"Tales of Belkin", written by Pushkin in 1831, were highly appreciated by the Russian reading community.
The great poet turned out to be a skilled prose writer. Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy called Pushkin's style of "Tales ..." a wonderful school for novice writers. Five works are preceded by the story "The Shot" by Pushkin. The summary of this work is the topic of this article.
A Tale of the Morals of the Nobles
She is deeply psychological. Its atmosphere is a specific society of serving nobles. On the one hand, there are imperial principles: harsh and strict service, a sharpened, hypertrophied concept of honor. On the other hand, there is a passion for momentary, transient things: wine, cards, love affairs. The dueling form of conflict resolution (often contrived or provoked) was also specific.
The story is told on behalf of the local nobleman of the Goryukhino village, Ivan Petrovich Belkin. The events take place in a certain provincial town, the name of which the narrator forgot. The cavalry regiment stationed in it was not overburdened with service. The officers were only engaged in studies and riding in the arena until lunchtime. Having dined with the commander of the regiment or in a tavern, they whiled away the time in conversation, cards and punch. Aristocrats in uniform were not always distinguished by courtesy, and often a dispute for primacy developed into a duel. Sometimes the competition of the ego of different people acquired real drama. Pushkin wrote the story "Shot" about one such story. Its summary is reduced to the history of one delayed dueling shot.
The main character is a retired hussar
We get acquainted with a retired hussar officer Silvio (the Italian name is deceptive, a purely Russian person is hiding under it). He is 35 years old. His way of life, apparently, has not changed since the days of the hussars. His house is constantly open to the military, and they are invariably provided with a multi-course meal prepared by Silvio's servant, a retired soldier. Although, on the other hand, this dwelling can be called a house only conditionally. This is hard to imagine for our contemporary, but according to Alexander Sergeevich, its walls and ceiling are so riddled with bullets that they resemble honeycombs. Silvio practices his marksmanship every day. Pushkin tells about his ability to kill a fly with one shot without getting up from his chair in the story “The Shot”. The summary of the work, for comparison, mentions that among the hussars, the master of shooting is considered to be one who hits the map from ten steps ten times in a row. Obviously, Silvio's skill is an order of magnitude higher. And he really enjoys undeniable authority among his guests, officers. He is shrewd, he is fearless, he is generous with his friends...
A motivated attempt to avoid the conflict of the new
However, once this respect was shaken ... And this episode served as the plot of the composition. Nothing foreshadowed such an outcome, when once again a company of officers played bank in Silvio's house.
(Let's pay attention to the detail: why exactly in it? After all, the author mentions only “playing cards.” In the time of Pushkin, preference had not yet come to Russia, and literary heroes, contemporaries of the great poet, play in the bank.)
Silvio, as an experienced player, took on the function of the main punter - he wrote down the players' points with chalk and corrected mistakes. One of the new officers, a lieutenant, counting his points, out of absent-mindedness lost count, or, in card terminology, "turned the corner", that is, he added his bet to the bet of another player. Thus, he unreasonably increased his points. Such a moment in the bank game was not uncommon. Silvio, who played professionally, automatically and without comment corrected the recording of the hapless ponter in chalk. He, inflamed by the drunk and ridicule of his comrades, not understanding the motives for the actions of the protagonist of the story and perceiving them as rudeness, threw a heavy copper Arabic candlestick (shandal) at him.
The situation escalated to the level of a duel ... Not only that Silvio managed to evade, Pushkin tells in the story "The Shot". The summary of this scene testifies to the non-Hussar behavior of a 35-year-old man. Obviously, he violated the unwritten “code of honor” by not challenging the impudent to a duel (and, judging by the skills of Silvio, the officer had very little chance of staying alive). Those present suspected an unacceptable sin for military aristocrats - cowardice - in an idol that tarnished his reputation. That evening, all the hussars disappointedly went home ...
Silvio's explanation to Ivan Belkin
However, after a while, the hospitable 35-year-old man nevertheless restored his status among the officers. However, the narrator Belkin (the story is told through his mouth) had an unpleasant aftertaste from the unclaimed Silvio of the unlucky lieutenant of the duel.
Further, following the rules of literary intrigue, under mysterious circumstances separates Ivan Belkin from Silvio Pushkin. The story "The Shot" tells about a letter suddenly received by Silvio, which he had been waiting for a long time. The protagonist was in a hurry to such an extent that he left immediately into the night. However, not forgetting about the traditions, he invited the officers to a farewell dinner, while asking the narrator to come by all means. Why did he treat Belkin in a special way? Pushkin is convincing enough here. Before the episode with the duel, the young officer was enthusiastic about Silvio, considering him a model, an ideal of a man and an officer. The protagonist, an experienced man, must have felt a change in the narrator's attitude towards his person. In addition, Silvio considered Belkin his friend, and therefore decided to finally explain his behavior to him.
Silvio informed Belkin that he had no right to put his life at even an insignificant risk (even if because of a drunken madcap lieutenant), since he was saving it for another, postponed duel. And from the lips of the protagonist, a speech captivating the imagination of readers poured out ... Pushkin suddenly introduces romance into the narrative, where a purely everyday character had previously prevailed. The story "Shot" introduces us to Silvio's memories of his hussar times, bright, dramatic events ...
The conflict between Silvio and the new officer
Silvio, talking with Belkin, took out a cap with a band pierced an inch from the head. The clever Pushkin found a device to immediately intrigue the reader. The story of the protagonist poured out about his hussar times, when the hussars “did not look for their souls” in him, and the authorities, resigned, perceived him as a “necessary evil”. Dashing he was both a warrior and a duelist. He was considered the first brawler in the army.
But the other one turned out to be no less bright hussar, who fired a deliberately mocking shot at Silvio's headdress.
What was the one whose name and title Silvio deliberately did not mention? “Brilliant lucky man”, “offspring of a noble family” ... A big name, careless courage, a sharp mind, beauty, crazy gaiety and endless money generously thrown into the wind ... Silvio's championship was shaken, but he knew what to do. The further plot tells about his intention to kill a lucky opponent in a duel.
Pushkin's "shot" with the help of artistic means reliably acquaints us with the situation that modern psychologists call the competition of alpha males. The old idol of the hussar society was jealous of the new informal leader.
The duel is the first climax of the story
Silvio comes into conflict with an unnamed new officer. Decisively rejecting the counter offer of friendship, he begins to look for a reason to provoke a quarrel. He succeeded, but not immediately. The epigrams were fruitless. Vizavi turned out to be more talented. Then the protagonist, at a ball in the house of his mistress, provoked an opponent with his rudeness and impudence. The expected response was a slap in the face. Behind her is a challenge to a duel. It would seem that everything is going according to Silvio's plan ... Yes, the situation suddenly went wrong, got out of his control.
When the main plot-forming characters of Pushkin's story "The Shot" met each other in their first duel, the psychological dominance was not on Silvio's side. Let's give credit to his opponent. He was more bright and bold to folly. He so convincingly flaunted his indifferent attitude to his life and death that he embarrassed the main character.
They say about such people: “Nerves are like ropes!” Agree, not everyone will be able, while waiting for a shot of a counterpart, at the same time to indifferently take berries out of their cap filled with cherries and spit them in the direction of the opponent.
Since Silvio's goal was absolute superiority, he did not need a purely physical victory in a duel that did not shake the enemy's spirit. "What's the point of taking the life of an opponent if he doesn't value it!" he thought. The fact that the first duel did not realize the plan of Silvio, writes Pushkin ("Shot"). The main characters at this level are psychologically equal, and their confrontation does not resolve the issue of dominance. Silvio addresses the seconds with a statement about interrupting the duel, leaving the shot behind him.
Silvio's decision is to mentally defeat the opponent later
He is sure that time will put everything in its place.
