The White Guard or the Turbine Days. “The White Guard” and “Days of the Turbins. Other works on this work

Despite the fact that Salinger is the author of one single novel, he is widely known in our country, and he is popular among the most demanding audience - teenagers. It is not children or adults, who are often accused of being unable and unwilling to read, who are interested in this large and complex work without resorting to abbreviating it. How can we explain this phenomenon? After reading this detailed analysis of The Catcher in the Rye, you will understand everything.

"The Catcher in the Rye" is a corruption of a phrase by Robert Burns, an English poet. If Burns had a call in the rye, then Salinger changes the quote to “If anyone caught someone over a precipice in the rye,” supposedly being mistaken. But in fact, the writer changed the quote to make a reference to the Bible, referring to the soul-winners. That is, the author wants to save other children from the callousness and cynicism of the adult world, which they learn before their time. We need to help them maintain spontaneity of perception and purity of soul. You need to be able to catch children in a ditch that is filled with falsehood and lies. And in the text, this name means a lot to the hero: having heard the boy’s song, he recalls the unsung lines and after that thinks about really important things that lead him to realize his true values.

I imagine how little children play in the evening in a huge field in the rye. Thousands of kids, and not a soul around, not a single adult except me... And my job is to catch the kids so that they don’t fall into the abyss

This message explains the innovation of the form of the work: we do not notice the author in the text. It feels like he doesn’t exist at all, and before us is just the research of some young man. The narrative is a monologue, stylistically designed in the manner of teenage speech. If earlier writers strived for the artificiality of speech, elevating it, then Salinger, on the contrary, sought to convey everyday conversations with friends, internal monologues, without embellishing them, so that the reader would believe Caulfield. The writer is trying to “fish” children out of the moat of cruel reality, showing a living boy with all the problems and nuances inherent in his age. It was Holden, and not his literary creator, who had to teach his peers as an equal to an equal. That’s why the book is called “The Catcher in the Rye” - this is where the action of the novel takes place, which attracts fragile minds and souls unclouded by aggression.

Genre

Salinger gave the story a confessional tone. Readers see the very personal diary that teenagers are embarrassed to keep. They associate themselves with the hero, arguing and agreeing with him deep down, not confiding their secrets to anyone. Thus, their internal debate remains untouched by outside views and judgments that they do not want to hear or see. Thus, The Catcher in the Rye can be called a confessional novel.

In addition, literary scholars use the term “coming of age novel” in relation to the work. It is not difficult to guess that this is an attempt to give the genre the meaningful characteristics of a book. However, it is in this case that such a formulation is completely justified, because it reflects the essence of not only the plot, but also the composition, ideas and themes. An attempt to classify literature through all these components is undoubtedly worthy of attention.

What is this book about?

The work represents the journey of a 16-year-old boy who is once again expelled from school. He saved up money and decided to live in a hotel for a few days until his parents themselves found out that he had been kicked out. Holden Caulfield is a restless hero, he is haunted by a feeling of disconnection from the world and his surroundings. He has no close friends; he isolates himself with ostentatious rudeness. The essence of the novel “The Catcher in the Rye” is that the teenager’s escape turns into a radical change in his soul, which he has been waiting for. But growing up does not come to him through alcoholic gatherings in a bar or dating ladies of easy virtue, although he, of course, did all this.

In an attempt to live an independent life, the hero finds conscience and responsibility in himself. These new sensations are prickly and intrusive, but there is nowhere to escape from them. An example illustrating the internal fracture in his soul is the conversation about escape. When he invites Sally (his girlfriend) to run away, she refuses him, citing adult reasoning about the material aspects of the enterprise. He responds by being rude to her and turning away from her. However, he offers the same to his younger sister Phoebe, who meekly agrees and packs her things. Then the same bore that Sally awakens in him. Holden learns to care and think ahead like an adult. This book is about the fact that freedom, which people so want to quickly learn through frivolity, begins with responsibility. Phoebe, like a pure, unsullied angel, leads her brother to rebirth and cleansing from filth, that is, eternal discontent and grumbling. He was still able to love his neighbor after his wanderings.

