M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin "The History of a City": description, heroes, analysis of the work

Written in two years (1869-1870), Saltykov-Shchedrin's novel "The History of a City" was criticized from the very beginning - they saw it as an insult to the Russian people. And indeed, this satirical story, presented in the form of an annals of the city of Glupov, does not represent in the best possible way not only the kings (embodied in the form of city governors), but also their subjects. This complex work contains all the techniques with which the writer mercilessly ridiculed and denounced.

Saltykov-Shchedrin's novel is a story about a people, but not about one that carries the idea of ​​democracy and arouses the sympathy of a Russian satirist, but about a submissive and ignorant people who are able to endure any tyranny of their tsars-town governors. The author's favorite technique is the grotesque, which carries a special expression in the depiction of situations and characters. Behind the grotesque names Pimple, Organchik, Borodavkin, real historical figures are hidden. The common people are subjected to merciless ridicule. Saltykov-Shchedrin was never a so-called people's writer. Despite the fact that his novel ends with a popular revolt and the overthrow of the governor, in reality he never believed in the idea of ​​​​a popular revolution, believing that such a weak and submissive mass would never rise to conscious resistance. Even in his satirical work, the Glukhovites rebelled spontaneously, and the cause of this rebellion was primitive instincts.

The novel is a satire not only on the structure of the “Russian state”, but also on the people living in this state, their passivity and indifference to their current life and the fate of future generations. Uncompromising in Shchedrin's way, the work has not lost its relevance.

The novel by Saltykov-Shchedrin “The History of a City” can be read and downloaded in full on the website.

Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov-Shchedrin was born on January 15 (27), 1826 in the village of Spas-Ugol, Tver province, into an old noble family. The future writer received his primary education at home - a serf painter, a sister, a priest, a governess worked with him. In 1836, Saltykov-Shchedrin studied at the Moscow Noble Institute, from 1838 - at the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum.

Military service. Link to Vyatka

In 1845, Mikhail Evgrafovich graduated from the Lyceum and entered the military office. At this time, the writer is fond of the French socialists and George Sand, creates a number of notes, stories ("Contradiction", "A Tangled Case").

In 1848, in a brief biography of Saltykov-Shchedrin, a long period of exile begins - he was sent to Vyatka for free-thinking. The writer lived there for eight years, at first he served as a clerk, and after that he was appointed an adviser to the provincial government. Mikhail Evgrafovich often went on business trips, during which he collected information about provincial life for his works.

State activity. Mature creativity

Returning from exile in 1855, Saltykov-Shchedrin joined the Ministry of the Interior. In 1856-1857 his "Provincial Essays" were published. In 1858, Mikhail Evgrafovich was appointed vice-governor of Ryazan, and then Tver. At the same time, the writer was published in the journals Russky Vestnik, Sovremennik, and Library for Reading.

In 1862, Saltykov-Shchedrin, whose biography was previously associated more with a career than with creativity, leaves the public service. Having stopped in St. Petersburg, the writer gets a job as an editor in the Sovremennik magazine. Soon his collections "Innocent Stories", "Satires in Prose" are published.

In 1864, Saltykov-Shchedrin returned to the service, taking the post of manager of the state chamber in Penza, and then in Tula and Ryazan.

The last years of the writer's life

Since 1868, Mikhail Evgrafovich retired, actively engaged in literary activities. In the same year, the writer became one of the editors of Otechestvennye Zapiski, and after the death of Nikolai Nekrasov, he took up the post of executive editor of the magazine. In 1869 - 1870, Saltykov-Shchedrin created one of his most famous works - "The History of a City" (summary), in which he raises the topic of relations between the people and power. Soon the collections "Signs of the Times", "Letters from the Province", the novel "Gentlemen Golovlevs" were published.

In 1884, Otechestvennye Zapiski were closed, and the writer began to publish in the Vestnik Evropy magazine.

In recent years, the work of Saltykov-Shchedrin culminates in the grotesque. The writer publishes collections "Tales" (1882 - 1886), "Little Things in Life" (1886 - 1887), "Peshekhonskaya Antiquity" (1887 - 1889).

Mikhail Evgrafovich died on May 10 (April 28), 1889 in St. Petersburg, was buried at the Volkovskoye cemetery.

