Comparison of characters: Oblomov and Zakhar. Characteristics of the main characters of the novel “Oblomov” Who is the main character in Oblomov’s novel

Ivan Aleksandrovich Goncharov worked on the novel “Oblomov” for ten years. The characterization of the main character is so convincingly presented by the classic that it went beyond the scope of the work, and the image became a household name. The quality of the author's elaboration of the characters in the story is impressive. All of them are integral, possessing the features of people contemporary to the writer.

The topic of this article is the characteristics of the heroes of Oblomov.

Ilya Ilyich Oblomov. Sliding on the plane of laziness

The central image of the book is the young (32-33 years old) landowner Ilya Ilyich Oblomov, a lazy, imposing dreamer. He is a man of average height, with dark gray eyes, pleasant facial features, and childishly pampered plump hands. The person living in the St. Petersburg apartment on the Vyborg side is ambiguous. Oblomov is an excellent conversationalist. By his nature, he is not capable of causing harm to anyone. His soul is pure. He is educated and has a broad outlook. At any given time, his face reflects a continuous stream of thoughts. It would seem that we are talking about if not for the enormous laziness that has taken over Ilya Ilyich. Since childhood, numerous nannies took care of him in small ways. “Zakharki da Vanya” from the serfs did any work for him, even small ones. His days pass in idleness and lying on the sofa.

Trusting them, Oblomov signed an enslaving agreement for his Vyborg apartment, and then paid fake “moral damages” to Agafya’s brother Mukhoyarov in the amount of ten thousand rubles through a fake loan letter. Ilya Ilyich's friend Stolz exposes the scoundrels. After this, Tarantiev “goes on the run.”

People close to Oblomov

Those around him feel that he is a sincere person, Oblomov. The characterization is a characterization, but the protagonist’s self-destruction through laziness does not prevent him from having friends. The reader sees how a true friend Andrei Stolts is trying to snatch Oblomov from the tight embrace of doing nothing. After Oblomov’s death, he became, according to the latter’s will, an adoptive father for his son Andryusha.

Oblomov has a devoted and loving common-law wife - the widow Agafya Pshenitsyna - an unrivaled housewife, narrow-minded, illiterate, but honest and decent. Outwardly she is plump, but well-behaved and hard-working. Ilya Ilyich admires it, comparing it to a cheesecake. The woman breaks off all relations with her brother Ivan Mukhoyarov, having learned about his low deception of her husband. After the death of her common-law husband, a woman feels that “the soul has been taken out of her.” Having given her son to be raised by the Stolts, Agafya simply wants to follow her Ilya. She is not interested in money, as can be seen from her refusal of the income due from Oblomov’s estate.

Ilya Ilyich is served by Zakhar - an unkempt, lazy, but idolizing his master and a loyal servant of the old school to the end. After the master's death, the former servant prefers to beg, but remains near his grave.

More about the image of Andrei Stolts

Often the topic of school essays is Oblomov and Stolz. They are opposite even in appearance. Tawny, dark, with sunken cheeks, it seems that Stolz consists entirely of muscles and tendons. He has a rank behind him and a guaranteed income. Later, while working in a trading company, he earned money to buy a house. He is active and creative, he is offered interesting and lucrative work. In the second part of the novel, it is he who tries to bring Oblomov together with Olga Ilyinskaya, introducing them. However, Oblomov stopped building a relationship with this lady because he was afraid to change housing and engage in active work. Disappointed Olga, who planned to re-educate the lazy man, left him. However, Stolz’s image is not ideal, despite his constant creative work. He, as the opposite of Oblomov, is afraid to dream. Goncharov put an abundance of rationality and rationalism into this image. The writer believed that he had not finalized the image of Stolz. Anton Pavlovich Chekhov even considered this image negative, the judgment that he was “too pleased with himself” and “thinks too well of himself.”

