Symbolic images in V.G. Korolenko's short story “In bad society” and their interpretation in the film of K.G. Muratova

Il'chenko Natal'ya Mikhailovna ORCID: 0000-0003-2541-5061 Doctor of Philology Professor, Department of Russian and Foreign Philology, Kozma Minin Nizhny Novgorod State Pedagogical University 603002, Russia, g. Nizhnii Novgorod, ul. Ul'yanova, 1, kab. 406 ilchenko2005@mail.ru Other publications by this author     Il'chenko Natal'ya Mikhailovna ORCID: 0000-0003-2541-5061 Doctor of Philology Professor, Department of Russian and Foreign Philology, Kozma Minin Nizhny Novgorod State Pedagogical University 603002, Russia, g. Nizhnii Novgorod, ul. Ul'yanova, 1, kab. 406 ilchenko2005@mail.ru Other publications by this author     Sovina Natalia Konstantinovna Graduate student of the Department of Russian and Foreign Philology of the Nizhny Novgorod State Pedagogical University named after Kozma Minin 603002, Russia, Nizhny Novgorod region, Nizhny Novgorod, Ulyanova str., 1. ilchenko2005@mail.ru

Sovina Natalia Konstantinovna Graduate student of the Department of Russian and Foreign Philology of the Nizhny Novgorod State Pedagogical University named after Kozma Minin 603002, Russia, Nizhny Novgorod region, Nizhny Novgorod, Ulyanova str., 1. ilchenko2005@mail.ru

Introduction

The genre of the work "In a bad society. From the childhood memories of my friend" was defined by V. G. Korolenko as a story, although now it is sometimes called a novella. It was published in the journal "Russian Thought" in 1885 (No. 10). The story is based on childhood memories: the town of Knyazhye Veno resembles the county town of Rivne, where the writer's childhood years were spent, and some features of his father are shown in the image of a judge (honesty, incorruptibility, quick temper, etc.). K. I. Chukovsky in the article "Vladimir Korolenko as an artist" rightly calls the writer a "genius of poetic memory": "And he is always drawn not to what he has experienced recently, but to what he has experienced a long time ago, which, due to the remoteness of time, has already crystallized, purified, ennobled, covered with some kind of even fog, which has already turned into a legend, become sadly painful and pleasant" ^{[1, p.184]}. The motive of the memory does not make the sad story of the "children of the dungeon" a tragedy, and the finale of the story about the "vows" of the children of the judge at Marusia's grave makes a "sadly pleasant" impression.

The story "In bad Company" fits into the context of Russian prose of the 1880s-1890s, which is based on the achievements of romanticism and symbolism.  V. G. Korolenko's prose, defined as "synthetic", is characterized by lyricism, increased metaphoricity, and plausibility ^{[2, pp.123-124]}. Reflecting on the purpose of literature, V. G. Korolenko wrote in 1888 about it not as a "mirror" reflecting the state of society, since life is changing and in perpetual motion. "In the same way, literature, besides "reflection", also decomposes the old, creates a new from its fragments, denies and calls upon" ^{[3, p. 294]}. Therefore, the task of a writer in periods of pessimism and despair is to find perspective and inspire faith. "You will show the light along with the shadow, and this very neighborhood will take away from the shadow its darkness and depressing character" ^{[3, p. 296]}. The image of the Rivne Palace of Princes Lyubomirsky – "an old, dilapidated castle" on the island ^{[4, p. 6]} - turns into a "sadly pleasant past", "a sweet childhood memory". V. G. Korolenko "ornaments life", and symbols help him in this.

In 1983, the story by V.G. Korolenko (in the credits it is stated: according to the plot) was adapted by K. G. Muratova; the film was called "Among the Gray Stones". The author of the film focuses the viewer's attention on the color symbolism: the gray color of the stones has become the key not only in describing the dungeon, but also all urban toposes.

The cinema world of K. G. Muratova is rightly considered "perfect" now. According to L. Gersova, there is "nothing accidental about it: movement and immobility, silence and screaming, silence and music. Everything has its own length, artistically expedient" ^[5]. M. Yampolsky considers K. G. Muratova's films as "exemplary", exploring the conflict of "human natural and human social" ^[6]. However, the film "Among the Gray Stones" had a tragic fate: at first it was banned for screening due to "dubious allusions and associations", "oversaturation of the material with pathological types" (the surname of K. G. Muratova disappeared from the credits and was replaced by the non-existent I. Sidorov) and only five years later it reached the viewer ^[5]. The film, like V. G. Korolenko's story, produces a hypnotic effect and is defined as one of the best in K. G. Muratova's filmography. A. German called it "beautiful", "divine": "How I roared looking at the screen! I am sure that even in such a mangled, disfigured, broken-legged form, this is her best work!" [Cit. by: 5]. 

