The main character of the novel is Ilya Ilyich Oblomov, a landowner who, however, lives permanently in St. Petersburg. Oblomov's character is perfectly maintained throughout the novel. It is far from being as simple as it might seem at first glance. The main character traits of Oblomov are an almost painful weakness of will, expressed in laziness and apathy, then a lack of living interests and desires, fear of life, fear of any changes in general.
But, along with these negative traits, there are also major positive ones in him: remarkable spiritual purity and sensitivity, good nature, cordiality and tenderness; Oblomov has a “crystal soul,” as Stolz puts it; these traits attract to him the sympathy of everyone who comes into close contact with him: Stolz, Olga, Zakhar, Agafya Matveevna, even his former colleagues who visit him in the first part of the novel. Moreover, Oblomov is far from stupid by nature, but his mental abilities are dormant, suppressed by laziness; He has both a desire for good and a consciousness of the need to do something for the common good (for example, for his peasants), but all these good inclinations are completely paralyzed in him by apathy and lack of will. All these character traits of Oblomov appear brightly and prominently in the novel, despite the fact that there is little action in it; in this case, this is not a drawback of the work, since it fully corresponds to the apathetic, inactive nature of the main character. The brightness of the characterization is achieved mainly through the accumulation of small but characteristic details that vividly depict the habits and inclinations of the person depicted; Thus, just from the description of Oblomov’s apartment and its furnishings on the first pages of the novel, one can get a fairly accurate idea of the personality of the owner himself. This method of characterization is one of Goncharov’s favorite artistic techniques; That’s why in his works there are so many small details of everyday life, furnishings, etc.
In the first part of the novel, Goncharov introduces us to Oblomov’s lifestyle, his habits, and also talks about his past, how his character developed. During this entire part, which describes one “morning” of Oblomov, he almost never leaves his bed; in general, lying on a bed or on a sofa, in a soft robe, was, according to Goncharov, his “normal state.” Any activity tired him; Oblomov once tried to serve, but not for long, because he could not get used to the demands of the service, to strict accuracy and diligence; a fussy official life, writing papers, the purpose of which was sometimes unknown to him, the fear of making mistakes - all this weighed on Oblomov, and, having once sent an official paper instead of Astrakhan to Arkhangelsk, he chose to resign. Since then, he lived at home, almost never leaving: neither to society, nor to the theater, almost never leaving his beloved deceased robe. His time passed in a lazy “crawling from day to day,” in idle doing nothing or in no less idle dreams of great exploits, of glory. This play of imagination occupied and amused him, in the absence of other, more serious mental interests. Like any serious work that requires attention and concentration, reading tired him; therefore, he read almost nothing, did not follow life in the newspapers, content with the rumors that rare guests brought to him; the half-read book, unfolded in the middle, turned yellow and became covered with dust, and in the inkwell, instead of ink, there were only flies. Every extra step, every effort of will was beyond his power; Even concern for himself, for his own well-being, weighed on him, and he willingly left it to others, for example, Zakhar, or relied on “maybe,” on the fact that “somehow everything will work out.” Whenever a serious decision had to be made, he complained that “life touches you everywhere.” His ideal was a calm, peaceful life, without worries and without any changes, so that “today” would be like “yesterday”, and “tomorrow” would be like “today”. Everything that disturbed the monotonous course of his existence, every concern, every change frightened and depressed him. The letter from the headman, who demanded his orders, and the need to move out of the apartment seemed to him real “misfortunes,” in his own words, and he only calmed down with the fact that somehow all this would work out.
