Tale " dog's heart”, written by M. A. Bulgakov in 1925, is the writer’s response to the reality around him, to the result of the fundamental transformations that took place in Russia in 1917.
The work recreates contemporary to the author life - Soviet reality of the early 1920s. However, it is conveyed by Bulgakov in a “bizarre” form - in a mixture of the real and the fantastic. So, on the one hand, in “Heart of a Dog” the Soviet realities of the 20s of the 20th century are reproduced to the smallest detail, right down to the exact indication of the salary of a “typist of the IX category” (four and a half chervonets) and the mention that firefighters, “how do you like it?” It is known that they eat porridge for dinner.” On the other hand, the plot collision of the story is purely fantastic - Professor Preobrazhensky, a world luminary of science, carries out an unprecedented operation - turning a dog into a human by transplanting human glands into it. But that’s not all - Preobrazhensky’s genius allows him to perform the opposite operation: at the end of the work, he again “creates” a dog from a man, having understood and experienced the threat to Sharikov’s existence.
Reality and fantasy are intertwined in “Heart of a Dog” in the most intimate way, creating the new kind reality - grotesque. It would seem that the plot with the transformation of the dog Sharik is incredible and implausible. However, Bulgakov so masterfully “weaves” it with details of reality, everyday life, that we read the work as a story about what really happened.
Philip Philipovich Preobrazhensky, an intellectual for many generations, a brilliant scientist and doctor, is planning something unprecedented - he wants to give humanity eternal youth and become famous for centuries. To do this, the hero conducts an experiment on a stray dog that he picks up on the street.
Preobrazhensky brings Sharik to his house and takes care of him. And now the long-awaited moment comes: the necessary “human material” appears - the corpse of the alcoholic Klim Chugunkin, stabbed to death in a drunken brawl. It is his pituitary gland and seminal glands that Sharik “receives”.
It soon becomes clear that no one, not even the brilliant Philip Philipovich, could have foreseen the results of this experiment. Sharik not only survived and began to recover quickly. Gradually, strange transformations began to occur to him - the dog began to turn into a human. The diary of Preobrazhensky’s assistant, Doctor Bormental, records the main moments of Sharik’s “evolution,” as a result of which he turned into Polygraph Poligrafovich Sharikov, a representative of the proletariat.
The image of Sharikov, like the images of other representatives of the “ruling class”, led by the chairman of the house committee Shvonder, is purely satirical. Of course, the basis in them is real - Bulgakov described the real traits of the people who came to power after 1917. However, often these features are strengthened or exaggerated - this is how the author expressed his attitude towards these people and their behavior, their “politics”. So, for example, one of the members of the house committee - “a peach-colored young man in a leather jacket” - bears the last name Vyazemskaya and turns out to be a woman (the writer’s hint at the asexuality of Soviet society). And Sharikov himself periodically forgets that he is no longer a dog, and catches fleas under his jacket or chases cats.
But the members of the house committee are not as harmless as it might seem at first glance, and they are not as easy to deal with as Preobrazhensky managed in the matter of “compaction.” This fact is proven by the metamorphoses that happened to Sharikov under the influence of Shvonder. It was worth it to the sweetest dog turn into Polygraph Poligrafovich and become involved with those in power - “take up the position” of the head of the department for clearing Moscow of stray animals, as he transformed into a real monster. The genes of Klim Chugunkin, a man “of the people,” uneducated, ignorant, uncultured, under the influence of favorable factors, immediately made themselves felt. Sharikov turned into an unprincipled boor and scoundrel who “seized his way to power.” It seems as if this hero is taking out his anger, injured pride, and feelings of inferiority on his benefactor Preobrazhensky, and on everyone around him.
And here the satirical and completely good-natured tone of the story begins to take on sinister tones - we understand that Professor Preobrazhensky and his entire “family” are in real danger. How can one not recall the fantastic plot from classic novel Stevenson " Strange story Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” or the plot of M. Shelley’s novel “Frankenstein”.
However, in Bulgakov's story everything ends well. When Preobrazhensky realized that his “brainchild” poses a danger to everything around him, he again turns Sharikov into a dog. Everything went back to normal - Preobrazhensky, having proven his innocence in the murder of Sharikov, was freed for some time from Shvonder’s claims. Sharik, having regained his original appearance, idolizes his benefactor.
