The Editors and Board of Trustees of the Russian Review

Anarchism and Bolshevism In the Works of Boris Pilnyak

Author(s): Philip Maloney and Boris Pilnyak
Source: Russian Review, Vol. 32, No. 1 (Jan., 1973), pp. 43-53
Published by: Wiley on behalf of The Editors and Board of Trustees of the Russian Review
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 andBolshevism
Anarchism
In theWorks
ofBorisPilnyak
By Philip Maloney

One of the mostunorthodoxviews of Sovietreality,especiallythe

Civil War and its peripheralevents,is contained in the works of
Boris Pilnyak. In Naked Year Pilnyak portraysthe presence of
anarchistvalues in early Bolshevik appeal and the oppositionof
Bolsheviks to anarchists;in Mahogany the author portraysthe
liquidationof thesevalues withinthe Soviet establishment.'
One has to qualifythe termanarchist;in the earlyperiodof Soviet
power,anarchismwas considereda negativefactor,not onlyby the
Bolsheviksin political controlbut also by such people as Maxim
Gorky,who,speakingof the crueltyof Bolshevikmethods,criticized
Lenin and his partyfor"zoological anarchism."2Gorkywas criticiz-
ing the Bolsheviksfor appealing to man's lower instinctsin order
to consolidatetheirpower.Theirprinciple,accordingto Gorky,was
Nechaev's "a good end justifiesany means."Pilnyak,however,was
not dealingwiththisnegativeaspect ofanarchismbut ratherwith a
positiveinterpretationwhichviews anarchismas an ideal of freedom
as opposed to the oppressivefettersof governmentaland political
organization.
Pilnyakpublishednovels and storiesfrom1915 to 1937. Despite
the length of that period and the upheavals which took place in
the Soviet Union duringthat era-war, revolution,famine,and in-
dustrialization-Pilnyakfollowed one line of thoughtthroughout
the great majorityof his works.No matterhow this thread is dis-
sected (urban Westerninfluenceversus rural genuineRussia, in-
stinctversusintellect),it formsan undefinableunitywhich can be
describedas a strugglebetweenthe forcesof plannedexistenceand
1Boris Pilnyak, Goly god, Letchworth,1966; Krasnoe derevo, Berlin, 1929.
2Maxim Gorky,UntimelyThoughts,transI.and ed. by Herman Ermolaev, New York,
1968. A numberof essays are devoted to this theme.

43

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44 The RussianReview

theblindforcesofnaturewhichwereallowedfullswaybeforethe
adventof civilization.
PilnyakacceptedtheRevolution becausehe interpreted it in the
lightof his constanttheme.He supportedit becausehe believed
thatit was a grassrootsmovement of thepeopleto ridthemselves
of Westerninfluences, includinga centralized government withits
bureaucracy.
As an illustrationof thisbelief,Pilnyakportrays an errorwhich
apparently croppedup duringthe earlydays of the Revolution.
Peasantstendedtodistinguish betweenCommunists andBolsheviks,
theformer beingconsidered representativesofan alienpower,while
thelatterwereconsidered bonafideRussians.The basis of sucha
distinctionmay be thatthe averageRed soldierwithwhomthe
peasantcame into contactwas an ordinaryfellowlike himself:
simple,uneducated,and consciousonlyof a new freedom.The
Communist, on the otherhand,a dedicatedMarxist, was usually
an educatedperson, oftenwitha Jewish, Baltic,orGermansurname,
whorepresented andcommands
organization froma distantlocation
and was justas alienas thePetersburg-oriented tsaristfunctionary
beforehim.The mostexplicitelaboration of the Bolshevik/Com-
munistoppositionoccurs in Naked Year, as NikonBorisichsays:
I willbringmysonsto theRed Army. . . to killthebourgeois. . . we
standfortheSoviets,forthe Bolsheviks, and you,perhaps,are Com-
munists?Thatis shameful ... Communists! ... We are fortheBolshe-
viks,fortheSoviets,so thingswillbe doneourway,theRussianway.3
ForPilnyak,theBolshevik represented theelemental, rural,genu-
inelyRussiansspectoftheRevolution, whiletheCommunist repre-
sentedtheurban,proletarian, and foreign Marxistingredient ofthe
same event.It is clear fromPilnyak'sworksthathe eagerlysup-
aspectoftheRevolution,
portedthefirst whilehe viewedthesecond
as a continuation-even an intensification-of harmfulWestern
influences.
WhilePilnyakinterpreted theRevolution as a liberationofRussia
fromurbanWesterninfluences, he also viewedtheRevolution as a
factor
liberating on a more basicplane, the level ofpure In
instinct.
3Pilnyak,Golygod, pp. 223-24.

