Pushkin's story "The Stationmaster" was written in 1830 and was included in the cycle "Tales of the late Ivan Petrovich Belkin". The leading theme of the work is the theme of the "little man", represented by the image of the station keeper Samson Vyrin. The story belongs to the literary direction of sentimentalism.
A concise exposition of "The Station Keeper" will be interesting for 7th grade students, as well as for everyone who is interested in classical Russian literature. On our website you can read a summary of the Station Keeper online.
main characters
Narrator - an official who "for twenty years in a row, has traveled to Russia", on his behalf is the narration in the work.
Samson Vyrin - a man of about fifty, station superintendent "from the respectable class of caretakers", Father Dunya.
Other heroes
Avdotya Samsonovna (Dunya) - Vyrin's daughter, a very beautiful girl, at the beginning of the story she is about 14 years old - a "little coquette" with big blue eyes.
Captain Minsk - a young hussar who tricked Dunya away.
Son of a brewer - a boy who showed the narrator where Vyrin's grave is.
The story begins with the narrator's reflections on the fate of the station keepers: “What is a station master? A real martyr of the fourteenth class, protected by his rank only from beatings, and even then not always. " At the same time, according to the narrator's observations, "the caretakers are generally peaceful people, naturally helpful."
In May 1816, the storyteller drove through the *** province. The man got caught in the pouring rain and stopped at the station to change clothes and drink tea. The caretaker's daughter, Dunya, laid the table on the table, amazed the narrator with her beauty.
While the owners were busy, the narrator looked at the room - there were pictures on the walls depicting the story of the prodigal son. The narrator, the caretaker and Dunya drank tea, pleasantly chatting "as if they had known each other for centuries." Leaving, the narrator kissed Dunya in the entrance hall with her permission.
A few years later, the narrator visited this station again. Entering the house, he was struck by the carelessness and dilapidation of the situation. The caretaker himself, Samson Vyrin, has grown very old and gray. At first the old man did not want to answer questions about his daughter, but after two glasses of punch he got into a conversation.
Vyrin said that a young hussar had stopped by three years ago. At first the visitor was very angry that he was not served horses, but when he saw Dunya, he relented. After dinner, the young man allegedly became ill. Bribing the doctor called the next day, the hussar stayed at the station for a couple of days. On Sunday, the young man recovered and, leaving, offered to give the girl a ride to church. Vyrin let his daughter go with the hussar.
“In less than half an hour,” the caretaker began to worry and went to the church himself. From a deacon's acquaintance, Vyrin learned that Dunya was not at the mass. In the evening, the driver arrived, carrying the officer, and said that Dunya had gone with the hussar to the next station. The old man realized that the hussar's illness was feigned. From grief, Vyrin "fell ill with a strong fever."
“Barely recovering from his illness,” the caretaker took leave and went on foot to look for his daughter. Samson knew from the roads of Minsk that the hussar was on his way to Petersburg. Having found out the address of the captain in Petersburg, Vyrin comes to him and in a trembling voice asks to give him his daughter. Minsky replied that he was asking Samson for forgiveness, but he would not give Dunya to him - "she will be happy, I give you my word of honor." Having finished speaking, the hussar put the inspector out into the street, thrusting several banknotes by his sleeve.
Seeing the money, Vyrin burst into tears and threw it away. A couple of days later, walking along Liteinaya, Vyrin noticed Minsky. Having found out from his coachman where Dunya lives, the caretaker hurried to his daughter's apartment. Entering the rooms, Samson found there luxuriously dressed Dunya and Minsky. Seeing her father, the girl fainted. An angry Minsky "grabbed the old man by the collar with a strong hand and pushed him onto the stairs." Two days later, Virin drove back to the station. For the third year already he knows nothing about her and is afraid that her fate is the same as the fate of other "young fools".
After some time, the narrator drove through those places again. Where the station used to be, the brewer's family now lived, and Vyrin, having drunken himself, "died a year ago." The narrator asked to be escorted to Samson's grave. A boy, the son of a brewer, told him on the way that in the summer a "beautiful lady" "with three little barchats" came here, who, having come to the caretaker's grave, "lay down here and lay for a long time."
Output
In the story « The station superintendent "A. Pushkin outlined the special nature of the conflict, which differs from the sentimentalism depicted in traditional works - the conflict of choice between Vyrin's personal happiness (father's happiness) and the happiness of his daughter. The author emphasized the moral superiority of the caretaker ("the little man") over the rest of the characters, depicting an example of a parent's selfless love for his child.
A brief retelling of the "Stationmaster" is intended for quick acquaintance with the plot of the work, therefore, for a better understanding of the story, we advise you to read it in full.
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Plan
1. Introduction
2.Creation history
3.The meaning of the name
4.Kind and genre
5.The topic
6 problematic
7 heroes
8 plot and composition
"The Stationmaster" is included in the cycle "Tales of the Late Ivan Petrovich Belkin". The story of a man who lost his only daughter enjoyed great success among his contemporaries. The work was filmed in 1972.
History of creation. The story was created in the famous "Boldin autumn" of 1830 - one of the most fruitful stages in Pushkin's work. The date of completion of work on the work is set in the poet's manuscript - September 14. The story was published in 1831.
The meaning of the name. The name indicates the main character of the work - the station superintendent Samson Vyrin. The beginning of the story contains the author's digression, in which he speaks with sympathy about this category of officials, working as if in "hard labor".
Genre and genre... Sentimental tale
main topic works are the fate of the "little man". Station supervisors in the time of Pushkin were a downtrodden and humiliated category of bureaucracy. The passers-by took out all their anger and irritation on them. The stationmaster was of the lowest, fourteenth grade on the Table of Ranks. Any traveler treated him with disdain and did not hesitate in expressions. According to the author, there were frequent cases of assault, which remained without consequences. Pushkin himself often traveled around Russia and was familiar with many station keepers. The poet treated people below him with respect. He saw that every person has their own deep inner world. Despised people are often much purer and nobler than the refined upper class. Most likely, Minsky does not even think that he is committing a mean act. In his opinion, Dunya in any case will be better in Petersburg than at this God-forsaken station. He doesn't think about Samson's feelings at all. In an extreme case, Minsky is ready to pay him money. For him, Dunya is just a commodity, a treasure that must be taken from the station keeper.
Problematic... The main problem of the story is the defenselessness of the station keeper. The hard service of Samson Vyrin was brightened up by his only daughter, who served as a joy and consolation for the old man. Naturally, the beautiful girl attracted the attention of everyone passing by. Samson did not even know about the danger and was glad that Dunya was helping him in his work. The girl really softened the hearts of irritated travelers. The meanness of the hussar painfully hit the main character. He understands that Dunya would never have left him voluntarily. The girl succumbed to the seductive persuasion of the handsome traveler, and when she came to her senses, it was already too late. In St. Petersburg, Samson is again humiliated. The hussar, without hesitation, shoves him money in exchange for his daughter. After that, the old man is not even allowed on the threshold. Another problem of the story is the danger to which the daughters of defenseless people were constantly exposed. The nobility took advantage of it and seduction was the order of the day. In the story, Dunya was not deceived and became the lawful wife of a hussar, but this is a very rare case. In reality, after some time, the girl would have bothered Minsky and would have been forced to return to her father disgraced. Dunya achieved happiness at a very high price. Probably, for the rest of her life, she felt her indelible guilt before her father. The story of the boy testifies to belated repentance, who says that the lady for a long time lay motionless on the grave.
Heroes... Stationmaster Samson Vyrin, his daughter Dunya, captain Minsky.
