Discussion on Master and Margarita -Chapter 02.3

Hi! Let us have a look at the other two characters who figure in Chapter 2. We have seen that Mark Krysoboi is the security in charge. Just see how is he depicted:

Krysoboi was a well built , strong man. Face was deformed. As soon as he appeared in the balcony, it seemed that it was dark. He was taller than every soldier in his unit and his shoulders were so wide that they had covered the Sun which was not very high at that time.

I had given a hint to pay attention to the symbol of Sun. It keeps appearing in various chapters. But Krysoboi was more powerful than the Sun in chapter 2, as Sun was not very high! This implies that the security organs were very powerful and they had eclipsed even the powerful persons represented by the Sun...slowly we shall come to know what MB is hinting at.

Come to Yeshua. Full name given as Yeshua-Ha-Nostri. He is brought  infront of the Procurator in Yerushalam. The setting seems to suggest that this was the trial of Jesus....but...that is what Bulgakov is! He drops hints here and there to make us realise that it is not really so.

Pay attention to Yeshua...his age as mentioned by Bulgakov, his dress, the questions put by PP and answers given by Yeshua. Try to see how different they are from the real process as mentioned in the Holy Bible.
And I shall get back to you soon

Discussion on Master and Margarita -Chapter 02.2

We have seen that Pontius Pilate is suffering from headache. The reason for this headache is the smell coming from red roses.
Many times in M&M you can see that Bulgakov does not pay any attention to the HEAD - the thinking process- and many times you will come across such expressions as ' Why Head? Head is not at all needed here!.'
Even Mayakovsky in his play 'Bed bug' depicts a scene where the fish is being sold in the market. Two shopkeepers are selling the same fish at different rates. The inquiry reveals that the cheaper fish is longer too. The explanation given by the shopkeeper : Cut the head...why do you need the head?
That means any type of mental activity was not welcome in those days in the Soviet Union. They wanted just numbers, just robots?
Another person in chapter 2 who attracts us is Mark Krysoboi. In English it is translated as Ratslayer.
Right, there was a movement of cleaning the rats from the fields...i.e. harmful elements from the society.
Please pay attention to the description of Mark Krysoboi...and I shall get back to you...

Discussion on Master and Margarita -Chapter 02.1

In chapter 1 we saw that Ivan Bezdomnyi and Berlioz were discussing in the Patriarchy Ponds Park about the existence of Christ. Berlioz explains to Bezdomnyi that He never existed. Suddenly they come across a stranger who says that he is an expert on black magic. This Professor emphasizes that Christ existed and no proof is needed for this.He takes Bezdomnyi and Berlioz to the ancient Jerusalem where The Christ is being questioned by procurator of Rome Ponius Pilate.

Please pay attention to the last sentence of chapter 1. It is the same as the first sentence of chapter 2. Bulgakov uses this device to realise shift of time and space...from Moscow to Jerusalem; from Modern times to the ancient times.

You will definitely, carefully read the dialogues between Yeshua and Pontius Pilate. Just pay attention to the condition of Pontius Pilate in the beginning of chapter.

The Procurator is suffering from Migraine . Why? Because of scent of roses. Why roses? Why migraine? So that only one half of his head suffers, he does not feel like thinking,he is going to use his mind to as little an extent as possible.

Pay attention to Mark Krysoboi.

I shall discuss Krysoboi in the next chat with you.

Pay attention to the metaphor of Sun as well.


We are really going to go slow so that you are able to read the chapter carefully.

Discussion M&M-chapter 01

Discussion on M & M – Chapter 1

Friends,

Let us start discussion on the novel ‘Master and Margarita’ in all seriousness.

We shall go chapter wise and, of course, slowly.

I am slowly feeding the novel in its Hindi version on the blog  . http://masteraurmargaritahindi.blogspot.com/ and so far I have posted 13 chapters. Now the time has come that we think about them

I am sure you have gone through Chapter 1 (in any language!).

The action takes place in Moscow, in the Park Patriarshi Prudy. The time is….a warm evening of May. Which day of the week? That becomes clear in later chapters.

There are two persons discussing whether The Christ existed or not…sorry, it was not discussion but a sort of sermon. Berlioz, who was an influential editor of a fat journal, was asking the young poet Bezdomnyi to write a poem suggesting that Christ never existed.

Pay attention to the name of the poet. His true name was Ivan Nikolaevicha Ponyrev, and Bezdomnyi was used by him as Pseudonym.

Interesting!

Mikhail Afanasevich Bulgakov, who was too worried about the housing problem in Moscow at that time, (20’s of the last century…he himself had suffered a lot before getting a place to live in a community flat!)

Berlioz was editor of a journal and being editor of a fat journal makes you an influential person. He was also President of a literary organisation…MASSOLIT. The time, 20’s of XX century, is known as the Silver Age of Russian Literature. Especially in 20’s there was a big number of literary groups – formalist and non formalist; socialistically oriented literature was emerging. There was a love for abbreviations, specially known for this were PROLETKULT, LEF, RAPP etc MASSOLIT could be deciphered as Moscow Association of Literature, it was of course proletarian in nature and enjoyed patronage from the government.

The discussion shows that Berlioz was a well read person. He was trying to propagate the government line of thinking that there is no GOD.

Then appears a third, mysterious person.

Pay attention to his appearance. He says he was a consultant and was invited by the government to explain some archaic documents on black magic.

The stranger gets involved in this discussion.

