"Heart of a Dog" was written at the beginning of 1925. It was supposed to be published in the Nedra almanac, but censorship banned publication. The story was finished in March, and Bulgakov read it at the literary meeting of Nikitsky Subbotniks. The Moscow public became interested in the work. It was distributed in samizdat. It was first published in London and Frankfurt in 1968, in Znamya magazine No. 6 in 1987.

In the 20s. were very popular medical experiments on the rejuvenation of the human body. Bulgakov, as a doctor, was familiar with these natural science experiments. The prototype of Professor Preobrazhensky was Bulgakov's uncle, N.M. Pokrovsky, a gynecologist. He lived on Prechistenka, where the events of the story unfold.

Genre features

The satirical story "Heart of a Dog" combines various genre elements. The plot of the story resembles fantastic adventure literature in the tradition of G. Wells. The subtitle of the story "The Monstrous Story" testifies to the parodic coloring of the fantastic plot.

The science-adventure genre is the outer cover for satirical overtones and topical metaphor.

The story is close to dystopia due to its social satire. This is a warning about the consequences of a historical experiment that must be stopped, everything must return to normal.

Issues

The most important problem of the story is social: it is the comprehension of the events of the revolution, which made it possible to rule the world by balls and shvonders. Another problem is awareness of the limits of human capabilities. Preobrazhensky, imagining himself a god (he is literally worshiped by households), goes against nature, turning a dog into a man. Realizing that “any woman can give birth to Spinoza at any time”, Preobrazhensky repents of his experiment, which saves his life. He understands the fallacy of eugenics, the science of improving the human race.

The problem of the danger of intrusion into human nature and social processes is raised.

Plot and composition

The sci-fi story describes how Professor Filipp Filippovich Preobrazhensky decides to experiment on transplanting the pituitary gland and ovaries of the “semi-proletarian” Klim Chugunkin to a dog. As a result of this experiment, the monstrous Polygraph Polygraphovich Sharikov appeared, the embodiment and quintessence of the victorious proletariat class. The existence of Sharikov brought a lot of problems to the family of Philip Philippovich, and, in the end, endangered the normal life and freedom of the professor. Then Preobrazhensky decided on a reverse experiment, transplanting the pituitary gland of a dog to Sharikov.

The ending of the story is open: this time, Preobrazhensky was able to prove to the new proletarian authorities that he was not involved in the “murder” of Polygraph Poligrafovich, but how long will his already far from calm life last?

The story consists of 9 parts and an epilogue. The first part is written on behalf of the dog Sharik, who suffers from the harsh winter of St. Petersburg from the cold and a wound on his scalded side. In the second part, the dog becomes an observer of everything that happens in Preobrazhensky's apartment: the reception of patients in the "obscene apartment", the professor's opposition to the new house management headed by Shvonder, Philip Philipovich's fearless admission that he does not like the proletariat. For the dog, Preobrazhensky turns into the likeness of a deity.

The third part tells about the ordinary life of Philip Philipovich: breakfast, conversations about politics and devastation. This part is polyphonic, it contains the voices of both the professor and the “bitten” one (Bormental’s assistant from the points of view of Sharik who bit him), and Sharik himself, talking about his lucky ticket and about Preobrazhensky as a magician from a dog's fairy tale.

In the fourth part, Sharik meets the rest of the inhabitants of the house: the cook Daria and the servant Zina, whom the men treat very gallantly, and Sharik mentally calls Zina Zinka, and quarrels with Daria Petrovna, she calls him a homeless pickpocket and threatens with a poker. In the middle of the fourth part, Sharik's story breaks off because he is undergoing an operation.

The operation is described in detail, Philip Philipovich is terrible, he is called a robber, like a murderer who cuts, pulls out, destroys. At the end of the operation, he is compared to a well-fed vampire. This is the author's point of view, it is a continuation of Sharik's thoughts.

The fifth, central and climactic chapter is the diary of Dr. Bormenthal. It begins in a strictly scientific style, which gradually turns into a colloquial one, with emotionally charged words. The case history ends with Bormenthal's conclusion that "we have a new organism in front of us, and we need to observe it first."

The following chapters 6-9 are the history of Sharikov's short life. He learns the world, destroying it and living the probable fate of the murdered Klim Chugunkin. Already in chapter 7, the professor has an idea to decide on a new operation. Sharikov's behavior becomes unbearable: hooliganism, drunkenness, theft, molestation of women. The last straw was Shvonder's denunciation from the words of Sharikov to all the inhabitants of the apartment.

The epilogue, describing the events 10 days after Bormental's fight with Sharikov, shows Sharikov almost turning into a dog again. The next episode is the reasoning of the dog Sharik in March (about 2 months have passed) about how lucky he was.

Metaphorical overtones

The professor has a telling last name. He transforms the dog into a "new man". This happens between December 23rd and January 7th, between Catholic and Orthodox Christmas. It turns out that the transformation takes place in some kind of temporal void between the same date in different styles. A polygraph (multi-writing) is the embodiment of the devil, a “replicated” person.