But the ending of “Heart of a Dog” does not bring peace or tranquility. A vague feeling of anxiety and danger remains. At any moment, the life of Philip Philipovich can change; at any moment, the Kalabukhov house with its traditions and foundations can finally “sink into eternity,” just like the culture that it personifies. I think Bulgakov himself had the same feeling of instability during the creation of the story.
The writer believed that any form of violence against an individual - physical (Preobrazhensky) or ideological (Shvonder) - cannot lead to success. A person is a unique individual, and from Klim Chugunkin, who served as “material” for Sharikov, only a resemblance of Klim Chugunkin can be obtained.
But in the context of the work, another important idea was hidden: revolution is also a kind of violent operation carried out on society. It was she who declared the “toiler” proletarian the master of life, snatching him overnight from semi-feudal life, from spiritual and political slavery. This experiment on an entire country was supposed to remind the reader of the unsuccessful experiment of Professor Preobrazhensky, which almost turned into a tragedy for many people.
In order to more accurately and clearly convey his idea to people, Bulgakov uses the following in his story artistic technique as a mixture of the real and the fantastic. Often this is done so masterfully that it is very difficult to understand where one ends and the other begins. As a result of combining these two realities, a third is created - grotesque, which allows the writer not only to convey the situation of the 20s of the 20th century in Soviet Russia, but also to express your attitude to everything that is happening.
(No ratings yet)
Other writings:
- M. Bulgakov’s story “Heart of a Dog” is one of satirical works M. Bulgakov. The subject of reproof is the new social order, which arose after 1917. M. Bulgakov perceived the revolution as a grandiose and very dangerous social experiment. A model of social transformations and tragic experiments of the new Read More......
- Bulgakov's story “The Heart of a Dog” caused a hail of attacks from critics. Sharp disapproval of the work by the authorities and writers even led to the termination of the contract for the production of the story and its publication. The manuscript, along with Bulgakov's diaries, was confiscated. And only relatively recently Read More......
- M. Bulgakov’s story “Heart of a Dog” combines three genre and artistic forms: fantasy, social dystopia and satirical pamphlet. The most complex operation performed by Professor Preobrazhensky, its stunning results are, of course, fantastic. But for Bulgakov it only served plot basis to reveal social Read More ......
- Man composed legends, not knowing how to explain rain, wind, sun, good weather. As the years passed, the Earth evolved. Not understanding how love is born, how friendship arises, how war breaks out, man invented gods, believed in them, sacrificed himself to them. Worshiping Aphrodite, Read More......
- M. A. Bulgakov’s story “The Heart of a Dog” was written in 1925 and published in our country in 1987. It was impossible to publish the work, since the author openly reveals issues that concern him here. In Russia, ideological selection literary works was then conducted on Read More......
- The work of M. A. Bulgakov is one of the most beautiful pages of literature, a national treasure of the Russian people. He follows literary traditions Gogol, Dostoevsky, Saltykov-Shchedrin. Most of Mikhail Afanasyevich’s works are, first of all, works about modern writer world in which the author’s comprehension takes place Read More ......
- Bulgakov’s story “Heart of a Dog” is the writer’s bitter satire on the surrounding reality of the 1920s. Post-revolutionary Moscow with its order and inhabitants does not “inspire” Bulgakov; he does not at all share the enthusiastic hopes for a bright future, to which the whole country is now striving. Does not share Read More......
A story in which reality and “fiction” border each other. A work in which what is funny seems sad, and the facts from history simply do not fit in your head...
Did Philip Philipovich Bulgakovsky really live? was "copied" from close relative author. He really was a brilliant doctor, although not a professor.
Sharikov, of course, becomes a big fiction, or rather even his appearance as a result of the experiment. Unfortunately, in society there are many Polygraph Polygraphovichs, boors and swindlers who are trying to take possession of other people's property and live on everything they have ready. However, “rebirth” from a dog into a human is still possible only on the pages of Bulgakov’s story.
Bormenthal keeps a diary and records how amazing changes occur: the replacement of barking with sounds, stretching of limbs, the moment when the tail falls off. This “phasing” makes the reader believe in what is happening.
