more than once that writers react very sensitively to the slightest changes in public life: reflect the mindset of people, predict the course community development, trying to warn about any disturbing consequences of certain events.

Question: What event is the 1st floor. The 20th century can be considered decisive for the development of Russian art, incl. literature? ( October Revolution of 1917 ) . ( October Revolution (full official name in 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 - Great October Socialist Revolution , other names:"October Revolution" %E%D%BA%D%82%D%F%D%B%D%80%D%C%D%81%D%BA%D%B%D%F_%D%80%D%B %D%B%D%BE%D%BB%D%E%D%86%D%B%D%F" ] , "October uprising", "Bolshevik coup" ) - one of the largest political events of the 20th century, which influenced the further course of%92%D%81%D%B%D%BC%D%B%D%80%D%BD%D%B%D%F_%D%B%D%81%D%82%D%BE %D%80%D%B%D% , literature and art.

One can treat this event in different ways, but it is impossible to deny that it became a fateful event not only for Russia, but also for other countries of the world.

After all, M.A. Bulgakov was not the first to turn to the topic of revolutionary changes in the country.

A. Blok, S. Yesenin, V. Mayakovsky, A. Fadeev, E. Zamyatin - these are just some of the names of writers who tried to comprehend what was happening, each in his own way. The intonations were different: both enthusiastic, and cautious, and glorifying, and pessimistic…

IV. Analysis of satirical works ("Heart of a Dog", "Fatal Eggs").

I could not part with the idea that I was involved in

unrighteous and terrible deeds. I had a terrible sense of powerlessness.

Andrey Sakharov

Question: Why do you think these words of Academician Sakharov were taken as an epigraph to the lesson about the stories "Heart of a Dog" and "Fatal Eggs"?

(Andrey Dmitrievich Sakharov - %A%D%A%D%A%D%A %A%D%B%D%B%D%B%D -theorist, academician%90%D%D_%D%A%D%A%D%A%D%A , was one of the founders of the first Soviet%92%D%BE%D%B%D%BE%D%80%D%BE%D%B%D%BD%D%B%D%F_%D%B%D%BE%D%BC %D%B%D%B . Laureate%D%D%BE%D%B%D%B%D%BB%D%B%D%B%D%81%D%BA%D%B%D%F_%D%BF%D%80 %D%B%D%BC%D%B%D%F_%D%BC%D%B%D%80%D%B ). The discovery of weapons of mass destruction made him, like Bulgakov's professor Preobrazhensky, think about the responsibility of a scientist and science as a whole to society, to history.

20th century - the time of all kinds of revolutions, the century of world wars and unprecedented changes in the way of life and way of thinking of billions of people. The search for truth, the search for truth has become a fundamental search for the best representatives of the intelligentsia.

AT"Notes on cuffs" M.A. Bulgakov says with bitter irony:“Only through suffering does truth come... That's right, be calm! But they don't pay money for knowing the truth, they don't give rations. Sad but true."

Being in the center of a rapid cycle of events, people and opinions, Bulgakov asks himself and his readers the eternal question of the gospelPontius Pilate : "What is truth?"

Already in the 20s, the difficult years of the 20th century, the writer tried to answer this question with his satirical works, raising in themthe following problems :

1. Merciless condemnation of the "pure" science of its priests.

2. The problem of personal responsibility of a person of culture before life.

3. The problem of human self-government.

Let's try to trace how the writer reveals theseProblems.

And first, let's recall the content of satirical works ("Heart of a Dog" and "Fatal Eggs")

Literary quiz.

The story "Heart of a Dog"

2. What song does Sharikov play on the balalaika? ("The moon shines")

3. Who do you hate the most main character? (cats)

4. The first word that Sharikov uttered? ("Abyr" - "Fish")

5. For what purposes did Sharikov take 7 rubles from the house committee? (For the purchase of textbooks)

6. How does Sharikov explain to the bride that he has a scar on his forehead? (Wounded on

on the Kolchak fronts)

The story "Fatal eggs"

a) Abrikosov

b) Yablochkin

c) Peaches

5. What were the consequences of the unexpected frost?

1. A satirical condemnation of "pure" science and its priests, who imagined themselves to be the creators of a new life.

Teacher:

M. Bulgakov's stories "Heart of a Dog" and "Fatal Eggs" are about professors of the old school, brilliant scientists who made brilliant discoveries in a new era that they did not quite understand. Both of them came to Bulgakov's prose from Prechistenka (now Kropotkinskaya Street in Moscow). Bulgakov knew this area well and loved its inhabitants. Therefore, probably, he considered it his duty to “depict the intelligentsia as the best layer in our country”

Question: Why did the classical intellectuals from Prechistenka suddenly become the object of satire? ( But because Bulgakov's satire is a clever and sighted satire. The writer saw that the talent of a scientist, impeccable honesty, combined with loneliness can lead to tragic and unexpected consequences. This is what happens with Professor Persikov, dear to Bulgakov's heart, almost the same thing happens with Professor Preobrazhensky).

Question: What discoveries did they make?

So, "Fatal Eggs" (See the presentation "Fatal Eggs") 1-4 frame.

1 . student performance with individualh giving"Scientific discovery of Professor Vladimir Ipatievich Persikov" 5 frame.

“In the red stripe, life was in full swing. Gray amoebas, releasing their pseudopods, stretched with all their might into the red stripe and in it (as if by magic) came to life. Some force breathed into them the spirit of life. They climbed in a flock and fought with each other for a place in the beam. There was a frenzied, no other word for it, reproduction. Breaking and overturning all the laws... they budded before his eyes with lightning speed. ... In the red stripe, and then in the entire disk, it became crowded, and the inevitable struggle began. The reborn lashed out at each other furiously and tore and swallowed. Among the born lay the corpses of those who died in the struggle for existence. The best and strongest won. And those best ones were terrible."

This is the brilliant discovery of Professor Persikov , which would bring him fame, world fame, which, obviously, could somehow be used in the national economy. The professor did not think about this, because he had to make a series of experiments and experiments.

Teacher: And now the story"Dog's heart". You met this story in 9th grade. The story was filmed in1988 ( 1987 printed ). Film directorVladimir Vladimirovich Bortko ) is a Russian film director, screenwriter and producer. The film adaptation of the story brought the director recognition of the world film community - the film was awarded the Grand Prix of the Perugia Film Festival (Italy).

2. student performance With individual task "Professor Preobrazhensky's unique operation in his pituitary transplant experience."

( Pituitary - a brain appendage in the form of a rounded formation located on the lower surface of the brain in a bone pocket called the Turkish saddle, produces hormones that affect growth, metabolism and reproductive function )».

Philip Filippovich Preobrazhensky (60 years old) - a luminary in medicine. He produces a unique experience in transplanting the pituitary gland of a deceased person (Klim Chugunkin) to a homeless dog Sharik. This operation was carried out by Prof.December 22 , aJanuary 2 recorded indiary of Dr. Bormental, this humanized dog got out of bed, which "... confidently kept on its hind legs for half an hour." And on the same day, according to the testimony of Professor Dr. Bormenthal's assistant: "In my presence and Zina's presence, the dog (if you can call it a dog, of course) cursed Professor Preobrazhensky for his mother."