The main characters and their characteristics

1. The main character of "The Catcher in the Rye" - Holden Caulfield, a sixteen year old teenager. His name, which became a symbol of youthful nonconformism, comes from the phrase “hold on a coal field” - “to hold on to scorched (coal) fields.” The author already in the name laid down social disorder and discord with the outside world for his brainchild, and also complemented the meaning of the title of the work. The character is kind, sympathetic, timid, knowledgeable in art, but at the same time irritable, impulsive and grumpy. The boy criticizes society and its morals, thinks and argues a lot, noticing the details and trifles of people’s lives that become disgusting to him. Escape pulls him out of a state of acute contradiction with reality. Cowardice did not prevent him from finding refuge in a hotel and being an adult for at least three days. The teenager is very rude, often lies, but at the same time turns out to be unable to join the world of debauchery and permissiveness. For this, his character is too indecisive, and his soul is too conscientious. He subjects his behavior to uncompromising analysis and repents of the mistakes he has made. At the same time, Holden is not at all a pragmatist, he is a dreamer, and his wish came true thanks to Phoebe: he wanted to become a catcher of children's souls over the abyss, and for her he became one, dissuading her from running away from home. As a narrator, he expresses himself in the same relaxed and rude manner that is characteristic of many young readers; they understand his language as well as his feelings, thoughts, experiences. The author managed to penetrate the psychology of a person located between two boundaries. It has not yet been fully formed, but is already something that claims to be whole. At first, the hero appears to us as an unpleasant grouch, who is not happy with everything around him. He is drawn to people, constantly thinks about them, but at the same time he gets irritated by every little thing and eventually moves away. He tries, but does not want to grow up, stuck in a transitional period when there is no turning back, and the darkness of the unknown lies ahead. Loneliness both burdens him and elevates him in his own eyes. This image has much in common with Arkady, Dostoevsky's teenager.
2. Phoebe– the younger sister of the main character, an angelic image that has religious overtones. The girl is a symbol of love that revives Holden's soul. She is sweet, kind, spontaneous, but for her age she is very perspicacious: she silently realizes what is happening to her brother, and does not reveal a word to his parents. In addition, her unnatural intelligence manifests itself when she embarrasses her brother with her firm desire to leave her native land with him. In such a situation, he is deprived of choice and takes the position of an adult out of hopelessness: his sister has driven him into a dead end. Not she, but he must take responsibility for what is happening into his own hands. The heroine flies to the sufferer like an angel on Christmas night, symbolizing the birth of the new and the death of the old. She serves the same role - heralding Caulfield's rebirth and opening his eyes to who he is.
3. Stradlater- neighbor and classmate. This is a double of the main character, in which egoism has grown to unimaginable limits, and timidity and sensitivity have fallen on the sacrificial altar of a huge ego. He is handsome, rich, successful, enjoys the favor of the ladies, and has extraordinary physical strength. There have already been many women in his life, so he does not focus on them. He doesn’t have a particular inclination towards science, but he knows who to ask for help. Loves to use people. Such empty and mediocre people have no internal conflicts; all their mental activity is aimed at satisfying their needs as fully as possible. Caulfield would be just as smug and vulgar if he allowed selfishness to fill his soul.
4. Jane Gallagher- a girl with whom Holden knew, but never found the courage to confess his feelings to her. He remembers her fondly, remembers her hobbies and the smallest details of her behavior. He is in love, idealizes her, but does not dare to call, although he has been thinking about it throughout the three days of his escape. Jane is a symbol of a dream that is inaccessible to an unlucky suitor. She goes to the arrogant and self-confident Stradlater, although he does not understand her at all. This is a miniature of an unfair, prosaic reality: while timid dreamers yearn for the ideal, rude and narcissistic people take it by force and turn it into commonplace.
5. Sally Hayes- the main character's girlfriend. She is far from the romantic and sublime Jane. Prudence and practicality have already awakened in her, she knows her worth and behaves arrogantly with those whom she considers inferior to herself. She loves social entertainment, enjoys communicating with different people and cannot understand why her friend is so unhappy. She is one of the conformists; everything in life suits her. This is because she is unable to critically evaluate public opinion, on which she completely relies for her judgment. Therefore, in a conversation with an eternally irritated boy, she is lost and offended by his anger, because her inner world is not yet overshadowed by conflict.
6. Allie- Holden's brother who died of anemia. The hero always remembers him with bitterness, because his brother was very smart and talented, unlike the narrator himself. His example inspired Caulfield to do good deeds, and the baseball glove he bequeathed became a talisman for the teenager. He was secretly ashamed of himself that he was behaving unworthy of Alli’s memory. His image personifies all the best that is in his brother’s soul.
7. Ackley- the roommate. He is also the narrator's double. It focuses on Holden's irritability, grumbling and grouchiness. The boy is disappointed in the world, suffers from his complexes and hates those who are at least a little better than him. He speaks slander behind his back, takes pleasure in washing the bones of his neighbors, but at the same time he does not analyze himself at all and is inattentive to those around him. Such a fate would have awaited Caulfield if he had dulled his analytical mind with envy, anger and melancholy.

