An essay on the topic True and imaginary values in M. Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita. True and false values in M. A. Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita”
True and false in the novel by L.N. Tolstoy "War and Peace"
I. Introduction
One of the main vices modern civilization consists, according to Tolstoy, in the widespread dissemination of false concepts. In this regard, the problem of true and false becomes one of the leading ones in the work. How to distinguish true from false? For this, Tolstoy has two criteria: the true comes from the depths of a person’s soul and is expressed simply, without posture and “playing for the public.” The false, on the contrary, is generated by the base side of human nature and is always focused on external effect.
P. Main part
1. False greatness. “There is no greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness and truth,” wrote Tolstoy. Napoleon personifies false greatness in the novel. It contains neither one nor the other, nor the third. Tolstoy shows that Napoleon sends people to death because of petty and largely selfish goals. Napoleon's behavior is extremely unnatural, every gesture and every word of his is calculated for effect. In the novel, Napoleon is contrasted with Kutuzov, whose actions are guided by love for his homeland and love for the Russian soldier. There is no play or pose in his actions; on the contrary, Tolstoy even emphasizes the external unattractiveness of the commander. But it is Kutuzov, as the exponent of the soul of the entire Russian people, who serves as an example of true greatness.
2. False heroism. While a person wants to accomplish a feat primarily in order to be noticed, and dreams of a feat that is certainly beautiful, this, according to Tolstoy, is not yet real heroism. This happens, for example, with Prince Andrei in the first volume of the novel during Battle of Austerlitz. True heroism arises when a person thinks not about himself, but about common cause and does not care about how he looks from the outside. Such heroism is shown in war primarily by ordinary people - soldiers, Captain Tushin, Captain Timokhin, etc. It is with them that Prince Andrei becomes capable of true heroism during the Battle of Borodino.
3. False patriotism. It is manifested in the novel by a significant part of the aristocracy, starting from the tsar himself and ending with Helen Bezukhova. The desire to show off one’s patriotism (a fine for uttering a French word in a high-society salon, jingoistic “bills” and pompous oaths of Rostopchin, etc.) is contrasted with the true, unostentatious patriotism, first of all, of the Russian people: soldiers and militias, the merchant Ferapontov, who burned his shop so that the French, partisans, residents of Moscow and other cities and villages who left Napoleon’s army “scorched earth”, etc. would not get it. True patriotism The best representatives of the nobility, united with the people, also differ: Kutuzov, Andrei Bolkonsky, Pierre Bezukhov, Natasha Rostova and others.
4. False love. Real love, according to Tolstoy, should arise from a feeling of spiritual closeness between people. Truly loving person thinks not so much about himself as about his loved one or loved one. Love is only justified in Tolstoy's eyes when it expresses spiritual unity. Such love is shown by Tolstoy mainly in the epilogue using the example married couples Nikolai Rostov - Princess Marya and Pierre Bezukhov - Natasha. But the novel also shows love as a false and selfish feeling. So, Pierre's love for Helen is just a sensual attraction. The same can be said about Natasha’s sudden passion for Anatole. Somewhat more difficult case- Prince Andrei's love for Natasha. It would seem that Andrei Bolkonsky loves quite sincerely, but the fact is that in this love he sees mainly himself: first, the possibility of his own spiritual resurrection, and then - an insult to his honor. From Tolstoy's point of view, true love and individualism are incompatible.
The novel “The Master and Margarita” raises many topics, but I want to talk in detail about the true and imaginary values in this work. Throughout time, people have been tormented by questions about good and evil, light and darkness, love and hate. And Bulgakov was able to express his thoughts on this difficult topic so clearly and so clearly. Mikhail Afanasyevich himself called this novel the main thing in his life. At the very beginning of the novel, the author introduces us to two writers: Berlioz, he is the head of MASSOLIT, and Bezdomny, a poet at the same MASSOLIT. These writers talked about their work and future plans for the future. And from this dialogue it is clear that, despite their education, the work of these writers is one-sided and this creativity is false. Bulgakov treats them with irony, and not only to them, but to all MASSOLIT writers. After all, it is this community of writers that will be the source of the Master’s troubles. The opposite of this community is the Master, the true creator and true artist. He writes a novel about the procurator of Judea Pontius Pilate and about the wanderer Yeshua Ha-Nozri, about the terrible torment and curse of the Concept of Pilate and about terrible death Yeshua. And when this work is published, the masses immediately descend unfounded criticism on the writer. Members of MASSOLIT cannot recognize the Master’s talent; they feel weak in front of him. Only one writer realized the uselessness of his false creativity - Ivan Bezdomny, he promised the master not to write anymore, realizing that everything he wrote had no meaning.