This operation of the professor is a truly scientific discovery: “He looks strange. The hair remained only on the head, on the chin and on the chest. He is otherwise bald, with loose skin. In the genital area - an emerging man. The skull is greatly enlarged. The forehead is sloping and low.

Teacher: It would seem that the scientific discoveries of Persikov and Preobrazhensky should have shocked the world scientific community and brought certain benefits to humanity. What happens in reality?

- What is same withfate of the "red ray" discovered by Professor Persikov?

Someone came to the professorAlexander Semenovich Rokk “with government papers from the Kremlin”, surprisingly reminiscent of Polygraph Poligrafovich Sharikov: “Little eyes looked at the whole world in amazement and at the same time confidently, there was something cheeky in short legs with flat feet.”6 frame.

The great discovery of a talented scientist led to disaster.

People flew out of the doors, howling:

Beat him! Kill!..

World Villain!

You unleashed the bastards!

…A short man, on monkey crooked legs, in a torn jacket, in a tornshirtfront strayed to the side, ahead of the others, reached Persikov and cut his head open with a terrible blow of a stick.

A man remarkably similar to Sharikov kills a brilliant scientist.8-9 frame.

Conclusion: So andHELL. Sakharov saw the consequences of his invention, after he proposed to use an electric charge inplasma placed in a magnetic field to produce a controlled thermonuclear reaction. It is not known in whose hands the scientific discovery will fall, for what purposes it will be used. So, following from the first, the second theme of the satiricaldilogy M.A. Bulgakov.

2. The theme of the personal responsibility of a person of science, culture before life, before history.

- And what happened to the real Sharikov?

The dog Sharik was smart in his own way, like a dog, observant and not even alien to the satirical gift. The life that he saw from the doorway was really aptly captured by him. He knew how to highlight the typical details in it.

And now Sharik turns into Sharikov.

What techniques does the author use?

Grotesque. Realization of the metaphor : who was nothing, he will become everything. Uses a fantasy situation. Helps to understand the absurdity of the idea.

How did the life of Preobrazhensky change with the advent of Sharikov?

The house turns into HELL . The theme of the house is cross-cutting in Bulgakov. Home is the center of human life. The Bolsheviks destroyed the house as the basis of the family, the basis of human society.

The appearance of Sharikov in the professor's house is a nightmare...(No. 6 slide film “Who killed the cat of Madame Polosukhina ...).

Teacher: When did it come "Star Hour" Sharikov?

-P retreat to service. “Yesterday they strangled cats, strangled them” - persecution of their own - feature all ball. Destroy their own, covering the traces of their own origin . Deceived the girl. Shame, conscience, morality are alien. There is hatred, malice . He is really dangerous ( №7 . Cm . slide-film Benefis Sharikov… ); … Cats were strangled, strangled;+ 2min.37.

Teacher : Professor Preobrazhensky, who decided to improve nature, took the liberty of competing with life by creating an informer, an alcoholic and a demagogue, who sat on his neck. The professor realized his mistake.

Conclusion: So a person, even a genius, intruding into the laws of nature, imagining himself the Creator, enduresfiasco.

In The Master and Margarita, whom we will meet later, Woland asks two Moscow writers Berlioz and Ivan Bezdomny, who claim that there is no God: “If there is no God, then, one asks, who controls human life and the whole order on earth?” To which Ivanushka replies: The man himself manages!

This is how Bulgakov poses the most real and most acute problem in the 20th century.

3. The problem of human self-government

This is the 3rd most important theme of the story "Heart of a Dog".

20th century became a time of destruction, disintegration of the former thousand-year order of human life. This is the time of the destruction of the old human ties, the old ways of managing human behavior. The old type of government rested on the veneration of Christian commandments, on the authority of the king, class morality. Now the leading idea of ​​the era has become the words:“No one will give us deliverance: neither a god, nor a king, nor a hero. We will achieve liberation with our own hand."

This is where block freedom came from"no cross". Having freed himself from his former dependence, a person fell into a more difficult submission to his uterine, selfish, selfish interest. Bulgakov leads usto the conclusion : where the natural course of life is spurred on by ignorance, self-interest, nothing good can be expected there.

Question : Is it possible to entrust the management of life to the Sharikovs, Shvonders, Rokku?

Clever Professor Preobrazhensky understood this (No. 8 cm . slide film); 35.32-37.17.

But the Shvonders, Sharikovs, Rocky will never understand this truth.

Sharikovs breed quickly, and no one is going to fight them (unlike the naked reptiles). Professor Preobrazhensky talks about it(№9 . Cm . slide film Shvonder is the most important fool ... ); 38.18 – 38.51.

An interesting conversation of Professor Preobrazhensky about devastation(№10 . Cm . slide-film … Devastation… ch.3)+

Bulgakov repeatedly callsan experience Professor Preobrazhensky "crime". So, the author, developing Dostoevsky's theme "Crime and Punishment", did not believe that in an instant it was possible to make a person sinless and righteous, and leads the hero to the famous conclusion:(№11 . Cm . slide-film... Never commit a crime...). 37.50-38.17

This idea will be the main one in The Master and Margarita.

Conclusion. Perhaps,more crime - under the guise of revolutionary renewal, to commit violence over the entire course of history, over the destinies of people. Professor Preobrazhensky talks about such experiments: “They should not think that terror will help them. Terror completely paralyzes the nervous system.

Isn't it a bold story! But it was not published during the life of the author. On the faceterror over literature, culture, Bulgakov was right:terror over culture has led to paralysis, stagnation and death.

Conclusion:

In everythingtimes of satire served the ideas of humanism, enlightenment and the ideals of beauty, to which the authors of satirical works called, revealing the underside of reality by various means of humor and calling for the virtue of morality, spirituality, education, and intellectual development.

Writers - classics of the 19th century, represented byA. S. Griboedova, N.V. Gogol (poem "Dead Souls") A. S. Pushkin, M. Yu. Lermontov, I. A. Krylova in fables , and especially "biting "satire by M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin , expressed disgust for tyranny, serfdom, capital orders with the help of satire, because satire - this is a fine line between humorous and comic, which boldly reveals the essence in an accessible and understandable form, stigmatizing social vices, gives hope and uplifts the spirit even in the most bitter moments of life, precisely because it helps to turn the usual picture of the world, turning it from tragic into unimaginably tenacious and inspiring joke.

These can rightly be attributed to the satirical works of M.A. Bulgakov, which we talked about today in the lesson.

7. Reflection.

Bulgakov did not change his views on fashion or profit. But he thought hard about everything he saw before him. And his thought ... was inclined towards the analysis of the living, not confused by dogma or prejudice, and supported by the responsibility of a witness and chronicler of great and tragic events in the life of the motherland. In all the rifts of fate, Bulgakov remained true to the laws of dignity...

