Introduction

Goncharov's work "Oblomov" is a socio-psychological novel built on literary method antitheses. The principle of opposition can be traced both when comparing the characters of the main characters, and their basic values ​​and life path. Comparison of the way of life of Oblomov and Stolz in the novel "Oblomov" allows us to better understand the ideological intent of the work, to understand the reasons for the tragedy of the fates of both heroes.

Features of the lifestyle of heroes

The central character of the novel is Oblomov. Ilya Ilyich is afraid life difficulties, unwilling to do or decide anything. Any difficulty and the need to act cause sadness in the hero and plunge him even more into an apathetic state. That is why Oblomov, after the first failure in the service, no longer wanted to try his hand at a career field and took refuge from the outside world on his favorite sofa, trying not only not to leave the house, but not even get out of bed unless absolutely necessary. The way of life of Ilya Ilyich is similar to a slow dying - both spiritual and physical. The personality of the hero is gradually degrading, and he himself is completely immersed in illusions and dreams that are not destined to come true.

Stolz, on the contrary, is spurred on by difficulties, any mistake for him is just an excuse to move on, achieving more. Andrei Ivanovich is in constant motion - business trips, meetings with friends and social evenings are an integral part of his life. Stolz looks at the world soberly and rationally, there are no surprises, illusions and strong shocks in his life, because he calculated everything in advance and understands what to expect in each specific situation.

The lifestyle of heroes and their childhood

The development and formation of the images of Oblomov and Stolz is shown by the author from the very early years heroes. Their childhood, youthful and mature years proceed differently, they are instilled with different values ​​and life orientations, which only emphasizes the dissimilarity of the characters.

Oblomov grew like a greenhouse plant, fenced off from possible impacts the surrounding world. Parents spoiled little Ilya in every possible way, indulged his desires, were ready to do everything to make their son happy and satisfied. The very atmosphere of Oblomovka, the hero's native estate, requires special attention. Slow, lazy and poorly educated villagers considered work to be something like a punishment. Therefore, they tried in every possible way to avoid it, and if they had to work, they worked reluctantly, without any inspiration or desire. Naturally, this could not but affect Oblomov, who from an early age absorbed the love of an idle life, absolute idleness, when Zakhar can always do everything for you - as lazy and slow as his master. Even when Ilya Ilyich finds himself in a new, urban environment, he does not want to change his lifestyle and start working intensively. Oblomov simply closes himself off from the outside world and creates in his imagination a certain idealized prototype of Oblomovka, in which he continues to “live”.

Stolz's childhood goes differently, which is primarily due to the roots of the hero - a strict German father tried to raise a worthy bourgeois from his son, who could achieve everything in life on his own, without fear of any work. The refined mother of Andrei Ivanovich, on the contrary, wanted her son to achieve a brilliant secular reputation in society, so from an early age she instilled in him a love of books and arts. All this, as well as the evenings and receptions regularly held at the Stolz estate, influenced little Andrey, having formed an extroverted, educated and purposeful personality. The hero was interested in everything new, he knew how to confidently move forward, therefore, after graduating from the university, he easily took his place in society, becoming an indispensable person for many. Unlike Oblomov, who perceived any activity as an aggravating necessity (even university studies or reading a long book), for Stolz his activity was an impulse for further personal, social and career development.

Similarities and differences in the lifestyle of heroes

If the differences in the lifestyles of Ilya Oblomov and Andrei Stolz are noticeable and obvious almost immediately, correlating respectively as a passive, leading to degradation lifestyle and an active, aimed at comprehensive development, then their similarity is visible only after detailed analysis characters. Both heroes are "superfluous" people for their era, they both do not live in the present tense, and therefore are in constant search yourself and your true happiness. The introverted, slow Oblomov clings with all his might to his past, to the "heavenly", idealized Oblomovka - a place where he will always feel good and calm.

