INDIFFERENCE
Are you indifferent?
Indifference is paralysis of the soul, premature death
A. P. Chekhov
Indifference as a personality quality is the loss of the ability to love something or someone. Indifferent love is a stupid incompatible phrase, as absurd as the combination of mortal murder or good Evil.
An indifferent person is one who has lost the ability to love, a person with a burnt-out heart. Sergei Yesenin described this state: “And nothing will disturb the soul, And nothing will make it tremble, - He who loved cannot love, He who is burned, you cannot set him on fire.” When love for something or someone lives in a person Well, it overflows and pours out on those around you, it cannot be measured and hidden.
The damage and destructiveness of indifference lies in the absence of love. A callous person with a hardened heart can tenderly love himself, his wife and children without showing his feelings or showing emotions. There is no equal sign between indifference and callousness; these are far from synonymous. In most families, men, to one degree or another, show callousness towards loved ones, but accusing them of lack of love means a cruel insult. They were not taught in childhood, and they do not know how to show love, tenderness and affection. If indifference to one's wives and children coincided with callousness, we would have universal celibacy.
Somehow Love meets on its way Falling in Love.
- Hello, love! How I admire you, you are the strongest feeling!
- exclaims Love.
“Yes, I’m stronger than you,” Lyubov agrees.
- But do you know what my strength is? – she asks thoughtfully.
– Because people cannot be happy without you, you connect hearts
- Love answers confidently.
- No, this is not my strength, what makes me strong is my ability to forgive,
– Love does not agree.
– What can you forgive if you are already hurt by Betrayal? - Love is perplexed.
“Yes, I suffer greatly from Betrayal,” says Lyubov,
- but I can forgive Betrayal, since a person commits this act not out of malice, but out of ignorance.
– But you won’t be able to forgive Treason!
- exclaims Love. - Yes, it’s difficult to forgive Betrayal,
– states Lyubov.
– But I can also forgive Cheating, because the person who cheated has the opportunity to choose the best, comparing people through trial and error. – Could you really forgive Lies?
- asks Love.
- Stupid, it’s a lie
- this is only human weakness, it causes less harm than all other feelings. Often people lie out of reluctance to hurt or out of awareness of their own hopelessness, and this is not so bad. – So, it’s normal for people to hide the truth and lie to each other? - Love is perplexed.
“Of course, people can tell lies, but not when they truly love,” answers Lyubov. Therefore, lying has nothing to do with me; when people love, they don’t lie. – What else can you forgive?
- Love is interested.
– I can forgive Anger, because it is short-lived and passes over time, Harshness, since it is caused by Sadness, and a person is upset not for his own reason. I can forgive the insult, it
“The elder sister of Disappointment, I can still forgive Disappointment, since Suffering often comes for her,” answers Love.
- Oh, Love, I wish I had your strength! - Love exclaims admiringly.
- But I’m not like that, I go out at the first test. How I envy you!
- You're wrong, my girl! – Love does not agree.
– There is a feeling that even I cannot forgive. Indeed, I can forgive a lot, but this terrible feeling can cause me severe pain, and there is no medicine in the world to cure it. This feeling poisons me and hurts me more than Betrayal and Treason, it hurts me worse than Evil, Lies and Resentment.
This feeling is called Indifference, it is the most terrible of all existing feelings. Disgust, Hatred and Contempt are also negative feelings, but they express an attitude towards a person. They are nothing compared to Indifference. An indifferent person does not care about the feelings of others and what is happening in their lives.
It is indifference that is stronger than me, it destroys Love.B. Yasensky in “The Conspiracy of the Indifferent” wrote: “Do not be afraid of enemies - in the worst case, they can kill. Don't be afraid of your friends - at worst, they can betray you. Fear the indifferent - they do not kill or betray, but it is with their silent consent that betrayals and murders are committed on earth.”
An indifferent, that is, an indifferent person is nothing, dreaming, amorphous, passive or, as it is said in the book of Revelation 3:15-16, “lukewarm”: “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot; Oh, that you were cold or hot! But because you are warm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.” A “hot” or “cold” person is expressed in some way, has his own face, position, opinion. A “warm” person, that is, an indifferent person, is not capable of an active spiritual life. Often, the root of indifference is buried in distant childhood. For a child, expressing emotions is a vital need. If you reject it, it will not disappear anywhere, because it serves as a manifestation of the essence of the little person.