V.Ya. Lakshin

Resource material for the lesson

Literary quiz based on the story "Fatal Eggs"

1. What is the main character's last name?

a) Abrikosov

b) Yablochkin

c) Peaches

2. What scientific discovery does Professor Persikov make?

a) It opens the "ray of life", under the influence of which bacteria begin to multiply wildly

b) He finds an antidote for cancer

c) He managed to clone a sheep

3. What is the difference between individuals that appeared with the help of the "ray of life"?

a) They age much more slowly

b) They have increased stamina

c) They become incredibly aggressive and destroy weaker relatives with a frenzy

4. What is happening in the USSR in the meantime?

a) A general “chicken disease” begins, and all chickens on the territory of the USSR die

b) Some fungus settles on grain crops, and cereals begin to die in huge quantities

c) Cattle begin to die from an unknown disease

5. What happens after Professor Persikov and Rokk discharge eggs from abroad?

a) Rokk, with the help of a beam and chicken eggs discharged from abroad, restores the number of poultry

b) Snake eggs and chicken eggs get mixed up on delivery and Rokk gets snake eggs

c) The eggs prescribed by Rock are broken

6. What happens after Rokk places the reptile eggs in the chambers?

a) All cameras fail at the same time

b) Birds and frogs take off, and dogs howl, anticipating trouble

c) Having carefully examined them, Rokk understands that these are not chicken eggs

7. What happens after the reptiles hatch from their eggs?

a) The room in which they are located can be isolated, and the reptiles themselves can be killed

b) Terrible chaos begins in the country, and hordes of reptiles are approaching Moscow

c) An unknown disease begins to mow down the hatched monsters

8. What happened on the night of August 19-20?

a) Hordes of monsters attacked Moscow

b) An eighteen-degree frost suddenly hit

c) Moscow was recaptured from the monstrous reptiles

9. What were the consequences of the unexpected frost?

a) Frost destroyed all reptiles and their embryos in eggs

b) He plunged the monsters into suspended animation

c) He weakened the animals, and people partly took them out of the country, partly exterminated them

10. What happens to the magic beam technology after the disaster?

a) It is sold abroad for a lot of money

b) No one else can get the beam

c) The beam is beginning to be used for military purposes

Answers: 1-in; 2-a; 3-in; 4-a; 5 B; 6-in; 7-b; 8-b; 9-a; 10-b.

Literary dictation. “The life and fate of M.A. Bulgakov. The story "Heart of a Dog"

I. “The life and fate of M.A. Bulgakov"

When and where was Mikhail Bulgakov born? (05/15/1891 in Kyiv)

Where did you study? (Alexander Gymnasium, Faculty of Medicine, Kyiv University).

The most famous works of the writer ("Master and Margarita", "White Guard", "Running", White Guard.)

What role did women play in life? (Inspired, helped in life's difficulties, served as his ideal).

Where and when did Bulgakov die? (03/10/1940)

II. The story "Heart of a Dog"

1. In what year was the story written? (1925). Printed? (1987)

2. Remember the lines of Professor Preobrazhensky's favorite romance.

(“From Seville to Grenada…”, “To the banks of the sacred Nile…”)

3. What song does Sharikov play on the balalaika? ("The moon shines")

4. Who does the main character hate the most? (cats)

5. The first word that Sharikov uttered? ("Abyr" - "Fish")

6. How old is Professor Preobrazhensky? (60)

7. How much money did Sharikov steal from the professor? (2 chervonets)

8. For what purposes did Sharikov take 7 rubles from the house committee? (For the purchase of textbooks)

9. How does Sharikov explain to the bride that he has a scar on his forehead? (Wounded on

on the Kolchak fronts)

10. What, according to Sharikov, will the cats killed by him go to? ("To the poles").

By the mid-20s, after the publication of the stories "Notes on Ma nzhetah", "Devil's Game", the novel "The White Guard, the writer has already developed as a brilliant artist of the word with a sharply honed satirical pen. Thus, he approaches the creation of the stories "Fatal Eggs" and "Heart of a Dog" with rich literary baggage. It can be safely asserted that the publication of these stories testified that Bulgakov successfully worked in the genre of a satirical science fiction story, which was a new phenomenon in literature in those years. It was a fantasy, not divorced from life, it combined strict realism with the fantasy of a scientist. The satire itself, which became the constant companion of Bulgakov the artist, in the stories "Fatal Eggs" and "The Heart of a Dog" acquired a deep and socio-philosophical meaning.

Attention is drawn to Bulgakov's characteristic method of asking questions to himself. In this regard, the author of "Fatal Eggs" and "Heart of a Dog" is one of the most "questioning" Russian writers of the first half of the 20th century. The search for answers to questions about the essence of truth, truth, about the meaning of human existence, essentially permeated almost all of Bulgakov's works.

The writer posed the most acute problems of his time, partly not lost their relevance in our days. They are filled with thoughts of a humanist artist about the laws of nature, about the biological and social nature of a person as a person.

"Fatal Eggs" and "Heart of a Dog" are original warning stories, the author of which warns of the danger of any scientific experiment associated with a violent attempt to change human nature, its biological appearance.

The protagonists of "Fatal Eggs" and "Heart of a Dog" are talented representatives of the scientific intelligentsia, scientists-inventors who tried to penetrate the "holy of holies" of human physiology with their scientific discoveries. The fates of professors Persikov, the hero of the "Fatal Eggs" and Preobrazhensky, the hero of "Heart of a Dog", develop differently. Their reaction to the results of experiments during which they encounter representatives of various social strata is inadequate. At the same time, they have a lot in common. First of all, they are honest scientists who bring their strength to the altar of science.

Bulgakov was one of the first writers who could truthfully show how unacceptable it is to use the latest achievements of science to enslave the human spirit. This idea runs like a red thread in "Fatal Eggs", where the author warns his contemporaries about a terrible experiment.

Bulgakov turned the theme of the scientist's responsibility to life in a new way in Heart of a Dog. The author warns that power should not be given to illiterate ball-bearers, who can lead it to complete degradation.

To realize the idea in both stories, Bulgakov chose a science fiction plot, where important role reserved for inventors. By their pathos, the stories are satirical, but at the same time they are openly accusatory. Humor was replaced by biting satire.

In the story "The Heart of a Dog" the disgusting creation of a human genius is trying to break into people by all means. An evil being does not understand that for this it is necessary to go through a long path of spiritual development. Sharikov tries to compensate for his worthlessness, illiteracy and ineptitude with natural methods. In particular, he updates his wardrobe, puts on patent leather shoes and a poisonous tie, but otherwise his suit is dirty, tasteless. The whole appearance of clothing is not able to change. It's not about his appearance, it's about his inner being. He is a man with a canine temperament and animal habits.

In the professor's house, he feels himself the master of life. There is an inevitable conflict with all the inhabitants of the apartment. Life becomes a living hell.

AT Soviet time many officials, favored by the authorities of their superiors, believed that "they have their legal right to everything."

