Jump to content

Creatures That Once Were Men

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Dino (talk | contribs) at 00:28, 13 February 2022 (Tweaks, improvements). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Maksim Gorki, sometime in 1890—1900.
"Creatures That Once Were Men"
Short story by Maxim Gorky
Original titleБывшие люди
CountryRussia
LanguageRussian
Publication
Publication date1897

Creatures That Once Were Men (Template:Lang-ru, literally, "former people") is a novella, by the Russian writer Maksim Gorki. It is considered Socialist realism, and depicts the bottom classes of Russian society. Gorki wrote it, in 1897.[1]

Gorky is well known for his gritty depictions of life in Russia. In his novella Creatures That Once Were Men, he conveys a portrait of people crushed by the motions of a social system far more powerful than themselves.[2]

The term former people developed other meanings, relating to Russian society.

Plot

In the short version of the plot, Creatures that Once Were Men is a short story about residents of a doss house who start a conflict with their landlord, which leads to an inhumane outcome.[3]

Towards the end, there is the memorable exchange

"What are you? Who are you?" shouted Petunikoff.

"A man . . ." he answered in a hoarse voice.

See also

References

  1. ^ Forget, André (September 20, 2019). "Creatures that Once Were Men".
  2. ^ "Creatures That Once Were Men by Maxim Gorky G. K. Chesterton". Retrieved 2022-02-12.
  3. ^ "Creatures That Once Were Men". Retrieved 2022-02-12.