Chronological table

Other biography options

• While studying at the Lyceum, Saltykov-Shchedrin published his first poems, but quickly became disillusioned with poetry and left this occupation forever.
• Mikhail Evgrafovich made popular the literary genre of a socio-satirical fairy tale aimed at exposing human vices.
• The exile to Vyatka was a turning point in the personal life of Saltykov-Shchedrin - there he met his future wife E. A. Boltina, with whom he lived for 33 years.
• While in exile in Vyatka, the writer translated the works of Tocqueville, Vivien, Cheruel, and made notes on Beccari's book.
• In accordance with the request in the will, Saltykov-Shchedrin was buried next to the grave

In 1869-1870. The action takes place in a city that has the speaking name of fools. This is a kind of generalized image that incorporates the features of many county, provincial and even capital cities of Russia. Foolovsky townspeople and rulers are also a generalization of the entire Russian people and power at various levels. Behind Glupov, the contours of the Russian state with all its despotic rulers and mute, downtrodden townsfolk appear.

The writer creates a picture not only of modern Russia, but also of its historical past: from 1731 to 1826. the remembrance of certain historical events is kept in a fantastic context. The figures of the mayors ruling stupid resemble some of the rulers of Russia in the 18th-19th centuries: for example, the mayor Sadtilov looks like Alexander I(“... A friend of Karamzin. He was distinguished by tenderness and sensitivity of the heart, he loved to drink tea in the city grove and could not see the black grouse without tears ... he died of melancholy in 1825”). The proximity of the surnames also leads to some analogies: Benevolensky - Speransky; Gloomy-Grumbling - Arakcheev. Nevertheless, most of Foolov's mayors are fictitious characters, and Saltykov himself rejected the understanding of his book as historical satire: “I don't care about history, and I mean only the present. The historical form of the story is convenient for me because it allowed me to more freely refer to the known phenomena of life.

Turning to history in his book, linking the past and the present, the writer tried to find the foundations for the future. Grotesque, satirical images reflecting the essence of Russian reality were created in the complex interweaving of past and present, fantastic and real, history and modernity. With its unusualness and audacity, “The history of one city aroused bewilderment in the reader: what is it - a parody of Russian history, a denunciation of the modern writer of the order of things, fantasy or something else? The writer himself did not give a direct answer to these questions. “Whoever wants it, let him understand it,” he said.

Genre and composition.

The narrative opens with two introductions - on behalf of the publisher and on behalf of the archivist-chronicler, in which the purpose and nature of the content are explained. books. The publisher points to the fantastic nature of many characters and situations (one mayor flew through the air, another had his feet turned back, and he almost escaped from the mayor), but notes that "the fantastic nature of the stories does not in the least eliminate their administrative and educational significance and that reckless the arrogance of the flying mayor may even now serve as a salutary warning to those of today's administrators who do not wish to be prematurely dismissed from office. This is followed by the prehistory of the city of Glupov, which is a kind of exposition of the work, which reports on the roots of the origin of the city and its inhabitants. Story about the life of the Foolovites under the rule of various city governors opens with the "Inventory to the City Governors", which makes it possible to understand the nature of the subsequent narrative.

“There is no cross-cutting plot in the book in the traditional sense of the word: each chapter is, as it were, a completely finished work that has an independent, complete storyline,” notes D. Nikolaev. - At the same time, these chapters are closely connected with each other not only by the commonality of the problem, the place of action and the collective image of the Foolovites, but also by something else. This something is the history of Glupov, which appears in the book as its plot ... Thanks to such a plot, the reader can get acquainted with various socio-historical situations and an extensive gallery of rulers who controlled the fate of Glupov throughout the century.

The difficulty of defining its genre is also connected with the idea of ​​the work. Various researchers define it as satirical essays reflecting the peculiarities of Russian reality in the 60s of the XIX century, others consider the work to be a satirical historical chronicle, since the annals and works of major historians (N. M. Karamzin, S. M. Solovyov) were built in this way about history of Russia, and still others call "The history of one city - a grotesque satirical novel. There is another genre definition of the "History of one city" - dystopia, as opposed to

utopia, depicting the ideal structure of society. The most important function of the dystopia genre is a warning drawn from the sad experience of the past and present and directed to the future, which is the true pathos of the satirist's work. Saltykov-Shchedrin himself did not give an exact genre definition for his work and called it a book.

Images of mayors.

The attention of the satirist was attracted by something that has long overshadowed Russian life, which should be eliminated, but continued to be present in it, despite the ongoing changes; ego satire, in his words, is directed "against those characteristic features of Russian life that make it not entirely comfortable." In The History of a City, Saltykov-Shchedrin singles out, first of all, two phenomena of Russian life: these are despotic, tyrannical, unlimited power and resignation, the obedience of the people, allowing them to do whatever they want with themselves. The Glupovsky mayors are a phenomenon not only of the past, but also of the present. The power concentrated in their hands still determines the foundations of life. The arrogant nature of this power is already reflected in the list of mayors that opens the story - a significant part of them are devoid of human features and have vices that are incompatible with being the ruler of the city, on which people's destinies depend.

