"Books are the ladder of human progress" is Gorky's famous saying. Gorky's early realistic works are mostly based on his experiences and feelings among riffraff, the most representative of which is the novel Cerca Shi, which describes the noble quality of Cerca Shi, an old tramp who is brave, independent and unruly, persevering in the face of money and safeguarding human dignity.

In art, Celka fully demonstrated Gorky's superb skills in portraying complex characters in his early realistic works. These works not only strongly accuse the evils of capitalist society, but also try to reveal the inner pain of tramps and the struggle between old and new consciousness, and capture the characteristics of the times of working people's life. Their purpose is still to arouse people's positive attitude towards life.