Olga Ilyinskaya - woman of the future

The image of Olga Ilyinskaya is strong, complete, beautiful. Not a beauty, but surprisingly harmonious and dynamic. She is deeply spiritual and at the same time active. met her singing the aria "Casta diva". This woman turned out to be capable of stirring up even such a guy. But re-educating Oblomov turned out to be an extremely difficult task, no more effective than training woodpeckers; laziness took deep roots in him. In the end, Oblomov is the first to give up his relationship with Olga (due to laziness). A characteristic of their further relationship is Olga’s active sympathy. She marries the active, reliable and faithful Andrei Stolz, who loves her. They have a wonderful, harmonious family. But the astute reader will understand that the active German “does not reach” the spiritual level of his wife.

Conclusion

A string of Goncharov’s images passes before the eyes of the reader of the novel. Of course, the most striking of them is the image of Ilya Ilyich Oblomov. Having wonderful prerequisites for a successful, comfortable life, he managed to ruin himself. At the end of his life, the landowner realized what had happened to him, giving this phenomenon the capacious, laconic name “Oblomovism.” Is it modern? And how. Today's Ilya Ilyichs, in addition to their dream flight, also have impressive resources - computer games with stunning graphics.

The novel did not reveal the image of Andrei Stolts to the extent intended by Ivan Aleksandrovich Goncharov. The author of the article considers this to be natural. After all, the classic depicted two extremes in these heroes. The first is a useless dream, and the second is a pragmatic, unspiritual activity. It is obvious that only by combining these qualities in the right proportion will we get something harmonious.

In I. A. Goncharov’s novel “Oblomov” the complex relationship between slavery and lordship is exposed; there is a story about two opposite types of people, differing in their concepts of the world: for one the world is abstract, ideal, for the other it is material and practical. The author described these two types in Oblomov and Zakhara.

Oblomov is educated, not stupid, but he is too lazy to do anything to solve this or that problem. All day long he just lies and thinks. Sometimes he seems to decide to do something, but rarely follows through with his impulses. There is nothing better for him than lying quietly and doing nothing. Even his village is run by a trusted person. For him, ordinary dressing becomes an obstacle to business, because he does not want to part with his favorite robe. Oblomov tries to understand himself, to understand why he is like this, and remembers his childhood, his mother’s affection, and care. Little Ilya was not allowed to be independent: to dress and wash himself. For this there were a huge number of nannies and servants. Accustomed to such guardianship, Oblomov, having matured, cannot do without the help of a servant. An “eternal child” was formed, dreamy, beautiful-hearted, but completely unsuited to practical life.

Ilya Ilyich finds this ideal of family, his native Oblomovism, in his marriage to Agafya Matveevna Pshenitsyna, a bourgeois woman, into whose house he moved from Gorokhovaya Street. In his description of the yard, Goncharov gives a multi-valued description of peace and quiet, noting that “except for the barking dog, it seemed that there was not a single living soul.” The first thing Oblomov notices about Agafya is her thriftiness and thoroughness. She is talented in housekeeping, but otherwise knows nothing. Oblomov's feeling for Pshenitsyna was down-to-earth, for Olga - sublime. He dreams of Olga, looks at Agafya, something had to be done for the wedding with Olga, but the marriage with Agafya develops on its own, imperceptibly. Even Stolz had already given up hope of getting his friend out of this Oblomovism after seeing Ilya Ilyich’s “eternal” robe. If Olga “took off” the robe, then Agafya, patching it up, “so that it would last longer,” put Oblomov in it again. The only thing Stolz can do is take care of Oblomov’s son. Thus, by handing over little And-ryusha to Stoltz to raise, Goncharov shows who the future belongs to.