We observe a few things: whether any one is listening to us? We should not go closer to foreigners; we are all non believers and we can say this openly.

 This throws light on the atmosphere of suspicion that was prevailing in the country. Bulgakov started writing this novel in 1928…things in Soviet Union were already precipitating towards a certain cult by this time.

And when the mysterious Professor declares that Berlioz is going to be killed by a woman…he mutters something about the position of planets. All those positions really indicate misfortune, death…

One must appreciate that Bulgakov had done a lot of research before writing the novel. Nothing, nothing mentioned therein is baseless.

Please think about these points and I shall get back with something more about the same chapter!

Cassandra-Mark

Chingiz Aitmatov’s Cassandra’s Mark

A.Charumati Ramdas

Chingiz Torekulevich Aitmatov, author of Cassandra’s Mark was special in so many ways. Ever since he started writing, he always tried to give something new in each of his works. The beginning was made in the late 50’s with short stories (Stories of Mountains and Steppes); in 60’s appeared his first novella – Good Bye, Gulsari!; in 70’s he presented three novellas – The White Ship, Early Cranes, My Poplar in Red Kerchief. Chingiz Aitmatov’s first novel The Day is longer than a Century (Burannyi Half station) was published in 1981; second novel The Execution Block appeared in 1987; the third –Madonna in the Snow in early 90’s, while Cassandra’s Mark appeared in 1995. With each work the author appears to have become more mature – subject wise, style wise and language wise.

The early works were written in purely ‘socialist realist’ style, but from The White Ship one feels the attempt of the author to give way to his feelings. Since this was not possible due to strict censorship during the Soviet regime, the writers found some other ways to achieve their aim. They started using legends, myths, metaphors, coded or ambiguous phrases to depict the reality and it was very difficult to get the message hidden beneath such constructions. In Burannyi Half Station Chingiz Aitmatov uses the legend of Anna Beit to define the state of mind of an educated Soviet citizen. Anna Beit’s son was captured by the enemy, who converted him into a ‘Mankurt’ by putting a cap of the fresh skin of camel on his head. The cap, when put on the head of prisoner would fit him, but with the Sun shining brightly, the skin would contract, thereby squeezing the bones of the head. This was so torturous that most of the victims would die of it, and the surviving ones would lose their memory and turn into human robots, which would fulfil every order of their masters. Such slaves were called ‘Mankurts’. The enemy, having converted Anna Beit’s son into a ‘Mankurt’, order him to kill his own mother, which he does.

Comparing the mental state of ‘Mankurt’ with that of the engineer son of his deceased friend, who is scared of even telling the authorities, that the ancient graveyard should not be destroyed, the hero, Edigei, exclaims, “Oh, you…. Mankurt!”

The concern of the author about the welfare of human being finds a way through the space drama, where in, during a joint flight, the Soviet and the American cosmonauts are taken over to the new planet ‘Lesnaya Grud’. This scientific fantasy enabled the author to express such prohibited harsh realities like: ‘Any government is nothing but an instrument committing atrocities against the People’ and ‘People over there don’t have armies or weapons, because they don’t know what a war is’.

Burannyi Half Station was a novel with various plots and styles. Aitmatov continues the same in his next novel The Execution Block, where three, seemingly independent plots are joined together by means of the story of wolves. Aitmatov also includes the Biblical Myth in this novel to propagate his idea about a New God, who, according to the author, is present in the hearts of human beings. But the hero of the novel, Avdii Kallistratov, is also hanged like Christ when he tries to reform the criminals.

This idea of reforming one’s own self, achieving self perfection, which was so peculiar to Tolstoy, is at the nucleus of Aitmatov’s novel Cassandra’s Mark. Unlike his previous novels, here there is only one plot, i.e. the fate of Robert Bork and Philofei, but the presentation, variety of styles, language, the theme of the novel is simply startling. Using the contemporary society, without hiding the personality of characters, the author expressed grave concern about the moral state of present-day society and warns us about the fast approaching dooms day, thereby stressing the point that the seeds of destruction lie somewhere within us. We ourselves are responsible for the present state of the world.

Let us have a glimpse of the plot of this novel:

‘The Tribune’ receives a letter from the space monk addressed to the Pope, with a request to publish it in their newspaper. Publication of this letter creates chaos every where. The letter was about the right of a foetus to decide whether it wants to take birth or not. According to Philofei, during the first few weeks of conception, in the mother’s womb, the foetus has a power to foresee the future, have a glimpse of the life that it is destined to live. If this life is going to be unpleasant, harsh, miserable the foetus develops a fear syndrome and starts sending signals to the outer world about the same through a brown mark which appears on the forehead of its future mother. The mark, which Philofei named as Cassandra’s Mark, stays there for 2-3 weeks and then disappears on its own. Probably, with its disappearance the foetus also loses this power of predicting its future. And as the time goes on, every one forgets about it.

Philofei, in his letter, pleads that the SOS signal transmitted by the foetus should not be ignored and if the foetus refuses to live the life which is going to be imposed upon it, then it should not be forced to take birth. In other words, Philofei is suggesting termination of such pregnancies which are accompanied by Cassandra’s Mark. To make the Cassandra’s Mark more prominent, Philofei sends Zondazh rays to the earth through the instruments fixed in his spaceship, so that the mark is easily visible and it is not mistaken for a mole or a pimple.

