In a beautiful furious world, the year of writing. The meaning of the title of Platonov's story “In a wonderful and violent world. Living in darkness

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The meaning of the title of the story by A. P. Platonov "In a beautiful and furious world"

Andrei Platonovich Platonov lived a difficult life full of hardships. “I lived and languished, because life immediately turned me from a child into an adult human logo, depriving me of my youth,” he wrote to his wife. Nevertheless, the writer's heart was not hardened. This is evidenced by such works as the story "In a beautiful and furious world."

The plot of the story boils down to an incident that happened to the machinist Maltsev. During one of the trips on a steam locomotive, he becomes blind from a lightning strike, and then regains his sight. And although the disaster of a steam locomotive is miraculously avoided, Maltsev is being prosecuted. The narrator Kostya, who served as his assistant, tries to help the convicted machinist. But as a result of the experiment with electricity, Maltsev goes blind again. Kostya becomes a machinist and takes the liberated but blind Maltsev into one of the rides. Sitting in the driver's cab and remembering his favorite job, Maltsev regains the ability to see.

The author called the world beautiful and violent. He's really beautiful. Kostya is happy to talk about how wonderful a machinist Maltsev was, how he drove a steam locomotive, what a pleasure it was to work with such a person. “He led the line-up with the courageous confidence of a great master, with the focus of an inspired artist,” he “understood the machine more accurately” than others. However, Maltsev's perfection oppressed him, he felt lonely.

Maltsev faced rage, the element of the world during a thunderstorm, when he could not control the locomotive. All his skill was useless. The forces of nature were beyond the control of man. A dusty whirlwind, a thundercloud rushed towards the locomotive. “Let us drink the light around us; dry earth and steppe sand whistled screeching over the iron body of the locomotive. It became difficult for people to breathe, and the locomotive could not break through the dust and wind.

What happened changed Maltsev. His self-confidence disappeared, he turned into a sick old man. Maltsev missed steam locomotives very much and spent all the time sitting near the railway.

Having regained his sight, Maltsev began to see everything differently. Now he needed participation, the warmth of other people. The narrator spent the whole night with the recovered Maltsev, afraid to leave him alone with a beautiful and furious world.

What would have happened to Maltsev if that misfortune had not happened to him? He would continue to lead an ideal life, but lonely, boring, devoid of spiritual intimacy with other people. And the surrounding world is so beautiful that a particle remains in it that is beyond the control of man.

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The original title of the story is "Machinist Maltsev". Under this heading, it was published in abridged form in the second issue of the magazine "30 Days" for 1941, and in the third issue of the magazine "Friends" for 1941 under the title "Imaginary Light". The story was written in 1938.

The work reflects the experience of the writer, who in 1915-1917. worked as an assistant driver in the vicinity of Voronezh, and his father was a mechanic and assistant driver.

Literary direction and genre

In some editions "In a wonderful and furious world" is published with the subtitle "Fantastic story." Indeed, double blindness by lightning, double vision restoration have no scientific evidence. And it is completely unknown how lightning and the electromagnetic wave preceding it affect the vision of individual people. It doesn't even matter to the reader whether there is this electromagnetic wave at all.

All these physical and biological explanations for the blinding of the driver Maltsev and his miraculous healing are really fantastic, but on the whole the story is realistic. The main thing in it is not the fantastic elements, but the characters of the narrator and machinist Maltsev, shown in development.

Topics and problems

The theme of the story is the loneliness of the master. The main point is that talent often leads to pride, which makes a person blind. To see the world, you need to open your heart to meet it.

The work raises the problem of exaltation and sympathy, loneliness, the problem of justice in punishing a person, the problem of guilt and responsibility.

Plot and composition

The short story consists of 5 parts. The story is dynamic, spanning two years. The narrator becomes Maltsev's assistant driver on a new steam locomotive and works with him for about a year. The second chapter is devoted to the very trip during which the driver went blind and almost drove into the tail of a freight train. The third chapter describes the trial of Maltsev and his indictment.

The fourth part tells about the events taking place six months later, in winter. The narrator finds a way to prove Maltsev's innocence, but artificial lightning causes the prisoner's irreversible blindness. The narrator looks for ways to help the blind man.