Agafya, to whom, after Oblomov’s death, Stolz offered to live with his son, cannot overcome the inextricable connection with Oblomov’s environment. The significance of Oblomov’s image is unusually great. Goncharov contrasted it with the vanity and meaninglessness of the St. Petersburg life of the Volkovs, Sudbinskys, Penkins, who had forgotten about man and sought to satisfy their petty vanity or mercantile interests. Goncharov does not accept this St. Petersburg “Oblomovism,” and through Oblomov’s mouth he expresses his protest against the condemnation of “fallen people.” Oblomov speaks about compassion for the “fallen”, getting up from the sofa in a fit of emotion. Seeing no meaning in the hectic life of St. Petersburg, in pursuit of illusory values, Oblomov’s doing nothing is a kind of protest against the advancing rationalism of the bourgeois era. During this era, Oblomov retained a pure childish soul, but “Oblomovism” - apathy, laziness and lack of will - led him to spiritual and physical death.

Zakhar is the servant of Ilya Ilyich Oblomov. Goncharov defines his character as a knight “with fear and reproach,” who “belonged to two eras, and both put their stamp on him. From one he inherited boundless devotion to the Oblomov family, and from the other, later, sophistication and corruption of morals.” loves to drink with friends, gossip in the yard with other servants, sometimes embellishing his master, sometimes presenting him as Oblomov never was. Zakhar is an eternal uncle, for whom Oblomov remains a small, unreasonable child almost for the rest of his life.

He is unconditionally loyal not only to his master, but also to his entire family, since this has been the custom from time immemorial: there are masters and there are their servants. At the same time, Zakhar can grumble at the owner, and even argue with him, and insist on his own. Thus, the eternal habit of the servants of the old century does not allow him to squander his lordly possessions. When Oblomov’s fellow countryman, the swindler Tarantyev, asks Ilya Ilyich to give him a tailcoat for a while, Zakhar immediately refuses: until the shirt and vest are returned, Tarantyev will not receive anything else. And Oblomov is lost in front of his firmness.

We can say that Ilya Ilyich is completely dependent on Zakhar, becomes a slave to his serf, and it is difficult to decide which of them is more submissive to the power of the other. At least, what Zakhar doesn’t want, Ilya Ilyich cannot force him to do, and what Zakhar wants, he will do against the master’s will, and the master will submit. Therefore, the servant Zakhar, in a certain sense, is a “master” over his master: Oblomov’s complete dependence on him makes it possible for Zakhar to sleep peacefully on his bed. The ideal of existence of Ilya Ilyich - “idleness and peace” - is to the same extent Zakhara’s longed-for dream. Goncharov shows that the character and worldview of both the master and the servant were formed under the influence of the centuries-old practice of legalized lordship and slavery. In the novel we will not find angry denunciations of serfdom, but the problems of the work are connected with the analysis of exactly how it affects a person and what comes of it.

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The novel "Oblomov" contains features of some of these heroes. For example, Oblomov is very similar to Hamlet. Shakespeare's Hamlet was always in search of some ideal, and so was Oblomov. These two souls both want something higher; they are not satisfied with life on Earth. They strive for an ideal that is far from them, and they perish. Hamlet wants to take revenge for the death of his father, for his murder. Oblomov does not take revenge on anyone, but he also wants to find himself in life, to determine his purpose.

At the beginning of the novel, a series of potential bummers passes in front of him (and the reader). Oblomov can choose “himself”, but he doesn’t like any of these heroes; this is not the ideal he wants and strives for. In real life, Hamlet is also tormented by choice. His soul is not at peace. He also has several paths: he can become like Polonius, like Rosenkraitz and Guildenstern, or like Claudius, Gertrude. Hamlet does not want to become any of them. He remains himself and dies. He is killed by the musty atmosphere of Elsionor in which he exists. Oblomov is also trying to find his ideal in the moldy atmosphere of St. Petersburg, where it simply cannot exist. This hopelessness of outdated Petersburg, this impossibility of finding an ideal in it, kills him.

