In the work of N. A. Nekrasov, the central place is occupied by the theme of the people. In his poems, he tells about the fate of Russian peasants, about their troubles and joys, hopes and disappointments. Particularly interesting in this regard is the poem “Who Lives Well in Russia” - this is a large-scale, epic canvas of folk life, with reflections on the past and present of the Russian peasantry, with attempts to look into its future.
The tsar's manifesto of 1861 abolished serfdom in Russia, put an end to the shameful slave system and, it would seem, opened a new page in the history of the Russian people. But in reality, everything was not so simple. “The people are free. But are the people happy? - Nekrasov asks himself and his readers; and the same question is being tried by his men-truth-seekers, who decided to find out "who lives happily, freely in Russia."
It is not so easy to get an answer to this question, it develops gradually, from the stories of the most diverse people whom our seekers meet on their journey through Russia.
There are a lot of mass folk scenes in the poem. Here we get to the "rural fair" with its motley, bright, ever-changing atmosphere. It is noisy here, people are walking; we see a variety of characters - here is a man who broke an ax, here is another trying rims, here is a grandfather selling shoes to his granddaughter, here are peasants who treat the actors "more generously than the lord." The picture of people's life with its joys and worries is brightly and colorfully drawn. The fair is noisy, buzzing, and its special, contagious festive mood testifies better than any words to the inescapable vitality contained in the people, who know how not to lose heart under any circumstances.
In the chapter "Drunk Night" the folk element is drawn somewhat differently. Here again many stories sound, others are given only in hints, but so expressive that even a few words are enough to understand the whole tragedy of the fate that stands behind them. We see not just a drunken revelry in Nekrasov's show, but also that enormous power that is hidden in the people. Yes, the people can be a drunken crowd, but it is also a people-poet, people-workers.
It was during this "drunken night" that we first heard the assessment given by the peasants to the tsar's manifesto:
You are good, royal letter,
Yes, you are not written with us ...
Life in Russia changed after the abolition of serfdom, but the peasant lot did not become easier. This is especially clear from the chapter "Happy", which, contrary to the title, is full of stories about the difficult peasant life:
Hey, happiness man!
Leaky with patches
Humpbacked with calluses...
Simply proclaiming freedom is not enough - it is also necessary to uproot the spirit of slavery that has developed over the centuries from the consciousness of people. No, not much has changed in Russia since the abolition of serfdom. Many landlords do not want to reorganize and continue to create arbitrariness as before. Such, for example, is the despot and tyrant Obolt-Obolduev, who declares:
Law is my wish!
The fist is my police!
sparkling blow,
A crushing blow...
Not inclined to idealize Nekrasov and the people, he shows that the slavish psychology is also firmly ingrained in the souls of the peasants: some continue to send their landowners the already canceled dues, the other is proud of his “lordly” illness, wanting at least in this way to feel his involvement in the “masters”. The Russian people have not yet become free, and this is their great tragedy.
However, Nekrasov firmly believes that this freedom is not far off. After all, the Russian people are strong if such people come out of it as grandfather Savely, the “hero of the Holy Russian”, who, even in prison, feels internally free, arguing: “Branded, but not a slave!”
The Russian people are strong if they give birth to such daughters as Matrena Timofeevna! A powerful force is felt in this simple peasant woman, and at the same time she is not unique, she can be called a typical representative of the people, it is not for nothing that the story of the trials that fell to her lot involuntarily develops in Nekrasov into a collective story about the terrible fate of the Russian peasant woman. It is characteristic that, despite the most difficult trials, Matryona Timofeevna was not broken, she survived, endured everything and never felt like a slave.
Other characters of the poem are also interesting - Yermilo Girin and Yakim Nagoi - outstanding, endowed not only with fortitude, but also with a willingness to stand up "for a just cause." So, for example, Yermilo Girin defends the interests of the people, competing with the rich merchant Altynnikov, and wins, relying on the support of the peasants. Yes, the Russian people can do a lot if they act as "the whole world." The peasants believed Girin and followed him, choosing him as if they were their "king". And Girin faithfully served the peasants, and when one day he committed an unjust deed, sacrificing justice for personal gain, he voluntarily appeared before the people's court.
An unbending spirit of defiance lives on in Yakima Nagom despite his advanced age and physical infirmity. That's really someone you can’t call a downtrodden and dumb creature!
Yakim, poor old man,
Lived once in St. Petersburg,
Yes, he ended up in jail.
I wanted to compete with the merchant!
Like a peeled Velcro,
He returned to his home
And took up the plow.