The fifth part tells about the events that happened six months later, in the summer. The narrator himself becomes a machinist and takes a blind machinist with him on the road. The narrator drives the car with his hands on the arms of the blind driver. At some point, the blind man was able to see the yellow signal, and then he became sighted.

Each part of the story captures an episode from the story about Maltsev: an ordinary trip - a fatal trip - a trial - an experiment with lightning and liberation - healing.

The title of the story is associated with the last words of the narrator, who wants to save Maltsev from the hostile forces of a beautiful and furious world.

Heroes and characters

The image of a beautiful world hostile to man is the main one in the story. There are two main characters in the story: the machinist Alexander Vasilyevich Maltsev and the narrator whom Maltsev calls Kostya. The narrator and Maltsev are not particularly friendly. The story is the story of their relationship, rapprochement, finding a friend in trouble.

The machinist Maltsev is a true master of his craft. Already at the age of 30, he has the qualification of a first class driver, it is he who is appointed the driver of the new powerful IS machine. The narrator admires the work of his engineer, who drives the locomotive "with the confidence of a great master, with the focus of an inspired artist." The main feature that the narrator notices in Maltsev is indifference to the people who work with him, a kind of alienation. One of the features of Maltsev upsets the narrator: the driver checks all the work of his assistant, as if he does not trust him. During work, Maltsev does not speak, but only knocks on the boiler with the key, giving silent instructions.

The narrator eventually realized that the reason for this behavior of Maltsev was in a sense of superiority: the driver believed that he understood the locomotive better and loved it more. This pride, a mortal sin, may have become the reason for his trials. Although Maltsev's talent, no one really could understand how to surpass him in skill.

Maltsev did not see lightning, and, having gone blind, did not understand it. His skill was so great that he blindly drove the car, seeing with his inner vision, imagining the entire usual path, but, of course, not being able to see the red signal, which seemed green to him.

After leaving prison, the blind Maltsev cannot get used to his new position, although he does not live in poverty, receiving a pension. He resigns himself to the narrator, who invites him to ride in his locomotive. Perhaps it was this humility that began the recovery of Maltsev, who managed to trust the narrator. His inner world opened up outside, he cried and saw "the whole world." Not only material, but also the world of other people.

The narrator is a person who loves his work, like Maltsev. Even the contemplation of a good car inspires him, a joy comparable to reading Pushkin's poems in childhood.

A good attitude is important to the storyteller. He is an attentive and diligent person. He has an amazing and rare ability to empathize and protect. This trait of the narrator, like his profession, is autobiographical.

For example, the narrator imagines that a steam locomotive is in a hurry to defend distant lands. Likewise, concern for Maltsev prompts the narrator to seek justice at the trial, to meet with the investigator in order to acquit the innocent Maltsev.

The narrator is straightforward and truthful. He does not hide that he is offended at Maltsev, directly tells him that prison cannot be avoided. All the same, the narrator decides to help Maltsev, "in order to protect him from the grief of fate," from "fatal forces that accidentally and indifferently destroy a person."

The narrator does not consider himself to be guilty of Maltsev's secondary blindness, he is benevolent, despite the fact that Maltsev does not want to forgive him or talk to him. After the miraculous healing of Maltsev, the narrator wants to protect him like his own son.

Another hero of the story is a just investigator who conducted an experiment with artificial lightning and is tormented by remorse because he proved "the innocence of a person through his misfortune."

Stylistic features

Since the story is written in the first person, and the narrator is Kostya, although he loves Pushkin. a man of a technical warehouse, Platonov rarely uses his specific language, filled with strange metaphoricality. This language breaks through only at moments that are especially important for the author, for example, when the author explains in the words of the driver that the driver Maltsev has absorbed the entire external world into his inner experience, thus gaining power over it.

The story is replete with professional vocabulary related to the work of a steam locomotive. Obviously, even in the days of Platonov, very few people understood the details of the operation of a steam locomotive, and today, when there are no steam locomotives, these details are generally incomprehensible. But professionalism does not interfere with reading and understanding the story. Probably, each reader imagines something different when he reads that Maltsev gave a "full cut-off reverse". It is important that the Engineer does his difficult job well.