The film text of K. G. Muratova is filled with new meanings due to symbolic imagery, which is based on the text of V. G. Korolenko's story.

Main results

The titles of the story and the film are symbolic. V. G. Korolenko shows life from different points of view.  "Bad society" is represented through the eyes of the judge's son, watching him from the sidelines, listening to other people's opinions about beggars and the poor. After Vasya's acquaintance with Valek and Marusya, they see the "bad society" differently.

When Vasya first found himself in the chapel, he called this space "that light", and the space outside her window – "another world". Old Janusz, who left Catholic beggars, "aristocratic personalities" in the castle, drove the rest of the unfortunate people up the mountain to the Uniate chapel. The judge's son sided with the exiles and became friends with them. Janusz calls the exiles a bad society and regrets that the "son of respectable parents" "does not spare family honor" by listening to Pan Drab or being "in the retinue of Pan Turkevich" (before that, Vasya spent a lot of time in the castle, listening to the stories of a seventy-year-old man about a "dead building").

Valek also understands that he and Vasya belong to different strata of society. He says sadly: "I'm not your company" ^{[4, p. 34]} and warns that Vasya should come "when our people are in town" ^{[4, p. 36]}. At first, Vasya waited for "members of the "bad society" to be in the city when he went to visit friends" ^{[4, p. 41]}, but then he "became his own man on the mountain" ^{[4, p. 53]}.  Vasya soon realizes that he has "finally got used to the "bad society"" ^{[4, p. 55]}.

Two worlds are clearly distinguished and realized by the little heroes: "bad society", "ours", "not the company". Vasya himself "trembled at the thought" that his father would find out "about my acquaintance with "bad society", but I was unable to change this society, to change Valek and Marusa" ^{[4, p. 52]}. The words “bad society” in Vasya's transmission are enclosed in quotation marks in the text of the story, and in the speech of old Janusz they are used without quotation marks.

The direct meaning of the phrase "bad society" is a society with a bad reputation. For Vasya, this is a conditional name: he became convinced that people of “bad society”, vagabonds, beggars, know how to love, pity, and compassion. Therefore, V. G. Korolenko uses quotation marks.

The screenwriter and director of the film uses one of the chapters of the story in the title – "VI. Among the "gray stones"." V. G. Korolenko focuses on society, the social environment in which Vasya finds himself, and in the film attention is paid specifically to the living conditions, careful reproduction of everyday life in which vagrants have to exist.

The "grey stone" "sucks the life" out of Marusia ^{[4, p. 38.39]}. She is often depicted against a background of gray stones, which acquire symbolic meaning: "A stream of light fell on her blond head, flooded it all, but despite this, she somehow stood out faintly against the background of the gray stone with a strange and small misty speck that seemed about to blur and disappear"^{[4, p. 43]}. Vasya even thinks that the gray stone is alive: "I shifted and shivered, feeling as if I was bound under the oppressive gaze of the gray stone" ^{[4, p. 44]}. "Now she did not go out into the air at all, and the gray stone – the dark, silent monster of the dungeon – continued its terrible work without interruption, sucking the life out of the little body" ^{[4, p. 55]}.

One of the symbolic designations of gray is its figurative connection with the color of ashes; therefore, "it is sometimes associated with death, mourning ..." ^{[7, p. 332]}.

Gray is the predominant color in other descriptions by V. G. Korolenko:  the "gray fences" of the city; the "gray walls" of the castle, the "gray background" of urban life, the "gray pillars of the old fence"; the "gray figure" of the old "professor", etc. ^{[4, p. 6, 10, 12, 16, 43]}.

The film was shot in gray tones. Valek's words in the dungeon are noteworthy, when Marusya cried while playing with Vasya: "She does not know how to play. It's from the greyness. From the gray stone" ^[8]. Such living conditions "in gray stones" lead the girl to death.

In addition to the dungeon, Vasya's space is closely connected with the garden. Moreover, if V. G. Korolenko's story begins with a detailed description of the castle, prison, as the "best decoration" of the city, then K. G. Muratova begins the film with an image of a garden. "A garden is a limited space where nature is suppressed and organized in accordance with people's ideas" ^{[9, p. 378]}. A garden is a small world that is consciously created by man. When meeting Vasya, Valek says: "I know you: you live in the garden above the pond." Reproaching Vasya for invading someone else's space, the boy asks: "Have I ever climbed into your garden?" ^{[4, p. 34]}.

