Singlethought

In the summer of 1879, living near Riga, Nikolay Semyonovich Leskov wrote the story “One-Minded” (Odnodum). This is the first work deliberately created by Leskov for the cycle “The Righteous.”

In this period of his creativity, as A. Gorelov notes in his research, the word “righteous” for Leskov means a specific moral-philosophical assessment of a person. The writer revises his attitude toward reality, tries to draw a line under the past and, as it seems to Leskov, fully achieves the goal while writing “One-Minded.”

“One-Minded” is a story about how, in a tiny town lost in the Kostroma forests, lived and played tricks an astonishing person, Ryzhov. By rank—14th class; by position—a quartermaster (district officer); by character—righteous; by the direction of his mind—a philosopher.

It should, however, be noted that Ryzhov accepted no gifts from either the poor or the rich. He doesn’t divide people into social groups—what matters to him is what a person is like within. That’s why One-Minded treats everyone in the same way. Evidence of this can be found in the episode in the church with Lansky and in their further relationship.