A person should not be selfish and care only about himself. He must constantly strive for something and improve. Otherwise, his life becomes pale and dull. He must act even if he understands that he will die, if he knows that he is doomed. This is his greatness.

When communicating with people, we observe only the visible part of the iceberg rising above the water. And it is much smaller than the main mass hidden under the surface of the ocean. Considering the depth in people is quite difficult at first glance. Each of us manages our own lives. And a lot depends on this. We ourselves set small and global goals, persistently achieve them, and then reap the rewards.

But often among us you can meet people who go through life without a goal, for nothing. Their life is boring and monotonous, it is like an old stopped clock, covered with a thick layer of dust and covered in cobwebs. Such a person is Ilya Ilyich Oblomov, the hero I.A. Goncharova.

Oblomov is a nobleman. We meet him, already a fully formed adult, inert, apathetic to everything that is happening around: “Life in his eyes was divided into two halves: one consisted of work and boredom - these were synonyms for him; the other from peace and peaceful fun.” Ilya Ilyich prefers peace.

But Oblomov didn’t become like this right away. It all started much earlier. Since childhood, little Ilyusha has become accustomed to everyone and everything obeying him. The servants looked obsequiously into his eyes, warning him of his slightest desire. The parents decided for the child to be independent; he didn’t even dare take a step alone: ​​“Oh, oh, hold it, stop it, he’ll fall, he’ll hurt himself! Stop, stop!”; or: “Don’t run, don’t walk, don’t open the door, you’ll kill yourself or catch a cold.” And little Ilyusha quickly realizes that it is easier to shift any burden onto someone else’s shoulders than to carry it yourself. The adult Ilya Ilyich does not deviate from his principles. So he receives a letter from the headman, in which the latter complains about crop failure and arrears in the village. Oblomov is terribly upset. Of course, they invaded his measured way of life and disturbed his peaceful calm. And although in his soul he has long been ready to solve all the problems, the matter does not progress beyond the desire: “It would be nice if this were done...”. It cannot be said that Oblomov is not trying to do anything. We see Ilya Ilyich complaining, telling about the letter to everyone who comes to his house on a beautiful sunny day. He is even ready to do whatever Tarantiev asks, as long as he solves his pressing problems.

At first glance, the main character's room seems cleaned. It contains expensive antique furniture, covered with silk fabric, and many beautiful little things. But a keen eye will immediately spot cobwebs, expensive carpets soaked in dust, all stained. There is a forgotten towel on the sofa, a plate from yesterday's dinner on the table. The most interesting thing in the room are the books, yellowed and covered with dust, open anywhere. Books and last year’s issue of the newspaper perfectly convey to us the character of the owner of the room, who is not used to completing things to the end, whether this concerns own life or an unread book.

The life of Ilya Ilyich Oblomov is boring and aimless. But it should be noted that Oblomov is not the only one who lives like this. This is how everyone lives: without moral goals, engaging only in petty gossip and walking along Nevsky Prospekt. “Boredom, boredom, boredom! - says Oblomov. - Where is the person here? Where is his integrity? Where did he disappear, how did he exchange himself for every little thing?... Where is the center around which all this revolves: there is none, there is nothing deep that touches the living, worse than me, these members of the world and society.” Yes, the hero is similar to the others in his idleness and laziness, but he is fully aware of this, while others do not notice it. It’s not for nothing that Oblomov constantly thinks about his condition: “Why am I... like this?” It is striking that Ilya Ilyich, unlike those around him, is aware of his aimlessness, the boredom of life, but does not take a single step to change anything. Only for a short moment, it seemed, Oblomov’s life ceased to be boring. This happened during a summer romance with Olga Ilyinskaya: “It’s strange, I’m no longer bored, it’s not hard! - he thought - I’m almost happy.” His eyes shone, his cheeks glowed, and for the first time he had a goal. Life is filled with meaning and is no longer boring. But a moment, and everything returned to normal. We see how the spark of life gradually fades away in Oblomov, and we regret the life potential that was inherent in the hero and which he wasted so mediocrely.

