Aleksey Nikolaevich Tolstoy is a talented artist who has faced many trials: revolutions, emigration, the first and second world wars, but he not only survived these events, but managed to comprehend and reflect them in his work.
Already at the end of his life, Tolstoy had to endure perhaps the most powerful shock - the Great Patriotic War. The writer did not doubt for a moment that Russia would stand and win this terrible tragedy, but he grieved for the sacrifices that had to be made on the altar of Victory. During this period, Tolstoy wrote stories, later combined into a cycle called "The Stories of Ivan Sudarev." Let us dwell in detail on the story "Russian character".
Using the well-known form of “story within a story”, Tolstoy tells about remarkable Russian people: Egor Dremov, his parents - Egor Egorovich and Marya Polikarpovna, about his bride Katya. Each character in the story is a person.
Lieutenant Dremov himself is a brave but modest person. The star of the hero and the orders speak for themselves, but the lieutenant never bulges forward, is not proud of his feats before his comrades. “He did not like to talk about military exploits.” “It’s reluctant to remember such things!” "Frowning and smoking." But misfortune happened to the lieutenant, he was on fire in the tank and his face changed a lot. “After eight months, when the bandages were removed, he looked at his and now not his face. The nurse who was handing him a small mirror turned away and began to cry. He immediately returned the mirror to her:
“It happens worse,” he said, “you can live with it.”
Indeed, he did not lose his sight, could continue to fight, and did his job quite well and skillfully. Rewarded with a vacation, Dremov went home, but, having not lived there for a day, he returned to the unit. It seems to Dremov that he has become a stranger to his parents and bride - the beautiful Katya.
Ivan Sudarev will say about her: “I give my word of honor - there are other beauties somewhere, she’s not the only one like that, but I personally haven’t seen ...” Due to his youth and inexperience, Dremov thought that his bride would refuse him, that his parents would be afraid . Her mother's heart told her that her son was coming. But the father does not understand in any way that a man can be ashamed of such a face: “You need to be proud of such a face as this one, who came to us,” Yegor Yegorovich will say, appreciating the feat of a soldier.
Yes, it doesn’t matter to parents whether their son is handsome or not, they need to be honest and stay alive. But for the bride, the inner beauty of Dremov turned out to be more important. Katya came to the front (one can imagine how much effort it took her to achieve this trip!) To confirm her word to the groom: “Egor, I was going to live with you forever. I will love you truly, I will love you very much... Do not send me away...”
Through the mouth of his hero, Ivan Sudarev, the writer admires Russian characters, persistent and faithful, loving and tender. It fell to these people to live in a harsh time, but they are worthy of their fate.
The title of the story is symbolic. This essay tells about heroes, but how many of them are there on Russian soil?! With the whole structure of the story, the author proves that it is impossible to defeat such a people. The final lines of the story sound with special pathos: “Yes, here they are, Russian characters! It seems that a simple person, but a severe misfortune will come, and a great power rises in him - human beauty.
Russian character! - for a short story, the title is too significant. What can you do - I just want to talk to you about the Russian character.
Russian character! Go ahead and describe him... Shall I tell you about heroic deeds? But there are so many that you get confused which one to choose. So one of my friends helped me out with a little story from his personal life. How he beat the Germans - I will not tell, although he wears a gold star and half of his chest in orders. He is a simple, quiet, ordinary man - a collective farmer from the Volga village of the Saratov region. But among others, he is noticeable by his strong and proportionate build and beauty. Sometimes, you look when he gets out of the tank turret - the god of war! He jumps off his armor to the ground, pulls his helmet off his wet curls, wipes his grubby face with a rag, and will certainly smile from sincere affection.
In war, constantly spinning around death, people become better, all nonsense peels off of them, like unhealthy skin after a sunburn, and remains in a person - the core. Of course, for one it is stronger, for the other it is weaker, but even those with a flawed core are stretching, everyone wants to be a good and faithful comrade. But my friend Yegor Dremov, even before the war, was of strict conduct, extremely respected and loved his mother, Marya Polikarpovna, and his father, Yegor Yegorovich. “My father is a sedate man, first of all, he respects himself. You, son, he says, you will see a lot in the world, and you will visit abroad, but be proud of your Russian title ... "
He had a bride from the same village on the Volga. We talk a lot about brides and wives, especially if it’s calm at the front, it’s cold, a light is smoking in the dugout, the stove is crackling and people have had dinner. Here they will spit it - you will hang your ears. They will start, for example: “What is love?” One will say: “Love arises on the basis of respect...” Another: “Nothing like that, love is a habit, a person loves not only his wife, but his father and mother, and even animals...” “Ugh, stupid! a third will say, “Love is when everything boils in you, a person seems to be walking around drunk ...” And so they philosophize for an hour or two, until the foreman, intervening, with an imperious voice determines the very essence ... Egor Dremov, it must be embarrassed by these conversations, he only casually mentioned to me about the bride - they say, a very good girl, and even if she said that she would wait, she would wait, at least he returned on one leg ...
He also did not like to rant about military exploits: “It’s reluctant to remember such things!” Frowning and smoking. We learned about the military affairs of his tank from the words of the crew, the driver Chuvilev was especially surprised by the listeners:
- ... You see, as soon as we turned around, I look, it crawls out from behind the hill ... I shout: “Comrade Lieutenant, a tiger!” - “Forward,” he shouts, “full throttle! ..” And let's disguise ourselves along the spruce tree - to the right, to the left ... The tiger drives with a barrel, like a blind man, hit - past ... And the comrade lieutenant will give him in the side , - splashes! As soon as he hits the tower, he lifted his trunk ... As soon as he hits the third, smoke poured from all the cracks in the tiger, the flames burst from it a hundred meters up ... The crew climbed through the emergency hatch ... Vanka Lapshin led from a machine gun - they are lying, kicking with their legs ... You understand, the path has been cleared for us. In five minutes we fly into the village. Then I went straight out of my life... Fascists in all directions... And - dirty, you understand - another one will jump out of his boots and in some socks - porsk. Everyone runs to the barn. Comrade lieutenant gives me the command: "Come on - move around the barn." We turned the gun away, at full throttle I ran into the barn and drove ... Fathers! Beams rumbled on the armor, boards, bricks, Nazis who were sitting under the roof ... And I also - and ironed - the rest of my hands up - and Hitler kaput ...
So Lieutenant Egor Dremov fought until misfortune happened to him. During the Battle of Kursk, when the Germans were already bleeding and faltering, his tank - on a hillock, in a wheat field - was hit by a shell, two of the crew were immediately killed, and the tank caught fire from the second shell. The driver Chuvilev, who jumped out through the front hatch, again climbed onto the armor and managed to pull the lieutenant out - he was unconscious, his overalls were on fire. As soon as Chuvilev pulled the lieutenant away, the tank exploded with such force that the tower was thrown fifty meters away. Chuvilev threw handfuls of loose earth on the lieutenant's face, on his head, on his clothes in order to put out the fire. Then he crawled with him from funnel to funnel to the dressing station ... “Why did I drag him then? - said Chuvilev, - I hear his heart is beating ... "
Egor Dremov survived and did not even lose his sight, although his face was so charred that bones were visible in places. He spent eight months in the hospital, he underwent plastic surgery one after another, and his nose, lips, eyelids, and ears were restored. Eight months later, when the bandages were removed, he looked at his and now not his face. The nurse who gave him a small mirror turned away and began to cry. He immediately returned the mirror to her.
