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The following is an analysis of this novel.
Brief introduction of the author
Anton? Pavlovic? Chekhov (антонпавловичехо107438+0860) Grandfather was a redeemed serf. Father opened a grocery store, 1876 went bankrupt and the whole family moved to Moscow. However, Chekhov stayed alone in Taganrog, making a living as a tutor and continuing his studies. 65438-0879 entered the medical department of Moscow University. 1884 After graduation, he practiced medicine in Rhodes, Vignau and other places, got in touch with civilians extensively and learned about life, which had a good influence on his literary creation. He and French Mo Bosang, America and Europe? Henry is the king of three short stories.
Writing background
Author Anton? Pavlovic? Chekhov (1860 ~ 1904) is a famous Russian critical realism writer in the late 19th century and a world-famous master of short stories. Selected from Chekhov's short stories (People's Literature Publishing House, 2002).
The chameleon was written in 1884. Before the publication of the work, Alexander III came to power only after Alexander II (188 1) was assassinated by Russian voters. While he tried his best to strengthen police rule, he also made some laws to hide people's eyes and ears, which cast a veil over brutal absolutism. Lores, 1880, head of the Supreme Security Council? Mirikov later became the Minister of Interior. This is a typical two-faced, common people call him "wolf mouth fox tail". At this time, the police are no longer beating people with batons at will in the era of Nicolas Nikolai Gogol, but doing things of flattering and taking credit in a law-abiding bureaucratic way. Chekhov's depiction of police officer Ralph is the embodiment of czar's autocratic police rule. Therefore, this work satirizes and exposes not only an ordinary isolated policeman, but also a Russian society that worships official positions and vicious czar absolutism.
Chekhov wrote hundreds of short stories and many plays in his life. He often describes the selfishness, hypocrisy and vulgar ugliness of ordinary citizens and small officials through some ordinary things, exposes the evils of decadent and reactionary czar rule, and reflects the miserable life of working people.
Novel appreciation
The Chameleon is a satirical novel written by Chekhov in his early days. In this famous novel, he created a typical image of a running dog of the czar's autocratic system with superb artistic techniques, which has extensive artistic generalization. The title of this novel is ingenious. The chameleon is a four-legged reptile of lizards. It can change its skin color according to the color of the surrounding objects to prevent other animals from invading it. Here, the author only takes its "color change" characteristics to summarize a class of people in society.
The content of this novel is very funny. A dog bit the goldsmith's finger, and the inspector came to solve the case. In the process of solving the case, he constantly changed his face according to whether the dog belonged to the general's family. Through such a funny story, the author pointed the satirical sword at the czar's autocratic system and effectively exposed the shameless and ugly minions of the reactionary regime.
The most prominent figure is Ralph, who shows his arbitrariness and hegemony to subordinates and people from his language. Expose his flattery and meanness from the language of people related to dignitaries and even dogs; Spit out from his filthy abuse and uncover the vulgarity and boredom under his dignified and just appearance. At the same time, the author deliberately seldom writes about his appearance, which makes people think: when this person speaks this series of unspeakable languages, it is actually the normal state of not changing his face and not jumping, which further highlights the ugly face and despicable soul of this character.
Ralph has undergone five changes in just a few minutes. Ralph's character is fickle. The work takes the "chameleon" who is good at adapting to the color of surrounding objects and changing skin color quickly as a metaphor, which plays the role of finishing touch. If the dog owner is an ordinary person, then he will severely punish the puppy, implicate the dog owner and enrich himself; If the dog owner is a general or the general's brother, then he is flattering, asking for rewards, and likes to intimidate people. His reactionary nature of flattering the powerful and oppressing the people will never change. Therefore, when he constantly denies himself, he is so natural and quick, and he doesn't know what else is shameful in the world! "Chameleon"-Ralph became synonymous. People often use the pronoun "chameleon" to satirize the representatives of the reactionary class, who often switch between opposing views. For them, there is no principle of faith. Everything is prepared for me, and everything is used for me. Aren't they Ralph, the chameleon in real life?
The Chameleon is one of Chekhov's many short stories. It has no romantic scenery description or bizarre story arrangement. When describing a case in which a police officer accidentally tried a man bitten by a dog, the author only used a few strokes to outline the image of an ugly czar slave, police officer Ralph, with a thought-provoking theme.
