Double Fedor Dostoevsky
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Name: Double
About the book "The Double" Fyodor Dostoevsky
The story "The Double" is one of the key works of Fyodor Mikhailovich. It is especially interesting to read it, since the events described in the book are directly related to the writer. Just like the main character, Fyodor Dostoevsky suffered from a split in his inner world. This theme of the formation of a person in society is closely related to the problem of moral choice, which is relevant not only in the 19th century, but also today.
The protagonist of the book "The Double" - the civil servant Yakov Petrovich Golyadkin - is a gentle, honest and modest person who strictly adheres to moral principles. Feeling his weakness and uncertainty, his inability to make decisions, Golyadkin tries to pass off his softness as a virtue. However, it seems to him that everyone is against him: weave intrigues, offend him and do not take him seriously. The main character is desperately fighting for his place in this world, and, conducting internal dialogues, gradually goes crazy ...
The internal struggle finally found its external expression - at one moment Golyadkin saw next to him a second “I” - his twin, outwardly like two drops of water similar to him, but in character - completely different - self-confident, vile, dirty, evil. This Golyadkin Jr. became so firmly established in his life that he began to displace the good-natured Golyadkin Sr., more precisely, to draw him into his essence. Internal dialogues have not stopped, but now the reader clearly sees that the main character is trying to give explanations and find the reasons for this behavior, but helplessly falls into a deep pool of immorality. With intrigues, slander and other dark deeds, he achieves his goals. In the story "The Double" Fyodor Dostoevsky showed what the pursuit of the desired by any means turns into. Gradually dissolving in his dark "I", Golyadkin goes mad from internal contradictions.
"The Double" picturesquely reveals life in St. Petersburg in the 19th century, echoing the style of Gogol. The book contains everything you need for an exciting reading: a vivid image of the protagonist, humor and irony, a worthy ending that brings Golyadkin's madness to the reader's inner world and makes him think about his dark side. Fyodor Dostoevsky is a master to penetrate the soul and revive his characters in the modern world. This book is essential for everyone who wants to understand the psychology of the great writer and, in fact, every person who is inherent in self-digging and the desire to understand his “I”.
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Quotes from the book "The Double" Fyodor Dostoevsky
His position at that moment was like the position of a man standing over a terrible rapids, when the ground under him breaks off, has already swayed, has already moved, sways for the last time, falls, carries him into the abyss, and meanwhile the unfortunate man has neither strength nor firmness the spirit to jump back, avert your eyes from the gaping abyss; the abyss pulls him, and he jumps, at last, into it himself, himself hastening the moment of his own destruction.
The night was terrible - November, wet, foggy, rainy, snowy, fraught with flux, colds, fevers, toads, fever of all possible genera and varieties, in a word, all the gifts of St. Petersburg November.
No, madam, and again things are not done that way, and the first thing is that there will be no cooing, if you please do not hope. Today, my husband, my lady, sir, and a good, well-bred wife must please him in everything. But tenderness, madam, is not loved today, in our industrial age; they say, the days of Jean-Jacques Rousseau have passed. A husband, for example, now comes home hungry from office - say, darling, is there anything to eat, drink vodka, eat herrings? so you must have vodka and herring ready now, madam. The husband will eat himself with appetite, but he will not even look at you, but will say: go, say, to the kitchen, kitten, but look after dinner, but maybe he will kiss once a week, and even that is indifferent ...
You are such a foblaz, you are such a traitor!
Without a doubt, without blinking an eye, he would have sunk through the earth with the greatest pleasure at that moment; but what has been done cannot be undone ...
“They spread the rumor that he had already signed up to marry, that he was already a groom on the other side ... And who do you think, Krestyan Ivanovich, who?
- Right?
On the contrary, Krestyan Ivanovich; and, to say everything, I am even proud that I am not a big man, but a small one. Not an intriguer - and I'm proud of that too.
The green-dirty, smoky, dusty walls of his little room, his mahogany chest of drawers, mahogany chairs, a table painted with red paint, a reddish oilcloth sofa with green flowers and, finally, yesterday, in a hurry, took off his dress and thrown in a lump on the couch.
