Envy by Yury Olesha

First published:Zavist, 1927 (English translation, 1936)

Type of work: Satire

Time of work: The 1920’s

Locale: Moscow

Principal Characters:

• Nikolai Kavalerov, a homeless drunk, the narrator of the first part of the novel
• Andrei Babichev, the Director of the Food Industry Trust
• Ivan Babichev, the brother of Andrei, a semicrazed dreamer, an opponent of the twentieth century
• Volodya Makarov, a star athlete and engineering student, the new Soviet man
• Valya, the daughter of Ivan, who is loved by both Volodya and Kavalerov

The Novel

Andrei Babichev, the very efficient Director of the Food Industry Trust, brings home a drunk whom he has found in the gutter, Nikolai Kavalerov. Kavalerov, who is an individualist and completely out of sympathy with the new Soviet way of life, both likes and dislikes his new protector. Kavalerov discovers that Andrei also supports Volodya Makarov, a student from the provinces who is also a star athlete and a staunch believer in the Soviet system. Volodya is away for the summer holidays, so Andrei showers his attention upon Kavalerov. While the latter appreciates the concern, he grows in his hatred of Andrei’s emphasis upon the collective and upon machinery in place of individuals. His rage grows such that he writes a letter to Andrei, criticizing the views of the official and stating that he, Kavalerov, as the representative of individuals, is superior to a system which caters only to the material needs of its constituents.

Kavalerov mistakenly believes that Volodya must also feel this way, for the latter is a talented youth who is forced to depend upon a mere bureaucrat with no pretensions to intellect. When Kavalerov finally meets Volodya, he realizes that Volodya is an avid disciple of Andrei; even worse, he discovers that both Andrei and Volodya view him with at best pity, at worst contempt. The enraged Kavalerov leaves the Babichev household, vowing to kill his former benefactor.

At this point Kavalerov meets Ivan Babichev, the brother of Andrei, who is completely opposed not only to the Soviet emphasis upon the collective and machinery but also to any form of technology. The two men collaborate in an attempt to restore the primacy of feelings and respect for the individual in the Soviet Union; they also wish to rescue Valya, Ivan’s daughter, from the views of Andrei and Volodya, whom she greatly admires. Because they have no plan, but only vague theories and desires, Kavalerov and Ivan are unsuccessful; at the end of the novel Valya has rejected her mad father and his ally, and the reader realizes that the two men are also being rejected by the course of history, at least in the Soviet Union. Kavalerov and Ivan are content to move in with a fat widow, who is willing to support them in return for their attentions.

The Characters

The characters in this novel represent two conflicting attitudes in the Soviet Union of the 1920’s: the old order, expressed in respect for individual achievement and individual feelings, and the new order, expressed in mammoth construction projects and emphasis upon the group. Nikolai Kavalerov has grandiose dreams of becoming famous but cannot find a way to do so in the Soviet system; the only people who become famous are people such as Andrei Babichev, who invents the perfect sausage and dreams of large collective dining halls serving inexpensive meals, thus making the family kitchen and its accompanying drudgery unnecessary. Kavalerov’s hatred of Andrei is based upon envy, thus the title of the novel; Andrei becomes famous and Kavalerov, his intellectual superior, becomes a useless alcoholic.

Ivan Babichev is a more extreme Kavalerov; he rejects the entire twentieth century, with its emphasis upon technology and efficiency. While Kavalerov is merely a romantic out of tune with the times, Ivan is mentally ill and a pathological liar, potentially very dangerous. The author may be pointing out that Kavalerov’s path toward rejection of reality may lead to a much more serious condition than alcoholism and romantic nostalgia.

Volodya Makarov is a more extreme Andrei Babichev. While Andrei uses machines and has, by Kavalerov’s standards, rather mundane goals, Volodya has no goals other than to become a human machine with no signs of inefficiency or feelings to hamper perfect production, whether it be in athletics or labor.

In the midst of these male characters is Valya, the daughter of Ivan and apparently the symbol of the typical 1920’s Soviet girl. Valya seems to be the female equivalent of Volodya, but she values feelings. She also arouses feelings in the men of the novel, some romantic, some paternal or avuncular. In this sense Valya seems to represent the old order of feelings and cultivation of beauty, as well as the new order of physical fitness and social usefulness. In the end, she rejects her father and Kavalerov; she becomes a staunch member of the Andrei/Volodya camp, reflecting the actual course of history in the Soviet Union as well as pointing out the ineffectiveness of Ivan and Kavalerov.

Critical Context

Envy is easily Olesha’s most important work; it is the only one of his novels to achieve the status of a Soviet classic—although it is not reprinted in the Soviet Union—and it is the one work of the author which is known to most students of Soviet literature. His work was greeted favorably when it was published because most critics misunderstood what the author was trying to achieve in it. Orthodox Marxist critics viewed the novel as a vindication of the new Soviet system because Ivan and Kavalerov are completely ineffectual and end up sharing the attentions of the fat widow; in effect, kept men who are unable to cope with reality. Opponents of the Soviet system viewed the novel as a call for more individualism in a society which was rapidly becoming collectivized, more emphasis on feelings rather than utilitarian worth. In the end the latter group of critics prevailed, and Envy is a banned classic in the Soviet Union. The truth of the matter is probably in the middle: The author was repelled by aspects of both sides in the dispute.

The real attractiveness of the novel was the freshness which Olesha brought to the theme. Critics of all persuasions praised the author’s style, which is a combination of symbolism, realism, and fantasy. The author deals with a very realistic problem of the times and enhances the main themes with a liberal dose of fantasy in order to emphasize the realistic nature of the situation. Such a method requires great virtuosity if it is to be successful, and most critics agree that Olesha was such a virtuoso. Using colorful images and a fast-paced narrative, the author managed to restate an old problem in a new form. Because of the Draconian restrictions placed upon Soviet literature soon after the publication of this work, its method was not repeated until the 1960’s, when Olesha became an openly acknowledged master for a new generation of Soviet writers.

Bibliography

Brown, Edward J. “Prophets of a Brave New World,” in Russian Literature Since the Revolution, 1982.

Struve, Gleb. Russian Literature Under Lenin and Stalin, 1971.

Tucker, Janet. “Jurij Olesa’s Envy: A Re-Examination,” in Slavic and East European Review. XXVI (1982), pp. 56-62.

Wilson, Wayne. “The Objective of Jurij Olesa’s Envy,” in Slavic and East European Review. XVIII (1974), pp. 31-40.