The embodiment of the dialogue-polemic of A. Zhid with F.M. Dostoevsky and F. Nietzsche in the artistic space of the story "The Immoralist"

The study of ethical and philosophical issues and its artistic embodiment in the works of A. Zhid focused attention on topical issues common to the modern world, which remain in demand today: the problems of understanding a person, his moral choice, the limits of a person's ability to achieve his personal freedom in a world where "God died".

The original, peculiar picture of the world created by A. Zhid was formed thanks to a talented combination of such "incompatible", opposite philosophical systems as those of Nietzsche and Dostoevsky. On the one hand, Nietzsche with his "Anti-Christian", the role of a superman taking the place of God in a world where "God died". On the other hand, Dostoevsky with his famous maxim "if there is no God, everything is allowed", which proves that "conscience without God is a horror, it can get lost to the most immoral" ^[1], for which the gospel truths remain indisputable.

A. Zhid's novel "The Immoralist", published in 1902, was associated directly with F. Nietzsche. It is Nietzsche who owns the term "Immoralist", which will firmly enter the lexicon at the turn of the XIX - XX centuries.

Socio-historical changes have significantly influenced the formation of a new spiritual atmosphere, a new understanding of man. The main postulates "death of God", "revaluation of all values", "superman", formulated by Nietzsche, made significant adjustments to the artistic world of the turn of the century era. In France, the philosophy of the German thinker is included in the "intellectual fashion".

In the period from 1890 to 1910, Nietzsche became one of the most discussed and influential philosophers, "who reigns in the French intellectual arena." French researchers call him "the most French of German thinkers" ^[2]. As T. G. Rumyantseva notes in her monograph "Friedrich Nietzsche", "The world began to feel according to Nietzsche, and not only from the point of view of content:   the style of thinking, methodology, and language paradigms – all this has also been built up over the past decades in accordance with the patterns and norms of mentality set by him"^{[3, p. 8]}.

The existing Christian morality, according to Nietzsche, led to the "devaluation of higher values." In the book "Merry Science" (1881-1882), an aphorism will be heard for the first time, which will enter the consciousness of subsequent generations: "God is dead! God will not rise again. And we killed him!" ^{[4, p. 593]}. Nietzsche speaks about the loss of faith in existing moral imperatives: "The greatest of the new events – that "God has died" and that faith in the Christian God has become something not trustworthy - is beginning to cast its first shadows on Europe" ^{[4, p. 662]}. Nietzsche announces a "reassessment of all values", the need to create "new tablets" that will be addressed to the instinctive world of man: he calls traditional morality, based on religious postulates, unnatural, directed against life instincts, because "... it is sometimes a secret, then an explicit and audacious condemnation of these instincts. Saying that "God reads in the heart," she says No to the lower and higher desires of life and considers God the enemy of life ... " ^{[5, p. 575]}. This requires a "new ideal" of a person who will take off the "burden" of outdated Christian values, become "on the other side of good and evil," that is, an "Immoralist."

In the interpretation of the German philosopher, the concept of "Immoralist" contains two objections: "I deny, firstly, the type of person who has hitherto been considered the highest – kind, benevolent, charitable; I deny; secondly, the kind of morality that, as morality itself, has reached the meaning of and domination, – the morality of decadence, speaking more tangibly, Christian morality "^{[5, p. 764]}.

Nietzsche's philosophical system not only formed a circle of supporters, but also provoked an opposition reaction. At the beginning of the twentieth century, a new literary "Catholic revival" was formed. French writers Bernanos, Paul Bourget, Paul Claudel, Francois Mauriac in their work preach the need to return to religious origins, realizing "the tragic consequences of leaving the Christian tradition and losing consciousness of human sinfulness" ^{[6, pp. 80-87]}. As Francois Mauriac wrote, "The two Frenchies"came face to face everywhere" ^[6]. On the one hand, there is a growing interest in Nietzsche's philosophy, with his "revaluation of values", on the other hand, an appeal to Christian origins as unshakable truths of human existence.

In the creative system of A. Zhid, there is an understanding of the philosophy of F. Nietzsche. The artistic world of the French writer includes both his uniqueness and his "modern incarnation" in his time, his era, in "his" France.

The novel "The Immoralist" by A. Zhid is a confession of the main character, which has potentially romantic semantics ("Rene, or the Consequences of the passions" by Francois Rene de Chateaubriand, "Adolphe" by Benjamin Constant, "The Confession of the Son of the Century" by Alfred de Musset).

Michel's confession has the appearance of a slender, symmetrical picture. He tells his life story over the past three years to his three friends. The compositional structure is a kind of construction, in which the symbolic orientation is clearly traced: the story is divided into three parts, the first part contains 9 chapters, the second part contains 3 chapters, the third part contains 1 chapter. The number "three" is intentionally repeated many times in the work. The symbolism of the troika remains one of the most powerful in the Christian world. A. Zhid noted the importance of the symbol in his diary: "A well-constructed work is undoubtedly symbolic" ^{[7, p. 258]}. The first part is the most "stretched", consists of nine chapters and allusively refers to the nine circles of hell of Dante's "Divine Comedy". Michelle is being tested in the circles of her personal hell: from illness to recovery.