The chameleon made me understand1the darkness of Russian czar's feudal autocracy in the 1980s. Knowing the chameleon-like government officials represented by Ralph is the product of this dark rule.
Character image analysis
1) Ralph:
1' s bossy and manipulative running dog image.
The Chameleon is a satirical novel written by Chekhov in his early days. In this famous novel, he created a typical image of a running dog of the czar's autocratic system with superb artistic techniques, which has extensive artistic generalization. The title of this novel is ingenious. The chameleon is a four-legged reptile of lizards. It can change its skin color according to the color of the surrounding objects to prevent other animals from invading it. Here, the author only takes its "color change" characteristics to summarize a class of people in society.
The content of this novel is very funny. A dog bit the goldsmith's finger, and the inspector came to solve the case. In the process of solving the case, he constantly changed his face according to whether the dog belonged to the general's family. Through such a cunning story, the author pointed the satirical sword at the czar's autocratic system and effectively exposed the shameless and ugly minions of the reactionary regime.
2 shameless typical image
In the short story "The Chameleon", Chekhov successfully created a typical image of the "Chameleon" who is shameless, deceives his subordinates and flatters his superiors through dramatic street scenes. He satirized and exposed the ugly behavior of the slaves of the czar regime, such as bossiness, bullying the people, flattering the powerful and riding a tiger, and at the same time being obedient and kind to ordinary citizens.
Ralph, the chameleon, is a highly generalized typical image with profound social significance. In czarist Russia in the 1980s, under the terror of rampant reactionary forces and gloomy society, bourgeois liberals who claimed to be progressive in the past were eager to "adapt" to the reality and tried their best to preach a "disciplined" philosophy of life, while populists abandoned the revolutionary tradition in the past and actually compromised. As for the ordinary citizens, they are weak, passive, wretched and despicable, content with the vulgar life of "peace and tranquility" and "obeying the law". At that time, have it both ways, pandering to reality, betrayed and defected in society, which was the product of reactionary social and political conditions. In his short story The Chameleon, Chekhov strongly criticized this ugly behavior through the typical character Otchulov.
Ralph's image is widely universal. He is an overbearing czar police dog, but he is also a chameleon in have it both ways. As a running dog of the czar regime, he has the characteristics of autocracy, insolence and oppression of the people. But this is only one aspect of his character. At the same time, he also has the characteristics of following the wind, showing off to the weak, bullying and taking pictures, and turning with the wind. Therefore, he is also a shameless two-faced. These two characteristics constitute his complete personality-"chameleon". However, the significance of this image goes far beyond the specific scope of czar police dogs like Ralph. At that time, this image-building was undoubtedly the exposure and criticism of the compromise and capitulationists who catered to reality and turned to rebellion under reactionary political conditions.
(2) khryukin: In this novel, the author's irony and exposure are mainly aimed at Ralph, but he also points out many weaknesses of khryukin, an ordinary citizen. He is vulgar and wants to take advantage of the puppy biting his finger. For this despicable purpose, but also because of the weak nature of ordinary citizens, he was respectful to the czar's police, even flattering them ("His old man's house is a wise man, I can see who is talking nonsense ..."), and he also played the card "Brothers as gendarmes". But with the development of the "situation", he found that the power was not on his side and retreated. Even when Ralph called him a "pig" and an "asshole", he kept silent. The servility in him is obvious.
(3) Audience: The writer also implicitly pointed out the limitations of "audience" in the novel. They are also vulgar ordinary citizens, with the characteristics of ignorance, weakness, catering to the strong and falling with the wind.
(4) Beagle plays a role in promoting the development of the plot, but it is also described as one of the most common animals.
1, platform function:
Chekhov's Chameleon describes the trial of a biting dog by a police officer Ralph. The beagle in the novel is undoubtedly the initiator of this incident. It is not news that dogs bite people, but it is through such a trivial matter in daily life that the writer shows a major social problem, that is, exposing the reactionary and hypocritical police system under Russian autocracy. It is precisely because of the small hounds' biting that the police have a chance to hear the case. Only by doing this can the police show have it both ways in ugly and despicable ways, such as lip-wagging, reneging, following the trend, bullying and being afraid of hard work, and build a platform for self-expression, self-exposure and self-shaping; Only in this way can the contradiction between the police and the people at the bottom of society be completely exposed.