“It happens worse,” he said, “you can live with it.
But he no longer asked the nurse for a mirror, only often felt his face, as if he was getting used to it. The commission found him fit for non-combatant service. Then he went to the general and said: “I ask your permission to return to the regiment.” “But you are an invalid,” said the general. “No way, I’m a freak, but this will not interfere with the matter, I will fully restore combat capability.” (The fact that the general tried not to look at him during the conversation was noted by Yegor Dremov and only grinned with purple, straight as a slit lips.) He received a twenty-day leave to fully restore his health and went home to his father and mother. It was just in March of this year.
At the station he thought of taking a cart, but he had to walk eighteen versts. There were still snows all around, it was damp, deserted, the icy wind blew the flaps of his greatcoat, whistled in his ears with lonely melancholy. He came to the village when it was already dusk. Here is the well, the tall crane swayed and creaked. Hence the sixth hut - parental. He stopped suddenly, his hands in his pockets. He shook his head. Turned sideways towards the house. Stuck knee-deep in the snow, bending down to the window, he saw his mother—in the dim light of a screwed-on lamp, above the table, she was preparing supper. All in the same dark scarf, quiet, unhurried, kind. She got older, her thin shoulders stuck out ... “Oh, I wish she knew - every day she had to write at least two words about herself ...” She collected simple things on the table - a cup of milk, a piece of bread, two spoons, a salt shaker and thought, standing in front of the table, his thin arms folded under his chest... Yegor Dremov, looking through the window at his mother, realized that it was impossible to frighten her, it was impossible for her old face to tremble desperately.
OK! He opened the gate, went into the courtyard and knocked on the porch. Mother answered at the door: “Who is there?” He replied: "Lieutenant, Hero of the Soviet Union Gromov."
His heart was pounding so fast he leaned his shoulder against the lintel. No, the mother did not recognize his voice. He himself, as if for the first time, heard his voice, which had changed after all the operations - hoarse, muffled, indistinct.
- Father, what do you need? she asked.
- Marya Polikarpovna brought a bow from her son, Senior Lieutenant Dremov.
Then she opened the door and rushed to him, grabbed his hands:
Is my Yegor alive? Healthy? Father, come into the hut
Yegor Dremov sat down on a bench by the table, in the same place where he had sat when his legs still did not reach the floor and his mother used to stroke his curly head and say: “Eat, killer whale.” He began to talk about her son, about himself - in detail, how he eats, drinks, does not suffer the need for anything, is always healthy, cheerful, and - briefly about the battles where he participated with his tank.
- You say - scary in the war, then? she interrupted, looking into his face with dark, unseeing eyes.
“Yes, of course, it’s scary, mother, but it’s a habit.
My father came, Yegor Yegorovich, who had also passed over the years - his beard was showered with flour. Glancing at the guest, he stamped his broken felt boots on the threshold, unhurriedly unwound his scarf, took off his sheepskin coat, went up to the table, shook hands—oh, that was a familiar, broad, fair parental hand! Without asking anything, because it was already clear why the guest in orders was here, he sat down and also began to listen, half-closed his eyes.
The longer Lieutenant Dremov sat unrecognizable and talked about himself and not about himself, the more impossible it was for him to open up, to get up, to say: yes, you recognize me, a freak, mother, father! .. He was both happy at the parental table and insulting.
“Well, let’s have dinner, mother, gather something for the guest.” Yegor Yegorovich opened the door of an old cabinet, where in the corner to the left were fish hooks in a matchbox—they were lying there—and there was a teapot with a broken spout, he stood there, where it smelled of bread crumbs and onion skins. Yegor Yegorovich took out a flask of wine—two glasses in all, and sighed that he couldn't get any more.
They sat down to supper, as in previous years. And only at dinner, Senior Lieutenant Dremov noticed that his mother was especially closely watching his hand with a spoon. He grinned, the mother looked up, her face trembled painfully.
We talked about this and that, what the spring will be like and whether the people will cope with the sowing, and that this summer we have to wait for the end of the war.
“Why do you think, Yegor Yegorovich, that we have to wait for the end of the war this summer?”
“The people have become angry,” answered Yegor Yegorovich, “they have passed through death, now you can’t stop him, the German is kaput.”
Marya Polikarpovna asked:
- You did not tell when they would give him leave - to go to visit us. They didn’t see him for three years, tea became an adult, he walks with a mustache ... So - every day - near death, did tea and his voice become rough?
“Yes, when he arrives, maybe you won’t recognize him,” said the lieutenant.
They took him to sleep on the stove, where he remembered every brick, every crack in the log wall, every knot in the ceiling. There was a smell of sheepskin, bread - that familiar comfort that is not forgotten even at the hour of death. The March wind whistled over the roof. Father was snoring behind the partition. Mother tossed and turned, sighed, did not sleep. The lieutenant was lying prone, his face in his hands: “Is it really that I didn’t recognize it,” I thought, “really I didn’t recognize it? Mother Mother..."
The next morning he woke up from the crackling of firewood, his mother fiddled carefully by the stove; his washed footcloths hung on an outstretched rope, washed boots stood by the door.
— Do you eat millet pancakes? she asked.
He did not immediately answer, got down from the stove, put on his tunic, tightened his belt, and, barefoot, sat down on a bench.
- Tell me, does Katya Malysheva, Andrey Stepanovich Malyshev's daughter, live in your village?
- She graduated from the course last year, we have a teacher. Do you need to see her?
“Your son begged me to convey my respects to her by all means.
Her mother sent a neighbor's girl for her. The lieutenant did not even have time to put on his shoes, as Katya Malysheva came running. Her wide gray eyes shone, her eyebrows flew up in amazement, a joyful blush on her cheeks. When she threw back a knitted scarf from her head on her broad shoulders, the lieutenant even groaned to himself - if only he could kiss those warm, blond hair! became golden...
- Did you bring a bow from Yegor? (He stood with his back to the light and only bent his head, because he could not speak.) And I'm waiting for him day and night, tell him so ...
She stepped close to him. She looked, and as if she had been lightly hit in the chest, she leaned back, frightened. Then he firmly decided to leave - today.
Mother baked millet pancakes with baked milk. He again spoke about Lieutenant Dremov, this time about his military exploits - he spoke cruelly and did not raise his eyes to Katya, so as not to see on her sweet face the reflection of his ugliness. Yegor Yegorovich tried to get a collective farm horse, but he left for the station on foot as soon as he arrived. He was very depressed by everything that had happened, even stopping, hitting his face with his palms, repeating in a hoarse voice: “What is to be done now?”
He returned to his regiment, which was in the deep rear for replenishment. His comrades-in-arms greeted him with such sincere joy that something that prevented him from sleeping, eating, or breathing fell off his soul. He decided so - let his mother not know about his misfortune for a longer time. As for Katya, he will tear that thorn out of his heart.
