Analysis of Chekhov's work “Surgery. Characteristics of the main characters of the work Czech surgery

Answers (2)

In A.P. Chekhov's story "Surgery" there are two characters

1. Kuryatin is a paramedic at the zemstvo hospital. He is a fat man of about forty, dressed in a worn chechunchka jacket and frayed sweatpants. He sees patients in place of the doctor, who is absent for family reasons. While there are no patients, he smokes a cigar, from which the stench spreads. If you look at his face, you can see an expression of a sense of duty on it. But is it? When a sick sexton enters his waiting room, Kuryatin first yawns, then with a smart look begins to discuss how best to pull out a sick tooth. He tries to tear with forceps, but only causes pain to the patient. The paramedic breaks a tooth, calls the exhausted sexton “ignorant” and in the end simply sends him out of the office.

2. Deacon Vonmiglasov, a tall, stocky old man in a brown cassock and a wide leather belt, is a patient who came to the zemstvo hospital for medical assistance. He has a toothache, he is afraid, he is ready to curry favor with the paramedic if only he will help him. But Kuryatin, having tormented Vonmiglasov considerably, could not remove his tooth, since he did not have sufficient medical knowledge. And the sexton is stunned, with a broken tooth, pain, resentment, takes the prosphora that he brought to the paramedic, swears and goes home.

In that short story There are only two heroes: sexton Vonmiglasov and paramedic Kuryatin. The plot is close to the joke genre. The plot of the work is the arrival of sexton Vonmiglasov, suffering from toothache, to the zemstvo hospital. Development of action. The characters are very kind to each other. The sexton humbly listens to the paramedic's reasoning about surgery and praises him for the work that has not yet been done. But here comes the climax - the tooth is not removed. Happening abrupt change moods of the heroes. The second culmination is a repeated attempt to pull out a tooth. The denouement of the story is the departure of Vonmiglasov for nothing, mutual accusations of the heroes. The ending remains open. The plot is chronological, that is, events unfold in order, in accordance with the passage of time. A.P. Chekhov masterfully creates images of heroes using speech characteristics. The sexton's speech is richly colored with quotations from the Holy Scriptures, it is dominated by exclamation sentences. He cherishes the dream of quickly parting with a bad tooth, happy that he can do this despite the absence of a doctor. Paramedic Kuryatin mentions the Egyptian landowner several times throughout the story. For the first time, his name, education, and living in St. Petersburg sound to the sexton as a promise of a successful and quick outcome of the operation. Since such a person was saved from a toothache by a paramedic, Vonmiglasov thinks, it means his fate is in good hands. Subsequent mentions of him create a comical impression, since, according to Kuryatin, Egyptian did not howl in pain, did not curse, did not grab the hapless surgeon by the hands, but maintained his presence of mind. Apparently this landowner was his only patient. The paramedic's speech is dominated by unfinished sentences and repetitions of the same words. They help to portray a person who knows his business only by hearsay. This is also evidenced by the fact that the paramedic several times selects an instrument as if by chance, at random, each time doubting the correctness of the choice. How does the writer introduce us to his characters? Does he draw detailed portraits of them? No, he most often detailed description replaces it with a bright artistic detail.

What details complement the characteristics of Chicken? (There is an expression of duty and pleasantness on the face, a cigar spreading a stench. - In the doctor’s office, where it should be sterile, they smoke).

Chekhov often uses telling surnames. What does a paramedic’s last name say about his character and qualifications? (Behind the external well-being lies the hero’s ignorance, his bad manners. He only creates important view) .

What does the last name of the patient of the unlucky paramedic say? How does Chekhov describe Vonmiglasova? (Not finding the icon, he crosses himself onto a bottle of carbolic solution, takes out the prosphora, tries to teach Kuryatin, and in the end quarrels with him).

What do these details say? (About Vonmiglasov’s attitude to religion, his upbringing).

Dialogue construction of the story. Why does Anton Pavlovich have so much dialogue in his stories? (Dialogue helps to convey the attitude of the characters towards each other, the dynamics of the plot development.)

The story is structured as a dialogue between two characters. This is a story and a skit. What do the heroes say? (They use colloquial words in their speech.)

Dialogue - individual uniqueness of the characters' speech. Speech is the basis of characterization of heroes.

