What is Sharikovism? “Sharikovism” as a social and moral phenomenon (based on M. A. Bulgakov’s story “Heart of a Dog”) What is Sharikovism

The famous story “Heart of a Dog,” written in 1926, is a vivid example of Bulgakov’s satire. She develops Gogol's traditions, organically combining two principles: the fantastic and the realistic. This characteristic feature of the writer’s satire is embodied in such works as “Diaboliad” and “Fatal Eggs.” All three satirical stories contain a warning from the writer addressed to his contemporaries, which was not heeded by them. Today we cannot help but be amazed by the amazing foresight of Bulgakov, who was able to sense the danger of scientific discoveries that had escaped control, and to urge people to be extremely careful when dealing with the unknown forces of nature.

At the center of the story “Heart of a Dog” is the experiment of Professor Preobrazhensky, which turned the sweet, nice dog Sharik into a short man of unattractive appearance. In this creature, which emerged as a result of scientific experiment, the makings of an eternally hungry and humiliated dog were combined with the qualities of his human donor - the alcoholic and criminal Klim Chugunkin. Such heredity makes the process of raising Sharikov very difficult. On the one hand, Professor Preobrazhensky and his assistant Dr. Bormenthal are unsuccessfully trying to instill in him the rules of good manners, develop and educate him. But of the entire system of cultural events, Sharikov likes only the circus, because he calls the theater a counter-revolution, and does not have the slightest interest in books. On the one hand, life itself intervenes in the process of Sharikov’s upbringing. First of all, in the person of the chairman of the house committee, Shvonder, who strives as quickly as possible to turn yesterday’s Sharik into a conscious builder of socialism, stuffing him with proletarian slogans and books like the correspondence between Engels and Kautsky. Many of Poligraf Poligrafych's statements are clearly borrowed from his benefactor Shvonder, who deliberately incites his pet against the hated professor. The chairman of the house committee cannot forget his shameful defeat in Preobrazhensky’s apartment, come to terms with the fact that the professor still occupies seven rooms and is not subject to any compaction, because the lives of influential bosses depend on his talent as a surgeon. This means that Shvonder sees Sharikov as a kind of instrument of revenge.

Showing how Sharikov’s evolution occurs, how he gradually becomes bolder and more aggressive, Bulgakov makes the reader, laughing merrily at comic situations and witty remarks, feel the terrible danger of Sharikovism, this new social phenomenon that began to emerge in the 20s. The revolutionary government encourages snitching and denunciation, releasing the basest instincts of uncultured and uneducated people. It gives them a sense of power over smart, cultured, intelligent people. The Sharikovs, who have seized power, pose a terrible threat to society. Bulgakov touches on the reasons for their appearance in his story. If Sharikov arose as a result of the scientific experience of Professor Preobrazhensky, then similar people with the heart of a dog may appear as a result of that risky experiment, which in our country was called the construction of socialism, an experiment of enormous scale and very dangerous. An attempt to create a new just society, to educate a free and conscious person using revolutionary, that is, violent methods, according to the writer, was initially doomed to failure. After all, the desire to “to the ground” destroy the old world with its eternal universal moral values ​​and build life on a fundamentally new basis means forcibly interfering with the natural course of things. The consequences of this intervention will be disastrous. Philip Philipovich understands this when he sadly reflects on why his brilliant scientific experiment gave birth to a real monster who began to pose a mortal danger to everyone around him. This happened because the researcher violated the laws of nature, and this should under no circumstances be done.

Bulgakov’s story “The Heart of a Dog” remains relevant even today, because the discoveries and prophecies of the great writer will help us understand the chaos and confusion of today’s life, and prevent previous mistakes, so that Sharikov’s does not become a terrible sign of the times.

“...the whole horror is that he has

not a dog's, but a human's

heart. And the worst thing of all,

that exist in nature."

M. Bulgakov

When the story “Fatal Eggs” was published in 1925, one of the critics said: “Bulgakov wants to become a satirist of our era.” Now, on the threshold of the new millennium, we can say that he became one, although he did not intend to. After all, by the nature of his talent he is a lyricist. And the era made him a satirist. M. Bulgakov was disgusted by the bureaucratic forms of governing the country; he could not stand violence either against himself or against other people. The writer saw the main trouble of his “backward country” in lack of culture and ignorance. And he rushed into battle to defend that “reasonable, good, eternal” that the minds of the Russian intelligentsia sowed. And Bulgakov chose satire as a weapon of struggle. In 1925, the writer finished the story “Heart of a Dog.” The content of the story - an incredible fantastic story of the transformation of a dog into a man - was a witty, clever and evil satire on the social reality of the 20s.