Two weeks later, a letter came from my mother:
"Hello, my darling son. I'm afraid to write to you, I don't know what to think. We had one person from you - a very good person, only with a bad face. I wanted to live, but immediately packed up and left. Since then, son, I have not slept at night - it seems to me that you came. Yegor Yegorovich scolds me for this - he says, you, old woman, are completely out of your mind: if he were our son - wouldn’t he open up ... Why should he hide if it were him - such a face as this, who came to us, you need to be proud. Egor Yegorovich will persuade me, and the mother’s heart is all his own: he is this, he was with us! this!.. Yegorushka, write to me, for Christ's sake, think me through—what happened? Or really - I'm out of my mind ... "
Egor Dremov showed this letter to me, Ivan Sudarev, and, telling his story, wiped his eyes with his sleeve. I told him: “Here, I say, the characters collided! You fool, you fool, write to your mother as soon as possible, ask her forgiveness, don't drive her crazy... She really needs your image! That way she will love you even more.”
On the same day he wrote a letter: “My dear parents, Marya Polikarpovna and Yegor Yegorovich, forgive me for my ignorance, you really had me, your son ...” And so on, and so on - on four pages in small handwriting, he would have written on twenty pages - it would be possible.
After some time, we stand with him at the training ground, - a soldier comes running and - to Yegor Dremov: “Comrade Captain, they ask you ...” The soldier’s expression is this, although he stands in all his uniform, as if a person is going to drink. We went to the village, we approached the hut where Dremov and I lived. I see - he's not in himself - everyone coughs ... I think: "Tankman, tankman, but - nerves." We enter the hut, he is ahead of me, and I hear:
"Mom, hello, it's me! .." And I see - a little old woman clung to his chest. I look around and there is another woman. I give you my word of honor, there are beauties somewhere else, she is not the only one, but personally I have not seen them.
He tore his mother away from him, came up to this girl, - and I already mentioned that with all the heroic constitution he was the god of war, “Katya! - he says, - Katya, why did you come? You promised to wait for that, but not for this…”
Beautiful Katya answers him, - and although I went into the hallway, I hear: “Egor, I am going to live with you forever. I will love you truly, I will love you very much ... Don't send me away ... "
Yes, here they are, Russian characters! It seems that a simple person, but a severe misfortune will come, in big or small, and a great power rises in him - human beauty.
Story Alexei Tolstoy "Russian character"through the lens of alumni
And if so, what is beauty?
And why do people deify it?
She is a vessel in which there is emptiness,
Or fire flickering in a vessel?
N.A. Zabolotsky
I have long been concerned about the question of what guides those who determine what to get on the list of useful, acceptable, desirable for reading works of the school curriculum?
Very often, our teacher assigns works for extracurricular reading that were not included in the compulsory program. Reading "The Tale of a Real Man" by Boris Polevoy, I wondered: "Why is this wonderful work not in the anthologies on literature?" Didn't find an answer. Recently I read the story of Alexei Tolstoy "Russian character", which did not leave me indifferent. I walked for a long time under the impression of the story of Yegor Dremov. But how can one not be surprised at the spiritual beauty and strength of character of this simple tanker ?!
For me, the question remains, how will the school curriculum be changed? Is it necessary at the age of sixteen to try to delve into the torment of an unfaithful wife - Anna Karenina, or try to make out the reasons for the murder committed by Rodion Raskolnikov? (We read them in the 10th grade.) "Oblomov" by I.A. Goncharov, "Thunderstorm", A. Ostrovsky, "What to do?" N.G. Chernyshevsky, "At the bottom" by A.M. Gorky ... - can and should a teenager read this? How close is this to his vision of life? And what will they offer to read in return? Will works not included in the school curriculum be restored? At least some of them? There are still more questions than answers...
The main directions of the school curriculum were laid down in the Soviet era - an era that glorified social conflicts, class struggle, that is, the school curriculum in literature had a certain ideological role in the education of the fighters of the "class front", even if these "fighters" are still in the nursery, or adolescence, and because of this, they still cannot understand the depth of the intention of the authors of "adult" works.
Today, the disputes that have flared up around changing the school curriculum in Russian literature have already reached the Kremlin. It is not known what will eventually be included in the school literature curriculum and what will remain outside of it, but I would like to think that this reform is aimed at raising the educational level in Russian educational institutions. One can only hope that innovations in the school curriculum will not lead to further "disgust" of students from reading serious literature and will not push today's teenagers in the near future into the "network of tabloid" novels "and other tasteless writings that are so widespread and popular today.
Next, I will try to reveal to you why it would be necessary to include the story of A. Tolstoy "Russian Character" in the school anthology on literature. I'm not arguing that it's only read in high school, no. The story, in terms of its content and the issues raised, is suitable for any age: both for the middle link and for the senior. The main thing is to read it.
It seems to me that this work is significant and relevant precisely as a story-memory, a story-dedication to those who more than seven decades ago fought against fascism for the freedom and independence of our country. And he won, he won, despite the hardest 4 years of cruelty and hatred, blood and disasters, but at the same time love and mercy. What helped our people to defeat the fascist horde, survive in the rear and remain the strongest and most courageous country. And this is what is in a Russian person, this is our character, amazing and unpredictable, when necessary - tough, when necessary - merciful. But always strong and courageous.
"Russian character" -last thing
(May 7, 1944) significant work
A.N. Tolstoy - is included in the cycle "Stories of Ivan Sudarev". The cycle consists of seven short stories united by one theme (image of the Great Patriotic War), one idea (description of the heroism of the Soviet people), one storyteller (experienced cavalryman Ivan Sudarev). Each story has its own main characters: soldiers of the Red Army who found themselves in the German rear and created a partisan detachment (“How It Began”); a repressed fist who agreed to become a burgomaster under the Germans and reported the most important information about the invaders to the partisans (“Strange Story”), the Blacksmith Hussar, who before the war was considered a lone handicraftsman and a loafer, made excellent tools for repairing tanks in a primitive rural forge, and to the surprise of the tankers He reacted venomously: “Your opinion about a Russian person is anti-bearing ... A lone handicraftsman, a drunkard ... No, comrades, you were in a hurry to judge a Russian person” (“Seven Dirty People”). School director Vasily Vasilyevich talks about Russian culture, which, retreating, the Russians allow the Nazis to destroy: “We are all to blame for not caring for it, taking care of it little ... The Russian character is wasteful ... Nothing ... Russia is great, hard, hardy ... "(" How it began "). The neat SS man, who received the order to establish German “order” in the occupied territory, also expresses his opinion about the Russians: “Russians do not know how to work; we Germans do not like this - a person must work from morning to night, all his life, otherwise death awaits him ... ”(“ A Strange Story ”). This fascist cannot understand in any way why hungry Russians, even for bread, do not want to diligently turn their backs on the occupiers. In each story there is a discussion about the Russian character, which manifests itself especially brightly at critical moments in history.
The story "Russian character" completes the cycle "Stories of Ivan Sudarev" and sums up a kind of conclusion to the reasoning about the Russian people. The theme of "Russian character" is indicated by the author at the very beginning: "I just want to talk with you about the Russian character." The idea of the story is made clear byring composition
Although the time of the story is the military spring of 1944, this is a story not so much about war as about love. The story consists of two main and two or three side episodes, it involves the minimum number of characters. So Tolstoy avoided the fragmentation of the plot and achieved a strong dramatic effect.