New ideas about the breakdown of traditional morality are expressed in the poetics of the work, in which details acquire special importance. The deep problematic begins already with the title and epigraph of the story. The semantics of the title "Immoralist" explains the manifestation of the conflicts inherent in the work. The French word "Immoraliste" contains -im – a compound element, which explains the negation of what is expressed by the basis of Lat. "moralis" – "moral", the suffix -iste forms a noun. The "immoralist" is the bearer of the idea of denying existing morality, which is the opposite of human nature and takes a position "on the other side of good and evil", in contrast to immoralism, characterized by the opposite of morality. Choosing the concept of "Immoralist" as the title, A. Zhid enters into a dialogue with the philosophical concept of Nietzsche, who expresses protest against the prevailing morality that has "devalued" itself, has become "anti-moral": "Morality is no longer an expression of the conditions necessary for the life and growth of the people, its deepest instinct of life, but having become abstract, it becomes the opposite of life – morality as a radical perversion of fantasy, an "evil eye" in relation to the world" ^{[5, p. 26]}.

The provocative beginning can be traced already in the very name "Immoralist". In addition, as an epigraph, the writer uses a psalm verse from the Old Testament: "I glorify You, Lord, for I am wonderfully created" [Ps. 139:14]. The poet and novelist Robert Schaeffer, a contemporary of A. Zhid, in 1902, after the publication of the work, made a remark about the choice of the title and epigraph, pointing out the frightening paradoxical nature of the title and the epigraph contrasting with it, designed to "calm cowardly souls" ^[8]. Indeed, the Nietzschean theme stated in the title comes into conflict with an epigraph borrowed from the Old Testament. The epigraph has a double meaning: it serves as a statement of human godlike, the ultimate triumph of morality and at the same time is a symbol of the internal breakdown of established morality. If you combine the name and the epigraph into one whole, as a result, it is possible to trace the contrast of the visible and hidden meaning of the statement, which creates an ironic (polar) effect: the immoralist is such a wonderful creature!

A. Zhid does not depict the relationship of the heroes among themselves, not the hero's revolt against society, he shows the hero in relation to himself, demonstrates contradictions within himself. The epigraph traces the connection with the theory and philosophy of Raskolnikov F.M. Dostoevsky: "Am I a trembling creature or do I have the right?". The French translation of this quote in the novel "Crime and Punishment" echoes the epigraph to the "Immoralist". For Raskolnikov, "crossing the line," that is, committing a crime, means proving to himself in a sense that he is not a "trembling creature," but "has the right." "I wanted to dare and killed..." ^{[9, p. 52]}, Raskolnikov says. But Dostoevsky leads his hero to punishment – both real (hard labor) and spiritual (psychological torture of the hero): "... after all, I clearly felt that I was not Napoleon" ^{[9, p. 53]}, Raskolnikov sums up. A. Zhid clearly realized that the gospel truths for Dostoevsky remain unshakable. In his work "Dostoevsky" he states: "How to assert your independence? Then the alarm begins. Everything is allowed. But what? That's it! What can a person do? Every time one of Dostoevsky's heroes asks himself this question, we can be sure that we will soon witness his bankruptcy" ^{[10, p. 330]}.

The French writer creates another hero who, having overcome a serious illness, begins to perceive a world where the main value is his own life. Life, according to Nietzsche, is "the instinct of growth, stability, accumulation of strength, power: where there is a lack of will to power, there is decline" ^{[5, p. 635]}. That is why he calls to become "on the other side of good and evil", in other words, according to the German philosopher, "to leave the illusion of moral judgment under you" ^{[5, p. 585]}. The main character of the "Immoralist" Michel conducts a kind of experiment: can he become such a creature that has no moral restrictions, or not.

In French criticism, the appearance of the "Immoralist" in 1902 at first did not cause much response. The story, according to A. Zhid, was not given due attention, which prompted him to write a preface to the second edition in order to "properly portray and explain his thought" ^{[11, p. 8]}. In the preface, A. Zhid states that it is not necessary to identify the main character Michel with the author, since the main purpose of his work was to pose a "problem" "that existed before his book" ^{[11, p. 8]}. Andre Zhid, as one of the first Western thinkers, began to consider immoralism as the most important moral problem although the writer himself said that he was not at all an innovator in the designation of such an important problem of the epoch, because his hero is a product of the epoch, its mirror, type, which means that regardless of how Michel's fate is decided in the work, the problem will continue to exist. A. Zhid in order to find a solution to the problem offers delve into the context of the work: "To tell the truth, there are no problems in art whose sufficient resolution would not be the work of art itself" ^{[11, p. 8]}. The writer talks about the problem of the whole society, which needs to understand itself based on the analysis of an individual case, which may lead to significant positive changes.

The story begins with a letter from Michel's friend, which is the "frame" of his confession, forms a kind of "emotional tone" of the work. Moral problems are revealed from the very beginning of the work: "Do we simply condemn it, denying that it is possible to direct the properties that manifest in evil to good?.. But I am afraid that nowadays there are many people who are able to recognize themselves in this story" ^{[11, p. 9]}. Thus, A. Zhid once again emphasizes the relevance of the stated problem.