The details are important in the story. One of them is the look and eyes of Maltsev. When he drives a car, his eyes look "distractedly, like empty." When Maltsev sticks his head out, looking at the world around him, his eyes sparkle with enthusiasm. The driver's blind eyes become blank and calm again.

In the Tolubeevsky depot, Alexander Vasilyevich Maltsev was considered the best locomotive driver.

He was thirty years old, but he already had the qualification of a first-class driver and had driven fast trains for a long time. When the first powerful passenger steam locomotive of the IS series arrived at our depot, Maltsev was assigned to work on this machine, which was quite reasonable and correct. An elderly man from the depot locksmiths named Fyodor Petrovich Drabanov worked as an assistant for Maltsev, but he soon passed the exam for a driver and went to work for another machine, and I, instead of Drabanov, was assigned to work in Maltsev's brigade as an assistant; before that I also worked as an assistant mechanic, but only on an old, low-power machine.

I was pleased with my appointment. The IS machine, the only one on our traction site at that time, just by its appearance aroused a feeling of inspiration in me; I could look at her for a long time, and a special moved joy awakened in me - just as beautiful as in childhood when I first read Pushkin's poems. In addition, I wanted to work in a brigade of a first-class mechanic in order to learn from him the art of driving heavy high-speed trains.

Alexander Vasilyevich accepted my appointment to his brigade calmly and indifferently; he apparently did not care who his assistants would be.

Before the trip, as usual, I checked all the components of the car, tested all its service and auxiliary mechanisms and calmed down, considering the car ready for the trip. Alexander Vasilyevich saw my work, he followed it, but after me he checked the condition of the car with his own hands, as if he did not trust me.

This was repeated afterwards, and I was already used to the fact that Alexander Vasilyevich constantly interfered in my duties, although he was silently upset. But usually, as soon as we were in motion, I forgot about my grief. Distracting my attention from the devices monitoring the state of the running steam locomotive, from observing the operation of the left car and the track ahead, I looked at Maltsev. He led the cast with the courageous confidence of a great master, with the concentration of an inspired artist who absorbed the entire external world into his inner experience and therefore dominates it. Alexander Vasilyevich's eyes looked ahead abstractly, as if they were empty, but I knew that he saw them all the way ahead and all nature rushing towards us - even a sparrow swept from the ballast slope by the wind piercing the space of the car, even this sparrow attracted Maltsev's gaze, and for a moment he turned his head after the sparrow: what will become of him after us, where he flew.

End of introductory snippet.

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In the Tolubeevsky depot, Alexander Vasilyevich Maltsev was considered the best locomotive driver.

I was pleased with my appointment. The IS machine, which was the only one on our traction section at that time, evoked a feeling of inspiration in me by its very appearance; I could look at her for a long time, and a special moved joy awakened in me - just as beautiful as in childhood when I first read Pushkin's poems. In addition, I wanted to work in a brigade of a first-class mechanic in order to learn from him the art of driving heavy high-speed trains.

Alexander Vasilyevich accepted my appointment to his brigade calmly and indifferently; he apparently did not care who his assistants would be.

A running steam locomotive, from observing the work of the left car and the path ahead, I looked at Maltsev. He led the cast with the courageous confidence of a great master, with the concentration of an inspired artist who absorbed the entire external world into his inner experience and therefore dominates it. Alexander Vasilyevich's eyes looked ahead abstractly, as if empty, but I knew that he saw them all the way ahead and all nature rushing towards us - even a sparrow swept from the ballast slope by the wind piercing the space of the car, even this sparrow attracted Maltsev's gaze, and for a moment he turned his head after the sparrow: what will become of him after us, where he flew.

It was our fault that we were never late; on the contrary, we were often detained at intermediate stations, which we must proceed on the move, because we were walking with a surge of time and we were put back into the schedule by means of delays.

