5. Two Grigory Melekhov
Every person is more or less truth, and truth requires a calm and impartial investigation, it requires that its investigation be approached with respect for it, at least without a decision taken in advance to find it a lie.
V. Belinsky. T. 3. S. 374
Quiet Don is one of the most beloved works of the Soviet people. M. Sholokhov in his epic novel deeply truthfully painted the most complex picture of revolutionary transformations in our country. An entire era with its social and psychological conflicts and contradictions has received its vivid and artistic reproduction on the pages of this novel.
Among the most diverse human destinies revealed in The Quiet Don, the attention of readers is attracted by the extraordinary personality of Grigory Melekhov, his complex, contradictory life, and his tragic fate. As if alive, Gregory gets up, with his individual temperament, with his own character, inherent only to him, with all his strong and weak features. With unflagging attention we follow the fate of the hero, we experience a feeling of sympathy, compassion, bitterness, regret. With all the mistakes he makes, with all his contradictions, even at the most critical moments, the spiritual qualities that arouse our sympathy do not dry out in him: honesty, sincerity, courage, truthfulness and directness. Such is the power of the artistic word: a brilliant writer completely and completely captures the heart of the reader and makes him love the one he loves, hate the one he hates, sympathize with the one he sympathizes with.
But it is worth getting acquainted with the interpretation of the image of Grigory Melekhov in critical literature about The Quiet Don, when the question immediately arises: is this the same Grigory that we just read about in the novel by M. Sholokhov? From the pages of books and articles devoted to The Quiet Don, a completely different image of Grigory Melekhov arises, little corresponding to that depicted by Sholokhov. Facts only external biography and quotes from the novel, you can guess that they are talking about Grigory Melekhov from The Quiet Flows the Don. However, this second Grigory Melekhov, constructed by critics, appears before us as a character dominated by negative traits. And in order to debunk it, the author of The Quiet Flows the Don, according to critics, comes up with "Dante's seven circles of hell" ( Lezhnev I. M. Sholokhov. 1948. S. 164), executes, punishes him.
First of all, attention should be paid to the means and techniques by which some critics and researchers prove this thesis. So, arguing that Grigory Melekhov is “pitiful, as only a fratricide rejected by people can be pitiful and contemptible” (Ibid., p. 167), I. Lezhnev refers to the text of the novel, where through the eyes of Aksinya a detailed portrait of Grigory is given. After a long separation, they are together again. Aksinya looks at the sleeping Gregory. “He slept with his lips slightly parted, breathing evenly ... Lowering her eyes, she glanced briefly at his large knotted hands and for some reason sighed.” Having quoted this passage in its entirety, I. Lezhnev concludes: “The eyes of the beloved are the mirror of the soul. Sholokhov's description of Grigory's cruel face and terrible knobby hands ... says: this is the face of a murderer ”( Lezhnev I. Decree. op. P. 160. Here and in the future, M. Sholokhov is quoted from the publication: Sholokhov M.A. Sobr. cit.: In 8 vols. M .: Goslitizdat, 1957). Is this conclusion consistent with the text of the novel? No, Aksinya noticed "something stern, almost cruel in the features of his face, looked at his big knobby hands."
The author of the monograph on The Quiet Don goes further. Analyzing the portrait of Grigory, given in the novel through the perception of a young Cossack woman, the researcher comes to the conclusion that Grigory Melekhov, seen through her eyes, “wakes up pity, achingly dreary forebodings” ( Yakimenko L."Quiet Flows the Don" by M. Sholokhov. M., 1954. S. 134). However, the second part of the Cossack woman's thoughts refutes this conclusion. “His eyes are hard. No, he’s a good Cossack, only he’s a wonderful one” (T. 5, p. 356).
Other researchers also process the text of the novel in this way. Is it correct?
In The Quiet Don, M. Sholokhov talks about the Don Cossacks, about the fiercest class struggle on the Don, about the difficult and difficult search by the bulk of the Cossacks for the right road to an alliance with the working class. Much was unclear to the labor Cossacks. This predetermined such situations in life, when part of the labor Cossacks took part in the counter-revolution. The clash between the revolutionary people and part of the working peasantry, which found itself in a camp hostile to the proletarian revolution, was tragic. At the same time, a tragic situation arose only at the moment when the working people who found themselves in the counter-revolutionary camp began to understand the fallacy of their path, to look for a way out of the situation, suffering and suffering from the inability to find the right way out. But this part of the working people, too, realizing their mistakes, subsequently comes to an alliance with the working class, with the proletarian revolution. It is in this sense that M.A. himself understands the tragic conflict. Sholokhov. Remembering events civil war on the Don, M. Sholokhov in 1956 said that “in addition to notorious counter-revolutionaries, there were also people who accidentally, blindly joined the White Guard movement, but later most of them realized their mistakes and became active builders of socialism” (Pravda. 1956. 27th of December). The writer sees the “dramatic nature of the situation” in the fact that many of those who made a mistake did not see a way out of the situation.
During the period of revolution and civil war, when the history of mankind was making “one of the greatest, most difficult turns”, “when the old breaks and falls apart with terrible noise and crash, and next to it, in indescribable torments, the new is born” ( Lenin V.I. Op. T. 27, p. 133), when the multi-million mass of the peasantry rose to “independent political life” (Ibid., p. 162), when “the novelty and difficulty of change naturally evokes an abundance of mistakes” (Ibid., p. 243), during this period the vacillation of the petty-bourgeois strata is a completely natural, quite natural phenomenon, and to expect that the revolution “does not vacillate - it would be completely unnatural, it would mean completely disregarding the class character coup” (Ibid., p. 252).
Describing the movement of the masses, V.I. Lenin constantly notes the independence of their actions. The October Revolution awakened among the people the desire to actively participate in political life and independently resolve social issues. And with their “amazing gullibility and unconsciousness” (Ibid., vol. 25, p. 274), the petty-bourgeois or semi-petty-bourgeois masses, without their own practical experience, which makes it possible to compare the leadership of the bourgeoisie and the leadership of the proletariat, cannot solve the most difficult political question: “to be together with the worker class or with the bourgeoisie” (Ibid., vol. 30, p. 243). IN AND. Lenin repeatedly emphasized that the emergence of vacillations within the peasantry was quite possible, and not only possible, but that it happened very often during the period of the civil war.
At the heart of the tragic conflict in the Quiet Don lies the delusion of a part of the people, which gives rise to the tragic mistake of Grigory Melekhov, who took part in the Veshensky uprising. But even when Grigory Melekhov is in the counter-revolutionary camp, he cannot be identified with outspoken counter-revolutionaries. That is why a clear distinction between the malicious enemies of Soviet power and those who accidentally, blindly adjoin the White Guard movement on the Don, is absolutely necessary as a point of principle in posing and resolving the problem of the tragic in the Quiet Don.
IN AND. Lenin wrote: “The middle peasant is not our enemy. He wavered, wavers, and will waver: the task of influencing the waverers is not the same as the task of overthrowing the exploiter and defeating an active enemy” (Ibid., vol. 28, p. 171). Meanwhile, in the existing studies on the Quiet Don, the line separating Grigory Melekhov from the enemies of Soviet power is lost, which could not but affect the interpretation of the main character.
In the critical literature about the Quiet Don, the opinion was established that in the image of Grigory Melekhov, M. Sholokhov showed those people who, having cut themselves off from the people, turned into renegades and who are denied the right to new life under Soviet rule. I. Lezhnev wrote that "the Melekhovs have no future" ( Lezhnev I. Decree. op. S. 160). Following him, L. Yakimenko makes the following assumption: He (that is, Grigory Melekhov. - V.P.) there will be no place in the beginning of a new life" ( Yakimenko L. Decree. op. S. 77). The analysis of the image is also associated with this conclusion.
The idea that permeates the research on the Quiet Don is that Grigory Melekhov, being in a camp hostile to Soviet power, loses his positive human qualities, gradually turns into a miserable and terrible likeness of a person.
Goffenschefer writes about Grigory Melekhov’s “terrible spiritual emptiness”, “terrible spiritual degradation” (Literary critic. 1940. No. 2), Charny mentions Grigory Melekhov’s “pathetic weakness” (October. 1940. No. 9); “a miserable, narrow and self-serving egoist who thinks only of himself” (Krasnaya Nov. 1941, No. 3), Kirpotin calls him, etc.
"The wrong, erroneous path of Gregory in the revolution, which led him to a break with the people, is the path of the loss of many wonderful human properties and qualities" ( Yakimenko L. Decree. op. P. 78), states L. Yakimenko, adding that “from the last pages of the novel, a pitiful and terrible likeness of a man looks at us” (Ibid., p. 143), that “the struggle against the people leads .. to the death of the human in man" (Ibid., p. 144) and that "Gregory...became not a man" (Ibid., p. 100).