The external description goes to the description "from the inside". The statements are arranged in such a way as to convey "extreme tension" and boundless doubt about the correctness of the choice of the main character. Michel's confession opens with his recognition of reaching such a limit of his life, when the hero had an urgent need for liberation, purification of the soul. At the very beginning, the main idea of the story is conveyed through Michel's confession: "To be able to be free is nothing, it is difficult to be able to be free" ^{[11, p. 12]} A. The Jew creates a hero who approaches the heroes of the existential novel in his quest for freedom of choice.

The names of the friends addressed by the main character – Daniel, Denis, as well as the first letter of the brother's name – begin with "D", in French God is Dieu. The choice of names plays an important role in the work, A. Zhid combines human names with a Christian worldview.

In the first part of the story, the author sets out the facts and prerequisites that indirectly or directly led to the tragic denouement. The introduction of short biographically significant events for the main character (childhood, parents, studies, marriage) makes it possible to recreate Michel's life "before" the illness and "after". This summary reveals the religious upbringing coming from a Protestant mother: "I did not yet suspect how much this childish morality takes hold of us and what furrows it leaves in the soul" ^{[11, p. 13]}. He lost his mother at an early age. The atheist father was engaged in the intellectual development of Michel. The boy's knowledge of languages is noted: Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic. Michel's high intellectual level confirms his successful defense of the work "Experience on Phrygian Cults", which contributed to the fact that the professors communicated with him on equal terms with great interest. The choice of a hero with a philological education is due to a subtext appeal to Nietzsche, who pointed out the special role of philology. The attitude to material values becomes the least important in Michel's life: father and son were content with a very simple life, were unassuming in everyday life. It was only at the age of 25 that the young man found out that their family was very rich. The significant role of the father at this stage of Michel's life is emphasized.

Fulfilling the wish of his dying father, Michel marries the Catholic Marceline. The engagement itself takes place as a formal given, which must be accepted and fulfilled: "Our engagement at the bedside of the dying man was not cheerful, but it was not devoid of solemn joy – so great was the peace that my father found thanks to this engagement" ^{[11, p. 13]}. The oxymoronic combination in one sentence of "fian?ailles" (betrothal) and "chevet du mourant" (the head of the dying), "sans rires" (not funny) and "grave joie" (solemn joy) emphasizes the distortion of the attitude to the concepts of joy / grief: engagement – sad, dying – solemn joy. The death of the father in the subtext refers to the Nietzschean maxim about the "death of God". A brief digression into Michel's past helps to trace both the psychological and social prerequisites for the emergence of the "spiritual illness" of the protagonist.

A. Zhid uses ambiguous images. The symbolic layer is realized on Christian mythologems. The journey, as one of the main constructive elements of the work, is not only the starting point of the main character's journey of trials, but also a vivid symbolic image. A trip to Africa, to a country where civilization has not left its imprint, where untouched natural beauty is still preserved, turns into tragic consequences for both Michel and Marceline.

At the beginning of the story, the Journey is realized along a vertical axis, there is a movement "down": France (Paris, Marseille) – Africa (El Jam, Biskra). The break with the past world is symbolically represented through the crossing of Michel with his wife Marceline of the maritime border separating France and Africa: the hero looked at the receding Marseille and immediately thought of Marceline. The name Marceline is semantically associated with the water element (from the French Mar, abbreviated from mar?e – inflow and outflow, marin – sea), symbolically – with the life force of water. On the ship, at sea, Michel discovers not only the external beauty of Marceline, but also the inner one: "I finally realized then that the monologue stops here." (...) This evening, near her, I myself seemed awkward and stupid" ^{[11, pp. 16-17]}. Intellectual equality is emphasized, which will play an important role in the future.

A. Zhid, using artistic details, stable symbols that expand the content framework of the work, gives the narrative an internal "multidimensionality". It fits into the dichotomous Water-desert series. The Mediterranean Sea in the Bible is the great Sea, or the Adriatic (part of the Mediterranean). "Water is the source of all life" ^{[12, p. 152]}. The fact that Michel and his wife are heading into the desert contains both a biblical allusion and another, allegorical meaning. The desert is a multifaceted image, it is also "a symbol of infertility, but in Christian culture the desert is of great importance as a place of Revelation (conversation with God)" ^[13]. For Michel, the desert takes on new meanings. It becomes a place denoting separation from the world, a place of passing tests and, as a result, the loss of "connection with God."

On the way to Biskra, Michel undergoes the first bouts of tuberculosis. Events are slowing down. Attention is focused on African cities: El–Jam – the beginning of the disease, Biskra – recovery. There is a shift of emphasis: the sea is life, the desert is death, but then the desert transforms into a new, "real" life for Michel: "I had to recover in Biskra" ^{[11, p. 21]}. Michel deliberately focuses on this: "By the end of the third day, I got to Biskra half-dead" ^{[11, p. 21]}. A real disease (tuberculosis), which simultaneously serves as a real attribute of the beginning of the century, widespread at this time, with a fatal outcome, is transformed into a powerful symbol.

The image of the desert also acquires additional connotations. In Christianity, it is directly connected with the three temptations of Christ, the test of his human nature, "by influencing which the Devil hoped to seduce Christ into the wrong path." In Nietzschean philosophy, the desert is a manifestation of the true essence of man, its instincts: "In the desert lived originally truthful, free minds, like the lords of the desert; but in the cities live well–fed, glorified sages – beasts of burden" ^{[5, p. 74]}.