Bulgakov describes a society in which there is no moral values, there is only money to which they obey. They experience envy and fear of those who are higher, they strive in various ways achieve your personal gain, no matter what. Wolond and his retinue reveal the essence of Moscow society, pointing out their vices. This is the first work where justice is restored dark forces, you need to think about this, what should society and its prophets be like if even dark forces restore justice? After all, all the bad things they have done will become clear after some time, all the deception will be revealed. People should have inviolable values, but in the society described by Bulgakov these values are absent, or rather, these values have replaced vices.
Now let's talk about the choice of Pontius Pilate. So what is his action? Maybe we should accuse him of cowardice? So what is this: a necessity, a bargain with conscience, or just a common misunderstanding, a mistake? No, after all, he was an honest, fair, intelligent and generous man, let us remember the salvation of Ratboy. Before meeting Yeshua, he was a different person, and after the meeting he changed radically. It was influenced by the fact that for the first time he heard sincerity in the words, saw his kindness towards others - this changed Pontius Pilate. After all, if he had pardoned Yeshua, then they would have executed both of them - this is what Pontius Pilate reasoned during the sentencing, but after that he regretted it and pangs of conscience began to haunt him. “Can you really, with your intelligence, admit the idea that because of a person who committed a crime against Caesar, the procurator of Judea will ruin his career? Yes, yes! Of course he will. In the morning he would not have ruined it yet, but now, at night, having weighed everything, agrees to destroy. He will do anything to save a completely innocent, insane dreamer and doctor from execution!”
Also, according to the author, love is valuable; it can change a lot and withstand various difficulties. Love moved Margarita; she went through all the obstacles for the Master. She suffered mortal pain at the ball, not being sure that her wish would come true. And the fact that she sold her soul to the devil once again proves the strength of her love for the Master. The Master himself, being in the house of sorrow, dreamed of meeting her, but understood the hopelessness of the situation, but continued to love Margarita no matter what. Master, having passed difficult path and without abandoning his principles, he suffered and experienced a lot because of them. He really deserved peace, he deserved to write calmly, to reveal his talent. This is a man who appeared at the wrong time and in the wrong place, he is doomed to suffer in this society, and Volond, perfectly understanding this, gave him spiritual freedom.
Bulgakov wanted to convey to us readers that there are many false values in the world and only strong personality can resist this oppression. The true values in a novel for a writer are love, honesty, personal freedom, creativity, and imaginary values- this is money, false ideals of people, built on the greed and cowardice of society. The author expressed his opinion in the words of Volond that people remained the same, he only spoiled them even more housing problem. Yes, times pass and people remain unchanged, they only change a little, adapt to the environment, but the essence remains the same. Nothing has changed since the times of the Roman Empire, they only need one thing - “Bread and Circuses”!
Puts his heroes in front of moral choice, makes them think about the true and imaginary values of life, the purpose of existence and the laws of existence. The undeniable and highest value in the novel is love. She is the one who is able to change everything around her and overcome the most difficult obstacles. At the very beginning of the work, the author introduces us to two writers Mikhail Berlioz and Ivan Bezdomny.
From their conversation it becomes clear that their work is false and one-sided. As punishment, Berlioz's head is cut off by a tram, and Bezdomny ends up in psychiatric clinic, where he meets a real writer with the right values. Ivan himself realizes the meaninglessness of his poetry and promises the Master not to write anything in the future. Thus, according to Bulgakov, creativity can be true and imaginary. He lists personal freedom and friendship as other controversial issues.
For example, in the Moscow Association of Writers, the leaders created a huge number of circles that no one needed, just to somehow occupy the time of the participants. As punishment, Woland's retinue forced them to sing non-stop so that they could feel what it was like to do something without much desire or ability. The theme of friendship in the novel is closely intertwined with moral problems. According to the author, happy is the one who finds friendship in love and everyone is rewarded according to his faith.
The best example of friendship is the close connection between the Master and Margarita and the kind-hearted relationship between the mere mortal Ga-Notsri and the powerful Pontius Pilate. The author presented money as an imaginary and obviously false value. Both in the Yershalaim world and in modern Moscow, they lead to negative consequences. Two thousand years ago, Judas sold Ha-Nozri for thirty pieces of silver, for which he was subsequently killed.
