The Old Man

The play "The Old Man" was written after the play "The Lower Depths." The image of the old man Luka, who was the embodiment of kindness and humility, takes on new features in Gorky’s subsequent play. Gorky gives him a somewhat dark past and such characteristics as "evil" and "gloomy." Through the image of the Old Man, which became recurring in several of the author’s plays, Gorky seems to argue with himself about moral and universal human principles, about good and evil, justice and the sense of responsibility.