The social status of the heroes is at the bottom. Literature lesson M. Gorky. The play “At the Bottom” as a social and philosophical drama. System of images. The main images and heroes of the play “At the Lower Depths”

The drama "At the Depths" is a landmark work in creative biography Gorky. Descriptions of the heroes will be presented in this article.

This work was written at a turning point for the country. In Russia in the 90s of the 19th century, a serious outbreak broke out. Masses of impoverished, ruined peasants left the villages after each crop failure in search of work. Plants and factories were closed. Thousands of people found themselves without means of livelihood and shelter. This led to the emergence of a large number of “tramps” who sank to the bottom of life.

Who lived in the dosshouses?

Enterprising slum owners, taking advantage of the fact that people found themselves in a hopeless situation, found how to extract benefit from fetid basements. They turned them into shelters in which beggars, the unemployed, thieves, vagabonds and other representatives of the “bottom” lived. This work was written in 1902. The heroes of the play "At the Bottom" are just such people.

Maxim Gorky throughout creative path I was interested in personality, man, the secrets of his feelings and thoughts, dreams and hopes, weakness and strength - all this is reflected in the work. The heroes of the play "At the Bottom" are people who lived at the beginning of the 20th century, when the old world, and arose new life. However, they differ from the rest in that they are rejected by society. These are people from the bottom, outcasts. The place where Vaska Pepel, Bubnov, Actor, Satin and others live is unsightly and scary. According to Gorky's description, this is a cave-like basement. Its ceiling is stone vaults with crumbling plaster, smoked. Why did the inhabitants of the shelter find themselves “at the bottom” of life, what brought them here?

Heroes of the play "At the Bottom": table

hero	How did you end up at the bottom?	hero characteristics	dreams
Bubnov	Previously he owned a dyeing shop. However, circumstances forced him to leave. Bubnov's wife got along with the master.	Believes that a person cannot change his fate. Therefore, Bubnov just goes with the flow. Often displays skepticism, cruelty, and lack of positive qualities.	Difficult to determine given negative attitude to the whole world of this hero.
Nastya	Life forced this heroine to become a prostitute. And this is the social bottom.	A romantic and dreamy person who lives in love stories.	Dreams for a long time about clean and great love while continuing to practice his profession.
Baron	He was a real baron in the past, but lost his wealth.	He does not accept the ridicule of the inhabitants of the shelter, continuing to live in the past.	He wants to return to his previous position, becoming a wealthy person again.
Alyoshka	A cheerful and always drunk shoemaker who never tried to rise from the bottom where his frivolity had led him.	As he himself says, he doesn’t want anything. He describes himself as “good” and “cheerful.”	Everyone is always happy, it’s hard to say about his needs. Most likely, he dreams of a “warm breeze” and “eternal sun.”
Vaska Ash	This is a hereditary thief who has been in prison twice.	A weak-willed man in love.	She dreams of leaving for Siberia with Natalya and becoming a respectable citizen, starting a new life.
Actor	Sank to the bottom due to drunkenness.	Quotes often	He dreams of finding a job, recovering from alcoholism and getting out of the shelter.
Luke	This is a mysterious wanderer. Not much is known about him.	Teaches empathy, kindness, consoles heroes, guides them.	Dreams of helping everyone in need.
Satin	He killed a man, as a result of which he went to prison for 5 years.	He believes that a person needs not consolation, but respect.	He dreams of conveying his philosophy to people.

What ruined the lives of these people?

Addiction to alcohol ruined the Actor. By his own admission, he used to have good memory. Now the Actor believes that everything is over for him. Vaska Pepel is a representative of the "thieves' dynasty". This hero had no choice but to continue his father’s work. He says that even when he was little, even then he was called a thief. Former furrier Bubnov left his workshop because of his wife’s infidelity, as well as out of fear of his wife’s lover. He went bankrupt, after which he went to serve in one “treasury chamber”, in which he committed embezzlement. One of the most colorful figures in the work is Satin. He was a former telegraph operator, and went to prison for the murder of a man who insulted his sister.