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 and Bolshevism
Anarchism in theWorksofBorisPilnyak 45

this regard,Pilnyakpartedcompanywith the Slavophileswho

werealso anti-Western; whiletheydesiredreturnto a pre-Petrine
Christian Russia,Pilnyaklookedback to a pagan,anarchicRussia
beforethedynasty ofRurikandtheimportation ofChristianityfrom
Constantinople.
Pilnyak's mostcommonmetaphor forthe Revolution is the bliz-
zard.A blizzardis unplanned,uncontrollable, and usuallycauses
tremendous hardshipforthoseunfortunate enoughto be caught
in it. At thesametimeit has a purgativefunction in the realmof
nature;it scatterstheold in orderto makewayforthenew,and it
also coversurbanuglinesswitha whiteblanket.
PilnyakviewstheRevolution in muchthesameway.He seesit as
a spontaneous outburst ofthepeople,unplanned, uncontrollable,the
cause ofincredible but also a purgative
hardships, eventdispersing
themarksofWesterninfluence and spurring the sedentary masses
to action.The mostobviousapplication ofthemetaphor is chapter
sevenofNakedYear;theentirechapterconsists ofonlythreewords
whichare relatedas thetermsofan equation:"Russia.Revolution.
Snowstorm."4 In theshortstory,"Snowstorm," Pilnyakwrites:
Dear, Dear ComradeBoris!
Dear,Dear ComradeElena!
How good!Freedom,a snowstorm.
How good!5
The snowstorm representstheunleashingofnaturalforcesandthe
overthrow ofunnatural contrivances
thatcurtailhumanbehavior,the
struggle oftheblindforcesofinstinct againstanyformofplanned
existence.
Pilnyakalso used thehumanactsof sexualintercourse andbirth
as an analogyto theequallynaturalprocessof theRevolution; the
act of intercourseis theRevolution,
thereleaseof energyand con-
vulsionoftheRussianpeople,and thebirthis theissueofthatact,
thenew socialorder.In theshortstory,"Wormwood," whichwas
laterincorporatedintoNakedYear,Pilnyakdrawsa parallelbetween
theexpression of revolutionary and sexualdesire;bothemo-
fervor
tions,naturaland therefore approvedby theauthor,culminatein a
4Ibid., p. 211.
5 Pilnyak,
"Metel',"in Epopeia, Moscow,no. 1, 1922,p. 120.

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46 The RussianReview

tremendousrelease of energyand birth.0Pilnyakconsidersnature

and its processesto be the greatestmarvelimaginable;each man,as
part of nature,findsfulfillment insofaras he is obedient to the
rhythms of life.Withinthis context,then,the sexual imageryis in
good taste;it is man'smostvaluable and mostpersonalcontribution
to creation.
While the blizzardand sexualimageryrepresentthe revolutionary
struggle,the resultof the Revolutionis representedby the image of
childbirth.ArchbishopSylvestertells Gleb in Naked Year, "Every-
thingis bornwithblood, in blood, in red. The Red Flag also."7
Pilnyak'suse of the naturalprocessesof lifeto portraythe events
of 1917-1920demonstratehis preferenceforthe instinctiverather
than the intellectual;a Marxistor any othersystematicexplanation
oftheRevolutionwas completelyalien to Pilnyak.
For Pilnyak,the questioningand opposingof the rhythms of life
are the basis of human suffering. In this regard he echoes Leo
Tolstoy'sthesisin War and Peace: Kutuzovis victoriousbecause he
does not attemptto impose his will upon events,but awaits their
unfoldingwith patience. Napoleon, on the otherhand, is defeated
because he believesthathis intelligenceand actionsare responsible
forthe shapingof historyand victoryupon the battlefields.
PilnyaksharesTolstoy'sattitudein thisregard;fromNaked Year
throughhis shortstoriesand novelsto his finallong story,The Birth
of a Man, intellectualapproachesare in disfavor.8Intellect,i.e., any
systematicapproach,is occasionallyvictoriousover nature.In The
Volga Flows to the Caspian Sea, forexample,the riveris reversed
when the dam is constructed,and in Naked Year the organization
of the Communistsis victoriousover the anarchists.9 Even on those
occasions,however, the author's sympathies seem to be with the
naturalapproach;the old Kolomnaratherthanthe stupendousfeat
of dam construction attractsPilnyak,and the libertyand warmthof
theanarchistsare carefullyportrayed, whilethe inevitablyvictorious
Communistsare cold caricaturesof Chernyshevsky's rationalheroes.
6 Pilnyak,"Wormwood," Moonand OtherStories,
in The Tale oftheUnextinguished
New York, 1967, pp. 61-72.
7Pilnyak, Goly god, p. 104.
8 Pilnyak,"Rozhdenie cheloveka," in Novy mir,no. 1, 1935, pp. 111-25.
9 Pilnyak,The Volga Flows to the Caspian Sea, London,1932.