Stoltz, on the other hand, strives exclusively for the future. He perceives his past as a valuable experience and does not try to cling to it. Even their friendship with Oblomov is full of unrealizable plans for the future - about how you can transform the life of Ilya Ilyich, make it more vivid and real. Stolz is always one step ahead, so it is difficult for him to be an ideal husband for Olga (however, Oblomov's "extra" nature in the novel also becomes an obstacle to developing relations with Olga).

Such isolation from others and inner loneliness, which Oblomov fills with illusions, and Stolz with thoughts of work and self-improvement, become the basis of their friendship. The characters unconsciously see in each other the ideal of their own existence, while completely denying their friend’s lifestyle, considering it either too active and saturated (Oblomov was upset even by the fact that he had to walk for a long time in boots, and not in his usual soft slippers), or excessively lazy and inactive (at the end of the novel, Stolz says that it was the “Oblomovism” that ruined Ilya Ilyich).

Conclusion

On the example of the way of life of Oblomov and Stolz, Goncharov showed how the fates of people who come from the same social stratum, but who received a different upbringing, can differ. Depicting the tragedy of both characters, the author shows that a person cannot live hiding from the whole world in an illusion or giving himself excessively to others, up to mental exhaustion - in order to be happy, it is important to find harmony between these two directions.

Artwork test

Ideal and idyll

Belokurova S. P., teacher of gymnasium No. 405 of the Krasnogvardeisky district of St. Petersburg Drugoveyko S. V., teacher of the Russian language department, St. Petersburg State University

One of the modern researchers, again reflecting on the pages of the novel "Oblomov", comes to the following, at first glance, rather paradoxical conclusion: "The structural construction of the novel is symmetrical. Between two idealized centers - an idyll in Oblomovka and on the Vyborg side - Oblomov's temporary residence on Gorokhovaya on the street: an intermediate state of homelessness. Three places are places of three mental and everyday states: paradise - paradise lost - paradise returned" [Haynadi Zoltan. Lost heaven/ Literature. 2002. No. 16]. It should be noted that attempts to see in Goncharov's Oblomovka a description of an earthly paradise, a kind of "Theocritan idyll" in the Russian style, have already been repeatedly made in domestic literary criticism. If the writer's contemporaries - both Dobrolyubov and Apollon Grigoriev - were still able to evaluate the image of Oblomov's idyll as very ironic, then in criticism of the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, "ironic intonations were somehow squeezed out of the definition of Oblomovka as an idyllic place. From capitalizing Russia, they sought refuge in past, in patriarchal Russia, in Oblomovka" [Kantor V. A long sleep habit: Reflections on I. A. Goncharov's novel "Oblomov" / Questions of Literature. 1989. No. 1. P. 154]. So, Oblomovka reminded Y. Aikhenvald of "a clear and quiet lake", "an idyll of settled way of life" [Aikhenvald Yu. Silhouettes of Russian writers. Issue. 1.- M., 1906. S.143-144], D. Merezhkovsky - "scenery for the idyll of the Theokritov shepherds" [Merezhkovsky D.S. Eternal companions. - SPb.-M., 1911. S.238]. In the second half of the 20th century, in the era of stagnation, Oblomovka began to seem like a "dream of a lost paradise", one "of the most defenseless, although charming in its own way, idylls that man has ever dreamed of" [Loshchits Yu. Goncharov. - M., 1986. S. 201]. However, when analyzing the text of the chapter "Oblomov's Dream", the position of the author himself in relation to the "ideal of rest and inaction" is clearly clarified, how the existence of the inhabitants of Oblomovka is conceived by the protagonist of the novel. Not without reason, in the description of Oblomovka, the images of sleep and death are not only endlessly repeated, but also equated to each other, because peace and silence serve as characteristics of both "twins", as he called these states human soul F.I. ("There are twins - for earthly / Two deities - then Death and Sleep, / Like a brother and sister wonderfully similar, / She is gloomier, he is meeker ..." (F. Tyutchev. Twins)):

everything promises there a quiet long-term life to the yellowness of the hair and imperceptible, Dream like death Quiet and sleepy everyone in the village<…>in vain you will begin to click loudly: Dead silence will be the answer ... and if anyone<…>and Reposed in eternal sleep … sleepy life her, which without that, perhaps, would fade away... reigned in the house Dead silence. The hour of the general afternoon has come sleep It was some kind of all-consuming, invincible Sleep, the true likeness of death. Everything in Oblomovka rest so tight and calmly.

