The man in the case who wrote it. Man in a Case

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov is one of the greatest Russian writers, who perfectly understood that power, rank and money are everything external factors capable of enslaving human personality. However, the real tool is still pervasive fear. This is what Chekhov warned about in his works. “The Man in the Case” tells about an absurd and insignificant character. Manic fear reigned supreme in his soul.

Summary: “Man in a Case.” Start

In the village of Mironositskoye, in the barn of the elder Prokofy, two hunters settled down for the night. One, Ivan Ivanovich, is a veterinarian, and the other, Burkin, is a gymnasium teacher. The first one came to these places to hunt and breathe fresh air, and the other loved to stay with Counts P every summer. There was nothing else for them to do except talk. And the conversation immediately turned to the headman’s wife Mavra, who was a healthy woman and not at all stupid. But she doesn’t like to go out in public, she has never traveled further than her village, in general, she lives like a hermit crab.

The hunters couldn't sleep for a long time. The moon was shining in the sky, Ivan Ivanovich was smoking a pipe at the entrance, and Burkin was lying on the hay.

Belikov

Further, the plot and our summary receive an interesting development. “The Man in the Case” continues with Burkin arguing that people like Mavra are not at all uncommon. For example, in their city, a Greek language school teacher, Belikov, recently died, who was extremely strange man. He always wore the same clothes, in any weather he put on a warm coat with cotton wool, galoshes and always took an umbrella. And he had everything in a case: a watch, glasses, a penknife for pencils, etc. One got the impression that he was constantly trying to surround himself with some kind of shell, probably this is how he hid from the realities of life. He was afraid of everything, he was a very cautious and suspicious person. Everyone was afraid of him too, even the director. He kept the entire gymnasium in fear for 15 years.

Varenka

But one day he almost got married. Was assigned to them new teacher, who arrived with his thirty-year-old sister Varenka, who was very cheerful and lively. At the director's name day she sang very beautifully, and Belikov became a little carried away by her. It seemed to everyone that they would like to marry forty-year-old Belikov to Vara. It seems like they would make a good couple. But Belikov was in no hurry, he wanted to think everything over and weigh it carefully. And I thought for so long that I lost even more weight and became haggard. Varenka also liked the Greek teacher, especially since she lived well and well with her brother, since they liked to argue.

However, everything was ruined by the drawn caricature, where Belikov in galoshes, rolled trousers and an umbrella walks arm in arm with Varya. And below was the signature: “Anthropos in love.” Belikov was very alarmed by all this. But the worst blow was when he saw Varenka riding bicycles with her brother. Belikov considered this an extraordinary event. That evening he came to her brother to talk about their indecent behavior. He said that it was not permissible for a teacher to ride a bicycle, because all the schoolchildren could do was walk on their heads, and that he was obliged to report this to the principal.

Of course, a lot is missed in the description, since this is only a summary. “The Man in the Case” ends with Varya’s brother unable to resist and throwing Belikov down the stairs, so much so that he rolled head over heels and fell to the ground. I was lucky that I didn’t break anything and my glasses remained intact. This whole picture was seen by Varya approaching the house with two ladies. The unfortunate Belikov stood up, shook himself off, and Varya burst into loud laughter, thinking that he had accidentally tripped. But he no longer heard or saw all this. IN in complete despair he came home, went to bed and never got out of it. Three days later he died...

The funeral was over, everyone seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, but a week later life again became as gray, tiresome and stupid as it had been before.

The story “The Man in the Case”: analysis of the work

That's basically all. This is the most interesting thing a summary can tell you. “Man in a Case” shows the case life as a way of existence. But Chekhov himself was always a supporter full life. In this story, he wanted to emphasize that fear of reality for a person can create that very case. This work clearly shows the satirical and grotesque characteristics of the life of the Russian intelligentsia in Russia at that time.

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov is the author of many innovative works, where the reader sees not only subtle satire, but also detailed description human soul. When you get acquainted with his work, it begins to seem that he is not only a prose writer, but also a very gifted psychologist.

