My attitude towards Ace. Brief description of Asya in the story "Asya". Important details of the analysis of the story "Asya"

Composition

First of all, it is worth noting that I. S. Turgenev’s story “Asya” tells how the acquaintance of the main character, Mr. N. N., with the Gagins develops into a love story, which turned out to be a source of both sweet romantic longing and bitter torment for the hero , then, over the years, lost their sharpness, but doomed the hero to the fate of a bore.
An interesting fact is that the author refused to give the hero a name, and there is no portrait of him. Various explanations can be given for this, but one thing is certain: I. S. Turgenev shifts the emphasis from the external to the internal, immersing us in the emotional experiences of the hero. From the very beginning of the story, the writer arouses sympathy among readers and trust in the hero-narrator. We learn that he is a cheerful, healthy, rich young man who loves to travel, observe life and people. He recently experienced a love failure, but with the help of subtle irony we understand that the love was not real love, but only entertainment.
And then a meeting with Gagin, in whom he felt a kindred spirit, a similarity of interests in music, painting, and literature. Communication with him and his sister Asya immediately set the hero in a sublime romantic mood.
It is worth noting that on the second day of their acquaintance, he carefully watches Asya, who both attracts him and causes him a feeling of annoyance and even hostility with inexplicable, free actions. The hero is not aware of what is happening to him. He feels some kind of vague uneasiness, which grows into an anxiety incomprehensible to him; that jealous suspicion that the Gagins are not relatives.

So, two weeks of daily meetings passed. N.N. was increasingly upset by jealous suspicions, and although he did not fully realize his love for Asa, she gradually took possession of his heart. During this period, he is overwhelmed by persistent curiosity, some annoyance at the girl’s mysterious, inexplicable behavior, and a desire to understand her inner world.
But the conversation between Asya and Ganin overheard in the gazebo makes N.N. finally understand that he has already been captured by a deep and disturbing feeling of love. It is from him that he leaves for the mountains, and when he returns, he goes to the Ganins, having read the note from brother Asya. Having learned the truth about these people, he instantly regains his lost balance and defines his emotional state this way: “I felt some kind of sweetness - precisely sweetness in my heart: as if they had secretly poured me honey there...” The landscape sketch in chapter 10 helps to understand the psychological state of the hero in this significant day, becoming the “landscape” of the soul. It is at this moment of merging with nature that a new turn takes place in the hero’s inner world: what was vague and anxious suddenly turns into an undoubted and passionate thirst for happiness, which is associated with Asya’s personality. But the hero prefers to mindlessly surrender to the oncoming impressions: “I’m not only talking about the future, I didn’t think about tomorrow, I felt very good.” This indicates that at that moment N.N. was only ready to enjoy romantic contemplation, he did not feel in himself that it was taking away prudence and caution, while Asya had already “grown wings”, a deep feeling came to her and irresistible. Therefore, in the meeting scene, N.N. seems to be trying to hide behind reproaches and loud exclamations his unpreparedness for reciprocal feelings, his inability to surrender to love, which so slowly matures in his contemplative nature.
In my opinion, having parted with Asya after an unsuccessful explanation, N.N. still does not know what awaits him in the future, “the loneliness of a familyless man,” he hopes for “tomorrow’s happiness,” not knowing that “happiness has no tomorrow ... he has a present - and that’s not a day, but a moment.” N.N.’s love for Asya, subject to the whimsical play of chance or the fatal predetermination of fate, will flare up later, when nothing can be corrected. The hero will be punished for not recognizing love, for doubting it. “And happiness was so close, so possible...”

Other works on this work

Almost every famous Russian classic in his work turned to such a literary genre as a story; its main characteristics are the average volume between a novel and a short story, one developed plot line, a small number of characters. The famous prose writer of the 19th century, Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev, turned to this genre more than once throughout his literary career.

One of his most famous works, written in the genre of love lyrics, is the story “Asya”, which is also often classified as an elegiac genre of literature. Here readers find not only beautiful landscape sketches and a subtle, poetic description of feelings, but also some lyrical motifs that smoothly turn into plot ones. Even during the writer’s lifetime, the story was translated and published in many European countries and enjoyed great popularity among readers both in Russia and abroad.

History of writing

Turgenev began writing the story “Asya” in July 1857 in Germany, in the city of Sinzeg on the Rhine, where the events described in the book take place. Having finished the book in November of the same year (the writing of the story was a little delayed due to the author’s illness and overwork), Turgenev sent the work to the editors of the Russian magazine Sovremennik, in which it had long been awaited and published at the beginning of 1858.

According to Turgenev himself, he was inspired to write the story by a fleeting picture he saw in Germany: an elderly woman looks out from the window of a house on the first floor, and the silhouette of a young girl can be seen in the window of the second floor. The writer, thinking about what he saw, comes up with a possible fate for these people and thus creates the story “Asya”.

According to many literary critics, this story was of a personal nature for the author, since it was based on some events that took place in Turgenev’s real life, and the images of the main characters have a clear connection both with the author himself and with his immediate circle (prototype for Asya could be the fate of his illegitimate daughter Polina Brewer or his half-sister V.N. Zhitova, also born out of wedlock, Mr. N.N., on whose behalf the story is told in “Asa”, has character traits and a similar fate with the author himself) .

Analysis of the work

Plot development

The description of the events that took place in the story is written on behalf of a certain N.N., whose name the author leaves unknown. The narrator recalls his youth and his stay in Germany, where on the banks of the Rhine he meets his compatriot from Russia Gagin and his sister Anna, whom he takes care of and calls Asya. The young girl, with her eccentric actions, constantly changing disposition and amazing attractive appearance, impresses N.N. is very impressed and he wants to know as much as possible about her.

Gagin tells him the difficult fate of Asya: she is his illegitimate half-sister, born from his father’s relationship with the maid. After the death of her mother, her father took thirteen-year-old Asya to his place and raised her as befits a young lady from a good society. After the death of her father, Gagin becomes her guardian, first sends her to a boarding house, then they go to live abroad. Now N.N., knowing the unclear social status of the girl who was born to a serf mother and a landowner father, understands what caused Asya’s nervous tension and her slightly eccentric behavior. He feels deeply sorry for the unfortunate Asya, and he begins to experience tender feelings for the girl.

Asya, like Pushkin’s Tatyana, writes a letter to Mr. N.N. asking for a date, he, unsure of his feelings, hesitates and makes a promise to Gagin not to accept his sister’s love, because he is afraid to marry her. The meeting between Asya and the narrator is chaotic, Mr. N.N. reproaches her for confessing her feelings for him to her brother and now they cannot be together. Asya runs away in confusion, N.N. realizes that he really loves the girl and wants to return her, but cannot find her. The next day, having come to the Gagins' house with the firm intention of asking for the girl's hand, he learns that Gagin and Asya have left the city, he tries to find them, but all his efforts are in vain. Never again in his life N.N. does not meet Asya and her brother, and at the end of his life's journey he realizes that although he had other hobbies, he truly loved only Asya and he still keeps the dried flower that she once gave him.

Main characters

The main character of the story, Anna, whom her brother calls Asya, is a young girl with an unusual attractive appearance (a thin boyish figure, short curly hair, wide-open eyes bordered by long and fluffy eyelashes), a spontaneous and noble character, distinguished by an ardent temperament and a difficult, tragic fate. Born from an extramarital affair between a maid and a landowner, and raised by her mother in severity and obedience, after her death she cannot get used to her new role as a lady for a long time. She perfectly understands her false position, therefore she does not know how to behave in society, she is shy and shy of everyone, and at the same time she proudly wants no one to pay attention to her origin. Left early alone without parental attention and left to her own devices, Asya begins to think about the contradictions in life that surround her.

The main character of the story, like other female characters in Turgenev’s works, is distinguished by amazing purity of soul, morality, sincerity and openness of feelings, a craving for strong feelings and experiences, a desire to perform feats and great deeds for the benefit of people. It is on the pages of this story that the concept of Turgenev’s young lady and Turgenev’s feeling of love, common to all heroines, appears, which for the author is akin to a revolution invading the lives of the heroes, testing their feelings for perseverance and ability to survive in difficult living conditions.

Mr. N.N.

The main male character and narrator of the story, Mr. N.N., has the features of a new literary type, which in Turgenev replaced the “extra people” type. This hero completely lacks the typical “extra person” conflict with the outside world. He is an absolutely calm and prosperous person with a balanced and harmonious self-organization, easily susceptible to vivid impressions and feelings, all his experiences are simple and natural, without falsehood or pretense. In his love experiences, this hero strives for mental balance, which would be intertwined with their aesthetic completeness.

After meeting Asya, his love becomes more intense and contradictory; at the last moment, the hero cannot fully surrender to his feelings, because they are overshadowed by the disclosure of the secrets of his feelings. Later, he cannot immediately tell Asya’s brother that he is ready to marry her, because he does not want to disturb his overwhelming feeling of happiness, and also fearing future changes and the responsibility that he will have to take for someone else’s life. All this leads to a tragic outcome: after his betrayal, he loses Asya forever and it is too late to correct the mistakes he made. He has lost his love, rejected the future and the very life he could have had, and pays for it throughout his entire joyless and loveless existence.

Features of compositional construction

The genre of this work refers to an elegiac story, the basis of which is a description of love experiences and melancholic reflections on the meaning of life, regret about unfulfilled dreams and sadness about the future. The work is based on a beautiful love story that ended in tragic separation. The composition of the story is built according to the classical model: the beginning of the plot is a meeting with the Gagin family, the development of the plot is the rapprochement of the main characters, the emergence of love, the climax is a conversation between Gagin and N.N. about Asya’s feelings, denouement - a date with Asya, explanation of the main characters, the Gagin family leaves Germany, epilogue - Mr. N.N. reflects on the past, regrets unfulfilled love. The highlight of this work is Turgenev’s use of the ancient literary device of plot framing, when a narrator is introduced into the narrative and the motivation for his actions is given. Thus, the reader receives a “story within a story” designed to enhance the meaning of the story being told.

In his critical article “Russian Man at a Rendezvous,” Chernyshevsky sharply condemns the indecision and petty timid egoism of Mr. N.N., whose image is slightly softened by the author in the epilogue of the work. Chernyshevsky, on the contrary, without choosing expressions, sharply condemns the act of Mr. N.N. and pronounces his verdict on those who are the same as him. The story “Asya”, thanks to the depth of its content, has become a real pearl in the literary heritage of the great Russian writer Ivan Turgenev. The great writer, like no one else, was able to convey his philosophical reflections and thoughts about the destinies of people, about that time in the life of every person when his actions and words can forever change it for the better or for the worse.

