Many of us tend to read not the work itself, but its summary. Professor Dowell's Head is definitely a book worth reading in its entirety. However, we will try to briefly summarize this adventure novel by the Russian writer Alexander Belyaev.
Acquaintance with Marie Lomarne
This girl is a young doctor, it is with her acquaintance that Belyaev begins his story. "Professor Dowell's head" at the beginning of the story sends us to Professor Kern's office. The girl has to work with him. The office makes a gloomy impression on her. However, once in the laboratory, the girl sees a terrible picture: a human head is fixed on a glass board, to which many tubes are connected. The face of the head reminds her of the famous Professor Dowell, a scientist-surgeon who died not so long ago.
resurrection
From Kern, the girl learns that this is really the head of this scientist, who managed to resurrect her. The girl is in shock, death seems to her much better than such a resurrection.
However, we continue to read the summary. Professor Dowell's head is the subject of Marie's labors. The duty of the girl is to monitor her condition. I must say that thanks to the resurrection, the head is able to hear, understand and even answer questions with facial expressions.
Communication with the head
Marie brings daily medical journals to her head, which they go through together. So Belyaev continues the story. Professor Dowell's head and the girl are talking to each other. Marie understands her by signs. One day the head asked her to turn off the tap that was connected to her throat. It was his Professor Kern who strictly forbade her to touch. Careless movement can lead to death of the head.
talking head
However, the professor's head explains to Marie that this will not happen. This is how Alexander Belyaev continues his story. The girl is worried, but fulfills Dowell's request. What happens next shocks Marie: it turns out the head can talk!
Revival details
That's what Professor Dowell's head tells the girl. The book, of course, is able to convey this more emotionally than the summary.
Professor Kern was Dowell's assistant. He is definitely a talented surgeon. While they were working together, Dowell had an asthma attack. Waking up, the professor found that he was deprived of his body. Kern kept his brain to continue his research.
You will learn more horrifying details if you continue to read the summary. The head of Professor Dowell tells the astonished girl how he refused to cooperate with Kern, and he, wanting to get valuable information, passed an electric current through it and attached irritating reagents to nutrient solutions.
New "revivals"
Nevertheless, Dowell was forced to agree to work with Kern when he saw that he, while conducting experiments, made mistakes that could ruin the fruits of their joint work. Here's what the summary is about.
Professor Dowell's head helps Kern make other animations as well. Two more heads appear. One of them - Tom Bush - is male, belonging to a worker who fell under a car. The other - Briquet - is female, the head of a bar singer.
These two are not accustomed to living an intellectual life, it is painful for them without a body. Marie turns on music and films for them, but they only get upset: everything reminds them of how they used to live. Briquet managed to convince Kern to give her another body.
Marie's arrest
Kern, having learned that Marie is talking with the professor's head, forbids her to leave the laboratory. The girl tries to protest, but Kern deprives the professor of air by turning off one of the taps. Now the laboratory becomes a real prison for Marie, writes Alexander Belyaev.
Briquet's new body
Kern finds a body for Briquet and kidnaps him from the scene of a train accident. The body is attached to the head of the singer. Briquet begins to sing: in the lower register her voice sounds excellent. This graceful body, as it turned out, went to Brike from Angelica Guy, a famous Italian artist. An extraordinary grace is revealed in the singer's gestures.
Briquet is trying to win back his freedom. Her desire is to return home, however, Kern does not want to let her go.
This is just a brief recap. "Professor Dowell's Head", if you read this amazing work in full, will reveal many interesting episodes to you.
Briquet's flight
Realizing that it is hopeless to beg Kern, Briquet runs. She climbs down the bound sheets from the window. Briquet is on the run with his girlfriend and her husband, who was a safecracker, from potential police harassment. She doesn't tell her friends about the mystery surrounding her return.
Unexpected meeting
Continue reading Professor Dowell's Head. The heroes of this work: Briquet, Red Martha (her friend), the husband of her friend Jean - go to the Mediterranean Sea. There they unexpectedly meet the artist Armand Lare and Arthur Dowell, the son of that same professor.
Armand Lare mourns for Angelique Guy, because he was not just a fan of this girl's talent, but also her friend. His sharp gaze was able to catch the striking resemblance of the figure of an unfamiliar woman with the body of the singer. He also notices that Briquet has the same gestures, the same mole on his shoulder.