This fighter for justice had to endure a lot, life beat him mercilessly, and the blows of fate fell like a heavy seal on Yakim:
The chest is sunken; like a depressed
Stomach; at the eyes, at the mouth
Bends like cracks
On dry ground;
And myself to mother earth
He looks like: a brown neck,
Like a layer cut off with a plow,
brick face,
Hand - tree bark,
Who is this Grisha Dobrosklonov? This is one of those people's defenders, of whom there were many in the history of Russian society, to recall at least Dobrolyubov and Chernyshevsky, the "going to the people" of the Russian intelligentsia. Being generalized and collective, the image of Grisha Dobrosklonov still has quite vital, historically specific prototypes. He himself is the flesh of the flesh of the people and is ready to devote his whole life to the struggle for their happiness.
With the appearance of such Dobrosklonovs, the poet connects the coming liberation of the Russian
people, and therefore the finale of Nekrasov's poem is deeply optimistic. He is looking to the future, which, as Nekrasov believed, will be much better than today.
"To whom it is good to live in Russia" is an epic poem. In the center of it is an image of post-reform Russia. Nekrasov wrote the poem for twenty years, collecting material for it "by word". The poem is unusually broad coverage of folk life. Nekrasov wanted to depict all social strata in it: from the peasant to the king. But, unfortunately, the poem was never finished - the death of the poet prevented it.
The main problem, the main question of the work, is already clearly visible in the title of the work: "Who should live well in Russia" - the problem of happiness.
Nekrasov's poem "Who Lives Well in Russia" begins with the question: "In what year - calculate, in what land guess." But it is not difficult to understand what period Nekrasov is talking about. The poet is referring to the reform of 1861, according to which the peasants were "liberated", and those, not having their own land, fell into even greater bondage.
Through the whole poem passes the thought of the impossibility of living like this, of the heavy peasant lot, of the peasant ruin. This motif of the hungry life of the peasantry, whom "longing-trouble exhausted" sounds with particular force in the song called "Hungry" by Nekrasov. Moreover, the poet does not soften the colors, showing poverty, rude morals, religious prejudice and drunkenness in peasant life.
The situation of the people is depicted with the utmost distinctness by the name of the places where the truth-seeking peasants come from: Terpigorev district, Pustoporozhnaya volost, the villages of Zaplatovo, Dyryavino, Razutovo, Znobishino, Gorelovo, Neyolovo. The poem very vividly depicts the bleak, powerless, hungry life of the people. "A man's happiness," the poet exclaims bitterly, "leaky with patches, humpbacked with calluses!" As before, the peasants are people who "did not eat their fill, sipped it without salt." The only thing that has changed is that now instead of the master, the volost will fight them.
With undisguised sympathy, the author treats those peasants who do not put up with their hungry, disenfranchised existence. Unlike the world of exploiters and moral freaks, serfs like Yakov, Gleb, Sidor, Ipat, the best of the peasants in the poem retained true humanity, the ability to sacrifice, spiritual nobility. These are Matrena Timofeevna, the bogatyr Saveliy, Yakim Nagoi, Yermil Girin, Agap Petrov, headman Vlas, seven truth-seekers and others. Each of them has his own task in life, his own reason to "search for the truth," but not all of them together testify that peasant Russia has already awakened, come to life. Truth seekers see such happiness for the Russian people:
I don't need any silver
No gold, but God forbid
So that my countrymen
And every peasant
Life was easy, fun
All over holy Russia!
In Yakima Nagoy, the peculiar character of the people's truth-seeker, the peasant "righteous man" is presented. Yakim lives the same hard-working beggarly life as the rest of the peasantry. But he has a rebellious disposition. Yakim is an honest worker with great self-respect. Yakim is also smart, he perfectly understands why the peasant lives so miserably, so badly. These words belong to him:
Every peasant has
The soul is like a black cloud
Angry, formidable - and it would be necessary
Thunders rumble from there,
pouring bloody rains,
And everything ends with wine.
Yermil Girin is also remarkable. A literate peasant, he served as a clerk, became famous throughout the district for his justice, intelligence and disinterested devotion to the people. Yermil showed himself to be an exemplary headman when the people chose him for this position. However, Nekrasov does not make him an ideal righteous man. Ermil, taking pity on his younger brother, appoints Vlasyevna's son as a recruit, and then, in a fit of repentance, almost commits suicide. The story of Ermil ends sadly. He is imprisoned for his performance during the riot. The image of Ermil testifies to the spiritual forces lurking in the Russian people, the richness of the moral qualities of the peasantry.