We usually worked in silence; only occasionally did Alexander Vasilyevich, without turning in my direction, bang the key on the boiler, wanting me to turn my attention to some disorder in the operating mode of the machine, or preparing me for a sharp change in this mode, so that I was vigilant. I always understood the silent instructions of my senior comrade and worked with full zeal, but the mechanic still treated me, as well as the grease fireman, aloof and constantly checking grease nipples at parking lots, tightening the bolts in the drawbar assemblies, tested the axle boxes on the leading axles and so on. If I had just inspected and oiled any working rubbing part, Maltsev followed me again inspecting and oiling it, as if he did not consider my work to be valid.

I, Alexander Vasilievich, have already checked this crosshead, - I told him once, when he began to check this detail after me.

And I myself want to, - smiling, replied Maltsev, and in his smile there was sadness that struck me.

Later I understood the meaning of his sadness and the reason for his constant indifference to us. He felt his superiority in front of us, because he understood the machine more accurately than we did, and he did not believe that I or anyone else could learn the secret of his talent, the secret of seeing both the passing sparrow and the signal ahead, feeling the path at the same moment, composition weight and machine force. Maltsev understood, of course, that in diligence, in diligence, we could even overcome him, but he could not imagine that we loved the steam locomotive better and drove trains better than him - he thought it was impossible. And Maltsev was therefore sad with us; he was bored of his talent, as of loneliness, not knowing how to express it so that we could understand.

And we, however, could not understand his skills. I once asked for permission to lead me the composition myself; Alexander Vasilyevich allowed me to travel forty kilometers and sat down in the assistant's place. I drove the train and after twenty kilometers I already had four minutes of delay, and overcame exits from long ascents at a speed of no more than thirty kilometers per hour. Maltsev drove the car after me; he took ascents at a speed of fifty kilometers, and on curves he did not throw the car, like mine, and he soon caught up with the time I had lost.

For about a year I worked as an assistant at Maltsev, from August to July, and on July 5, Maltsev made his last trip as a driver of a courier train ...

We took a train of eighty passenger axles, which was four hours late on the way. The dispatcher went to the locomotive and specifically asked Alexander Vasilyevich to reduce the delay of the train as much as possible, to reduce this delay to at least three hours, otherwise it would be difficult for him to issue an empty load to the next road. Maltsev promised him to catch up with time, and we moved forward.

It was eight o'clock in the afternoon, but the summer day was still going on, and the sun was shining with solemn morning strength. Alexander Vasilyevich demanded that all the time the steam pressure in the boiler be kept only to the floor - the atmosphere is below the limit.

In half an hour we went out into the steppe, on a calm, soft profile. Maltsev brought the speed to ninety kilometers and did not give up below, on the contrary - on the horizontal and small slopes he brought the speed to one hundred kilometers. On the ascents, I forced the firebox to its maximum capacity and forced the stoker to manually load the shurovka, to help the stockker machine, because my steam was getting low.

Maltsev drove the car forward, moving the regulator to the full arc and turning the reverse (1) to full cutoff. We were now walking towards a powerful cloud that appeared over the horizon. From our side the cloud was illuminated by the sun, and from within it fierce, irritated lightning tore, and we saw how the lightning swords pierced vertically into the silent distant land, and we rushed madly towards that distant land, as if in a hurry to protect it. Alexander Vasilyevich, apparently, was carried away by this sight: he leaned far out of the window, looking ahead, and his eyes, accustomed to smoke, to fire and space, were now sparkling with enthusiasm. He understood that the work and power of our machine could be compared with the work of a thunderstorm, and maybe he was proud of this idea.

Soon we noticed a dusty whirlwind rushing across the steppe towards us. This means that the storm cloud was carried head-on by the storm. The light has darkened around us; dry earth and steppe sand whistled and grated on the iron body of the locomotive; there was no more visibility, and I turned on the turbo dynamo for lighting and turned on the headlight in front of the locomotive. Now it was difficult for us to breathe from the hot dusty whirlwind that was hammered into the cabin and doubled in its strength by the oncoming traffic of the car, from the flue gases and the early dusk that surrounded us. The locomotive was howling its way forward, into the dim, stifling darkness - into the gap of light created by the head-on searchlight. The speed dropped to sixty kilometers; we worked and looked ahead as in a dream.