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Petersburg poem
Chapter I
It was almost eight o'clock in the morning when the titular adviser Yakov Petrovich Golyadkin woke up after a long sleep, yawned, stretched and finally opened his eyes completely. For about two minutes, however, he lay motionless on his bed, like a man not yet quite sure whether he was awake or still sleeping, whether in reality and in reality everything that is happening around him now, or - the continuation of his disordered sleepy dreams. Soon, however, Mr Golyadkin's feelings began to accept more clearly and distinctly their usual, everyday impressions. The greenish-dirty, smoky, dusty walls of his little room, his mahogany chest of drawers, mahogany chairs, a table painted with red paint, a reddish oilcloth sofa with green flowers and, finally, yesterday, in a hurry, took off his dress and threw lump on the couch. Finally, a gray autumn day, muddy and dirty, so angrily and with such a sour grimace looked at him through the dim window into the room that Mr.Golyadkin could no longer doubt that he was not in some thirty kingdom, but in Petersburg, in the capital, in Shetilavochnaya Street, on the fourth floor of a very large, capital building, in his own apartment. Having made such an important discovery, Mr. Golyadkin convulsively closed his eyes, as if regretting his recent dream and wishing to turn it back for a moment. But a minute later he jumped out of bed in one leap, probably having finally fallen into the idea around which his still scattered, not put in proper order, his thoughts were spinning. Jumping out of bed, he immediately ran to a small round mirror standing on the dresser. Although the sleepy, half-blind and rather bald figure reflected in the mirror was precisely of such an insignificant quality that at first glance it did not stop anyone's exclusive attention, apparently, its owner was completely satisfied with everything that he saw in the mirror. “If only there was a thing,” said Mr. Golyadkin in an undertone, “that would be a thing, if I skimped on something today, if something happened, for example, something was wrong, - a stranger jumped up there or it happened some other nuisance; however, so far not bad; so far everything is going well. " Very glad that everything was going well, Mr. Golyadkin put the mirror back in its original place, and despite the fact that he was barefoot and kept the suit in which he used to go to sleep, he ran to the window and with great participation began that -to look for with his eyes in the courtyard of the house, on which the windows of his apartment looked out. Apparently, what he found in the yard also completely satisfied him; his face beamed with a smug smile. Then, - having looked, however, first behind the partition into the closet of Petrushka, his valet, and having made sure that Petrushka was not in it - he tiptoed to the table, unlocked one drawer in it, rummaged in the very back corner of this drawer, finally took it out of - under the old yellowed papers and some rubbish green worn out wallet, he opened it carefully - and carefully and with pleasure looked into his farthest, hidden pocket. Probably, a bundle of green, gray, blue, red, and various motley pieces of paper also looked at Mr Golyadkin very affably and approvingly: with a beaming face he laid his open wallet on the table in front of him and rubbed his hands firmly as a sign of the greatest pleasure. Finally he took it out, his comforting sheaf of state bills, and, for the hundredth time, however, counting from yesterday, began to count them, carefully rubbing each sheet between his thumb and forefinger. “Seven hundred and fifty rubles in banknotes! He finally finished in a half-whisper. - Seven hundred and fifty rubles ... a notable sum! This is a pleasant amount, - he continued in a trembling voice, slightly relaxed with pleasure, squeezing the pack in his hands and smiling significantly, - this is a very pleasant amount! Anyone want a nice sum! Would I like to see now a person for whom this sum would be an insignificant sum? Such an amount can lead a person far ... " “However, what is it? - thought Mr. Goliadkin, - where is Petrushka? " Still keeping the same suit, he looked behind the partition again. Petrushka was again not found behind the partition, but only one samovar put there on the floor, constantly threatening to run away, was angry, excited and lost his temper, and he was chatting something with heat in his ingenious language, lisping and lisping to Mr. Goliadkin, - probably, what, they say, take me, good people, because I am completely ripe and ready. “Damn it! Thought Mr Golyadkin. - This lazy beast can finally lead a person out of the last boundaries; where is he staggering? " In just indignation, he entered the hallway, which consisted of a small corridor, at the end of which there was a door in the vestibule, a tiny little opened this door and saw his servant, surrounded by a decent handful of all servants, domestic and casual rabble. Petrushka was telling something, the others were listening. Apparently, neither the topic of the conversation, nor the conversation itself, pleased Mr. Golyadkin. He immediately called Petrushka and returned to the room completely displeased, even upset. “This beast is not ready to sell a man for a penny, and even more so a master,” he thought to himself, “and sold, certainly sold, he’s ready to bet that he sold for a penny. Well?.." - They brought the livery, sir. - Put it on and went here. Putting on the livery, Petrushka, smiling stupidly, entered the master's room. He was dressed up in a weird way. He wore a green, heavily second-hand servant's livery, sprinkled with gold braids and, apparently, sewn for a man a whole yard taller than Petrushka. In his hands he held a hat, also with braids and green feathers, and at his hip he had a footman's sword in a leather sheath. Finally, to complete the picture, Petrushka, following his favorite habit of always walking in negligee, like at home, was now barefoot. Mr Golyadkin examined Petrushka around and, apparently, was satisfied. The livery was obviously rented for some special occasion. It was also noticeable that during the examination, Petrushka looked with a strange expectation at the master and with extraordinary curiosity followed his every movement, which extremely embarrassed Mr. Goliadkin. - Well, what about the carriage? - And the carriage arrived. - For the whole day? - For the whole day. Twenty-five, banknote. - And brought the boots? - And they brought the boots. - Fool! you can't say brought- from... Give them here. Expressing his pleasure that the boots fit well, Mr Golyadkin asked for tea, wash and shave. He