Who do the shelter's inhabitants blame?

Almost all the characters in the play “At the Bottom” are inclined to blame for the current situation not themselves, but life circumstances. Perhaps, if they had turned out differently, nothing would have changed significantly, and the same fate would have befallen the night shelters anyway. The phrase that Bubnov said confirms this. He admitted that he actually drank the workshop away.

Apparently, the reason for the fall of all these people is their lack of moral core which constitutes a person's personality. You can cite the words of the Actor as an example: “Why did you die? I had no faith...”

Was there a chance to live a different life?

By creating the images of the characters in the play “At the Lower Depths,” the author provided each of them with the opportunity to live a different life. That is, they had a choice. However, for each, the first test ended in the collapse of life. The baron, for example, could improve his affairs not by stealing government funds, but by investing money in profitable businesses that he had.

Satin could have taught the offender a lesson in another way. As for Vaska Ash, would there really be few places on earth where no one would know anything about him and his past? The same can be said about many of the inhabitants of the shelter. They have no future, but in the past they had a chance not to get here. However, the heroes of the play "At the Bottom" did not use it.

How do the heroes console themselves?

All they can do now is live with unrealistic hopes and illusions. Baron, Bubnov and Actor live with Dreams of true love Prostitute Nastya is amusing herself. At the same time, the characterization of the heroes of the play “At the Bottom” is complemented by the fact that these people, rejected by society, humiliated, wage endless debates about moral and spiritual problems. Although it would be more logical to talk about since they live from hand to mouth. The author's description of the characters in the play "At the Bottom" suggests that they are interested in such issues as freedom, truth, equality, work, love, happiness, law, talent, honesty, pride, compassion, conscience, pity, patience, death, peace and much more. They are also concerned about an even more important problem. They talk about what a person is, why he is born, what is the true meaning of existence. The philosophers of the shelter can be called Luka, Satina, Bubnova.

With the exception of Bubnov, all the heroes of the work reject the “losing” lifestyle. They hope for a lucky turn of fortune that will bring them from the “bottom” to the surface. Mite, for example, says that he has been working since he was a small child (this hero is a mechanic), so he will definitely get out of here. “Wait a minute... my wife will die...” he says. The actor, this chronic drunkard, hopes to find a luxurious hospital in which health, strength, talent, memory and applause from the audience will miraculously return to him. Anna, an unfortunate sufferer, dreams of bliss and peace in which she will finally be rewarded for her torment and patience. Vaska Pepel, this desperate hero, kills Kostylev, the owner of the shelter, because he considers the latter the embodiment of evil. His dream is to go to Siberia, where he will start a new life with his beloved girl.

Luke's role in the work

These illusions are supported by Luke, the wanderer. He masters the skill of a comforter and preacher. Maxim Gorky portrays this hero as a doctor who considers all people to be terminally ill and sees his calling in softening their pain and hiding it from them. However, at every step life refutes the position of this hero. Anna, to whom he promises divine reward in heaven, suddenly wants to “live a little more....” Having first believed in a cure for alcoholism, the Actor commits suicide at the end of the play. Vaska Pepel defines true value to all these consolations of Luke. He claims that he “tells fairy tales” pleasantly, because there is so little good in the world.

Satin's opinion

Luka is full of sincere pity for the inhabitants of the shelter, but he cannot change anything, help people live a different life. In his monologue, Satin rejects this attitude, because he considers it humiliating, suggesting the failure and wretchedness of those to whom this pity is directed. The main characters of the play "At the Bottom" Satin and Luka express opposing opinions. Satin says that it is necessary to respect a person and not humiliate him with pity. These words probably express the author’s position: “Man!.. This sounds... proud!”