The plot was based on the fantastic operation of the brilliant scientist Preobrazhensky with all the unexpectedly tragic consequences for him. By transplanting the testicular glands and pituitary gland of the brain into a dog for scientific purposes, the professor obtained homo sapiens , who a little later was named Polygraph Poligrafovich Sharikov. The “humanized” stray dog ​​Sharik, always hungry, offended by all and sundry, revived in himself the person whose brain served as donor material for the operation. He was the drunkard and hooligan Klim Chugunkin, who accidentally died in a drunken brawl. From him Sharikov inherited both the consciousness of his “proletarian” origin with all the corresponding social mores, and the lack of spirituality that was characteristic of the philistine, uncultured environment of the Chugunkins.

But the professor does not despair, he intends to make his ward a person of high culture and morality. He hopes that with affection and his own example he can influence Sharikov. But it was not there. Polygraph Poligrafovich desperately resists: “Everything is like at a parade... A napkin is here, a tie is here, and “excuse me,” and “please,” but for real, this is not.”

Every day Sharikov becomes more and more dangerous. Moreover, he has a patron in the person of the chairman of the house committee, Shvonder. This fighter for social justice reads Engels and writes articles for the newspaper. Shvonder took patronage over Sharikov and educates him, paralyzing the professor’s efforts. This unfortunate teacher did not teach his ward anything useful, but he managed to hammer home a very tempting idea: whoever was nothing will become a dog. For Sharikov, this is a program for action. In a very short time he received documents, and a week or two later he became a co-worker and not an ordinary person, but the head of the department for clearing the city of Moscow from stray animals. Meanwhile, his nature is what it was - a dog-criminal one. You need to see and hear, and with what emotions he talks about his activities in this “field”: “Yesterday cats were strangled and strangled.” However, Poligraf Poligrafovich is not content with cats alone. He viciously threatens his secretary, who for objective reasons cannot respond to his advances: “You will remember me. Tomorrow I’ll make you redundant.”

In the story, fortunately, the story of Sharik’s two transformations has a happy ending: having returned the dog to its original state, the professor, refreshed and as cheerful as ever, goes about his business, and the “dearest dog” does his thing: lies on the rug and indulges in sweets reflections. But in life, to our great regret, the Sharikovs continued to multiply and “strangle and strangle,” but not cats, but people. Material from the site

M. Bulgakov’s merit lies in the fact that he managed to use laughter to reveal the deep and serious idea of ​​the story: the threatening danger of “Sharikovism” and its potential prospects. After all, Sharikov and his associates are dangerous to society. The ideology and social claims of the “hegemonic” class contain the threat of lawlessness and violence. Of course, M. Bulgakov’s story is not only a satire on “Sharikovism” as aggressive ignorance, but also a warning about its likely consequences in public life. Unfortunately, Bulgakov was not heard or did not want to be heard. The Sharikovs were fruitful, multiplied, and took an active part in the social and political life of the country.

We find examples of this in the events of the 30s-50s, when innocent and irresponsible people were persecuted, just as Sharikov once caught stray cats and dogs in his line of work. The Soviet Sharikovs demonstrated dog-like loyalty, showing anger and suspicion towards those who were high in spirit and mind. They, like Bulgakov’s Sharikov, were proud of their low origins, low education, even ignorance, defending themselves with connections, meanness, rudeness and, at every opportunity, trampling people worthy of respect into the dirt. These manifestations of Sharikovism are very tenacious.

We are now reaping the fruits of this activity. And no one can say how long this will last. In addition, “Sharikovism” has not disappeared as a phenomenon even now, perhaps it has only changed its face.

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On this page there is material on the following topics:

• Why is Sharikovism dangerous?
• essay on literature on the topic of Sharik and Sharikovism based on Bulgakov’s story The Heart of a Dog
• essay on the topic of balls and Sharikovism, heart of a dog, summary
• that Sharikov inherited from Sharikov Bulgakov

"SHARIKOVSHINKA". Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov is one of the most significant writers and playwrights of the 20th century. Diverse in theme and style, his work is marked by the greatest artistic discoveries. Seeing and sharply criticizing all the shortcomings of the bourgeois system, the writer also did not recognize an idealized attitude towards the revolution and the proletariat. Topical criticism of the phenomena of social and political life of that time reaches its peak in the story “The Heart of a Dog,” filled with vivid grotesque and satirical images and paintings.

