April 8
Makar Devushkin, in another letter to Varvara Alekseevna Dobroselova, writes: he is happy that she obeyed him and opened the curtain on the window in the morning, and it even seemed to him that her “pretty face” flashed outside the window. Now they seem to be talking with the help of this curtain: ajar - “good morning, Makar Alekseevich”, lowered - “goodbye ... it's time to sleep.” Makar Alekseevich has just settled in a new place, but he feels good, enjoys the sun, the birds, even dreamed a little, and all his dreams are connected with Varenka, whom he compares with “a bird of heaven, for the joy of people and for the decoration of nature created.” Further, Makar Devushkin describes his new housing, which he calls “slum”. This is a long corridor, completely dark and unclean, on its right side a blank wall stretches, and on its left - “all doors and doors”. Here, “in the rooms”, all kinds of people live in twos and threes, “however, it seems that people are good, they are all so educated, scientists”: one official, two officers who are all playing cards, midshipman, an English teacher . Makar himself huddles in the kitchen behind a partition. But he allegedly settled here "for convenience ... and not for anything else." Firstly, directly opposite is Varenka's window, and secondly, it's cheaper here, so now Makar can drink tea with sugar. For Varenka he bought two pots of balsam and geraniums. And so that Varenka does not doubt anything, Makar repeats that he settled behind the partition only for convenience alone, and he saves money, saves it. Along with the letter, Makar sends some sweets to Varya.
In a reply letter sent on the same day, Varya reproaches Makar Alekeevich for spending money on gifts for her, and immediately admires the geranium he bought. Varya understands that because of her, Makar is deprived of what he needs, because with his salary he could rent better housing. Eot, Fedora (the owner of the apartment) says that Makar used to live much better. Varya again begs Makar not to spend so much money on her. Varia herself is doing well: Fedor got her a job.
The girl is worried about the future. “... What will be my fate! It's hard that d; in such obscurity that I have no future... It's scary to go back and look. There is such grief that the heart breaks in half at one memory. For a century I will cry at the evil people who killed me!” Varya writes. She invites Makar to visit her, asks to write more about her life. “Today is both melancholy, and boring, and sad!”
In a reply letter, Makar apologizes for what he wrote in the morning (about his dreams). It seemed to him that Varya misunderstood him. No, he was “animated” only by “fatherly affection”, because he is Varenka, due to her bitter orphanhood, instead of his father, and nothing more. In addition, he is a relative of Varya, although very distant, and now so “the closest relative and patron”, because Varya found betrayal and resentment among close people. Makar tries to convince Varya that he lives perfectly. He longingly recalls his former apartment, where he lived for twenty years, his late mistress and her granddaughter Masha. Makar is worried about Varya's good name - how will he come to her, because they will notice, gossip will go!
April 9
Varya, in her letter, asks for forgiveness if she unwittingly offended Makar Alekseevich. She knows how to appreciate everything that he did for her, protecting her from evil people, from their persecution and hatred. He is in vain ashamed to come to visit her and Fyodor. She can no longer write today - she is terribly unwell.
April 12
Devushkin is very concerned about Varya's illness and asks her to dress warmly. Further, he describes in more detail how Varya asked for, his life and what surrounds him. The house in which he lives is dirty and neglected, the rooms are stuffy, smelly, the kitchen is steamy, linen is constantly drying, but nothing - you will live and get used to it. The landlady is a real witch. One room is occupied by some poor family with three children, meek people. The head of the Gorshkov family, a former official, has been without a job for seven years, dressed even worse than Makar himself. They owe the landlady, Gorshkov himself is in some kind of trouble - either he is on trial, or under investigation ... Makar is very hungry for these people.
April 25
Varya writes to Devushkin that she has met her cousin Sasha. She, too, is in danger of death. Varya herself is interested in her relative Anna Fedorovna, who is going to come to her. In her opinion, it is “shameful and indecent” for Varya to live on Devushkin’s payroll, but she, Anna Fedorovna, once sheltered Varya and her mother, spent more than two and a half years on them and then forgave them the debt. Anna Fedorovna is not to blame that Varya "for her own honor did not know how, and perhaps did not want to intervene." poor people
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As for Mr. Bykov, then, in her opinion, he is absolutely right - not to marry everyone! Varya is indignant and deeply offended by this slander. She thought that Anna Fyodorovna, at least, recognized her guilt before her ... Yesterday Varya went to her mother's grave and caught a cold.