From Don Quixote in Oblomov - the veneration of women and the chivalric spirit, a romantic perception of the world, the search for some higher principle. Oblomov is also tilting at windmills - with the residents of soulless St. Petersburg. Oblomov thinks, dreams, wants to change them, he is cramped in the capital, he does not want to communicate with the people who surround him. The city does not want to change; it still “flies its wings.” Life goes on as usual, but Oblomov - Don Quixote is not there, And Petersburg is the same, and Stolz is married to Olga - Dulcinea Oblomov, and Oblomov himself has achieved nothing, his life is empty and meaningless, like the battle with Don Quixote's windmills.

The third eternal image that appears in the novel is Faust, partially embodied in the image of Stolz. There are many similarities between these two heroes. Faust is a scientist who travels the world with Mephistopheles, Stolz is also a traveler. He is away all the time, he is rarely in St. Petersburg and in the end he leaves there altogether. He lives in Crimea - in a blessed land. Faust is also trying to find his blessed land and for this he enters into an alliance with Mephistopheles. Faust fails to find his dream, but Stolz is not ideally happy either. Faust sells his singing soul to Mephistopheles in search of happiness, and Stolz gives it to Olga. Faust (like Stolz) did not have spiritual quests similar to Oblomov’s. Faust was a learned pragmatist, he was interested in science, not the soul, he was not looking for an ideal, he was looking for happiness. And Oblomov is looking for an ideal.

Oblomov embodied a huge number of qualities that are inherent in all people on earth. There is a piece of Oblomov in each of us. This literary image also slept eternally. It has acquired universal significance. Along with the definitions of “quixoticism” and “Hamletism,” the term “Oblomovism” has firmly entered into my life. These terms are derived from the names and surnames of heroes who have become eternal images. Moreover, it is necessary to note a characteristic feature of correlating the title of a work with the characters: all works in which there are heroes who have become eternal images are called by their names. For example, “Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” by Shakespeare or “Faust” by Goethe. Goncharov’s novel is also called “Oblomov”. Another property of the eternal image. Indeed, we are all a little Oblomov, but each in different ways.

The novel “Oblomov” is one of the brightest works of Russian literature of the 19th century, which even today excites readers with the severity of the questions raised by the author. The book is interesting, first of all, because the problems of the novel are revealed through the method of antithesis. The contrast between the main characters in Oblomov makes it possible to emphasize the conflict between different worldviews and characters, as well as to better reveal the inner world of each character.

The action of the work unfolds around the destinies of the four main characters of the book: Ilya Ilyich Oblomov, Andrei Ivanovich Stolts, Olga Ilyinskaya and Agafya Pshenitsyna (some researchers supplement this list with Zakhar, but in terms of importance in the narrative he still ranks among the secondary characters). Through the male and female characters in the novel, the author analyzes various aspects of a person’s social and personal life and reveals many “eternal” themes.

Characteristics of male characters

Ilya Oblomov And Andrey Stolts – main characters of "Oblomov" Goncharova. According to the plot of the novel, the men met during their school years and, having become friends, continued to support each other even decades later. Oblomov and Stolz are an example of a truly strong, reliable and fruitful friendship for both men. Ilya Ilyich saw in Andrei Ivanovich a person who is always ready and, most importantly, knows how to solve his problems with others, with the expenses and income of the estate. For Stolz, Oblomov was a pleasant conversationalist, whose company had a calming effect on Andrei Ivanovich and helped him return to peace of mind, which he often lost in the pursuit of new achievements.

In “Oblomov” the characters are presented as antipodes - completely different and almost in no way similar heroes. This can be clearly seen in the depiction of the fates of Oblomov and Stolz. Ilya Ilyich grew up as a “greenhouse”, “room” child, who from an early age was taught a lordly lifestyle, laziness and an attitude towards new knowledge as something optional and unnecessary. Having graduated from school and university “for show,” Ilya Ilyich enters the service, where one of the first disappointments in life awaits him - at work he needs to fight for his place, constantly work and be better than others. However, the most unpleasant thing for Ilya Ilyich is that his colleagues remain unfamiliar people, and do not become a new family for the man. Not accustomed to disappointments and blows, Oblomov, after the first failure at work, gives up and closes himself off from society, creating his own special world of the illusory Oblomovka.