Philofei does not stop at that, he goes further to make an appeal to the people to find out the causes which have made life so horrible, that even at the budding stage the foetus is scared of taking birth. According to Philofei, the cause lies somewhere within us. He feels that the evil, committed by a human being does not die with him, but lies dormant in his genetic code and is passed on from one generation to another  This sounds so familiar! A reminder of the Karma Theory! Citing examples of the atrocities committed by men on their fellow brothers, Philofei appeals to eradicate the very cause which is responsible for generating Cassandra’s Mark.

Obviously, the Americans - (the place chosen by author is America, with Moscow at the backdrop and the Space and other countries of the World providing side effects) - consider this move of the space monk as outrageous, one which curtails their freedom. And they, specially the women, want to know: Who permitted Philofei to conduct such experiments and what measures the future President of the US is going to take in this regard.

The Presidential candidate is one Mr. Ordok, who is the shrewdest possible person on the earth. His assistant, Anthony Younger, advises him to discuss this problem (of Cassandra’a Mark) with his futurist (futurologist) friend Robert Bork. Robert Bork is a scientist - well known in the world, respected in his field, kind hearted philosopher. He was often compared with a huge, old rock – calm, stable, patient. His word is listened with awe and respect in the field.

Robert Bork also shares the views of Philofei that instead of worrying about the Cassandra-Mark, one should think of the reasons responsible for the appearance of this ‘Mark’ and try to eliminate them.

In the pre-poll meeting with the voters, which was held the day after the ‘letter’ was published by ‘The Tribune’; Ordok was asked by the audience to tell about his reaction regarding Cassandra’s Mark. Ordok, initially tried to give a little explanation on the lines of his conversation with Bork, but the agitated mob demands a stern action against Philofei, through the UN etc. For Ordok, the situation was like that of a lost battle, but he controls himself and tells the auditorium that his views were similar to their views. In order to win over the public to his side, he even says that he was in favour of liquidating Philofei; but Philofei, he says, had a few trusted friends on earth as well, who should be the first targets of peoples’ anger. He even goes to the extent of declaring Bork as Philofei’s agent, and needless to say that the crowd goes against Philofei as well as against Bork. The mob walks up to Bork’s house and demands that Bork should come out with an explanation. Anthony Younger’s requests to Bork not to come out of the house are ignored and Bork comes out to meet the mad crowd to explain his stand. But someone hits him at the head with an iron bar, and then the whole crowd starts attacking him, till a profusely bleeding, unconscious Bork is rescued by Anthony Younger, but it was too late to revive him.

After Bork’s death a telebridge is organised between the earth and the space and Philofei appears on the screen to explain to the world his ideas about Cassandra’s Mark, but the whole World demands that Philofei be sentenced to death. Admitting his failure, the space monk commits suicide by stepping out of his space ship.

After Philofei’s suicide his letter, which in fact is a confession, is delivered to Anthony Younger. If the confession is nearer to the present day reality, then it is really startling. Aitmatov, in this novel, as mentioned above, has used real names, real events, real places to describe the moral degradation of the contemporary society and he warns that all this is leading to a fast approaching end of life. If one goes by this analogy to examine Philofei’s confession, then there could seem nothing more shocking in the world than this one!

According to Philofei’s letter, he was an orphan left at the gates of an orphanage during the World War II by his mother. He still remembers his mother, holding him close to her bosom, her warm breath, though no one believes that it is possible for a child to remember those minute details.

Philofei, who was christened as Andrei Andreevich Kryltsov, grew up always wondering what made his mother abandon him. There, in the orphanage, he comes to know about the German siege of that village, about the German soldiers living with local women and then deserting them. The children born out of such relationship had no place in the society and hence, in many cases the mothers used to abandon their children. Such was Philofei. He grew up envying those who had a normal birth and he tried to defeat them in every field of life. He became a well known scientist in the field of Biological Sciences. His laboratory got all the attention and encouragement from the authorities.

Andrei Kryltsov’s wife also leaves him as she has undergone a lot of torture – mental as well as physical. When she comes to know about the nature of his experiments she pleads that he should stop all this and suggested that they go away from Moscow and start a new life somewhere in the Far East!

What were these experiments about?

 Andrei Andreevich, being a well known scientist in the field of life sciences, succeeds in developing Test-Tube babies. The Party which was having a close watch on Andrei Andreevich’s laboratory decides to make use of this experiment in creating X-Generation. The ‘seed’ from an unknown man was to be transplanted into the womb of a woman who was prepared to ‘let out’ the same for this experiment. These women, called ‘incubators’, were to be selected from among the prisoners. If she gives birth to one X-child, her span of imprisonment was to be reduced by 50% and if she gives birth to a second X-child, she was to be freed from the prison. The responsibilities of participants in this whole affair were distributed as follows:

1.    Andrei Andreevich would implant the ‘seed’ into the womb of an ‘incubator’, who in turn would give a written undertaking that she will not have any right over the child; nor would she ever disclose the names of officials/scientists attending on her during this process.

2.    The child will be fed by the ‘incubator’ for 2-3 weeks after which he would be shifted to Children’s Home, where he will be brought up among other similar children

The aim in creating this X-Generation was to create a force of fearless, adventure loving, dedicated to the goal persons, who would not be deterred from their path by such factors like home, parents, wife, children etc.

Obviously the aim was to wipe out the whole institution of family/parents; and consequently the world would have generations of these X-persons, whose hands won’t tremble while pressing the knob of an atomic device.

