The social and financial situation of the wild. Characteristics and image of the wild in the play Thunderstorm Ostrovsky essay

Savel Prokofievich Wild is a representative of wild morals, a mercilessly harsh attitude towards life and people, a petty tyrant in the fullest sense of the word. Whatever gets into his limited head, he does, and no one, in his opinion, dares and should interfere with his temper.
“I told you once, I told you twice: don’t you dare to meet me!” He shouts at Boris’ nephew, “everything is itching for you! Is there enough space for you? Wherever you go; here you are! Fuck you, you damned one!"

Dikoy is greedy for money - and there is nothing worse for him than to give money away; he does not assign salaries to any of his employees. “Is there something you can know about my soul?” he says. “Or maybe I will come to such an arrangement that you will have five thousand ladies.” It goes without saying that he "in all his life never came to such and such an arrangement," as Kudryash says. When it is necessary to pay, he deliberately tries to annoy himself in order to yell at the person asking for money.
“You are a friend to me,” he himself explains his disposition, “and I have to give it to you, but if you come and ask me, I will scold you. I will give - I will give, but I will scold. Therefore, just give me a hint about money, it will start to inflame my whole internal.

He is a "warrior", according to Kabanikhi's definition, and, in his own words, there is constantly "a war going on" in his house. Dikoy's selfishness is completely shameless and completely naive, and therefore speaks out quite frankly. According to the absurd will of Boris's grandmother, he must give to his nephew and niece the inheritance he has kept only under the condition that they will be respectful to him. He takes advantage of this circumstance, forces Boris to serve himself for nothing, breaks down over him and begins to say ingenuously: “I have my own children, why would I give money to someone else? Through this, I must offend my own!

Kuligin tells how one day the peasants went to complain to the mayor that they would not count a single one of them by way.
The mayor began to say to him: “Listen,” he says, “Savel Prokofievich, you count the peasants well! Every day they come to me with a complaint.
And he patted the mayor on the shoulder and said: “Is it worth it, your honor, to talk about such trifles with you! A lot of people stay with me every year; you understand: I won’t pay them a penny per person, but I make thousands of this, so it’s good for me!

He will scold anyone Wild, he will stop at no one. In front of one person, only he gives in - this is the Boar; she alone can "talk" him, as he puts it. He sometimes tries to shout at her: “Well, then, what am I a warrior! Well, what of this? But she knows how to put him down. When he scolded the wanderer Feklusha, Kabanikha calmly and sternly told him: “Well, don’t open your throat very much! Find me cheaper! And I love you!” Wild restrains himself: “Wait, godfather, wait! Don't be angry!" he asks. Kabanikha, a representative of life principles, is firmly based on the law, therefore Savel Prokofievich humbles himself before her; unrestrained tyrant, he, however, is generally afraid of the moral law. In this sense, his story of Kabanikhe is very interesting, as a govea about Great Lent, he scolded the peasant who came for money, “he scolded him so much that it was impossible to demand better,” and how he later asked this peasant for forgiveness:
“Truly I tell you,” Savel Prokofievich narrates, “I bowed at the peasant’s feet. That's what my heart drives me to; here in the yard in the mud he bowed to him, bowed to him in front of everyone.

It goes without saying that Dikiy's respect for the law is purely external: he worships the peasant before confession, and then the peasant will feel bad.

“Until recently, people were very wild”
(L. Dobychin)

Wild in Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm" completely belongs to the "dark kingdom". A wealthy merchant, the most respected and influential person in the city. But at the same time terribly ignorant and cruel. The characterization of Wild in the play "Thunderstorm" is inextricably linked with the description of the manners and habits of the city's inhabitants. Kalinov himself is a fictional space, so the vices spread to the scale of the whole of Russia. Having identified the character traits of Wild, one can easily understand the sad social situation that developed in Russia in the 19th century.

The author of Wild in "Thunderstorm" gives a meager characterization: a merchant, a significant person in the city. Almost nothing is said about appearance. Nevertheless, it is a colorful image. The name of the character speaks for itself. The semantic field of "wildness" is mentioned more than once in the text of the work. In the description of the life of the city of Kalinov, drunkenness, swearing and assault, in other words, savagery, are constantly mentioned. The unmotivated fear of a thunderstorm only strengthens the belief that the inhabitants have stopped at some primitive stage of development. The name Saul is also speaking. It belongs to the Christian tradition. This biblical character is known as the persecutor of Christians.

The image of the Wild in the play "Thunderstorm" by Ostrovsky is quite unambiguous. There is not a single scene or episode where this character would show his positive qualities. Yes, and to show, in fact, there is nothing. The entire Wild seems to consist of bile, dirt and swearing. Almost all of his remarks contain swear words: “Fail you! I don’t want to talk to you, with a Jesuit”, “Get away from me! Leave me alone! Stupid person!”, “Yes, you damned ones, you will lead anyone into sin!”

