Gogol "Viy" - analysis. Who Invented Via

Year of publication of the book: 1835

Gogol's story "Viy" was first published in 1835 in one of the author's collections. The work gained great popularity, based on its motives, feature films were repeatedly shot. The latest film adaptation was the film of the same name in 2014. Today, the book "Viy" by Gogol can be read within the school framework, like many other books by the writer who occupies the top lines of ours.

The story "Viy" summary

When the bell ringing was heard in Kyiv early in the morning, many students hurried to the monastery from every corner of the city: schoolchildren and students. Among them were grammarians, orators and philosophers. Dressed in rags, young people went to class. Each student behaved differently. The grammarians were still small, so their walk to school was accompanied by shouting and pushing. Much calmer were philosophers and theologians. On the way, they could discuss serious topics and generally behaved confidently. As soon as the young people crossed the threshold of the seminary, they were each assigned to their own class.

Sometimes, when students came too early, or when their teacher was late, so-called fights were held in the seminary. More often than not, theologians decided exactly how things would play out: class against class, or bursa against seminary. By the way, it was the theologians who almost always won such battles. But when the professor came, silence reigned in the classes.

Also in Gogol's story "Viy" we can read that young people had fun not only in the seminary itself. Often on holidays they went out to the village with different performances. Thus, the students received from the inhabitants fat, cloth or a goose. But most of all, the seminarians loved the holidays. After all, then they could go home or get a job and teach children for money. Those who did not have a home went to visit friends.

Once, during the holidays, three students went to work. Noticing that their grocery bag was almost empty, the young people decided to turn off the road and head to the nearest farm to replenish supplies. Thus, with the onset of twilight, the tall theologian Khalyava, the cheerful philosopher Khoma Brutus, and the young rhetorician Tiberius walked along. They walked for a long time, and it was already dark outside. However, there was no farm nearby. The seminarians began to think about how to proceed. Freebie offered to spend the night in the field. But Khoma was so hungry that he could not wait out the night. In addition, he was terribly afraid of the wolves that lived here. He offered to continue the search for a bit - in case they were already close to some settlement. And the philosopher was not mistaken - a few minutes later the young people heard the barking of a dog and saw someone's yard in the distance.

Further on the story "Viy" by Gogol, the summary tells that the seminarians came closer to an unfamiliar house. An old woman came up to them and asked what they wanted. Young people introduced themselves and asked for an overnight stay. However, the woman refused them, citing the fact that strangers would behave noisily. But they were able to convince her to let them in on the condition that they sleep in different places. Entering, Khoma asked the old woman for some food, but she said that they should be glad that they did not sleep on the street. The philosopher was upset, but noticed how Freebie had already managed to steal smoked fish somewhere. Without thinking twice, Khoma put his hand into his comrade's pocket and took the stolen goods for himself.

While the comrades went to bed in the hut or in the closet, the sheep-shed was assigned to the philosopher. Having had a hearty dinner with crucian carp, he lay down to rest. As soon as the grandmother entered the barn and silently began to stretch out her hands to him. Homa was dumbfounded and did not understand what was happening. He tried to free himself, but the old woman held him tightly. In an instant, she was able to jump on his back and hit him hard. At the same hour, the philosopher, as in , rose above the earth and flew. It was then that he realized that the old woman was a witch.

During the flight, Khoma instantly began to remember all the prayers he had memorized, but nothing helped. After a while, he felt the old woman's grip loosen. The philosopher was delighted, instantly threw it off and jumped onto the back of the witch himself. On the way, he grabbed a huge branch and began to beat the grandmother with all his strength, which became weaker and weaker. Finally the witch broke down. She stopped, threw off Homa and fell to the ground. Then the philosopher came closer and noticed that in front of him was a beautiful young girl. She lay helpless and wept. However, the seminarian did not want to linger near her for a second longer and began to run back to Kyiv.

Further, if the story “Viy” is read in brief, we learn that the seminary was empty due to the holidays. Only Homa wandered through the corridors, trying to comprehend everything that had happened to him. A little time passed, and the philosopher forgot to think about the witch. He went to visit, smoked a cradle, talked with people and rested. But soon there were rumors that the daughter of a wealthy centurion, who lives somewhere near Kyiv, returned home wounded and, before her death, asked her father to read prayers for her, the seminarian Khoma Brut. The rector immediately sent for the philosopher and informed him of the centurion's order. He was surprised, but there was nothing to do - he had to go on the road.

Several Cossacks rode in the same carriage with him. Khoma began to ask them more about the centurion to whom he was going and about his daughter. However, no one could answer him, the strangers only smoked and lay on the bags. Late at night they arrived at the village where the centurion lived. The philosopher wanted to go around him and look around, but he no longer had the strength and just went to bed. When he woke up, he learned that the pannochka had died that night. Homa went out into the yard to finally see where he was.