shaved himself very carefully and washed himself in the same way, sipped tea hastily and proceeded to his main, final attire: he put on almost completely new trousers; then a bib with bronze buttons, a vest with very bright and pleasant flowers; he tied a motley silk tie around his neck and, at last, pulled on a uniform, also brand new and carefully cleaned. While dressing, he several times with love looked at his boots, every minute lifted one or the other leg, admired the style and whispered something under his breath, occasionally winking at his thought with an expressive grimace. However, that morning Mr. Golyadkin was extremely absent-minded, because he hardly noticed the smiles and grimaces at his own expense, Petrushka, who was helping him to dress. Finally, having done everything that followed, completely dressed, Mr. Golyadkin put his wallet in his pocket, finally admired Petrushka, who put on his boots and was thus also in perfect readiness, and, noticing that everything had already been done and there was nothing more to wait, hurriedly, bustlingly, with a little trembling of his heart, he fled from his staircase. A blue cab, with some kind of emblem, rolled up to the porch with a thunder. Petrushka, exchanging winks with the cabman and with some onlookers, sat his master in the carriage; In an unusual voice and barely holding back a stupid laugh, he shouted: "Let's go!", jumped on the heels, and all this, with noise and thunder, ringing and cracking, rolled onto Nevsky Prospect. As soon as the blue carriage had time to leave the gate, Mr Golyadkin rubbed his hands convulsively and burst out into a quiet, inaudible laugh, like a man of a cheerful character who managed to play a glorious trick and to which he himself is glad to be happy. However, immediately after a fit of gaiety, the laughter was replaced by a strange, anxious expression on Mr. Goliadkin's face. Despite the fact that the time was damp and cloudy, he lowered both carriage windows and carefully began to look out to the right and left for passers-by, immediately assuming a decent and sedate air as soon as he noticed that someone was looking at him. At the turn from Liteina to Nevsky Prospekt, he shuddered from one of the most unpleasant sensations and, grimacing like a poor man who had been accidentally stepped on a corn, hurriedly, even with fear, pressed himself into the darkest corner of his carriage. The fact is that he met two colleagues of his, two young officials of the department in which he himself was in the service. The officials, however, as it seemed to Mr. Golyadkin, were, on their part, in extreme perplexity, having thus met their comrade; even one of them pointed a finger at Mr Golyadkin. It even seemed to Mr. Golyadkin that another had called his name loudly, which, of course, was very indecent in the street. Our hero lurked and did not respond. “What kind of boys! - he began to reason with himself. - Well, what's so strange about that? A man in a carriage; a person needs to be in the carriage, so he took the carriage. Just rubbish! I know them - just boys who still need to be whipped! They only need a toss at their salary and hang out somewhere, that's their business. I would tell them all something, but only ... ”Mr. Golyadkin did not finish and froze. A lively pair of Kazan horses, very familiar to Mr. Golyadkin, harnessed to a dandy droshky, quickly overtook his carriage on the right side. The gentleman sitting in the droshky, accidentally seeing the face of Mr.Golyadkin, who rather carelessly poked his head out of the carriage window, was also, apparently, extremely amazed at such an unexpected meeting and, bending down as much as he could, with the greatest curiosity and sympathy began to look into that corner of the carriage where our hero hurried to hide. The gentleman in the droshky was Andrei Filippovich, the head of the department in the office in which Mr. Goliadkin was also listed as an assistant to his clerk. Mr Golyadkin, seeing that Andrei Filippovich recognized him completely, that he was looking with all his eyes and that it was impossible to hide in any way, blushed from ear to ear. “Bow or no? To respond or not? To admit it or not? - thought our hero in indescribable anguish, - or pretend that it is not me, but that someone else, strikingly similar to me, and look as if nothing had happened? Not me, not me, and only! Said Mr Golyadkin, taking off his hat to Andrei Filippovich and not taking his eyes off him. “I, I’m nothing,” he whispered through force, “I’m nothing at all, it’s not me at all, Andrei Filippovich, it’s not me at all, not me, and nothing more.” Soon, however, the droshky overtook the carriage, and the magnetism of the chief's gaze ceased. However, he still blushed, smiled, mumbled something to himself ... “I was a fool for not responding,” he thought at last, “I ought to simply be on a bold foot and with a frankness not lacking in nobility: they say that so, Andrei Filippovich, also invited to dinner, and that's all! " Then, suddenly remembering that he had been cut off, our hero flared up like fire, frowned, and threw a terrible defiant glance into the front corner of the carriage, a look that was intended to incinerate all his enemies at once to ashes. Finally, suddenly, by some inspiration, he pulled the cord tied to the elbow of the coachman, stopped the carriage and ordered it to turn back to Liteynaya. The fact is that Mr. Goliadkin immediately needed, for his own peace of mind, to say something most interesting to his doctor, Krestyan Ivanovich. And although he had known Krestyan Ivanovich since very recently, it was he who visited him only once last week, due to some need, but the doctor, as they say, is the confessor, it would be foolish to hide, and to know the patient is his same duty. “However, will all this be so,” our hero continued, getting out of the carriage at the entrance of a five-story building on Liteynaya, near which he ordered his carriage to stop, “will all this be so? Will it be decent? Will it be by the way? However, after all, 'he continued, going up the stairs, catching his breath and holding back the beating of his heart, which had a habit of beating on all other people's stairs,' what then? After all, I mean my own and there is nothing reprehensible here ... It would be foolish to hide. In this way I will pretend that I am nothing, but that it is so, passing by ... He will see that this is how it should be. " Reasoning in this way, Mr. Golyadkin went up to the second floor and stopped in front of the apartment of the fifth room, on the door of which was placed a beautiful brass plaque with the inscription:Krestyan Ivanovich Rutenshpitz,
doctor of medicine and surgery.
