Were the Soviet authorities right in calling Zoschenko an anti-Soviet writer?.
Any good writer documents the social situation of their time and helps to project the future of their society, whether through political essays, poems, or short stories. Mikhail Zoschenko's short stories proved to be radical in nature, leading many Soviet authorities to criticize his writings as "anti-Soviet." However, his writings are not so much critical of the Soviet government as they are satirical and reflective. The stories critically examine the structure of the Soviet society and give light to the social and political condition that causes revolution. .
One such story, "The Adventures of an Ape," makes a strong statement about Zoschenko's Soviet life. The satirical language creates a simple scene where an ape escapes from the zoo following an explosion from an air attack. The story then follows the ape through the streets of town on his adventures. The ape in the story could easily represent the people, or should represent man. The ape begins in the story under the restrictions of the cage. This could be likened to life under a Communist or Socialist regime. Life with heavy governmental authority over all aspects of life equates to life in a cage. .
The first "adventure" for the ape is to leave the city. This is where the story takes on a revolutionary undertone. On page 177, "If there are bombs falling around here, then I don't agree." The ape leaves the city because as Zoschenko puts it, he is not military or used to the bombs, and he disagrees with them. The ape exhibits revolutionary thought when leaving the situation of warfare. .
When the ape is then captured by the military man, Zoschenko expresses his first bit of satire when writing, "It's better I give him to some friend of mine rather than have him die of hunger, cold, and other hardships" (178). It seems as though the military man, or representation of the fascist government, is saying that the ape, or man, is better off as long as he is under the authority of the regime.
