Roman B. Pasternak's Doctor Zhivago is often called one of the most complex works in the writer's work. This concerns the features of displaying real events (the first and October revolutions, world and civil wars), understanding of his ideas, characteristics of characters, the main name of which is Dr. Zhivago.
An analysis of the work on the role of the Russian intelligentsia in the events of the beginning of the 20th century, however, is as difficult as its fate.
Creative story
The first plan of the novel dates back to 17-18 years, but Pasternak began the serious work only after almost two decades. 1955 marked the end of the novel, followed by publication in Italy and the awarding of the Nobel Prize, which the Soviet authorities forced the disgraced writer to refuse. And only in 1988, the novel first saw the light of day at home.
The title of the novel changed several times: “The Candle Burned” - the name of one of the poems of the protagonist, “There Will Be No Death”, “Innocent Dudorov”. As a reflection of one of the aspects of the author’s intention - “Boys and Girls”. They appear on the first pages of the novel, grow up, pass through those events, of which they are witnesses and participants. The teenage perception of the world is preserved in adulthood, as the thoughts, actions of the heroes and their analysis prove.
Dr. Zhivago - Pasternak was attentive to the choice of name - this is the name of the protagonist. First was Patrician Zhivult. Yuri is most likely George the Victorious. The Zhivago surname is most often associated with the image of Christ: "You are the son of the Zhivago God (the form of the genitive case in Old Russian)." In this regard, the idea of ​​sacrifice and resurrection arises in the novel, a red thread passing through the whole work.
The image of Zhivago
The writer focuses on the historical events of the first and second decades of the 20th century and their analysis. Dr. Zhivago - Pasternak portrays his whole life - in 1903 he loses his mother and finds himself under the care of his uncle. At the time when they are going to Moscow, the father of the boy, who had already left his family, is also dying. Next to Uncle, Yura lives in an atmosphere of freedom and the absence of any prejudice. He studies, grows up, marries a girl with whom he is familiar since childhood, receives the profession of a doctor and begins to do his favorite job. And he wakes up an interest in poetry - he begins to write poetry - and philosophy. And suddenly, the familiar and established life collapses. In the courtyard of 1914, and even more terrible events followed. The reader sees them through the prism of the views of the protagonist and their analysis.
Dr. Zhivago, just like his comrades, reacts vividly to everything that happens. He goes to the front, where much seems to him senseless and unnecessary. Having returned, he becomes a witness of how power passes to the Bolsheviks. At first, the hero perceives everything with enthusiasm: in his view, the revolution is “magnificent surgery”, which symbolizes life itself, unpredictable and spontaneous. However, over time comes a rethinking of what happened. You can’t make people happy apart from their wishes, it’s criminal and at least ridiculous - Dr. Zhivago comes to such conclusions. Analysis of the work leads to the idea that a person, whether he wants it or not, is drawn into the historical process. The Pasternak hero in this case practically goes with the flow, without openly protesting, but without accepting an unconditionally new government. This is most often and reproached the author.
During the civilian period, Yuri Zhivago falls into the partisan detachment, from where he escapes, returns to Moscow, tries to live under the new government. But he cannot work, as before, this would mean adapting to the conditions that have arisen, and this is contrary to his nature. There remains creativity, in which the main thing is the proclamation of the eternity of life. This will show the poems of the hero and their analysis.
Dr. Zhivago, therefore, expresses the position of that part of the intelligentsia that was wary of the coup in 1917 as a way to artificially change lives and establish new orders that are initially foreign to any humanistic idea.
Hero's death
Choking in the new conditions, which his essence does not accept, Zhivago gradually loses interest in life and spiritual strength, in the opinion of many, even degrades. Death catches him unexpectedly: in a stuffy tram, out of which Yury, who felt unwell, has no chance. But the hero does not disappear from the pages of the novel: he continues to live in his poems, as evidenced by their analysis. Dr. Zhivago and his soul gain immortality thanks to the great power of art.
Characters in the novel
The work has a ring composition: it begins with a scene describing the funeral of the mother, and ends with his death. Thus, the pages describe the fate of an entire generation, represented mainly by Yuri Zhivago, and emphasize the uniqueness of human life in general. The appearance of a candle is symbolic (for example, a young hero sees it in a window), personifying life. Or snowstorms and snowfall as a harbinger of adversity and death.
There are symbolic images in the poetic diary of the hero, for example, in the poem "Tale". Here, the "corpse of a dragon" - a victim in a duel with a horseman a snake - personifies a fairy tale dream that has turned into eternity, as imperishable as the soul of the author himself.
Poetry Collection
"Poems by Yuri Zhivago" - a total of 25 - were written by Pasternak during his work on the novel and are one with him. In the center of them is a man who has fallen into the wheel of history and faced a difficult moral choice.
The cycle opens Hamlet. Dr. Zhivago - an analysis shows that the poem is a reflection of his inner world - appeals to the Almighty with a request to alleviate his fate. But not because he is afraid - the hero is ready to fight for freedom in the kingdom of cruelty and violence surrounding him. This work is about the famous hero of Shakespeare, facing a difficult moral choice, and the cruel fate of Jesus. But the main thing is a poem about a person who does not tolerate evil and violence and perceives what is happening around him as a tragedy.
Poetic entries in the diary correlate with the various stages of life and emotional experiences of Zhivago. For example, an analysis of Dr. Zhivago's poem Winter Night. The antithesis on which the work is built helps to show the confusion and mental anguish of the lyrical hero trying to determine what is good and evil. The hostile world in his mind is destroyed due to the warmth and light of a burning candle, symbolizing the quivering fire of love and homeliness.
The meaning of the novel
Once “... waking up, we ... will not regain lost memory” - this thought of B. Pasternak expressed in the pages of the novel sounds like a warning and a prophecy. The coup that happened, accompanied by bloodshed and cruelty, caused the loss of moral values and the commandments of humanism. This is confirmed by subsequent events in the country and their analysis. “Doctor Zhivago” is different in that Boris Pasternak gives his understanding of history without imposing it on the reader. As a result, everyone gets the opportunity to see events in their own way and, as it were, becomes its co-author.
The meaning of the epilogue
Description of the death of the protagonist - this is not the ending. The action of the novel is briefly transferred to the beginning of the forties, when Zhivago's half-brother meets Tatyana, the daughter of Yuri and Lara, who works as a nurse, in the war. Unfortunately, she does not possess one of those spiritual qualities that were characteristic of her parents, as the analysis of the episode shows. “Doctor Zhivago”, therefore, denotes the problem of the spiritual and moral impoverishment of society as a result of changes in the country, which is opposed by the immortality of the hero in his poetic diary - the final part of the work.