Michel's illness became the reason that forms the hero's existential attitude. Experiencing the psychological difficulty created by the situation, the hero of A. Zhid changes the scale of axiological values, prioritizing human life as a physical existence. The author, putting the hero in the face of death, analyzes his natural instincts. Michel's main goal becomes his desire to survive, and the hero is ready to use any means in this struggle without taking into account moral and religious criteria. The sight of the healthy blood of an Arab boy who cut his finger confirms this unrestrained desire of Michel for life. Looking at a healthy body full of energy and life, he experiences delight, a feeling of love for the "health" of the boy.  Michel's own blood, black, "something slippery, disgusting..." ^{[11, p. 25]}, is associated with death. The sick blood flowing out of him, marked with the seal of death, is a symbol of Michel's reincarnation, the appearance of a "new person" in him. A. Zhid conveys this inner tension, this passion in the process of rebirth of an ordinary person into a "new being". It is no accident that blood is traditionally regarded as a "ritual symbol of vitality", which contains the "spirit of personality" ^{[13, p. 83]}. Michelle plunges into a different reality when a different understanding of the world and life comes, associated with a fierce desire to live, with a "desperate rush to life" ^{[11, p. 25]}.

The hero returns to real life with the realization that he is no longer the same weak person living within the strict restrictive morality, but another, recovered, who felt "the growth of life, the influx of more generous and hot blood ..." ^{[11, p. 42]}. Along with Michel's recovery, cardinal changes in his inner world are gradually taking place. His worldview system approaches Nietzsche's philosophy. "Illness as an assessment of health, moments of health as an assessment of illness – this is the "revolution", the "displacement of perspectives" in which Nietzsche sees the essence of his method and his vocation to re-evaluate values" ^[14].

The concept of "illness" acquires additional connotations: it is not only about physical malaise caused by an incurable disease, but also about moral changes of the protagonist. The story of the theft of scissors by the Arab boy Moktir marks a new stage in the evolution of Michel, associated with the attitude when in his understanding the line between good and evil becomes very shaky. The role of the mirror is also symbolic. In the old theological treatises it was said that in the mirror "certain human sins were reflected, and also contained praises of a truly Christian way of life.... The mirror is a symbol of the Virgin Mary, since God was reflected in her through his exact likeness – Jesus Christ" ^{[12, p. 199]}. In the world of the immoralist – "God is dead", this is confirmed by the reflection in the mirror, where the crime, while still insignificant, remains unpunished ^{[12, p. 199]}. If we turn to the symbolism of scissors, the meaning of this word is also significant both in the context of this episode and in the context of the work. In mythology, scissors are associated with the moira of fate Atropos, which cuts the thread of human life ^{[15, p. 169]}. In Christianity – with renunciation of worldly life. Moktir steals scissors belonging to Marceline, for whom Christian truths remain unshakable. Metaphorically, he steals Marceline's life, determining her tragic fate. Michel leaves his wife when she is in mortal agony, leaving with Moktir.

The change in Michel's worldview is manifested in his new understanding of the values of his physical health. Taking care of the body, not the soul, takes priority: "..I will think about the spirit and the like ... later, when I feel better" ^{[11, p. 28]}. This statement subtext refers to Nietzsche, because it coincides with the words of Zarathustra: "It is better to listen, my brothers, to the voices of a healthy body: this is a more truthful and pure voice. A healthy body, perfect and rectangular, speaks more truthfully and purer; and it speaks about the meaning of the earth" ^{[5, p. 24]}. Unlike Christianity, in which the concept of "soul" is inextricably linked with salvation, with eternal life, while the body is perishable. The collision of the Nietzschean worldview concept and the Christian one is outlined.

In the Christian understanding, death is the end of life and at the same time the beginning of a new afterlife. In a world where "God is dead", the concept of "life" acquires the highest values, because life can end at any moment.

Michel is developing a recovery program that can keep him alive and make his body healthy. He defines food as the main "medicine": "As an image of immortality and overcoming death, the meal is present precisely in the sepulchral images, and thus promises, in the words of Henry, a guarantee of Resurrection" ^{[16, p. 63]}. Michel, who was on the verge of life and death, clearly realized that there is no eternity beyond death, and began to perceive life as the only value: one must live for the sake of life. A. Zhid shows a hero who perceives the world "without God" and seeks to change reality at the behest of instincts.

The geography of the main character's movements is significantly expanded, presented as a result of the most important events that have already happened. If in Biskra Michel describes in detail his feelings associated with his slow recovery (the author emphasizes all the stages of changing his worldview), then after overcoming the illness the young man simply records the countries and cities he visited: Malta – Syracuse – Naples – Ravello – Sorrento – Rome – Florence. There is an upward movement, at the same time, Michel's feeling of the unbearable burden of accumulated knowledge increases, as a result of which he has a desire to be freed from the hated "burden". Admiring Greek and Roman cultures is replaced by the fear of death at the sight of Greek ruins.

