The relationship between Oblomov and Stolz is the leading storyline in Goncharov’s novel. The relationship between Oblomov and Stolz is the leading storyline in Goncharov’s novel My attitude towards Stolz

In the novel “Oblomov,” Alexander Goncharov touches on the theme of friendship between people completely different in character and views.

A comparative description of the image of Oblomov and Stolz will help the reader figure out whether it is capable of changing a person for the better.

Childhood and education

Ilya Ilyich Oblomov grew up as a spoiled child. The parents were too protective of their son and did not give him the opportunity to prove himself. Didn't like to study. He believed that science was sent to people as punishment for their sins. As a thirteen-year-old boy, he was enrolled in a boarding school. He often asked his mother for permission to stay at home and not go to school. I did not receive sufficient knowledge at the university due to my own laziness.

Andrey Ivanovich Stolts was a smart boy. He absorbed knowledge like a sponge. His father raised him in strictness. Mother did not encourage “labor education.” When the father sent his son to university, he did not take him to the city. I said goodbye at the gate without unnecessary emotions, put on his cap, and pushed him so hard that he knocked him off his feet.”

Appearance

Ilya is overweight. His “plump arms and soft shoulders” gave his appearance a certain delicacy. “His complexion was not ruddy or dark, he seemed positively pale.” There were always certain thoughts in the gray eyes that quickly disappeared before they had time to settle in their heads.

Andrey he is thin, has no cheeks at all, and has dark skin. “It was made of bones, nerves and muscles, and resembled an English horse.” His face had expressive green eyes. It exudes masculinity and health.

Aspirations and wealth

Ilya Oblomov at thirty-two years old, he had acquired absolutely nothing on his own. He left the service because of a stupid mistake he made, sending important documents to the wrong address. He couldn't complete a simple assignment. Lives in rented apartments. The property inherited from parents suffers losses and does not bring adequate prosperity. Ilya Ilyich knows nothing about financial matters.

Doesn't try to keep up with anything and create something in life. He lies on the sofa, constantly in a sleepy state.

Stolz“I served, after resigning, I went into business on my own and made a house and money. He's involved in some company that ships goods overseas." Does not make mistakes in work. He achieved respect in society and material wealth through his own efforts. “He is constantly on the move: if society needs to send an agent to England or Belgium, they send him. If you need to create a new project or explore a new idea, they choose Stolz.”

Love for a woman

Andrey treats the opposite sex with respect. In his relationship with Olga Ilyinskaya, he proves himself to be a true gentleman, capable of solving all the concerns of his beloved and making her happy. He achieved his goal - he married the one he loves.

Ilya always tactful in dealing with women. He loved Olga Ilyinskaya, but could not overcome his laziness and reluctance to change. I was afraid of the ordinariness of marriage. He caused his beloved a lot of trouble; she often cried because of his caustic speeches. He married the widow Pshenitsyna, from whom he rented a room. She demanded absolutely nothing from him. Such relationships suited Oblomov.

Attitude to life

Andrey Stolts, full of health, wishes to live many more years. Although he is a realist, phrases are often heard from his lips that he wants to “live two hundred, three hundred years.” Adheres to the goal that everything should be accomplished based on clearly defined tasks. The dream had no place in his soul.

Ilya Oblomov calls himself an “old caftan.” Sometimes he voices thoughts that he would lie down and fall asleep forever. Likes to dream. His imagination often paints imaginary pictures. The images of the future wife and children are especially clearly highlighted.

The absolute opposite of Oblomov is Stolz, who becomes the embodiment of calculation, activity, strength, determination, and determination. In Stolz’s German upbringing, the main thing was the development of an independent, active, purposeful nature. When describing the life of Stolz, Goncharov most often uses the words “firmly,” “straight,” and “walked.” And Stolz’s surname itself is sharp, abrupt, and his whole figure, in which there was not a fraction of roundness and softness, as in Oblomov’s appearance - all this reveals his German roots. His whole life was mapped out once and for all; imagination, dreams and passions did not fit into his life program: “It seems that he controlled both sorrows and joys like the movement of his hands.” The most valued quality in a person for Stolz is “persistence in achieving a goal,” however, Goncharov adds that Stolz’s respect for a persistent person did not depend on the quality of the goal itself: “He never refused to respect people with this persistence, no matter how their goals were not important."