Plot and composition... The tale consists of three visits by the narrator to one of the stations. During the first, he met Samson Vyrin and appreciated his lively daughter Dunya. The second visit took place several years later. The narrator was amazed at how old his acquaintance was. He learned his sad story. The passing captain Minsky deceived Dunya with him. Broken with grief, Samson got to St. Petersburg and tried to take his daughter. But Minsky treated him rudely, and Dunya no longer showed any desire to go back. Several more years passed. The narrator visited the station again and learned that Samson had died of drunkenness. The boy told him that Dunya had come to his father's grave. The narrator himself went to the cemetery to pay tribute to the unfortunate father.
What does the author teach... Pushkin draws the readers' attention to the fact that people who do not enjoy any respect also experience great joy and deep suffering. Samson's grief was clear only to the narrator. Minsky did not pay attention to him at all and tried to pay off. Similar incidents occurred at every turn, but only a few felt compassion for the deceived and humiliated poor.
In the famous Boldin autumn of 1830, A.S. In 11 days, Pushkin wrote an amazing work - "Belkin's Tales" - which included five independent stories told to one person (his name is included in the title). In them, the author managed to create a gallery of provincial images, truthfully and without embellishment to show life in contemporary Russia for the writer.
A special place in the cycle is occupied by the story "". It was she who laid the foundations for the development of the theme of the "little man" in Russian literature of the 19th century.
Meet the heroes
The story of the station superintendent Samson Vyrin was told to Belkin by a certain I.L.P., a titular councilor. His bitter reflections on what is the attitude towards people of this rank, from the very beginning set the reader in a not very cheerful mood. Anyone stopping at the station is ready to curse them. Either the horses are bad, the weather and the road are bad, or even the mood has not worked out at all - and the station master is to blame for everything. The main idea of \u200b\u200bthe story is to show the plight of an ordinary person without a high rank and rank.
Samson Vyrin, a retired soldier, a widower who raised his fourteen-year-old daughter Dunechka, calmly endured all the claims of those passing by. He was a fresh and vigorous man of about fifty, sociable and empathetic. This is how the titular councilor saw him at the first meeting.
The house was clean and comfortable, with balsams growing on the windows. And everyone who stopped was given tea from a samovar by Dunya, who had learned how to farm early. She, with her meek look and smile, humbled the anger of all the discontented. In the company of Vyrin and the "little coquette", the time for the adviser flew by unnoticed. The guest said goodbye to the hosts as to old acquaintances: their company seemed so pleasant to him.
How Vyrin has changed ...
The story "Stationmaster" continues with the description of the second meeting of the narrator with the main character. A few years later, fate again threw him to those lands. He drove up to the station with anxious thoughts: everything could have happened during this time. The presentiment really did not deceive: instead of a cheerful and cheerful person, a gray, long-shaved, hunched-over old man appeared before him. It was the same Vyrin, only now he was very taciturn and gloomy. However, the glass of punch did its trick, and soon the narrator learned Dunya's story.
About three years ago a young hussar passed by. He liked the girl, and he pretended to be sick for several days. And when he achieved mutual feelings from her, he took it away secretly, without blessing, from his father. This is how the misfortune that fell has changed the long-established life of the family. The heroes of The Station Keeper, father and daughter, will no longer meet. The old man's attempt to return Dunya ended in nothing. He made it to Petersburg and was even able to see her, richly dressed and happy. But the girl, looking at her father, fell unconscious, and he was simply kicked out. Now Samson lived in melancholy and loneliness, and the bottle became his main companion.
The story of the prodigal son
Even on his first visit, the narrator noticed pictures on the walls with signatures in German. They depicted the biblical story of the prodigal son who took his share of the inheritance and squandered it. In the last picture, the humble youth returned to his home to the parent who had forgiven him.
This legend is very reminiscent of what happened to Vyrin and Dunya, therefore it is no coincidence that it is included in the story "The Stationmaster". The main idea of \u200b\u200bthe work is connected with the idea of \u200b\u200bthe helplessness and defenselessness of ordinary people. Vyrin, who is well acquainted with the foundations of high society, could not believe that his daughter could be happy. The scene seen in St. Petersburg was not convincing either - everything could still change. He waited for Dunya's return until the end of his life, but their meeting and forgiveness never took place. Perhaps Dunya simply did not dare to appear before her father for a long time.
The return of the daughter
On his third visit, the narrator learns about the death of an old acquaintance. And the boy who accompanied him to the cemetery will tell him about the lady who came after the station warden had died. The content of their conversation makes it clear that everything went well for Dunya. She arrived in a carriage with six horses, accompanied by a wet nurse and three barchats. But Dunya did not find her father alive, and therefore the repentance of the "lost" daughter became impossible. The lady lay on the grave for a long time - so, according to tradition, they asked for forgiveness from a deceased person and said goodbye to him forever - and then left.
Why did the daughter's happiness bring unbearable mental suffering to her father?
Samson Vyrin always believed that life without blessings and as a mistress is a sin. And the fault of Dunya and Minsky, probably, first of all, is that their departure (the caretaker himself persuaded his daughter to accompany the hussar to church) and the misunderstanding when they met in Petersburg only strengthened him in this conviction, which, in the end, would bring the hero to the grave ... There is one more important point - the incident undermined the faith in the father. He truly loved his daughter, who was the raison d'être of his existence. And suddenly such ingratitude: for all the years Dunya has never let know about herself. She seemed to have deleted her father from her life.
Depicting a poor man of the lowest rank, but with a high and sensitive soul, A.S. Pushkin drew the attention of his contemporaries to the position of people who were at the lowest rung of the social ladder. The inability to protest and resignation to fate make them defenseless in the face of life's circumstances. The stationmaster turns out to be such.
The main idea that the author wants to convey to the reader is that it is necessary to be sensitive and attentive to each person, regardless of his character, and only this will help change the indifference and anger reigning in the world of people.
The story "The Station Keeper" is part of Pushkin's cycle of stories "Belkin's Tale", published as a collection in 1831.
Work on the stories was carried out in the famous "Boldin autumn" - the time when Pushkin arrived at the Boldino family estate to quickly resolve financial issues, and stayed for the whole autumn due to the cholera epidemic that broke out in the vicinity. It seemed to the writer that there would be no more boring time, but suddenly inspiration appeared, and the stories began to come out from under his pen one after another. So, on September 9, 1830, the story "The Undertaker" was completed, on September 14 the "Station Keeper" was ready, and on September 20 he finished "The Young Lady-Peasant". Then a short creative break followed, and in the new year the stories were published. The story was republished in 1834 under the original authorship.
Analysis of the work
Genre, theme, composition
The researchers note that "The Stationmaster" was written in the genre of sentimentalism, but there are many moments in the story that demonstrate Pushkin's skill as a romantic and realist. The writer deliberately chose a sentimental style of storytelling (more precisely, he put a sentimental note in the voice of his hero-narrator, Ivan Belkin), in accordance with the content of the story.
Thematically, "Stationmaster" is very versatile, despite its small content:
- the theme of romantic love (with escape from the father's house and following the beloved against the parental will),
- the theme of fathers and children,
- the theme of the "little man" is the greatest theme for the followers of Pushkin, the Russian realists.
The thematic multilevel character of the work allows us to call it a miniature novel. The story is much more complex and expressive in semantic load than a typical sentimental work. Many problems are touched upon here, in addition to the general theme of love.
Compositionally, the story is built in accordance with the rest of the stories - the fictional author-storyteller discusses the fate of the station keepers, people who are slaughtered and in the lowest positions, then tells a story that happened about 10 years ago and its continuation. How it starts
"Stationmaster" (inception reasoning, in the style of a sentimental journey), indicates that the work belongs to the sentimental genre, but later at the end of the work there is the severity of realism.
