(303 words) Maxim Gorky for a long time could not find the exact title for his play, because it was important for him to reflect the meaning of the work in the title. Initially, the author called the drama "Nochlezhka", then - "Without the Sun", and only then it received the name "At the Bottom". This definition is best suited for all events described by the author.
One of the main themes of the work: the topic of the humiliated and offended, which include drunks, thieves, girls who went on a yellow ticket and other poor people. They are depicted as realistically as possible, which makes the play scary. The ruthlessness and severity of their world, from which society has long turned its back, can destroy even a strong-willed person. In the Kostylev’s rooming house, the author brought together the most diverse social strata of the population in order to fully reveal the behavior and characters of renegades who were at the “bottom” of life. From the play, we learn about the fate of the Actor, absorbed in memories of past glory and ending his age ahead of time due to the recognition of the hopelessness of the situation, and about Nastya’s life, who chose dirty work, but whose soul was eager for great and pure love. All stories of the shelters evoke sympathy among the reader, because all the heroes of the play are victims of the cruel and ugly orders prevailing in the Kostylev shelter. Even if they find themselves at the bottom of life through their own fault, losing everything human, and at the same time a chance to return to their former prosperity, we still pity them. After all, the bottom, in Gorky’s understanding, is a direct consequence of an unfair political system, in which no one needs a person without ties, money and ranks passing by inheritance. Each impoverished character is a denunciation of well-fed and indifferent inhabitants who care only about their own good. Therefore, those who could help the shelters by carrying out their official duties do not do this, but simply dump human litter in a hole, away from the eyes, and fill it with their indifference.
Thus, Maxim Gorky in the play “At the Bottom” wanted to show not the hopelessness and cruelty of the fate of the heroes who were at the bottom of life, but the whole political and social essence of this black spot.