Apartment on Prechistenka (from the definition of the Mother of God) of 7 rooms (7 days of creation). She is the embodiment of divine order amid the surrounding chaos and devastation. A star looks out of the window of the apartment from the darkness (chaos), watching the monstrous transformation. The professor is called a deity and a priest. He is a priest.

Heroes of the story

Professor Preobrazhensky- a scientist, a value of world importance. However, he is a successful doctor. But his merits do not interfere new government frighten the professor with a seal, prescribe Sharikov and threaten him with arrest. The professor has an inappropriate background - his father is a cathedral archpriest.

Preobrazhensky is quick-tempered, but kind. He sheltered Bormenthal in the department when he was a half-starved student. He is a noble person, not going to leave a colleague in the event of a disaster.

Dr. Ivan Arnoldovich Bormental- the son of a forensic investigator from Vilna. He is the first student of the Preobrazhensky school, loving his teacher and devoted to him.

Ball appears as a fully rational, reasoning being. He even jokes: "A collar is like a briefcase." But Sharik is the very creature in whose mind a crazy thought appears to rise "from rags to riches": "I am a master's dog, an intelligent creature." However, he almost does not sin against the truth. Unlike Sharikov, he is grateful to Preobrazhensky. And the professor operates with a firm hand, ruthlessly kills Sharik, and having killed, regrets: "It's a pity for the dog, he was affectionate, but cunning."

At Sharikova nothing remains of Sharik but hatred for cats, love for the kitchen. His portrait is described in detail first by Bormental in his diary: he is a short man with a small head. Subsequently, the reader learns that the hero's appearance is unsympathetic, his hair is coarse, his forehead is low, his face is unshaven.

His jacket and striped trousers are torn and dirty, a poisonous sky tie and lacquer boots with white leggings complete the suit. Sharikov is dressed in accordance with his own notions of chic. Like Klim Chugunkin, whose pituitary gland was transplanted to him, Sharikov plays the balalaika professionally. From Klim, he inherited a love for vodka.

The name and patronymic Sharikov chooses according to the calendar, the surname takes "hereditary".

The main character trait of Sharikov is arrogance and ingratitude. He behaves like a savage, and about normal behavior he says: "You are torturing yourself, as under the tsarist regime."

Sharikov receives a "proletarian education" from Shvonder. Bormental calls Sharikov a man with a dog's heart, but Preobrazhensky corrects him: Sharikov has just a human heart, but the worst possible person.

Sharikov is even making a career in his own sense: he enters the position of head of the subdepartment for cleaning the city of Moscow from stray animals and is going to sign with the typist.

Stylistic features

The story is full of aphorisms expressed by different characters: “Do not read Soviet newspapers before dinner”, “Devastation is not in the closets, but in the heads”, “You can’t fight anyone! One can act on a person or an animal only by suggestion ”(Preobrazhensky),“ Happiness is not in galoshes ”,“ And what is will? So, smoke, a mirage, a fiction, the delirium of these ill-fated democrats ... ”(Sharik),“ A document is the most important thing in the world ”(Shvonder),“ I am not a master, gentlemen are all in Paris ”(Sharikov).

For Professor Preobrazhensky, there are certain symbols of normal life, which in themselves do not provide this life, but testify to it: a galoshes rack in the front door, carpets on the stairs, steam heating, electricity.

Society of the 20s characterized in the story with the help of irony, parody, grotesque.

What is the book Heart of a Dog about? The ironic story of Bulgakov tells of a failed experiment by Professor Preobrazhensky. What is it? In search of an answer to the question of how to "rejuvenate" humanity. Does the hero manage to find the desired answer? No. But he comes to a result that has a higher level of significance for society than the intended experiment.

Kievan Bulgakov decided to become a singer of Moscow, its houses and streets. This is how Moscow chronicles were born. The story was written in Prechistinskiye lanes by order of the Nedra magazine, which is well acquainted with the writer's work. The chronology of writing the work fits into three months of 1925.

As a doctor, Mikhail Alexandrovich continued the dynasty of his family, describing in detail in the book the operation to “rejuvenate” a person. Moreover, the well-known doctor in Moscow N.M. Pokrovsky, the uncle of the author of the story, became the prototype of Professor Preobrazhensky.

The first reading of the typewritten material took place at a meeting of the Nikitsky Subbotniks, which immediately became known to the country's leadership. In May 1926, the Bulgakovs were searched, the result of which was not long in coming: the manuscript was confiscated. The writer's plan to publish his work did not come true. The Soviet reader saw the book only in 1987.

Main problems

The book has not in vain disturbed the vigilant guardians of thought. Bulgakov managed to gracefully and subtly, but still quite clearly reflect the burning issues - the challenges of the new time. The problems in the story "Heart of a Dog" that the author touches on do not leave readers indifferent. The writer discusses the ethics of science, the moral responsibility of a scientist for his experiments, the possibility of disastrous consequences of scientific adventurism and ignorance. A technical breakthrough could turn into a moral decline.