And in Moscow in the 1930s, people are losing their heads from the unexpected rain of money organized by Woland at the Variety Theater. As punishment, all the bills they greedily collect are later turned into ordinary pieces of paper. Special punishment was imposed on the chairman of the housing association of the house on Sadovaya, who suffered from a mania for bribery. He was charged with currency speculation. The only heroes Those who remained indifferent to money were Woland and his henchmen.
It should be noted that Margarita was also not at the mercy of money. She was only interested in personal well-being with the Master and a worthy assessment of his work. If we make two separate lists of true and imaginary values touched upon in the novel, then the first will be love, friendship, true creativity, personal freedom, faith and honesty. And the second category includes money, false creativity, the “housing problem,” betrayal and the thirst for personal gain.
To summarize, we can say that Bulgakov, dividing the world into true and imaginary, singled out strong and weak people. Strong people could resist false values and their oppression, but the weak could not.
The universal nature, both on Earth and in space, manifests itself in two aspects, one of which we call the higher nature, corresponding to the Divine truth, the other aspect of it we call the lower nature, which on the surface appears to be opposed to the Divine. If the highest nature embodies the idea of absolute knowledge and universal unity, then the lower nature, under the cover of ignorance, strives for maximum universal division. The higher nature is mainly the kingdom of the gods or devas, and in the lower nature the asuras rule the ball, having their own hierarchy of powers. For gods or devas (In Indian Vedic cultural tradition devas are gods, but in the Avestan tradition, asuras are called devas. The author adheres to Vedic terminology - approx. ed.) the perception and awareness of the reality of the world from within is characteristic, while at the same time asuras perceive the reality of the world only from its outside. Hence, the devas realize the essence of events in their unity and the meaning and purpose of everything that happens in the world; asuras, separated by a veil of ignorance from the true essence of everything in the universe and from its purpose, are able to perceive and manipulate only the material values of this world. Comprehension of the true goal is inaccessible to them, since this is possible only by perceiving the reality of the world in its indissoluble unity, from which they are separated by ignorance. In this regard, they use division to understand and master it. Devas and asuras can be compared to people with normal and myopic vision. When looking at a picture, devas see it as a whole, but asuras can look at it in parts and, therefore, the whole picture is inaccessible to them. They are like three blind men studying an elephant, each of whom perceives only part of it. After this kind of perception, based on the results of their research, they could express their opinions, each of which was only part of the knowledge, but not the whole knowledge. From here it follows that people who are guides and executors of the Asuric will cannot know the true purpose of all things in the Universe and, of course, on Earth. Not knowing the true goal, they replace it with various plans, the implementation of which becomes their goal.
Asuric forces, stricken by the blindness of ignorance, are unable to realize the irresistible flow of Divine evolution, in which they are only executors of the Divine will, and the few of them who are given the opportunity to realize this flow try to resist it. But both those and others do not know that any of their actions are sanctioned by the Divine for his own purposes, which they are not given to know in its entirety.
There is one very important feature influences and interactions of all things in the Universe - they occur according to consonance. And the consequence of this feature is the transformation of the human personality when it is in some way in tune with the forces of universal nature.
Man, unlike the asuras and devas, contains within himself all the endless possibilities of the Universe, and those of them that are in tune with the vibrations of the asuras, under their influence, not only open up, but also grow, pushing aside all the others. human qualities. At the same time, a person cannot change anything in an asura, who has only those capabilities that are aimed at revealing everything low and destructive in a person. Hence, the external manifested world is a field of lower nature, in which opportunities that have low destructive vibrations are revealed. This disclosure is necessary in order to separate the “wheat from the chaff”, and for people walking the spiritual path - awareness of their imperfections in order to transform them.