The village that belonged to the centurion was huge and beautiful, but the house where he lived was rather small. Most of all, the philosopher was struck by nature - mountains, green meadows and the Dnieper. He even thought that he would like to stay here forever. Suddenly one of the Cossacks approached him and said that the pan was already waiting for him. Entering the house, Khoma saw an old gray-haired centurion. It was noticeable that the death of his daughter was a big blow to him. He began to question the seminarian about his family and background. However, after listening to all the answers, the centurion could not understand why his daughter asked that he be the one to read prayers for her - after all, the seminarian did not even know her personally. But there is nothing to do - the last will of the dying is the law. Therefore, Khoma was obliged to read prayers near the deceased for three days.

The centurion took Homa to show his daughter. What the young man saw frightened him to the core - in the coffin in front of him lay the same witch that he had encountered a few days ago. She looked as if she were still alive - her beautiful features were still framed by a blush, and her lips were frozen in a smile. In the evening, the coffin with the girl was taken to the church, where Khoma had to read prayers over her all night. He was afraid to stay with the witch all night, he was afraid that she would rise from the coffin.

Further, if the story "Viy" is read in full, we learn that before leaving the philosopher with his daughter, the centurion ordered to feed him. During dinner, Khoma even forgot a little that the pannochka was a witch. He enjoyed delicious food and chatted with new acquaintances. Then the conversation turned to the fact that the deceased was dealing with evil spirits. As it turned out, such rumors had been circulating around the village for a long time. Some even claimed that they saw how the pannochka conjures. The philosopher was told about a kennel named Nikita, who was bewitched by a pannochka. He fell in love with her so much that he followed any instructions from the girl. But some time passed, and Nikita unexpectedly died for everyone. Later Khoma heard the story that the lady had killed the baby and the wife of one of the Cossacks. All this instilled in the seminarian even greater fear of the coming night.

But then the night came and the main character of Gogol's story "Viy" entered the church and was left alone with the deceased. He began to read a prayer, when he suddenly noticed that the real devilry had begun. Pannochka got up from the coffin. Frightened, Khoma quickly drew a line around himself and began to cast a spell against the witch. This helped a little - the girl came as close as possible, but she did not step into the circle. She returned to the coffin, which immediately began to fly around the church. Homa held out until the first rays of the sun. As soon as it began to get light, everything calmed down, and the seminarian went out. There are still two more days to go.

Returning to the village, he drank vodka and went to bed. After waking up, Khoma's fear disappeared, and he calmly walked around the village and got acquainted with the inhabitants. As soon as evening came, and he was again called to church. The young man was not so afraid, because he knew what to expect from the upcoming night. However, today, besides the lady herself, he also saw strange creatures that were breaking through the windows of the church. Until the first rays of the sun, the philosopher repeated the spell. When they came for Khoma, he was already half dead.

That day the seminarian drank more vodka, but it did not help him forget everything that was happening in the church. When he slept and went out into the yard, everyone noticed that Khoma had turned gray. The philosopher went to the centurion to tell him that his dead daughter was a witch. He listened to the guest, but said that the promise must be kept. Therefore, tonight, for the last time, Khoma will have to read prayers over the lady. In addition, the master promised the seminarian a lot of money, so it was not easy to refuse.

After that, "Viy" tells the story that in the late afternoon, Khoma became terribly scared. He even tried to escape, but one of the locals quickly found him and took him to the church. When the lady again got up from the coffin, the philosopher noticed that she looked much more terrible than on previous days. There were many strange creatures flying around her. The girl ordered them to bring Viy. And after a while, something large appeared in the church, somewhat resembling a person. This was Viy. He asked to raise his eyelids and looked attentively at Khoma. After that, on his own orders, all the creatures flying around attacked the seminarian. In the morning he was found already dead.

Tiberius and Freebie quickly learned about what happened to their friend. At his wake, they came to the conclusion that he simply did not know the correct spell, which is why he could not resist the witch.

The book "Viy" on the Top Books website

You can read Gogol's story "Viy" in full on the Top Books website.

Finchenko Stanislav Nikolaevich / Finchenko Stanislav Nikolaevich – Associate Professor,

Department of Labor Protection and Environment,

Tomsk State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Tomsk

Annotation: This article attempts to analyze the features of the author's religious worldview, with the concept of the world and man embodied in them, based on the story "Viy", in which religious motives are fully revealed through mystical rites and sacraments.

Keywords: symbols, magic, religion.

The analysis of a different reality in Gogol's work has always attracted the attention of researchers. In the story of N.V. Gogol's "Viy" illustrates not just a different reality, but a clash of two polar sides - Christianity and magic.

The religious idea is revealed by the author through symbols, the functional role of which becomes clear only in the plot context. The frequent use of images that have a symbolic meaning shows the reader their hidden meaning, helping to switch perception from the sphere of rational to the sphere of irrational knowledge. Numerous recurring symbolic images reveal the hidden idea of ​​the work. Analyzing the story through the prism of symbols, one can see something more than a witch terrifying a seminarian.