The need will remain unfulfilled inside and will persistently seek other indirect forms of manifestation. Unfortunately, when realized, the needs of the psyche take on a distorted appearance, as happens with indifference. The child was rudely forbidden to show his emotions. He developed emotional fear. But you cannot escape from nature; the manifestation of feelings and emotions is an important human need. To fulfill the need, he puts on a mask of indifference.
The subconscious firmly preserves children's dislike, lack of warmth and affection, lack of proper attention and care from parents. Statistics say that most indifferent people in childhood were deprived of maternal love and care. IN later life There is an ordinary “transfer” of relationships towards oneself in childhood to one’s spouse, children and other people. For parents, indifference returns like a boomerang. Adolescents are characterized by a certain form of indifference, mistakenly taken for maturity. Boys are instilled with the belief that a real man should not be emotional, tough and extremely restrained, otherwise he will be considered a “weak man.”
Therefore, young men try on a mask of indifference. In addition to a difficult childhood deprived of love, the mask of indifference gradually develops mental laziness in a person, preventing him from responding to other people’s worries and providing effective assistance in Hard time. Mental laziness eats away at the soul, forcing you to truly play the role of an indifferent person - not to interfere, not to pay attention, to take care of your nerves and strength. Gradually, the principles of indifference ripen in the mind: “My hut is on the edge, I don’t know anything”, “My shirt is closer to my body”, “After us there’s a flood”, “Our business is a side”, “Even if the grass doesn’t grow.”
Over time, indifference becomes a serious mental illness, further development which means complete indifference to everything in the world, even to oneself. Just as rust eats up iron, indifference, without conscious effort on the part of a person, gradually enslaves and destroys his soul. A person irrevocably withdraws into himself, while poisoning the lives of family members. Everyone avoids him. Indifference kills all feelings; in terms of the power of its harmful effects, it significantly exceeds betrayal, resentment and lies. I had to see with my own eyes the growth of indifference in the example of the son of one acquaintance. The family was dysfunctional: the mother hated the father, and she poured out her hatred and disappointment with life on the children. The mother's harshness and callousness were selective - the son was sick, so everything went to the girl. To cultivate indifference, you need to have a certain “pedagogical skill.”
The first thing Makarenko did as a woman was to wean her son from taking care of someone. Everyone in the house walked on tiptoe so as not to disturb the patient. Selfishness and terrible utter laziness began to grow in the boy. He was no longer sick, but the habit of lying on the couch all day and being completely uninterested in anything remained. By the time he reached adulthood, he stood two meters tall, a fathom at the shoulders, and could kill a bull with his head. If we impartially describe his manifested qualities: they are laziness, gross selfishness, deceit, hypocrisy, cynicism, irresponsibility and ignorance.
The toxic cocktail of personality traits was already alarming with its persistent lack of interest in most areas of life. But what was most troubling was not the ability to love someone or something. Having married for convenience, ten years later he abandoned his family, leaving two children. He never thought about them again. Alimony did not pay a single ruble. He returned to his parents and has been lying on the couch for fifteen years. No feelings, no love, complete paralysis of the soul - indifference. Indifference takes a person into the looking glass of life. When he ceases to be interested in his own life, this is the logical end of the cultivation of indifference. But this is by no means indifference. There is a yawning chasm of fundamental differences between indifference and indifference. Indifference is:
1. selective lack of interest in someone or something at a given moment;
2. setting the mind to eliminate the excessive importance of someone or something. A person may be indifferent to himself, for example, after a strong shock. Nervous system“presses on the brakes” in order to restore wasted energy. In other cases, a person has a certain interest in something or someone. Only the corpse is not interested. So, a wife may be indifferent to football, but love figure skating. She can be indifferent to aquarium fish and, at the same time, adore her dog. In other words, indifference, unlike indifference, gets along quite well with selective love and interest in someone or something. Indifference does not attach special importance to someone or something, does not highlight any objects with a bold line on the scale of importance outside world. It makes no difference to her where to sing - in the Kremlin Palace or in front of ordinary peasants, where to perform - at the Olympic Games or at the championship of the Harvest society. Regardless of faces, that is, indifferently, she will everywhere express her point of view in the same way.
