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M. Gorky's play “At the Lower Depths” is a socio-philosophical drama. One of the main philosophical questions of the work is the question of truth and lies. What does humanity need more? What do Gorky's heroes need more?

Truth and lie

Truth and lies, like two sides of the same coin, are inseparable. The collision of these concepts often forms the basis of many literary and life conflicts. The play “At the Depths” is no exception, where the author contrasts different views on the life of the two main characters - the elder Luke and the sharper, former telegraph operator Satin.

The dirty, stuffy shelter sheltered several people who had lost everything in life - their jobs, their families, their good names. In difficult conditions of hopelessness, people also lose faith in the best and sink deeper and deeper into the abyss of abuse, humiliation and depravity.

"Lies" by Luke

Suddenly, the righteous wanderer Luke enters their lives. He reminds these people that they can communicate differently - he addresses them with affectionate, kind words. He tries to find an approach to everyone, to console and caress everyone. But all his mercy and kindness are based on lies!

He lies to the Actor about hospitals for alcoholism, where they will strengthen his body and put him on the right path. He tells Vaska Pepl about the opportunity to make good money in Siberia. He promises Nastya, a girl of easy virtue, a meeting with true love. Anna is promised heavenly bliss after death. The souls of lost people seem to warm up, they come to life, they begin to dream, hope, believe...

But is this attitude justified? After all, Luke is sure in advance that these people are unable to change anything, that they are worthless, degraded, weak, unworthy of respect. Otherwise, Luka, being a subtle psychologist, would try to find something in everyone’s soul that could really help them. It is not for nothing that the name of the elder is often correlated with the Evil One - the tempter.

With his lies, the old man only temporarily lulled people's vigilance. He plunged them into the abyss of fiction and illusion. And now the time has come for the heroes to open their eyes to reality. When Luka, at the most crucial moment for the shelters, disappears in an unknown direction, Vaska Pepel ends up in prison, Natalya’s fate is ruined. The actor, who believed in the wanderer's tales, upon learning the truth, commits suicide.

Truth "Satina"

Luke’s opponent is Satin, an inhabitant of the shelter, who knows firsthand about the life of each of its residents. He does not approve of Luke's lies, although at some point he justifies his motives. Satin himself is convinced that the truth is the only thing that can help a person make a breakthrough and change the current situation. For him, “Man” himself is the truth, he believes in the limitless possibilities of humanity, since “God is dead!”, and people have nothing more to hope for.

Which position is closer to M. Gorky? Hard to tell. He clearly does not accept Luke’s false humanism, but he also does not see a true revolutionary in Satin. Perhaps it is the opposition of such mega-concepts as “truth” and “lie” that reveals the contradictory nature of the author himself.

Conclusion

I think that truth is still more important for humanity. The main problem in the play “At the Bottom” is not the correctness of the characters’ positions, but the people themselves. After all, with the appearance of Luke or with his disappearance, with or without Satin’s propaganda, the heroes will still not change anything in their lives. Everything that happens around us is the work of our own hands! This is the main truth of M. Gorky’s play “At the Depths”.

Truth and lies in M. Gorky’s play “At the Bottom.”

What is truth and what is lie? Humanity has been asking this question for hundreds of years. Truth and lies, good and evil always stand side by side, one simply does not exist without the other. The collision of these concepts is the basis of M. Gorky’s philosophical play “At the Depths”. The author connects two types of humanism with the concepts of truth and lies, which can be interpreted in different ways. Luke’s humanism calls for pity and compassion, reconciles with the difficulties of life, offering “white lies.” Satin’s humanism calls not to be afraid to face the truth, not to reconcile with injustice, but to fight for your human rights. Who is right - Luke or Satin? What is true and what is false for each of them?

The action of the play “At the Bottom” takes place in a gloomy, semi-dark basement, like a cave with a low ceiling, where it is dark, there is no space and it is difficult to breathe. Thieves, beggars, cripples gathered here - everyone who was thrown out of life, different in their habits, life behavior, past fate, but equally hungry, exhausted and useless to anyone. They have nothing, everything has been taken away, lost and trampled into the dirt. They live in an atmosphere of constant drunkenness, swearing and debauchery. It’s hard to imagine a greater “bottom.”