Let's see how the characters behave. (Sergey Kuzmich pretends that he knowledgeable doctor. He defines surgery twice and each time differently, and then blames the sexton, saying that surgery is a delicate matter. Vosmiglasov first bows to Kuryatin, and then begins to give advice and swear.)

Speech: laconic phrases, simple sentences, many verbs, almost no epithets. There are no epithets, because what he writes about looks very unsightly.

The main characters of the story “Surgery” are the paramedic of the zemstvo hospital Kuryatin and the sexton Vonmiglasov. In the absence of a doctor in the hospital, a paramedic conducts the appointment instead. Vonmiglasov comes to him with a complaint about a bad tooth. After examining the patient, Kuryatin confidently declares that the tooth must be removed.

The sexton, completely and completely trusting the opinion of the paramedic, agrees with such a decision. At the same time, he tries to speak as flatteringly as possible about the paramedic’s abilities in removing diseased teeth. Kuryatin, meanwhile, talking out loud about the upcoming operation, goes to choose an instrument. Along the way, he recalls how he successfully removed a tooth from the Egyptian landowner. However, when choosing a tool, a certain uncertainty is observed in the actions of the paramedic. Taking one of them at random, he returns to the patient.

The paramedic's efforts to extract the tooth are in vain. At the same time, the patient, already beside himself with pain, changes the tone of communication and begins to scold the hapless “surgeon”. However, Kuryatin does not give up and, having seated Vonmiglasov in his place, tries again to pull out the tooth. But as a result of his inept actions, the tooth splits into two parts.

Vonmiglasov, making sure that the tooth has not been pulled out, reproaches the paramedic. He does not remain in debt and grumpily answers the sexton, motivating the failure by the fact that Vonmiglasov interfered with him during the operation. Dissatisfied, Vonmiglasov leaves the hospital without having the aching tooth removed. That's how it is summary story.

The main idea of the story “Surgery” is that self-confidence combined with ignorance ultimately gives a bad result. Kuryatin, who undertook to remove Vonmiglasov’s tooth in the absence of a doctor, did not have the necessary skills and experience. He only worsened the patient’s condition, and at the same time tried to blame the sexton for his failure. The story teaches not to be overly trusting in matters related to health.

What proverbs fit the story “Surgery”?

Ignorance makes people overly bold.
Don’t be self-confident, but be exemplary in action.
Being too trusting is like scooping water with your hand.

Many works by A.P. Chekhov's stories, although they make the reader laugh, still serve to express moral values and important ideas. For example, the story “Surgery” poses to society the pressing question of ignorance in such an industry as protecting the health of citizens. By calling the book the name of an entire medical field, the author generalizes, thereby saying that all medicine in Russia is in a deplorable state, and not just the zemstvo hospital. He knew from experience how the state needed not only health care reforms and appropriate funding, but also a responsible attitude of people to this position. It is the problem of his absence that the writer’s work is devoted to.

The writer takes the plot as a basis real case from medical practice that time. Being a doctor, he knew that there were a lot of non-professionals working in this field who did not treat, but maimed. Surgery is precisely the area of medicine where mistakes are most painful and obvious. The author exposes a pressing problem in a society where healthcare for low-income people is becoming a lottery, where it is almost impossible to win and where losing is very costly. Therefore, Chekhov’s work can be classified as an acutely social story.

The author focuses on ridiculing vices, that is, he wants to correct the current situation. If people see how ridiculous their behavior is, they will stop behaving that way. Laughter hurts a person, unlike moralizing attacks and teachings. In style, the writer is even closer to the feuilleton. Accurate characteristics of the heroes indicate their shortcomings, revealing the vicious nature hiding behind them. Their external appearance is not as funny as the internal ugliness of the soul. The humor in "Surgery" plays the role of an accuser who is pleasant to listen to, despite his accusations. It even manifests itself in the plot: the doctor left to get married, the paramedic doesn’t know how to do anything, but still gets to work, the sexton either has enough or curses the doctor, because he is unable to love his neighbor and endure earthly torment. Thus, the work can be called a humorous story.

What is the story about?