May 20
Devushkin sends Varenka grapes along with the letter so that she recovers soon. He asks her not to believe Fedora's words that he sold his new uniform, promises to send Varya a book that everyone around praises. Makar writes that he cannot visit Varya more often. When she was seriously ill, he almost did not leave her, gossip began to spread. So let Varya recover, and they will meet somewhere outside the house.
June 1
Varya sends Makar Alekseevich a notebook in which she began to write down the story of her life “back in a happy time ...”.
1
Varya's childhood was very happy, especially when her father worked as a manager of a huge estate. She was ready to live like this all her life. But the prince died, and his heirs denied the manager the position. Varya was twelve years old when the family moved to St. Petersburg, where her father had some money in circulation with private individuals. My father was in a quarrel with Anna Fedorovna. Soon Varya was sent to a boarding school, where she was very sad, the girls laughed at her, slandered the governess. But she tried to study to please her beloved father. Coming home on Saturdays, Varya noticed that her father was spending the last of her time on her education, that the family was barely able to survive. Every day my father became more and more gloomy and angry, his character completely deteriorated: things were going badly, a lot of debts had accumulated. The mother fell ill with consumption from grief. Cares and sorrows tormented my father, he caught a cold and died suddenly. The creditors immediately appeared, the mother gave them everything that was. The house was also sold, and the mother and daughter "were left homeless, without shelter, without food." Varya was then fourteen years old. It was then that Anna Fedorovna appeared, calling herself their relative. She assured that she sympathized with their grief, that she wanted to get closer to them, offered to forget the old feuds, ordered a memorial service for Varya's father. Anna Feodorovna invited them to live with her, and they agreed.
2
Anna Fedorovna lived in her own five-room house on Vasilyevsky Island. Three rooms were occupied by the hostess herself and her pupil, the orphan Sasha, Varia's cousin. Varya and her mother settled in the fourth room, and another was occupied by a tenant, a poor student named Pokrovsky. Anna Fedorovna lived richly, but nothing was known about her condition or what she was doing. She had wide acquaintances, many people came to her, “always on some business and for a minute.” At first, Anna Fedorovna was affectionate with Varya and her mother, but then, when she saw that they were helpless and had nowhere to go, she showed what she really was. She told her numerous visitors that, out of mercy, she sheltered a widow and an orphan, and at the table watched every piece that they took, and if they did not eat, she began to shout that they were disgusted, constantly scolded Varya's late father. Mother languished day by day. They both worked from morning to night, sewing to order, although Anna Fedorovna did not like it, they tried to save money in order to move somewhere.
Student Pokrovsky taught Sasha French and German, history and geography at the table and shelter. At the suggestion of Anna Fedorovna, she studied for a whole year with Pokrovsky, along with Sasha and Varya.
Pokrovsky was very poor, due to poor health he could not attend classes all the time, so he was called a student rather out of habit. He was awkward and at first seemed strange to Varya. In addition, he was irritable, constantly angry and shouting at his students. He had many books, he constantly read.
Over time, Varya, having got to know Pokrovsky better, realized that he was a wonderful and kind person. Varya's mother respected him very much. He
became Varya's friend.
A “dirty, badly dressed ... utterly strange” old man sometimes appeared in the house. It was the father of the student Pokrovsky. Once he served somewhere, occupied a very insignificant place. After the death of his wife (the mother of the student Pokrovsky), he married a second time. The stepmother hated his son. But the landowner Bykov, who knew the official Pokrovsky, placed the boy in some kind of school. Bykov was interested in the boy because he knew his late mother (once it was Anna Fedorovna who “benefited” her and married her to the official Pokrovsky). After school, young Pokrovsky entered the gymnasium, then the university, but fell ill and could not continue his studies. It was then that Bykov attached him to Anna Fedorovna to teach Sasha. The old man, with whom the second wife treated cruelly, beat him, drank himself. The only human feeling that remained in his soul was boundless love for his son. Young Pokrovsky could not stand his father's visits, his curiosity and empty chatter. The old man still continued to come twice a week.