The history of Glupov is represented by the change of mayors, and not by the development of people's life, which is typical for the social structure of Russia and, in general, for the historiographical view. In a satirical review of Shchedrin, using the example of Foolov's life, questions are explored about the relationship between the people and the government, whether changes are possible in these relations, what is the future of the people, etc. The story of life in Foolovo opens with the reign of the mayor Brudasty, nicknamed "Organchik".

Over time, it turns out that the head of the mayor is a box in which there is a small organ capable of performing simple pieces of music: "I'll tear you apart!" and "I will not stand it!". But gradually the pegs of the instrument loosened and fell out, and the mayor could only say: “P-lyu!” The help of the master was required. It was then that the truth was revealed. The most remarkable thing is that even when the head of the mayor was under repair, he still continued to rule the city, but without a head.

The story about "Organchik" aroused indignation of the reviewer of "Vestnik Evropy". “But if the word “Fool” had been put instead of the word “Organchik,” Shchedrin objected, “the reviewer probably would not have found anything unnatural.”

Another mayor, Lieutenant Colonel Pimple, introduced a simplified system of administration in the city. Oddly enough, but it was this period of government that was marked by the extraordinary prosperity of the Foolovites, who received unlimited freedom of action.

Soon the Foolovites learned that their mayor had a stuffed head. the mayor is eaten in the literal sense of the word. This is how the writer implements the language metaphor: To eat someone means to kill, eliminate.

An organ or a mayor with a stuffed head are metaphorical images of headless rulers. History gives many examples, the writer notes, when "people ordered, waged wars and concluded treaties, having an empty vessel on their shoulders." For Shchedrin, the idea is also important that "a mayor with a stuffed head does not mean a person with a stuffed head, but precisely a mayor who controls the destinies of many thousands of people." Not by chance writer speaks of some kind of “town-governor substance” that has supplanted human content. Outwardly, the mayors retain the usual human appearance, they perform actions characteristic of a person - they drink, eat, write laws, etc. But the human in them has atrophied, they are filled with some other, far from human, content, which is enough to fulfill their main functions - suppression. Naturally, they are a threat to the normal. natural life.

All the actions of the mayors are completely fantastic, meaningless and often contradict one another. One ruler paved the square, another laid it out, one built the city, the other destroys it. Ferdyshchenko traveled to the city pasture, Borodavkin waged wars for education, one of the goals of which was the forcible introduction of mustard into use, Benevolensky composed and scattered laws at night, Perepyot-Zalkhvatsky burned down the gymnasium and abolished science, etc. Despite the diverse nature of their follies , there is something in common that underlies their activities - they all flog the townsfolk. Some "flog absolutely," others "explain the reasons for their diligence by the requirements of civilization," and still others "wish the townsfolk to rely on their courage in everything." Even historical times in Foolovo began with a cry: "I'll screw it up!"

The “History of a City” ends with the reign of Uryum-Burcheev, the mayor, who terrified with his appearance, actions, lifestyle and was called a scoundrel not only because he held this position in the regiment, but because he was a scoundrel “with all his being, all thoughts ". His portrait, the writer notes, "makes a very heavy impression."

The "mayor's substance" Gloomy-Burcheev gave rise to "a whole systematic nonsense." The idea of ​​"universal happiness" through the barracks structure of society resulted in the destruction of the old city and the construction of a new one, as well as in the desire to stop the river. Gloomy-Burcheev did not need "neither a river, nor a stream, nor a hillock - in a word, nothing that could serve as an obstacle to free walking ...". he destroyed the city, but the river did not succumb to the madman. The barracks administration of "Gloom-Burcheev" incorporates the most striking signs of reactionary, despotic political regimes of different countries and eras. Its image is a broad generalization. Shchedrin warns: "There is nothing more dangerous than the imagination of a scoundrel who is not restrained by a bridle."

Through various images of city governors, readers are presented with the true nature of the Russian government, which sooner or later must exhaust itself and disappear, which is shown in Shchedrin's history of the city of Glupov.

The image of the people.

Satirical ridicule in the book is subjected not only to the mayors, but also to the people in their slavish willingness to endure. Talking about the roots of the origin of the inhabitants of the city of Glupov, Saltykov writes that they were once called "thugs". (They "had a habit of 'thrashing' their heads about whatever they met on the way. They hit the wall against the wall; they start praying to God - they hit the floor.") After the founding of the city, they began to be called "stupid", and this name reflects them essence. Unable to exist on their own, the Foolovites searched for a prince for a long time and finally found one who opened his reign with the cry of "I'll screw it up!" With this word, historical times began in the city of Glupov. With bitter irony, the delights and tears of the Foolovites are described, welcoming the next ruler, arranging riots, sending walkers, willingly betraying the instigators after the riot, overgrown with wool and sucking their paws from hunger.