The action takes place in the zemstvo hospital on a Sunday, where paramedic Kuryatin receives patients because the doctor has left to get married. Vonmiglasov comes there with a toothache. At first, the patient praises the doctor: “That’s what you, benefactors, have been appointed to do, may God grant you health, so that we will be for you day and night, dear fathers... to the grave of our lives...”. Kuryatin himself claims that surgery is nothing... just a piece of cake. But after an unsuccessful attempt to pull out a tooth, both of them change their point of view: the sexton begins to swear, and the failed dentist defends himself by saying that pulling a tooth is not an easy task. During the second attempt, the patient has two protrusions in his mouth in place of the tooth, which completely drives him crazy: “They planted you here, Herods, to our destruction!” The doctor tries to justify himself by saying that he already removed a tooth from a certain Egyptian landowner, but he talks about it so vaguely that you can’t help but wonder: was there a landowner? The sexton goes home, and the paramedic does not even try to correct the situation. Chekhov chose an open ending for the work: the patient leaves the office, and here the story ends abruptly.

Main characters

The characters are depicted in the satirical manner characteristic of the writer. He focused on their comic behavior and painted an ironic portrait of an entire class. Their characters are schematic, but at the same time they contain the fruits of the author’s close observation of the changing and pulsating reality. The heroes of the story “Surgery” by Chekhov are designed in the black and white colors of the feuilleton: they are deprived of a full-fledged inner world. The images are built around one vice, which is ridiculed and condemned. The reader does not see their lives, families and circumstances that influenced the formation of their personality. The important thing, and Anton Pavlovich emphasizes this, is that vices develop with the tacit consent of society. We all don't pay attention to what's going on and we don't do anything to fix it.

Paramedic Kuryatin. A narcissistic, important, ignorant person who loves to talk and show off. He has a remarkable conceit, and even if life itself destroys it, he is always ready to give a bunch of excuses, contradicting himself. He changes his point of view depending on what he needs to sell to his interlocutor. Medical worker he doesn’t feel any particular responsibility, he simply sits out his duty, while trying to maintain a feigned “niceness” and not hurt anyone. From a professional point of view, he is an amateur. The author gives him a humorous description:

“A fat man of about forty, wearing a worn chechunchka jacket and frayed jersey trousers. There is an expression of duty and pleasantness on the face. Between the index and middle fingers of the left hand is a cigar, spreading a stench.”

Deacon Vonmiglasov. Hypocritical, narrow-minded, talkative, rude and impulsive. Changes opinion like gloves, depending on what's in it this moment feels. He does not need evidence or reflection to draw a conclusion, just superficial impressions are enough, and the judgment is ready. This hero also went to work not according to his calling: he is too stupid to serve in the church with dignity. The character is frivolous, but at the same time he is distinguished by hypocrisy. Religion for him is simply a convention: “For a second the sexton looks for an icon with his eyes and, not finding one, crosses himself over a bottle of carbolic solution, then takes out a prosphora from a red handkerchief and places it in front of the paramedic with a bow.”

The characterization of heroes is one of the brightest means of creating a comic effect in Chekhov’s works. The book “Surgery” is one of the best of its kind, because it is still relevant. Ignorance harms not only the individual, but also the entire society. It does not develop because it is deaf to progress and lives only for the sake of obtaining petty benefits and a consumer existence devoid of a higher goal. The writer laughs at this, but it is not a cheerful laugh, but a sad smile, because over the years little has changed in Russia.

Themes

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov raises the topic of blatant unprofessionalism on the part of people who take responsibility for the health and life of the patient. The lack of knowledge and skills necessary for high-quality performance of work destroys specialists, killing their creative impulse to work. They serve their time at work without thinking at all about how to do better. They only think about how to get benefits and deceive the client, and general level trust in Russian workers is falling. Most importantly, for good reason. Domestic medicine Only people with low incomes use it for lack of anything better. Therefore, the field of activity itself is dying, because talented and smart people They don’t see any prospects in it.
Laziness. The writer in the story “Surgery” ridicules the ignorance and stupidity of the philistines who only want to earn money and not work. The paramedic did not bother to master the necessary skills and knowledge and is quite satisfied with his lack of professionalism, hoping “at random.”
Hypocrisy. We see another “chameleon” Kuryatin, who treats the sexton with disdain and remembers the landowner with admiration. Insincerity once again falls under the author's radar. In addition, there is also a problem here social inequality: Medicine is better for the rich than for the poor.
Hypocrisy. The clerk crosses himself on the bottle; his religious feeling comes down to observance of customs. It is important to him what people think, so ostentatious faith is his constant companion.