Theme of the work

• Theme of loneliness. Holden Caulfield does not feel a spiritual kinship in anyone, so it is difficult for him to study and remain calm. His acquaintances at school are superficial, and his soul is burdened by the loss of his brother and separation from his sister. The author shows how dangerous it is to leave a child alone during such a period: he can turn off the road simply because he had no one to pour out his soul to. At the same time, Salinger separates loneliness as a disease and solitude, which is a blessing for a person alienated from society.
• Love. Phoebe in the novel “Catcher of Lies” personifies angelic, selfless and selfless love. It is this feeling that should bind the family so that it can withstand the difficulties of the outside world. It also changes the main character for the better. It is not the strictness of parents or expensive schools that makes a person, but the sincere participation, trust and tenderness shown to him.
• Family. The boy lacked the warmth of parental care; he was not close to his father and mother. Of course, this fact provoked his unsettledness and anger against the adult world. Due to lack of communication with them, he does not understand what kind of people they are if they do not know “where the ducks go.”
• Experience and mistakes. A teenager goes through a lot of trials and temptations, often making wrong steps, which he later regrets. For example, his attempt to call a prostitute to his room turned into a complete fiasco, and he repents of his actions.
• Theme of conscience. Internal moral guidelines help Holden stay on course. Unlike his smug neighbor, he does not cease to be a modest and naive boy; real depravity does not concern him. He tends to think carefully about even what he has already done and check it against his code of rules.
• First love. The hero falls in love with Jane, but cannot express his feelings to himself, let alone to the girl. He starts a relationship with Sally, but understands that girls are different, and he needs not just any, but a very specific girlfriend. In this romanticism, he differs from Stradlater, who does not delve into the particularities and inner worlds, he is only interested in the physical side of feelings.

Issues

• The problem of art. The hero critically evaluates his contemporary culture, being disappointed in his brother for exchanging his literary talent for a job as a screenwriter in Hollywood. Holden hates movies, where the constant happy ending always wins. He sees disgusting falseness in acting, so he cannot calmly watch plays and films. But he has a developed taste in books, and he writes well himself. This rejection reflects the personal position of Salinger, who forbade the film adaptation of the book “The Catcher in the Rye.”
• Indifference. The narrator is amazed at how deaf people are to each other. They speak out of place, as if it is more important for them to speak out themselves than to listen to the person. Related to this point is the problem of loneliness, which forces Caulfield to take extreme measures. Nobody tries to understand him: the teachers with their conservatism only put pressure on the nerves, neighbors and friends are superficial and obsessed with themselves.
• Selfishness. First of all, Holden himself suffers from it, who notices it in anyone, but not in himself. However, narcissism recedes from a heart inflamed by sincere affection for another person, and this problem is obviously solvable.
• Cowardice. The hero is afraid of himself and the world around him, which is why he is so inspired by the prospect of saving children from falling: he himself feels like this child. He wants to hide his timidity by any means: he curses desperately, prepares to escape, tries to plunge into alcohol and debauchery, just to prove to himself that he is not a coward.
• Deceit and hypocrisy. Although the narrator senses the falseness in other people, he himself indulges in ugly and senseless lies. He describes this condition as a disease: he wants to, but cannot stop. But if his lies do not have selfish motives and flow on their own, then his friend Stradlater, for example, has a thoughtful manner of communicating with ladies, within the framework of which he lies shamelessly even with intonations, antics and facial expressions.

What is the point of the book?

The novel “The Catcher in the Rye” is a very voluminous text, it contains many meanings. Many researchers believe that Salinger wrote only one book, since he included all his creativity in it. Firstly, the main idea of ​​the work is already reflected in the title, from which it follows that the author wants to save children from the cynicism and depravity of the adult world, teaching them, using the example of his hero, to find harmony in love and virtue. To do this, he literally catches their souls above the lowlands, teeming with evil, vice and despair.

It is not difficult to understand why the writer took on this. The fact is that he received very serious psychological trauma. He, like many American soldiers, was sent to fight Japan (World War II). During the landing, all his fellow soldiers were killed, only he survived. Returning home and recovering from the shock, he became interested in Buddhism and began working on a book. Jerome Salinger realized from his own experience how adults create violence and death around themselves, how they play with lives and lose without regret. But they weren’t born that way, which means something happened, somewhere, perhaps already in childhood, they let into themselves the demon of destruction, greed and indifference. The hardening of the individual occurs gradually, and, apparently, the disastrous force of the First World War made its contribution to the generations that were born, and it turned out to be the Second... Everyone was very afraid that the chain reaction would not stop. So, the main idea of ​​the novel “The Catcher in the Rye” is the author’s attempt to break through the vicious circle, to write something kind and bright for the edification of descendants, so that they understand that freedom, strength and love begin with responsibility for their actions.

