Characteristics of the heroes of "Heart of a Dog. The image and characteristics of Sharikov Bulgakov's heart of a dog essay Read the description of Sharikov's appearance what impression

Mikhail Bulgakov's story "Heart of a Dog", written in 1925 in Moscow, is a filigree example of the sharp satirical fiction of that time. In it, the author reflected his ideas and beliefs about whether a person needs to intervene in the laws of evolution and what this can lead to. The topic touched upon by Bulgakov remains relevant in modern real life and will never cease to disturb the minds of all progressive humanity.

After publication, the story caused a lot of talk and ambiguous judgments, because it was distinguished by the vivid and memorable characters of the main characters, an extraordinary plot in which fiction was closely intertwined with reality, as well as overt, harsh criticism of Soviet power. This work was very popular among dissidents in the 60s, and after being republished in the 90s, it was generally recognized as prophetic. The story "Heart of a Dog" clearly shows the tragedy of the Russian people, which is divided into two warring camps (red and white) and in this confrontation only one should win. In his story, Bulgakov reveals to the readers the essence of the new victors - the proletarian revolutionaries, and shows that they cannot create anything good and worthy.

History of creation

This story is the final part of the previously written series of satirical stories by Mikhail Bulgakov of the 1920s, such as "The Devil" and "Fatal Eggs". Bulgakov began writing the story "Heart of a Dog" in January 1925 and finished it in March of the same year, originally it was intended for publication in the magazine "Nedra", but was not censored. And all such its contents were known to Moscow lovers of literature, because Bulgakov read it in March 1925 at the Nikitsky subbotnik (literary circle), later it was copied by hand (the so-called samizdat) and thus distributed to the masses. In the USSR, the story "Heart of a Dog" was first published in 1987 (6th issue of the magazine "Banner").

Analysis of the work

Story line

The story of the unsuccessful experiment of Professor Preobrazhensky, who decided to turn a homeless mongrel Sharik into a man, serves as the basis for the development of the plot in the story. To do this, he transplants the pituitary gland of the alcoholic, parasite and rowdy Klim Chugunkin, the operation is successful and an absolutely “new man” is born - Polygraph Poligrafovich Sharikov, who, according to the author's idea, is a collective image of the new Soviet proletarian. The "new man" is distinguished by a rude, arrogant and deceitful character, a boorish demeanor, a very unpleasant, repulsive appearance, and an intelligent and well-mannered professor often has conflicts with him. Sharikov, in order to register in the professor's apartment (to which he believes he has every right) enlists the support of a like-minded and ideological teacher, the chairman of the Shvonder House Committee, and even finds a job: he is engaged in catching stray cats. Carried to the extreme by all the antics of the newly-minted Polygraph Sharikov (the last straw was the denunciation of Preobrazhensky himself), the professor decides to return everything as it was, and turns Sharikov back into a dog.

main characters

The main characters of the story "Heart of a Dog" are typical representatives of the Moscow society of that time (thirties of the twentieth century).

One of the main characters in the center of the story is Professor Preobrazhensky, a famous scientist with a worldwide reputation, a respected person in society who adheres to democratic views. He deals with the issues of rejuvenating the human body through animal organ transplants, and seeks to help people, while not harming them. The professor is depicted as a solid and self-confident person who has a certain weight in society and is accustomed to living in luxury and prosperity (he has a large house with servants, among his clients are former nobles and representatives of the highest revolutionary leadership).

Being a cultured person and possessing an independent and critical mindset, Preobrazhensky openly opposes Soviet power, calling the Bolsheviks who have come to power as "hollows" and "idlers", he is firmly convinced that it is necessary to fight the devastation not by terror and violence, but by culture, and considers that the only way to communicate with living things is weasel.

Having conducted an experiment on a stray dog ​​Sharik and turned him into a man, and even tried to instill in him elementary cultural and moral skills, Professor Preobrazhensky suffers a complete fiasco. He admits that his "new man" turned out to be completely useless, does not serve up upbringing and learns only bad things (Sharikov's main conclusion after working through Soviet propaganda literature is to divide everything, and doing it by the method of robbery and violence). The scientist understands that it is impossible to interfere with the laws of nature, because such experiments do not lead to anything good.