The narrative begins with the writings of the Bursaks, from whom “a pipe and a burner were heard”, that is, from the very first lines the author’s attitude towards the representatives of the church is shown. On the market, the bursaks were also treated negatively, motivated by the fact that they "liked to take only for testing and, moreover, a whole handful." The theologians, students of the seminary are illustrated "in terrible trousers and with thick necks", who only liked to drink, smoke a pipe, fight and "empty other people's gardens", and the love of science was probably unknown to them. Seminary professors, as Gogol showed, did not go far from the students, since they themselves took part "in such battles."

Describing the local population, the writer emphasizes their lack of understanding of religious texts “what the schoolchildren sing must be very reasonable”, which these same schoolchildren often use.

Let us now consider the heroes of the story, trying not to miss the details, and start with an analysis of the names of the main characters. The author's attitude to Christianity is also traced in the names. Rhetor Gorobets bears the name of Tiberius, during whose reign Jesus Christ was crucified. The theologian Khalyava is the owner of a surname that is extremely unsuitable for his status, but at the same time very accurately corresponding to his actions. The word "freebie" means easy money, for which you do not need to make an effort, which is what the hero shows: "Everything that lies, he will certainly steal."

The main character of the story is called Khoma Brutus, and this circumstance also deserves attention. The name of the hero clearly echoes the name of Thomas, which, in turn, makes us remember one of the disciples of Christ, who doubted the resurrection of the teacher - Thomas the unbeliever. This name in Russian has become a household name. The surname Brutus is clearly associated with betrayal and cunning. Being a seminary student and seemingly a Christian, Khoma constantly mentions the devil and instead of praying, he constantly casts spells, turning to magic. This also happens during the night flight "Good!" thought the philosopher Homa to himself and began to say almost aloud incantations. And in the church, when drawing a circle, “he outlined a circle around himself, uttered several spells.”

Upon arrival at the inn, he tried to deceive the hostess, and she, in turn, learning that it was the bursaks who were not eager to let them in: “If you start accepting such drunkards, then there will soon be no yard.” Once again, we observe the attitude of the local population towards theologians and, accordingly, towards Christianity in general. We see the same thing with the centurion on the farm, when the description of the church takes place, that no service had been held in it for a long time, and it was in a terribly neglected state. The words of the clerk also probably did not satisfy the people, which is evident from Dorosh's question: “No, I want to know,” Dorosh said, “what is written there in those books. Maybe it’s completely different than that of a deacon,” that is, people understood with their minds that what is said in the church is not the truth.

Further, according to Yuri Arabov, a paradoxical situation is described - Khoma Brut, must bury Pannochka, whom he himself killed. It is difficult to imagine that the prayers of a person who has committed a crime without his own repentance will somehow help the soul of the dead Pannochka find peace, especially since the murderer is a future priest. However, after analyzing the text of the story in detail, one can see something completely different, namely, a pronounced demonstration of magical power and the fatality of human fate. It is fatality, the predetermination of fate that runs like a red line throughout the text.

The story begins with the fact that the Bursaks were released for vacancies and they ended up in the field at night, with full confidence that they could find a farm to spend the night. “A cornfield with a ripening grain that appeared in two places made it clear that some village should soon appear ... but meanwhile they did not come across any housing” - that is, the village seemed to have disappeared. At the same time, the night was “…quite dark. Small clouds intensified the gloom, which can only be understood as the intervention of characters from lower mythology. The author notes that everywhere they came across "only fox holes", and the fox in Christianity is considered as a demon, an evil spirit, a werewolf, a sorcerer and even the devil himself. The presence of evil spirits can also be seen in the wasteland that surrounded the Bursaks, because it is the wastelands, as well as the borders of villages and fields, that are its own space: “Everywhere there was one steppe, which, it seemed, no one traveled ... The philosopher tried to call to each other, but his voice completely died out on the sides and did not meet any answer ", that is, it was night, wasteland, complete silence, and in this one can clearly see the influence of evil spirits, since they had been studying in the bursa for more than a year and clearly knew the way, why would they suddenly, without influence of otherworldly forces, seminarians could get lost.

They looked around, but there was no farm, but after some movement forward, a farm appeared, consisting of only two huts located in the same courtyard, that is, it was not a farm, but an inn. Note - the farm was not there, it appeared, as if suddenly.

Further, the bursaks are introduced to the witch through the closed gate, and Khoma did not say his last name, but the witch knew her: “bring the bursak Khoma Brutus”. So the witch foresaw the appearance of the philosopher, their meeting was to take place.