Ivan Turgenev not only made a significant contribution to the development of Russian literature within the framework of existing directions, but also discovered new original features of national culture. In particular, he created the image of Turgenev’s young lady - he revealed the unique character of the Russian girl on the pages of his books. To get to know this person, just read the story “Asya”, where the portrait of a woman acquired unique features.

The writer was busy writing this work for several months (from July to November 1857). He wrote hard and slowly, because illness and fatigue were already making themselves felt. It is not known exactly who Asya’s prototype is. Among the versions, the prevailing point of view is that the author described his illegitimate daughter. The image could also reflect the fate of his paternal sister (her mother was a peasant woman). Turgenev, from these examples, knew well how a teenager felt when he found himself in such a situation, and reflected his observations in the story, showing a very delicate social conflict, for which he himself was to blame.

The work “Asya” was completed in 1857 and published in Sovremennik. The story of the story, told by the author himself, is as follows: one day Turgenev in a German town saw an elderly woman looking out of a window on the first floor, and the head of a young girl on the floor above. Then he decided to imagine what their fate might be, and he embodied these fantasies in the form of a book.

Why is the story called this?

The work received its name in honor of the main character, whose love story is the focus of the author’s attention. His main priority was to reveal the ideal female image, called the “Turgenev young lady”. According to the writer, a woman can be seen and appreciated only through the prism of the feeling she experiences. Only in it its mysterious and incomprehensible nature is fully revealed. Therefore, his Asya experiences the shock of her first love and experiences it with the dignity inherent in an adult and mature lady, and not the naive child she was before meeting N.N.

This transformation is what Turgenev shows. At the end of the book, we say goodbye to Asya the child and meet Anna Gagina - a sincere, strong and self-aware woman who does not agree to compromise: when N.N. afraid to surrender to the feeling completely and immediately acknowledge it, she, overcoming the pain, left him forever. But in memory of the bright time of childhood, when Anna was still Asya, the writer calls his work with this diminutive name.

Genre: story or short story?

Of course, “Asya” is a story. The story is never divided into chapters, and its volume is much smaller. The segment from the life of the heroes depicted in the book is shorter than in the novel, but longer than in the smallest form of prose. Turgenev also held the same opinion about the genre nature of his creation.

Traditionally, there are more characters and events in a story than in a short story. In addition, the subject of the image in it is precisely the sequence of episodes in which cause-and-effect relationships are revealed, which lead the reader to understand the meaning of the ending of the work. This is what happens in the book “Asya”: the characters get to know each other, their communication leads to mutual interest, N.N. finds out about Anna's origins, she confesses her love to him, he is afraid to take her feelings seriously, and in the end all this leads to a breakup. The writer first intrigues us, for example, shows the strange behavior of the heroine, and then explains it through the story of her birth.

What is the work about?

The main character is a young man, on whose behalf the story is told. These are the memories of an already mature man about the events of his youth. In "Ace" the middle-aged socialite N.N. recalls a story that happened to him when he was about 25. The beginning of his story, where he meets his brother and sister Gagin, is the exposition of the story. The place and time of action is “a small German town of W. near the Rhine (river).” The writer is referring to the city of Sinzig in a province of Germany. Turgenev himself traveled there in 1857, and then finished the book. The narrator writes in the past tense, stipulating that the events described took place 20 years ago. Accordingly, they occurred in June 1837 (N.N. himself reports about the month in the first chapter).

What Turgenev wrote about in “Ace” is familiar to the reader from the time of reading “Eugene Onegin”. Asya Gagina is the same young Tatyana who fell in love for the first time, but did not find reciprocity. It was the poem “Eugene Onegin” that N.N. once read. for the Gagins. Only the heroine in the story does not look like Tatyana. She is very changeable and fickle: she either laughs all day long, or walks around darker than a cloud. The reason for this state of mind lies in the girl’s difficult history: she is Gagin’s illegitimate sister. In high society she feels like a stranger, as if unworthy of the honor bestowed on her. Thoughts about her future situation constantly weigh on her, which is why Anna has a difficult character. But, in the end, she, like Tatyana from Eugene Onegin, decides to confess her love to N.N. The hero promises the girl’s brother to explain everything to her, but instead accuses her of confessing to her brother and actually exposing him to a laughing stock. Asya, hearing a reproach instead of a confession, runs away. A N.N. understands how dear she is to him, and decides to ask for her hand the next day. But it’s too late, because the next morning he finds out that the Gagins have left, leaving him a note:

Farewell, we won't see each other again. I’m not leaving out of pride - no, I can’t do otherwise. Yesterday, when I cried in front of you, if you had said one word to me, just one word, I would have stayed. You didn't say it. Apparently, it’s better this way... Goodbye forever!

The main characters and their characteristics

The reader's attention is drawn, first of all, to the main characters of the work. They embody the author's intention and are the supporting images on which the narrative is built.

1. Asya (Anna Gagina)- a typical “Turgenev young lady”: she is a wild, but sensitive girl who is capable of true love, but does not accept cowardice and weakness of character. This is how her brother described her: “Pride developed in her strongly, and mistrust too; bad habits took root, simplicity disappeared. She wanted (she herself admitted this to me once) to make the whole world forget her origins; she was both ashamed of her mother, and ashamed of her shame, and proud of her.” She grew up in nature on an estate and studied at a boarding school. At first she was raised by her mother, a maid in her father's house. After her death, the master took the girl to him. Then the upbringing was continued by his legitimate son, the brother of the main character. Anna is a modest, naive, well-educated person. She has not yet matured, so she fools around and plays pranks, not taking life seriously. However, her character changed when she fell in love with N.N.: he became fickle and strange, the girl was either too lively or sad. By changing her images, she unconsciously sought to attract the attention of her gentleman, but her intentions were absolutely sincere. She even fell ill with a fever from the feeling that filled her heart. From her further actions and words we can conclude that she is a strong and strong-willed woman, capable of sacrifice for the sake of honor. Turgenev himself described her description: “The girl, whom he called his sister, at first glance seemed very pretty to me. There was something special about her dark, round face, with a small thin nose, almost childish cheeks and black, light eyes. She was gracefully built, but seemed not yet fully developed.” The somewhat idealized image of Asya was repeated in the faces of other famous heroines of the writer.
2. N.N.- a narrator who, 20 years after the event described, takes up his pen to ease his soul. He can't forget about his lost love. He appears before us as a selfish and idle rich young man who travels because he has nothing to do. He is lonely and afraid of his loneliness, because, by his own admission, he loves to be in a crowd and look at people. At the same time, he does not want to meet Russians, apparently, he is afraid of disturbing his peace. He ironically notes that “he considered it his duty to indulge in sadness and loneliness for a while.” This desire to show off even in front of himself reveals the weak sides of his nature: he is insincere, false, superficial, and seeks justification for his idleness in fictitious and contrived suffering. It is impossible not to note his impressionability: thoughts about his homeland made him angry, meeting Anna made him feel happy. The main character is educated and noble, lives “as he wants,” and is characterized by inconstancy. He understands art, loves nature, but cannot find an application for his knowledge and feelings. He loves to analyze people with his mind, but does not feel them with his heart, which is why he could not understand Asya’s behavior for so long. Love for her revealed not the best qualities in him: cowardice, indecisiveness, selfishness.
3. Gagin- Anna's older brother who takes care of her. This is how the author writes about him: “It was a straight Russian soul, truthful, honest, simple, but, unfortunately, a little lethargic, without tenacity and inner heat. Youth was not in full swing in him; she glowed with a quiet light. He was very sweet and smart, but I couldn’t imagine what would happen to him once he matured.” The hero is very kind and sympathetic. He honored and respected his family, because he fulfilled his father’s last wishes honestly, and he loved his sister like his own. Anna is very dear to him, so he sacrifices friendship for the sake of her peace of mind and leaves N.N., taking the heroine away. He generally willingly sacrifices his interests for the sake of others, because in order to raise his sister, he resigns and leaves his homeland. The other characters in his description always look positive; he finds justification for all of them: the secretive father, the compliant maid, the headstrong Asya.

Minor characters are only mentioned in passing by the narrator. This is a young widow on the waters, who rejected the narrator, Gagin’s father (a kind, gentle, but unhappy man), his brother, who got his nephew a job in St. Petersburg, Asya’s mother (Tatyana Vasilievna - a proud and unapproachable woman), Yakov (Gagin the elder’s butler) . The description of the characters given by the author allows us to understand even more deeply the story “Asya” and the realities of the era that became its basis.

Subject

1. Theme of love. Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev wrote many stories about this. For him, feeling is a test of the heroes’ souls: “No, love is one of those passions that breaks our “I”, makes us, as it were, forget about ourselves and our interests,” said the writer. Only a real person can truly love. However, the tragedy is that many people fail this test, and it takes two to love. When one fails to truly love, the other is undeservedly left alone. This is what happened in this book: N.N. I couldn’t pass the test of love, but Anna, although she coped with it, still couldn’t stand the insult of neglect and left forever.
2. The theme of the extra person in the story “Asya” also occupies an important place. The main character cannot find a place for himself in the world. His idle and aimless life abroad is proof of this. He wanders around in search of who knows what, because he cannot apply his skills and knowledge in the real business. His failure also manifests itself in love, because he is afraid of the girl’s direct recognition, afraid of the strength of her feelings, and therefore cannot realize in time how dear she is to him.
3. The theme of family is also raised by the author. Gagin raised Asya as his sister, although he understood the complexity of her situation. Perhaps it was precisely this circumstance that prompted him to travel, where the girl could distract herself and hide from sidelong glances. Turgenev emphasizes the superiority of family values ​​over class prejudices, calling on his compatriots to care more about family ties than about the purity of blood.
4. Theme of nostalgia. The whole story is imbued with the nostalgic mood of the protagonist, who lives with memories of the time when he was young and in love.