Stolz's goal in life, as he formulates it, is work and only work. To Oblomov’s question: “Why live?” - Stolz, without thinking for a moment, answers: “For the work itself, for nothing else.” This unequivocal “nothing else” is somewhat alarming. The results of Stolz’s work have a very tangible “material equivalent”: “He really made a house and money.” Goncharov speaks very vaguely, casually about the nature of Stolz’s activities: “He is involved in some company that ships goods abroad.” For the first time in Russian literature, an attempt appeared to show a positive image of an entrepreneur who, not having wealth at birth, achieves it through his labor.

Trying to elevate his hero, Goncharov convinces the reader that from his mother, a Russian noblewoman, Stolz acquired the ability to feel and appreciate love: “he developed for himself the conviction that love, with the power of Archimedes’ lever, moves the world.” However, in Stolz’s love everything is subordinated to reason; it is no coincidence that the “reasonable” Stolz never understood What happened between Oblomov and Olga, What became the basis of their love: “Oblomov! Can't be! – he added again affirmatively. “There’s something here: you don’t understand yourself, Oblomov, or, finally, love!” “This is not love, this is something else. It didn’t even reach your heart: imagination and pride, on the one hand, weakness, on the other.” Stolz never understood that there are different types of love, and not just the kind that he calculated. It is no coincidence that this inability to accept life in its diversity and unpredictability ultimately leads to the “Oblomovism” of Stolz himself. Having fallen in love with Olga, he is ready to stop, freeze. “I found mine,” thought Stolz. – I’ve waited!.. here it is, the last happiness of a person! Everything has been found, there is nothing to look for, there is nowhere else to go!” Having already become Stolz’s wife, experiencing true love for him, realizing that she has found her happiness in him, Olga often thinks about the future, she is afraid of this “silence of life”: “What is this? - she thought. -Where should we go? Nowhere! There is no further road. Is it really not, have you really completed the circle of life? Is everything really here, everything?”

Their attitude towards each other can say a lot about the characters. Oblomov sincerely loves Stolz, he feels true selflessness and generosity towards his friend; one can recall, for example, his joy at the happiness of Stolz and Olga. In his relationship with Stolz, the beauty of Oblomov’s soul is revealed, his ability to think about the meaning of life, activity, and its focus on man. Oblomov appears as a man who passionately seeks, although he does not find, a standard of life. In Stolz there is some kind of “lack of feeling” towards Oblomov; he is not capable of subtle emotional movements: on the one hand, he sincerely sympathizes with Ilya Ilyich, loves him, on the other hand, in relation to Oblomov he often turns out to be not so much a friend as “formidable” teacher." Stolz was for Ilya Ilyich the embodiment of that stormy life that always frightened Oblomov, from which he tried to hide. To Oblomov’s bitter and annoying: “Life touches,” Stolz immediately responds: “And thank God!” Stolz sincerely and persistently tried to force Oblomov to live more actively, but this persistence sometimes became harsh and sometimes cruel. Without sparing Oblomov and not considering that he has the right to do so, Stolz touches on the most painful memories of Olga, without the slightest respect for his friend’s wife he says: “Look around, where are you and who are you with?” The very phrase “now or never,” menacing and inevitable, was also unnatural to Oblomov’s soft nature. Very often, in a conversation with a friend, Stolz uses the words “I will shake you,” “you must,” “you must live differently.” Stolz drew up a life plan not only for himself, but also for Oblomov: “You must live with us, close to us. Olga and I decided so, so it will be!” Stolz “saves” Oblomov from his life, from his choice - and in this salvation he sees his task.

