A tutorial of a writer s success. Part II. Ch 5

http://proza.ru/2021/08/31/121 A tutorial of a writer s success. Part II. Chapter 1. http://proza.ru/2021/08/31/121

http://proza.ru/2021/08/31/124 A tutorial of a writer s success. Part II. Chapter 2. http://proza.ru/2021/08/31/124

http://proza.ru/2021/10/05/100 A tutorial of a writer s success. Part II. Chapter 3. http://proza.ru/2021/10/05/100

http://proza.ru/2021/12/11/148 A tutorial of a writer s success. Part II. Chapter 4. http://proza.ru/2021/12/11/148


Chapter 5. Relations with family and with fellow countrymen


Both Heinrich Schliemann, Nikolai Gogol, and — to a certain extent — Maxim Gorky were supported morally, and sometimes organizationally, by their family, relatives, and fellow countrymen.

A financial assistance also took place.

For Heinrich Schliemann, relations with family, relatives, fellow countrymen were on one of the first places.

Heinrich Schliemann met with his sisters and father whenever possible, was in constant correspondence with them, and after gaining financial independence provided them with regular financial support. It is interesting that at the time of the shipwreck in December 1841, which took place in the North Sea, Heinrich Schliemann was writing a letter to the sisters [Штоль. С. 85] [Stoll. P.85].

After the death of his mother, Heinrich is sent for about a year to his uncle-pastor Friedrich Schliemann in Kalkhorst. Heinrich and the pastor's son, Heinrich's cousin, Adolf Schliemann, maintain a close relationship almost all their lives.

The fellow villagers, residents of Ankershagen, and fellow countrymen, who recalled by Heinrich, they are mentioned by names by Heinrich Schliemann in his Autobiography with positive assessments. Heinrich Schliemann, who became a rich man, was providing a financial assistance to many relatives and fellow countrymen.

A serfdom did not exist at the time of Heinrich Schliemann's birth in the Mecklenburg-Schwerin, there were trends of Protestant equality in the atmosphere.

The sexton Prange and the sacristan Wollert, as well as the valet from the ducal castle (the father of Wilhelm Rust, - of a friend) - are not perceived either as slaves or as masters. These are partly optimistic, financially needy, subordinate, but, nevertheless, equal members of the community. (Making such a conclusion, the author understands that he is using information from biographical and memoir literature that is prone to idealization, and such information may differ from the concrete reality).

The Autobiography of Heinrich Schliemann demonstrates such a quality of Prange and of Wollert as intellectual activity. Heinrich Schliemann himself appreciated their influence on his own development very highly.

The sexton Prange emphasized the importance of knowledge and education; the sacristan Wollert had an excellent memory and, according to Heinrich Schliemann, "this man, who might possibly have become one of the greatest scholars of the world, had he had a university education, was full of wit, and excited our curiosity to the utmost by his inexhaustible stock of anecdotes, which he told with a wonderful oratorical skill" (Ilios. The city and country of the Trojans. By Dr. Henry Schliemann. NY. 1881. P. 4.)

(It seemed interesting to me that in biographical sources about Heinrich Schliemann, people with excellent memory are relatively often found. Wollert is named above. Adolf Schliemann, Heinrich's cousin, a high school student, and Hermann Niederheffer, the pastor's son (who did not completed study at the gymnasium), as Heinrich Alexander Stoll writes, they recite Homer by heart (they demonstrate a good memory) [Штоль. С. 50, 66] [Stoll. P. 50, 66]).

In the literature about the childhood of Heinrich Schliemann, there are no references to scenes of violence.

The fate put Heinrich Schliemann in a situation where he was left alone in the face of illness and death, when him - by will of some powerful energy — "pushed" into the "role" of opposing his father. Heinrich stubbornly avoided this role and evaded it.

Perhaps the relationship between Heinrich Schliemann and his family, his potential opposition to it (at least, alienation from the family), are among his most severe internal trials.

The "family catastrophe" and the trials associated with it are what Nikolai Gogol was saved from by fate.

Benevolent relations between relatives (according to one of the legends, the brothers kindly allocated a part of the estate to Tatyana Lizogub, who married without permission of relatives), friendly and tender relations between Nikolai's father and mother: all this was the reality in which Nikolai Gogol grew up.

There were financial problems, but Gogol's parents somehow were solving them.

For the Little Russian [malorossiyskiy] privileged stratum, a material difficulties, a slow ruin of estates, a problems of integration into the Russian nobility, into the Russian ruling stratum, - all this was stretched over (along) a time, amortized by a family, kinship and friendly ties. And, beyond that, Nikolai Gogol, personally, had a recognized talent and a genius.

