The incipient conflict between the new and the traditional bummer. The main conflicts in the novels of Goncharov

In all these features of plotting, undoubtedly, the writer's general outlook on life, which he sometimes expressed during the storytelling campaign, was reflected. So, in the introduction to Part IV of Oblomov, "Goncharov speaks of the changes that have taken place in the world during the year of Oblomov's illness. He is somewhat condescending to the events of public life (“This year brought many changes in different parts of the world: there it excited the region, and there it calmed it down; there some luminary of the world shone, something else shone there ...”, etc.), and then turns with interest to the depiction of the life of Oblomov and Pshenitsyna. This life "changed with such a slow gradualness, with which the geological changes of our planet are taking place." The slow, "organic" movement of everyday life, the "physiognomy" of its everyday life, attracts the writer to a greater extent than the "thunderstorms" and "storms" of personal passions, and even more so of political conflicts.

This property of Goncharov's style is especially vivid in his mature novels - "Oblomov" and "Break" and mainly in the images of heroes associated with the patriarchal way of life. So, the portrait of Oblomov includes not only the image of his good-natured and swollen face, his full body, but also his dressing gown, and shoes, and the ability to hit them with his feet without looking, and his lying on the sofa, and there are tendencies lying, and helpless attempts dress, and uncleaned dishes around, and all the untidiness and dusty of his room, etc. So, the portrait characteristic of Berezhkova includes not only her short-cropped gray hair and a kind look, and the rays of wrinkles around her lips, but also her imperious manners, and her a cane, and its receipts and expenditure books, and the whole household routine of life in a country style, with hospitality and treats.

But the episodes that develop the conflict are not only preceded by large expositions, they continue, right up to the end of the novels, interspersed with chronicle scenes, where the characterization of the characters' way of life and thought deepens. In the first novel of Goncharov, in parallel with the love meetings of Alexander, his meetings with his uncle and aunt take place and their disputes on the topic of "the ability to live" continue. In Oblomov, both love stories end by the 4th chapter of the last part, and the next 7 chapters are devoted to the depiction of Oblomov's life at Pshenitsyna and Stoltsev in their cottage. In "The Break" episodes revealing Vera's relationship with Raysky and Volokhov alternate with chronicles of everyday life in Malinovka, Raysky's disputes with his grandmother, Kozlov, Volokhov, etc.

He built his first novel in a stretched and uneconomical manner on a whole series of intrigues that are not connected with each other, and this deprived both the stories themselves and the characters of the women who act in them of sufficient significance. In the other two novels, the conflicts are more coherent. Here, the opposing heroes compete in love for one girl, and her love should crown one of them, the most worthy, from the point of view of the author.

But Goncharov's love conflicts are peculiar. If the heroes of Herzen and Turgenev call their beloved women beyond the bounds of family and domestic interests, then the heroes of Goncharov, even "positive" ones, cannot and do not want to do this. Only Volokhov calls on Vera to become a comrade in his work. But this is mentioned only in a general description, and in the scenes of the plot, Mark only achieves the love of Vera. Therefore, the heroines of Goncharov, although in their views they are at the level of their environment, it is easier to detect moral superiority over the fans than the heroines of Turgenev and Herzen. Liza Adueva, and even more Olga and Vera, with their dissatisfaction, with their impulses, seem to be asking outside the sphere of life, the cool ideas that the author outlined for them.

In all these features of plotting, undoubtedly, the writer's general outlook on life, which he sometimes expressed during the storytelling campaign, was reflected. So, in the introduction to Part IV of Oblomov, "Goncharov speaks of the changes that have taken place in the world during the year of Oblomov's illness. He is somewhat condescending to the events of public life (“This year brought many changes in different parts of the world: there it excited the region, and there it calmed it down; there some luminary of the world shone, something else shone there ...”, etc.), and then turns with interest to the depiction of the life of Oblomov and Pshenitsyna. This life "changed with such a slow gradualness, with which the geological changes of our planet are taking place." The slow, "organic" movement of everyday life, the "physiognomy" of its everyday life, attracts the writer to a greater extent than the "thunderstorms" and "storms" of personal passions, and even more so of political conflicts.

All this found expression in the composition of Goncharov's novels. It is distinguished by the slowness and sluggishness of the development of the action and the narration about it. Plot episodes that develop love conflicts and are in a causal relationship are surrounded from all sides by Goncharov's numerous episodes, connected with each other only by a temporary, chronicle sequence. Such episodes serve as a means for the writer to reveal the way of life and thoughts of the heroes and therefore are detailed and carefully written out.

A particularly large place in the text of the novels is occupied by those episodes of the plot that play the role of exposition of the characters. Even in "Ordinary History", in which the writer's style has not yet fully developed, the Aduevs' exposition occupies over one quarter of the entire text of the novel, and only after that does the depiction of Alexander's love meetings begin. In Oblomov, the exposition of Oblomov and Stolz, together with their “prehistories”, is even longer. It takes 3/8 of the text of the work - Oblomov and Olga meet only in the middle of chapter IV of the second part. In "The Break" the quantitative ratio of exposition episodes and conflict episodes is exactly the same - the return of Vera and the estate, after which love conflicts begin to emerge, takes place in the middle of the second part of the novel.

But the episodes that develop the conflict are not only preceded by large expositions, they continue, right up to the end of the novels, interspersed with chronicle scenes, where the characterization of the characters' way of life and thought deepens. In the first novel of Goncharov, in parallel with the love meetings of Alexander, he meets with his uncle and aunt, and their disputes on the topic of "the ability to live" continue. In Oblomov, both love stories end by the 4th chapter of the last part, and the next 7 chapters are devoted to the image of Oblomov's life at Pshenitsyna and Stoltsev in their cottage. In "The Break" episodes revealing Vera's relationship with Raysky and Volokhov alternate with chronicles of everyday life in Malinovka, Raysky's disputes with his grandmother, Kozlov, Volokhov, etc.

But even in scenes of love conflicts, the development of action is devoid of impetuosity, sharp and unexpected turns. If in the novels of Turgenev and Herzen the main characters, who put a civic-romantic meaning into personal relationships, quickly follow the path of love intimacy and soon reach climaxes in them, then in Goncharov's novels the love relationships of the heroes, devoid of civic pathos, develop slowly. They gradually mature in the daily exchange of opinions and impressions, sometimes also turning into disputes about the "ability" and "inability" to live. Their portrayal therefore requires a large number of episodes and details characterizing the actions, words, thoughts of the heroes. In particular, all this is manifested in the scenes of Olga's rapprochement with Oblomov, then with Stolz, in Raisky's attempts to get closer to Vera.