On display scanty information about Yegor Dremov (his family and military exploits) is given, his portrait is given and such traits of his character as restraint and modesty are indicated. Although Ivan Sudarev recognized Yegor after being wounded and plastic surgery, he never mentions the physical deformity of his comrade, but, on the contrary, admires the beauty of the protagonist: “Jumps from the armor to the ground, pulls off the helmet from wet curls, wipes his grubby face with a rag and will certainly smile out of affection." Plot plot Climax sceneis his arrival home after the hospital. It is clear that after a serious injury and several plastic surgeries that saved his life, but disfigured his face and voice beyond recognition, Yegor went home to the closest people. But pity and real filial love for his old parents did not allow him to immediately open up: “Egor Dremov, looking through the window at his mother, realized that it was impossible to frighten her. It is impossible that her old face trembled desperately. In addition, he hoped that the father and mother would guess without explanation that their son had come to them. The mother's behavior at dinner seems to confirm Yegor's expectations. Noticing the smallest details, Maria Polikarpovna seems to begin to suspect the truth: the guest withoutinvitations
he sat down just in the place where his son had been sitting all his life, and his movements during meals seemed to be familiar: “It was only at dinner that Senior Lieutenant Dremov noticed that his mother was especially closely watching his hand with a spoon. He grinned, the mother raised her eyes, her face trembled painfully.
Yegor did not dare to confess to his bride Katya: “She came close to him. She looked, and as if she had been lightly hit in the chest, she leaned back, got scared. This frightgirls
(Egor thought that she was horrified by his terrible face-mask) was the last straw; the hero firmly decided not to open up and leave as soon as possible. After leaving his home, Yegor felt resentment (even his mother did not feel the truth), despair (Katya said that she was waiting for him day and night, but she herself did not recognize the groom in the disfigured senior lieutenant) and bitter loneliness (he sacrificed his feelings so as not to scare relatives, and involuntarily cut himself off from them). In the end, the hero decided this: “Let the mother not know about his misfortune for a longer time. As for Katya, he will rip this thorn out of his heart.
Sacrificial love, so valued by Russians, is characteristic not only of Yegor Dremov, but also of his relatives, who, by their actions, unleash a tangled everyday situation. Mother still guesses that the visiting officer was her son. The father believes that the wounds received on the battlefield for the freedom of the Motherland only adorn the soldier. Katya Malysheva, together with Maria Polikarpovna, comes to the regiment to visit Yegor and by this act proves without further ado her love and loyalty to her fiancé. Such a happy denouement of the plot affirms the idea of the primacy of the inner, and not the outer, beauty of a person.
Summing up, we can recall the well-known aphorism of A.P. Chekhov: everything in a person should be beautiful: clothes, face, soul, and thoughts. No one will argue with the above statement, but if you have to choose, then the Russian will rather choose inner beauty (soul and thoughts), this is exactly what Ivan Sudarev and the author himself do. They both approve of the act of Yegor Dremov, his generosity towards relatives. The heart of Lieutenant Dremov did not harden in the war, so he is afraid to excite his relatives with his appearance. In this spiritual subtlety, sensitivity, the narrator and the author see the beauty of the protagonist's character.
The beauty of a human (including Russian) character is manifested primarily not in physical attractiveness, but in spiritual generosity. Egor, with his face disfigured by burns, does not disgust either relatives or comrades-in-arms, who pay attention not to Dremov's face, but to his smile, which glows with sincere affection. In other words, through the deadly terrible face, the human beauty of the hero shines through, conquering those around him.
The denouement in the story"Russian character" is happy, life-affirming - it shows the wonderful characters of the Soviet people. Relatives unraveled Yegor's involuntary deceit and forgave him that he doubted their love; friends gladly met her in the regiment. The beauty of the soul of a crippled soldier, who is ready to sacrifice himself for the sake of his loved ones, is not opposed, but is consistent with the spiritual beauty of the people around him, primarily women, full of selfless love for the hero.
And here is a reflection on the Russian character,story within a story.
1 APPENDIX (from essays and student feedback)
Family of Egor Dremov. Katya Malysheva.
The family of Yegor Dremov lived in the Volga village of the Saratov region. Yegor himself said this about his father: “My father is a sedate man, first of all, he respects himself. You, son, you will see a lot in the world and visit abroad, but be proud of your Russian title ... ". We can say about the mother that she was a simple peasant woman, pouring out all her love and suffering, her grief in a letter to Yegor.
We see that you cannot deceive a mother, and Marya Polikarpovna felt with a motherly heart that this was her son. This is a real Russian woman who endured all the hardships and hardships of the war on her shoulders. And, of course, Katya Malysheva is a single whole with the Yegor family. A girl who loves not for her beautiful appearance, not for wealth, but for spiritual beauty. She is faithful to her fiancé, no matter how handsome or ugly he is. And these people, who lived in the rear and brought victory closer, have their own steadfast courageous character, a real Russian. They also have the core that Ivan Sudarev spoke about.
Narrator Ivan Sudarev in the work of A.N. Tolstoy "Russian character"
Ivan Sudarev, the author of the story about Egor Dryomov, Egor's friend, the same fighter, a person you can rely on. He is part of this story. Ivan Sudarev comments on many events, gives an assessment, in the story he tells not only about Yegor Dremov, but also about himself. For example, he talks about the life of people at the front and says that "... constantly spinning around death, people become better, all nonsense peels off of them, like unhealthy skin after a sunburn, and remains in a person - the core. Of course - one is stronger, the other is weaker, but even those with a defective core are stretching, everyone wants to be a good and faithful comrade.
From this it is immediately clear that Ivan Sudarev- a man with a core. Yes, and Sudarev’s opinion about the story with Yegor at home (when Yegor tells him everything, says a lot: “You are a fool, a fool, write to your mother soon, ask her forgiveness, don’t drive her crazy ... She really needs your image! That way she'll love you even more."
But thinking about the Russian character, with which the story ends, shows us that both the author Tolstoy and the narrator Ivan Sudarev have a real Russian character. Such works in Russian literature are called a story within a story.
2 APPENDIX
FROM "STORIES OF IVAN SUDAREV"
A. Tolstoy "RUSSIAN CHARACTER"
Russian character! - for a short story the title is too
meaningful. What can you do - I just want to talk with you about the Russian character.
Russian character! Go ahead and describe him ... Tell about the heroic
exploits? But there are so many of them that you get confused - which one to prefer. Here is me
and a friend of mine helped me out with a little story from his personal life. How he beat the Germans, I will not tell, although he wears a gold star and
half of the chest in orders. He is a simple, quiet, ordinary man, -
collective farmer from the Volga village of the Saratov region. But among others, he is noticeable by his strong and proportionate build and beauty. Sometimes, you look when he gets out of the tank turret - the god of war! He jumps off his armor to the ground, pulls his helmet off his wet curls, wipes his grubby face with a rag, and will certainly smile from sincere affection.