A. Zhid focuses not so much on eventfulness, but rather shows the evolution of Michel's inner world: "After a person has been touched by the wing of death, what seemed important ceases to be important; other things become important that did not seem to be important and about the existence of which he did not even know" ^{[11, pp. 41-42]}. Having passed her rubicon, Michelle moves away from people who bear traditional consciousness. "The accumulation of all acquired knowledge is erased from the soul like paint, and in places the skin itself is exposed, a real, previously hidden being" ^{[11, p. 42]}. The path to this animal essence becomes the goal of Michel's life: "Then I began to seek knowledge of "him", the real being, the "ancient man", whom the Gospel rejected; the one whom everyone around me – books, teachers, parents and myself – tried to abolish earlier. (...) From that time on, I began to despise the being I had assimilated, imposed on me by education. It was necessary to shake off this burden" ^{[11, p. 42]}.

The first stage of cognition of the "new essence" for Michel is the rejection of accumulated knowledge, which becomes a kind of "burden" to achieve freedom: "I discovered that I became different and exist – oh, joy! – outside of science. ... I was barely born yet and could not yet know that I was being born. That's what I needed to know" ^{[11, p. 41]}.

Michel's story at the dawn of the formation of his new worldview in the subtext contains Nietzsche's parable "Three Transformations", in which a camel with a load of outdated moral values becomes a lion and then turns into a child capable of creating a new life: "To be free from the happiness of slaves, freed from the gods and worship them, fearless, and fearsome, great and lonely, – such is the will of the truthful" ^{[5, p. 74]}. Michel moves from the Nietzschean "camel" to a new stage of the "lion": "A lion cannot create new values yet; but the power of a lion can create freedom for a new creation" ^{[5, p. 19]}.

An important episode is the last night in Biskra, before Michel and Marceline leave for Paris. Michel describes in detail his new sensations, which echo with natural forces, which emphasizes his rapprochement with nature in the awareness of his nature. Everything that resembles death scares him: "... colorless and lifeless, seemed to be forever motionless" ^{[11, p. 39]}. Michelle is at the stage of completing her spiritual rebirth, where the thirst for life without moral restrictions becomes a priority: "The day will come, I thought, when I will not even have the strength to bring to my lips the water that I will desire more than anything in the world... I took a book from the table, the Bible, and opening it at random; I read the words of Christ to Peter, words that, alas, I was not destined to forget: "Now you gird yourself and go where you want to go, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands..." ^{[11, pp. 39-40]}. In Michel's mind, the words of Christ addressed to Peter, interpreted by the hero according to his new worldview, and his fear of death and physical infirmity are intertwined, but the most important truth, the highest value is human life.

Confirmation of this is a kind of initiation of Michel: immersion in water in the gorge of the cave. The motive of Michel's transformation into a "new being" is implemented to some extent according to the "initiation scheme". Symbolic death and rebirth in a new capacity. Michel stands out from society, he is the one, as he himself notes, "who was touched by the wing of death." According to the conversion ritual, Michelle is initiated by water. After diving into the water, Michel, by his own admission, found himself "if not yet strong, then on the way to strength, harmonious, sensual, almost beautiful" ^{[11, p. 46]}. The very fact that Michel makes the initiation ritual a way of immersion in water, on the other hand, refers to Christian traditions. The initiation ritual that the hero goes through takes on a meaning that is the opposite of what was expected. Michel's new worldview displaces moral principles, expands the scope of what is "permissible." This is clearly shown at the moment when Michel saves his wife from a drunken coachman: "Truly, I considered myself entitled to strangle him, and maybe I would have done it... only the thought of the police kept me back" ^{[11, p. 49]}.

The first part of the work ends for the hero with a complete break with his past. As the author himself notes, "What would a story about happiness be? Only what prepares it, then what destroys it, is subject to the story. And now I have told you everything that prepared him" ^{[11, p. 53]}.

For Michel, the time begins for a new "healthy" life, which is discussed in the second part of the story, dedicated to the intimate experiences of the hero, his transformation into a "new being". Considering the story of Michel, which is not rich in events, A. Zhid very aptly recreates the atmosphere in which his hero breathed, the circle of his whims, the characteristic features of his inner worldview, everyday life. Michel's fascination with the ancient ethics of the Goths in the period after recovery personifies the central basis of the manifestation of immoralism. The Gothic tribes were considered by humanists as carriers of the barbaric principle, "guilty of the destruction of ancient civilization." Michel was especially interested in the young king of the Goths, Athalaric. His hero was represented as a rebellious young man, unbridled and depraved, who is cramped within the framework of family, social and religious morality. From these sources, a new worldview concept of Michel is born, devoid of moral dependence and social conventions. A new attitude awakens in him, where the philosophical meaning of the parable "Three Transformations" manifests itself – Michel becomes a "lion".

Returning to the ancestral estate of La Moriniere allows Michel to plunge into the world of nature and fully surrender to his new feelings for life. At first, his desire to rule and rule appears on the farm, but over time he is replaced by a passion for the steward's son Charles (attracts youth, energy, fervor). Charles, a representative of the younger generation, a supporter of reforms and significant transformations in agriculture, shares his ideas with Michel. But, having met a year later with Michel, Charles sees serious changes in him and draws conclusions that coincide with his new worldview: "We must take our responsibilities seriously and refuse to play with them ... or then we don't need to own anything" ^{[11, p. 102]}. Michelle decides to sell the estate.