And then Luka appears in the shelter, carrying with him a kind, affectionate word for each of its inhabitants. Luka tells thief Vaska Pepl about the happy life that a free person can lead in Siberia. To the actor - about a wonderful clinic that provides free treatment for alcoholism. For poor Anna, dying of consumption, the old man finds other words: “So, you will die, and you will be at peace... You will not need anything else, and there is nothing to be afraid of!.. Death - it calms everything down... If you die, you will rest ...". His truth is a comforting lie. The new inhabitant of the shelter did not try to force people to change anything in their lives, but only consoled and sowed false hopes. He treated the night shelters as irreparably lost people. Is this what a person who sincerely wants to help does?

A completely different life position is shown in the image of Satin. Satin, a card sharper, is not afraid of either life or death. He lost his name, his job, but he is independent of circumstances and values ​​freedom: “It’s good to feel like a human being!” Satin is a fighter for truth. He sympathizes with people no less than Luke, but does not see a way out - alleviation of suffering - in the simple consolation of people. What is his truth? The truth is that Satin is a man. Satin’s famous monologue about man, in which he talks about the need to respect man, affirms a different life position: “Everything is in man, everything is for man! Only man exists, everything else is the work of his hands and his brain! Human! It's great! It sounds... proud! Human! We must respect the person. Don’t feel sorry... don’t humiliate him with pity... you have to respect him!” Satin himself lies, but he has an ideal justification not in the past and present, but in the future - in the future. Instead of love for one's neighbor, Satin proposes love for a distant abstract person.

I believe that there is no such thing as a humane lie, and sooner or later it will harm those who believe in this delusion. A lie, even “for salvation,” is the purest manifestation of disrespect for a person. You should always respect a person; whoever he is, he is first and foremost a man. On this I certainly agree with Satin. But, unfortunately, the theory of the former telegraph operator alone is also not enough. He cannot change anything either in his life or in the lives of other inhabitants of the “bottom”. And, obviously, the problem here is not the correctness of the theories, but the people themselves, who with or without Luke, with or without Satin, would never have been reborn. Most of what we achieve in life depends on ourselves. And this is the vital truth of the play.

M. Gorky was always attracted by the unity and struggle of opposites (it was not for nothing that he was a Marxist): society and personality, wealth and poverty, good and evil, truth and lies. In the drama “At the Bottom,” the author managed to especially clearly show the unbearable weight of the truth and the saving power of lies for a weak, broken person. Many controversial Russian works saw the light not at home, but abroad. The drama “At the Bottom” was no exception. Gorky wrote it at the end of 1901 - beginning of 1902. Original titles: “At the Bottom of Life”, “Without the Sun”, “Nochlezhka”, “The Bottom”.

The play was allowed only in the Moscow Art Theater, where the first production was carried out on December 18, 1902 by directors Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko. In 1904 she received the Griboyedov Prize.

Slum World

For the first time, people of the “bottom” appeared on the scene - thieves, prostitutes, gamblers and drunkards, whom the author gathered in a nightmarish shelter.

Maxim Gorky paints a sad situation for his heroes - at the bottom of society it should be scary: “a cave-like basement,” a low, heavy ceiling, “unpainted and dirty” furniture. Of course, debauchery, drunkenness, gambling, fights, endless squabbles, poverty and indifference reign here. The author does not spare black paint - the heroes of the work are in no way inferior to their habitat.

Inhabitants of the "bottom"

In the shelter live a young thief Ash, a prostitute Nastya, a bankrupt nobleman (baron) living at Nastya’s expense, a locksmith Kleshch and his dying wife, an alcoholic actor, a card sharper Satin, a cap maker Bubnov and others, matching those already mentioned. Contains Kostylev, greedy and disgusting in his ostentatious piety, sincerely confident that “the kindness of the heart cannot be compared with money.” Therefore, he takes three skins from his poor guests so that he has enough money to buy oil for the lamp. We can say that Gorky created the “noir” style in this drama - however, many Russian dramas are guilty of exaggerated hopelessness.