But then, the things take a curious turn when one woman ‘incubator, Runa Lopatina, bluntly asks Andrei Andreevich whether he is going to challenge the creative role of God, want to make this earth full of creations of Satan. Andrei Andreevich is forced to think and his attitude slowly starts changing. He even comes to the extent of leaving this whole scientific business and settle down somewhere far from Moscow with Runa.

But his dreams are shattered. Runa guts killed while trying to run away from the van in which she was being taken to Andrei Andreevich’s clinic.

During the years of Perestroika it became possible to stop the production of X-Generation. Andrei Andreevich goes to space in the joint Russo-American flight and refuses to come back to earth. His past does not leave him. He is constantly worried about the future of those X-children who were already growing on earth. And, when his experiments show him signals from foetus, he tries to tell the world that when even before taking the birth the child is frightened of the world, of his future, is it not wise to clean the evil from society and make the earth beautiful, pure, worth living place?

Though his efforts bore no fruits, Philofei at least succeeded in awakening the conscience of people, forced them to think that ‘Cassandra-Mark’ is a reminder of the evil which is present in our society, within us, which is the sole cause of all the misery on the planet and by doing evil, we are making the earth even more horrible. The evil done by a person does not die with him but is passed on to the posterity and thus gets multiplied.

A very commendable effort, towards achieving moral perfection, made by Chingiz Aitmatov shows the author’s concern about the future of our planet. What Tolstoy pleaded about at the end of XIX century, is again repeated by Aitmatov at the end of XX century. The writer’s concern about society is shared by pair of humans and a pair of non-humans; while a pair of inhumans tries to create obstacles in the way of hero(s).

The humans mentioned above are Philofei – in cosmos and Robert Bork – on earth. Bork and Philofei are supported by Anthony Younger, who tries to create a telebridge between the earth and the space.

The non-humans are normally animals in Aitmatov’s novels, who share the joy as well as sorrow of human beings in whose company they live. It was a horse in ‘Good Bye, Gulsari!’; a camel in ‘Burannyi Half Station’; a pair of wolves in ‘The Execution Block’. Here, the non-humans are also different from the previous ones. They don’t live with human beings, but because of their extra sensitiveness, they feel and share the sorrow of humanity. Among the various non-humans depicted in this novel, we see a group of whales, which is constantly seen swimming in the ocean towards Atlanta despite the arrogant ocean’s efforts to stop them. And the day, Bork was killed; the whales also committed mass suicide. The author says that the whales are like very sensitive radars, who can feel the approaching misery, misfortune; and unable to express their concern through words, they throw themselves out of sea waters.

The other non-human is in the sky. Yes, it is an owl, which has been living on a fortress in the Red Square in Moscow for the past three hundred years. This owl, at three in the night, descends from its abode to find out what all has taken place in the world. Probably, the author wants to stress that non-humans, whether they are animals or birds or fishes; whether they live on land or in sky; whether they are in America or Russia, they are very much concerned about the fate of man. Whenever somewhere, something catastrophic takes place, they too suffer emotionally and physically. Probably this emotional suffering causes their physical end. The whales committed suicide and the owl is also found dead on the mausoleum of Lenin.

Strangely, the owl, every night, during its flight over the Red Square, sees another pair of non-humans – two ghosts! The details suggest that these are ghosts of Lenin and Stalin! From their conversation it becomes clear that Lenin does not want to be kept in the form of Mummy. But Stalin pleads that the Party needs his constant presence. Towards the end, when a young girl protesting against the arms race in the world is set on fire at the Red Square, the two ghosts chant one of the slogans prominently displayed during the day. The slogan was – ‘Socialism or Death!’ Probably the author has come to the conclusion that the non-socialist world order encourages arms trading and would definitely throw the world into another war!

But the authenticity of what Aitmatov feels can be examined if one analyses the behaviour of the two in-humans, belonging to two different social systems, yet causing destruction everywhere. The characters are:

1.    Oliver Ordok, a candidate for the Us President’s post; and

2.    Andrei Andreevich Kryltsov, who later on became Philofei and decided to help mankind.

Oliver Ordok changes his colours like chameleon, and it did not take him a second’s time to declare that his close friend Robert Bork is an agent of space monk. He goes to the extent of provoking people to eliminate Bork.

Andrei Andreevich, by not refusing the services of his laboratory for producing X-Generation; agreed to create a cold-blooded generation, whose hands won’t tremble while pressing the button of a nuclear device. He went ahead to eliminate the Institution of family, mother and father. The scenario looks more horrible than that of a battlefield. And the irony is that he was very much convinced of the need of producing X-Generation, until his conscience is awakened by Runa Lopatina.

The novel gives the impression of a synthesis of a philosophical, documentary and a detective novel. At times the narration becomes too serious, sentences too clumsy, language too complex; and at other times it moves so fats, it is so capturing that one does not feel like leaving the novel in the middle.

Aitmatov has made his language also a mixture of all registers and styles. One can find words old, forgotten, archaic, modern, jargoned, rude and even words picked up directly from English in one single sentence, which could be as long as one whole, big paragraph. This sudden change of registers sometimes seems to hinder the flow of language; makes it complex. But on the whole it gives a pleasant feeling that in today’s mechanical, heartless, fast, scientific world, there is at least someone who is worried about the questions of soul, birth, religion; concept of one God, future of the mankind etc and tries to awaken us to the harsh reality that is encountering us and leading us to an endless tunnel.