Once Varya secretly entered the room of the student Pokrovsky and, seeing how many books there were, she decided to read everything in order to be worthy of the young man's friendship. Varya takes some book to her, however, when she comes to her, she discovers that it is in Latin. She immediately returns back to take something else, accidentally knocks over a bookshelf, and Pokrovsky finds her at the scene of the crime. At first he shouted at her as if she were a mischievous child, but suddenly noticed that in front of him was not a child at all, but a young girl, and “blushed to the ears.”
This novel by Fyodor Mikhailovich consists of letters from two of its main characters - Varvara Dobroselova and Makar Devushkin. They are brought to each other by distant relatives. From their letters, the reader will learn the fate of the heroes, whose life is by no means easy and joyful.
Dostoevsky in his novel shows how poor people lived, on the verge of poverty of that time. Their fate and their decisions that they are forced to make are far from what they would like. Circumstances force them to drag out their miserable existence. Spiritually depressed, some still find an outlet for themselves, perking up, however, all the same circumstances inevitably lead them back.
Makar Devushkin is 47 years old. He is a departmental clerk in Petersburg. Makar receives a small salary for his work. Lives in a house near the Fontanka. He occupies a small area in one of his apartments in the common kitchen. Devushkin denies himself almost everything. And not only because his salary is low.
His relative, Varenka, lives in the same house. He pays for her apartment and tries his best to please her. He buys gifts for the girl: either flowers in pots, or sweets, or something else. Barbara is his outlet. He is very attached to her and the whole meaning of his existence lately focuses on her. He writes letters to her. She, too, responded. Either Makar tells her in them about his position in the service, then he complains that he has a bad style, describes his housing, and he has many other conversations with her in letters. The girl also tells him about her experiences and events.
Before Varenka settled in this house, she had to endure many bitter, and even humiliating events. She was born in the village. Her father worked for the manager of the estate. And when he lost his place, the family had to move to St. Petersburg. Varya was then 14 years old.
Many hardships and setbacks befell their family. Unable to withstand their onslaught, Varenka's father dies. The house is given for debts. And the girl, along with her mother, settled in the house of her distant relative, Anna Fedorovna. Her character was bad. She always reproached the "accomplices". Varya's mother had to work very hard.
A poor student, Pyotr Pokrovsky, also lived in this house. He gave private lessons. On the money received for them, he lived. Varenka also took lessons from him. Young people even began to get closer. Especially when Varya's mother fell ill and went to bed. She did not leave the patient's bed for days on end.
And Varya herself was unwell and tired. Pokrovsky helped her in her worries and took care of her himself. Varya adopted a lot from him, including the love of reading.
The girl's mother dies. And soon death overtakes Pokrovsky. He dies of consumption, having caught a bad cold. The scene of his funeral was sad. Only his father ran after the coffin, losing along the way and picking up the books of his late son - what Anna Fedorovna did not have time to take from his things on account of paying for the organization of the funeral.
Varenka was left completely alone. An acquaintance of her relative appears - Bykov. He is a landowner. And Anna Fedorovna decides to bring the girl to him, as she sees this as an opportunity to recover money from Varya.
The girl manages to escape from the hands of Bykov, who is disgusting to her. She also leaves the house of her relative. After these events, she lives in the same house with her benefactor - Makar Devushkin. Since then, a warm friendship and correspondence began between them. Varya writes to him about her fears that Anna Fedorovna will find her.
Varya is overtaken by an illness that lasted a whole month. In order to buy her medicine, Makar has to sell his uniform, which is still brand new. But, he does not feel sorry for Varenka. The girl reproached him more than once in letters for spending so much on her, forgetting about herself.
Devushkin is flattered that he is the right person. After all, in the service they laughed at him, called him a quiet one. During his communication with Varya, he spiritually felt himself higher and more significant. Varya sends him several books, which he advises to read. Sometimes, in letters, she ironically cools Makar's ardor towards her.
The landlady - Fedora offers Varya a place as a governess with a landowner, where she can help her get settled. The girl is tormented by doubts and fears, which she sets out in her next letter to Makar. He advises her not to accept this position. Meanwhile, the girl is sick again - she is tormented by coughing fits. It even begins to seem to her that she will soon die.
At this time, due to the waste of Makar, lack of money overtakes. He even took a salary in advance. But, as always, he could not deny himself once again to please Varya. Now he was in a very deplorable position. Varya even helps him herself, having learned that he has nothing to pay for housing. She gives him the money she got from selling the embroidered carpet.