Let's return to modern terminology, even if cynical, but reflecting the essence of things. Silvio is a natural leader. The orientation of his personality is a constant conflict with others for the right to be considered the best in military affairs, in duels, in successes with women. He is a polygamous and dominant man. These are not created for the family, they are not attached to other joys of life and are uncompromising in their views.
Silvio's reasonable idea is narrated by Pushkin's The Shot. Interest in life in his so far invincible counterpart will soon prevail over a careless attitude towards death. Wealth and well-being will surely turn his rival from a desperate hussar into the most ordinary landowner and man in the street over time. And what can make a man love life more than love, marriage and the desire to start a family? Silvio was counting on this ... He retired from military service and left for a while, obliging his friends to inform him when his duel opponent was going to marry. Years have passed ... Thirty-five years is the time to get a house, a family ... But Silvio is not like that. Inwardly, he remains the same officer, eager to gain superiority in a long-standing dispute. For him, this is more than important.
The landowner Belkin visits the count's couple
Years and years have passed since the service of Ivan Belkin in the regiment ... He is a local nobleman and is engaged in housekeeping. He learns about the fate of his friend Silvio quite by accident, paying a courtesy call to the neighboring landowners.
In the dialogue between the guest and the hosts, Pushkin (The Shot) introduces the readers to the continuation of the postponed duel. The characters meet exactly as Silvio intended. He unexpectedly appears at his counterpart's house when he is least ready.
They (husband and wife) bear the title of count and countess, are rich and rarely visit their vast and luxurious estate. Having shown hospitality, the couple invite the neighbor-landowner Belkin into the living room. There, examining the paintings, he notices in one of them, depicting the landscape of Switzerland, two bullets stuck one into the other, and speaks of a successful shot to the count.
Pushkin's story "The Shot" tells in detail about their further conversation. Finally, the thread of the author's intrigue emerges completely. Belkin says that the best shooter he knew shot three times a day. The Count inquires about his name. When he learns that his name is Silvio, he turns pale and admits that the second bullet in the picture was fired by him under dramatic circumstances.
Silvio's plan succeeded
Somehow, in the first year after their marriage, the count and countess returned separately from a horse ride. The Countess's horse stubbornly stubbornly stiffened. The count, having returned home earlier, found Silvio in his house, claiming his right to return the shot. The count turned out to be the very old rival, about the second duel with which Silvio dreamed.
Pushkin (The Shot) ends his story with a description of their meeting. The analysis of this duel of nerves (namely, into which Silvio turns his demand for a return shot) ends with his complete psychological victory.
duel master
Firstly, the 35-year-old man did not stoop to a banal murder (his shot would certainly have been fatal). After all, most of all he wanted to receive moral satisfaction over the enemy, which means a final victory. He triumphed, he enjoyed revenge. For some reason, I recall the words written much later and spoken by Don Capone: "Revenge is a special dish, you need to enjoy it when it has cooled down ...". Silvio played for time. He asked to light all the candles in the hall. Then, ignoring the count's calls to "finish the job quickly," he held him at gunpoint for a full minute. This minute turned out to be the most terrible in the life of his opponent. And only then Silvio joked that since his pistol was not loaded with cherry pits, he wanted to start the fight “from scratch”, that is, on standard conditions, starting with the drawing of the right of the first shot. Now the psychological advantage entirely belonged to him ...
Moral victory for Silvio. Decoupling of the composition
The count who won the right to shoot was demoralized and shocked.
He missed by putting a bullet into a painting of a Swiss landscape. It's time for Silvio's shot. And then the countess arrived in the living room. She fell at his feet, begging him not to shoot. The count himself was neither alive nor dead from shock ...
Suddenly, Silvio stopped the fight. He declared to the count that he was completely satisfied with his timidity, his fear, the fact that he forced him to shoot first. Having said this, he left the drawing room with a quick step, but, turning around on the threshold, fired almost without aiming at the picture, hitting his bullet in the place where the count's bullet was. It was a phenomenal shot - a memory for the count's couple for the rest of their lives ...
Later, they learned from the newspapers that Silvio took part in the armed uprising of the Greeks led by the Russian general Alexander Ypsilanti and was killed by the Turks in the battle of Skulyany, which took place on June 16 and 17, 1821, where the Greek rebel army was defeated.
Instead of a conclusion
Is it so important what was the main idea in the work of the classic? "Shot" Pushkin, perhaps, does not have one. But it has something else: expression, intrigue and... classical composition. That is why Leo Tolstoy urged beginning prose writers to learn to write from Pushkin. Judge for yourself:
The plot of the plot (an insult to Silvio from a drunken lieutenant, unrequited by the duel).
First climax (first duel).
Second climax (second duel).
The denouement (Silvio's satisfaction with only a moral victory, the news of his stupid and accidental death).
In this article, we will consider the famous cycle of A. S. Pushkin - "The Tales of the Late Ivan Petrovich Belkin." Let's talk in particular detail about the images of the main characters and their significance for understanding the whole work.
About the work
“The Tales of the Late Ivan Petrovich Belkin” (the main characters will be discussed below) were written by Pushkin in 1830 in the village of Bolshoe Boldino. Everything in the cycle included 5 stories, starting with "The Shot" and ending with "The Young Lady-Peasant Woman".
The cycle begins with the preface "From the Publisher", the writing of which dates back to October-November 1830. The work was first published in its entirety in 1831.
The main character ("Tales of the late Ivan Petrovich Belkin")
Strictly speaking, it is impossible to determine any one main character in all the stories, since in each story he has his own. However, there is a character who directly or indirectly combines these stories - this is Ivan Petrovich Belkin himself.
He is a character-narrator, a landowner in the village of Goryukhin. The reader knows that he was born in 1789, his father was a second major. He was taught by a village deacon, and through him the hero became addicted to writing. From 1815 to 1823 Belkin served in the Jaeger regiment. He died of a fever in 1828, before the publication of "his" stories.
Pushkin creates this hero using the following set of literary devices: we learn the story of Belkin's life from a letter from a certain "honorable husband", to whom Maria Alekseevna, the closest relative of the deceased Trafilina, sends the publisher; the characterization of the hero also includes an epigraph to the entire cycle - the words of mother about her son Mitrofanushka from the comedy "Undergrowth" by Fonvizin.
Silvio
Pushkin's main characters are very different from each other. "Belkin's Tale" in this respect is simply full of dissimilar and original characters. The clearest example is Silvio, the protagonist of the story "The Shot". He is 35 years old, he is a duelist officer who is obsessed with revenge.
Colonel I.L.P. tells Belkin about him, he is the narrator and the story is being told on his behalf. First, the colonel describes his personal impressions of meeting Silvio, then retells the episode from the words of Count R. This way of narrating gives the reader the opportunity to see the main character through the eyes of different people. Despite the fact that the points of view are different, the very perception of Silvio does not change much. Its immutability is specially emphasized by Pushkin, as well as the desire to appear strange and ambivalent.
Silvio deliberately tries to confuse his actions and frustrate his motives. But the more he does it, the easier his character is seen. It is no coincidence that Pushkin also emphasizes the hero's love for novels. It is from here and his frantic desire for revenge. And the fact that in the end Silvio does not shoot at the enemy, but at the picture does not change the general situation at all. The hero remains a restless romantic who no longer has a place in life.
Maria Gavrilovna
Maria Gavrilovna is the protagonist of Belkin's story "The Snowstorm". This story was told to Belkin by K.I.T.
The main character is a 17-year-old pale and slender girl, the daughter of the landowner of the village of Nenaradov Gavrila Gavrilovich R. Maria Gavrilovna is endowed with a romantic imagination, that is, she perceives life like a literary work. She is a typical lover of French novels and Russian ballads that have recently appeared in literature.
The main characters of Belkin's story "The Snowstorm", however, like the heroes of other stories and the narrator himself, are infected with a romantic worldview. They constantly try to stage a romance in life, but invariably fail.