Moreover, symbolic designations of life and death often collide in the same context:

everything promises there deceased long-term Life Life, how deceased river Life according to this program, it stretches in an uninterrupted monotonous fabric, imperceptibly breaking off at the very graves three main acts life <…>: motherland, wedding, The funeral Dream, Eternal silence lethargic life etc.

The concepts of life, death, sleep, peace and silence, in fact, do not have independent characteristics - which means that these states themselves are no different for Oblomovites. Not only the annual, but also the life cycle is completed for the inhabitants of Oblomovka "correctly and calmly." "Sleepy Oblomovka is the underworld, it is the absolute peace of man<…>. Oblomovka is death" [Weil P., Genis A. Native speech. - M., 1991. P. 123-124] (In general, the topic dreams plays an extremely important role in the structure of the novel. One can also recall the description of the dreams of Olga and Stolz (Part Four, Chapter VIII), and Agafya Matveevna's insomnia (Part Four, Chapter I).). In essence, the same "equating" can be observed in the description of Oblomov's life on the Vyborg side:

World and Silence Rest above Vyborg side All Quiet and in the house of Pshenitsyna. You will enter<…>and you will be embraced Alive idyll Oblomov himself was a complete and natural reflection and expression of that rest, contentment and serene Silence And here, as in Oblomovka, he managed to get rid of life, bargain with her and insure yourself unflappable peace if reproaches stir in conscience for lived so and not otherwise Life, he Sleeps restlessly looking like Quiet and calm drowning in the fire of the dawn the evening sun will finally decide that Life it was not only formed, but also created, it was even intended so simply, no wonder, in order to express the possibility of an ideal deceased side of the human Genesis he Quiet and gradually settled into Coffin the rest of its existence made with his own hands, like the elders of the desert, who, turning away from life, dig yourself Grave in Dream whether he saw the phenomenon happening in front of him, lived did ever before everlasting peace, eternal Silence <…> Quiet stopped the car life etc.