("The landlords played cards, got drunk and they squandered properly; everything went to St. Petersburg to serve; the estates were abandoned, they are managed at random [badly], taxes are paid with a more difficulty every year... " (words from Nikolai Gogol's "Dead Souls")).

Nikolai Gogol actively maintained contacts with his family (mother, sisters), relatives, and fellow countrymen.

We can conditionally distinguish two periods.

The first is the period of Nikolai Gogol's material dependence on his family and relatives.

The second is the period of his life after the recognition of his talent, genius, the period of relative financial independence from his family, from relatives, the time when he became able to provide all possible assistance to his sisters and mother. Circumstances changed, the distance that separated him from his family changed, but family ties remained strong. Active correspondence, meetings.

The documentary film "How Pushkin and Gogol became related..." (2009, the author of the script S. Nekrasov, directed by Konstantin Artyukhov)  («Как Пушкин с Гоголем породнились…», 2009, автор сценария С. Некрасов, режиссер Константин Артюхов) shows both the native places of Nikolai Gogol, and those objects (things) that, apparently, were made by him personally and went to his relatives and descendants of the Gogol family. The film significantly complements the numerous photographs that were (earlier) published in the book by Vladimir Gilyarovsky (See, for example: [Гиляровский. 1902. С. 35] [Gilyarovsky. 1902. P. 35]) (photographs allow us to visualize the places where Nikolai Gogol lived as a child, and which he visited as an adult).

The support of relatives, communication with them (especially with Dmitry and Andrey Troshchinsky, the benefactors of Nikolai Gogol) was of great importance for Nikolai Gogol, especially at the initial stage of his life.

If we recall Heinrich Schliemann's benefactor J. F. Wendt, we can assume that the "benefactor" is an optional element of the"Success System".

Why is the adjective "optional" used?

Maxim Gorky, for example, does not show a distinct figure of a benefactor or benefactors in his biography.

His grandmother, grandfather, and mother helped him — each of them in different ways.

People whom he met on the way of life also helped: Bishop Chrysanthus, a certain dray driver who saved the drowning Maxim Gorky, as well as Smury, Romas', Korolenko and many, many, many others. Again, the "mosaicous" effect? [эффект «мозаичности»] "The mosaicous benefactor" ["«Мозаичный благодетель»"]?

The correspondence of Nikolai Gogol with relatives on his mother's side has been preserved.

Nikolai Gogol's fellow countrymen after graduating from the gymnasium and arriving in St. Petersburg were, in particular, his fellow students at the Nezhinsky gymnasium.

Alexander Danilevsky, Nikolai Prokopovich (friends from the Nezhinsky gymnasium) became people close to Nikolai Gogol, in a communication and in a cooperation with whom he passed almost the entire path of life.

After Nikolai Gogol's departure abroad, the friends, acquaintances, buddies, assistants, who remained in Russia, as well as Russians who lived abroad, with whom Nikolai Gogol communicated due to circumstances and proximity of cultural interests, became fellow countrymen. Perhaps Nikolai Gogol also included in the circle of his fellow countrymen those foreign acquaintances who, being in opposition to the Russian government, were close to the Little Russian [malorossian] culture.

Both Heinrich Schliemann and Nikolai Gogol were distinguished by strong ties with their families, relatives and fellow countrymen. They were both drawn to their native places, they repeatedly returned to the places of their childhood in adulthood. "Nuances", "fluctuations" in relationships did not seriously affect family ties.

An example is the sequence of events with the repair of a house in the Nikolai Gogol's native village of Vasilyevka.

In May 1850, Nikolai Gogol wrote to his mother: "From the letters of my sisters, I learned that you all were very cold in it [house] during the winter. This grief should be helped. The whole house needs to be repaired again ... and a lot of things need to be redone again... Of course, this can only be done in my presence... (...)".

In a letter sent nine days later, on May 24, 1850, Nikolai Gogol continued the topic: "( ... ) In my previous letter, which you probably have already received, I spoke about the need to rebuild or, better, re-fix, and make the house warmer so that you can spend tolerably the winter in it. (...) I saved something ..., ( ... ) there will be money for stoves and even for plastering works, because some rooms will need to be plastered inside for greater warmth. (…)».

Two weeks later, in a letter dated June 9, 1850, Nikolai Gogol continues: "( ... ) ... I did not borrow any large amount. But 700 rubles, no more, in assignats <...>. You can even use up to 1000. I wanted to do it this summer, because now I have free time. ( ... ) "

On July 1, 1850, Nikolai Gogol arrived in Vasilyevka. "Summer. Gogol carries out under his supervision the repair of a house in Vasilevka." " (...) 1852. (...) 21 February, at 8 o'clock in the morning. The death of Gogol. " ("Dates of Gogol's life, 1848-1852.") [Гоголь Н. В. Письма. 1848—1852] [Gogol N. V. Letters. 1848—1852].