So, Maria Gavrilovna is plotting something romantic out of her love. Her parents do not like her chosen army ensign. Then the heroine decides to secretly marry him. After that, she sees how the parents will be angry at first, but then they will forgive and call the children to themselves. But something goes wrong. And the next day after the escape, the heroine finds herself in her own bed, after which she falls ill.
Life makes its own adjustments to romantic dreams. A snowstorm knocks Vladimir astray. And the girl is married to an unknown man. Only in the final it turns out who he is. However, Pushkin makes it very clear how unsustainable romantic dreams turn out to be.
Adrian Prokhorov
Prokhorov is the protagonist of Belkin's story "The Undertaker". He serves in Moscow as an undertaker. His story is told by the clerk B.V. Adrian is a gloomy character, nothing pleases him, even the fulfillment of a lifelong dream - the family moving with Basmanna to his house on Nikitskaya. But this is not surprising, because Prokhorov is tormented by an almost Hamletian question - to be or not to be, the merchant Tryukhina, who is near death. And if she dies, they will send for him or not, because his new house is very far from the place where the dying woman lives.
In this story, Pushkin's voice is heard most strongly. We hear Pushkin's ridicule in the description of the life and thoughts of the protagonist. And it soon becomes clear that the sadness and gloom of Adrian is not in the fact that he constantly sees death, but in the fact that he reduces everything in his life to one thing - whether he will benefit from it or not. So, rain for him is only a source of ruin, and a person is a potential client. Horror helps him to be reborn, which will make him sleepy, where former "clients" come to him. Waking up after a nightmare, he realizes that now he can rejoice.
Samson Vyrin
Samson Vyrin is completely different from the rest of the main characters ("Tales of Belkin"). In his description, we do not hear Pushkin's ridicule and irony. This is an unfortunate man, a stationmaster, an official of the last class, a real martyr. He has a daughter, Dunya, whom a passing hussar took with him to Petersburg.
The story that happened to Vyrin is told by the titular adviser A.G.N. "The Stationmaster" is the key story in the cycle, which confirms the mention of it in the preface. In addition, Vyrin is the most difficult of all the heroes of the work.
The plot of the life of a stationmaster is very simple. After the death of his wife, the care of the house and household falls on the shoulders of Dunya. The traveling hussar Minsky, struck by the beauty of the girl, fakes his illness in order to stay longer in Vyrin's house, and then takes her daughter away. The father goes for the daughter, but it has no result. Minsky first tries to give Vyrin money, and after the appearance of Dunya and her fainting, he kicks him out. Abandoned father becomes an inveterate drunkard and dies. Dunya comes to his grave to cry in a gilded carriage.
Berestov Alexey Ivanovich
The characters of The Young Lady-Peasant Woman are subject to romantic dreams, like almost all the main characters. Belkin's Tales is a rather ironic work in this respect. The only exception is the story of the stationmaster.
So, Alexey Berestov comes to his native village of Tugilovo. Here he falls in love with Liza Muromskaya, who lives next door. The hero's father, a Russophile and the owner of a cloth factory, cannot stand Muromsky's neighbor, a passionate Angloman. Alexey himself also strives for everything European and behaves like a dandy. Pushkin comically describes the enmity of neighbors, clearly making references to the war of the Scarlet and White Roses and to the enmity of the Capulets and Montagues.
Nevertheless, despite the Englishness of Alexei, under his pallor "a healthy blush appears", which fully describes his character. Under the feigned romanticism hides a truly Russian person.
Liza Muromskaya
Lisa is the 17-year-old daughter of an English lover who squandered all his fortune in the capital, and therefore now lives in the village without leaving anywhere. Makes a county lady Pushkin out of his heroine. "Tales of Belkin" (the main characters are considered by us) are inhabited by heroes who later turn into literary types. So, Lisa is the prototype of a county young lady, and Samson Vyrin is a small person.
Lisa's knowledge about the life of the world is gleaned from books, nevertheless her feelings are fresh, and her feelings are sharp. In addition, the girl is endowed with a strong and clear character. Despite her English upbringing, she feels Russian. It is Lisa who finds a way out of the conflict - the children of warring parents cannot meet and communicate. The girl disguises herself as a peasant woman, which allows her to see Alexei. The reader sees that Lisa's character is much stronger than that of her lover. It is thanks to her that they end up together at the end of the story.
findings
Thus, Pushkin shows the reader an incredible variety of characters. Its main characters are amazing and unlike each other. "Tales of Belkin" that is why they were such a great success. The work was ahead of its time in many ways and has many innovative elements.
The development of the Russian language and literature was greatly influenced by the work of the world-famous poet Alexander Pushkin, who created many wonderful and amazing works in terms of his talent and depth. One of them is "Shot", in which everything is interesting: the composition, the plot, and the main characters. The multi-level composition of Pushkin's work allows the author to introduce into the story several narrators and a plot that turns out to be complex in its construction.
The author decides right in front of the reader to shift the authorship to another person, on whose behalf the whole story goes. Therefore, the narration of the whole story is conducted on behalf of Ivan Petrovich Belkin. Pushkin thinks about this not by chance, but in order to show reality more deeply and describe the mores that prevailed at that time. Such "imaginary" authorship allows Pushkin to tell about the fate of his heroes, to show their desires and dreams. Against the background of the fate of the heroes, a broad, but generalized picture of Russian life in the nineteenth century is also shown. All the events of Pushkin's work are subject to reality, that is, they are tied to a specific place and time period.
The main characters of Pushkin's story first fall in love. They are in love, and this state of theirs allows the author to show the plot of the main events of the plot. The main character in the story is Silvio. He is a former hussar and according to Pushkin's description it was clear that he was about thirty-five years old. But this experience only helped him, giving him some advantages. And his sullenness, and a strong temper, and even an evil tongue greatly influenced the young and still inexperienced generation. But his main feature still consisted in the fact that there was always some kind of mystery around him. For example, she surrounded his fate: little was known about him, he seemed to be Russian, but for some reason he had a foreign name.
The Pushkin hero also loved to read, but the books were either military or novels. And if suddenly someone asked him for a book for a while to read, then he gave it away with joy and never again demanded it back. But if he took a book, he also was in no hurry to give it away, and more often than not he never returned it. Silvio's main occupation was pistol shooting. And the mystery that completely surrounded this hero became the reason that he was interesting to everyone.
But in Pushkin's story there is another character, whose name the author never reveals to the reader. It is only said about him that this man was from a rich and noble family. Silvio characterizes him like this: he has a lot, for example, youth, beauty, intelligence and crazy gaiety, carelessness and courage, a loud and noble name and money that he always had and he was not afraid that someday they might end. By the way, the money was never transferred from him. And now such a hero appears in the society where Silvio existed. For this society everything was strange and distant. Silvio honestly says about himself that he immediately began to hate him. And his successes among other colleagues or in the women's society led him to despair. Therefore, very soon, Silvio specifically began to look for a reason to quarrel with him. And he found!
This character is not only central to Pushkin's story, but also connects several storylines and their movement. Already at the very beginning of the plot, it is emphasized that Silvio's opponent is so indifferent in the duel scene. This is how the author describes him: when he stood at gunpoint, which was pointed at him, he also held a cap in his hands. It had cherries in it. He calmly took out one berry from there, put it in his mouth, and then spit out the bones, which reached Silvio. Such indifference of the enemy could not but infuriate Silvio. But already in the finale, the author also shows the confusion of his main character, whose even hair began to move and stood on end.
Of course, dreams of revenge never leave Silvio for a minute. Honor becomes the main thing for him, because the previous insult has not yet been avenged. Therefore, the duel is not over. For the main character, it continues. But the author shows that at the end of the story he will finally be able to enjoy. The reader sees that the main thing for him was not to kill his opponent, the enemy whom he hated so much, but he needed to calm his pride. He even refused to shoot the one whom he recently wanted to kill.