Makar falls into drunkenness. Meanwhile, Anna Fedorovna finds out about Vari's place of residence. The girl is annoyed with their visits by caregivers sent by a relative. Devushkin is in despair from everything that is happening. He wants to go somewhere far away with Varya. But, they cannot do this.
Bykov also appears. He proposes to Varya. Only cold calculation guides them. The landowner intends to disinherit his relative, and for this he needs to have children. Then he needs a poor girl, who still has to answer him with consent.
Varya, having written a farewell letter to her benefactor explaining her decision, leaves. Makar is left alone again and loses heart. His last letter to her is full of grief and despair and the hope that she will write him more, which he asks her to do at the end.
Picture or drawing Poor people
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Other materials on the work of Dostoevsky F.M.
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Retelling plan
1. Spring. An introduction to the characters.
2. The story of Makar Devushkin.
3. Summer. History of Varenka (diary).
4. The plight of Makar Devushkin.
5. Autumn. The boss unexpectedly gives Makar Devushkin 100 rubles.
6. Bykov makes an offer to Varenka, she is forced to agree.
7. Farewell letters.
retelling
The novel is written in the epistolary genre, i.e. in the form of correspondence between the heroes, Varvara Alekseevna Dobroselova and Makar Alekseevich Devushkin. They write to each other almost every day, although they live in the same well-yard and their windows are opposite.
April 8th. “Well, what a slum I ended up in, Varvara Alekseevna! ... noise, shout, hubbub! A long corridor, completely dark and unclean. Do not ask in order - Noah's Ark! He lives in a closet next to the kitchen. “I do not grumble and am satisfied. ... You don't think anything and don't doubt me that I hired such a room. No, this convenience forced me, and one convenience seduced me. You do not look at the fact that I am so quiet that it seems that a fly will knock me over with its wing. I myself am not a mistake, and my character is completely the same as a decently firm and serene soul for a person ... ”Makar sends Varenka either pots of flowers or sweets.
April 8th. “Dear sir, Makar Alekseevich! I swear to you that it is even hard for me to accept your gifts. I know what they are worth to you, what hardships and denials of what is most necessary to yourself. I don't need anything, absolutely nothing.
Have you really lived your whole life like this, alone, in deprivation, without joy, without a friendly friendly word, hiring corners from strangers? I beg you again, don't waste so much money on me." Varenka earned money by sewing. “Oh, something will happen to me, what will my fate be! ...I have no future. Back and look scary. I will cry for a century at the evil people who killed me!
April 8th. “Dear Empress, Varvara Alekseevna! ... I take the place of your own father, because of your bitter orphanhood ... I am at least a distant relative, but still a relative and patron; for where you most closely had the right to seek protection and protection, you found betrayal and resentment. I am not squeamish or demanding, I have never lived better than now ...
I'm full, dressed, shod, and where should we venture! Not an Count!
My parent was not from the rank of nobility and with the whole family was poorer than me in terms of income. Makar recalls his former life: “We lived quietly, I and my mistress, an old woman, a dead woman. She was a good woman and took an inexpensive apartment. She answers Varenka's invitation to visit her: “How can I come to you? My dear, what will people say? Rumors will go, gossip, the case will give a different meaning. ... I'd better see you tomorrow at the vigil ... "
April 12th. Varenka fell ill: “fever and chills alternately,” Makar writes to her to take care of herself: “After all, you are weak, like a weak straw ... A little breeze, so you are ill.” Describes his new home: the back stairs are damp, dirty, the steps are broken, the walls are greasy, the windows are smashed; “pelvises stand with all kinds of evil spirits, with dirt, with rubbish; the smell is bad ... "It is stuffy in the rooms, "a little rotten, sharply sweetened smell of some kind", in the kitchen there is a faint smell of washed linen. Neighbors are the same poor people who have found their last refuge in stuffy closets.
April 25th. Varenka writes: she heard that Anna Feodorovna, a distant relative, was finding out about her. “She never seems to stop haunting me. She says that she and my mother, perhaps, saved me from starvation, that she fed and watered us ... And if poor mother knew what they did to me! Anna Fyodorovna says that, due to my stupidity, I couldn’t keep my happiness, that I myself didn’t know how to honor my own, and maybe I didn’t want to intercede, that Mr. Bykov was completely right and that it’s not possible to marry anyone who ... It is cruel to hear such a lie! I tremble, I cry, I sob... what have they done to me!”