And if Turgenev's landscapes play a great role in revealing the love-romantic moods of the heroes, then in Goncharov they get a different and much smaller role. Even in "The Break" - the only manor novel by Goncharov - the depiction of nature does not serve as a means of direct embodiment of the experiences of the characters. Here, as in the "prehistories" of Oblomov and Aduev, nature is only an accessory in the everyday characteristics of the noble life of the estate and only emphasizes the originality of its patriarchal way of life. Therefore, Goncharov's depiction of nature is almost devoid of his own emotional, lyrical expressiveness.

This property of Goncharov's style is especially vivid in his mature novels - "Oblomov" and "Break" and mainly in the images of heroes associated with the patriarchal way of life. So, the portrait of Oblomov includes not only the image of his good-natured and swollen face, his full body, but also his dressing gown, and shoes, and the ability to hit them with his feet without looking, and his lying on the sofa, and there are tendencies lying, and helpless attempts dress, and uncleaned dishes around, and all the untidiness and dusty of his room, etc. So, the portrait characteristic of Berezhkova includes not only her short-cropped gray hair and a kind look, and rays of wrinkles around her lips, but also her imperious manners, and her a cane, and its receipts and expenditure books, and the whole household routine of life in a country style, with hospitality and treats.

In the portraits of heroes, less associated with the patriarchal-noble way of life, this principle of depiction is of less importance.

CRITICISTS ABOUT THE NOVEL.“Oblomov” - the central link of the novel “trilogy” of Goncharov - was published in the first four issues of the journal “Otechestvennye zapiski” for January - April 1859. A new work, long awaited in the public, by the author of “Ordinary History” and “Frigate“ Pallas ”(1858 ) was almost unanimously recognized as an outstanding artistic phenomenon. At the same time, in understanding the main pathos of the novel and the meaning of the images created in it, the contemporaries immediately diverged almost polarized.

Calling the novel “Oblomov” “the most fundamental thing, which has not been for a long time,” L.N. Tolstoy wrote to A.B. Druzhinin: “Tell Goncharov that I am delighted with“ Oblomov ”and I am re-reading it again. But what will be more pleasant for him is that “Oblomov” is not an accidental success, not with a bang, but healthy, capital and timeless in a real public. " I.S. Turgenev and V.P. Botkin. The young D.I. Pisarev.

The opinion of the author of the article "What is Oblomovism?" (“Sovremennik”. 1859. No. 5), revolutionary critic N.A. Dobrolyubova. In the new work of Goncharov, he believed, "the modern Russian type, minted with merciless severity and correctness," was derived, and the novel itself is a "sign" of the real socio-political state of Russia.

The controversy about him that arose with the advent of “Oblomov” continues to this day. Some critics and researchers objectively defend Dobrolyubov's point of view, while others develop Tolstoy's. The former see in the characters and conflicts of “Oblomov” the meaning predominantly social and temporary, while others see it primarily as enduring, universal. Who is closer to the truth? To answer this question, it is necessary to take a closer look at the composition of the work, take into account its creative history, and also get acquainted with Goncharov's philosophy of love and its reflection in the novel.

COMPOSITION, TYPE. OBLOMOV AND OBLOMOVSCHINA. OLGA ILYINSKAYA AND STOLTS. The plot basis of "Oblomov" is the story of dramatic love, and at the same time the fate of the title character - a thinking nobleman and at the same time a landowner - to Olga Ilyinskaya, a girl of a whole and soulful character, enjoying the author's undoubted sympathy. The relationship between Ilya Ilyich and Olga in the novel is devoted to its central second and third parts of the total four. They are preceded by a detailed picture of Ilya Ilyich's still life in St. Petersburg and his upbringing in the conditions of the patriarchal clan Oblomovka, which constituted the first part of the work.

The main question in the novel was the question of what killed his hero, endowed by nature with a “fervent head, a humane heart,” not alien to “lofty thoughts” and “universal human sorrows” with a soul. Why neither friendship, nor love itself, which for a time transformed Ilya Ilyich, could not defeat his life apathy, which eventually led Oblomov to the Vyborg side of Petersburg - this capital Oblomovka, where he finally plunges into spiritual, and ultimately eternal sleep? And what played a decisive role in this outcome: Oblomov's upbringing and social position, or some laws of modern reality hostile to the spiritualized personality? In which, in other words, part of the novel should we look for the answer to this question: in the first, with its famous painting of Ilya Ilyich's childhood, or in the second and third, depicting the “poem” and “drama” of his love?

At first glance, the explanation of the character and further behavior of Ilya Ilyich lies in the upbringing and noble-landlord concepts of the hero, with which the reader gets acquainted in the first part of the work. Following immediately after the words of Oblomov: "However ... it would be interesting to know ... why am I ... like this?" - the picture of his childhood, it would seem, and gives a clear and comprehensive answer to it. Goncharov himself called “Oblomov's Dream” “the overture of the whole novel” in his autocritical article “Better late than never”. However, the novelist also has directly opposite assessments of the initial stage of the work. “If anyone is interested in my new composition,” he wrote to his brother in Simbirsk in 1858, “then advise not to read the first part: it was written in 1849 and is very languid, weak and does not correspond to the other two, written in 1857 and 58, that is, this year ”. “Don't read the first part of Oblomov,” Goncharov recommends to L. Tolstoy, “but if you take the time, read the second and third.” The writer was indignant at the French translation of Oblomov, in which the novel was arbitrarily “replaced” by one of its first parts. “The point is,” explained Goncharov in his Unusual History (1875, 1878), “that this first part contains only an introduction, a prologue to the novel ... and that’s all, but there’s no novel! Neither Olga, nor Stolz, nor the further development of Oblomov's character! "

Indeed, lying on the couch or bickering with Zakhar, Ilya Ilyich is still far from the person we recognize in his relationship with Olga Ilyinsky. There is every reason to believe that in the course of work on the novel, Goncharov fundamentally deepened the image of his title character. Conceived back in the year of publication of Ordinary History, Oblomov was nevertheless created, in essence, in two relatively short periods, separating the original idea of ​​the work from the final one. At first, the writer thought to depict in a novel called at that time not “Oblomov”, but “Oblomovshchina”, the history of a Russian nobleman-landowner - from cradle to grave, in his rural and urban life, with the concepts and customs characteristic of the latter. An outline sketch of this Russian social and everyday type is contained at the end of the first chapter of Frigate Pallas. Note that the idea of ​​the "novel of a Russian landowner" was hatched in the mid-50s. and L. Tolstoy. Rising to the moralistic novellas of the natural school, Goncharov's novel, at the same time, would be favorably distinguished from them by the thoroughness and "monographic" nature of the picture, the natural beginning of which was the depiction of the hero's upbringing in his father's house and his usual day. This fragment of the initial "Oblomov" became its first part, created back in 1849.

