The problems of "Dog Heart" allows you to fully explore the essence of the work of the famous Soviet writer Mikhail Bulgakov. The story was written in 1925. Why is it considered one of the key works of Russian literature at the beginning of the 20th century, let's try to figure it out together.
Cheeky tale
The Canine Heart issue was permeated by everyone who came across this work. Its original name was "Dog Heart. A Monstrous Story." But then the author decided that the second part only makes the title heavier.
The first listeners of the story were Bulgakov's friends and acquaintances who gathered at the Nikitinsky Subbotnik. The story made a big impression. Everyone was discussing her lively, noting her insolence. The problems of the story "Dog Heart" has become one of the most discussed topics for the coming months among the metropolitan educated society. As a result, rumors about her came to law enforcement. Bulgakov’s house was searched, the manuscript was confiscated. It never came out during his lifetime, being published only during the years of perestroika.
And this can be understood. After all, the problems of “Dog’s Heart” reflected the main problems of Soviet society, which appeared almost immediately after the victory of the October Revolution. Indeed, in fact, Bulgakov compared power with a dog, which turns into a selfish and vile person.
The situation in Soviet Russia
Analyzing the problems of the “Dog’s Heart”, we can study what the cultural and historical situation in Russia was after the Bolsheviks came to power. The story reflects all the troubles that Soviet people had to face in the first half of the 20s.
At the center of the story is a scientific experiment conducted by Professor Preobrazhensky. He transplanted the dog into the human pituitary gland. Results exceed all expectations. In a few days, the dog turns into a person.
This work was Bulgakov's response to events taking place in the country. The scientific experiment he portrayed is a vivid and accurate picture of the proletarian revolution and its consequences.
In the story, the author poses many important questions to the reader. How does revolution relate to evolution, what is the nature of the new government and the future of the intelligentsia? But Bulgakov is not limited to general political topics. He is also concerned about the problem of old and new morality. It is important for him to find out which one is more humane.
Opposition of layers of society
The problems of Bulgakov’s novel “Dog’s Heart” are in many respects opposed to different sections of society, the gulf between which was felt especially sharply in those days. The intelligentsia is personified by the professor, the luminary of science Philip Filippovich Preobrazhensky. The representative of the “new” man born of the revolution is the housekeeper Shvonder, and later Sharikov, influenced by the speeches of his new friend and propaganda communist literature.
Preobrazhensky’s assistant, Dr. Bormental, calls him the creator, but the author himself clearly has a different opinion. He is not ready to admire the professor.
Laws of evolution
The main claim is that Preobrazhensky encroached on the basic laws of evolution, tried on the role of God. He creates a man with his own hands, conducting, in fact, a monstrous experiment. Then Bulgakov makes a reference to his original title.
It is worth noting that it was precisely as an experiment that Bulgakov perceived everything that was happening then in the country. Moreover, the experiment is grandiose in scale and at the same time dangerous. The main thing that the author refuses to Preobrazhensky is the creator’s moral law. After all, having endowed the good homeless dog with human habits, Preobrazhensky made from Sharikov the embodiment of all that terrible that was in people. Did the professor have this right? This issue can be used to characterize the problems of the “Heart of a Dog” by Bulgakov.
References to fiction
Bulgakov’s novel intertwines many genres. But the most obvious are references to science fiction. They constitute the key artistic feature of the work. As a result, realism is brought to utter absurdity.
One of the main points of the author is the impossibility of forcibly reorganizing society. Moreover, such a cardinal. History shows that in many ways he was right. The mistakes made by the Bolsheviks today form the basis of history textbooks devoted to that period.
The becoming Ball Man personifies the average character of that era. The main thing in his life is class hatred of enemies. That is, the proletarians cannot stand the bourgeois spirit. Over time, this hatred spreads to the rich, and then to educated people and ordinary intellectuals. It turns out that the foundation of the new world is hatred of everything old. Obviously, a hateful world had no future.
Slaves in power
Bulgakov is trying to convey his position - slaves were in power. It is about this "Dog Heart". The problem is that they got the right to govern before at least a minimal education and understanding of culture. In such people the darkest instincts wake up, as in Sharikov. Humanity is powerless before them.
Among the artistic features of this work, it is necessary to note the numerous associations and references to domestic and foreign classics. The key to the work can be obtained by analyzing the exposure of the story.
The elements that we find in the eye of the “Dog’s Heart” (blizzard, winter cold, stray dog) refer us to the poem of the Block “Twelve”.
An important role is played by such an insignificant detail as a collar. A bourgeois hides his nose in Blok’s collar, and in Bulgakov’s collar the homeless dog determines the status of Preobrazhensky, realizing that in front of him is a benefactor, not a hungry proletarian.
In general, we can conclude that "The Heart of a Dog" is Bulgakov's outstanding work, which plays a key role both in his work and in all domestic literature. First of all, according to the ideological plan. But his artistic features and the problems that arise in the story are also highly appreciated.