For biographical descriptions of the Nikolai Gogol's life, in general, the story of the carriage ("koch-carriage" - a carriage, equipped for long-distance trips) is typical; it is typical in the sense that the beginning of the story is stated, conclusions are drawn (such as he is a "stingy" person), and the topic "passes by the way (passes without any attention)"; the end of the story "slips away".

The carriage ("koch-carriage") was asked  (as a gift) by Nikolai Gogol's sister Elizabeth. She  was getting married. "My friend, my sister! Do you really think that I would regret to help you? But look at my situation: I tell you that if I die, there will probably be nothing to bury of me for, that's the kind of circumstances I have. ( ... ) My financial circumstances are bad. It seems that God wants us to remain in poverty. And I admit, complete poverty is much better than the average state [position]. In the average state, all sorts of habits exceed the possibilities... And when you are poor, then you say: "I can't do this" - and so you are calm. ( ... ) " (Nikolai Gogol on July 14, 1851-before her wedding — to his sister, Gogol E. V. (in the marriage her surname Bykova)) [Гоголь Н. В. Письма. 1848—1852] [Gogol N. V. Letters. 1848—1852].

"Immediately after arriving in Moscow, Gogol received a letter from Elizabeth, in which she asked to buy a koch-type carriage for her… This request surprised Gogol — it seemed to him excessive. ( ... ) The sister will not receive [even] a kopeck from him. But on the same day, when he sent her this harsh teaching about the need to save on everything, he sent 25 rubles in silver to the Archimandrite of Optina desert, with a request to use them for the improvement of the monks ' cells. ( ... ) It is better to direct money to a God-pleasing cause than to spend it on a carriage" [Труайя А. С. 570] [Troyat H. P. 570]

"I decided to send the carriage that I had saved for myself ... to you, in Poltava, so that it would be forwarded to my mother, who, if the carriage is needed by my sister, will give it to her, or else leave it [the carriage] in Vasilevka. This carriage, despite the fact that it is not new, is very quiet [for traveling on rough roads] and light; it is convenient for traveling and, in my opinion, it is indecent for people who have [only] twenty souls in the estate to flaunt a new carriage. ( ... ) The carriage has the shape of a koch-carriage. The windows are the same as in the [koch-]carriage, therefore, it is as sister Elisaveta wished." (Nikolai Gogol-Skalon S. V., October 3, 1851). (October 3, 1851 — the date of the wedding of Nikolai Gogol's sister Elizabeth).

The topic of Nikolai Gogol's relations with his fellow countrymen is of quite volume. We will conclude it with the memoir by Alexandra  Smirnova-Rosset:

"...[Nikolai Gogol] guessed that Mikhail Semyon(ovich) Shchepkin was in front of him, hit him on the shoulder and said: "Hey chi [it seems] are alive, chi [it seems] are healthy, usi [all are] relatives of the Garbuzovs [all are a watermelon's relatives]." This original acquaintance ended in the closest friendship." [Смирнова-Россет А. О. C. 66] [Smirnova-Rosset A. O. P. 66].

Both Heinrich Schliemann and Nikolai Gogol were persons of such a way of life, and they adopted such a way of behavior (travel, trips, the ability to insist on the execution of their own plans), that they have acquired the ability to "manage" the communication and to fit the family, kinship, and community ties harmoniously into their life scenarios.

To some extent, Maxim Gorky's relations with relatives can be illustrated by his story about his cousin [brother] Sasha.

"Mikhail's son Sasha [Mikhail was the uncle of Maxim Gorky] became a tramp and a drunkard, was sued three times for theft, but at the same time, according to Gorky's memoirs in letters to Gruzdev, he was a romantic by nature. Gorky wrote about him: "The beautiful, purest soul of a Russian romantic, lyricist, musician and the passionate lover of music… He loved me very much, but he read me [books by Maxim Gorky] reluctantly and asked with perplexity: "Why are you writing all about a terrible things?" His life as a vagrant, as a hobo did not seem terrible to him... Several times I tried to arrange Sasha, I dressed him, I found a job for him, but he quickly sold things bought for him to buy booze and, coming to me half-naked, said:"I can't, Alyosha [that is, he can't to live as a normal person]. I'm embarrassed in front of my comrades." His comrades are inveterate vagrants. I arranged him very well at Count Milyutin in Simeiz [Crimea] ... five months later he came to me: "I can't live without the Volga," he says. And he said a truth. He could sit on the shore [of Volga] for days, hungry, watching the water flow. The vagrants loved him very much and, of course, stripped him naked when he came to them decently dressed and with money. He died in the hospital from typhus when I was living in Italy" " [Басинский П. В. Страсти по Максиму] [Basinsky P. V. Passion for Maxim].