Issues

• The problem of moral choice. The hero does not know what to do correctly: is it worth taking responsibility for such a young creature, offended by fate? Is he ready to say goodbye to his single life and tie himself to one single woman? Besides, she had already deprived him of his choice by telling his brother everything. He was annoyed that the girl took all the initiative upon herself, and therefore accused her of being too frank with Gagin. N.N. was confused, and also not experienced enough to unravel the subtle nature of his beloved, so it is not surprising that his choice turned out to be wrong.
• Problems of feeling and duty. Often these principles oppose each other. Asya loves N.N., but after his hesitation and reproaches she understands that he is not sure of his feelings. A duty of honor commands her to leave and not meet with him again, although her heart rebels and asks to give her lover another chance. However, her brother is also adamant in matters of honor, so the Gagins leave N.N.
• The problem of extramarital affairs. During Turgenev's time, almost all nobles had illegitimate children, and this was not considered abnormal. But the writer, although he himself became the father of such a child, draws attention to how bad life is for children whose origins are illegal. They suffer without guilt for the sins of their parents, suffer from gossip and cannot arrange their future. For example, the author depicts Asya's studies in a boarding school, where all the girls treated her with disdain because of her history.
• The problem of adolescence. Asya at the time of the events described is only 17 years old, she has not yet formed as a person, which is why her behavior is so unpredictable and eccentric. It is very difficult for my brother to deal with her, because he does not yet have experience in the parenting field. Yes, and N.N. could not understand her contradictory and sentimental nature. This is the reason for the tragedy of their relationship.
• The problem of cowardice. N.N. she is afraid of serious feelings, so she does not say that very cherished word that Asya was waiting for.

Main thought

The story of the main character is a tragedy of naive first feelings, when a young dreamy person first encounters the cruel realities of life. The conclusions from this collision are the main idea of ​​the story “Asya”. The girl went through the test of love, but many of her illusions were shattered. Indecisive N.N. She read a sentence to herself, which her brother had mentioned earlier in a conversation with a friend: in this situation, she cannot count on a good match. Few will agree to marry her, no matter how beautiful or cheerful she is. She had seen before that people despised her for her unequal origin, and now the man she loved was hesitant and did not dare to commit himself to a word. Anna interpreted this as cowardice, and her dreams crumbled to dust. She learned to be more selective in her suitors and not to trust them with her heartfelt secrets.

Love in this case opens up the adult world for the heroine, literally pulling her out of her blissful childhood. Happiness would not have been a lesson for her, but a continuation of a girl’s dream; it would not have revealed this contradictory character, and Asya’s portrait in the gallery of female types of Russian literature was greatly impoverished by the happy ending. In the tragedy, she gained the necessary experience and became richer spiritually. As you can see, the meaning of Turgenev’s story is also to show how the test of love affects people: some show dignity and fortitude, others show cowardice, tactlessness and indecision.

This story from the lips of a mature man is so instructive that it leaves no doubt that the hero recalls this episode of his life for the edification of himself and the listener. Now, after so many years, he understands that he himself missed the love of his life, he himself destroyed this sublime and sincere relationship. The narrator calls on the reader to be more attentive and decisive than himself, not to let his guiding star go away. Thus, the main idea of ​​the work “Asya” is to show how fragile and fleeting happiness is if it is not recognized in time, and how merciless love is, which does not give a second try.

What does the story teach?

Turgenev, showing the idle and empty lifestyle of his hero, says that carelessness and aimlessness of existence will make a person unhappy. N.N. in old age he bitterly complains about himself in his youth, regretting the loss of Asya and the very opportunity to change his fate: “It never occurred to me then that man is not a plant and he cannot flourish for a long time.” He realizes with bitterness that this “blooming” did not bear fruit. Thus, the morality in the story “Asya” reveals to us the true meaning of existence - we need to live for the sake of a goal, for the sake of loved ones, for the sake of creativity and creation, no matter what it is expressed in, and not just for the sake of ourselves. After all, it was selfishness and the fear of losing the opportunity to “bloom” that prevented N.N. utter the very cherished word that Anna was waiting for.

Another conclusion that Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev makes in “Ace” is the statement that there is no need to be afraid of your feelings. The heroine gave herself completely to them, was burned by her first love, but learned a lot about life and about the person to whom she wanted to dedicate her. Now she will be more attentive to people and will learn to understand them. Without this cruel experience, she would not have revealed herself as a person, she would not have understood herself and her desires. After breaking up with N.N. she realized what the man of her dreams should be like. So you shouldn’t be afraid of the sincere impulses of your soul, you need to give them free rein, and come what may.

Criticism

The reviewers called N.N. a typical literary embodiment of the “superfluous person”, and later they identified a new type of heroine - the “Tugenev young lady”. The image of the main character was studied especially carefully by Turgenev’s ideological opponent, Chernyshevsky. He dedicated an ironic article to him entitled “Russian man at rendez-vous. Reflections on reading the story “Asya”. In it, he condemns not only the moral imperfection of the character, but also the squalor of the entire social group to which he belongs. The idleness and selfishness of noble offspring destroys the real people in them. This is precisely what the critic sees as the cause of the tragedy. His friend and colleague Dobrolyubov enthusiastically appreciated the story and the author’s work on it:

Turgenev... talks about his heroes as about people close to him, snatches their warm feeling from his chest and watches them with tender sympathy, with painful trepidation, he himself suffers and rejoices along with the faces he created, he himself is carried away by the poetic setting that he loves always surround them...

The writer himself speaks very warmly about his creation: “I wrote it very passionately, almost in tears...”.

Many critics responded positively to Turgenev’s work “Asya” even at the stage of reading the manuscript. I. I. Panaev, for example, wrote to the author about the impression of the editors of Sovremennik in the following expressions:

I read the proofs, the proofreader and, moreover, Chernyshevsky. If there are still mistakes, it means we did everything we could, and we can’t do better. Annenkov has read the story, and you probably already know his opinion about it. He's delighted

Annenkov was Turgenev's close friend and his most important critic. In a letter to the author, he highly praises his new work, calling it “a frank step towards nature and poetry.”

In a personal letter dated January 16, 1858, E. Ya. Kolbasin (a critic who positively assessed Turgenev’s work) informed the writer: “Now I have come from the Tyutchevs, where there was a dispute about “Asia”. And I like it. They find that Asya’s face is tense and not alive. I said the opposite, and Annenkov, who arrived in time for the argument, completely supported me and brilliantly refuted them.”

However, it was not without controversy. The editor-in-chief of Sovremennik magazine Nekrasov proposed changing the scene of the explanation of the main characters, believing that it too belittled the image of N.N.:

There is only one remark, mine personally, and it is unimportant: in the scene of the meeting at the knees, the hero unexpectedly showed an unnecessary rudeness of nature, which you did not expect from him, bursting out with reproaches: they should have been softened and reduced, I wanted to, but did not dare, especially since Annenkov is against this

As a result, the book was left unchanged, because even Chernyshevsky stood up for it, who, although he did not deny the rudeness of the scene, noted that it best reflects the real appearance of the class to which the narrator belongs.

S. S. Dudyshkin, who in the article “Tales and Stories of I. S. Turgenev”, published in “Notes of the Fatherland,” contrasted the “sick personality of the Russian man of the 19th century” with an honest worker - a bourgeois businessman. He was also extremely concerned about the question of the historical fate of the “extra people” posed by the author of “Asia”.

Obviously not everyone liked the story. After its publication, reproaches rained down on the writer. For example, reviewer V.P. Botkin told Fet: “Not everyone likes Asya. It seems to me that Asya’s face failed - and in general the thing has a prosaically invented appearance. There is nothing to say about other persons. As a lyricist, Turgenev can only express well what he has experienced...” The famous poet, the addressee of the letter, agreed with his friend and recognized the image of the main character as far-fetched and lifeless.

But the most indignant of all the critics was Tolstoy, who assessed the work as follows: “Turgenev’s Asya, in my opinion, is the weakest thing of all that he wrote” - this remark was contained in a letter to Nekrasov. Lev Nikolaevich connected the book with the personal life of a friend. He was dissatisfied that he arranged for his illegitimate daughter Polina in France, forever separating her from her natural mother. This “hypocritical position” was sharply condemned by the count; he openly accused his colleague of cruelty and improper upbringing of his daughter, also described in the story. This conflict led to the fact that the authors did not communicate for 17 years.

Later, the story was not forgotten and often appeared in the statements of famous public figures of the era. For example, Lenin compared Russian liberals to an indecisive character:

...Just like the ardent Turgenev hero who escaped from Asya, about whom Chernyshevsky wrote: “A Russian man on a rendez-vous”

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First of all, it is worth noting that I. S. Turgenev’s story “Asya” tells how the acquaintance of the main character, Mr. N. N., with the Gagins develops into a love story, which turned out to be a source of both sweet romantic longing and bitter torment for the hero , then, over the years, lost their sharpness, but doomed the hero to the fate of a bore.
An interesting fact is that the author refused to give the hero a name, and there is no portrait of him. Various explanations can be given for this, but one thing is certain: I. S. Turgenev shifts the emphasis from the external to the internal, immersing us in the emotional experiences of the hero. From the very beginning of the story, the writer arouses sympathy among readers and trust in the hero-narrator. We learn that he is a cheerful, healthy, rich young man who loves to travel, observe life and people. He recently experienced a love failure, but with the help of subtle irony we understand that the love was not real love, but only entertainment.
And then a meeting with Gagin, in whom he felt a kindred spirit, a similarity of interests in music, painting, and literature. Communication with him and his sister Asya immediately set the hero in a sublime romantic mood.
It is worth noting that on the second day of their acquaintance, he carefully watches Asya, who both attracts him and causes him a feeling of annoyance and even hostility with inexplicable, free actions. The hero is not aware of what is happening to him. He feels some kind of vague uneasiness, which grows into an anxiety incomprehensible to him; that jealous suspicion that the Gagins are not relatives.

So, two weeks of daily meetings passed. N.N. was increasingly upset by jealous suspicions, and although he did not fully realize his love for Asa, she gradually took possession of his heart. During this period, he is overwhelmed by persistent curiosity, some annoyance at the girl’s mysterious, inexplicable behavior, and a desire to understand her inner world.
But the conversation between Asya and Ganin overheard in the gazebo makes N.N. finally understand that he has already been captured by a deep and disturbing feeling of love. It is from him that he leaves for the mountains, and when he returns, he goes to the Ganins, having read the note from brother Asya. Having learned the truth about these people, he instantly regains his lost balance and defines his emotional state this way: “I felt some kind of sweetness - precisely sweetness in my heart: as if they had secretly poured me honey there...” The landscape sketch in chapter 10 helps to understand the psychological state of the hero in this significant day, becoming the “landscape” of the soul. It is at this moment of merging with nature that a new turn takes place in the hero’s inner world: what was vague and anxious suddenly turns into an undoubted and passionate thirst for happiness, which is associated with Asya’s personality. But the hero prefers to mindlessly surrender to the oncoming impressions: “I’m not only talking about the future, I didn’t think about tomorrow, I felt very good.” This indicates that at that moment N.N. was only ready to enjoy romantic contemplation, he did not feel in himself that it was taking away prudence and caution, while Asya had already “grown wings”, a deep feeling came to her and irresistible. Therefore, in the meeting scene, N.N. seems to be trying to hide behind reproaches and loud exclamations his unpreparedness for reciprocal feelings, his inability to surrender to love, which so slowly matures in his contemplative nature.
In my opinion, having parted with Asya after an unsuccessful explanation, N.N. still does not know what awaits him in the future, “the loneliness of a familyless man,” he hopes for “tomorrow’s happiness,” not knowing that “happiness has no tomorrow ... he has a present - and that’s not a day, but a moment.” N.N.’s love for Asya, subject to the whimsical play of chance or the fatal predetermination of fate, will flare up later, when nothing can be corrected. The hero will be punished for not recognizing love, for doubting it. “And happiness was so close, so possible...”

