>Essays on the work What to do

New people

The novel “What to do?” was written by N. G. Chernyshevsky in 1862-1863 within the walls Peter and Paul Fortress. In it he presented whole line“new” personalities who could replace the usual society and become the social core of that time. The socio-political background of the novel was not immediately noticed by the censors, so his work was easily published. The main plot line was the theme of love. A year later, the text spread throughout the country. However, over time, it became clear that the author wanted to introduce readers to the “new people” of his novel. The world of these people was formed in the struggle against the old regime, which had long since outlived its usefulness, but continued to dominate.

So, for example, mother main character- Marya Alekseevna is interested exclusively in issues of profit and gain. This moneylender dreams of marrying her daughter to a rich gentleman and tells her to be courteous to the owner’s son. Vera Pavlovna is the complete opposite of her mother. This is a reasonable, sensible and mature-spirited girl who understands perfectly well what this rich womanizer is trying to achieve. Over time, staying in her home becomes completely unbearable for Vera and a young student begins to help her. medical academy- Dmitry Lopukhov. Although he is the son of a landowner, he always paved his own path. So, gradually, around Vera Pavlovna and Lopukhov, a new circle of people.

These people are young, energetic, interesting, full of strength and new ideas. They often visit the house of the Lopukhovs, who entered into a fictitious marriage to save Vera. This is the intelligent Kirsanov, and the desperate Rakhmetov, and other young students from St. Petersburg and abroad educational institutions. Having decided to open a sewing workshop, Vera Pavlovna invites girls to work there who find themselves in the same difficult situation in which she once was. These girls now work not for hire, but for equal rights with Vera Pavlovna. They not only work together, but also relax in their free time, having picnics, tea parties and small talk. All commoners involved in the novel are united by a heightened sense of duty and dignity.

Chernyshevsky’s “New Lyuli” are full of hopes for a bright future. For them, honesty and integrity come first. They know for sure that other personal happiness cannot be built on misfortune. Not the least place in the novel is occupied by introspection and the psychology of behavior of each individual person. The greatest resonance in society was caused by the chapter “A Special Person” about the extraordinary student Rakhmetov, in whom the author saw an ideal revolutionary. Perhaps this is the most active person of all the “new people”. He fights for the “new world” tooth and nail, and for this he is ready to resort to all sorts of means. This young man strengthened his strength of character through physical labor and material deprivation. This is exactly how the author saw it “ new person", capable of making fundamental changes in society and developing it.

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“New people” in Nikolai Chernyshevsky’s novel “What is to be done?”
Chernyshevsky’s novel “What to do?” is a work of art, is a “mental experiment” of the author, who seeks to understand the possible development of those situations, conflicts, types of personalities and principles of their behavior that have already developed in modern life.
Chernyshevsky sees the task of his work as showing how positive ideals, far from the reality of dreams, gradually move into the sphere of real, practical activity, accessible ordinary people, but people of a new type. After all, the novel itself is not just called “What is to be done?”, but has a special subtitle: “Stories about new people.”
New people become, according to Chernyshevsky, a phenomenon of everyday life. Now ideals are moving from the sphere of dreams to the sphere of practical life, and life accessible to ordinary people. Therefore, the author himself bases the plot of the novel on the example of the life of an ordinary woman.
New people are significantly different from the nihilist Bazarov. Main character“Fathers and Sons” considered his main task to be “clearing the place.” Chernyshevsky, against the backdrop of the controversy developing around Turgenev’s novel, poses a qualitatively new task: to show that new people build, and not just destroy, i.e. show not the destructive, but the creative role of new people.
The theory is also significantly new reasonable selfishness, or the theory of calculation of benefits, proclaimed and implemented by new people.
Chernyshevsky does not question the rationality of a person, saying that a person can fully rationally calculate his egoistic path to happiness. Calculating one's own benefit, according to the author of the novel, also involves a certain respectful attitude towards other people: “In order for people to enjoy the happiness of love, they must be surrounded by equally happy people.” Thus, the theory of rational egoism is manifested by the theory of revolutionary altruism.
An example of reasonable egoism is the reasoning of Lopukhov, who foresaw the need for himself to “leave the stage” when he saw that Vera Pavlovna and Kirsanov loved each other: “It’s unpleasant for me to lose a friend; and then - it’s time for me to go underground.”
Lopukhov's actions show that the moral level of new people is very high. And Vera Pavlovna herself calms down only when Lopukhov becomes completely happy.
By creating images of “ordinary new people” in his work, Chernyshevsky shows that personal freedom does not mean a reduction in moral requirements for oneself and the people around him, but, on the contrary, gives a person the opportunity to fully and brightly reveal his mental and creative potential.