What kind of life did he want to involve his friend in? The content of the week that Oblomov spent with Stolz was inherently different from the dream on Gorokhovaya Street. There were some things to do this week, lunch with a gold miner, tea at the dacha in a large society, but Oblomov very accurately called it vanity, behind which no person is visible. In his last meeting with his friend, Stolz said to Oblomov: “You know me: I set myself this task a long time ago and will not give up. Until now I was distracted by various things, but now I am free.” So the main reason emerged - various matters that distracted Stolz from his friend’s life. And indeed, between the appearances of Stolz in Oblomov’s life - like failures, like abysses - years pass: “Stolz did not come to St. Petersburg for several years,” “a year has passed since Ilya Ilyich’s illness,” “it’s been five years since we have seen each other.” It is no coincidence that even during Oblomov’s life, “an abyss opened up” between him and Stolz, “a stone wall was erected,” and this wall existed only for Stolz. And while Oblomov was still alive, Stolz buried his friend with an unequivocal sentence: “You are dead, Ilya!”

The author's attitude towards Stolz is ambiguous. Goncharov, on the one hand, hoped that soon “many Stoltz would appear under Russian names,” on the other hand, he understood that in artistic terms it was hardly possible to call the image of Stolz successful, full-blooded, he admitted that the image of Stolz was “weak, pale - it makes the idea look too bare.”

The problem of the hero in the novel “Oblomov” is connected with the author’s thoughts about the present and future of Russia, about the generic traits of the Russian national character. Oblomov and Stolz are not just different human characters, they are different systems of moral values, different worldviews and ideas about the human personality. The hero’s problem is that the author does not give preference to either Oblomov or Stolz, reserving to each of them his right to the truth and choice of life path.

The famous Russian writer I. A. Goncharov published his next novel “Oblomov” in 1859. It was an incredibly difficult period for Russian society, which seemed to be divided into two parts. A minority understood the need and advocated for improving the lives of ordinary people. The majority were landowners, gentlemen and wealthy nobles, who were directly dependent on the peasants who fed them. In the novel, Goncharov invites the reader to compare the image of Oblomov and Stolz - two friends, completely different in temperament and fortitude. This is a story about people who, despite internal contradictions and conflicts, remained true to their ideals, values, and way of life. However, sometimes it is difficult to understand the true reasons for such confidential closeness between the main characters. That is why the relationship between Oblomov and Stolz seems so interesting to readers and critics. Next, we will get to know them better.

Stolz and Oblomov: General characteristics

Oblomov is undoubtedly the main figure, but the writer pays more attention to his friend Stolz. The main characters are contemporaries, yet they turn out to be completely different from each other. Oblomov is a man aged just over 30 years. Goncharov describes his pleasant appearance, but emphasizes the absence of a specific idea. Andrei Stolts is the same age as Ilya Ilyich, he is much thinner, with an even dark complexion, practically without blush. Stolz's green, expressive eyes are also contrasted with the gray and dull gaze of the protagonist. Oblomov himself grew up in a family of Russian nobles who owned more than one hundred serf souls. Andrei was raised in a Russian-German family. Nevertheless, he identified himself with Russian culture and professed Orthodoxy.

Relationship between Oblomov and Stolz

One way or another, the lines connecting the destinies of the characters in the novel "Oblomov" are present. The author needed to show how friendship arises between people of polar views and temperament types.

The relationship between Oblomov and Stolz is largely predetermined by the conditions in which they were brought up and lived in their youth. Both men grew up together in a boarding house near Oblomovka. Stolz's father served there as a manager. In that village of Verkhleve, everything was imbued with the atmosphere of “Oblomovism”, unhurriedness, passivity, laziness, and simplicity of morals. But Andrei Ivanovich Stolz was well educated, read Wieland, learned verses from the Bible, and recounted illiterate reports of peasants and factory workers. In addition, he read Krylov’s fables and discussed sacred history with his mother. The boy Ilya sat at home under the soft wing of parental care, while Stolz spent a lot of time on the street, communicating with the neighboring children. Their personalities were shaped differently. Oblomov was the ward of nannies and caring relatives, while Andrei did not stop doing physical and mental labor.

