God and God’s world in the story of A. I. Solzhenitsyn “Cancer corps”

The research is devoted to the disclosure of the features of understanding of God and God’s world in the story of A. I. Solzhenitsyn “Cancer Corps”. The heroes of the story go through a difficult path on which they have to think about God, and if at the beginning of the story there is a parable illustrating the legalistic understanding of God as a punishing man of Allah, then at the end of the work the image of the Lamb appears, that is, Christ going to death, which means that the protagonist of the story rises to the realization of Grace. AI Solzhenitsyn demonstrates how, having consciously separated himself from God, a person turns into an animal. The zoo visited at the end of the story by Kostoglotov is a model of the animals' world that shows how people can turn into such animals. An important place in the story is occupied by the parable about how God gave a person extra years of life, taking them from a horse, a dog and a monkey. Images-symbols of these three animals are of great importance for understanding the characters of the key heroes of the story: Kostoglotov and Rusanov (dog), Vadim, Efrem, Roan, Doctor Dontsovaand Asi (horse), Zoey (monkey). Turning away from God, man renounces the immortal soul and becomes like an animal immersed in incessant movement and leading a biological existence. He becomes a hostage to the cyclical model of time, which is steadily moving towards his death. The symbol of such a movement becomes a squirrel in a wheel, which Kostoglotov sees in the zoo. However, the story also sets a different trajectory of time: from the meat-eater through Maslenitsa and Lent to Easter, that is, to the Resurrection that awaits the immortal human soul. Aunt Stepha, a patient of the cancer corps who believes in God, reports about this model of time. Images of plants also play an important role, serving as a reminder to a person about the happiness and harmony of God’s world. The story of A. I. Solzhenitsyn calls for understanding God as a merciful, Grace-giving Creator and acceptance of God’s world.