When comparing two fragments of the novel, one can see other similar details: a description of household chores, the cult of food that reigns in both worlds; numerous "reflections" of some microplots of the chapter "Oblomov's Dream" in the description of the hero's life on the Vyborg side; the similarity of Agafya Matveevna's attitude towards Oblomov with maternal feeling for little Ilyusha, etc. The basis of Agafya Matveevna Pshenitsyna's surname recalls the everyday, natural, earthly beginning. According to one of the researchers, the fact that the reader's acquaintance with the novel begins in Gorokhovaya Street and ends with the hero's marriage to a woman named Pshenitsyna is also not accidental: "Oblomov's existence is inserted into the frame of vegetative associations, as if hinting that this human life essentially vegetable "[Mildon V. On the meaning of Oblomov / Century of the XX and the world. 1995. No. 1]. On the other hand, wheat is associated with the word bread - a symbol of life. Agafya Matveevna, who became the mother of the son of Ilya Ilyich Oblomov, "turns out directly involved in the continuation of the Oblomov family (the immortality of the hero himself) "[Krasnoshchekova E. Ivan Alexandrovich Goncharov: World of creativity. St. Petersburg, 1997. S. 343]. The name is common, originating from the Greek "good, kind." The epithet is kind most often repeated in the description of this heroine.In addition, the sound of the name Agafya evokes associations with the ancient Greek agape, denoting a special kind of love - selfless and devoted.Patronymic Matveevna is just as not accidental: firstly, it repeats the patronymic of the mother of the author of the novel; secondly, the etymology of the name Matvey (Matthew) - "gift of God" - "again highlights the mythological subtext of the novel: Agafya Matveevna was sent to Oblomov, anti-Faust with his "timid, lazy soul", as a gift, as his embodiment dreams of peace" [Nikolina N. A. Philological analysis of the text. M., 2003. S. 205]. The name of the heroine also reminds of Oblomov's childhood dream of "marrying some unheard-of beauty Militrisa Kirbityevna" from nanny's tales about magical land, "where there are no worries and sorrows." It is here, on the Vyborg side, that Ilya Ilyich Oblomov dreams that he "has reached that promised land where rivers of honey and milk flow" - it was here that "the ideal of his life was realized, although without poetry." A paradoxical conclusion, because the ideal (=dream) is impossible without "poetry". In fact, this is not an ideal realized - it was embodied in life is idyll words Ideal and Idyll although they were formed on the basis of a common Greek root for them, they later received fundamentally different meaning. And in the text of Goncharov's novel they act as peculiar Antonyms. According to the dictionary interpretation, the ideal (> gr. idea - "prototype, essence") is perfection, the highest ultimate goal of aspirations, activities; while idyll (> gr. eidyllion - " external image, picture") - 1. One of genre forms ancient poetry, depicting the atmosphere of a peaceful life in the bosom of nature, giving Special attention describing happy love experiences; 2. (usually ironic) Peaceful, serenely happy, unclouded existence. "What is Oblomovism"? Oblomovism is the unwillingness, impossibility and inability to strive for the ideal: the replacement of an unattainable ideal with a completely feasible idyll, which means the replacement of the internal with the external, the essence with the appearance, high poetry spirit - the prose of real existence. To understand the secret of "Oblomov" means in many ways to comprehend the secret human existence. According to one of the researchers, "Oblomov" "was a stern warning to culture, which contemporaries did not realize, attributing the problems of the novel to a bygone or already passing time. More than a hundred years had to pass, it had to survive the revolution, civil war, Stalinist terror, decades of stagnation and immobility, so that the culturological relevance of the great novel becomes obvious" [Kantor V. A long sleep habit: Reflections on the novel by I. A. Goncharov "Oblomov" / Questions of Literature. 1989. No. 1. P. 185] .Opportunity to overcome Oblomovism, obviously, I. A. Goncharov saw in the future: the son of Oblomov, Andrey Ilyich, given to the upbringing of Olga Ilyinskaya and Stolz, was supposed to combine the kindness and "pigeon kindness" of Ilya Ilyich and Agafya Matveevna with the practicality and active spirit of Stolz and Olga Ilinskaya - to bring reality closer to the ideal.

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Oblomov and Stolz

Stolz - Oblomov's antipode (Principle of antithesis)

All figurative system novel by I.A. Goncharov "Oblomov" is aimed at revealing the nature, essence of the protagonist. Ilya Ilyich Oblomov - a bored gentleman lying on a sofa, dreaming of transformations and happy life in the family circle, but doing nothing to make dreams come true. The antipode of Oblomov in the novel is the image of Stolz. Andrei Ivanovich Stolz is one of the main characters, a friend of Ilya Ilyich Oblomov, the son of Ivan Bogdanovich Stolz, a Russified German who manages an estate in the village of Verkhlev, five miles from Oblomovka. In the first two chapters of the second part goes detailed story about the life of Stolz, about the conditions in which his active character was formed.

1. Common features:

a) age (“Stolz is the same age as Oblomov and he is already over thirty”);

b) religion;

c) studying at the boarding house of Ivan Stolz in Verkhlev;

d) service and quick retirement;

e) love for Olga Ilyinskaya;

e) good relations to each other.