But it is only in the chapter "Savelius the Holy Russian Bogatyr" that the peasant protest turns into a revolt, culminating in the murder of the oppressor. True, the reprisal against the German manager was still spontaneous, but such was the reality of serf society. Peasant riots arose spontaneously as a response to the cruel oppression of the peasants by the landowners and managers of their estates.
Not meek and submissive are close to the poet, but recalcitrant and courageous rebels, such as Saveliy, the "hero of the Holy Russian", Yakim Nagoi, whose behavior speaks of the awakening consciousness of the peasantry, of its boiling protest against oppression. Nekrasov wrote about the oppressed people of his country with anger and pain. But the poet was able to notice the "hidden spark" of the mighty internal forces inherent in the people, and looked ahead with hope and faith:
The army rises
innumerable,
The strength will affect her
Indestructible.
The peasant theme in the poem is inexhaustible, multifaceted, the entire figurative system of the poem is devoted to the theme of revealing peasant happiness. In this regard, we can recall the "happy" peasant woman Korchagina Matryona Timofeevna, nicknamed the "governor's wife" for her special luck, and people of the servile rank, for example, the "servant of the exemplary Jacob the faithful", who managed to take revenge on his offender master, and hardworking peasants chapters of "The Last Child", who are forced to break a comedy in front of the old prince Utyatin, pretending that there was no abolition of serfdom, and many other images of the poem.
All these images, even episodic, create a mosaic, bright canvas of the poem, echo each other. This technique was called polyphony by critics. Indeed, the poem, written on folklore material, gives the impression of a Russian folk song performed in many voices.
THE PEOPLE IS THE HERO OF NEKRASOV'S POEM. Many predecessors and contemporaries of Nekrasov wrote about the people. Their works helped develop social consciousness, taught them to love and respect the peasant, and evoked hatred for the oppressors of the people. Nekrasov, for the first time, creates a work not only about the people, but also for the people. The poem “To whom it is good to live in Russia” is Nekrasov’s many years of work, in which his love for the people, the poet’s thoughts and pain about the people’s fate poured out.
Peasant wanderers in Nekrasov's poem represent that many-sided Russia, which is united by one thing - poverty and lack of rights. The men crept up from the villages, whose names speak for themselves; Zaplatovo, Dyryavino, Razutovo, Znobishino, Gorelovo, Neelovo. Corresponding names and at provinces, counties, volosts. Already with these names, the poet judges the disorder, wretchedness and hopelessness of the life of peasant Russia, which appears in the poem hungry, once and undressed, brought to the last degree of ruin, suffering from overwork and humiliation.
But the disenfranchised position of the people did not kill the best human qualities in it: responsiveness to the suffering of others, self-esteem, readiness to fight against the oppressors. “In slavery, the saved heart is free - gold, gold is the heart of the people!” - says the poet.
In the image of the peasant Saveliy - the "hero of the Holy Russian", "the hero of the homespun" powerful forces, inflexible perseverance and heroic steadfastness of the Russian people are personified. Together with other peasants, he refuses to pay the landowner dues and decides to himself: “No matter how you tear it, you son of a dog, but you won’t knock out your whole soul!” Savely becomes the head of a peasant revolt against the German estate manager Vogel.
The powerless position of a peasant woman, her unenviable share, the poet shows on the example of Matrena Timofeevna. "After the fifth year" she is already working. Having married, she endures the abuse of her husband's relatives, the death of a child, beatings, hard labor. But, despite this, a life full of adversity did not kill in her the best features of a Russian peasant woman: her moral purity, consciousness of human dignity.
The poet shows the awakening of peasant self-consciousness and creates images of "new" people who came out of the people and became active fighters for the good of the people. Such is Yermil Girin. In whatever position he may be, he seeks to help the peasant, to protect him. He earned honor and love "by strict truth, intelligence and kindness." The type of an intellectual-democrat, a native of the people, is embodied in the image of Grisha Dobrosklonov, the son of a laborer and a half-impoverished deacon.
The poet did not idealize the people, knowing that not everyone resisted the corrupting influence of slavery. But if the poet bows before those who retained nobility, the will to fight, then he speaks of slaves and serfs with contempt.
Lackey Nea? happy with his holoisyush position. Choking with delight, he recalls the bullying of the image, calling him "princely", and himself "the last slave." The author gives Ipat a well-aimed and vicious assessment - “sensitive slave”.