The author, on behalf of the hero, asks the whole world the question: “Where do the ducks go?” No one can answer, and those who try get stuck in typical nerdiness, memorized in school. In fact, the question is much broader: where should the person himself go? After all, the secret is not only in the flight, that is, in the change of place. Probably some other change is taking place. People say that God took care of the ducks, but how? The same as about people? What to do when the river freezes? Where to fly? The restless fugitive is also on a frozen pond, he does not know where to go, which way to fly. For Salinger, this question is relevant, because he himself had a hard time dealing with people, he experienced the same difficulties. It is obvious that in the novel “The Catcher in the Rye” there is also a philosophical idea arising from the religious worldview of the creator. The question “Where do the ducks go?” - a Buddhist koan is a philosophical riddle that should confuse the student in order to take him beyond the limits of empirical consciousness. This is what happened with the people whom the teenager interviewed: they all fell into a stupor, because their thoughts had long been limited and robbed by a mechanical routine existence consisting of satisfying physical needs. And the student will find the answer only after years of wandering and thinking, rejecting rationalism and listening to his spiritual essence. Only everyday and spiritual experience will make him wise, and not philistine logic. So Holden found his key to the secret only after going through the tests, disappointments and insights necessary to move to a new stage of development. You can’t read this in books, you can’t explain it scientifically, you have to suffer through it, experience it, get sick.

How does it end?

Salinger's book ends with the hero returning to the bosom of his family, albeit against his will. Caulfield intends to leave for the West in search of a better life, writes a note to Phoebe, but she comes to meet him with a suitcase and says that she is going with him. Then the brother was seriously afraid for her, began to dissuade her and appeal to reason, arguing that he refused the trip by saying that it was stupid and not thought through. He himself abandoned the idea, seeing the consequences of his desire to show off. This is how Holden's transformation from a teenager into a responsible young man took place in the novel The Catcher in the Rye.

In the finale, he sees his sister riding on a swing in the rain and is imbued with her pure and sincere joy. The rain seems to wash away from him the dirt and vulgarity of those words and actions of which he is ashamed. Purification frees his soul from the taint of cynicism, it is as if he is being reborn to a carefree childhood life (no wonder the action takes place on Christmas Eve), which he so wanted to change to an adult and respectable one. But the narrator stopped dividing his path into this and that, and this recognition of himself in any form ensured his final transition to another age level.

Morality

The author teaches us sincere love and willingness to be responsible for it. It is not for nothing that Phoebe’s selfless love softened the hero’s ostentatious nihilism, returned him home and dissolved his selfishness in her happy laughter. In addition, D. Salinger is very sensitive to falsehood, hates lies and exposes them through the mouth of Holden. From life, he, like his character, draws a conclusion: The Catcher in the Rye is where you need to be most afraid of hypocrisy and deception; it is they that drive you into a dead end. Only the disarming sincerity of a small child can touch the ice of a hardened heart, and not the pompous sermons of senile teachers or the artificial passion of corrupt women. The lies almost confused Caulfield himself, for which he punished himself in his thoughts, and he was ashamed of him. However, in the finale he realized that in order to tell the truth, you don’t need to be brave, you just need to be yourself.

The writer also talks about people’s inattention to each other, about the theater of the absurd that unfolded among ordinary people. The hero, for example, gets very angry when old Spencer teaches as best he can, although the careless student admits from the very beginning that he is to blame for his poor performance. But the teacher once again decided to show the power of his edifying tone and speak out, even though this was not necessary. His friend Ackley is also deaf and mute in relation to those who speak to him. He touches Caulfield's things, despite numerous requests, and always talks only about what worries him, ignoring the interlocutor. In the end, the narrator sighs sadly: “People don’t even notice a damn thing.” The author considers this inattention to others to be a very significant obstacle to favorable relationships.

J. Salinger fulfilled his behests in full: he lived more than alone, devoting himself entirely to his family. He professed a form of Zen Buddhism, according to which it was impossible to combine creativity and publicity. He did not give interviews, communicated with few people, and did not comment on his book in any way. The novel is still accompanied by an atmosphere of mystery, and we can only dream of the author’s analysis of the text of “The Catcher in the Rye.” To avoid guile, the writer generally did not like to waste unnecessary words. Holden's dream of leaving everyone and hiding in a hut, pretending to be deaf and dumb, came true for his creator.

Criticism

The work was assessed ambiguously by reviewers. In particular, many Puritan critics were confused by Salinger's language, filled with jargon and barbs. In the Russian translation they are not yet so obvious, but in the original he provokes parents to protest against the novel being taught in schools. In the 1950s, activists launched a full-scale campaign against the book, declaring its immorality. Teachers who advised reading the text also came under attack. They were accused of promoting depraved behavior, sexual promiscuity and infantilism.

