Alexei Tolstoy is a Russian character, what is he like? Online reading of the book stories about the Russian character Alexei Nikolaevich Tolstoy. An ordinary guy - Egor Dremov
" At the beginning of it, Dobrolyubov writes that “Ostrovsky has a deep understanding of Russian life.” Next, he analyzes articles about Ostrovsky by other critics, writing that they “lack a direct view of things.”
Then Dobrolyubov compares “The Thunderstorm” with dramatic canons: “The subject of the drama must certainly be an event where we see the struggle between passion and duty - with the unhappy consequences of the victory of passion or with the happy ones when duty wins.” Also, the drama must have unity of action, and it must be written in high literary language. “The Thunderstorm”, at the same time, “does not satisfy the most essential goal of the drama - to instill respect for moral duty and show the harmful consequences of being carried away by passion. Katerina, this criminal, appears to us in the drama not only not in a sufficiently gloomy light, but even with the radiance of martyrdom. She speaks so well, suffers so pitifully, everything around her is so bad that you take up arms against her oppressors and thus justify vice in her person. Consequently, drama does not fulfill its high purpose. All the action is sluggish and slow, because it is cluttered with scenes and faces that are completely unnecessary. Finally, the language in which the characters speak exceeds any patience of a well-bred person.”
Dobrolyubov makes this comparison with the canon in order to show that approaching a work with a ready-made idea of what should be shown in it does not provide true understanding. “What to think about a man who, upon seeing a pretty woman, suddenly begins to resonate that her figure is not like that of the Venus de Milo? The truth is not in dialectical subtleties, but in the living truth of what you are discussing. It cannot be said that people are evil by nature, and therefore one cannot accept for literary works principles such as, for example, that vice always triumphs and virtue is punished.”
“The writer has so far been given a small role in this movement of humanity towards natural principles,” writes Dobrolyubov, after which he recalls Shakespeare, who “moved the general consciousness of people to several levels to which no one had risen before him.” Next, the author turns to other critical articles about “The Thunderstorm,” in particular, by Apollo Grigoriev, who argues that Ostrovsky’s main merit lies in his “nationality.” “But Mr. Grigoriev does not explain what nationality consists of, and therefore his remark seemed very funny to us.”
Then Dobrolyubov comes to define Ostrovsky’s plays in general as “plays of life”: “We want to say that with him the general situation of life is always in the foreground. He punishes neither the villain nor the victim. You see that their situation dominates them, and you only blame them for not showing enough energy to get out of this situation. And that’s why we never dare to consider as unnecessary and superfluous those characters in Ostrovsky’s plays who do not directly participate in the intrigue. From our point of view, these persons are just as necessary for the play as the main ones: they show us the environment in which the action takes place, they depict the situation that determines the meaning of the activities of the main characters in the play.”
In “The Thunderstorm” the need for “unnecessary” persons (minor and episodic characters) is especially visible. Dobrolyubov analyzes the remarks of Feklusha, Glasha, Dikiy, Kudryash, Kuligin, etc. The author analyzes the internal state of the heroes of the “dark kingdom”: “everything is somehow restless, it’s not good for them. Besides them, without asking them, another life has grown up, with different beginnings, and although it is not yet clearly visible, it is already sending bad visions to the dark tyranny of tyrants. And Kabanova is very seriously upset about the future of the old order, with which she has outlived the century. She foresees their end, tries to maintain their significance, but already feels that there is no former respect for them and that at the first opportunity they will be abandoned.”
Then the author writes that “The Thunderstorm” is “Ostrovsky’s most decisive work; mutual relations of tyranny are brought to the most tragic consequences; and for all that, most of those who have read and seen this play agree that there is even something refreshing and encouraging in “The Thunderstorm.” This “something” is, in our opinion, the background of the play, indicated by us and revealing the precariousness and the near end of tyranny. Then the very character of Katerina, drawn against this background, also breathes on us with new life, which is revealed to us in her very death.”
Further, Dobrolyubov analyzes the image of Katerina, perceiving it as “a step forward in all of our literature”: “Russian life has reached the point where the need for more active and energetic people was felt.” The image of Katerina “is unswervingly faithful to the instinct of natural truth and selfless in the sense that it is better for him to die than to live under those principles that are disgusting to him. In this integrity and harmony of character lies his strength. Free air and light, contrary to all the precautions of dying tyranny, burst into Katerina’s cell, she strives for a new life, even if she has to die in this impulse. What does death matter to her? All the same, she does not consider life to be the vegetation that befell her in the Kabanov family.”
The author analyzes in detail the motives of Katerina’s actions: “Katerina does not at all belong to the violent character, dissatisfied, who loves to destroy. On the contrary, this is a predominantly creative, loving, ideal character. That's why she tries to ennoble everything in her imagination. The feeling of love for a person, the need for tender pleasures naturally opened up in the young woman.” But it won’t be Tikhon Kabanov, who is “too downtrodden to understand the nature of Katerina’s emotions: “If I don’t understand you, Katya,” he tells her, “then you won’t get a word from you, let alone affection, otherwise you yourself you’re climbing.” This is how spoiled natures usually judge a strong and fresh nature.”