Armand Lare and the son of Professor Dowell decide to solve this secret by all means. Lare invites Briquet and his friends for a boat trip. On the yacht, Arman, left alone with Briquet, makes her tell everything. The young woman honestly answers all of Lara and Dowell's questions.
At the mention of the third head, located in the laboratory, Arthur understands that it is about his father. He takes out a photo and shows it to Briquet. She confirms that this is the same person.
Back to Paris
Young people, together with Briquet, go to Paris to find the professor's head. Armand Laret feels sympathy for the young woman, but does not understand what attracts him to her: Briquet herself or the body of the late singer.
Briquet realizes that her life has changed dramatically. The singer from the bar, having acquired a new beautiful body, not only transforms and looks younger, but also begins to think differently.
However, a small wound that was on the foot of Angelica's body causes Briquet's leg to ache and swell.
Young people decide to show it to doctors. However, she is against it as she fears that her story will become known.
Briquet secretly goes to Kern's laboratory.
Arthur Dowell learns that Marie Laurent is in a mental hospital. Friends with great efforts achieve the release of Marie.
Kern tries to save Briquet's leg, but his attempts are in vain. He again separates Briquet's head from the body.
During the demonstration, Marie Laurent denounces Kern, who committed the murder and appropriated someone else's discovery. To hide his crime, Kern changes the appearance of Dowell's head.
Arthur asks the police to search Kern, where he is present with Marie and Armand. Young people see the end of the life of Professor Dowell's head. Kern's interrogation is being prepared. Kern goes to the office, from where a shot is soon heard.
We have just finished presenting the brilliant work of Alexander Belyaev "Professor Dowell's Head". Reviews of this book confirm that it occupies a worthy place in the hearts of many people. There are readers who were not only shocked by the author's intention, but are also ready to return to the work again and again. Even people who are not particularly fond of science fiction literature consider this book to be one worth rereading.
The way the author portrays the possibility of such experiments vividly makes one shudder. After all, if such experiments become possible, a person will be absolutely powerless before science, and if this knowledge ends up in the hands of people like Kern, then we risk suffering severely from atrocities.
Viskov Ivan
A. Belyaev's novel "Professor Dowell's Head" was written more than 90 years ago, but it is still popular today. It raises issues such as the moral side of medical experiments on humans, the possibilities of the human mind, as well as the problem of good and evil. The paper provides a comparative description of the main characters, who are antagonists.
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Municipal budgetary educational institution
"School No. 15"
Antagonism of the heroes of the novel by A. R. Belyaev
"Professor Dowell's Head"
Completed by: Ivan Viskov
6th grade student "D"
Scientific adviser:
Khapilova O. A.
Teacher of Russian language and literature
Nizhny Novgorod
2016
Page
Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….1
- The concept of "science fiction" .... ………………………….………….2
- Heroes antagonists and protagonists………….…………………………..3
- Comparative characteristics of the heroes of the novel by A. R. Belyaev "Professor Dowell's Head"………………………………………………………...6
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………7
References…………………………………………………………..….8
Appendix…………………………………………………………………………9
Introduction
When a doctor commits a crime
he is more dangerous than other criminals.
He has strong nerves and dangerous knowledge.
A. Conan Doyle.
One of the founders of the science fiction genre in our country is Alexander Romanovich Belyaev. The most famous work of this writer is the novel "Professor Dowell's Head". This work tells us about two highly qualified and talented professors in the field of anatomy and medicine - Professor Dowell and Professor Kern. They carried out important experiments related to transplantology, i.e. transplantation of organs of the human body, in particular the human head.
Despite the fact that the novel was written more than 90 years ago, this problem, as well as its ethical side, is still relevant today.
This determines the relevance of the topic of this work.
Let's compare the two main characters of the work. What was Belyaev hiding behind these personalities?
The purpose of the work is to compile a comparative table and comparative syncwines based on the novel by A. R. Belyaev "Professor Dowell's Head".
Tasks:
- Find out who the hero-protagonist and the hero-antagonist are.
- Find out the causes of the professors' quarrel.
- Match the characters in the novel.
- The concept of "Science fiction"
Science fiction is a genre in literature, cinema and other arts, one of the varieties of science fiction.
Science fiction is based on fantastic assumptions (fiction, speculation) in the field of science, including both exact and natural sciences and the humanities. Science fiction describes fictional technologies and scientific discoveries, encounters with non-human intelligences, possible futures or alternate history, and the impact of these assumptions on human society and the individual. Science fiction often takes place in the future.