Neither the depiction of the noble-landowner's life, nor the characters limited by it, could, however, captivate Goncharov for a long time. A student of Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol, a Christian artist, Goncharov never limited the personality of a contemporary to the external conditions of life that did not overshadow for him “man himself” as a phenomenon as universal and divine as social. The idea of ​​a "monograph" about the Russian patriarchal gentleman soon begins to be supplanted in Oblomov's plan by the thought of the fate of a spiritually developed, ideally tuned personality in the modern world. “After reading what has been written carefully,” Goncharov reported after the completion of the first part of the novel by A.A. Kraevsky, - I saw that all this went to the extreme, that I did not take the subject so well, that one had to be changed, the other released, that, in a word, this work was no good ”(italics mine. - V.H.).

The new concept of "Oblomov", hatched by the artist for several years, was finally realized in July-August 1857, when Goncharov in the German city of Marienbad incredibly quickly, "as if by dictation," created the second and third parts of the novel, which included Ilya's relationship Ilyich with Olga Ilyinskaya and Agafya Pshenitsyna.

The compositional and semantic center of the work is now moving here, which, in the words of the writer, is “the main task”. After all, only with the recognition of Ilya Ilyich at the beginning of the second part of "Oblomov" in love for Olga there is a plot, and then a novel action, which were absent in the first link of the work. Here, a completely different, than before, motivation of the hero's life apathy appears. Telling Stolz that “his life began with extinguishing,” Ilya Ilyich explains: “I began to fade away over writing papers in the office; went out later, reading the truths in books with which he did not know what to do in life, extinguished with friends, listening to talk, gossip, imitation, angry and cold chatter, emptiness ... "According to Oblomov, during his twelve-year life in St. Petersburg in his soul “the light was locked, which was looking for a way out, but only burned its prison, did not break free and went out”. Thus, the main burden of guilt for the immobility and inactivity of the hero is now being shifted from Ilya Ilyich himself to a spiritless society.

The new look of the hero prompts Goncharov to make an attempt in 1858 to at least partially free the initial Oblomov from those specifically lordly notions that sounded, for example, in Ilya Ilyich's monologue about “others”. The writer also changes the title of the work: not Oblomovshchina, but Oblomov.

With the fundamental deepening of the novel's creative task, the features of its initial concept in the final text of Oblomov, nevertheless, continue - together with the first part - to be preserved. Remained in him and the picture of the childhood of the hero ("Oblomov's Dream"), in which Dobrolyubov saw the focus of the noble-landlord "Oblomovism" as a life at the expense of the free labor of serfs. The critic used habit to it and explained in his article all subsequent behavior and the very fate of Ilya Ilyich. What, however, is “Oblomovism” not in Dobrolyubov’s, but in Goncharov’s content of this artistic concept? This question leads us to the uniqueness of typification in the novel and directly in the depiction of life in Oblomovka.

It would seem that Goncharov simply skillfully described a noble estate, one of thousands of similar ones in pre-reform Russia. The detailed sketches reproduce the nature of this "corner", the customs and concepts of the inhabitants, the cycle of their ordinary day and all life in general. All and all manifestations of Oblomov's life-life (everyday customs, upbringing and education, beliefs and “ideals”) are immediately integrated by the writer into “one image” by means of the main motive of silence and immobility, or sleep, under the “charming by the power "which are in Oblomovka and the bar, and serfs, and servants, and, finally, the local nature itself. "How quiet everything is ... sleepy in the villages that make up this area," Goncharov notes at the beginning of the chapter, repeating then: "The same deep silence and peace lie in the fields ..."; "... Silence and imperturbable serenity reign in the mores of people in that land." This motive reaches its culmination in the scene of the afternoon "all-consuming, unconquerable sleep, a true likeness of death."

Due to this, the different facets of the depicted “wonderful land” penetrated by one thought are not only united, but also generalized, acquiring already a super-everyday meaning of one of the stable - national and global - types of life. It is the patriarchal idyllic life, the distinctive properties of which are the focus on physiological needs (food, sleep, procreation) in the absence of spiritual needs, the cyclical life cycle in its main biological moments “homelands, weddings, funerals”, people's attachment to one place and the fear of displacement, isolation and indifference to the rest of the world. At the same time, Goncharov's idyllic Oblomovites are characterized by gentleness and cordiality and, in this sense, humanity.

Not devoid of Goncharov's "Oblomovism" and its social and everyday signs (serf dependence of the peasants on the landlords). However, in Goncharov's work, they are not only subdued, but subordinate to the existential-typological content of the concept. An example of a kind of worldwide “Oblomovism” is the life of a feudal-closed Japan, which seems to have stopped in its development, as it is depicted on the pages of the “Pallas Frigate” in the novelist's work. The persistent desire and ability to accentuate in “local” and “private” circumstances and types some motives and characters that are root for all mankind are in general a distinctive feature of Goncharov's art of typification, which, first of all, provided the artist's works of enduring interest. It was fully manifested when creating the image of Oblomov.

Having spent his childhood and adolescence in the bosom of a serene, idyllic existence, Ilya Ilyich and an adult will to a large extent depend on his influence. With reference to his spiritual requests, unknown to his ancestors (“notes, books, piano”), but in general in a patriarchal-idyllic spirit, for example, he draws his ideal of family life to Stolz: he and his wife are in the countryside, among “sympathetic” nature ... After a hearty breakfast (“crackers, cream, fresh butter ...”) and a walk together in the “endless, dark alley”, they are waiting for friends with whom they have a leisurely, sincere conversation, followed by an evening “dessert in a birch grove, if not in field on the mown grass ”. Not forgotten here is the "lordly weasel", from which a beautiful and satisfied peasant woman defends herself only for the sake of appearance.

And yet it is not this ideal that will captivate Oblomov in the second part of the novel, but the need, in Goncharov's eyes, is truly human, capturing the hero's soul with his deep and all-consuming feeling for Olga Ilyinskaya. This is the need for such a harmonious "norm" of behavior, in which the cherished dreams of a person do not oppose his social and practical concerns and duties, but spiritualize and humanize them with themselves.