Compared to the active, striving forward Stolz, Ilya Ilyich looks like a lazy, apathetic lump who simply does not want to do anything himself. Andrei Ivanovich's childhood and youth were filled with new impressions. Without suffering from excessive parental care, Stolz could leave home for several days, chose his own path forward, read a lot and was interested in almost everything. Andrei Ivanovich learned his love of knowledge from his mother, while his practical approach to everything, perseverance and ability to work - from his German father. After graduating from university, Stolz leaves his native estate, building his own destiny, earning material wealth and meeting the right people.

Interdependence of male images

The male images of heroes in the novel “Oblomov” are two ways of realizing a person in society, two leading principles that do not find a harmonious combination in any of the characters. On the other hand, Stolz and Oblomov complement each other perfectly, helping each other in finding the most important things to achieve true, not illusory, happiness. After all, Oblomov, in his dreams of rebuilding Oblomovka, appeared to be a man no less active and sociable than his friend, while Stolz throughout the novel continues to reach for the peace of mind that he found in Oblomov. As a result, unconsciously to himself, Andrei Ivanovich creates a kind of Oblomovka on his own estate after his marriage to Olga, gradually turning into a person attached to his home and appreciating the monotonous, calm passage of time.

Despite the fact that the characterization of the heroes of “Oblomov” is built on an antithesis, neither Oblomov nor Stolz are Goncharov’s ideals, but rather are presented as an extreme manifestation of “Oblomov’s” and “progressive” characteristics in a person. The author showed that without the harmony of these two principles, a person will not feel complete and happy, and will not be able to realize himself both socially and spiritually.

Characteristics of female images

The main heroines of the novel “Oblomov” are also opposed to each other. Olga Ilyinskaya is a young lady from a wealthy family, from childhood she studied literacy, science and the art of singing, an active and purposeful girl who likes to choose her own destiny, without adjusting to her husband or loved ones. Olga is not at all like the meek, homely Agafya, ready to do anything for the sake of her loved one, capable of adapting to any lifestyle, as long as Oblomov is happy. Ilyinskaya was not ready to follow the desires of Ilya Ilyich, to become his ideal “Oblomov” woman, whose main area of ​​activity would be housekeeping - that is, the framework prescribed by Domostroy.

Unlike the uneducated, simple, quiet - the true prototype of the Russian woman - Agafya, Olga is a completely new type of emancipated woman for Russian society, who does not agree to limit herself to four walls and cooking, but sees her destiny in continuous development, self-education and striving forward . However, the tragedy of Ilyinskaya’s fate lies in the fact that even after marrying the active, active Stolz, the girl still takes on the classic role of wife and mother for Russian society, which is not much different from the role described in Domostroy. The discrepancy between desires and the real future leads to Olga’s constant sadness, the feeling that she has not lived the life she dreamed of.

Conclusion

The main characters of the novel “Oblomov” are interesting, attractive personalities, whose stories and destinies allow us to better understand the ideological meaning of the work. Using the example of male characters, the author analyzes the themes of human development, formation in society, the ability to set goals and achieve them, and using the example of female characters, he reveals the theme of love, devotion, and the ability to accept a person as he is.
Oblomov and Stolz are not only opposing characters, but also complementary ones, as are Olga and Agafya. By accepting or developing in themselves the features and qualities of the antipodean image, the heroes could become absolutely happy and harmonious, because it is in the lack of understanding of the path to true happiness that the tragedy of the characters in Oblomov lies. That is why their characteristics in Goncharov’s novel do not have an exclusively negative or positive connotation - the author does not lead the reader to ready-made conclusions, inviting him to choose the right path himself.