******

B.Pilnyak’s Tale...

The Tale of the Unextinguished Moon

A.Charumati Ramdas

In May 1926, journal Novyi Mir published the ‘Tale of the Unextinguished Moon’, written by Boris Pilnyak. Publication of the ‘Tale’ resulted in the confiscation of that particular number of the journal and ultimately the author had to admit that it was a great mistake on his part to write this work.

In the introductory remark to the ‘Tale…’ which was dedicated to Voronsky, a well known literary figure of the twenties of last century, Pilnyak wrote:

 “The subject matter of this story may force one to think that it was based on the incidents leading to Comrade Frunze’s death. I was not personally acquainted with him. I had seen him only twice. I do not know the real facts behind his sad demise – and they are of no significance to me, because my aim is not to report on the death of the commissar of armed forces. – I think I should make all this clear to the readers, so that there is no attempt to look for the real facts and real faces in the story.”

Literary critics of the 20’s thought that B.Pilnyak did not properly understand many things that were happening around and committed many mistakes of political and aesthetic nature. He quotes ‘The Tale of the Unextinguished Moon’ and ‘Mahogany’.  They felt that the ‘Tale…’ depicted the Soviet life in subjective and in a wrong way.

After a gap of 61 years the ‘Tale…’, a short account of Commander Gavrilov’s death on the operation table was published in the Soviet literary journal ‘Znamya’. It seems that Commander Gavrilov had ‘felt’ and ‘foreseen’ his death. He did not want to die in this way, but could not prevent it.

Soviet writer Fyodor Gladkov in his letter to M.Gorky wrote on 5^th May 1926: “You have probably heard about the latest literary event – about the confiscation of 5^th issue of Novyi Mir, in which Pilnyak’s ‘Tale of the Unextinguished Moon’ is published. The story is about the death of Comrade Frunze. But one is forced to see in it the shadow of powerful persons, leaders of the Great Revolution, who are capable of victimizing (liquidating) anyone. I feel that the author is completely ignorant of what he writes and he is making full use of rumours which are knit around this accident.” Fyodor Gladkov felt that Pilnyak did not know his epoch, his contemporary people, and problems of his epoch and did not feel the mighty breath of the future.

M.Gorky in his answer writes, “Yes, PIlnyak is propagating the idea that the Central Committee (of CP) ordered Frunze to undergo surgery – Frunze had ulcer and obviously no one can issue orders in that respect. It’s all farce!”

These bits of evidence force one to think what the ‘Tale…’ was about? What did B.Pilnyak try to expose? In four chapters B.Pilnyak has highlighted the incidents responsible for the death of his hero – Commander Gavrilov.

In the beginning, the author describes the arrival of Gavrilov from Caucasus to Moscow – and in the very beginning the newspaper vendor shouts – “Revolution in China! The Commander arrives! Commander Gavrilov’s sickness!” and then PIlnyak describes the protagonist in this way: “It was the man whose name spoke about the heroism of Civil War; about thousands, millions, milliards of people standing behind him; about thousands, millions, milliards of deaths; sufferings, amputations, hunger and cold; about the deafening noise of firearms, bullets, night winds; about campfires; about marches; about victories, about retreats; and again about death. It was the man who had the right of sending people to the battlefield to kill and to get killed!”

Pilnyak obviously tried to show contrast. Yes, a powerful man like Gavrilov, who controlled the death of millions of people, was helpless when the death was knocking at his door. He felt the oncoming footsteps of death but was unable either to prevent or to postpone it.

When his close friend Popov asked him about his health, he answered in a depressed tone, “Yes, I am fine, but I feel that you will have to stand by my grave!”

Gavrilov was not joking. He was quite serious when he said, “You know I had and probably still have the ulcer. I was sent to Caucasus. I was cured…I even tried a bottle of wine…no pains…So my health is perfectly alright. But do you know why I was called back to Moscow? I got an order to come to Moscow right from Caucasus. I could not even see my wife. I can’t guess what the reason could be…Everything is OK with the armed forces,…no congresses, nothing – yes brother, CC (Central Committee) plays with the man!”

Then suddenly in a low voice he confided to Popov, “In Rostov I met Potap (one of the three big bosses – i.e. of the TROIKA-which ruled the country).  He convinced me to get operated upon for ulcer – to cut off and throw it – convinced me forcefully but in a suspicious way! You know, my whole organism resists this operation. I am a healthy person. I have seen much blood, but I am afraid of operation. I don’t want it. They will kill me!”

And casually the Commander turned the pages of the newspaper. The paper informed that Commander Gavrilov had temporarily left the army, so that he can undergo operation for ulcer. The Commander’s health was causing concern, but the doctors assured of a successful operation.

So the stage was set for the tragic act, the newspaper report acted as a catalyst for it. And Gavrilov also seemed to have suspected something. He said, “See Alyoshka, this is not simple, there is something deep in it – this operation is going to be deadly. But what can I do?!”

Yes, Gavrilov was helpless. Soon he was called to the House No1, where a straight, unbending person was sitting and writing something. This was one of the above mentioned TROIKA – the first one who ruled the destinies of many. There prevailed a dreary silence in the house. Everything was noiseless; everything was straight just like the person, who was also straight and silent in all his actions – in all hid deeds. Gavrilov could not see his face – it was in the shadow of the lamp, he could only hear his voice. This description gives a hint that the crimes originate from an unseen place, an unseen person.