As if by nature close to this “norm”, according to the novelist, Olga Ilyinskaya, whose personality was formed in conditions of freedom from some class-limited environment. Olga is a character as much a possible, desired by an artist, as a real one. In the integral appearance of the heroine, concrete historical features organically merged with the eternal beginning of the Christian evangelical covenants. Christian participation motivated Olga's interest in Oblomov when meeting the heroes, it accompanies Olga's feeling in their future relationships. Calling her love for Ilya Ilyich a duty, Olga explains: "It was as if God sent her ... and told me to love." Olga's role in her “romance” with Ilya Ilyich is likened to “a guiding star, a ray of light”; she herself - to an angel, now offended by a misunderstanding and ready to leave, then again committed to his mission as a spiritual resurrector of Oblomov. “He, - said about the heroine at the end of the second part of the novel, - ran to find Olga. He sees in the distance, like an angel ascending to heaven, going to the mountain ... He follows her, but she barely touches the grass and really seems to fly away. "

Olga's high mission for the time being was quite successful. Having thrown off his apathy with his deceased robe, Ilya Ilyich leads a rather active lifestyle, which favorably reflected on his previously sleepy appearance: “He gets up at seven o'clock, reads, carries books somewhere. No sleep, no fatigue, no boredom on my face. Even colors appeared on him, glitter in his eyes, something like courage, or at least self-confidence ”.

Experiencing together with Olga the “poem of graceful love”, Oblomov reveals, according to the novelist, the best principles of both his own and the general nature of man: a subtle and faithful instinct of beauty (art, women, nature) as harmony, a basically correct view of “ the relationship ... between the sexes ”, designed to culminate in a harmonious family union, deep respect for a woman and her worship.

Noticing at the end of the second part that Oblomov “caught up with life, that is, he learned again everything that he had left behind for a long time,” Goncharov, at the same time, clarifies: “He learned only that which revolved in the circle of daily conversations in Olga’s house, there newspapers, and quite diligently, thanks to Olga's persistence, followed the current foreign literature. Everything else was buried in the realm of pure love. "

The practical side of life (building a house in Oblomovka, building a road from it to a large village, etc.) continues to weigh on Ilya Ilyich. Moreover, he begins to be haunted by disbelief in himself, and with them in Olga's feeling, finally, in the opportunity to realize in life the true "norm" of love and family. As if by chance finding himself on the Vyborg side of St. Petersburg, reminiscent of the hero's idyllic Oblomovka, he, however, visits Olga less and less and eventually marries his landlady Agafya Pshenitsyna.

Extremely hard endured by both heroes (Olga experienced a deep shock; Oblomov "had a fever"), the collapse of their love is nevertheless portrayed by Goncharov as not accidental, but prepared for a person by fate itself and therefore a universally significant drama And Ilya Ilyich will forever preserve in the depths of his soul the bright image of Olga and their love, and the heroine will never stop loving Oblomov's “honest, faithful heart”. At the end of the novel Olga will fully agree with the characterization of Ilya Ilyich, which she will give here to her friend Stolz: “This is a crystal, transparent soul; there are few such people; they are rare; these are pearls in the crowd! " There is no doubt that this opinion is shared by the author of “Oblomov”.

Indeed: was it only the personal weakness of Ilya Ilyich that prevented him from realizing the true “norm” of life that was revealed to the hero after meeting Olga Ilyinsky? And was it only the idyllic “Oblomovism” that was to blame?

It is possible to answer these questions only taking into account Goncharov's understanding of the fate of a harmonious "way of life" in the conditions of modern reality. The writer came to the bitter conclusion about the incompatibility of this ideal with the present "century" in his "Ordinary History". The hero of "Oblomov" is convinced of deep hostility towards him, becoming acquainted with the concepts and morals prevailing in St. Petersburg. The metropolitan society is collectively personified in the novel by the visitors of Ilya Ilyich in the first part, and later by the owners and guests of those drawing rooms and dachas where Oblomova Stolz brings. The meaning of life here comes down to a career with a government apartment and a profitable marriage (official Sudbinsky) or to the satisfaction of empty secular vanity (Volkov), to writing in a fashionable spirit and on any topic (Penkin), hoarding and similar "passions" and goals. Combined, in turn, by a generalizing motive of pseudo-activity and vanity, the scenes and figures of “Petersburg life” ultimately create an image of existence that only at first glance does not resemble the life of the motionless, drowsy Oblomovka. In essence, this, in its turn, completely spiritless life is the same "Oblomovism", but only in a capital-civilized way. “Where is the man here? - exclaims Ilya Ilyich with full approval of the author. - Where is his integrity? Where did he hide, how did he exchange for every little thing? .. All these are dead, sleeping people ... "

Achieving a truly human “norm” of being is difficult, according to Goncharov, not only by the height of this ideal. Powerful obstacles on the way to it have been set by modern reality itself in the face of the main existing types of life: cold-soulless vanity, on the one hand, and not devoid of a certain charm, especially for a tired soul, but idyllic immobility calling only to the past, on the other. And only the success or defeat of the ideal in its most difficult struggle with these obstacles ultimately determines one or another fate of the spiritual person in today's society.

The fate of her love is determined in the same way. Here it is necessary, leaving Oblomov for a while, to explain Goncharov's philosophy of love and the place of love collisions in his novel.

Like "An Ordinary Story", "Break", "Oblomov" - a novel not just with a love story, but about different types of love. This is because love itself for Goncharov is the main beginning of being, and not only individual, but also family-social, even natural-cosmic. The thought that “love, with the power of the Archimedean lever, moves the world; that there is so much universal irrefutable truth and good in it, how many lies and ugliness in its misunderstanding and abuse ”, in“ Oblomov ”it is put into the mouth of Stolz. This was the “fundamental” conviction of the writer himself. “... You are right, - wrote S.A. Goncharov. Nikitenko, suspecting me ... of the belief in universal, all-embracing love and that only this force can move the world, control the will of man and direct it to activity ... to this fire, with which all nature is heated ... "

In Oblomov, Goncharov declared himself to be the most gifted analyst of loving relationships. “She,” wrote a contemporary of Goncharov's ND critic about Olga Ilyinskaya. Akhsharumov, - goes with him a whole school of love, according to all the rules and laws, with all the slightest phases of this feeling: anxieties, misunderstandings, confessions, doubts, explanations, letters, quarrels, reconciliations, kisses, etc. "

The “School of Love” for Goncharov is the basic school of man. Love completes the spiritual formation of a personality, especially a woman's, reveals to her the true meaning and purpose of being. “Olga's view of life ... - says the writer in the second part of Oblomov, - has become even clearer, more definite”. With feeling for Ilya Ilyich, for Agafya Pshenitsyna, “her life was also comprehended forever”. Stolz himself, who had been fascinated by his activity for a long time, exclaims, having received Olga's consent to become his wife: “I waited! How many years of thirst for feeling, patience, saving the strength of the soul! How long have I waited - everything is rewarded: here it is, the last happiness of a person! "

This omnipotence of love is explained by the most important ability that Goncharov endowed her with. With its correct understanding, love is not confined only to the happiness of lovers, but humanizes other relationships of people, up to the class-class. So, in the person of Olga Ilyinskaya's close to truth love, the writer saw not just a “passionately loving wife”, a faithful friend of her husband, but “a creator mother and participant in the moral and social life of a whole happy generation”.