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 Anarchism intheWorksofBorisPilnyak 47
and Bolshevism

LeonTrotsky in Literature and Revolution characterizedPilnyak's

worksas "retrogressional realism."10Pilnyakfavoredthepast,buthe
was notlookingback to the seventeenth or sixteenthcenturies, as
somecriticsassert,but to theeighthand seventhcenturies, before
the adventof theRurikdynasty For Pilnyakthe
and Christianity.
Revolution signalsan endtoonethousand yearsofRussianhistory.
Another manifestation of Pilnyak's preferenceforantiquityis his
attitudetowardindustry; manyofhis storiesand novels,especially
"Machinesand Wolves">and The Volga Flows to the CaspianSea,
are thinlydisguisedcondemnations of theindustrial
revolution and
factory life.Pilnyakwas orientedtowardsruralagrarianlife,hunt-
ingand fishing; he feltcompletely aliento thefactoriesand to the
stultifyingmonotony ofworkfromwhichtheworker gainedso little.
He especially criticized thetendency oftheSovietUnionofthe1920s
and 1930sto deifythemachineandto sanctify itsanonymous opera-
tor.Pilnyakwas terrified bywhathe considered thetendency ofthe
new civilization to place greateremphasison themachinethanon
themanwhooperatedit; whilemanis merepriest,themachineis
God.
WhilePilnyakis alienatedby the drabnessand dehumanization
ofindustry, he is also nostalgicfortheRussiathatis beingreplaced
by theindustrial complex.In The VolgaFlowsto theCaspianSea,
the dam at thehistoric siteof Kolomna,a projectof theFive-Year
Plan,is contrasted to theage-oldcustomsofthepeoplein thelocal
villages.Whenthedamis completed, manyofthesesimplepeasants
willhaveto vacatethelandswhichtheirancestors haveworkedfor
centuries; theoffense againstnature,however, is emphasized by the
factthatthedamwillcausetheriverto flowbackward.Despitethe
author'sobvioussympathy withthe lifeof the villagesand their
historicalsignificance, thewatersinundatethearea; thenew order,
naturalor not,is victorious.
As another cluetoPilnyak's sympathies,IvanOzhogov,thesymbol
ofpureCommunism, diesas thefloodengulfs thecellarofthebrick
factory. Ivan was introduced intothe novelfromMahoganyafter
official
criticism ofthestory; Pilnyak was expectedtoredeemhimself
10 Leon Trotsky, and Revolution,
Literature AnnArbor,1960, pp. 76ff.