Post-revolutionary Russia was also mentioned in the work. The pages are completely “saturated” with the harsh reality of that time, hunger, rallies and devastation. The author provides the reader with reliable information about what the working class ate, how much they earned, how they spent their free time. It is these moments that seem implausible, and if you think about it and remember history, then terrifying. Indeed, reality turns out to be worse than any fiction.
Against the backdrop of such living conditions, the whole story, despite the fact that it contains a satirical subtext, seems like a tragedy. The fictional image becomes simply collective. Fanatics of the proletariat actually engaged in open propaganda, sang at meetings, and gave newborn babies rather “strange” names. Based on this, the stupidity and obvious absurdity of some situations at that time could well have arisen.
Densification of apartments is also a piece of Russian history. The “extra” living space was simply taken away, and the proletariat was moved into the rooms. Typically, such houses still house communal apartments.
Homeless animals, both then and now current problem. Millions of animals end up on the streets due to the fault of people. What makes the story fantastic for Sharik himself is that they fed him, took him home and bought him a collar. Of course, he had no idea that he would have to pay dearly for this, and first of all, Preobrazhensky himself.
What also becomes fantastic is that the professor manages to correct his mistake and “return” it, getting rid of the Polygraph, without leading consequences for himself and Bormenthal. They remain clean before the law. Most likely, if this situation actually happened, the outcome would be sad for both Preobrazhensky and Bormental. At the instigation of some Shvonder, both would have been arrested. At that time, they didn’t understand much, and past merits would not be taken into account.
Thus, simple things in the story may seem fantastic.
The story “Heart of a Dog”, written by M.A. Bulgakov in 1925, is the writer’s response to the reality around him, to the result of those fundamental transformations that took place in Russia in 1917.
The work recreates the author’s contemporary life - the Soviet reality of the early 1920s. However, it is conveyed by Bulgakov in a “bizarre” form - in a mixture of the real and the fantastic. So, on the one hand, in “Heart of a Dog” the Soviet realities of the 20s of the 20th century are reproduced to the smallest detail, right down to the exact indication of the salary of a “typist of the IX category” (four and a half chervonets) and the mention that firefighters, “how do you it is known that they eat porridge for dinner." On the other hand, the plot collision of the story is purely fantastic - Professor Preobrazhensky, a world luminary of science, carries out an unprecedented operation - turning a dog into a human by transplanting human glands into it. But that's not all - Preobrazhensky's genius allows him to perform and the reverse operation: at the end of the work, from a man he again “creates” a dog, having understood and experienced the threat to Sharikov’s existence.
Reality and fantasy intertwine in “Heart of a Dog” in the most intimate way, creating a new type of reality – the grotesque. It would seem that the plot with the transformation of the dog Sharik is incredible and implausible. However, Bulgakov so masterfully “weaves” it with details of reality, everyday life, that we read the work as a story about what really happened.
Philip Philipovich Preobrazhensky, an intellectual for many generations, a brilliant scientist and doctor, is planning something unprecedented - he wants to give humanity eternal youth and become famous for centuries. To do this, the hero conducts an experiment on a stray dog that he picks up on the street.
Preobrazhensky brings Sharik to his house and takes care of him. And now the long-awaited moment comes: the necessary “human material” appears - the corpse of the alcoholic Klim Chugunkin, stabbed to death in a drunken brawl. It is his pituitary gland and seminal glands that Sharik “receives”.
It soon becomes clear that no one, not even the brilliant Philip Philipovich, could have foreseen the results of this experiment. Sharik not only survived and began to recover quickly. Gradually, strange transformations began to occur to him - the dog began to turn into a human. The diary of Preobrazhensky's assistant, Doctor Bormental, records the main moments of Sharik's "evolution", as a result of which he turned into Polygraph Poligrafovich Sharikov, a representative of the proletariat.
The image of Sharikov, like the images of other representatives of the “ruling class” led by the chairman of the house committee Shvonder, is purely satirical. Of course, the basis in them is real - Bulgakov described the real traits of the people who came to power after 1917. However, often these features are strengthened or exaggerated - this is how the author expressed his attitude towards these people and their behavior, their “politics”. So, for example, one of the members of the house committee - “a peach-colored young man in a leather jacket” - bears the last name Vyazemskaya and turns out to be a woman (the writer’s hint at the asexuality of Soviet society). And Sharikov himself periodically forgets that he is no longer a dog, and catches fleas under his jacket or chases cats.