Having affirmed the cultural and spiritual values ​​of humanity all his life, Bulgakov could not calmly relate to how, before his eyes, these values ​​were lost, deliberately destroyed, and lost their meaning for a society subject to “mass hypnosis” of revolutionary changes. The story “The Heart of a Dog” was called by critics “a poignant pamphlet on modernity.” But time has shown that the issues raised in the work are relevant not only for the era in which Bulgakov lived and worked. The phenomena described in the story and the images created by the author remain relevant today.

The writer perceived the revolution as a dangerous experimentation with living life, when an accidental discovery is used as the basis for a thoughtless experiment that leads humanity to disaster. And the main danger lies not in the changes themselves that occur to people, but in the nature of these changes, in the way, by what methods these changes are achieved. Evolution also changes a person, but the difference is that evolution is predictable, but experiment is not, since it always contains unaccounted possibilities. M. Bulgakov shows us what dramatic consequences this can lead to. Professor Preobrazhensky transplants the human pituitary gland into a mongrel named Sharik, resulting in a completely new creature - a homunculus named Sharikov.

“A new area is opening up in science: without any retort of Faust, a homunculus was created. The surgeon's scalpel brought into being a new human unit." A unique experiment was carried out on humans. But how terrible this experiment will be, the heroes have yet to find out.

What happens when all these human and animal qualities are combined in a new being? “Here’s what: two criminal records, alcoholism, “divide everything”, a hat and two ducats are missing... - a boor and a pig...” Sharikov, who is prevented by his creator from living the way he wants, seeks to destroy his “dad” with the help of political denunciation.

Of course, an important role was played here by people from the breed of “simplifyers and equalizers”, in whose person the revolutionary idea appeared in its hypertrophied form. Such people seek to abolish the complex culture created by European humanity. Shvonder is trying to subordinate Sharikov to his ideology, but does not take into account the fact that in Poligraf Poligrafovich the human race itself has degraded, and therefore he does not need any ideology. “He doesn’t understand that Sharikov is a more formidable danger for him than for me,” says Preobrazhensky. “Well, now he’s trying in every possible way to set him against me, not realizing that if someone, in turn, sets Sharikov against Shvonder himself, then all that will be left of him is his horns and legs.”

Bulgakov was very concerned about such consequences of combining revolutionary experiment with the psychology of the human crowd. Therefore, in his work, he seeks to warn people about the danger threatening society: the process of forming balls can get out of control and it will be disastrous for those who contributed to their appearance. The blame in this case falls equally on the “fools” and the “clever” Preobrazhenskys. After all, the idea of ​​an experiment with a person, born in a scientist’s office, has long since reached the streets, embodied in revolutionary transformations. Therefore, the writer raises the question of the responsibility of thinkers for the development of ideas put into practice.

It is no coincidence that Sharikov so easily finds his social niche in human society. There are already masses of people like him, only created not in the laboratory of a scientist, but in the laboratory of a revolution. They begin to indiscriminately crowd out everything that does not fit into the framework of their ideology - from the bourgeoisie to the Russian intelligentsia. The Sharikovs gradually occupy all the highest echelons of power and begin to poison the lives of normal people. Moreover, they take upon themselves the right to manage this life. “This, doctor, is what happens when a researcher, instead of going parallel and groping with nature, forces the question and lifts the veil: here, get Sharikov and eat him with porridge.”

An opponent of all violence, Professor Preobrazhensky recognizes only affection as the only possible way of influencing a rational being: “Nothing can be done with terror,” he says... “This is what I affirm, have asserted, and will continue to assert. They are in vain to think that terror will help them. No, no, no, it won’t help, no matter what it is - white, red and even brown! Terror completely paralyzes the nervous system*. And yet, his attempts to instill basic cultural skills in Sharikov fail.

Bulgakov's Heart of a Dog is a great work, where the problem of not a single generation is revealed, and at the same time it worries people even today. This story touches on the problem of Sharikovism and is universal, because it shows not only the life of Russia in the twenties, but also makes us look around us, at the society and people that surround us today. It turns out that the work is relevant, and Sharikovism as a social and moral phenomenon lives on at the present time, which is what we will write about.

If we turn to the storyline, we will see the desire of Professor Preobrazhensky, who was a surgeon, to create an ideal person. Through an amazing operation, with the help of his assistant, he transplanted the pituitary gland of the human brain into the mongrel Sharik. He took the material from the recently deceased alcoholic and criminal Chugunkin. And then a miracle, the dog turned into a man whom the professor tried to raise, but nothing worked. A real tragedy began, where, with the support of the house committee Shvonder, Sharikov developed hatred for any manifestation of cultural and spiritual life. The cute dog turned into an ignorant person who began to consider himself the master of life, he became arrogant and aggressive.