The focus of life, love in “Oblomov” directly characterizes the human essence of this or that type of existence. For an understanding of the idyllic Oblomovites, the most important is the author's remark about their complete absence of deep heart passions, which they "feared like fire"; the spiritless meaning of “Petersburg Oblomovism” is exposed by the vulgarly understood intimate interests of the Sudbinskys and Volkovs.

Let us return to the main reasons for the love and, therefore, life drama of the central hero of the novel. Was it given to Ilya Ilyich to really find the “norm” of love, family and life? After all, it seems, Stolz and Olga managed to embody it in a family union. But is it?

Beginning with Dobrolyubov, critics and researchers treated Stolz mostly negatively. The hero was reproached for rationality, dryness, selfishness. In the image of Stolz, it is necessary, however, to distinguish between the concept and its execution.

Ilya Ilyich's friend is an interesting and deeply conceived figure. Stolz grew up and was brought up in the neighborhood of Oblomovka, but the conditions that shaped his character were completely different. The hero's father, a German, managing a noble estate, instilled in his son the skills of independent and hard work, the ability to rely on his own strength. Mother - a Russian noblewoman with a gentle heart and poetic soul - conveyed her spirituality to Andrey. Stolz also took in the beneficial aesthetic impressions of the rich picture gallery in the neighboring princely "castle".

Various national-cultural and socio-historical elements, from patriarchal to burgher, have created, united in the personality of Stolz, a character that, according to the novelist, is alien to any limitation and one-sidedness. The response of the young hero to his father's advice to choose any “career” is indicative: “to serve, to trade, at least to compose, perhaps”. “- Yes, I’ll see if it’s possible all of a sudden, - said Andrei.”

Unaware of the discord between mind and heart, consciousness and action, Stolz is “incessantly in motion,” and this motive is extremely important. After all, only with tireless movement forward, and not with spiritual sleep and peace, is a person able to overcome those “deceptive hopes and painful obstacles” that life puts him on the way to “above the intended goal”. And Stolz, who seeks in his life "the balance of practical aspects with the subtle needs of the spirit," strives precisely for it, thus fully meeting the author's ideal.

Having earned deep trust, and then the mutual feeling of Olga, Stolz settled with his wife not in Petersburg or in the village, but in the Crimea, in his own house on the seashore. The choice of this place is far from being accidental: remote from both the harsh North and the tropical South, Crimea is a kind of “norm” in nature. The following detail is also essential: from the gallery of the Stoltsev house “the sea was visible, from the other side - the road to the city”. The dwelling of Stolz and Olga with its “ocean of books and notes”, the presence of “vigilant thought” everywhere and graceful things, among which, however, “and a high desk, like Father Andrey had,” as it were, connects nature with her “ eternal beauty ”, with the best achievements of civilization. Stolz's life is completely devoid of the extremes of rural immobility and vain urban business. The author of the novel claims that the heroes are happy. True, Olga is sometimes visited by sadness and dissatisfaction. But Stolz reassures his wife by referring to the natural tendencies of a “lively irritated mind ... beyond the boundaries of life,” the longing of a spiritual person for the absolute.

The happiness of Stolz and Olga declared by Goncharov, nevertheless, does not convince the reader. And not only because the novelist talks about him rather than shows him. It is more important that the union of heroes in fact turns out to be a closed one, devoid of the main meaning of true love - its humanizing social results. The idea of ​​a harmonious, real-poetic personality in the figure of Stolz did not receive an adequate artistic embodiment in the novel.

The declarative nature of the figure of Stolz and his “last happiness”, which was eventually recognized by Goncharov himself (“not alive, but just an idea”), is not due to some kind of creative miscalculation. As it turned out with the development of the work, Goncharov's very hope to create an image of a harmonious person and the same love on the basis of modern reality was a utopia. In a letter dated from the year of the end of the novel to one of his correspondents, Goncharov stated: "Between reality and the ideal lies ... an abyss through which a bridge has not yet been found, but it will hardly be built when."

Consciousness of this sad pattern determined the final meaning of the image and Ilya Ilyich Oblomov.

Long before the final of the work, Ilya Ilyich, in a conversation with Stolz, remarked: "Either I did not understand this life, or it is worthless." According to Goncharov, Oblomov really does not understand life when he behaves in it like the heir of a kind-hearted, but inert-deceased “Oblomovism”. When, guessing the cherished goal of a person - indestructible, spiritualized and inspiring love and family all around, - does not show that spiritual and practical energy, without which the achievement of this goal is impossible. However, the named goal, in essence, was not achieved in "this life" and the willful Stolz, who was tirelessly walking towards it, and Olga Ilyinskaya herself. This fact casts a different light on Oblomov. The hero's personal guilt is increasingly obscured by his misfortune. The main reason for the drama depicted in the novel is transferred from Ilya Ilyich, who in the end preferred idyllic peace to perpetual motion, to a spiritless and soulless social reality that “is no good at all”.

The confessions made by Goncharov in a number of letters from the 60s help a correct understanding of the type created in the person of Oblomov. to the ardent admirer of his work, friend and assistant Sofya Aleksandrovna Nikitenko. “I’ll tell you,” we read in one of them, “which I didn’t tell anyone: from the very minute when I started writing for print ... I had one artistic ideal: these are images of an honest, kind, pretty nature, in the highest the degree of an idealist who fights all his life, seeks the truth, meets a lie at every step, deceives and finally finally grows cold and falls into apathy and powerlessness from the consciousness of his own weakness and that of someone else's, that is, of human nature in general ”.

Directly in connection with this ideal, the hero of "The Break", the "artist" Boris Raysky is mentioned here. However, Ilya Ilyich will also be described at the end of Oblomov with almost the same words. “This, - says here about the“ honest, faithful heart ”of the hero Andrei Stolts, - his natural gold; he carried it unharmed through life. He fell from the tremors, cooled down, fell asleep, finally, killed, disappointed, having lost the strength to live, but did not lose his honesty and loyalty. "

The beginning of a "supremely idealist" is indeed characteristic of the hero of "Oblomov," albeit in conjunction with patriarchal-idyllic features. Declared, in particular, by the parallels of Ilya Ilyich with Plato, Hamlet, Don Quixote, it explains to us why Stolz is friends with Oblomov and why Olga Ilyinsky fell in love with him. The surname of Goncharov's hero contains a hint of a person who has been broken off by life, and not only round (from the Old Slavic “bummer”) and a fragment (that is, a representative of an archaic way of life).