On Gavrilov’s question as to why was he called back to Moscow, he said, “I called you back because you need a surgery. I have consulted the professors (specialists, doctors), they say you will be alright in a month’s time. You are a person, who is needed by the country. The professors are waiting for you; they will examine you and remove your ulcer. I have issued orders!”

When Gavrilov said that his doctors did not advice any surgery, the straight person said, “Do you remember, once you decided to send 4000 people to die? You were right! I did not object to it – Excuse me I have given orders!”

Does the author want to tell that the straight person was sending Commander to a place where death was certain?

Commander Gavrilov was medically examined by a committee of doctors, he was given chloroform and in the process he died.

Pilnyak says that there are some organisms, which do not respond to any type of anaesthesia, some organisms are poisoned by chloroform. That is what happened with Gavrilov. His will power was so strong that he refused to react to chloroform. When he did not lose consciousness after 2-3 minutes, the anaesthetist continued the dose for 48 minutes and the Commander permanently went to sleep. But even then he was put on artificial respiration, operated upon; and it was discovered that the ulcer that was there inside the stomach, had completely healed up. Only a small mark telling about its existence was left there. The stomach was stitched back; he was brought to the intensive care unit and put on camphor etc. Commander Gavrilov’s death was announced only after 37 hours.

In the meantime young Professor Lozovsky, who was the chairman of the advisory committee constituted for the medical treatment of Gavrilov got secret orders from House No1, inquiries were made on secret telephone line regarding the operation and Lozovsky, bowing to the telephone receiver, informed the ‘straight person’ that the condition of the patient did not allow him to move away from Gavrilov. After the official announcement about the Commander’s death, Professor Lozonsky went to House No1 in a closed car which was sent for him from House No1, stayed there for three minutes and came out. Earlier Professor Lozonsky was picked up from his house in a car before he went to the hospital for operation. But after he reported the result of the operation to the ‘straight person’, the car which had brought him there, had disappeared. He had to go back home on his foot. It implies that when the allotted work was over he became an insignificant man.

Pilnyak informs us that the commission, which was formed for the medical check up of Commander Gavrilov was to be headed by the senior most surgeon of the country – Professor Kokosov. But actually it was Lozovsky, who conducted the proceedings. Surgery was performed by Lozovsky and Kokosov was asked to assist him. Why? Kokosov, as seen from the ‘Tale…’ was a person, who respected and loved his profession. He would not have allowed the patient to die on the operation table, which is against all ethics of medical profession. Kokosov refused to use the car, which was sent to pick him up for the operation, while Lozovsky readily used all the privileges offered to him for that purpose. That is why secret orders were sent to Lozovsky and not to Kokosov

It is quite possible that after going through the information sent to the Professor about Gavrilov’s health, Lozovsky could have thought of the deadly reaction of chloroform on his organism. That made his job easy. That was why in spite of the anaesthetist’s anxiety about Gavrilov’s inertia towards chloroform he ordered a continuous supply of the same for 48 minutes! Thus he fulfilled his job there only – or else Kokosov would not have allowed the murder of the patient on the operation table, under the knife of a doctor.

So Gavrilov died, as he had foreseen it. His death was deeply mourned by House No1 and the TROIKA which was ruling the country. But this ‘Tale…’ of B.Pilnyak is not only about the death or political murder of the Commander of armed forces. The author tries to highlight various other issues.

The very first point is about Commander Gavrilov. A powerful man, who enjoyed the capacity and power to send his countrymen to battlefield for a certain death could not utter a single word, when the ‘straight person’ told him, “There is nothing to talk about this. I have already issued orders”. Gavrilov knew that he had fully recovered from the ulcer. He suspected a deadly result of the proposed operation. He knew that the operation was a mere ‘formula’ which was worked upon to get rid of him. But he did not try to stop the operation. He did not revolt, he did not escape from the scene; instead, submitted to the orders of the ‘straight person’. May be it was his habit – the habit of a soldier to obey his commander. That was why when the ‘straight person’ said – “you had ordered 4000 persons to be sent to the battlefield for a sure death, I did not object. You have to undergo this surgery” and Gavrilov obeyed the command.

This ‘Tale…’ is also the tale about the ‘straight person’; about his silent ways of ruling the country; about his ‘formulae’ to eliminate the unwanted people from his way.

Pilnyak was probably the first, who dared to present the scene of Commander’s death, which looked similar to a political murder. He was probably right. May be it was a political murder. But this ‘Tale…’ could not prevent many more political murders, or the purges which shook the country in the thirties.

This is also a tale about people like Lozovsky, who were used as instruments for such crimes. Lozovsky became a party to this murder. Probably, out of fear for his own life, or out of a determination to please the authorities.

Gavrilov died, but through the narrative about his death, Pilnyak has bravely hinted at the repetition of such ‘accidents’ in future and has thus fulfilled the duties of a writer towards the society.

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V.V.Mayakovsky-Fatal Romances

V.V.Mayakovsky : Fatal Romances

A.Charumati Ramdas

Last five years of Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky’s life had been full of strange events, which gradually drew him towards death. Vladimir Vladimirovich’s name reminds one not only of his immortal poetry, but also of the thirst of love which he could not quench, or, to be more precise, which had been snatched away from him by quirks of fate. Consequent to which he perished a lonely, broken man. Towards the later years for Mayakovsky all the doors of affection, recognition and fame were closed, though this did not diminish his talent in the least.