In the space of the garden, a crying judge is shown, who has lost his wife and does not accept the loss in any way, and Vasya in a mask, watching his father from a tree. The film places special emphasis on the judge's experiences. However, he suffers not so much because of the loss of a loved one, but because of the loneliness that death brought. Throughout the film, he constantly repeats one phrase: "I want to be cured" ^[8].  Vasya's father perceives grief as a disease that he cannot cope with. That's why he treats everything that happens around him coldly, including his son.

As for the topic of social stratification of society, the writer and the director put different accents, although K. G. Muratova relies on a literary text. In V. G. Korolenko's story, Vasya reflects: "It always seemed to me that somewhere out there, in this big and unknown light, behind the old fence of the garden, I would find something; it seemed that I had to do something and could do something, but I just didn't know that exactly..." ^{[4, p. 28]}.

"A big unknown light behind the old garden fence" the boy in the film carefully observes through binoculars, namely the scene when beggars are driven out of an old dilapidated castle, who, according to Jean (in the story – Janusz), do not deserve to be in the castle. There is a booth in the ruins, the screams of old men, women, there is smoke, and against the background of reading the adopted document on the expulsion of the "impartial" from the castle, A. S. Pushkin's poem "Winter Evening", set to music by M.L. Yakovlev, sounds. Beggars, dressed in torn sheets, in worn-out clothes, must seek a new shelter. "In cultures where nudity is not welcome," it acts as a symbol of poverty ^{[7, p. 233]}.

However, the criteria for "sorting" people in the ruins are not only the presence of decent clothes. Jean asks Valentine to stay (this is the name of the hero, who in the story is Pan Tyburcy. He is surrounded by mystery, he was distinguished by "phenomenal scholarship", he could recite "the longest Latin periods"). However, Valentin is against it: "I'm tricky. I'll meet you alone in the woods and tear your throat out. And here I bow at your feet."^[8] Jean allowed those who are ready to agree with anything to stay in the castle; Valentin does not consider himself one of those: "I? Here? With you? I don't live here!" ^[8].

 Vasya, who grew up in a wealthy family of a respected judge, finds himself for the first time in a dungeon where a "bad society" is huddled, is surprised: contradictions arise in the boy's mind, which are transmitted through intonation full of thoughtfulness and disappointment.

The polarity of the concept of "poverty" is also evidenced by Sonya's question, which she asks her nanny. "Today the cat ate a bird. Is the cat evil?" ^[8]. The babysitter replies that she is not angry, but hungry. At the same time, I feel sorry for both the bird and the cat. In V. G. Korolenko's story, the idea of the polarity of this concept is vividly shown in the episode when Valek steals bread in order to survive.

Valentin also speaks about the existence of two worlds: the world of the wealthy and the poor (Tyburcy in the story). In his monologue, he contrasts Valek and Vasya, showing the difference between the worlds to which they belong: "I am a beggar, and he is a beggar. I steal, and he will steal. Your father is judging me, and will you ever judge him… You walked along your path in trousers with good provisions, and he walked along his path ragged with an empty belly" ^[8]. At the same time, Valentin notes that beggars have become such because of the circumstances. "Honesty is a dessert. And dessert is served after lunch. There is no lunch, there is no dessert," says Valentin Vasya, reflecting on the fact that stealing is "not good" ^[8].

Based on the text of V.G. Korolenko's story, K.G. Muratova gives them new characteristics.

V. G. Korolenko speaks about the portrait of his mother in a rather neutral form. In the climactic scene of the explanation with his father, Vasya enters the office and sees him sitting in front of the portrait. 

In the film, the portrait performs an important function. First, it is removed from the wall ("Take everything out – my wife is dead" ^[8]), but Vasya returns the portrait back. At the same time, the nanny wails shrilly: "Who did you leave us for, and who did you leave us for. Oh, Mother. Yes, who did you leave the children of your family for" ^[8].  Vasya hugs the portrait and kisses it.  For him, it is a symbol of his mother's presence next to him.

In the film, a bouquet of roses in a vase is correlated with the portrait, first fresh, then withered and tarnished. Most interpretations of myths and legends about the rose emphasize its duality – love and death. In one of the legends about Mary Magdalene, roses were red at first, but then discolored from tears ^{[9, pp. 120-121]}. 

