A summary of Maxim Gorky’s "Foma Gordeyev" Automatic translate

Maxim Gorky’s 1899 novella tells the story of the spiritual decay and social rebellion of a young heir to a vast merchant fortune, who finds no meaning in the predatory morality of his class and lacks the will to meaningfully struggle. The work was adapted for the screen in 1959 by Soviet director Mark Donskoy, whose film attracted critical acclaim for its authentic portrayal of old Russian life.

Childhood and upbringing

Ignat Gordeyev, a native of the Vodolivs, made millions in Volga trade. He is a composite of three souls: a greedy businessman, a violent drunkard, and a repentant sinner. He takes a philosophical approach to his losses, calmly drinking vodka while watching the ice break his new barge, the Boyarynya. After the death of his first wife, Ignat marries a Ural schismatic, Natalya. She dies giving birth to their long-awaited son, Foma.

The boy is given to his godfather, Yakov Mayakin, the owner of a rope factory. The Mayakin house is permeated with the smell of incense and a heavy religious atmosphere. Yakov loves to read the biblical book of Job to his family, annotating it with cynical commentary. Foma befriends Yakov’s daughter, Lyuba, but his father soon takes his son home. The child is raised by his kindly aunt Anfisa, who showers him with magical fairy tales.

Understanding the harsh reality

When Foma grew up, his father took him sailing on the tugboat "Ermak." The boy witnessed the scope of his father’s business and the cruelty of his regime. Ignat taught his son to be a strict boss. Upon learning that the engineer and pilot were scolding him for his greed, Ignat immediately fired them. Later, Foma witnessed his father smash the face of a young sailor, Yefim, until it bled for a rude remark. Ignat instilled in his son his philosophy: only the strong should be pitied, while the weak are rotten planks to be stepped over.

During a nighttime stopover in a convoy of ships, Foma experiences a profound shock. The sailors use boathooks to push away a passing corpse with bared teeth from the side of the steamer. Ignat explains to his terrified son that they are driving the corpse away to avoid police trouble. These events slowly destroy the fairytale world in the boy’s soul.

After entering the district school, Foma befriends two students. Nikolai Yezhov is a poor, hungry, but nimble and sharp-tongued son of a watchman. Afrikan Smolin is the sensible, meticulous son of a factory owner. Together, they chase pigeons and steal apples from Staff Captain Chumakov’s orchard. Caught by the orchard owner, Foma proves stubborn and does not run away. Later, he confesses to his father about the theft, earning him grudging approval for his honesty.

Youth and first passions

After completing four years of school, nineteen-year-old Foma delved into trade. Ignat sent him to the Kama River with barges of grain. There, the young man became infatuated with a thirty-year-old worker, Pelageya. The relationship with the experienced woman awakens Foma’s masculine pride: he harshly puts Captain Yefim, who was trying to teach the young master, in his place. Foma is ready to marry Pelageya, but in Kazan he receives a telegram. Mayakin demands his immediate return — Ignat has taken to drinking and squandering money.

Foma separates from Pelageya. Returning home on a passenger steamer, he overhears a fellow passenger talking about the blindness of fate. A bitter resentment against life begins to brew within the young man. At home, he learns that his father donated seventy-five thousand rubles to a shelter at the urging of Sofia Medynskaya, a renowned philanthropist and the wife of an architect. Ignat weakens, senses death, and orders his son to obey Mayakin in everything. One clear Sunday morning, sitting in the garden to the sound of church bells, Ignat suddenly dies.

Loneliness and the Search for Meaning

The death of his father deafens the young man. At the lavish funeral, Mayakin bustles about, busily whispering instructions to his godson about how to exploit human grief for personal gain. Foma feels an endless emptiness. He is drawn to the elegant Medynskaya. She plays with the young rich man, encouraging his passionate confessions, but keeping him at a distance. Entering her living room, filled with fragile objects, Foma feels timid and distressed. Finally, he accuses Medynskaya of falsehood and leaves her home forever.

Yakov’s business affairs come under his unofficial control. Foma struggles to understand his place. He visits the old timber merchant Ananiy Shchurov, known for his shady criminal past. Shchurov rants about sin, God’s judgment, and the pernicious freedom brought by machines. Meanwhile, he immediately tries to cheat Foma out of his bills.

Yakov Mayakin constantly harps on his godson about the superiority of the merchant class. He calls beggars boils, and charity houses a way to hide poverty, so the poor don’t become an eyesore. For Yakov, people are the bricks with which a wise businessman must build the edifice of state. These cynical speeches infuriate Foma. He seeks sympathy from Lyuba Mayakina, but the girl only complains of her boredom and spouts incomprehensible, bookish phrases.

Rise and Fall

Having accidentally encountered the vice-governor’s son-in-law at a club, who had called Medynskaya a sellout, Foma brutally beat him. Escaping from depression and Mayakin’s pressure, Gordeyev embarks on a desperate, wild spree. Surrounded by hangers-on, he squanders his money, trying to quell his inner chill. He becomes involved with the singer Sasha — a quiet, cynical woman with a deep contempt for people.

During a drunken picnic on rafts, Foma orders a man to cut the ropes. The raft, with its screaming drinking buddies, floats downriver. Foma pulls Sasha out of the water after she jumped overboard.

He visits the alcoholic Yezhov, working as a newspaper columnist. In a dingy room, Yezhov launches into a fiery tirade against the well-fed intelligentsia, calling the complacent citizens a hardened tumor on society’s chest. Foma is infected with his anger, urging him to expose the lies, but sees the utter impotence of his broken comrade.

Taras’s return and the denouement

Yakov’s son, Taras, returns to the Mayakin family. He had lived in exile in Siberia for a long time, but Lyuba idealized him, believing him to be a champion of justice. In reality, Taras turns out to be a shrewd businessman, managing a soda factory. He quickly finds common ground with his father. Foma overhears their conversation — Taras indifferently calls Foma a savage, a lazybones, and a tyrant who will inevitably go broke. Gordeyev realizes the old man has found the perfect successor. Lyuba is married to Afrikan Smolin, a factory owner.

The dramatic denouement occurs at a gala dinner celebrating the consecration of merchant Kononov’s new steamship, the Ilya Muromets. After listening to Mayakin’s boastful speech about how merchants are the true masters and builders of Russia, Foma bursts into the table. Pale, baring his teeth, he hurls angry accusations at the rich.

Mutiny on a steamship

Foma screams that they’ve built a prison, not a life. He names their crimes. He accuses Kononov of molesting a minor, Gushchin of deceiving his nephews, Bobrov of falsely reporting his mistress, Zubov of stealing from church mugs, and Reznikov of murder. The merchants panic. They try to calm Gordeyev, but he, armed with a champagne bottle, continues to spew curses and truths.

Finally, several men pile on Foma, throw him onto the deck, and tie him up with towels. Yakov Mayakin takes control of the situation. He calmly orders the bound Foma to be left on the ship and a carriage to the hospital to be prepared. The bound Foma weeps in frustration, realizing that his protest has been drowned out, failing to shake these strong and intelligent predators.

Three years after the death of Yakov Mayakin, Foma wanders the city streets. Worn out, rumpled, half-mad, he lives in his sister Lyuba’s outbuilding. Local merchants mock him, calling him a prophet and mockingly asking him to predict the end of the world.