Belkin reports that station employees are people of a difficult life, who are treated impolitely, perceived as servants, complain and be rude to them. One of the caretakers, Samson Vyrin, was sympathetic to Belkin. He was a peaceful and kind man, with a sad fate - his own daughter, tired of living at the station, ran away with the hussar Minsky. The hussar, according to his father, could only make her a kept woman, and now, 3 years after the escape, he does not know what to think, for the fate of the seduced young fools is terrible. Vyrin went to Petersburg, tried to find his daughter and return her, but could not - Minsky sent him out. The fact that the daughter does not live with Minsky, but separately, clearly indicates her status as a kept woman.
The author, who personally knew Dunya as a 14-year-old girl, empathizes with his father. He soon learns that Vyrin is dead. Even later, having visited the station where the late Vyrin once worked, he learns that his daughter was coming home with three children. She cried for a long time at her father's grave and left, rewarding a local boy who showed her the way to the old man's grave.
Heroes of the work
There are two main characters in the story: a father and a daughter.
Samson Vyrin is a diligent worker and a father who tenderly loves his daughter, raising her alone.
Samson is a typical "little man" who has no illusions both about himself (he is well aware of his place in this world) and about his daughter (such as she does not shine with a brilliant party or sudden smiles of fate). Samson's position in life is humility. His life and the life of his daughter passes and should pass on a modest corner of the earth, a station cut off from the rest of the world. Beautiful princes do not meet here, and if there are any on the horizon, they promise girls only the fall and danger.
When Dunya disappears, Samson cannot believe it. Although deeds of honor are important to him, love for his daughter is more important, so he goes to look for her, pick her up and return. He draws terrible pictures of misfortune, it seems to him that now his Dunya is sweeping the streets somewhere, and it is better to die than to drag out such a miserable existence.
In contrast to her father, Dunya is a more decisive and persistent creature. A sudden feeling for a hussar is rather a heightened attempt to escape from the wilderness in which she vegetated. Dunya decides to leave her father, even if this step is not easy for her (the trip supposedly to the church is delayed, she leaves, according to witnesses, tearful). It is not entirely clear how Dunya's life turned out, and in the end she became the wife of Minsky or someone else. Old man Vyrin saw that Minsky had rented a separate apartment for Dunya, and this clearly indicated her status as a kept woman, and when she met Dunya's father she looked “significantly” and sadly at Minsky, then fainted. Minsky pushed Vyrin out, preventing him from communicating with Dunya - apparently, he feared that Dunya would return with his father and, apparently, she was ready for this. One way or another, Dunya has achieved happiness - she is rich, she has six horses, a servant and, most importantly, three "barrels", so for her justified risk one can only rejoice. The only thing that she will never forgive herself is the death of her father, who brought his death closer with a strong longing for his daughter. At the grave of the father, come to the woman belated repentance.
The story is imbued with symbolism. The very name "station superintendent" in the time of Pushkin had the same shade of irony and slight contempt that we today put into the words "conductor" or "watchman". This means a small person, able to look like a servant in the eyes of those around him, to work for a penny, without seeing the world.
Thus, the station superintendent is a symbol of a "humiliated and insulted" person, an insect for the mercantile and powerful.
The symbolism of the story manifested itself in the painting that adorns the wall of the house - “The Return of the Prodigal Son”. The station superintendent longed for only one thing - the embodiment of the script of the biblical story, as in this picture: Dunya could return to him in any status and in any form. My father would have forgiven her, he would have resigned himself, as he had humbled himself all his life under the circumstances of fate, merciless to "little people."
The "station superintendent" predetermined the development of Russian realism in the direction of works defending the honor of the "humiliated and insulted". The image of Vyrin's father is deeply realistic, amazingly capacious. This is a small person with a huge range of feelings and with every right to respect for his honor and dignity.
Collegiate Registrar,
Post station dictator.
Prince Vyazemsky.
Who did not curse the station keepers, who did not curse them? Who, in a moment of anger, did not demand from them a fatal book in order to write in it his useless complaint of oppression, rudeness and malfunction? Who does not regard them as monsters of the human race, equal to the deceased clerk, or at least the Murom robbers? Let us, however, be fair, try to get into their position and, perhaps, we will judge them much more leniently. What is a station keeper? A real martyr of the fourteenth class, protected by his rank only from beatings, and even then not always (I refer to the conscience of my readers). What is the position of this dictator, as Prince Vyazemsky jokingly calls him? Isn't it real hard labor? Peace neither day nor night. All the annoyance accumulated during a boring ride, the traveler takes out on the caretaker. The weather is unbearable, the road is bad, the coachman is stubborn, the horses are not driven - and the caretaker is to blame. Entering his poor dwelling, a passing person looks at him as an enemy; it is good if he can soon get rid of the uninvited guest; but if the horses don't happen? .. god! what curses, what threats will fall on his head! In rain and slush, he is forced to run around the yards; in a storm, in the baptismal frost, he leaves in the canopy, so that he can only rest for a minute from the screams and jolts of the irritated guest. The general arrives; the trembling caretaker gives him the last two threes, including the courier. The general goes without saying thank you. Five minutes later - a bell! .. and the courier throws his road trip on his desk! .. Let us take a good look at all this, and instead of indignation our heart will be filled with sincere compassion. A few more words: for twenty years in a row I have traveled across Russia in all directions; almost all postal routes are known to me; several generations of coachmen are familiar to me; I don’t know a rare caretaker by sight, I have never dealt with a rare one; I hope to publish a curious stock of my travel observations in a short time; for the time being I will only say that the estate of station keepers is presented to the general opinion in the most false form. These so slandered caretakers are generally peaceful people, naturally helpful, inclined to community life, modest in their claims to honor and not too covetous. From their conversations (which are inappropriately neglected by the gentlemen passing by) you can glean a lot of curious and instructive. As for me, I confess that I prefer their conversation to speeches of some 6th grade official who follows the official need. You can easily guess that I have friends from the respectable class of caretakers. Indeed, the memory of one of them is precious to me. Circumstances once brought us closer together, and now I intend to talk about him with kind readers. In 1816, in the month of May, it happened to me to pass through the *** province, along the road, now destroyed. I was in a minor rank, rode on the crossbeam and paid runs for two horses. As a result of this, the caretakers did not stand on ceremony with me, and often I took with a fight what, in my opinion, should be right for me. Being young and hot-tempered, I was indignant at the baseness and cowardice of the inspector, when the latter gave the troika prepared to me for the carriage of the bureaucratic master. For just as long I could not get used to the fact that a discerning servant would carry around me with a dish at the governor's dinner. Today both seem to me to be in the order of things. In fact, what would happen to us if instead of the generally convenient rule: chin chin honor, another has been introduced, for example, read the mind of the mind? What controversy would arise! and who would the servants start serving the food with? But I turn to my story. The day was hot. Three versts from the station *** began to drizzle, and in a minute the pouring rain soaked me to the last thread. Upon arrival at the station, the first concern was to change as soon as possible, the second to ask yourself some tea, “Hey, Dunya! - shouted the caretaker, - put on the samovar and go for the cream. With these words, a girl of about fourteen came out from behind the partition and ran into the passage. Her beauty amazed me. "Is this your daughter?" I asked the caretaker. "Daughter, sir," he answered with an air of contented pride, "yes, such a sensible, so agile, all dead mother." Then he began to rewrite my road trip, and I began to examine the pictures that adorned his humble but tidy abode. They depicted the story of the prodigal son: in the first, a venerable old man in a cap and dressing gown releases a restless young man, who hastily accepts his blessing and a bag of money. Another vividly depicts the depraved behavior of a young man: he sits at a table, surrounded by false friends and shameless women. Further, the squandered youth, in rags and in a triangular hat, grazes the pigs and shares a meal with them; his face depicts deep sadness and remorse. Finally, his return to his father is presented; a kind old man in the same cap and dressing gown runs out to meet him: the prodigal son is on his knees; in the future, the chef kills the well-fed calf, and the elder brother asks the servants about the reason for such joy. I read decent German poetry under each picture. All this has survived in my memory to this day, as well as the pots of balsam, and the bed with the colorful curtain, and other objects that surrounded me at that time. I see, as now, the owner himself, a man of about fifty, fresh and vigorous, and his long green coat with three medals on faded ribbons. Before I had time to pay off my old coachman, Dunya returned with the samovar. The little coquette noticed at a second glance the impression she made on me; she lowered her big blue eyes; I began to talk to her, she answered me without any timidity, like a girl who saw the light. I offered my father her glass of punch; I gave Dounia a cup of tea, and the three of us began to talk as if we had known each other for ages. The horses were ready for a long time, but I still didn't want to part with the caretaker and his daughter. Finally I said goodbye to them; father wished me a good journey, and daughter accompanied me to the cart. In the entryway I stopped and asked her permission to kiss her; Dunya agreed ... I can count a lot of kisses,
Ever since I've been doing this
But none of them left such a long, such pleasant memory in me.