Indifference, unlike sterile and detached indifference, does not deny love and interest. Indifference paralyzes the soul. Indifference operates with the category not of the soul, but of the mind. For example, a person is partial to nicotine, but his mind forbids him to reach for a pack of cigarettes. If the mind is strong, a person will push his soul aside and will be indifferent to smoking. Often, the reason for indifference lies in the person’s desire to protect himself from those attacking him negative emotions. Thus, in the niche of indifference it is convenient to protect yourself from the grumpiness of your boss or wife. When a stream of reproaches pours out on him every day, he, wanting to “survive,” often unconsciously plays the role of indifference. The only trouble is that over time this role becomes his natural internal incurable state.
In A.P. Chekhov’s story “Tosca,” human indifference is brilliantly depicted. Cab driver Iona Potapov's only son died. To overcome melancholy and an acute feeling of loneliness, he wants to tell someone about his misfortune, but no one wants to listen to him, no one cares about him. “He gets dressed and goes to the stable where his horse is. He thinks about oats, hay, the weather... He can’t think about his son when he’s alone... You can talk to someone about him, but it’s unbearably creepy to think about him and draw his image for yourself...
Are you chewing? - Jonah asks his horse, seeing its sparkling eyes. - Well, chew, chew... If we didn’t go to the oats, we’ll eat hay... Yes... I’m getting old now... My son should be driving, not me... He was a real cab driver... If only he could live... Jonah is silent for a while and continues:
- So, brother filly... Kuzma Ionych is gone... He ordered him to live long... He took it and died in vain... Now, let’s say, you have a foal, and you are this foal’s own mother... And suddenly, let’s say, this same foal ordered him to live long... It’s a pity ? The little horse chews, listens and breathes into the hands of its owner... Jonah gets carried away and tells her everything..."
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Sample topics and quotes for the final essay 2018. Indifference and responsiveness.
What kind of person can be called “responsive”?
What kind of person can be called “indifferent”?
Do you agree with the statement of B. Shaw: “The worst sin towards one’s neighbor is not hatred, but indifference; this is truly the pinnacle of inhumanity"?
How do you understand the words of A.V. Suvorova: “How painful is indifference to oneself!”?
Why is indifference dangerous?
Can Responsiveness Bring Frustration?
What does it mean to be responsive?
Can indifference hurt a person?
Should we learn empathy?
How do the concepts of kindness and responsiveness relate?
Can an indifferent person be called selfish?
Do you agree that “healthy selfishness” is beneficial?
Should you always be responsive?
What are the consequences of an indifferent attitude towards nature?
How are the concepts of “indifference” and “selfishness” related?
How do you understand the proverb: “On the road you need a companion, in life you need sympathy”?
Do you agree that kindness and responsiveness are the key to family happiness?
Is it possible to learn responsiveness? When can responsiveness be harmful? Can caring for people save lives?
How to instill a sense of compassion in children?
How can one explain a person’s reluctance to spend mental strength on someone else’s life?
What does it mean to “be a selfless” person?
Do you agree with the statement that a friend is known not only in trouble, but also in joy?
Can compassion for people be a manifestation of selfishness?
Is it important to be able to forgive?
Are compassion and kindness synonymous?
Is it necessary to fight injustice?
Do you agree that indifference “corrodes the soul” of a person?
What can lead to indifference?
What life lessons help you develop compassion?
How do you understand A.P.’s statement? Chekhov: “Indifference is paralysis of the soul, premature death.”
Should you sympathize with people you don't like?
Confirm or refute Van Gogh’s statement: “Indifference to painting is a universal and enduring phenomenon.” Don't feel sorry for yourself. Only primitive people sympathize with themselves."
How is indifference to an individual connected with indifference to the Motherland?
What is the danger of indifference to your country?
Do you agree with Guy de Maupassant’s statement: “An ungrateful son is worse than a stranger: he is a criminal, since a son has no right to be indifferent to his mother”?
Can you expect sympathy if you don't show it yourself?
Is it possible to say that teenagers have less empathy than mature people?
How do you understand the words of V.A. Sukhomlinsky: “Egoism is the root cause of cancer Do you agree with the statement of B. Yasinsky: “Fear the indifferent - they do not kill or betray, but only with their tacit consent does betrayal and murder exist on earth”?