The philosopher became scared, but why is he, a young guy, afraid of an old woman, he probably foresaw at some level of the subconscious a meeting with a hitherto unknown to him. This fear was intensified by the "extraordinary brilliance" and "sparkling eyes" of the old woman. Probably, in this look, he felt magical power. We emphasize that the magical power of the gaze can be traced throughout the story. Further, we observe the consequences of the magical power of the gaze, namely the impossibility of physical movements and "not even a voice sounded from his mouth." Thus, there is a strong psychological impact that paralyzed the will, which resulted in strong hallucinations that caused "some kind of agonizingly terrible pleasure", which could be a sign of approaching death. However, with the help of magic spells, Homa was able to cope with such an impact, as a result of which the magical duel was lost by the witch, and at the end of this duel, Homa kills the witch, already physically influencing her, that is, with the help of a log. The result of this murder is the transformation of the witch. But why did the witch suddenly change? Probably, in the form of an old woman, Pannochka possessed greater magical power. In the barn there is a struggle between two representatives of magic. In the end, Khoma wins and, probably, the magical power that Pannochka possessed passed to Khoma, that is, before her death, she transferred her magical powers and knowledge to Khoma. It was probably this knowledge that she had in mind when she said before her death “he knows”. It was the appearance of a new force that caused that “strange, new feeling” that took possession of him after the struggle, and it was precisely this that he experienced on the way to Kyiv. Modern authors, for example, Aleksey Ateev, in his stories "The Sun of the Dead" and "Silver Bullet" also speak about the emergence of a new feeling when gaining magical knowledge. The same author also writes that this new feeling, clearly felt after receiving it, soon passes, which we see in Gogol: “On the same evening they saw the philosopher in the tavern .... I didn’t think at all about my unusual incident. ” However, it is likely that this new knowledge, including a certain influence on people, helped him to be fed that evening and get “half a gold”, and this same knowledge allowed that “unaccountable feeling that he himself could not explain to himself” to appear. which arose from him at the behest of the rector to go to the farm.

During a rest in a tavern, when the philosopher tried to escape, “his legs became as if made of wood,” while the author does not write that Khoma drank a lot. Therefore, it can be assumed that Pannochka again had an influence on his condition, being already dead at that time. He received the powers of that world already, that is, the witch does not allow him to escape. A similar influence occurs when a bursak decides to run away after the second night, and instead runs a circle and comes back.

The incident with the kennel Mikita perhaps illustrates the archetypal image of the witch's night flight without a broom, only a person plays the role of a broom. As you know, in traditional witchcraft, the broom acts as a symbolic means with which you can go beyond the limits of our world and find yourself in the incomprehensible reality of another world. Probably, in the case of the kennel, this also worked for a deeper comprehension of a different reality. The witch needs a stronger guide, which Homa should have been. However, Pannochka probably underestimated his abilities, which led to her tragic end. Meanwhile, it can be assumed that the witch knew how this meeting would end and used Homa to transfer the knowledge of this world in order to gain knowledge of the other world instead. As you know, a sorcerer or witch cannot die without passing on their knowledge.

Let's take a closer look at the scene where the funeral takes place. This great battle between two representatives of magic that takes place in the temple. When describing the church, we see that it stands on some such visible or invisible edge. This boundary position of the church is emphasized: “they finally stepped beyond the dilapidated church fence into a small courtyard, behind which there was not a tree, and one empty field and meadows swallowed up by the darkness of the night were opened” .

God's temple for Christians is a bright place not only for joint prayer, but also as a gate, an entrance that connects this world and the other world, the world of Eternal Life. Gogol's temple is "dark, terribly neglected, that it has not been served in it for a long time." This is not surprising, given the nature of the centurion's daughter. However, he, this collapsed temple, is the entrance.

This is illustrated by the difference in the two landscapes. In one case, we are faced with the neglected natural splendor of the garden, with islands of huts that barely peek out from the greenery, in the other, with emptiness, with an “empty field” and “meadows swallowed up by night darkness”. We can assume that in the poetics of the story, this church is the entrance not to Eternal Life, but to non-existence, to emptiness. To eternal death.

One can draw an analogy with a hut on chicken legs, which is the boundary that separates the realm of the living from the realm of the dead. Baba Yaga in such a hut is a border creature, not alive and not dead, it introduces the good fellow into another, other world. Gogol's Pannochka is as dual as Baba Yaga. She also introduces the philosopher Khoma to another world, more precisely, to the other side of the world. The only difference is that, unlike the good fellow, Brutus will never escape from there. We emphasize once again that Homa wants to achieve a difficult goal - to tame the corpse that worries him, but only achieves that the witch simply does not see him.

During the philosopher’s stay in the church on the first two nights, he read “prayers and spells”, and on the third night, he immediately began with spells and, moreover, did it already unconsciously “turned over one sheet, then turned over another and noticed that he was reading completely not what is written in the book, ”he read prayers“ at random ”. It can be assumed that the influence on his subconscious, again, came from outside. Thus, in the church, as well as in the inn, there is also a battle between two magical forces, with the help of spells. Yet, unlike the duel at the inn, the witch's spells in the church had greater power. After all, she could fly (in a coffin), cause wind and evil spirits, and Khoma's spells only helped him remain invisible, and then up to a certain point. He could not even level the influence of evil spirits on the subconscious with spells, which in the end led to his death. Thus, in the church there is a battle of representatives of magic, but already on different sides - the world of the living and the dead. After death, the witch receives the knowledge and power of the world of the dead, but not enough to cope with Homa without the help of Viy. She simply does not see him, because the dead cannot see the living. After visual contact with Wiy, Khoma becomes visible to the dwarves, and his knowledge and power that he possesses can no longer help him, since only the dead can control the representatives of the other world. He looked at Viy not at all out of curiosity, but because Viy possessed too much power of submission, and therefore the philosopher simply had no chance to survive.

