DARIUSZ TOLCZYK
tical view of reality. Makarov reasons:
There was a revolution, wasn't there? A terrible revolution. Why was
'it so terrible? Wasn't it also extremely generous? In terms of the
clock face as a whole it was something fundamentally good. Very
well. You have to think about these things in terms of the clock face
as a whole, not simply in terms of one or two of the divisions of the
surface of the face. It follows therefore that there is no difference
between the generosity and cruelty. There is only one thing - time.
That's the iron law, the ineluctable logic of history. History and time
are one and the same thing. They are just like Siamese twins. , , . The
most important thing in the world is undoubtedly and indisputably
an understanding of the nature of time,
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The artist, Kavalerov, envies the primitive Makarov (as artists have
often envied primitives) mostly because Kavalerov cannot fight the power
of his "meek feelings" (a key term in Olesha's vocabulary), so that he
could join the victors. He somehow cannot visualize himself as being
happily in the "iron laws" of history, in spite of the fact that he ac–
knowledges them and even sincerely desires to submit to them. The prize
is the young beautiful Valya, and knowing that Valya will not be his but
Volodya's, he falls prey
to
envy. History, like nature, proves to be a
goddess with a heart of stone. Kavalerov shows promise as the hero of a
new Notes from the Underground. He prepares to feed himself for the
rest of his life with hatred and resentment for his more successful and less
sensitive comrades.
The new world was prepared to rescue artists from this dilemma, and
many writers appeared to be grateful for salvation. They had to put an
end to their tendency toward contemplativeness, their tendency to treat
incidental experiences too seriously, Instead, they were advised to put
more trust into practical reason, which after all tells us about the
difference between what is worth noticing and what is unimportant and
illusory. For those writers who required it, the comrades prepared
theoretical guides. It seemed an easy thing to do, when one had the
great Russian realistic tradition behind oneself and a new philosophy
with a teleological order before one. Once again, as in Turgenev's times,
writers knew where from, where to, and what for the hunter's carriage
goes. And if something came from "under the earth" during a lightning
bolt, it was only a metaphor and not reality. For the truth had been re–
vealed, and artists were to feel liberated from the torments of its pursuit.
Olesha himself finally came to an understanding of this. In 1936,
during a campaign of slander against Shostakovich, Olesha felt it necessary
to explain his views.
It
also gave him an opportunity to speak about his