There is much debate among critics and literary scholars about what counts as science fiction. However, most of them agree that science fiction is literature based on some kind of assumption in the field of science: the emergence of a new invention, the discovery of new laws of nature, sometimes even the construction of new models of society (social fiction).
In a narrow sense, science fiction is about technology and scientific discoveries, their exciting possibilities, their positive or negative impact, about the paradoxes that can arise. Science fiction in such a narrow sense awakens the scientific imagination, makes you think about the future and the possibilities of science.
In a more general sense, science fiction is fantasy without the fabulous and mystical, in which fantastic events and phenomena have not a supernatural, but a scientific explanation.
- Heroes - antagonists and protagonists
Antagonist - a character or several heroes of any work, actively opposing the protagonist (positive hero), on the way to achieving his goals. This is an active negative character whose activities are disapproved of by the author .
The protagonist is the protagonist of a positive character, who plays the main role in the tragedy. Openly opposed to the antagonist .
The terms protagonist and antagonist were first introduced by the poet Thespis in Athens in 534 BC. Then Thespis performed with his choir "the father of Attic tragedy."
An important factor in the confrontation are obstacles - what the protagonist must overcome, while the antagonist is a person who strives for his goal at any cost.
In classical literature, the role of the antagonist is played by the supreme villain, and the protagonist is the main character, but in more modern works, their roles often change, creating a more intricate plot and unusual situations.
The figure of the antagonist in differentgenres bears its own characteristics. Yes, incomedy usually it is the antagonist who draws the hero into comic situations; inthriller the most vivid and naturalistic scenes of fights, violence and death are associated with the antagonist, to some extent it is the depiction of the antagonist as the personification of the forces of evil that can be the main artistic task of the genre; in women'slove story the antagonist, as a rule, is older and more experienced than the heroine, she provokesthe heroine to violate the prohibitions and sets before her "difficult tasks", contributing to the female initiation of the heroine.
- Comparative characteristics of the heroes of the novel by A. R. Belyaev
"Professor Dowell's Head"
Alexander Romanovich Belyaev is rightfully considered one of the founders of Soviet science fiction literature.
"Professor Dowell's Head" - according to the author himself - is an autobiographical work, since Belyaev suffered from paralysis of the lower half of his body and was completely immobilized. Therefore, I felt on myself, “what a head can experience without a body ».
The main characters of A. Belyaev's book are Professor Dowell and his assistant Kern, who conducted experiments to change human nature. In one of the private Parisian scientific laboratories, they managed to revive some human organs. In the future, Professor Dowell was going to perform an operation to revive a human head cut off from the body.
The essence of the experiment was the introduction into the patient's blood of the drug "Dowell-217" specially invented by him, which makes it possible for its longer existence. The ability to make adjustments to the existing course of life - to prevent disease and eradicate death - was the object of scientific research for many years of this scientist's life.
Having carried out a number of successful experiments on animals, Dowell and Kern intended to report the discovery to the public. Dowell handed over to Kern's assistant a manuscript with research to prepare for publication. However, Dowell unexpectedly dies from a sudden seizure, having bequeathed his body for scientific experiments. Douelly didn't expect his head to be animated first.
A.R. Belyaev describes Professors Kern and Dowell as two colleagues working together to resurrect the human head as well as the body. But with the development of events, Kern betrays Dowell and begins to blackmail his colleague, depriving him of the right to discover.
In this episode, Kern acted ungratefully, and, consequently, this hero causes contempt for Belyaev. Kern is the antagonist.
Kern is cruel and cunning. He behaves ungratefully, and this hero causes contempt. Dowell is shown to be very kind. Even in the most difficult situation, he remains a cordial person, and Kern's assistant Marie Laurent is imbued with friendly feelings for him.
Kern is an imperious, proud person who does not care about the feelings, thoughts, state of other people. The very situation of the experiment that he dared to conduct on Professor Dowell. Professor Dowell, on the other hand, is trying in every possible way to improve the experiments made by both of them.
Professor Dowell works for the benefit of people, he tries to use his knowledge and experience to help people. Kern pursues a completely different goal in his activities - he strives only for personal fame, popularity. He is not embarrassed that for this he uses other people's achievements and discoveries. So, Kern renames the drug "Dowell-217", thereby leaving Dowell in the shadows.“From now on, medicine can restore the extinct life of a person. How many great people can be resurrected after their death, prolong their lives for the benefit of mankind!It is important to note that all of the drugs listed in the novel really exist.