Thus, the humanoid creature created by the professor not only takes root under the new government, but makes a dizzying leap: from a yard dog it turns into an orderly to clean up the city from stray animals.

An analysis of the stories "Fatal Eggs" and "The Heart of a Dog" gives us reason to evaluate them rather than as a parody of the society of the future in Russia, but as a kind of warning of what can happen when further development totalitarian regime, with the reckless development of technological progress, not based on moral values.

Conclusion

Mikhail Bulgakov - one of the outstanding satirists of the 20th century, passed away, leaving behind a wonderful legacy in the form of numerous feuilletons, stories, novels, novels, plays. His satirical novels "Diaboliad", "Fatal Eggs", "Heart of a Dog" sound with particular relevance today.

Already at the very beginning of the 1920s, he prophetically looked into the future of the totalitarian system, with its anti-humanistic attitudes.

Bulgakov's work as a satirist is reflected in a variety of genres: a feuilleton and a short story, a story with a sharp plot and a wide use of fantasy elements. Light humor and harmless laughter, subtle irony and sharp satire were available to him.

Successfully continuing, developing and deepening Gogol's traditions in solving the theme of the "little man", but in different historical conditions, the author truthfully showed this new Bashmachkin, crushed by the bureaucratic machine of a totalitarian society. The theme of the "little man", which dominated the satirical stories of the early Bulgakov, is replaced by the problem of the Russian intelligentsia.

The novel "The White Guard" and the play "Days of the Turbins" show the tragedy of an old Russian intellectual who lost his home, realizing the inevitability of the death of the past. The stories "Fatal Eggs" and "Heart of a Dog" thundered in Russia as a formidable warning. "Fatal Eggs" - the first mature satirical work, was received with hostility by many contemporary critics of Bulgakov, and "Heart of a Dog" was banned from publication.

Bulgakov was an ardent champion of universal human values, a singer of genuine art that cannot be banned or destroyed.

Introduction.

Satire is a way of manifesting the comic in art, consisting in a devastating ridicule of phenomena that seem to the author to be vicious.

We have chosen a topic related to satire, because we really like satirical works that ridicule various phenomena and events.

The strength of satire depends on the effectiveness of satirical methods - sarcasm, irony, hyperbole, grotesque, allegory, parody, etc. The whole work, and individual images, situations, episodes can be satirical.
Having chosen this topic of work, we set the following tasks:

Systematize your knowledge about the satire of M.A. Bulgakov and about his life;

Consider the features of M.A. Bulgakov’s satire on the example of three stories: “Heart of a Dog”, “Diaboliad”, “Fatal Eggs”;

Draw conclusions on three stories and in general on the abstract.

We write work using critical literature.

With the help of "Russian literature of the XX century. Christomatia” by A.V. Baranikov, we chose information about Bulgakov. We will take information about Bulgakov, about his life and work in the “Schoolchildren's Handbook”. We will read the stories and analyze them according to the book by M.A. Bulgakov “Collected Works in 5 Volumes”.

II
. Satire in the work of M.A. Bulgakov

1. M.A. Bulgakov - prose writer, playwright

Bulgakov M.A. (1891-1940) graduated from the First Alexander Gymnasium, where children of the Russian intelligentsia of Kyiv studied. The level of teaching was high, classes were sometimes taught even by university professors.

In 1909, Bulgakov entered the medical faculty of Kyiv University. In 1914, the First World War which destroyed the hopes of him and millions of his peers for a peaceful and prosperous future. After graduating from university, Bulgakov worked in a field hospital.

In September 1916, Bulgakov was recalled from the front and sent to head the Zemstvo Nikolsk rural hospital in the Smolensk province, and in 1917 he was transferred to Vyazma.

The February revolution disrupted the usual life. After the October Revolution, he was released from military service, and he returned to Kyiv, soon occupied German troops. So the future writer plunged into the whirlpool civil war. Bulgakov was a good doctor, and the belligerents needed his services.

In Vladikavkaz, at the end of 1919 and at the beginning of 1920, Bulgakov left the ranks of Denikin's army and began to contribute to local newspapers, giving up medicine forever. His first literary text "Tribute of Admiration" was published.

Lessons literary creativity was provoked by the unwillingness to participate in the war.

Shortly before the retreat of the Whites from Vladikavkaz, Bulgakov fell ill with relapsing fever. When he recovered in the spring of 1920, the city was already occupied by units of the Red Army. Bulgakov began to cooperate in the sub-department of arts of the Revolutionary Committee. Vladikavkaz impressions served as material for the story Notes on the Cuffs.

In satirical feuilletons and essays, the object of Bulgakov’s satire is not only the “scum of the NEP” - the nouveau riche Nepmen, but also that part of the population whose low cultural level the writer observed: the inhabitants of Moscow communal apartments, bazaar sales, etc. But Bulgakov also sees the sprouts of the new, signs return of life to normal.

Bulgakov made a discovery in his satirical works, which entered the system of Russian national values ​​and rightfully earned the title of Russian national writer.

Let's consider the satirical trends in some of the stories of M.A. Bulgakov.

2. The story "Deviliad".

In 1923-1925, Bulgakov wrote three satirical novels one after the other: "The Diaboliad", "Fatal Eggs" and "Heart of a Dog". Bulgakov creates things that are practically not separated from modernity in the most direct, narrow sense of the word. The Diaboliad tells about the time of the just past, but perfectly memorable war communism; with a description of the same meager, hungry and cold years, "Fatal Eggs" was started; the background of the “Heart of a Dog” is an acutely topical sign of the NEP.

The first story that came out to the reader in March 1924 was The Diaboliad, the very name of which, according to Bulgakov's contemporaries, quickly entered into oral speech, turning into a common noun.

In this work, Bulgakov depicts the bureaucracy of Soviet institutions. I.M.Nusinov, in his report on Bulgakov's work, stated: "A petty official who got lost in the Soviet state machine - the symbol of the Diaboliad." The new state organism is the “Diavoliad”, the new way of life is such a “muck,<…>»
2.1. Summary story.

This story speaks of the "little man" Korotkov. An inconspicuous employee of Spimat confuses the signature of the new boss, who bears the unusual surname Kalsoner, in an urgent business paper. His meeting with Longjohn, the manager’s striking appearance (a head sparkling with lights, electric lights flashing on the crown of the head, a voice like “at a copper basin”), as well as his ability to instantly move in space and striking transformations, completely unsettles Korotkov and deprives the ability to think rationally. The "double" of the shaved Long Johner, his brother with an "Assyrian beard and thin voice," and Long Johner - the first one who in turn catch Korotkov's eyes - these, it seems, are the culprits of the hero's madness.

But in fact, Korotkov is driven to madness and death not so much by the underpants - doubles, that is, random absurdities of what is happening that he is not able to explain, but by a general feeling of precariousness, uncertainty and unreality of life.

