Railway (Symbol)
The symbolic meaning of the annihilating railway is expressed in its opposition to the beautiful nature. Irony is an embodiment of something dead, cold, pressing, destroying - a historical vortex of events that is hostile to man. Already on the eve of the terrible events of 1917, little Misha Gordon witnessed a man's suicide on the railway; it was the father of the main hero - Yuri Andreyevich Zhivago. This man decided to commit suicide, finally bankrupt. In addition, the author shows the old woman Tiversina, whose husband burned alive on the railway. Thus the railway becomes a symbol of death and coldness.
Philosophy (motif)
"Doctor Zhivago" was written in a difficult time for the author, so he is saturated with philosophical reflections and generalizations about the meaning of life, the meaning of creativity in a person's life, the role of an individual in history, about revolutionary changes, and so on. "Doctor Zhivago" is a novel about the fate of a whole generation of people who happened to survive the bloody years of the revolution and civil war. No doubt, this is a philosophical novel that raises eternal questions of being.
History (motif)
The artistic center of the work is the life of Yuri Andreevich Zhivago inscribed in a complex and contradictory current of history. History in the novel is a multi-level concept. This is the Russian culture, incontestable despite everything, it's Russian nature, it's the relationship of the characters. The main theme of the novel is personality and history. According to Pasternak, these are equal and interconnected beginnings. The heroes of the novel immediately become involved in broad historical events. The First World War, three revolutions, a civil war are experiments that were started in the name of the purest, noble ideals. But in relation to ordinary human life, they are artificial and contrived.
Wanderings (allegory)
The writer examines various manifestations of personality: philosophical, religious, poetic and moral. The wanderings, searches, spiritual and physical sufferings of Yuri Zhivago resemble the way of the biblical Jesus Christ.