The problem of scientific progress is acutely felt at the moment of its impotence before the transformation of the consciousness of the new man. The professor coped with his body, but he could not control his spirit, so Preobrazhensky had to part with his ambitions and correct his mistake - to stop competing with the universe and return the dog's heart to the owner. Artificial people could not justify their proud title and become full members of society. In addition, endless rejuvenation could jeopardize the very idea of ​​​​progress, because if new generations do not naturally replace the old ones, then the development of the world will stop.

Are attempts to change the country's mentality for the better really fruitless? The Soviet government tried to eradicate the prejudices of the past centuries - this is the process behind the metaphor for the creation of Sharikov. Here he is, the proletarian, the new Soviet citizen, his creation is possible. However, its creators face the problem of education: they cannot appease their creation and teach it to be cultured, educated and moral with a full set of revolutionary consciousness, class hatred and blind faith in the correctness and infallibility of the party. Why? This is impossible: either a pipe or a jug.

Human defenselessness in the whirlwind of events related to the construction of a socialist society, hatred of violence and hypocrisy, the absence and suppression of the remaining human dignity in all its manifestations - all these are slaps in the face with which the author branded his era, and all because it does not put individuality in a penny . Collectivization affected not only the village, but also the souls. It became more and more difficult to remain a person, because the public presented more and more rights to her. General equalization and equalization did not make people happier, but turned them into ranks of meaningless biorobots, where the most gray and mediocre of them set the tone. Rudeness and stupidity have become the norm in society, they have replaced revolutionary consciousness, and in the image of Sharikov we see a sentence for a new type of Soviet person. From the dominion of the Shvonders and their ilk arise the problems of trampling on intelligence and intelligence, the power of dark instincts in the life of an individual, total gross interference in the natural course of things ...

Some of the questions posed in the work remain unanswered to this day.

What is the meaning of the book?

People have long been looking for answers to the questions: What is a person? What is its public purpose? What role does everyone play in creating the environment that would be “comfortable” for those living on planet Earth? What are the "paths" to this "comfortable community"? Is it possible to reach a consensus between people of different social origins, holding opposite views on certain issues of being, occupying alternative "steps" in the intellectual and cultural development? And, of course, it is important to understand the simple truth, which is that society develops due to unexpected discoveries in this or that branch of science. But can these "discoveries" always be called progressive? Bulgakov answers all these questions with his characteristic irony.

A person is a person, and the development of a person implies independence, which is denied to a Soviet citizen. The social destiny of people is to masterfully do their job and not interfere with others. However, the "conscious" heroes of Bulgakov only chant slogans, but do not work for the benefit of their embodiment in reality. Each of us, in the name of comfort, must be tolerant of dissent and not prevent people from confessing it. And again in the USSR, everything is exactly the opposite, but the opposite is true: Preobrazhensky's talent is forced to fight to defend his right to help patients, and his point of view is brazenly condemned and persecuted by some nonentities. They can live in peace if everyone minds their own business, but there is no equality in nature and cannot be, because from birth we are all different from each other. It is impossible to maintain it artificially, since Shvonder cannot start operating brilliantly, and the professor cannot play the balalaika. Imposed, not real equality will only harm people, prevent them from adequately assessing their place in the world and occupying it with dignity.

Humanity needs discoveries, this is understandable. But you should not reinvent the wheel - try to reproduce a person artificially, for example. If the natural way is still possible, why does it need an analogue, and even such a laborious one? People are facing many other, more significant threats, to which it is worth turning the full power of scientific intellect.

Main Topics

The story is multifaceted. The author touches on important topics that are characteristic not only of the era of the early twentieth century, but are also “eternal”: good and evil, science and morality, morality, the fate of man, attitudes towards animals, building a new state, homeland, sincere human relations. I would especially like to highlight the theme of the responsibility of the creator for his creation. The struggle of ambition and adherence to principles in the professor ended with the victory of humanism over pride. He resigned himself to his error, admitted defeat, and used his experience to correct his mistakes. This is exactly what every creator should do.

Also relevant in the work is the theme of individual freedom and those boundaries that society, like the state, cannot cross. Bulgakov insists that a full-fledged person is one who has free will and beliefs. Only he can develop the idea of ​​socialism without caricatured forms and offshoots that deform the idea. The crowd is blind and always driven by primitive stimuli. But a person is capable of self-control and self-development, she must be given the freedom to work and live for the good of society, and not set her against it with futile attempts at forcible merging.

Satire and humor

The book opens with a stray dog's monologue addressed to "citizens" and giving precise characteristics to Muscovites and the city itself. The population through the "eyes" of the dog is heterogeneous (which is true!): citizens - comrades - gentlemen. "Citizens" buy goods in the cooperative of Tsentrokhoz, and "gentlemen" - in Okhotny Ryad. Why do rich people need a rotten horse? You can get this "poison" only in Mosselprom.