In her literary study “Philosophical and Aesthetic Foundations of J.D. Salinger’s Poetics,” I. L. Galinskaya listed several critical works devoted to the writer’s work and performed by his compatriots. For example, F. Gwynne and J. Blotner

compare the image of Holden with the image of Huck Finn, emphasizing such realistic advantages of Salinger's novel as lively spoken language and irony.

W. French analyzed in detail the character of the main character:

He sees the intertwining of two themes: physical illness and Caulfield’s gradual liberation from self-centeredness, acceptance of a world that rejected him.” The hero of “The Catcher in the Rye,” the critic believes, has an inherent desire for staticity, and his main desire is to leave the world as it is, as evidenced, according to French, by the boy’s dream of saving children from a ravine

His thoughts are complemented by reviewer Richard Lettice, who analyzes Holden's moral choices and their consequences:

The defeat of a hero teaches the necessity and cost of victory, writes Lettice. “The need to strive, despite all our imperfections, for a society where Caulfield could develop and prosper, to strive for an environment that would teach him the necessity of evil, deception and even despair ...

S. Finkelstein, in his study “Existentialism in American Literature,” proves that the writer was inspired by existential philosophy and reflected its ideas in the novel:

S. Finkelstein considers The Catcher in the Rye an example of “how important it is for an artist to be able to interest society in a new type of psychology that has developed under the influence of modern historical events

The understatement and lack of unambiguous interpretations in his works make us recall the important aesthetic principle of Zen - the equality of the creative activity of the artist and his audience

Also, a domestic reviewer is skeptical about the image of Holden Caulfield, distinguishing between his fantasies and actions:

In words, in the realm of fantasy he is indeed a hero, but in reality the opposite is true. Yes, and ask him in reality to “guard the guys over the Catcher in the Rye” - after all, what good, he will run away, cursing both those who put him on duty and the noisy kids - he will run away to new fantasies

However, at the end of his article, he comes to the conclusion that the narrator has changed for the better, forgot about rebellion and began to calmly look at the world that he so boldly hated. The closer to the end, the fewer vulgarisms are heard in the teenager’s speech.

It is known that criminals were inspired by the work (for example, the killer of John Lennon, the maniac who killed actress Rebecca Schaeffer, and the man who attempted on the life of American President Reagan).

- (English: Holden Caulfield) the main character in Jerome D. Salinger's novel “The Catcher in the Rye.” For the first time, a character with that name appears in Salinger’s story “A Mild Riot on Madison Avenue” in 1941 (later in a strong... ... Wikipedia

- (English Holden Caulfield) the hero and narrator of J.D. Salinger's novel “The Catcher in the Rye” (1951). A key character in modern American culture, who subsequently had many reincarnations as the blissful rebel beatniks of the mid-50s (novels... ... Literary heroes

In the Rye English The Catcher in the Rye Genre: Novel Author: Jerome Salinger Original language: English Year of writing: 1951 Publication: July 16 ... Wikipedia

The Catcher in the Rye English. The Catcher in the Rye Genre: Novel Author: Jerome Salinger Original language: English Year of writing: 1951 Publication: July 16 ... Wikipedia

The Catcher in the Rye Cover of the first American edition, 1951 ... Wikipedia

SALINGER Jerome David (b. 1919), American writer. In the story “The Catcher in the Rye” (1951), a dreamy teenager, sensitive to beauty, opposes the practicality and “consumerism” of adults. A series of stories with similar... encyclopedic Dictionary

Other films with the same or similar title: see Hamlet (film). Hamlet Hamlet ... Wikipedia

Hamlet (film, 1948) Other films with the same or similar title: see Hamlet (film). Hamlet Hamlet ... Wikipedia

Genus. 1941, d. 1987. Theater and film actor. Graduate of the Theater School named after. Shchukin (1962). He worked all his life at the Moscow Satire Theater. Roles: Sylvester ("The Tricks of Scapin"), Prisypkin ("The Bedbug"), Holden Caulfield ("Above... ... Large biographical encyclopedia

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Bulgakov as a playwright

Today we will take a closer look at creative activities Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov- one of the most famous playwrights of the last century. He was born on May 3, 1891 in Kyiv. During his life there were great changes in the structure of Russian society, which was reflected in many of Bulgakov’s works. It is no coincidence that he is considered the heir to the best traditions of Russian classical literature, prose and drama. He gained worldwide fame thanks to such works as “The Master and Margarita”, “Heart of a Dog” and “Fatal Eggs”.