I. S. Turgenev’s story “Asya” is rather a drama, the drama of this very girl Asya. She meets in her life N.N. a young man who attracts not only her, but also whom her brother, a very well-read and intelligent young man, likes. Maybe...

Asya in Turgenev's story is a girl who has a richly gifted nature, is not corrupted by the world, is intelligent, has retained purity of feelings, simplicity and sincerity of heart; She has a very captivating and spontaneous nature without any falsehood, hypocrisy,...

The term “Turgenev's girl” hides the image of captivating heroines with special qualities of the soul with a dramatic fate.

Asya “Turgenev Girl” from the story “Asya” is a girl with an unusual destiny. Turgenev saturates not the external, but the internal...

1. N.N. is the hero-narrator of the story. He embodies the features of a new literary type for Turgenev, which replaced the “superfluous people.” First of all, in “Ace” there is no conflict with the outside world, which is usual for Turgenev’s “superfluous people”: the hero of the story is portrayed...

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The story “Asya” by I. S. Turgenev tells how the acquaintance of the main character, Mr. N. N., with the Gagins develops into a love story, which turned out to be a source of both sweet romantic longings and bitter torments for the hero, which later, over the years, lost their wit, but doomed the hero to the fate of a bore.

An interesting fact is that the author refused to give the hero a name, and there is no portrait of him. Various explanations can be given for this, but one thing is certain: I. S. Turgenev shifts the emphasis from the external to the internal, immersing us in the emotional experiences of the hero. From the very beginning of the story, the writer arouses sympathy among readers and trust in the hero-narrator. We learn that he is a cheerful, healthy, rich young man who loves to travel, observe life and people. He recently experienced a love failure, but with the help of subtle irony we understand that the love was not real love, but only entertainment.

And then a meeting with Gagin, in whom he felt a kindred spirit, a similarity of interests in music, painting, and literature. Communication with him and his sister Asya immediately set the hero in a sublime romantic mood.

On the second day of their acquaintance, he carefully watches Asya, who both attracts him and arouses in him a feeling of annoyance and even hostility with inexplicable, free actions. The hero is not aware of what is happening to him. He feels some kind of vague uneasiness, which grows into an anxiety incomprehensible to him; that jealous suspicion that the Gagins are not relatives.

But the conversation between Asya and Ganin overheard in the gazebo makes N.N. finally understand that he has already been captured by a deep and disturbing feeling of love. It is from him that he leaves for the mountains, and when he returns, he goes to the Ganins, having read the note from brother Asya. Having learned the truth about these people, he instantly regains his lost balance and defines his emotional state this way: “I felt some kind of sweetness - precisely sweetness in my heart: as if they had secretly poured me honey there...” The landscape sketch in chapter 10 helps to understand the psychological state of the hero in this significant day, becoming the “landscape” of the soul. It is at this moment of merging with nature that a new turn takes place in the hero’s inner world: what was vague and anxious suddenly turns into an undoubted and passionate thirst for happiness, which is associated with Asya’s personality. But the hero prefers to mindlessly surrender to the oncoming impressions: “I’m not only talking about the future, I didn’t think about tomorrow, I felt very good.” This indicates that at that moment N.N. was only ready to enjoy romantic contemplation, he did not feel in himself that it was taking away prudence and caution, while Asya had already “grown wings”, a deep feeling came to her and irresistible. Therefore, in the meeting scene, N.N. seems to be trying to hide behind reproaches and loud exclamations his unpreparedness for reciprocal feelings, his inability to surrender to love, which so slowly matures in his contemplative nature.

Having parted with Asya after an unsuccessful explanation, N.N. still does not know what awaits him in the future, “the loneliness of a familyless old man,” he hopes for “tomorrow’s happiness,” not knowing that “happiness has no tomorrow... it has the present is not a day, but a moment.” N.N.’s love for Asya, subject to the whimsical play of chance or the fatal predetermination of fate, will flare up later, when nothing can be corrected. The hero will be punished for not recognizing love, for doubting it. “And happiness was so close, so possible...”

29. “Russian man at rendez vous” (The hero of I. S. Turgenev’s story “Asya” in the assessment of N. G. Chernyshevsky)

N. G. Chernyshevsky begins his article “Russian man at rendez vous” with a description of the impression made on him by I. S. Turgenev’s story “Asya”. He says that against the backdrop of the business-like, incriminating stories prevailing at that time, which leave a heavy impression on the reader, this story is the only good thing. “The action is abroad, away from all the bad conditions of our home life. All the characters in the story are among the best people among us, very educated, extremely humane, imbued with the noblest way of thinking. The story has a purely poetic, ideal direction... But the last pages of the story are not like the first, and after reading the story the impression left is even more bleak than the stories about disgusting bribe-takers with their cynical robbery.” The whole point, notes N. G. Chernyshevsky, is in the character of the main character (he gives the name Romeo), who is a pure and noble person, but commits a shameful act at the decisive moment of an explanation with the heroine. The critic argues with the opinion of some readers who claim that the entire story is spoiled by “this outrageous scene”, that the character of the main person could not stand it. But the author of the article even gives examples from other works by I. S. Turgenev, as well as N. A. Nekrasov, to show that the situation in the story “Asya” turns out to be typical for Russian life, when the hero speaks a lot and beautifully about high aspirations, captivating enthusiastic girls capable of deep feelings and decisive actions, but as soon as “the matter comes to directly and accurately expressing their feelings and desires, most of the heroes begin to hesitate and feel slow in their language.”

“These are our “best people” - they are all like our Romeo,” concludes N. G. Chernyshevsky. But then he takes the hero of the story under his protection, saying that such behavior is not the fault of these people, but a misfortune. This is how society raised them: “their life was too petty for the soulless, all the relationships and affairs to which he was accustomed were petty and soulless,” “life taught them only to pale pettiness in everything.” Thus, N. G. Chernyshevsky shifts the emphasis from the hero’s guilt to the guilt of society, which excommunicated such noble people from civil interests.

30. Asya - one of Turgenev’s girls (based on the story “Asya” by I. S. Turgenev)

Turgenev's girls are heroines whose intelligence and richly gifted natures are not spoiled by the light, they have retained purity of feelings, simplicity and sincerity of heart; These are dreamy, spontaneous natures without any falsehood or hypocrisy, strong in spirit and capable of difficult accomplishments.

T. Vininikova

I. S. Turgenev names his story by the name of the heroine. However, the girl's real name is Anna. Let’s think about the meanings of the names: Anna – “grace, comeliness”, and Anastasia (Asya) – “born again”. Why does the author persistently call the pretty, graceful Anna Asya? When does rebirth occur? Let's turn to the text of the story.

Outwardly, the girl is not beautiful, although she seems very “pretty” to the narrator. This is typical of Turgenev’s heroines: in their appearance, the author values ​​personal charm, grace, and human uniqueness. This is exactly what Asya is like: “There was something unique, special, in the complexion of her darkish large face, with a small thin nose, almost childish cheeks and black, light eyes. She was gracefully built...” What an interesting detail of the portrait: black, light eyes. This is not just an external observation, but penetration with just the word “bright” into the depths of the heroine’s soul.

At first, Asya makes a strange impression on the main character, Mr. N.N., since she behaves completely differently from the well-bred, secular young ladies who are accustomed to him. In the presence of a guest, “she didn’t sit still, didn’t make a single move, got up, ran into the house and came running again, sang in a low voice, and often laughed.” Speed ​​and movement are the main features of the appearance of Turgenev’s heroine.

Watching Asya, seeing her as a fearless and headstrong girl, the narrator both admires her and is annoyed with her, and feels that she is playing different roles in life. Now she is a soldier marching with a gun, which shocked the prim British; then at the table she played the role of a well-bred young lady; then the next day she introduced herself as a simple Russian girl, almost a maid. “What a chameleon this girl is!” - exclaims the narrator, more and more captivated by Asya. Communication with this “girl overflowing with life” forces the hero to take a fresh look at himself, and for the first time in his years of youth he feels regret that his vitality is so senselessly wasted wandering around a foreign land.

Much in the behavior and character of the heroine becomes clear from the history of her childhood. This story is also unusual. The girl early learned the orphanhood and duality of her position; a person with such a pedigree as already was constantly humiliated and insulted; neither the peasant environment nor secular society accepted such people. Both the brother and then Mr. N.N. understood her “kind heart” and “poor head”, her modesty and joy, “inexperienced pride”, they saw how “she deeply feels and with what incredible strength these feelings are in her.”

Asya is magnificent in the chapters where her soul is revealed, feeling happiness. Previously, she was mysterious, she was tormented by uncertainty, she went to her idol, now he paid attention to her, but differently, “the thirst for happiness was kindled in him.” Between them, endless, difficult to convey conversations between lovers begin... And how uniquely rich Asya’s soul is against the backdrop of the fabulous beauty of nature! It is not for nothing that the author recalls the German folk legend about Lorelei.

Asya reveals herself to us more and more deeply and beautifully; she is characterized by an idealistic belief in the unlimited possibilities of man. She is attracted by romantic distances, she craves activity and is sure that “to live not in vain, to leave a trace behind oneself,” and also to accomplish a “difficult feat” is within the power of every person. When a girl talks about the wings that have grown on her, she means, first of all, the wings of love. In relation to Asa, this means a person’s ability to soar above everyday life. “There’s nowhere to fly,” the heroine, who has matured under the influence of a great feeling, realizes. These words contain not only an understanding of the futility of his love for a young aristocrat, but a premonition of his own difficult fate - the fate of a heavy “winged” nature in a cramped, closed world of “wingless” creatures.