Dobrolyubov comes to the conclusion that in the image of Katerina, Ostrovsky embodied a great popular idea: “in other creations of our literature, strong characters are like fountains, dependent on an extraneous mechanism. Katerina is like a big river: a flat, good bottom - it flows calmly, large stones are encountered - it jumps over them, a cliff - it cascades, they dam it - it rages and breaks through in another place. It bubbles not because the water suddenly wants to make noise or get angry at obstacles, but simply because it needs it to fulfill its natural requirements - for further flow.”
Analyzing Katerina's actions, the author writes that he considers the escape of Katerina and Boris possible as the best solution. Katerina is ready to flee, but here another problem emerges - Boris’s financial dependence on his uncle Dikiy. “We said a few words above about Tikhon; Boris is the same, in essence, only educated.”
At the end of the play, “we are pleased to see Katerina’s deliverance - even through death, if it is impossible otherwise. Living in the “dark kingdom” is worse than death. Tikhon, throwing himself on his wife’s corpse, pulled out of the water, shouts in self-forgetfulness: “Good for you, Katya!” Why did I stay in the world and suffer!“ With this exclamation the play ends, and it seems to us that nothing could have been invented stronger and more truthful than such an ending. Tikhon’s words make the viewer think not about a love affair, but about this whole life, where the living envy the dead.”
In conclusion, Dobrolyubov addresses the readers of the article: “If our readers find that Russian life and Russian strength are called by the artist in “The Thunderstorm” to a decisive cause, and if they feel the legitimacy and importance of this matter, then we are satisfied, no matter what our scientists say and literary judges."
What do you think about when you re-read what Dmitry Ivanovich Pisarev wrote about “The Thunderstorm” by Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky? Perhaps, the fact that literature follows geniuses... The golden Russian literature of the 19th century, having begun with an international breakthrough in poetry, had already realized it in prose by the middle of the century, serving as a “ray of light” for the entire Russian society. We are, of course, talking about the non-poetic works of Pushkin, Gogol, and Ostrovsky.
Civil message of the article
The article about Pisarev’s “The Thunderstorm” is a citizen’s response to the iconic play of the century before last. The play in five acts, written in 1859 by Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky, occupies a special place in golden Russian literature. This dramatic work served as a powerful stimulus for the further development of realism. Evidence of this was the assessment given to the play by critics. It demonstrates a real pluralism of opinions. And in the dispute, the truth was really born! In understanding this, it is important to know that the article “Motives of Russian Drama”, in which Pisarev placed his review of “The Thunderstorm”, was written as a response to another critical article by the famous literary critic Nikolai Dobrolyubov. The article with which Pisarev argued was brightly called “A Ray of Light in a Dark Kingdom.” We will try to present to readers our analysis of the above-mentioned work by Dmitry Pisarev. It occupies a special place in Russian literature. Ostrovsky managed to worthily continue in Russian drama the realism laid down by Griboyedov in “Woe from Wit.”
Fundamental disagreement with Dobrolyubov on the play “The Thunderstorm”
Dmitry Ivanovich, undoubtedly, was a subtle expert and, undoubtedly, when starting work, he became deeply acquainted with the article of the outstanding literary critic Dobrolyubov, whom he knew and respected. However, obviously, following the wisdom of the ancients (namely, “Socrates is my friend, but the truth is dearer”), Pisarev wrote his review of Ostrovsky’s drama “The Thunderstorm.”
He realized the need to express his point of view because he felt: Dobrolyubov tried to show Katerina as a “hero of the time.” Dmitry Ivanovich fundamentally disagreed with this position, and with good reason. Therefore, he wrote his article “Motives of Russian Drama,” where he criticized the main thesis in the work of Nikolai Aleksandrovich Dobrolyubov that Katerina Kabanova is “a ray of light in a dark kingdom.”
Kalinov as a model of Russia
Undoubtedly, in the article Pisarev expressed his thoughts about “The Thunderstorm,” clearly realizing that the Dobrolyubovs gave such a “dark” characterization formally to one county town, but in fact to all of Russia in the middle of the 19th century. Kalinov is a small model of a huge country. In it, public opinion and the entire course of city life are manipulated by two people: a merchant, unscrupulous in his methods of enrichment, Savel Prokofich Dikoy, and a hypocrite of Shakespearean proportions, merchant Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova (in common parlance - Kabanikha).
In the 60s of the century before last, Russia itself was a huge country with a population of forty million and developed agriculture. A network of railways was already in operation. In the near future, after Ostrovsky wrote the play (more precisely, from 1861, after Emperor Alexander II signed the “Manifesto” abolishing serfdom), the number of the proletariat increased and, accordingly, industrial growth began.
However, the suffocating atmosphere of pre-reform society shown in Ostrovsky’s play was truly true. The work was in demand, suffered...
Relevance of the play's ideas
Using simple argumentation, Pisarev creates his review of “The Thunderstorm” in a language understandable to the reader. He accurately reproduces the summary of the play in his critical article. How could it be otherwise? After all, the problems of the play are vital. And Ostrovsky did a great job, with his work he wished with all his heart to build a civil society instead of the “dark kingdom.”