In various cultures, the idea of a flower as a symbol of the "transience of life" is common, so flowers were used in funeral rituals ^{[10, pp. 470-471]}.

The symbolism of death is associated with flowers by V.G. Korolenko: "When she, all covered with flowers, young and beautiful, lay with the seal of death on her pale face, I, like an animal, huddled in a corner and looked at her with burning eyes, before which the whole horror of the riddle of life and death was revealed for the first time" ^{[4, pp. 26-27]}. In the film, the judge also speaks about his wife, who asked: "Weave a wreath ... and she died" ^[8]. Here, too, the wreath acts as an omen of death.

Through the symbols of flowers, Marusya is compared to Vasya's mother. "It was a pale, tiny creature, resembling a flower that grew up without the rays of the sun. Despite her four years, she walked badly, walking unsteadily with crooked legs and staggering like a blade of grass; her hands were thin and transparent; her head swayed on her thin neck like the head of a field bell; her eyes sometimes looked so unchildishly sad, and her smile was so reminiscent of my mother in recent days..."^{[4, p. 37]}.  Usually, specific flowers are not named: the girls sit "with a bunch of flowers", sorting them out ^{[4, p. 43]}.  Marusya "withered like a flower in autumn"; her coffin is decorated with "autumn flowers"; the grave was "full of flowers" ^{[4, pp. 58, 64, 65]}.

In the film, flowers are a direct symbol of a girl. Marusya often talks about flowers too. She plays with them, calls herself a flower: "That flower is sick"; she also asks the strange question "Who eats flowers?"  ^[8].

"A flower is a concise symbol of nature, the boundlessness of its perfection, an emblem of the cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth" ^{[7, p. 402]}.

In the film, Vasya hears his mother's voice. She says: "Here is a yellow flower. Here is a red flower. Here is a white flower. What a heavy blue flower! A flower is heavier than a spoon. Here is the blood..." ^[8].  It can be assumed that each flower of a certain color corresponds to a period of life: yellow is the color of "dying leaves"; red is the color of danger; white is a symbol of fear, the pallor of death; blue is a symbol of eternity ^{[7, pp. 97, 168, 23, 334]}. In the story, the lights on the graves flash "a sinister blue color" ^{[4, pp. 24, 65]}. 

The symbolism of the apple tree and the apple becomes significant both in the story and in the film. Valek, clarifying Vasya's place of residence – "in the garden above the pond", says: "You have big apple trees" ^{[4, p. 34]}. In folklore, the apple tree and apples often symbolize health and vitality ("rejuvenating apples" in Russian folk tales). In the story, Vasya, getting to know Valek and Marusya, gives them two apples. Then, going to his new friends, he fills his pockets with apples.

The most common symbol of the apple tree is the tree of knowledge of good and evil ^{[11, p.305]}. In the film, Vasya tries to "bribe" Marusya and Valek with apples at their first meeting. Here they act as a symbol of temptation. However, the brother and sister do not accept it. Then, having become friends with the judge's son, Marusya always asks for apples, but she is forbidden to eat them.

"The apple tree acts as an intermediary between two worlds, as a connecting link in connecting the soul to the world of ancestors" ^{[12, p.498]}. The film highlights a scene in which Marusya beckons Vasya to the dungeon, and he whispers lines from Pushkin's fairy tale.  An excerpt from the "Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Heroes", where the princess, after biting off an apple, fell asleep forever: "In front of him is a steep mountain; / Around it is an empty country; / There is a dark entrance under the mountain. / He's going there soon. / In front of him, in the sad darkness, / The crystal coffin swings, / And in the crystal coffin the princess sleeps in eternal sleep" ^{[13, p.338]} – it does not arise here by chance. Marusya is also a princess who will soon fall asleep, but the prince will not be able to wake her up.

There are many sound symbols in the story. They are mainly associated with the cries of birds: "pugacha", i.e. the owl, a sinister bird calling death to the house on the roof of which he sat down; in an abandoned chapel, the owls loudly "howl" ^{[4, pp. 24, 65]}; "in the chapel, the owls screamed so shrilly and loudly that from the screams of the cursed bird even the fearless blacksmith's heart was squeezed" ^{[4, p. 25]}; "owls made their ominous songs" at night ^{[4, p. 8]}. The owl scared Vasya when he first found himself in the chapel. The Celts called the owl a "corpse bird," a reincarnated witch guarding the night." "The Slavs saw the owl as the embodiment of dark forces. The Poles, for example, believed that the owl was dead during the day, but lived only at night. Her appearance near the dwelling was interpreted as an omen of death" ^{[14, pp. 78, 79]}.  Owl, owl, owls are symbolic images of birds with an ominous connotation.