The further fate of the heroes

What will happen to all these people in the future, will the heroes of Gorky’s play “At the Lower Depths” be able to change anything? It's not hard to imagine them future fate. For example, Tick. At the beginning of the work he tries to get out of the “bottom”. He thinks that when his wife dies, everything will magically change for the better. However, after the death of his wife, Kleshch is left without tools and money and gloomily sings along with others: “I won’t run away anyway.” In fact, he will not run away, like the other inhabitants of the shelter.

What is salvation?

Are there any ways to escape from the “bottom” at all, and what are they? A decisive way out of this difficult situation may be outlined in Satin’s speech when he talks about the truth. He believes that the purpose strong man- to eradicate evil, and not to console the suffering, like Luke. This is one of the firmest convictions of Maxim Gorky himself. People can rise from the bottom only by learning to respect themselves and gaining self-esteem. Then they will be able to bear the proud title of Man. It still needs to be earned, according to Gorky.

Declaring your belief in creativity, ability and intelligence free man, Maxim Gorky affirmed the ideas of humanism. The author understood that in the mouth of Satin, a drunken tramp, words about a free and proud man sound artificial. However, they had to sound in the play, expressing the ideals of the writer himself. There was no one to say this speech to except Satin.

In his work, Gorky refuted the main principles of idealism. These are the ideas of humility, forgiveness, non-resistance. He made it clear what beliefs the future belongs to. This is proven by the fate of the heroes of the play "At the Bottom." The entire work is imbued with faith in man.

Hero name	How did you get to the bottom?	Features of speech, characteristic remarks	What does he dream about?
Bubnov	In the past he owned a dyeing shop. Circumstances forced him to leave in order to survive, while his wife got along with the master. He claims that a person cannot change his destiny, so he floats with the flow, sinking to the bottom.	Often displays cruelty, skepticism, lack of good qualities. “All people on earth are superfluous.”	It is difficult to say that Bubnov is dreaming of something, given his negative attitude towards the world.
Nastya	Life forced her to become a prostitute, which is the social bottom.	A dreamy and romantic person who lives in love stories.	For a long time he dreams of great and pure love, continuing to engage in the oldest profession
Baron	In the past he was a real baron, but fate decreed otherwise, and he lost all his wealth.	Continues to live in the past, does not accept the ridicule of the inhabitants of the hut	The main dream is to return to your previous position and become a wealthy gentleman again
Alyoshka	An eternally drunk and cheerful shoemaker who never tried to climb the social ladder. His frivolity led him to the bottom.	“And I don’t want anything; I don’t want anything”, “But I cheerful boy, but I’m good.”	Alyoshka is always happy with everything and it’s difficult to say about any needs. Most likely, he dreams of “eternal sun and warm breeze.”
Vaska Ash	A hereditary thief who was imprisoned twice.	A lovelorn, weak-willed thief.	He dreams of leaving with Natalya for Siberia and starting life over with a new leaf, becoming a respectable citizen.
Actor	He sank to the bottom due to constant drunkenness.	Often quotes literary works.	He dreams of curing alcoholism, finding a job and getting out of a social hole.
Luke	A mysterious wanderer about whom little is known.	He consoles the heroes, teaches them to be kind and sympathize, and guides them to the true path.	She dreams of helping many people in need.
Satin	Once he killed a man, because of which he was sent to prison for 5 years.	“I’m tired, brother, of human words... all our words are tired! I’ve heard each of them... probably a thousand times...”	He dreams of creating his own philosophy and presenting it to people.

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April 24, 2015

The drama "At the Lower Depths" is a landmark work in Gorky's creative biography. A description of the characters in the play "At the Bottom" will be presented in this article.

This work was written at a turning point for the country. In Russia in the 90s of the 19th century, a serious economic crisis broke out. Masses of impoverished, ruined peasants left the villages in search of work after each crop failure. Plants and factories were closed. Thousands of people found themselves without means of livelihood and shelter. This led to the emergence of a large number of “tramps” who sank to the bottom of life.

Who lived in the dosshouses?