A young assistant to the professor, Dr. Bormental, a very decent and devoted person to his teacher (the professor once took part in the fate of a beggar and hungry student, and he responds with devotion and gratitude). When Sharikov reached his limit, writing a denunciation of the professor and stealing a pistol, he wanted to use it, it was Bormental who showed firmness of spirit and toughness of character, deciding to turn him back into a dog, while the professor was still hesitating.

Describing on the positive side these two doctors, old and young, emphasizing their nobility and self-esteem, Bulgakov sees in their descriptions himself and his relatives, doctors, who would have done the same in many situations.

The people of the new era are the absolute opposites of these two positive heroes: the former dog Sharik himself, who became Polygraph Poligrafovich Sharikov, the chairman of the house committee Shvonder and other "tenants".

Shvonder is a typical example of a member of a new society who fully and completely supports Soviet power. Hating the professor as a class enemy of the revolution and planning to get a part of the professor's living space, he uses Sharikov for this, telling him about the rights to the apartment, making him documents and pushing him to write a denunciation of Preobrazhensky. Himself, being a narrow-minded and uneducated person, Shvonder gives in and extinguishes in conversations with the professor, and from this he hates him even more and makes every effort to annoy him as much as possible.

Sharikov, a donor for whom a bright average representative of the Soviet thirties of the last century, an alcoholic without a definite job, a three-time convicted lumpen proletariat Klim Chugunkin, twenty-five years old, became a bright average representative of the Soviet thirties of the last century, is distinguished by a foolish and arrogant character. Like all ordinary people, he wants to break out into people, but he does not want to learn anything or put any effort into it. He likes to be an ignorant slob, fight, curse, spit on the floor and constantly run into scandals. However, without learning anything good, he absorbs the bad like a sponge: he quickly learns to write denunciations, finds work to his liking - to kill cats, the eternal enemies of the canine race. Moreover, showing how ruthlessly he deals with stray cats, the author makes it clear that Sharikov will do the same with any person who has become between him and his goal.

The gradually growing aggression, arrogance and impunity of Sharikov is specially shown by the author in order for the reader to understand how this “Sharikovism” emerging in the 20s of the last century, as a new social phenomenon of the post-revolutionary time, is terrible and dangerous. Such Sharikovs, who are met all the time in Soviet society, especially those in power, pose a real threat to society, especially to intelligent, intelligent and cultured people, whom they hate fiercely and try to destroy them in every possible way. Which, incidentally, happened later, when during the Stalinist repressions the flower of the Russian intelligentsia and the military elite was destroyed, as Bulgakov predicted.

Features of compositional construction

In the story "Heart of a Dog" several literary genres are combined at once, in accordance with the storyline plots it can be attributed to a fantastic adventure in the image and likeness of "The Island of Dr. Moreau" by HG Wells, which also describes an experiment to breed a human-animal hybrid. From this side, the story can be attributed to the actively developing genre of science fiction at that time, the outstanding representatives of which were Alexei Tolstoy and Alexander Belyaev. However, under the surface layer of science-adventure fiction, in fact, it turns out to be a sharp satirical parody, allegorically showing all the monstrosity and inconsistency of that large-scale experiment called "socialism", which the Soviet government carried out on the territory of Russia, trying to create a "new man" born from revolutionary explosion and implantation of Marxist ideology. What will come of this is just very clearly demonstrated by Bulgakov in his story.

The composition of the story consists of such traditional parts as the opening - the professor sees a homeless dog and decides to bring him home, the culmination (here several moments can be distinguished at once) - the operation, the visit of the Domkom members to the professor, the Sharikovs' denunciation of Preobrazhensky, his threats with the use of weapons, the professor's decision to turn Sharikov back into a dog, the denouement is to conduct a reverse operation, Shvonder's visit to the professor with the police, the final part is to establish peace and tranquility in the professor's apartment: the scientist goes about his business, the dog Sharik is quite happy with his dog's life.

Despite all the fantasticness and improbability of the events described in the story, the author's use of various methods of grotesque and allegory, this work, thanks to the use of descriptions of specific signs of that time (city landscapes, various locations, life and appearance of characters), is distinguished by a unique believability.

