Oblomov, Part Two, Chapter 2
Diametrical opposites
Now that we’ve got to know Stolz, it’s time for the story to move forward. Will Stolz manage to get Oblomov out of bed and dressed?
In this chapter Goncharov does a great job of showing the two different temperaments and worldviews of these two characters. We know that Ilya Ilyich is a thinker, a daydreamer. Here’s a great couple of lines that explain who Stolz is:
More than anything he feared imagination, that two-faced companion, both friend and enemy. […] There was no room for the mystical, the mysterious, the illusory in his temperament.
At one point, Goncharov even uses the phrase diametrical opposites. But we know that opposites attract and there’s certainly some of that going on here. We know from the previous chapter that Stolz had quite a harsh upbringing in the German style, with very little of the Russian softness that Oblomov enjoyed. We read that Stolz got some of that from Oblomov’s family when they were growing up together. He must’ve been hungry for it. And then there’s this wonderful description of Ilya Ilyich’s attractive quality:
So that explains why Oblomov has so many callers, people trying to persuade him to go with them to the May Day celebrations, and why Stolz has been a lifelong friend despite disapproving of his lifestyle.
I go into some other quotations in my video review of this chapter that outline the diametric opposition of these two besties.
Video Review
Question
Do you have friends who are very different, maybe even a partner? I know I do! I’m coming up for 23 years married and my wife and I are perhaps not diametrical opposites but we’re certainly very different. Love finds a way!
What a nice looking couple. You both have wonderful smiles!