Thus, in the battle of religion and magic, the former loses this battle. Probably, the author shows that there is not enough faith in people, and the priests are not yet ready to instruct people and lead them, since they themselves do not have this faith.

Literature

1. Gogol N.V. Collected Works [Text]. In 7 vols. T. 2. Mirgorod / N. V. Gogol; comments S. Mashinsky.- M.: Khudozh. lit., 1984.- 319 p.

2. "The Art of Cinema", 1998, No. 11, p. 26.

When analyzing the story "Viy", it immediately catches the eye that it is a work in which, like in other early stories of Gogol, romanticism is inextricably mixed with realism: genre paintings are replaced by fantastic ones, fictitious images - some kind of mystical monsters, the product of a frightened imagination people and the author himself, stand next to the most ordinary people. Pictures of idyllic-peaceful nature are mixed here by Gogol with landscapes full of mystical horror and anxiety.

Romantic element in Vie

romantic element The story is most noticeable in its analysis in the development of popular belief in the existence of some mysterious Viy, in the existence of witches and in the possibility of their communication with ordinary people. The beautiful pannochka, the centurion's daughter, has the ability to turn into a dog and an old woman; she drinks the blood of people, especially children; she's carried on the shoulders of the guys she likes and tortures them. About her, many terrible stories are known by her father's yards. She is also in communication with representatives of the "evil spirits" - with the dark forces of the earth, which are personified in the form of demonic devils, and Viy - whom Gogol himself calls the "chief of the gnomes".

The passion of the romantics for using the magical motifs of folk art was also inherent in Gogol. A hint was enough for him to make his own imagination easily and freely begin to create in this area. Gogol gravitated toward this world of fantasy and otherworldly life, probably because, nervous and impressionable from childhood, he himself was no stranger to mysticism.

That is why everything terrible that happened at night in the church, near the coffin of the witch, is described by Gogol in such bright, lively colors that it gives the impression of a nightmare, a feverish hallucination. In Russian literature there was no picture more terrible than this scene "Viya", in which, unbridled to the point of pain, the writer's fantasy - romance so amazingly combined with the descriptive power of the artist- realist.

To what painful insight into the "fantastic" Gogol reaches in Viy is best seen, at least, from the description of that magical night that Khoma Brut experienced, running with a witch on his shoulders.

Even from a brief analysis of the description of that "night of miracles" - a mystical night when miracles happen, when everything sleeps "with open eyes" and silently speaks great secrets - it is clear that all this was experienced by Gogol, felt by him clearly to the point of horror.

Homa Brutus carries a witch. Illustrations for Gogol's story "Viy". Artist A. Kukushkin

It is impossible to imagine "magical" more realistically. This is again some kind of hallucination - a story about one's own, once seen, dream.

What pale, "non-terrible" dead people seem to be those who are so often found in the works of Zhukovsky, if we compare them with the realistic description in "Vie" of the dead face of a beautiful witch, with her dead, unseeing eyes!

Realistic element in "Wie"

realistic element, revealed in the analysis of the story "Viy", was expressed in Gogol's description of the life of the old pre-reform Kyiv bursa, in the outline of typical bursaks and yard pan-centurion.

Bursa was a kind of school in which only the "chosen ones" - people with outstanding abilities and scientific interests, acquired an education, - the majority did not learn anything, but they took out characters from there that were quite suitable for the needs of that tough, harsh time. The students were brutally beaten there, kept starving, and the students, in turn, were mostly engaged in beating each other, and taking care of their own food. The entertainment there was rough and harsh. It is not surprising that, after such an upbringing, many went straight to the Zaporizhzhya Sich, to seek there “knightly honor” and a free life beyond any laws.

The image of Homa Brutus in "Vie". National Little Russian traits of his character

Gogol presented the "philosopher" Khoma Brutus as the hero of the story "Viy". This young man is an image in which another typical pure-Little Russian folk features are collected. An analysis of the character of Khoma shows a person endowed to an excess with spiritual indifference, which was sometimes tinged with humor, sometimes just phlegm and laziness. What to be, that cannot be avoided ”- his usual saying, with which he is ready to go towards the devil himself without a fight. Such fatalism very soon brings this Gogol's hero into an emotional balance, from which it is difficult to get him out. After his adventure with the witch, Khoma Brut ate a hearty meal in the tavern and immediately calmed down, “looked at those who came and went with cool, satisfied eyes, and did not at all think about his unusual incident.” In church, he, looking at the terrible witch, calms himself with a magical: "nothing!"; when horror creeps into his heart, he drives it away with the same magical reminder to himself that he is a “Cossack”, that he is ashamed to be “afraid” of anything.