In war, constantly revolving around death, people become better, every
the nonsense peels off them like unhealthy skin after a sunburn, and
remains in man - the core. Of course - one has it stronger, the other
weaker, but even those with a flawed core are stretching, everyone wants to be
good and faithful friend. But my friend Yegor Dremov, even before the war, was of strict conduct, extremely respected and loved his mother, Marya Polikarpovna, and his father, Yegor Yegorovich. "My father is a sedate man, the first thing is that he respects himself. You, son, he says, you will see a lot in the world, and you will visit abroad, but be proud of your Russian title ..."
He had a bride from the same village on the Volga. About brides and wives
we are talked about a lot, especially if there is a lull at the front, a cold, in a dugout
the fire is smoking, the stove is crackling and the people have supper. Here they will spit it - you will hang your ears. They will start, for example: "What is love?" One will say: "Love arises on the basis of respect ..." Another: "Nothing like that, love is a habit, a person loves not only his wife, but his father and mother and even animals ..." - "Ugh, stupid!" - the third will say - love is when everything is in full swing in you, a person seems to be walking around drunk ... And so they philosophize for an hour or two, until the foreman, intervening, with an imperative voice determines the very essence ... Yegor Dremov, must be embarrassed by these conversations , only casually mentioned to me about the bride, - they say, a very good girl, and even if she said that she would wait, she would wait, at least he returned on one leg ...
He also did not like to rant about military exploits: "About such
reluctance to remember!" He frowns and smokes. We learned about the military affairs of his tank from the words of the crew, the driver Chuvilev was especially surprised by the listeners.
You see, as soon as we turned around, I look, because of the hill
crawls out ... I shout: "Comrade lieutenant, tiger!" - "Forward, screaming, full
gas!..." And let's disguise ourselves along the spruce tree - to the right, to the left ... Tiger
he drives with a barrel like a blind man, hit - past ... And Comrade Lieutenant, as soon as he gives
to his side, - spray! As soon as he gives it to the tower, he lifts up his trunk ...
in the third, - the tiger poured smoke from all the cracks, - the flame bursts from
it’s a hundred meters up ... The crew climbed through the emergency hatch ... Vanka
Lapshin led from a machine gun - they are lying, kicking with their legs ... We,
You know, the path is clear. In five minutes we fly into the village. Then I just lost my life ... The Nazis are in all directions ... And - dirty, you know - another will jump out of his boots and in some socks - porsk. Everyone runs to the barn. Comrade lieutenant gives me the command: "Come on - move around the barn." We turned the gun away, at full throttle I ran into the barn and drove ... Fathers! Beams rumbled on the armor, boards, bricks, Nazis who were sitting under the roof ... And I also - and ironed - the rest of my hands up - and Hitler kaput ...
So Lieutenant Egor Dremov fought until misfortune happened to him.
During the Battle of Kursk, when the Germans were already bleeding and faltering, his tank - on a hillock, in a wheat field - was hit by a shell, two of the crew were immediately killed, and the tank caught fire from the second shell. The driver Chuvilev, who jumped out through the front hatch, again climbed onto the armor and managed to pull the lieutenant out - he was unconscious, his overalls were on fire. As soon as Chuvilev pulled the lieutenant away, the tank exploded with such force that the tower was thrown fifty meters away. Chuvilev threw handfuls of loose earth on the lieutenant's face, on his head, on his clothes in order to put out the fire. Then he crawled with him from funnel to funnel to the dressing station ... "Why did I drag him then?" Chuvilev said, "I hear his heart is beating..."
Yegor Dremov survived and did not even lose his sight, although his face was
charred, with bones visible in places. For eight months he lay in
hospital, he underwent one plastic surgery after another, restored his nose, lips, eyelids, and ears. Eight months later, when the bandages were removed, he looked at his and now not his face. The nurse who gave him a small mirror turned away and began to cry. He immediately returned the mirror to her.
It happens worse, - he said, - you can live with it.
But he no longer asked the nurse for a mirror, he only often felt
his face, as if getting used to it. The commission found him fit for non-combatant service. Then he went to the general and said: "I ask your permission to return to the regiment." - "But you're disabled," - said the general. "No way, I'm a freak, but this will not interfere with the matter, I will fully restore combat capability."! received a twenty-day leave for full recovery of health and went home to his father and mother. It was just in March of this year.
At the station, he thought to take a cart, but he had to walk
eighteen versts. There were still snows all around, it was damp, deserted, the icy wind blew the flaps of his greatcoat, whistled in his ears with lonely melancholy. He came to the village when it was already dusk. Here is the well, the tall crane swayed and creaked. Hence the sixth hut - parental. He stopped suddenly, his hands in his pockets. He shook his head. Turned sideways towards the house. Stuck knee-deep in the snow, bending down to the window, he saw his mother - in the dim light of a screwed-on lamp, above the table, she was preparing to have dinner. All in the same dark scarf, quiet, unhurried, kind. She got old, her thin shoulders stuck out... "Oh, I wish I knew - every day she would have to write at least two words about herself..." , standing in front of the table, folding his thin hands under his chest ... Egor Dremov, looking through the window at his mother, realized that it was impossible to frighten her, it was impossible that her old face trembled desperately.
OK! He opened the gate, went into the courtyard and on the porch
knocked. Mother answered at the door: "Who is there?" He replied: "Lieutenant, Hero of the Soviet Union Gromov."
His heart was pounding so fast he leaned his shoulder against the lintel. Not,
Father, what do you need? she asked.
Marya Polikarpovna brought a bow from his son, senior lieutenant
Dremova.
Then she opened the door and rushed to him, grabbed his hands:
Alive, Egor is mine! Healthy? Father, come into the hut.
Egor Dremov sat down on a bench by the table in the same place where he had sat when
yet his feet did not reach the floor, and his mother would, after stroking his
curly head, used to say: "Eat, killer whale." He started talking about her.
son, about himself - in detail, how he eats, drinks, does not suffer the need for any
than, always healthy, cheerful, and - briefly about the battles where he participated with
with his tank.
You say - scary in the war, then? she interrupted, looking into his face.
dark, unseeing eyes.
Yes, of course, it's scary, mother, but it's a habit.
Father came, Yegor Yegorovich, who also passed over the years - his beard
he was covered in flour. Glancing at the guest, stomped on the threshold broken
felt boots, slowly unwound a scarf, took off his short fur coat, went to the table,
shook hands, - oh, she was familiar, wide, fair
parent hand! Without asking anything, because it was already clear why the guest in orders was here, he sat down and also began to listen, half-closed his eyes.
The longer Lieutenant Dremov sat unrecognizable and talked about himself and
not about himself, the more impossible it was for him to open up, to get up, to say: yes
admit me, you freak, mother, father! .. He was well for
parental table and insulting.
Well, let's have dinner, mother, gather something for the guest. -
Yegor Yegorovich opened the door of an old cabinet, where in the corner to the left
there were fishing hooks in a matchbox - they were lying there - and there was a kettle with a broken spout - it stood there, where it smelled of bread crumbs and
onion peel. Yegor Yegorovich took out a flask of wine - only two
cups, sighed that no more to get. Sat down to dinner, as before
years. And only at dinner Senior Lieutenant Dremov noticed that his mother
especially closely watching his hand with a spoon. He smiled, mother
She raised her eyes, her face trembling painfully.
We talked about this and that, what the spring will be like, and whether the people will cope with
sowing, and that this summer we have to wait for the end of the war.