But the members of the house committee are not as harmless as it might seem at first glance, and they are not as easy to deal with as Preobrazhensky managed in the matter of “compaction.” This fact is proven by the metamorphoses that happened to Sharikov under the influence of Shvonder. As soon as the sweetest dog turned into Poligraf Poligrafovich and became involved with the powers that be - “accepted the position” of the head of the department for clearing Moscow of stray animals, he transformed into a real monster. The genes of Klim Chugunkin, a man “of the people”, uneducated, ignorant, uncultured, under the influence of favorable factors, immediately made themselves felt. Sharikov turned into an unprincipled boor and scoundrel who “seized his way to power.” It seems as if this hero is taking out his anger, injured pride, and feelings of inferiority on his benefactor Preobrazhensky, and on everyone around him.
And here the satirical and completely good-natured tone of the story begins to take on sinister tones - we understand that Professor Preobrazhensky and his entire “family” are in real danger. How can one not recall the fantastic plot from Stevenson’s classic novel “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” or the plot of M. Shelley’s novel “Frankenstein”.
However, in Bulgakov's story everything ends well. When Preobrazhensky realized that his “brainchild” poses a danger to everything around him, he again turns Sharikov into a dog. Everything went back to normal - Preobrazhensky, having proven his innocence in Sharikov’s murder, was freed for some time from Shvonder’s claims. Sharik, having regained his original appearance, idolizes his benefactor.
But the ending of “Heart of a Dog” does not bring peace or tranquility. A vague feeling of anxiety and danger remains. At any moment, the life of Philip Philipovich can change; at any moment, the Kalabukhov house with its traditions and foundations can finally “sink into eternity,” just like the culture that it personifies. I think Bulgakov himself had the same feeling of instability during the creation of the story.
The writer believed that any form of violence against an individual - physical (Preobrazhensky) or ideological (Shvonder) - cannot lead to success. A person is a unique individual, and from Klim Chugunkin, who served as the “material” for Sharikov, only the likeness of Klim Chugunkin can be obtained.
But in the context of the work, another important idea was hidden: revolution is also a kind of violent operation carried out on society. It was she who declared the “toiler” proletarian the master of life, snatching him overnight from semi-feudal life, from spiritual and political slavery. This experiment on an entire country was supposed to remind the reader of the unsuccessful experiment of Professor Preobrazhensky, which almost turned into a tragedy for many people.
In order to more accurately and clearly convey his thoughts to people, Bulgakov uses in his story such an artistic device as mixing the real and the fantastic. Often this is done so masterfully that it is very difficult to understand where one ends and the other begins. As a result of combining these two realities, a third one is created - grotesque, which allows the writer not only to convey the situation of the 20s of the 20th century in Soviet Russia, but also to express his attitude to everything that was happening.
M. A. Bulgakov’s story “The Heart of a Dog” was not published during the author’s lifetime. Only more than fifty years after its creation did it see the light of day. This was explained both by its form and its content.
The story tells how a famous scientist, conducting experiments on rejuvenation, transplants a human pituitary gland into a dog. However, the main focus of the work is on what resulted from the “humanization” of the animal.
This arrangement of accents determines the relationship between the real and the fantastic in the story. A professor performs an unprecedented operation, a dog turns into a human, and then back into a dog - this is fiction, but everything connected with the life of this dog in the guise of a human is, of course, reality.
Fiction for Bulgakov serves only as a plot basis for revealing social problems, those realities that surrounded the writer in the mid-20s.
To create a new person, the scientist takes the pituitary gland of the “proletarian” - the alcoholic and parasite Klim Chugunkin. And now, as a result of a most complex operation, an ugly, primitive creature appears, completely inheriting the “proletarian” essence of its “ancestor”. The first words he uttered were swearing, the first distinct word was “bourgeois.” And then - street expressions: “don’t push!”, “scoundrel,” “a couple more,” “get off the bandwagon,” and so on. Reality noisily bursts into the fantastic plot, and the story takes on a pronounced satirical orientation.