Having stopped, our hero hastened to give his physiognomy a decent, cheeky, not without a certain courtesy look and prepared to pull the bell string. Preparing to pull the bell string, he immediately and quite aptly decided that it might not be better tomorrow, and that now, for the time being, there was no great need. But since Mr. Goliadkin suddenly heard someone's footsteps on the stairs, he immediately changed his new decision and already, at the same time, however, with the most resolute air, rang at the door of Krestyan Ivanovich.
This work has been released into the public domain. The work was written by an author who died more than seventy years ago, and was published in his lifetime or posthumously, but more than seventy years have also passed since the publication. It can be freely used by any person without anyone's consent or permission and without paying royalties.
Illustration by A. Karapetyan
Very briefly
The titular counselor considers himself a small person, but at the same time wants to realize his high ambitions. However, the dastardly double that appears destroys his reputation in high society.
The titular adviser Yakov Petrovich Golyadkin wakes up in his apartment on a gray autumn day. The mirror reflects "sleepy, half-blind and rather bald figure", and its owner remains, apparently, pleased with it. Taking out his wallet, Mr. Golyadkin finds 750 rubles in it - a "notable sum"!
Yakov Petrovich goes to his doctor, Krestyan Ivanovich Rutenshpitz. With him, Mr. Golyadkin speaks inconsistently, gets confused, calls himself a humble, unpretentious man: “... I love calmness, not secular noise. There they have ... you need to be able to polish the parquet flooring with your boots ... you need to be able to compose a smothered compliment, sir ... I did not learn all these tricks. " Yakov Petrovich continues: “... I am even proud that I am not a big man, but a small one. Not an intriguer - and I'm proud of that too ... "The nephew of Andrei Filippovich, Golyadkin's chief, intends to woo Klara Olsufyevna. Golyadkin is outraged by this matchmaking. Golyadkin notes that rumors were spread about his "close acquaintance", as if he "gave a subscription to marry, and he is already the groom on the other side," and his bride is the shameless German woman Karolina Ivanovna. Golyadkin leaves, leaving Krestyan Ivanovich bewildered and thinking that the doctor is stupid.
Mr. Golyadkin goes to Olsufy Ivanovich Berendeev, but he is not allowed. In honor of the birthday of his daughter, Klara Olsufievna, a dinner and a ball are held in the apartment of the state councilor. At this time, Mr. Golyadkin is standing in the hallway of Berendeev. Having made up his mind, Yakov Petrovich secretly enters the dance hall. Immediately all eyes are directed at him, “our hero” is huddled in a corner, feeling “like a real bug”. Golyadkin was thrown out into the street.
Mr. Golyadkin runs, "fleeing from enemies." It is a terrible November night - "wet, foggy, rainy, snowy." Mr. Golyadkin "not only wanted now to run away from himself, but even to be completely destroyed." He stands for a long time on the embankment and stares unconscious into the muddy black water. On the way, Golyadkin meets a passer-by, mincing just like him, along the sidewalk, with a little prusochka. Yakov Petrovich meets the stranger several times. Finally he finds him in his apartment on Shetilavochnaya Street: it was "none other than himself, ... another Mr. Golyadkin ... his double in all respects."
In the morning Golyadkin comes to his department. Here a new person appears - yesterday's double of Yakov Petrovich, who has exactly the same last name. However, there is no surprise among colleagues. After a working day, the doppelganger wants to explain himself to Yakov Petrovich, and “our hero” invites Golyadkin Jr. to his home for a conversation.
The guest's name is the same: Yakov Petrovich. Mr. Golyadkin feeds his guest with dinner and gives him punch, imbued with sympathy for him: “You and I, Yakov Petrovich, will live like a fish with water, like brothers; ... we will be cunning, at the same time we will be cunning ... in spite of them we will lead intrigue ... "
In the morning Yakov Petrovich does not find his guest. Now Golyadkin Sr. regrets receiving the twin. He goes to work and in the doorway runs into Golyadkin Jr., but he does not notice yesterday's hospitable host. Now Golyadkin Jr. is trying to curry favor with his superiors in an unfair way: he gives out the well-composed paper of the real Golyadkin as his own. In front of other officials, Golyadkin Jr. exposes the twin to a mockery: pinching in front of everyone on the cheek and giving a click on the abdomen. Then, putting on a busy look, disappears. But the real Golyadkin cannot afford to offend himself and decides to protest. After the service, he intends to explain himself to Golyadkin Jr., but he leaves him in a carriage.
"... he has such a playful, nasty disposition, - he is such a scoundrel, ... a licker, a sycophant, he is such a Golyadkin!" - thinks about his enemy Yakov Petrovich. Yakov Petrovich writes a letter to him demanding an explanation. He gives the letter to the servant Petrushka and orders him to find out the address of the titular adviser Golyadkin. Petrushka reports that Golyadkin lives on Shetilavochnaya Street, but this is the address of the real Golyadkin! Having decided that the loafer is drunk, Yakov Petrovich leaves him.
Half asleep, Golyadkin sees that he is in pleasant company, but each time one famous person appears and denigrates Mr. Golyadkin. He wants to run wherever they look, but around him "an abyss of completely similar" has formed.