When he offered to make his shot, he refused, explaining that it was enough for him to see confusion and even timidity on the face of his opponent. It was enough for him to make this indifferent and calm person take his shot and leave him alone with his conscience afterwards. Silvio understood perfectly well that this man had received a good life lesson and would remember him all his life. His conscience will remember all this.
Yes, Silvio did not kill his enemy, he did not need to. For Pushkin's hero, victory was important, and not how it would be achieved. Silvio saw the weakness of his opponent and it was already a victory. He was able to triumph over his enemy without harming him. He simply humiliated him, trampled him, showed that he had superiority over him. The main Pushkin's hero shows the strongest fortitude, his power. His power is beautiful, beautiful, but at the same time it is destructive and frightening.
He is so proud that he simply forgets about the person. And this has its own special contradiction between the honor of the nobility, which belongs precisely to this time and the people who lived then, and universal values. Trying to triumph, Silvio brings grief to the wife of the count, who in no way relates to their conflict. And therefore this feeling of the protagonist is evil and unpleasant. But the experiences of the count and countess will continue for a long time. But Silvio dies, albeit as a hero.
Yes, perhaps the author chooses not always extraordinary ways of resolving conflict situations, but reality helps to solve them. And Pushkin himself is trying to teach his readers to treat life correctly: wisely, nobly, more tolerantly.
The Belkin Tale cycle was created during the Boldino Autumn in 1830. This was the period when, due to the onset of cholera, quarantine was announced for entry and exit to St. Petersburg and Pushkin was forced to spend the entire autumn until the end of quarantine at the Boldino estate. The stories were published in 1831. The publication was anonymous, that is, Pushkin attributed authorship to a certain Belkin. The cycle consists of five stories, which, allegedly, were once told to the author by the late Ivan Petrovich Belkin. These are the stories: “The Young Lady-Peasant Woman”, “The Undertaker”, “The Stationmaster”, “Snowstorm” and “Shot”.
The idea of the cycle is that the author showed all the floors of Russian society, from top to bottom. Here everything is stated concisely and simply, there is not a single superfluous word. Pushkin does not explain the actions of his heroes, much less indulges in lengthy explanations of the motives for their actions. Nevertheless, the reader perfectly understands the motives of the actions of his heroes, with their advantages and disadvantages.
The characters of the stories are not bright individuals, like most of Pushkin's heroes. They are typical representatives of their environment. In the foreground they have a household side. But Pushkin's construction of the story, the development of the plot, the climax and happy denouement keep the reader's interest throughout the story.
Analysis of works
Shot
The plot of the story is quite simple. The hero of the story, Silveo, being a remarkable nature in everything that concerned the hussar daring, hated his no less worthy young rival. It came to a duel, during which his opponent showed such indifference to death that Silveo did not shoot, reserving the right to shoot. For many years he waited for the right opportunity for revenge, until finally he received the news of the marriage of his enemy. Appearing to him with a demand to realize his shot, he received complete satisfaction by humiliating him in front of his wife. In parting, he quite accurately shot at the picture, leaving a hole in it, which served as an occasion for memories.
The protagonist of the story is a personality, of course, strong and outstanding. But, all his virtues fade against the background of his envy of a more successful opponent. Envy, as you know, a man, especially a hussar, does not paint in any way. His dignity fades even more from petty vindictiveness. These qualities are all the more aggravated when he terrifies the count's wife by aiming at him. However, at the last moment, something stops him from killing. I think that the true reason is not so important, something else is more important, a person did not kill another person. It is quite possible that at this moment true human feelings woke up in the main character.
Such an ending is characteristic of that Pushkinian spirit, which gives so much spiritual warmth to Belkin's Tales. He convinces the reader without too much pathos to believe in the triumph of "good feelings" over the stupid and useless rules of society. The nobility of Silveo may seem spontaneous, but it is the quality of the soul that originally lived in him.
Blizzard
A kind of play of situations. Fatal and happy accidents, which play an important role in the story. The romantic heroine of the story, Marya Gavrilovna, agrees to a secret marriage with Vladimir, who was rejected by her parents. As a result of a fatal accident, more precisely because of a strong snowstorm, the heroine marries an unknown hussar. Vladimir goes to war with Napoleon and dies. As a result of a chain of happy accidents, the story comes to a happy ending.
In the characterization of the main character, the author immediately notes that she was brought up on French novels, which is why she is in love. It is possible that she liked Vladimir because she had read novels. This already testifies to the frivolity of her character, as well as to her romanticism. Vladimir does not lag behind Maria at all. Such a romantic. He is inclined to dream of a secret wedding, after which, in his opinion, the parents will be touched and will give them their blessing. His reasoning is somewhat reminiscent of one of Gogol's heroes, Manilov. When circumstances call for action, he is, by and large, incapable of anything.
The author does not hide his ironic attitude towards the characters with their passion for romantic fashion. But when war comes into play, things change. Any war opens the souls of people, leaving only the true. Romantic Vladimir dies heroically, becomes a hero. Burmin, for fun, married to an unknown girl, now looks at it differently and is looking for his unknown wife in order to marry his beloved. The best pages of the story are a description of the blizzard, the main character of the story, who played a fatal role for Vladimir and a happy one for Marya Gavrilovna and Burmin.
Undertaker
Here we find ourselves in an environment of merchants and artisans. The main characters here are the undertaker Adrian Prokhorov, his daughters and friends. Heroes are not preoccupied with romantic fantasies, they firmly walk the earth and solve earthly problems. Such as the upcoming rich funeral of the merchant Tryukhina, which may be intercepted by competitors. The death of a person for such as an undertaker is just an opportunity to earn money. Even in his sleep, he views his dead clients only in terms of their profitability. In the dead who came to visit Adrian, the author vividly reflected the social relations that existed at that time in society.
Pushkin's little man is the progenitor of Gogol's Akaki Bashmachkin. An official who can be beaten by noble passers-by. Confident that his daughter Dunya, stolen by a passing hussar, is abandoned by him, wishes her death. However, the opposite is happening. Hussar Minsky, who turned out to be a worthy man, married Dunya. The father's expectations were not justified, his daughter became rich and noble. However, the sophisticated reader understands that Samson Vyrin still lost his daughter. Vyrin's world and Minsky's world are separated by a huge pit, which he is unable to overcome. Dunya was able to step over it without hesitation only thanks to her blind love for Minsky and female spontaneity.
However, she did not have the courage to go further and step over the rules of the "decent" society in which she found herself. In fact, she abandoned her father. Her subsequent visit to the grave of her father is just an attempt to calm her conscience. If the end would have been as Vyrin suggested, then another story would have come out about an unfortunate gullible girl and a scoundrel-seducer, of whom there were many at that time. However, Pushkin is much deeper and more realistic. It would seem that the happy ending of the story leaves a tragic aftertaste.
young lady-peasant
This is the last story in the cycle. In many ways, it resembles a vaudeville story with dressing up. The characters here are also romantic, but their romanticism is born not from French novels, but from their natures. In addition, the romanticism of the heroes is active. They are fighting for their happiness, Alexei is ready to make a sacrifice for the sake of his beloved and give up his father's fortune.
The heroine of the story, Lisa, the daughter of a wealthy gentleman, disguised as a peasant woman, meets Alexei Berestov in the forest and the young people fall in love. Aleksey, sincerely considering Liza-Akulina a peasant, decides to marry her, despising social prejudices. A worthy decision for a young man, I must admit. Characterizes him from the best side. Respect for him is especially enhanced when he is ready to give up wealth for the sake of his beloved girl. This characterizes him not only as an honest and noble person, but also a brave one. The masquerade image of Liza helped to reveal the true feelings of the heroes when ordinary Russian people opened up in them.
The work of A. S. Pushkin predetermined the development of Russian literature, laid the foundations of the modern Russian language.