Several years passed, and circumstances brought me to that very road, to those very places. I remembered the daughter of the old caretaker and was delighted at the thought that I would see her again. But, I thought, the old superintendent may have already been replaced; Dunya is probably already married. The thought of the death of one or the other also flashed through my mind, and I approached the station *** with a sad foreboding. The horses stopped at the post house. Entering the room, I immediately recognized the pictures depicting the story of the prodigal son; the table and bed were in the same places; but there were no more flowers on the windows, and everything around showed decay and neglect. The caretaker slept under a sheepskin coat; my arrival woke him up; he got up ... It was definitely Samson Vyrin; but how old he is! While he was about to rewrite my road trip, I looked at his gray hair, at the deep wrinkles of his long unshaven face, at his hunched back - and I could not wonder how three or four years could turn a cheerful man into a frail old man. “Did you recognize me? - I asked him, - we are old acquaintances. “Perhaps,” he answered grimly, “the road is long here; I have had a lot of passers-by. " - "Is your Dunya healthy?" I continued. The old man frowned. “God knows her,” he replied. - "So you can see she is married?" - I said. The old man pretended not to hear my question, and continued to whisper to read my roadside. I stopped my questions and ordered the kettle to be put on. Curiosity was beginning to bother me, and I hoped that the punch would resolve the language of my old acquaintance. I was not mistaken: the old man did not refuse the offered glass. I noticed that the rum clarified his gloominess. On the second glass, he became talkative: he remembered or pretended to remember me, and I learned from him a story, which at that time greatly interested me and touched me. “So you knew my Dunya? he began. - Who didn't know her? Ah, Dunya, Dunya! What a girl she was! It used to be that whoever passes, everyone praises, no one condemns. The ladies gave her, that with a handkerchief, that with earrings. Gentlemen passing by on purpose stopped, as if to dine, or to have supper, but in fact, only to have a look at her. Sometimes the master, no matter how angry he was, calms down in front of her and speaks graciously to me. Believe it, sir: the couriers, couriers talked to her for half an hour. She kept the house: what to clean, what to cook, she kept up with everything. And I, old fool, will not get enough of it, sometimes I will not get enough of it; Did I really not love my Dunya, did I not cherish my child; did she not have a life? No, you can't get away from trouble; what is destined will not be avoided. " Then he began to tell me in detail his grief. - Three years ago, one winter evening, when the inspector was spilling a new book, and his daughter was sewing her dress behind the partition, the troika drove up, and a traveler in a Circassian hat, in a military overcoat, wrapped in a shawl, entered the room, demanding horses. The horses were all accelerating. At this news the traveler raised his voice and whip; but Dunya, accustomed to such scenes, ran out from behind the partition and affectionately addressed the traveler with the question: would he please him to eat something? Dunya's appearance had its usual effect. The traveler's anger passed; he agreed to wait for the horses and ordered supper for himself. Taking off his wet, shaggy hat, loosening his shawl and pulling off his overcoat, the traveler appeared as a young, slender hussar with a black mustache. He settled down with the caretaker, began to talk merrily with him and with his daughter. Dinner was served. Meanwhile the horses came, and the inspector ordered that they immediately, without feeding, be harnessed to the carriage of the traveler; but when he returned, he found a young man lying on a bench almost unconscious: he felt sick, his head ached, it was impossible to go ... How to be! the caretaker gave him his bed, and it was supposed, if the patient did not feel better, the next morning to send to S *** for a doctor. The next day the hussar got worse. His man rode on horseback into the city for a doctor. Dunya tied a handkerchief soaked in vinegar around his head and sat down with her sewing by his bed. The sick man groaned in front of the caretaker and did not say a word, but he drank two cups of coffee and, groaning, ordered dinner for himself. Dunya did not leave him. He constantly asked for a drink, and Dunya brought him a mug of the lemonade she had prepared. The patient dipped his lips and each time, returning the mug, in token of gratitude shook Dunyushkin's hand with his weak hand. The doctor arrived for dinner. He felt the patient's pulse, spoke to him in German, and in Russian announced that he needed one peace of mind and that in two days he could be on the road. The hussar handed him twenty-five rubles for his visit, invited him to dine; the doctor agreed; both ate with great appetite, drank a bottle of wine and parted, very pleased with each other. Another day passed, and the hussar completely recovered. He was extremely cheerful, joking incessantly, now with Dunya, now with the caretaker; he whistled songs, talked with the passers-by, entered their road trip into the mail book, and fell in love with the kind caretaker so much that on the third morning he was sorry to part with his kind guest. The day was Sunday; Dunya was getting ready for mass. Gusar was handed a wagon. He said goodbye to the caretaker, generously rewarding him for the stay and refreshments; said goodbye to Dunya and volunteered to take her to the church, which was on the edge of the village. Dunya stood in bewilderment ... “What are you afraid of? - her father said to her, - because his nobleness is not a wolf and will not eat you: take a ride to the church. Dunya sat down in the wagon next to the hussar, the servant jumped on the bed, the driver whistled, and the horses galloped off. The poor caretaker did not understand how he himself could have allowed his Duna to ride with the hussar, how he was blinded, and what then happened to his mind. Less than half an hour had passed when his heart began to ache, to ache, and anxiety seized him to such an extent that he could not resist and went to mass himself. Approaching the church, he saw that the people had already dispersed, but Dunya was neither in the fence nor in the porch. He hurriedly entered the church: the priest was leaving the altar; the deacon put out the candles, two old women were still praying in the corner; but Dunya was not in the church. Poor father forcibly decided to ask the sexton if she was at mass. The sexton replied that he had not been. The caretaker went home neither alive nor dead. He had only one hope: Dunya, due to the windiness of her young years, decided, perhaps, to ride to the next station, where her godmother lived. In agonizing excitement, he awaited the return of the troika, in which he let her go. The driver did not return. Finally, towards evening, he arrived alone and intoxicated, with the devastating news: "Dunya from that station went further with the hussar." The old man did not bear his misfortune; he immediately took to the very bed where the young deceiver had been lying the day before. Now the caretaker, considering all the circumstances, guessed that the illness was feigned. The poor man fell ill with a strong fever; he was taken to S *** and in his place they assigned another. The same doctor who came to the hussar treated him too. He assured the caretaker that the young man was completely healthy and that at that time he still guessed about his evil intention, but was silent, fearing his whip. Whether the German was telling the truth, or just wishing to boast of foresight, he did not in the least console the poor patient. Barely recovering from his illness, the superintendent asked the postmaster S *** to leave for two months and, without saying a word to anyone about his intention, went on foot to fetch his daughter. From the road he knew that Captain Minsky was traveling from Smolensk to Petersburg. The driver who was driving him said that Dunya cried all the way, although it seemed she was on her way. "Perhaps," thought the caretaker, "I will bring home my lost sheep." With this thought, he arrived in Petersburg, stopped in the Izmailovsky regiment, in the house of a retired non-commissioned officer, his old colleague, and began his search. He soon learned that Captain Minsky was in St. Petersburg and lived in the Demutov tavern. The caretaker decided to come to him. Early in the morning he came to his hall and asked him to report to his nobility that the old soldier asked to see him. The military footman, cleaning his boot on the