Golyadkin wakes up at one in the afternoon. With horror, he realizes that he is late for service. He approaches his department and, through a clerk, passes the letter to Mr. Golyadkin Jr.
Already at dusk, Yakov Petrovich enters his department. The co-workers look at him with some kind of offensive curiosity. Among the officials appears Mr. Goliadkin Jr. and holds out his hand to the real Yakov Petrovich. He warmly and in a friendly way shakes her. “Suddenly, with unbearable impudence and rudeness,” the doppelganger pulls out his hand and shakes it off as if he got dirty, then wipes his fingers with a handkerchief. The offended Golyadkin Sr. seeks the sympathy of his colleague, Anton Antonovich Setochkin, but he openly condemns his indecent act in relation to two noble persons.
Having caught up with Golyadkin Jr., Yakov Petrovich offers to explain himself in the coffee shop: “... I have never been your enemy. Wicked people described me unfairly ... On my part, I am ready ... ”The enemy repeats the morning joke with a handshake, repeatedly insulting the namesake, and disappears. Suddenly Golyadkin Sr. discovers a letter that the clerk had given in the morning. In it, Klara Olsufyevna asks to save her from death, from a person opposite to her, and assigns Golyadkin a date at two o'clock in the morning. After reading the message in the tavern, Yakov Petrovich sees the sex next to him. Deciding that he hadn’t paid for lunch, he reaches into his pocket and finds a bottle of medicine prescribed by Krestyan Ivanovich four days ago. "A dark, reddish-disgusting liquid gleamed with an ominous glow ..." The bubble falls out of the hands and breaks.
Yakov Petrovich, thinking about Klara Olsufievna, notes the spoiledness of young romantic persons who have read French novels. He hires a carriage, goes to his excellency and asks for protection from enemies. His Excellency promises to consider the case, and Yakov Petrovich is expelled to the front. Golyadkin rushes to Berendeev to wait for Clara Olsufyevna's signal. Soon Yakov Petrovich is noticed, and Golyadkin junior asks to come in. Golyadkin Sr. is sitting next to Olsufy Ivanovich, all eyes are turned to them. Finally, it rushes through the crowd, "Going, going!" Krestyan Ivanovich appears in the room and takes Yakov Petrovich away with him. A twin runs after the carriage for a while, but soon disappears completely. Here the hero notices with horror that this is not the old one, but another, terrible Krestyan Petrovich: “Alas! He had a presentiment of this for a long time! "
The titular adviser Yakov Petrovich Golyadkin woke up at eight o'clock on a gray autumn day in St. Petersburg in his own apartment on Shestilavochnaya Street. He was satisfied with his appearance, his half-blind and bald figure, as well as his tightly stuffed wallet, in which he counted 750 rubles in banknotes.
Golyadkin put on new smart clothes, which were crowned with a new, carefully cleaned uniform. He "as if in passing" decided to stop by his doctor Krestyan Ivanovich Rutenshpitz, whom he saw only once last week, at Liteynaya.
Chapter 2
At this time, the respected doctor was sitting in his office, drinking coffee, smoking a cigar and receiving patients. The doctor looked at Golyadkin with displeasure, Golyadkin was embarrassed. The doctor recalled that he advised him to change his habits, attend funny companies, performances, a club, and not stay at home. Golyadkin noticed that he was like everyone else, no worse than others, but he loved silence, tranquility, and not secular noise. Golyadkin called himself a simple, unpretentious person, a small person who acts openly, without cunning. The hero talked about his preferences: he does not like scanty duplicity, he disdains slander and gossip.
Golyadkin hinted at the enemies who undertook to destroy him, complained of his grievances: Vladimir Semyonovich, the nephew of Andrei Filippovich, whom Golyadkin calls a bear behind his back, received the rank of assessor and planned to marry. Golyadkin warned both Klara Olsufyevna, the daughter of her benefactor, and the benefactor himself from childhood Olsufy Ivanovich that the suitors were looking "not in her, but far away."
In addition, gossip was spread about him, allegedly he was going to marry a cook, German woman Karolina Ivanovna, at the expense of paying lunches.
Krestyan Ivanovich told Golyadkin to take the medicine he had prescribed.
Chapter 3
That morning Mr Golyadkin passed in terrible trouble. On Nevsky Prospect, he went to Gostiny Dvor, where he sold a lot of goods, and then to a furniture store. At 3 o'clock in the afternoon it turned out that Golyadkin had bought only a pair of gloves and a bottle of perfume for one and a half rubles.
After that, Golyadkin intercepted a worm in a restaurant on Nevsky and drank a glass of vodka, then chocolate. There he met colleagues, registrars by rank, the meeting was unpleasant to him. They said that Andrei Filippovich had asked him.
The hero drove to the Izmailovsky Bridge, intending to come to dinner with the benefactor without ceremony, but on the way he felt intimidated. At the door, he learned that he was not ordered to be received. Golyadkin ordered us to go home, but then he stopped in a side street, let go of the carriage, went to the tavern, and at dinner he was deep in thought.