L. Vladimirov writes in the tone of L. Yakimenko. Describing Melekhov, Sholokhov de punishes his hero, taking away "from him courage, honesty, the strength of youth, faith in the future", taking away "his last hope and love - Aksinya" (Don. 1955. No. 2, p. 77). But with the same success it can be said that M. Sholokhov punishes not only Grigory, but also Aksinya, Natalya, Panteley Prokofievich, Ilyinichna and even Polyushka - Grigory's daughter.
This idea was brought to the extreme point in the book by V. Gura. “After Gregory entered a new period of reflection, his spiritual fall deepened. Reason, composure, prudence leave him, only animal instinct, "wild animal excitement" powerfully controls his will" ( Gora V. Life and work of M. Sholokhov. M., 1955. S. 119-120).
Calling the path of Grigory Melekhov through the loss of wonderful human qualities, L. Yakimenko makes an attempt to reveal "the reasons for the inglorious end of this once strong, talented, bright person." By the end of the World War, "Grigory closely converges with Chubaty." “There are no more clashes and quarrels between them. The influence of Chubaty affected the psyche and character of Grigory. “Pity for the man has disappeared,” Grigory’s heart has “hardened, coarsened.” And we suddenly quite clearly feel the terrifying connection that exists between the established Cossack life for centuries and the anti-human, degenerate philosophy of Chubaty. The Melekhov family, the circumstances of their lives, Chubaty touched something very significant in the reader's perception. And much is revealed to us in the future of Gregory" ( Yakimenko L. Decree. op. P. 78) (emphasis mine. - V.P.).
True, in another place in his extensive book, L. Yakimenko claims that between Grigory and Chubaty "there was never a feeling of closeness" ( Yakimenko L. Decree. op. S. 112).
However, the entire pathos of the researcher is aimed at proving that Gregory comes to such an end, to such a physical and moral degeneration, when a person ceases to be a person. And such a path leads him to the same result that the Chernetsovs, Chubaty, Korshunovs came to a little earlier: “Sholokhov shows the complete apostasy of the Chernetsovs, Chubaty, Korshunovs ... They are deprived of the right to be called people.” The same assessment is given to Grigory Melekhov: “In the Fomin gang, Grigory continues the fight against Soviet power. And this means the final fall of Melekhov. He not only broke with the people, he broke away from the Cossack masses, became a renegade” (p. 136).
The image of Grigory Melekhov is the most complex image, and it is impossible to adjust it to a pre-designed scheme, as has been done so far. Considering it as an expression of the essence of a certain social force, they mistakenly believe that every act, every action of Gregory exactly corresponds to his spiritual content, his inner impulses, that “the chain of inner feelings, thoughts is inextricably linked with external action” (Ibid., p. 93) . Perhaps, it was from this identification of the external and internal in a person that many incorrect conclusions were drawn regarding the essence of the image of Grigory Melekhov. Evaluating a person by his external position is the basic principle of studying the image of Grigory Melekhov. In accordance with this, the thesis was established, according to which it follows that the image of the action, the eventful side of the work, is the most important and defining essence of the artistic image. Of course, no one is going to deny that through actions and deeds the character of the human personality is revealed. But the actions that the hero performs do not always coincide with his psychological certainty, participation in this or that event does not always determine the value of the human personality.
In the process of breaking down centuries of established life, such unusual circumstances are often created in which the essence of a person is revealed much faster, more truthfully and deeper than in a familiar environment, where everything has long been formed and strengthened.
It is not by chance that M. Sholokhov chooses the participation of the Don Cossacks in October revolution. Here, on the Don, it was very difficult to find the right path, the instability of the petty-bourgeois masses during the proletarian revolution was very sharply manifested. The complexity and inconsistency of what was happening put the ordinary worker in unusual circumstances, when it was extremely difficult to draw a clear line between truth and untruth. At the same time, in The Quiet Don we see a discrepancy between the internal movements, aspirations, thoughts of Grigory Melekhov and the external forms of his behavior. M. Sholokhov pays great attention to the selection of events, situations, the development of action. But the main thing for him is not the external course and change of events, not life situation, in which the hero finds himself, and the inner spiritual content, often contradicting the external position actor. And the situation has the significance that it helps to reveal this sharp discrepancy between the external position and the internal content of the hero. Therefore, we cannot judge Grigory Melekhov solely by his actions and deeds, which sometimes arose as a deviation from his initial motives and aspirations as a result of a number of accidental collisions for him and circumstances unforeseen by him. When such situations arise, M. Sholokhov carefully motivates the spiritual evolution of the hero, reveals his thoughts and feelings in the process of their emergence and development, depicts the course of the mental process, and not its final result in order to show the necessity and regularity of a radical change in the external position of the hero. (Grigory's entry into the First Cavalry, escape from Fomin's gang, return to his native farm from the dugout of deserters, etc.)
The strength of M. Sholokhov as an artist is that, penetrating into the "holy of holies" of Grigory Melekhov, behind the external facts of his life he saw his soul, his inner world, his thoughts and feelings, his inner impulses and aspirations, which sometimes did not coincide with his position and place in the fierce class battles. The whole life of Grigory Melekhov takes place in complex clashes and struggles: it is filled with extraordinary episodes and situations. In his fate, two sharply opposite spiritual states can be distinguished: the first, when his external position corresponds to his inner content, and this with irresistible force attracts him to action, because he is clearly aware of his place, his purpose in the events taking place; second, when his position contradicts his inner conviction, and seeing no way out of the situation he has created, he becomes indifferent to life, thinks of death as the only way to resolve this tragic discrepancy.
In the days of the World War, when every Cossack was clear about his task, “Grigory firmly protected the Cossack honor, caught the opportunity to show selfless courage, took risks, went crazy” (T. 3. S. 51). The clarity of purpose gave rise to the activity of his action. With the beginning of the proletarian revolution, Grigory Melekhov began to waver. If in the first months of the establishment of Soviet power on the Don, Grigory fights with the White Guards, participates in the congress of front-line Cossacks in the village of Kamenskaya, then after a while he wants to “turn away from everything seething with hatred, hostile and incomprehensible world”: “There, behind, everything was confused , contradictory. It was difficult to find the right path...” (T. 3. S. 271).
And just when he "did not have confidence" - "whether he was going along the right path" Grigory sought to step aside from the bloody struggle, dreamed of the work of a grain grower, wanted "peace and silence." “Sweet and thick, like hops, life seemed to him at that time here, in the wilderness” (T. 3. S. 271). That is why Grigory so "attentively and joyfully looked around the bases" as soon as he arrived at his native farm. That is why it became so hard and painful for Grigory in his soul when "the beginning ... of a patch" on the Don, which again inexorably demands one solution or another. That is why Grigory blew off at Valeto “anger for his disturbed peace, for the excitement that he experienced when he heard from Ivan Alekseevich about the invasion of the Red Guard detachments into the district” (T. 3. S. 333).
Neither Ivan Alekseevich Kotlyarov nor Grigory Melekhov went along with Jack and Koshevoy, although "the rightness was on the side of Jack and Koshevoy, it was necessary to leave, not to hesitate" (T. 3. S. 338).
Grigory Melekhov, like many other Cossacks of his farm, takes part in the capture of Podtelkov and his detachment. This struggle is a burden to him, because he doubts, hesitates, he has no confidence in the rightness of his cause. In him, as in other Cossacks, "dissatisfaction, fatigue, embitterment" (T. 4. S. 96), and this made him indifferent: "Participating in the war, Grigory indifferently watched its course" (T. 4. S. 96).
Gregory appears completely different when the Veshensky uprising begins. He is active, brave, resourceful. Not a trace of the former indifference remained. And he is active because, as it seems to him, he has finally found the right and only fair path: “Everything was decided and weighed in languid days ... As if there were no days of searching for the truth, vacillations, transitions and a difficult struggle” (T. 4. S. 198). By this time, as Grigory thought, the truth of the struggle had been found, and he completely and completely surrendered to the power of that feeling of hatred for the Reds, which had taken possession of him at the very beginning of the uprising. And what was especially clearly reflected in the actions of Gregory is characteristic to a greater or lesser extent for the entire mass of the Upper Don Cossacks. That is why at this moment Gregory is full of desire to put into practice his thoughts, which seem to him fair. But the struggle that has begun seems fair to him because his thoughts revolve only around some qualities and features of the era, prompted and accumulated by himself, only one side stands out in his mind clearly and distinctly: “The paths of the Cossacks crossed with the paths of landless masculine Rus', with the paths of factory people” (T. 4. S. 198). And when “for a moment a contradiction arose in him: “The rich with the poor, and not the Cossacks with Russia”, “he angrily brushed aside these thoughts.”
