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Creatures That Once Were Men

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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 social classes of Russian society. Gorki wrote it, in 1897.[1]

Gorky is well known for his grimy 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.

A flophouse-style room

Plot

In the short version of the plot, Creatures that Once Were Men is a novella 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.