A salary given out in matches and church wine; the unprecedentedly theatrical image of a formidable boss - all these particulars, not terrible each separately, merging into one terrible whole, expose Korotkov's defenselessness, his timid loneliness in the world. The fear of madness is the thought of a healthy mind, and it is this that insures the hero. In the "Diaboliad" reality is delirious, and it is easier for a person "to yield to it, having found guilty of breaking, deforming the reality of oneself." One of the constant leitmotifs of the writer's works is declared in the "Diaboliad": the mystical role of paper, clerical escheat life. If at first Bulgakov was joking, then the development of the plot is by no means a joke, because if there is no document that confirms your identity, then you are nobody.

The causal relationship is broken - what does the presence (or absence) of paper have to do with the brewing love episode, when a brunette throws herself on Korotkov's neck and asks him to marry her. Korotkov cannot do this because he does not have documents with his real name. It turns out that a piece of paper is not only able to determine human relationships, the document authorizes actions and, finally, constitutes a person. The intonation of the distraught Korotkov is grotesque: “Shoot me on the spot, but straighten out any document for me ...”. The hero is already ready to exchange life itself for the “correctness” and formality of its course. Depriving the "place" and stealing the papers - it turns out to be enough to push the hero out of life into a crazy jump, death.

2.2. Analysis of the main episodes.

In The Diaboliad, which describes an institution seemingly not at all connected with writing, Bulgakov introduces, albeit briefly, the theme of literature of literary life. Let us recall the scene when Korotkov, entangled in the labyrinths of the Alpine Rose, gets stuck in a mysterious and frightening conversation with Jan Sobiessky: “What will you please us with? Feuilleton? Essays?<…>You can't imagine how much we need them."

The episode, apparently, refers to the same Leto, in which Bulgakov served as secretary, or to the time of his work in Gudok. The autobiographical subtext from time to time, with short, bright flashes, as if “illuminating” the plot of the Diaboliad, imparts a new quality to the literary material.

The whole story is “made” of dynamic, short scenes, instant dialogues, energetic verbs, as if urging on the action, which by the end is already rushing at full speed, increasing and whirling the already frantic pace. Movement, speed, speed (“rushed”, “rushed”, “struck”, “collapsed”, “failed”, etc.)

On the last pages of the Diaboliad, the hitherto quiet Korotkov suddenly has an “eagle eye”, “battle cry”, and “the courage of death”, which gives strength to the hero. And he dies, - with a phrase that instantly brought to the surface what was hidden in the depths of the consciousness of the "shy" clerk. In the final exclamation, there is a sudden surge of a previously hidden sense of dignity. Having fully expressed himself in it, Korotkov perishes, uttering his "main" thought: "Better death than disgrace." 2

Here is devilry, diabolical phantasmagoria (which, at the same time, has a domestic motivation in quite possible circumstances), here is an addiction to comic effects (in the phrase: “The starling hissed with a snake”, or “comrade de Rooney”, etc.).

2.3. Conclusion about the ideological content.

Here, for the first time, we read that same “weaved out of thin air”, verbal signs appear scattered, hinting at evil spirits: “witchcraft”, “brownie”, a black cat, in which Korotkov suspects a werewolf, will smell of sulfur. And even when the usual cabin of the institutional elevator rises, it pulls eeriely from the mine with “wind and dampness”.

The first Bulgakov story showed not only the stability of poetics, but also the certainty of Bulgakov's position, influenced the things written nearby in the same and a little later years.

"Diaboliad", despite the locality of the theme and the alleged "accident" of the death of the protagonist, Korotkov, who failed to return to his consciousness the lost value of the world, which crumbled into fragments before his eyes, - said the motive that will develop throughout the entire work of the writer: the motive reality that is delusional.
3. The story "Fatal eggs".

Following the "Diaboliad" appeared "Fatal Eggs". This work was published in February 1925, and in May the magazine "Red Panorama" published a magazine, abridged version of the story, up to No. 22 under the title "Ray of Life".

Unlike The Diaboliad, Bulgakov's second story was met with great attention, it was discussed both in "closed", private letters of professional writers, and on the pages of the general press. At the same time, it is curious to note that the writers rated the story very highly, while in the press the voices of critics were divided: who exclusively liked the whole story, who the end of the story was written poorly, and who considered this story funny.

The acute social nature of Bulgakov's story led to critical battles unfolding around the "Fatal Eggs". Reviews, bright, sometimes giving surprisingly deep interpretations of the writer's work, testify to the accuracy of the "hit" of Bulgakov's new work in the painful problems of the literary and social process of the mid-1920s.

The author himself, according to the testimony of the memoirist, evaluated the story modestly, despite the fact that even five years later, in 1930, "Fatal Eggs" was still a success, along with Fedin's "Cities and Years" were among the most requested books.

The story clearly traces at least three semantic layers, closely related to each other. Of course, this is a fantastic story, a utopian story, a satire story. But no less noticeable are the connections of the "Fatal Eggs" with the adventure novel, an adventure genre that is difficult to rethink.

3.1. The plot of the story

The protagonist of the work, the brilliant zoologist Persikov, who thoroughly owns his subject knowledge, opens the “red ray”, which gives an unprecedented effect of instant maturation, reproduction and increase in the size of amoebas. Before us is evolution, passing at lightning speed. Simultaneously with the opening of Professor Persikov, a chicken pestilence begins, destroying all the chickens in the country. The zoologist is called for help. Social and ideological motivations come into play, born decades ago, but firmly rooted in our days.

Here a character appears with the eloquent surname Rokk, in his hands is a paper from the Kremlin. There is a conversation between them: “I,” Persikov says, “I can’t understand this: why is such haste and a secret needed?

- ... you know that the chickens are all dead to a single one.

Well, so what of this, - yelled Persikov, - well, you want to resurrect them instantly, or what? …

I'm telling you that we need to resume production at home, because all sorts of nasty things are being written about us abroad. Yes.

Well, you know, - Rocky answered mysteriously and shook his head.

Decisiveness, personified by Doom, produces a disastrous result. Let us note that Rok himself, the culprit of countless disasters and human grief, is saved by the former, pre-revolutionary profession, which he, unlike the new one - the director of the state farm, owns.

Persikov will not be able to intervene in the experiment started by Rock, although he assumes its devastating consequences.

“You know what,” said Persikov, “you are not a zoologist? Not? It's a pity ... you would have made a very brave experimenter ... Yes ... ".

"A very brave experimenter", but not a zoologist, this speaks of Rock's ignorance of elementary things, such as how to distinguish eggs. Rokk was unable to distinguish the eggs of snakes, crocodiles and ostriches from chicken. The illiteracy of one person, who took possession of the discovery, became the cause of the catastrophe that broke out over the whole country, and the cause of the death of a brilliant scientist.

Instead of chickens, monsters hatched from eggs that ate all living things around. The snakes were about fifteen arshins and as thick as a man. There were a huge number of them. They crawled out of windows, from doors, from under the roof of the building.

Crocodiles are creatures on twisted legs, brown-green in color, with a huge sharp muzzle, with a combed tail, similar to a terrible lizard.