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48 The RussianReview

theachievements
a noveldepicting
bywriting oftheFive-YearPlan.
however,
The redemption, WhileMahog-
fellshortofexpectations.
anywas,amongotherthings, a condemnationof NEP Communism
as a perversionof the Revolution,The Volga Flows to the Caspian
Sea is a condemnation but also an admission
of industrialization of
Ivan
its inevitability. Ozhogov's death symbolized the deathof all
thatwas good in the Revolution;the successfulreversing of the
riverand itssubsequent inundation thevic-
of Ivan'scellarsignifies
toryofcivilization overnatureand also thevictory oftheCommu-
nistsoverthe Bolsheviks.
Pilnyak's themein general,then,is thetensionbetweenfreedom
and anyformofsystemized The authorviewedtheRevo-
existence.
lutionas an attempt to do awaywithcivilization and itsproperties,
includinga centralizedgovernment; in thisrespect,Pilnyakpor-
traysthepresenceofanarchist valuesin earlyBolshevikappeal.
When dealingwith Pilnyak'sthemes,one idea in particular
emerges as themainrecipientoftheauthor's scorn,namely,thatman
is superiorto and should organizethe processesof nature.In
Pilnyak'sworks,personswho advancetheseideas are eitherridi-
culed,condemned to embarrassing failure,or forcedto revisetheir
opinions.When this type of person is successful,he or she is por-
cannotpossibly
trayedin sucha way thatthe author'ssympathies
in
as being their
be interpreted In
favor. NakedYear theCommu-
nistsare inhumanlyrigidrobotsand in The Volga Flows to the Cas-
pian Sea, theengineers, reversedtheflowof
who have successfully
theriver,are livingin a stateof moralchaos whichdestroystheir
withtheirwivesand fellowworkers.
relationships
On theotherhand,anyonewhorecognizes theprimacy ofnature
and instinctappears to receivethe author'sapproval.In Naked Year
Pilnyakportraysa scene whichis reminiscent of Levin'smowing
scenein AnnaKarenitna as themembers of theanarchist commune
workthesoil and become partof theagrariancycleof and
planting
harvest. enthusiastic
Theauthor's oftheanarchist,
description Andrei,
as he worksin the fieldindicatesPilnyak'sfondnessforboththe
characterandthetypeoflifewhichAndreiandthescenerepresent.
In his worksPilnyakfollowedthe Hegelianprinciplethatcon-
flictsproducenewforms The authorpresents
ofreality. themesand

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 Anarchism
and Bolshevism
in theWorksofBorisPilnyak 49

characters as opposingpairsand portrays the consequenttensions,

similarto Tolstoy'smethodin War and Peace and AnnaKarenina.
In Naked Year,forexample,Laitis,the foreignCommunist, is at
the oppositepole fromAndrei,the Russiananarchist.Laitis is
eventually arrestedby theCheka,and Andreiis forcedto become
a fugitiveas theanarchistcommune is destroyed.
A sortofsynthesis
results.As Laitis,the Communist, and Andrei,the anarchist, fade
out,Arkhipov, theBolshevik, is presented as themodelof thenew
Sovietcitizen,a Bolshevikwitha Pugachevbeard.
Arkhipov, theBolsheviktowhomthefuture ofRussiais conceded,
is a caricatureof a humanbeingin comparison withAndreiand
Donat,the Old Believer.The readerreceivesthe impression from
thesecharacterizations thatPilnyakregardedBolshevism as an in-
humanideologywhichis attractive onlyto menin leatherjackets
whosesolehumanvalueseemsto be efficiency. In noneofhisworks
does Pilnyakportraya personableCommunist, a factwhichwas
dulypointedoutby Sovietcritics.
In Mahoganyno regularmemberof thePartyis portrayed, with
theexceptionof AkimSkudrin, whois aboutto be expelled.From
the openingsectionof the story,the readerlearnsthatthe local
leadershipof thePartyis corrupt. In thelatterpart,Ivan Ozhogov
converses withAkimabouttheexpulsion ofidealistsfromtheParty.
"Havetheythrown youout?"
"Fromwhere?" askedAkim.
"FromtheParty," saidIvan.
"No."
"No? . . . Theywill,theywill throwout all the Leninists and
Trotskyites.""l
In "Ivan Moskva,"the readerencounters a sincerebut colorless
Communist, thefirstforwhomsympathy mightbe shown.12He is
defeatedin his efforts
to help createa new society,however,by
naturalforcesover which he has no control.Ivan's hereditary
syphilis depriveshimofhismentalfaculties
gradually andhe enters
a worldoffantasy. Ivan standsout in relationto thelocal peasants
withwhomhe is living;he attempts to persuadethemof the ad-
"Krasnoe derevo, pp. 61-62.
12 "Ivan Moskva," Krasnaia nov', vol. 8, no. 4, 1927, pp. 42-83.