Following the abolition of serfdom in 1861, people of a previously unprecedented formation began to emerge in Russian society. Children of officials, priests, minor nobles and industrialists came to Moscow, St. Petersburg and other big cities from different parts of Russia to get a good education. They were the ones who treated such people. It was they who, with pleasure and joy, absorbed not only knowledge, but also culture within the university walls, introducing, in turn, into the life of the democratic customs of their small provincial towns and obvious dissatisfaction with the ancient noble system.

They were destined to give rise to a new era in the development of Russian society. This phenomenon was reflected in Russian literature of the 60s of the 19th century; it was at this time that Turgenev and Chernyshevsky wrote novels about “new people.” The heroes of these works were commoner revolutionaries who considered the main goal of their lives to be the struggle for the happy life of all people in the future. In the subtitle of the novel "What to do?" We read by N. G. Chernyshevsky: “From stories about new people.”

Chernyshevsky “knows not only how new people think and reason, but also how they feel, how they love and respect each other, how they arrange their family and daily life and how ardently they strive for that time and for that order of things in which it would be possible to love all people and trustingly extend a hand to everyone.”

The main characters of the novel - Lopukhov, Kirsanov and Vera Pavlovna - are representatives of a new type of people. They do not seem to do anything that would exceed ordinary human capabilities. These are normal people, and the author himself recognizes them as such people; This circumstance is extremely important; it gives the entire novel a particularly deep meaning.

By nominating Lopukhov, Kirsanov and Vera Pavlovna as the main characters, the author thereby shows readers: this is how ordinary people can be, this is how they should be, if, of course, they want their life to be full of happiness and pleasure. Wanting to prove to readers that they are truly ordinary people, the author brings onto the stage the titanic figure of Rakhmetov, whom he himself recognizes as extraordinary and calls “special.” Rakhmetov does not participate in the action of the novel, because people like him are only then and there in their sphere and in their place, when and where they can be historical figures. Neither science nor family happiness satisfy them.

They love all people, suffer from every injustice that occurs, experience in their own souls the great grief of millions and give everything they can give to heal this grief. Chernyshevsky’s attempt to introduce a special person to readers can be called quite successful. Before him, Turgenev took on this matter, but, unfortunately, completely unsuccessfully.

The heroes of the novel are people who come from different strata of society, mostly students who study natural sciences and “early got used to making their way with their breasts.”

In Chernyshevsky’s novel, a whole group of like-minded people appears before us. The basis of their activity is propaganda; Kirsanov’s student circle is one of the most effective. Young revolutionaries are educated here, the personality of a “special person,” a professional revolutionary, is formed here. To become a special person, you must, first of all, have enormous willpower in order to give up all pleasures for the sake of your business and drown out all the slightest desires.

Work in the name of the revolution becomes the only, completely absorbing task. In the formation of Rakhmetov’s beliefs, the conversation with Kirsanov was decisive, during which “he sends a curse to what must die, etc.” After him, Rakhmetov’s transformation into a “special person” began. The power of influence of this circle on young people is evidenced by the fact that the “new people” have followers (Rakhmetov scholarship recipients).

Chernyshevsky gave in his novel the image of " new woman"Vera Pavlovna, whom Lopukhov “brought” out of the “basement of bourgeois life,” is a comprehensively developed person, she strives for perfection: she decides to become a doctor in order to bring even greater benefit to people. Having escaped from her parents’ home, Vera Pavlovna frees other women as well. She creates a workshop where she helps poor girls find their place in life.

All the activities of Lopukhov, Kirsanov, Vera Pavlovna are inspired by faith in the onset of a bright future. They are no longer alone, although their circle of like-minded people is still small. But it was people like Kirsanov, Lopukhov, Vera Pavlovna and others who were needed in Russia at that time. Their images served as an example for shaping the worldview of the revolutionary generation. The author realized that the people described in his novel were his dream. But this dream at the same time turned out to be a prophecy. “Years will pass,” says the author of the novel about the type of new person, “and he will be reborn in more numerous people.”

The writer himself wrote well about the “new people” and their significance in the life of the rest of humanity in his own work: “They are few, but with them the life of all blossoms; without them it would stall, it would turn sour; they are few, but they give all people to breathe, without them people would suffocate. This is the color. the best people, these are the engines of the engines, they are the salt of the earth.”

Life is unthinkable without such people, because it must always change, being modified over time. Nowadays there is also a field of activity for new people making radical changes in life. Chernyshevsky's novel "What to do?" invaluable and topical in this regard for the current reader, helping to intensify the rise in the human soul, the desire to fight for the social good. The problem of the work will be eternally modern and necessary for the formation of society.