Reading Goncharov’s novel, we begin to understand what we should strive for, what we must try to develop in ourselves so that our life does not pass aimlessly. We must try to cultivate determination in ourselves and not forget in which direction our life should carry its waters; We must quench our unbearable thirst for knowledge and must not waste our energy on inaction. But most importantly, we cannot lose the gift of being surprised by all living things and looking at the world with gratitude.

Ivan Alexandrovich Goncharov. Roman "Oblomov".

The problem of searching for the meaning of life, how important it is to have a life goal. Oblomov is undoubtedly better and more noble than his “active” friends and acquaintances. He does not see the purpose of life, cannot agree with its fragmentation, with the insignificance of the interests of the people around him, and suffers from this. He is concerned with questions: where to run? For what? What to strive for? Why suffer all your life? All these questions arise for both Olga and Stolz. They can't answer them either. Social life is meaningless and miserable.

Famous 19th century critic N.A. Dobrolyubov wrote: “And yet Oblomovism is not only traits of apathy, laziness, inertia, lack of will. First of all, Oblomovism is the absence high goal life, dooming a person either to an idle existence or to meaningless vanity."

The author of one of the literature textbooks of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, V.V. Sipovsky noted: “In concept, it is especially close to Goncharov’s novel “The Minor” by Fonvizin. Since in both works the main idea can be expressed in the words “here are the fruits of evil, worthy of evil,” then both works can be considered “pedagogical”; for in both the authors ask with the same task: to trace how bad upbringing distorts the soul of a child. Only the atmosphere in both works is different: in “The Minor” all life is saturated with malice; in “Oblomov” everything is illuminated by love. Goncharov, obviously, set himself a more difficult task. .."

The problem of social stagnation and apathy. With his novel, Goncharov gave a sociological and psychological explanation of the causes of social stagnation and apathy. The writer showed in detail the roots, causes and current state feudal Russia. Without the intention of exposing everything around, without resorting to harsh artistic means, he managed to show everything decisively and categorically. Oblomov’s path from a wonderful childhood on his native estate to his inglorious and unnoticed death was an amazingly accurate story of many landowners who gradually adapted to the unbearable spiritual conditions of feudal Russia.

The problem of Russian national character. Psychologist, literary critic and critic D.N. Ovsyaniko-Kulikovsky believed that Oblomovism was a national Russian disease. He called for a deeper basis for this phenomenon than serfdom. Philosopher N.O. Lossky in the famous book “The Character of the Russian People” rightly noted that “Oblomovism is in many cases the flip side of the high qualities of the Russian person - the desire for complete perfection and sensitivity to the shortcomings of our reality. From here it is clear that Oblomovism is widespread in all layers of the Russian people Of course, most people need to work in order to have the means to live for themselves and their families. In this involuntary, unloved work, Oblomovism is expressed in the fact that such Oblomov performs his work “somehow,” carelessly, just to throw it off his shoulders.”

“Oblomov” is the only work in world literature whose hero does not get up from the couch throughout almost the entire action. But the uniqueness of the character created by Goncharov does not lie in his pathological laziness and inaction. Not everyone modern schoolboy able to read this complex and profound work. And therefore, what Oblomov’s tragedy consists of is known to few. This article is devoted to the characteristics and analysis of this literary image.

What is the tragedy of Oblomov’s life?

An essay based on Goncharov’s work requires preliminary preparation. Before you start writing it, you should understand the peculiarities of the time in which the writer created the novel.

He wrote it for almost ten years. And two years after publication, a key event occurred in the history of Russia - serfdom was abolished. Fear of change and fear of the future possessed many representatives of the local nobility. An essay on the topic “What is the tragedy of Oblomov’s life” should begin with a description of this historical event and its influence on representatives of certain social strata.

New time

The idea for Goncharov’s character lies in the possibility of leading a measured, calm life on the estate. What is Oblomov’s tragedy? It is not at all that he is now deprived of this opportunity. His trouble is that he is not able to adapt to the realities. Oblomov not only cannot find his place in the social situation that has developed in Russia. He doesn't even strive for it.

At all times there have been people who act no matter what. But there are also those who, due to dissatisfaction with their surroundings, prefer to lie on the couch and dream about days gone by. Oblomov dreams of his native estate.