At first, the characters of the play endlessly squabble on everyday topics - either the baron does not want to move the room, then Kleshch snaps in response to accusations of indifference to his sick wife, then the merchant Kvashnya discusses the advisability of marriage. When the wandering old man Luka appears at the shelter, the conversations of its regulars suddenly take a philosophical turn. This is where truth and lies really come into play in the drama “At the Bottom.”

A trace of Christianity in the work

The newcomer compares favorably with the permanent inhabitants of the “Kostylevo mansions” in that he has retained elementary humanity. Some critics argue that Luke is a negative character, and even his name comes from “the evil one.” But apparently this is not so: at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Gorky was an adherent of the theory of God-building, which tried to reconcile Marxism with Christianity, based on some similarities in philosophies.

Truth and lies in the drama “At the Bottom” are most intricately intertwined precisely with the evangelical character. His ideas are largely Christian: he really tries to console the grieving (and perhaps this is where Gorky sees the main purpose of religion). The old man calms the dying Anna, sympathetically listens to the fictitious love story of the prostitute Nastya, tells the alcoholic actor about a hospital where he will definitely be cured, and persuades the thief Vaska to go to Siberia and start a new honest life there.

Luke believes that someone who has lost hope is doomed to death, and tells a parable about a man who all his life dreamed of leaving for a “righteous land.” Having learned that she does not exist, he hangs himself (in the same way an alcoholic actor who has lost faith in recovery commits suicide, which is how Gorky’s play actually ends).

So still: true or false? Respect or pity?

It is not known whether the author deliberately identifies hope with illusion, thereby turning it into a lie, but it is precisely on this occasion that Satin enters into a kind of polemic with Luke. He read a lot as a boy, then he killed a man while defending his sister, in prison he became addicted to cards and began to make a living by cheating. Satin is ironic, smart, educated. His worldview in some ways coincides with the views of Luke: both believe that the center of the Universe is man and his free choice. But if Luke calls to “take pity on a person in time,” then for Satin pity is unacceptable: “We must respect a person... do not humiliate him with pity...”.

When his roommates reproach the old man for lying, the intellectual gambler passionately defends him: “There are many people who lie out of pity for their neighbors... There are comforting lies, reconciling lies.” He himself, however, considers it an unambiguous evil, but partly admits its inevitability: “Whoever is weak in soul... and who lives on other people’s juices... those who need lies.”

Literary criticism and author's intent

Truth and lies in the drama “At the Bottom” are contrasted not only in the opinions of the characters. The main contradiction is, as usual, between word and deed, idea and reality. Satin can argue as much as he wants about the fact that a person “sounds proud” - he himself, however, is nothing more than a card sharper who despises work: “Work? For what? To be full? No, of course, you have to be “above satiety.” Working, therefore, is reprehensible, but cheating at cards is not.

It is very good that now we are free from socialist ideology, of which Maxim Gorky became a hostage. “At the Bottom” is an interesting and deep drama; it should hardly be perceived only as a criticism of capitalist society. It is quite possible that the author tried to draw a line not only between truth and lies, but also between a person who sounds proud and one in whom nothing remains of his former greatness.

Look into the abyss

One of the characters in the play very clearly outlines the reasons for his stay “at the bottom”: “As soon as I start pouring, I’m all drunk, only skin remains... And also, I’m lazy. I don’t like passion like work.”

In the last act, Nastya formulates this line definitively: “... I wish I could sweep you away like rubbish... somewhere into a hole.” This sounds like a rather unpleasant idea that “extra people” need to be destroyed, and not at all consoled with the humane lie that every person’s life is not in vain. In this case, the death of the actor, who finally realized the futility of his existence, is very symbolic.