last, announced that the master was sleeping and that he would not receive anyone before eleven o'clock. The caretaker left and returned at the appointed time. Minsky went out to him himself in a dressing gown, in a red skufie. "What, brother, do you want?" he asked him. The old man's heart began to boil, tears welled up in his eyes, and in a trembling voice he said only: "Your Excellency! .. Do such a divine favor! .." Minsky glanced at him quickly, flushed, took him by the hand, led him into the study and locked behind him Door. “Your Excellency! - continued the old man, - what fell from the cart is gone: give me at least my poor Dunya. After all, you are amused by it; do not ruin her in vain. " “What has been done cannot be undone,” said the young man in extreme confusion, “I am guilty before you and I am glad to ask your forgiveness; but do not think that I could leave Dunya: she will be happy, I give you my word of honor. Why do you need her? She loves Me; she lost the habit of her previous state. Neither you nor she - you will not forget what happened. " Then, thrusting something up his sleeve, he opened the door, and the inspector, not remembering how, found himself on the street. For a long time he stood motionless, at last he saw a roll of papers behind the cuff of his sleeve; he took them out and opened several crumpled five- and ten-ruble banknotes. Tears again welled up in his eyes, tears of indignation! He squeezed the pieces of paper into a ball, threw them on the ground, stamped on his heel and walked away ... After walking a few steps away, he stopped, thought ... and returned ... but the banknotes were gone. A well-dressed young man, seeing him, ran up to the driver, sat down hastily and shouted: "Let's go! .." The caretaker did not chase after him. He decided to go home to his station, but before that he wanted to see his poor Dunya at least once more. For this two days later he returned to Minsky; but the military lackey told him sternly that the master did not receive anyone, pushed him out of the hall with his chest and slammed the door under his nose. The caretaker stood for a while, stood - and went. On that very day, in the evening, he walked along Liteinaya, having served a prayer service for All Who Sorrow. Suddenly a dandy droshky raced before him, and the inspector recognized Minsky. The drozhki stopped in front of a three-story building, at the very entrance, and the hussar ran into the porch. A happy thought flashed through the caretaker's mind. He returned and, having caught up with the coachman: “Whose horse, brother? he asked, "isn't it Minsky?" - "Exactly so," answered the coachman, "and what do you want?" - "Yes, that's what: your master ordered me to take a note to his Dunya, and I forget where Dunya lives." - “Yes, right here, on the second floor. You are late, brother, with your note; now he himself is with her. " “There’s no need,” the caretaker objected with an inexplicable movement of his heart, “thank you for advising me, and I’ll do my job.” And with that word he went up the stairs. The doors were locked; he called, several seconds passed in painful anticipation. The key rattled, it was opened. "Is Avdotya Samsonovna standing here?" - he asked. "Here," answered the young maid, "why do you need her?" The caretaker, without answering, entered the hall. “You can't, you can't! - the maid shouted after him, "Avdotya Samsonovna has guests." But the inspector, not listening, went on. The first two rooms were dark, the third was on fire. He walked to the open door and stopped. In a beautifully decorated room, Minsky sat in thought. Dunya, dressed with all the luxury of fashion, sat on the arm of his chair, like a rider on her English saddle. She looked at Minsky with tenderness, winding his black curls around her sparkling fingers. Poor caretaker! His daughter had never seemed so beautiful to him; he could not help admiring her. "Who's there?" she asked without raising her head. He was still silent. Receiving no answer, Dunya raised her head ... and fell screaming on the carpet. Frightened Minsky rushed to pick her up and, suddenly seeing the old inspector at the door, left Dunya and went up to him, trembling with anger. “What do you want? - he said to him, gritting his teeth, - why are you sneaking around for me like a robber? or do you want to stab me? Go away!" - and with a strong hand, grabbing the old man by the collar, pushed him onto the stairs. The old man came to his apartment. A friend of his advised him to complain; but the inspector thought, waved his hand and decided to back down. Two days later he set off from Petersburg back to his station and again took up his post. “For the third year now,” he concluded, “how I live without Dunya and how there’s no rumor or spirit about her. Whether she is alive or not, God knows her. Anything happens. Not her first, not her last, was lured away by a passing rake, and there he held it and threw it away. There are many of them in Petersburg, young fools, today they are in satin and velvet, and tomorrow, you will see, they sweep the street along with the barn. As you sometimes think that Dunya, perhaps, immediately disappears, you will sin against your will, and wish her a grave ... " Such was the story of a friend of mine, an old caretaker, a story, repeatedly interrupted by tears, which he wiped off picturesquely with his floor, like the zealous Terentich in Dmitriev's beautiful ballad. These tears were partly excited by the punch, which he drew out five glasses in the continuation of his narrative; but be that as it may, they deeply touched my heart. After parting with him, for a long time I could not forget the old caretaker, for a long time I thought about poor Duna ... Not long ago, while driving through a place ***, I remembered my friend; I learned that the station over which he was in charge had already been destroyed. To my question: "Is the old caretaker alive?" - no one could give me a satisfactory answer. I decided to visit a familiar side, took free horses and set off to the village of N. It happened in the fall. Gray clouds covered the sky; a cold wind blew from the harvested fields, blowing red and yellow leaves from the oncoming trees. I arrived in the village at sunset and stopped at the post house. In the hallway (where poor Dunya once kissed me) a fat woman came out and answered my questions, “that the old caretaker had died a year ago, that a brewer had settled in his house, and that she was the brewer's wife. I felt sorry for my wasted trip and the seven rubles spent in vain. "Why did he die?" - I asked the brewer's wife. "I got drunk, father," she answered. "Where was he buried?" - "Outside the outskirts, beside his late mistress." "Can't you take me to his grave?" - “Why not. Hey, Vanka! full of you messing with the cat. Show the master to the cemetery and show him the caretaker's grave. At these words, a tattered boy, red-haired and crooked, ran out to me and immediately led me outside the outskirts. - Did you know the deceased? - I asked him dear. - How not to know! He taught me how to cut pipes. It happened (the kingdom of heaven to him!) Comes from the tavern, and we followed him: “Grandfather, grandfather! nuts! " - and he gives us nuts. Everything happened to mess with us. - Do the passers-by remember him? - Yes, but there are not enough passers-by; unless the assessor turns up, but he has no time for the dead. That summer a lady passed by, so she asked about the old caretaker and went to his grave. - What lady? I asked curiously. - A wonderful lady, - answered the boy; - she rode in a carriage of six horses, with three small barchats and a wet nurse and a black pug; and as she was told that the old caretaker had died, so she began to cry and said to the children: "Sit still, and I will go to the cemetery." And I volunteered to bring her. And the lady said: "I know the way myself." And she gave me a nickle in silver - such a kind lady! .. We came to the cemetery, a bare place, not fenced off by anything, dotted with wooden crosses, not overshadowed by a single tree. I have never seen such a sad cemetery. “This is the grave of the old caretaker,” the boy said to me, jumping on a pile of sand, into which a black cross with a copper image was dug. - And the lady came here? I asked. - She came, - answered Vanka, - I looked at her from afar. She lay down here and lay for a long time. And there the lady went to the village and summoned the priest, gave him money and went, and she gave me a nickle in silver - a glorious lady! And I gave the boy a penny and no longer regretted either the trip or the seven rubles I had spent.In this article, we will consider a brief analysis of the story "The Stationmaster", which Alexander Pushkin wrote in 1830, and which was included in the collection "Belkin's Tale".