And ostriches are scary giant legged birds.

There was a mass destruction of all living things. It was impossible to stop these gigantic monsters. People lost their heads and, not understanding what was happening, killed the professor.

3.2. The semantic layers of the story.

But the death of a scientist also means the death of the “ray of life” he found. “No matter how simple the combination of glass with mirror beams of light was, it was not combined a second time, despite the efforts of Ivanov. Obviously, something special was needed for this, besides knowledge, which only one person in the world possessed - the late Professor Vladimir Ignatievich Persikov. Bulgakov said that there are irreplaceable people, long before this idea, as already newly discovered, finally began to take root in the consciousness of society, for a long time convinced to the contrary.

And, finally, another important semantic layer of the story: Bulgakov, with his commitment to describing contemporary events in their indispensable correlation with the “big” history, in a reduced, parodic version, seems to repeat the path (final) of the Napoleonic campaign in it. The snakes advance in the "Fatal Eggs" along the roads along which the French once went to Moscow.

The Rock experiment takes place in early August (“mature August” is in the Smolensk province), events unfold with incredible speed, in mid-August “all of Smolensk is on fire”, “artillery shells the Mozhaisk forest”, “airplane squadron near Vyazma” acted “very successfully” and, a little later: Smolensk "caught fire in all the places where they threw burning stoves and began a hopeless mass exodus."

In each story, besides the motives and themes that are steadily repeating, obviously, the most important for the writer, attention is drawn to a kind of "clamps", signals that seem to connect, fuse the created worlds of various works - into a coherent and unified artistic cosmos.

4. The story "Dog's heart".

Bulgakov's third story "Heart of a Dog" was written in January-March 1925. On March 7, Bulgakov reads the first part of The Heart of a Dog at Nikitinsky Subbotnik. March 21 - the second part of the story was read there.

The story “Heart of a Dog” came to the domestic reader more than sixty years after its creation, in the 6th book of the Znamya magazine in 1987.

The Moscow topography of the work is curious, again testifying to a certain autobiographical nature of it.

4.1. Summary of the story and analysis of episodes.

The path that Sharik follows his newly acquired divine master is drawn by Bulgakov with his characteristic accuracy: from the cooperative of the Centrokhoz to the fire brigade of Prechistina ... past Dead Lane ... to Obukhov Lane, to the mezzanine.

N.M. Pokrovsky, the brother of M.A. Bulgakov’s mother, a gynecologist and former assistant of the famous Moscow professor of gynecology V.F. Snegirev, lived on Prechistenki Street and Obukhov Lane in the mezzanine. This N.M. Pokrovsky was the prototype of the main character of the story "Heart of a Dog", Philip Filippovich Preobrazhensky.

The Faustian theme of the homunculus is taken by Bulgakov from an unexpected perspective. A laboratory creature that was born as a result of an experiment - "the world's first operation on Professor Preobrazhensky."

There is an episode in the story that is worth the lengthy reasoning of the "general plan", which conveys and explains the skill of Preobrazhensky. This is a description of the operation, the climactic scene of the first part of "Heart of a Dog".

Preobrazhensky’s “teeth ... clenched, eyes acquired a sharp, prickly shine ... both became agitated, like murderers who are in a hurry ... Philip Philipovich’s face became terrible ... hissing escaped from his nose, his teeth opened to the gums”, he “looked around brutally ... growled ... roared angrily ... his face ... became like that of an inspired robber ... fell off completely, like a well-fed vampire. ... tore off one glove, throwing a cloud of sweaty powder out of it, tore the other, threw it on the floor and called ... ". Sweat, "predatory eye", tempo, passion, courage, virtuosity, risk and tension, which can be compared with the tension of a violinist or conductor - such is Philipp Philippovich in the "case", where both human essence and the highest professionalism are merged.

The newly minted "labor element" is struck by dinners with wine and "forty pairs of trousers", his ideological mentor Shvonder - "seven rooms that everyone knows how to occupy"; years research work the owner of these benefits, hundreds of operations and daily intellectual training are not visible to him.

Members of the house committee come to the professor, who have gone headlong into the round-the-clock utterance of correct and revolutionary speeches, replacing them with practical and everyday work. And these, according to the professor's sarcastic definition, "singers" come forward ... demanding "labor discipline" from a person who, unlike them, does not leave work for a single day - no matter what happens around.

Under the banner of social demagogy, which settles much faster and easier than the skills of creative activity, Sharikov becomes. He begins not with a problem book and grammar, but with Engels' correspondence with Kautsky, instantly "going out" to the most burning problem of "social justice" for him, understood as the task of "dividing" for all.

Decades ago, a shock was caused by Lenin's thought, sharpened in the formula about every cook who must learn to run the state. At first it was heard that "every cook" should do it. And only over time, attention moved to another part of the phrase: "must learn." But in order to start learning, it was necessary to realize the need to do it. Sharikov-Chugunkin, “standing at the lowest stage of development”, unable to even minimally appreciate the complexity of the subject under discussion (“Congress, the Germans ... the head swells ...”), enters into a debate with people who have spent years and years thinking about the problem , on an equal footing, without a shadow of a doubt.

The professor foresees a simple course of Sharikov's reasoning.

“- Let me know what you can say about what you read?

Sharikov shrugged.

Yes, I do not agree.

With whom? With Engels or with Kautsky?

With both, - answered Sharikov.

and further on Sharikov formulates the vulgar idea of ​​sharing equally among all, that is, he sets forth the very misunderstood idea of ​​social justice, which takes possession of the minds only at the seductive stage of division, and by no means of creation, of accumulation of what will become possible to share only much later. The professor makes an attempt, however, in vain, to clearly explain this to Sharikov.

Obviously, a sharp degradation of the intellect, taking place before our eyes: no doubt, the stray mongrel stands at an immeasurably higher level of development than Klim Chugunkin, who “has taken root” in her body.

In the second part - before us is no longer Sharik, but Klim Chugunkin, whose very first phrases speak of social aggression, immorality, uncleanliness and complete ignorance. It is no coincidence that the attention with which the writer fixes Sharikov's plasticity, his manner of behavior. He stands “leaning against the lintel” and “crossing his legs”, his gait is “sprawling”, when he sat down on a chair, then “at the same time, lowering his hands, hung his hands along the lapels of his jacket”, etc. According to Bulgakov, in posture, gesture, facial expressions, intonations, a person's attitude can be read no less clearly than heard in speeches and manifested in deeds. That “high bearing of spirit”, which does not allow the professor and his colleague to “poke” even a creature that does not enjoy any respect on their part, is polar opposite to Sharikov’s derogatory-familiar forms, in which it is common to clothe one’s relations with others. “An ordinary servant, but forsu, like a commissar” - about Zina; “Another one and a half rubles to pay for such a scoundrel. Yes, he himself ... ”- about a neighbor in the Kalabukhov house; "daddy" - in the address of Philip Philipovich and so on.

