MAXIM GORKY
Scholars, poet and writers born were in different nations at different period. By their shear thoughts and writings, they helped human being to streamline their civilizations and cultures.
Art and literature will change along with the time and with the society .Everyone in the society will not reflect same thoughts at the same period of time. Even if they reflect, it wouldn’t be either well said or well explained. Only scholars can streamline their thoughts and explain them according to the changing world .These scholars and creative people will grow as the best breed crops in the farmland (society).
These people hold major responsibility in civilizing the society. In that scenario, we have to look at the importance of MAXIM GORKY and how his thoughts and writings helped to change the society.
MAXIM GORKY was on born 28th march, 1868 in Nizhny Novgorod, the place, near to the riverside of Volga. His original name was Aleksey Maksimovich Peshkov. He became orphan at the early age .The word “GORKY “means “BITTER “. His name reflected his simmering anger about his life in Russia and a determination to speak the bitter truth.
GORKY dedicated his life to the people. He didn’t mind about the burden he had faced. Instead he made his life as he loved. His writings were just reflection of his life. Many would that say nobody faced difficulties like him. He started working at his early age of 12. First he worked as assistant to a cook. Later, he worked as labour in the harbor, then in bread making company, hotels, and in shops .He changed many jobs .From bird catcher to a clerk, later as hair cutter, and then as watchman. He didn’t go to school for education but he acquainted knowledge through his life.
In Gorky life, tragic incident happened in 1887.After being jobless for many days. He went around the city in search of jobs, but nothing had changed. He faced severe poverty. All these things, made him to take a serious decision. On 12th September, he shot himself with a gun. Before he shot himself, he wrote a suicide note. Whenever he recalled that incidence among his friends, he used to laugh at his suicide note. He wrote that the great German poet “Heine” was responsible for his suicide. In the suicide note, he said that “Heine was the first poet made him to understand sufferings of human pain”. After brief stay in the hospital, he was discharged, but he had to face physical pain throughout his life.
Gorky used to say that poverty god had taken his youth days. But he didn’t worry for being poor. At the age of 24, he worked not more than 6 months near forehead of dead bodies in the graveyard for 25 Ruble. But that experience gave him courage and mental strength. He strongly believed that the smell of dead bodies was much better than poverty among living human beings.
He not only saw tortures, oppressions of the Russian regime, but he
was one of them who had undergone these struggles. He wanted to see real state of workers around the world. So he wandered like nomadic to many countries to witness the distress of workers.
Gorky had interest in writing at early age. He started writing at the age of 17. When he was young, two people encouraged him to read lot of books .As I said; he worked as assistant to a cook. The cook was the one, who encouraged Gorky to develop the habit of reading books. Another was his grandmother whom he loved the most.
He recalled two incidents till his last days. He had strong aversion towards these two incidents. First was social injustice, oppression of civilians prevailed in the Russia and unequal society because of capitalist nature of czar regime .Second was his grandfather who tortured and killed his father. But his grandmother was the one who brought light of joy to his tearful and sorrowful childhood. If his grandmother wouldn’t be there, he would die before he celebrated his ninth birthday.
She introduced him about philosophies of life. She taught philosophies through stories of king-Queen etc. Even though those stories weren’t published in written format, but he regard those stories as the best literature, precious treasure he had got in his entire life.
Although he under gone sufferings in his life, but he didn’t neglect books. Instead he had shown keen interest in reading books. He got the world exposure through books. Because of the life experiences and world exposures through books, he developed the ability to write and create a new philosophy.
He had great regard for books. Below were his comments about books. “The Book is the great combination of two great workers .The one is who bring it in print format. The another is the hard worker (Author) who could explain about himself and explains about complex matters, secret issues, matters which everyone loves, beauty of the world and its features with help of his/her creative writing”. He also stated that “books are living beings, with whom he interacts regularly”. He considered books as living being. Above all comments, he said “the books were written about the people by the people”.
This is end of part -1 , in later parts I will discuss about his thoughts and writings
