In his work, Yuri Mamleev describes a gloomy, mysterious world, prompting readers to serious thoughts about the unknown depths of the human soul, the finiteness and meaninglessness of life, the inevitability of death. The heroes of the author, as a rule, are people with serious mental disabilities or simply inappropriate marginals. Their images openly demonstrate all the most harmful that can exist in the world. They are tireless explorers of the whole transcendent, including the nature of death, surrounded by a mystical halo of mystery. How, then, did Mamleev develop these themes in his story “Jump into the coffin”? The summary of the work and its problems we will consider as detailed as possible below.
Characters
The events that the author narrates in his story take place in the most ordinary communal apartment. Here are just the people who live in it, able to break the usual patterns of behavior. There you can meet the sorcerer Kuzma and the most developed member of the Pochkaryov family - Nikifor. He has already turned three and a half years old, but everyone still calls him a baby, because he behaves as if he had not yet come out of this age. The sorcerer Kuzma is afraid of Nicephorus, because he cannot understand what spirit sent him to this world.
However, nobody especially likes a baby. And he communicates mainly with seventy-year-old Catherine, who suffers from an ailment unknown to science. Doctors just shrug, and the old woman becomes practically incapacitated, which greatly upsets her cousin, always cheerful brother Vasily, a little hysterical sister Natalya and her son Mitya, who abuse alcohol.
Catherine’s illness becomes a real stumbling block for her relatives, a problem that prevents them from living. It is with the theme of spiritual callousness that Mamleev begins his story “Leap into the Tomb”.
Summary: grotesque tie
Vasily, Natalia and Mitya endlessly send Catherine to the hospital, which, however, does not change the situation. The old woman can’t serve herself and every day she’s getting weaker. She only comes to life when Nicephorus appears.
And after the doctor’s final verdict: “incurable, will die soon” - the relatives begin to anxiously wait for the end of their torment. Mitya is tired of making pots. Natalya suddenly with surprise discovers the absence of a constant love for her sister. Vasily is rapidly losing his sense of humor. And since the longed-for moment of Catherine’s death does not come, relatives unanimously decide to bury the old woman alive. They openly tell their ward about this idea and ask her for consent to such a crazy plan. The old woman perceives the proposal to suffocate in a coffin without enthusiasm, but she promises to think and give an answer.
Such an ambiguous complication with a fair share of the grotesque is offered to the reader by Yuri Mamleev. He openly exposes in her all the most base thoughts that can be born in a person’s head. The author simply turns inside out human souls, exposing them to the public, and at the same time begins to develop the theme of death.
What is death?
Relatives demand an immediate response from the old woman, arguing that they themselves are more likely to die than Catherine. They thought everything through, including how to get a death certificate and not be dishonored. Catherine already now looks like a deceased, the main thing is to lay still and not inadvertently disrupt their plan.
Going into oblivion scares the old woman. Vasily only shrugs his hands. Through the lips of an old man, Yuri Mamleev asks an existential question: "What is death?"
What is the point of fearing her if she is an unknown mystery? Death for Vasily is an abstract concept, therefore he refers to it superficially and easily.
However, for Catherine this question is more urgent. After all, it’s up to him to suffocate in the tomb. However, she knows who to turn to in order to make a decision - to Nikifor.
The image of Nicephorus
It is through the image of the infant that the idea of ​​transcendental reality develops in the story “Jump into the Coffin” by Mamleev. The problems of the work are closely connected with the unknown, concluded in Nicephorus, who came to the wrong world, which he wanted, did not want to grow up, perceived life differently and, unlike the elders, knew the highest truth.
Even before the doctor’s verdict on the incurability of Catherine, he understands that she will not be soon. In Nicephorus, all the inhabitants of the communal apartment see something foreign: the sorcerer Kuzma avoids the baby, Natalya wants to spit in his direction, Mitya does not consider Nicephorus to be a person. However, it was to him that Catherine turned for advice. With his approval, she decides in life to become a deceased, and then die.
Unknown knowledge, the metaphysical component of being, is invested in the image of a baby in the story “Jump into the coffin” by Mamleev. Summary we continue to consider.
Preparation for death
Having received the approval of Nicephorus, the old woman agrees to a crazy undertaking of relatives who immediately go to the doctor. Turned gray from the disease, she does not cause any suspicion in the nurse who came to witness death.
And blessed with a speedy deliverance from an unfortunate burden, Vasily, Natalya and Mitya begin to equate living Catherine with a real deceased. Even the request for a mug of tea causes them a cross between bewilderment and indignation. Can the dead drink and eat? They should not have simple human desires. In addition, if you feed and drink Catherine, she will inevitably have to be taken to the restroom, otherwise the smell from the coffin will give out a false death.
Total egocentrism, coupled with exorbitant cynicism, causes some shock when reading the work "Jump into the coffin." Mamleev, whose story is a storehouse of paradoxes, not only demonstrates the dark side of the human soul, but also guides the reader through the realization of death as an integral part of life.
Is death a part of life?
Of course, Catherine is afraid of her fate, despite the fact that she voluntarily consented to the funeral and seems to have reconciled with her imminent death. The status of the deceased does not prevent her from continuing to feel like a living person, and even in a dream she screams about her unwillingness to leave this world. Catherine, as if born again, begins to move nimbly and shows all signs of health.
Seeing the old woman’s extraordinary vivacity, relatives are thinking about canceling the funeral, despite the possible consequences: the prospect of shame and imprisonment.
However, a sudden surge of strength is rapidly disappearing. Catherine is weakening, but already somehow differently. To discouraged relatives, she says that she herself wants to fall into the coffin. They do not mind, they only adorn the bed of the living deceased with flowers. Catherine does not say anything more, does not think about anything, as if falling into the void. Perhaps she is no longer afraid of death and perceives it as a certain regular part of life. This is partly the meaning of Mamleev’s story “Jump into the coffin”. The analysis of further events comes down to the metaphysical theme of death / immortality.
Is the soul immortal?
At the funeral, the old woman lies motionless, only twice winks at the priest reading prayers. However, he does not think to check whether the deceased is actually dead, attributing everything to demons who decided to embarrass him.
The coffin is covered with a lid and carried to the cemetery, and before the heroes extends an endless distance, as if calling into a different, eternal, unknown life.
Describing nature in this way in the story “Jump into the Tomb”, Yuri Vitalyevich Mamleev makes you think about what will be beyond the bounds of life. The end of the work has a sublimely enthusiastic coloring, rendering mysticism.
The coffin lid is clogged without incident. Natalya succumbs to a spiritual impulse and falls to her. At that moment, she fancies that ominous curses are heard from the tomb directed against the whole world. Catherine's soul, meanwhile, is separated from the body and goes to the call of the Great Spirit, approaching the Earth.
Metaphysical Realism of Yu. Mamleev
Yu. Mamleev touches on the issues of life and death, the unknown depths of the human person in almost all of his creations, including in the story “Jump into the Tomb”. The genre in which it is written, the author defined as metaphysical realism. Its essence is the close relationship of human life with the knowledge of the transcendental component of the world and personality. Mamleev analyzes her, he makes the reader reflect on her.
The main characters of the author are faced with deep hidden phenomena. It is through their assessments that Mamleev describes the “Leap into the Coffin” unknown in his story. The summary of the work we have reviewed above. This is a kind of alloy of grotesque and deep philosophical thought, which not only shockes the reader, but also makes him indulge in thoughts about the darkest component of human being.