Man belongs to universal nature; accordingly, he is also divided into two poles - one of which is under the influence of the higher nature, the other - the lower. And if the first is turned to Divine truth and is under the influence of Divine forces, then the second, to which the outer part of the human being belongs, is turned to the values of the manifested world and is under the power of the asuras. This asura tried to seduce Jesus Christ when he told him that he would give him power over all the kingdoms of the earth if he fell to worship him. It was about him that Jesus Christ said to those who accused him: “Your god is the devil.” Don’t people who strive for power and wealth fulfill the will of the asura? Is it not through them that he satisfies his passion for undivided power and worship of him, and is it not they who quite consciously prepare humanity for the coming of the beast (Antichrist), corrupting religions and corrupting human souls? Currently, the symbol of his name is spreading everywhere - “666” (Apoc. 13, 18.). these people not only prepare humanity for the coming of the beast, creating an atmosphere that is consonant with it, but by placing symbols of its name everywhere, they seem to invite it to hurry up with its arrival. An example would be a barcode. Next, I take a quote from the book by S.V. Valtsev - “The Decline of Humanity”: A bar code is a number like a number, if not for one BUT. Each barcode contains the encrypted number 666. This means that any product, and now our documents, are marked with the sign of the Antichrist. Is this really true? Everyone is familiar with the white label on the packaging with black stripes and numbers underneath...
This method of writing numbers was invented in the 19th century in the USA. The barcode indicates the country of origin, quality, name, and sometimes the cost of the product. The modern barcode is computer type notation, where each number corresponds to lines of different thickness.
Anyone can verify that each barcode has thin adjacent ones at the beginning, middle and end parallel lines, which are slightly longer than all the others. They are called “security parallels”. True, these lines are not signed with any numbers, but they are graphically identical to only one number - six. It turns out that absolutely any barcode includes three sixes. Many specialists working with computer technology assure us: “there was no need to use the number 6 sign as a dividing line.”
Thus, the “prince of this world” and the executors of his will are building their own paradise on Earth, which, of course, will correspond to their basic essence. For example, a frog, if it were possible for it, would build its own swamp paradise on Earth. What are they doing in modern world executors of the will of the asuras, director Daneliya Georgy Nikolaevich showed very well in his film “Kin-dza-dza”.
When Sri Aurobindo said that one must live from within, he meant that a person should rely on his heart in his activities in this world. Understanding the world from the inside is the way gods or devas perceive the reality of the Universe. Living from the inside means not being attached to this manifested world, living according to Asuric principles that lead humanity to degradation, and at the same time, using the reality of this world to ascend consciousness. For a person living from within, no moral rules or laws are required, because to live from within means to be in highest harmony with the whole world
Human consciousness has two poles - one of them is facing the outer world, the other is facing the inner world. And if in outside world the lower nature reigns, then the higher nature reigns in the inner. Asuric forces are not interested in a person perceiving the world of external values from the inside, since in this case he leaves from under their influence.
Only those values of this world can be true, which are in tune with divine truth. Those that sound in dissonance with it are false values. Another definition is also possible: true values do not tie a person to the values of the material world and do not make him dependent on them. And there is another important feature - movement to the side true values always require volitional efforts, at the same time, false values are tempting in themselves and no effort is required from a person to move in their direction, all that is required is silent agreement, which they will immediately use and make him dependent on themselves, and accordingly, subsequently transform his worldview. In this case, a kind of mental castration of a person occurs, after which he ceases to notice everything that is consonant with Divine truth, and the voice of conscience subsides in his heart. Now a person will not seek high harmony in his interactions with the world, and he will be completely satisfied with either sensory harmony or mental harmony, based on the ego and external laws and rules.
True and false values have their differences only within a person, but in the external world they are indistinguishable. In the outside world, these are only facets of the same reality. Therefore, if a person lives by his mind, supported by the body of desires, then for him false values will be true, and true values will be false. Among false values, fetishism occupies a special place. A fetish is something that is the subject of unconditional recognition, blind worship (Dictionary of Foreign Words by L.P. Krysin, published by Eksmo, 2008). Fetish includes many facets of the reality of this world, which can be both creative and destructive for a person. This is due to the fact that a fetish narrows a person’s consciousness and thereby does not allow him to perceive reality as it really is. For example, on the social plane, the social position of a person is authoritative for us, although this position is only a mask that replaces the true face of this person. But we are not critical, because the fetish evokes unconditional recognition from us social status person and corresponding to this status psychological characteristics. We are completely uncritical of the so-called Holy Scripture. We believe that it is sacred even when it affirms lies, aggression, betrayal and many other low aspects of human psychology. Blind faith is dangerous because a person does not see reality as it really is. Various sayings persons who are authoritative for us, even if these persons are unpleasant for us, can significantly change our attitude towards the reality about which these authority figures speak. And what about the various holiday dates that act as a trigger on a person. And we ourselves don’t really understand why we feel festive on the appointed holiday. They show us fireworks and we get into a festive mood. We give true semantic meaning the word “democracy”, although this word has long been only a mask behind which lawlessness and lies reign. If you look closely at everything that surrounds a person, it is easy to discover that people live among symbols, a largely symbolic life, among which the fetish occupies an honorable place.