Mayakovsky had love affairs of various intensities with many women. Only few of them were really serious ones, while others were either brief romances or mere flirtations. Only four of these affairs were prolonged, serious and impactful, so as to make significant impression on his poetry. The longest and most sincere among them was the one with Lily Brik, wife of a famous futurist poet Osip Brik. Lily Brik was the heroine of almost whole of Vladimir Vladimirovich’s poetry.

By virtue of being close to Vladimir Vladimirovich, Lily Brik definitely enjoyed certain privileges. When she noticed that her relationship with Mayakovsky was gradually weakening, she tried her best to remain all the time close to him, thereby not letting other women come close to the poet.

Even before he met Lily Brik, young Vladimir Vladimirovich had affairs with many women. Remarkable among them was his friendship with Elsa Triolet. Around World War I he fell in love with her. Elsa Triolet was about 16 at that time. Soon after, he was introduced to Elsa Triolet’s sister Lily Brik. Subsequently Mayakovsky started paying less attention to Elsa Triolet and got emotionally involved with Lily Brik. The relationship with Lily Brik and dedication to her continued till his death, though simultaneously his involvement with other women also continued.

The heroine of the poem ‘Cloud in Trousers’, Maria, was the other woman who influenced Vladimir Vladimirovich’s poetry. There are different opinions about the identity of this woman. Several people, known to Mayakovsky, thought that she was Maria Denisova, who had come from Odessa; some others opined that she was Kornei Chukovsky’s wife; while Lily Brik says that she was some other Maria, implying that she was known to her.

By 1925 Mayakovsky felt that the intensity of love between him and Lily Brik was on the decline. This was the time when he was often travelling abroad. In October 1928 he was introduced to Tatyana Yakovleva in Paris. It was ‘love at first sight’. Tatyana Yakovleva too was fascinated by the poet. From 25^th Oct to 2^nd Nov she met him everyday. During those days Tatyana Yakovleva was a favourite amongst the youth in Paris. In fact there were quite a few young men who were convinced that she would marry one of them. But, according to Tatyana Yakovleva, herself, she was most impressed by Mayakovsky. After meeting him she, obviously started thinking of marrying him, while Mayakovsky was prepared to take her “to Moscow along with Paris”. Before leaving for Moscow he instructed a local florist to send her a bouquet of fresh roses every Sunday, and on reaching Moscow he started sending her telegrams everyday. Tatyana Yakovleva too was sending him letters frequently, but from Vladimir Vladimirovich’s telegrams she understood that her letters didn’t reach him.

In this connection Mayakovsky’s elder sister, who collected all the correspondence between Vladimir Vladimirovich and tatyana Yakovleva from latter’s mother, studied it carefully and observed: “I am sure that a conspiracy was hatched by people to separate them, by those people who always wanted to remain in the vicinity of my brother and enjoy the privileges he was offered. During the last fve years of his life he got sick of this situation and he, undoubtedly, aspired for a new life. He used to say that only a “tremendous amount of love could save me! Tatyana Yakovleva  could give him such a love.”

In the meanwhile, through Vladimir Vladimirovich’s biography, Tatyana Yakovleva learnt about Lly Brik, with whom Mayakovsky was in love for the past ten years. All his poetry was dedicated only to her. Tatyana Yakovleva also came to know that Vladimir Vladimirovich always loved with a sense of dominance and demanded complete dedication from the woman he loved. Without being unfaithful to Lilichka, he demanded from other women total love for himself, but could never reciprocate his love for them with same intensity. These women were well aware that Vladimir Vladimirovich would never leave Lily Brik and hence they were not keen to put their future at stake with him.

Although these traits of Mayakovsky disturbed Tatyana Yakovleva a lot, but she continued writing to him. However Vladimir Vladimirovich received only a few of her letters. He was planning to visit Paris in October 1929. “…I can’t imagine being far from you after October. I can’t just enjoy anything without you. From September I will start preparing wings for myself so that I can fly over to you,” wrote he to Tatyana Yakovleva. But he could never return to Paris as he didn’t get the visa.

Various views were expressed about Vladimir Vladimirovich’s Visa episode. Mayakovsky’s family members were of the view that Lily Brik played a major role in this connection. “Lily Brik saw to it that Vladimir Vladimirovich does not get visa to Paris. In this matter she took Agranov’s help, who was assistant of Yagoda (People’s Comissar for Internal Affairs). Our friend Brodskii worked there at that time and he informed us that Mayakovsky was refused the visa under the pretext that he would stay back for ever in Paris”.

Even Roman Jakobson wrote the same on the basis of Mayakovsky’s letter to Tatyana Yakovleva. According to another version there is no proof at all of Mayakovsky’s request for the above mentioned visa. As a result of all these developments Vladimir Vladimirovich had to remain in Moscow. He became more introvert, silent, disappointed and frustrated. In this very state of mind he met Veronica Polonskaya, who was an actress and also used to work in theatre.

During this period one more incidence took place – Tatyana Yakovleva married Bertrand du Plissé on 23^rd Dec 1929. Mayakovsky’s friends tried to hide this news from him, but he came to know about it from Elsa Triolet’s letter to Lily Brik, which was being read loudly in Vladimir Vladimirovich’s presence. This was a terrific humiliation for him, which he tried to forget in Polonskaya’s company. Veronica Polonskaya gave him the love which he was looking for throughout his life. He wanted to marry her – she too agreed in spite of the fact that she was already married. Mayakovsky insisted that she should abandon theatre, her husband, her rehearsals and shpuld remain devoted to him. She said ‘yes’ to all his demands, but said she would quit the theatre only after completing the assignment she had in hand.