This psychological contradiction between Mr. N.N. and Asya is most clearly expressed in the dating scene. The fullness of feeling experienced by Asya, her timidity, bashfulness and submission to fate are embodied in her laconic remarks, barely audible in the silence of the cramped room. But N.N. is not ready for a responsible feeling, unable to surrender to love, which so slowly matures in his contemplative nature.

Turgenev punishes his hero with a lonely, familyless life because he did not recognize love and doubted it. And love cannot be put off until tomorrow, this is a moment that has never been repeated in the hero’s life: “No eyes can replace those for me.” She will forever remain in his memory, Turgenev’s girl, strange and sweet, with a light laugh or tear-stained eyes, a girl who can give happiness...

31. Pictures of nature in I. S. Turgenev’s story “Asya”

I. S. Turgenev’s story “Asya” is sometimes called an elegy of unfulfilled, missed, but so close happiness. The plot of the work is simple, because the author is not interested in external events, but in the spiritual world of the characters, each of which has its own secret. In revealing the depths of the spiritual state of a loving person, the landscape also helps the author, which in the story becomes the “landscape of the soul.”

Here we have the first picture of nature, introducing us to the scene of action, a German town on the banks of the Rhine, given through the perception of the protagonist. About a young man who loves walks, especially at night and in the evening, peering into the clear sky with a motionless moon shedding a serene and exciting light, observing the slightest changes in the world around him, we can say that he is a romantic, with deep, sublime feelings.

This is further confirmed by the fact that he immediately felt sympathy for his new acquaintances, the Gagins, although before that he did not like meeting Russians abroad. The spiritual closeness of these young people is also revealed with the help of the landscape: the Gagins’ home was located in a wonderful place, which Asya especially liked. The girl immediately attracts the narrator's attention, her presence seems to illuminate everything around.

“You drove into the moon pillar, you broke it,” Asya shouted to me. This detail in Turgenev becomes a symbol, because the broken moon pillar can be compared with Asya’s broken life, the girl’s broken dreams of a hero, love, and flight.

Continuing acquaintance with the Gagins sharpened the narrator's feelings: he is attracted to the girl, he finds her strange, incomprehensible and surprising. A jealous suspicion that the Gagins are not brother and sister forces the hero to seek solace in nature: “The mood of my thoughts was just in line with the calm nature of that region. I gave myself entirely to the quiet play of chance, to the rushing impressions...” What follows is a description of what the young man saw during these three days: “a modest corner of German soil, with simple contentment, with ubiquitous traces of applied hands, patient, although unhurried work...” But the most important thing here is the remark that the hero “gave himself entirely to the quiet game of chance.” This phrase explains the contemplative nature of the narrator, his habit of not mentally straining himself, but of going with the flow, as is depicted in Chapter X, where the hero is actually sailing home in a boat, returning after a conversation that excited him with Asya, who opened her soul to him. It is at this moment of merging with nature that a new turn takes place in the hero’s inner world: what was vague, anxious, suddenly turns into an undoubted and passionate thirst for happiness, which is associated with Asya’s personality. But the hero prefers to mindlessly surrender to the oncoming impressions: “I’m not only talking about the future, I didn’t think about tomorrow, I felt very good.” Everything further happens rapidly: Asya’s excitement, her awareness of the futility of her love for the young aristocrat (“my wings have grown, but there is nowhere to fly”), a difficult conversation with Gagin, a dramatic meeting of the heroes, which showed the complete “winglessness” of the narrator, Asya’s hasty flight, the sudden departure of brother and sister. During this short time, the hero begins to see clearly, a reciprocal feeling flares up, but it is too late, when nothing can be corrected.

Having lived for many years as a familyless man, the narrator keeps as a shrine the girl’s notes and the dried geranium flower that she once threw to him from the window.

Asya’s feeling for Mr. N.N. is deep and irresistible, it is “unexpected and as irresistible as a thunderstorm,” according to Gagin. Detailed descriptions of mountains and powerful river flows symbolize the free development of the heroine’s feelings.

Only this “insignificant grass” and its slight smell remained for the hero from that beautiful, integral world of nature and the world of Asya’s soul, merged together in the brightest, most important days of the life of Mr. N.N., who lost his happiness.

32. Satirical depiction of reality in “The History of a City” by M. E. Saltykov‑Shchedrin (chapter “On the root of the origin of the Foolovites”)

“The Story of a City” is the greatest satirical novel. This is a merciless denunciation of the entire management system of tsarist Russia. Completed in 1870, “The History of a City” shows that the people in post-reform times remained as powerless as the officials - tyrants of the 70s. differed from pre-reform ones only in that they robbed using more modern, capitalist methods.

The city of Foolov is the personification of autocratic Russia, the Russian people. Its rulers embody specific features of historically reliable, living rulers, but these features are taken to their “logical conclusion” and are exaggerated. All the residents of Foolov - both the mayors and the people - live in some kind of nightmare, where the appearance of a ruler with an organ instead of a head, cruel tin soldiers instead of living ones, an idiot who dreams of destroying everything on earth, a bungler who walked “a mosquito eight miles” is quite understandable. catch”, etc. These images are constructed in the same way as the images of popular fantasy, but they are more terrible because they are more real. The monsters of Foolov's world are generated by this same world, nurtured by its rotten soil. Therefore, the satirist in “The History of a City” does not limit himself to ridiculing the rulers of the city; he also laughs bitterly at the slavish patience of the people.

The chapter “On the Roots of the Origin of the Foolovites,” according to the writer’s plan, was supposed to show the tradition of the emergence of the mayors’ favorite pastime - cutting and collecting arrears.

Initially, the Foolovites were called bunglers because “they had the habit of banging their heads on everything that came along the way. They come across a wall ─ they hit the wall; They’ll start praying to God and then they’ll scratch on the floor.” This “grabbing” already speaks enough about the spiritual, innate qualities of bunglers, which developed in them independently of the princes. With a bitter laugh, M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin writes that “having gathered together the Kurales, the Guscheeders and other tribes, the bunglers began to settle inside, with the obvious goal of achieving some kind of order.” “It started with kneading Kolga with tolas, then dragging the jelemka to the bathhouse, then boiling the kosh in the purse” and doing other senseless things, because of which even the two stupid princes who were found did not want to “deal with” the bunglers, calling them Foolovites. But the people could not get comfortable on their own. We definitely needed a prince, “who will make soldiers for us and build a fort as it should be!” Here the “historical people” are subjected to satirical ridicule, “carrying on their shoulders the Wartkins, Burcheevs, etc.,” with whom the writer, as he himself admitted, could not sympathize.

The bunglers voluntarily surrendered to bondage, “sighed unabated, cried out loudly,” but “the drama was already completed irrevocably.” And the oppression and theft of the Foolovites began, leading them to riots that were beneficial to the rulers. And “historical times” for Foolov began with a cry: “I’ll screw it up!” But despite the sharply critical attitude towards popular passivity, humility and patience, the author in “The History of a City” in other chapters paints the appearance of the people with soulful colors, this is especially clearly manifested in scenes of popular disasters.

But in his work, the author does not limit himself to showing pictures of the arbitrariness of the rulers and the long-suffering of the people, he also reveals the process of growing anger of the oppressed, convincing readers that this cannot continue: either Russia will cease to exist, or a turning point will occur that will wipe out the Russian land. the existing government system.

33. Folklore traditions in “The History of a City” by M. E. Saltykov‑Shchedrin (chapter “On the root of the origin of the Foolovites”)

“The History of One City” by M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin was written in the form of a narrative by a chronicler-archivist about the past of the city of Foolov, but the writer was not interested in a historical topic, he wrote about real Russia, about what worried him as an artist and a citizen of his country. Having stylized the events of a hundred years ago, giving them the features of the era of the 18th century, Saltykov-Shchedrin appears in different capacities: first he narrates the story on behalf of the archivists, the compilers of the Foolov Chronicler, then from the author, serving as a publisher and commentator on archival materials.

Approaching the presentation inventively, Saltykov-Shchedrin managed to combine the plot and motifs of legends, fairy tales, and other folklore works and simply, clearly convey to readers anti-monarchist ideas in pictures of folk life and the everyday concerns of Russians.

The novel opens with the chapter “Address to the Reader,” stylized in an ancient style, with which the writer acquaints his readers with his goal: “to depict the successive mayors in the city of Foolov from the Russian government at different times.”

The chapter “On the Roots of the Origin of the Foolovites” is written as a retelling of the chronicle. The beginning is an imitation of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”, a listing of famous historians of the 19th century who have directly opposite views on the historical process. Foolov's prehistoric times seem absurd and unrealistic; the actions of the peoples who lived in ancient times are far from conscious actions. That is why the Foolovites were called blockheads in the past, which in itself declares their innate essence.

Speaking about the attempts of the bunglers, having gathered together the Curoles, Guineds and other tribes, to settle down inside and achieve some kind of order, the writer cites many fables: “They kneaded the Volga with oatmeal, then they dragged a calf to the bathhouse, then they cooked porridge in a purse, then a crayfish with the ringing of bells met, then drove the pike off the eggs,” etc.

Just like their actions, the desire of the bunglers to get a prince is absurd. If in folk tales the heroes go in search of happiness, then these tribes need a ruler so that he can “make a soldier and build a prison as it should be.” Continuing to sneer at the bunglers, Saltykov-Shchedrin again resorts to folklore traditions: lexical repetitions, proverbs: “They searched and searched for the princes and almost got lost in three pines, but thank you, a blind-breed pedestrian happened to be here, who these three pines are like his own five knew his fingers."

In the spirit of folk tales, “good fellows” walk in search of the prince for three years and three days and find him only on the third attempt, passing through “a spruce forest and a berunichka, then a dense thicket, then a portage.” All these folklore traditions, combined with satire, create a unique style of the work and help the author emphasize the absurdity and meaninglessness of Foolov’s life.

But even in this chapter M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin finds an opportunity to feel sorry for the stupid people who voluntarily put the prince on their necks. He gives two full verses of the famous folk song “Don’t make noise, mother green oak tree,” accompanying it with sad comments: “The longer the song flowed, the lower the heads of the bunglers hung.”