But if there were no other traits in Oblomov’s character other than laziness, apathy, weak-willedness, mental slumber, then he, of course, could not have interested the reader in himself, and Olga would not have been interested in him, and could not have served as the hero of an entire extensive novel. To do this, it is necessary that these negative aspects of his character be balanced by equally important positive ones that can arouse our sympathy. And Goncharov, indeed, from the very first chapters shows these personality traits of Oblomov. In order to more clearly highlight its positive, sympathetic sides, Goncharov introduced several episodic persons who appear in the novel only once and then disappear from its pages without a trace. This is Volkov, an empty socialite, a dandy, looking for only pleasures in life, alien to any serious interests, leading a noisy and active life, but nevertheless completely devoid of inner content; then Sudbinsky, a careerist official, completely immersed in the petty interests of the official world and paperwork, and “for the rest of the world he is blind and deaf,” as Oblomov puts it; Penkin, a minor writer of a satirical, accusatory direction: he boasts that in his essays he brings weaknesses and vices to everyone’s ridicule, seeing in this the true calling of literature: but his self-satisfied words cause rebuff from Oblomov, who finds in the works of the new school only slavish loyalty to nature, but too little soul, little love for the subject of the image, little true “humanity”. In the stories that Penkin admires, according to Oblomov, there are no “invisible tears,” but only visible, rough laughter; By depicting fallen people, the authors “forget man.” “You want to write with only your head! - he exclaims, - do you think that a heart is not needed for thought? No, she is fertilized by love. Extend your hand to a fallen person to lift him up, or weep bitterly over him if he dies, and do not mock him. Love him, remember yourself in him... then I will begin to read you and bow my head before you...” From these words of Oblomov it is clear that his view of the vocation of literature and its demands from a writer is much more serious and lofty than that of a professional writer Penkin, who, in his words, “wastes his thought, his soul on trifles, trades in his mind and imagination.” Finally, Goncharov brings out another certain Alekseev, “a man of uncertain years, with an indeterminate physiognomy,” who has nothing of his own: neither his tastes, nor his desires, nor his sympathies: Goncharov introduced this Alekseev, obviously, in order to show, through comparison, that Oblomov, despite all his spinelessness, is not at all distinguished by impersonality, that he has his own specific moral physiognomy.
Thus, a comparison with these episodic persons shows that Oblomov was mentally and morally superior to the people around him, that he understood the insignificance and illusory nature of the interests in which they were keen. But Oblomov not only could, but also knew how, “in his clear, conscious moments,” be critical of the surrounding society and himself, recognize his own shortcomings and suffer heavily from this consciousness. Then memories of his youth awakened in his memory, when he was at the university with Stolz, studied science, translated serious scientific works, was fond of poetry: Schiller, Goethe, Byron, dreamed of future activities, of fruitful work for the common benefit. Obviously, at this time Oblomov was also influenced by the idealistic hobbies that dominated among Russian youth of the 30s and 40s. But this influence was fragile, because Oblomov’s apathetic nature was not characterized by long-term passion, just as systematic hard work was unusual. At the university, Oblomov was content to passively assimilate the ready-made conclusions of science, without thinking them through on his own, without defining their mutual relationship, without bringing them into a harmonious connection and system. Therefore, “his head represented a complex archive of dead affairs, persons, eras, figures, unrelated political-economic, mathematical and other truths, tasks, provisions, etc. It was as if a library consisting of some scattered volumes in different parts knowledge. The teaching had a strange effect on Ilya Ilyich: between science and life there lay a whole abyss, which he did not try to cross. “He had life on its own, and science on its own.” Knowledge divorced from life, of course, could not be fruitful. Oblomov felt that he, as an educated person, needed to do something, he was aware of his duty, for example, to the people, to his peasants, he wanted to arrange their fate, improve their situation, but everything was limited only to many years of thinking about a plan for economic reforms, and the actual management of the farm and the peasants remained in the hands of the illiterate headman; and the conceived plan could hardly have practical significance in view of the fact that Oblomov, as he himself admits, did not have a clear understanding of village life, did not know “what corvee is, what rural labor is, what a poor man means, what a rich man means.”
Such ignorance of real life, with a vague desire to do something useful, brings Oblomov closer to the idealists of the 40s, and especially to the “superfluous people,” as they are portrayed by Turgenev.