You can “recognize” a person by their eyes: who has “dryness in the soul”, who is aggressive, and who is a lackey. The last one is the most disgusting. If you are afraid, then you should be “punched”. The most vile "scum" - janitors: rowing "human cleaning".

But the cook is an important object. Nutrition is a serious indicator of the state of society. So, the lordly cook of Counts Tolstoy is a real person, and the cooks from the Council of Normal Nutrition do things that even a dog is indecent. If I became the chairman, then I actively steal. Ham, tangerines, wine - these are the “former Eliseev brothers”. The doorman is worse than cats. He lets a stray dog ​​pass, currying favor with the professor.

The education system "assumes" Muscovites "educated" and "uneducated". Why learn to read? "Meat smells like a mile away." But if you have at least some brains, you will learn to read and write without courses, like, for example, a stray dog. The beginning of Sharkov's education was an electrician's shop, where a tramp "tasted" insulated wire.

The techniques of irony, humor and satire are often used in combination with tropes: comparisons, metaphors and personifications. special satirical device we can consider the way of the initial presentation of the characters according to the preliminary descriptive characteristics: “mysterious gentleman”, “rich eccentric” - Professor Preobrazhensky”; "handsome-bitten", "bitten" - Dr. Bormental; "someone", "fruit" - a visitor. Sharikov's inability to communicate with residents, to formulate his demands, gives rise to humorous situations and questions.

If we talk about the state of the press, then through the mouth of Fedor Fedorovich, the writer talks about the case when, as a result of reading Soviet newspapers before dinner, patients lost weight. An interesting assessment by the professor of the existing system through the “hanger” and “galoshes rack”: until 1917, the front doors were not closed, as dirty shoes and outerwear were left below. After March, all galoshes disappeared.

Main idea

In his book M.A. Bulgakov warned that violence is a crime. All life on earth has the right to exist. This is an unwritten law of nature that must be followed in order to prevent a point of no return. It is necessary to preserve the purity of the soul and thoughts for life, so as not to indulge internal aggression, not to splash it out. That is why the professor's forcible intervention in the natural course of things is condemned by the writer, and therefore leads to such monstrous consequences.

The civil war hardened society, made it marginal, boorish and vulgar at its core. Here they are, the fruits of violent interference in the life of the country. All of Russia in the 1920s is a rude and ignorant Sharikov, who does not at all strive for work. His tasks are less lofty and more selfish. Bulgakov warned his contemporaries against such a development of events, ridiculing the vices of a new type of people and showing their failure.

Main characters and their characteristics

1. The central figure of the book is Professor Preobrazhensky. He wears gold-rimmed glasses. Lives in a rich apartment, consisting of seven rooms. He is alone. He devotes all his time to work. Philip Philipovich conducts a reception at home, sometimes he operates here. Patients call him a "magician", "sorcerer". “Creates”, often accompanying his actions with singing excerpts from operas. Loves the theatre. I am convinced that every person should strive to become a specialist in their field. The professor is a great speaker. His judgments line up in a clear logical chain. He says about himself that he is a man of observation, facts. Leading a discussion, he gets carried away, gets excited, sometimes turns to shouting if the problem touches him to the quick. The attitude towards the new system is manifested in his statements about terror, which paralyzes the human nervous system, about newspapers, about devastation in the country. Carefully treats animals: "hungry, poor fellow." In relation to living beings, he preaches only kindness and the impossibility of any violence. The suggestion of humane truths is the only way to influence all living things. An interesting detail in the interior of the professor's apartment is a huge owl sitting on the wall, a symbol of wisdom, so necessary not only for a world-famous scientist, but for every person. At the end of the "experiment" finds the courage to admit that the experiment rejuvenation failed.
2. Young, handsome Ivan Arnoldovich Bormenthal, assistant professor, who fell in love with him, sheltered him as a promising young man. Philipp Philippovich hoped that a talented scientist would emerge from the doctor in the future. During the operation, literally everything flickers in the hands of Ivan Arnoldovich. The doctor is not just scrupulous about his duties. The doctor's diary, as a strict medical report-observation of the patient's condition, reflects the whole gamut of his feelings and experiences for the result of the "experiment".
3. Shvonder is the chairman of the house committee. All his actions resemble the convulsions of a puppet controlled by someone invisible. The speech is confused, the same words are repeated, which sometimes causes a condescending smile from readers. Shvonder doesn't even have a name. He sees his task in fulfilling the will of the new government, without thinking whether it is good or bad. For the sake of achieving his goal, he is capable of any step. Vengeful, he distorts the facts, slanders many people.
4. Sharikov is a creature, something, the result of an “experiment”. A sloping and low forehead indicates the level of its development. Uses all swear words in his vocabulary. An attempt to teach him good manners, to instill a taste for beauty was not successful: he drinks, steals, mocks women, cynically insults people, strangles cats, “performs bestial acts.” As they say, nature rests on it, because you cannot go against it.