Dreams and the unreal world

It is noteworthy that there are extremely few events in the work. The plot of the novel is the story of a middle-aged, overweight representative of the landowner class, who risks being deceived by his supposed friends. But the person who maintains a real friendly relationship with him saves him in time, however, depriving him of the woman he loves. But what is the tragedy of Oblomov’s life and how does the author manage to hold the reader’s attention throughout four parts? The main character's trouble is that he constantly lives in a world that is partly invented by himself. And the grandiose volume of the work conveys the deep meaning of the tragedy of a person who, finding himself at the junction of times, refuses to exist in the real world and finds salvation in his own fantasies and dreams.

Oblomovka

The native estate appears in the hero’s mind as a kind of serene, idyllic world. It’s as if time doesn’t exist here. Even the clock in the house strikes very strangely. Their sound resembles the grumbling of dogs ready to pounce on each other.

Nothing changes on the estate. Its inhabitants are afraid of everything unfamiliar. Even the reading process here is mechanical in nature. Ilyusha Oblomov’s father holds a newspaper in front of him, as if performing some kind of ritual. He reads, as a rule, periodicals that are three years old.

The hero remembers all this throughout the novel. And, reading the chapters of the work devoted to nostalgia, the reader partly receives an answer to the question of what is the tragedy of Oblomov’s life. It lies, first of all, in the fact that the hero of the novel has absorbed Oblomovka’s way of life and believes that such a way of life is the only correct one.

Pathological lack of initiative, laziness, absolute indifference to everything that happens around - all this is the result of upbringing. Oblomov cherishes the image of the estate in his soul. And sometimes he even sees him in his dreams.

Childhood

One day, falling asleep, the hero asks the question: “Why am I like this?” And in his dreams he sees wonderful pictures from his childhood. In these dreams there are answers both to the character’s questions and to the one that the reader poses to himself, namely, what is the tragedy of Oblomov’s life. The description of Ilya Ilyich's dreams helps to clarify the origin of his social detachment.

The dream is conventionally divided into three parts. And with the help of this technique, the author tells the reader the background story of the hero. In the first we're talking about about the morals that reigned in the estate. Both Oblomovka and the character’s childhood are known from chapters that describe colorful dreams.

He grew up surrounded by endless care. Everywhere and always he was accompanied by a nanny, which did not allow the boy to frolic particularly. The estate was full of sleep. The main occupation of its inhabitants was “doing nothing.”

Fairy tales

What is Oblomov’s tragedy? It has already been said that the laziness and inaction characteristic of this character were the result of upbringing. And a component of it were fairy tales told by the nanny. Ilyusha grew up as an impressionable child. He absorbed stories about milk rivers, sorceresses and other miracles. And, having already matured, he realized that reality was mixed with a fairy tale.

The third part of the dream deals with the hero’s adolescence. The tragedy of Oblomov’s life originates in primitive laziness, from which all the inhabitants of the estate suffer, without noticing it. Simplicity of morals, silence and inaction reign here. And all this contributes to the development of a kind of disease, which the author calls Oblomovism. Since childhood, the hero's life has been divided into two halves. The first is melancholy and boredom. The second was peaceful fun.

Stolz

Oblomov’s monotonous existence was nevertheless disrupted for some time. In the novel there is a hero who creates a contrast to the main thing. Such a character is his childhood friend Stolz. A friend takes Oblomov out into the world and introduces him to Olga Sergeevna Ilyinskaya. New meetings have a positive effect on him.

Stolz is active, constantly in action, in a word, he is the opposite of the main character. His influence on Oblomov’s fate is undeniable. However, despite the dramatic changes in life, the hero still dies. A stroke caused by a sedentary lifestyle kills him.

Oblomov is a common type of Russian person. He has a rich spiritual world, he is kind, selfless, and he dreams of a lot. However, he does not want to do anything to achieve his goals.

What is the tragedy of Oblomov’s life based on the novel by I. A. Goncharov? The author gives the answer to this question at the end of the work. The writer portrayed him as a man spiritually superior to all other characters, including the active Stolz. Oblomov's friend commits actions for the sake of actions. He doesn't have high goals. While promoting labor, he cannot explain its purpose. Oblomov, on the contrary, has a kind and noble soul, but he lacks determination and the ability to act. This is what ruins him.