There is no longer serfdom, but the essence of the relationship between the people and the authorities, the slavish consciousness of people, has remained the same. The Foolovites tremble at any power, they dutifully carry out any fantastic delirium of city governors, which has no boundaries. Satirical laughter turns into bitterness and indignation when it comes to the disastrous fate of the people suffering under the yoke of authority and yet continuing to live like this. The patience of the Foolovites is endless. “We are accustomed people! .. we can endure. If now we are all put together in a heap and set on fire from four ends, then we will not say a contrary word.

“Despite their irresistible firmness, the Foolovites are a pampered and extremely spoiled people,” the author remarks ironically. “They like to have a friendly smile on their boss's face... There have been truly wise mayors... but since they didn't call the Foolovites either "brothers" or "robats", their names were forgotten. On the contrary, there were others ... who did average things ... but since they always said something kind at the same time, their names were not only entered on the tablets, but even served as the subject of a wide variety of oral legends.
The Foolovites do not need a wise ruler - they are simply not able to appreciate him.

Saltykov rejected accusations against him of aimless mockery of the people. If this people produces Wartkins and Gloomy-Grumblings, he said, then there can be no question of sympathy for them. the main cause of the disasters of the people is in its passivity. The Foolovites have not yet taken any action "by which one could judge the degree of their maturity." The writer cannot but admit this bitter truth.

The main thing that distinguishes the Foolovites from their rulers is that they are not devoid of human content, they remain human beings and arouse lively sympathy for themselves. Despite everything, the Foolovites continue to live, which indicates their enormous inner strength. When will this force break through? - asks the writer. Only with the advent of Ugryum-Burcheev with his attempts to tame nature did the Foolovites begin to realize the savagery of what was happening. "Exhausted, cursed and destroyed," they looked at each other - and suddenly felt ashamed. And the tail no longer frightened the Foolovites, it irritated them. Fools have changed. The activities of the scoundrel made them shudder, and they wondered if they "had a story, if there were moments in this story when they had the opportunity to show their independence." And they didn't remember anything.

The finale of the book, when it appeared full of anger, is symbolic and ambiguous. What is this? Disaster? God's punishment? Riot? Or something else? Shchedrin does not answer. The end of such a device of life is inevitable, and how it will happen, of course, the writer did not know.

Artistic skill of Saltykov-Shchedrin.

The artistic features of the narrative are determined by the tasks that the satirist writer set himself. In order to better comprehend the features of Russian reality, to portray them more vividly, Shchedrin is looking for new forms of satirical typification, new means of expressing the author's position, gives his images a fantastic character, uses a variety of artistic techniques.

In the "History of a City" throughout the story, the real is intertwined with the fantastic. Fapmasmika becomes a method of satirical depiction of reality. Incredible situations, incredible incidents emphasize the illogicality and absurdity of reality.

The writer skillfully uses the technique of gromeska and hyperbole. Researchers note that Shchedrin's grotesque is no longer just a literary device, but a principle that determines the artistic structure of a work. Everything in the life of the Foolovites is unbelievable, exaggerated, funny and scary at the same time. A city can be ruled by a man with a stuffed head or a ruler who utters only two words and has a mechanism in his head. grotesque descriptions of situations, fantastic exaggerations emphasize the illusiveness and madness of the real world, allow you to expose the very essence of social relations, help to more clearly feel what is happening in the surrounding reality.

One of the important artistic devices of Saltykov-Shchedrin is uropia, which allows the author to express his attitude to the depicted. Heroes are endowed with speaking surnames, immediately pointing to the essence of the characters. The portrait, the speech, the incredible enterprises of the mayors help the writer to create frightening images of the rulers, on whom the destinies of many people and the Russian state itself depend. The terrible portrait is gloomy - Burcheev is given against the background of the corresponding landscape: “a desert in the middle of which there is an ostrog; above, instead of the sky, hung a gray soldier's overcoat ... "

The language of the narrative is determined by a combination of various stylistic layers: it is the naive-archaic style of an ancient chronicler, the lively story of a contemporary, and speech turns typical of journalism of the 60s. Capacious satirical generalizations were created by Shchedrin not at all in order to amuse the reader. The comic is inextricably linked in Shchedrin's narrative with the tragic. “Depicting life under the yoke of madness,” he wrote, “I counted on arousing a bitter feeling in the reader, and by no means cheerfulness ...” Drawing fantastic images and situations, Shchedrin considered reality, according to him, as through a magnifying glass, comprehending the inner essence of the phenomenon under consideration, but without distorting it.