Why do you think, Yegor Yegorovich, that this summer we have to wait for the end
wars?
The people became angry, - answered Yegor Yegorovich, - they passed through death,
now you can’t stop him, the German is kaput.
Marya Polikarpovna asked:
You didn't tell him when he would be given leave - to visit us for
visit. I haven’t seen him for three years, tea, he has become an adult, walks with a mustache ...
Every day - near death, tea, and his voice became rough?
Yes, he’ll come - maybe you won’t recognize it, ”said the lieutenant.
They took him to sleep on the stove, where he remembered every brick, every crack in
log wall, every knot in the ceiling. It smelled of sheepskin, bread - that
native comfort that is not forgotten even at the hour of death. March wind
whistled over the roof. Father was snoring behind the partition. Mother tossed and turned, sighed, did not sleep. The lieutenant was lying prone, his face in his hands: “Is it really that I didn’t recognize it,” I thought, “really I didn’t recognize it? Mom, mom ...”
The next morning he woke up from the crackling of firewood, his mother carefully fiddled with
furnaces; his washed footcloths hung on an outstretched rope, washed boots stood by the door.
Do you eat wheat pancakes? she asked.
He did not immediately answer, got down from the stove, put on his tunic, tightened his belt and -
barefoot - sat on a bench.
Tell me, Katya Malysheva, Andrei Stepanovich lives in your village
Toddler's daughter?
She graduated last year as a teacher. And you her
need to see?
Your son asked you to give her a bow without fail.
Her mother sent a neighbor's girl for her. The lieutenant did not even have time to put on shoes,
how Katya Malysheva came running. Her wide gray eyes glittered, her eyebrows
they flew up in amazement, a joyful blush on their cheeks. When she threw the knitted scarf from her head onto her broad shoulders, the lieutenant even groaned to himself:
to kiss those warm blond hair!
the hut became golden...
Have you brought a bow from Yegor? (He stood with his back to the light and only
bowed his head, because he could not speak.) And I'm waiting for him day and night,
so tell him...
She stepped close to him. She looked, and as if she had been lightly hit in
chest, leaned back, frightened. Then he firmly decided to leave, - today.
Mother baked millet pancakes with baked milk. He again spoke about Lieutenant Dremov, this time about his military exploits, - he spoke cruelly and did not raise his eyes to Katya, so as not to see on her sweet face the reflection of his ugliness. Yegor Yegorovich tried to get a collective farm horse, but he left for the station on foot as soon as he arrived. He was very depressed by everything that had happened, even stopping, hitting his face with his palms, repeating in a hoarse voice: "How can it be now?"
He returned to his regiment, which was in the deep rear for replenishment.
His comrades-in-arms greeted him with such sincere joy that he
that which did not allow me to sleep, eat, or breathe fell off my soul. I decided
so, - let the mother not know about his misfortune for a longer time. As for Katya,
He will tear this thorn out of his heart.
Two weeks later, a letter came from my mother:
"Hello, my beloved son. I'm afraid to write to you, I don't know what
and think. We had one person from you - a very good person, only
stupid face. I wanted to live, but immediately packed up and left. Since then, son
I sleep at night - it seems to me that you came. Yegor Yegorovich scolds me for
this, - completely, he says, you, old woman, have gone crazy: if he were our son -
wouldn’t he have opened up ... Why should he hide, if it were him, - such
a face like this one, who came to us, you need to be proud. Yegor will persuade me
Yegorovich, and a mother's heart is all her own: he is this, he was with us! .. Man
this one slept on the stove, I took his greatcoat out into the yard - to clean it, and
her, let me cry - he is this, this is his! .. Yegorushka, write to me, for Christ's sake,
think of me - what happened? Or really, I'm out of my mind..."
Egor Dremov showed this letter to me, Ivan Sudarev, and, telling
his story, wiped his eyes on his sleeve. I told him: "Here, I say, the characters
faced! You are a fool, you fool, write to your mother soon, ask her forgiveness,
don't drive her crazy... She really needs your image! That's how she got you
will love more."
On the same day he wrote a letter: "My dear parents, Marya
Polikarpovna and Yegor Yegorovich, forgive me for my ignorance, indeed you had me, your son ... "And so on, and so on - on four pages
in small handwriting - he would have written on twenty pages - it would be possible.
After some time, we are standing with him at the training ground, - a soldier comes running
and - to Egor Dremov: "Comrade Captain, they are asking you..." The soldier's expression is the same, although he stands in all his uniform as if a man is about to drink. We went to the village, we approached the hut where Dremov and I lived. I see - he is not in himself, - everything is coughing ... I think: "Tankman, tankman, but - nerves." We enter the hut, he is ahead of me, and I hear:
"Mom, hello, it's me! .." And I see - a little old woman clung to
on his chest. I look around, here, it turns out, there is another woman, I give my word of honor, there are beauties somewhere else, she’s not the only one, but personally I don’t
seen.
He tore his mother away from himself, approaches this girl, - and I already remembered,
that with all the heroic constitution it was the god of war. "Katya!" he says.
Katya, why did you come? You promised to wait for that, but not for this..."
Beautiful Katya answers him, - and although I went into the hallway, I hear: "Egor, I
I'm going to live with you forever. I will love you truly, I will love you very much ...
Don't send me..."
Yes, here they are, Russian characters! It seems that a simple person, but he will come
a severe misfortune, in big or small, and a great power rises in him -
human beauty.
3 APPENDIX .
(26 slide): We got acquainted with the story "Russian character", with the main character Egor Dremov. But Egor is not alone. How many of them, tankers who burned in tanks, pilots who burned and died in planes, infantrymen, scouts, signalmen, heroes who gave their lives for our happiness. This is what the song from the movie "Officers" is about. (This song is performed in the last 27th slide).
Oleg Gazmanov "Officers"
Gentlemen officers, on strained nerves
I sing this song with the chords of faith,
Those who quit their careers, not sparing their lives,
Substitutes his chest for his Russia.
To those who survived in Afghanistan without spoiling their honor,
Who did not make a career from soldier blood,
I sing to the officers who took pity on their mothers,
Bringing back their living sons.
Chorus:
For Russia and freedom to the end.
Gentlemen officers, how to save your faith?
On dug graves your souls wheeze...
What did we brothers do - we could not save them,
And now they always look into our eyes ...
The guys are leaving again, dissolving in the sunsets,
Russia called them, as happened more than once.
And again you are leaving, maybe straight to heaven?
So where are you going? Maybe straight to heaven?
And from somewhere above you forgive us...
Chorus:
Officers, officers Your heart is at gunpoint
For Russia and freedom to the end.
Officers, Russians, let freedom shine in you,
Forcing hearts to sound in unison.
Chorus:
Officers, officers Your heart is at gunpoint
For Russia and freedom to the end.
Officers, Russians, let freedom shine in you,
Forcing hearts to sound in unison.
REFERENCES:
1. Artistic text of the story "Russian character" by A.N. Tolstoy.
2. Shots from the film "Russian Character" based on the story of the same name by A.N. Tolstoy.
3. Materials of the extracurricular reading lesson “Disasters most of all reveal strength in the character of the Russian people” (N.M. Karamzin), conducted by the teacher Khairullina M.F.