Throughout his entire career, Maxim Gorky was interested in personality, man, and the secrets of his inner world. Feelings and thoughts, dreams and hopes, weakness and strength - all this is reflected in the work. The heroes of the play "At the Bottom" are people who lived at the beginning of the 20th century, when the old world collapsed and a new life arose. However, they differ from the rest in that they are rejected by society. These are people from the bottom, outcasts. The place where Vaska Pepel, Bubnov, Actor, Satin and others live is unsightly and scary. According to Gorky's description, this is a cave-like basement. Its ceiling is stone vaults with crumbling plaster, smoked. Why did the inhabitants of the shelter find themselves “at the bottom” of life, what brought them here?

Heroes of the play "At the Bottom": table

hero	How did you end up at the bottom?	hero characteristics	dreams
Bubnov	Previously he owned a dyeing shop. However, circumstances forced him to leave. Bubnov's wife got along with the master.	Believes that a person cannot change his fate. Therefore, Bubnov just goes with the flow. Often displays skepticism, cruelty, and lack of positive qualities.	It is difficult to determine, given the negative attitude towards the whole world of this hero.
Nastya	Life forced this heroine to become a prostitute. And this is the social bottom.	A romantic and dreamy person who lives in love stories.	For a long time he dreams of pure and great love, continuing to practice his profession.
Baron	He was a real baron in the past, but lost his wealth.	He does not accept the ridicule of the inhabitants of the shelter, continuing to live in the past.	He wants to return to his previous position, becoming a wealthy person again.
Alyoshka	A cheerful and always drunk shoemaker who never tried to rise from the bottom where his frivolity had led him.	As he himself says, he doesn’t want anything. He describes himself as “good” and “cheerful.”	Everyone is always happy, it’s hard to say about his needs. Most likely, he dreams of a “warm breeze” and “eternal sun.”
Vaska Ash	This is a hereditary thief who has been in prison twice.	A weak-willed man in love.	She dreams of leaving for Siberia with Natalya and becoming a respectable citizen, starting a new life.
Actor	Sank to the bottom due to drunkenness.	Often quotes literary works.	He dreams of finding a job, recovering from alcoholism and getting out of the shelter.
Luke	This is a mysterious wanderer. Not much is known about him.	Teaches empathy, kindness, consoles heroes, guides them.	Dreams of helping everyone in need.
Satin	He killed a man, as a result of which he went to prison for 5 years.	He believes that a person needs not consolation, but respect.	He dreams of conveying his philosophy to people.

What ruined the lives of these people?

Addiction to alcohol ruined the Actor. By his own admission, he used to have a good memory. Now the Actor believes that everything is over for him. Vaska Pepel is a representative of the "thieves' dynasty". This hero had no choice but to continue his father’s work. He says that even when he was little, even then he was called a thief. Former furrier Bubnov left his workshop because of his wife’s infidelity, as well as out of fear of his wife’s lover. He went bankrupt, after which he went to serve in one “treasury chamber”, in which he committed embezzlement. One of the most colorful figures in the work is Satin. He was a former telegraph operator, and went to prison for the murder of a man who insulted his sister.

Who do the shelter's inhabitants blame?

Almost all the characters in the play “At the Bottom” tend to blame life circumstances rather than themselves for the current situation. Perhaps, if they had turned out differently, nothing would have changed significantly, and the same fate would have befallen the night shelters anyway. The phrase that Bubnov said confirms this. He admitted that he actually drank the workshop away.

Apparently, the reason for the fall of all these people is their lack of a moral core, which constitutes a person’s personality. You can cite the words of the Actor as an example: “Why did you die? I had no faith...”

Was there a chance to live a different life?

How do the heroes console themselves?