M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin Biography of the writer "History of one city" Analysis of the chapter "On the root of the origin of the Foolovites"

The life position of M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin is the restoration of justice The statesman Saltykov-Shchedrin took part in the development of the peasant reform, controlled court decisions. The writer Shchedrin denounced the vices of society; honestly and directly spoke about the shortcomings of power.

Born on January 15, 1826 in the estate of his parents - the village of Spas - the corner of the Tver province. Mikhail received a very good education at home, despite the fact that the Saltykov estate was in a remote place.

Saltykov's parents - Shchedrin The writer's father is from an ancient noble family, and his mother is from a merchant family. All the observations received by the young Saltykov in the family estate of his father in the midst of serfdom formed the basis of many of his works.

Having received a good education at home, Saltykov at the age of 10 was accepted as a boarder at the Moscow Noble Institute, where he spent two years, then in 1838 he was transferred to the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum. Here he began to write poetry, having been greatly influenced by the articles of Belinsky and Herzen, the works of Gogol.

In 1844, after graduating from the Lyceum, he served as an official in the Office of the War Ministry. ". . . Duty is everywhere, coercion is everywhere, boredom and lies are everywhere. . . ”- such a description he gave to bureaucratic Petersburg.

Another life attracted Saltykov more: communication with writers, visiting Petrashevsky's "Fridays", where philosophers, scientists, writers, military men gathered, united by anti-serfdom sentiments, the search for the ideals of a just society.

As a punishment for freethinking, already on April 28, 1848, he was exiled to Vyatka and on July 3 he was appointed a clerk under the Vyatka provincial government. In November of the same year, he was appointed senior officer for special assignments under the Vyatka governor, then twice served as governor of the governor's office, and from August 1850 he was an adviser to the provincial government. Little information has been preserved about his service in Vyatka, but, judging by the note on the land unrest in Sloboda district, found after the death of Saltykov-Shchedrin in his papers and set out in detail in the “Materials” for his biography, he warmly took his duties to heart when they brought him into direct contact with the masses of the people and enabled him to be useful to them.

Saltykov's first novels "Contradictions" (1847) and "A Tangled Case" (1848) attracted the attention of the authorities with their acute social problems.

The writer was exiled to Vyatka for ". . . a harmful way of thinking and a pernicious desire to spread ideas that have already shaken the whole of Western Europe. . . ".

For eight years he lived in Vyatka, where in 1850 he was appointed to the post of adviser in the provincial government. This made it possible to often go on business trips and observe the bureaucratic world and peasant life. The impressions of these years will have an impact on the satirical direction of the writer's work.

At the end of 1855, after the death of Nicholas I, having received the right to "live where he wants", he returned to St. Petersburg and resumed his literary work.

In 1856 - 1857. "Provincial essays" were written, published on behalf of the "court councilor N. Shchedrin", who became known to all reading Russia, who called him Gogol's heir.

In 1856 - 1858. He was an official for special assignments in the Ministry of the Interior, where work was concentrated on the preparation of the peasant reform.

In 1858 - 1862. served as vice-governor in Ryazan, then in Tver. He always tried to surround himself at his place of service with honest, young and educated people, dismissing bribe-takers and thieves.

In 1862, the writer retired, moved to St. Petersburg and, at the invitation of Nekrasov, joined the editorial office of the Sovremennik magazine. In 1864, Saltykov left the editorial office of Sovremennik due to internal disagreements on the tactics of social struggle in the new conditions. He returned to public service.

In 1865 - 1868. headed the State Chambers in Penza, Tula, Ryazan; observations of the life of these cities formed the basis of "Letters on the provinces" (1869) Tula

After a complaint from the Ryazan governor, Saltykov was dismissed in 1868 with the rank of real councilor of state. The frequent change of duty stations is explained by conflicts with the heads of the provinces, over whom the writer "laughed" in grotesque pamphlets.

He moved to St. Petersburg, accepted the invitation of N. Nekrasov to become co-editor of the journal Domestic Notes, where he worked in 1868-1884. Saltykov now switched entirely to literary activity. In 1869 he wrote "The History of a City" - the pinnacle of his satirical art.

In 1875 - 1876. was treated abroad, visited the countries of Western Europe in different years of his life. In Paris he met with Turgenev, Flaubert, Zola.

In the 1880s, Saltykov's satire culminated in its rage and grotesque: A Modern Idyll (1877-1883); "Lord Golovlevs" (1880); "Poshekhon stories" (1883).