The author resorts to the proverb genre when he speaks about the candidates for the role of landowner to the Foolovites: “Which of the two candidates should we give preference to: the Orlovets - on the grounds that “Eagle and Kromy are the first thieves”, or the Shuyashen, on the grounds that he “was in St. Petersburg, kicked him on his butt, and immediately fell.” Yes, the reign begins with thieves and fools and will be continued by them, but it is no coincidence that from the very beginning of their characterization a healthy folk wit sounds, which, according to the author’s thoughts, will defeat the headless monsters of Foolov’s world.

Throughout “The Story of a City” runs the idea that the long-suffering people will awaken and overcome difficulties, because they have not forgotten how to believe, love and hope.

34. Who is to blame for the heroine’s suffering? (based on the story “The Old Genius” by N. S. Leskov)

The work of N. S. Leskov is an important stage in the formation of the national identity of Russian literature. He was not afraid to speak the most bitter truth about his country and his people, because he believed in the possibility of changing them for the better. In his works he pays special attention to the fate of common people. And although the heroine of the story “The Old Genius” is not a peasant woman, but a landowner, she is a poor old woman who finds herself in a hopeless situation. This woman is portrayed with great authorial sympathy: “out of her kindness and simplicity,” she “rescued one high-society dandy from trouble by mortgaging for him her house, which constituted the old woman’s entire property and her real estate.” Then the writer will emphasize her exceptional honesty.

The court case started by the heroine will be resolved quickly and favorably for her. But the authorities will not move beyond this. No one wants to get involved with a young man who behaves in an openly unscrupulous manner (“we are all tired of him”), but remains unpunished because “he had some powerful relationship or property.” That’s why they couldn’t even hand him a court document, advising the old woman to stop trying to get him to pay the debt, although they sympathized with her. This is the “little thing of life” depicted by N. S. Leskov. There is no furious condemnation of the helpless authorities, no dishonest young man, no simple-minded old woman who believes people only because she “has dreams” and has a premonition. But behind this situation, so simply and artlessly conveyed, there arise the author’s serious and profound conclusions. When reading this story, the question involuntarily arises: if such a petty trial of not just an unresponsive peasant, but a landowner, and not with God knows what significant persons, but with a young dandy from a noble family, could not be resolved by either lower or higher authorities, then what Are the authorities even good then? And what is it like for people to live with such lack of rights? The story is written about post-reform times, and the writer shows that the essence of the state system has remained the same, that the fate of people is of little concern to officials of all ranks, that the law “who is richer is right” continues to govern life. Therefore, ordinary people will suffer from injustice if other equally simple, but honest, decent and resourceful people do not come to their aid, where is the “genius Ivan Ivanovich” in this story. And N. S. Leskov fervently believed in the existence of such people and it was with them that he pinned his hopes for the revival of Russia, for its great future.

35. Russian reality in the story “Old Genius” by N. S. Leskov

N. S. Leskov belongs to the generation of writers of the 60–90s. XIX century, who passionately loved Russia, its talented people and actively opposed the oppression of freedom and the suppression of individual freedom. He created essays, novels, stories about the fate of ordinary people, about original historical figures, about abuses of power, and outright predation. Other of his stories formed cycles. These are Christmas stories, quite rare in Russian literature of the 19th century. genre. These are “Christ Visiting the Archer”, “The Darner”, “Little Mistake”, etc. These include the story “The Old Genius”, written in 1884.

The action takes place in post-reform Russia, in St. Petersburg. The plot of the story is very simple: deceived by a dishonest high-society dandy, an old landowner who lent him money and mortgaged her house for this purpose comes to the capital to seek justice against him. But that was not the case. The authorities could not help her, and the poor woman had to use the services of an unknown desperate businessman, who turned out to be a decent person and settled this difficult matter. The narrator calls him a “genius.”

This story is preceded by an epigraph: “A genius has no years - he overcomes everything that stops ordinary minds.” And in this story, the “genius” overcame what the government could not do. And after all, we were not talking about some kind of omnipotent personality, just about a young, flighty man who belonged to one of the best families, who bothered the authorities with his dishonesty. But the judicial authorities could not even hand over the paper to him for execution.

The author narrates this story in a simple, almost fairy-tale manner, without explicitly condemning anyone or ridiculing anyone. And “the lawyer she met was sympathetic and merciful, and in court the decision was favorable for her at the beginning of the dispute,” and no one took payment from her, then suddenly it turns out there was no way, “it was impossible to rein in” this deceiver because of some “powerful connections” . Thus, N. S. Leskov focuses the reader’s attention on the complete lack of rights of the individual in Russia.

But the peculiarity of Leskov’s writing talent is that he also saw the positive beginnings of Russian life, depicted the rich talent of the Russian person, his depth and integrity. In the story “The Old Genius,” this light of goodness is carried by the heroine herself, “a woman of wonderful honesty,” “a kind old woman,” and the narrator, who helped her with the necessary money, and the most important “genius of thought” ─ Ivan Ivanovich. This is a mysterious person who, for some unknown reason, decided to help the unfortunate woman and arranged a very clever situation in which the debtor was simply forced to pay.

The favorable outcome of the story occurs at Christmas, and this is no coincidence, since the author believes in the spiritual nature of man, in the righteous of Russian life.

36. The role of composition in L. N. Tolstoy’s story “After the Ball” in revealing its ideological and artistic content

In the story “After the Ball” by L. N. Tolstoy, written in the 90s. 19th century, depicting the 1840s. The writer thereby set the creative task of restoring the past in order to show that its horrors live in the present, only slightly changing their forms. The author does not ignore the problem of a person’s moral responsibility for everything that happens around him.

In revealing this ideological concept, the composition of the story, built on the basis of the “story within a story” technique, plays an important role. The work begins suddenly, with a conversation about the moral values ​​of life: “that for personal improvement it is necessary to first change the conditions among which people live,” “what is good and what is bad,” and also ends suddenly, without conclusions. The introduction, as it were, sets up the reader for the perception of subsequent events and introduces the narrator, Ivan Vasilyevich. Then he tells the listeners an incident from his life that happened a long time ago, but answers the questions of our time.

This main part of the work consists of two scenes: a ball and a scene of punishment, and the main part in revealing the ideological plan, judging by the title of the story, is the second part.

The episode of the ball and the events after the ball are depicted using antithesis. The contrast between these two paintings is expressed in many details: colors, sounds, the mood of the characters. For example: “a beautiful ball” - “which is unnatural”, “famous musicians” - “an unpleasant, shrill melody”, “a face flushed with dimples” - “a face wrinkled with suffering”, “a white dress, in white gloves, in white shoes” - “something big, black,... these are black people”, “soldiers in black uniforms.” The last contrast between the colors black and white is further strengthened by the repetition of these words.

The state of the main character in these two scenes contrasts; it can be expressed in the words: “At that time I embraced the whole world with my love” - and after the ball: “I was so ashamed... I was about to vomit with all the horror that entered this spectacle hits me."

An important place in the contrasting paintings is occupied by the image of the colonel. In the tall military man in an overcoat and cap, in charge of punishment, Ivan Vasilyevich does not immediately recognize the handsome, fresh, with sparkling eyes and joyful smile of his beloved Varenka’s father, whom he recently looked at at the ball with enthusiastic amazement. But it was Pyotr Vladislavovich “with his ruddy face and white mustache and sideburns,” and with the same “his strong hand in a suede glove” he beats the frightened, short, weak soldier. By repeating these details, L.N. Tolstoy wants to show the sincerity of the colonel in two different situations. It would be easier for us to understand him if he was pretending somewhere, trying to hide his true face. But no, he is still the same in the execution scene.

This sincerity of the colonel, apparently, led Ivan Vasilyevich into a dead end and did not allow him to fully understand the contradictions of life, but he changed his life path under the influence of what happened. Therefore, there are no conclusions at the end of the story. L. N. Tolstoy’s talent lies in the fact that he makes the reader think about the questions posed throughout the course of the narrative, the composition of the work.

L. N. Tolstoy’s story “After the Ball” develops the theme of “tearing off all and every mask” from the carefree, washed, festive life of some, contrasting it with the lack of rights and oppression of others. But at the same time, the writer makes readers think about such moral categories as honor, duty, conscience, which at all times made a person responsible for everything that happens to him and to society. The composition of the story itself, built on the contrast of images of a ball and the punishment of a fugitive soldier, conveyed through the perception of the young man Ivan Vasilyevich, leads us to these reflections. It is he who has to understand “what is good and what is bad,” evaluate what he saw and make a choice of his future destiny.

The young man’s life was prosperous and carefree; no “theories” or “circles” interested either him or the other young students close to him. But at the same time, there was nothing reprehensible in their passion for balls, skating, and light feasts. We are imbued with sincere sympathy for Ivan Vasilyevich at the ball when we see him enchanted by the festive atmosphere of the dinner party, tenderly in love with Varenka. The words speak about the enthusiastic, responsive soul of this man: “I was not me, but some unearthly being, knowing no evil and capable of only good,” “at that time I embraced the whole world with my love.”

And for the first time in his life, this hot-tempered, impressionable young man was faced with cruel injustice, with humiliation of human dignity, shown not even towards him. He saw that a terrible reprisal against a man was carried out in an ordinary, habitual way by a man who himself had recently been kind and cheerful at the same ball.

Horror from what he saw entered the living soul of the young man; he “was so ashamed” that he “lowered his eyes” and “hurried to go home.” Why didn’t he intervene in what was happening, didn’t express his indignation, and didn’t accuse the colonel of cruelty and callousness? Probably because such a terrible scene, seen for the first time, simply stunned the young man, and was also confused by the sincerity with which the colonel behaved during this punishment. “Obviously, he knows something that I don’t know,” Ivan Vasilyevich thought. “If I knew what he knows, I would understand what I saw, and it would not torment me.” From the story we learn that Ivan Vasilyevich failed to “get to the root” in his thoughts. But his conscience did not allow him to become a military man in later life, because he could not deal with a person like that “according to the law”, to serve cruelty.

And the character of the colonel, this actually loving father, a pleasant person in society, was firmly entrenched in distorted concepts of duty, honor, and dignity, which made it possible to trample on the rights of other people and doom them to suffering.

In one of his articles, L. N. Tolstoy wrote: “The main harm is in the mental state of those people who establish, permit, prescribe this lawlessness, those who use it as a threat, and all those who live in the belief that the violation of all justice and humanity is necessary for a good right life. What terrible moral mutilation must occur in the minds and hearts of such people..."