The family of Vasily Vasilyevich Kashirin and the family of his grandson Aleksey (Gorky) (when Aleksey "got on his feet"), are in some ways similar and in some ways different. Both families - are of many members, they are populousness, they are numerous. But the populousness of the family of grandfather Vasily is the populousness (it is a presence) of three or four families: Vasil Kashirin had three adult children, and each of these adult children had their own children. At certain periods of life, all these families were united under one roof and lived as a single family. Maxim Gorky has never had three native own adult children ( under one roof). (Even if you see unofficial versions, it still seems that there were no three adult native children under one roof). The populousness of his family had a different character. Many of the members of this family became such by the will of circumstances. For some, joining the family of Maxim Gorky became a salvation.

Something similar and something different [unsimilar] can be seen in the evolution of the grandfather and grandson's families. The" business "of grandfather Kashirin at some stage began to "slip". Grandfather Vasily carried out a" reorganization " of the family: the property was divided between the children, and grandson Aleksey heard the classic phrase. "A few days after the funeral of my mother, my grandfather said to me:

" Well, Lyaksei [Aleksey], you are not a medal, you don't belong on my neck, but you must to go into people...". [that is, to go an independent way of life, to earn for his own existence]

If we take into account the further events of Aleksey Peshkov's life described by Gorky himself, then this phrase did not at all sum up a certain final result; the sound and meaning of this phrase depends on the interpretation and context; not everything looked catastrophic and unambiguous. To some extent, Aleksey enjoyed the support of relatives, of members the Kashirins family, for quite a long time.

After increasing financial difficulties and the reorganization of the family, grandfather Kashirin gradually became a beggar. Maxim Gorky describes grandfather's last months in a work of fiction: "... when my grandmother had already calmed down forever, my grandfather, alone, walked the streets of the city, begging. He was like a madman, he was pitifully begging under the windows [of citizens]: - My good cooks [chefs], give me a piece of pie, I would like a pie! Oh, you - i - i - i ...

The only thing left of him (from his previous image) is this bitter, viscous, soul-stirring:
"Oh, you - i - i - i ...".

In the religious tradition, the fate of a person who has become a beggar does not look at all unambiguously negative. "Whoever mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker... "  (Proverbs 17: 5). By itself, "begging" for alms does not refer to any serious sinful actions. Much depends on the context, interpretation, and point of view. Nikolai Gogol repeatedly called himself a "beggar"; this epithet does not detract from either his work or his life path. The walking "across the world to receive the mercy [the help]" by his grandmother, Akulina Ivanovna, Maxim Gorky describes such way (passing on the words of his grandmother): "In the spring and in the summer it is good to walk on the earth, the earth is tender, the grass is velvety; the Most holy Theotokos showered the fields with flowers, here is joy for you,  there is a space, a vastness  for your heart!

And my mother used to close her blue eyes and started [directed, launched] a song to a great height  [altitude] — her voice was not strong, but as a [little] bell - and everything around her seemed to fall asleep, did not move, listened to her. It was good to live for Christ's sake!"

The moment came, and Maxim Gorky and his crowded family met a financial difficulties. Biographers include these difficulties among the many factors that pushed Maxim Gorky to make a trip from Italy to the Soviet Union in 1928. (“On May 9, 1933, Gorky left Italy forever...” [Нефедова И. М.] [Nefedova I. M.]).

Biographers write about the subsequent actions of Maxim Gorky and his subsequent fate, giving a different assessments.

I propose to consider a hypothetical variant of Maxim Gorky's use of the model of actions of his grandfather Kashirin. In this version, Maxim Gorky says to his son Maxim: "Well, Maxim, you are not a medal, I have no place for you on my neck, but you should go into people...". If any property was subject to division, then he divides it. He continues to live in Italy on his remaining income and on parcels from the Red Cross. His crowded, numerous environment [family] is shrinking. "The flour with buses", "the flour of memories", "dull, quiet sadness, loneliness, hopelessness". "At home, pea soup and 2 slices of sausage made made from the devil knows what", "hard, hard days, months, years". Agree, dear Readers, it's kind of boring (the words in quotation marks are from the diaries of Ivan Bunin). And it is unworthy of a Human (with a capital letter). The behavior model of Grandfather Kashirin has drawbacks. It is somehow more pleasant and interesting to take a ride along the White Sea–Baltic Canal as a kind of Auditor [The Government Inspector] in the company of a pretty daughter-in-law. In fairness, we note that the social hyperactivity of Maxim Gorky stimulated the enthusiasm of the masses and made a certain contribution to both industrialization and the Victory of 1945. The dialectic of history! ...

The law of success: "Maintaining of positive  relationships with parents, brothers, sisters, of ties with fellow countrymen contributes to success! Fellow villagers - they are also useful! "