Arcybaszew, śmierć i mucha : o "Sali nieuleczalnie chorych" słów kilka

Abstract

This article examines the problem of man’s attitude towards death, it analyses antithesis: natural (the world of ill people) - artificial (figure of the physician) and describes the symbolism of a fly in the Mikhail Artsybashev’s story Untreatable patients ward. The author of the article comes to the conclusion that fly as an insect of “inferior world” - the world of decomposition and death - performs completely different role: the fly transforms into a symbol of life and vital force. It changes into a mediator between life and death. The fly anticipates a “rebirth” of the boy, the only character in the story who will recover.