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What did the author want to say — for example, the Russian classic? This we will probably never know for sure. But we can at least try to figure out what is behind certain actions of his heroes.
Why didn’t Oblomov marry Olga, whom he loved?
Let’s roll away the heavy stone of the word «Oblomovism». Let us accept Ilya Ilyich as he is, and let us agree that this dreamer, unadapted to practical life, wants and has the right to be, love and be loved. The work of Ilya Ilyich’s life frightens him, and he hides from it in the shell of dreams, so as not to be a defenseless snail on the road. Sometimes, however, he suffers from this and blames himself. At such moments, he would like to become different — energetic, self-confident, successful. But to become different is to stop being yourself, in a sense, to kill yourself.
Stolz introduces him to Olga in the hope that a beautiful young woman will be able to pull Oblomov out of the shell by rolling or washing. Although the sensitive and doubting Ilya Ilyich catches signs of this conspiracy against himself, a romance breaks out that from the very beginning sounds like a cracked cup. They are open and sincere — a crack appears where their mutual expectations collide.
If Olga has a wide field of new opportunities, then Oblomov has one choice — to save himself by returning to his shell.
He wants to take her to the world he is dreaming of, where passions do not rage and to the grave, waking up, he will meet her meekly flickering gaze. She dreams that she will save him, become his guiding star, make him her secretary, librarian, and enjoy this role of hers.
Both of them find themselves in the roles of tormentor and victim at the same time. Both feel it, suffer, but do not hear each other and cannot give up themselves, surrendering to the other. If Olga has a wide field of new possibilities, then Oblomov has one choice — to save himself by returning to his shell, which he eventually does. Weakness? But what strength did this weakness cost him, if for a whole year he then spent a whole year in apathy and depression, from which he gradually began to get out only after a severe fever!
Could the romance with Olga have ended differently?
No, he couldn’t. But it could happen — and happened — another love. Relations with Agafya Matveevna arise as if by themselves, out of nothing and in spite of everything. Neither he nor she even thinks about love, but he already thinks about her: “What a fresh, healthy woman and what a hostess!”
They are not a couple — she is from «others», from «all», the comparison with which is insulting for Oblomov. But with her, it’s like in Tarantiev’s house: “You sit, not caring, not thinking about anything, you know that there is a person near you … of course, unwise, there’s nothing to think about exchanging ideas with him, but not cunning, kind, hospitable, without pretensions and will not stab you behind the eyes! The two loves of Ilya Ilyich are the answer to the questions posed. “Everything will be as it should be, even if it is otherwise,” said the ancient Chinese.