Use of satire to validate the story
Use of satire to validate the story
Introduction
Some stories seem to fictional but there is a deeper understanding and reflection of reality in those, represented through various characters and plots. ‘Moscow to the End of the Line’ is a similar pseudo-autobiographical prose poem written by Venedikt Erofeev which tells the story of an alcoholic cable-fitter who just got fired from his job. It is a hilarious story; the reader is kept entertained from the beginning till the end due to the ‘drunken’ narrator and his jokes. But it is in fact, a reflection of the social and political scenario in Soviet Union during the 20th century (Symons, ‘Bottoms Up’). Because of excellent use of irony and humour, this satirical piece is worth reading at least once. This essay aims at illuminating the historical background of the story, its satirical nature and the unusual narrative sequence.
Historical Background
When one has to summarise Moscow to the End of the Line in a few lines, it is the story of an intelligent and severely alcoholic man named Venichka who lost his job due to his ‘drunken’ activity of drawing graphs depicting the amount of alcohol intake by him and his colleagues with respect to the productivity ( Book Review #110, 2010). So this man uses his last bout of money of drinks again and sets out on a train to Petushki from Moscow. There is an array of interesting
monologues and dialogues based on religion, philosophy and mainly, alcohol’s importance in life. The story ends with the man finally getting murdered in streets (Cambridge Books Online). The fact is that Soviet Union or Russia has seen a severe phase of alcoholism at one point in history (Martin, 1999). Heavy drinking was such a tradition in Russia that it was considered to be a national problem and hence, a lot was done to prohibit drinking. As a result, there were anti-alcohol movements which lead to reduction in consumption of alcohol. Now, as the society sets some rules on how a decent or socially acceptable man should be, it is not appreciated by all. This story is a hilarious satire with a very sad ending to show the thoughts prevailing in people during the time when anti-alcoholic movements were on height.
The historical context of this story greatly takes into account the life of Erofeev because it plays a significant role in shaping the plot of the story. He was born in 1938 and was brought up in Kirovsk. As told by his relative (Cambridge Books Online, accessed 2013), the young was unwilling, in fact resistant to follow the traditional rules of Soviet society. His familt history inspired him to be so too. As found in the site of Cambridge Books Online, Erofeev’s father was arrested due to his role in anti-Soviet propaganda.
The humour and satire
It is an utterly humorous story which in spite of its satirical message has wonderfully hilarious aspects to enjoy. The way the narrator has talked of alcohol’s significance in life, be it through recipes for toothache or things in daily use, it makes the reader laugh. His satirical approach is to show the necessity of alcohol in Soviet Union to survive. It has been poignantly indicated why one needs to be drunk to be a part of the society of Soviet Union. Through hilarious remarks, with deeper understanding of irony, the narrator has told about religion and philosophy and
related everything to ‘significance of Alcohol in life’
The narrative sequence for this story is a matter of debate for some. Vladimir Tumanov in ‘The end in V. Erofeev’s Moskva Petuski’ has described how the narration of the story is not only different but sceptical. The end where the narrator is killed depicts a statement that says he could not have told the story because he ceased to exist as a consciousness after the very action stopped. Then, who told the story? This very aspect makes the claims and descriptions by narrator to be ‘meaningless’. Also, certain phrases used in the story like I-Then and I-now are a matter of confusion when his consciousness ‘has ceased to exist’.
He has explained that the narrative begins within the perspective of I-now which seems to be a reference to Venichka’s state of moment of discourse (Tumanov, Page 97).But, then he switches to the I-then perspective and explains his hangover on the morning of the ‘alcoholic’ trip. In fact, there is another confusion that whether he is drunk when he sets out or perhaps he never set out, but was in Moscow the whole time (Symons, ‘Bottoms Up’).
Conclusion
It has its dose of confusion in narration and storytelling. But it can be justified as the narrator is drunk. But it certainly has some positive points to read it for- humour and such powerful satire!
It represents Soviet Union’s loopholes in an ‘inebriated’ perspective of the drunk narrator. But it is worth the read for it is a hilarious take on the anti-alcoholic period in Soviet Union which was not welcomed by the alcoholic people.
References
- Cambridge Books Online. “2 - Beyond picaresque: Erofeev's Moscow–Petushki pp. 58-100” Retrieved on 24 Apr 2013 From Web. http://ebooks.cambridge.org/chapter.jsf?bid=CBO9780511519635&cid=CBO9780511519635A009
- Symons, Julian. ‘Bottoms Up’. Retrieved on 24 Apr 2013 From Web. http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/1981/dec/03/bottoms-up/?pagination=false
- McKee, Martin. ‘Alcohol in Russia.’ 1999. Retrieved on 24 Apr 2013 From Web. http://alcalc.oxfordjournals.org/content/34/6/824.full
- Moscow-Petushki by Venedikt Erofeev - Book Review #110. 2010. Retrieved on 24 Apr 2013 From Web http://ovrelia.blogspot.in/2010/11/moscow-petushki-by-venedikt-erofeev.html
- Tumanov, Vladimir. ‘The end in V. Erofeev’s Moskva Petuski.’ Retrieved on 24 Apr 2013 From Web http://vladarticles.yolasite.com/resources/The%20End%20in%20V.%20Erofeev%27s%20Moskva-Petuski.pdf