Why do you think actions speak louder than words?
Can we say that caring for animals is the highest manifestation of humanity? Can excessive empathy be a barrier?
Are there people unworthy of sympathy?
What is more important: sympathy or real help?
Quotes for the direction "Indifference and Responsiveness"
The worst sin towards one's neighbor is not hatred, but indifference; This is truly the pinnacle of inhumanity. (Bernard Show)
Sympathy is indifference to the superlative degree. (Don Aminado)
How painful is indifference to oneself! (A.V. Suvorov)
I always believe and will continue to believe that indifference to injustice is betrayal and meanness. (O. Mirabeau)
Do not be indifferent, for indifference is deadly to the human soul. (Maxim Gorky) They say that philosophers and true sages are indifferent... It is not true, indifference is paralysis of the soul, premature death. (A.P. Chekhov)
When a person is so vulnerable that he is unable to show generosity, at these moments he especially needs sympathy and support. You love everyone, and loving everyone means loving no one. You are equally indifferent to everyone. (O. Wilde)
Don't feel sorry for yourself. Only primitive people sympathize with themselves. (H. Murakami) Where moderation is a mistake, there indifference is a crime. (G. Lichtenberg)
Indifference to painting is a universal and enduring phenomenon. (Van Gogh)
Only those who cannot pass indifferently past the joys and sorrows of an individual are capable of taking the joys and sorrows of the Fatherland to heart. (V. A. Sukhomlinsky)
No more dangerous than a person, to whom humanity is alien, who is indifferent to the fate of his native country, to the fate of his neighbor. (M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin)
An ungrateful son is worse than a stranger: he is a criminal, since a son has no right to be indifferent to his mother. (Guy de Maupassant)
Coldness is a consequence not only of sober conviction that one is right, but also of unprincipled indifference to the truth. (C. Lam)
One very talented writer, in response to my complaint that I did not find sympathy with criticism, wisely answered me: “You have a significant flaw that will close all doors in front of you: you cannot talk to a fool for two minutes without giving him to understand that he is a fool.” (E. Zola) Tolerance inevitably leads to indifference. (D. Diderot)
Teenagers, of course, are emotionally tender creatures and highest degree vulnerable, but they don’t have much empathy. It comes later, if it comes at all. (S. King)
The eagle gaze of passions penetrates into the foggy abyss of the future, while indifference is blind and stupid from birth. (C. A. Helvetius)
It is easy to hide hatred, difficult to hide love, and most difficult to hide is indifference. (K.L. Burne) Indifference is a serious illness of the soul. (A. de Tocqueville)
The most unforgivable sin towards one's neighbor is not hatred, but indifference. Indifference is the essence of inhumanity. (J.B. Shaw)
Selfishness is the root cause of cancer of the soul. (V. A. Sukhomlinsky)
Family selfishness is crueler than personal selfishness. A person who is ashamed to sacrifice the benefits of another for himself alone considers it his duty to take advantage of the misfortune and need of people for the good of the family. (L.N. Tolstoy)
Don't be afraid of enemies - in the worst case they can kill you. Don't be afraid of your friends - in the worst case, they can betray you. Fear the indifferent - they do not kill or betray, but only with their tacit consent does betrayal and murder exist on earth. (B. Yasensky)
Indifference is the highest cruelty. (M. Wilson)
Calmness is stronger than emotions. Silence is louder than a scream. Indifference is worse than war. (M. Luther)
On the road you need a companion, in life you need sympathy. (proverb) The key to family happiness is kindness, frankness, responsiveness... (E. Zola)
Taking the path of dialogue is much more effective and smart than trying to prove how selfish or sympathetic everyone can be. (H. Bukai)
The responsiveness of others is often the best psychologist or psychiatrist. (L. Viilma)
Life teaches a lot, but not tact, not responsiveness, not the ability to help a person in difficult times. (I. Shaw)
What I value most in women is shyness. It is beautiful. The basis of femininity is not appearance, but an increased sense of shame and sympathy for others. (F.A. Iskander)
If someone else's grief does not make you suffer, is it possible to call you a human being? (Saadi) The more you live, the more convinced you are that to arouse sympathy for yourself is a rarity and happiness - and that you should value this happiness. (I.S. Turgenev)
Whoever has acquired the ability to sincerely sympathize with human grief, at least in one single case, has, having received a miraculous lesson, learned to understand any misfortune, no matter how strange or reckless it may appear at first glance. (S. Zweig)
True help always comes from someone who is stronger than you and whom you respect. And the sympathy of such people is especially effective... (F. S. Fitzgerald)
Sympathy alone is not enough. Actions speak louder than words. (N. Vujicic)
Excessive empathy often becomes a barrier. Sympathy in times of adversity is like rain in times of drought. (Indian proverb) After all, it is necessary that every person should have at least one such place where he would be pitied! (F. M. Dostoevsky)
Don't be too sympathetic to people who are unhappy. If someone is unhappy, help, but don't sympathize. Don't give him the idea that suffering is something worthwhile. (Osho)
She said in the sense that when a beloved animal dies, a person is left alone with his grief, no one sympathizes much. When he dies close person, then everyone understands, some sincerely, some formally, and some for the company, but everyone understands and sympathizes. But the cat died, she said, and loneliness became terribly exposed. (E.V. Grishkovets)
God will punish us for the bad, and the devil for the good. And both are for indifference.