2. Various features:

a ) portrait;

Oblomov . “He was a man of about thirty-two or three years of age, of medium height, of pleasant appearance, with dark gray eyes, but with absence: any definite idea, any concentration in facial features.

«… flabby beyond years: from lack of movement or air. In general, his body, judging by the matte, too white color neck, small plump arms, soft shoulders seemed too effeminate for a man. His movements, when he was even alarmed, were also restrained softness and laziness not devoid of a kind of grace.

Stolz- the same age as Oblomov, he is already over thirty. The portrait of Sh. contrasts with the portrait of Oblomov: “He is all made up of bones, muscles and nerves, like a blooded English horse. He is thin, he has almost no cheeks at all, that is, bone and muscle, but no sign of fat roundness ... "

Getting to know portrait characteristic of this hero, we understand that Stolz is a strong, energetic, purposeful person who is alien to daydreaming. But this almost ideal personality resembles a mechanism, not a living person, and this repels the reader.

b) parents, a family;

Oblomov's parents are Russian, he grew up in a patriarchal family.

Stolz - a native of the bourgeois class (his father left Germany, wandered around Switzerland and settled in Russia, becoming the manager of the estate). “Stolz was only half German, according to his father; his mother was Russian; he professed the Orthodox faith, his native speech was Russian ... ". The mother was afraid that Stolz, under the influence of his father, would become a rude burgher, but the Russian environment of Stolz interfered.

c) education;

Oblomov passed "from embraces to embraces of relatives and friends", his upbringing was of a patriarchal nature.

Ivan Bogdanovich raised his son strictly: “From the age of eight he sat with his father for geographical map, dismantled Herder, Wieland, biblical verses in warehouses and summed up the illiterate accounts of peasants, burghers and factory workers, and read sacred history with his mother, taught Krylov's fables and disassembled Telemachus in warehouses.

When Stolz grew up, his father began to take him to the field, to the market, forced him to work. Then Stoltz began to send his son to the city with instructions, "and it never happened that he forgot something, changed it, overlooked it, made a mistake."

Upbringing, like education, was ambivalent: dreaming that a “good bursh” would grow out of his son, the father encouraged boyish fights in every possible way, without which his son could not do a day. If Andrei appeared without a lesson prepared “by heart”, Ivan Bogdanovich sent his son back to where he came from, and every time young Stlz returned with lessons learned.

From his father, he received a “labor, practical education”, and his mother introduced him to the beautiful, tried to put a love of art and beauty into the soul of little Andrei. His mother "in her son ... dreamed of the ideal of a gentleman," and his father taught him to work hard, not at all lordly work.

d) attitude towards studying in a boarding house;

Oblomov studied "out of necessity", "serious reading tired him", "but the poets touched ... to the quick"

Stolz always studied well, was interested in everything. And he was a tutor at his father's boarding school

e) further education;

Oblomov lived in Oblomovka until the age of twenty, then graduated from the university.

Stolz Brilliantly graduated from the university. Parting with his father, sending him from Verkhlev to St. Petersburg, Stolz. says that he will certainly fulfill his father's advice and go to an old friend of Ivan Bogdanovich Reingold - but only when he, Stolz, has a four-story house, like Reinhold. Such autonomy and independence, as well as self-confidence. - the basis of the character and worldview of the younger Stolz, which his father so ardently supports and which Oblomov lacks so much.

f) lifestyle;

“Lying at Ilya Ilyich’s was his normal state”

Stolz has a thirst for action

g) housekeeping;

Oblomov did not do business in the village, received an insignificant income and lived in debt.

Stolz serves successfully, retires to work own business; makes a house and money. He is a member of a trading company that sends goods abroad; as an agent of the company, Sh. travels to Belgium, England, throughout Russia.

h) life aspirations;

Oblomov in his youth "prepared for the field", thought about the role in society, about family happiness, then he excluded from his dreams social activities, his ideal was a carefree life in unity with nature, family, friends.