4. Presentation for the lesson of extracurricular reading teacher M.F. Khairullina.
5. Battle of Kursk. (The Great Soviet Encyclopedia in 30 volumes. Volume 14-41-42 pages, columns 111-114, third edition, 624 pages.)
6. Pages of the life and work of A.N. Tolstoy, connected with the history of the creation of the story "Russian character".
7. Battle of Kursk - a radical turn in the Great Patriotic War (textbook grade 9).
SPEECH THESIS:
1.Some undeservedly forgotten works of Russian writers and poets of the 20th century.
Much in our life is changing, much is being altered. Established values are changing. Sometimes these changes are for the better and justified, and sometimes the other way around. This happened with some works of Russian literature of the 20th century.
The question remains, how will the school curriculum be changed?
2. Disclosure of the ideological content of the story "Russian character" by A.N. Tolstoy.
Although the time of the story is the military spring of 1944, this is a story not so much about war as about love. The story consists of two main and two or three side episodes, it involves the minimum number of characters. So Tolstoy avoided the fragmentation of the plot and achieved a strong dramatic effect.
Let us recall the well-known aphorism of A.P. Chekhov: everything in a person should be beautiful: clothes, face, soul, and thoughts. No one will argue with the above statement, but if you have to choose, then the Russian will rather choose inner beauty (soul and thoughts), this is exactly what Ivan Sudarev and the author himself do. They both approve of the act of Yegor Dremov, his generosity towards relatives
3. Analysis of the composition of the story "Russian character" by A.N. Tolstoy.
The idea of the story is made clear byring composition: both at the beginning and at the end of the work there are discussions about the beauty of the human character, which the author sees in the actions of each hero: Yegor Dremov, his parents, the bride, the tank driver Chuvilev, the narrator Ivan Sudarev.
On display scanty information about Yegor Dremov (his family and military exploits) is given, his portrait is given and such traits of his character as restraint and modesty are indicated.
Plot plot - Yegor was wounded in the battle near the Kursk Bulge.Climax sceneis his arrival home after the hospital
The denouement in the story"Russian character" is happy, life-affirming - it shows the wonderful characters of the Soviet people.
Reflection on the Russian character,where the story ends, shows us that both the author Tolstoy and the narrator Ivan Sudarev have a real Russian character. Such works in Russian literature are calledstory within a story.
MBOU "Dubyazskaya secondary school of the Vysokogorsky district of the Republic of Tatarstan"
lll Republican competition of research and creative works of schoolchildren "Aksakov readings"
(municipal stage)
“Human beauty and strength of character” based on the story by A.N. Tolstoy “Russian character"(nomination" Forgotten literary works of the 20th century ")
Work completed
Batrkhanova Leysan,
11th grade student
(supervisor:
Khairullina M.F.)
One of the first editions of A.N. Tolstoy "Russian character" (library of a Red Army soldier)
The War Years During the First World War, Tolstoy was a war correspondent. After the October Revolution, he left Russia and settled in France. In exile, he published the autobiographical novel "Nikita's Childhood" (1921), and a year later the fantasy novel "Aelita". In 1923 Tolstoy returned to Russia. On March 30, 1943, a report appeared in the newspapers that Alexei Tolstoy was transferring a prize of one hundred thousand rubles awarded to him for the construction of the Grozny tank. During the Great Patriotic War, Tolstoy published a collection of articles "Motherland", and on May 7, 1944, the story "Russian Character" was published in the newspaper "Red Star".
Alexei Tolstoy's awards Tolstoy's work has been marked by many awards, including three Stalin Prizes - for the trilogy "Walking Through the Torments", for the novel "Peter the Great" and for the play "Ivan the Terrible".
Soldier Ivan Sudarev, narrator of the story
Tanker Egor Dryomov
The Battle of Kursk occupies a special place in the Great Patriotic War. It lasted 50 days and nights, from July 5 to August 23, 1943. This battle has no equal in its bitterness and stubbornness of the struggle.
To implement his plans, the enemy concentrated powerful strike groups, which numbered over 900 thousand people, about 10 thousand guns and mortars, up to 2700 tanks and assault guns, about 2050 aircraft. Great hopes were placed on the latest Tiger and Panther tanks, Ferdinand assault guns, Focke-Wulf-190-A fighter planes, and Heinkel-129 attack aircraft.
The Soviet command decided to first bleed the enemy strike groups in defensive battles, and then go on the counteroffensive. The battle that began immediately took on a grandiose scope and was of an extremely tense character.
Our troops did not flinch. They met the avalanche of enemy tanks and infantry with unprecedented stamina and courage. The offensive of the enemy strike groups was suspended.
Hitler's operation "Citadel" was finally buried by the largest oncoming tank battle near Prokhorovka in the entire Second World War. It happened on July 12th.
1200 tanks and self-propelled guns simultaneously participated in it from both sides. This battle was won by the Soviet soldiers. The Nazis, having lost up to 400 tanks during the day of the battle, were forced to abandon the offensive.
On July 12, the second stage of the Battle of Kursk began - the counteroffensive of the Soviet troops. On August 5, Soviet troops liberated the cities of Orel and Belgorod.
On the evening of August 5, in honor of this major success, a victorious salute was given in Moscow for the first time in two years of the war. Since that time, artillery salutes have constantly announced the glorious victories of Soviet weapons.
On August 23, Kharkov was liberated. So the battle on the Kursk fiery arch ended victoriously.
During it, 30 selected enemy divisions were defeated. The fascist German troops lost about 500,000 men, 1,500 tanks, 3,000 guns and 3,700 aircraft.
For courage and heroism, over 100 thousand Soviet soldiers - participants in the Battle of the Fiery Arc, were awarded orders and medals. The Battle of Kursk ended with a radical turning point in the Great Patriotic War.
By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of August 1, 1939, a special distinguishing sign was introduced for the Heroes of the Soviet Union - the medal "Hero of the Soviet Union". Another Decree of October 16, 1939 approved the appearance of the medal, which was called the "Gold Star"
Mother and father of Yegor Dremov
Katya Malysheva, Yegor's fiancee
Character - the totality of all mental, spiritual properties of a person, found in his behavior.
Yes, here they are, Russian characters! It seems that a simple person, but a severe misfortune will come, in big or small, and a great power rises in him - human beauty. A.N. Tolstoy
Disasters most reveal the forces in the character of the Russian people N.M. Karamzin
We got acquainted with the story "Russian character", with the main character Yegor Dryomov. But Egor is not alone. How many of them, tankers who burned in tanks, pilots who burned and died in planes, infantrymen, scouts, signalmen, heroes who gave their lives for our happiness. This is what the song from the movie "Officers" is about.
The artistic task of Alexei Tolstoy was to study those traits of the Russian character that throughout history made it possible to survive and win. The completion of the cycle "Stories of Ivan Sutsarev" (1942-1944) was the story with the significant title "Russian Character" (1944).
An employee of the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper told Tolstoy about the fate of the tanker, who almost burned out in the tank. This particular story acquired a general meaning, grew into the writer's reflections on the strength of the spirit of a Russian person, the courage of a soldier, mother's love, woman's fidelity.