All they can do now is live with unrealistic hopes and illusions. Baron, Bubnov and Actor live with memories of the past. Prostitute Nastya amuses herself with dreams of true love. At the same time, the characterization of the heroes of the play “At the Bottom” is complemented by the fact that these people, rejected by society, humiliated, wage endless debates about moral and spiritual problems. Although it would be more logical to talk about their daily bread, since they live from hand to mouth. The author's description of the characters in the play "At the Bottom" suggests that they are interested in such issues as freedom, truth, equality, work, love, happiness, law, talent, honesty, pride, compassion, conscience, pity, patience, death, peace and much more. They are also concerned about an even more important problem. They talk about what a person is, why he is born, what is the true meaning of existence. The philosophers of the shelter can be called Luka, Satina, Bubnova.

With the exception of Bubnov, all the heroes of the work reject the “losing” lifestyle. They hope for a lucky turn of fortune that will bring them from the “bottom” to the surface. Mite, for example, says that he has been working since he was a small child (this hero is a mechanic), so he will definitely get out of here. “Wait a minute... my wife will die...” he says. The actor, this chronic drunkard, hopes to find a luxurious hospital in which health, strength, talent, memory and applause from the audience will miraculously return to him. Anna, an unfortunate sufferer, dreams of bliss and peace afterlife, in which she will finally be rewarded for her torment and patience. Vaska Pepel, this desperate hero, kills Kostylev, the owner of the shelter, because he considers the latter the embodiment of evil. His dream is to go to Siberia, where he will start a new life with his beloved girl.

Luke's role in the work

These illusions are supported by Luke, the wanderer. He masters the skill of a comforter and preacher. Maxim Gorky portrays this hero as a doctor who considers all people to be terminally ill and sees his calling in softening their pain and hiding it from them. However, at every step, life refutes the position of this hero. Anna, to whom he promises divine reward in heaven, suddenly wants to “live a little more....” Having first believed in a cure for alcoholism, the Actor commits suicide at the end of the play. Vaska Pepel determines the true value of all these consolations of Luka. He claims that he “tells fairy tales” pleasantly, because there is so little good in the world.

Satin's opinion

The further fate of the heroes

What will happen to all these people in the future, will the heroes of Gorky’s play “At the Lower Depths” be able to change anything? It is not difficult to imagine their future fate. For example, Tick. At the beginning of the work he tries to get out of the “bottom”. He thinks that when his wife dies, everything will magically change for the better. However, after the death of his wife, Kleshch is left without tools and money and gloomily sings along with others: “I won’t run away anyway.” In fact, he will not run away, like the other inhabitants of the shelter.

What is salvation?

Are there any ways to escape from the “bottom” at all, and what are they? A decisive way out of this difficult situation may be outlined in Satin’s speech when he talks about the truth. He believes that the purpose of a strong man is to eradicate evil, and not to comfort the suffering, like Luke. This is one of the firmest convictions of Maxim Gorky himself. People can rise from the bottom only by learning to respect themselves and gaining self-esteem. Then they will be able to bear the proud title of Man. It still needs to be earned, according to Gorky.

Declaring his belief in the creative powers, abilities and intelligence of a free person, Maxim Gorky affirmed the ideas of humanism. The author understood that in the mouth of Satin, a drunken tramp, words about a free and proud man sound artificial. However, they had to sound in the play, expressing the ideals of the writer himself. There was no one to say this speech to except Satin.

The play “At the Lower Depths” was created by Maxim Gorky especially for the troupe Art Theater, and initially did not look like an independent literary work. However, the power of psychological embodiment, the acute, to some extent even scandalous, theme of the work, brought the play “At the Bottom” to the rank of the strongest dramatic works.

“At the Lower Depths” is a unique continuation of the theme of the humiliated and insulted in Russian literature. The author talks about the thoughts and feelings of people who, due to circumstances, found themselves at the very bottom of society. The very title of the work contains deepest meaning, which very accurately reflects the theme of the play.

The main images and heroes of the play “At the Lower Depths”

From the first pages of the drama “At the Bottom,” a dark and unpleasant picture unfolds before us. A dark, dirty basement, which looks more like a primitive cave, is the home of many people who, for various reasons, found themselves at the bottom social life. Many of them are formerly rich successful people who broke under the pressure of fate, many continue their miserable existence here.