The mention of Sunday workers' schools meant a lot to the readers of that time. The fact is that by a special government decree in the summer of 1862 they were closed. The government was afraid of the revolutionary work that was carried out in these schools for adults, workers, and revolutionary democrats. The original intention was to direct the work in these schools in a religious spirit. It was prescribed to study in them the Law of God, reading, writing and the beginnings of arithmetic. Each school had to have a priest to monitor the good intentions of the teachers.

It was precisely such a priest in Vera Pavlovna’s “lyceum of all kinds of knowledge” that Mertsalov should have been, who, however, was preparing to read the forbidden Russian and world history. The literacy that Lopukhov and other “new people” were going to teach to the worker listeners was also unique. There are examples when progressively minded students explained in class the meaning of the words “liberal,” “revolution,” and “despotism.” The educational activities of the “new people” are a real approach to the future.

It is necessary to say something about the relationship between “new” and “vulgar” people. In Marya Alekseevna and Polozov, the author sees not only, in the words of Dobrolyubov, “tyrants,” but also practically gifted, active people who, under other circumstances, are capable of benefiting society. Therefore, you can find features of their similarities with children. Lopukhov very quickly gains confidence in Rozalskaya; she respects his business qualities (primarily his intention to marry a rich bride). However, the complete opposite of the aspirations, interests and views of the “new” and “vulgar” people is clearly visible. And the theory of rational egoism gives an undeniable advantage to the “new people”.

The novel often talks about selfishness as an internal motivator of human actions. The author considers the most primitive thing to be the selfishness of Marya Alekseevna, who does no good to anyone without monetary payment. The selfishness of wealthy people is much more terrible. He grows on “fantastic” soil - on the desire for excess and idleness. An example of such egoism is Soloviev, who plays out his love for Katya Polozova because of her inheritance.

The selfishness of the “new people” is also based on the calculation and benefit of one person. “Everyone thinks most of all about himself,” says Lopukhov to Vera Pavlovna. But this is a fundamentally new moral code. Its essence is that the happiness of one person is inseparable from the happiness of other people. The benefit and happiness of a “reasonable egoist” depends on the state of his loved ones and society as a whole. Lopukhov frees Verochka from a forced marriage, and when he is convinced that she loves Kirsanov, he leaves the stage. Kirsanov helps Katya Polozova, Vera organizes a workshop. For heroes, following the theory of reasonable egoism means taking into account the interests of another person with every action. The mind comes first for the hero; the person is forced to constantly turn to introspection and give an objective assessment of his feelings and position.

As you can see, the “reasonable egoism” of Chernyshevsky’s heroes has nothing to do with selfishness or self-interest. Why is this still the theory of “egoism”? The Latin root of this word “ego” - “I” indicates that Chernyshevsky places man at the center of his theory. In this case, the theory of rational egoism becomes the development of the anthropological principle that Chernyshevsky put at the basis of his philosophical idea.

In one of the conversations with Vera Pavlovna, the author says: “...I feel joy and happiness” - which means “I want all people to be happy” - humanly speaking, Verochka, these two thoughts are one and the same." Thus, Chernyshevsky states that the creation of favorable conditions for the life of an individual is inseparable from improving the existence of all people. This reflects the undoubted revolutionary nature of Chernyshevsky’s views.

The moral principles of the “new people” are revealed in their attitude to the problem of love and marriage. For them, man and his freedom are the main value in life. Love and humane friendship form the basis of the relationship between Lopukhov and Vera Pavlovna. Even a declaration of love occurs during a discussion of Verochka’s position in her mother’s family and the search for a path to liberation. Thus, the feeling of love only adapts to the situation that has arisen. It should be noted that such a statement entered into controversy with many works of the 19th century.

The problem of women's emancipation is also being solved by the “new people” in a unique way. Although only church marriage is recognized, a woman must remain financially and spiritually independent of her husband during marriage. Starting a family is only one of the milestones on the way to approaching the ideal.

The theme of the rebirth of a fallen woman is also explored in the novel. The meeting with Kirsanov gives Nastya Kryukova the strength to rise from the bottom. Julie, who lives among “vulgar people,” does not have such an opportunity. In addition, a two-way connection is visible: people who are reborn thanks to the support of “new people” themselves join their ranks.

Only children make a woman happy, according to Chernyshevsky. It is with the upbringing of children and their future that the author connects Vera Pavlovna’s second marriage. It becomes a real bridge to the future.

The heroes of Chernyshevsky's novel "What to do?" - these are commoners, new heroes of literature. Underestimating the role of the working class, Chernyshevsky predicts victory and the approach of the future for the revolutionary democrats and commoners.

“...I wanted to portray ordinary

decent people of the new generation.”