Suddenly a large drop hit the windshield - and immediately dried up, soaked by the hot wind. Then an instant blue light flashed at my eyelashes and penetrated into me to the very shuddering heart; I grabbed the valve of the injector (2), but the pain in my heart had already left me, and I immediately looked towards Maltsev - he looked ahead and drove the car without changing his face.

What was it? I asked the stoker.

Lightning, ”he said. - She wanted to hit us, but she missed a little.

Maltsev heard our words.

What kind of lightning? he asked loudly.

Now she was, - said the fireman.

I did not see, - said Maltsev and again turned his face outward.

Did not see! - the fireman was surprised. - I thought - the boiler exploded, as it was lit, but he did not see.

I also doubted that it was lightning.

Where's the thunder? I asked.

We drove through the thunder, - explained the fireman. - Thunder always hits after. While he hit, while the air swayed, while back and forth, we already flew away from him. The passengers may have heard - they are behind.

It got dark altogether, and a quiet night fell. We smelled the scent of damp earth, the scent of grasses and breads saturated with rain and thunderstorms, and rushed forward, catching up with time.

I noticed that Maltsev began to drive the car worse - on curves we were thrown, the speed reached more than a hundred kilometers, then dropped to forty. I decided that Alexander Vasilyevich was probably very worn out, and therefore did not say anything to him, although it was very difficult for me to keep the furnace and boiler in the best mode with such behavior of the mechanic. However, in half an hour we have to stop to get water, and there, at the stop, Alexander Vasilyevich will eat and rest a little. We have already caught up with forty minutes, and we will catch up to the end of our traction section for at least another hour.

Nevertheless, I was worried about Maltsev's fatigue and began to myself carefully look ahead - at the path and at the signals. On my side, above the left car, an electric lamp burned in suspension, illuminating the waving drawbar mechanism. I clearly saw the intense, confident work of the left-hand car, but then the lamp above it went out and began to burn poorly, like one candle. I turned into the cockpit. There, too, all the lamps were now burning at a quarter incandescence, barely illuminating the devices. It is strange that Alexander Vasilyevich did not knock on my key at this moment to point out such a disorder. It was clear that the turbo dynamo did not give the design speed and the voltage dropped. I began to regulate the turbodynamo through the steam line and fiddled with this device for a long time, but the voltage did not rise.

At this time, a hazy cloud of red light passed over the dials of the instruments and the ceiling of the cockpit. I looked out.

Ahead, in the darkness, close or far - it was impossible to establish, a red streak of light, oscillated across our path. I didn't understand what it was, but I understood what to do.

Alexander Vasilievich! - I shouted and gave three beeps to stop.

There were explosions of firecrackers (3) under the tires (4) of our wheels. I rushed to Maltsev; he turned his face to me and looked at me with empty, dead eyes. The arrow on the tachometer dial showed a speed of sixty kilometers.

Maltsev! I shouted. - We are crushing firecrackers! -and held out his hands to control.

Away! - exclaimed Maltsev, and his eyes shone, reflecting the light of a dim lamp above the tachometer.

He instantly gave emergency braking and reversed reverse.

I was pressed against the boiler, I heard the howling of the wheel rims, stripping the rails.

Maltsev! - I said. - We need to open the cylinder taps, we will break the car.

Do not! We will not break! - answered Maltsev. We stopped. I pumped water into the boiler with an injector and looked out. Ahead of us, about ten meters away, a steam locomotive stood on our line, with a tender (5) in our direction. There was a man on the tender; in his hands was a long poker, red-hot at the end; and he waved it, wanting to stop the express train. This locomotive was the pusher of the freight train, which stopped on the stretch.

So, while I was adjusting the turbodynamo and not looking ahead, we passed the yellow traffic light, and then the red one, and probably more than one warning signal of the trackmen. But why did Maltsev not notice these signals?

Kostya! - Alexander Vasilievich called me. I went up to him.

Kostya! What's ahead of us? I explained to him.

The next day I brought the return train to my station and handed over the locomotive to the depot, because the tires on its two slopes slightly shifted. Having reported the incident to the head of the depot, I took Maltsev by the arm to his place of residence; Maltsev himself was deeply depressed and did not go to the head of the depot.