“That’s all we have, like in a parade,” Sharikov accuses his owners, “excuse me” and “merci”, but in order to really, it’s not ...”. That is, the norms of communication that are natural for the professor and his colleague, painful and burdensome for Sharikov, he considers "fake", painful for everyone.

4.2. What is the purpose of the writer's satire in the story.

“Really living” for Sharikov means nibbling sunflower seeds and spitting on the floor, swearing obscenely and molesting women, wallowing on the wards and getting drunk at dinner. Apparently, he is sincere when he declares to his educators that they "torture themselves, as under the tsarist regime." The idea of ​​the naturalness and "normality" of this, and not any other way of life does not come, and cannot come to Sharikov's head.

And in this he closes in, finds a common language with the members of the Komsomol, who are also quite sincerely convinced that a person has nothing to "live in seven rooms", have "40 pairs of pants", dine in the dining room, etc. Not necessary to one's own way of life - seems unnecessary to anyone else. From here, the threads from Bulgakov's story stretch to today's disputes about "normal needs", starting from an implicit conviction in the "sameness, similarity of human natures" and in the possibility of determining "scientifically" rational "norms of consumption". That is, in other words, it's all about the same indestructible "equalization", from which everything rising above the average level always suffers.

III
. Conclusion.

Bulgakov, in the best traditions of Russian and world literature, was characterized by pain for a person, whether he was an outstanding master or an unnoticed clerk.

The writer did not accept the literature that depicted the suffering of abstract, unreal heroes, passing by life at the same time. For Bulgakov, humanism was the ideological core of literature. And the true humanism of the master's works is especially close to us today.

Concluding the conversation about Bulgakov's satirical and fantastic works, we will make one assumption: all three stories, read as a single connected text, addressed to the same reality - Moscow in the 1920s, - in fact, "replaced" the writer's second novel. Bulgakov, talking about the polar forces acting in modern times, as if deploying a holistic human anthropology in these stories, asks the question - what is a person.

As if one and the same image passes from story to story, a human type hostile to the author, threatening social danger: “a low man on crooked legs” kills Persikov; Korotkov is driven mad by a petty tyrant Pantser with "twisted legs" and "small, like pinheads, eyes", the culprit of the country's great grief Rokk looks at the world with "small eyes", amazed and at the same time confidently, he has "something cheeky ” is “in short legs with flat feet”, a portrait of Sharikov is given in a similar way.

The described almost degenerative type is opposed by the hero who is finding more and more ground under his feet, looking for creative forces in himself in order to survive (and even win in the story "Heart of a Dog").

Let's add more emerging "meta" of undisguised unity artistic world Bulgakov, which has already been discussed. All this, taken together, turns the three stories into a kind of "summary" of the novel, which grows out of modernity, assessed by a creative person.

The satire of M.A. Bulgakov is very closely connected with modernity. Now, in our world, you can meet the same cruel and callous people as Sharikov, the same stupid Rocca, the same Pantser, who will turn a person's head and mislead him. And at the moment there are a lot of such people. No matter how hard you try to make a human out of an animal, it will still remain the same small and vile person.

Having written a work on the satire of M.A. Bulgakov, we completed the tasks assigned to us, drew conclusions for each story, and in general, on the topic of the work, we expanded and systematized our knowledge of the work of M.A. Bulgakov.

At the end of The Excavations of Herculaneum, I began to search in the novel The Master and Margarita for a character under whose mask Lenin could be hidden. When searching, I did not consider it necessary to compare drafts and sketches with the canonical text of the novel, although such an analysis sometimes helps to unravel the author's allusions. Most of Bulgakov's hints in his political satires were correctly understood by the censors of that time and without familiarization with the "draft versions and sketches", as a result of which these satires were repeatedly considered at meetings of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks - and were not allowed to be published or staged.
In my searches, I analyzed the texts of The Grand Chancellor and The Master and Margarita - and nothing more.
After such an introduction, I turn to the continuation of the story about my work with my favorite novel. I titled the next part of the story as follows:

MASSOLIT - NEW WORD M.A. BULGAKOV

Not prone to didacticism, I still repeat:

The novel "The Master and Margarita" was written during the years of cruel political terror, when the state diligently controlled not only the actions, but the thoughts and feelings of its citizens. The terminally ill Bulgakov knew the danger of storing the manuscripts of his last novel, and he subjected all the manuscripts of the novel to thorough self-censorship, destroyed places with extremely sharp content in them, and skillfully obscured all hints of a political nature and all his heretical thoughts, or encrypted, as we speak today.

Bulgakov mastered the language of the Menippean satire, and it is unlikely that he used the colossal power of his talent in the "sunset" novel for ridicule-shooting at small targets - most likely, he aimed at the largest, most important culprits of the tragic events in Russia. How to find these large but carefully veiled targets? - that is the question.
In an attempt to answer this question, I undertook an independent decoding of the word coined by Bulgakov - MASSOLIT.

MASSOLIT is the abbreviated name of one of the largest Moscow literary associations. The author of "The Master and Margarita" nowhere gave the full name of the association he invented, which allows the researchers of the novel to ambiguously decipher this word - MASSOLIT.
Usually, researchers proceed from the fact that since we are talking about the Literary Association, the ending ... LIT should be related either to LITEratura or LITERATORS - and such decodings of MASSOLIT appear:
- Moscow Association of LITERATORS;
- MASS SOCIALIST LITERATURE;
- MASS LITERATURE;
- MASTER OF SOVIET LITERATURE;
- MASTER OF SOCIALIST LITERATURE, etc.

But the ending "... LIT" can also be the final component of complex words, meaning either related to stone, similar to stone (for example, monolith, paleolith), or a product of decomposition, dissolution (for example, electrolyte). In this case, the abbreviated name "MASSOLIT" can be deciphered regardless of literature and writers - for example, like this: "Mass like a stone", or like this: "Product of decomposition of masses" ...

Theme: science
Problem: the consequences of scientific discoveries

M. "Fatal Eggs"

The beam turned out to be a sword

The short story "Fatal Eggs" was written in 1924, but the characters
of this work live in the near future. What does this author want to say?
Why does he postpone the events described four years ahead? Let's try to answer
to this difficult question.

So, in Moscow lives obsessed with science, an eccentric, brilliant professor
Persikov, who specializes mainly in frogs. This walking
an encyclopedia that is not interested in anything in this life except naked reptiles:
he has neither family nor friends, he does not read newspapers, in everyday life he manages with little. And so
it turned out that quite by chance (of course, not by chance), Persikov collides
with a beam that appears from electric light by repeated refraction
in mirrors and lenses. Needless to say, not a living ray, not natural! But just under it
all tadpoles develop rapidly, instantly turn into frogs and
produce an unprecedented number of offspring, which exceeds the parents in size and
characterized by unprecedented aggressiveness.

The discovery of the professor becomes known to the public and the authorities. Nobody
does not particularly delve into what kind of beam it is, what use it can be, everyone manages
some fairy tales. Persikov receives the desired equipment to increase
the power of his beam, travels contentedly to the clubs and lectures enthusiastically about his
opening.