Like “superfluous people,” Oblomov sometimes became imbued with the consciousness of his powerlessness, his inability to live and act; at the moment of such consciousness, “he felt sad and painful for his underdevelopment, the stop in the growth of moral forces, for the heaviness that interfered with everything; and envy gnawed at him that others lived so fully and widely, while it was as if a heavy stone had been thrown on the narrow and pitiful path of his existence... And meanwhile, he painfully felt that some kind of... that good, bright beginning, perhaps now already dead, or it lies like gold in the depths of the mountains, and it would be high time for this gold to be a walking coin.” The consciousness that he was not living as he should, vaguely wandered in his soul, he suffered from this consciousness, sometimes cried bitter tears of powerlessness, but could not decide on any change in life, and soon calmed down again, which was facilitated by his apathetic nature, incapable of a strong uplift of spirit. When Zakhar carelessly decided to compare him with “others,” Oblomov was severely offended by this, and not only because he felt offended in his lordly pride, but also because in the depths of his soul he realized that this comparison with “others” was going far from in his favor.
When Stolz asks Zakhar what Oblomov is, he replies that he is a “master.” This is a naive, but quite accurate definition. Oblomov is, indeed, a representative of the old serf lordship, a “master,” that is, a man who “has Zakhar and three hundred more Zakharovs,” as Goncharov himself puts it about him. Using the example of Oblomov, Goncharov thus showed how detrimentally serfdom affected the nobility itself, preventing the generation of energy, perseverance, initiative, and work habits. In former times, compulsory public service maintained in the service class these qualities necessary for life, which began to gradually fade away since compulsory service was abolished. The best people among the nobility have long realized the injustice of this order of things created by serfdom; The government, starting with Catherine II, wondered about its abolition; literature, in the person of Goncharov, showed its detrimental nature for the nobility itself.
“It started with the inability to put on stockings, and ended with the inability to live,” Stolz aptly put it about Oblomov. Oblomov himself is aware of his inability to live and act, his inability to adapt, the result of which is a vague but painful fear of life. This consciousness is the tragic feature in Oblomov’s character, which sharply separates him from the former “Oblomovites.” They were whole natures, with a strong, albeit simple-minded, worldview, alien to any doubts, any internal duality. In contrast to them, there is precisely this duality in Oblomov’s character; it was brought into it by the influence of Stolz and the education he received. For Oblomov it was already psychologically impossible to lead the same calm and complacent existence that his fathers and grandfathers led, because deep down in his soul he still felt that he was not living as he should and as “others” like Stolz lived. Oblomov already has a consciousness of the need to do something, to be useful, to live not for himself alone; He also has a consciousness of his duty to the peasants, whose labors he uses; he is developing a “plan” for a new structure of village life, where the interests of the peasants are also taken into account, although Oblomov does not at all think about the possibility and desirability of the complete abolition of serfdom. Until this “plan” is completed, he does not consider it possible to move to Oblomovka, but, of course, nothing comes of his work, because he lacks either knowledge of rural life, perseverance, diligence, or real conviction in the feasibility of the “plan” itself. " Oblomov grieves heavily at times, suffers in the consciousness of his unfitness, but is unable to change his character. His will is paralyzed, every action, every decisive step frightens him: he is afraid of life, just as in Oblomovka they were afraid of the ravine, about which there were various unkind rumors.
Oblomov's character
Roman I.A. Goncharov's "Oblomov" was published in 1859. It took almost 10 years to create it. This is one of the most outstanding novels of classical literature of our time. This is how famous literary critics of that era spoke about the novel. Goncharov was able to convey realistically objective and reliable facts about the reality of the layers of the social environment of the historical period. It must be assumed that his most successful achievement was the creation of the image of Oblomov.