But these thoughts could only be brushed aside at first. As soon as new facts appeared, his thought again began its painful work. What was so naturally rejected at the beginning of the insurrection grips him more and more. At first glance, everything seemed to him clear, understandable: to fight to the end with the “factory people”, “to tear from under their feet the fat Don soil, watered with Cossack blood”, but then, as he collided with new phenomena, facts that reveal other aspects of reality, the apparent integrity of his position is gradually shaken. All his thoughts and reflections are concentrated around the most painful question for him: “who is right?” And this question arises again before him only because life itself confronts him with new facts, puts him in exceptional positions, when he has to act out of habit. Great importance in the novel there is an episode when Grigory interrogates a captive Khoper. At first, Grigory is cold, cruel, hypocritical, orders Prokhor to shoot the Cossack, but then “quickly” goes out onto the porch and orders to be released and issued a pass. Having released the Khoper, Grigory experiences conflicting feelings: "slightly annoyed at the feeling of pity" and "at the same time refreshingly joyful." As the plot of the novel develops, Gregory becomes more and more convinced of the wrongness of the case in which he takes part, he begins to think more and more about his position; and Sholokhov shifts the center of gravity to inner experiences your hero. The tragic conflict does not begin with external clashes: internal struggle constitutes the main interest in the tragic hero. The collision of two contradictory streams in the very "soul" of the hero makes a stunning picture of his inner world. An unresolved, irritating contradiction, an insurgent sense of the wrongness of one's cause, firmly enters into his life. Gregory begins to foresee something unkind, but he still has no definite conclusions. It will take clashes with new facts, people, so that he is finally convinced of the wrongness of his case.
Of great importance in the development of the plot and in motivating the internal contradiction of Grigory Melekhov are, on the one hand, his conversation with the messenger of the village of Alekseevskaya, and on the other hand, the appearance of Georgidze, a lieutenant colonel of the white army, at the headquarters of the rebels. After that, in a conversation with Kudinov, Grigory expresses his cherished thought, which for a long time determines his spiritual state: “But I have a thought ...” Grigory darkened, smiling forcibly. “But I think that we got lost when we went to the uprising ... Did you hear what the Khoperets said?” (T. 4. S. 249).
Confidence that, having raised an uprising, the Cossacks were mistaken, grows more and more in the soul of Gregory, he begins to realize the wrongness of his case and suffer painfully, weighed down by his position in the ongoing events. Gregory found himself in the position of a man who not so long ago thought that he was on the right path, and suddenly, as a result of a new life experience, he realized that it was precisely this path that was erroneous. To think that I have found the truth that I have been searching for so long and painfully, and suddenly realize that the truth lies on a completely different path! Gregory understands the wrongness of his cause and suffers deeply from the inability to reconcile the aspirations of his soul with the inexorable course of real life.
As soon as Grigory understood the contradictory nature of his position, he lost all desire to actively participate in the struggle. “These days, Gregory, moving away from black thoughts, trying to drown out his consciousness, did not think about what was happening around and what he was a prominent participant in - he began to drink” (T. 4. P. 269). This "created the illusion of genuine fun and obscured the sober, fierce reality" (T. 4. p. 270). However, nothing can distract him from the fierce reality, smooth out the aggravated contradictions. In the battle near Klimovka, he sees with his own eyes what the struggle he started leads to - to the destruction of workers like him: “Who did he cut! .. Brothers, there is no forgiveness for me! ..” (T. 4. S. 282 -283).
This episode was, as it were, the final act in that inner drama that played out in Grigory's soul when he began to realize the fallacy of his path.
After that, his “heart was in turmoil”: he “fell ill” with “longing”, because, as he admits to Natalia, “life’s course is wrong, and maybe I’m to blame for this ... I should immediately make peace with the Reds and for the cadets. But as? Who will bring us together with Soviet power? How can we account for our common grievances?” (T. 4. S. 302).
The tragedy of his situation is that, having rejected his old beliefs, he does not find anything positive in their place. But as soon as Gregory realized that the uprising was anti-popular, he lost all interest in it. If earlier, when it seemed to him that he was on the right path, he actively participated in the counter-revolutionary uprising, now, having realized his mistake, he becomes indifferent to the outcome of the uprising: “He did not hurt his soul for the outcome of the uprising. He somehow didn’t care” (T. 4. p. 371). In this regard, the episode is noteworthy when "for the first time Gregory avoided direct participation in the battle": “A strange indifference took possession of him! No, he will not lead the Cossacks under machine-gun fire. No need. Let the officer assault companies go on the attack. Let them take Ust-Medveditskaya... Not cowardice, not fear of death or aimless losses led him at that moment. Recently, he spared neither his own life, nor the life of the Cossacks entrusted to his command. But now it’s as if something has broken ... Never before had he felt with such utmost clarity all the worthlessness of what was happening. And again, with all ruthlessness, the old contradictions arose before him. “Let them fight. I'll look from the side. As soon as they take a division from me, I will ask to be put out of action to the rear ”(T. 4. S. 103 - 104) (emphasis mine. - V.P.). His doubts, hesitations, contradictions, sufferings weaken his will, his activity. It undergoes profound psychological changes. M. Sholokhov focuses his attention on this process of internal transformation: it is impossible to understand a person without understanding his inner content, his thoughts, feelings and aspirations.
Starting from this episode, we never see Gregory in battle with the Reds. The death of Natalya, typhus, retreat in the wagon train, relapsing fever - these are the milestones of Gregory's life before his entry into the First Cavalry. Together with Prokhor, he “peacefully, like an old man” retreats: “What happened on the front that was moving southward did not interest him” (T. 5. S. 267). He knew that the war was coming to an end. And with all the obviousness, Grigory felt the shame of this end for himself and all the workers who took part in the White Guard movement, when he, again ill with typhus, listened to the old Don song: “Over the black steppe lived and ruled one old song that survived centuries .. And in gloomy silence the descendants of the free Cossacks listened to the mighty song, shamefully retreating, defeated in the inglorious war against the Russian people ”(T. 5. P. 279). As a personal grief, Grigory experiences the shame of this inglorious war, listening to the song. “It was as if something had broken inside Gregory ... Suddenly surging sobs shook his body, a spasm seized his throat” (T. 5. P. 278). Only after the defeat of the White Army, reaching Novorossiysk, most of the Cossacks joined the Red Army. Grigory Melekhov also joined. Here his spiritual mood changes radically. He is active again, brave, energetic. The practical experience that he acquired in the civil war led him to a clear and firm understanding that the White Guards had “annoyed him enough” and were hostile to the working man. That is why, while in the Red Army, he "twisted" Kornilov's "colonel" with such zeal, when he "had a chance to click in battle" with him, that only "half a head along with half a cap remained" of him. Gregory himself tells Prokhor about this. And Prokhor himself noticed the changes that had taken place with Grigory. “He changed, as he entered the Red Army, he became cheerful of himself, smooth as a gelding” (T. 5. S. 309). This was immediately evident, as soon as Grigory decides not to go anywhere, but to join the Red Army: “Let's go to the apartment, guys, follow me! - ordered cheered up and somehow all crept up Grigory.
Returning from the Red Army, he "dreamed with pleasure about how ... he would go to the field." He dreamed of a quiet peaceful life, and was ready for anything, "just to live in peace." If earlier Gregory actively participated in all the major events of his time, now he is trying to completely withdraw from public life: and his “earth called to itself, called tirelessly day and night” (T. 4. P. 293). But the very first conversation with Koshev convinces him that life is not so simple, “as it seemed to him recently. In stupid, childish naivete, he assumed that it was enough to return home, change his overcoat to a zipun, and everything would go as written: no one would say a word to him, no one would reproach him, everything would work out by itself, and he would live and live as a peaceful grain grower and an exemplary family man. No, this is not how it simply looks in reality” (T. 5, p. 374). And this period of Gregory's life, in the interpretation of some researchers, accepted a one-sided interpretation. In an effort to prove at all costs that Grigory was losing the positive qualities of his character, V. Gura wrote that “Grigory Melekhov is afraid of retribution for his crimes against the people, loses courage when he learns about the execution of Platon Ryabchikov” ( Gora V. Decree. op. S. 123). V. Gura mentions at the same time only that he "shuddered with fright and disgust" towards himself, going to register with the Cheka. But this is only one side of his feelings and thoughts, which really could present Melekhov as weak and cowardly! But Grigory Melekhov is not like that. When he went to register, he was met by Fomin, who said, "that the Politburo of officers is starting to arrest," and advised: "It would be better for you, lad, to get out of here, and live faster." Meanwhile, Grigory firmly decided not to go anywhere: “Climbing the stone steps of the two-story building of the Politburo, he thought: “Finish - so quickly, there is nothing to pull! He knew how, Grigory, to misbehave - be able to keep the answer! (T. 5. S. 384).