Goals and means – important characteristics activities. By what goals a person sets for himself and by what means he achieves them, one can say a lot about him as a person. That is why writers often touch on this topic in their works. We have selected five arguments in the direction of “Goals and Means” from the novel by I.A. Goncharov "Oblomov".

1. It is known that goal is the basis of any activity. Main character novel, Ilya Ilyich Oblomov, is the most inactive character. Does this mean he has no goals? On the one hand, he is no stranger to good intentions: for example, he wants to improve life on his estate, and sometimes, in a special frame of mind, he even dreams of doing something great. However, things do not go beyond plans, and they never turn into real tasks. Perhaps the reason is that all Ilya Ilyich’s worries come down to minor ones household issues; he “floats along the river of life” without thinking about its meaning - so his existence is meaningless and aimless.
2. Andrey Stolts, best friend Oblomov, is shown to be his complete opposite. What the hero respected most in people was perseverance in pursuing goals, and he himself fully possessed this quality. He carefully thought through the means of achieving his goals and, if an insurmountable obstacle stood in his way, he never took risks, but abandoned the idea. All this, coupled with activity and love of work, gave excellent results: Stolz achieved success in his personal affairs and brought a lot of benefit to society.
3. The correspondence of the means to the goal is an important condition for its achievement. But can feeling act as a means? The answer to this question lies in Olga Ilyinskaya’s attitude towards Oblomov. Having decided to “bring him back to life,” she uses Ilya Ilyich’s love to influence him, and she succeeds a lot. However, this is far from true love, which is why the relationship gradually fades away, and the lazy hero eventually returns to his previous lifestyle.
4. A person’s true goals are often a mystery to others. So, for example, a friend of Oblomov’s last name Tarantyev openly uses him: he has dinner at his house, takes money and things - of course, under the guise of friendship. And in the end, he completely organizes a scam, slipping Oblomov a contract with a dummy attorney, his friend - as a result, these two get the right to shamelessly rob the estate of Oblomov, who is left with nothing. The trouble is that the gullible Ilya Ilyich is not able to recognize the goals of such a cunning person as Tarantyev, and to the last believes that he cares about his well-being.
5. In his novel I.A. Goncharov raises the general philosophical problem goals in a person's life. We see two opposing points of view - Oblomov and Stolz. The first one dreams of “lying down and falling asleep... forever,” life for him is like a heavy duty, he doesn’t really strive for anything; the second asserts that “life and work itself are the goal of life.” One may not agree with Stolz about what the purpose of life is, but Oblomov’s example shows that the absence of a goal is the worst thing.

Goncharov’s novel “Oblomov” was written in 1858, and in 1859 published in Otechestvennye zapiski. However, the first part of the work, “Oblomov’s Dream,” was published back in 1849 in the “Literary Collection,” becoming an iconic element of the plot and ideological structure of the novel. “Oblomov” is one of the works of Goncharov’s novel trilogy, which also included “An Ordinary Story” and “The Precipice”. In the book, the author touches on many acute social issues for his era - the formation of a new Russian society and the confrontation with the original Russian mentality European origins, and the “eternal” problems of the meaning of life, love and human happiness. Detailed analysis“Oblomov” by Goncharov will allow us to more closely reveal the author’s idea and better understand the brilliant work of Russian literature of the 19th century.

Genre and literary movement

The novel "Oblomov" was written in the traditions literary direction realism, as evidenced by the following signs: the central conflict of the work, developing between the main character and a society that does not share his way of life; realistic depiction of reality, reflecting many everyday historical facts; the presence of characters typical of that era - officials, entrepreneurs, townspeople, servants, etc., who interact with each other, and in the process of the narrative the development (or degradation) of the personality of the main characters is clearly visible.

