BRICK ON THE HEAD: FROM THE HISTORY OF THE MOTIVE

The article is devoted to the motive of the brick on the head in connection with an accident / determinism. The most famous phrase in Russian literature connected with the motive is Woland’s: ‘No brick <…> will ever fall on anyone’s head just out of the blue’ (Bulgakov). In article the history of the motive (works of I. S. Turgenev, F. M. Dostoevsky, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, M. Twain, H. Ibsen etc.) is analyzed. It is spoken in detail about this motif in works
of A. T. Averchenko, whose works Bulgakov well knew.