2. The role of the director:
The unique and ingenious conception of chameleon is very important for the role setting of beagle. When the police officer tried the case, it was difficult to identify the little hound at that time, and people around him could only guess at random. In other words, the identity of the beagle is temporarily uncertain. It is precisely because of the repeated speculation about the identity of the beagle that the police officers' views and attitudes towards the beagle have changed repeatedly during the interrogation. If the beagle can tell its owner directly like a parrot, even if the police officer has magical fickle ability, he will never change color. The beauty is that this little hound can only bite and can't talk. Whose dog is it? Its identity can only be guessed by others. Therefore, we can think that the beagle is actually borrowing the breath of others and silently directing the police officer's color-changing "performance". It is under the direction of Beagle, the temporarily unknown "director", that the story plot of the novel develops dramatically, the character of the police officer is displayed layer by layer, the image of the chameleon of the police officer emerges from the paper, and the theme of the novel is revealed imperceptibly.
3. Set out:
During the trial, a small hunting dog made Ralph, a police officer, sweat and shudder. It is not that the beagle has magical special physiological functions, but that there is a bigger beagle crouching behind it-General ——Xi· Gallov and so on. The police have nothing but awe of them and will defend their interests to the death. Of course, such a small hunting dog is only protected. The police officer will certainly not come for nothing, nor dare he punish the dog for bullying the Lord. At this point, the police officer is actually a dog with poor servility. Besides, a policeman lives in a complicated and turbid social environment. In order to get the right and space to live, he had to sacrifice his personality and dignity in exchange for the space to live. Therefore, in the course of the trial, he had to see the behavior of the "dog", defended it completely from the standpoint of the small hunting dog, presided over the dog road for the dog, and truly became a loyal running dog kept by the Russian autocratic ruling class. It is not surprising that dogs judge dogs and defend each other. Of course, the result is that dogs win and people lose. The police officer and the beagle were the presiding judge and the auditee respectively in the dog case. Together, * * * staged a funny farce. It can be said that the two dogs were on the same stage and set each other off.
Writing characteristics
The novel is described by social environment. It sets off a desolate and desolate social atmosphere and is a true portrayal of the czar's rule over the gendarmerie and gendarmerie. The detailed description is used many times, and the image particularly highlights the personality characteristics of police Ralph. Exposed the social darkness under the czar. The most prominent feature of this paper is dialogue description. Through personalized language, it clearly shows the personality characteristics of the characters, which has a very strong ironic effect.
Language features:
1 satirize yourself with the characters' own words.
The novel Chameleon satirizes Ralph himself with Ralph's words. When I didn't know whose dog it was, Ralph said, "It's probably a mad dog"; When someone said it was a general's dog, Ralph said, "Maybe it is a rare dog." . When the patrolman said that this was not the general's dog, Ralph said: "The general's family is a rare purebred dog; What about this dog? God knows what it is! The coat color is not good, the appearance is not good, and it is completely a cheap embryo "; The patrolman said it might be the general's dog, so he said, "Take this dog to the general's house and ask him clearly. Just say that I found this dog and sent it ... dogs are exquisite animals "; When the chef said it was not the general's dog, Ralph said, "This is a wild dog, just kill it"; When the chef confirmed that it was the brother's dog, he added: "Woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo
Not only that, the author also designed a language for Ralph to beautify himself and show off himself to ridicule and ridicule Ralph himself.
At the beginning of the story, Ralph squeezed into the crowd and shouted, "What the hell happened here?" "What are you doing here? Why on earth are you holding that finger? ..... Who is shouting? " A little policeman, pretending to be a big official, is very funny!
"His brother is here? Is that Ulargui Mill? Ivanic? " "Oh, dear! I don't know yet! Did he stay here for a while and then leave? " Drooling, trying to raise his status, as if he and the general were close friends, otherwise how could he know so much about the general and his brother? In fact, the general knows who Ralph is. In the eyes of the general, I'm afraid he's not even as good as that beagle! Listen to Ralph's shameless words, we will laugh out of our nostrils.