A month has passed. Varenka is sick again. Makar nursed her "during unconsciousness", now she is better, he sent her grapes and flowers. He writes that Varenka does not believe Fyodor: “I didn’t sell a new uniform at all ... Only you, angel, get well, for God’s sake, don’t upset the old man. Who's telling you that I've lost weight? Slander! He is healthy, and has grown fat so that he is ashamed ... "
June 1st. Varenka sends Makar a notebook - a diary. “It seems to me that I have already aged twice since I wrote the last line in these notes ...”
Varenka was born and raised in a village where her father served as a manager on the estate of some prince. "Childhood was the happiest time of my life." When she was fourteen years old, the prince died, his father was refused a place, and the family was forced to move to St. Petersburg. “How hard it was for me to get used to a new life! ... At home for whole days there was a terrible melancholy and boredom. Father's money affairs were upset. Varya was sent to a boarding school, but she felt bad there: “I used to cry the whole night, a long, boring, cold night.” On weekends, the girl was taken home. The father became more and more gloomy: "things did not work out, there was an abyss of debt." The mother fell ill with consumption: “she kept losing weight, losing weight, she began to cough badly.” Father reproached Varenka: because of her, they were deprived of their last, and she, “a big fool, insensitive, stony,” did not give them any consolation. Then my father caught a cold, fell ill and died suddenly. They were left alone with their mother: "no shelter, no shelter, no food." All property described for debts.
“It was then that Anna Fedorovna visited us”, “invited us to take shelter”. “There was an evil woman; she constantly tormented us, ”she reproached with every piece of bread. She earned money by pandering: she supplied young beautiful girls to elderly rich people, and then arranged them to marry poor officials.
Varenka and his mother worked continuously - they sewed in order to have at least some money. Anna Fedorovna offered Varenka to study with a poor former student, Pokrovsky, who rented a corner from her. She took lessons for a whole year. The mother's illness worsened, Varenka looked after her and fell ill herself. Pokrovsky helped her, they became close: “Maybe he was only curious at first, later his indecision disappeared, and he, with the same simple, direct feeling, like me, accepted my affection for him, my friendly words, my attention and answered all this with the same attention, as friendly and affable, as my sincere friend, as my own brother.
“My misfortunes began with the illness and death of Pokrovsky ... Like all consumptives, he did not part until his last minute with the hope of living a very long time. ... Anna Fedorovna seized all the books and all the things of the deceased. And soon Varenka's mother also died.
June 12th. Makar writes to Varenka: “Soon thirty years will hit my service career.” He rewrites papers in one department, works as best he can, but "evil people" began to bully him: "Eka, they say, the rat-official rewrites!" Makar is offended: “I am needed, I am needed ... the rat brings this benefit!”
June 20th. Varenka begs Makar Alekseevich not to spend money on her: "after all, you are ruined." “Anna Fedorovna calls me to her, says that she is going to settle the whole matter with Mr. Bykov, that Bykov wants to give me a dowry. God be with them! I feel good here with you. And I don't know them; I will forget them if I can. What more do they want from me?"
June 26th. “... Literature is a good thing, Varenka, very good ... The heart of people is strengthening, instructing ... I will send books, I will certainly send ...”
June 27th. Varenka consults with Makar Alekseevich: whether she should agree to the place of a governess to "some landowners." “I feel that my health is upset ... I feel, I know that I will die soon ... Will someone regret me? .. Fyodor got me a book - “Belkin's Tale”, which I am sending you ... "
June 28th. Devushkin replies: “To go to people? - never! No, no, mother, no way! What are you missing from us?"
In response, Varenka writes: “... I am doing very badly, refusing such an advantageous place ... I am doing it badly that I live in a burden to both of you. This thought is torment to me." Makar Alekseevich persuades her not to agree, not to go to strangers: “... I'll tell you what a stranger is. He is angry, Varenka, angry, so angry that your heart will not reach, so he will torment him with reproach, reproach and a bad look. ... And what will I do alone in my old age, what will I be good for? I'm used to you, my dear." About Belkin's Tale, Makar writes: “Now I have read The Stationmaster; you live, but you don’t know that you have a book at your side, where your whole life, as if on your fingers, is laid out; ... you read, as if it were my own heart. ... And how many Samsonov Vyrins walk among us, the same unfortunate hearts!