He was a young man of about 32-33 years old, of average height, with a pleasant face and an intelligent look, but without any definite depth of meaning. As the author noted, the thought walked across the face like a free bird, fluttered in the eyes, dropped onto half-open lips, hid in the folds of the forehead, then completely disappeared and a carefree young man appeared in front of us. Sometimes one could read boredom or fatigue on his face, but still there was a gentleness of character and the warmth of his soul. Throughout Oblomov’s life, he has been accompanied by three attributes of bourgeois well-being - a sofa, a robe and shoes. At home, Oblomov wore an oriental, soft, roomy robe. He spent all his free time lying down. Laziness was an integral trait of his character. Cleaning in the house was carried out superficially, creating the appearance of cobwebs hanging in the corners, although at first glance one might think that the room was well cleaned. There were two more rooms in the house, but he did not go there at all. If there was an uncleaned plate from dinner with crumbs everywhere, a half-smoked pipe, you would think that the apartment was empty, no one lived in it. He was always surprised by his energetic friends. How can you waste your life like this, scattered on dozens of things at once? His financial condition wanted to be better. Lying on the sofa, Ilya Ilyich was always thinking about how to correct him.
The image of Oblomov is a complex, contradictory, even tragic hero. His character predetermines an ordinary, uninteresting fate, devoid of the energy of life and its bright events. Goncharov draws his main attention to the established system of that era, which influenced his hero. This influence was expressed in Oblomov’s empty and meaningless existence. Helpless attempts at revival under the influence of Olga, Stolz, marriage to Pshenitsyna, and death itself are defined in the novel as Oblomovism.
The very character of the hero, according to the writer’s plan, is much larger and deeper. Oblomov's dream is the key to unlocking the entire novel. The hero moves to another era, to other people. Lots of light, joyful childhood, gardens, sunny rivers, but first you have to overcome obstacles, an endless sea with raging waves and groans. Behind him are rocks with abysses, a crimson sky with a red glow. After an exciting landscape, we find ourselves in a small corner where people live happily, where they want to be born and die, it cannot be otherwise, so they think. Goncharov describes these residents: “Everything in the village is quiet and sleepy: the silent huts are wide open; not a soul in sight; Only flies fly in clouds and buzz in the stuffy atmosphere.” There we meet young Oblomov. As a child, Oblomov could not dress himself; servants always helped him. As an adult, he also resorts to their help. Ilyusha grows up in an atmosphere of love, peace and excessive care. Oblomovka is a corner where calm and undisturbed silence reigns. It's a dream within a dream. Everything around seems to have frozen, and nothing can wake up these people who live uselessly in a distant village without any connection with the rest of the world. Ilyusha grew up on fairy tales and legends that his nanny told him. Developing daydreaming, the fairy tale tied Ilyusha more to the house, causing inaction.
Oblomov’s dream describes the hero’s childhood and upbringing. All this helps to recognize Oblomov’s character. The life of the Oblomovs is passivity and apathy. Childhood is his ideal. There in Oblomovka, Ilyusha felt warm, reliable and very protected. This ideal doomed him to a further aimless existence.
The solution to the character of Ilya Ilyich in his childhood, from where direct threads stretch to the adult hero. The character of a hero is an objective result of the conditions of birth and upbringing.
Oblomov novel laziness character
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Characteristics of Ilya Ilyich Oblomov very ambiguous. Goncharov created it complex and mysterious. Oblomov separates himself from the outside world, fences himself off from it. Even his home bears little resemblance to habitation.
From early childhood, he saw a similar example from his relatives, who also fenced themselves off from the outside world and protected it. It was not customary to work in his home. When he, as a child, played snowballs with peasant children, they then warmed him up for several days. In Oblomovka they were wary of everything new - even a letter that came from a neighbor, in which he asked for a beer recipe, was afraid to open for three days.
But Ilya Ilyich remembers his childhood with joy. He idolizes the nature of Oblomovka, although this is an ordinary village, not particularly remarkable. He was brought up by rural nature. This nature instilled in him poetry and a love of beauty.
Ilya Ilyich does nothing, just complains about something all the time and engages in verbiage. He is lazy, does nothing himself and does not expect anything from others. He accepts life as it is and does not try to change anything in it.
When people come to him and tell him about their lives, he feels that in the bustle of life they forget that they are wasting their lives in vain... And he does not need to fuss, act, does not need to prove anything to anyone. Ilya Ilyich simply lives and enjoys life.