The main motives of Bulgakov's work

The versatility of Bulgakov's work is amazing. You seem to be traveling through the works, meeting familiar motifs. Love, greed, totalitarianism, morality are just parts of one whole, “wandering” from book to book and creating a single thread.

• In "Notes on Cuffs" and in "Heart of a Dog" sounds faith in human kindness. This motif is also central in The Master and Margarita.
• In the story "Diaboliad" the fate is clearly traced little man, an ordinary cog in the bureaucratic machine. This motif is typical for other works of the author. The system suppresses the best qualities in people, and the scary thing is that over time this becomes the norm for the people. In the novel The Master and Margarita, writers whose works did not correspond to the ruling ideology were kept in the "psychiatric hospital". Professor Preobrazhensky told about his observations, when he gave the patients to read the newspaper Pravda before dinner, they lost weight. It was impossible to find anything that would help broaden one's horizons and allow one to look at events from opposite angles in the periodical press.
• Selfishness is what guides the majority negative characters Bulgakov's books. For example, Sharikov from " dog heart". And how many troubles could have been avoided, provided that the "red ray" would be used for its intended purpose, and not for selfish purposes (the story "Fatal Eggs")? The basis of these works are experiments that run counter to nature. It is noteworthy that Bulgakov identified the experiment with building socialism in the Soviet Union, which is dangerous for society as a whole.
• The main motive of the writer's work is the motive home. The comfort in the apartment of Philipp Philippovich ("a lamp under a silk shade") resembles the atmosphere of the Turbins' house. Home is a family, homeland, Russia, about which the writer's heart ached. With all his work, he wished well-being and prosperity to his homeland.

Interesting? Save it on your wall!

Bulgakov wrote many stories and short stories, but none of them were written just like that, without some secret, subtle hint. In each of his works, with the help of witty and clever satire, he reveals some secret or gave an answer to a question that has long been of concern to everyone. So the story "" carries something more than a story about the transformation of a dog into a man.

No. It touches upon the question that has long worried the writer himself, which he later put into the mouth of Pontius Pilate from The Master and Margarita: “What is truth?”

This question is eternal, you can find many different answers to it, but as Bulgakov noted in “Notes on the Cuffs” with bitter irony: “Truth comes only through suffering ... It's black, be calm! But for knowing the truth, they don’t pay money, they don’t give rations. Sad but true."

But what does that mean? Can it be said that Sharik, the dog from the street, has learned what truth is? I think it's possible. But we, seeing Sharik's life before and after the operation, empathizing with him with his pain, fear and other feelings, having merged with his soul while reading, we understand how reckless, immoral medicine is. Yes, Sharik is just a beast, but he feels, lives, and therefore does not deserve what Professor Preobrazhensky did to him. Nothing alive deserves that kind of treatment.

The story "Heart of a Dog" is a story about the great discoveries made by the professors of the construction school, brilliant scientists in the era of scientific experiments. Behind the curtain of laughter in the story are deep reflections on the shortcomings of human nature, on the destructiveness of ignorance, on the responsibility that, along with discoveries, falls on the shoulders of scientists and science. Themes are eternal, which still do not lose their significance.

We see that Bulgakov, jokingly, reveals to us the image of not only Sharik, but also the professor himself, who, like many people in his profession, is lonely. Philip Filippovich is associated with a deity only in the eyes of Sharik, while for others he is the key to the castle of rejuvenation. We come to understand that if a person combines loneliness, a desire to refute reality that is unacceptable to himself and honesty, then this can lead to unexpected and sometimes tragic consequences. Sharik came to such an inevitable, critical outcome, having transformed into Sharikov. Bulgakov in "The Heart of a Dog" mercilessly exposes the "purity" that has lost its aesthetic beginning of science and self-satisfied people of science. They imagined themselves equal to God: they decided to reshape the animal essence, creating a man out of a dog.

Therefore, I think that the story is devoted not only to misconceptions related to science, medicine, but also to a cold attitude towards the universe and religion.

And the truth lies in the fact that every living being makes its way into life different ways, some by deceit, mistakes, but most often by labor, which sometimes carries in itself not what they wanted to achieve. Sometimes it happens that people, in order to achieve their goal, "walk over corpses", this is what we see in Bulgakov. Bulgakov's satire carries a secret meaning, but it is easy to understand: you just need to want it.

The writer believed that his reader had a thoughtful and unbiased mind - for this he respected him, sought contact with him, turning from the pages of his works. We must accept this gift and understand Bulgakov's satire in all its new strength and complexity.