Having received this drug, the head of the scientist was able to continue to do science. Taking advantage of this, Kern put forward strict conditions for further cooperation. Dowell was forced to agree. In addition, Kern was the most capable of all his assistants and could complete the professor's life's work.
Professor Dowell, on the other hand, uses only his talent and his own knowledge. He sacrifices his life for a scientific purpose and for humanity.
Dowell is trying in every possible way to improve the experiments made by the two of them. Dowell is shown as the protagonist. He sacrifices his life for a scientific purpose and for humanity.
Conclusion
Thus, in the center of A. Belyaev's novel, there are two heroes - talented professors in the field of human organ transplantation - Professor Dowell and Professor Kern.
Despite some similarities between the central characters of the novel, Professor Dowell is the protagonist, the author is on his side.
I have no right to deny the hostile activity of Kern, since Belyaev treats both professors differently. Kern is driven by other goals than Dowell - personal glory and enrichment. In order to achieve his goals, Kern goes to crime. He does not serve people, but himself, using Dowell's helplessness. He is completely indifferent to the fate of others.
Professor Kern is the antagonist hero. He is introduced into the work not by chance. It is thanks to him that the writer emphasizes the main idea of his work that it is unacceptable to use scientific (and even more so medical) achievements for the sake of personal fame and enrichment.
The work of A. Belyaev "Professor Dowell's Head" was written more than 90 years ago, but it does not lose its relevance. The novel makes one think about the limitless possibilities of the human mind and their application, raises important moral and social problems that can arise in connection with experiments on the human body.
Bibliography
Sources
- Belyaev, A. R. Head of Professor Dowell. - M., 2003. - 209 p.
- http://www.filorelea.narod.ru
Dictionaries
- Belokurova, S. P. Dictionary of literary terms. - M., 2013. - 305 p.
- Literature: Reference materials / S. V. Turaev, L. I. Timofeev, K. D. Vishnevsky. - M., 2003. T- 220 p.
- Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language / ed. S. I. Ozhegova, N. Yu. Shvedova. - M., 2001. - 1376s.
- Explanatory Dictionary of T. Yu. Efremova. - M., 2015. - 556 p.
- Dictionary of literary terms. Comp. L. Timofeev, S. Turaev. - M., 2011. - 355 p.
For the purposes of analysis, it is quite possible to disintegrate the unity of the book by artificially separating, for example, the fabric of science fiction from fiction. Sometimes this is given without any effort - the text helpfully breaks down into its constituent elements. This is a bad sign. But in Belyaev's text, its constituent elements are not just combined, but merged and in their unity acquire a new quality.
Sci-fi is one of the hardest genres. To make this or that scientific fact, scientific position the character of the book, or rather, the fate of the characters, is a difficulty that only a few can overcome. "Professor Dowell's Head" is a coherent and captivating narrative in which all the elements are merged together and are difficult to critically "splitting". This testifies to the culture of writing, the undoubted talent of the author and, at the same time, his great potential in the field of Soviet science fiction.
I’m talking about possibilities, because Belyaev’s book, written about a decade ago and now republished, for all its merits, still bears a clear trace of the influence of Western entertainment fiction literature and can be considered neither the writer’s success nor the achievement of Soviet science fiction. . Since the time when this book was written, the science-fiction poetics of A. Belyaev himself has undergone a radical change: this is eloquently evidenced by his article on Grebnev's Arktania, placed in No. 18–19 of the Children's Literature magazine. The discrepancy between the poetics of the sci-fi genre that determined the writing of Professor Dowell's Head and the politics declaratively set out in the article about Arctania is so striking that today's statements by A. Belyaev can be largely considered as self-critical.
First of all, Belyaev's book is characterized by separation from social time and space. In the absence of any clear author's instructions, it is natural for the reader to look for signs in the text that allow one to establish the appropriate coordinates: where and when the fictional action takes place. In this case, the position of the reader is extremely difficult: by the will of the author, there are no reference points in the book, and events unfold in a completely abstract time and space, for something called either Paris or London. Only having suffered a complete collapse in his search, the reader finally comes to the conclusion that he was not on the right path: he should have looked not for social, but for literary coordinates.