Upon returning to Paris (Chapter 2), Michel expounds the main theses of his new worldview position in a course of lectures. Doubt, anxiety, subconsciously expressed in Michel's words: "Still, I could not say what I meant by the word "live", and whether my new taste for a more spacious and free life, less forced and connected with other people, was not the reason for my shyness; this reason seemed to me much more mysterious; I thought it was a mystery resurrected, because I remained a stranger among people, as a native of the other world" ^{[11, p. 70]}. Michel looks for proof of the infallibility of his new theories in conversations with Menalk.

The first meeting with Menalk takes place after the end of Michel's lecture course in Paris. The return of the stolen scissors to Michel by Menalcom is connected with the fact that the boy saw that he was being watched: "... you tried to outwit each other; but in this game the children always beat us" ^{[11, p. 74]}. The fact that Michel allowed Moktir to steal the scissors indicates his subconscious rejection of the recognized rules of morality. By allowing a crime to be committed in a small way, you can turn a blind eye to murder. Subsequently, this is confirmed by the fact that Moktir still ends up in prison.

A. Zhid depicts various events from a certain angle: he is interested in how what is happening affects the psychological state of the protagonist.

The second meeting with Menalque happens about three weeks later at Michel's house. Secular conventions become a burden for both Michel and Marceline. Pregnant, but already ill, Marceline, obeying secular principles, is forced to arrange receptions in her Parisian home. It is in this part of Michel's story that the thought sounds, which will be reflected in his attitude to the sick Marceline: "And the dust we inhaled arose from the disgusting spoilage of things... Furniture, fabrics, engravings, everything lost value for me after the first stain; stained things are things affected by disease, as if doomed to death" ^{[11, p. 77]}. The same thought will sound when Marceline is seriously ill. In Michel's theory, things and close people are identified. Michel subconsciously condemns his wife to death.

A. Zhid gives Menalka external features that bear a close resemblance to the portrait of F. Nietzsche, whose feature was a magnificent mustache: "Menalka was elegant, almost beautiful; huge, hanging, already gray mustache cut his pirate face; the cold flame of his gaze expressed courage and determination rather than kindness. As soon as he found himself in front of Marceline, I realized that she did not like him" ^{[11, p. 78]}. On the real level, it is a meeting of two people: Marceline and Menalka, on the subtext, it is a clash of two concepts: Christian and Nietzschean.

Menalk acts as a seducer, like Lord Henry in O. Wilde's Portrait of Dorian Gray (1891). Every meeting with Menalk becomes significant for Michel's family and has negative consequences.

The last, third meeting takes place in two weeks at the Menalka. A vague assumption is born in Michel's soul – the thought of the birth of a new feeling: "... little by little he reached a state of excessive tension, to a strange rapture, very unlike and yet close to the painful anxiety that gave rise to it, but even closer to happiness" ^{[11, p. 82]}. A peculiar game of unconscious impulses, movements of vague impressions and desires is unfolding. Thoughts about the upcoming meeting with Menalka capture Michel's attention, he forgets about his sick wife. A. Zhid accurately conveys the inner state of the hero: "It was late, I was walking with big steps; thick snow was falling; I was happy that I was breathing fresher air, that I was fighting against the cold, happy in the fight against the wind, at night, snow; I enjoyed my energy" ^{[11, p. 82]}. The motive of the joyful confrontation of the human spirit with nature is reinforced by the description of a whole range of sensations when Michelle, after leaving the house, breathes in fresh air with pleasure. Michelle accurately conveys every detail of the meeting with Menalk, as if it happened not three years ago, but a few minutes ago.

A conversation with Menalk gives an idea of how Michel's character has changed. The problem of choice becomes central, which Menalk focuses on: "You need to make a choice. The most important thing is to know what you want" ^{[11, p. 82]}. The topic of self–realization, self-fulfillment becomes central in the conversation between Menalk and Michel, because everyone is given only one life: "Out of a thousand forms of life, each person can experience only one" ^{[11, p. 83]}, says Menalk. A conversation with Menalk contributes to Michel's awareness of his rightness regarding morality. Menalka's question: "Are you expecting a baby soon?" ^{[11, p. 82]}, becomes fatal. In response to him, Michel seems to destroy his family himself: "I also cut my happiness according to my height! I exclaimed. – But I have grown up; now my happiness crushes me; sometimes I almost suffocate in it! ..." ^{[11, P. 83]}. This statement echoes the words of Zarathustra: "You are young and you want a child and marriage. But I ask you: are you human enough to have the right to want a child?" ^{[5, p. 49]}.

This meeting has a symbolic meaning. Michel and Menalk drink wine and eat gingerbread: the meeting transforms into an act of communion. Christian believers during the church rite of communion take wine and bread, symbolizing the blood and body of Jesus Christ, thus, according to the teaching of the church, they become "corporeal of Jesus Christ", "participants in God's being" ^[17]. The time of the meeting is also symbolically chosen – Christmas holidays. Returning home, Michelle learns that Marceline has given birth to a stillborn child. The death of a child during Christmas is associated at the level of subtext with the death of the divine principle, with the death of God.