However, dear readers... So to speak, putting your hand on your heart... Can our society today be called “the kingdom of light, goodness and reason”? Did Ostrovsky write Kuligin’s monologue into the void: “Because we can never earn more through honest work, and whoever has the money, sir, tries to enslave the poor so that he can make even more money from his free labor...”? Bitter, fair words...
Katerina is not a “ray of light”
Pisarev’s criticism of “The Thunderstorm” begins with the formulation of the conclusion about the recklessness of Dobrolyubov’s conclusion. He motivates him by citing arguments from the author's text of the play. His polemic with Nikolai Dobrolyubov resembles the summing up of a seasoned pessimist about the conclusions drawn by an optimist. According to Dmitry Ivanovich’s reasoning, Katerina’s essence is melancholic, there is no real virtue in her, characteristic of people who are called “light”. According to Pisarev, Dobrolyubov made a systematic error in analyzing the image of the main character of the play. He collected all her positive qualities into a single positive image, ignoring her shortcomings. According to Dmitry Ivanovich, a dialectical view of the heroine is important.
The main character as a suffering part of the dark kingdom
A young woman lives with her husband Tikhon with her mother-in-law, a wealthy merchant who has (as they say now) “heavy energy,” which is subtly emphasized by Pisarev’s critical article. "The Thunderstorm", as a tragic play, is largely determined by this image. Kabanikha (that’s her street name) is pathologically fixated on the moral oppression of those around her, with constant reproaches, eating them “like rusty iron.” She does this in a sanctimonious manner: that is, constantly asking her family to “act in order” (more precisely, following her instructions).
Tikhon and his sister Varvara adapted to their mother’s speeches. Her daughter-in-law, Katerina, is especially sensitive to her nagging and humiliation. She, who has a romantic, melancholic psyche, is truly unhappy. Her colorful dreams and daydreams reveal a completely childish worldview. This is nice, but it is not a virtue!
Inability to cope with oneself
At the same time, Pisarev’s criticism of “The Thunderstorm” objectively points to Katerina’s infantility and impulsiveness. She doesn't marry for love. The majestic Boris Grigorievich, nephew of the merchant Dikiy, just smiled at her, and the thing was ready: Katya hurries off to a secret meeting. At the same time, having become close to this, in principle, a stranger, she does not think at all about the consequences. “Is the author really depicting a “ray of light?!” - Pisarev’s critical article asks the reader. “The Thunderstorm” depicts an extremely illogical heroine who cannot not only cope with circumstances, but also cannot cope with herself. After cheating on her husband, being depressed, childishly frightened by a thunderstorm and the hysteria of a crazy lady, she admits to what she did and immediately identifies herself with the victim. It's corny, isn't it?
On his mother’s advice, Tikhon beats her “a little,” “for the sake of order.” However, the bullying of the mother-in-law herself becomes much more sophisticated. After Katerina learns that Boris Grigorievich is going to Kyakhta (Transbaikalia), she, having neither the will nor the character, decides to commit suicide: she throws herself into the river and drowns.
Katerina is not a “hero of the time”
Pisarev thinks philosophically about Ostrovsky’s “The Thunderstorm.” He asks the question of whether in a slave society a person who is not endowed with a deep mind, who does not have will, who does not engage in self-education, who does not understand people - in principle, can become a ray of light. Yes, this woman is touchingly meek, kind and sincere, she does not know how to defend her point of view. (“She crushed me,” says Katerina about Kabanikha). Yes, she has a creative, impressionable nature. And this type can really charm (as happened with Dobrolyubov). But this does not change the essence... “Under the circumstances set out in the play, a person - a “ray of light” cannot arise!” - says Dmitry Ivanovich.
Maturity of the soul is a condition of adult life
Moreover, the critic continues his thought, is it really a virtue to capitulate to minor, completely surmountable life difficulties? This obvious, logical question is asked by Pisarev about Ostrovsky’s “The Thunderstorm”. Can this be an example for a generation whose destiny is to change slave Russia, oppressed by local “princelings” like Kabanikha and Wild? At best, such a suicide can only cause However, as a result, the fight against the social group of rich people and manipulators must be waged by strong-willed and educated people!
At the same time, Pisarev does not speak disparagingly about Katerina. “The Thunderstorm,” the critic believes, is not for nothing that it portrays her image so consistently, starting from childhood. The image of Katerina in this sense is similar to the unforgettable image of Ilya Ilyich Oblomov! The problem of her unformed personality is her ideally comfortable childhood and youth. Her parents didn't prepare her for adulthood! Moreover, they did not give her a proper education.
However, it should be recognized that, unlike Ilya Ilyich, if Katerina had found herself in a more favorable environment than the Kabanov family, she would most likely have flourished as an individual. Ostrovsky gives reasons for this...
What is the positive image of the main character?
This is an artistically holistic, positive image - Pisarev tells about Katerina. “The Thunderstorm”, when read, leads the reader to the realization that the main character actually has an internal emotional charge, characteristic of a creative person. It has the potential for a positive attitude towards reality. She intuitively feels the main need of Russian society - human freedom. She has hidden energy (which she feels, but has not learned to control). That’s why Katya exclaimed the words: “Why are people not birds?” It is no coincidence that the author conceived such a comparison, because the heroine subconsciously wants freedom, similar to that which a bird feels in flight. That freedom, for which she lacks the mental strength to fight...