The environment in which Belyaev's characters live and act is not chosen or created by the author. It is once and for all established by the tradition of Western fantasy fiction entertainment, knows no options and has nothing to do with any reality. This tradition demands - in the name of fantasy! - careful eradication from the text of any real details that could orient the reader. But not only in the name of fantasy: this kind of fiction is quite indifferent to the social theme and pursues only one single goal - entertainment. Using theatrical terminology, we can say that, according to the established canon, the reader is supposed to see this entertaining-fantastic performance not even in the scenery, but in “cloths”, moreover, necessarily in black, hiding even the shadow of reality.
Here it is quite appropriate to quote A. Belyaev's statement from the mentioned article - a statement that will undoubtedly determine the theme of further works of Belyaev himself:
“The main plot of the novel Arctania is the fight against the class enemy. This theme should rightfully occupy a dominant place in Soviet science fiction. And the more novels we have on the topic of fighting the class enemy, the better.”
The judgment is fairly definite.
Here in a few words is the science fiction essence of Belyaev's work.
The young doctor Marie Laurent enters as an assistant in the laboratory of Professor Kern, a student of the late Professor Dowell, who became famous for his experiments in reviving the organs of the human body. Kern surrounds his work with the strictest secrecy: in addition to Laurent, the laboratory is served by only one Negro servant. Laurent's duties are reduced to caring for Professor Dowell's head, revived after death, having regained all its functions, with the exception of one - the voice. In the equipment that supports the life of the head, Professor Kern forbade his assistant to use one tap, the turn of which, as if, would instantly stop the life of the head. But Laurent, contrary to the prohibition of Kern, heeding the mimic instructions of the head, decided to turn the tap - and the head spoke. Laurent learns from his head about the monstrous crime of Kern: it was he who killed Dowell in order to use his revived brain for his own purposes. Dowell's head guides all of Kern's scientific work, it is to her that he owes his remarkable achievements: soon after Laurent entered the laboratory, Kern manages to recreate a living person by fusing the animated corpse of a woman who died in a train crash with the animated head of another woman, who, in the heat of a quarrel, has a lover shot through the heart...
The author of a science fiction work, of course, has the right to omit a number of links in the development of science, to anticipate its near and even distant prospects, but he must not burn "bridges" behind him: the reader has the right to demand that the author firmly know the way back.
A. Belyaev often violates this rule, and then his narrative, already withdrawn by him from the operation of social laws, loses its last scientific ties: we have before us ordinary entertaining fiction. Here is a quote showing that the author burned the "bridges" and that the way back to scientific reality was firmly ordered to him:
“... but the main difficulty is still not in this,” says Kern. – The main thing is how to destroy in the body of a corpse the product of the beginning of decay or places of infection, how to clean the blood vessels from coagulated blood, fill them with fresh blood and make the “motor” of the body – the heart – start working ... And the spinal cord? The slightest touch causes the strongest reaction, often with the most severe consequences.
- And how do you propose to overcome all these difficulties?
Oh, that's my secret for now. When the experiment succeeds, I will publish the whole story of the resurrection from the dead.
But this is not only a secret from Laurent - it always remains a secret also for the reader: the author does not return to this anymore. Indeed, A. Belyaev, an experienced, cultured, gifted author, should not have resorted to such a naive technique that only undermines the reader's confidence. It is known that it is dangerous to abuse the reader's trust.
The fantasy of "The Head of Professor Dowell" is based on well-known experiments with the maintenance of life - outside the body - of individual tissues and organs. The immediate impetus for A. Belyaev was, apparently, the experiments of Dr. Bryukhanenko, who for a long time retained the most primitive functions of a dog's head separated from the body. From this it is clear that the author had to omit a considerable number of links in the development of science in order to produce his amazing character: the two-pronged Mademoiselle Briquet.
Such is the case with science fiction in Belyaev's novel, written ten years ago. And here is Belyaev’s statement today on the same topic in the mentioned article about Arktania:
... “Fantasy, science fiction, however, should not be torn off from the scientific soil. How is it with science? In this regard, the novel is not all right.
Perhaps the weakest point in scientific terms is the biological part, which is a sideline of the plot and scientific content. This is a question about the revival of frozen and generally dead people.
After citing Dr. Bryukhanenko’s judgment that science will soon be able to “resurrect” people who have died frozen and unreasonably dead, A. Belyaev adds:
“At one time, Dr. S. S. Bryukhanenko was severely criticized by scientists for this statement.”
This fair remark already has a clearly expressed self-critical character, because it refers to the very material that A. Belyaev operates in his book. But the bad thing is that, inspired by the statement of Dr. Bryukhanenko, the author went further than him.