Stoltz, chose an active principle in his youth ... Stoltz's ideal of life is unceasing and meaningful work, it is "the image, content, element and purpose of life."

i) views on society;

Oblomov believes that all members of the world and society are “dead, sleeping people”, they are characterized by insincerity, envy, a desire to “get a high-profile rank” by any means, he is not a supporter of progressive forms of housekeeping.

According to Stolz, with the help of the construction of “schools”, “marinas”, “fairs”, “highways”, the old, patriarchal “fragments” should turn into well-maintained estates that generate income.

j) attitude towards Olga;

Oblomov wanted to see loving woman capable of creating a serene family life.

Stolz marries Olga Ilyinskaya, and Goncharov tries in their active alliance, full of work and beauty, to present ideal family, a true ideal that fails in Oblomov's life: “worked together, had lunch, went to the fields, played music< …>as Oblomov also dreamed ... Only there was no drowsiness, despondency with them, they spent their days without boredom and without apathy; there was no languid look, no word; the conversation did not end with them, it was often hot.

k) relationship and mutual influence;

Oblomov considered Stolz his only friend, able to understand and help, he listened to his advice, but Stoltz failed to break Oblomovism.

Stolz highly valued the kindness and sincerity of the soul of his friend Oblomov. Stolz is doing everything to awaken Oblomov to activity. In friendship with Oblomov Stolz. also turned out to be on top: he replaced the rogue manager, destroyed the intrigues of Tarantiev and Mukhoyarov, who tricked Oblomov into signing a fake loan letter.

Oblomov used to live at the behest of Stolz in the most petty affairs he needs the advice of a friend. Without Stolz, Ilya Ilyich cannot decide on anything, however, and Oblomov is in no hurry to follow the advice of Stolz: their concept of life, work, and application of forces is too different.

After the death of Ilya Ilyich, a friend takes on the upbringing of Oblomov's son, Andryusha, named after him.

m) self-esteem ;

Oblomov constantly doubted himself. Stolz never doubts himself.

m) character traits ;

Oblomov is inactive, dreamy, sloppy, indecisive, soft, lazy, apathetic, not devoid of subtle emotional experiences.

Stolz is active, sharp, practical, accurate, loves comfort, open in spiritual manifestations, reason prevails over feeling. Stolz could control his feelings and was "afraid of every dream". Happiness for him was constancy. According to Goncharov, he "knew the value of rare and expensive properties and spent them so sparingly that he was called an egoist, insensitive ...".

The meaning of the images of Oblomov and Stolz.

Goncharov reflected in Oblomov the typical features of the patriarchal nobility. Oblomov absorbed the contradictory features of the Russian national character.

Stolz in Goncharov's novel was assigned the role of a person who could break Oblomovism and revive the hero. According to critics, the vagueness of Goncharov's idea of ​​the role of "new people" in society led to the unconvincing image of Stolz. As conceived by Goncharov, Stolz - new type Russian progressive figure. However, he does not portray the hero in a specific activity. The author only informs the reader about what Stoltz was, what he achieved. showing Parisian life Stolz with Olga, Goncharov wants to reveal the breadth of his views, but in fact reduces the hero

So, the image of Stolz in the novel not only clarifies the image of Oblomov, but is also interesting to readers for its originality and the complete opposite of the main character. Dobrolyubov says about him: “He is not the person who will be able to tell us this almighty word “forward!” in a language understandable to the Russian soul. Dobrolyubov, like all revolutionary democrats, saw the ideal of a "man of action" in serving the people, in the revolutionary struggle. Stoltz is far from this ideal. However, next to Oblomov and Oblomovism, Stolz was still a progressive phenomenon.