There is no next stage of transition to the Nietzschean concept of "child". Michel still has the compassion characteristic of Dostoevsky's heroes in his mind: "Decidedly, everything around me is falling apart; everything that my hand takes on is not held in it… I rush to Marceline and cover her pale forehead with kisses..." ^{[11, p. 103]}.

In the artistic system of A. Zhid, the subtext is a special way of constructing a text, which through a system of certain means (image, motive, symbol, name) makes it possible to reveal the latently expressed problematic of the work.

Names also play an essential role in the work and fit into the overall picture of the problem. Heroes are given only first names, there are no surnames. The characters form a peculiar, consonant by name, pair. Michel – Menalque – the consonants "m, l" add softness to the sound and contrast with the characters of these characters. Marceline – Moktir (Marceline – Moktir) – the sound "p" creates the energy of the name, rigidity, which does not correspond to the character of Marceline, but highlights the main feature of Moktir. The name Moktir consists of two French verbs "moquer" – to ridicule and "tirer" – to shoot, steal, which personifies the behavior and determines the fate of this teenager. The name Marceline contains two names – Maria and Selina. The name Mary is allusively connected with the Virgin Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ. At the level of subtext, this correlates with the moment when Marceline gives birth to a dead child during Christmas. Thus, the idea of the death of God is subtly emphasized. The second part of the name Marceline is associated with the Catholic Saint Selina, known for her charity, which corresponds to the Christian norms of the heroine's behavior.

The name Menalque (French – "M?nalque") is an interesting meaningful anagram: "que le mena" – "what brought him?". For A. Zhid, who grew up in a Protestant family, sacred texts are well known. The phrase "que le mena", that is, "what brought him" this phrase refers to the New Testament, "to the three temptations of Jesus Christ in the desert." In a figurative sense, Menalk really "seduces" Michel with absolute freedom. In turn, Michel accepts the theory of Menalka, tries to realize his life beyond the boundaries of morality.

All names begin with the letter "M", which no longer seems random. "M" is associated with the lexemes "moral" (morality), "maladie" (illness), "mort" (death); the inverted "m" - "w" is a doubled "v" - vie (life), vouloir (will), which become very significant in the context of the work.

The inverted "m" is also similar to the digit "3". The symbolism of the number "3" has a deep meaning and is very common in the story. The events in the work unfold over the past three years. For three days, Michelle has been in a crisis situation, on the verge of life and death. Three friends come to Michel to help him. The symbolism of the troika is ambiguous, it consists of the following definitions: past, present and future (Michel talks about past events when his friends listen in the present and think about his future), beginning, middle, end (the beginning of the tragedy, the moment of recovery, the death of Marceline); west (left side), center and east (right side), (travel Paris, Marseille, Tunisia, Italy, Switzerland).

Artistic details, subtext, symbols, names, hidden or explicit juxtapositions create additional depth of content subordinated to the main idea.

It is in the third chapter that Michel appears completely different, "updated". The transition to a new stage is shown – now Michel is not bound by anything. In her La Moriniere estate, where the young family returns again, Michel feels a new surge of vitality. His animal nature is clearly manifested, without the veil of morality. Michel is attracted by communication with vagrants, with those who are called "scum of society", for whom God has died a long time ago. This is how a seasonal employee of Byut appears, whose surname carries a bright semantic load (French. Byut is the embodiment of unrestrained life without restrictions, which Michelle is looking for): "I was also looking for answers from Byut, as I used to look for him in the wild Gothic chronicles. The vague breath of the abyss rose from his stories; it was already spinning my head, and I anxiously inhaled it" ^{[11, p. 94]}.

A meeting with the steward's youngest son Alcide, who appears to be the complete opposite of his brother Charles, reveals Michel's "new nature" even more vividly. An episode of hunting by young people is noteworthy, when Alcide deals with a barely alive roe deer: "I cannot remember without horror the joy with which Alcide killed her" ^{[11, p. 97]}. "For man is the most cruel of all animals," says Zarathustra ^{[5, p. 158]}. At the level of the semantics of names, two different ideological positions collide. The name of the elder brother – Charles – refers both to the dynasty of French kings and to Catholic saints. Alcides is the middle name of Hercules, whose third feat was to catch the Kerine doe. The episode in the story correlates with Greek mythology, Hercules also kills a deer, sacrificing it to Artemis.

Acquaintance with the Ertevani family, whose history attracts Michel, reveals his penchant for the destructive and rude, excluding morality: "Little by little I learned many other things that turned Ertevan's house into a fiery den with a strong smell, around which my imagination involuntarily circled like a fly around meat" ^{[11, p. 95]}. The surname Ertevan (Heurtevent) also carries a semantic load: heurter – to grossly violate, insult, spoil, vent – air. In this family, the degree of immorality reaches its apogee, becomes a kind of proof of the "death of God": "As for violence, I willingly believe that it was not very difficult to do, since Byut also told that after a while the maid, having got into the taste, tried to seduce a young priest" ^{[11, p. 95]}.

The third part is transformed into a mirror image of the first part, with some distortions. The disease affects Marceline – the travel program of the first part is repeated, but in reverse order (Switzerland – Italy – Greece – Tunisia). The symbolism of natural images and the pure mountain air of Switzerland organically combine, and Marceline gets better. "This descent to Italy was dizzying for me, like a fall" ^{[11, p. 109]}. It is carried out, the movement "down":  at the same time, Marceline's health deteriorates, and instead of Michel's expected recovery, the woman is overtaken by death.