In Grigory's experiences, there is both fear and fear of prison (“I have never been in prison and I am afraid of prison worse than death”), and disgust for this fear, which is replaced by a firm decision to appear in the Cheka and answer, and when he returned home, he felt annoyed, contempt for himself for “that there, in Veshenskaya, he was afraid and was unable to overcome the fear that gripped him” (T. 5. S. 368), and, telling Aksinya about this, he ridiculed himself and somewhat exaggerated “the experienced experiences” (T. 5. S. 388). That is why he “contemptuously, as if talking about an outsider, said: “It turned out to be thin for retribution ... Srobel.”
As was clear from those confessions and reflections of Grigory, which he shared with Koshev, with Prokhor, with himself, he did not at all intend to take part in speeches against Soviet power. And he found himself in Fomin's gang by accident, as a result of a combination of circumstances that he did not foresee, and was temporarily in it simply because "there was nowhere to go." Such an accumulation of accidents does not contradict the tragic. It is unlikely that V. Ermilov is right when he asserts that by the accumulation of accidents, M. Sholokhov “as if emphasizes that the novel ceases to develop as a tragedy.” Another thing is his position that "the tragic hero does not have freedom of choice": he can only act as he does, because he "has nowhere to go", but V. Ermilov is far from the truth when he suggests that "Melekhov in the eighth part could pass registration, might not pass, might end up in Fomin's gang, or might not be, etc. ” (Literary newspaper. 1940. August 11). Such a solution to the question of the place of chance in the fate of Grigory Melekhov is incorrect, and primarily because it makes it possible to consider his fate as exceptional, but which could have turned out differently. Indeed, in the fate of Gregory there are many accidents, just like those that often happen in a person’s life. If they were not there at all, his fate would not seem so true and convincing. Just at the moment when Grigory Melekhov returned from the First Cavalry, anti-Soviet uprisings began. And this complicated his situation: if there had been no uprisings, then there would not have been such a strict attitude towards those who participated in the Veshensky rebellion. It is no accident, therefore, when Prokhor reported on the uprising in Voronezh province, Grigory “gloomed”, “was obviously alarmed”, since this is really “bad news”: “If the district authorities have such an opinion about me as Koshevoy, then I can’t escape Tigulevka. There is an uprising in the neighborhood, and I former officer Yes, yes, a rebel ... ”(T. 5. S. 378). But these events are not accidental in themselves: they act in the novel as an objective factor, independent of the hero's intentions and aspirations, although his personal fate, his actions and deeds are determined entirely by the objective course of events. Thus, the novel establishes an organic connection between individual human destiny and the objective conditions of social development, the dependence of its personal destiny on the conditions of place and time. That is why M. Sholokhov does not have a single episode in which chance is presented as a whim of history or as a whimsical fate. Chance in the novel is a combination of circumstances that inexorably determine the life path of the hero. And such an accident does not contradict the aesthetics of the tragic. Indeed, Dunyashka accidentally heard that Koshevoy insisted on the immediate arrest of Grigory, and immediately ran to him to report this. And Gregory managed to avoid arrest. He hid for two weeks, and during the transition from one shelter to another, bandits accidentally stumbled upon him and, under escort, took him to Fomin. Meanwhile, it is clear that he could not help but run into bandits, since before showing that Grigory falls into a gang, M. Sholokhov depicts a riot in Veshenskaya. Here the accident in the life of the tragic hero is comprehended, prepared by the whole course of the development of historical events. Such accidents are in conflict with the desires and aspirations of Gregory, are unexpected and unforeseen for him, but do not cease to be natural and conditioned by the entire course of the objective historical process.
But some researchers are trying to convince the reader that the arrival of Grigory in the Fomin gang is natural and logical, that, being in a gang, "Grigory Melekhov becomes a stranger to the Cossack masses" ( Yakimenko L. Decree. op. S. 140).
Is it so? Already at the very beginning of his stay in the gang, Grigory felt disgust and contempt for the bandits, which intensified and grew as he got to know them. He immediately began to think about leaving the gang. When Kaparin offered him to "take command," Grigory refused: "I don't need it, I'm your short visitor" (T. 5. S. 435). The affairs and fates of the people gathered in the gang do not interest him. He stranger in a gang. It is no coincidence that Fomin tells him: “I see you through and through! Do you bury everything in the cold? Do you want to stay in the shadows? (T. 5. S. 471).
Gregory is full of contempt for those with whom he is temporarily together. Observing the well-known scene with the holy fool Pasha, “Gregory shuddered,” “it was all so disgusting,” “hurriedly walked away: “And it’s with such people that I connected my fate ...” he thought, overcome by longing, bitterness and anger at himself yourself, for all this hateful life...” (T. 5. S. 475). And I firmly decided: “Tomorrow I will leave. It's time!"
Grigory “has long seen the mood with which they are met by the inhabitants of the farms: “They reason correctly ... we interfere with everyone to live and work peacefully” (T. 5. P. 476). Deep melancholy seized Gregory at the sight of an empty, as if extinct farm. Everything reminded him that it was time to finish: the cart abandoned on the alley, and the unfinished boards, and the lumberjack in the yard with an ax hastily thrust into it, and the overturned bucket. This picture of desolation, devastation reminded him of "the same desertion and the same traces of a hasty flight", as then, "when the Cossack regiments walked along East Prussia. Now he happened to see the same thing in his native land” (T. 5, p. 477). And from this "the cursed pain again came to the heart." That is why “Grigory looked with misty eyes” “at the yard overgrown with curly plantains, at the thatched hut with yellow shutters, at the high crane in the well” (T. 5. S. 477). All this is near and dear to him. But he was among people who interfere with the peaceful flow of people's life. These people, with whom he was, are profoundly alien to him; apart from contempt, disgust and disgust, he feels nothing for them. And only after leaving these people, Grigory “sighed with relief, with a full chest ...” (T. 5. P. 478).
Grigory himself has long been striving for a peaceful life, for children, for Aksinya. His thoughts and feelings coincide with the thoughts and feelings of the Cossacks. And now it seems to him that he is close to the realization of his long-standing dreams - he will leave for the Kuban with Aksinya: “I do not disdain any work. My hands need to work, not fight. My whole soul has been sick for these months ... ”(T. 5. S. 480).
And only with the death of Aksinya, he, “dead with horror, realized that everything was over, that the worst thing that could have happened in his life had already happened” (T. 5. S. 489).
Some researchers, citing the passage in the novel that speaks of his moral state after Aksinya's death, come to the conclusion that Grigory's "spiritual death" is revealed at the end of the novel. (Gura V. Decree. op. S. 124).
With the death of Aksinya, all the hopes and dreams of Gregory collapsed, and this blow had a heavy effect on his inner content, temporarily put him out of action, and gave his worldview a pessimistic character. But this does not at all lead to the conclusion about his final spiritual death.
The ending of the novel is truly tragic. But if he were prosperous, if in the end it became clear to us that Grigory was saving himself from death and achieving what he aspired to, that is, to the peaceful work of a farmer, then the Quiet Don, without losing at all his high artistic qualities, however, would not make such a tragic impression: in the case when a happy outcome becomes more or less likely, the tragic disappears at the moment when there is a turn towards the well-being of the hero. There is nothing of the kind here. Just as there is no reason to assume a pessimistic end. We are still worried, worried, we sympathize with Grigory Melekhov. The outcome of the struggle is natural and fair.
How do the unrest, doubts, hesitation, delusions of Grigory Melekhov end? Do people like Grigory Melekhov finally find the right path in life?
Answering the question of Bulgarian readers, what is further fate people like Grigory Melekhov, Sholokhov said: “People like Grigory Melekhov went to the Soviet power in a very tortuous way. Some of them came to a final break with Soviet power. The majority became close to the Soviet government, took part in the construction and strengthening of our state, participated in the Great Patriotic war while in the ranks of the Red Army ”(Literary Front. Sofia. 1951. July 12). Tracing the fate of Grigory Melekhov to the end, Sholokhov shows that the complex and painful paths of his life did not erase noble human qualities from him - and this is, as it were, a guarantee that people like Grigory Melekhov can find, and most of them really found, their place among the builders of the Soviet state.
IN AND. Lenin, describing the essence of the peasant in the post-war period, wrote: “He survived all these six years, painful and difficult, not without reason. He does not look like a pre-war man. He suffered greatly, he thought a lot and endured a lot of political and economic hardships that made him forget a lot of the past. I think that he himself already understands that it is impossible to live in the old way, that one must live differently. (Lenin V.I. Op. T. 31. S. 473).
M. Sholokhov showed, in the image of Grigory Melekhov, difficult, painful experiences, revealed the complexity and inconsistency of the thoughts and actions of an individual peasant, who in the end understood "that it is impossible to live in the old way." And such an image of the fate of Gregory makes it possible to see the typicality of this image in accordance general course life on the Don - that is its depth, specificity and richness.