Starting my discussions about Professor Preobrazhensky, the hero of the work "Heart of a Dog", I would like to dwell a little on some facts of the biography of the author - Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov (05/15/1891, Kiev - 03/10/1940, Moscow), a Russian writer, theater playwright and director. All this in order to draw some parallels that will largely unite the author and his imaginary hero.

A little about the author's biography

Bulgakov was born into the family of an associate professor at the Kiev Theological Academy, but he himself soon became a student of the medical faculty of Kiev University. In World War I, he worked as a front-line doctor. In the spring of 1918 he returned to Kiev, where he practiced as a private venereologist. During the civil war of 1919, Bulgakov was a military doctor of the Ukrainian military army, then the Armed Forces of the South of Russia, the Red Cross, the Volunteer Army, etc. Having fallen ill with typhus in 1920, he was treated in Vladikavkaz, and after that he woke up writing talent. To his cousin he will write that, at last, he understood: his business is to write.

Prototype of Professor Preobrazhensky

You can really compare Bulgakov with the prototype of the protagonist, they have too much in common. However, it is generally accepted that Preobrazhensky (professor) as an image was written off from his uncle Mikhail Afanasyevich, a famous doctor in Moscow, a gynecologist

In 1926, the OGPU searched the writer's house, and as a result, the manuscripts of The Heart of a Dog and the diary were seized.

This story was dangerous for the writer because it became a satire on Soviet power in the 20s and 30s. The newly minted class of the proletariat is represented here by heroes like the Shvonders and Sharikovs, who are absolutely far from the values ​​of destroyed tsarist Russia.

All of them are opposed by Professor Preobrazhensky, whose quotes deserve special attention. This surgeon and scientist, who is the luminary of Russian science, appears for the first time at the moment when in the story the dog, the future Sharikov, dies in the city gateway - hungry and cold, with a burned side. The professor appears at the most painful hours for a dog. The dog's thoughts "voice" Preobrazhensky as a gentleman of culture, with an intelligent beard and mustache, like the French knights.

Experiment

The main business of Professor Preobrazhensky is to treat people, to look for new ways to achieve longevity and effective means of rejuvenation. Of course, like any scientist, he could not live without experiments. He picks up the dog, and at the same time a plan is born in the doctor's head: he decides to perform a pituitary transplant operation. He does this experiment on a dog in the hope of finding an effective method for gaining a “second youth”. However, the consequences of the operation were unexpected.

Over the course of several weeks, the dog, which was given the nickname Sharik, becomes a person and receives documents for the surname Sharikov. Professor Preobrazhensky and his assistant Bormental are trying to instill in him worthy and noble human manners. However, their "education" does not bring any visible results.

Transformation into a human

Preobrazhensky expresses his opinion to the assistant Ivan Arnoldovich Bormental: it is necessary to understand the whole horror, consisting in the fact that Sharikov no longer has a dog's heart, but a human one, moreover, "the lousiest of all that exists in nature."

Bulgakov created a parody of the socialist revolution, described the clash of two classes, in which Filipp Filippovich Preobrazhensky is a professor and an intellectual, and the working class is Sharikov and his ilk.

The professor, like a real nobleman, accustomed to luxury, living in a 7-room apartment and every day eating different delicacies such as salmon, eels, turkey, roast beef, and washing it all down with cognac, vodka and wine, suddenly got into an unexpected situation. Unbridled and arrogant Sharikovs and Shvonders burst into his calm and proportionate aristocratic life.

Domkom

Shvonder is a separate instance of the proletarian class, he and his company make up the house committee in the house where Preobrazhensky, the experimental professor, lives. They, however, seriously undertook to fight with him. But that one is also not so simple, Professor Preobrazhensky's monologue about the devastation in the minds says that he simply hates the proletariat and its interests, and as long as he has the opportunity to devote himself to his favorite business (science), he will be indifferent to petty swindlers and swindlers like Shvonder.

But with his household Sharikov, he enters into a serious struggle. If Shvonder presses purely outwardly, then you can’t just disown Sharikov, because it is he who is the product of his scientific activity and the product of an unsuccessful experiment. Sharikov brings such confusion and devastation to his house that in two weeks the professor experienced more stress than in all his years.

Image

However, the image of Professor Preobrazhensky is very curious. No, he is by no means the embodiment of virtue. He, like any person, has his shortcomings, he is a rather selfish, narcissistic, conceited, but lively and real person. Preobrazhensky became the image of a real intellectual, fighting alone against the devastation that the generation of Sharikovs brings. Isn't this fact worthy of sympathy, respect and sympathy?

Revolution time

The story "Heart of a Dog" shows the reality of the 20s of the twentieth century. Dirty streets are described, where signs are hung everywhere with promises of a brighter future for people. An even more depressing mood is caused by bad, cold, inclement weather and the homeless image of a dog that, like most Soviet people in a new country under construction, literally survives and is in constant search for warmth and food.

