In the play “At the Bottom”, Gorky wanted to describe the real life of people who descended to the lowest level of society. To do this, the writer visited shelters, shelters, talked with lost personalities. All his characters are copied from real people whom Gorky met while traveling around Russia. In Moscow at that time there was the Khitrov Market, which was a gathering of beggars, thieves, prostitutes and murderers. He became the prototype of an overnight stay. In the play, under one roof there are people with different characters and outlooks on life: the gullible Actor, the dreamy Nastya, the terminally ill Anna, the working Tick, the compassionate Luka, the skeptical Satin. Gorky “At the Bottom” wrote to show the life of the lower classes, their hopelessness.
Mistakes of the past and no future
Previously, Satin was a very cheerful and sociable guy, played on stage, loved to dance, make people laugh. A smart and well-read person could have a wonderful future, but fate decreed otherwise. Defending his sister, Sateen killed a man, for which he went to prison, which crossed out his whole life, because with a criminal record no one needs him. The hero does not consider himself alive, he simply exists in the Kostylev’s rooming house. He drank too much, became addicted to cards, lost interest in life - and that is how he ended up at the bottom of Sateen.
The characterization of Konstantin shows how lethargic and passive he is in life. His main motto is "Do nothing." This hero was not just thrown to the bottom, he came here himself, ruined his life with his own hands. Hiding from everyone, hiding in the basement, playing cards, drinking money is much more convenient and easier than trying to make your way into the world of normal people, but Konstantin himself wished to stay at the bottom. The characteristics of Satin show that this is a character with a special philosophy of “free man”, for him truth is most important.
The confrontation of bitter truth and sweet lies
Konstantin Satin is the antagonist of Luke, a wanderer, pitying all the inhabitants of the shelter and inventing his own truth for everyone. The new resident instills in others a belief in a better future, although he himself does not believe that life can be somehow changed. Luke promises the Actor to give the address of a free hospital for alcoholics, calms the dying Anna, supports the illusions of Nastya. He pities people who, for some reason, find themselves at the bottom. Satin, the characterization of which betrays a sane person in him, calls everything a "mirage." It seems that he alone understands the hopelessness of such a life and does not believe the sweet words of the wanderer.
Truth makes a man free
From the speeches of the hero and his actions, we can conclude that he accidentally ended up at the bottom of Sateen. The characteristic shows how kind he is in his soul, because he loved his sister, he was the first to run to defend Natasha. The hero does not accept lies, believing that it degrades the
dignity of a person, makes him a slave. Konstantin makes the right speeches, but it’s so difficult to be strong, courageous and independent, because it is much easier to meet Luka and succumb to the temptation to come up with an illusory world. Human weaknesses and what they can lead to are examined in Gorky's play “At the Bottom”. Satin (the characterization speaks of him as a smart, but skeptical man looking at the world) does not build an illusory world for himself, he would be glad to believe Luke, but he has no hope for a better future.