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50 The RussianReview

vantagesof technologyand the superiority of the Communistregime

to the tribal,anarchiclifeof the peasants.His efforts are portrayed
in oppositionto his occasional lapses into insanity,which tend to
belie his claimsof innateBolsheviksuperiority. His insanitysuggests
thathis rabid beliefin technologyand organizationalefficiency does
not take into account human irrationalities and the limitationsof
humanhistorywhichtendto diverteven the best ofplans.
In The Volga Flows to the Caspian Sea a different groupof Com-
munistsis presented;Sadykov,Poletika,and Laszlo are engineers
who are entrustedwiththetaskofconstructing a dam on theMoscow
River.When the dam is completed,the historictown of Kolomna
will be inundated,and a hydroelectricplant established.Each of
these threeCommunistengineersseems to be a good man: Sadykov
is reminiscentof Arkhipovin Naked Year in that he is seemingly
devoid of emotionbut sincere;Poletikais a believerin the idealistic
aspectsofcommunism, similarto OzhogovofMahoganybuthe is also
drawnto Russia'sprerevolutionary heritage;Laszlo is a veryhuman
Communistwhose career and domesticlife are destroyedby his
adherenceto the new moralcode.
The connectinglink among these three men is not only their
communism,but theirentanglementin each other'smaritalaffairs.
Poletika'swifehad fledwithLaszlo, and Poletikaaccepted the situa-
tionin accordwiththenew morality(derived fromChernyshevsky's
What Is to Be Done?) which dictatescalm, rationalacceptance of
new sexual or maritalattachmentsratherthan an emotionalrefusal
to recognizethe change of affection.Despite Poletika'sattemptto
arrangehis life in accord with these ideas, he still loves his wife
and is portrayedin the novel as a lonely,patheticfigureforwhom
ideologyis not a replacementforlove.
Almosttwentyyears afterthe originalincident,Laszlo becomes
infatuatedwithMaria, Sadykov'swife,when the threeengineersare
assigned to the Five-YearPlan project. Sadykov grows aware of
Maria's love forLaszlo and he insiststhat the two live togetherin
accord with the Chernyshevskian morality.Laszlo regretsthis de-
cision and becomes as unhappy as Poletika.
The Communists portrayedin The Volga Flows to the Caspian Sea
are quite differentfrom those portrayedin earlier works. The

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 in theWorksofBorisPilnyak 51
and Bolshevism
Anarchism

"leatherjackets,"hardand efficient menof a singlepurpose,are re-

placed by tired,middle-aged menwhoserationalcommitment to
communism had notforeseen theconsequences ofa morality which
attemptsto eliminateman'sinstinct. The readerreceivesthe im-
pressionfromtheunhappiness of theengineers thatit wouldhave
been preferable forthemto struggleforthe preservation of their
familiesratherthanmeeklyacceptthesituation. The latteralterna-
tiveis unnaturalforanyanimal,humanornot.
In contrastto thedraband unfavorable of Communists,
portraits
Pilnyakdrawscomparatively vividpicturesofpersonalitieswhoare
obviouslynot in concertwithSovietpolicyof the 1920s.These
people are openlyhostileto the regime,such as Ivan Ozhogovin
Mahogany, ortheybelievein idealswhichcannotpossiblybe recon-
ciledwithanyinterpretation of communism, suchas anarchism.
Ivan Ozhogovis thetraditional "foolforChrist'ssake"who calls
sinnersto perform penanceand to recalltheiroriginal,undiluted
commitment to theirfaith,in thiscase, communism. Ivan is por-
trayedas a thoroughly likableperson;despitehis faultsof alcohol-
ismand occasionalrudeness, he is honestand idealistic,"a foolof
SovietRussiaforJustice's sake,"inthemidstofpettythieveswithout
anyidealsat all.13Sovietcriticswerequickto noticethattheonly
honestpersonin townis drivento alcoholismand insanity by the
localCommunist bureaucrats.
A secondcharacter is notas developedas Ivan,buthe also stands
apartfromthe corruption of his nativetown,to whichhe has re-
turnedfora visit.AkimSkudrin, Ivan'snephew,is a Trotskyite who
"weeps forcommunismlost."14Akimalmostseemslike a Communist
he is associatedwith the woodenimage of Christ
Christ-figure;
crownedwiththorns, hismother is solemnwhenshemeetshim,"as
at Communion," and as he leaveshis birthplace forthe last time,
the reader gains the impression that Akim'scrucifixion as a
is imminent.15
Trotskyite
Akimand Ozhogovare unique in Pilnyak'sworksin thatthey
politicalfactions
represent withsomefeeling
and are stillportrayed
13 Krasnoederevo,p. 62.
'4 Ibid., pp. 63-64.
15 Ibid.,p. 69.