On the eve of the suicide he was with V.P.Kataev till 2 O’clock. Next morning he visited Polonskaya. V.Shklovsky writes, “This lady (Polonskaya) did not want to go with him. He cried. They went together to his flat. At 10.15 a.m. he shot himself at the doors of his room. There was only one bullet in the revolver. The woman got scared, she called the neighbour and left. She was arrested but later released in the evening for rehearsals.”

Another version says that on that day i.e. on the fourteenth of April 1930, when Lily and Osip Brik were away in Berlin, and Polonskaya had left for her rehearsals, Vladimir Vladimirovich was alone in his room. The loneliness (of which he was very scared) took possession of him and he shot himself down.

Obviously, this time Vladimir Vladimirovich could not believe that true love could ever come to him. This tough man, who always longed for true love, probably could not bear when such a love smiled at him. If, by chance, someone bestowed upon him her unbound love – he would run away from her. Earlier also, he had abandoned more than one of his true admirers. One such woman was Elizabeth Jones (Elli Jones).

Very little is known about Elli Jones. It is interesting to note that Mayakovsky had dedicated beautiful poems to the above mentioned women, but his affair with Elli Jones did not yield any such poem, though he was father of Elli Jones’ daughter. The only child which Mayakovsky left behind him and about whom the world came to know only in the year 1989.

It happened like this: Vladimir Vladimirovich had a strong desire to visit USA and he did so in May 1925. The three months that Mayakovsky spent in the United States, after his trip to Mexico saw some of the excellent poems that he wrote about America. A substantial part of his stay in Us (27^th July to 28^th October) was spent in New York. Here he met Elli Jones, who worked as his guide-cum-interpreter. Elli Jones gave birth to a female child in June 1926 and Mayakovsky accepted the child to be his.

In Soviet Union, for long, there were rumours about Vladimir Vladimirovich’s love affair and the child. Prof. Bengdt Jangfaldt, who is considered to be an authority on Mayakovsky, after carefully examining Mayakovsky’s and Lily Brik’s archives, wrote in detail about Mayakovsky’s ‘Two Ellis’.

 In Mayakovsky’s archives some letters written by Elli Jones and some photographs of both, the mother and the daughter, were found. Researchers knew about the existence of Mayakovsky’s daughter, but no one ever thought of bringing these two women into the focus of any controversy. In 1989 Patricia J. Thompson, Professor of Women’s Studies in New York, disclosed her identity as Mayakovsky’s daughter. Soon the life history of Mrs Thompson was published in Soviet journals.

Helen Patricia Jones (who, like her mother, was also called Elli) was born on 15^th June 1926 in New York and her mother Elli Jones (Elizabeth Petrovna Zeibert) was born in 1904. In the beginning of 20’s she met George E. Jones who was working as a representative of American Radio Association. They got married in 1923 and left Moscow. Subsequently they settled down in New York.

While in Moscow, Elli Jones had once seen Mayakovsky but she was introduced to him only in New York. The week-ends, in August and September 1925, were often spent together along with famous futurist poet David Burlyuk at the Camp Nitgedaijnet. During these two months Mayakovsky wrote about ten of his very famous poems about America.

Like in case of Tatyana Yakovleva, almost all, except one or two of Elli Jones’ letters to Vladimir Vladimirovich are lost (of course some covers addressed to Mayakovsky, bearing sender’s name as Elli Jones witness the correspondence between them). But from these letters it is clear that by the end of spring, in 1926, Mayakovsky came to know that he is destined to become father. In May, Elli Jones requested him to send her some money and soon after the birth of her daughter, she informed him about the same. Mayakovsky reacted with restraint. In his letter to her he expressed his desire to come to New York, but could not do so. In Dec 1926 Elli Jones sent him a Christmas card after which there seems to be no communication between the two. Only in 1928 when Mayakovsky went to Paris, he went to Neitze just for two days. He spent these two days with Elli Jones and his daughter. On his return to Paris Mayakovsky wrote to Elli Jones expressing his desire to return soon. Elli Jones promptly answered, saying that they (mother and the daughter) would be too happy to see him. She also asked him to write to them frequently. But Mayakovsky neither visited them again, nor did he answer her letters, because precisely at this time he was introduced to Tatyana Yakovleva and his stormy affair with her made him forget the whole world.

Last letter to Mayakovsky from Elli Jones was written on 12^th April 1929, in which she informed him about her departure to New York. Informing him her New York address she requested him to note down the same with the comment that in case of his death Elli Jones should also be informed about the same. Mayakovsky wrote down her address in his diary, but after his death, no one informed Elli Jones. She came to know about only through newspapers.

Later Elli Jones did her Masters in Slavic Languages from Millersville College, University of Pennsylvania and spent her remaining life teaching German, French and Russian. She passed away in 1985 in Lancaster (Pennsylvania State).

Such was the irony of fate! Vladimir Vladimirovich longed for eternal love, and he got it more than once. But every time it was snatched away from him by cruel fate. With every such tragic shock he came closer to his death. In the end when Veronica Polonskaya was almost ready to marry him and had decided to sacrifice her life and career for him, he, probably, just could not believe it and fearing that Polonskaya would also be separated from him, he finished his own life.

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