After the first terrible night in the church, Brutus, after a hearty dinner, immediately begins to feel calm and content. “The philosopher was one of those people who, if fed, then extraordinary philanthropy awakens in them. He, lying with his pipe in his teeth, looked at everyone with unusually sweet eyes and continuously spat to the side. Having turned gray from the horrors of the second night, Khoma, to questions about what happens at night in the church, calmly answers: “There is a lot of fighting in the world! But such fears happen... Well...” – and said nothing more. Preparing for the third, last night, Khoma tries to take the last joy from life and starts such a dance that everyone looks at him with amazement.

Khoma Brut and Viy. Illustrations for Gogol's story. Artist A. Kukushkin

The characteristic image of the Cossack-philosopher, fatalist and phlegmatic, was drawn by Gogol more than once before writing "Viya", and after that. The old storytellers, into whose mouths Gogol puts his "insurable tales", almost all of them are distinguished by the same composure. “What an absurdity! Who in his lifetime did not know the unclean! ”, One calmly argues. In Viy, the friends of the deceased Homa Brutus are the same "philosophers". “So God gave him! - calmly declares the fatalist Freebie. “Let’s go to the tavern and commemorate his soul!” Another friend, Tiberius Gorobets, calmly declares: “I know why he disappeared: because he was afraid; and if he had not been afraid, then the witch could not have done anything with him. You just need to cross yourself and spit on her very tail, then nothing will happen! I already know all this. After all, in Kyiv all the women who sit in the market are all witches. These words are imbued not with a desire to joke, brag, lie, but with an unshakable faith in the truth of one’s words and imperturbable calmness ... This amazing feature, penetrating not only “Viy”, but many other stories of Gogol, is perhaps national, Little Russian. A realist, according to his worldview, a Little Russian knows how to present everything magical, fantastic in his fairy tales and legends in reality. And only under this condition, the magical, even the terrible, can be presented humorously.

Other heroes of "Viya"

The "realistic" element of "Vii" should be attributed, in its analysis, to the still fluent, but masterfully made characteristics of other heroes - friends of Khoma Brut and the yard centurion. Gogol was especially successful in depicting the drunken conversation of Khoma's watchmen who had been on a spree, from the individual jerky phrases that they exchange, the physiognomy of each one clearly and definitely looms.

With regard to the “psychological” analysis of the characters by the author, the story “Viy” is also of great interest: Gogol managed to depict a gradual increase in fear in the fearless, calm heart of a student.

In a footnote to the story, Gogol says: “Viy is a colossal creation of the common people's imagination. This is the name given by the Little Russians to the head of the dwarfs, whose eyelids go all the way to the ground before his eyes. This whole story is folk tradition. I did not want to change it in anything and I tell it in almost the same simplicity as I heard it.

This is evidenced, at least, by his own admission that scary tales in childhood greatly occupied and worried him. In the story "Old World Landowners" Gogol in one place recalls how often in childhood he heard a mysterious voice calling him by name. “I confess,” he says, “I have always been afraid of this mysterious call. I remember hearing it often as a child. Sometimes suddenly behind me someone clearly pronounces my name. I usually then ran with the greatest fear and breathless from the garden ... "

“Forests, meadows, sky, valleys - everything seemed to be sleeping with open eyes; the wind at least once fluttered somewhere; there was something damp-warm in the night freshness; shadows from trees and bushes, like comets, fell in sharp wedges on the sloping plain; such was the night when the philosopher Homa Brutus rode with an incomprehensible rider on his back ... ".

“... He felt some languid, unpleasant, and at the same time sweet feeling, rising to his heart. He lowered his head down and saw that the grass, which was almost under his feet, seemed to grow deep and far, and that above it was water, transparent as a mountain spring, and the grass seemed to be the bottom of some light, transparent to the very depths, seas; at least he saw clearly how he was reflected in it together with the old woman sitting on her back. He saw how, instead of a moon, some kind of sun shone there; he heard the blue bells, tilting their heads, ringing; he saw a mermaid swim out from behind a sedge... Does he see it, or does he not see it? Am I waking it up, or is it a dream? But what is there? wind or music? ringing, ringing and winding, and rises, and pierces the soul with some intolerable trill.

"What is it?" thought the philosopher Homa Brutus, looking down, rushing at full speed... He felt a demonically sweet feeling, he felt some tormentingly terrible pleasure...”.

He was named "Philosopher" because he was in the penultimate class of the bursa. In the last class only "theology" was taught, and the students were called "theologians"; in the penultimate grade, "philosophy" was taught - and the students were called "philosophers."

The most long-awaited event for the seminary is vacancies, when bursaks (state-owned seminarians) go home. In groups they are sent from Kyiv along the high road, earning their livelihood with spiritual chants in wealthy farms.