(Mieczyslaw Shargan)
We live in a very strange world - a world where words, counted as material goods, have become weightless, having lost their true value. A world that believes in the religion of money, but does not trust people. A world where lies are the instrument of happiness, and betrayal guides friendship. This is the world in which we go with the flow, becoming part of the same faceless crowd. And the larger this crowd, the more we feel an almost bestial loneliness. After all, here they plan, not dream, materialize, not dream. They pass by, but do not sympathize. Indifference is our everything, our main virtue, while ordinary human kindness is an outright weakness. There is no place for feelings where omnipresent knowledge is at stake, where “appearing” is always easier than being. And yet we continue to live, confident that we have no other choice. Is it really?
What is a healthy soul?
The great classic of Russian literature, whose “highlight” has always been laconicism and clarity of statements, once said that indifference is paralysis of the soul - and one can hardly argue with this statement. They say that paralysis cannot be cured, so is it possible to get rid of the indifference of the soul? Physiotherapy, willpower, courage - can they help at least a little, as in the case of physical paralysis?
Indifference develops by method chain reaction– passing from person to person, making even the “healthy” sick. How long has anyone caught themselves thinking that they simply “don’t give a damn”? What's scary about the future? That the tears of old people and children are sharp needles in the heart, and the lack of sincerity and kindness in the world are heavy stones on the neck?
A healthy soul does not mean tears when watching sensitive news reports, not at all: there is no need to confuse caring and impressionability. This is, first of all, compassion for someone else's pain through taking it upon oneself. The usual question: what would happen to me if... could radically change my consciousness and defeat this scourge of modern humanity. The basis is proper upbringing and culture. Taking initiative and responsibility, not isolating yourself from the surrounding reality with constant concern and your own problems, learning to trust others, being kind and merciful, helping those who need it (just with yourself, not with money!) - these are the main factors for healing the soul.
People with disabilities and indifference
Any severe physical disability - deafness or blindness, motor impairment or dementia - puts a kind of “stigma” on a person, which in most cases scares away others. Yes, healthy people they try to sincerely show participation, sympathize, moreover, tearful pity even appears in their eyes, but the main driving force in the reaction of society is precisely the fear of “being different from everyone else.” And this is not surprising, because man by nature is a collective being. Have you ever seen how weak and frail individuals are treated in a herd? They are shunned, they are shunned, they are pushed into a corner. But people are not animals. People must be, first of all, people. And that's the whole point.
Why then, so often, when passing by a person “on wheels”, most people, at best, shyly lower their eyes, and at worst, turn away completely, not hiding their disgust. Who is afraid to look into the eyes of an indifferent passerby - a disabled person or the remnants of his own conscience? Of course, passing by and pretending that you “didn’t notice” is always simpler and easier. “Caring for people with disabilities is the state’s business, my business is to pay taxes” is the opinion of the majority, based on indifference. What is a state if not ourselves?