The events taking place in the story are described on the eve of Christmas, and it is not for nothing that the professor is called Preobrazhensky, and his experiment is a real “anti-Christmas”, a kind of “anti-creation”. In a story based on allegory and fantastic fiction, the author wanted to show not only the importance of the scientist's responsibility for his experiment, but also the inability to see the consequences of his actions, the huge difference between the natural development of evolution and revolutionary intervention in the course of life. The story shows a clear author's vision of the changes that took place in Russia after the revolution and the beginning of the construction of a new socialist system, all these changes for Bulgakov were nothing more than an experiment on people, large-scale, dangerous and having catastrophic consequences.

Polygraph Poligrafovich Sharikov is an unambiguously negative character in Mikhail Bulgakov's story "Heart of a Dog", which unites three genres at once: fantasy, satire and dystopia.

Previously, he was an ordinary stray dog ​​Sharik, but after a daring experiment conducted by the talented surgeon Professor Preobrazhensky and his assistant Dr. Bormenthal, he becomes a human. Having invented a new name for himself and even acquired a passport, Sharikov begins a new life and fanns the fire of the class struggle with his creator, claiming his living space and in every possible way “shaking” his rights.

Characteristics of the main character

Polygraph Poligrafovich is an unusual and unique creature that appeared as a result of transplantation of the pituitary gland and seminal glands from a human donor to a dog. An accidental donor was a balalaika, a relapsing thief and parasite Klim Chugunkin. On the eve of the operation, he is killed with a knife in the heart in a drunken brawl and a professor conducting research in the field of rejuvenation of the human body uses its organs for scientific purposes. However, a pituitary transplant does not give a rejuvenating effect, but leads to the humanization of the former dog and its transformation into Sharikov in just a few weeks.

(Vladimir Tolokonnikov as Polygraph Poligrafovich Sharikov, film "Heart of a Dog", USSR 1988)

The appearance of the new "man" turned out to be rather unpleasant and one might say repulsive: short stature, hair tough and growing like bushes on a field uprooted, face almost completely covered with down, low forehead, thick eyebrows. From the former Sharik, who was the most ordinary yard dog, battered by life and people, ready to do anything for the sake of a tasty-smelling piece of sausage, but with a loyal and kind heart of a dog, the new Sharikov is left with only an innate hatred of cats, which influenced his choice of the future profession - head of the department of cleaning the city of Moscow from stray animals (including cats). But the heredity of Klim Chugunkin manifested itself in full: here you have unrestrained drunkenness, and arrogance, and rudeness, blatant savagery and immorality, and finally an accurate and faithful "nose" for the class enemy, which turned out to be its creator, Professor Preobrazhensky.

Sharikov brazenly declares to everyone that he is a simple worker and a proletariat, fights for his rights and demands respect for himself. He comes up with a name for himself, decides to get a passport in order to finally legitimize his personality in society, gets a job as a catcher of stray cats and even decides to marry. Having become, as he thinks, a full-fledged member of society, he considers himself entitled to tyrannize his class enemies Bormental and Preobrazhensky, brazenly claims part of the living space in order to arrange his personal life, with the help of Shvonder concocts a false denunciation of the professor and threatens him with a revolver. An outstanding surgeon and a world-renowned luminary, having suffered a complete fiasco in his experiment and failure in raising the resulting humanoid monster Sharikov, commits a deliberate crime - puts him to sleep and, with the help of another operation, turns him back into a dog.

The image of the hero in the work

The image of Sharikov was created by Bulgakov as a reaction to the events taking place at that time (20-30s of the XX century), the coming to power of the Bolsheviks and his attitude towards the proletariat as the builders of a new life. Sharikov's impressive image gives readers a clear description of a very dangerous social phenomenon that originated in post-revolutionary Russia. Very often, such terrible people as Sharikov received power into their own hands, which led to terrible consequences, devastation and destruction of all the best that had been created over the centuries.

The fact that normal intelligent people (such as Bormental and Preobrazhensky) considered savagery and immorality in the society of that time was considered the norm: to live at someone else's expense, to inform on everyone and everything, to treat with contempt for intelligent and intelligent people, etc. It is not for nothing that the professor is trying to remake and educate Sharikov's "rare scum", while the new government accepts him as he is, supports him in every possible way and considers him a full-fledged member of society. That is, for them he is a completely normal person, completely not falling outside the framework of ordinary behavior.