What is better: a “white lie” or a “bitter” truth? Humanity has been asking this question for centuries. Truth and lies, good and evil always stand side by side, they are inseparable. The collision of these concepts is the basis of many world-famous literary works. Among them is M. Gorky’s socio-philosophical play “At the Depths.” Its essence lies in the clash of life positions and views of different people.
In the drama “At the Bottom,” the action takes place in a rooming house that looks like a cave with a low ceiling, where it is dark, there is no space and it is difficult to breathe. Thieves, beggars, cripples gathered here - everyone who was thrown out of life, exhausted and useless to anyone. Living together, they discuss pressing life issues. The most important, painful problem for the inhabitants of the shelter is the problem of truth and lies. What is the “truth” of the shelter? It is that people have been deprived of their future, hope, meaning. Almost all shelters are fleeing this “truth” as best they can, inventing for themselves surrogates for the future, hope, meaning. Thus, the girl Nastya living in the shelter dreams of “fatal love.” The merchant Kvashnya is proud of her imaginary female freedom, Vaska Pepel is proud of her even more imaginary thieves’ freedom, and the shoemaker Alyoshka is completely desperate with the freedom of a spree. The actor hopes for his talent and the fact that his difficulties caused by alcoholism are temporary. Mite clings to his class identity, is proud of his belonging to the working class and with all his might breaks out of the shelter. The Tatar tries to hold on to the Koran, and the dying Anna hopes for reward in the afterlife. Even the most desperate of the shelters they rely on something else, hold on to something: the Baron lives in his past, and Natasha still has the last hope for saving love. Only two characters from the inhabitants of the “bottom” are devoid of illusions - these are Satin and Bubnov.
Satin is a fighter for truth. What is his truth? The truth is that Satin is a man. Satin’s famous monologue about a person, in which he talks about the need to respect a person, affirms a different life position compared to Bubnov: “Everything is in a person, everything is for a person! Only man exists, everything else is the work of his hands and his brain! Human! It's great! It sounds... proud! Human! We must respect the person. Don’t feel sorry... don’t humiliate him with pity... you have to respect him!” Satin himself lies, but he has an ideal justification not in the past and present, but in the future - in the prospect of the merger of humanity on the basis of a reasonable transformation of life. Instead of love for one's neighbor, Satin proposes love for a distant abstract person. Gorky understood that in Satin’s mouth the speech about a proud and free man sounded artificial, but it had to sound in the play, expressing the innermost ideals of the author himself.
Satin’s position is comforting; Bubnov’s position is the opposite. This is the darkest figure in the play. Bubnov never clearly enters into an argument, as if talking to himself (“But the threads are rotten…”). Bubnov approaches life with angry pessimism (“People all live like chips floating down a river...”). But still, in the desperate Bubnov, under the callousness and indifference, one can find a suffering human soul. At the end of the play, his naive dream of getting rich and opening a free tavern for the poor brings him closer to his fellow sufferers.
Thus, the truth, even the most bitter, must always win. A lie, even “for salvation,” is the purest manifestation of disrespect for a person. You must always respect a person: no matter who he is, he is, first of all, a human being.