There are many, even very many, disabled people in Russia. But for some reason they are rarely seen walking in parks, squares or relaxing in in public places. Why? Because not a single corner is adapted to the needs of special people, despite the now fashionable tendency to avoid the categorical “disabled person” with the more loyal and humane “person with disabilities.” Again, what is this if not indifference? Sometimes people with disabilities are not shown to the world simply because they are physically unable to do so. But the main reason is the feeling of one’s own uselessness to society, its burden with the presence of a “black sheep”.
Unlimited indifference or participation without borders: examples of modern times
Quite recently, there was a case that was talked about by almost all the media: the younger sister of the world-famous top model Natalia Vodianova, who suffers from severe forms of cerebral palsy and autism, was kicked out of the cafe, citing the fact that a girl with similar disabilities scares off the clientele with her “abnormal” behavior. behavior. A good example alienation, immorality and facelessness modern society, the predominant part of which believes that disabled people “are to blame” for causing negativity and similar attitudes. That's all - that says it all. As they say, “know comments”: people don’t like people who are different, they are like an invisible threat. And one can only guess how many such threats arise and end in tears, far from human knowledge, because not all disabled people have public sisters who can make a fuss and fight for the rights of special people.
Have you ever wondered why there are so few disabled people in Russia? More precisely, why are they simply not visible? When traveling abroad, their number increases many times over, but this is by no means because Russians are a healthier nation than everyone else. And because people with disabilities live there and do not exist, they are not “second class” there, but simply people who are surrounded by a world thought out to the smallest detail: ramps in residential buildings and supermarkets, sloping curbs on sidewalks and elevators that comfortably fit a stroller , and in its absence, a ramp. There are doorbells - just reach out! – and fitting rooms adapted for a wheelchair, as well as a number of free parking spaces that no one would even think of taking. Is all this nothing more than the state’s indifference? Undoubtedly. However, first of all, this is the participation of people living according to human rules, not animal ones.
IN Once again Looking away from the stroller, you need to think about the fact that any person, regardless of the features of his medical card, is limited in his capabilities. You can beat your chest as much as you want and talk about sincerity, cordiality and humanity, send text messages for charitable causes as much as you like and praise yourself, saying, “what a great guy I am.” But as long as there is fear above all this, everything comes down to zero, everything is empty.
And in conclusion I would like to quote the words of Ivan Okhlobystin:
“The worst crime we can commit against people is not to hate them, but to treat them with indifference; This is the essence of inhumanity. Please don't ever say "I don't care"...
Anna Grishko. Especially for the site Cerebral Palsy Mom.
Where is the line between a person as a person and an impersonal being?
Text: Anna Chainikova
Photo: monateka.com
We continue to examine in detail the directions of the final essay, which, we remind you, graduates will write December 6. This time we understand the nuances of such complex human relations like indifference and responsiveness.
FIPI comment
Topics in this direction aim students at understanding different types of a person’s attitude towards people and the world (indifference to others, reluctance to waste mental energy on someone else’s life, or a sincere willingness to share his joys and troubles with his neighbor, to provide him with selfless help).
In literature, we meet, on the one hand, heroes with a warm heart, ready to respond to other people’s joys and troubles, and on the other, characters who embody the opposite, egoistic type of personality.
Vocabulary work
INDIFFERENCE- the state of an indifferent person, indifferent, devoid of interest, passive attitude towards the environment (Dictionary by D.N. Ushakov).
RESPONSIBILITY- spiritual and moral quality of a person, expressed in a sympathetic attitude towards others, readiness to help.
Synonyms
Indifference: apathy, indifference, indifference, insensitivity, mental deafness, inattention, insensitivity, coldness.
Responsiveness: warmth, cordiality, compassion, empathy, sensitivity, sympathy.
Who or what should you not be indifferent to?
- To loved ones (parents, children, lovers, friends)
- Those in need of help
- People to whom we perform a professional duty (the relationship of a doctor to a patient, a teacher to a student, a boss to a subordinate, a state to a citizen)
- The vices of society and man (cruelty, lies, hypocrisy, betrayal)
- Life in general
Indifference is a serious mental illness. Its development in a person can mean not only complete indifference to others, but also to oneself. Indifference devastates a person, corrodes his soul, deforms his personality and kills all other feelings. The disadvantage of indifference is the absence of love.
We must distinguish indifference from callousness, because there are people who are naturally insensitive and not empathetic.
Selfishness, cynicism and prudence can be regarded as a manifestation of indifference to others, but are not identical to it.