Three bursaks: the theologian Khalyava, the philosopher Khoma Brut and the rhetorician Tiberius Gorobets, having lost their way in the night, go out to the farm. The old hostess lets the Bursaks spend the night on the condition that they put everyone in different places. Khoma Brutus is about to fall asleep like a dead man in an empty sheepshed, when suddenly an old woman enters. With sparkling eyes, she catches Homa and jumps onto his shoulders. “Hey, yes, this is a witch,” the student guesses, but he is already rushing above the ground, sweat is rolling off him in a hail. He begins to remember all the prayers and feels that the witch is weakening at the same time. With the speed of lightning, Khoma manages to jump out from under the old woman, jumps on her back, picks up the log and begins to walk around the witch. Wild cries are heard, the old woman falls to the ground in exhaustion - and now a young beauty lies with her last moans in front of Khoma. In fear, the student starts running at full speed and returns to Kyiv.

Khoma is summoned by the rector and ordered to go to a distant farm to the richest centurion - to read prayers for the funeral for his daughter, who returned from a beaten walk. Panna's dying wish: the seminarian Khoma Brut should read the last three nights on her. So that he would not run away along the road, a wagon and six healthy Kozaks were sent. When the bursak is brought in, the centurion asks him where he met his daughter. But Khoma himself does not know this. When they bring him to the coffin, he recognizes the same witch in the pannochka.

At dinner, the student listens to the stories of the Kozakovs about the tricks of the lady-witch. By nightfall, he is locked up in the church where the coffin stands. Khoma goes to the kliros and begins to read prayers. The witch gets up from the coffin, but stumbles upon the circle outlined by Homa around herself. She returns to the coffin, flies around the church in it, but loud prayers and a circle protect Khoma. The coffin falls, a green corpse rises from it, but a distant cock crow is heard. The witch falls into the coffin and the lid slams shut.

During the day, the bursak sleeps, drinks vodka, wanders around the village, and in the evening he becomes more and more thoughtful. They take him back to church. He draws a lifeline, reads aloud and raises his head. The corpse is already standing nearby, staring at him with dead, green eyes. The wind carries the terrible words of witch spells through the church, countless evil spirits are breaking in the doors. The crowing of a rooster again stops the demonic action. Homa, who has become gray-haired, is found barely alive in the morning. He asks the centurion to let him go, but he threatens with a terrible punishment for disobedience. Homa tries to run, but he is caught.

The silence of the third hellish night inside the church explodes with the crack of the iron lid of the coffin. The witch's teeth chatter, spells screech, doors are ripped off their hinges, and a myriad of monsters fill the room with the sound of wings and the scratching of claws. Homa is already singing prayers with all his might. "Bring Viy!" the witch screams. A squat clubfooted monster with an iron face, the leader of evil spirits, enters the church with heavy steps. He orders to raise his eyelids. "Don't look!" - Khoma hears an inner voice, but does not hold back and looks. "There he is!" Viy points at him with an iron finger. The impure force rushes at the philosopher, and the spirit flies out of him. For the second time the rooster crows, the first one was listened to by the spirits. They run away, but they don't make it. And so it remains forever to stand the church with monsters stuck in the doors and windows, overgrown with weeds, and no one will find a way to it now.

Having learned about the fate of Khoma, Tiberius Gorobets and Freebie commemorate his soul in Kyiv, concluding after the third round: the philosopher disappeared because he was afraid.

The only and joyful event in the seminary comes when the seminarians are allowed to go home. In groups they set off from Kyiv along the high road, earning their food with spiritual chants in wealthy farms.

Once, three seminarians: the theologian Khalyava, the philosopher Thomas, and the rhetorician Tiberius set out on their journey. At night, having lost their way, they come to a small farm. The hostess allows travelers to spend the night on the condition that she will place them in different places. Foma, located in the sheepshed, is trying to fall asleep. Suddenly an old woman comes in and, flashing her eyes, catches Foma. She jumps nimbly onto his shoulders. But Foma did not have time to come to his senses and think that this was a witch, as he rushed over the earth. He remembered all the prayers and felt the powers of the witch weaken. Having contrived, he pushes the old woman and jumps on her back, striking with a log. Wild screams were heard. The old woman falls to the ground, and instead of her lies a young girl who groans. Foma, frightened, flees to Kyiv.

The rector, having called Foma, orders to go to a distant farm to a rich centurion to read a prayer for his daughter. When Foma is brought to the farm, the centurion asks how he met his daughter, since before her death she asked to read the waste three nights in a row. Approaching the coffin, he recognizes the witch in the pannochka.

The night has come. Thomas is locked up in the church. He begins to read prayers, drawing a circle around him. The witch gets up from the coffin and tries to approach Thomas, but stumbles upon a circle. Returning to the coffin, she flies around the church in it until she falls, as a cock crow is heard and the lid slams shut. During the day, Foma sleeps, drinks vodka, and in the evening he is overcome by gloomy thoughts. Here again he is led to the church, where he again draws a circle and reads prayers. Raising his head, he sees a witch standing nearby. The terrible words of spells are carried by the wind through the church, but only one can hear how the evil spirit is breaking in the door and howling.