All of them are shackled by the same shackles, which consist in the absence of any spiritual and cultural development. The residents of the shelter are tired of struggling with difficulties and obediently float with the flow of life. Gorky vividly portrays lost people who will never be able to rise from the “bottom.”

Thief Vaska Ash doesn't try to change his life values, saying that he continues the thieving path of his parents. The actor, who was essentially one of the most thoughtful residents of the shelter, unable to put his philosophical reflections into practice, finally becomes an alcoholic.

She died in terrible agony Anna, who still firmly believed until the last moment of her life in recovery. But like every society, even at its very bottom there was a person who tried to reassure and ignite the fire of faith in the souls of the disadvantaged.

The priest was such a hero Luke. He tried to instill in people faith in salvation, pushing them to feel the strength in themselves and get out of the bottom of society. However, no one heard him. After the death of the priest, the existence of people became even more unbearable; they lost that weak thin thread of hope that was still in their souls.

It destroyed dreams Tick O better life, and he was the first to give up in his struggle for existence. The hope that at least someone could get out of here was completely trampled. The inhabitants did not have the strength to follow the light that Luka showed them.

The tragedy of society in the play

Using the example of heroes, the author shows how people should not live. And this has nothing to do with their fall, since no one in life is immune from this. But once at the bottom, no one has the right to obey circumstances, but on the contrary, this should serve as a powerful impetus to a better life.

“At the Bottom” can be regarded as a kind of historical chronicle. The situation that is described in the play was quite common at the beginning of the century.

Gorky knew the world of “former people” firsthand. “When I wrote Bubnov, I saw in front of me not only a familiar “tramp,” but also one of the intellectuals, my teacher. Satin - a nobleman, a postal and telegraph official, served four years in prison for murder, an alcoholic and a brawler, also had a “double” - it was the brother of one of the major revolutionaries, who committed suicide while in prison.” Revealing the characters of the inhabitants of the shelter, the writer makes socio-philosophical generalizations.

In the play, Gorky raised the question of the fate of people rejected by society. The writer did not immediately find a title for his play. At first it was called “Without the Sun”, “Nochlezhka”, “Bottom”, “At the Bottom of Life” and, finally, “At the Bottom”.

Several dramas are played out before the reader at once, and among their participants there is not a single person who could be given an unambiguous description. All the night shelters recognize their existence as abnormal and dream of getting out of the bottom of life. Between the surrounding life and the characters of the play, the most important connections have been severed in many ways: social, spiritual, family, professional. At the same time, there is nothing connecting the night shelters themselves. They accidentally ended up in the same place and, perhaps, tomorrow they will go their separate ways. different sides and they will never remember each other. The reader appears as if a “naked” person, deprived of those external layers (cultural, professional, etc.) that he inevitably acquires while living in human society. How will these people behave? How will they build their lives? Who can help them and how? These are the questions that interest Gorky, readers, and viewers.

Note the description of the basement: “A cave-like basement. The ceiling is heavy, stone vaults...” In the basement live people who were driven here by fate. Gorky introduces symbolism into the description (some researchers call it the symbolism of hell): the shelter is located below ground level (the light falls “from top to bottom”); its inhabitants feel like “dead men”, “sinners”. If you remember the song that is sung in the basement: “The sun rises and sets, but it’s dark in my prison,” then another meaning arises - prison.

Who are they, the inhabitants of the shelter? Former worker Kleshch, his wife Anna, former actor, former baron, and now they are all people without specific occupations. The girl of easy virtue Nastya, the dumpling seller Kvashnya, the cap maker Bubnov, the shoemaker Alyoshka, the hook maker Crooked Zob, Tatar, Satin, Vasilisa’s sister Natasha, the elder Luka.

The heroes of the play - Actor, Ash, Nastya - strive to break free from the “bottom” of life, but are powerless to change anything. They develop a feeling of hopelessness and a craving for illusion, which gives them hope for the future. When the illusions disappear, these people die.