The genre specificity of the work allows us to interpret it, first of all, as a social and everyday novel, revealing the problem of “Oblomovism” in the author’s contemporary era, its harmful effect on the bourgeoisie. In addition, the work should be considered as a philosophical one, touching on many important “eternal questions”, and a psychological novel - Goncharov subtly reveals inner world and the character of each hero, analyzing in detail the reasons for their actions and their future fate.

Composition

An analysis of the novel "Oblomov" would not be complete without considering compositional features works. The book consists of four parts. The first part and 1-4 chapters of the second are a description of one day in Oblomov’s life, including events in the hero’s apartment, his characterization by the author, as well as a chapter important for the entire plot - “Oblomov’s Dream”. This part of the work is an exposition of the book.

Chapters 5-11 and the third part represent the main action of the novel, describing the relationship between Oblomov and Olga. The culmination of the work is the separation of the lovers, leading to Ilya Ilyich again falling into the old state of “Oblomovism.”

The fourth part is the epilogue of the novel, telling about the further life of the heroes. The denouement of the book is the death of Oblomov in a kind of “Oblomovka” created by him and Pshenitsyna.
The novel is divided into three conventional parts - 1) the hero strives for an illusory ideal, the distant “Oblomovka”; 2) Stolz and Olga bring Oblomov out of a state of laziness and apathy, forcing him to live and act; 3) Ilya Ilyich again returns to his previous state of degradation, having found “Oblomovka” from Pshenitsyna. Despite the fact that the main plot point was love story Olga and Oblomov, from a psychological point of view, the leitmotif of the novel is the depiction of the degradation of Ilya Ilyich’s personality, its gradual disintegration right up to actual death.

Character system

The central core of characters is represented by two contrasting male and female images - Oblomov and Stolz, as well as Ilyinskaya and Pshenitsyna. Apathetic, calm, more interested in everyday life, the warmth of home and a rich table, Oblomov and Pshenitsyna act as bearers of outdated, archaic ideas of Russian philistinism. For both of them, “breakdown” as a state of calm, detachment from the world and spiritual inactivity is the primary goal. This is contrasted with the activity, activity, practicality of Stolz and Olga - they are bearers of new, European ideas and norms, a renewed Russian-European mentality.

Male characters

The analysis of Oblomov and Stolz as mirror characters involves considering them as heroes of different time projections. So, Ilya Ilyich is a representative of the past tense, for him the present does not exist, and the ephemeral “Oblomovka of the Future” does not exist for him either. Oblomov lives only in the past tense; for him, all the best was already a long time ago in childhood, that is, he strived back, not appreciating the experience and knowledge gained over the years. That is why the return to “Oblomovism” in Pshenitsyna’s apartment was accompanied by a complete degradation of the hero’s personality - it was as if he was returning to a deep, weak childhood, which he had been dreaming about for many years.

For Stolz there is no past and present, he is focused only on the future. Unlike Oblomov, who realizes the goal and outcome of his life - the achievement of the distant “paradise” Oblomovka, Andrei Ivanovich does not see the goal, for him it becomes a means of achieving goals - constant work. Many researchers compare Stolz to an automated, masterfully tuned mechanism, devoid of the inner spirituality that he finds when communicating with Oblomov. Andrei Ivanovich appears in the novel as a practical character who has no time to think while he needs to create and build something new, including himself. However, if Oblomov was fixated on the past and was afraid to look into the future, then Stolz did not have time to stop, look back and understand where he was coming from and where he was going. Perhaps it is precisely because of the lack of exact landmarks at the end of the novel that Stolz himself falls into the “traps of debris”, finding peace in his own estate.

Both male characters are far from the ideal of Goncharov, who wanted to show that remembering your past and honoring your roots is just as important as constant personal development, learning something new and continuous movement. Only such a harmonious personality, living in the present tense, combining the poetry and good nature of the Russian mentality with the activity and hard work of the European, is worthy, in the author’s opinion, to become the basis for a new Russian society. Perhaps Andrei, Oblomov’s son, could become such a person.