Conclusion
What conclusions does Pisarev draw with his article “Motives of Russian Drama”? “The Thunderstorm” does not depict a “hero of the times”, not a “ray of light”. This image is much weaker, but not artistically (everything is in order here), but in terms of the maturity of the soul. The “hero of the time” cannot “break” as a person. After all, people who are called “rays of light” can be killed rather than broken. And Katerina is weak...
Both critics also have a common line of thought: the article about Pisarev’s “The Thunderstorm”, like Dobrolyubov’s article, interprets the title of the play in the same way. This is not only an atmospheric phenomenon that scared Katerina to death. Rather, we are talking about the social conflict of a backward, uncivil society that has come into conflict with the needs of development.
Ostrovsky's play is a kind of indictment. Both critics showed, following Alexander Nikolaevich, that people have no rights, they are not free, they are essentially subordinate to the “Boars” and “Wild Ones”. Why did Dobrolyubov and Pisarev write about “The Thunderstorm” in such different ways?
The reason for this is, undoubtedly, the depth of the work, in which there is more than one semantic “bottom”. It has both psychologism and sociality. Each of the literary scholars interpreted them in their own way and set priorities differently. Moreover, both one and the other did it with talent, and Russian literature only benefited from this. Therefore, it is completely stupid to ask the question: “Did Pisarev write more accurately about the play “The Thunderstorm,” or did Dobrolyubov?” You should definitely read both articles...
Russian character can be very difficult to describe. You can take some feat as a basis. But which one? After all, there are many of them. Let me, Ivan Sudarev, tell you a story from the life of my friend Lieutenant Yegor Dremov. This is a simple man from the Saratov region. He has a Gold Star and many medals on his chest. He has a strong build, wavy hair, a handsome face and a charming smile.
People often become better people in war. But my friend has always been like this. He treated his parents, Marya Polikarpovna and Yegor Egorovich, with respect and love. Yegor did not boast about his bride. He only mentioned her in passing as a good and faithful girl. The guy also did not like to talk about his military exploits. We learned about them from members of his crew, because Dremov was a tank driver.
One day a misfortune happened to the lieutenant. During another battle with the German invaders, his tank was hit by two shells and caught fire. Yegor was unconscious, and his clothes were on fire. The driver Chuvilev pulled him out of the burning tank. The guy survived, but underwent many plastic surgeries on his face. It was now so terrible that people tried not to look at it.
The commission recognized Dremov as fit for non-combatant service. But first the lieutenant received three weeks leave and went home. This was in March. From the station he walked about twenty kilometers. Yegor arrived in the village when it was already dark. He approached the house, looked out the window and saw his mother. Afraid of scaring her, the guy decided to introduce himself as a different person.
The mother did not recognize her son either by appearance or voice. After all the operations, even the guy’s voice became dull and hoarse. Yegor called himself Lieutenant Gromov, who brought news from her son. He began to tell the woman in detail about Senior Lieutenant Dremov, that is, about himself. At this time, the father came, sat down at the table and also began to listen to the guest’s story.
We started having dinner. Yegor noticed that his mother was looking very intently at his hand. He grinned. On the one hand, it was good for him that he was at home, on the other hand, it was terribly offensive that he was not recognized. After talking a little more, everyone went to bed. The father fell asleep, but the mother could not sleep for a long time.
In the morning, Yegor began asking his mother about Katya Malysheva in order to see her. A neighbor's girl was sent for her, and after a short time Katya was already standing on the threshold of his house. How the guy wanted to kiss her. She was gentle, cheerful and beautiful. The girl did not immediately see the lieutenant’s face. Before that, she managed to say that she was really looking forward to the young man. But then, looking at Yegor, Katerina got scared and fell silent. That's when he decided to leave his home.
He walked to the station and all the way asked himself the question: “What should he do now?” The guy returned to the regiment, where he was greeted with great joy, and his soul became lighter. He decided not to tell his mother about his misfortune for as long as possible, and to forget Katya. But two weeks later Yegor received a letter from his mother. In it, she wrote that she saw her son in the unexpected guest, and not a stranger. But my father doesn’t believe it. She says she's gone crazy.
Yegor showed this letter to me. And I advised him to confess everything to his mother. He listened to me and wrote a response letter in which he confirmed his presence in the house and asked forgiveness for his ignorance. After some time, his mother and a beautiful girl Katya came to see Senior Lieutenant Dremov, promising the guy to love him and always be by his side.
This is the Russian character! A simple person has great strength—spiritual beauty. She sleeps for the time being. And when trouble comes, it wakes up.
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Tolstoy Alexey "Russian character"
Russian character! Go ahead and describe it... Should I talk about heroic deeds? But there are so many of them that you are at a loss as to which one to prefer. So one of my friends helped me out with a little story from his personal life. I won’t tell you how he beat the Germans, although he wears a Golden Star and half his chest in orders. He is a simple, quiet, ordinary person - a collective farmer from a Volga village in the Saratov region. But among others he is noticeable for his strong and proportionate build and beauty. You used to look at him when he climbed out of the tank turret - the god of war! He jumps from the armor to the ground, pulls off the helmet from his wet curls, wipes his grimy face with a rag and will certainly smile from spiritual affection.
