Motifs of silence and music in Platonov's "The Impossible"

Relationship of the motifs of silence and music in the early story of A.P. Platonov "The Impossible" is considered in this article. Silence in this story has a conceptual value, connected with the search of the answer to the question of interaction of the person and the Universe. The dynamic change of the meaning of the motif of silence is traced on the example of several episodes. The motif of silence expresses the spiritual relation of the hero with the world at the beginning of the story. It arises during a moment of an enthusiastic impulse of the soul. The opposition of sound and silence also reflects the topographical opposition of city and nature and the temporal opposition of day and night. The urbanistic subject of the story is connected with the idea of basic non-cognoscibility of the world, and the hero has a desire to adapt the world, to make it more convenient and clear. Here appears the motif of the revolt on the Universe that is important for the early prose of the writer. The motif of silence is important for the description of the characters of the story. The silence semantics extends in the story through bringing in the synergistic effect that generates a merge of thoughts and emotions of the characters. It gives a chance to show their internal proximity with the world and serves as a sign of a relationship of human souls. Silence becomes the generator of strong emotions that cannot be put into words. Along with the idea of silence as the uniting force, its other meaning in human relations is actualized at the same time. It is inconvenient silence, confusion that becomes a psychological marker of the feeling of love that appears in the soul of the hero. The motif of music is analyzed in the aspect of the behavioral description of Platonov's character and shows its role in the plot of the text. The connection of music of Beethoven and Nietzsche's Dionysian element is also considered in the same way. In particular, for the behavioral description of the hero in love, the choice of the Moonlight Sonata as a favorite piece of music is significant. The analysis shows that silence and music in "The Impossible" emphasize the versatility of the image of Platonov's character. The hero has intuitive and active features; he is a dreamer and a demiurge. Existence of oppositional approaches to the world as to the intimate space of silence and to the rattling Universe reflects one of the main conflicts in early Platonov's consciousness: fight against the world or integration with it.

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