"The Man in the Case" is one of three stories in the "Little Trilogy" series, which the author worked on for about two months in 1898. It also includes the stories “Gooseberry” and “About Love”, which Anton Pavlovich wrote in Melikhovka, where he lived with his family. He barely managed to finish working on them, because he was already suffering from tuberculosis and wrote less and less.

It is impossible to be sure that Chekhov wrote about some specific person Most likely, the central image of “The Man in a Case” is a collective one. The writer's contemporaries put forward several candidates who could serve as prototypes for Belikov, but all of them had only slight resemblance with the hero.

Genre, conflict and composition

It is quite easy for the reader to get acquainted with the work, because it is written in simple language, which, nevertheless, is capable of causing huge amount impressions. Style is expressed in compositions: the text is divided into small semantic fragments, focusing attention on the most important thing.

In the story we see conflict between two heroes. The author contrasts Kovalenko (life-affirming, active position, positive thinking) and Belikov (passive and lifeless vegetation, internal slavery), which helps him to reveal the problem posed even better. The case becomes artistic detail, which describes the whole essence and meaning of the work, shows inner world hero.

Literary genre- a story that is part of a “small trilogy” of three separate stories, but combined with one idea. “The Man in the Case” is written with an obvious satirical overtones; with this technique the writer ridicules the very essence of “ little man", who is simply afraid to live.

Meaning of the name

In his story, Chekhov warns us that absolutely any person, without meaning to, can imprison himself in a “case,” which is where the name came from. The case refers to the fixation on the unwritten set of rules and restrictions with which people constrain themselves. Dependence on conventions turns into a disease for them and prevents them from getting closer to society.

The secluded world of prohibitions and barriers seems much better to the inhabitants of the cases; they surround themselves with a kind of shell so that the influence of the outside world does not touch them in any way. However, living locked up with your own routines and attitudes is cramped; another person will not fit in there. It turns out that a resident of a stuffy, clogged corner is doomed to loneliness, which is why the title of the story is fundamentally given in the singular.

Main characters

The main character of the story is Belikov- teacher Greek language at the gymnasium. It sets certain rules in his life, and most of all he is afraid that something will not go as planned. Belikov even in the clearest and warm weather dressed in galoshes and warm coat with his collar turned up, he hides his face behind dark glasses and a hat in order to protect himself as best as possible from influence environment: not only natural, but also social. It scares him modern reality and is irritated by everything that happens around, which is why the teacher puts on a certain case both externally and internally.
Mikhail Kovalenko is a new history and geography teacher who comes to work at the gymnasium with his sister. Mikhail is a young, sociable and cheerful man tall, a big fan of laughing and even laughing heartily.
His sister Varenka- a 30-year-old woman, very cheerful and happy, loves to have fun, sing and dance. The heroine shows interest in Belikov, who, in turn, devotes time to her and agrees to go for walks in order to discuss the fact that marriage is too much serious thing. The woman still does not lose hope of stirring up the gentleman, which reveals in her such qualities as perseverance and determination.

Topics

The main theme of Chekhov's story is closed and isolated human life who is shy of the surrounding world and shuns any manifestation of feeling. He hides his eyes from the people around him, constantly carries all his things in a case, be it a small knife designed for sharpening a pencil, or an ordinary umbrella, which is so convenient to hide his face. Many spiritual values were strange to the main character, and emotions were incomprehensible. This expresses his limitations, which poison his existence.
Love theme in the story it is revealed in Varenka’s attitude towards Belikov. The girl is trying to interest the hero and return him to a full life. She believes to the last that he can still change for the better. But he also closes himself off from her, because the prospect of marriage and his colleagues’ obsessive conversations about their marriage begin to frighten him.
Chekhov explains to the reader that the worst thing that can happen to a person is indifference to life. Belikov became so withdrawn into himself that he stopped distinguishing the colors of the world, enjoying communication, and striving for something. He no longer cares what happens outside his case, as long as numerous decencies are observed.
Man in a case - collective image timid people who are afraid of their own feelings and emotions. They abstract themselves from the world around them and withdraw into themselves. That's why theme of loneliness is also important in the story of Anton Pavlovich Chekhov.

