Omon Ra Analysis
Omon Ra Essay
“Omon Ra”, a novel written by the Russian author, Victor Pelevin, is definitely an interesting and enjoyable story. The story deals with the central character, Omon Krizomazov, who lives up to his dream in becoming an astronaut and flying into space. Omon’s family is broken and absent which leads him in becoming a child of the state, and is adopted later by “father figures” in the Soviet bureaucracy. Such things like films about flying and a wooden airplane deeply influenced his dream. Along the way of capturing his dreams, he meets a young boy named Mitiok, who shares many of the same interests as him. The two young boys’ then stick together to make their dreams come true and are eventually accepted in both flight school and the Soviet Space program. Omon is obliged to kill himself after fulfilling his duty on the moon only to find out that the entire “flight” was staged somewhere in the underground corridors of the Moscow metro system. However, he is not disappointed; he feels that he has found the truth he was searching for his entire life, a truth he has paid for with a lot of pain and suffering and the death of his friends. He believes his suffering, his belief, his devotion made a difference. The primary idea of the story is Pelevin’s point of view that what may look like reality in the Soviet Union can in fact be the basis of fictitious events. Through manipulation and deceit, our protagonist was forced into an imaginary situation. We see that in life there are always things that are much deeper then what they might seem to be on the outside. A person may always believe they recognize what is going on, however there is always a deeper truth which that particular person doesn’t see.
Pelevin uses the technique of foreshadowing numerous times in the novel in order to give us, and Omon as well, unconscious warnings about the true nature of reality related to the fictitious events taking place. “In the twenties they had one kind of
“Omon Ra”, a novel written by the Russian author, Victor Pelevin, is definitely an interesting and enjoyable story. The story deals with the central character, Omon Krizomazov, who lives up to his dream in becoming an astronaut and flying into space. Omon’s family is broken and absent which leads him in becoming a child of the state, and is adopted later by “father figures” in the Soviet bureaucracy. Such things like films about flying and a wooden airplane deeply influenced his dream. Along the way of capturing his dreams, he meets a young boy named Mitiok, who shares many of the same interests as him. The two young boys’ then stick together to make their dreams come true and are eventually accepted in both flight school and the Soviet Space program. Omon is obliged to kill himself after fulfilling his duty on the moon only to find out that the entire “flight” was staged somewhere in the underground corridors of the Moscow metro system. However, he is not disappointed; he feels that he has found the truth he was searching for his entire life, a truth he has paid for with a lot of pain and suffering and the death of his friends. He believes his suffering, his belief, his devotion made a difference. The primary idea of the story is Pelevin’s point of view that what may look like reality in the Soviet Union can in fact be the basis of fictitious events. Through manipulation and deceit, our protagonist was forced into an imaginary situation. We see that in life there are always things that are much deeper then what they might seem to be on the outside. A person may always believe they recognize what is going on, however there is always a deeper truth which that particular person doesn’t see.
Pelevin uses the technique of foreshadowing numerous times in the novel in order to give us, and Omon as well, unconscious warnings about the true nature of reality related to the fictitious events taking place. “In the twenties they had one kind of
Cited: Pelevin, Victor. Omon Ra. New York: Straus & Giroux, 1996.