In the work there are many points of contact with Nietzsche's philosophy, namely with philosophy as a theoretical science that does not pass approbation by life situations. This is eloquently expressed in the dialogue between Michel and the already ill Marceline: "I see perfectly well," she once told me, "I understand your theory well, because now it has become a theory. She may be beautiful," then she added softly and sadly: "but she humiliates the weak. ... – This is what is needed, – I answered immediately involuntarily.

Then I felt this gentle creature shrink and shudder in horror before my cruel words..." ^{[11, p. 110]}. This dialogue clearly outlines the clashes of the Christian morality of compassion and self-sacrifice with the Nietzschean philosophy, where the strongest survives. But the question remains: Can this theory be applied in real life?

The mirror image repeats the episode before Michel's first departure from Africa to Paris, but with opposite feelings: "The long-risen moon is now flooding the entire terrace. It's almost a scary light. It is impossible to hide from him" ^{[11, p. 118]}. Two years ago, moonlight was associated with the feeling of a new, happy life, now it is a "scary world". Michelle continues: "What words did I read that night?.. Oh, yes! The words of Christ to Peter: "Now you will gird yourself and go wherever you want..." Where am I going? Where do I want to go? ..." ^{[11, p. 118]}. Hopeless despair replaces the state of joy, happiness. Freedom, which Nietzsche promotes, turns into a burden for Michel, who begins to understand and feel its imperfection: "I didn't tell you that from Naples, the last time I was there, I drove to Paestum, for a single day... Ah, I would cry now in front of these stones! The ancient beauty seemed simple, perfect, joyful— abandoned. I feel that art is leaving me. To give space to what? Now it is no longer a joyful harmony, as before… I no longer know the dark God I serve. Oh, the new God! Let me know unknown tribes, unexpected images of beauty!"  ^{[11, pp. 118-1193]}. After Marceline's death, the long-awaited freedom does not come, but doubt, anxiety comes. Nietzschean understanding of freedom collides with Christian laws still alive in Michel's soul: "... a free mind, a liberated mind that has regained control of itself" ^{[5, p. 736]}. But in this story, A. Zhid also shows that "not everything is allowed," Michel doubts, and his friends doubt, knowing themselves in his confession.

There are no specific signs of historical time in the Immoralist. In the center is not time, but the "hero of our time". Romantics talk about the loss of faith, but they portray a hero who "needs it endlessly", capable of self–sacrifice: "Even claiming that the heavens are empty, the hero does not lower his head - he continues to look up" ^{[18, p. 10]}. A romantic hero experiencing an internal conflict, which is reflected in the negative moral phenomena of the century, does not finally renounce moral values. The hero of A. Zhida refuses to search for a moral basis, because the time comes when a person begins to clearly realize his "mortality". His "new hero" – immoral, retreating from moral absolutes, is in the context of another dramatic understanding of man, in a world where there is an existential awareness of the immutability of human existence.

Embodying the main ideas of Nietzsche in the work, referring to the creative heritage of Dostoevsky, A. Zhid creates his own unique artistic world, with his new representation of the hero. This new "hero of the early twentieth century is devoid of" heroism in the traditional sense of the word. It does not respond to the generally established evaluation criteria: negative – positive, bad – good. From the standpoint of Christian morality, Michel, who left his terminally ill wife for pleasure, is undoubtedly worthy of severe punishment. This is what the author says in the preface: "If I had taken it into my head to give my hero as a model, I would have to admit that I failed badly; and the few who were interested in Michel's story hated him with all the force of their kindness" ^{[11, p. 7]}. From the standpoint of Nietzschean philosophy, where the key value is human life, in a world where "God is dead" and there is no place for the "weak", Michel's behavior becomes to some extent justified. But the Nietzschean idea of the "new tablets" of superman in the story is not brought to its logical conclusion. Having achieved "absolute freedom", Michelle, feeling guilty about her wife, turns to her friends for help: "Pull me out of here now and give meaning to my existence. I don't know where to find him anymore. I am free, it is possible; but what of that? I suffer from this freedom, which has no application" ^{[11, p. 123]}. On the one hand, the author shows the imperfection of Nietzsche's philosophical concept, on the other hand, Marceline, the bearer of the Christian principle, the image referring to Dostoevsky, is dying.

The finale of the work remains open: "Michel was silent for a long time. We, too, were all silent, overcome by a strange embarrassment. It seemed to us, alas, that by telling us about his act, Michel legitimized it" ^{[11, p. 122]}. Silence is conditioned by reflection, the search for truth.

In his further works, A. Zhid continues to search for answers to the questions posed by Dostoevsky and Nietzsche about man.

A. Zhid reveals the danger of Nietzsche's philosophy by the example of his heroes, simultaneously pushes to the opposite, to the need for responsibility. For him, the freedom that Nietzsche preaches and the Christian morality of Dostoevsky's heroes are equally important. A. Zhid combines these two colossal figures, constantly proving that Nietzsche does not exist without Dostoevsky and vice versa.