I decided I wanted to read something by Maxim Gorky. I had seen his name on marxists.org and knew that I would be able to access anything there. Creatures that Once were Men was the first thing listed. I saw it was published in 1897. I clicked on it and saw that it contained 8 sections. I will document my impressions as I read through it. I have never heard of this title before and don’t know what it is about. Now I will begin reading.
Gorky starts by describing two rows of run down huts on either side of a road. He says:
“They cling to the ground beneath the high mountain, exposed to the sun, surrounded by decaying refuse, and their sodden appearance impresses one with the same feeling as would the half-rotten trunk of an old tree.”
He provides a pretty vidid description and it is easy to envision the scene he describes. Soon he introduces us to the character Aristid Kuvalda, who runs the dosshouse on this dilapidated street. Kuvalda is described as a:
“tall, broad-shouldered man of fifty, with a raw-looking face, swollen with drunkenness, and with a dirty yellowish beard.”
So far Gorky has done a good job of painting a picture of a location beset by poverty and hopelessness. It also has become clear that this short story is a work of fiction and not a nonfiction essay.
I had to look up dosshouse because the term was unfamiliar to me. It is a shelter for homeless or transient people. Gorky describes a typical scene involving Kuvalda renting out his space in this excerpt:
"Don't you sell tea, bread, or anything to eat?"
"I trade only in walls and roofs, for which I pay to the swindling proprietor of this hole--Judas Petunikoff, merchant of the second guild--five roubles a month," explained Kuvalda in a business-like tone. "Only those come to me who are not accustomed to comfort and luxuries. . .but if you are accustomed to eat every day, then there is the eating-house opposite. But it would be better for you if you left off that habit. You see you are not a gentleman. What do you eat? You eat yourself!"

Despite this exchange Gorky paints Kuvalda as a jolly man. Those who have had the misfortune of lodging with him remember him fondly and often return to thank him for his hospitality once they have returned to more favorable circumstances in life. Kuvalda takes advantage of this as illustrated by the following excerpt:

“Gratitude must be encouraged because it is seldom met with. You seem to be a good man, and, though I don't remember you, still I will go with you into the public-house and drink to your success and future prospects with the greatest pleasure."

Kuvalda and the grateful customer from the past will then spend a day or two or three drinking until the customer has spent all his money and finds himself penniless.

“"Your honor, do you see that I have again fallen into your hands? What shall we do now?"
"The position, no doubt, is not a very good one, but still you need not trouble about it," reasoned the Captain. "You must, my friend, treat everything indifferently, without spoiling yourself by philosophy, and without asking yourself any question. To philosophize is always foolish; to philosophize with a drunken headache, ineffably so.”

At this point it appears that Kuvalda is preying on his customers. He knows they have a weakness for drink and he gets them to spend all of their money on drinking and eating with Kuvalda. Once they are out of money he allows them to stay at the dosshouse and pay back the money that they owe for the duration of their stay when they once again come under more favorable conditions, which he encourages and helps them achieve. In this way the cycle repeats itself.

“And really it happened very often that, for a month or so, some ticket-of-leave client, under the strict surveillance of the Captain, had the opportunity of raising himself to a condition better than that to which, thanks to the Captain's cooperation, he had fallen.”

The story continues by introducing a teacher who had lost his job and then a series of other jobs. He came to the dosshouse for a time. He would get back on his feet and then return to the dosshouse when hard times hit.

Gorky writes:

“Probably Kuvalda arranged the matter intentionally so that the teacher could not leave the dosshouse, though he desired to do so with all his heart. Was it possible for Aristid Kuvalda, a nobleman (as was evident from his speeches), one who was accustomed to think, though the turn of fate may have changed his position, was it possible for him not to desire to have close to him a man like himself? We can pity our own faults in others.”

This selection gives an insight into Kuvalda. We learn he was once a noble man. We also learn that he would act intentionally to prevent a man he enjoyed spending time with from being able to find success. I find Kuvalda to be the person to be most disliked in the story. He feels he is a victim of his circumstances and he will take advantage of others to make himself feel better. His skill at this deceptive behavior is so great that those he is taking advantage of view him as a friend. In fact at times he does help them out of their misery, but he is not doing it for their benefit. He is doing it for himself. If they fall to low they would no longer be of value to him. On the flip side if they do too well they will be gone, so he is always close by to drink to their success and ensure they fall back into their old ways.

A part of the reason why he is so successful is because he has another person to blame for his misfortune. If it wasn’t for the rascal Judas Petunikoff he would be able to provide more help to the poor creatures who find themselves at his dosshouse. He finds a villain everyone at the dosshouse would agree is a villain and uses him as cover for his own vile actions. His jolly nature also helps him befriend those who should stay away.

I am curious to see how the next section of the story plays out. What will become of Kuvalda and the teacher? Will Petunikoff make an appearance. If you want to read part I here is a link: https://www.marxists.org/archive/gorky-maxim/misc/creatures-that-once-were-men/ch01.htm Let me know what you think.