Main problems

Conservative. The author realizes with horror and pity that some of his contemporaries create a shell for themselves in which they perish morally and spiritually. They exist in the world, but do not live. People go with the flow, moreover, they cannot even allow fate to intervene and change something in their life. better side. This fear of new events and changes makes people passive, inconspicuous and unhappy. Due to the abundance of such conservatives in society, stagnation forms, through which it is difficult for young shoots capable of developing and developing the country to break through.
The problem of the meaninglessness of life. Why did Belikov live on earth? He never made anyone happy, not even himself. The hero trembles over his every action and constantly echoes: “No matter what happens.” Bypassing fictitious sorrows and suffering, he misses happiness itself, thus, its price of psychological comfort is too high, since it destroys the very essence of people’s existence.
It appears before the reader the problem of happiness, more precisely, the problem of its achievement, essence and price. The hero replaces him with peace, but, on the other hand, he himself has the right to determine what is the highest value for him.
The problem of fear of love. The people who surround him are just as unhappy, they find themselves on the other side of a fictional case, Belikov simply cannot open up and let someone closer. The hero was never able to develop his feelings for the girl he liked, he was simply afraid of them and was left with nothing.
The Problem of Sociopathy. The teacher is afraid of society, despises it, fences himself off, not allowing any of the people around him to help himself. They would be happy, but he himself does not allow this.

Main idea

Chekhov was not only a doctor by training, but also a healer of souls by vocation. He realized that spiritual illness is sometimes more dangerous than physical illness. The idea of the story “The Man in a Case” is a protest against lonely, closed vegetation under a shell. The author puts into the work the idea that the case must be mercilessly burned in order to feel freedom and approach life with ease.
Otherwise, the fate of a closed person may be disastrous. Yes, in the final main character dies alone, leaving no grateful descendants, no followers, no achievements. The writer shows us how it can end in vain earthly path"case" person. Colleagues and acquaintances who attend his funeral are mentally happy that they have finally said goodbye to Belikov and his importunity.

Anton Pavlovich puts socio-political implications into his work, emphasizing the importance social activity and civil initiative. He advocates a rich and fulfilling life, endows the main character with repulsive character traits in order to prove to people how pathetic and pathetic the inhabitant of the “case” looks, wasting himself.

Thus, Chekhov describes the lot of many clerks who lived sadly in a stuffy city, sorting out pieces of paper that no one needed. He ironically plays on the “little man” type, violating literary tradition depict it in idyllic colors. His author's position is not contemplative or sentimental, but active, not tolerating compromises. The inhabitants of the case should not savor their insignificance and wait for pity, they need to change and squeeze out a slave.

What does the author teach?

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov makes us think about our own life and wonder interesting question: “Aren’t we building ourselves the same case that the main character Belikov had?” Author in literally teaches us to live, showing by example how a personality that grovels before conventions and stereotypes can fade and disappear. Chekhov was really able to instill in people a disgust for a gray, worthless life, to show that inaction and indifference are the worst things that can happen to us.

The fear of discoveries and accomplishments destroys a person’s personality; he becomes pitiful and helpless, unable to show even the simplest feelings. The writer believes that human nature much richer and more capable than what fear and laziness turn her into. Happiness, according to Chekhov, lies in a full life, where there is a place strong emotions, interesting communication and individuality.

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"Man in a Case"- story by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, written in May-June 1898. It was first published in the magazine “Russian Thought”, 1898, No. 7. 1st part of the “little trilogy”.

History of creation

The idea of creating this series came to Chekhov in the summer. The “Little Trilogy” series, consisting of three stories: “The Man in a Case”, “Gooseberry”, “About Love”, should not have ended with the story “About Love”. While writing the stories, there was a decline in creative activity, and later Chekhov was distracted by tuberculosis.

Chekhov worked on the story in May - June 1898 in Melikhovo. At the beginning of June 1898, the story was being prepared for publication, and on June 15, 1898, the manuscript was sent to the magazine.