Varenka sends Devushkin Gogol's "Overcoat"; worries about spending too much on her. Rumors reached her that he owed a lot to the mistress for his closet. In response, Makar Alekseevich wrote an angry letter: the poor official was offended by Gogol, deciding that he wrote off Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin, the hero of The Overcoat, from him: “From everything that is in the world, from everything, a lampoon will work for you, everything is printed, read, ridiculed, discussed! Why, this is a malicious book, it is simply improbable that there should be such an official ... "
July 27th. Varenka learns that Makar Alekseevich "didn't have any money at all", he spent his salary, taking it in advance, and even sold his dress when she was sick. He learns that he took to drink from poverty and grief, that the neighbors laugh at him and their relationship. “Ah, my friend! Unhappiness is a contagious disease. The unfortunate and the poor need to stay away from each other, so as not to become even more infected. I have brought you such misfortunes... All this torments and kills me.”
Varenka sold her sewing and was even able to help Devushkin a little, paying the landlady part of his debt. Devushkin writes: “So that's how it is! That is, it's not me, the old fool, I'm helping you, but you, my poor little orphan, to me! ... with diligence and diligence, I want to make amends for all my faults in the omission in the service ... "
But the clouds are gathering: Devushkin is accused of some kind of drunken brawl, neighbors laugh at him, gossip about his connection with Varenka, the hostess drives him out of the apartment, and men begin to come to Varvara Alekseevna with obscene proposals.
August 1st. Makar Alekseevich writes: “And everyone knows, Varenka, that a poor person is worse than a rag and cannot get any respect from anyone ...” He wanted to borrow money - they didn’t give it without a mortgage. “Trouble, Varenka, trouble, just trouble!”
Later, on August 11: “To live, Varenka, ashamed! Severe disasters! I died, I just died! Irrevocably died."
September 3rd. Varenka recalls her childhood: “How I loved autumn in the village! Oh, what a golden childhood my was! .. ”She already has to sell her dresses and hat. There is no money left to earn...
September 9th. In the letter, Makar Alekseevich excitedly talks about how he was called to “His Excellency” in the service: he ruined some document. Devushkin was confused, crushed with shame. The chief saw his beggarly, distressed situation and gave him a hundred rubles. When Makar wanted to catch his hand for a kiss, he “blushed all over”, took his hand and shook it, “as if on an equal footing ...”
September 15th. Varenka writes: “I am all in terrible agitation. I sense something fatal." Bykov showed up in St. Petersburg and sought out Varenka and offered him money. “Will he come to us again! This thought alone terrifies me! What will happen to me! ..” On September 23, she writes about new worries: Bykov came to her. Her sickly, pale appearance startled him. He announced that he was looking for her hand, “that he considers it his duty to restore honor, that he is rich,” that he would take her away after the wedding to the village. He started all this in order to deprive his "unfit" nephew of his inheritance. “He said that in the village I would get fat like a cake, that I would ride like cheese in butter with him. ... I thought for a long time, I suffered, finally I made up my mind. I will marry him, I must agree. The decision that you have just read is unchanged ... What will be, will be ... "
In response, Makar Alekseevich wrote a bewildered letter: “I, how can I be left alone? After all, here you are afraid of a stranger, and you are going ... "
On September 27, Varenka writes that the wedding is in five days, that Bykov is in a hurry, angry that she is again unwell. “Such sadness! I always foresee something and I live in some kind of a child. On September 28, she writes about Bykov's reproaches. “I don’t even dare to answer him: he’s so hot. What will happen to me!
On September 30, Varenka writes his last letter: “My lot has fallen. I say goodbye to you for the last time, my priceless friend, my benefactor, my dear! Do not grieve for me, live happily ... Remember your poor Varenka, who loved you so dearly. You write that you are sick, but Mr. Bykov won't let me go anywhere today. O! how sad I am, how it crushes my whole soul ... Tears are pressing me, tearing me. Farewell. God! How sad!”
Devushkin's last undated letter: “They are taking you away, you are going! How do you do it? Here you cry and you go? Therefore, you are being forcibly taken away, therefore, you feel sorry for me! There your heart will be sad, sick and cold. Longing will suck him out, sadness will tear him in half. You will die there, they will put you in the cheese ground, there will be no one there to cry about you! ... I, mother, will throw myself under the wheels, I won’t let you leave! ... My dear, because you can’t go, it’s impossible ... My dear, my dear, you are my mother!