This work has two prominent main characters. This is the station superintendent who serves at the station, his name is Samson Vyrin. And his beloved beautiful daughter Dunya. There is also the hussar Minsky, who also played an important role. So, briefly, in a nutshell, the plot of the story "Stationmaster":
Samson Vyrin is a minor official at the station. It is kind and peaceful, although it is constantly plagued by people passing by. Vyrin's daughter Dunya is a beauty and assistant. Once the hussar Minsky comes to them, who pretends to be sick in order to spend several days with the girl he fell in love with. Then, having deceived his father, the hussar takes Dunya to Petersburg. Samson Vyrin makes attempts to take his daughter, but nothing comes of it. Out of grief, he begins to drink, and, in the end, drinks himself from such an unhappy life, turning into a decrepit old man. Dunya, most likely, is marrying Minsky, giving birth to three children, and needs nothing. Having learned about the death of her father, she deeply regrets and reproaches herself all her life.
This is the plot of the story, without its consideration the analysis of "The Stationmaster" would be incomplete.
Problems of the story
Of course, Pushkin raises a number of problems in this story. For example, we are talking about a conflict - an eternal conflict - between parental will and children. Often, parents do not let their children leave their parents' home, and grown-up children want to live an independent life.
So it is in the "Station Keeper", which we are analyzing. Dunya's daughter helps Vyrin well, because his work is not easy, he lacks horses, people get nervous and angry because of this, conflicts are constantly brewing, and Dunya's charm and good looks help to settle a lot. In addition, she works comfortably in the house, serves in front of clients. It is not surprising that Samson Vyrin so values \u200b\u200bhis daughter and does not want to let her go, because for him she is the main thing in life.
When Minsky takes Dunya away, Vyrin thinks that this looks like a kidnapping, he does not believe that she herself wants to go with him. Going to rescue his daughter, Vyrin is faced with a strong reaction - the hussar does not want to part with his beloved in any way, although the station attendant thinks that he is simply using her as a new toy - he will play and leave.
Samson Vyrin is confused and depressed, and although he goes back to his place, he imagines the fate of his daughter very sadly. He can't believe that Dunya and the hussar Minsky will be happy, and he just ends up drinking too much.
What does the story "Stationmaster" teach that the author especially wanted to emphasize? Many conclusions can be drawn, everyone will find something of their own. But in any case, there is an incentive to cherish family ties, to love loved ones and think about their feelings. In addition, you should never despair and allow circumstances to drive you into a corner.
We hope that the summary of this work will also help you. You have now read a brief analysis of The Station Keeper. We also bring to your attention an article with an essay on this story.
History of creation
Boldinskaya autumn in the works of A.S. Pushkin became truly "golden", since it was at this time that he created many works. Among them are "Belkin's Tale". In a letter to his friend P. Pletnev, Pushkin wrote: "... I wrote 5 novellas in prose that made Baratynsky laugh and beat." The chronology of the creation of these stories is as follows: On September 9, The Undertaker was completed, on September 14 - The Station Keeper, on September 20 - The Young Lady-Peasant, after almost a month's break, the last two stories were written: The Shot - October 14 and Snowstorm " - The 20th of October. The cycle of Belkin's Tales was the first completed prose creation by Pushkin. The five stories were united by the fictitious person of the author, about whom the "publisher" told in the preface. We learn that P.P. Belkin was born "of honest and noble parents in 1798 in the village of Goryukhino." “He was of average height, had gray eyes, light brown hair, a straight nose; his face was white and thin. " “He led the most moderate life, avoided all kinds of excesses; it never happened ... to see him drunk ..., he had a great penchant for the female sex, but his shyness was truly girlish. " In the fall of 1828, this handsome character "fell ill with a cold fever, turned into a fever, and died ...".
At the end of October 1831 "The Tale of the Late Ivan Petrovich Belkin" was published. The preface ended with the words: “Considering it our duty to respect the will of our venerable friend of our author, we bring him our deepest gratitude for the news delivered to us and hope that the public will appreciate their sincerity and good nature. A.P. " The epigraph to all the novellas, taken from the Fonvizin "The Minor" (Mrs. Prostakova: "That, my father, he is still a hunter to stories." He collected these "simple" stories, and wrote them down from different storytellers ("The Caretaker" was told to him by the titular adviser A.G. N., "Shot" by Lieutenant Colonel I.L.P., "Undertaker" by the clerk B.V., "Snowstorm" and "Young Lady" by the girl K.I.T.), having processed them according to your skill and discretion. Thus, Pushkin, as a real author of stories, is hidden behind a double chain of ingenuous storytellers, and this gives him greater freedom of narration, creates considerable opportunities for comedy, satire and parody, and at the same time allows him to express his attitude to these stories.
With the full designation of the name of the real author, Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, they were published in 1834. Creating in this cycle an unforgettable gallery of images that live and act in the Russian province, Pushkin with a kind smile and humor tells about modern Russia. Working on "Belkin's Tales", Pushkin outlined one of his main tasks: "Our language must be given more will (of course, in accordance with its spirit)." And when the author of the stories was asked who this Belkin was, Pushkin replied: “Whoever he is there, but the story should be written this way: simple, short and clear”.
The story "The Stationmaster" occupies a significant place in the work of A.S. Pushkin and is of great importance for all Russian literature. It almost for the first time depicts the hardships of life, pain and suffering of the one who is called the "little man". From her begins in Russian literature the theme of the "humiliated and insulted", which will introduce you to the kind, quiet, suffering heroes and will allow you to see not only meekness, but also the greatness of their souls and hearts. The epigraph is taken from a poem by P.A. Vyazemsky "Station" ("Collegiate registrar, / Post station dictator"), Pushkin changed the quote, calling the station superintendent "collegiate registrar" (the lowest civilian rank in pre-revolutionary Russia), and not "provincial registrar", as it was in the original , since this rank is higher.
Genre, genre, creative method
"The Tales of the Late Ivan Petrovich Belkin" consists of 5 novellas: "Shot", "Snowstorm", "Undertaker", "Station Keeper", "The Young Lady-Peasant". Each of Belkin's Tales is so small in size that one could call it a story. Pushkin calls them stories. For the realist writer reproducing life, the forms of the story and novel in prose were especially suitable. They attracted Pushkin with their much greater, than poetry, intelligibility to the widest readership. “Stories and novels are read by everyone and everywhere,” he noted. Belkin's Tales ”are, in essence, the beginning of Russian highly artistic realistic prose.
Pushkin took for the story the most typical romantic plots, which in our time may well be repeated. His characters initially find themselves in situations where the word "love" is present. They are already in love or just crave this feeling, but it is from here that the development and whipping up of the plot begins. "Belkin's Tales" are conceived by the author as a parody of the genre of romantic literature. In the story "Shot" the main character Silvio comes from the outgoing era of romanticism. He is a handsome strong brave man with an integral passionate character and an exotic non-Russian name, reminiscent of the mysterious and fatal heroes of Byron's romantic poems. The Blizzard parodies French novels and romantic ballads by Zhukovsky. At the end of the story, the comic confusion with the suitors leads the heroine of the story to a new, long-suffering happiness. In the story "The Undertaker", in which Adrian Prokhorov invites the dead to his place, Mozart's opera and the terrible stories of romantics are parodied. "The Young Lady-Peasant" is a small graceful sitcom with dressing up in the French style, taking place in a Russian noble estate. But she is kind, funny and witty parodies of the famous tragedy - "Romeo and Juliet" by Shakespeare.