Chekhov wrote about this story in his notebooks:

Prototype

Belikov's exact prototype is unknown. Some contemporaries (including V. G. Bogoraz and M. P. Chekhov) believed that the prototype of the “man in a case” was the inspector of the Taganrog gymnasium A. F. Dyakonov, while others described Dyakonov’s character traits, refuting the opinion of the first. Thus, P. P. Filevsky noted Dyakonov’s generosity and wrote: “I affirm positively that there is nothing in common between “The Man in a Case” and A. F. Dyakonov and no local color can be found in this work by A. P. Chekhov.” .

Yu. Sobolev believed that the likely prototype of Chekhov’s hero could be the famous publicist M. O. Menshikov, Chekhov wrote about him in one of his diaries: the beginning of the quote “M. in dry weather he wears galoshes and carries an umbrella so as not to die from sunstroke, afraid to wash cold water, complains of a sinking heart” However, the similarity between Menshikov and Belikov can only be noted externally. Chekhov himself wrote about his brother I.P. Chekhov:

From all these facts, we can conclude that the image of the Greek teacher Belikov is collective.

Now the expression “Man in a Case” has become a common noun in the Russian language, meaning a lonely person who closes himself off from the whole world, creating a shell around himself, a “case.”

Characters

Ivan Ivanovich Chimsha-Himalayan- veterinarian, nobleman. A tall, thin old man with a long mustache.
Burkina- gymnasium teacher and friend of I. I. Chimshi-Himalayansky. Tells a story about Belikov

Heroes of Burkina's story:

Belikov- Greek teacher. He worked together with Burkin at the gymnasium. His favorite phrase: “If only something didn’t work out”
Cook Afanasy- old man 60 years old. Belikov's drunken and crazy servant.
Mikhail Savvich Kovalenko- teacher of history and geography. Young, dark, tall man.
Varenka- Belikov’s beloved, 30 years old. Sister Kovalenko. A tall, slender, black-browed, red-cheeked girl.

Plot

The story begins with a description of the overnight stay of two hunters: Ivan Ivanovich Chimsha-Himalayan and Burkin. They stopped in the barn of the village headman and told each other different stories. The conversation turned to the topic of people “who are lonely by nature, who, like a hermit crab or a snail, try to retreat into their shell.” Burkin tells the story of a certain Belikov, who recently died in his town.

There are a lot of talented writers in Russian literature, but there are not so many truly vital and instructive works. To such amazing people who are able to reflect on paper difficult human destinies, and refers to A.P. Chekhov. “The Man in a Case,” a brief summary of which allows you to get acquainted with the work of the great writer, takes readers to the 19th century, where, after a hunt, two friends start a conversation about closed and lonely people.

The story begins with a conversation between two friends - Ivan Ivanovich, a veterinarian, and Burkin, a gymnasium teacher. The first is surprised by the behavior of the wife of the headman, with whom they stayed overnight. The fact is that a woman sits at home all the time, and only goes out at night. Burkin objects, saying that there are many wonderful people in the world and tells his friend a story that happened to his colleague at the gymnasium, Greek teacher Belikov.

Summary “The Man in the Case” is a story about a teacher who led a strange lifestyle. He constantly wanted to isolate himself from everyone, created cases and partitions between himself and outside world. Even in the summer, he wore dark glasses, a warm coat and an umbrella; Belikov hid every item in a case. He only understood the decrees where something was prohibited, because everything was clear in them, but the teacher did not understand the instructions where something was permitted, because there are no limits to permissiveness, so it was as if nothing would happen.

Belikov went to visit his colleagues, but only sat silently, and then said goodbye and left, he tried to protect everyone from danger, but those around him were afraid and called him nothing more than “a man in a case.” Chekhov, the summary of whose work allows us to understand the character of a lonely individual, was very good psychologist, because he revealed not only the problems of Belikov alone, but also the entire society of that time.