The story “The Carpenters” depicts the world of Kolyma, merciless to people, in which, amid total indifference not only to others, but also to one’s own life, there still remains a place for responsiveness and compassion. According to the writer, in the Far North there is a thin line between a person as a person, who still retains the ability to think and suffer, and an impersonal creature, no longer in control of himself and beginning to live by primitive reflexes. Bone-piercing frost, constant hunger and exhausting work exhaust mental strength. When they end, the survival reflex itself disappears: apathy sets in, a person looks at the world indifferently, even his own death does not bother him. Other people's deaths are becoming commonplace, no one pays attention to them: “His neighbor died yesterday, he just died, he didn’t wake up, and no one was interested in why he died, as if there was only one cause of death, well known to everyone.”
The main character of the story, Potashnikov, like everyone else, became indifferent to his surroundings, “was not afraid of death” and looked at the indifference of others with habitual eyes:
“He didn’t blame people for their indifference. He understood long ago where this spiritual dullness, spiritual coldness came from. Frost, the same one that turned saliva into ice on the fly, reached the human soul.
If the bones could freeze, the brain could freeze and become dull, and the soul could freeze.” Are these changes irreversible, will the frozen, shriveled soul remain cold forever? Is it possible to warm the soul of such a person? Is there even a place for spiritual responsiveness and compassion in such inhumane conditions?
Answering these questions, V. Shalamov tells the story of two incompetent intellectuals, Potashnikov and Grigoriev, who called themselves carpenters in order to be transferred to easier work in a carpentry workshop for a few days. They had never held axes or saws in their hands, they did not know how to hew or perform other carpentry work, but deception was the only way for them to survive - to spend several days in the warmth and gain strength. The elderly toolmaker Arnstrem, looking at the work of Potashnikov and Grigoriev, immediately understands that they lied, calling themselves carpenters and volunteering for work, but does not reveal them to their superiors. On the contrary, he gives them hand-turned axes and treats them with bread, allowing them to spend two days in the workshop.
The story ends with the words: “Today and tomorrow they warmed themselves by the stove, and the day after tomorrow the frost dropped immediately to thirty degrees - winter was already ending.” It is thanks to Arnström’s spiritual responsiveness, his indifference to complete strangers who are in need of help, that Potashnikov and Grigoriev survive, because if the toolmaker had revealed their deception, they would certainly have been returned to hard work, where they would have frozen to death.
Despite the gloominess of the image and the denial of the existence of anything positive in this anti-world, everything human is extremely dear to Shalamov. As N. Leiderman wrote: “He sometimes with tenderness “extracts” from the gloomy chaos of Kolyma evidence that the System has not been able to completely freeze out in human souls that moral feeling that is called the ability to compassion.”
Aphorisms and sayings of famous people:
- Indifference is paralysis of the soul, premature death. (A.P. Chekhov)
- Do not be indifferent, for indifference is deadly to the human soul. (M. Gorky)
- Don't be afraid of enemies - in the worst case they can kill you. Don't be afraid of your friends - in the worst case, they can betray you. Fear the indifferent - they do not kill or betray, but only with their tacit consent does betrayal and murder exist on earth. (R. Eberhardt)
- The greatest sin against one's neighbor is not hatred, but indifference. This is the most inhuman of human feelings. (B. Shaw)
- Receptivity and responsiveness constitute perhaps the most precious asset of a person. (M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin)
- There is no more dangerous person than a person who is alien to humanity, who is indifferent to the fate of his native country, to the fate of his neighbor. (M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin)
- Condescension towards evil very closely borders on indifference to good. (N.S. Leskov)
- The big vice is indifference, dispassion. Small man with a piece of ice in his heart - a future everyman. Already in childhood, it is necessary to ignite in the heart of every person a spark of civic passion and intransigence towards what is evil or condones evil. (V. A. Sukhomlinsky)
What questions are worth thinking about?
- What is responsiveness?
- Under what circumstances is responsiveness especially important?
- Should you always be responsive?
- What is the danger of indifference?
- Can an indifferent person be called selfish?
- How do the concepts of kindness and responsiveness relate?
- What does an indifferent attitude towards nature lead to?
- Does responsiveness to oneself presuppose an indifferent attitude towards others?