Thoughtless subjugation to those with more money has created a kind of legend about Diky as the main man in the city. And the wild behaves in accordance with this conditional status. He is rude to the mayor, steals from ordinary peasants, threatens Kuligin: “Send you to the mayor for these words, so he will ask you!”, “So you know that you are a worm. If I want - I will have mercy, if I want - I will crush. Wild uneducated. He does not know history, does not know the present. The names of Derzhavin and Lomonosov, and even more so the lines from their writings, look like the most insulting abuse to Diky. The inner world of the hero is so poor that the reader has no reason to sympathize with him. Wild is not even a hero, but rather a character. It has no internal filling. Several qualities are taken as the basis of the character of Saul Prokofievich: greed, selfishness and cruelty. There is absolutely nothing else in the Wild and a priori cannot appear.

Almost imperceptible to readers is one scene from the life of Wild. Curly says that once a man was rude to Dikoy and put him in an awkward position, because of which they laughed at the merchant for another two weeks. That is, Wild is actually not at all what he wants to seem. It is laughter that is an indicator of his insignificance and inappropriate pathos.

In one of the actions, the intoxicated merchant "confesses" with Marfa Ignatievna. Kabanikha speaks with him on an equal footing, from her point of view, Savl Prokofievich would be less arrogant if there was a richer man in Kalinovo. But Dikoy does not agree, remembering how he scolded the peasant, and then apologized, bowing at his feet. We can say that in his speeches a typical feature of the Russian mentality is realized: “I know that I am doing badly, but I can’t do anything with myself.” Wild admits: “I will give, give, but scold. Therefore, just give me a hint about money, my whole interior will be kindled; it kindles the whole interior, and that’s all; well, and in those days I will not scold a person for anything. Kabanikha notices that often Savl Prokofievich deliberately tries to provoke aggression in himself when they come to him to ask for loans. But Dikoy retorts - “Who does not feel sorry for his own good!” Although the merchant is used to taking out his anger on women, he is cautious with Kabanikha: she is more cunning and stronger than him. Perhaps it is in her that he sees a much stronger tyrant than himself.

The role of Wild in Ostrovsky's The Thunderstorm is clear. It is in this character that such a thing as tyranny is embodied. A wild greedy worthless man who imagines himself the arbiter of destinies. He is capricious and irresponsible, like Tikhon, just likes to miss a glass of vodka. However, behind all this tyranny, rudeness and ignorance lies ordinary human cowardice. He is even afraid of wild thunderstorms. In it, he sees supernatural power, the punishment of the Lord, so he tries to hide from the storm as soon as possible.

Thanks to such a concentrated image, many social flaws can be identified. For example, servility, bribery, stupidity, narrow-mindedness. Along with this, one can also talk about selfishness, the fall of moral principles and violence.

Artwork test

The play features two groups of city dwellers. One of them personifies the oppressive power of the "dark kingdom". These are the oppressors and enemies of everything living and new. Another group includes Katerina, Kuligin. Tikhon, Boris, Kudryash and Varvara. These are the victims of the “dark kingdom”, the oppressed, who equally feel the brute force of the “dark kingdom”, but express their protest against this force in different ways. The image of the Wild One: Hangover in someone else's feast "is how the meaning of the word tyrant is defined:" A tyrant is called, if a person does not listen to anyone: you at least have a stake on his head, and he is all his own ... This is a wild, domineering man, tough at heart.

Such a tyrant, whose behavior is guided only by unbridled arbitrariness and stupid obstinacy, is Savel Prokofich Dikoy. Wild requires the unquestioning obedience of those around him, who will do anything to somehow not anger him. It is especially difficult for his family: at home, Wild unbelts without any restraint, and family members, fleeing from his fury, hide all day in attics and closets. He finally hunted down his nephew Wild! Boris Grigoryevich, knowing that he was completely financially dependent on him.

He is not at all shy about Wild and with strangers, over whom you can “show off” with impunity. Thanks to money, he holds in his hands the entire disenfranchised mass of the townsfolk and mocks them. The features of tyranny are especially pronounced in him in a conversation with Kuligin.

Kuligin turned to Diky with a request to give ten rubles for the installation of a sundial for the city.

Wild. Or maybe you want to steal; who knows you!

Kuligin. Why, sir, Savel Prokofievich, do you want to offend an honest man?

Wild. Will I give you a report? I don’t report to anyone more important than you. I want to think about you that way, and I think so. For others, you are an honest person, but I think that you are a robber, that's all. Would you like to hear it from me? So listen! I say that the robber, and horses! What are you going to sue, or something, you will be with me So, you know that you are a worm. If I want - I'll have mercy, if I want - I'll crush.