Chapter 4
On the birthday of the daughter of state councilor Berendeev, Clara Olsufievna, they gave a magnificent dinner party. Everything that happens at lunch is described in high style. Andrey Filippovich proclaimed a toast and drank to health. Klara Olsufievna, like a spring rose, fell into her mother's arms. Mother shed tears, and father wept and called His Excellency a beneficent person.
Vladimir Semyonovich, 25-year-old nephew of Andrei Filippovich, also congratulated the birthday girl. After dinner, a modest ball began.
At that time Golyadkin, "the only true hero of our true story," had been standing on the back staircase in the hallway of Berendeev's apartment for three hours already. After long hesitation and reasoning that his business was to be cowardly and shit, Golyadkin went into the house, got into the dance hall, saw Klara Olsufyevna in front of him and congratulated her, but hesitated, slipped away and stood in a corner like a stranger. When he asked the birthday girl to dance, the valet kicked him out of the house.
Chapter 5
Exactly at midnight, Golyadkin, who was killed, wanted to run away from himself and completely turn to dust, ran out to the Fontanka embankment. It was a terrible November night. It was snowing and raining. Golyadkin, leaning exhausted against the railing of the embankment, it seemed that someone was standing next to him. Twice the same person, whom Golyadkin recognized, walked towards Golyadkin. At the turn to Italianskaya Street, this man caught up with Golyadkin and entered his house and apartment. Golyadkin found him sitting on his bed. Golyadkin's horror is understandable - the stranger was Golyadkin himself.
Chapter 6
The next morning, Golyadkin decided not to take any action, but to be patient. Petrushka, who had let in the night guest yesterday, did not speak about the incident, but was gloomy. Golyadkin decided not to go to work, feeling sick, but changed his mind.
Entering his department, Golyadkin went to work. A new official was brought in and seated at the same table with Golyadkin. It turned out to be yesterday's acquaintance. He was exactly the same as Golyadkin, in the same clothes. None of the officials were surprised.
The clerk Anton Antonovich said that the new Golyadkin had a personal conversation with his Excellency and had recommendations. Golyadkin calmed down, revived in the hope that everything would work out, decided that his business was on the side. At 4 o'clock, the presence closed. On the way home, Golyadkin noticed that a double was walking next to him, and spoke first. The double said that he felt attracted to Golyadkin. Golyadkin did not want to talk to him on the street and called him home, but asked him to go along the side streets.
Chapter 7
Petrusha was not surprised at the arrival of a guest with his master, who was shy, looked humiliated, downtrodden and intimidated. The guest, who also turned out to be Yakov Petrovich, asked Golyadkin for acquaintance and patronage. During dinner, the guest was embarrassed and embarrassed. Golyadkin the second told how he suffered innocently in the service, how he endured hardship in Petersburg until he found a job. The guest cried as he spoke.
Kind Golyadkin was moved and completely calmed down, considering the guest reliable. He confided in the guest, told about his secrets and offered to cheat at the same time against enemies. After the fourth glass, the host invited the guest to stay overnight on the chairs made up.
Chapter 8
The next morning the guest was gone. Petrushka did not recognize the master, and then said that the other had left for an hour and a half. Golyadkin regretted that he had failed the guest yesterday and decided to show him the door.
In the service, Golyadkin Sr. ran into Golyadkin Jr., who pretended not to recognize the elder, and then turned to him officially and disappeared. Anton Antonovich warned Golyadkin that Andrei Filippovich asked twice about Golyadkin's work.
When Andrei Filippovich called Golyadkin with the papers, Golyadkin junior rolled up to him, offering to wipe the ink blot on the papers with a "knife from a pure heart", suddenly took away the documents and presented them to His Excellency. When Golyadkin Sr. tried to explain himself to the younger, he behaved familiarly and insulted his namesake, patting him on the cheek, clicking on his steep abdomen. Golyadkin longed for just retribution, but, having changed his mind, regretted that he had not submitted. He allowed himself to be hurt and wiped like a rag, he himself turned into a mean dirty rag with ambition. After the service, Golyadkin Jr. ran away from the elder.
Chapter 9
The offended Golyadkin went to see Andrei Filippovich, but he was not at home. Going into a restaurant and eating a pie, Golyadkin was forced to pay for 11 pies, 10 of which were eaten by the new Mr. Golyadkin. At home, Golyadkin wrote a letter to his double, in which he expressed his indignation at the actions of the new Golyadkin. He sent Petrushka to the department to find out from the provincial secretary Vakhrameev the address of the titular adviser Goliadkin. While waiting for Petrushka, Golyadkin fell asleep. When he woke up, he pushed the drunken Petrushka, who said that Vakhrameev had given him the address of old Golyadkin, and he himself handed the letter to Golyadkin junior and was going to leave, because decent people "never exist in twos." Golyadkin found a letter from Vakhrameev, who asked to repay the debt, advised to expel the drunken Petrushka, reported that the new Golyadkin was living with an honest foreign girl Karolina Ivanovna. Golyadkin replied in a letter to Vakhrameev that he had been slandered.
Chapter 10
Golyadkin spent the night half asleep. He dreamed that Golyadkin the younger overshadowed the elder. It is he who is considered fake, and the youngest is considered real. Absolutely similar Golyadkins multiplied, and there was nowhere to escape from them.
