Mother: Analysis of Setting
"Mother: Analysis of Setting" explores various locations that shape the narrative and thematic elements of the story. Central to the plot is the Vlasov house, situated on the outskirts of an unnamed Russian town, which serves as a meeting place for the protagonist Pavel Vlasov and a diverse group of radicals. This small gray house becomes a focal point for revolutionary activities, drawing the attention of police and spies. The nearby factory, characterized by its oppressive environment, represents the struggles of the workers, where Pavel's mother, Pelagueya, secretly distributes literature to inspire labor strikes among the grim-faced workforce.
Additionally, Ivanovich's house offers a secluded space for strategic meetings following Pavel's arrest, highlighting the supportive network among revolutionaries. The woods surrounding the town provide a rare glimpse of beauty and serve as a backdrop for introspection among characters. The setting of Nikolskoye illustrates the risks involved in revolutionary activities, while the courthouse represents the oppressive legal system that ultimately leads to Pavel's exile. Together, these settings reflect the socio-political climate of the time, emphasizing the characters' struggles against adversity.
Mother: Analysis of Setting
First published:Mat, serial, 1906; book, 1907 (English translation, 1906)
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Naturalism
Time of work: First decade of the twentieth century
Places Discussed
Vlasov house
Vlasov house (VLAH-sof). Home of protagonist Pavel Vlasov located on the outskirts of an unnamed Russian town. In the main room of the small gray house, Pavel gathers together his ever changing circle of radicals, and a feeling of affinity with the suffering workers of the world is born. There also, Pavel’s mother, Pelagueya Vlasova, is slowly drawn into the lives and work of the revolutionaries. The house becomes a center of radical activity as well as the focus of observation by police spies and is the target of several police raids.
Factory
Factory. The unnamed town is dominated by the tall black smokestacks of the factory, in which grime-faced workers have their life force sucked out of them through working in horrid conditions for sub-subsistence wages. Disguised as a food vendor, Pelagueya goes to the factory’s yard secretly to distribute literature to sympathetic workers in order to foment labor strikes. Led by Pavel, workers in the factory refuse to work and instead join a parade that assembles in the churchyard to celebrate May Day. Their parade is stopped by a gray wall of soldiers with fixed bayonets who charge the marchers and arrest Pavel and nineteen other demonstrators.
Ivanovich’s house
Ivanovich’s house. Secluded home of Nikolay Ivanovich, a revolutionary friend of Pavel, to which Pelagueya goes to stay after Pavel is arrested. Strategy meetings continue there as Pelagueya helps tidy the bachelor’s simple one-story shack, which is typical of those of simple workmen. Nikolay is in revolt against the type of life led by his father, a factory manager in Vyataka. Before Pavel’s trial, Nikolay’s house is ransacked by police investigators.
Woods
Woods. Forested area outside the town that contain what little beauty can be found in the workers’ lives, such as sunrises and birdsongs. Whatever personal or deeply reflective thinking in which the major characters engage takes place in the woods.
Nikolskoye
Nikolskoye (nih-kohl-SKOY-ah). Small town to which Pelagueya goes secretly to distribute literature to workers. There she sees Pavel’s friend Rybin being beaten by the chief of police for distributing literature. Rybin had earlier gone to Yegildeyevo (one of the few specific towns mentioned in the novel) to take revolutionary literature to the peasants.
Courthouse
Courthouse. Government building in which Pavel and his associates are tried before judges suffering from boredom and ill health. Pavel and Andrey denounce private property and czarism, and Pavel predicts that socialism will rebuild the land that czarist greed has destroyed. Pavel’s conviction is a foregone conclusion, and he is exiled to Siberia. Afterward, his words are printed in leaflets that his mother carries to a train station, where police intercept her and beat her.
Bibliography
Borras, F. M. Maxim Gorky the Writer: An Interpretation. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 1967. One of the more astute interpretations of Gorky’s works, especially of his novels and plays. Borras emphasizes Gorky’s artistic achievements in such works as Mother.
Gifford, Henry. “Gorky and Proletarian Writing.” In The Novel in Russia: From Pushkin to Pasternak. New York: Harper & Row, 1965. A discussion of Gorky’s influence on proletarian writers, with remarks on the role of Mother in this respect.
Hare, Richard. Maxim Gorky: Romantic Realist and Conservative Revolutionary. London: Oxford University Press, 1962. The first substantial book on Gorky in English since Alexander Kaun’s 1932 study. Hare combines the political aspects of Gorky’s biography with critical analysis of his works, including Mother.
Holtzman, Filia. The Young Maxim Gorky, 1868-1902. New York: Columbia University Press, 1948. A detailed survey of the first half of Gorky’s life, coinciding with his formation as a person and a writer. Mother is discussed at some length.
Levin, Dan. Stormy Petrel: The Life and Work of Maxim Gorky. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1965. A general book that covers Gorky’s entire life, thus completing Kaun’s book. Includes a discussion of Mother.
Weil, Irwin. Gorky: His Literary Development and Influence on Soviet Intellectual Life. New York: Random House, 1966. The most scholarly book on Gorky in English, skillfully combining biography with critical analysis, including that of Mother. Valuable especially for the discussion of Soviet literary life and Gorky’s connection with, and influence on, younger Soviet writers.