In the cycle of "Belkin's Tales" the center and top are "The Station Keeper". The story laid the foundations of realism in Russian literature. In essence, in terms of its plot, expressiveness, complex capacious theme and shadow composition, in terms of the very characters it is already a small, succinct novel that influenced subsequent Russian prose and gave birth to Gogol's story "The Overcoat". People here are depicted as simple, and their very story would be simple if different everyday circumstances had not intervened in it.
Subject
In Belkin's Tales, along with the traditional romantic themes from the noble-manor life, Pushkin reveals the theme of human happiness in its broadest sense. Worldly wisdom, rules of everyday behavior, generally accepted morality are enshrined in catechisms, prescriptions, but not everyone follows them and does not always lead to good luck. It is necessary that fate give a person happiness, so that the circumstances come together successfully. In "Belkin's Tales" it is shown that there are no hopeless situations, one must fight for happiness, and it will be, even if it is impossible.
The story "The Stationmaster" is the saddest and most complex work of the cycle. This is a story about the sad fate of Vyrin and the happy fate of his daughter. From the very beginning, the author connects the humble story of Samson Vyrin with the philosophical meaning of the entire cycle. After all, the station superintendent, who does not read books at all, has his own scheme of life perception. It is reflected in pictures "with decent German poetry" that are hung on the walls of his "humble but neat monastery." The narrator details these pictures, depicting the biblical legend of the prodigal son. Samson Vyrin looks at everything that happened to him and his daughter through the prism of these pictures. His life experience suggests that misfortune will happen to his daughter, she will be deceived and abandoned. He is a toy, a little man in the hands of the mighty of the world who have turned money into the main yardstick.
Pushkin declared one of the main themes of Russian literature of the 19th century - the theme of the "little man". The significance of this theme for Pushkin was not in denouncing the downtroddenness of his hero, but in the discovery in the "little man" of a compassionate and sensitive soul, endowed with the gift of response to someone else's misfortune and someone else's pain.
From now on, the theme of the "little man" will be heard constantly in Russian classical literature.
Idea
“None of Belkin's Tales contains an idea. You read - nicely, smoothly, smoothly: you read - everything is forgotten, in memory there is nothing but adventure. Belkin's Tales are easy to read, because they do not make you think "(" Northern Bee ", 1834, No. 192, August 27).
"True, these stories are entertaining, they cannot be read without pleasure: this comes from a charming style, from the art of telling, but they are not artistic creations, but just fairy tales and fables" (VG Belinsky).
“How long have you re-read Pushkin's prose? Make me a friendship - read all of Belkin's Tale first. They must be studied and studied by every writer. I did it the other day and I cannot convey to you the beneficial influence that this reading had on me ”(from a letter from Leo Tolstoy to PD Golokhvastov).
Such an ambiguous perception of Pushkin's cycle suggests that there is some mystery in "Belkin's Tales". In "The Station Keeper" it is contained in a small artistic detail - wall paintings telling about the prodigal son, which were a frequent part of the station environment in the 1920s and 1940s. The description of those pictures brings the story out of the social and everyday plane into a philosophical one, allows us to comprehend its content in relation to human experience, interprets the “eternal plot” about the prodigal son. The story is imbued with the pathos of compassion.
The nature of the conflict
In the story "The Stationmaster" is a humiliated and sad hero, the ending is equally mournful and happy: the death of the stationmaster, on the one hand, and the happy life of his daughter, on the other. The story is distinguished by the special nature of the conflict: there are no negative characters who would be negative in everything; there is no direct evil - and at the same time, the grief of the common man, the station superintendent, does not diminish from this.
The new type of hero and conflict entailed a different system of narration, the figure of the narrator - the titular advisor A. G. N. He tells a story he heard from others, from Vyrin himself and from the "red-haired and crooked" boy. Dunya's taking Vyrina away by the hussar is the plot of a drama, followed by a chain of events. From the post station, the action is transferred to Petersburg, from the caretaker's house - to the grave outside the outskirts. The caretaker is unable to influence the course of events, but before bowing to fate, he tries to turn history back, to save Dunya from what seems to the poor father as the death of his “child”. The hero comprehends what has happened and, moreover, goes to the grave from the powerless consciousness of his own guilt and the irreparability of trouble.
“Little man” is not only a low rank, lack of high social status, but also being lost in life, fear of her, loss of interest and purpose. Pushkin was the first to draw the readers' attention to the fact that, despite his low origin, a person still remains a person and all the same feelings and passions are inherent in him as people of high society. The story "The Station Keeper" teaches to respect and love a person, teaches the ability to sympathize, makes you think that the world in which the station keepers live is not arranged in the best way.
Main heroes
The author-narrator speaks sympathetically of the "real martyrs of the fourteenth class," the station overseers accused by travelers of all sins. In fact, their life is a real hard labor: “The traveler takes out all the annoyance accumulated during a boring ride on the caretaker. The weather is unbearable, the road is bad, the driver is stubborn, the horses are not driven - and the keeper is to blame ... You can easily guess that I have friends from the respectable class of caretakers. " This story was written in memory of one of them.
The main character in the story "The Stationmaster" is Samson Vyrin, a man of about 50 years old. The caretaker was born in about 1766, into a peasant family. The end of the 18th century, when Vyrin was 20-25 years old, was the time of the Suvorov wars and campaigns. As is known from history, Suvorov developed the initiative of his subordinates, encouraged soldiers and non-commissioned officers, promoting them in the service, fostering camaraderie in them, demanded literacy and ingenuity. A man from the peasants under the command of Suvorov could rise to the rank of non-commissioned officer, receive this rank for loyal service and personal courage. Samson Vyrin could be just such a person and most likely served in the Izmailovsky regiment. The text says that, having arrived in St. Petersburg in search of his daughter, he stops at the Izmailovsky regiment, in the house of a retired non-commissioned officer, his old colleague.
It can be assumed that around 1880 he retired and received the position of station superintendent and the rank of collegiate registrar. This position gave a small but constant salary. He got married, and soon a daughter was born. But the wife died, and the daughter was the father's joy and consolation.
Since childhood, she had to shoulder all women's work on her fragile shoulders. Vyrin himself, as he is presented at the beginning of the story, is “fresh and vigorous,” sociable and not angry, in spite of the fact that undeserved insults fell on his head. Just a few years later, driving along the same road, the author, stopping for the night with Samson Vyrin, did not recognize him: from a "fresh and vigorous" he turned into an abandoned, flabby old man whose only consolation was a bottle. And it's all about her daughter: without asking for parental consent, Dunya - his life and hope, for the good of which he lived and worked - fled with a passing hussar. The act of his daughter broke Samson, he could not bear the fact that his dear child, his Dunya, whom he protected from all dangers as best he could, could do this to him and, even worse, with himself, she became not a wife, but a mistress.
Pushkin sympathizes with his hero and deeply respects him: a man of the lower class, who grew up in need, hard work, has not forgotten what decency, conscience and honor are. Moreover, he puts these qualities above material wealth. Poverty for Samson is nothing compared to the emptiness of the soul. It is not in vain that the author introduces into the story such a detail as pictures of the story of the prodigal son on the wall in Vyrin's house. Like the father of the prodigal son, Samson was willing to forgive. Only Dunya did not come back. Father's suffering was aggravated by the fact that he knew very well how such stories often end: “There are many of them in St. Petersburg, young fools, today in satin and velvet, and tomorrow, you will see, they are sweeping the street with a barn. As you sometimes think that Dunya, perhaps, disappears right there, so involuntarily you will sin and wish her a grave ... ”. An attempt to find her daughter in huge Petersburg ended in nothing. It was here that the station superintendent gave in - he drank completely and after a while he died without waiting for his daughter. Pushkin created in his Samson Vyrin an amazingly capacious, truthful image of a simple, little man and showed all his rights to the title and dignity of man.