In the last years of his life, the writer created his masterpieces: "Tales" (1882 - 1886); "Little Things in Life" (1886 - 1887); autobiographical novel "Poshekhonskaya antiquity" (1887-1889).

A few days before his death, he wrote the first pages of a new work "Forgotten Words", where he wanted to remind the "motley people" of the 1880s. about the words they lost: “conscience, fatherland, humanity. . . others are still there. . . ".

M. Saltykov-Shchedrin died on April 28 (May 10 NS), 1889 in St. Petersburg.

What is the "History of one city" in terms of genre? A satire on autocracy? The greatest dystopia on the topics of Russian reality? A philosophical novel about the paradoxes of human existence?

The biography of the author will help to understand the meaning of the work; the worldview of the author; the content of the text; the theme and idea of ​​the means of expression.

Glossary of Literary Terms Satire is a revealing literary work depicting the negative phenomena of life in a funny, ugly way. Satirical techniques: irony - ridicule, which has a double meaning, where the true is not a direct statement, but the opposite; sarcasm is a caustic and poisonous irony that sharply exposes phenomena that are especially dangerous for a person and society;

Glossary of literary terms Allegory, allegory - a different meaning, hidden behind the external form. "Aesopian language" is an artistic speech based on forced allegory. Hyperbole is excessive exaggeration. These and other satirical techniques help to understand the meaning of the work of M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin on

"The History of a City" is the greatest satirical work, which shows the true events and facts of Russian life, raised by the author to the level of grandiose generalization. The historical basis of the work

Before us is a historical novel, grotesque. The main character is the city of Foolov The plot is the change of rulers The main artistic device is the grotesque. The city itself is conditional, it either looks like a "northern Palmyra", or a city on seven hills, like Moscow.

Gobblers and other tribes Lop-eared noodle-eaters Dolbezhniks thick-eaters Frog-eaters kurales walrus-eaters salted ears gingerbread cranberries swivel beans black palate 25.01.

Alogism is a sign of the grotesque, extremely sharp exaggeration, a combination of the real and the fantastic “... when they lied, they added “shame on me ...” “Thus, they mutually ruined their lands ... and at the same time they were proud of that. . "It started with…"

Proximity to folklore Stylization of the fairy tale: “and the thief-innovator first led them all with a spruce tree and a birch tree ...”, “three years and three days” Assistant character: Dobromysl, Poshekhonets - blind beard, Chukhlomets - hand-wielding, thief-innovator Constant epithets: good fellow Hyperbola : death in a swamp, characterization of one's qualities - "there is no wiser and braver")

Autocracy brought trouble to the bunglers: "And you will pay me many tributes" "When I go to war - and you go!" “And you don’t care about anything else” “And those who don’t care about anything, I will have mercy; the rest of all - to execute "

"The History of a City" is an example of political satire. In this work, the author strongly criticizes the foundations of the autocratic system, exposes despotic representatives of power, protests against humility, humility, passivity and cowardice.

“The history of one city” is, in essence, a satirical history of Russian society,” wrote I. S. Turgenev.

Brodysty, Dementy Varlamovich. “He was appointed in a hurry and had some special device in his head, for which he was nicknamed “Organchik”.

The chapter "On the origin of the Foolovites" is the key to the novel "The History of a City"

Chapter "Inventory to the mayors". What does the word "description" mean? Why did the author call the chapter "Inventory for the mayors"? Is this a writer's slip or not?

A number of Foolov's mayors are opened by Brodasty, in whose head an organ mechanism operates instead of the brain, playing only two phrases: "I will ruin" and "I will not tolerate." These shouting words became a kind of slogans, symbols of many years of intimidation and pacification of the peasants that existed in Russia, when the authorities restored "order" with the help of brutal reprisals and violence. In Brudasty's organ, Saltykov-Shchedrin displayed all the simplification of administrative leadership, which flowed from the very nature of the autocracy as a despotic usurper regime.

CITY GOVERNERS Brodysty Dementy Varlamovich He was appointed in a hurry and had some special device in his head, for which he was nicknamed "organ".

Pfeifer Bogdanovich, Guards sergeant, Holstein native. Having accomplished nothing, he was replaced in 1762 for ignorance.

Onufry Ivanovich scoundrel, former Gatchina stoker. He spread the silt paved with the predecessors of its streets and set up monuments from the extracted stone.

Interception-Zalikhvats cue, Archangel Stratilatovich, major ... He rode into Foolov on a white horse, burned the gymnasium and abolished the sciences.

Sadtilov Erast Andreevich, State Councilor. Friend of Karamzin. He died of melancholy in 1825. The tribute from the ransom was raised to five thousand rubles a year.