In the story, Preobrazhensky, realizing his mistake of interfering in the affairs of nature, manages to correct everything and destroy his terrible creation. However, in life, everything is much more complicated and confusing, it is impossible to make society better and cleaner with the help of violent revolutionary methods, such an attempt is doomed to failure in advance, and history itself proves this.

Ball- the main character of MA Bulgakov's fantastic story "Heart of a Dog", a homeless dog, who was picked up and sheltered by Professor Preobrazhensky. This is an eternally hungry, frozen, homeless dog that wanders in the alleyways in search of food. At the beginning of the story, we learn that a cruel cook scalded his side, and he is now afraid to ask someone for food, lies against the cold wall and awaits the end. But suddenly the smell of sausage comes from somewhere and he, unable to bear it, follows her. A mysterious gentleman walked along the sidewalk, who not only treated him to sausage, but also invited him to his home. Since then, Sharik began a completely different life.

The professor looked after him well, healed his sore side, brought him into proper shape and fed him several times a day. Soon Sharik began to turn away even from the roast beef. The rest of the inhabitants of the professor's large apartment also treated Sharik well. In response, he was ready to faithfully serve his master and savior. Sharik himself was a smart dog. He knew how to distinguish letters on street signs, he knew exactly where the Glavryba store was in Moscow, where the meat counters were. Soon something strange happened to him. Professor Preobrazhensky decided to conduct an amazing experiment on the transplantation of human organs on it.

The experiment was a success, but after that Sharik began to gradually take on a human form and behave like the former owner of the transplanted organs - the thief and recidivist Klim Grigorievich Chugunkin who died in a fight. So Sharik turned from a kind and intelligent dog into an ill-mannered boor, an alcoholic and a rowdy named Polygraph Poligrafovich Sharikov.

"Heart of a dog" characteristics of Preobrazhensky

Preobrazhensky Philip Philipovich- the central character of the fantastic story of MA Bulgakov "Heart of a Dog", the luminary of medicine of world importance, an experimental surgeon who has achieved remarkable results in the field of rejuvenation. The professor lives and works in Moscow on Prechistenka. He has a seven-room apartment, where he conducts his experiments. Together with him live the housekeepers Zina, Daria Petrovna and temporarily his assistant Bormental. It was Philip Philipovich who decided to conduct a unique experiment on a stray dog ​​to transplant the human pituitary gland and testes.

As a test subject, he used a stray dog ​​Sharik. The results of his experiment exceeded expectations, as the ball began to take on a human form. However, as a result of this physical and psychological humanization, Sharik turned into a terrible rude, drunkard and law-breaker. The professor attributed this to the fact that he transplanted the organs of Klim Chugunkin, a rowdy, recidivist thief, alcoholic and bully, to the dog. Over time, rumors about a dog that turned into a man leaked out into the light and the creation of Preobrazhensky was issued an official document in the name of Polygraph Poligrafovich Sharikov. Moreover, the chairman of the house committee Shvonder forced Philip Fillipovich to register Sharikov in the apartment as a full-fledged inhabitant.

Sharikov is the complete opposite of the professor, which leads to an insoluble conflict. When Preobrazhensky asked him to leave the apartment, the case ended with threats with a revolver. Not a minute more hesitating, the professor decided to correct his mistake and, having put Sharikov to sleep, performed a second operation, which returned the dog's good heart and former appearance.

"Heart of a dog" characteristic of Sharikov

Polygraph Poligrafovich Sharikov- the main negative character of the story "Heart of a Dog", the man who the dog Sharik turned into after the operation of Professor Preobrazhensky. At the beginning of the story, it was a kind and harmless dog that the professor had picked up. After an experimental operation to implant human organs, he gradually took on a human form and behave like a human, albeit immoral. His moral qualities left much to be desired, since the transplanted organs belonged to the deceased recidivist thief Klim Chugunkin. Soon, the dog, who had been converted into a human, was given the name Polygraph Poligrafovich Sharikov and was handed a passport.