2. Vivid dialogue
The inner voice of the speaker. According to the logic of life, writing dialogues that conform to the class status and personality characteristics of various characters is an important means to portray the characters and show their inner world. Chekhov is a famous master of literary language at home and abroad. His "Chameleon" is not good at describing the appearance of characters and arranging scenery, and wins mainly by vivid dialogue between characters. The writer is unique in that he can go deep into the hearts of characters; The display of inner world never depends on the writer's statement, but uses the dialogue between characters to let him show himself. Let's try these words: "Take this dog to the general's house and ask him clearly." Just say I found this dog and sent it ... "Officer, the implication here is that you don't have to invent more, can't you guess?" ! Chekhov's image of a dirty and servile slave in his inner world suddenly appeared before our eyes in a few words. Please have a look again. When the chef confirmed that the puppy was the general's brother, the police officer said again, "God … he misses his brother … but I don't know yet!"! Is this his father's dog? I am very happy ... "The dialogue is so ordinary, but it is so vivid and sharp. Didn't it vividly show an image of a flatterer who is good at self-mockery, sweet talk and flattery? !
3. Use language to express the character's personality
It is a remarkable feature of this paper to express the personality of the characters through language description. The most prominent figure is Ralph, who shows his arbitrariness and hegemony to subordinates and people from his language. Expose his flattery and meanness from the language of people related to dignitaries and even dogs; Spit out from his filthy abuse and uncover the vulgarity and boredom under his dignified and just appearance. At the same time, the author deliberately seldom writes about his appearance, which makes people think: when this person speaks this series of unspeakable languages, it is actually the normal state of not changing his face and not jumping, which further highlights the ugly face and despicable soul of this character.
4. Personalized language
Personalized language is an important means to express individuality. The language of the characters in The Chameleon is very personalized. Ralph, the chameleon, is a czar's police dog, so his language is arrogant and flattering. He is arrogant and overbearing to the common people and servile to the big bureaucrats. In the unity of these two characteristics, he showed his impudence. Khryukin's language is also personalized. He is not only a vulgar ordinary citizen, but also a "nobody" who wants something. His language is completely in line with his character. The famous saying that he complained to the inspector is quite wonderful, which vividly embodies his characteristics of vulgarity, vanity, exaggeration, catering to officials and seeking profits. This accusation and the following defense (one-eyed ghost) vividly show the character of this ordinary citizen.
The role of detail description in portraying characters
Ralph's military coat has been written four times in the novel. These details profoundly reveal the personality characteristics of the characters and vividly show the theme.
At the beginning of the novel, the author pushed this symbolic prop and its owner to the readers at once. The new military coat is a special symbol of the czar's police dog, and it is also a tool for him to put on airs and scare people. The author explained Ralph's identity with the clothing of "military coat".
The second time I wrote a military coat, I heard someone say in Ralph that "this seems to be the dog of General Gallov's family", and then I "took off my coat". He took off his coat not because of the hot weather, but because he was "judged" by the wrong dog, which made him sweat. The action of taking off his coat not only exposed his timid psychology of being scared and burning all over, but also showed his cunning in trying to buy time to change his color to turn the situation around. This "detachment" vividly outlines the ugly soul of the tsar's minions who bully the weak and fear the hard and flatter them.
When he lectured He Liujin, he suddenly heard the police say that he was not the general's dog, and he immediately shook his dignity again. But someone said, "Yes, the general's!" At this time, he was shocked ... put on my coat, ... it was cold ... "This is the third time to write his military coat. Wearing a coat here is a sign of coldness, to cover up his deeper timidity when he just insulted the general, and then he is ready to change his color again. The "take-off" and "wear" here are hot and cold, exposing Ralph's ugly behavior of bullying and taking advantage of the wind to steer.
Finally, after giving khryukin a lesson, he "wrapped his coat" ... and left. "This is the fourth time to write a military coat. After portraying this chameleon vividly, he returned to the normal state of being a slave and a running dog, and continued to bully and bully.
In a word, the four details of Ralph's military coat, namely, putting on and taking off, vividly depict the ugliness and despicable psychological activities in the process of color change.