The composition of the story "Shot" is interesting and difficult due to its multi-level nature, which is created by several storytellers and a complex plot. A. S. Pushkin himself, who is on the top rung of the compositional ladder, formally transfers the authorship to Ivan Petrovich Belkin. Imaginary "authorship" leads to the creation of a multi-level text, and this, in turn, allows you to more deeply and broadly capture reality, describe mores, tell about the fate and aspirations of the characters. Against the background of exceptional events, a generalized picture of reality is deployed, exceptional events themselves obey the laws of everyday reality, specific time and space.
The heroes of the story initially find themselves in a situation where there is love. They are in love or are waiting for this feeling, but it is from here that the deployment and forcing of significant plot events begins.
The central character of the story is the former hussar Silvio. “He was about thirty-five years old ... Experience gave him ... many advantages; besides, his usual sullenness, tough temper and evil tongue had a strong influence on young ... minds. Some mystery surrounded his fate; he seemed Russian, but bore a foreign name ... He had books, mostly military ones, and novels. He willingly gave them to read, never demanding them back; but he never returned to the owner of the book he occupied. His main exercise consisted in shooting from a pistol. He was surrounded by some kind of mystery, and, probably, it was she who was the reason for the general interest in him.
Another hero (the author does not name him) was in no way inferior to Silvio. It was "a young man of a rich and noble family." Here is how Silvio speaks of him: “Imagine youth, intelligence, beauty, the most frenzied gaiety, the most careless courage, a big name, money with which he did not know the account and which he had never transferred, and imagine what action he must was to produce between us ... I hated him. His successes in the regiment and in the society of women led me to complete despair ... I began to look for quarrels with him ... "
Being the central component of the literary text, the character is associated with the movement of storylines, which leads to the dynamism of the image. At the beginning of the story, the indifference of Silvio's rival is emphasized: “He stood under a pistol, choosing ripe cherries from his cap and spitting out the bones that reached me. His indifference infuriated me ... ". In the finale, his confusion is noticeable: “I felt how my hair suddenly stood on end on me”
The thought of revenge does not leave Silvio. The understanding of honor is turned upside down for him: one insult is not washed away with blood due to the fact that the previous duel has not been completed.
At the end of the story, the author shows that Silvio nevertheless received reassurance, it was important for him not to kill his opponent, but simply to amuse his pride: “I won’t,” Silvio answered, “I am pleased: I saw your confusion, your timidity; I made you shoot me, I've had enough. You will remember me. I commit you to your conscience."
Silvio did not kill his opponent, but nevertheless he triumphed over him, saw his weakness. For him, the main thing was not just to harm the offender, but to see his fear, trample, humiliate him, show his superiority. The power and strength of his spirit not only amaze with its elemental beauty, but also frighten with its frightening, destructive beauty. His soul is dehumanized by pride. This is how the contradiction between the concept of noble honor, inherent in a particular time and a certain stratum of people, and universal human values is manifested.
Satisfying the evil feeling, Silvio brings grief to the count's wife, who is not involved in the conflict. But after the scene of experiences of the count's couple, the heroic death of the hero, eternally driven by his passions, is mentioned.
The author resolves all conflicts in an extraordinary, but quite real way. In his works, A. S. Pushkin teaches us a wise attitude to life, nobility, tolerant attitude towards people around and close to us.
The heroes of A.S. Pushkin’s story “The Shot” are the retired hussar Silvio (the main character), the narrator, a young officer who enjoys Silvio’s favor, a count, a man of a noble and rich family and the count’s wife, Maria.
Silvio: The author decides not to give the real name of the hero, Silvio is just a pseudonym. At the time of the story, the hero is about 35 years old. He is gloomy, withdrawn and silent. When the hero makes speeches, his words are caustic and sharp. Silvio is a retired hussar. No one knows what prompted the hero to retire early and settle in a small village in the outback of Russia. The fate of Silvio is shrouded in mystery. The hero skillfully handles a pistol, practicing his shooting skills every day. Silvio is not a single person, however, he lives very modestly, always walks and wears an old frock coat. The retired hussar is not interested in the opinions of other people, he is used to being the first in everything. Silvio willingly receives guests in his house, presenting himself as a good hospitable host.
From further narration, we learn that Silvio is a touchy, proud and vengeful person. He waited 6 years for the right moment to take revenge on the count for the insult inflicted on him. Satisfied with revenge, Silvio participates in an uprising in Greece. The hero dies in battle.
The narrator: One of the officers of the quartered regiment. The narrator is young, has youthful maximalism. The officer is favored by Silvio. He admires the retired hussar's skill with a pistol. Silvio reveals to the narrator the secret of the unfinished duel. He also explains the reasons why he did not call the young officer who insulted Silvio in his own house.
After his retirement, circumstances force the narrator to settle in his poor village. There he becomes a neighbor of Count B***. The count turns out to be the very person whom Silvio longed to take revenge on for the continuation of 6 years. The Count tells the retired officer the continuation of Silvio's story.
Count B***: The hero of the story by A.S. Pushkin, the opponent of Silvio. The hero is young, smart, brave. In the work, he is opposed to a retired hussar. After his appearance in the regiment, the championship of Silvio was shaken, and he began to look for a reason for a duel with a young officer. During the duel, the count showed himself indifferent and detached, he showed himself as a person who does not value life and does not worry about it. By this fact, the duel between the count and the main character was disrupted, however, Silvio was left with the right of the last shot.
6 years after the interrupted duel, Silvio and the Count met again. The count's worldview had changed by that time. He was married, and now he had something to lose. In the renewed duel, he could no longer remain indifferent to his fate. Silvio, for revenge, was enough to see the fear of his opponent, the hussar did not harm the count. For the latter, what happened served as a life lesson that you should not tempt your fate.
Countess: Masha is the young wife of Count B***. She has a beautiful appearance, the woman is good-natured, glad to visit the estate by the Storyteller. The Countess was present when the Count met Silvio. Masha loves her husband, during the duel she begs the retired hussar to spare the count.
Essay 2
In this work, there are only two main characters: Silvio and his rival, the count, a young officer. But it is also impossible not to mention the narrator himself and the countess, the wife of Silvio's rival.
The protagonist of the story, Silvio, is a retired officer who lives in a remote place, somewhere in the outback. At the beginning of the story, the author describes the officer as a mysterious and very romantic character. His character is strong, open and noble. When officers are stationed in their run-down area, he often invites them over for dinner. The officers stay with Silvio for a long time, drink champagne and play cards. When they start asking him about something, he tries to avoid answering and in general says almost nothing about himself, is more silent and listens, officers sometimes think that he is just a bore.
It is a well-known fact that there is no shooter better than Silvio in the whole area. There is a lot of literature on the art of shooting in his house. He himself is a very accurate shooter, but he avoids duels. Among the officers there are suggestions that Silvio's conscience is unclean and someone's unfortunate soul suffered from his skill.
Silvio's secret becomes revealed with the arrival of a mysterious letter to the regiment. After this event, the main character is going to leave in a hurry, and at parting he arranges a dinner for the officers. He soon shares his story with one of the officers.
The second protagonist of this work is a young count, Silvio's rival. The count is handsome, rich, successful, women are crazy about him. Argued with Silvio and slapped him on the cheek. He fired first in the duel and missed. The opponent refused to shoot, but reserved the right to take it. At the next meeting, Silvio again did not shoot at him, it was enough for him to see the fear and confusion in the eyes of his opponent.
Even in the story, the narrator himself appears, on whose behalf the narration is being conducted. This is a young officer, a good friend of Silvio. He respects his older friend and sincerely admires his legendary marksmanship. It was to him that Silvio told his story and explained in detail why he did not challenge the count to a duel when he publicly insulted him in his own house. A little later, he meets Silvio's rival and learns from him the end of this story.
The count's young wife plays a secondary role in this work. Having involuntarily witnessed the duel between her husband and Silvio, she begs the latter not to shoot, to spare her husband and loses consciousness.