And if this is so, if the fate of Gregory is shown not as an exceptional case, not as a strange accident that might not have happened, but as a typical phenomenon in the most difficult period of revolutionary transformations, then this proves that in the course of the struggle the revolutionary people, rallied around The Communist Party, wins not "individual natives", whose life develops tragically.
The fact of the matter is that not individual people who came from the people, but certain sections of the working people, by virtue of their irresponsibility and detachment from the democratic movement, temporarily supported their exploiters. This is the tragedy of entire sections of the people, and not of its individual descendants. But the result was the same everywhere: most of those who supported the whites realized their mistake and came to the unshakable conclusion that the interests of the working people were defended only by communist party, working class.
So it is in the novel Quiet Flows the Don. Thoughts and feelings, deeds and actions of Grigory Melekhov come up against a force that eventually defeats him, subjugates him, and he rather feels than realizes that the truth of the whole people has been found by the revolutionary people, who have crushed all the counter-revolutionaries.
That is why a tragic denouement is not necessary for the hero in the new, socialist conditions of life. This question was first raised by V. Ermilov. In his opinion, there can be no tragic denouement “for those who understand the wrongness and futility of the struggle against the working class”: “According to classical teaching, a tragic denouement inevitably awaits a tragic hero. In the same reality, which for the first time is friendly to man and his happiness, there is no such fatal inevitability. (Ermilov V. About the "Quiet Don" and the tragedy // Literary newspaper. 1940. August 11).
And this right thought could lead him to correct understanding the essence of the tragic in "The Quiet Don". But V. Ermilov, like many critics of that time, comes to the conclusion that in the final part of the novel, “Grigory Melekhov receives a new quality, social and artistic, embarks on the path of apostasy”, “comes to complete desolation”, “a new one begins, not that Melekhov, who finally lost face”; and on this basis he comes to the conclusion that “there is no love for Gregory—his love perishes—there is no life for him, and therefore “it shines for him black Sun". That is why this "new" Gregory "has no right to tragedy" (Ibid.).
A similar point of view is shared by many modern researchers. Only unlike V. Ermilov, L. Yakimenko, V. Gur and others recognize Grigory Melekhov as a tragic hero, at the same time believing that the tragic hero loses his noble human qualities by the end of the novel, turns "into a terrible and pathetic likeness of a person." Tragic, in their opinion, is the spiritual and physical degradation of a once strong and talented personality. Against such a consideration of the image of Grigory Melekhov in the discussion about the "Quiet Don" in 1940-1941. B.S. Emelyanov: “The whole meaning of the novel, the whole tragedy of the eighth part of it is that Grigory in his essence remains the same as he was ...
To present Gregory as a moral degenerate, causing only disgust, really means to completely cross out everything that Sholokhov did in his novel, to destroy the tragedy, reducing it to a miserable melodrama ... ”(Literary critic. 1940. No. 11 - 12. P. 199 - 200 ).
There is no Grigory Melekhov in the novel, devoid of noble feelings and thoughts. At the end of the novel, during the period of the most excruciating moral suffering, we never hear complaints from Gregory, he does not try to explain his actions and justify himself. Only at night, in his sleep, did he burst into tears. The more intense Gregory's suffering, the richer and more meaningful his spiritual life: in these sufferings the nobility of the hero's soul is revealed. The strength of the tragic personality is revealed primarily in the way she endures the suffering generated by fallibility. life path, delusions, tragic mistakes cause discord in the soul of the hero, internal contradictions, which ultimately lead to mental anguish.
At the same time, the height of the character of a tragic person manifests itself not only before a tragic mistake, which leads him to severe suffering, but also during a period of painful experiences, mental discord, and internal contradictions. If Grigory Melekhov, under the yoke of the extraordinary suffering that fell to his lot, lost his positive human qualities and fell into cowardice, despair, cowardice, then there would be nothing tragic in this person. But the real tragedy of Grigory Melekhov is that it arises when there is an acute discrepancy between the nobility of the human person and the anti-people uprising in which Grigory takes part. That is why it becomes bitter for the author, and after him for the reader, that such a strong, talented representative of the working people finds himself in a camp hostile to the people's revolution, sheds the blood of his brothers.
This text is an introductory piece.Introduction
The fate of Grigory Melekhov in the novel "Quiet Flows the Don" by Sholokhov is in the center of the reader's attention. This hero, who, by the will of fate, fell into the thick of complex historical events, has been forced to search for his life path for many years.
Description Grigory Melekhov
Already from the first pages of the novel, Sholokhov introduces us to the unusual fate of grandfather Grigory, explaining why the Melekhovs outwardly differ from the rest of the inhabitants of the farm. Grigory, like his father, had "a drooping vulture nose, blue tonsils of hot eyes in slightly oblique slits, sharp cheekbones." Remembering the origin of Panteley Prokofievich, everyone in the farm called the Melekhovs "Turks".
Life changes the inner world of Gregory. His appearance also changes. From a carefree cheerful guy, he turns into a stern warrior whose heart is hardened. Grigory “knew that he would no longer laugh as before; He knew that his eyes were hollow and his cheekbones were sticking out sharply, ”and in his eyes“ the light of senseless cruelty began to shine through more and more often.
At the end of the novel, a completely different Gregory appears before us. This is a mature man tired of life "with a tired squint of eyes, with reddish tips of a black mustache, with premature gray hair at the temples and hard wrinkles on the forehead."
Characteristics of Gregory
At the beginning of the work, Grigory Melekhov is a young Cossack living according to the laws of his ancestors. The main thing for him is the household and the family. He enthusiastically helps his father with mowing and fishing. Unable to argue with his parents when they marry him to the unloved Natalya Korshunova.
But, for all that, Gregory is a passionate, addicted nature. Despite the prohibitions of his father, he continues to go to night games. Meets with Aksinya Astakhova, the wife of a neighbor, and then leaves with her from home.
Gregory, like most Cossacks, is inherent in courage, sometimes reaching recklessness. He behaves heroically at the front, participates in the most dangerous sorties. At the same time, the hero is not alien to humanity. He is worried about a gosling that he accidentally slaughtered while mowing. For a long time he suffers because of the murdered unarmed Austrian. “Subjecting to the heart”, Gregory saves his sworn enemy Stepan from death. Goes against a whole platoon of Cossacks, protecting Franya.
In Gregory, passion and obedience, madness and gentleness, kindness and hatred coexist at the same time.
The fate of Grigory Melekhov and his path of quest
The fate of Melekhov in the novel "Quiet Don" is tragic. He is constantly forced to look for a "way out", the right path. It is not easy for him in the war. His personal life is also complicated.
Like the favorite heroes of L.N. Tolstoy, Grigory goes through a difficult path of life quests. In the beginning, everything seemed clear to him. Like other Cossacks, he is called to war. For him there is no doubt that he must defend the Fatherland. But, getting to the front, the hero realizes that his whole nature resists the murder.
Gregory goes from white to red, but here he will be disappointed. Seeing how Podtelkov dealt with the captured young officers, he loses faith in this government and the next year he again finds himself in the white army.
Tossing between the whites and the reds, the hero himself becomes hardened. He loots and kills. Tries to forget himself in drunkenness and fornication. In the end, fleeing from the persecution of the new government, he finds himself among the bandits. Then he becomes a deserter.
Grigory is exhausted by throwing. He wants to live on his own land, raise bread and children. Although life hardens the hero, gives his features something "wolf", in fact, he is not a killer. Having lost everything and never found his way, Grigory returns to his native farm, realizing that, most likely, death awaits him here. But, the son and the house is the only thing that keeps the hero in the world.
Grigory's relationship with Aksinya and Natalya
Fate sends the hero two passionately loving women. But, relations with them are not easy for Gregory. While still single, Grigory falls in love with Aksinya, the wife of Stepan Astakhov, his neighbor. Over time, the woman reciprocates his feelings, and their relationship develops into unbridled passion. “Their crazy connection was so unusual and obvious, they burned so frenziedly with one shameless fire, people without conscience and without hiding, losing weight and turning black in their faces in front of their neighbors, that now people were ashamed to look at them for some reason when they met.”
Despite this, he cannot resist the will of his father and marries Natalya Korshunova, promising himself to forget Aksinya and settle down. But, Gregory is not able to keep the oath given to himself. Although Natalya is beautiful and selflessly loves her husband, he again converges with Aksinya and leaves his wife and parental home.
After Aksinya's betrayal, Grigory returns to his wife again. She accepts him and forgives past wrongs. But he was not destined for a quiet family life. The image of Aksinya haunts him. Once again fate brings them together. Unable to bear the shame and betrayal, Natalia has an abortion and dies. Gregory blames himself for the death of his wife, severely experiences this loss.