The secret of friendship

The relationship between Oblomov and Stolz is surprising and even paradoxical. There are a huge number of differences between the two characters, but, undoubtedly, there are features that unite them. First of all, Oblomov and Stolz are connected by a strong and sincere friendship, but they are similar in their so-called “life dream”. Only Ilya Ilyich dozes at home, on the sofa, and Stolz falls asleep in the same way in his eventful life. Both of them do not see the truth. Both are unable to give up their own lifestyle. Each of them is unusually attached to their habits, believing that this particular behavior is the only correct and reasonable one.

It remains to answer the main question: “Which hero does Russia need: Oblomov or Stolz?” Of course, such active and progressive individuals as the latter will remain in our country forever, will be its driving force, and will feed it with their intellectual and spiritual energy. But we must admit that even without the Oblomovs, Russia will cease to be the same as our compatriots knew it for many centuries. Oblomov needs to be educated, patiently and unobtrusively awakened, so that he, too, can benefit his homeland.

The image of Stolz in the novel “Oblomov” by Goncharov is the second central male character of the novel, who is by nature the antipode of Ilya Ilyich Oblomov. Andrei Ivanovich stands out from other characters with his activity, determination, rationality, internal and external strength - as if he was “composed of bones, muscles and nerves, like a blooded English horse.” Even the portrait of a man is the complete opposite of Oblomov’s portrait. The hero Stolz is deprived of the external roundness and softness inherent in Ilya Ilyich - he is distinguished by an even complexion, slight dark complexion and the absence of any blush. Andrey Ivanovich attracts with his extroversion, optimism and intelligence. Stolz is constantly looking to the future, which seems to elevate him above other characters in the novel.

According to the plot of the work, Stolz is Oblomov’s best friend Ilya, whom the main character met during his school years. Apparently, at that moment they already felt a like-minded person in each other, although their characters and destinies were radically different from their youth.

Education of Stolz

The reader becomes acquainted with the characterization of Stolz in the novel “Oblomov” in the second part of the work. The hero was brought up in the family of a German entrepreneur and an impoverished Russian noblewoman. From his father, Stolz adopted all the rationalism, rigor of character, determination, understanding of work as the basis of life, as well as the entrepreneurial spirit inherent in the German people. His mother nurtured in Andrei Ivanovich a love of art and books, and dreamed of seeing him as a brilliant socialite. In addition, little Andrei himself was a very curious and active child - he wanted to learn as much as possible about the world around him, so he not only quickly absorbed everything that his father and mother instilled in him, but he himself did not stop learning new things, which was facilitated by a fairly democratic situation in the house.

The young man was not in an atmosphere of excessive care, like Oblomov, and any of his antics (such as moments when he could leave home for several days) were perceived calmly by his parents, which contributed to his development as an independent person. This was largely facilitated by Stolz’s father, who believed that you need to achieve everything in life through your own labor, so he encouraged this quality in his son in every possible way. Even when Andrei Ivanovich returned to his native Verkhlevo after university, his father sent him to St. Petersburg so that he could make his own way in life. And Andrei Ivanovich succeeded perfectly - at the time of the events described in the novel, Stolz was already a significant figure in St. Petersburg, a well-known socialite and an irreplaceable person in the service. His life is depicted as a constant striving forward, a continuous race for new and new achievements, the opportunity to become better, taller and more influential than others. That is, on the one hand, Stolz fully justifies his mother’s dreams, becoming a wealthy, well-known person in social circles, and on the other hand, he becomes his father’s ideal - a person who is rapidly building his career and reaching ever greater heights in his business.