In the image of Yegor Dremov, the typical character of the hero is first of all emphasized. He was, according to the narrator, "a simple, quiet, ordinary" person. He is endowed with the most common biography: before the war he lived in the village, treated his mother and father with respect, worked conscientiously on the ground, and now he fights heroically. Dremov, like his father and grandfather, bears the name Yegor, which means "cultivator of the land", and with this detail the author emphasizes the connection between generations, the continuity of the moral values of the people.
It is this “ordinary” person who is aesthetically singled out by the writer against the background of others, placed in circumstances that, for all their reality, cannot but be recognized as exceptional. Even outwardly, Yegor is especially noted for his heroic build and beauty: “Sometimes, you look at how he gets out of the tank turret - the god of war! He jumps off his armor to the ground, pulls his helmet off his wet curls, wipes his grubby face with a rag and will certainly smile from spiritual affection. The motif of "heroism" also sounds in the story of Yegor's affairs, which is one of the few! - marked with an "asterisk" ("Gold Star" of the Hero of the Soviet Union).
But the main thing in the story is not the combat episodes with the participation of Lieutenant Dremov (they are shown in the presentation of other characters). In the center of the work is a seemingly personal situation related to the experiences of the hero after being seriously wounded during a tank battle on the Kursk Bulge.
Dremov's face was almost completely burned, after the operations his voice changed. A number of details emphasized by the author allow us to show the process of revealing the deep essence of the character. Egor has lost his external attractiveness (the motive of "ugliness" in the second part of the story varies in the instinctive reaction of people to the appearance of a burnt tanker). But the brighter the inner beauty and strength of the hero is manifested.
She is in an effort to stay in the ranks, in a real military brotherhood that connects Yegor with his comrades in arms, in his love for loved ones and caring for them.
The culmination of the story was a scene in his own home, when the dearest people did not recognize Yegor in a man with a disfigured face, and he decided not to be a burden for them with his misfortune and called himself a false name. But now the relatives give Yegor a lesson in true humanity and love. A mother who felt in her heart that this son was in his own home.
The father, as always, laconicly said the main thing: “You should be proud of such a person as this one, who came to us” (the epithet “fair”, used in relation to the father, is not accidental). Katya Malysheva, who forever connected her life with Yegor (“beautiful Katya”, in whose image the harmony of internal and external is emphasized). “Yes, here they are, Russian characters! It seems that a man is simple, but a severe misfortune will come, in big or small, and a great power rises in him - human beauty.
Russian character! - for a short story, the title is too significant. What can you do - I just want to talk with you about the Russian character.
Russian character! Go ahead and describe him... Shall we tell about heroic deeds? But there are so many of them that you get confused - which one to prefer. So one of my friends helped me out with a little story from his personal life. How he beat the Germans, I will not tell, although he wears a gold star and half of his chest in orders. He is a simple, quiet, ordinary man - a collective farmer from the Volga village of the Saratov region. But among others, he is noticeable by his strong and proportionate build and beauty. Sometimes, you look when he gets out of the tank turret - the god of war! He jumps off his armor to the ground, pulls his helmet off his wet curls, wipes his grubby face with a rag and will certainly smile from sincere affection.
In the war, constantly spinning around death, people become better, all nonsense peels off of them, like unhealthy skin after a sunburn, and remains in a person - the core. Of course - one is stronger, the other is weaker, but those who have a flawed core are stretching, everyone wants to be a good and faithful comrade. But my friend Yegor Dremov, even before the war, was of strict conduct, extremely respected and loved his mother, Marya Polikarpovna, and his father, Yegor Yegorovich. “My father is a sedate man, first of all, he respects himself. You, son, he says, you will see a lot in the world, and you will visit abroad, but be proud of your Russian title ... "
He had a bride from the same village on the Volga. We talk a lot about brides and wives, especially if it’s calm at the front, it’s cold, a light is smoking in the dugout, the stove is crackling and people have had dinner. Here they will spit it - you will hang your ears. They will start, for example: “What is love?” One will say: “Love arises on the basis of respect ...” Another: “Nothing like that, love is a habit, a person loves not only his wife, but his father and mother and even animals ...” - “Ugh, stupid! - the third will say, - love is when everything is in full swing in you, a person walks around like a drunk ... ”And so they philosophize for an hour or two, until the foreman, intervening, with an imperative voice determines the very essence ... Egor Dremov, must be embarrassed by these conversations, he only casually mentioned to me about the bride, - they say, a very good girl, and even if she said that she would wait, she would wait, at least he returned on one leg ...
He also did not like to rant about military exploits: “It’s reluctant to remember such things!” Frowning and smoking. We learned about the military affairs of his tank from the words of the crew, in particular, the driver Chuvilev surprised the listeners.
- ... You see, as soon as we turned around, I look, it crawls out from behind the hill ... I shout: “Comrade Lieutenant, a tiger!” - “Forward, screaming, full throttle! ...” And let's disguise ourselves along the spruce tree - to the right, to the left ... The tiger drives with a barrel, like a blind man, hit - past ... And the comrade lieutenant will give him in the side - spray! As soon as he gives it to the tower, - he lifted his trunk ... As he gives it to the third, - smoke poured from all the cracks at the tiger, - the flame bursts from it a hundred meters up ... The crew climbed through the emergency hatch ... Vanka Lapshin led from a machine gun, - they are lying, kicking with their legs ... You see, the path has been cleared for us. In five minutes we fly into the village. Then I just lost my life ... The Nazis are in all directions ... And - dirty, you know - the other will jump out of his boots and in the same socks - porsk. Everyone runs to the barn. Comrade lieutenant gives me the command: "Well, move around the barn." We turned the cannon away, at full throttle I ran into the barn and drove ... Fathers! Beams rumbled on the armor, boards, bricks, Nazis who were sitting under the roof ... And I also - and ironed - the rest of my hands up - and Hitler kaput ...
So Lieutenant Egor Dremov fought until misfortune happened to him. During the Battle of Kursk, when the Germans were already bleeding and faltering, his tank - on a hillock, in a wheat field - was hit by a shell, two of the crew were immediately killed, and the tank caught fire from the second shell. The driver Chuvilev, who jumped out through the front hatch, again climbed onto the armor and managed to pull the lieutenant out - he was unconscious, his overalls were on fire. As soon as Chuvilev pulled the lieutenant away, the tank exploded with such force that the tower was thrown fifty meters away. Chuvilev threw handfuls of loose earth on the lieutenant's face, on his head, on his clothes in order to put out the fire. Then he crawled with him from funnel to funnel to the dressing station ... “Why did I drag him then? - said Chuvilev, - I hear his heart is beating ... "
Egor Dremov survived and did not even lose his sight, although his face was so charred that bones were visible in places. He spent eight months in the hospital, he underwent plastic surgery one after another, and his nose, lips, eyelids, and ears were restored. Eight months later, when the bandages were removed, he looked at his and now not his face. The nurse who gave him a small mirror turned away and began to cry. He immediately returned the mirror to her.
It happens worse, - he said, - you can live with it.
But he no longer asked the nurse for a mirror, only often felt his face, as if getting used to it. The commission found him fit for non-combatant service. Then he went to the general and said: "I ask your permission to return to the regiment." “But you are an invalid,” the general said. “No way, I’m a freak, but this will not interfere with the matter, I will fully restore combat capability.” 