Sharikov became a real problem for the professor. He was rowdy, harassed neighbors, molested servants, spoke obscenely, got into fights, stole and drank a lot. As a result, it became clear that he inherited all these habits from the previous owner of the transplanted pituitary gland. Immediately after receiving a passport, he got a job as the head of the department for cleaning Moscow from stray animals. Sharikov's cynicism and soullessness forced the professor to carry out another operation to turn him back into a dog. Fortunately, he retained Sharik's pituitary gland, so that at the end of the story, Sharikov again became a kind and affectionate dog, without boorish habits.

"Heart of a dog" characteristic of Bormental

Bormental Ivan Arnoldovich- one of the main characters of the story "A Dog's Heart" by MA Bulgakov, assistant and assistant to Professor Preobrazhensky. This young doctor is fundamentally honest and noble by nature. He is completely devoted to his teacher and is always ready to help. He cannot be called weak-willed, since at the right moment he knows how to show strength of character. Preobrazhensky accepted Bormental as an assistant when he was still a student at the department. Immediately after graduation, the talented student became an assistant to the professor.

In a conflict situation that arose between Sharikov and Preobrazhensky, he takes the side of the professor and tries in every possible way to protect him and other characters. Sharikov was once just a stray dog ​​who was picked up and sheltered by a professor. For the purpose of the experiment, the human pituitary gland and testes were transplanted to him. Over time, the dog not only became human, but also began to behave like a person, like the previous owner of the transplanted organs - the thief and repeat offender Klim Chugunkin. When the rumor about the new inhabitant reached the house committee, Sharik was given documents in the name of Polygraph Poligrafovich Sharikov and registered in the professor's apartment.

Bormental carefully monitored the behavior of this impudent and ill-mannered creature, not disdaining even physical violence. He had to temporarily move to the professor to help cope with Sharikov, whom he nearly strangled in a rage. Then the professor had to carry out a second operation to turn Sharikov back into a dog.

"Heart of a dog" characteristic Shvonder

Shvonder- a minor character in the story "Heart of a Dog", a proletarian, the new head of the house committee. He played an important role in Sharikov's introduction into society. Despite this, the author does not give him a detailed description. This is not a person, but a public face, a generalized image of the proletariat. All that is known about his appearance is that a thick head of curly hair towered over his head. He does not like class enemies, to which he refers to Professor Prebrazhensky and demonstrates this in every possible way.

For Shvonder, the most important thing in the world is a "document", that is, a piece of paper. Upon learning that an unregistered person lives in Philip Filippovich's apartment, he immediately obliges to register him and issue a passport in the name of Polygraph Poligrafovich Sharikov. He does not care where this person came from and that Sharikov is just a dog transformed as a result of an experiment. Shvonder admires power, believes in the power of laws, regulations and documents. He doesn't even care that the professor has made a real revolution in science and medicine. For him, Sharikov is just another unit of society, an apartment tenant who needs to be registered.