Three works by Bulgakov

A special place in the writer’s work is occupied by a cycle of three works: the novel "White Guard" and plays "Run" And "Days of the Turbins" based on real events. Bulgakov borrowed the idea from the memories of the emigration of his second wife, Lyubov Evgenievna Belozerskaya. Part of the novel “The White Guard” was first published in the magazine “Russia” in 1925.

At the beginning of the work, the events taking place in the Turbin family are described, but gradually, through the history of one family, the life of the entire people and country is revealed, and the novel takes on a philosophical meaning. The story is told about the events of the civil war of 1918 in Kyiv, occupied by the German army. As a result of the signing of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty, it does not fall under the rule of the Bolsheviks and becomes a refuge for many Russian intellectuals and military personnel who are fleeing Bolshevik Russia.

Alexey and Nikolka Turbin, like other residents of the City, volunteer for the defenders, and Elena, their sister, protects the house, which becomes a refuge for former officers of the Russian army. Let us note that it is important for Bulgakov not only to describe the revolution in history that was taking place, but also to convey the subjective perception of the civil war as a kind of catastrophe in which there are no winners.

The depiction of a social cataclysm helps to reveal characters - some run, others prefer death in battle. Some commanders, realizing the futility of resistance, send their fighters home, others actively organize resistance and die along with their subordinates. And also - during times of great historical turning points, people do not stop loving, believing, and worrying about loved ones. It’s just that the decisions they have to make every day have a different weight.

Characters of the works:

Alexey Vasilievich Turbin - doctor, 28 years old.
Elena Turbina-Talberg - Alexei's sister, 24 years old.
Nikolka - non-commissioned officer of the First Infantry Squad, brother of Alexei and Elena, 17 years old.
Viktor Viktorovich Myshlaevsky is a lieutenant, a friend of the Turbin family, Alexei’s friend at the Alexander Gymnasium.
Leonid Yuryevich Shervinsky is a former lieutenant of the Life Guards Uhlan Regiment, adjutant at the headquarters of General Belorukov, a friend of the Turbin family, a friend of Alexei at the Alexander Gymnasium, a longtime admirer of Elena.
Fyodor Nikolaevich Stepanov (Karas) - second lieutenant artilleryman, friend of the Turbin family, Alexei's friend at the Alexander Gymnasium.
Nai-Tours is a colonel, commander of the unit where Nikolka serves.

Prototypes of characters and historical background

An important aspect is the autobiographical nature of the novel. Although the manuscripts have not survived, Bulgakov scholars have traced the fate of many characters and proved the almost documentary accuracy of the events described by the author. The prototypes of the main characters in the novel were relatives of the writer himself, and the scenery was the Kyiv streets and his own house, in which he spent his youth.

In the center of the composition is the Turbin family. It is quite widely known that its main prototypes are members of Bulgakov’s own family, however, for the purpose of artistic typification, Bulgakov deliberately reduced their number. In the main character, Alexei Turbine, one can recognize the author himself during the years when he was engaged in medical practice, and the prototype of Elena Talberg-Turbina, Alexei’s sister, can be called Bulgakov’s sister, Elena. Another noteworthy fact is that Bulgakov’s grandmother’s maiden name is Turbina.

Another of the main characters is Lieutenant Myshlaevsky, a friend of the Turbin family. He is an officer devotedly defending his fatherland. That is why the lieutenant enlists in the mortar division, where he turns out to be the most trained and tough officer. According to Bulgakov scholar Ya. Yu. Tinchenko, the prototype of Myshlaevsky was a friend of the Bulgakov family, Pyotr Aleksandrovich Brzhezitsky. He was an artillery officer and participated in the same events that Myshlaevsky talked about in the novel. The rest of the Turbinny's friends remain faithful to the officer's honor in the novel: Stepanov-Karas and Shervinsky, as well as Colonel Nai-Tours.

The prototype for Lieutenant Shervinsky was another friend of Bulgakov - Yuri Leonidovich Gladyrevsky, an amateur singer who served (though not as an adjutant) in the troops of Hetman Skoropadsky; he later emigrated. The prototype of Karas is supposed to have been a friend of the Syngaevskys.

The three works are connected by the novel “The White Guard,” which served as the basis for the play “Days of the Turbins” and several subsequent productions.

“White Guard”, “Running” and “Days of the Turbins” on stage

After part of the novel was published in the Rossiya magazine, the Moscow Art Theater invited Bulgakov to write a play based on The White Guard. This is how “Days of the Turbins” were born. In it, the main character Turbin absorbs the features of three heroes from the novel “The White Guard” - Alexei Turbin himself, Colonel Malyshev and Colonel Nai-Tours. The young man in the novel is a doctor, but in the play he is a colonel, although these professions are completely different. In addition, one of the heroes, Myshlaevsky, does not hide the fact that he is a professional military man, since he does not want to find himself in the camp of the vanquished. The relatively easy victory of the Reds over the Petliurists makes a strong impression on him: “These two hundred thousand heels have been greased with lard and are blowing at the mere word ‘Bolsheviks’.” At the same time, Myshlaevsky does not even think about the fact that he will have to fight with his yesterday’s friends and comrades in arms - for example, with Captain Studzinsky.