In war, constantly hovering near death, people become better, all nonsense peels off from them, like unhealthy skin after a sunburn, and remains in the person - the core. Of course, some people have it stronger, others have it weaker, but even those who have a flawed core are drawn to it, everyone wants to be a good and faithful comrade. But my friend, Yegor Dremov, was of strict behavior even before the war, extremely respected and loved his mother, Marya Polikarpovna, and his father, Yegor Yegorovich. “My father is a sedate man, first of all, he respects himself. “You, son, he says, will see a lot in the world and go abroad, but be proud of your Russian title...”
He had a bride from the same village on the Volga. We talk a lot about brides and wives, especially if it’s calm at the front, it’s cold, the fire is smoking in the dugout, the stove is crackling and people have had dinner. If they say something like this here, it will make you laugh. They will start, for example: “What is love?” One will say: “Love arises on the basis of respect...” Another: “Nothing like that, love is a habit, a person loves not only his wife, but his father and mother and even animals...” - “Ugh, stupid! - the third will say, “love is when everything is boiling inside you, a person walks around as if drunk...” And so they philosophize for an hour and another, until the foreman, intervening, defines the very essence with a commanding voice. Egor Dremov, probably embarrassed by these conversations, only casually mentioned to me about his fiancée - she was, they say, a very good girl, and even if she said that she would wait, she would wait, at least he returned on one leg...
He also didn’t like to talk about military exploits: “I don’t want to remember such things!” He frowns and lights a cigarette. We learned about the combat performance of his tank from the words of the crew; the driver Chuvilev especially surprised the listeners.
“...You see, as soon as we turned around, I saw a tiger crawling out from behind a hill... I shouted: “Comrade Lieutenant, tiger!” - “Forward, shouting, full throttle!..” I’ll camouflage myself along the spruce tree - to the right, to the left... He moves the tiger’s barrel like a blind man, he hit it - missed... And the comrade lieutenant will hit him in the side, - spray! As soon as it hits the tower, - he raised his trunk... As it hits the third time, - smoke poured out of all the cracks of the tiger, - flames burst out of it a hundred meters up... The crew climbed through the emergency hatch... Vanka Lapshin fired his machine gun and they lay there, kicking their legs... For us, you know, the path has been cleared. Five minutes later we fly into the village. Here I just lost my life... The fascists are all over the place... And - it’s dirty, you know - another one will jump out of his boots and in only his socks - Pork. Everyone runs to the barn. Comrade lieutenant gives me the command: “Come on, move around the barn.” We turned the gun away, at full throttle I ran into a barn... Fathers! Beams rattled across the armor, boards, bricks, fascists who were sitting under the roof... And I also - and ironed it - the rest of my hands up - and Hitler was kaput...”
This is how Lieutenant Yegor Dremov fought until a misfortune happened to him. During the Battle of Kursk, when the Germans were already bleeding and faltering, his tank - on a hillock in a wheat field - was hit by a shell, two of the crew were immediately killed, and the tank caught fire from the second shell. The driver Chuvilev, who jumped out through the front hatch, again climbed onto the armor and managed to pull out the lieutenant - he was unconscious, his overalls were on fire. As soon as Chuvilev pulled the lieutenant away, the tank exploded with such force that the turret was thrown fifty meters away. Chuvilev threw handfuls of loose earth on the lieutenant’s face, head, and clothes to put out the fire. “Then I crawled with him from crater to crater to the dressing station... “Why did I drag him then? - Chuvilev said, “I hear his heart beating...”
Yegor Dremov survived and did not even lose his sight, although his face was so charred that bones were visible in places. He spent eight months in the hospital, he underwent plastic surgery one after another, his nose, lips, eyelids, and ears were restored. Eight months later, when the bandages were removed, he looked at his and now not his face. The nurse who handed him a small mirror turned away and began to cry. He immediately returned the mirror to her.
“It can be worse,” he said, “you can live with it.”
But he no longer asked the nurse for a mirror, he only often felt his face, as if he was getting used to it. The commission found him fit for non-combatant service. Then he went to the general and said: “I ask for your permission to return to the regiment.” “But you are disabled,” said the general. “No way, I’m a freak, but this won’t interfere with the matter, I’ll restore my combat capability completely.” (The fact that the general tried not to look at him during the conversation, Yegor Dremov noted and only grinned with purple lips, straight as a slit.) He received a twenty-day leave to fully restore his health and went home to his father and mother. This was just in March of this year.
At the station he thought about taking a cart, but he had to walk eighteen miles. There was still snow all around, it was damp, deserted, the icy wind blew away the skirts of his overcoat, whistling in his ears with lonely melancholy. He came to the village when it was already dusk. Here was the well, the tall crane swayed and creaked. Hence the sixth hut is the parents' hut. He suddenly stopped, putting his hands in his pockets. He shook his head. I turned diagonally towards the house. Stuck knee-deep in the snow, bending over to the window, I saw my mother - in the dim light of a screwed-on lamp above the table, she was getting ready for dinner. Still in the same dark scarf, quiet, unhurried, kind. She was getting old, her thin shoulders were sticking out... “Oh, if only I knew, every day she would have to write at least two little words about herself...” She gathered some simple things on the table - a cup of milk, a piece of bread, two spoons, a salt shaker and thought, standing in front of the table, his thin arms folded under his chest... Yegor Dremov, looking through the window at his mother, realized that it was impossible to frighten her, it was impossible for her old face to tremble desperately.