the main idea

The work is full of meaning, although it is not large in volume. The main idea of the story "Surgery" is that ignorance and hypocrisy harm the entire society, and not a specific character. After such disservices, people will not go to the doctor; they will remain, like a sexton, with negative consequences their untreated illnesses. They will think that this is how all medicine is and will be afraid of treatment, as they will mentally associate it with an incompetent paramedic and an irresponsible doctor. Patients will go to healers or let the disease progress to a disastrous outcome. Thus, each specialist must perform his duties professionally and responsibly, because it is he who makes his contribution to the organization of public order.

Each of us must, to the best of our ability, not succumb to laziness and make ourselves a real professional who will really help and defend the honor of the uniform. It is precisely such people who lead the country to a bright future, and do not drag it into the abyss of crude and vulgar vegetation in a world where everyone only wants profit. The meaning in Chekhov's story has a cleansing effect; it teaches a person to look at himself from the outside without rose-colored glasses. Thus, healing effect Such literature is based on the ability of a doctor to open an abscess and treat a wound, but not of a person, but of an entire society. The reader laughs because he himself saw this sore and felt the pain, but did not pay attention. However, a doctor is a doctor to honestly tell the patient the whole truth about his condition and prescribe treatment.

What does the story teach?

In many of Chekhov’s works the ending remains open, and here everything ends with an ellipsis: “The sexton takes his prosphora from the table and, holding his cheek with his hand, goes home...”. It would seem that the author does not answer the questions posed. However, this opinion is wrong. An unfinished narrative provides food for imagination. The reader’s thoughts complete the picture: the church minister told the parishioners about what had happened, and they decided on their own that there was no need for treatment. Thus, the unfortunate paramedic has discredited the profession, and now there is no trust not only in him, but in all doctors. That is, each of us thinks about a person’s personal responsibility for all the bad things that happen around us. For example, people can die without timely assistance doctors, but refuse it on principle because they do not believe in its benefits.

The story evokes conflicting feelings and, among other things, teaches us not to draw hasty conclusions. On the one hand, it is not the paramedic’s fault that the doctor left, and the doctor also has the right to personal life. You can’t indiscriminately blame them for not being able to do everything possible to help. I just feel sorry for them, because working conditions in the provinces have always been difficult. Is there really only one doctor in the hospital? If so, he can’t sit there around the clock. On the other hand, they both treat their work irresponsibly, that is, they leave their post on duty and take on what they do not know how to do. This causes a feeling of irritation and indignation, because their negligence can cost a person’s life. This duality is the value of the work “Surgery”; it provokes us to think. Each situation must be subjected to a comprehensive analysis, and not be content with a narrow and biased view, like a narrow-minded and hypocritical sexton.

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For more than 100 years, admirers of Russian literature have had the opportunity to enjoy reading humorous and satirical stories by A.P. Chekhov. “Surgery”, “Chameleon”, “Thick and Thin”, “Death of an Official” and many other works show the writer’s attitude towards moral ugliness, the loss of humanity in a person. A.P. Chekhov in his stories often makes fun of stupidity, ignorance and other people. At the same time, the writer skillfully directs the sting of satire not only at the main character of his work, but also at those people who come into conflict with him, being unable to wisely get out of an unpleasant situation.

Short and meaningful stories are the main path of A.P. Chekhov

Chekhov's story “Surgery” once again emphasizes the opinion of numerous literary critics that the writer is a master of writing miniature novels. This opinion is also supported by a number of phrases used by the writer in his time: “The art of writing is the art of abbreviation”, “Brevity is the sister of talent”, “Language should be simple and elegant”, etc. Chekhov, like no one else, knew how to write briefly talk about global things. With a few strokes he could give a comprehensive description of any person.