The super-personal cause of Oblomov's drama gives an ambiguous meaning to the idyllic sympathies of Ilya Ilyich, which brought him to the outskirts of the capital. Not only the hero's weakness and timidity in front of the highest task of man, but also a protest - albeit passive - against the vain existence of the Sudbinsk-Volkov-Lenkins was expressed in Ilya Ilyich's decision to remain on the Vyborg side of St. Petersburg. And if the "quixotic struggle ... with life" - in its active manifestation - was limited by Oblomov to almost the only act - a "loud slap in the face" to Tarantiev, who dared to dirtyly distort the hero's relationship with Olga Ilyinskaya, then the very reaction of Ilya Ilyich to this baseness ( “- Look, you bastard!” Oblomov shouted, pale, shaking with rage ”) really in the spirit of Don Quixote.

The increasing dramatization with the development of "Oblomov" of the image of his title character was a direct result of Goncharov's rethinking of the original concept of the work. Through the image of the Russian patriarchal-idyllic master in Ilya Ilyich, the features of such “indigenous” human types as the classical heroes of Shakespeare and Cervantes were more and more clearly visible. Hamletovsky “to be or not to be” sounds to Oblomov the question: “Go forward or stay” at rest? Ilya Ilyich is united with Don Quixote not only by the purity of the soul and idealism, but also by the relationship with his servant Zakhar. Refracting through the “local” social and everyday signs and synthesizing in his personality the high aspirations, as well as the comic and tragic nature of these great “prototypes”, the hero of “Oblomov” ultimately acquired the meaning of their modern, nationally unique “successor”. In a word, a character that belongs to its era as much as it is eternal.

FEMALE IMAGES IN NOVEL. Having absorbed, according to the writer, “little by little the elementary properties of the Russian man,” the figure of the title person was not the only creative success of “Oblomov”. The contemporaries called Olga Ilyinskaya “excellently outlined character”, emphasizing the unity in him of ideality with psychological persuasiveness. Quite a "living face" (Dobrolyubov), Olga really compares favorably with Stolz in this respect, although we know practically nothing about the heroine's childhood or youth. Moreover: Olga is given in the novel as if outside of everyday life. The spiritual essence of the heroine is nevertheless fully motivated - however not by external, but by internal circumstances. Released in her aunt's house from the “despotic control of her will and mind,” Olga at first “guesses and understands a lot” thanks to her “happy nature”, which “did not offend her in any way,” and finally develops as a person under the influence of the vicissitudes of her heart - in relationships with Oblomov, then Stolz.

Independent in her choices and decisions, Olga, at the same time, is unusually sensitive to the truth of love. Love for her is not a passion, no matter how strong it is, but a feeling-duty, sympathy, accompanied by the moral obligations of those who love to carry it to the end of life. “Yes ... I,” she says to Oblomov, “seems to have the strength to live and love all my life.” Hence the heroine's exactingness towards herself and her beloved: Olga does not resign herself to Ilya Ilyich's craving for peace, since she knows: the "norm" of love is given only by the movement "forward, forward."

The direct opposite of Olga looks like the landlady, and then the wife of Ilya Ilyich Agafya Pshenitsyna, as if completely dissolved in the cycle of everyday worries about food, sewing, washing, ironing, etc. The spiritual appearance of Ilyinskaya is emphasized, which reflects the “presence of a speaking thought”, the richness of inner life, the external portrait of Pshenitsyna is contrasted with her “full, rounded elbows”, “strong as a sofa cushion, never waving her chest” and “simplicity” of mental movements ... Just as “simply”, unaware of the high social purpose of this feeling and the obstacles standing in its way, Agafya Matveevna Oblomova fell in love and “passed under this sweet yoke, of course, without resistance and hobbies, without vague presentiments, languor, without play and music. ”.

Far from its truth, but selfless, imbued with a mother's principle, Agafya Matveyevna's love is fanned at the same time in Oblomov with deep authorial sympathy. After all, with her and in this ordinary woman, a living soul awakened, human meaning and light in her previously almost automatic existence was revealed. Meeting the basic creative principle of the artist to reveal in the simplest “contemporary” of “the man himself” the image of the modest “official” Agafya Pshenitsyna became a great achievement for Goncharov and Russian prose in general.

OWN STYLE. Along with the large-scale characters of the central persons of the work, his bright humor, literary and cultural context, “painting” and “music”, as well as such an artistic and stylistic element as “poetry” served to reveal the final meaning of “Oblomov”.

Goncharov's special interest in the "poetic" moments of the picture depicted was in connection with the "Ordinary History" noted by Belinsky. “In the talent of Iskander (AI Herzen - VN), - wrote the critic, - poetry is a secondary agent ... in the talent of Mr. Goncharov - the first and only agent”. The author of Oblomov himself called “the juice of the novel” “poetry”, who believed that “novels ... without poetry are not works of art” and their authors “are not artists,” but just more or less gifted everyday writers. But what did the writer mean by novel "poetry"?

It was not only about the lofty, actually ideal aspirations of contemporaries, but also about those "universal ... passions ... sorrows and joys" that spiritually and aesthetically ("poetically") enrich our life as its best, unforgettable manifestations.

In “Oblomov” the most important of the “poetic” and poetic principles of the work was “graceful love” itself, the “poem” and “drama” of which, in the eyes of Goncharov, coincided with the main moments in the lives of people. And even with the boundaries of nature, the main states of which in "Oblomov" are parallel to the origin, development, culmination and, finally, the extinction of the feelings of Ilya Ilyich and Olga Ilyinsky. The love of heroes arose in the atmosphere of spring with a sunny park, lilies of the valley and the famous branch of lilacs, blossomed on a sultry summer afternoon, full of thunderstorms and bliss, then extinguished with autumn rains, smoky city chimneys, finally, it broke off along with the raised bridges over the Neva and that's all. covered with snow.

“Poetic animation” (A.B. Nikitenko) “Oblomov” was also given the spiritualized image of Olga Ilyinskaya, reflecting the writer's ideas about the high purpose of women in the moral and aesthetic improvement of man. Goncharov's apology for spiritualized femininity, which in turn goes back to a deep cultural and philosophical tradition, can be explained by the following words of the “artist” Boris Raisky in “The Cliff”: “We are not equal: you are higher than us, you are strength, we are your weapon. Do not take away from us ... not a plow, not a spade, not a sword from our hands. We will dig up the earth for you, decorate it, descend into its abysses, swim across the seas, count the stars - and you, giving birth to us, take care of our childhood and youth as providence, educate us honest, teach work, humanity, goodness and that love, what the Creator has put into your hearts - and we will firmly endure the battles of life and follow you to where everything is perfect, where is eternal beauty. "

In "Oblomov" Goncharov's ability to paint Russian life with almost pictorial plasticity and tangibility was clearly manifested. Oblomovka, Vyborgskaya side, St. Petersburg day of Ilya Ilyich resemble the canvases of the "Little Flemings" or the everyday sketches of the Russian artist P.A. Fedotov. Without rejecting the praise of his "painting", Goncharov, at the same time, was deeply upset when readers did not feel in his novel that special "music" that ultimately penetrated the pictorial facets of the work.