OK! He opened the gate, entered the courtyard and knocked on the porch. The mother answered outside the door: “Who’s there?” He replied: “Lieutenant, Hero of the Soviet Union Gromov.”
His heart began to pound and he leaned his shoulder against the ceiling. No, the mother did not recognize his voice. He himself, as if for the first time, heard his own voice, which had changed after all the operations - hoarse, dull, unclear.
- Father, what do you want? - she asked.
- Marya Polikarpovna brought a bow from her son, Senior Lieutenant Dremov.
Then she opened the door and rushed towards him, grabbing his hands:
- Is my Yegor alive? Are you healthy? Father, come into the hut.
Yegor Dremov sat down on the bench at the table in the same place where he sat when his legs did not reach the floor and his mother used to stroke his curly head and say: “Eat, killer.” He began to talk about her son, about himself - in detail, how he eats, drinks, does not suffer need for anything, is always healthy, cheerful, and - briefly about the battles where he participated with his tank.
- Tell me, is it scary in war? - she interrupted, looking into his face with dark eyes that did not see him.
- Yes, of course, it’s scary, mom, but it’s a habit.
My father, Yegor Yegorovich, who had also passed over the years, came, and his beard felt like flour. Looking at the guest, he stomped on the threshold with his broken felt boots, slowly unwound his scarf, took off his sheepskin coat, walked up to the table, shook hands - ah, the familiar wide, fair parental hand! Without asking anything, because it was already clear why the guest was wearing orders, he sat down and also began to listen, with his eyes half-closed.
The longer Lieutenant Dremov sat unrecognizable and talked about himself and not about himself, the more impossible it was for him to open up, to stand up and say: acknowledge me, you freak, mother, father! He felt both good and offended at his parents’ table.
- Well, let's have dinner, mother, collect something for the guest. - Yegor Yegorovich opened the door of an old cupboard, where in the corner to the left lay fishing hooks in a matchbox - they lay there - and there was a teapot with a broken spout, it stood there, where it smelled of bread crumbs and onion skins. Yegor Yegorovich took out a bottle of wine - only two glasses, and sighed that he couldn’t get more. We sat down to dinner, as in previous years. And only at dinner, Senior Lieutenant Dremov noticed that his mother was especially closely watching his hand with a spoon. He grinned, the mother raised her eyes, her face trembled painfully.
We talked about this and that, what spring would be like and whether the people would be able to cope with sowing, and that this summer we had to wait for the end of the war.
- Why do you think, Yegor Yegorovich, that we must wait for the end of the war this summer?
“The people are angry,” answered Yegor Yegorovich, “they passed through death, now you can’t stop them, the Germans are kaput.”
Marya Polikarpovna asked:
“You didn’t say when he’ll be given leave to visit us on leave.” I haven’t seen him for three years, tea, he’s become an adult, he walks around with a mustache... So - every day - near death, tea, and his voice has become rough?
“But when he comes, maybe you won’t recognize him,” said the lieutenant.
They assigned him to sleep on the stove, where he remembered every brick, every crack in the log wall, every knot in the ceiling. It smelled of sheepskin, bread - that familiar comfort that is not forgotten even in the hour of death. The March wind whistled over the roof. Behind the partition my father was snoring. The mother tossed and turned, sighed, and did not sleep. The lieutenant was lying face down, his face in his hands: “Is it really that she didn’t recognize it,” I thought, “Is it really that she didn’t recognize it? Mom mom..."
The next morning he woke up to the crackling of firewood, his mother was carefully fiddling around the stove; his washed foot wraps hung on an extended rope, and his washed boots stood by the door.
- Do you eat millet pancakes? - she asked.
He didn’t answer right away, got off the stove, put on his tunic, tightened his belt and, barefoot, sat down on the bench.
- Tell me, does Katya Malysheva, Andrei Stepanovich Malysheva’s daughter, live in your village?
- She graduated from courses last year and is our teacher. Do you need to see her?
“Your son definitely asked me to convey my regards to her.”
Her mother sent a neighbor girl to fetch her. The lieutenant didn’t even have time to put on his shoes when Katya Malysheva came running. Her wide gray eyes sparkled, her eyebrows flew up in amazement, and there was a joyful blush on her cheeks. When she threw the knitted scarf from her head onto her broad shoulders, the lieutenant even groaned to himself: I wish I could kiss that warm blond hair!.. That’s just how his girlfriend seemed to him - fresh, gentle, cheerful, kind, beautiful, so that the whole hut came in turned gold...
- Did you bring a bow from Yegor? (He stood with his back to the light and just bowed his head because he couldn’t speak.) And I’m waiting for him day and night, so tell him...