Wild feels his strength and power - the power of capital. "Moneybags" were then revered by "eminent people", before whom the poor were forced to curry favor and grovel. Money is his passion. To part with them, if they already fell into his pocket, is painful for Wild. “In his house, no one even dare to utter a word about salary: he will scold what the world is worth.” Best of all, Dikoy himself speaks about this: “Yes, what do you order me to do with myself when my heart is like that! After all, I already know what I need to give, but I can’t do everything with kindness! .. I will give, give, but curse. Therefore, just give me a hint about money, "I will kindle my whole interior: it kindles my whole interior, and only"; well, in those days I will not scold a person for anything.

Passes Wild only to those who are able to repulse him. Once on the ferry, on the Volga, he did not dare to contact a passing hussar, and after that he again took out his offense at home, dispersing everyone to attics and closets. He restrains his temper in front of the Kabanikha, seeing in her his equal.

The power of money was, however, not the only reason that created the ground for unbridled arbitrariness. Another reason that helped tyranny to flourish was ignorance. Dikoy's ignorance is especially evident in the scene of his conversation with Kuligin regarding the lightning rod device.

Wild. Yes, a thunderstorm, what do you think, huh? Well speaking!

Kulagin. Electricity.

Wild (stomping his foot). What else there elgstrichestvo? Well, how are you not a robber! A thunderstorm is sent to us as a punishment so that we feel, and you want to defend yourself with some kind of poles and horns, God forgive me. What are you, a Tatar, or what?

A person's language, manner of speaking, and the very intonation of speech usually correspond to the character of a person. This is fully confirmed in the language of the Wild. His speech is always rude and full of abusive, offensive expressions and epithets: a robber, a worm, a parasite, a fool, a damned one, etc. And his distortion of foreign words (Jesuit, elestrichestvo) only emphasizes his ignorance.

Despotism, unbridled arbitrariness, ignorance, rudeness - these are the features that characterize the image of the tyrant Wild, a typical representative of the "dark kingdom".

The characterization of Wild from the play "Thunderstorm" by Ostrovsky is important for revealing the ideological meaning of the work. The image of this character must be analyzed to understand what the author wanted to show. Was this person invented or had a prototype? Why did Ostrovsky call him that? What traits endowed the hero? All this will be discussed in the essay.

Brief description of Wild from the play "Thunderstorm"

Savel Prokofich Dikoy is a resident of the town of Kalinov, where the action of Thunderstorm takes place. A merchant with a very large income. Money loves him, and he parted with them extremely hard. In his city, Wild is a respected person. He is considered an authority and feared. The main reason for this is wealth. In Kalinovo Wild - the wealthiest resident.

Ostrovsky gives a rather meager description of Wild. Virtually no description of the appearance of this character. The reader can get an idea about the hero only by “observing” his behavior in the course of the plot.

Features of the image of the Wild

The image of the Wild can be called integral. He is not characterized by any hesitation, doubt, throwing. He is not busy searching for the meaning of life, does not aspire to some heights, does not suffer from remorse. It's a bulldog man. He is confident in himself and in everything he does. He goes through life like a tank, not caring that he might crush someone along the way.

At the same time, Wild is completely uneducated and ignorant. Art, science, political and social processes are very far from it and are not interesting. Moreover, Dikoy considers all this empty, ridiculous, unworthy of respect, and even harmful. The rich man lives, guided by prejudices or superstitions.
This is clearly shown when Kuligin turns to the merchant for help in arranging a lightning rod. The inhabitants of Kalinovo are very afraid of thunderstorms, which is why such an idea arises. However, Diko ridicules Kuligin's idea and himself. He claims that a thunderstorm with thunder and lightning is a sign of God to people. A reminder to live right. And it is foolish to try to fight with a higher power with the help of some kind of "poles and gongs." The rich man does not recognize another opinion.

The only thing that matters to Wild is money. If they fell into his pocket, then Savel Prokofich would never part with them. Even the salaries of the employees of Dikoye have to beg. However, this does not always work out, and if it does, you will have to listen to a lot of abuse from the rich man.
The main feature of the Wild is rudeness. It can be traced throughout the work. From the lips of Savel Prokofich swear words are constantly pouring out. He is absolutely not shy in expressions, does not restrain himself, without any twinge of conscience humiliates, insults the interlocutor. He calls everyone around "parasites", "asps".

The merchant manifests himself everywhere as a rude and petty tyrant. However, more than others goes to his family. Nephew Boris Dikoy just hounded. And all because he depends on him financially. The wife of the moneybag, driven to despair, ashamed of her husband's behavior, trembling before him, with tears in her eyes, asks all her friends and relatives not to anger Savel Prokofich. However, it is difficult to fulfill her request even if desired. The aggressiveness of the Wild is often not justified. He may not like the appearance of a person, some of his word, look - and scolding begins.