Work test

Goncharov managed to create an amazing, one might even say, the only image in literature - The entire work is unique, there are no sharp turns in the plot, the setting almost never changes (the entire first part it was the main character’s apartment), but nevertheless you worry about the characters. An image like Oblomov cannot but cause controversy about his character and understanding of life.

The novel does not raise political problems; it only touches on personal and interpersonal conflicts, which remain relevant in any era. Goncharov's novel is studied at school, and writing an essay on Oblomov's theme is mandatory in the literature program. It raises serious moral questions that make the reader think while reading.

Essay topics on "Oblomov"

The list of topics on which you are asked to write an essay is quite extensive, so the most interesting ones will be presented below.

1. "Love theme in the work "Oblomov".
2. Essay on the topic "Oblomov and Stolz".
3. "Historical and philosophical meaning of the novel "Oblomov".
4. "Oblomov and Oblomovism."
5. "Oblomov's childhood in the novel "Oblomov".

Relations between Oblomov and Stolz

An essay on the topic “Oblomov and Stolz” is both simple and difficult to write. Simple, because these are two main characters with clearly defined characters, with clear and understandable life principles. But their friendship is not as simple as it might seem.

After all, they not only respect and value each other, but they are also opposites, which cannot but affect their attitude towards each other’s lifestyle. If at some point in his life Ilya tries to accept the point of view of his comrade, then Andrei sharply criticizes “Oblomovism” and does not even try to understand why Ilya Ilyich is so attracted to a solitary lifestyle.

But this does not prevent them from remaining close and only friends throughout their lives. After all, only Stoltz Oblomov could tell about his experiences, and he, in turn, is always ready to help his friend.

Discussion about "Oblomovism"

An essay on the topic “Oblomov’s Life” will not be distinguished by any bright events that could happen to the main character, but it will be interesting in how the main character’s life principles changed. A very true and accurate description of the life of Ilya Ilyich was given by his friend Andrei Stolts - “Oblomovism.”

An essay on the theme of Oblomov differs from discussions about other works precisely in that greater emphasis in the novel itself is placed precisely on the inner world of the main character. Of course, the character of other heroes is also told, but Oblomov himself is created in such a way that his lifestyle cannot be of much interest to the reader.

It is much more important to understand why he has such a craving for a solitary and monotonous life. And the reason lies in his childhood, where every day was similar to one another, where his parents did not burden themselves with serious matters or thoughts and were happy.

But if the son had been like them, then he would not have thought about Stolz’s words, he would not have understood that times have changed, that living this way is not entirely correct. But because Oblomov did not study at home, a philosophical principle was nurtured in him, which prompted him to various thoughts.

But despite all Stolz’s attempts to take his friend away from that monotonous course of life, Oblomov still returned to his roots. Because the basis of his character was this monotony, unhurriedness, a sense of calm in this measured way of life and actions.

Assessing the Main Character's Personality

In an essay on the topic of Oblomov, it will be quite difficult to give any unambiguous assessment of the central character. On the one hand, this way of life is wrong in that gradually a person weanes himself from making responsible decisions, becomes lazy, and not purposeful. Gradually, his personal development may stop due to a narrow circle of friends and narrowing interests. After all, self-education requires willpower and discipline, which is lost with such a lifestyle. Therefore, Ilya Ilyich had doubts and a desire to change his lifestyle.

But, on the other hand, the formation of his character was greatly influenced by the environment and environment in which he grew up. And he associated this feeling of calm and stability with such a measured way of life. For him, it remained an ideal, so at the end of the novel, despite all the efforts of Stolz and Olga, he returns to his previous philosophy.

In an essay on the topic of Oblomov, one can also point out that the example of the Oblomovs shows how the old lordly way of life was replaced, that people became more educated, and progress reached housekeeping. Oblomov and Stolz were a reflection of the opposing public opinions that reigned in the country at that time. Therefore, despite the lack of great variety of characters and changes in setting, this novel has become a classic work whose relevance continues to be maintained over time.