Образ П. А. Столыпина у А. И. Солженицына

Abstract

In the article the image of P. A. Stolypin is analyzed on the material of The Red Wheel, Diary R-17, memoires and essays by A. I. Solzhenitsyn. The authors trace the course the writer took while working on the artistic presentation of the image of one of the most prominent Russian state figures of the 20th century; they show Solzhenitsyn’s artistry in endeavoring to reveal to the reader all the “prominence”, “expressiveness” of this great person, as well as the significance of Stolypin’s destiny for the future of Russia. The authors of the research observe how in The Red Wheel Stolypin’s destiny is linked to that of Russia, following Solzhenitsyn in comprehending Stolypin as a “doer” responsible to Russia. In the course of the research Stolypin’s chapter with reviews in August 1914, has been analyzed in detail. This enabled the authors to grasp Stolypin’s image as the focal one in The Red Wheel, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, as Solzhenitsyn’s favourite character, conveyed realistically, and, at the same time, personally, compassionately, through “the dialectic of the soul”. The reader perceives a straightforward, strong-willed, dynamic, determined and ethically wholesome politician. The storylines of Guchkov, Bogrov, Nikolas II are essential to understanding Stolypin’s image. Focusing on these characters, the authors of the article show Stolypin’s role in their destinies. In The Red Wheel the artistic image of Stolypin is created by complex forms of inner monologues, quotes, free indirect discourse, the alternation of scenes and reports (summaries of events), by the abundance of the author’s “insertions”, by the multiple functions of irony. In the process of research the texts of P. A. Stolypin’s speeches were drawn upon, his children’s reminiscences, his biography, historians’ opinions. The chosen historical context provided a valuable insight into Solzhenitsyn’s historical method and the writer’s historiosophic reasoning.