One of the obstacles to accurately conveying the events of the novel is censorship.

As for the play “Running,” its plot is based on the story of the escape of guards from Russia during the Civil War. It all starts in the north of Crimea and ends in Constantinople. Bulgakov describes eight dreams. He uses this technique to convey something unreal, something that is difficult to believe. Heroes of different classes flee from themselves and circumstances. But this is a flight not only from war, but also to love, which is so lacking in the harsh years of war...

Film adaptations

Of course, this amazing story could be seen not only on stage, but also, ultimately, in the cinema. A film adaptation of the play “Running” was released in 1970 in the USSR. The script is based on the works “Running”, “White Guard” and “Black Sea”. The film consists of two episodes, directed by A. Alov and V. Naumov.

Back in 1968, a film was made based on the play “Running” in Yugoslavia, directed by Z. Shotra, and in 1971 in France, directed by F. Shulia.

The novel “The White Guard” served as the basis for the creation of a television series of the same name, which was released in 2011. Starring: K. Khabensky (A. Turbin), M. Porechenkov (V. Myshlaevsky), E. Dyatlov (L. Shervinsky) and others.

Another three-part feature television film, “Days of the Turbins,” was made in the USSR in 1976. A number of location shootings of the film were done in Kyiv (Andreevsky Descent, Vladimirskaya Hill, Mariinsky Palace, Sophia Square).

Bulgakov's works on stage

The stage history of Bulgakov's plays was complex. In 1930, his works were no longer published, and his plays were removed from theater repertoires. The plays “Running”, “Zoyka’s Apartment”, “Crimson Island” were banned from production, and the play “Days of the Turbins” was withdrawn from the show.

In the same year, Bulgakov wrote to his brother Nikolai in Paris about the unfavorable literary and theatrical situation for himself and the difficult financial situation. Then he sends a letter to the government of the USSR with a request to determine his fate - either to give him the right to emigrate, or to give him the opportunity to work at the Moscow Art Theater. Joseph Stalin himself calls Bulgakov, who recommends that the playwright apply to enroll him in the Moscow Art Theater. However, in his speeches Stalin agreed: “Days of the Turbins” is “an anti-Soviet thing, and Bulgakov is not ours”.

In January 1932, Stalin again allowed the production of The Days of the Turbins, and before the war it was no longer prohibited. True, this permission did not apply to any theater except the Moscow Art Theater.

The performance was performed before the start of the Great Patriotic War. During the bombing of Minsk in June 1941, when the Moscow Art Theater was on tour in Belarus, the scenery burned down.

In 1968, the director, People's Artist of the RSFSR Leonid Viktorovich Varpakhovsky, again staged “Days of the Turbins”.

In 1991, “The White Guard,” directed by People’s Artist of the USSR Tatyana Vasilievna Doronina, once again returned to the stage. The performance was a great success among the audience. The genuine acting successes of V.V. Klementyev, T.G. Shalkovskaya, M.V. Kabanov, S.E. Gabrielyan, N.V. Penkov and V.L. Rovinsky revealed to the audience of the 1990s the drama of the revolutionary years, the tragedy of ruin and losses. The merciless cruelty of the revolutionary break-up, general destruction and collapse burst into life.

The “White Guard” embodies nobility, honor, dignity, patriotism and awareness of one’s own tragic end.

The novel "The White Guard", chapters from which Bulgakov read in friendly companies, in the literary circle "Green Lamp", attracted the attention of Moscow publishers. But the real publisher is Isai Grigorievich Lezhnev with his magazine “Russia”. An agreement had already been concluded and an advance had been paid when Nedra became interested in the novel. In any case, one of the publishers of Nedra suggested that Bulgakov give them the novel for publication. “...He promised to talk about this with Isai Grigorievich, because the conditions for the novel were enslaving, and in our “Nedra” Bulgakov could have received incomparably more,” recalled the secretary of the “Nedra” publishing house P. N. Zaitsev. - There were two members of the Nedra editorial board in Moscow at that time: V.V. Veresaev and me... I quickly read the novel and forwarded the manuscript to Veresaev in Shubinsky Lane. The novel made a great impression on us. Without hesitation, I spoke out for its publication in Nedra, but Veresaev was more experienced and sober than me. In a reasonable written review, V.V. Veresaev noted the merits of the novel, the skill, objectivity and honesty of the author in showing events and characters, white officers, but wrote that the novel is completely unacceptable for “Nedra”.