Deeply akin to music, Goncharov finds the sphere of cherished human “dreams, desires and prayers,” concentrating primarily in love and around it. The very feeling of love, in its ups and downs, leitmotifs, unison and counterpoints, develops in Oblomov according to the laws of a major musical instrumental composition. The relationship of the main characters of the novel is not so much portrayed as played out by the “music of the nerve”. The very confession of Ilya Ilyich: "No, I feel ... not music ... but ... love!" like the soul of a hero. The musical and whimsical development of love is well conveyed by Goncharov in Oblomov's message to Olga, about which it is noted that it was written “quickly, with fervor, with feverish haste” and “animation”. The heroes' love arose “in the form of a light, smiling vision,” but soon, says Oblomov, “the pranks were gone; I became ill with love, felt the symptoms of passion; you have become thoughtful, serious; gave me your leisure time; your nerves start talking; you started to worry ... ”. Pathetics (“I love, I love, I love!”) Was replaced by the “dissonance of doubts” of the hero, “regret, sadness” of both, again by mutual “soulful Antonov fire”, then attracting and at the same time frightening “abysses”, “storms”. Finally, everything was resolved by “deep melancholy” and the consciousness of a common “mistake” and the impossibility of happiness.

Dominating in the central parts of the novel, his “music” helped the readers, in a way from the opposite, to understand the already non-musical, spiritless nature of those “ways of life” in which it was replaced only by an external rhythm - biological or practical.

The general and eternal aspect of the faces and situations of “Oblomov” was expanded thanks to the extensive literary and cultural context of the novel. Earlier it was said about not only ironic for Ilya Ilyich parallels of his personality with the heroes of Shakespeare and Cervantes. But the young Oblomov dreamed, together with Stolz, to see paintings by Raphael, Titian, Correggio, Michelangelo's paintings and the statue of Apollo Belvedere, he was read by Rousseau, Schiller, Goethe, Byron. Each of these names and all of them together very accurately indicate the spiritual capabilities and ideals of the hero of “Oblomov”. After all, Raphael is, first of all, the "Sistine Madonna", in which Goncharov's contemporaries saw the embodiment and symbol of eternal femininity; Schiller was the personification of idealism and idealists; the author of "Faust" for the first time expressed in this philosophical and poetic drama the human thirst for the absolute and at the same time the consciousness of its impossibility, and Rousseau idealized "natural" life in the middle of nature and far from soulless civilization. Thus, Ilya Ilyich, even before his love for Olga, was well acquainted with both hopes and “universal human sorrows” and disbeliefs. And one more fact speaks about this: even in his half-asleep Petersburg existence, the hero could not, in his words, “recall with indifference the Casta diva,” that is, that very female aria from V. Bellini’s “Norma”, which would seem to merge with the image of Olga Ilyinskaya, as well as with the dramatic result of Oblomov's love for her. It is significant that with his interpretation of Casta diva, Ilya Ilyich actually foresees this drama even before meeting Olga. "What sadness," he says, "is inherent in these sounds! .. And no one knows anything around ... She is alone ... Mystery weighs on her ..."

Not tragic, but comic light sheds on Oblomov's servant Zakhar his parallel, well felt in the novel, with the squire Don Quixote. Like Sancho Panse, Zakhar is sincerely devoted to his master and at the same time he will almost reiterate him in everything. In particular, Zakhar's view of women differs from the concepts of Ilya Ilyich, which is fully expressed in his “proudly” gloomy attitude towards his wife Anisya.

Essentially parodying the high union of a man and a woman, which Ilya Ilyich dreamed of and which Stolz and Olga Ilyinsky tried to create in their lives, the married couple Zakhara and his “sharp-nosed” wife became one of the main resources of humor in “Oblomov”. Abundant also in the description of Oblomovka (recall at least the economic "orders" of its senior owner Ilya Ivanovich or the reaction of the Oblomovites to the letter that came to them, etc.), the St. Petersburg day of Ilya Ilyich (recall Zakhar's reasoning about who "invented" bedbugs cobwebs, etc.), the life of the Vyborg side and the hero's landlady, the humor of “Oblomov”, at the same time, is practically devoid of such means as angry irony, sarcasm, grotesque; he is called not to execute, but to “soften and improve a person”, exposing him to “an impolite mirror of his stupidity, ugliness, passions, with all the consequences” so that “knowledge of how to beware” appears with their consciousness. Its main object is any extremes in relation to a “normal” personality and “way of life,” whether it be the “all-consuming” dream of Oblomovites or “official” love of Sudbinsky, the abstraction of dreams and thoughts or their physiological nature.

The humor of “Oblomov” is colored with a good-naturedly indulgent attitude towards a person, which does not prevent him from concealing “invisible tears” caused by the author's consciousness of “the weakness of his own and someone else's” nature.

According to Goncharov, I.S. Turgenev once said to him: "... as long as there is at least one Russian left - until then Oblomov will be remembered." Now the title character of the central novel of the writer has become close to many people around the world. Such is the charm of the book, in the creative crucible of which the life of the Russian master was transformed into a highly artistic study of the fate of the best hopes of “the man himself”.

Roman I.A. Goncharov's "Oblomov" stirred up Russian society in the 1950s and 1960s. XIX century, it can undoubtedly be called one of the largest events in the literary life of the country. The readers' attention was primarily attracted by the acute problematic of the novel, the literary elite split into two parts, someone considered Oblomov a positive hero, someone made a comparison in favor of Stolz. But all the eminent writers and critics agreed on one thing: Goncharov managed to find a new and successful solution to the "superfluous person" theme. The newly appeared novel was also recognized as an "encyclopedia of Russian life" and placed on a par with the immortal works of Pushkin and Lermontov, and the image of Oblomov entered the gallery of classic heroes of Russian literature along with Eugene Onegin and Grigory Pechorin.

One of the distinctive features of the novel is the uniqueness of the development of the conflict. The whole work is divided into four logical parts.