Dunya in the story is shown as a jack of all trades. No one could cook dinner better than her, clean the house, serve a traveler. And the father, looking at her agility and beauty, could not get enough of it. At the same time, she is a young coquette, knowing her strength, entering into a conversation with a visitor without timidity, "like a girl who has seen the light." Belkin sees Dunya in the story for the first time, when she is fourteen years old - the age at which it is too early to think about fate. Dunya knows nothing about this intention of the visiting hussar Minsky. But, breaking away from her father, she chooses her feminine happiness, albeit, perhaps, for a short time. She chooses another world, unknown, dangerous, but in it she, at least, will live. It is difficult to blame her for choosing life, not vegetation, she took a chance and won. Dunya comes to her father only when everything that she could only dream of has come true, although Pushkin does not say a word about her marriage. But six horses, three children, a nurse testify to the successful conclusion of history. Of course, Dunya herself considers herself to be guilty for the death of her father, but, probably, the reader will forgive her, as Ivan Petrovich Belkin forgives.
Dunya and Minsky, the internal motives of their actions, thoughts and experiences, throughout the story are described by the narrator, coachman, father, red-haired boy from the sidelines. Perhaps that is why the images of Dunya and Minsky are given somewhat schematically. Minsky is noble and wealthy, he served in the Caucasus, the rank of captain is not small, but if he is in the guard, then already big, equal to an army lieutenant colonel. The kind and cheerful hussar fell in love with the innocent caretaker.
Many actions of the heroes of the story today are incomprehensible, but for Pushkin's contemporaries they were natural. So, Minsky, having fallen in love with Dunya, did not marry her. He could do this not only because he was a rake and a frivolous person, but also for a number of objective reasons. Firstly, in order to marry, an officer needed the commander's permission; often marriage meant resignation. Secondly, Minsky could depend on his parents, who would hardly have liked a marriage with a dowry woman and not a noblewoman Dunya. It takes time to resolve at least these two problems. Although in the final Minsky was able to do it.
Plot and composition
The compositional construction of "Belkin's Tales", consisting of five separate stories, has been repeatedly addressed by Russian writers. He wrote about his intention to write a novel with a similar composition in one of the letters to F.M. Dostoevsky: “The stories are completely separate from one another, so that they can even be put on sale separately. I believe Pushkin was thinking of a similar form of the novel: five novellas (the number of Belkin's Tales) sold separately. Pushkin's stories are indeed separate in all respects: there is no cross-cutting character (in contrast to the five stories of Lermontov's A Hero of Our Time); no general content. On the other hand, there is a general method of mystery, a "detective" that lies at the basis of each story. Pushkin's stories are united, firstly, by the figure of the narrator - Belkin; secondly, by the fact that they are all told. The narrative was, I suppose, the artistic device for which the whole text was started. Narrativeness, as common to all stories, simultaneously allowed them to be read (and sold) separately. Pushkin thought about a work that, being whole as a whole, would be whole in every part. I call this form, using the experience of subsequent Russian prose, a novel-cycle. "
The stories were written by Pushkin in one chronological order, but he arranged them not according to the time of writing, but on the basis of compositional calculation, alternating stories with “unfavorable” and “prosperous” ends. Such a composition informed the entire cycle, despite the presence of deeply dramatic provisions in it, a general optimistic orientation.
Pushkin builds the story "The Stationmaster" on the development of two fates and characters - father and daughter. Station superintendent Samson Vyrin is an old honored (three medals on faded ribbons) retired soldier, a kind and honest man, but rude and simple-minded, is at the very bottom of the table of ranks, at the lowest rung of the social ladder. He is not only a simple, but a small person, whom every passing nobleman can offend, shout, hit, although his lower rank of the 14th class still gave the right to personal nobility. But all the guests were greeted, calmed and given tea by his beautiful and lively daughter Dunya. But this family idyll could not last forever and ended, at first glance, badly, because the caretaker and his daughter had different fates. The passing young handsome hussar Minsky fell in love with Dunya, deftly played out the illness, achieved mutual feelings and, as befits a hussar, took a crying but not resisting girl in a troika to Petersburg.
The little man of the 14th grade did not reconcile himself with such an insult and loss, he went to St. Petersburg to save his daughter, whom, as Vyrin believed, not without reason, the insidious seducer would soon abandon and drive out into the street. And the very reproachful appearance of him was important for the further development of this story, for the fate of his Dunya. But it turned out that the story is more complicated than the caretaker imagined. The captain fell in love with his daughter and, moreover, turned out to be a conscientious, honest man; he blushed with shame at the unexpected appearance of his father, who had been deceived by him. And the beautiful Dunya answered the kidnapper with a strong, sincere feeling. The old man gradually became drunk with grief, longing and loneliness, and despite the moralizing pictures about the prodigal son, his daughter never came to visit him, disappeared, and was not at her father's funeral either. The village cemetery was visited by a beautiful lady with three little barchats and a black pug on a luxurious carriage. She silently lay down on her father's grave and "lay for a long time." This is the folk custom of the last farewell and remembrance, the last "forgive". This is the greatness of human suffering and repentance.
Artistic originality
In "Belkin's Tales" all the peculiarities of the poetics and stylistics of Pushkin's fictional prose were clearly revealed. Pushkin appears in them as an excellent short story writer, who is equally accessible to a touching story, and a short story that is sharp in plot and twists and turns, and a realistic sketch of manners and everyday life. The artistic requirements for prose, which were formulated by Pushkin in the early 1920s, he is now realizing in his own creative practice. Nothing unnecessary, one necessary in the narrative, accuracy in definitions, laconicism and concise syllable.
"Belkin's Tales" are distinguished by the extreme economy of artistic means. From the very first lines, Pushkin introduces the reader to his heroes, introduces him to the circle of events. The portrayal of the characters' characters is just as stingy and no less expressive. The author almost does not give an external portrait of the heroes, almost does not dwell on their emotional experiences. At the same time, the appearance of each of the characters appears with remarkable relief and distinctness from his actions and speeches. "A writer should never stop studying this treasure," Lev Tolstoy advised a familiar writer about "Belkin's Tales".
The meaning of the work
In the development of Russian fiction, a huge role belongs to Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. Here he had almost no predecessors. The prosaic literary language was also at a much lower level compared to poetry. Therefore, Pushkin faced an especially important and very difficult task of processing the very material of this field of verbal art. Of the Belkin's Tales, the Station Keeper was of exceptional importance for the further development of Russian literature. The very truthful image of the caretaker, warmed by the author's sympathy, opens the gallery of "poor people" created by subsequent Russian writers, humiliated and offended by the social relations of the then reality that were the most difficult for the common man.
The first writer who opened the world of "little people" * to the reader was N.М. Karamzin. Karamzin's word has something in common with Pushkin and Lermontov. The greatest influence on subsequent literature was provided by Karamzin's story "Poor Liza". The author initiated a huge cycle of works about "little people", took the first step into this previously unknown topic. It was he who opened the way for such writers of the future as Gogol, Dostoevsky and others.
A.S. Pushkin was the next writer whose sphere of creative attention began to include the whole vast Russia, its vast expanses, the life of villages, Petersburg and Moscow were opened not only from a luxurious entrance, but also through the narrow doors of poor houses. For the first time, Russian literature has so piercingly and clearly demonstrated the distortion of the personality by a hostile environment. Pushkin's artistic discovery was directed towards the future, it pushed the way for Russian literature into the unknown.