Waking up, Golyadkin wrote a letter to the youngest: "Either you or me, but together we cannot." Since Golyadkin slept, he reached the department at half past three, but did not dare to enter. He asked the clerk to find out if there were any letters to him.
Golyadkin senior went up to the department at dusk. At this time Golyadkin junior returns and, accidentally shaking hands with the elder, wipes his palm with a handkerchief. Golyadkin Sr., referring to Andrei Filippovich, calls the younger a scoundrel. Anton Antonovich explains that Golyadkin's reputation was spoiled by an unseemly act towards a noble maiden of the benefactor's family and a poor, honest foreign woman, as well as by slandering his namesake.
The clerk Pisarenko gave Golyadkin a letter from Vakhrameev's apartment, which he hid in his pocket. Leaving the department, Golyadkin rushed in pursuit of the enemy.
Chapter 11
Golyadkin Sr. caught up with the younger, called him into the coffee shop to talk. Golyadkin junior again patted the elder on the cheek. After that, he pretended to be caring and friendly, Golyadkin Sr. counted on a new friendship, but the younger wiped his palm again after shaking hands and left without paying.
Golyadkin found in his pocket an unopened letter from Klara Olsufyevna, who asked to save her from her opposite fiance, having prepared a carriage for escape by 9 o'clock.
After reading the letter in the first tavern he came across, Golyadkin took a bottle of medicine from his pocket instead of a handkerchief and remembered the doctor's instructions. He dropped the bottle, flew in a droshky to the apartment, where the department watchman handed him a government package with a request to hand over the cases.
Chapter 12
At home, Petrushka announced that he could no longer serve. Golyadkin asked for the last favor - to collect his things and find a carriage. He talked about the immorality of Klara Olsufyevna, who should have married whoever she should, but still, without help, hired a cabby for 6 rubles for the evening and went to his Excellency for patronage. His Excellency promised to consider the case of Golyadkin, who was expelled from the house, and Golyadkin Jr. insulted him again by throwing an overcoat over his head.
Chapter 13
Golyadkin was soaked with snow, hiding in Berendeev's yard near a pile of firewood, waiting for a signal from Klara Olsufyevna and arguing that running away with her was not good. A cabman came to him twice, whom he let go, having paid him his due, because he decided to leave on a good day.
The hero has already reached the Semyonovsky bridge and decided to return to be an outside observer. Suddenly he was noticed from the windows. A double ran out to him and led him into a hall with an abyss of people. Golyadkin sobbed and could not explain anything. He was almost completely reconciled with fate. They called him into the next room and put him next to Olsufy Ivanovich. They wanted to reconcile the real Golyadkin with Golyadkin Jr., who treacherously kissed him. Doctor Rutenshpitz arrived, put Golyadkin in the carriage, and the double ran behind for some time.
"The Double" is one of the early stories of the Russian classic Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, written by the author at the age of 24. The work appeared on the pages of Otechestvennye zapiski in 1846 with the subtitle “Petersburg Poem. The Adventures of Mr. Golyadkin ".
The grotesque-fantastic story "The Double" tells the story of an ordinary Petersburg official, Yakov Petrovich Golyadkin, a quiet, helpful, silent man. More than anything, the timid Golyadkin dreams of getting a promotion and becoming his own man among the secular elite of the capital. In conditions of acute psychological stress, strange things begin to happen to Golyadkin. For example, one day he meets his double, who embodies all the unrealized dreams of Yakov Petrovich. Only Yakov Petrovich is no better off from this, because he himself is still overboard, while the impostor is reaping the fruits of glory.
Dostoevsky began working on The Double in 1845 when he was visiting his brother Mikhail in Reval (today Tallinn, the capital of Estonia). Upon returning to St. Petersburg, the author continued writing the story. The work went hard, the "scoundrel Golyadkin" did not want to succeed. As a result, in 1846, the story was completed and published in the second issue of Notes of the Fatherland. Despite the positive reviews from critics, in particular the venerable Vissarion Belinsky, who was already very supportive of Dostoevsky, the author of his "Double" blasphemed. After a while, the story was redone, but the author did not satisfy.
Being the most exacting critic of his work, Dostoevsky lamented that he had ruined an amazing idea, perhaps the best one that he was born with. The idea of \u200b\u200bthe "Double" is very bright, the writer shared, but the form leaves much to be desired. If I took to work now, I would invariably choose a different form.
No matter how the author criticized himself, his "Double" became the most important event in Russian literature of the 19th century. Continuing the traditions of Pushkin and Gogol, Dostoevsky turns to the theme of the "little man", delving deeper into his psychology. It shows not only the external struggle of the individual and the society that rejects him, but also the internal opposition of the light and dark sides of the human "I". To implement this idea, the author introduces a fantastic element, referring to the theme of doppelganger, duality.
The theme of the doppelganger (the dark twin of man) was repeatedly used by Dostoevsky's literary predecessors and followers. The most popular examples of works in which the doppelganger is present are: "Christabel" by Samuel Coleridge, "Elixir of Satan", "The Sandman" by Theodore Hoffmann, "Secluded House on Vasilievsky" by Alexander Pushkin, "William Wilson" by Edgar Poe, "The Strange Story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde "by Robert Louis Stevenson," Fight Club "by Chuck Palahniuk.
