Abstract
The research is devoted to revealing the features of understanding of God and God’s world in A. I. Solzhenitsyn’s “Cancer Ward.” The heroes of the short novel travel a difficult path on which they have to think about God. At the beginning of the short novel there is a parable illustrating a legalistic understanding of God as Allah who punishes man, and at the end of the work the image of the Lamb, that is, Christ going to his death, appears, which means that the protagonist rises to the realization of Grace. A. I. Solzhenitsyn demonstrates how, having consciously separated himself from God, a person turns into an animal. The zoo visited at the end of the story by Kostoglotov is a model of the animal world that shows how people can turn into animals. An important place in the short novel is occupied by the parable about God endowing a person with extra years of life, taking them from a horse, a dog and a monkey. Images-symbols of these three animals are of great importance for understanding the characters of the key heroes of the story: Kostoglotov and Rusanov (dog), Vadim, Efrem, Roan, Doctor Dontsova and Asya (horse), Zoey (monkey). Turning away from God, man renounces his immortal soul and becomes similar to an animal immersed in incessant movement and leading a biological existence. He becomes a hostage to the cyclical model of time, which is steadily moving towards death. The symbol of this movement is a squirrel in a wheel, which Kostoglotov sees in the zoo. However, the short novel also sets a different trajectory of time: from the meat-eater through Maslenitsa and Lent to Easter, that is, to the Resurrection that awaits the immortal human soul. Aunt Stepha, cancer ward patient who believes in God, talks about this model of time. Images of plants also play an important role, serving as a reminder to a person about the happiness and harmony of God’s world. The short novel of A. I. Solzhenitsyn calls for understanding God as a merciful, Grace-giving Creator and calls for acceptance of God’s world.
Published Version
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