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The great poet turned out to be a skilled prose writer. Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy called Pushkin's style of "Tales ..." a wonderful school for novice writers. Five works are preceded by the story "The Shot" by Pushkin. The summary of this work is the topic of this article.
A Tale of the Morals of the Nobles
She is deeply psychological. Its atmosphere is a specific society of serving nobles. On the one hand, there are imperial principles: harsh and strict service, a sharpened, hypertrophied concept of honor. On the other hand, there is a passion for momentary, transient things: wine, cards, love affairs. The dueling form of conflict resolution (often contrived or provoked) was also specific.
The story is told on behalf of the local nobleman of the Goryukhino village, Ivan Petrovich Belkin. The events take place in a certain provincial town, the name of which the narrator forgot. The cavalry regiment stationed in it was not overburdened with service. The officers were only engaged in studies and riding in the arena until lunchtime. Having dined with the commander of the regiment or in a tavern, they whiled away the time in conversation, cards and punch. Aristocrats in uniform were not always distinguished by courtesy, and often a dispute for primacy developed into a duel. Sometimes the competition of the ego of different people acquired real drama. Pushkin wrote the story "Shot" about one such story. Its summary is reduced to the history of one delayed dueling shot.
The main character is a retired hussar
We get acquainted with a retired hussar officer Silvio (the Italian name is deceptive, a purely Russian person is hiding under it). He is 35 years old. His way of life, apparently, has not changed since the days of the hussars. His house is constantly open to the military, and they are invariably provided with a multi-course meal prepared by Silvio's servant, a retired soldier. Although, on the other hand, this dwelling can be called a house only conditionally. This is hard to imagine for our contemporary, but according to Alexander Sergeevich, its walls and ceiling are so riddled with bullets that they resemble honeycombs. Silvio practices his marksmanship every day. Pushkin tells about his ability to kill a fly with one shot without getting up from his chair in the story “The Shot”. The summary of the work, for comparison, mentions that among the hussars, the master of shooting is considered to be one who hits the map from ten steps ten times in a row. Obviously, Silvio's skill is an order of magnitude higher. And he really enjoys undeniable authority among his guests, officers. He is shrewd, he is fearless, he is generous with his friends...
A motivated attempt to avoid the conflict of the new
However, once this respect was shaken ... And this episode served as the plot of the composition. Nothing foreshadowed such an outcome, when once again a company of officers played bank in Silvio's house.
(Let's pay attention to the detail: why exactly in it? After all, the author mentions only “playing cards.” In the time of Pushkin, preference had not yet come to Russia, and literary heroes, contemporaries of the great poet, play in the bank.)
Silvio, as an experienced player, took on the function of the main punter - he wrote down the players' points with chalk and corrected mistakes. One of the new officers, a lieutenant, counting his points, out of absent-mindedness lost count, or, in card terminology, "turned the corner", that is, he added his bet to the bet of another player. Thus, he unreasonably increased his points. Such a moment in the bank game was not uncommon. Silvio, who played professionally, automatically and without comment corrected the recording of the hapless ponter in chalk. He, inflamed by the drunk and ridicule of his comrades, not understanding the motives for the actions of the protagonist of the story and perceiving them as rudeness, threw a heavy copper Arabic candlestick (shandal) at him.
The situation escalated to the level of a duel ... Not only that Silvio managed to evade, Pushkin tells in the story "The Shot". The summary of this scene testifies to the non-Hussar behavior of a 35-year-old man. Obviously, he violated the unwritten “code of honor” by not challenging the impudent to a duel (and, judging by the skills of Silvio, the officer had very little chance of staying alive). Those present suspected an unacceptable sin for military aristocrats - cowardice - in an idol that tarnished his reputation. That evening, all the hussars disappointedly went home ...
Silvio's explanation to Ivan Belkin
However, after a while, the hospitable 35-year-old man nevertheless restored his status among the officers. However, the narrator Belkin (the story is told through his mouth) had an unpleasant aftertaste from the unclaimed Silvio of the unlucky lieutenant of the duel.
Further, following the rules of literary intrigue, under mysterious circumstances separates Ivan Belkin from Silvio Pushkin. The story "The Shot" tells about a letter suddenly received by Silvio, which he had been waiting for a long time. The protagonist was in a hurry to such an extent that he left immediately into the night. However, not forgetting about the traditions, he invited the officers to a farewell dinner, while asking the narrator to come by all means. Why did he treat Belkin in a special way? Pushkin is convincing enough here. Before the episode with the duel, the young officer was enthusiastic about Silvio, considering him a model, an ideal of a man and an officer. The protagonist, an experienced man, must have felt a change in the narrator's attitude towards his person. In addition, Silvio considered Belkin his friend, and therefore decided to finally explain his behavior to him.
Silvio informed Belkin that he had no right to put his life at even an insignificant risk (even if because of a drunken madcap lieutenant), since he was saving it for another, postponed duel. And from the lips of the protagonist, a speech captivating the imagination of readers poured out ... Pushkin suddenly introduces romance into the narrative, where a purely everyday character had previously prevailed. The story "Shot" introduces us to Silvio's memories of his hussar times, bright, dramatic events ...
The conflict between Silvio and the new officer
Silvio, talking with Belkin, took out a cap with a band pierced an inch from the head. The clever Pushkin found a device to immediately intrigue the reader. The story of the protagonist poured out about his hussar times, when the hussars “did not look for their souls” in him, and the authorities, resigned, perceived him as a “necessary evil”. Dashing he was both a warrior and a duelist. He was considered the first brawler in the army.
But the other one turned out to be no less bright hussar, who fired a deliberately mocking shot at Silvio's headdress.
What was the one whose name and title Silvio deliberately did not mention? “Brilliant lucky man”, “offspring of a noble family” ... A big name, careless courage, a sharp mind, beauty, crazy gaiety and endless money generously thrown into the wind ... Silvio's championship was shaken, but he knew what to do. The further plot tells about his intention to kill a lucky opponent in a duel.
Pushkin's "shot" with the help of artistic means reliably acquaints us with the situation that modern psychologists call the competition of alpha males. The old idol of the hussar society was jealous of the new informal leader.
The duel is the first climax of the story
Silvio comes into conflict with an unnamed new officer. Decisively rejecting the counter offer of friendship, he begins to look for a reason to provoke a quarrel. He succeeded, but not immediately. The epigrams were fruitless. Vizavi turned out to be more talented. Then the protagonist, at a ball in the house of his mistress, provoked an opponent with his rudeness and impudence. The expected response was a slap in the face. Behind her is a challenge to a duel. It would seem that everything is going according to Silvio's plan ... Yes, the situation suddenly went wrong, got out of his control.
When the main plot-forming characters of Pushkin's story "The Shot" met each other in their first duel, the psychological dominance was not on Silvio's side. Let's give credit to his opponent. He was more bright and bold to folly. He so convincingly flaunted his indifferent attitude to his life and death that he embarrassed the main character.
They say about such people: “Nerves are like ropes!” Agree, not everyone will be able, while waiting for a shot of a counterpart, at the same time to indifferently take berries out of their cap filled with cherries and spit them in the direction of the opponent.
Since Silvio's goal was absolute superiority, he did not need a purely physical victory in a duel that did not shake the enemy's spirit. "What's the point of taking the life of an opponent if he doesn't value it!" he thought. The fact that the first duel did not realize the plan of Silvio, writes Pushkin ("Shot"). The main characters at this level are psychologically equal, and their confrontation does not resolve the issue of dominance. Silvio addresses the seconds with a statement about interrupting the duel, leaving the shot behind him.
Silvio's decision is to mentally defeat the opponent later
He is sure that time will put everything in its place.
Let's return to modern terminology, even if cynical, but reflecting the essence of things. Silvio is a natural leader. The orientation of his personality is a constant conflict with others for the right to be considered the best in military affairs, in duels, in successes with women. He is a polygamous and dominant man. These are not created for the family, they are not attached to other joys of life and are uncompromising in their views.