A.P. Chekhov never introduced readers to the previous biography of the heroes of his stories, their parents or ancestors before they began to perform any actions described in the story. The author always began stories with the very behavior of a person, his words, thoughts and feelings associated with one or another action he performed. Description appearance main characters or settings are the most that can be found in Chekhov's stories. "Surgery" is no exception to this rule. However, these descriptions do not go beyond what anyone can see, that is, the author’s own opinion does not appear in them, thanks to which the reader is given the opportunity to form his own opinion about a particular place, character or situation.

Chekhov begins his story “Surgery” by mentioning that the doctor left to get married, and his responsibilities for receiving patients were taken over by the paramedic Kuryatin.

The first patient of the paramedic is the sexton Vonmiglasov, who suffers from severe toothache and sincerely relies on the knowledge and skills of the first. Kuryatin, in turn, assures the patient that surgery is a trivial matter, all you need is knowledge and the right approach.

However, after he saw the patient’s tooth and decided to remove it, his confidence decreased significantly. This fact is emphasized by the description of the paramedic's hesitation regarding which instrument to use. He doesn't know whether to choose tongs, a key, or a goat's leg. First, the hero looks at the instruments for a long time, then, taking a goat’s leg, he approaches the patient, but after a few seconds he returns and exchanges it for tongs. This is exactly what A.P. Chekhov draws attention to. As a result, surgery turns out to be not as simple as it seemed to the paramedic at first glance. Taking forceps, he fiddled with the sexton’s tooth for a long time, but was still unable to pull it out. The story ends with the sexton, having suffered pain and angry, leaving the paramedic, reproaching him.

The image of a paramedic in the story

Kuryatin is one of the main characters in the story “Surgery”. Chekhov filled the content of the story with a description of not only the hero’s behavior, but also his appearance. It is worth noting that the paramedic looks far from flawless. The negative image is complemented by the foul-smelling cigarette that Kuryatin holds in his hand.

As for the inner world of the paramedic, here his self-praise and idle talk come to the fore. In this way he covers up his inability and ignorance. He boasts to the sexton of his acquaintance with the landowner Alexander Ivanovich of Egypt, who visited him and did not complain (unlike the current patient). As a result, the sexton leaves with severe pain, and the paramedic still doesn’t understand his mistake, and instead of apologizing, he also calls him ignorant.

The image of a sexton in “Surgery”

An equally important place is occupied by the sexton Vonmiglasov, the second hero about whom the story “Surgery” narrates. Chekhov emphasizes Vonmiglasov’s illiteracy and stupidity. After all, the sexton, instead of immediately turning to the doctor, listened to various advice from the same ignoramuses as himself.

The story emphasizes the sycophancy of the sexton, which in those days characterized the lower strata of the population. At first he crossed himself, brought prosphora, praised the paramedic - in a word, he behaved very “piously.” However, less than half an hour had passed before his behavior changed to the opposite, he began to wish Chicken Meat all the worst and even took the prosphora with him.

Prototypes of the heroes of "Surgery"

Chekhov's work "Surgery" has real prototypes. Brother A.P. Chekhov repeatedly talked about how the writer during his medical practice At the Voskresensk hospital I observed one case, which formed the basis of the story.

The participants in a real-life situation were a medical student replacing a doctor and a patient presenting to the hospital with a toothache. During the reception, the inexperienced student tried for a long time, but only managed to break the crown. As a result, the angry patient cursed and left.

Analysis of "Surgery"

The story is based on the communication of just two people who met by the will of fate in rural hospital, - paramedic Kuryatin and sexton Vonmiglasov. However, they turned out to be quite enough to emphasize such negative human traits as ignorance and complacency, which is what A.P. Chekhov did. “Surgery” is a work in which the most striking characteristic of the characters is their speech. Vonmiglasov, trying to show his “piety,” alters many ordinary words into a churchly manner. Paramedic Kuryatin, in turn, emphasizes his own importance by using great amount medical terms, naturally, not understandable for a simple sexton.

However, as soon as it comes to tooth extraction, it becomes clear that Kuryatin is not like that at all experienced doctor how I imagined myself at first. Moreover, it seems that he ended up working at the hospital completely by accident and cannot be trusted. Chekhov's story “Surgery” ends, as one might expect, with harm to another person, who, by the way, also turns out to be not so devout as a result. The ignorance of both characters is emphasized by their speech at the end of the story, which moved from a mutually respectful tone to accusations and curses.