The plot of the work
Petty official Makar Alekseevich Girls takes care of his distant relative Varya Dobroselova. The titular adviser, having no means of subsistence, nevertheless tries to help the unfortunate orphan by renting a house for her. Despite the fact that Varya and Makar live nearby, they rarely see each other: Devushkin fears for Varya's reputation. Relatives are forced to be content with letters to each other.
According to the stories of Varvara Dobroselova herself, one can judge that her childhood was quite happy. The family lived in the village, where the father served as the manager of the estate of a certain Prince II. The move to St. Petersburg was forced: Alexei Dobrosyolov lost his position as manager. The hard life of the capital and numerous failures ruined Varya's father. The widow of Dobrosyolov was taken to her house by a distant relative Anna Fedorovna, who immediately began to “reproach with a piece” of the new tenants.
To compensate for the material "losses" caused by Varya and her mother, Anna Fedorovna decided to marry the orphan to the wealthy landowner Bykov. By that time, Dobroselov's widow had already died, and there was no one to intercede for Varya, except for Devushkin, who took the orphan from Anna Feodorovna's house. It was necessary to hide Varvara's new address from an insidious relative.
Despite all the efforts of Makar, Varya Dobroselova had to marry the rude and cynical Bykov. Devushkin spent all his meager savings and could no longer help his ward.
Composition of the novel
The novel "Poor People" is presented in epistolary form, that is, in the form of correspondence between the characters. The choice of the author cannot be called accidental. Letters are the direct speech of the characters, completely excluding the subjective opinion of the author.
The role of the reader
The reader is entrusted with a difficult task: having “eavesdropped” on someone else’s personal conversation, he himself understands what is happening and draws a definite conclusion. We can learn the biography of the main characters from them themselves. You will have to draw your own conclusions about the character of the characters.
To help the reader, the author draws parallels, mentioning the well-known stories "The Overcoat" and "The Stationmaster". In Devushkin it is not difficult to recognize the powerless Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin. The choice of the story "The Stationmaster" is also not accidental. Samson Vyrin was just as disenfranchised a petty official as Bashmachkin. And if a new overcoat was stolen from Akaky Akakievich, Vyrin was deprived of his daughter. By analogy with the two previous literary characters, Makar Devushkin had to lose the only joy of his life - Varya.
Character characteristics
The reader is focused on 2 main characters: Varya Dobroselova and Makar Devushkin. Of course, these are positive characters, and for the full disclosure of images, negative characters are also needed, represented by Anna Fedorovna and the landowner Bykov.
Makar Devushkin
The image of the "little man" existed before the appearance of the novel "Poor Folk". And the author himself does not deny this, drawing a parallel between his work, Gogol's "Overcoat" and Pushkin's "Station Master". It is enough for Dostoevsky to mention these two stories, to point out that Makar recognized himself in the main characters, and the reader already understands what the titular adviser Devushkin is like. According to Makar himself, he could not move up the career ladder just because he was “meek” and “kind”. To obtain titles, you must have an iron grip.
You should not ignore the name of the protagonist, which can rightfully be considered speaking. Makar is sensitive and vulnerable, like a girl. It completely lacks the brutality characteristic of a man. In Makar's speech, one can often find nouns and adjectives with diminutive suffixes: matochka, boots, dress, quiet. Everything in the guise of Devushkin testifies to the weakness of his character.
Varya Dobroselova
Like Makar Devushkin, Varya Dobroselova is the bearer of a speaking surname, the characterizing element in which is the word “good”. The main characters of the "positive camp" have the same middle names, and this is not a coincidence. The similarity indicates the similarity of the characters of Varya and Makar, a kind of common parent of the main characters, despite the fact that they were not the children of one person named Alexei.
Makar and Varya are kindred spirits. It is very difficult for both of them to live in this harsh world, mostly because of the excessive softness of their character. Devushkin and Dobroselova were united by the lack of spiritual warmth that they need, but which they do not receive from others. Two people completely different in age and education find moral support in each other.