We had not yet reached that house on a grassy street in which Maltsev lived, when he asked me to leave him alone.

You can't, - I replied. - You, Alexander Vasilievich, are a blind man.

He looked at me with clear, thinking eyes.

Now I see, go home ... I see everything - over there the wife came out to meet me.

At the gate of the house where Maltsev lived, a woman, the wife of Alexander Vasilyevich, was really waiting, and her open black hair glittered in the sun.

Is her head covered or without everything? I asked.

Without, - answered Maltsev. - Who is blind - you or me?

Well, if you see, then look, - I decided and walked away from Maltsev.

Maltsev was put on trial, and an investigation began. The investigator called me and asked what I thought about the incident with the express train. I replied that I thought that Maltsev was not to blame.

The story is told on behalf of the assistant driver Konstantin.

Alexander Vasilyevich Maltsev is considered the best locomotive driver in the Tolumbeyevsky depot. Nobody knows better steam locomotives! There is nothing surprising in the fact that when the first powerful passenger steam locomotive of the IS series arrives at the depot, Maltsev is assigned to work for this machine. Maltsev's assistant, an elderly depot locksmith Fyodor Petrovich Drabanov, soon passes the exam for a driver and leaves for another car, and Konstantin is appointed to his place.

Konstantin is pleased with his appointment, Maltsev does not care who his assistants are. Alexander Vasilyevich oversees the work of his assistant, but after that he always personally checks the serviceability of all mechanisms.

Later, Konstantin understood the reason for his constant indifference to colleagues. Maltsev feels superior to them, because he understands the car more accurately than they do. He does not believe that someone else can learn to sense the car, the path and everything around at the same time.

Konstantin has been working for Maltsev as an assistant for about a year, and on the fifth of July it is time for Maltsev's last trip. They take the train on this flight four hours late. The dispatcher asks Maltsev to close this gap as much as possible. Trying to fulfill this request, Maltsev drives the car forward with all his might. On the way, they are caught by a thundercloud, and Maltsev, blinded by a flash of lightning, loses his sight, but continues to confidently lead the train to its destination. Konstantin notices that Maltsev's line-up is much worse.

Another train appears on the way of the express train. Maltsev hands the control over to the narrator, and confesses his blindness:

The accident is avoided thanks to Constantine. Here Maltsev admits that he sees nothing. The next day, vision returns to him.

Alexander Vasilyevich is put on trial, the investigation begins. It is almost impossible to prove the innocence of the old driver. Maltsev is sent to prison, and his assistant continues to work.

In winter, in the regional city, Konstantin visits his brother, a student living in a university dormitory. His brother tells him that in the physics laboratory of the university there is a Tesla installation for producing artificial lightning. Some consideration comes to Konstantin's mind.

Returning home, he ponders his guess about the Tesla installation and writes a letter to the investigator, who was in charge of the Maltsev case at one time, with a request to test the prisoner Maltsev by creating an artificial lightning. If the susceptibility of the psyche or visual organs of Maltsev to the action of sudden and close electrical discharges is proven, then his case must be reconsidered. Konstantin explains to the investigator where Tesla's installation is located, and how to perform an experiment on a person. For a long time there was no answer, but then the investigator reports that the regional prosecutor agreed to conduct the proposed examination in the university physics laboratory.

The experiment is carried out, Maltsev is proven innocent, and he himself is released. But as a result of the experience, the old driver loses his sight, and this time it is not restored.

Konstantin tries to cheer up the blind old man, but he does not succeed. Then he tells Maltsev that he will take him on the flight.

During this trip, the sight returns to the blind, and the narrator allows him to independently drive the locomotive to Tolumbeyev:

- Drive the car to the end, Alexander Vasilyevich: now you see the whole world!

After work, Konstantin, together with the old machinist, go to Maltsev's apartment, where they sit all night.

Constantine is afraid to leave him alone, like his own son, without protection against the action of the sudden and hostile forces of our beautiful and furious world.

Summary "In a wonderful and furious world"