PHILOSOPHY OF CHOOSING DEATH (based on "The Life of Klim Samgin" by Maxim Gorky)
Life as a constant process of self-knowledge is a characteristic feature of the most reflective heroes of «The Life of Klim Samgin». Cognition is a concept to which Gorky attached special importance. In his correspondence and - in parallel - in the final work Gorky formulates the idea of the «third instinct» - the instinct of knowledge, the implementation of which will allow a person to realize the meaning and purpose of existence. The inner need of a person to find himself, accentuated in Gorky’s novel, is organic for many heroes of the work, despite the possible failure of the search and the tragic finale of the seeker. The idea of true drama of self-knowledge is developed in particular as the idea of suicide. Suicide of different heroes of «The Life of Klim Samgin» can take different internal forms - alienation of the person and his actual death (the realized suicide or the directed death) or compelled stay in an existential situation. The likely conclusion of the fate of Klim Samgin may be like the others.