Hatred of servility, of slavish patience is one of the characteristic features of the moral character of revolutionary democrats. This sentiment is shared by the people. In the story “About the Servant of the Exemplary Jacob the Faithful,” the yard man of Baron Sineguzinatak says: “People of the servile rank are real dogs sometimes ... The harder the punishment, the dearer the Lord is to them.”
The poem says quite clearly what makes a peasant a rebel and what strength his indignation and rebellion can achieve: “Every peasant has a soul like a black cloud - thunders rumble from there, pour bloody rains ...”
Nekrasov sacredly believes in “the strength of the people - a mighty force”, in the glorious future of the people: “The Russian people have not yet been given limits: there is a wide path ahead of them!” The poet wants to instill this faith in others, to inspire his contemporaries not to turn away from people of a simple rank: “Such good soil is the soul of the Russian people ... O sower, come! ..”
But indeed, our people survived, withstood both wars and bloody revolutions. He survived, did not bend, there were hard-working and smart people, greedy for knowledge. I believe that Russia will turn into a powerful, flourishing power, which it should be. We are Russians...
“Who should live well in Russia” - a work about the people and for the people
The poem “To whom it is good to live in Russia” is the pinnacle of N. A. Nekrasov’s work. This is a true encyclopedia of Russian life, a work grandiose in its breadth of conception, depth of penetration into the psychology of people of various classes of the then Russia, truthfulness, brightness and variety of types. Nekrasov devoted 13 years of tireless work to the poem, putting into it all the information about the Russian people, accumulated, as the poet said, “by word of mouth” for 20 years. The idea of the poem changed several times. The poet conceived it after the "liberation" of the peasants and initially wanted to show that in "liberated" Russia everyone is unhappy. Only a poor man who drank himself naked should have called himself “happy”. With bitter irony, Nekrasov thus seemed to admit that only by intoxicating himself with vodka can the unfortunate ones find momentary oblivion. But the poem was being written in the 70s, during the years of the rise of the liberation movement, when hundreds and thousands of young men and women were carried away by democratic ideas and found the highest happiness in serving the people. In his poem, Nekrasov shows the post-reform life of the people, their plight, as can be seen from the names of villages, volosts, counties.
These are "temporary"
tightened province,
County Terpigorev,
empty parish,
from adjacent villages
Zaplatova, Dyryavina,
Razutova, Znobishina,
Gorelova, Neelova.
Also crop failure.
Wandering in search of a happy man, the peasants pass through the "Frightened" and "Illiterate" provinces, meet with the inhabitants of the villages of Bosovo, Dymoglotovo, Adovshchina, Stolbnyaki. It is no wonder that “whole villages go to beg in the autumn, as to a profitable trade” ... In a number of places in the poem, the bleak, hungry life of the people is shown. Peasant happiness is “leaky with patches, humpbacked with calluses”, there are no happy ones among the peasants. The situation of the people is eloquently described in the songs: “Hungry”, “Corvee”, “Soldier”, “Merry”, “Salty” and others. Here, for example, is how a man is shown in one of the songs:
From the bast to the gate
The skin is all torn
The belly swells from the chaff.
twisted, twisted,
Slashed, tormented,
Hardly Kalina wanders.
Immeasurable people's suffering. Hard, exhausting work does not save us from the eternal threat of complete ruin or starvation. But no matter how terrible this life, it did not kill the best human qualities in the people: responsiveness to the suffering of others, human dignity, readiness to fight against oppressors.
Saved in bondage
Free heart -
Gold, gold
The heart of the people!
Only peasants help a retired soldier who is "sick of the world" because he "has no bread, no cow." They also help Yermila Girin, who "fought" with the merchant Altynnikov. Peasants are "people ... great" at work. "The habit ... of work" never leaves the peasant. The poet showed how the discontent of the people begins to turn into open indignation:
Sometimes it will pass
Team. Guess:
Must have rebelled
Gratitude in abundance
Village somewhere!
With undisguised sympathy, Nekrasov treats such peasants who do not put up with their lack of rights and a hungry existence. First of all, we should note the seven truth-seekers who thought about the fundamental question of life: “Who lives happily, freely in Russia?” Among the peasants who have risen to the consciousness of their lack of rights is Yakim Nagoi. He understood who gets the fruits of people's labor:
You work alone
And a little work is over,
Look, there are three equity holders:
God, king and lord!
Agap also belongs to the same type of peasants, who answered the scolding of Prince Utyatin - the “last child” - with angry words:
Hush! Shut up!..
...Today you are in charge,
And tomorrow we'll follow
Pink - and the ball is over!