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52 TheRussianReview

and careby theauthor.The othercharacters who are warmlyand

humanly portrayedare either or
apolitical In Naked
antipolitical.
Year,forexample, whiletheBolsheviks caricatures,
areflat,colorless
Andrei,Donat,Irina,and themembers of the anarchistcommune
as
are illustrated vibranthuman components of a natural
universal
processof life.Onlythesecharacters experience joyand delightin
theworldaboutthem;theCommunists areas douras theyaredrab.
Irinadescribesherlife:farming, bathingin theriver,longridesby
horseoverthevastplains.Thensheexclaims, "Howmanybeautiful
on the otherhand, is
and happy days are ahead of me!"'63 Ark-hipov,
moreprosaic.He looksforward onlyto a lifeof hardworkat the
serviceof theParty.
The character of Donat,the Old Believer,is worthyof mention
because he best exemplifies ideas whichare evidentnot onlyin
Naked Year but also in Pilnyak'searlyanimalstories.Donat is a
Christian anarchistwhopracticestheworksofmercy.He leavesan
unlockeddoorand foodon thetableforwearytravellers, buthe is
alsoa horsethiefwhobelievesin thesurvival ofthefittest. He care-
fullyfollowsritualprescriptions, such as abstinence fromtea but
witha clearconsciencestealshorsesand murders just
trespassers,
as wolvesand eaglesinstinctively stealprovisions and protecttheir
domains.
Donatandhisfamily arehappy.He explainsthathispeoplehave
contentedly followed their customssincethetimeof Katherine the
Great,whentheyleftthecitiesandsettledin thehinterland. Happy
peopleare rarities in Pilnyak's works,and thereader'stendency is
or
to sympathize identify with theirway of life and ideas. Donat,
however,illustrates the uglyaspectof whatseemedto appeal to
Pilnyak-the struggle forsurvival.Pilnyakrecordsmanysuchstrug-
gles,especiallyon the animal level;destruction and chaosarebeau-
tifulbecausetheygivebirthtonewpossibilities. On thehumanlevel,
the processis not so beautiful;it leads to wholesaledestruction,
murder, and theft, all of whichare justified by the principlethat
"might makesright." How much Pilnyak himself subscribedto such
theories ifnotimpossible,
is difficult, to say.It is ominous, however,
16 Goly god, p. 146.

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 in theWorksofBorisPilnyak 53
and Bolshevism
Anarchism

that some of his most attractively portrayedcharactersare the

mouthpieces of such sentiments. Trotsky singledout Donat as the
mainenemyof the Revolution, forif Donat'sfierceindividualism,
uncheckedin thenovel,is allowedto be victorious, theRevolution
willcollapseand theclasslesssocietywill remain a dream.
ThoseofPilnyak's characterswho are convincingly portrayed are
usuallyrepresentativesof anti-Soviet sentiments.Communists are
usuallycaricatures,whileanarchists and Trotskyites are favorably
comparedto Partyofficials.The close associationbetweencharac-
tersand ideas in theworksof Pilnyaklaid the authoropen to the
chargethathisartistic orlackofdesire,toportray
inability, a sympa-
theticand personable Communist reflectedhislackofsympathy for
theRevolution and theCommunist Party.
In conclusion,then,anarchism andcommunism arerelatedtoeach
otherin twowaysin Pilnyak's works:1) an anarchist interpretation
oftheBolshevik Revolution,a revolutionto terminate a centralized
bureaucracy in orderto returnto a simple,anarchicwayoflife;2)
anarchistsversus Bolsheviks,with the gradual victoryof commun-
ism.The formerillustrates valuesin early
thepresenceof anarchist
Bolshevik theeventualextinction
appeal,whilethelatterillustrates
ofthesevalues,which,forPilnyak, freedom
represent in general.

'17Trotsky,pp. 85-86.

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