38. Why didn’t Ivan Vasilyevich serve anywhere? (based on the story by L. N. Tolstoy “After the Ball”)

The composition of L.N. Tolstoy’s work “After the Ball” is a “story within a story.” The narrative begins with the words of Ivan Vasilyevich, whom the author briefly introduces in the introduction. We are talking about the moral values ​​of human life, about “that for personal improvement it is necessary to first change the conditions among which people live,” “what is good and what is bad.” Ivan Vasilyevich was described as a “respected” person, he said “very sincerely and truthfully.”

After such established trust in the hero, we hear his story about one morning that changed his whole life.

The event takes place at a time when the narrator was young, rich, carefree, like his friends with whom he studied at a provincial university, had fun at balls, parties, skating with young ladies and did not think about the serious issues of life.

At the ball that he describes, Ivan Vasilyevich was especially happy: he is in love with Varenka, who reciprocates his feelings, he is happy and “at that time he embraced the whole world with his love.” The ability to have such feelings testifies to the enthusiastic, sincere, broad soul of a young man.

And for the first time in his life, this ardent young man is faced with another, terrible world, the existence of which he did not suspect. The scene he saw of the cruel punishment of a fugitive soldier, carried out under the supervision of Varenka’s father, filled Ivan Vasilyevich’s soul with unimaginable horror, almost physical melancholy, reaching the point of nausea. The execution itself was terrible, but the hero was also struck by the fact that it was led by the same dear colonel “with his ruddy face and white mustache and sideburns,” whom Ivan Vasilyevich had just seen at the ball. The narrator, meeting his eyes with Pyotr Vladislavovich, felt shame and embarrassment, which later turned into painful thoughts about what he saw: “obviously, he (the colonel) knows something that I don’t know... If I knew what he knows, I would I understood what I saw, and it would not torment me.”

“If this was done with such confidence and was recognized by everyone as necessary, then, therefore, they knew something that I did not know.”

But Ivan Vasilyevich could not understand the need to mock a person and humiliate his dignity. And therefore “I could not enter military service, as I wanted before, and not only did not serve in the military, but I did not serve anywhere and, as you see, was not suitable for anything,” the hero concludes his story. Conscientiousness and a sense of responsibility for everything that happens in life did not allow Ivan Vasilyevich to become a “cog” in a soulless state machine.

What did this man do after all, having matured after that memorable morning? The author does not give us a direct answer, but in the words of the listeners of Ivan Vasilyevich’s story there is recognition of his services to those people whom he was able to help in life: “Well, we know how worthless you are,” said one of us. “Tell me better: no matter how many people would be worthless if you weren’t there.”

39. Autumn in the lyrics of Russian poets (based on the poems by M. Yu. Lermontov “Autumn” and F. I. Tyutchev “Autumn Evening”)

The nature of our native country is an inexhaustible source of inspiration for poets, musicians, and artists. They all recognized themselves as part of nature, “breathed the same life with nature,” as F.I. Tyutchev said. Other remarkable lines belong to him:

Not what you think, nature:

Not a cast, not a soulless face -

She has a soul, she has freedom,

It has love, it has language...

It was Russian poetry that was able to penetrate the soul of nature and hear its language. In the poetic masterpieces of A. S. Pushkin, A. A. Fet, S. Nikitin, F. I. Tyutchev, M. Yu. Lermontov and many other authors, different seasons are reflected in generalized paintings (for example, “Sad time! The charm of the eyes!”), and in their beautiful moments (“O first lily of the valley!”).

It cannot be said that any time of the year received more or less creative attention. It’s just that in every state of nature the poet can see and hear the consonance with his thoughts and feelings.

Here before us are two “autumn” poems by M. Yu. Lermontov and F. I. Tyutchev: “Autumn” and “Autumn Evening”.

One of them, a poem by Lermontov, paints a kind of generalized picture of the autumn season, including the landscape, the life of animals, and the mood of people. The defining words here are: “drooped”, “gloomy”, “does not like”, “hide”, “dim”. They are the ones who create the sad emotional background of the poem and convey the feeling of some kind of loss. But Lermontov is a poet who sees the world as bright and full of movement. So in this small work there is a bright color scheme: a combination of yellow, green, silver, and verbs here make up almost a third of the independent parts of speech. In the first two lines, the use of three verbs in a row immediately creates the impression of autumn wind and freshness.

The next picture is the opposite of the first: it is static: “Only in the forest the spruce trees have drooped, they keep the gloomy greenery.” But the technique of personification revives it too.

And here is a man - a plowman, who has finished his hard work on the earth. Yes, now he won’t have to rest between the flowers for long, but this is the law of life, and there is no hopeless sadness in this picture either.

Every living thing meets autumn in its own way, which is why “the brave beast is in a hurry to hide somewhere.” The epithet “brave” is interesting; M. Yu. Lermontov conveys his admiration for the intelligent structure of the living world: after all, animals skillfully hide and survive the harsh winter.

In the last lines, the poet turns his gaze from the earth to the sky: there is a dim month, fog. And yet the field is silver even under this dim light.

Lermontov creates a picture of autumn, full of harmony, naturalness, and life.

F. I. Tyutchev also managed to capture the “touching, mysterious charm” in autumn evenings. This poet feels subtle transitions from late winter to early spring or from late summer to early autumn. Nature in his poems is alive and active, as if she keeps her own calendar.

The poem “Autumn Evening” captures the transition of sad, orphaned nature to descending storms, the moment of fading is stopped, the mysterious soul of the living world is depicted, suffering from the departure of the variegated trees, foggy and quiet azure. Therefore, at the end of the poem, it is so natural to parallel this state of nature with the world of rational beings, meekly and bashfully enduring inevitable suffering. The epithet “sinister” attracts attention; this is how Tyutchev sees the shine of autumn leaves. This word stands out among other figurative definitions of the poem: “quiet azure”, “sadly orphaned land”, “gentle smile”. The above epithets leave the impression of dying life, reinforced by the words “damage, exhaustion,” and therefore the diversity of trees with crimson leaves against this background seems somehow defiantly unnatural; deceptive and therefore “sinister.”

The poem was written by Tyutchev as if in one breath, because it contains only one sentence in which the soul of man and the soul of nature merged into a single whole.

40. Spring in the lyrics of Russian poets (based on the poems by A. A. Fet “The First Lily of the Valley” and A. N. Maykov “The Field Ripples with Flowers”)

A. N. Maykov and A. A. Fet can rightfully be called singers of nature. In landscape lyricism they reached brilliant artistic heights and true depth. Their poetry attracts with its sharpness of vision, subtlety of image, and loving attention to the smallest details of the life of their native nature.

A. N. Maikov was also a good artist, so he loved to poetically depict the bright, sunny state of nature in his poems. And what could be brighter and sunnier than a singing spring or summer day? The earth, awakened and coming into force after the cold weather, pleases the eye with a riot of colors, “warms the heart” with hopes and greetings, makes one smile for no reason, as described in the poem by A. N. Maykov “Afterwards it ripples with flowers.”

The poetic space here is devoid of images, it is all flooded with light, even the singing of larks seems to dissolve in the “splendor of midday.” And the poet places himself inside this picture, without violating its harmony, but on the contrary, conveying the state of happy unity of the human soul and the surrounding world in a moment of delight:

But, listening to them, eyes to the sky,

Smiling, I turn.

The sublime, solemn mood of the poem is given by the vocabulary: “shakes”, “abyss”, “gaze”, “amuse”, “listen”.

These words of high stylistic coloring seem to carry the reader into the blue abysses, where the poet also directs his gaze.

The world in the lyrics of A. A. Fet is also harmonious and beautiful. But the poet does not strive to depict a holistic and complete image of nature. He is interested in “poetic events” in the life of nature: roses are sad and laughing, a bell is ringing subtly in a flower garden, a fluffy spring willow spreads its branches, and the “first lily of the valley” “asks for sun rays from under the snow.” Of course, the richest in such events can again be spring with its desire for life and joy. That is why there are so many exclamatory sentences in the poem “The First Lily of the Valley”. It is important for Fet not to photographically accurately depict natural phenomena, but to convey his impressions of them. And the lily of the valley in his poem becomes not just an image, but an image-experience:

O first lily of the valley! From under the snow

You ask for the sun's rays;

What virginal bliss

In your fragrant purity!

Such poems are addressed not to the mind, but to the feelings of a person with his penchant for unexpected connections and associations:

This is how a girl sighs for the first time

About what - it is unclear to her -

And a timid sigh smells fragrant

The abundance of young life.

Fet has “air, light and thoughts at the same time”: his poetic feeling penetrates beyond the boundaries of ordinary things and phenomena into the transcendental mystery of the universe:

How bright is the first ray of spring!

What dreams descend in it!

This explains the poet’s violation of the traditional conventions of metaphorical language; all boundaries between man and nature are eliminated: the poem talks about both the lily of the valley and the maiden.

Another feature of Fetov’s lyrics is their musicality, which is manifested in the voicing of objects and phenomena of the surrounding world. There is also a song beginning in the poem “The First Lily of the Valley”. It is created, firstly, by lexical repetitions: “first”, “spring - spring”, “virgin - virgin”, “sighs - sigh”, as well as anaphors: “how”, “what”, synonyms: “fragrant - fragrant "

Reading poems such as “The field is rippling with flowers” ​​and “The First Lily of the Valley” is a real pleasure, allowing you to plunge into the wonderful world of poetry and spring.

41. The inner world of the hero in A. P. Chekhov’s story “About Love”

A.P. Chekhov's story “About Love” is on a par with his other two stories “The Man in a Case” and “Gooseberry,” which are called the “little trilogy.” In these works, the writer passes judgment on people with truncated life horizons, indifferent to the wealth and beauty of God's world, who have limited themselves to petty, philistine interests.

In the story “About Love” we read about how a living, sincere, mysterious feeling is destroyed by the loving hearts themselves, committed to a “case” existence. The story is told on behalf of Pavel Konstantinovich Alekhine, a Russian intellectual, a decent, intelligent man who lives alone and joylessly. He told his friends the story of his love for a married lady, Anna Alekseevna Luganovich, to confirm his idea that we, Russian people, “when we love, we never stop asking ourselves questions: is it fair or dishonest, smart or stupid, what will this love lead to, and etc. Whether this is good or not, I don’t know, but that it interferes, does not satisfy, irritates, I know that.” But this burden of moral doubts prevented the hero not only in love; at the beginning of his story, he says a few words about himself that reveal his inner world. Alekhine, by his inclinations, is an armchair scientist, forced to lead the everyday life of a successful landowner, which takes up all his free time, and at the same time he experienced boredom and disgust. His love for a young woman made him even more unhappy. She only confirmed the hero’s impossibility of breaking with a joyless existence: “Where could I take her? It would be a different matter if I had a beautiful, interesting life, if I fought for the liberation of my homeland or was a famous scientist, artist, painter, otherwise I would have to carry her away from one ordinary, everyday environment into another equally or even more everyday one. " The hero understands that in the life to which he has doomed himself, there is no place for the great sacrament that is love. The inertia of the existence of Alekhine and Anna Alekseevna held their souls captive and ultimately destroyed their feelings. And only when separation came, with a burning pain in his heart, the hero realized “how petty and deceptive it was” everything that prevented them from loving. But insight is a little late and the words spent do not come followed by righteous deeds.