Now, it would seem, nothing can prevent him from finding happiness with his beloved woman. But, circumstances force him to leave the place and, together with Aksinya, again set off on the road, the last for his beloved.
With the death of Aksinya, Grigory's life loses all meaning. The hero no longer has even an illusory hope for happiness. “And Gregory, dying of horror, realized that it was all over, that the worst thing that could have happened in his life had already happened.”
Conclusion
In conclusion of my essay on the topic “The Fate of Grigory Melekhov in the Novel “Quiet Flows the Don”,” I want to fully agree with critics who believe that in The Quiet Don, the fate of Grigory Melekhov is the most difficult and one of the most tragic. Using the example of Grigory Sholokhov, he showed how the whirlpool of political events breaks human destiny. And the one who sees his destiny in peaceful labor suddenly becomes a cruel killer with a devastated soul.
Artwork test
Unaeva Gulzida Kuspangaleevna,
teacher of Russian language and literature,
MBOU "Novouspenovskaya secondary school
Akbulak region
Orenburg region"
Item nameLiterature
Class11
WMCRussian literature of the 20th century. Textbook for 11 cells. in 2 hours / ed. V.P. Zhuravleva. - M .: Education, 2012
Level of studybase
Lesson topic: The tragedy of the people and the fate of Grigory Melekhov in the novel Quiet Flows the Don.
The total number of hours devoted to the study of the topic2 hours
The place of the lesson in the system of lessons on the topic3-4 lesson
The purpose of the lesson: to show the inevitability of the tragic fate of Grigory Melekhov, the connection of this tragedy with the fate of society.
Tasks:
to show the relationship between the fate of Grigory Melekhov and the fate of Russian society, to prove the inevitability of the tragedy of the life of the protagonist;
to synthesize students' knowledge about the novel "Quiet Flows the Don" in the anthropological aspect (the character of the protagonist, universal ideals and values);
evaluate the results of mastering this topic (knowledge of the text, ability to analyze, etc.).
Lesson type:combined.
Type of lesson:conversation lesson.
Methods:
By source of knowledge:
verbal (conversation, story);
visual (illustrative).
Theoretical and conceptual apparatus:
Consolidation: epic novel, image of the hero, character.
Introduction of the term: catharsis.
Leading homework by groups:
Define:
Group 1 - CHARACTER
Group 2 - TEMPERAMENT
Group 3 - VOLUNTEER QUALITIES (LEADER and LEADER)
During the classes.
1. Organizational moment.
Today in class we will continue talking about artistic originality Sholokhov's novel Quiet Flows the Don. We will talk about how the novel reveals the features of that era, that time, not only in historical events, but also the facts of private life, on the example of the writer's portrayal of individuals, in particular the main character Grigory Melekhov.
Let's write the topic of the lesson:The tragedy of the people and the fate of Grigory Melekhov in the novel "Quiet Flows the Don"
Try to formulate the purpose of the lesson:the formation of an idea about the characteristics of the character and the vicissitudes of the fate of the protagonist.
Well done! Now let’s take a look at the fundamentals of literature:
What is a novel?Novel - a large narrative work of art with a complex plot, in the center of which is the fate of the individual.
What is an epic?epic - a major work of fiction that tells about significant historical events.
In the literature of the 19th and 20th centuries, such a genre appears as epic novel - This is a work in which the formation of the characters of the main characters occurs in the course of their participation in historical events. Well done!
In previous lessons, we got acquainted with how Mikhail Alexandrovich Sholokhov worked on his works, found out that his work “Quiet Flows the Don” is an epic novel.
- Name another major work you studied in 10th grade that belongs to the same genre.("War and Peace".)
- Does Sholokhov's epic novel "Quiet Don" differ from the novel "War and Peace" by L. Tolstoy?
(- The absence of philosophical generalizations, reasoning about the force that “drives peoples”;
- No theoretical substantiation own historical concept;
- Monocentric epic (one main character– Grigory Melekhov ).
2. Conversation.
In the last lesson, we tried to answer the following question:
- How does Grigory Melekhov appear before the readers of the novel?
(“Young, dark-haired, a Turk, like all Melekhovs”, proud, independent, capable of great feeling. The main features of Grigory (as well as members of the Melekhov family) are goodwill, responsiveness, generosity, hard work.).
How do other characters feel about him?
("In the showerGrishka was liked for his Cossack prowess, for his love for housekeeping and work."(Miron Grigorievich Korshunov).
"Theyfianceno matter where, and their family is helluva lothardworking… A working family with plenty” (Natalia’s mother).
"Melekhovglorious Cossacks"(grandfather Grishak)).
Right. Sholokhov calls Grigory "The Good Cossack". What meaning does he put into these words and in what episodes is the personality of Grigory Melekhov most fully revealed?
(Grigory Melekhov is the brightest personality among the heroes of The Quiet Flows the Don, a unique individuality, a whole, extraordinary nature. He is sincere and honest in his thoughts and actions (see episodes: the last meeting with Natalya -part 7, chapter 7 ; Natalia's deathpart 7, chapters 16-18 ; death of Aksinya). The most striking feature of Gregory is sincerity. He never lied to himself, he was always true to himself.
Gregory reacts very emotionally to everything that happens, he has a sympathetic heart. A sense of pity and compassion is developed in him, this can be judged by such scenes as, for example, “On the hayfield”, when Grigory accidentally cut a wild duckling(part one, ch. 9 ), an episode with Franya(part two, ch. 11).
Or you can remember the scene with the murdered Austrian, who appears to Melekhov in a dream, causing mental anguish(part three, ch. 10).
DeepGregory's attachment to the house, to the ground remains one ofstrongest feelingsthroughout the book: “I won’t touch the ground anywhere. There is a steppe here, there is something to breathe ... ". This confession of Aksinye echoes another: “My hands need to work, not fight. The whole soul was sick during these months. Behind these words is the mood not only of Grigory Melekhov, but also of other Cossacks. Emphasizing the drama of this situation, the author adds on his own behalf: “The time has come to plow, harrow, sow; the earth called to itself, called tirelessly day and night, and here it was necessary to fight, to die on other people's farms ... ".
The main character of Sholokhov -simple cossackwhich in itself is a remarkable new phenomenon in the literature. The mentality of Gregory, his character is, first of all, the character of a Cossack, although the author claimed: “Melekhov has a very individual fate, in him I do not try to personify the average Cossacks.”
- Let's look at the cluster compiled according to your statements, reflecting the character of Grigory Melekhov.
c
- Our lesson today will be somewhat unusual. We will try not only to consider artistic image Grigory Melekhov, but also to compose it psychological picture. It is important for each of us to be able to reveal our inner psychological reserves. But for this you need to learn to know yourself and other people, to identify the temperament, character, orientation of the personality for the most comfortable interaction with the people around you at home, at school, in your future professional activity.So, based on the assessment of personality traits, it is possible to draw up her psychological portrait, which includes the following components:
1. temperament;
2. character;
3. ability;
5. intelligence;
6. emotionality;
7. strong-willed qualities;
8. ability to communicate;
9. self-esteem;
10. level of self-control;
11. Interoperability
Of course, we simply won’t have time to consider all the components of a psychological portrait, so I suggest you work with a few of them:
Temperament -1 group - 2 min.
Character -Group 2 - 2 min.
Volitional qualities -Group 3 - 2 min.
At home, you should have found material on these issues. Please, representatives of the first group…. Second…. Third…
Thank you. I think that knowledge of the theoretical material will help you in practice. Please determine the features of the psychological portrait of Grigory Melekhov by groups:
Temperament -Group 2 - 3 min.
Character -Group 3 - 3 min.
Volitional qualities - 1group - 3 min.
Well done! This psychological portrait is laid down by nature itself, life, family traditions, etc.(The conditions that shaped the character of the protagonist of the novel:Land and labor on it, military duty, family, farm, chicken are the most important components spiritual world Cossack.)
- Now let's work with the text.
Emphasize the manifested traits of Gregory's character in certain circumstances.:
Group - “Fight with Stepan Astakhov because of Aksinya” (part one, ch. 12),
Group - Gregory in the hospital.
Group - "The moment of the massacre of Yevgeny Listnitsky."
It seems to me that now we can add some more traits of the hero to our cluster compiled earlier:
embittered
restless
internal monologues
violent to the point
natural nature.
So, guys, you correctly and quite fully analyzed the character of Grigory Melekhov. Let's look at the main character traits of the hero recorded by us. It is these traits of the hero, moral values, which he professes, the features of his emotional and psychological warehouse and explain why it is Grigory Sholokhov who makes the main character. Have you noticed that he is the only character who is given the right to monologues - "thoughts" that reveal his spiritual beginning. Let's think about what role his internal monologues play in the characterization of the hero?