And Klestov-Angarsky, who was vacationing in Koktebel at that time and became acquainted with the circumstances of the case, completely agreed with Veresaev, but immediately offered to conclude an agreement with Bulgakov for some other thing of his. A week later, Bulgakov brought the story “Fatal Eggs.” Both Zaitsev and Veresaev liked the story, and they urgently sent it to type, without even coordinating its publication with Angarsky.

So Bulgakov had to publish the novel under enslaving conditions in the magazine “Russia” (No. 4–5, January - March 1925).

After the release of the first parts of the novel, all connoisseurs of great Russian literature responded vividly to its appearance. On March 25, 1925, M. Voloshin wrote to N. S. Angarsky: “I really regretted that you still did not decide to publish The White Guard, especially after I read an excerpt from it in Rossiya.” In print you see things more clearly than in the manuscript... And on secondary reading, this thing seemed to me very large and original; As a debut of a beginning writer, it can only be compared with the debuts of Dostoevsky and Tolstoy.”

From this letter it is clear that Angarsky, during Zaitsev’s stay in Koktebel, gave the novel to M. Voloshin to read, who spoke in favor of its publication in Nedra, because even then he saw in the novel the “soul of Russian strife” for the first time captured in literature.

Gorky asks S. T. Grigoriev: “Are you familiar with M. Bulgakov?” What is he doing? “The White Guard” is not on sale?

Bulgakov loved this novel, a lot of autobiographical things were embodied in it, thoughts, feelings, experiences not only of his own, but also of his loved ones, with whom he went through all the changes of power in Kyiv and in Ukraine in general. And at the same time, I felt that more work needed to be done on the novel... In the words of the writer himself, “The White Guard” is “a persistent depiction of the Russian intelligentsia as the best layer in our country...”, “a depiction of an intellectual-noble family, by the will of an immutable historical the fate of being thrown into a White Guard camp during the Civil War, in the traditions of “War and Peace.” Such an image is quite natural for a writer who is closely connected with the intelligentsia. But this kind of image leads to the fact that in the USSR their author, along with his heroes, receives, despite his great efforts to become dispassionately above the Reds and Whites, a certificate of a White Guard enemy, and having received it, as everyone understands, he can consider himself a complete man. in USSR".

Bulgakov's heroes are very different, different in their aspirations, in their education, intellect, in their place in society, but all his heroes are characterized by one, perhaps the most important quality - they want something of their own, something inherent only to them, something... then personal, they want to be themselves. And this trait was especially clearly embodied in the heroes of The White Guard. It tells about a very complex and contradictory time, when it was impossible to immediately sort everything out, understand everything, and reconcile contradictory feelings and thoughts within ourselves. With his entire novel, Bulgakov wanted to affirm the idea that people, although they perceive events differently, treat them differently, strive for peace, for the established, the familiar, the established. Whether this is good or bad is another matter, but it is absolutely true. A person does not want war, does not want external forces to interfere with the usual course of his life's destiny, he wants to believe in everything that is done as the highest manifestation of justice.

So the Turbins want them all to live together as a family in their parents’ apartment, where everything is familiar and familiar since childhood, from the slightly worn carpets with Louis to the clumsy clocks with a loud chime, where they have their own traditions, their own human laws, moral, moral, where a sense of duty to the Motherland, Russia is a fundamental feature of their moral code. Friends are also very close to them in their aspirations, thoughts, and feelings. All of them will remain faithful to their civic duty, their ideas about friendship, decency, and honesty. They have developed ideas about man, about the state, about morality, about happiness. The circumstances of life were such that they did not force us to think deeper than was customary in their circle.

The mother, dying, admonished the children - “live together.” And they love each other, worry, suffer if one of them is in danger, experience together these great and terrible events taking place in the beautiful City - the cradle of all Russian cities. Their life developed normally, without any life shocks or mysteries, nothing unexpected or random came into the house. Here everything was strictly organized, streamlined, and determined for many years to come. And if not for the war and revolution, their lives would have passed in peace and comfort. War and revolution disrupted their plans and assumptions. And at the same time, something new has appeared that becomes predominant in their inner world - a keen interest in political and social ideas. It was no longer possible to remain on the sidelines as before. Politics was part of everyday life. Life required everyone to decide the main question - who to go with, who to join, what to defend, what ideals to defend. The easiest way is to remain faithful to the old order, based on the veneration of the trinity - autocracy, Orthodoxy, nationality. Few people at that time understood politics, the programs of parties, their disputes and disagreements.