What are life ideals Stolz? (based on the novel by I.A. Goncharov "Oblomov")

In I.A. Goncharov’s novel “Oblomov”, Andrey Stolz is the antipode of Oblomov. Every feature of Stolz is a blatant protest against the qualities of Oblomov. The first loves active and interesting life, the second often falls into apathy, he is like a snail that is afraid to get out of its shell. The difference in the characters and life ideals of Oblomov and Stolz was laid in childhood. Stolz received a strict European upbringing. From childhood, he was instilled with good manners, taught to stay in society, forced to read different books, learn poems.

Upbringing had a great influence on Andrei, he is constantly on the move, travels to the world, reads smart books: “In the moral administration of his life, he was looking for a balance of practical aspects with the subtle needs of the spirit.” Stolz lived according to an exact plan, according to a budget, there was nothing superfluous in his actions: "He had no extra movements." Most of all, he was afraid of imagination, of any dream, there was no place for this in his soul. What was not subjected to analysis, Stoltz perceived as optical illusion. He had no idols, but he retained the strength of the soul.

This man lived in the name of the cause: "for labor itself." Stolz is shown as a "renovator" of Russian society, just such a person can change the world and life.

All his life, Goncharov dreamed of finding harmony between feelings and reason. He reflected on the strength and poverty of the "man of reason", on the charm and weakness of the "man of the heart". In Oblomov, this idea became one of the leading ones. This novel contrasts two types male characters: passive and weak Oblomov, with his heart of gold and pure soul, and energetic Stolz, overcoming any circumstances with the power of his mind and will. However, Goncharov's human ideal is not personified in either way. Stolz does not seem to the writer a more complete person than Oblomov, whom he also looks at with “sober eyes”. Impartially exposing the "extremes" of the nature of both, Goncharov advocated the completeness and integrity of the spiritual world of man with all the diversity of its manifestations.

Each of the main characters of the novel had their own understanding of the meaning of life, their life ideals, which they dreamed of realizing.

At the beginning of the story, Ilya Ilyich Oblomov is a little over thirty years old, he is a pillar nobleman, the owner of three hundred and fifty souls of serfs, which he inherited. Having served after graduating from Moscow University for three years in one of the capital's departments, he retired with the rank of collegiate secretary. Since then, he lived in St. Petersburg without a break. The novel begins with a description of one of his days, his habits and character. By that time, Oblomov's life had turned into a lazy "crawling from day to day." Retiring from vigorous activity, he lay on the sofa and irritably argued with Zakhar, his serf servant, who was courting him. Revealing the social roots of Oblomovism, Goncharov shows that "it all started with the inability to put on stockings, and ended with the inability to live."

Brought up in a patriarchal noble family, Ilya Ilyich perceived life in Oblomovka, his family estate, with its peace and inactivity, as the ideal of human existence.
The three main acts of life were constantly played out before the eyes of little Ilyusha in childhood: homeland, weddings, funerals. Then their divisions followed: christenings, name days, family holidays. All life pathos is concentrated on this. This was the "wide expanse of aristocratic life" with its idleness, which forever became the ideal of life for Oblomov.

All Oblomovites treated work as a punishment and did not like it, considering it something humiliating. Therefore, life in the eyes of Ilya Ilyich was divided into two halves. One consisted of work and boredom, and these were synonymous for him. The other is from peace and peaceful fun. In Oblomovka, Ilya Ilyich was also instilled with a sense of superiority over other people. The “other” cleans his own boots, dresses himself, runs off for whatever he needs. This "other" has to work tirelessly. Ilyusha, on the other hand, “was brought up tenderly, he did not tolerate cold or hunger, he did not know the need, he did not earn bread for himself, he did not do dirty work.” And he considered study a punishment sent by heaven for sins, and avoided schoolwork at every opportunity. After graduating from the university, he was no longer engaged in his education, was not interested in science, art, politics.

When Oblomov was young, he expected a lot from fate and from himself. He was preparing to serve the fatherland, to play a prominent role in public life, dreamed of family happiness. But days passed after days, and he was still going to start life, he kept drawing his future in his mind. However, "the flower of life blossomed and did not bear fruit."