It is in this chaos that one of the few intellectuals Preobrazhensky, a professor-aristocrat, who survived in a period of dangerous and difficult times, appears. Sharikov's character, still in his canine body, assessed him in his own way: that he "eats plentifully and does not steal, will not kick with his foot, and is not afraid of anyone, because he is always full."

Two sides

The image of Preobrazhensky is like a ray of light, like an island of stability, satiety and well-being in the terrible reality of the post-war years. He is actually pleasant. But many do not like a person who, in general, everything is going well, but for whom it is not enough to have seven rooms - he wants another, eighth, to make a library in it.

However, the house committee began an intensified struggle against the professor and wished to take away his apartment from him. In the end, after all, the proletarians did not manage to harm the professor, and therefore this fact could not but please the reader.

But this is only one side of the medal of Preobrazhensky's life, and if you delve deeper into the essence of the matter, you can see a not very attractive picture. The wealth that main character Bulgakov, Professor Preobrazhensky, it must be said, he also did not suddenly fall on his head and was not inherited from wealthy relatives. He made his own wealth. And now he serves people who have received power into their own hands, because now it is their time to enjoy all the benefits.

Very interesting things are voiced by one of Preobrazhensky’s clients: “No matter how much I steal, everything goes to female body, champagne "Abrau-Durso" and cancer necks "". But the professor, despite all his high morality, intelligence and sensitivity, does not try to reason with his patient, re-educate or express displeasure. He understands that he needs money to maintain his usual way of life without need: with all the necessary servants in the house, with a table filled with all sorts of dishes like sausages not from Mosselprom or caviar spread on crispy fresh bread.

In the work, Professor Preobrazhensky uses a dog's heart for his experiment. It is not because of his love for animals that he picks up an exhausted dog to feed or warm, but because, as it seems to him, a brilliant, but monstrous plan for him was born in his head. And then this operation is described in detail in the book, which causes only unpleasant emotions. As a result of the rejuvenation operation, the professor has a “newborn” person in his hands. That is why it is not in vain that Bulgakov gives speaking surname and the status of his hero - Preobrazhensky, a professor who implants the cerebellum of a recidivist thief Klimka into a dog that has fallen into his hands. It paid off, the professor did not expect such side effects.

Professor Preobrazhensky's phrases contain thoughts about education, which, in his opinion, could make Sharikov a more or less acceptable member of social society. But Sharikov was not given a chance. Preobrazhensky had no children, and he did not master the basics of pedagogy. Perhaps that is why his experiment did not go in the right direction.

And few people pay attention to the words of Sharikov that he, like a poor animal, was seized, slashed and now they disdain, and he, by the way, did not give his permission for the operation and can sue. And, what is most interesting, no one notices the truth behind his words.

Teacher and educator

Preobrazhensky became the first teacher of literature for Sharikov, although he understood that teaching to speak does not at all mean becoming a full-fledged person. He wanted to make a highly developed personality out of the beast. After all, the professor himself in the book is a standard of education and high culture and a supporter of the old, pre-revolutionary mores. He very clearly defined his position, speaking about the ensuing devastation and the inability of the proletariat to cope with it. The professor believes that people should first of all be taught the most elementary culture, he is sure that using brute force, nothing in the world can be achieved. He realizes that he has created a being with dead soul, and finds the only way out: to do the reverse operation, since his educational methods did not work on Sharikov, because in a conversation with the maid Zina he noted: "You can't fight anyone ... You can only act on a person and an animal by suggestion."

But the skills of demagogy, as it turned out, are learned much easier and faster than the skills of creative activity. And Shvonder succeeds in educating Sharikov. He does not teach him grammar and mathematics, but begins immediately with the correspondence between Engels and Kautsky, as a result of which Sharikov, with his low stage of development, despite the complexity of the topic, from which his “head is swollen”, came to the conclusion: “Take everything and share!" This idea of ​​social justice was best understood by the people's authorities and the newly minted citizen Sharikov.

Professor Preobrazhensky: "Devastation in the minds"

It should be noted that "Heart of a Dog" from all sides shows all the absurdity and madness of the new structure of society that arose after 1917. Professor Preobrazhensky understood this well. The character's quotes about devastation in their heads are unique. He says that if the doctor, instead of performing operations, starts to sing in chorus, he will be devastated. If he begins to urinate past the toilet, and all his servants do this, then devastation will begin in the restroom. Consequently, the devastation is not in the closets, but in the heads.

Famous quotes of Professor Preobrazhensky

In general, the book "Heart of a Dog" is a real quote book. The main and vivid expressions of the professor were described in the text above, but there are a few more that also deserve the attention of the reader and will be interesting for various reflections.

“The one who is in no hurry anywhere succeeds everywhere.”

Why was the carpet removed? front staircase? What, Karl Marx forbids keeping carpets on the stairs?

- "Humanity itself takes care of this and in the evolutionary order every year stubbornly creates dozens of outstanding geniuses from the mass of all sorts of filth, decorating the globe."

- "What is this devastation of yours? An old woman with a stick? The witch who broke all the windows, put out all the lamps?"

