The Heart of a Dog is quite a bold satire, especially when reading between the lines and focusing the story’s ridicule of Bolshevism. The transformation of a mangy stray to the “ideal” Soviet man back to a mangy dog is in itself a hot take that, not surprisingly, was not even allowed to be published. The emphasis on the unreal and out-of-the-ordinary to highlight the absurdities and flaws of the society that Bulgakov lived in is striking. The concept of poking fun (fun might be too simple of a word, but attacking feels a bit too strong) at the government’s regime using such normalized terms is quite powerful.
One especially striking thing is Bulgakov’s choice of character names. The doctor’s name is a prime example of names implying more than expected. After doing a bit of background research on the book, it turns out that Dr. Preobrazhensky’s name derives from the Russian word meaning “of transfiguration.” This name choice seemed especially ironic, as he is the one to transform Sharik the dog to Sharikov the man. Choosing to give Dr. Preobrazhensky this name is a simplistic way to add a bit of satire, which unfortunately is lost on those who do not understand Russian. Another bold choice when it comes to names is the one Dr. Preobrazhensky gives Sharik once the dog transforms into a man. Sharik gets the name Poligraf Poligrafovich Sharikov. The name Poligraf Poligrafovich is modeled after the tradition of double names in Russian culture, especially prominent in the Soviet Union. However, Bulgakov satirized this tradition by using this name, as both the first and middle names are so similar it would be like naming a character John Johnson in an English satire.
6 thoughts on “Heart of a Dog”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Sophie, your insights and additional research on names are extremely interesting! In particular, Dr. Preobrazhensky’s name meaning “of transfiguration” is ironic, not only because of his role of transfiguring Sharik but also because he could serve as a foil of sorts for Soviet leadership who is “transfiguring” society and the economy.
All of these names are very interesting, and really an echo and allusion to Gogol and the names of his characters. My favorite of which is from the overcoat, where the protagonist is named akaky akakievich which translates to something close to “poopy son of poop.” The humor and play of names is something that Bulgakov clear copies from Gogol, and it is fun to see the tradition echoed a century later.
One thing that was mentioned in the beginning was that sharik was the word for royalty/someone of a high class, lending his character name-based irony throughout the whole book, as he started off as a dirty street dog and transitioned to a dirty representation of the bolsheviks. This adds to the sense of irony and commentary the author was making on Bolsheviks; seeing them as dirty and ironically naming the character after royalty. And i fully agree that the names throughout the story were very intentional and were meant to bolster the criticism of the Bolsheviks and the new Russia
Sophie, great job doing some extra research to educate us on the importance of names in the story. I find it especially striking that Sharik chose the name Poligraf Poligrafovich Sharikov. As we discussed in class, He chose his first names by looking in a calendar. Though the names in the calendar were changed to ideal soviet jobs rather than religious saints, I believe the continuation of the name day concept affirms that some Russian practices are ingrained in the society. As much as leaders wanted to march forward into the future, it is impossible to conduct a full-scale erasure in order to create a perfect communist state. Otherwise, the Russian people would lose the essence of who they truly are.
Sophie, I think your research into the names of the characters is actually quite an essential element in recognizing the critique Bulgakov is putting forth. One additional aspect I looked into is Sharik’s name. Aside from meaning “sphere” in Russian, it is also a common name given to a purebred. Interestingly, this can be viewed as another regression by society; a purebred dog, supposedly being of purer genetics (another hint at the eugenics aspect of the novella) should be acting more intelligently and not misbehaving. Whether his behavior is as a result of the transplant or Sharik’s original nature is a deep question Bulgakov never answers, but as you mentioned, the names play a surprisingly significant role in the story’s meaning!
Hi everyone, Liam’s comment about Dr. Preobrazhensky’s name, together with the brief discussion of Christianity in this text that we had in class in response to Colby’s comment and then, again, in the comments to one of the earlier posts here in the blog, got me thinking further about this name and its significance! And what I suddenly realized is this: there is a holiday in the Russian Orthodox calendar called “Преображение Господне” (in transliteration, “Preobrazhenie Gospodne”) which translates as the Transfiguration of Christ. It is celebrated in August every year, and it commemorates the episode described in the New Testament when Jesus becomes transfigured into a vision of radiant glory upon a mountaintop. It seems to me, then, that the name not only refers to the transfiguration that the Professor is attempting to carry out on poor Sharik, but also to his own boundless ambition to challenge God the Creator in order to achieve glory and a deity-like status. This is an exciting new discovery for me! See here for an image of the Transfiguration of Christ that seems very reminiscent of the way Sharik views the Professor as a priest, towering above him in his white lab coat: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Преображение_Господне#/media/Файл:Preobrazhenie.jpg (Icon, Novgorod, 15th century). I tried to post the image but couldn’t get it to work, sorry!