Article

Name: Great and Small Tragedies: How the Plot of Theodore Dreiser’s Novel “An American Tragedy” Was Reflected in Nikolai Tikhonov’s Short Story “Jokers”

Authors: Boris V. Sokolov

Publishing house “Veche”, Moscow, Russian Federation

In the section Literary Life of the Plot

Abstract:

The article is devoted to the influence of the plots of T. Dreiser’s novels “An American Tragedy” and “Sister Carrie” on N. S. Tikhonov’s short story “Jokers”. These two novels were mentioned in the telegram which was sent to America by Tikhonov after Dreiser’s death. It is shown that in the plot of “Jokers” there is a conscious decrease in tragedy compared to American sources. Where Dreiser’s female character is definitely killed, Tikhonov’s female character is only probably killed. Where Dreiser’s hero is executed by electric chair, Tikhonov punishes not his hero, but a thing – a steamer. In turn, Tikhonov contrasts the scale of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake (also reflected in the essay “The Story of an Eyewitness” by J. London and occurring in the same year as Dreiser’s tragic narrative) with the crime of Clyde Griffith, highlighting the former’s immensity in comparison. Tikhonov’s reduction of the tragedy of a person to the tragedy of a thing is a hidden satire on Soviet society where things were often more important than people. Also, the motif of running away with a loved one, characteristic of “Sister Carrie”, is used in Tikhonov’s story to complicate the plot and introduce uncertainty into the fate of the female character. His “Jokers” also echoed the plays “Jokers” and “Penniless” by A. N. Ostrovsky, which share plot elements with Dreiser’s novels, particularly in the theme of the powerlessness of the poor in a world of big money. However, due to censorship, Tikhonov shifts the focus from the social to the personal. Consequently, the primary social motive behind Clyde Griffith’s crime in Dreiser – the desire to enter the world of big money – is necessarily replaced by the personal motive of Odintsov’s probable crime – jealousy.

The technique of substituting a genuine tragedy for an imaginary one, developed in “The Jokers,” is also used by Tikhonov in the story “Eternal Transit”. And in the “Story of Shchors”, inspired by A. P. Dovzhenko’s film “Shchors,” official Soviet optimism is covertly parodied in the context of the impending death of N. A. Shchors.

Keywords: plot, motive, satire, T. Dreiser, “An American Tragedy”, “Sister Carrie”, J. London, “The Story of an Eyewitness”, N. S. Tikhonov, “Jokers” (short story), “Eternal Transit”,

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