Chernyshevsky N. G.

After the abolition of serfdom in 1861, people of a previously unprecedented formation began to appear in Russian society. These were the children of officials, priests, minor nobles and industrialists who came to Moscow and St. Petersburg and other large cities from various parts of Russia to get an education. They willingly absorbed not only knowledge, but also culture in university towns, introducing, in turn, the democratic traditions of their small provincial towns and obvious dissatisfaction with the old noble orders,

They were destined to begin new era development of Russian society. This phenomenon was reflected in Russian literature of the 60s. XIX century, just at this time Turgenev and Chernyshevsky wrote novels about “new people”. The heroes of these works were commoner revolutionaries who considered the main goal of their lives to be the struggle for the happy life of all people in the future. In the subtitle of the novel “What to do?” N. G. Chernyshevsky we read: “From stories about new people.”

Chernyshevsky “knows not only how new people think and reason, but also how they feel, how they love and respect each other, how they organize their family and everyday life, and how ardently they strive for that time and for that order of things, with whom one could love all people and trustingly extend a hand to everyone.”

The main characters of the novel - Lopukhov, Kirsanov and Vera Pavlovna - are representatives of a new type of people. They, it would seem, do nothing that would exceed ordinary human capabilities. These are ordinary people, and the author himself recognizes them as such people; This circumstance is extremely important; it gives the entire novel a particularly deep meaning.

By nominating Lopukhov, Kirsanov and Vera Pavlovna as the main characters, the author thereby shows readers: this is how ordinary people can be, this is how they should be, if, of course, they want their life to be full of happiness and pleasure. Wanting to prove to readers that they are truly ordinary people, the author brings onto the stage the titanic figure of Rakhmetov, whom he himself recognizes as extraordinary and calls him “special.” Rakhmetov does not participate in the action of the novel, because people like him are only then and there in their sphere and in their place, when and where they can be historical figures. Neither science nor family happiness satisfy them.

They love all people, suffer from every injustice that occurs, experience in their own souls the great grief of millions and give everything they can give to heal this grief. Chernyshevsky’s attempt to introduce a special person to readers can be called quite successful. Before him, Turgenev took on this matter, but, unfortunately, completely unsuccessfully.

The heroes of the novel are people who come from different strata of society, mostly students who study natural sciences and “early got used to making their way with their breasts.”

In Chernyshevsky’s novel, a whole group of like-minded people appears before us. The basis of their activities is propaganda. Kirsanov's student circle is one of the most effective. Young revolutionaries are educated here, the personality of a “special person,” a professional revolutionary, is formed here. To become a special person, you must, first of all, have enormous willpower in order to give up all pleasures for the sake of your business and drown out all the slightest desires.

Work in the name of the revolution becomes the only, completely absorbing task.

In the formation of Rakhmetov’s beliefs, the conversation with Kirsanov was decisive, during which “he sends a curse to what must die, etc.” After him, Rakhmetov’s transformation into a “special person” began. The power of influence of this circle on young people is already evidenced by the fact that the “new people” have followers (Rakhmetov scholarship recipients).

Chernyshevsky also gave the image of a “new woman” in his novel. Vera Pavlovna, whom Lopukhov “brought” out of the “basement of bourgeois life,” is a comprehensively developed person, she strives for perfection: she decides to become a doctor in order to bring even greater benefit to people. Having escaped from her parents' house, Vera Pavlovna frees other women. She creates a workshop where she helps poor girls find their place in life.

All the activities of Lopukhov, Kirsanov, Vera Pavlovna are inspired by faith in the onset of a bright future. They are no longer alone, although their circle of like-minded people is still small. But it was people like Kirsanov, Lopukhov, Vera Pavlovna and others who were needed in Russia at that time. Their images served as an example for shaping the worldview of the revolutionary generation. The author realized that the people described in his novel were his dream. But this dream at the same time turned out to be a prophecy. “Years will pass,” says the author of the novel about the type of new person, “and he will be reborn in more numerous people.”

Chernyshevsky himself wrote best about “new people” and their role in the lives of other people in his novel: “They are few, but with them the life of everyone blossoms; without them it would have stalled, gone sour; There are few of them, but they allow all people to breathe, without them people would suffocate. This is the color of the best people, these are the engines of engines, this is the salt of the earth.”

Without such people, life is impossible, because it must constantly change, transform from year to year. Nowadays, there is also a place for new people who make fundamental changes in life. And in this regard, Chernyshevsky’s novel “What is to be done?” valuable and relevant for the modern reader. It helps to evoke an upsurge in a person’s soul, a desire to fight for the public good. The theme of the novel will always be modern and necessary for the development of society.