In the first part, the author introduces to us Ilya Ilyich Oblomov. The first pages are entirely devoted to the description of the hero. From the very beginning, Goncharov forms the image of such a kind, sincere person. He ironically describes Oblomov's lifestyle, but then he himself is surprised at how wonderfully laziness suits this person. In general, the central character of the first part is Ilya Ilyich, a fairly significant part of the work is devoted to his general description. The character of the hero is revealed both through the description of everyday life and with the help of the image of Zakhar, but, mainly, of course, through Oblomov's communication with his guests. Thus, a social conflict arises, the author describes the attitude of the hero to the world around him as a person's attitude to a large anthill, where everyone is in a hurry about their business, and he is not interested in their problems. A social conflict is finally formed when the author introduces the image of Stolz. He first appears immediately after Oblomov's dream, thus the character of Ilya Ilyich is already clearly opposed to the character of his friend, and since these are not just characters, but whole types, the social conflict takes the form of a contrast between Oblomov and Stolz.

With the arrival of Stolz, the action seemed to receive a powerful impetus. Andrei pulls his friend out of isolation, and this contributes to a much deeper development of the hero's image. The second part is more eventful than the first. Oblomov begins to appear in society, communicate with other people and, most importantly, get to know the Ilyinsky. Olga strikes Oblomov's heart, laziness finally flies off him. This is the setting of a love conflict.

The third part is entirely a description of Oblomov and Olga's love. The tension of the social conflict is weakening, since Stolz went abroad, and Oblomov, in appearance, was finally "re-educated." His activity reaches its climax, the hitherto unknown rich inner world of Oblomov is fully revealed. In this part, in fact, the climax and denouement of a love conflict takes place. Ilya Ilyich could not, even for Olga's sake, finally break with the past. He understands this and is not going to fight further. This suggests that simultaneously with the love conflict, an internal conflict developed in Oblomov himself.

The culmination of an internal conflict is a difficult choice between movement and stagnation, Olga and Pshenitsyna. The choice is made, there is a final break with Olga and Stolz.

The fourth and final part is Oblomov's return to the usual Oblomovism. The main problem of the novel is summed up: when will the Russian man get rid of Oblomovism, wake up from spiritual sleep and go forward, towards the sun. Therefore, never. The inner world of Ilya Ilyich calmed down, now to the end. The finishing touches are applied to the portrait of Oblomov, he is shown as an aged man in the bosom of his family, where he has finally plunged into spiritual slumber. And with the death of Oblomov, the apparent end of the plot-forming social conflict also occurs. It would seem that the ideal of man is Stolz, but he cannot be considered a winner. The ending of the novel remains open, the conflict between the two personality types continues.

The dynamics of action in these parts attracts special attention.

The first part is not so much a plot-forming conflict as an exposition, a presentation of the main character. The unhurried course of the narrative, the absence of a change in the scene - all this characterizes Ilya Ilyich and his measured current life. However, the action develops with the arrival of Stolz, the dynamics becomes more intense, Oblomov "wakes up" and ceases to be a wreck, a mattress. He meets Olga, this is the beginning of another plot-forming conflict. And in the third part, it culminates, the culmination of Oblomov's life. From the moment Oblomov was chosen, a slowdown in action, a decrease in voltage, begins. Ilya Ilyich returns to his robe, and nothing can pull him back.

In general, the dynamics of the main events of the novel is associated with the change of seasons. Here the landscape plays a special plot-compositional role.

So, the development of action is the spring of Oblomov's love, the spring of his future life, summer is the happy time of selfless love for Olga, the desire to forever connect his fate with her, and autumn, the autumn of Ilya Ilyich's soul, his love "fades", life loses its meaning ... Of course, the description of the summer attracts attention first of all. Goncharov skillfully knew how to show the culmination, the peak of summer - the July heat, the measured breath of nature, the heat of the field and the coolness of the forest. The descriptions are full of colors, they fully correspond to the mood of the main characters.

Of course, the role of the landscape in revealing the characters is great. Summer landscape characterizes Ilyinskaya, autumn - Pshenitsyna. Undoubtedly, Olga is somewhat inferior to Pshenitsyna, but the scanty and gray descriptions of the Vyborg side, the very life of the hostess, do not speak in her favor.

The landscape is also interesting in terms of understanding the special plot-compositional role of Oblomov's Dream. A landscape in a dream is, of course, an idyllic picture of Oblomovka. Through a dream, it is unclear, as in a half-day haze, Oblomov sees lovely pictures: forests, fields, meadows, a river, rare villages. Everything breathes with peace. Tears welling up in Ilya Ilyich's eyes. This moment is generally very important for understanding the character of the protagonist, and at the same time Goncharov is trying to show what Oblomovism is.

In "Dream" the detail is very important as a means of describing Oblomov and Oblomovism. This is, first of all, a clear, measured course of life: the rituals of dressing, drinking tea, afternoon nap. That state, similar to death, prevailing in Oblomovka during sleep, the collapsing gallery and porch - all this is Oblomovism, people prefer to remember the old, fearing to build a new one, and this fear is depicted in a grotesque way: what prevents to demolish the gallery and build a new one? Nothing, but instead a strict order is made not to go to a dangerous place. On the other hand, all this serves to characterize little Ilyusha, while he was not like everyone else: he ran away from home during everyone's sleep, ate dug roots, watched nature and loved to visit the forbidden gallery. That is, until Oblomovism extended its power to him.

In general, the details characterize Oblomov well. This is both a robe - a symbol of Oblomovism, and a book that has been laid on one page for many years, which indicates that time has stopped for Ilya Ilyich. His unhurried speech, his habit of relying on Zakhar in everything fits perfectly with the image of a "master" who lives simply because he is a master. Irony also slips in the descriptions: there is so much dust on Oblomov's chairs that one of the guests is afraid to ruin the new coat.

But the detail in "Oblomov" characterizes not only Ilya Ilyich himself. The lilac branch is also one of the famous symbols of the novel. This is the love of Olga and Oblomov, which faded so quickly. The fold over Olga's eyebrow and the dimples on Pshenitsyna's full arms also hint at the peculiarities of the characters of these characters.

The plot-compositional role of the secondary characters is no less significant. Oblomov's guests, on the one hand, emphasize his laziness, but on the other, they demonstrate his attitude towards vain and petty life. Zakhar is generally a copy of the master. Goncharov's ironic teasing of him extends to Ilya Ilyich.

The opposition of the fathers Oblomov and Stolz gives rise to the main conflict of the work, the conflict of two striking types. Thus, the antithesis in the novel is the main artistic device.

Another striking example of the antithesis is the opposition of Olga and Pshenitsyna. The author did not answer the question of which of them is better. But with the help of the antithesis, he was able to more fully and vividly display the merits of both.

So, the plot and composition of the novel "Oblomov" are very interesting, the action is complex and intense. Goncharov used many techniques to diversify the narrative. All this makes the novel extremely interesting both from an artistic and a philosophical point of view.