( Sholokhov conveys the innermost thoughts of the hero in his internal monologues. Especially a lot of them in the third volume. The monologues of the hero are diverse. Most often, the author introduces these inner reflections into the text of the novel just at the turning point, key moments in the life of Gregory).
Right, but who can give an example?
(1. During the battles with the Red Army, Grigory thinks: “What kind of people? And what are they?” He is curious, wants to know these people, who are essentially the same as him, and he also does not want to fight with them, does not understand why shed blood.
2. The same thoughts visit him when he takes command of a hundred: “And most importantly, against whom am I leading? Against the people… Who is right?” This shows us Melekhov both as a brave warrior and as a very humane, quick-thinking, reasonable person.
3. Another reflection of Melekhov about the war, the revolution: “The paths of the Cossacks crossed with the paths of landless peasant Rus', with the paths of the factory people. Fight them to the death! To tear from under their feet the Don soil, soaked with Cossack blood. Drive them like Tatars out of the region! Shake Moscow, impose a shameful world on it! .. And now - for a saber! In these thoughts, one can see the uncompromising nature of a person who never knew the middle. It had nothing to do with political pursuits.
4. Melekhov yearns for such a truth, "under the wing of which everyone could warm up." And, from his point of view, neither the Whites nor the Reds have such a truth: “There is no one truth in life. It can be seen whoever defeats whom will devour him ... And I was looking for the bad truth. My soul ached, it swayed back and forth ... ”These searches, according to him, turned out to be“ in vain and empty. And this also determined the tragedy of his fate).
Note for yourself, guys, that similar thoughts, similar searches were characteristic of many people during the civil war. Bloody, destructive, fratricidal, long war… She devastated the souls of people, forced them to bear death, and not to create life - to start families, to plow the land, to run a household. Sholokhov tells us that man was created for life, not for war. What conclusion does the writer lead us to?
(That the tragedy of Grigory Melekhov is the tragedy of an entire people, of an entire era.)
Well done! Now let's move on to the end of the novel. A.K. Tolstoy called the finale of Sholokhov's novel a "mistake". What happens to the hero at the end of the book?
(At the end of the novel, Grigory returns to the Tatarsky farm. He lost everything, everything was taken from him by war and death. Approaching the house, he throws away his weapons, cartridges - the hero no longer wants to fight).
- Does the hero despair or does he have hope for something?
( The hero has hope - his children. He doesn't know about Polyushka's death yet. But Gregory already feels that he will finally find peace, happiness, that he will no longer live like a hunted animal. Even from a distance, Grigory saw Mishatka - and, finally, what he dreamed of for so long came true: “He stood at the gates of his native house, holding his son in his arms ... This was all that remained in his life, which still made him earth and with all this huge world shining under the cold sun”).
What does this ending of the book tell us? Is the "path of searching" of the protagonist finished?
(I think yes, it’s finished. Because Grigory Melekhov throughout the whole novel is constantly forced to make a choice between passions and peace. The most terrible, turning point - the death of Aksinya - again confronts him with the need to make a choice, this time decisive. Difficult, intense This choice determines the path of his fate through tragic events: constantly experiencing mental upheavals, the hero gradually approaches the decision to live with his children, to live in peace.)
- That's right, guys, well done!Always remaining honest, independent in character, Gregory is a person capable of action. Make a conclusion whether the psychological portrait of the main character has changed in connection with the events that happened to him.Based on psychological analysis, we can think about where Grigory feels harmony. (see Cluster 1).
In the second psychological portrait (see Cluster 2), the versatility of Gregory's character is obvious. Here we see the moments of the most powerful emotional experience. In science, there is a special term for designating such experiences and related changes in life, destiny, and the inner world of a person. Let's write it down and remember it.
Catharsis(Greek - exaltation, purification) - a category of philosophy and aesthetics, denoting the essence and effect of emotional experience associated with the purification of the soul ("purification through suffering").
Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov himself defined the main idea of his book as follows: “The main thing for a writer is what he himself needs -movement of the human soul. .. I wanted to talk about itthe charm of man in Grigory Melekhov ... "
Now let's conclude - what is Sholokhov's novel about? What is the main idea of the novel?
(1. The main idea of Sholokhov, in my opinion, was to show a person in a specific period of history. The novel is based on real, documentary events: The First World War, revolution, civil war.
2. Sholokhov wanted to show the tragedy of one Russian character. The tragedy of Grigory Melekhov is the tragedy of a man whom time and circumstances put before the need for a sharp turn in his fate.
3. Sholokhov, using the example of the fate of Grigory Melekhov, tells us that a person was created for life, for a family, and not for war.
5. I think Sholokhov, with his novel and his main character, showed us what a person should be - sincere, honest, decisive, capable of action and strong, not breaking under the yoke of circumstances.)
That's right, guys, well done! Now let's define the most important qualities of Melekhov's character, noted by us in the cluster, which should determine the qualities of any of us.
(1. And I think that it was the integrity and harmony of his nature that helped Grigory Melekhov to maintain his human appearance, which, despite the onslaught of such serious and destructive events, did not break the very character of the protagonist.
2. It is impossible not to note the ability for compassion, which is inherent in the hero. Only by imbued with a sense of empathy and compassion for the fate of another person, you can understand and feel the significance of yourself in this world, understand that you have the right to be called a man!).
Indeed, the image of Gregory is a kind of discovery by Sholokhov. This is a holistic, lively and vivid character, inseparable from its era. "Hero and time", "hero and circumstances", the search for oneself as a person - the eternal theme of art has become the main one in "Quiet Don". In this search - the meaning of the existence of Grigory Melekhov in the novel. “I am looking for a way out,” he says of himself. At the same time, he always faces the need for a choice that was not easy and simple.
3. Conclusion:
Grigory Melekhov - natural nature; a person acting under the influence of momentary desires or under the pressure of external circumstances. He is not able to assess the consequences of his actions, but, committing reprehensible ones, he remains honest and sincere.It is these traits of the hero, the moral values that he professes, the peculiarities of his emotional and psychological make-up that explain why it is Grigory Sholokhov who makes the main character.
4. Lesson summary :
Today at the lesson we not only considered literary image Grigory Melekhov, but also made up his psychological portrait. Based on the knowledge gained in the lesson, you can now evaluate your actions, the actions of your friends. But besides, now you understand that everything that happens in our life should reflect the MOVEMENT of our SOUL.
5. Homework: Prepare messages
Portrait, character of Daria.
The origin and development of Aksinya and Grigory's love.
Dunyasha Melekhova
Maternal love of Ilyinichna
The image and tragedy of Natalia
6. Evaluation.
THE FATE OF GRIGORY MELEKHOV
In The Quiet Don, as already noted, there are many characters. But among them there is one whose contradictory life, tragic fate attracts most attention. This is Grigory Melekhov, whose image, without a doubt, is the main one in the epic. One can argue about who is the central character of "Eugene Onegin" - Onegin or Tatyana, "War and Peace" - Andrei Bolkonsky, Pierre Bezukhov or the people, but when we talk about "The Quiet Don", the answer is unequivocal: the main character of the work is Grigory Melekhov.
Grigory Melekhov is the most complex Sholokhov character. This is a seeker of truth. Melekhov's life path is difficult and tortuous. In search of truth, the hero rushes between two warring camps: he is either in the camp of the Reds, then in the camp of the Whites. However, what he seeks - truth - never finds, she constantly eludes him. And this complexity of the character of Grigory Melekhov and the sinuousness of his life path gave rise to various interpretations of this image in criticism.
In the discussion about Grigory Melekhov, two wings of critics can be distinguished. The first wing is represented by those who adhere to the so-called concept of "departure". These are such researchers as Lezhnev, Gura, Yakimenko. The works of these Sholokhov scholars are permeated with the idea that Grigory Melekhov, being in a camp hostile to Soviet power, is losing his positive qualities, gradually turning into a miserable and terrible likeness of a person, into a renegade.
A vivid example of the critical statement of representatives of this camp is I. Lezhnev's commentary on one of the episodes of the novel.
Near the very end of the piece. After a long separation, Grigory and Aksinya are together again. Aksinya looks at Grigory, who has fallen asleep: “He slept with his lips slightly parted, breathing evenly. His black eyelashes, with tips burned by the sun, quivered a little, his upper lip moved, revealing tightly closed white teeth. Aksinya peered at him attentively and only now noticed how he had changed during these few months of separation. There was something severe, almost cruel, in the deep transverse wrinkles between her lover's eyebrows, in the folds of his mouth, in his sharply defined cheekbones ... And for the first time she thought how terrible he must be in battle, on a horse, with a naked saber. Lowering her eyes, she glanced briefly at his large knobby hands and for some reason sighed.