The problematics of "The Heart of a Dog" allows you to fully explore the essence of the work of the famous Soviet writer Mikhail Bulgakov. The story was written in 1925. Why it is considered one of the key works of Russian literature of the early 20th century, let's try to figure it out together.

A daring tale

The problems of the "Heart of a Dog" were imbued with everyone who came across this work. Its original title was Heart of a Dog. A Monstrous Story. But then the author decided that the second part only makes the title heavier.

The first listeners of the story were friends and acquaintances of Bulgakov, who gathered at the Nikitinsky subbotnik. The story made a big impression. Everyone was discussing her animatedly, noting her impudence. The problematics of the story "Heart of a Dog" has become one of the most discussed topics for the coming months among the educated society of the capital. As a result, rumors about her reached law enforcement agencies. Bulgakov's house was searched, and the manuscript was confiscated. It was never published during his lifetime, being published only during the perestroika years.

And this can be understood. After all, it reflected the main problems of Soviet society, which appeared almost immediately after the victory October revolution. After all, in fact, Bulgakov compared power with a dog that turns into a selfish and vile person.

Analyzing the problems of "Heart of a Dog", one can study what was the cultural and historical situation in Russia after. The story reflects all the troubles that Soviet people had to face in the first half of the 20s.

In the center of the story is a scientific experiment that He conducts by transplanting a human pituitary gland into a dog. The results exceed all expectations. In a few days, the dog turns into a human.

This work was Bulgakov's response to the events taking place in the country. The scientific experiment he portrayed is a vivid and accurate picture of the proletarian revolution and its consequences.

In the story, the author poses many important questions to the reader. How does revolution relate to evolution, what is the nature of the new power and the future of the intelligentsia? But Bulgakov is not limited to general political topics. He is also concerned about the problem of old and new morality and morality. It is important for him to find out which of them is more humane.

Contrasting strata of society

The problematic of Bulgakov's story "The Heart of a Dog" largely lies in the opposition of various strata of society, the gap between which was felt especially acute in those days. The intelligentsia is personified by the professor, the luminary of science Philip Philippovich Preobrazhensky. The representative of the "new" person, born of the revolution, is the house manager Shvonder, and later Sharikov, who is influenced by the speeches of his new friend and communist propaganda literature.

Preobrazhensky's assistant, Dr. Bormenthal, calls him a creator, but the author himself is clearly of a different opinion. He is not ready to admire the professor.

Laws of evolution

The main claim is that Preobrazhensky encroached on the basic laws of evolution, tried on the role of God. He creates a person with his own hands, conducting, in fact, a monstrous experiment. Here Bulgakov makes a reference to his original title.

It is worth noting that it was precisely as an experiment that Bulgakov perceived everything that was happening then in the country. Moreover, the experiment is grandiose in scale and at the same time dangerous. The main thing that the author denies to Preobrazhensky is the moral right of the creator. After all, having endowed a kind homeless dog with human habits, Preobrazhensky made Sharikov the embodiment of all that terrible that was in people. Did the professor have the right to do so? This question can characterize the problems of Bulgakov's Heart of a Dog.

References to fantasy

Many genres are intertwined in Bulgakov's story. But the most obvious are the references to science fiction. They constitute the key artistic feature of the work. As a result, realism is brought to sheer absurdity.

One of the main theses of the author is the impossibility of a forced reorganization of society. Especially such a cardinal one. History shows that in many ways he was right. The mistakes made by the Bolsheviks today form the basis of history textbooks devoted to that period.

Sharik, who has become a man, personifies the average character of that era. The main thing in his life is class hatred for enemies. That is, the proletarians cannot stand the bourgeois. Over time, this hatred spreads to the rich, and then to educated people and ordinary intellectuals. It turns out that the basis of the new world is to everything old. Clearly, a world based on hate had no future.

Slaves in power

Bulgakov is trying to convey his position - the slaves were in power. That's what Heart of a Dog is about. The problem lies in the fact that they received the right to govern before they had at least a minimal education and understanding of culture. The darkest instincts wake up in such people, as in Sharikov. Mankind is powerless before them.

Among the artistic features of this work, numerous associations and references to domestic and foreign classics should be noted. The key to the work can be obtained by analyzing the exposition of the story.

The elements that we meet in the plot of the "Heart of a Dog" (blizzard, winter cold, stray dog) refer us to Blok's poem "The Twelve".

An important role is played by such an insignificant detail as a collar. In Blok's collar, a bourgeois hides his nose, and in Bulgakov's, it is by the collar that a homeless dog determines the status of Preobrazhensky, realizing that in front of him is a benefactor, and not a hungry proletarian.

In general, we can conclude that "Heart of a Dog" is Bulgakov's outstanding work, which plays a key role both in his work and in all domestic literature. First of all by ideological concept. But it deserves high praise artistic features, and the issues that are raised in the story.