Silvio's reasonable idea is narrated by Pushkin's The Shot. Interest in life in his so far invincible counterpart will soon prevail over a careless attitude towards death. Wealth and well-being will surely turn his rival from a desperate hussar into the most ordinary landowner and man in the street over time. And what can make a man love life more than love, marriage and the desire to start a family? Silvio was counting on this ... He retired from military service and left for a while, obliging his friends to inform him when his duel opponent was going to marry. Years have passed ... Thirty-five years is the time to get a house, a family ... But Silvio is not like that. Inwardly, he remains the same officer, eager to gain superiority in a long-standing dispute. For him, this is more than important.
The landowner Belkin visits the count's couple
Years and years have passed since the service of Ivan Belkin in the regiment ... He is a local nobleman and is engaged in housekeeping. He learns about the fate of his friend Silvio quite by accident, paying a courtesy call to the neighboring landowners.
In the dialogue between the guest and the hosts, Pushkin (The Shot) introduces the readers to the continuation of the postponed duel. The characters meet exactly as Silvio intended. He unexpectedly appears at his counterpart's house when he is least ready.
They (husband and wife) bear the title of count and countess, are rich and rarely visit their vast and luxurious estate. Having shown hospitality, the couple invite the neighbor-landowner Belkin into the living room. There, examining the paintings, he notices in one of them, depicting the landscape of Switzerland, two bullets stuck one into the other, and speaks of a successful shot to the count.
Pushkin's story "The Shot" tells in detail about their further conversation. Finally, the thread of the author's intrigue emerges completely. Belkin says that the best shooter he knew shot three times a day. The Count inquires about his name. When he learns that his name is Silvio, he turns pale and admits that the second bullet in the picture was fired by him under dramatic circumstances.
Silvio's plan succeeded
Somehow, in the first year after their marriage, the count and countess returned separately from a horse ride. The Countess's horse stubbornly stubbornly stiffened. The count, having returned home earlier, found Silvio in his house, claiming his right to return the shot. The count turned out to be the very old rival, about the second duel with which Silvio dreamed.
Pushkin (The Shot) ends his story with a description of their meeting. The analysis of this duel of nerves (namely, into which Silvio turns his demand for a return shot) ends with his complete psychological victory.
duel master
Firstly, the 35-year-old man did not stoop to a banal murder (his shot would certainly have been fatal). After all, most of all he wanted to receive moral satisfaction over the enemy, which means a final victory. He triumphed, he enjoyed revenge. For some reason, I recall the words written much later and spoken by Don Capone: "Revenge is a special dish, you need to enjoy it when it has cooled down ...". Silvio played for time. He asked to light all the candles in the hall. Then, ignoring the count's calls to "finish the job quickly," he held him at gunpoint for a full minute. This minute turned out to be the most terrible in the life of his opponent. And only then Silvio joked that since his pistol was not loaded with cherry pits, he wanted to start the fight “from scratch”, that is, on standard conditions, starting with the drawing of the right of the first shot. Now the psychological advantage entirely belonged to him ...
Moral victory for Silvio. Decoupling of the composition
The count who won the right to shoot was demoralized and shocked.
He missed by putting a bullet into a painting of a Swiss landscape. It's time for Silvio's shot. And then the countess arrived in the living room. She fell at his feet, begging him not to shoot. The count himself was neither alive nor dead from shock ...
Suddenly, Silvio stopped the fight. He declared to the count that he was completely satisfied with his timidity, his fear, the fact that he forced him to shoot first. Having said this, he left the drawing room with a quick step, but, turning around on the threshold, fired almost without aiming at the picture, hitting his bullet in the place where the count's bullet was. It was a phenomenal shot - a memory for the count's couple for the rest of their lives ...
Later, they learned from the newspapers that Silvio took part in the armed uprising of the Greeks led by the Russian general Alexander Ypsilanti and was killed by the Turks in the battle of Skulyany, which took place on June 16 and 17, 1821, where the Greek rebel army was defeated.
Instead of a conclusion
Is it so important what was the main idea in the work of the classic? "Shot" Pushkin, perhaps, does not have one. But it has something else: expression, intrigue and... classical composition. That is why Leo Tolstoy urged beginning prose writers to learn to write from Pushkin. Judge for yourself:
The plot of the plot (an insult to Silvio from a drunken lieutenant, unrequited by the duel).
First climax (first duel).
Second climax (second duel).
The denouement (Silvio's satisfaction with only a moral victory, the news of his stupid and accidental death).
The work of A. S. Pushkin predetermined the development of Russian literature, laid the foundations of the modern Russian language.
The composition of the story "Shot" is interesting and difficult due to its multi-level nature, which is created by several storytellers and a complex plot. A. S. Pushkin himself, who is on the top rung of the compositional ladder, formally transfers the authorship to Ivan Petrovich Belkin. Imaginary "authorship" leads to the creation of a multi-level text, and this, in turn, allows you to more deeply and broadly capture reality, describe mores, tell about the fate and aspirations of the characters. Against the background of exceptional events, a generalized picture of reality is deployed, exceptional events themselves obey the laws of everyday reality, specific time and space.
The heroes of the story initially find themselves in a situation where there is love. They are in love or are waiting for this feeling, but it is from here that the deployment and forcing of significant plot events begins.
The central character of the story is the former hussar Silvio. “He was about thirty-five years old ... Experience gave him ... many advantages; besides, his usual sullenness, tough temper and evil tongue had a strong influence on young ... minds. Some mystery surrounded his fate; he seemed Russian, but bore a foreign name ... He had books, mostly military ones, and novels. He willingly gave them to read, never demanding them back; but he never returned to the owner of the book he occupied. His main exercise consisted in shooting from a pistol. He was surrounded by some kind of mystery, and, probably, it was she who was the reason for the general interest in him.
Another hero (the author does not name him) was in no way inferior to Silvio. It was "a young man of a rich and noble family." Here is how Silvio speaks of him: “Imagine youth, intelligence, beauty, the most frenzied gaiety, the most careless courage, a big name, money with which he did not know the account and which he had never transferred, and imagine what action he must was to produce between us ... I hated him. His successes in the regiment and in the society of women led me to complete despair ... I began to look for quarrels with him ... "
Being the central component of the literary text, the character is associated with the movement of storylines, which leads to the dynamism of the image. At the beginning of the story, the indifference of Silvio's rival is emphasized: “He stood under a pistol, choosing ripe cherries from his cap and spitting out the bones that reached me. His indifference infuriated me ... ". In the finale, his confusion is noticeable: “I felt how my hair suddenly stood on end on me”
The thought of revenge does not leave Silvio. The understanding of honor is turned upside down for him: one insult is not washed away with blood due to the fact that the previous duel has not been completed.
At the end of the story, the author shows that Silvio nevertheless received reassurance, it was important for him not to kill his opponent, but simply to amuse his pride: “I won’t,” Silvio answered, “I am pleased: I saw your confusion, your timidity; I made you shoot me, I've had enough. You will remember me. I commit you to your conscience."
Silvio did not kill his opponent, but nevertheless he triumphed over him, saw his weakness. For him, the main thing was not just to harm the offender, but to see his fear, trample, humiliate him, show his superiority. The power and strength of his spirit not only amaze with its elemental beauty, but also frighten with its frightening, destructive beauty. His soul is dehumanized by pride. This is how the contradiction between the concept of noble honor, inherent in a particular time and a certain stratum of people, and universal human values is manifested.
Satisfying the evil feeling, Silvio brings grief to the count's wife, who is not involved in the conflict. But after the scene of experiences of the count's couple, the heroic death of the hero, eternally driven by his passions, is mentioned.
In his works, A. S. Pushkin teaches us a wise attitude to life, nobility, tolerant attitude towards people around and close to us.
The story "Shot", written by Pushkin last, stands at the head of "Belkin's Tales". Let's try to consider the plot-but-compositional features of the work.