Wartkin Vasilisk Semyonovich. This city government was the longest and most brilliant. Again he petitioned for an institution in the Foolov Academy, but, having received a refusal, he built a movable house.

Pimple, major, Ivan Panteleevich. The symbol of the emptiness and insignificance of power is Pimple - the mayor with a stuffed head. Explaining this image, as well as the generally unusual nature of the narrative in the "History of a City", the author wrote: ". . . A mayor with a stuffed head does not mean a man with a stuffed head, but precisely a mayor who controls the destinies of many thousands of people. This is not even laughter, but a tragic situation.”

Gloomy-Grumbling, "former scoundrel". He destroyed the old city and built another in a new place. Scoundrel - distorted from prof. (So ​​called under Peter I, the executioners in the army, and then the caretakers of military prisons.)

Gloomy-Grumbling is not only a comical figure, but also a terrible one. "He was terrible" - this phrase is repeated twice at the beginning of the chapter devoted to the all-powerful idiot. The inhabitants of the city of Glupov were inspired by the appearance and actions of Ugryum-Burcheev with only one feeling: "universal panic fear."

Gloomy-Grumbling is a monumental grotesque-satirical image, which is a combination of the most disgusting qualities hostile to man. This is a humanoid idol “with a kind of wooden face”, which “conquered every nature in itself”, which is characterized by “mental petrification”. It is "on all sides, tightly sealed being", which is alien to any "natural manifestations of human nature" and which operates "with the regularity of the most distinct mechanism."

Conclusion: What common features can be identified in the description of mayors? What generalized image of autocracy is created in the chapter? What can be said about a city with such rulers? What methods of satirical depiction of characters does the author use?

Conclusion The text of the chapter is doubly dynamic: from the comedic, playful, folklore and colloquial beginning of the chapter to its end, the emotional sound of the whole changes. From a joke, a mockery - to a mockery of the stupid zeal of the top and to an ever greater sympathy for the bottom. This will be the case in all the chapters of the novel, the key to which is the chapter "On the Root of the Origin of the Foolovites". The satire of Saltykov-Shchedrin is directed both against the autocratic rulers and against the obedient people.

“The History of a City” is a history of the oppression of the people and a resolute condemnation of the meek humility that made possible the existence of a completely rotten reactionary system.

In The History of a City, the great satirist showed that the ghost of the state is served mainly by limited people, and this service leads to the fact that they lose all individual features and become, if not soulless slaves, then complete idiots.

It is easy to see that the mayors depicted by Saltykov-Shchedrin carry in their images a hint of certain tsars or ministers. However, they are not only the personification of the Russian ruling elite. The author's intention was much broader. He sought to expose the very system of autocracy. The mayors outwardly differ significantly from each other, but one thing is characteristic of all of them - all their actions are essentially directed against the people.

By creating the ironic grotesque "History of a City," Saltykov-Shchedrin hoped to arouse in the reader not laughter, but a "bitter feeling" of shame. The idea of ​​the work is built on the image of a certain hierarchy: a simple people who will not resist the instructions of often stupid rulers, and the tyrannical rulers themselves. In the face of the common people in this story, the inhabitants of the city of Foolov act, and their oppressors are the mayors. Saltykov-Shchedrin notes with irony that this people needs a leader, one who will give them instructions and keep them in "hedgehogs", otherwise the whole people will fall into anarchy.

History of creation

The concept and idea of ​​the novel "The History of a City" were formed gradually. In 1867, the writer wrote the fairy-tale-fantastic work "The Tale of the Governor with a Stuffed Head", which subsequently formed the basis of the chapter "Organchik". In 1868 Saltykov-Shchedrin began working on The History of a City and finished in 1870. Initially, the author wanted to give the work the name "Glupovsky Chronicler". The novel was published in the then popular magazine Otechestvennye Zapiski.

The plot of the work

(Illustrations by the creative team of Soviet graphic artists "Kukryniksy")

The story is told from the perspective of the chronicler. He talks about the inhabitants of the city, who were so stupid that their city was given the name "Stupid". The novel begins with the chapter "On the Root of the Origin of the Foolovites", in which the history of this people is given. It tells in particular about the tribe of bunglers, who, after defeating the neighboring tribes of onion-eaters, thick-eaters, walrus-eaters, kosobryukhy and others, decided to find a ruler for themselves, because they wanted to restore order in the tribe. Only one prince decided to rule, and even he sent a thief-innovator instead of himself. When he stole, the prince sent him a noose, but the thief was able to get out in a sense and stabbed himself with a cucumber. As you can see, irony and the grotesque coexist perfectly in the work.