In the story "Heart of a Dog" M. Bulgakov raises important moral and social issues, one of which is - can a person with a dog's heart live in society?
At the beginning of the story we see Sharik - a homeless, always hungry and cold dog, wandering around the gateways in search of food. Through his eyes, the reader imagines not the front door, but the gray, dank, uncomfortable Moscow of the twenties. We are imbued with sincere sympathy for the poor man who has never known affection and warmth.
Sharik's confession is sad: “Did they beat you with a boot? They beat me. Did you get a brick on the ribs? Kushano is enough. I have experienced everything, I put up with my fate, and if I cry now, it’s only from physical pain and hunger, because my spirit has not died out yet ”. It was an intelligent, noble, benevolent, harmless animal. Sharik, like a dog, felt sorry for the secretary who found herself in the cold in thin stockings, knowing about her "penny" life. He loved and respected Professor Preobrazhensky not only for his warm, cozy home and delicious food. The dog watched what Philip Philipovich looks like, how he works, how other people treat him. I understood that this was a wealthy gentleman, a respected person. Besides, he's kind.
It is no coincidence that the author includes a brief description of this character in the narrative. In Bormental's diary we read: “Klim Grigorievich Chugunkin, 25 years old, single. Non-partisan, sympathetic. He was tried three times and acquitted: the first time due to lack of evidence, the second time the origin saved, the third time - conditionally hard labor for 15 years. Theft. Profession - playing the balalaika in taverns. "
Sharikov's speech after the operation is replete with vulgar expressions (“In turn, sons of bitches, in turn,” “scoundrel”). Outwardly, he is just as unpleasant: "A man of small stature and unshaven appearance ... with dim eyes", "He had a poisonous sky-colored tie around his neck with a fake ruby ​​pin."
All attempts to instill in Sharikov at least the primary skills of cultural behavior and communication give a negative result. But the influence of the Shvonder House Committee, which does not burden the “new man” with any cultural programs, except the revolutionary one - who was nothing, will become everything - is very effective. This is what Sharikov says in his words: “Where is it! We did not study at universities, we did not live in apartments of fifteen rooms with baths. Only now is the time to leave it ... Everyone has his own right. "
Sharikov realized that he was a "hard worker" because he was not a nepman or a professor who lived in seven rooms and had forty pairs of pants. "Worker" because he has no property. He quickly learned to demand, without feeling any shame or embarrassment in front of Preobrazhensky.
Sharikov sensed that it was possible to put pressure on the professor, to claim the right to a name, documents, and living space. And on what basis? On the basis of the new ideology, which proclaimed the supremacy of the proletariat, they are mostly narrow-minded people who do not know what to do with the power they have received. Sharikov is an exaggerated, disfigured reflection of the “labor element”.
The situation looks paradoxical when Sharikov proudly defended his civil right to have a name and documents, and a moment later, having arranged a flood in the apartment because of a cat, he was frightened like a pitiful animal.
Shvonder fights for Sharikov's soul, instilling in him impudence, arrogance to culture: "I want to crumple flowers - and I will, I want to urinate past the toilet - my right, I want to make a political career in the Shvonder state - I will press someone and I will." These are the fruits of the revolutionary "domestication" of the masses. Bulgakov agrees with Bormenthal: "Here, doctor, what happens when a researcher, instead of walking in parallel with nature, forces the question and lifts the veil: here, get Sharikov and eat him with porridge."
Fantastic impudence grows in Sharikov every day. He treats the professor disrespectfully, calling him familiarly "daddy." For him, there is no such thing as self-esteem. This person believes that the professor is obliged to provide for him. In the end, Sharikov became life-threatening. Preobrazhensky decides to correct his mistake: Sharikov again becomes a kind, harmless dog Sharik. His monologue ends the work: "I registered here ...".
The narrator ball is certainly on a lower level than Professor Preobrazhensky and Bormental, but his level of development is much higher than Shvonder and Sharikov. Such an intermediate position of the Dog-Ball in the work emphasizes the dramatic position of a person facing a choice - either to follow the laws of natural social and spiritual evolution, or to follow the path of moral degradation. Sharikov may not have had that choice. He is an "artificial" man with the inheritance of a dog and a proletarian. But the whole society had such a choice, and it depended only on a person which path he would choose.

Dog's heart. The heart of a dog is one interesting story about Professor Preobrazhensky's complex operation to transplant a human brain into a dog. Its result was the emergence of a new person, Sharikov, whose image and characteristics we will consider in ours.

Sharikov's image

Expanding the theme of Sharikov and dwelling on the image of a new person, I would like to first recall what Sharikov was like before the transformation. The comparative characteristics of the dog Sharik and the resulting image of the person Sharikov will help us in this.

So who was the dog and who did it become?
At the beginning of Bulgakov's story, a homeless dog appears before us. He is kind and does not pose a danger to others. Like any animal, Sharik has ordinary desires. The dog wants affection, warmth, food and a secluded place where he could lick his wounds. And now, in the fate of a stray dog, Professor Preobrazhensky appears, who gave him a completely new life, conducting an experimental operation to transplant a pituitary gland taken from a deceased thief, alcoholic and recidivist. And the reader sees in front of him the image of a new person, who was given the name and surname Polygraph Poligrafovich Sharikov.

The laboratory creature turns into a citizen Sharikov. Sharikov was short, with coarse hair, a small head, a sarcastic grin, and small legs. Sharikov's voice was deaf, and his gait was ragged. Despite his appearance and inability to dress, Sharikov was pleased with himself, and at the same time he hated his creator, who constantly strove to teach the manners of a rootless dog. In general, his character was bad, as evidenced by the characteristics and image of Sharikov's character.