Aleksandr Ivanovich Kuprin (1870-1938) was an outstanding Russian realist writer. He was born in a small county town of Narovchat (now in the Penza region) into a family of hereditary nobles. The future writer's father died in 1871, a year after his son's birth. Hard times came for the family, and his mother was forced to send the boy to an orphanage. In 1880, Kuprin entered the Second Moscow Military Gymnasium, and in 1887, he attended the Alexandrov Military School. From 1890 to 1894, Aleksandr Ivanovich served as a second lieutenant in the 46th Dnipro Regiment in the Podolsk province. In 1894, he retired and moved to Kyiv. He did not have a civilian specialty, and before taking up the pen, he changed many professions. A.I. Kuprin was a curious person; he was interested in trying himself in different roles. He jokingly told his friends that he "would like to become a horse, a plant, or a fish for a few days." A.I. Kuprin's first work, the story "The Last Debut," was published in 1889 when he was a cadet at the military school. When the command learned of this, Kuprin was put in a solitary confinement for two days. He then pledged to himself to abandon literary pursuits and not to touch pen and paper. However, acquaintance with Bunin, Chekhov, and Gorky in the late 1890s made him forget the promise he once made. In 1901, A.I. Kuprin moved to St. Petersburg and began working as a secretary for the "Journal for Everyone." By that time, the reading public had duly appreciated his literary talent, and the novella "The Duel," published in 1905, finally established his reputation as a master of words. The plot of the story "White Poodle" is based on real events, and the writer was personally acquainted with this group of artists. The story told by Seryozha deeply affected A.I. Kuprin. In this simple plot, two important themes for the writer are highlighted - the theme of social inequality and the theme of the relationship between humans and animals. The author clearly contrasts the behavior of Seryozha and Trilly. The son of a noblewoman is clumsy and spoiled, indifferent to nature, while Seryozha is nimble, strong, and decisive. The young artist doesn’t even think about leaving his four-legged friend in trouble; for Trilly, only his needs exist, and he doesn’t even consider the feelings and desires of others.