The meaning of the image of the merchant in the work

Why did the author introduce this character into his work? To understand the meaning of the image of the Wild in "Thunderstorm", you need to remember one more feature of this person. Kalinov's richest and most respected man is, in fact, an ordinary coward. Wild behaves boorishly only with those who cannot "give back", who are weaker morally.

If on the way there is a person who is ready to fight back, a brawler and a petty tyrant "tucks his tail". For example, Diky's relationship with his clerk Curly. He is not at all afraid of the boss and can answer him with rudeness. For this reason, the merchant prefers not to contact the worker. With respect, the moneybags also treat the imperious and cruel Kabanikhe. Next to such people, the aggressiveness of the merchant disappears.

In the play "Thunderstorm" Dikoy is a representative of the "dark kingdom". Moreover, his zealous guardian. Wild - the opposite of the "kingdom of light." It wins if a person does not bow his head, he can fight back.
Such thoughts are prompted by the image of Wild, to whom the author even gave an eloquent surname. Perhaps the character's shortcomings are somewhat exaggerated - there is hyperbole here.

At the time the play was written, society was ruled by heroes like Wild. His portrait is similar to hundreds of other wealthy merchants, immersed in a luxurious lifestyle, absolute ignorance. Such people pulled Russia to the bottom. In the dark realm of stupidity, stupidity, medieval customs. The image and characterization of the Wild in the play "Thunderstorm" is negative. He is the true embodiment of the concept of tyranny. He is a prominent representative of wild customs and a harsh attitude towards people and life.

Savel Prokofievich Wild- a wealthy merchant in the city of Kalinov. negative character.

Image and characteristics

Wild man, to put it mildly, unpleasant. This impression is due to the terrible character. Wife of Diky, knowing that it is better not to anger her husband, begins every morning to tearfully address others:

“Fathers, don’t be angry! Doves, don't get angry!

And so every day. It is easy to guess how she gets from him if she disobeys or deigns to be angry. There is no talk of a happy, family life.

Wild typical portrait of a petty tyrant. Used to feel like a full-fledged ruler of the city. I am absolutely sure that he has the right to influence the fate of the inhabitants, impudently interfering in their lives.

"If I want - I'll have mercy, if I want - I'll crush."

Feeling power over people, he uses it to the fullest, creating whatever comes into his head. Wild knows for sure that his antics will go unpunished.

Rude and boor. Speaking is a complete nightmare. Solid swearing. Maybe he is used to expressing himself this way, believing that the interlocutor will understand faster. You won't get a good word from him. Wild knows exactly who to yell at and where to remain silent.

Man of moods. You never know what mood he will be in today. However, he was not seen smiling. Always gloomy and angry.

Not educated. I haven't read a single book in my entire life. The names of famous writers cause bewilderment in Savel. Doesn't know history. Not friendly with modernity. Thinks science is a waste of time. Stupidity, a ridiculous occupation unworthy of respect. In a word, wild man.

Recognizes actions. He is well aware that he is doing bad things, but changing the situation or changing himself is not for him.

“I know what I’m doing is bad, but I can’t help myself.”

Greedy for money. Money is the main thing in the life of Savel Prokofievich. Meaning and essence. Get money into the pocket of the Wild, he will never be able to part with them. Employees have forgotten what a salary is. As soon as someone asks to lend some money, Diky begins to internally rumble.

“Therefore, just give me a hint about money, it will start to inflame my whole inner one.”

When they try to reproach him with greed, Dikoy justifies himself:

"Who does not feel sorry for his own good."

It's rare that you can beg. But he hears enough of this, it will not seem enough.

attitude towards women. That's who gets it from Savel Prokofievich so it's poor women. All aggression is directed at the female gender. The only woman that the tyrant and despot is afraid of is Kabanikh. She respects. Opinion counts. The woman feels stronger and more cunning. The very character is akin to his.

Selfish. According to the will, Dikoy owes his nephew the inheritance that Boris inherited from his grandmother. One of the conditions for obtaining is a respectful attitude towards the uncle. Such conditions are favorable to the Wild. He takes advantage of this, forcing his nephew to plow on him from morning to night. It's like a free labor force. Why not exploit a relative. At the same time, Wild constantly humiliates and insults his nephew. Constantly reminds him, as if justified:

“I have my own children, why would I give money to strangers? Through this, I must offend my own!

Cowardly. Despite the fighting nature of the Wild, he is cowardly, like a hare. An ordinary thunderstorm can make him tremble. He associates it with the Lord's punishment, supernatural power. He tries to hide from her, fearing that the thunder of heaven will break him.

Self-assured. Goes through life. Like a tank, it does not stop in front of obstacles on the way. He knows exactly what he is doing and is absolutely sure that he is doing the right thing. The opinion of others is irrelevant.