Dostoevsky's "double": a summary
The protagonist Yakov Petrovich Golyadkin works as a titular advisor in one of the state institutions of St. Petersburg. More than anything in the world, the timid Yakov Petrovich dreams of getting a promotion and becoming one of those brilliant officials who occupy the best places in the theater, in front of whom the porters shuffle, who are welcome at any secular evening, at the sight of which mothers nudge their unmarried daughters with their elbows, so that they straighten their shoulders and straighten the stray curl.
The main obstacle on the way to the desired lifestyle is the character of Yakov Petrovich. He does not know how to play around, sycophant, weave intrigues, toady. “I'm not an intriguer, and I'm proud of that,” says Golyadkin. True, Mr. Golyadkin has nothing to be proud of. He is not respected at work, his colleagues laugh at him, he is invisible to women and a laughing stock at social events. When Yakov Petrovich is expelled from a ball held in the house of the rich man Olsufy Ivanovich Berendeev, the poor official suffers from a nervous fit. It was on this unfortunate night that he met his double on the bridge.
The stranger is like two drops of water like Yakov Petrovich. Moreover, in the morning of the next day, our hero finds him in his department. Having invited Golyadkin Jr. home, the "senior" rejoices, because now he has a comrade-in-arms with whom they can move mountains, "cheat together ... to spite them intrigue." However, the self-styled Golyadkin chooses a more advantageous model of behavior. The “senior” is not a companion for him, and therefore the double skillfully sucks up to the “necessary” people and in a matter of days becomes a favorite of the entire department. Moreover, the "junior" shamelessly mocks the senior Golyadkin, turning the poor official into an object of general ridicule. As a result, the double survives the real Goliadkin not only from the department, but also from society. The story ends with the distraught Yakov Petrovich being taken away by carriage to an insane asylum.
Golyadkin Jr., he is the doppelganger of the real Golyadkin, is his opposite. To describe Golyadkin Sr., you can use the following characteristics: conscientious, embarrassed, indecisive, executive, helpful, silent, withdrawn, dreamy, gray, ordinary. We characterize Golyadkin Jr. as follows: bold, daring, cheeky, resourceful, arrogant, eloquent, self-confident careerist and adventurer.
Two sides of one personality
It is important to understand that in this case it is not appropriate to talk about the opposition "bad-good". Golyadkin Sr. is far from ideal, and Golyadkin Jr. is what an official could become, if he had will, vitality and courage. Dostoevsky's doppelganger is a synthesis of the hidden sides of the personality, which the hero does not dare to develop in himself.
Before the publication of The Double, there were two types of officials in Russian literature: a downtrodden poor campaigner and a clever careerist, a cheat. Dostoevsky created an experimental image of Golyadkin suffering from a split personality. With the help of the psychological disorder of his hero, the author managed to combine both literary types in one person.
The "Double", like any great work, is not just the story of one particular person. In his story, Dostoevsky shows Petersburg society as a whole and, using the example of collective images (this is exactly what the official Golyadkin is), he discusses the prospects for the development of Russian history. These prospects, according to the author, are not very happy, because a society where success can be achieved only with the help of hypocrisy and lies, where false ideals reign and dubious values \u200b\u200bare revered, is doomed to destruction.
Society crowds out anyone who is different. It destroys the strong, and reduces the weak to an oppressed position. Dostoevsky masterfully investigated “the anatomy of the soul, perishing from the consciousness of the fragmentation of private interests in a comfortable society” (VN Maikov).
Thus, Golyadkin's split personality occurs as a result of severe psychological stress provoked by the negative social conditions of his existence. And by and large, not only the consciousness of the bureaucrat Golyadkin is ambiguous, but also the entire St. Petersburg society, in which moral principles are replaced by profit, self-interest, intrigue. Who will win - St. Petersburg Sr. or St. Petersburg Jr. is not yet known.
Analysis of the work
In critical literature, the genre of the story "The Double" is defined as grotesque-fantastic. The fantastic element (the appearance of Golyadkin's double) was introduced into the plot outline for three reasons:
- to show two literary types of officials (the downtrodden demure and the arrogant adventurer);
- to demonstrate how the toxic influence of society awakens the lowest qualities of human nature;
- to embody the idea of \u200b\u200bhuman polarity, the struggle of the individual with inner evil.
The author needed the grotesque in order to depict the inconsistency and absurdity of the hero's position in society. A striking example of the grotesque, for example, is that none of the employees of the department was at all surprised when two Golyadkins came to the service one day.
The introduction of this artistic tool gave rise to a number of literary disputes. So, some researchers consider Golyadkin Jr. to be a hallucination of the “senior”, and everything that happens around is a figment of the sick imagination of a distraught official. In this case, The Double is a grotesque psychological story. Other researchers see in Golyadkin Jr. a real character, a demonic double, a dark part of the bureaucratic soul, which once broke free and materialized. Then the story has the right to be classified as a fantastic genre.
The author himself left the question open. He was not worried about the genre classification, but the reasons and consequences of the fact that once an unremarkable St. Petersburg official Yakov Petrovich Golyadkin met a double on the Anichkov Bridge.