In the film, the cuckoo cooks several times – at the beginning and in the scene of Vasya's acquaintance with Marusya and Valek. The repeated cries of the cuckoo gave rise to the superstitious idea that the bird predicts how long a person will live.

A parable about birds is introduced into the film. Valentin says that as a child he dreamed of catching a bird. When I caught it, I was disappointed: you take the bird in your hands and immediately want to release it. Probably because she is pitied, she aspires to freedom. The bird is a symbol of freedom. The parable is followed by a dialogue between Valentin and Valek. "Valentin: Do you feel sorry for Vasya? Valek: I feel sorry for whoever I love. Valentin: And who don't you love? Valek: I regret it too."^[8] The idea of love and pity, of dislike and yet pity, correlates with this parable of birds. Compassion, mercy, love, affection are feelings that unite, they are distinguished by Valentin and Valek.

This makes it clearer the reasoning of the judge, who tells Vasya: "Love is a constraint on freedom. A person should live freely and alone. No one restricts your freedom."^[8]  It turns out that Vasya's father and friends have different ideas about love, will/freedom, pity/compassion.

In the film, a romance based on the poems of A. S. Pushkin "Winter Evening" (1825) sounds several times: "The storm covers the sky with mist, / Twisting snow whirlwinds; / Then, like an animal, she howls, / Then cries like a child ..." ^{[15, pp. 62-63]}. Sad, sad mood due to the winter storm, feelings of loneliness are brightened up by close people. This is what Vasya understands in the dungeon, when he eats with the poor.  Later, the boy himself sings the tune of this romance in anticipation of a conversation with his father about the doll he stole for Marusia.

The sound patterns are also present in the climactic scene of the story. The narrator remembered its details because of the soundtrack: "sparrows were busy" outside the window, "the measured splash of oars could be heard from the river", "lively conversation" sounded outside the door. "It seemed as if the storm that had just swept over both of us had dispelled the heavy fog that hung over the soul of my father, obscuring his kind and loving gaze" ^{[4, pp. 62-63]}. 

The film also focuses on other sounds: the footsteps of Vasya's father walking along the garden path; Valek in the chapel; dripping water. The same phrase is often repeated. K. G. Muratova thus highlights important statements related to the ideological content of the film text. For example: the judge repeats the question: "Do you remember your mother?"; or – "I want to be cured!"; Marusya repeats: "Come here, come here, to me"; "Marusya wants to go home! Home!"; "The flower is sick..." ^[8]. 

Tiger, lion, and wolf masks perform an important function.  Vasya hides his feelings under masks. The boy is ready to open up to his father, share his emotions, so he wants to give him his mask. However, the judge does not understand his son for a long time. In the end, when the father is cured of his "illness", he accepts a mask from Vasya. 

In the climactic scene, after Valentin Pan's explanation, the judge apologizes to his son: "I'm sorry to you. When she was alive, I didn't notice you because of my happiness. Then I didn't notice it because of grief..." ^[8]. The father kisses his son on the top of his head, and the sun shines through the window.

In the last chapter of the story - "Conclusion" - it is said that Vasya and Sonya, and sometimes with his father, visited Marusia's grave. "When the time came for us to leave our quiet hometown, here, on the last day, both of us, full of life and hope, pronounced our vows over a small grave" ^{[4, p. 65]}. 

The finale of the film is open: Valentin and Valek leave the city. Their departure is accompanied by the words: Marusya was small. / Marusya was small. / Marusya was poor. / Marusya was poor. / Marusya was kind. / Marusya was kind. / Give, Vasya, an apple to Marusa. / Give, Vasya, Marusya a psaltery ^[8].  Small, poor, kind, and again – an apple, already as a symbol of rebirth.

Conclusion

Thus, the analysis of works of different nature showed that the leading ones for the interpretation of V. G. Korolenko's story "In a bad Society" and his film adaptation by K. G. Muratova "Among the Gray Stones" were symbolic images associated with color, primarily gray and blue.  An important component of the film narrative is the system of symbolic oppositions: one's own / another's, life / death, true / false, love / hate, etc. The film expands the meaning of the symbols of the garden, the apple tree and the apple, flowers, portraits, birds. The introduction of fragments of Pushkin's works clarified the hidden meanings of V.G. Korolenko's story. The soundtrack of the film – singing, melody, sound images – enhanced the hypnotic effect of the film text.