And yet, in itself, the loss of links would be half the trouble if such a risky jump served a good purpose. And the good goal could consist either in informing the reader of a number of essential information from the given field of science and familiarization with its amazing real prospects; or - in the proof, or at least in the demonstration of any social idea; or, finally, in both, as is typical of the classics of science fiction.
A. Belyaev did not reach the first and did not aspire to the second.
The leap he made from scientific reality to science fiction is so abrupt that the only method of communication with the reader for him involuntarily becomes the bypassing of difficulties, which we have already demonstrated in the first quotation from the novel. The second quote already testifies to the complete exposure of the device. Here is how Kern performs the operation of attaching an animated head to a corpse in a crafty way:
“For all her hatred of Kern, Laurent could not help admiring him at that moment. He worked as an inspired artist. His dexterous sensitive fingers worked wonders.
The operation lasted an hour and fifty-five minutes.
“It’s over,” Kern finally said, straightening up, “from now on, Briquet has ceased to be a head without a body. It remains only to breathe life into it - to make the heart work, to excite blood circulation. But I can handle this alone. You can rest Mademoiselle Laurent."
But the reader also has to "rest" with Laurent...
“Kern called her again an hour later. He looked even more tired, but his face expressed deep self-satisfaction.
“Take a pulse,” he suggested to Laurent.
Of course, Laurent felt her pulse, but the secret of the “resurrection” was still not given to her to know, just as the reader is not given to know.
I by no means think that the author in this case was obliged to know - and reveal to the reader - the secret of reanimating corpses; but I believe that he was obliged to tell the reader in a concrete form about the prospects of science in this area and, in a hypothetical form, trace the path from the "revival" of a dog's head to the "resurrection" of a corpse; then the reader would probably not have to be content with the meager stock of information about the section of physiology that deals with the revitalization of tissues and organs, which he receives from Belyaev's book.
So, the first goal was not achieved.
To the second goal - to prove or at least demonstrate any social idea - the author, as said, did not strive. And how could he set such a task for himself if there is not a single shred of living social fabric in his book?
In the second half of the book, the author already breaks all relations with science and plunges into pure fiction. Science has done its job - science can go. And here the reader has a fair suspicion that that small fraction of scientific truth that was taught to him in the first half of the book had only an auxiliary meaning: to create a peculiar, fantastic situation that could shock his nervous system with the spectacle of Mademoiselle Briquet, endowed with the body of an “aristocrat” and plebeian head. A science lab has suddenly turned into a freak show, a science fiction novel into entertaining fiction.
A successful doctor by the name of Kern offers a job in his laboratory to a novice doctor, Marie Laurent, and she is promised a fairly high salary. The girl really likes this proposal, although some things confuse and alarm her from the very beginning, in particular, the office where she talks with her future employer seems too gloomy and bleak. In the laboratory where Kern asks her to go, Marie is horrified to see a man's head, separated from the body, but continuing to function with the help of a number of devices.
Laurent notices how similar this organ is to the head of the famous professor of surgery, Dowell, whose lectures she recently attended with great interest and pleasure. According to Kern, he really managed to bring the deceased colleague back to life, although Marie herself believes that death is definitely preferable to such a "resurrection".
Nevertheless, the girl nevertheless proceeds to the work offered to her. Laurent takes care of her head, which perfectly hears everything she says, understands her and has mimic reactions to her words and actions. In addition, Marie daily delivers a lot of medical literature to the head, and the professor carefully studies all publications. One day, the head asks the young doctor to turn the tap on one of the tubes, although Dr. Kern categorically forbade Laurent to touch the tap, arguing that this action would be fatal for Dowell.
However, the head insistently begs the girl to comply with her request, and Marie nevertheless decides to violate the order of her employer. As a result, the disembodied scientist begins to speak, and Laurent learns about everything that happened to him in reality.
Kern had previously been an assistant to Dowell, and the professor never denied his undoubted abilities, although at the same time he noticed his vanity, greed, and unscrupulousness. During one of the experiments, a well-known professor had an asthmatic attack, Kern allegedly rushed to his aid, but, waking up, Dowell saw that he no longer had a body. His student needed to make the brain of a brilliant professor work for himself, but Dowell at first categorically refused such cooperation. Kern forced the professor to help him in every possible way, using very cruel violent methods, but the scientist agreed only when he saw that his former assistant was making obvious mistakes that could destroy the results of all their previous efforts.