Professor Preobrazhensky and Bormental are unsuccessfully trying to instill in him the rules of good manners, develop and educate him. Of the cultural entertainments, Sharikov only likes the circus, and he considers theater a “counter-revolution.” In response to the demands of Preobrazhensky and Bormental to behave culturally at the table, Sharikov ironically notes that this is how people tormented themselves under the tsarist regime. There is no trace of science fiction here; we see in all its ugliness the philosophy of the “new masters of life” - the proletarians: “rob the loot”, “take everything and divide”, otherwise “one settled in seven rooms, he has forty pairs of pants, and the other wanders around, looking for food in trash bins.” The “education” of Shvonder and his henchmen very quickly bears fruit: Sharikov turns not just into a parasite and a hooligan, as his “donor” Klim Chugunkin was, but into a “proletarian” armed with Marxism and revolutionary phraseology. He steals, drinks, acts outrageously in Preobrazhensky’s apartment, and molests women. The “new” social microorder itself is depicted in the style of a satirical pamphlet. Bulkagov uses the technique of the grotesque (Sharikov’s behavior, images of members of the house committee), comic buffoonery (the scene of catching a cat). Despite all the incredibleness and fantastic nature of the story, it is distinguished by its amazing verisimilitude. These are not only recognizable concrete signs of the times. This is the city landscape itself, the scene of action: Obukhovsky Lane, a house, an apartment, its way of life, the appearance and behavior of the characters, etc.
Polygraph Poligrafovich quickly finds a place for himself in a society that lives by the principle “who was nothing will become everything.” Shvonder arranges for him to be the head of the department for cleaning the city from stray animals. Consistently “developing,” he writes a denunciation against his creator, Professor Preobrazhensky. Sharikov is alien to conscience and morality. He lacks positive human qualities. However, this is characteristic of almost all the “comrades” depicted in the story. And this, according to the deep conviction of the professor, is the source of the devastation that reigns around. He believes that the devastation “is not in the closets, but in the heads.” And these thoughts are also quite real. True, in our country, which for a long time lived in a virtual socialist “tomorrow”, they began to be perceived as truth only relatively recently, when people finally realized that in these words “there is no counter-revolution, but only experience and common sense.”
Real and fantastic in the story
The story “Heart of a Dog” became one of best works M. A. Bulgakova. It was written in 1925, but a year later it was confiscated after a search in the writer’s apartment and was banned from publication. After all, the main theme of the work is the depiction of society in a difficult era of transition from one regime of power to another. This story was first published in Russia in 1968 abroad, and only in 1987 in Russia. It reflects the harsh reality of the first half of the 1920s: devastation and hunger in the country, the triumph of petty-bourgeois psychology, the housing crisis. The main characters of the work are the outstanding professor, intellectual Filipp Filippovich Preobrazhensky and his opposite, the stupid and arrogant Sharikov.
The doctor’s experience and knowledge helped Bulgakov create a plausible picture of an unprecedented medical experiment, during which Professor Preobrazhensky turned the stray dog Sharik into a human. This operation of transplanting human testes and pituitary gland into the body of an animal was aimed at rejuvenating the body, but led to unexpected results. The dog gradually accepted human species: stood on two legs, lost tufts of fur, tried to pronounce short words. Over time, he completely became a full-fledged person, at least externally. However, the essence of a stray dog and the character of the suspended prisoner Klim Chugunkin, whose organs were transplanted to Sharik, made themselves felt. Soon the new creature received a passport in the name of Polygraph Poligrafovich Sharikov and registered in the professor’s apartment. All this, of course, happened not without the help of Shvonder, the new head of the house committee and proletarian.
The story reveals Bulgakov's unique literary style. He used revealing humor, sometimes reaching the point of philosophical sarcasm. He understood perfectly well that any talent combined with a lack of understanding of the ultimate goal could lead to tragic consequences. So the creation of the scientist Preobrazhensky became hidden threat for society. Sharikov not only became rowdy, broke the windows of his neighbors, bothered the cooks, got drunk, fought and stole, he also joined a new cell of society, which was fond of denunciations, incitement and even violent methods in order to humiliate the former intelligentsia. Preobrazhensky could not allow this, so at the end of the story he nevertheless corrected his mistake, turning Poligraf Poligrafovich into the old Sharik.
The work masterfully intertwines the fantastic with the real, the comic with the tragic. Despite the fact that the story is dramatic, it is sometimes difficult not to laugh. Such a tragicomic narrative most fully reflects life.
