Images of Entomologists in the Context of Metatheme: Life-Death-after Death (Based on the Novel "The Gift" by V. Nabokov. 1934)
The article is devoted to the special type of Nabokov's characters, namely to entomologists. The idea of treating entomology as a religion is regarded in the context of Nabokov's metatheme: life - death - after death. The study is based on the novel «The Gift». The attention is focused on the path of Godunov-Cherdyntsev's father who is crossing forbidden space. Each of his expeditions is an entomological pilgrimage, a journey to holy lands, and a new stage of learning which climax is a journey to death's kingdom. Death brings absolute knowledge. The article reveals the function of the images of an «eye» and a «door» and establishes their connection with the Buddhist book «The Book of the Dead».