- Is it possible to turn an indifferent person into a responsive one, and from a responsive person into an indifferent one?
One of the heroes of A.P. Chekhov’s story “My Life” - the painter Radish - liked to say: “Aphids eat the grass, rust eats the iron, and lies eat the soul.” He compared the soul of a righteous man to pure, shiny white linseed oil, and the soul of a sinner to porous, dirty pumice. Radish also argued that the soul must work, grieve, and be cleansed of sins.
I can add to this statement that indifference, like “lies,” also corrodes, destroys, devastates, and destroys the soul.
Indifference is a lack of empathy, compassion, a response in the soul to someone else’s pain, a lack of responsiveness.
How to awaken a sleeping soul? How to arouse in her compassion and a desire to take part in someone else's fate?
The heroine of Lyudmila Petrushevskaya’s story “My Circle” found the most cruel, most incredible way to reach the hearts of her friends; I somehow don’t want to call them friends.
Let's start with the title of the story. The word “circle” in the context of the story has several meanings. First of all, the first and last phrases of the story catch your eye. This work begins with a sentence where the heroine characterizes herself: “I am a tough, cruel person, always with a smile on my full, rosy lips, always mocking everyone.” The final phrase also represents self-characterization: “I’m smart, I understand.”
Thus, the composition of the work is circular, that is, it represents the shape of a circle. A circle is a complete, complete figure, but in the story, in the circle of life that the heroine outlined before us, there is no integrity and harmony. The circle in the story symbolizes the meaningless whirling of the characters in the vain, petty, unworthy, swarming in everyday affairs. There are no high truths, immortal ideas in their lives. Before us is a narrow, limited circle of vulgar people, indifferent, insensitive, cynical. The heroine, on whose behalf the story is told, is therefore “smart” and “understands everything,” because over many years of communicating with “her circle” of people, she has studied them perfectly. Weekly Friday meetings with friends and acquaintances taught her a lot. She knows that these people are incapable of showing human feelings, of compassion, nothing can touch their petrified hearts. Their souls are a vicious circle; they are incapable of spiritual and moral movement. And having studied her acquaintances well, she took on the role of a cruel, mocking person. Maybe a cynical and ironic mask hides everything that happens in her soul.
Who are these people?
At the center of this company are Marisha and her husband Serge. Marisha is a “deity” who is worshiped by all the men in this circle. Once they studied together, and this love remained with student years, but it most likely resulted in a ritual, in a certain role that former classmates habitually play.
Physicist Serge, the “pride and glory” of this company, has not read literature for a long time and relies on intuition. He discovered “a new principle of operation of a steam locomotive with an efficiency of 70%, but it soon became clear that this principle was discovered a hundred years ago and published in a textbook for higher education. educational institutions small print.
The swindler Lena Marchukaite, an “export version” beauty who worked in a record store, calmly played “sex games”, sitting on all the men’s laps.
The temperamental Zhorka has been playing “bon vivant” and libertine since his student years, writing a dissertation for his wife at night, and on Fridays “throwing on a lion’s skin and courting the ladies.” All of them do not live, but as if they are participating in some kind of performance.
She reports about the life drama that happens to the heroine in a detached, equanimous and calm manner. Within six months she lost her father and mother. She unexpectedly discovered that she had symptoms of the disease that caused her mother to burn to death literally before her eyes. At this time, Kolya’s husband went to Marisha, and Marisha’s husband Serge went to the beloved woman of his youth even earlier. All the heroine’s thoughts are about her son Alyosha, who is very strongly attached to home, to his mother. What will happen to him when she dies?
Knowing indifference ex-husband, girlfriends and friends, the heroine does not hope that anyone will show sympathy for the child and will not send him to an orphanage, but will take him in. She decides to put on a cruel performance. The woman invited her usual circle of friends to Easter, having previously sent her son alone to the dacha and pulled out the key to the garden house from his jacket pocket. When the guests opened the door, they found a sleeping boy on the landing. The heroine beats her son so much that blood pours from his nose. She achieved the awakening of human feelings in her acquaintances with her cruel act. In fact, with her inhumanity and meanness, she provoked the manifestation of noble feelings among people in her circle. The father takes the child to his place.
We see that indifference corroded the souls of these heroes so much that only unimaginable cruelty could awaken selfish souls.