That night, while the workers are sleeping, Prushevsky, the work supervisor for the All-Proletarian Home, comes to examine the foundation pit. Safronov on the others, however, saying they have enough energy and enthusiasm, insist on working more. The other men taunt Kozlov because he masturbates under the covers at night.Īfter six hours of labor, the engineer says that because it is Saturday, it is time to stop. Only one weak and emaciated man, Kozlov, works at a slower pace. Voshchev works at a much slower pace than the most of the men. The men go out to the new-mown field and begin to dig a foundation pit, which had been marked out by an engineer, to whose resourceful, attentive mind the world had always yielded and if matter always yielded to precision and perseverance, this meant that it must be barren and dead. They know about the squalor on their own. Comrade Safronov, the most politically active of the workers, however, angrily tells the trade union representative that they don't need a band or a tour to raise their consciousness. The representative has brought a brass band for the occasion. They will be building the All-Proletarian Home, a single edifice large enough to house the whole of the local proletariat. They are uninterested when he says, "My body gets weak without truth."Īfter breakfast, a trade union representative arrives to give the men a tour of the town, so they can see the significance of the work they are to undertake. In the morning, the workers size up Voshchev's unimpressive physique.
#The star pit summary full
On the advice of the man with the scythe, Voshchev finds a workers barracks, full of exhausted, sleeping men. The man tells Voshchev that this empty space has now become a building site and stone buildings will soon be erected. Around midnight, he is awakened by a man with a scythe, who is mowing down the thick grass. It's obvious to Zhachev that Voshchev never fought in a war, and he notes, "A man who's never seen war is like a woman who's never given birth-soft in the head!"įeeling isolated, Voshchev finds a grassy field and lies down to sleep in it. Zhachev snarls at Voshchev with brutal scorn.
Thinking that Zhachev might intend harm to the girls, Voshchev tells him to move off. Voshchev watches them with a feeling of shame, thinking that they probably know and feel more than he does. The cripple is named Zhachev.Ī column of young Pioneer girls goes marching by.
He witnesses a cripple who has lost both legs harass a blacksmith into giving him some tobacco.
He needs to know the exact structure of the entire world and what it is he should aim for. He feels his body going weak without the truth. Voshchev resolves to work out the secret of life and return someday to relate it to the child. The roadkeeper rudely tells Voshchev to continue on his way. Voshchev rebukes the couple for forgetting what's essential and for not respecting their child, who, after all, will be around long after they are gone. The roadkeeper and his wife are loudly arguing in front of their young child, who takes it all in silently. He comes upon an isolated road keeper's house. Having nowhere to go, Voshchev sets off wandering down the road. Voshchev protests, saying, "If they don't think, people act senselessly!" The trade union committee is unimpressed, saying that "Happiness will come from materialism, not from meaning." Further, they ask, "What if we all suddenly get carried away thinking-who will be left to act?" Voshchev tries to defend himself, saying that he is trying to work out a plan for life, a way of achieving happiness and spiritual meaning which would raise productivity. The management says he just stands around thinking while everyone else is working. In a dusty little town, a worker named Voshchev is fired from his job at a small machine factory. The Foundation Pit by Andrei Platonov - from
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