The novel "The Master and Margarita", created by Mikhail Bulgakov, is in many ways an unusual work. The interweaving of biblical plots with ordinary Soviet reality, the ambiguity of the characters of the heroes and their actions, an interesting love line - that's not all. Today we’ll talk about such an unremarkable-looking character in the novel as Bosoy Nikanor Ivanovich, and we will establish how thoroughly Bulgakov worked even for secondary figures in order to create a fully finished, whole piece.
Briefly about the novel
“The Master and Margarita” is a creation that was first born in 1966-1967. It was published in the monthly Moscow. The idea of creating the work was hatched by Bulgakov for a long time, since 1928. At the same time, the book during its creation and development changed a whole series of titles (“Hoof of an Engineer”, “Consultant with a Hoof”, etc.), in view of the fact that the original concept and concept were not yet completely clear even to the creator himself. In addition, the time for starting work on a conceived work was unfavorable for Bulgakov - he was considered a “non-bourgeois” writer, was forbidden for the press, and therefore physical and mental overwork could not but affect the fruitfulness and his approach to the conceived business. In 1932, the novel began to take on a form familiar to readers today: Margarita, the Master, the established name (in 1937) and the fans' favorite theme of pure, eternal, enduring love, the appearance of which researchers associate with Mikhail Bulgakov’s marriage to E.S., appeared in it. Shilovskoy. Until the last days of his life, the author himself, already almost blind by this moment, made corrections and corrections to the text. After the death of her husband, Shilovsky put all her strength into publishing the main brainchild of her lover; she also acted as the first editor. However, be that as it may, the full text, without censorship abbreviations and changes, was published in Russia only in 1973.
Plot
Before proceeding to a conversation about who Barefoot Nikanor Ivanovich is, the general plot of the work should be briefly described. The novel is an interweaving of several lines and two temporary layers: the biblical and the 30s of the XX century. The first time includes events revolving around Yeshua and Pontius Pilate, the second - the line of love of Margarita and the Master, as well as the mystical and satirical story of Woland (the devil's) leprosy and his retinue over Muscovites (this is where Bosa Nikanor Ivanovich will take an active part).
The plot takes place at the Patriarch's Ponds in the capital, where Woland arrives under the guise of a foreigner. He sits down to one of the heroes of the novel, Ivan Homeless, brought up in the atheistic atmosphere of the Soviet Union, and asks the question of who manages human life and the whole earthly order, if not God. The poet Homeless replies that the man himself is responsible for everything, however, the events that begin to unfold after all the time will be refuted by the thesis expressed by Ivan. In an extremely dynamic, ridiculous, sparkling form, the author will raise the problems of the relativity and incompleteness of human knowledge, the predetermination of the life path, the power of higher, beyond human control over his miserable existence, in fact, which can only be brightened up with love or creativity. As a result, both time layers will merge at the end into one: the Master will meet Pontius Pilate (who will be the hero of his, the Master, the work, that is, the reader will deal with the novel in the novel!) In Eternity, where he will be given an untimely shelter, forgiveness, salvation .
Disputes of critics and scientists
Before turning to a character named Barefoot Nikanor Ivanovich, I want to pay attention to the interesting fact that to date, philological disputes do not cease around the genre correlation of the novel with any particular category. It is interpreted as a philosophical novel, a myth myth, a mystery novel (that is, correlating with a biblical theme drama of the Middle Ages). Some researchers (B.V. Sokolov, J. Kurtis and others) indicate that the work of Mikhail Afanasevich is of a unique nature and cannot be fit into the framework of any one particular genre.
Nikanor Ivanovich Bosoy: characteristics and functions in the plot
So, if we talk about this character, it should be noted that in the plot he was the chairman of the housing estate on Sadovaya Street. Nikanor Ivanovich Bosoy (“The Master and Margarita”) is an image that personifies the whole of Moscow society. He is a swindler and a con man who agrees to the proposal of Koroviev (one of the devil’s closest minions) to hand over the “bad” apartment (which cannot be rented) to Woland to the tour operator only because he, Bosom, is offered a tidy sum in the form of a bribe. Of course, this was done not just like that: for greater security, the manager’s house had already hidden it in the ventilation, magically, mysteriously, incomprehensibly turned into a foreign one, and the police sent a message to Nikanor Ivanovich from the same Koroviev.
The semi-literate grabber Nikanor Ivanovich Bosoy, whose image seems to have been copied from many people who really existed in modern Bulgakov’s reality, is first placed in the walls of the NKVD, and then he suddenly sees, begins to believe in God and ends up in a madhouse.
Dream of Nikanor Ivanovich Bosogo: analysis and significance
In the episode of his dream, Nikanor Ivanovich finds himself in the theater, surrounded by many other men unfamiliar to him, who are invited to hand over the currency. The fear of the book hero had a very real justification in life: on the one hand, this scene was inspired by M. Bulgakov by the story of his close friend, philologist N.N. Lyamina. His second wife recalled that he was once “summoned”; Nikolai Nikolaevich sat "there" for two weeks. On the other hand, this episode reflected the trend that actually appeared in 1929 - the arrests carried out by the OGPU became more frequent, the purpose of which was to seize gold, jewelry, and currency from residents.
The detainees were kept in custody for whole weeks, waiting until they “voluntarily” surrender their hidden reserves. At the same time, they were given little water, and were fed specially too salty food. The appearance of such a politically sharp chapter, therefore, had a very real basis; it was first written in 1933 and was then called the “Castle of Miracles”, after which the most controversial and objectionable authorities in the scene were smoothed out and reworked.
In fact, in the original version, Nikanor Ivanovich Bosoy, a humorous character, to which readers today feel even involuntary pity, should have been much more sinister: he was supposed not only to be bribed, but also to commit denunciations and extortion. As you can see, the prototype of the "obese" lover of food and drink was not Lyamin at all, whose turn of fate Bulgakov himself watched with trepidation, but someone from the full members of the "warm company" of the housing association of house number 50 on Bolshaya Sadovaya Street (most likely K. Sakizchi), where Mikhail Afanasevich himself lived.
Implicit references to other works
The image and characterization of Nikanor Ivanovich Bosogo refers the thoughtful reader to such authoritative creations of Russian classical literature as “Dog Heart” (Schwonder), “Brothers Karamazov” (catching Bosym Fagot-Koroviev and searching for the devil by Ivan Karamazov during interrogation), “Examiner” (attitude Gogolev Gorodnichy to merchants is similar to the behavior of OGPU employees to prisoners).