After several unsuccessful candidates for the role of deputies, the prince appeared in the city in person. Becoming the first ruler, he marked the "historical time" of the city. Twenty-two rulers with their accomplishments are said to have ruled the city, but the Inventory lists twenty-one. Apparently, the missing one is the founder of the city.

Main characters

Each of the mayors performs its task in implementing the writer's idea through the grotesque to show the absurdity of their government. In many types, the features of historical figures are visible. For greater recognition, Saltykov-Shchedrin not only described the style of their government, ridiculously distorted the names, but also gave apt descriptions pointing to a historical prototype. Some of the personalities of the mayors are images collected from the characteristic features of different people in the history of the Russian state.

So, the third ruler Ivan Matveyevich Velikanov, famous for drowning the director of economic affairs and imposing taxes at three kopecks per person, was exiled to prison for having an affair with Avdotya Lopukhina, the first wife of Peter I.

Brigadier Ivan Matveyevich Baklan, the sixth mayor, was tall and proud of being a follower of Ivan the Terrible's line. The reader understands what is meant by the bell tower in Moscow. The ruler found death in the spirit of the same grotesque image that fills the novel - the foreman was broken in half during a storm.

The personality of Peter III in the image of Guards Sergeant Bogdan Bogdanovich Pfeifer is indicated by the characteristic given to him - "a Holstein native", the style of government of the mayor and his outcome - removed from the post of ruler "for ignorance".

Dementy Varlamovich Brodysty is nicknamed "Organchik" for the presence of a mechanism in his head. He kept the city at bay because he was gloomy and withdrawn. When trying to take the head of the mayor for repair to the capital's masters, she was thrown out by a frightened coachman from the carriage. After the reign of Organchik, chaos reigned in the city for 7 days.

The short period of prosperity of the townspeople is associated with the name of the ninth mayor, Semyon Konstantinovich Dvoekurov. A civilian adviser and innovator, he took care of the appearance of the city, started honey and brewing. Tried to open an academy.

The longest reign was marked by the twelfth mayor, Vasilisk Semenovich Borodavkin, who reminds the reader of the style of government of Peter I. His “glorious deeds” also indicate the connection of the character with the historical figure - he destroyed the Streltsy and Dung settlements, and the difficult relationship with the eradication of the ignorance of the people - spent four years in Foolov wars for education and three - against. He resolutely prepared the city for burning, but suddenly died.

Onufriy Ivanovich Negodyaev, a former peasant by origin, who heated stoves before serving as a mayor, destroyed the streets paved by the former ruler and erected monuments on these resources. The image was copied from Paul I, which is also indicated by the circumstances of his removal: he was fired for disagreeing with the triumvirate about constitutions.

Under the state councilor Erast Andreevich Sadtilov, the stupid elite was busy with balls and night meetings with reading the works of a certain gentleman. As in the reign of Alexander I, the mayor did not care about the people, who were impoverished and starving.

Scoundrel, idiot and "Satan" Ugryum-Burcheev bears a "talking" surname and is "written off" from Count Arakcheev. He finally destroys Foolov and decides to build the city of Neprekolnsk in a new place. When trying to implement such a grandiose project, the “end of the world” occurred: the sun faded, the earth shook, and the mayor disappeared without a trace. Thus ended the story of "one city".

Analysis of the work

Saltykov-Shchedrin, with the help of satire and the grotesque, aims to reach out to the human soul. He wants to convince the reader that the human institution must be based on Christian principles. Otherwise, a person's life can be deformed, mutilated, and in the end can lead to the death of the human soul.

"The History of a City" is an innovative work that has overcome the usual framework of artistic satire. Each image in the novel has pronounced grotesque features, but is recognizable at the same time. That gave rise to a flurry of criticism against the author. He was accused of "slandering" the people and rulers.

Indeed, the story of Glupov is largely written off from the chronicle of Nestor, which tells about the time of the beginning of Rus' - "The Tale of Bygone Years". The author intentionally emphasized this parallel in order to make it clear who he means by the Foolovites, and that all these mayors are by no means a flight of fancy, but real Russian rulers. At the same time, the author makes it clear that he is not describing the entire human race, namely Russia, rewriting its history in his own satirical way.

However, the purpose of creating the work Saltykov-Shchedrin did not make a mockery of Russia. The writer's task was to encourage society to critically rethink its history in order to eradicate existing vices. The grotesque plays a huge role in creating an artistic image in the work of Saltykov-Shchedrin. The main goal of the writer is to show the vices of people who are not noticed by society.

The writer ridiculed the ugliness of society and was called the "great mocker" among such predecessors as Griboyedov and Gogol. Reading the ironic grotesque, the reader wanted to laugh, but there was something sinister in this laughter - the audience "felt how the scourge was whipping itself."