It's hard to imagine him in motion, he looks funny. At rest, lying on the sofa, it is natural. He looks at ease - this is his element, his nature.
Let's summarize what we read:
- Appearance of Ilya Oblomov. Ilya Ilyich is a young man, 33 years old, of good appearance, of average height, plump. The softness of his facial expression showed him to be a weak-willed and lazy person.
- Family status. At the beginning of the novel, Oblomov is not married, he lives with his servant Zakhar. At the end of the novel he gets married and is happily married.
- Description of the home. Ilya lives in St. Petersburg in an apartment on Gorokhovaya Street. The apartment is neglected; the servant Zakhar, who is as lazy as the owner, rarely sneaks into it. A special place in the apartment is occupied by a sofa, on which Oblomov lies around the clock.
- Behavior and actions of the hero. Ilya Ilyich can hardly be called an active person. Only his friend Stolz manages to bring Oblomov out of his slumber. The main character is lying on the sofa and only dreams that he will soon get up from it and take care of business. He cannot even solve pressing problems. His estate has fallen into disrepair and is not bringing in any money, so Oblomov doesn’t even have money to pay the rent.
- The author's attitude towards the hero. Goncharov has sympathy for Oblomov; he considers him a kind, sincere person. At the same time, he sympathizes with him: it is a pity that a young, capable, not stupid man has lost all interest in life.
- My attitude towards Ilya Oblomov. In my opinion, he is too lazy and weak-willed, and therefore cannot command respect. At times he just infuriates me, I want to go up and shake him. I don't like people who live their lives so mediocrely. Perhaps I react so strongly to this hero because I feel the same shortcomings in myself.
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The period of childhood and the events that happened to us during this period of development significantly influence the formation of a person’s personality. The life of literary characters, in particular, Ilya Ilyich Oblomov, is no exception.
Oblomov's native village
Ilya Ilyich Oblomov spent his entire childhood in his native village - Oblomovka. The beauty of this village was that it was located far from all populated areas, and, most importantly, very far from large cities. Such solitude contributed to the fact that all the residents of Oblomovka lived as if in conservation - they rarely went anywhere and almost no one ever came to them.
We invite you to read Ivan Goncharov’s novel “Oblomov”
In the old days, Oblomovka could well be called a promising village - canvases were made in Oblomovka, delicious beer was brewed. However, after Ilya Ilyich became the owner of everything, it all fell into disrepair, and over time, Oblomovka became a backward village, from which people periodically fled, since the living conditions there were terrible. The reason for this decline was the laziness of its owners and the reluctance to make even minimal changes in the life of the village: “Old Oblomov, as he accepted the estate from his father, passed it on to his son.”
However, in Oblomov’s memories, his native village remained a paradise on earth - after he left for the city, he never came to his native village again.
In Oblomov’s memoirs, the village remained as if frozen outside of time. “Silence and undisturbed calm reign in the morals of the people in that region. No robberies, no murders, no terrible accidents happened there; neither strong passions nor daring undertakings excited them.”
Oblomov's parents
The childhood memories of any person are inextricably linked with the images of parents or educators.
Ilya Ivanovich Oblomov was the father of the main character of the novel. He was a good person in himself - kind and sincere, but absolutely lazy and inactive. Ilya Ivanovich did not like to do anything - his whole life was actually devoted to contemplating reality.
They postponed all necessary matters until the very last moment, as a result, soon all the buildings on the estate began to collapse and looked more like ruins. The manor house, which was significantly distorted, did not escape the same fate, but no one was in a hurry to correct it. Ilya Ivanovich did not modernize his economy; he had no idea about factories and their devices. Ilya Ilyich’s father loved to sleep for a long time, and then look out the window for a long time, even if absolutely nothing happened outside the window.
Ilya Ivanovich did not strive for anything, he was not interested in earning money and increasing his income, he also did not strive for personal development - from time to time his father could be found reading a book, but this was done for show or out of boredom - Ilya Ivanovich had everything - the same as reading, sometimes he didn’t even really delve into the text.