Stolz's friendship

Friendship for Stolz was one of the important aspects of his life. The hero’s activity, optimism and sharp mind attracted other people to him. However, Andrei Ivanovich was drawn only to sincere, decent, open individuals. The sincere, kind, peaceful Ilya Ilyich and the harmonious, artistic, intelligent Olga were precisely such people for Stolz.
Unlike Oblomov and his friends, who looked to Andrei Ivanovich for external support, real help and a sound, rational opinion, Stolz’s close people helped him regain his inner balance and calm, often lost by the hero in the continuous race forward. Even that “Oblomovism,” which Andrei Ivanovich condemned in every possible way in Ilya Ilyich and tried to remove from his life, since he considered it a destructive life phenomenon, actually attracted the hero with its monotony, sleepy regularity and serenity, rejection of the bustle of the outside world and immersion in the monotony of a family, but in its own way happy life. It was as if Stolz’s Russian beginning, pushed back by the activity of German blood, reminded of itself, tying Andrei Ivanovich to people with a truly Russian mentality - dreamy, kind and sincere.

Love Stolts

Despite the extremely positive characterization of Stolz in Oblomov, his practical knowledge of all matters, his sharp mind and insight, there was a sphere inaccessible to Andrei Ivanovich - the sphere of high feelings, passions and dreams. Moreover, Stolz was afraid and wary of everything incomprehensible to reason, since he could not always find a rational explanation for it. This was also reflected in Andrei Ivanovich’s feelings for Olga - it would seem that they had found true family happiness, having found a soul mate who completely shared the views and aspirations of the other. However, the rational Stolz could not become the “Prince Charming” of Olga, who dreams of seeing a truly ideal man next to her - smart, active, established in society and career, and at the same time sensitive, dreamy and tenderly loving.

Andrei Ivanovich subconsciously understands that he cannot give what Olga loved in Oblomov, and therefore their marriage remains more of a strong friendship than a union of two flaming hearts. For Stolz, his wife was a pale reflection of his ideal woman. He understood that next to Olga he could not relax, show his powerlessness in anything, since he could thereby violate his wife’s faith in him as a man, a husband, and their crystal happiness would be broken into small fragments.

Conclusion

According to many researchers, the image of Andrei Stolz in the novel “Oblomov” is depicted as if in sketches, and the hero himself is more like a mechanism, a semblance of a living person. At the same time, in comparison with Oblomov, Stolz could become the ideal of the author, a model person for many future generations, because Andrei Ivanovich had everything for harmonious development and a successful, happy future - an excellent all-round upbringing, determination and enterprise.

What is Stolz's problem? Why does he evoke sympathy rather than admiration? In the novel, Andrei Ivanovich, like Oblomov, is a “superfluous person” - a person who lives in the future and does not know how to enjoy the joys of the present. Moreover, Stolz has no place either in the past or in the future, since he does not understand the true goals of his movement, which he simply does not have time to understand. In fact, all his aspirations and searches are directed towards the “Oblomovism” he denies and condemns - a center of calm and tranquility, a place where he will be accepted for who he is, as Oblomov did.

Work test

It is impossible to remain indifferent after reading Goncharov’s novel “Oblomov”. The main character is Ilya Oblomov. But the image of Andrei Stolz plays an important role in the novel. The author pays great attention to this character.

So, Andrei Stolts is Ilya Oblomov’s childhood best friend. We can understand who he is almost at the beginning of the work. Andrey has a rather attractive appearance.

We can immediately understand that this is a person who cannot just lie on the couch all day long, like Oblomov. This is a man of action.

Stolz has mixed blood: German and Russian. First we can notice that his character is mostly Russian. But over time, the German’s blood makes itself felt: he becomes very persistent in achieving what he wants. He is always ready to work. The hero's activity does not consist of anything specific. But he always tried to be the first, and if he had to go somewhere on business, he was the first to volunteer.

For Stolz, consistency is very important. This was the hero’s happiness.

In the image of Andrei Stolz, Goncharov embodies the kind of person who can force the Oblomovs to act. It was precisely such a person that Russia lacked. But even he is not able to change everything around him.

Updated: 2017-07-31

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