The owners of the shelter, Vasilisa and Kostylev, are also, in general, people of the bottom, but “higher” in social status than the “residents” of the basement. The shelters “are in eternal bondage to the owners of the shelters,” who “put things in such a way that a person needs to commit a crime...” (M. Gorky). Vasilisa angrily attacks Nastya: “Why are you sticking around? Is your mug swollen? Why are you standing there? Sweep the floor! Out of jealousy, she is capable of scalding her own sister with boiling water, using her lover to deal with her hated husband... “What atrocity there is in her, in this woman!” - says Bubnov. The representative of the authorities, policeman Medvedev, seems to legitimize this: “You can’t beat anyone in vain... they beat you for the sake of order...”

The play “At the Bottom” is not only social, but also philosophical. The heroes of the play are colorful, unique figures, capable of dreaming, thinking, and philosophizing. According to Yu. Aikhenval, “they are all philosophers. Gorky has a whole academy of them. Most of them - vagabonds, wanderers, fugitives - spend time in generalizations, in monotonous conversation of an abstract ethical nature... they only talk about the truth, about the soul, about conscience.”

What are the characters in the play talking about? About faith, human dignity, independence, freedom, about human identity, honor, conscience, honesty, truth, about equality, happiness, love, talent, law, pride, compassion, pity, peace, death... These topics are in connection with the most important question for them: “What is a person, why did he come to earth and what is the meaning of his life?”

Literary critic V.Yu. Troitsky noted that “the night shelters sometimes remember and talk about faith, but most often they understand it in the everyday sense. Absorbed in the difficult production of their daily bread, the inhabitants of the “bottom” are for the most part deeply indifferent to everything eternal, holy, and God.<...>...All the night shelters live “without the sun,” without true faith, without God. And this catastrophic lack of faith aggravates the hopelessness of their situation.”

In the understanding of the night shelters, human dignity, independence and freedom cannot be separated. What kind of freedom and independence does each of them dream of? Vasilisa - to free herself from her husband, Kleshch - from the owners of the shelter. Kvashnya is proud that she free woman... Satin “sums up”: “Man is free... he pays for everything himself: for faith, for disbelief, for love, for intelligence - man pays for everything himself, and therefore he is free!” What do other heroes dream about? Nastya - about beautiful, pure, bright love; The actor talks about returning to the stage; Vaska Ashes - about an honest life. But, speaking about human dignity, they trample on it with their behavior, attitude towards each other, with words... “Why are you grunting?”, “You’re lying!”, “You’re a red goat!”, “You’re a fool, Nastya...” , “Be silent, old dog!”, “Stray dogs”, “Pigs”, “Beasts”, “Wolves” - this is an incomplete set of characteristics referring to each other. Why is this possible? Because they live... without faith in God, in honor, in conscience. “Where are they - honor, conscience?” “I don’t believe in conscience,” says Ash. Other inhabitants of the shelter do not believe it either.

Satin and Luke.
The main “philosophers” in the play are Satin and Luke. Satin is undoubtedly one of the most colorful characters. A prisoner and murderer, he characterizes the tramps: “dumb as bricks,” “brutes.” He understands Luka better than others, agrees with him that people “live for the best,” that the truth is connected with ideas about a person who cannot be belittled and offended. In Act IV, at the beginning of his monologue, he defends and approves of Luke, but in the second part of the monologue he enters into an argument with him - he excludes pity for man, proclaims a hymn to strong, proud people: “Man is free... he pays for everything himself: for faith, for unbelief, for love, for intelligence - a person pays for everything himself, and therefore he is free!..”

Luke is the comforter of those who suffer. He has compassion for all the unfortunate: he consoles, deceives, supports illusions. Turning to Ash, he asks: “...what do you really need...<...>Why kill yourself?” This character has significant compositional and plot role in the play: it is designed to reveal the essence of everyone, to awaken the best in people.