The name of Oblomov’s mother is unknown - she died much earlier than her father. Despite the fact that Oblomov actually knew his mother less than his father, he still loved her dearly.
Oblomov's mother was a match for her husband - she also lazily created the appearance of housekeeping and indulged in this work only in cases of extreme necessity.
Oblomov's education
Since Ilya Ilyich was the only child in the family, he was not deprived of attention. The boy's parents spoiled him from childhood - they overprotected him.
He had many servants assigned to him - so many that little Oblomov did not need any action - everything that was necessary was brought to him, served and even dressed: “If Ilya Ilyich wants anything, he only has to blink - there are already three “Four servants rush to fulfill his wish.”
As a result, Ilya Ilyich did not even dress himself - without the help of his servant Zakhar, he was absolutely helpless.
As a child, Ilya was not allowed to play with the boys; he was prohibited from all active and outdoor games. At first, Ilya Ilyich ran away from home without permission to fool around and run around to his heart's content, but then they began to watch him more intensely, and escapes became at first difficult, and then completely impossible, so soon his natural curiosity and activity, which is inherent in all children, faded away, its place was taken by laziness and apathy.
Oblomov’s parents tried to protect him from any difficulties and troubles - they wanted the child’s life to be easy and carefree. They completely managed to accomplish this, but this state of affairs became disastrous for Oblomov. The childhood period quickly passed, and Ilya Ilyich did not acquire even basic skills that would allow him to adapt to real life.
Oblomov's education
The issue of education is also inextricably linked with childhood. It is during this period that children acquire basic skills and knowledge about the world around them, which allows them to further deepen their knowledge in a particular industry and become a successful specialist in their field.
Oblomov’s parents, who looked after him so closely all the time, did not attach importance to education - they considered it more of a torment than a useful activity.
Oblomov was sent to study only because receiving at least a basic education was a necessary requirement in their society.
They also did not care about the quality of their son’s knowledge - the main thing was to get a certificate. For the softened Ilya Ilyich, studying at a boarding school and then at a university was hard labor, it was “a punishment sent by heaven for our sins,” which, however, was periodically alleviated by the parents themselves, leaving their son at home at a time when the learning process was in full swing.
The furnishings, interior, details of home comfort that are barely noticeable at first glance, surrounding a child from a young age, can have an undeniable influence on the character of the future young man. This is what happened to little Ilya in I. Goncharov’s novel “Oblomov”. Since childhood, compassionate parents suppressed any attempts by the main character to become independent, to learn new and unknown things, which is so typical of inquisitive children. As soon as Ilyushcha crossed the threshold of the house and found himself in a mysterious world full of mysterious smells and rustling sounds, Nanya, admonished by the orders of the young hero’s mother “not to leave the child alone, not to let him near the horses, not to go far from the house,” grabbed the child by the arms and held next to you. The young hero, finding himself separated from the external, frightening and at the same time alluring world, adopted and absorbed with “mother’s milk” the lifestyle and pastime of the inhabitants of Oblomovka and Ilyusha’s household: “mother, father, old aunt and retinue.” Morning meal in a measured manner in the Oblomovs’ house lasted so long that after the clink of the last washed plate, it was time to serve dinner and gather again at the idle oak table.
The main life instruction carried through sleepy inaction and “doing nothing” was the desire to lazily and indistinguishably pass day after day - and later a string of monotonous, bored, sickly sweet years. An old terry robe of immeasurable size, a book open on one page (its reading did not progress even a millimeter) - those details seen in childhood, adopted and transferred to the already adult, independent life of Ilya Ilyich. The words repeated by the inhabitants of Oblomovka every day before sunset: “We lived well; God willing, it will be the same tomorrow,” became the motto of the main character’s life - perishable, devoid of sharp turns and turns, boring and ordinary. So
Thus, the details of everyday life, seen and absorbed by a child from an early age, remain in his memory for many, many years, crushing his life, making it similar to the life of his parents - a proper role model.
Updated: 2018-09-03
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