The summary of “The Man in the Case” shows that even with such an eccentric person, change can happen. With Belikov, they happened after a new history teacher arrived at the gymnasium with his sister. Varya was beautiful, cheerful, sang well, she charmed everyone, and Belikov could not resist her charms. He began to go out with her, but kept hinting that marriage was very serious.

The teacher was a very vulnerable and fearful person, as the summary of “The Man in the Case” shows. After the caricature drawn of him and Varya, he didn’t walk around like himself, what finished him off was his meeting with Varya and her brother, who were riding bicycles. According to Belikov, it was not appropriate for a girl and a gymnasium teacher to spend their time like that. To explain to them, he went to the family’s home, but Varya was not there, and the freedom-loving brother simply pulled his colleague down the stairs. At the moment when Belikov was rolling down the steps, Varvara came, and the girl burst into ringing laughter at the picture she saw.

The summary of “The Man in the Case” shows how scared the teacher was to even imagine that the whole city would know about his shame. He came home, put away the photograph of his bride and went to bed. Belikov died a month later. There was a joyful smile on the face of the deceased, as if he had found what he was looking for - a reliable case from which he would not escape. People buried him with a pleasant feeling of liberation, as if freed from unnecessary obligations.

End of the 19th century Countryside in Russia. The village of Mironositskoye. Veterinarian Ivan Ivanovich Chimsha-Gimalaysky and the Burkin gymnasium teacher, after hunting all day, settle down for the night in the headman’s barn. Burkin tells Ivan Ivanovich the story of the Greek teacher Belikov, with whom he taught in the same gymnasium.

Belikov was known for the fact that “even in good weather he went out in galoshes and with an umbrella and certainly in a warm coat with cotton wool.” Belikov's watch, umbrella, and penknife were put in cases. He wore dark glasses and kept all the locks at home. Belikov sought to create a “case” for himself that would protect him from “ external influences" The only things that were clear to him were the circulars in which something was prohibited. Any deviation from the norm caused him confusion. With his “case” considerations, he oppressed not only the gymnasium, but the entire city. But one day it happened to Belikov strange story: He almost got married.

It happened that a new teacher of history and geography, Mikhail Savvich Kovalenko, a young, cheerful man, from the crests, was appointed to the gymnasium. His sister Varenka, about thirty, came with him. She was pretty, tall, rosy-cheeked, cheerful, and sang and danced endlessly. Varenka charmed everyone at the gymnasium, and even Belikov. It was then that the teachers came up with the idea of marrying Belikov and Varenka. They began to convince Belikov of the need to get married. Varenka began to show him “obvious favor,” and he went for walks with her and kept repeating that “marriage is a serious thing.”

Belikov often visited Kovalenka and would eventually have proposed to Varenka, if not for one incident. Some mischievous person drew a caricature of Belikov, where he was depicted with an umbrella on the arm of Varenka. Copies of the picture were sent to all teachers. This made a very difficult impression on Belikov.

Soon Belikov met Kovalenok riding bicycles on the street. He was extremely indignant at this spectacle, since, in his opinion, it was not proper for a high school teacher and a woman to ride a bicycle. The next day Belikov went to Kovalenki to “ease his soul.” Varenka was not at home. Her brother, being a freedom-loving man, disliked Belikov from the first day. Unable to tolerate his teachings about riding bicycles, Kovalenko simply lowered Belikov down the stairs. At that moment, Varenka and two acquaintances were just entering the entrance. Seeing Belikov rolling down the stairs, she laughed loudly. The thought that the whole city would know about what had happened horrified Belikov so much that he went home, went to bed and died a month later.

When he was lying in the coffin, he had a happy expression on his face. It seemed that he had achieved his ideal, “he was put in a case from which he would never come out. Belikov was buried with a pleasant feeling of liberation. But a week later, life went on as before - “a tedious, stupid life, not prohibited by the circular, but not completely permitted either.”

Burkin finishes the story. Reflecting on what he heard, Ivan Ivanovich says: “Isn’t the fact that we live in a city in a stuffy, cramped environment, writing unnecessary papers, playing vint - isn’t this a case?”

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