And it had to happen that at one of the lectures there was a person who
which all the last years has been fighting for the happiness of the people, restoring the economy, and
now the party sent him to work in the Smolensk province to head the state farm.
And grief happened in the Smolensk region: an incomprehensible disease destroyed all the chickens. That's
Rokku (that was the name of this valuable worker) came up with a “brilliant” idea. Need
restore all chicken stock with the help of Persikov's beam. Frog times instantly
multiply, which means they will bring out miracle chickens that will rush at a speed
machine.

The government supported this idea. The authorities temporarily seized the device from Persikov
and handed over to Rocca, and also brought foreign boxes with some kind of eggs to the state farm.
The result was monstrous. Not only was the unexplored scientific discovery
handed over to illiterate hands, they also mixed up the supply of eggs: Rocca was brought eggs
all sorts of snakes and crocodiles that were intended for the professor's experiments.

A few days later, an armada of reptiles destroyed the Smolensk region and
moved to Moscow. The dead were many thousands. And it is not known how it would end
this biological catastrophe, if not for the one that broke out in mid-August, almost
twenty degrees below zero.

The angry mob beat Persikov to death. But henceforth, no one will ever
managed to get this living beam again. But maybe that's for the best.

These are the horrors described in the story. And yet, why does the transfer of action occur?
to the future? After all, drawing the image of Persikov in front of us, he wants to say about that
responsibility that lies with the professor, not so much for his discoveries as
for their promotion. And as a result - the miraculous device is in the hands of
semi-literate, but loyal to the party people. How it all ended - we know.

It seems that there is also a political aspect in the story, so to speak, a warning against
the current political system. Not so long ago, a revolution took place, died down
civil war, people without education are entrusted with the lives of people, family and
national traditions are uprooted, faith is persecuted, but more and more often in
huts light up the so-called light bulbs of Ilyich, more and more more people believe
into communism. They, as if bewitched by this ray of light, become aggressive and
violate the moral values ​​of the Russian people. A spiritual transformation is taking place.

This is the catastrophe that Mikhail warned us about in The Fatal Eggs, and then
showed the "birth" of a new man in "Heart of a Dog".

The book is the greatest invention of mankind. Our age, the age of technology, it has a serious competitor - television, but most people still prefer the book.

With the advent of the book came criticism. If at first it was expressed only in conversations, then with the development of technology it took on a printed form. With the development of the press, criticism began to reach the majority of readers, thus it had a huge impact on the author. These articles could lift the writer to the pinnacle of fame, or they could “kill” him. The most dangerous thing is when criticism depends on the political structure of the country, as it was with us. At the same time, humanity may lose, perhaps, brilliant works that will never be written if a flurry of critical articles falls upon a young author, thereby discouraging him from writing.

We recently studied the work of M. Bulgakov “Fatal Eggs”, so I want to talk about it ...

At first glance, this is an ordinary fantasy story with many comic episodes. It is written in an easy and interesting way. Some critics called this creation of Bulgakov "a trifle". They believed that he wrote it in order to stretch his hand. But they are deeply mistaken. It is enough to delve a little into the book to understand that a much deeper meaning is hidden in it than it might seem at first. The problems that the author raises in this story are relevant to this day.

What is this piece about? There are two main characters in the story - Professor Persikov and Rokk. Persikov is a scientist. His field is zoology, embryology, anatomy, botany and geography. Everything that is outside these sciences, for him, as it were, does not exist. He could say about himself: I am a scientist, and everything else is alien to me. The professor has a lot of oddities, but they're all within the realm of possibility. But this is where fantasy comes into play. Persikov opens a completely extraordinary beam, similar to a “red naked sword”. Under the influence of this beam, the embryos develop with lightning speed. The sensational discovery is not only of theoretical interest - it promises a lot to the economy, animal husbandry. The press instantly spreads this news around the world, although the research has not yet been completed.

And then Alexander Semyonovich Rokk is among the professor's visitors. It is too wonderful person, but in a completely different sense. He is a flutist by profession. “But the great year of 1917, which changed the careers of many people, sent Alexander Semyonovich along a new path.” What he did next, changing his flute to a Mauser, is not mentioned in detail. He was thrown around the country for a long time, he was engaged in affairs that had nothing to do with the flute. Now, in 1928, he headed the state farm. Having learned about the mass death of chickens, Rokk decides to revive them with the help of Persikov's ray.

Back in 1924, when this story was written, Bulgakov discerned the type of person that we often encountered in subsequent and in our years. Today he manages animal husbandry, and tomorrow he, who has killed all livestock from small to large horned ones, is thrown into art, but he does not get lost, enthusiastically takes on another unfamiliar business: he gives instructions, teaches those who really know their profession.

There is a proverb: measure seven times and cut once. Rokk and those like him prefer to do the opposite: first they cut off seven times, and then they create a commission for remeasurement.

Before us is an ignorant man, a typical representative of bosses born under the Stalinist regime. Everything is wrong for him, everything needs to be reworked, every development needs to be accelerated, to be guided from outside. There is, for example, wheat. So this is not enough. They will invent a new variety - branched wheat, in order to shame nature itself. And, of course, nothing works. But he does not lose heart - the Kremlin, Stalin are on his side, he is provided with powerful support from above. Persikov receives an official order: Give the camera with the beam to Rokku for a while.

By mistake, due to some kind of bungling, the chicken eggs that Rokk ordered end up with Persikov, and those that the professor ordered - snake, ostrich - end up with Rokk. And this adventurer, "chicken breeder", suddenly breeds a breed of giant, deadly snakes. Their disastrous invasion of Russia begins.

It is in people like Rokk, in my opinion, that the drama of the problem raised by Bulgakov lies. People came to power who were not capable of doing serious things necessary for the country. They are out of place and trying to do something they don't understand. Therefore, everyone pays for the mistake made by one of these people. The author, in my opinion, expresses his attitude to the established power in the episode with cockroaches. When Persikov needed scientific experiments cockroaches, they "failed somewhere, showing their malicious attitude towards war communism."

The ending of this story is also noteworthy. People, with all their most advanced weapons, could not stop the invasion of reptiles. And only nature, having created an eighteen-degree frost in mid-August, destroyed this evil spirits. I fully agree with what the writer wanted to say with these words. Man is not the most powerful creature on the planet, as it was then believed. And it still depends on nature.

But it is obvious that the main idea of ​​this work was the desire to show the danger of the ongoing experiments. And everything that happened around, which was called the construction of socialism, was perceived by Bulgakov precisely as a huge scale and more than dangerous experiment. He continues this idea in his other works.

What else can be said about this story? Without a doubt, the criticism embodied by the author in this work hit the mark. The Rappovites, excited by this book, did not let Bulgakov out of their sight in the future. And all their reviews of his work were negative. The story contains two storylines. The author simultaneously describes the events taking place both in the state farm and in the city.

The work is written in simple and understandable language. And therefore, if someone wishes to read it, he will not regret it.