Further, Kern manages to extend the existence of two more heads of people who have become victims of accidents. Among them are a young worker Tom, who was hit by a car, and a frivolous cabaret singer named Briquet, the girl accidentally gets a bullet, which in fact is not intended for her at all. The separation of heads from the body is successful, but Thomas and Briquet simply do not understand how they can live now, because these most ordinary people are not used to devoting time to thinking, unlike Dowell.
Marie tries to help the heads in everything, the girl is sincerely sorry for them. She tries to entertain them with the help of music and films, but all this only reminds Briquet and Tom of their former, active life, as a result of which they only plunge into despair even more. Kern promises Brika that he will definitely give her a new body, the medical adventurer really intends to carry out such an unprecedented operation, realizing how famous he will be able to become if everything goes well.
At the same time, Kern becomes aware that Laurent is communicating with Dowell's head, however, he has long been aware of this. The brave girl informs the dishonest professor without ceremony that she will tell the whole world about what he did to his teacher. Kern demands that Marie move into the laboratory and never leave. Laurent refuses indignantly, but the professor immediately turns off the tap, through which Dowell's head receives vital air. The girl, in desperation, agrees to the terms of the employer and informs her mother that she will have to live away from home for some time.
Soon, Professor Kern finds a superb female body at the site of a major railroad disaster and sews it on Brike, committing a kidnapping. Marie learns from the newspapers that the body that her ward received previously belonged to actress Angelique Guy. Briquet's speech now combines her own, not too melodic voice, and Angelica's deep contralto. The movements of the young woman also show an amazing grace and grace, which has never been seen before. The girl insists that Kern let her go home, she wants to show all her friends her new and extremely attractive appearance, while the doctor does not at all intend to part with the living proof of his "genius".
As a result, Briquet escapes, meets with his friends Jean and Martha and hurriedly leaves Paris with them, an experienced safecracker Jean just as necessary to hide from the police as Briquet. The company arrives at one of the Mediterranean beaches, where at the same time two comrades are resting, an artist named Armand Lare, and Arthur Dowell, the son of Professor Dowell.
Armand was previously in love with the deceased Angelica and still cannot forget her. The artist immediately notices how an unfamiliar woman named Briquet resembles the actress with her whole appearance, movements and even voice, besides, the body of her beloved Lara was never found. Friends invite Briquet to take a walk with them on a yacht, and there Armand severely demands from the girl to tell him the whole truth.
Briquet immediately confesses everything that happened to her, assuring the artist of his complete innocence. When Arthur also finds out about everything, he asks a new acquaintance to describe in more detail the third head that Kern has, and he perfectly understands that we are talking about his father. Lare feels that he is not indifferent to Briquet, but he is not sure what exactly attracts him, whether the matter is that this girl now has the figure of Angelica or he likes Briquet herself. The former singer from the bar herself also notices that she has changed a lot, that now she wants to behave in a completely different way, without the former vulgarity and swagger.
But suddenly a small wound left on the foot of the actress begins to bother Briquet. The girl's leg swells and turns red, the situation is getting worse every day. Arthur and Armand insist on a visit to the doctor, but Briquet refuses, fearing that her story will become known to everyone, and she will again be forever locked in the laboratory. However, she is forced to go to Professor Kern, counting on his help. At the same time, young Douel and Lare discover that the man is hiding Marie Laurent in a mental hospital.
Arthur, under a false name, enters the hospital and rescues Marie from there, although it costs him considerable effort. Kern is trying in every possible way to save Briquet's leg, but she begins to have gangrene, and the professor has no choice but to re-separate the young woman's head from the torso. The doctor understands that it will no longer be possible to hide his experiments, he decides to show everyone the living head belonging to Brika, her comrade in misfortune no longer exists by this moment.
During this meeting, Laurent delivers a diatribe against Kern, claiming that he stole the results of Professor Dowell's research and killed the famous scientist. Kern, using paraffin, completely changes the appearance of the head of his former teacher, making it completely unrecognizable.
The police come to the laboratory, the guards are accompanied by Arthur Doeul, his friend Lara and Marie. All those gathered see the last minutes of the life of the researcher's head, Arthur manages to say goodbye to his father, with difficulty restraining deep despair. The investigator demands that Kern follow to the study for interrogation, and after a few minutes a loud sound of a shot is heard from there.