“What you do will come back to you.”
Winston Churchill
Our actions run like a red thread through our entire life, thereby determining its quality. What are our actions based on, what is their foundation? The answer is very simple: the foundation of any action is our internal qualities, they are also the values of our life. When we perform this or that action, we, first of all, must turn to our inner world, rely on our internal values.
The true values of our life are not material wealth. Not a car, an apartment, clothes, jewelry and many other things. Although for some reason we often value these things more than people. In this case, it doesn’t matter at all whether it’s a loved one, a work colleague, or just a passerby. We forget that by respecting others, you respect yourself. I do not deny at all that an apartment, a car and other attributes are necessary and important, but I ask you to understand that they are not our true values. We are often hostile to other people, while elevating ordinary things to the rank of deity and worshiping them. It seems to me that we are all a little confused in this life, making external benefits more important than internal qualities. Please remember when you last time did you help the people who exist next to you, who surround you? How often do you do good deeds and show respect to others?
Sometimes it is very useful to answer questions that relate to your inner world. The answer to them can help form an inner core, develop the right principles that you can always rely on, no matter what. life situation didn't happen.
One of these supports can be our internal values, which will help us navigate this life. By internal values I mean the qualities that guide us when making a particular decision. These qualities are of the following nature: nobility, virtue, respect, responsibility, honesty, friendliness, mutual understanding and much more that you can find in the depths of your heart.
Of course, these qualities can only have a positive meaning and in no case can they be negative. Why can't they be negative? Can the bad deeds we have committed really make our lives better, more harmonious, happier? Can they really help other people? Eat famous proverb- “Don’t dig a hole for someone else, you will fall into it yourself” or “What goes around comes around.”
And this is true, rather even a law that life itself came up with. Going against the laws of life is very unwise. After all, if you jump from a roof, the law of attraction will certainly do its job, of course, unless you are Neo from the movie “The Matrix”. By the way, Neo is the personification of true inner values, a stronghold of goodness and nobility. He saves the world from oblivion, trying to reveal to people the truth of life.
Sometimes saving the world means destruction, which is a fight against something dark inside us. In the same way, we can shed light on the ignorance and darkness that are trying to take root in us, in our entire being. We can break our old patterns of behavior that lead to the destruction of ourselves, relationships with our loved ones, and our entire world as a whole. We can create new principles, for which true values will be a beacon.
How can true values be determined? Imagine that there are many roles in your life that you play. These roles are manifested in various fields life, for example: family, friends, work, hobbies, society in general. Now let's look at some of these roles.
Let's start with family, the closest and most valuable to us. You can be: father, mother, son, daughter, sister, brother, etc. Let's look at the example of father/mother. Now imagine, or better yet, write down what kind of father/mother you would like to be. What qualities would you like to show in your children? Would you like to be sensitive to them, give love and care, raise them in an atmosphere of respect and mutual understanding, loyalty and honesty? After you write down these qualities, try to monitor yourself in real life. Are your behavior and actions consistent with the qualities you would like to have? If not, think about why and how you can change it.
The next role I would like to consider is the role we play at work. Let's say you are a swimming coach and teach children to swim. In addition to teaching children to swim, you are also an example and guide for them. The learning takes place not only on the water, but also in the children's heads, you teach them moral principles. And the way you behave during classes, the principles on which you act and what values you rely on, shapes, firstly, your behavior, and secondly, the behavior of the child, which he can adopt from you.
It follows from this that our internal values, no matter what role we occupy, must be formed in the same way. And this key should open only those doors behind which our positive qualities are located.
Treat other children the same way you treat your child. Observe your behavior, both in the family and in all areas of life, and always remember true values.
We have the opportunity to go through all the roles of our lives and see those qualities that we know about, but for some reason we do not use them as a guide, we do not use them as a foundation. Our inner values are similar bright light a beacon that illuminates our path, helps us to follow the right path and not get lost in the abyss of passions that envelop us and our lives like fog.
True values should be the basis of our personality, they should serve as a guide and lead us in the right direction, permeating our entire path. I hope your values will be virtue and order, love and compassion, nobility and respect. And, of course, I hope that all of them will illuminate your life, the life of your family and all the people on our planet.