Sharikovism as a phenomenon

Bulgakov respected the spiritual and cultural values ​​of people and saw how everything was losing its power, everything was being destroyed, the meaning of these values ​​was being lost under the influence of revolutionary changes. The writer could not turn a blind eye to all this, and raised questions that, oddly enough, are relevant not only in his era of life. All phenomena and images are relevant for our time. In revolution, the writer sees a dangerous experiment that goes against nature and this road leads only to disaster. The worst thing is that the experiment and its results cannot be predicted. We see in the work Heart of a Dog what consequences rash decisions can lead to. The author showed the appearance of numerous Sharikovs, to whom shame and ethics are alien. Now the Sharikovs and Sharikovism rule. Now selfishness, encroachment on the property of others, lack of morality, the presence of illiteracy are the norm, which is what Sharikovism consists of.

How do the Sharikovs behave? They are rowdy, swear, they have no authority, and as they rise in position, they begin to destroy even their own kind, as Sharikov does, having received the post of commissioner for the destruction of stray animals.

Bulgakov eventually corrected the mistake, showing readers what can happen when some cook becomes in power. Showing what will happen when the Sharikovs rule the country. But in real life such experiments are difficult to correct, so there was disrespect, betrayal, and denunciations then, and they still exist today. And this is nothing more than another manifestation of Sharikovism.

Sharikovism today

It’s scary to realize, but Sharikovism is alive and well today. Around us we see low culture among people, rudeness. The Sharikovs are ready to take any step to become a prince. At the same time, it is difficult to notice them right away, because in appearance they are very similar to everyone else. But inside them lives an inhuman entity. Only by looking closely will we see a judge who convicted an innocent person, a mother who abandoned her child, a doctor who ended up treating a sick person, an official who cannot live without bribes. Moral decline and cruelty still exist today. This can and must be fought, and only then will the pressing issue of Sharikovism lose its power. Bulgakov’s work is like a warning to all of us, allowing us to adequately evaluate our actions. This is the only way to fight vices, thereby eliminating all the ballers and making the world a better place.
I hope such a time will come someday.