Here is how I. Lezhnev comments on this episode: “The eyes of the beloved are the mirror of the soul. Sholokhov's description of Grigory's cruel face and terrible knotted hands, as Aksinya saw them, says with restrained force and endearing persuasiveness: this is the face of a murderer.
The second wing of the discussion about the image of Grigory Melekhov is represented by those researchers who tend to see the hero's story in an unconditionally rosy light. These are V. Petelin, F. Biryukov, Y. Lukin, V. Grishaev and others. Their point of view boils down to the following: a great artist could write his book only about a crystal clear hero, only about a noble soul, and Grigory Melekhov is exactly like that. And if there were some hitches on his way, then it was by no means he himself who was to blame, but various kinds of “tragic circumstances” and accidents - Mikhail Koshevoy is to blame, Commissioner Malkin is to blame, Poddelkov is to blame, Fomin is to blame ...
It seems to critics belonging to this wing of the discussion that only by defending Grigory Melekhov can they express their admiration and love for the novel. However, with their naive defense, they only compromised him and compromise him.
Sholokhov himself was not satisfied with any of the named interpretations of the image of the protagonist. In an interview with the newspaper Soviet Russia”, given in August 1957, he said that he wanted to tell the world about the “charm of a person” in Grigory Melekhov, therefore, the writer did not agree with those who considered the protagonist of the novel a “renegade”. But, on the other hand, Sholokhov also criticized those who tried to see in Grigory Melekhov the future builder of socialism. In particular, he criticized the film based on The Quiet Don, to which the director and screenwriter stuck an optimistic end. In an interview with the Izvestia newspaper (published on July 1, 1956), Sholokhov said: “From the tragic end of Grigory Melekhov, this rushing seeker of truth, who is entangled in events ... the screenwriter makes a happy ending ... In the script, Grigory Melekhov puts Mishatka on his shoulder and walks with him somewhere uphill, so to speak, a symbolic end, Grishka Melekhov rises to the shining heights of communism. Instead of a picture of the tragedy of a person, a kind of frivolous poster can turn out.
Both interpretations of the image of the protagonist of The Quiet Flows the Don suffer from the same shortcoming: they overly schematize the image, reducing it only to social aspects. As G. Nefagina correctly noted, “Grigory's character is much richer. It includes the typical features of the Cossack mentality that have developed over two centuries and the new that the 20th century brought with it with its wars and revolutions. The image of Gregory is a reflection of not only a typical socio-psychological, but also a sharply individual one. Hence the tragedy of the hero is a tragedy not so much of a type as of a personality.
On the one hand, in Grigory Melekhov, Sholokhov seeks to show the best features of the Cossacks: diligence, humanity, prowess, dexterity, military prowess, feeling dignity, nobility, on the other hand, we cannot help but notice that the protagonist of the novel from the very beginning of the work is somehow sharply different from the rest of the inhabitants of the farm. He is seriously upset because of the duckling cut with a scythe. And in another episode, the raging father, who raised his hand to him, declares: “I won’t let you fight!” Seeing through the fence how Stepan is beating Aksinya, Grigory immediately rushes to defend her, although he is much weaker than Stepan Astakhov in his youth. The fact that he is an outstanding nature, that he is not like everyone else, becomes extremely clear after his escape with Aksinya to Yagodnoye. For the sake of love for a woman, Gregory sacrifices everything - family, wealth, reputation - an act unheard of at that time.
It is Grigoriy who, with his brutal, hateful gaze, frightens the officer at the review (“How do you look! How do you look, Cossack?”). It is Gregory who, at first, is more difficult than others to adapt to military service: for the freedom-loving Gregory, the army with its suffocating lack of freedom is the most difficult test.
In the army, the hero meets Chubaty, who teaches Melekhov the first lessons of cruelty: “Cut a man boldly. You do not think how and what. You are a Cossack, your job is to chop without asking ... An animal cannot be destroyed without need - a heifer, say, or something like that - but destroy a person. He is a rotten man…” However, Gregory is extremely reluctant to learn these lessons. Humanity, even in war, remains one of the defining features of his personality. This is evidenced by at least the episode with the Polish Franya, when Melekhov, alone against a whole platoon, rushes to defend her. Being seriously wounded, Grigory takes out an officer from the battle. In battle, he finally saves his mortal enemy, Aksinya's husband Stepan Astakhov, from death. Sholokhov emphasizes: "He saved, obeying the heart."
Gregory is sensitive to the changes taking place around him. Personal qualities do not allow him to remain outside the struggle that has engulfed the entire country since the beginning of 1917. He sticks to the reds, then to the whites. But, seeing that the words of one and the other disagree with the deeds, he quickly loses faith in the justice of the actions of both warring camps. He is alien to both, and whites and reds treat the hero with distrust. And all because Melekhov, despite his inherent straightforwardness and gullibility, does not take anything on faith. Whatever colors fanaticism may be painted in, for Gregory it remains absolutely unacceptable. In a decaying, chaotic world that has forgotten the elementary human values and freedom, the hero is looking for wholeness and harmony, looking for truth, for the sake of the triumph of which it would not be necessary to suppress entire groups of people. But the events, each of which is more catastrophic and bloodier than anything that human history has known so far, witnessed by Melekhov, lead the hero to disappointment in life, the loss of its meaning. We begin to notice strange changes in Gregory's behavior.
As if forgetting with what disgust he recently treated robberies, like the last marauder, Grigory undresses the red commander: “Take off your sheepskin coat, commissar! .. You are smooth. You ate on Cossack bread, you probably won’t freeze!”
So painfully experiencing the bloody massacre of Podtelkov over the captured officers, Grigory, becoming the head of the rebel division, was so carried away by executions and executions that the rebel leadership was forced to turn to Melekhov with a special message: “Dear Grigory Panteleevich! Insidious rumors come to our attention that you allegedly perpetrate cruel reprisals against captured Red Army soldiers ... You go with your hundreds, like Taras Bulba from the historical novel of the writer Pushkin, and betray everything to fire and sword and excite the Cossacks. Settle down, please, do not betray the prisoners to death ... "
Having cut down the sailor's machine-gun crew, Grigory, in an epileptic fit, beats on the hands of the Cossacks, all in white foam, wheezing: "Let go, bastards! .. Matrosnya! .. Everyone! .. Rrrrub-lu! .."
The moral and physical fall of the hero also finds expression in endless drinking and partying. The novel says that “even the sweatshirt on the saddle” of Melekhov was saturated with the smell of moonshine. “Women and girls who lost their girlish color went through the hands of Gregory, sharing a short love with him.”
The very appearance of Gregory is changing: “he is noticeably flabby, hunched over; baggy folds turned blue under the eyes, and a light of senseless cruelty began to appear more and more often in the look. Gregory lives now, "dejectedly bowing his head, without a smile, without joy." Everything is more clearly seen in it animalistic, wolfish.
Realizing the extent of his fall, Gregory explains it with the following reasons (in a conversation with Natalya): “Ha! Conscience! .. I forgot to think about it. What kind of conscience is there when all life has been stolen... You kill people... I got so smeared on someone else's blood that I didn't have any stings left for anyone. Childhood - and I almost do not regret this one, but I don’t even think about myself. The war took everything out of me. I have become terrible to myself ... Look into my soul, and there is blackness, like in an empty well ... "
Gregory's state of mind will change little in the future. He will end his difficult life in Fomin's gang and among deserters hiding in the forest. After the death of Aksinya, with whom the hero pinned his last hopes, life will lose all interest for him, and he will wait for the denouement. It is this desire to commit suicide, to bring the final closer, that explains the return of the hero to the farm at the end of the novel. Gregory returns before the amnesty. An inevitable death awaits him. The correctness of this assumption is also confirmed by the fate of Melekhov's prototypes: Philip Mironov and Kharlampy Ermakov. Both were shot without trial, one in 1921, the other in 1927. In the novel, it was impossible to show the execution of a hero who fell in love with readers, given the situation in the country in the thirties.
What did Sholokhov want to convey to the reader, depicting the complex, contradictory path of Grigory Melekhov? This question is answered in different ways. Some researchers believe that, using the image of the protagonist as an example, Sholokhov defends the concept of a historically responsible personality, while others speak of the responsibility of the era to the personality. Both of these points of view are legitimate, but, it seems, they greatly diminish the significance of Sholokhov's character.
Grigory Melekhov is on a par with the numerous heroes of Russian literature, whom we call truth-seekers, and rightfully occupies one of the first places among them. No wonder he is called the "Russian Hamlet". Hamlet is a tragic hero. Melekhov - too. He's looking for higher meaning life, but these searches lead the hero to disappointment and moral devastation. Sholokhov shows the inevitable tragedy of idealistic people in a world that has entered a protracted period of social experiments and historical cataclysms, testing the strength of the humanistic traditions of human culture.