There are, however, some differences in the characters of Vari and Makar. Varya, despite her young age, is more practical than her relative. She tries to earn money by sewing on her own, not relying on her patron. Dobroselova agreed to marry an unpleasant but rich man who could save her from poverty. Unlike Makar, who cannot sacrifice his principles for a more comfortable life, Varya is sure that living in poverty is much worse than living with an unloved husband. The author shows the hidden power in his heroine. This strength will certainly help to survive and, perhaps, even succeed.
Bykov
By the name of the protagonist, it is easy to judge his character: rude, stubborn, impudent and strong. Bykov - "master of life." He is used to getting what he wants and does not like being denied. From Varya's letters, we can conclude that Bykov does not need a family, as such. The landowner dreams of the birth of a legitimate heir. After all, if he dies childless, his entire fortune will go to the hated nephew. Varya Dobroselova means nothing to Bykov. Her only mission is to give birth to an heir to the "master of life." If the girl does not agree to marry, the landowner will quickly find a replacement for her in the person of a rich Moscow merchant's wife.
We bring to your attention. This is a novel in which Dostoevsky for the first time, with genuine passion, vividly and fully embodied the image of the positive hero, as he imagined him.
The protagonist of the novel is Makar Alekseevich Devushkin. He is a titular adviser and works in one of the St. Petersburg departments, dealing there with the correspondence of papers. Recently, 47-year-old Makar Alekseevich changed his apartment, and now lives in a shared kitchen in an apartment with a long corridor and a large number of tenants. But this does not bother the hero, since the main thing for him is that now he does not have to pay a lot for an apartment, since a lot of money is spent on renting another apartment - comfortable and good, which he rents for Varvara Alekseevna Dobroselova.
Varenka is a distant relative of Devushkin. And the whole history of their relationship is set out in the novel in the correspondence that they conduct with each other. Varenka's apartment is located next to the apartment where Makar Alekseevich lives, but they see each other very rarely, since Devushkin is afraid that someone will think bad of Varenka. In his letters, he talks about how happy he is that he has such a close person like her, describes the apartment in which he lives and his neighbors. He also writes about the fact that he “has no syllable”, which is noticeable both in conversation and in work, and which he is very ashamed of. Varenka, in her letters, asks him not to spend money on her and come to visit more often. In addition, Varenka is worried that her distant relative Anna Fedorovna, with whom she and her mother once lived, will find out her address. Varenka's mother died, and Anna Fedorovna, saying that she could not cover the losses she suffered because of them, sold Varenka to the wealthy landowner Bykov, who dishonored her, after which Varenka ran away from Anna Fedorovna's house, and only Devushkin saved her from real death.
Varenka was born and raised in the village, where her father served as a manager for a wealthy landowner. But then he was left without a place, and the whole family moved to St. Petersburg, which Varenka really did not like. Soon the father died, and their house had to be sold in order to pay off their debts - so Varenka and her mother ended up with Anna Feodorovna. Soon the "virtue" began to reproach Varenka's mother for earning little, although mother worked very hard. Varenka herself, while living with Anna Fedorovna, took lessons from a student, Pyotr Pokrovsky, who lived in the same house. Due to health reasons, he could not attend university and earned his living by giving private lessons. But the friendship between Varenka and Peter was short-lived - the student soon died of consumption. A short time later, Varenka's mother also died, and she was left all alone.
Communication with Varenka helps Devushkin understand how good it is to have a loved one nearby. She opens the world of literature to him - he is shocked after reading Pushkin's The Stationmaster and Gogol's The Overcoat. He feels that his "syllable" has become much better. They walk together, go to the theater. But Devushkin's money is running out, and he doesn't know what to do next. The situation is aggravated by the fact that men begin to come to Varenka, who are sent to her by Anna Fedorovna. Varenka urgently needs to change the apartment. Devushkin begins to drink from hopelessness, Varenka consoles him. The situation is saved by Devushkin's visit to the boss, who, seeing his beggarly dress, orders to give him 100 rubles. And Bykov comes to Varenka, who decided to have legitimate children - he is ready to marry her. If she refuses, then he has another bride in mind. But Varenka agrees, because she feels that no one else can return her “honest name” and pull her out of poverty. Makar Alekseevich tries to dissuade her from this step, but he himself helps her get ready. After the wedding, Bykov and Varenka leave for the estate. Varenka writes a farewell letter to Devushkin. In the response letter, one can feel his despair and confusion - who needs him now, even with a good "syllable"?