She came close to him. She looked, and as if she had been lightly hit in the chest, she leaned back and got scared. Then he firmly decided to leave - today.
Mother baked millet pancakes with baked milk. He again talked about Lieutenant Dremov, this time about his military exploits, - he talked cruelly and did not raise his eyes to Katya, so as not to see the reflection of his ugliness on her sweet face. Yegor Yegorovich began to fuss to get a collective farm horse, but he left for the station on foot, as he had arrived. He was very depressed by everything that had happened, even stopping, hitting his face with his palms, repeating in a hoarse voice: “What should we do now?”
He returned to his regiment, which was stationed deep in the rear for replenishment. His comrades greeted him with such sincere joy that everything that had prevented him from sleeping, eating, or breathing fell away from his soul. I decided this: let his mother not know about his misfortune for a longer time. As for Katya, he will tear this thorn out of his heart.
About two weeks later a letter came from my mother:
“Hello, my beloved son. I’m afraid to write to you, I don’t know what to think. We had one person from you - a very good person, only with a bad face. I wanted to live and immediately packed up and left. Since then, son, I haven’t slept at night, it seems to me that you came. Yegor Yegorovich scolds me for this - he says, you’re an old woman who’s gone crazy: if he were our son, wouldn’t he have revealed himself... Why should he hide if it were him - with a face like this one, who he came to us, you should be proud. Yegor Yegorovich will persuade me, and my mother’s heart is all hers: he is it, he was with us! this!.. Egorushka, write to me, for Christ’s sake, give me some advice - what happened? Or really, I’ve gone crazy...”
Yegor Dremov showed this letter to me, Ivan Sudarev, and, while telling his story, wiped his eyes with his sleeve. I told him: “Here, I say, the characters clashed! You fool, you fool, write to your mother quickly, ask her for forgiveness, don’t drive her crazy... She really needs your image! This way she will love you even more.”
On the same day he wrote a letter: “My dear parents, Marya Polikarpovna and Yegor Yegorovich, forgive me for my ignorance, you really had me, your son...” And so on and so forth - on four pages in small handwriting - He could have written it on twenty pages - it would have been possible.
After some time, we are standing with him at the training ground, - the soldier comes running and - to Yegor Dremov: “Comrade captain, they are asking you...” The soldier’s expression is this, although he is standing in full uniform, as if a man is about to drink. We went to the village and approached the hut where Dremov and I lived. I see that he is not himself - he keeps coughing... I think: “Tanker, tanker, ah - nerves.” We enter the hut, he is in front of me and I hear:
“Mom, hello, it’s me!..” And I see that the little old woman fell on his chest. I look around, and it turns out there is another woman. I give my word of honor, there are other beauties somewhere, she’s not the only one, but I personally haven’t seen them.
He tore his mother away from him and approached this girl - and I already remembered that with all his heroic build he was the god of war. "Kate! - he says. - Katya, why did you come? You promised to wait for this, not this...”
Beautiful Katya answers him, and although I have gone into the hallway, I hear: “Egor, I am going to live with you forever. I will love you truly, I will love you very much... Don’t send me away..."
Yes, here they are, Russian characters! It seems that a simple person, but a severe misfortune will come, in big or small ways, and a great power rises in him - human beauty.
In the story “Russian Character” by A.N. Tolstoy described one of the episodes of the Great Patriotic War. There was still a whole year left before victory.
The story does not talk about the military feat of tanker Yegor Dremov, but about his relationship with his parents and fiancee. The Russian character in this work is made up of individual character traits of all the characters, main and secondary.
The main character is Yegor Dremov, a tank commander who received severe burns in the battle on the Kursk Bulge. He is rescued from a burning tank by the driver, who was himself wounded, but pulled out the unconscious commander. Thus, the tank driver Chuvilev (this minor character will appear again in the story to describe the military exploits of the tank crew under the command of Yegor Dremov) at a dangerous moment thinks not only about his own life, but, risking himself, saves a comrade in arms. In his conscientiousness one can see a character trait that is highly valued by Russians.
Egor Dremov shows Russian character both in battle and in his relationships with his parents and fiancée. Arriving home on leave after being wounded, he felt sorry for his old parents and was afraid to upset them. It seemed to Yegor that his ugly face would frighten them: after all, it had become a lifeless mask, and only his eyes remained the same. Thus, the character of the main character showed modesty, restraint, even sacrifice, which Russian people value: a real person least of all cares about himself, but first of all thinks about his loved ones, about their happiness.
Yegor Dremov was mistaken in thinking that he was sparing his parents when he did not admit that he was their son. His parents are happy just because their son is alive - after all, everyone around them is receiving a “funeral” from the front. Egor Egorovich and Maria Polikarpovna love their son not for his appearance, but because he is a son. Of course, the old people are proud that Yegor is their hero, but above all they value in him not his beauty, but his courage and honesty. Another feature of the Russian character is manifested here - the main attention is paid not to appearance, but to spiritual qualities. After all, the soldier’s burned face indicates that he participated in terrible battles and did not spare himself while defending his homeland. Such a person evokes respect and admiration among Russians, despite his external ugliness. Therefore, Father Yegor Yegorovich believes that such a face as the front-line soldier who came to see them “should be proud of.” This idea is formulated by the elder Dremov, a Russian himself.