Female characters

If, when depicting male characters, it was important for the author to understand their direction and meaning of life, then female images associated primarily with issues of love and family happiness. Agafya and Olga not only have different origins, upbringing and education, but also have different characters. Meek, weak-willed, quiet and economical, Pshenitsyna perceives her husband as a more important and significant person, her love borders on adoration and idolization of her husband, which is normal within the framework of the old, archaic traditions of house-building. For Olga, a lover is, first of all, a person equal to her, a friend and teacher. Ilyinskaya sees all Oblomov’s shortcomings and tries to change her lover until the very end - despite the fact that Olga is depicted as an emotional, creative person, the girl approaches any issue practically and logically. The romance between Olga and Oblomov was doomed from the very beginning - in order to complement each other, someone would have to change, but neither of them wanted to give up their usual views and the heroes continued to unconsciously oppose each other.

Symbolism of Oblomovka

Oblomovka appears before the reader as a kind of fabulous, unattainable place, where not only Oblomov strives, but also Stolz, who constantly settles his friend’s affairs there and tries at the end of the work to take home the last thing that remains of that old Oblomovka - Zakhara. However, if for Andrei Ivanovich the village is devoid of its mythical qualities and attracts rather on an intuitive, unclear level for the hero, connecting Stolz with the traditions of his ancestors, then for Ilya Ilyich it becomes the center of his entire illusory universe in which the man exists. Oblomovka is a symbol of everything old, dilapidated, passing away, which Oblomov keeps trying to grab onto, which leads to the degradation of the hero - he himself becomes decrepit and dies.

In Ilya Ilyich’s dream, Oblomovka is closely connected with rituals, fairy tales, and legends, which makes it itself a part ancient myth about the village-paradise. Oblomov, associating himself with the heroes of fairy tales told by his nanny, seems to find himself in this ancient, existing in parallel real world. However, the hero does not realize where dreams end and illusions begin, replacing the meaning of life. The distant, unattainable Oblomovka never becomes closer to the hero - it only seems to him that he found it with Pshenitsyna, while he slowly turned into a “plant”, ceasing to think and live full life, completely immersing yourself in the world of your own dreams.

Issues

Goncharov in his work “Oblomov” touched on many historical, social and philosophical issues, many of which do not lose their relevance to this day. The central problem The work is the problem of “Oblomovism” as a historical and social phenomenon among Russian philistines who do not want to adopt new social principles and change. Goncharov shows how “Oblomovism” becomes not only a problem for society, but also for the person himself, who is gradually degrading, fencing off his own memories, illusions and dreams from the real world.
Of particular importance for understanding the Russian national mentality is the depiction of classical Russian types in the novel - both in the example of the main characters (landowner, entrepreneur, young bride, wife), and secondary ones (servants, swindlers, officials, writers, etc.), and also revealing the Russian national character in contrast to the European mentality using the example of the interaction between Oblomov and Stolz.

An important place in the novel is occupied by questions of the meaning of the hero’s life, his personal happiness, place in society and the world in general. Oblomov is a typical “superfluous person” for whom the world striving for the future was inaccessible and distant, while the ephemeral, essentially existing only in dreams, ideal Oblomovka was something close and more real than even Oblomov’s feelings for Olga. Goncharov did not depict the all-encompassing, true love between the characters - in each case it was based on other, prevailing feelings - on dreams and illusions between Olga and Oblomov; on the friendship between Olga and Stolz; on respect from Oblomov and adoration from Agafya.

Theme and idea

In the novel "Oblomov" Goncharov, considering historical topic changes in society in the 19th century through the prism of such a social phenomenon as “Oblomovism”, reveals its destructive effect not only for the new society, but also for the individual individual person, tracing the influence of “Oblomovism” on the fate of Ilya Ilyich. At the end of the work, the author does not lead the reader to a single thought, who was more right - Stolz or Oblomov, however, an analysis of the work “Oblomov” by Goncharov shows that a harmonious personality, like a worthy society, is only possible with full acceptance of one’s past, drawing spiritual values ​​from there basics, with constant striving forward and continuous work on oneself.

Conclusion

Goncharov, in the novel “Oblomov,” first introduced the concept of “Oblomovism,” which remains a common noun today to designate apathetic people stuck in the illusions and dreams of the past, lazy people. In the work, the author touches on a number of important and relevant social and philosophical issues in any era, allowing the modern reader to take a fresh look at his own life.

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