Bulgakov's creativity is the pinnacle phenomenon of Russian artistic culture of the 20th century. The fate of the Master, deprived of the opportunity to be published and heard, is tragic. From 1927 to 1940, Bulgakov did not see a single line of his own in print.
Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov came to literature already during the years of Soviet power. He experienced all the difficulties and contradictions of Soviet reality in the thirties. His childhood and youth were connected with Kiev, and the subsequent years of his life - with Moscow. It was during the Moscow period of Bulgakov’s life that the story “Heart of a Dog” was written. It reveals with brilliant skill and talent the theme of disharmony, brought to the point of absurdity thanks to human intervention in the eternal laws of nature.
In this work, the writer rises to the top of satirical fiction. If satire states, then satirical fiction warns society of impending dangers and cataclysms. Bulgakov embodies his conviction in the preference of normal evolution over the violent method of invading life; he speaks of the terrible destructive power of complacent aggressive innovation. These themes are eternal, and they have not lost their significance even now.
The story “Heart of a Dog” is distinguished by the author’s extremely clear idea: the revolution that took place in Russia was not the result of the natural spiritual development of society, but an irresponsible and premature experiment. Therefore, the country must be returned to its previous state, without allowing the irreversible consequences of such an experiment.
So, let's look at the main characters of "Heart of a Dog". Professor Preobrazhensky is a democrat by origin and convictions, a typical Moscow intellectual. He sacredly serves science, helps people, and will never harm him. Proud and majestic, Professor Preobrazhensky spouts ancient aphorisms. Being a luminary of Moscow genetics, the brilliant surgeon is engaged in profitable operations to rejuvenate aging women.
But the professor plans to improve nature itself, he decides to compete with life itself, to create a new person by transplanting part of the human brain into a dog. This is how Sharikov is born, embodying the new Soviet man. What are its development prospects? Nothing impressive: the heart of a stray dog ​​and the brain of a man with three convictions and a pronounced passion for alcohol. This is what a new person, a new society must develop from.
Sharikov wants to become one of the people at all costs, to become no worse than others. But he cannot understand that for this it is necessary to go through a long path of spiritual development; it requires work to develop the intellect, horizons, and mastery of knowledge. Polygraph Poligrafovich Sharikov (as the creature is now called) puts on patent leather shoes and a poisonous-colored tie, but otherwise his suit is dirty, unkempt, and tasteless.
A person with a doglike disposition, the basis of which was the lumpen, feels like the master of life, he is arrogant, arrogant, and aggressive. The conflict between Professor Preobrazhensky and the humanoid lumpen is absolutely inevitable. The life of the professor and the inhabitants of his apartment becomes a living hell. Here is one of their everyday scenes:
“-...Don’t throw cigarette butts on the floor, I ask you for the hundredth time. So that I no longer hear a single swear word in the apartment! Don't give a damn! “There’s a spittoon,” the professor is indignant.
“Somehow, dad, you’re painfully oppressing me,” the man suddenly said tearfully.”
Despite the dissatisfaction of the owner of the house, Sharikov lives in his own way: during the day he sleeps in the kitchen, messes around, does all sorts of outrages, confident that “nowadays everyone has their own right.” And he is not alone in this. Polygraph Poligrafovich finds an ally in Shvonder, the local chairman of the house committee. He bears the same responsibility as the professor for the humanoid monster. Shvonder supported Sharikov’s social status, armed him with an ideological phrase, he is his ideologist, his “spiritual shepherd.” Shvonder supplies Sharikov with “scientific” literature and gives him Engels’s correspondence with Kautsky to “study”. The beast-like creature does not approve of any author: “Otherwise they write, write... Congress, some Germans...” He draws one conclusion: “Everything must be divided.” This is how Sharikov’s psychology developed. He instinctively sensed the main credo of the new masters of life: plunder, steal, take away everything created. The main principle of a socialist society is universal equalization, called equality. We all know what this led to.
The finest hour for Poligraf Poligrafovich was his “service”. Having disappeared from the house, he appears before the astonished professor as a kind of young man, full of dignity and self-respect, “in a leather jacket from someone else’s shoulder, in worn leather pants and high English boots.” The incredible smell of cats immediately spread throughout the entire hallway. He presents the stunned professor with a paper stating that Comrade Sharikov is the head of the department for cleaning the city from stray animals. Shvonder placed him there.
So, Bulgakov’s Sharik made a dizzying leap: from a stray dog, he turned into an orderly to cleanse the city of stray dogs and cats. Well, pursuing one's own is a characteristic feature of all ballers. They destroy their own, as if covering up traces of their own origin...
The last chord of Sharikov’s activity is the denunciation of Professor Preobrazhensky. It should be noted that it was in the thirties that denunciation became one of the foundations of a socialist society, which would be more correctly called totalitarian. Only such a regime can be based on denunciation.
Sharikov is alien to shame, conscience, and morality. He lacks human qualities, there is only meanness, hatred, malice.
However, Professor Preobrazhensky still does not abandon the idea of ​​​​making Sharikov a man. He hopes for evolution, gradual development. But there is no development and there will not be if the person himself does not strive for it. Preobrazhensky's good intentions turn into tragedy. He comes to the conclusion that violent intervention in the nature of man and society leads to catastrophic results. In the story, the professor corrects his mistake by turning Sharikov back into a dog. But in life such experiments are irreversible. Bulgakov managed to warn about this at the very beginning of the destructive transformations that began in our country in 1917.
After the revolution, all conditions were created for the appearance of a huge number of balls with dog hearts. The totalitarian system greatly contributes to this. Due to the fact that these monsters have penetrated into all areas of life, Russia is now going through difficult times.
Outwardly, the Sharikovs are no different from people, but they are always among us. Their non-human essence manifests itself all the time. The judge convicts an innocent man to fulfill a plan to solve crimes; the doctor turns away from the patient; a mother abandons her child; officials, for whom bribes have become the order of the day, are ready to betray their own. Everything that is most lofty and sacred turns into its opposite, since a non-human has awakened within them and tramples them into the dirt. When a non-human comes to power, he tries to dehumanize everyone around him, since non-humans are easier to control. For them, all human feelings are replaced by the instinct of self-preservation.
The heart of a dog in alliance with the human mind is the main threat of our time. That is why the story, written at the beginning of the century, remains relevant today and serves as a warning to future generations. Today is so close to yesterday... At first glance, it seems that everything has changed, that the country has become different. But consciousness and stereotypes remained the same. More than one generation will pass before the Sharikovs disappear from our lives, people become different, and the vices described by Bulgakov in his immortal work disappear. How I want to believe that this time will come!..