Discussion Questions for Gorky's "26 Men and 1 Girl"
Post your questions below. You may want to experiment with crafting an essay prompt about the text (as we will continue to do in class), but you are by no means required to.
Even though the knight is obviously a womanizer with many flaws, why does he ultimately win his bet with the 26 men? Who is less human: the 26 men or the knight?
Is there significance in the fact that Gorky chooses a knight to play the antagonist?
Does Tanya, who is regarded as a paragon of innocence among the workers, represent an Eve-like figure? Does she ever lose her innocence? If so, was it due to the soldier (who presumably tempts her in the cellar) or the workers (who berate Tanya after she emerges from the cellar)?
How does Gorky emphasize the plight of the twenty six working men? What literary techniques, and in what passages, are most prevalent throughout the story to depict the relationship of the twenty six men with outsiders?
Gorky puts great emphasis on describing the horrible working condition of the 26 men, by doing this, is he trying to put forth a message about society at that time?
Gorky makes an interesting statement about silence, but also one about love and hate; the narrator claims that "some arrogant men believe hate more flattering than love."
This seems to apply very directly to the soldier, but does it also apply to the 26? Are they forcing themselves to hate Tanya simply because they can no longer love her? Is that just the narrator's justification for their actions?
Twenty-six calm silent men manage to transform into "wild beasts" when Tanya, an idolized figure, their only light in the dark dungeon they dwelled in, defied their expectations. What does this eruption of personalities suggest about the social implications of the time? About the working class?
The twenty six mean choose to be silent at all times, except for one small moment each day. Why does the changing of their idealized figure drive them to such insane action, such as near the end of the story?
Tanya, god-like figure, who is tempted by the soldier, supposedly destroys or ruins herself, no longer representing super human qualities. How is her downfall a symbol of capitalist exploitation?
What significance does it have that Tanya is swayed, presumably, by the soldier, thus "betraying" the convicts?
ReplyDelete-Fanny Du
Even though the knight is obviously a womanizer with many flaws, why does he ultimately win his bet with the 26 men? Who is less human: the 26 men or the knight?
ReplyDeleteIs there significance in the fact that Gorky chooses a knight to play the antagonist?
Is the soldier more of a Christ-figure or a devil-figure? In each case, what would Fanny and the twenty-six men symbolize?
ReplyDelete-Jesse Chang
What do the twenty-six men symbolize and how are they used to depict the working class in this time?
ReplyDeleteDoes Tanya, who is regarded as a paragon of innocence among the workers, represent an Eve-like figure? Does she ever lose her innocence? If so, was it due to the soldier (who presumably tempts her in the cellar) or the workers (who berate Tanya after she emerges from the cellar)?
ReplyDeleteCould Gorky, father of socialist realism literature, have implemented a hidden socialist message in this short story?
ReplyDeleteHow does Gorky emphasize the plight of the twenty six working men? What literary techniques, and in what passages, are most prevalent throughout the story to depict the relationship of the twenty six men with outsiders?
ReplyDeleteGorky puts great emphasis on describing the horrible working condition of the 26 men, by doing this, is he trying to put forth a message about society at that time?
ReplyDeleteGorky makes an interesting statement about silence, but also one about love and hate; the narrator claims that "some arrogant men believe hate more flattering than love."
ReplyDeleteThis seems to apply very directly to the soldier, but does it also apply to the 26? Are they forcing themselves to hate Tanya simply because they can no longer love her? Is that just the narrator's justification for their actions?
Twenty-six calm silent men manage to transform into "wild beasts" when Tanya, an idolized figure, their only light in the dark dungeon they dwelled in, defied their expectations. What does this eruption of personalities suggest about the social implications of the time? About the working class?
ReplyDeleteThe twenty six mean choose to be silent at all times, except for one small moment each day. Why does the changing of their idealized figure drive them to such insane action, such as near the end of the story?
ReplyDeleteThe USSR banned religion and called it the opiate of the masses. Does Tanya represent religion, and the soldier the soviet government?
ReplyDeleteCould Tanya represent the promises of the government, and how she (it) is corrupted by powerful others?
ReplyDelete-Tristan
Tanya, god-like figure, who is tempted by the soldier, supposedly destroys or ruins herself, no longer representing super human qualities. How is her downfall a symbol of capitalist exploitation?
ReplyDeleteRemember that posts must be in by the strike of one!
ReplyDelete