The story is structured as a monologue of the main character, but there is an introduction to it and an ending that allows the author to give his assessment of this story. The landscape sketch framed by the story is noteworthy: Alekhine begins his story in bleak, rainy weather, when only a gray sky was visible through the windows. This capacious Chekhovian detail is a symbol of the gray, dull life that the hero leads and his inner world. But the end of the story: “While Alekhine was telling the story, the rain stopped and the sun came out,” the heroes admire the beautiful view, and along with the sadness of what they heard, purification comes to their soul, which allows A.P. Chekhov to hope that healthy aspirations are in his thoughts and the feelings of the Russian people will still be stronger than a bloodless and boring existence.

42 The problem of the positive hero in M. Gorky’s story “Chelkash”

In Maxim Gorky's story "Chelkash" there are two main characters - Grishka Chelkash - an old poisoned sea wolf, an inveterate drunkard and a clever thief, and Gavrila - a simple village guy, a poor man, like Chelkash.

Initially, I perceived the image of Chelkash as negative: a drunkard, a thief, all in rags, bones covered in brown leather, a cold predatory look, a gait like the flight of a bird of prey. This description evokes some disgust and hostility. But Gavrila, on the contrary, is broad-shouldered, stocky, tanned, with large blue eyes, his gaze is trusting and good-natured, there was simplicity in him, perhaps even naivety, which gave zest to his image. Gorky brings his two heroes face to face, so they get acquainted and go to a common cause - theft. (For the fact that Grishka dragged Gavrila into his affairs, Chelkash can safely be called a negative hero). But in the course of their common business, a negative opinion is formed about Gavril: he is a coward, showed weakness: he sobbed, cried, and this causes hostility towards the guy. There seems to be a reversal of roles: Chelkash turns from a negative character into a positive one, and Gavrila is the opposite. Here you can see manifestations of Chelkash’s true human feelings: it was a shame for him to lie to the boy. He, the thief, passionately loved the sea, this endless, free, powerful element, this feeling cleansed him from everyday problems, at sea he became better, thought a lot, philosophized. Gavrila was deprived of all this; he loved the land, peasant life. However, Chelkash is also connected to the earth, connected by the sweat of many generations, connected by memories of childhood. Gavrila aroused pity in the old sea wolf, he felt sorry for him and was angry with himself for it.

The main problem of the positive hero is that he is too kind; not everyone would give all the money to a complete stranger, even if earned through dishonest labor, for which he risked his life and freedom. Moreover, Gavrila greatly hurt the pride (and Chelkash was very proud) of Chelkash, he called him an unnecessary person, insignificant, he (Gavrila) does not appreciate or respect the person who did him good. In addition, he is greedy, he almost killed a man for money, and is ready to sell his soul for an extra penny. Chelkash, despite his riotous lifestyle, the fact that he is a thief and a reveler, cut off from everything dear to him, has not lost his sense of reason, his sense of conscience. He is truly glad that he did not and will never become greedy, low, not remembering himself because of money, ready to suffocate because of a penny.

The main ideal of Chelkash’s life has always been and will forever remain freedom, broad, boundless, powerful, like the sea element.

43. Landscape in M. Gorky’s story “Chelkash”

Poets and writers of different times and peoples used descriptions of nature to reveal the inner world of the hero, his character, and mood. The landscape is especially important at the climax of the work, when the conflict, the hero’s problem, and his internal contradiction are described.

Maxim Gorky could not do without this in the story “Chelkash”. The story, in fact, begins with artistic sketches. The writer uses dark colors (“the blue southern sky darkened by dust is cloudy”, “the sun looks through a gray veil”, “waves chained in granite”, “foamed, polluted with various rubbish”), this already sets one in a certain mood, makes one think, be wary, be on the alert.

These pictures are complemented by sounds: “the ringing of anchor chains,” “the roar of wagons,” “the metallic scream of iron sheets.” All these details seem to warn us of an impending conflict. And against this background Grishka Chelkash appears - an old poisoned wolf, a drunkard and a brave thief. The description of his appearance fully corresponds to the description of the paintings of the port; the author uses gloomy colors - “disheveled black and gray hair and a worn-out, sharp, predatory face”, “cold gray eyes”, this evokes some disdain and disgust for the hero. Against the same background we see a young, stocky guy - Gavrila. An acquaintance is struck between them, Chelkash invites this guy to take part in the matter - in theft, but Gavrila does not yet know what this business is.

Night, silence, clouds floating across the sky, a calm sea, sleeping in the healthy sound sleep of “a worker who was very tired during the day.” Both heroes are also calm, but behind this calm lies internal tension. As this tension grows from internal to external, Gorky shows how the sea awakens, how the waves roar, and this noise is terrible. This fear is also born in Gavrila’s soul. Chelkash left Gavrila alone, and he went off to get the “booty.” And again everything was quiet, it was cold, dark, ominous, and most importantly - everything was silent. And this deaf silence made it creepy. Gavrila felt crushed by this silence, and although he despised Chelkash, he was still glad of his return. Meanwhile, the night became darker and more silent, and this gave confidence and strength to complete a successful “operation”, the sea became calm, and both heroes regained their peace of mind. Nature seemed to help the heroes overcome all obstacles and successfully reach the shore. Landscape sketches reflect the inner state of the characters: everything is calm, and the sea is calm...

In the last scene - the scene of the conflict between Chelkash and Gavrila - we see a picture of rain, at first it comes in small drops, and then larger and larger. This exactly matches the brewing conflict: at first it was based simply on begging for money, and then on a fight. The trickles of rain wove a whole network of threads of water, in my opinion, M. Gorky wanted to show that Gavrila was entangled in the network of his own thoughts: he wanted to get money, and not just his share, but all the “earned” money, and secondly, he planned killing a person if he did not voluntarily give up the money, and thirdly, for all this he wanted to receive forgiveness so that his conscience would be clear.

And the rain kept pouring down, its drops and splashes of water washed away traces of the drama, the small conflict that flared up between the old wolf and the young man.

Undoubtedly, the role of landscape is great in the work. From these descriptions it is easier to understand the character of the heroes, what they are up to, an idea of ​​what will happen next is formed, thanks to them one can feel the approaching conflict, the peak and denouement of the conflict.

44. Chelkash and Gavrila (based on the story “Chelkash” by M. Gorky)

Gorky’s early work (90s of the 19th century) was created under the sign of “collecting” the truly human: “I recognized people very early and from my youth began to invent Man in order to satiate my thirst for beauty. Wise people... convinced me that I had invented a bad consolation for myself. Then I went to people again and - it’s so clear! “I am returning from them to Man again,” Gorky wrote at that time.

Stories from the 1890s can be divided into two groups: some of them are based on fiction - the author uses legends or composes them himself; others draw characters and scenes from the real lives of tramps.

The story “Chelkash” is based on a real incident. Later, the writer recalled the tramp who served as the prototype for Chelkash. Gorky met this man in a hospital in the city of Nikolaev (Khersones). “I was amazed at the good-natured mockery of the Odessa tramp, who told me the incident I described in the story “Chelkash”. I remember well his smile, revealing his magnificent white teeth - the smile with which he concluded the story about the treacherous act of the guy he hired ... "

The story has two main characters: Chelkash and Gavrila. Both are tramps, poor, both village men, of peasant origin, accustomed to work. Chelkash met this guy by chance, on the street. Chelkash recognized “one of his own” in him: Gavrila was “wearing the same pants, bast shoes and a tattered red cap.” He was of heavy build. Gorky several times draws our attention to large blue eyes, looking trustingly and good-naturedly. With psychological precision, the guy defined Chelkash’s “profession” - “we cast nets along dry banks, over barns, over whips.”

Gorky contrasts Chelkash with Gavril. Chelkash at first “despised”, and then “hated” the guy for his youth, “clean blue eyes”, healthy tanned face, short strong arms, because he has his own house in the village, that he wants to start a family, but most importantly , as it seems to me, this is that Gavrila has not yet known the life that this experienced man leads, because he dares to love freedom, which he does not know the price of, and which he does not need.

Chelkash seethed and shuddered from the insult inflicted by the guy, from the fact that he dared to object to an adult man.

Gavrila was very afraid to go fishing, because this was his first business of this kind. Chelkash was calm as always, he was amused by the guy’s fear, and he enjoyed it and reveled in what a formidable person he, Chelkash, was.

Chelkash rowed slowly and evenly, Gavrila – quickly, nervously. This speaks of strength of character. Gavrila is a beginner, that’s why his first hike is so difficult for him, for Chelkash this is just another hike, a common thing. This is where the negative side of a man comes into play: he doesn’t show patience and doesn’t understand the guy, he yells at him and intimidates him. However, on the way back, a conversation began, during which Gavrila asked the man: “What are you now without land?” These words made Chelkash think, pictures of his childhood, the past, the life that was before the thieves surfaced. The conversation fell silent, but Chelkash even smelled of the village from Gavrila’s silence. These memories made me feel lonely, torn out, thrown out of that life.

The climax of the story is the scene of a fight over money. Gavrila was attacked by greed, he became scary, an incomprehensible excitement moved him. Greed took possession of the young man, who began to demand all the money. Chelkash perfectly understood the condition of his ward, went to meet him halfway and gave him the money.

But Gavrila acted basely, cruelly, humiliated Chelkash, saying that he was an unnecessary person and that no one would have missed him if Gavrila had killed him. This, naturally, hit Chelkash’s self-esteem; anyone in his place would have done the same.

Chelkash is undoubtedly a positive hero; Gorky puts Gavrila in contrast to him.

Chelkash, despite the fact that he leads a riotous lifestyle and steals, would never act as basely as this guy. It seems to me that the main things for Chelkash are life and freedom, and he would not tell anyone that his life is worthless. Unlike the young man, he knows the joys of life and, most importantly, life and moral values.