With the crowing of a rooster, the demonic action ceases. Thomas turned gray after the second night, and they carried him out of the church alive. The silence of the third hellish night explodes with the crack of the iron lid of the coffin. Spells screech, doors are ripped off their hinges, and a vast host of monsters fill the room with the sound of wings and the scratching of claws. The witch orders Viy to be brought. The clumsy monster, the leader of evil spirits, enters the church with heavy steps. Foma's forces are weakening, and Viy, pointing at Foma with his finger, surrounds and strangles him.

The rooster crowed a second time and the unclean ones rush out of the church, but do not have time. The church was left standing with monsters stuck in the doors and windows. It is no longer visible where the church is, as everything is overgrown with grass. No one can find a way to her there, much less get out. Foma's friends commemorate the soul in Kyiv. Foma disappeared because he was afraid.

Homa Brut was a student-philosopher of the Kyiv church institution, he was somehow released for the holidays. He got home on foot. Evening caught him on the road, and he asked to stay with the old woman for the night. At night he woke up from the fact that at night an old woman with a wildly shining gaze came to him. She jumped on his back and began to urge him on with a broom. Homa panicked, because it was a witch.

Brutus leaped through space, rushing the witch on his back. Reading prayers, he managed to throw off the old woman. After that, he himself jumped on her back, and began to beat her with a log. The old woman screamed terribly, in a hoarse voice. After some time, her voice became more attractive and real. When the witch fell to the ground, he saw that it was not an old woman prostrated on the ground, but an unconscious, very beautiful young girl.

The golden-domed domes of Kyiv churches were already very close. Khoma left the girl lying on the ground, and he rushed headlong towards the city. In the near future, he almost forgot about what had happened. At the same time, it was known about the daughter of the richest centurion. His daughter, returning from a party, was beaten to death. Her last wish was that after her death, all three nights Khoma would read the prayer for her.

The seminarian sensed something was wrong, but there was nothing to be done. He had to go to the centurion, but he thought of running away at the first opportunity.

The centurion was surprised, in honor of which his daughter entrusted some unfamiliar Khoma to perform the prayer of departure. However, the father decided to fulfill her will. The philosopher was escorted to the coffin with the body of a young lady. Glancing, Khoma immediately recognized her as a witch who had saddled him in the night.

The coffin was placed in a temple on the outskirts of the village. When Khoma sat down to eat with the Cossacks in the evening, he heard everyone say that the deceased was a witch. The villagers saw a lot of evil from her.

Several Cossacks escorted the philosopher to the temple, where the body of a young pannochka rested. He was very shy, despite the fact that he drank vodka. During the prayer, Khoma did not take his eyes off the coffin. Suddenly, the pannochka got up and began to walk around the temple.

In fright, Khoma drew a circle around his place and began to pray even louder. The witch wanted to catch him, but the dead pannochka had no opportunity to cross the line of the circle, she constantly slowed down on this line. Pannochka returned to the coffin only after the first roosters had crowed.

In the morning, opening the doors, the Cossacks saw Khoma, very tired. In the evening he was again escorted to the church and shut up there.

Before starting the prayer, the philosopher again drew a circle. The lifeless body of the girl rose from the coffin again and stopped right in front of him on the line. She chattered her teeth, repeating inarticulate incantations. Something incredible began to happen in the temple - a strong wind blew, nasty, winged creatures beat through the windows ... It all ended again after the first roosters crowed. During that night, Khoma was barely alive and gray-haired.

Having met with the pan, he told him that he would no longer go to pray in church. However, the pan was persistent. He demanded to spend the rest of the night in the temple, promising to flog Homa with whips for failure to comply. Khoma tried to escape, but was caught and brought back.

Khoma and the deceased were locked up in the temple for the last time. He, as in previous nights, drew a circle around himself and began to pray. The dead woman stood up again and began to call on various monsters to help her. Arriving evil spirits knocked out windows and doors in the temple, rushed around Khoma. However, none of them saw the praying philosopher. Then the lady screamed for Viy to be brought to her.

Viy appeared and looked very creepy. His body was covered with earth, and his arms and legs were like strong roots, his eyelids descended to the very ground. Viy in a terrible voice demanded to raise his eyelids. Something inside Homa whispered to him - "Don't look!", but he could not stand it and looked. "He's here!" Viy shouted pointing at Homa. The evil spirit immediately attacked Homa. And the unfortunate man died of fear.

Homa's comrades learning about what happened. It was concluded that his death was due to fear.

the main idea

This story teaches faith in God, in their own strength. Responsibly refers to the work begun, even if not of his own free will. As the saying goes, “Trust in God, but don’t make a mistake yourself!”

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Gogol. All works

• Evening on the eve of Ivan Kupala
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• Overcoat

Viy. Picture for the story

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