Truth and lies are like good and evil, like light and darkness. These concepts are so intertwined that without one there cannot be the other, it has always been so and so it will always be. They are constantly fighting for the right to be the only ones on Earth, but this struggle is eternal, and there will be no winners or losers in it, and friendship will also not prevail. Each person makes his own choice on which side to be on and how to behave. Sometimes he doubts for a very long time, stands as if between two fires, but you can’t live like this all the time, and still you have to make your choice. And if you look from the other side? What is, in essence, truth and lies? Just words, words that people so often throw into the wind, sometimes without even thinking about the consequences that they may entail. At the same time, they are always absolutely sure that they are right, and it is very difficult to convince anyone. The collision of two opposites is always painful. That is why it is so difficult to resolve the issue of Truth and Lies in Gorky’s play “At the Depths”.
In the play “At the Bottom” there is a struggle between the views, opinions of Satin and Luke. The life position of these heroes is shown most fully in this work. What is Luke's worldview? He is very kind and affectionate to everyone, and he has an encouraging word for every inhabitant of the shelter. He says: “Come and caress me! It’s never harmful to caress a person...” He gave these people what they had been waiting for for so long, something their hearts had lost the habit of long ago. He simply felt sorry for them. This wanderer, who appeared just for a moment in their gloomy, boring, sometimes even worthless life, most likely similar to existence, awakened in them faith in kindness. His kindness inspired in them the desire to live, and not somehow, but happily. Luke gives everyone advice on what they should do. He tells Natasha to marry Ash. “And I will say - go for him, girl, go!” Ash offers to go to Siberia. “Go... to Siberia!”, “And the good side is Siberia! Golden side! He who has strength and intelligence is like a cucumber in a greenhouse!” He calls on Anna to be patient; when she asks whether her torment will continue after death, he replies: “Nothing will happen! Lie down, know! Nothing! You can rest there!.. Be patient a little longer! Everyone, my dear, endures... everyone endures life in their own way...” Luke has his own opinion not only about life, but also about the truth. He will say to Bubnov: “What you say is true... It’s true that it’s not always due to a person’s illness... you can’t always cure a soul with the truth...”. Having pity on all the inhabitants of the shelter, he decided that the truth was not their illness, so he was lying to them out of a desire to cure their soul. The wanderer’s lie is not selfish, it is out of a desire to ease the torment, to give hope, it is a lie “for salvation.”
Now we should consider Satin’s life position. Satin is the only person who will not accuse Luka. He justified the wanderer's lie to the other inhabitants, saying that it was reconciling and comforting. At the same time he says “I know lies! Those who are weak at heart... and those who live on other people's juices need lies... some are supported by it, others hide behind it... And who is his own master... who is independent and does not eat someone else's things - why does he need lies? Lies are the religion of slaves and
masters... Truth is the god of a free man!” For him, Truth is the only true way out, it is the truth that is most important. He is not reconciled to pity. In his opinion, one cannot feel sorry for a person, it humiliates him. “We must respect a person! Don’t feel sorry... don’t humiliate him with pity...”
Now that the views of these people are visible, another question invariably arises. Whose theory is better? Thanks to Luke, people change very quickly for the better. The actor quits drinking and even starts saving money to go to a hospital for alcoholics. He had hope for recovery. Anna wanted to live again, now she thinks that if she feels good in the afterlife, then now she can endure it, she has hope that after death everything will be fine. He also consoled Nastya, believing in her dreams. “If you believe that you had true love... that means you had it! Was!". Now these people have hope for a bright future. How long did the remission last? After all, Luka, as Kleshch correctly notes, “He beckoned them somewhere... but he didn’t tell them the way...”. And what is the result? The actor hanged himself, Anna died, Ash, having killed Kostylev, ends up in Siberia as a convict. Their hopes vanished like smoke; this was helped by the real world, which Luke kept silent about. Despite the fact that Satin did not do anything good for his neighbors, at least he did not lie to them. He did not instill in them an illusory hope that would lead to such disastrous results. But everything is so harsh, how soulless his last words sound after the Actor hanged himself, “Eh... ruined the song... stupid cancer!”
So what is better? The Truth of Satin or the Lie of Luke? It seems to me that the truth, whatever it may be, is still better than a lie. There is even a proverb: “Bitter truth is better than sweet lies.” The truth makes people cleaner. There is probably a lot more evidence that can be given in favor of the truth. But is it necessary to do this? Truth is the god of a strong man, as Satin said. There are simply no such people at the bottom. And now we need to ask the question not what is better, truth or lie, but what would help these unfortunate people change their attitude towards life? Then the answer becomes obvious... Nothing will change their existence. Neither pity nor respect will improve their situation. These weak people do not have the strength to make any drastic decisions. It doesn't matter what is better, truth or lie. After all, neither one nor the other will heal these people. They will remain at the bottom.