The future service seemed to him not in the form of a harsh activity, but in the form of some kind of " family occupation". It seemed to him that officials serving together constitute a close-knit and friendly family, all members of which tirelessly care for mutual pleasure. However, his youthful ideas were deceived. Unable to bear the difficulties, he resigned after serving only three years and accomplishing nothing significant.

It happened that, lying on the couch, he would inflame with a desire to point out to mankind its vices. He will quickly change two or three poses, with shining eyes, he will rise up on the bed and look around with inspiration. It seems that his high effort is about to turn into a feat and bring good consequences to mankind. Sometimes he imagines himself an invincible commander: he will invent a war, arrange new crusades, perform feats of kindness and generosity. Or, imagining himself as a thinker, an artist, he reaps laurels in his imagination, everyone worships him, the crowd chases after him. However, in reality, he was not able to understand the management of his own estate and easily became the prey of such scammers as Tarantiev and the "brother" of his landlady.

Over time, he developed remorse, which haunted him. He was hurt for his underdevelopment, for the heaviness that prevented him from living. He was gnawed by envy that others live so fully and widely, but something prevents him from boldly going through life. He painfully felt that a good and bright beginning was buried in him, as in a grave. He tried to find the culprit outside himself and did not find. However, apathy and indifference quickly replaced anxiety in his soul, and he again slept peacefully on his sofa.

Even love for Olga did not revive him to practical life. Faced with the need to act, overcoming the difficulties that stood in the way, he became frightened and retreated. Having settled on the Vyborg side, he completely abandoned himself to the cares of Agafya Pshenitsyna, finally withdrawing from active life.

In addition to this inability brought up by the nobility, many other things prevent Oblomov from being active. He really feels the objectively existing separation of the "poetic" and the "practical" in life, and this is the reason for his bitter disappointment.

If at the beginning of the novel Goncharov speaks more about Oblomov's laziness, then at the end the theme of Oblomov's "golden heart", which he carried unharmed through life, sounds more and more insistently. Oblomov's misfortune is connected not only with the social environment, the influence of which he could not resist. It is also contained in the "disastrous excess of the heart." Softness, delicacy, vulnerability of the hero disarm his will and make him powerless before people and circumstances.

In contrast to the passive and inactive Oblomov, Stolz was conceived by the author as a completely unusual figure. Goncharov strove to make it attractive to the reader with his "deliberateness", rational skillful practicality. These qualities have not yet been characteristic of the heroes of Russian literature.

The son of a German burgher and a Russian noblewoman, Andrei Stoltz received a labor, practical education from childhood thanks to his father. It, combined with the poetic influence of his mother, made him a distinct personality. In contrast to the rounded Oblomov, he was thin, all consisted of muscles and nerves. There was some kind of freshness and strength from him. “Just as there was nothing superfluous in his body, so in the moral administration of his life he was looking for a balance of practical aspects with the subtle needs of the spirit.” “He walked through life firmly, cheerfully, lived on a budget, trying to spend every day, like every ruble.” He attributed the cause of any failure to himself, "and did not hang, like a caftan, on someone else's nail." He sought to develop a simple and direct outlook on life. Most of all, he was afraid of imagination, "this two-faced companion," and any dream, so everything mysterious and mysterious had no place in his soul. Everything that is not subjected to the analysis of experience does not correspond to practical truth, he considered a deception.

Although Oblomov has nothing to object to Stolz's reproaches, some spiritual rightness lies in Ilya Ilyich's confession that he failed to understand this life.

If at the beginning of the novel Goncharov speaks more about Oblomov's laziness, then at the end the theme of Oblomov's "golden heart", which he carried unharmed through life, sounds more and more insistently. Oblomov's misfortune is connected not only with the social environment, the influence of which he could not resist. It is also contained in the "disastrous excess of the heart." Softness, delicacy, vulnerability of the hero disarm his will and make him powerless before people and circumstances.