The hero's mother also has a Russian character. Maria Polikarpovna recognized her son, although his face had changed beyond recognition after the operations. She guessed with her heart, with some sixth sense, that her son was staying in her house, and showed extraordinary sensitivity, so dear to the Russian heart. Since a Russian person is usually restrained in the manifestations of his feelings, the attention and observation of others, who themselves must guess about the experiences of a loved one, become very important qualities. It is very good if friends and relatives understand each other without words.
In Katya Malysheva, Yegor Dremov’s fiancée, the Russian character is also revealed: in a woman, Russians value loyalty and devotion, which is demonstrated by the heroine, who twice (seeing him off to the front and visiting him after being wounded) declares to Yegor that she will wait for him from the war and love him faithfully. But Katya is the main character’s fiancée, not his wife, that is, for now she is connected with Yegor only by word.
Ivan Sudarev - Yegor's friend and a benevolent narrator - himself has a Russian character, reasonable, restrained, thoughtful. He evaluates the actions of all the heroes appearing in a small story, and notes the different facets of the Russian character in each character.
Thus, Tolstoy creates a Russian character by combining the features of different heroes, and, thanks to this technique, presents the image of a Russian person as complete, versatile and generally sublime.
This portrayal of the national character distinguishes Tolstoy's story from the works of other Soviet authors who wrote about the war. For example, A.T. Tvardovsky in the poem “Vasily Terkin” concentrates the traits of the Russian character in one main character.
According to artistic principles - the conflict between the good and the best and edification (instructiveness) - “Russian character” should be attributed to the leading direction of Soviet literature - socialist realism. In the story, the conflict between Yegor Dremov and his relatives is far-fetched, because it exists only in the head of the modest protagonist, but in fact, the characters in the story are one better and more noble than the other. The edifying nature of “Russian Character” is expressed in the fact that through Ivan Sudarev, who evaluates all the characters in the work, the writer teaches: this is exactly how a Soviet soldier should behave like Yegor Dremov; this is exactly what a soldier’s relatives should do as his parents and fiancée do. At the end of the story, the author tells the reader how to correctly understand the idea of the work: “Yes, here they are, Russian characters! It seems like a simple person, but a severe misfortune will come, in big or small ways, and a great power will rise in him - human beauty.” So, the story of Yegor Dremov ended happily. There could not have been any other ending, given that all her heroes have noble characters. During a terrible war, such a story becomes necessary: it gives hope, saves from despair, and therefore “Russian Character,” one might say, reflects the perception of the war era and in this sense becomes a monument to the era.
But if conflict-free stories with a happy ending occur in real life, then only as exceptions. How does a meeting between a soldier and his family usually take place? Remembering the millions of Soviet people who died at the fronts and during the occupation, we can more likely expect tragic dates.
M.V. Isakovsky’s poem “Enemies Burnt His Home” (1945) depicts the return of a victorious soldier to his native ashes: all his loved ones died during the German occupation, the long-awaited meeting with relatives turned into a wake at his wife’s grave.
Another tragic situation is described by M.A. Sholokhov in the story “The Fate of a Man” (1956). Returning to his hometown after Nazi captivity. Andrei Sokolov learns that his house, while his wife and two teenage daughters were there, was hit by a German bomb. As a result, the protagonist's beloved relatives do not even have graves - in place of the house there is a crater filled with rusty water.
It is impossible to compare an entire nation to one, even the correct example. A dramatic version of a meeting between a soldier and his family is presented in A.P. Platonov’s story “Return” (1946). Captain Alexey Alekseevich Ivanov, after the victory, comes to his hometown, where his wife Lyuba, eleven-year-old son Petrushka and five-year-old daughter Nastya are waiting for him. On the very first evening at dinner, the victorious warrior demands from his wife an account of how she lived without him. The writer does not talk about Ivanov at the front, although his orders and medals testify to his military exploits. But the author describes in detail the life of the Ivanov family in the rear: Lyuba worked at a brick factory during all four years of the war, took care of two small children, was constantly worried about her husband at the front, and, in order to escape from everyday melancholy, once succumbed to the tenderness of some trade union instructor . Captain Ivanov cannot forgive his wife for this, although he easily forgives himself for similar liberties: a couple of days ago, on his way home, he stayed late visiting a front-line soldier friend, Masha. The ending of the story about Yegor Dremov is predetermined, given the wonderful Russian characters of all the characters in this story. What will Plato’s imperfect hero do? Outraged and offended by Lyuba’s confession, Alexey wants to go to Masha the next morning, but seeing his children Petrushka and Nastya running towards the train from the window of the carriage, he suddenly softens in soul and gets off the train: yesterday he assessed his family circumstances from the point of view of “conceit and self-interest,” and now I understood them “with my bare heart.” There is no teaching in Platonov’s story, and the happy ending is explained not by Ivanov’s exemplary nobility, but by the feelings of a normal person - love for his family. Therefore, the story “Return” is closer to life than “Russian Character”: Plato’s story shows the real world as complex as it is, and not as correct as it should be, according to the writer A. N. Tolstoy.