The narration is conducted on behalf of the main narrator - Lieutenant Colonel I. L. P. In addition to him, there are two more narrators in the story - Silvio and the Count. All three narrators are simultaneously characters in the story. However, I. L. P. appears with the characters alternately - first the story about Silvio follows, then - about the count.
Since there are three narrators in the story, then, accordingly, the images of the main characters are given in a triple perception, which was noted by D. Blagoy. So, for example, Lieutenant Colonel I.L.P. first tells about Silvio, then Silvio himself tells his story, and finally, the count describes the end of their duel. The story of Count B. is presented in the same way: first, Silvio tells Lieutenant Colonel I. L. P. about him, as if introducing the main narrator to his future neighbor in absentia, then Lieutenant Colonel I. L. P. himself gets acquainted with Count B. and describes it to readers; finally, the count himself tells about himself.
A similar compositional principle was then used by M. Yu. Lermontov in the novel A Hero of Our Time. The writer shows Pechorin from different points of view, starting with a description of the hero's appearance and gradually revealing to readers his inner qualities. Following this task, Lermontov violates the principle of life-chronological sequence of events. Pushkin, to a certain extent, also violates the chronology of life: stories about the past are interspersed in stories about the present.
The main plot of the story is a duel, the story of the duel between Silvio and the Count. In addition, both the description of the youth of Lieutenant Colonel I.L.P., when he was acquainted with Silvio, and the description of his life in adulthood, in the neighborhood of Count B., have their own plots. This is the so-called "personal" plot of the main narrator.
Consider the plot of the first story related to Silvio. The story of Lieutenant Colonel I. L. P. about the living conditions of army officers in the town ***, the outline of the image of Silvio are an exposition of this story. A quarrel between officers during a card game is the beginning. For narrator I.L.P., these events culminate in Silvio's refusal to duel R***. And Silvio's story about Count B. is the denouement. This denouement in the "personal" plot of the narrator, therefore, is an exposition and plot in the main plot of the story - the story of an unusual duel.
Now let's move on to the second part in the "personal" plot of the narrator. This is a description of the life of Lieutenant Colonel I.L.P. in a poor village in N ** county. The solitude of the hero, housework, boredom - all this is an exposition of future events. But then the count and countess B. come to the neighboring estate, and friendly relations are established between the neighbors. Arriving at the count on a visit and examining his office, Lieutenant Colonel I. "L.P. suddenly notices a picture shot through with two bullets," planted one on top of the other. "It turns out that Count B. is Silvio's opponent, and these accurate shots - "a monument to the last meeting of heroes". This scene is the climax in the "village" story of the narrator. The final story of Count B. about the last meeting with Silvio is the denouement in the "personal" plot of Lieutenant Colonel I. L. P. At the same time, this denouement is the climax and denouement The main plot of the story is the story of the duel between Silvio and Count B.
Undoubtedly, such a construction of the story contributes to a deeper disclosure of the characters' characters. So, Silvio at first seems to us a mysterious, demonic person, on whose conscience "some unfortunate victim." This is how the main narrator characterizes it. Then the hero himself tells about himself, about his duel with Count B., and we discover new qualities in him: painful pride, vulnerability, impulsiveness, the desire to excel at any cost. Gradually, the image of an evil, desperately courageous, vengeful person, who never succumbs to danger, begins to emerge before us.
Silvio is an excellent shooter, it would seem that it costs him nothing to win in any duel. However, throughout the story, the hero does not kill anyone. Silvio refuses to duel with Lieutenant R ***, motivating his action by the impossibility of exposing himself to mortal danger because of the unfinished duel with Count B. However, this duel itself seems unusually interesting. Silvio saves the Count's life at the beginning of the duel. He explains his action by the fact that the life of the enemy is currently devoid of any value: Count B. is not attached to anyone, does not value anything. He does not kill this "lucky man" and completing the duel. Moreover, Silvio offers to start the duel again, and the count agrees. What drives the hero's actions?
The thing is that, by nature, Silvio is not a murderer at all. And the main motive of his behavior is that by nature he is a kind, even timid, insecure person, subtle, deep and strong in his own way. This inner strength is in the depths of his nature, in his natural nobility, in his ability to forgive. But these qualities are completely unpopular among officers, where ideas about courage and honor are rather primitive. Only superficial features are valued there: the word must be backed up by the deed. Silvio's natural generosity, his kindness and uncertainty would certainly have been misunderstood. “Lack of courage is least of all excused by young people, who usually see in courage the height of human virtues and an apology for all kinds of vices.” Living in this environment, Silvio could not but learn its "philosophy". Probably, he himself sees in courage - "an apology for all kinds of vices", an apology for his own timidity, the subtleties of mental organization. Therefore, with all his might, the hero overcomes these qualities in himself, trying to convince others of the presence of traits that are completely opposite. And as always happens in such cases, it does not withstand the measure.
Silvio envies the beauty, intelligence, courage, nobility and wealth of Count B. and begins to hate the latter, seeing him as a rival. N. Ya. Berkovsky explains Silvio's boundless desire for primacy, his hatred of the count by the lack of nobility and money. And the count's personal qualities are added to his wealth, generosity: courage, confidence, wit. However, it seems that the point here is not only in the social position of the heroes. Silvio cannot afford natural behavior, not only because of his own poverty - he is too insecure, generous, even soft by nature.
If we analyze the behavior of Silvio in the town ***, we will notice that nothing specific is known about his "demonic atrocities". All that is open to others is his age, which implies the presence of experience, "ordinary sullenness" and "evil tongue". The remark about Silvio's "cool disposition" is, rather, the conclusion of the narrator himself, rather than objective information. No one else knows anything about this man: the fate of Silvio is surrounded by mystery, it is not even known to those around him whether his name is real.
The main occupation of the hero is shooting from a pistol. “The art he reached was incredible, and if he volunteered to knock a pear off someone’s cap with a bullet, no one in our regiment would hesitate to turn his head to him,” the narrator notes. But why does Silvio need this? He never interferes in conversations about fights, apparently he does not enter into fights themselves, otherwise the narrator would certainly have mentioned this. When asked if he ever fought, he answers positively, but dryly and unambiguously, without going into details.
When comparing all these details, it seems that Silvio creates an image of a "demonic villain" for himself. And he creates very skillfully and successfully. “However, it never crossed our minds to suspect in him anything resembling timidity. There are people whose appearance alone removes such suspicions, ”the narrator notes. And this statement is significant. “Appearance removes ... suspicions” - outwardly nothing is noticeable in a person. However, we do not want to declare Silvio a hypocrite. It is especially worth noting that the hero does not analyze his behavior and is not aware of it. Silvio's actions are unconscious.
Count B. is naturally brave, confident enough in himself to be popular among the officers. However, let's try to analyze this image in more detail. Unlike Silvio, killing an opponent in a duel cannot cause any mental anguish or hesitation to the count. In reality, the count is a weak man, capable of both murder and dishonor. And he proved it with his behavior when he agreed to start the duel again.
The graph's behavior is not always simple and natural. Let us recall the scene of the beginning of the duel, when he, standing at gunpoint of the best shooter, nonchalantly breakfasts on cherries. The count is not stupid, he understands that now, perhaps, he will be killed. Silvio decides that this is the carelessness of youth, his opponent does not value life, since he still has nothing of value in it. But, I think, Silvio's assumption is not entirely correct. The behavior of the count showed not the carelessness of youth or panache. Here is the very brutality, the lack of subtlety of perception, which are a necessary component of his courage. Human life (including one's own) is not a great value in the count's subconscious. Unlike Silvio, the count is devoid of fine mental organization, natural nobility and inner strength. In moral terms, the count is significantly inferior to Silvio.
Thus, Pushkin's story contains a deep meaning. This is not just the story of an extraordinary duel, it is the story of the human soul, the story of the "outer" and "inner" man.