A special place is occupied by the images of fighters for a common cause. These are Yermil Girin, who was imprisoned for protecting the interests of the peasants, Saveliy, the “Holy Russian hero,” and the robber Kudeyar. Saveliy is one of those peasants who stood up well for "the patrimony". This is a rebel who was not broken by hard labor or exile. He "bends, but does not break, does not break, does not fall." When popular patience dries up, peasants like Saveliy rise up in open struggle against the oppressors. So it was with Saveliy, who "buried the German Vogel alive in the ground." “Our axes lay for the time being!” he says about himself. Until the end of his days, Savely retains firmness of spirit, courage, strong will, clear mind, inner pride and nobility. “Branded, but not a slave,” he says to his family. Savely is the personification of the best qualities of the Russian people - diligence, cheerfulness, an unquenchable desire for freedom and independence. The robber Kudeyar is also a fighter for the humiliated and disenfranchised. Nekrasov also saw the shady sides of peasant life: superstition, ignorance, drunkenness. They are generated by the "support" and will disappear when the last remnants of serfdom disappear. Not all peasants are rebels. There are those who have become accustomed to their disenfranchised position. Nekrasov's muse was "the muse of revenge and sorrow," and the poet could not help but resent the long-suffering of a part of the people. There are especially many voluntary slaves among the courtyards:
People of the servile rank -
Real dogs sometimes!
The more severe the punishment
So dear to them, gentlemen.
Nekrasov indignantly draws such serfs. In the chapter "Happy" - the court prince Peremetyev, in the chapter "Last child" - Ipat, the servant of Prince Utyatin. The first is happy that Prince Peremetiev had him "a favorite slave." The image of Ipat, the lackey of Prince Utyatin, is perfectly revealed in his own words: “I am the serf of the princes Utyatin - and that’s the whole story!” The image of this "sensitive lackey", who enthusiastically recalls the bullying of the master over him, disgusts the poet. Nekrasov speaks with even greater indignation about those peasants who are capable of betraying their brothers in position. Such is the headman Gleb, out of self-interest, who agreed to destroy the freedom given by his master to the peasants.
For decades, until recently
Eight thousand souls were secured by the villain...
And the poet notes with pleasure that the people themselves mercilessly crack down on traitors and spies. This is how the peasants treat Yegorka Shutov, saying: “Don’t beat him, so who should you beat?” In the poem "To whom it is good to live in Russia," the poet's concern about the peasant woman was also expressed. Many episodes and the entire second part of the poem are devoted to the fate of the peasant woman. The life of Matrena Timofeevna is typical of a Russian peasant woman. Joyful was her life only in early childhood. She says:
Happiness in the girls fell out:
We had a good
A non-drinking family...
But even in this caring, affectionate family, she began to work "in her fifth year." Hard work, however, did not break her:
And a good worker
And sing and dance the huntress
I was young...
But she didn't have much happiness in her life. When she got married, she "fell from a girl's fate into hell." Bullying by her husband's relatives, the death of a beloved child, beatings, eternal hard labor, early widowhood - that's how her life turned out. There is no happiness for a peasant woman in Russia - Nekrasov leads the reader to this conclusion. Matryona Timofeevna tells the wanderers the same thing: “It’s not a matter of looking for a happy woman among women!” But a difficult life, full of hardships and hardships, did not break her will, did not belittle the dignity of a Russian woman. Treasures of kindness and nobility lurk in her soul. And no matter how great the grief of the poet, when he thinks about the disenfranchised life of the Russian peasant woman, he firmly believes in her future. A fighter for the happiness of the people is depicted in Nekrasov's poem by the seminarian Grisha Dobrosklonov, the son of an "unrequited laborer" and a rural deacon who lived "poorer than the seedy last peasant." A hungry childhood, a harsh youth brought him closer to the people, accelerated his spiritual maturation and determined Grisha's life path. He wants to be the first there, "where it is difficult to breathe, where grief is heard." He does not need wealth and personal well-being. Nekrasov's hero is preparing to give his life for "so that every peasant lives freely and cheerfully in all of holy Russia!" Grisha is not alone. Hundreds of people have already come out on honest paths. For them, like Grisha, fate prepared
The path is glorious, the name is loud
people's protector,
Consumption and Siberia.
But Grisha is not afraid of the upcoming trials, he knows that his homeland "is destined to suffer a lot more", but he believes that it will not perish, and therefore he feels "immense strength in his chest." He knows that a people of many millions is awakening:
The army rises
innumerable,
The strength will affect her
Invincible!
This thought fills him with joy and confidence in victory. To the main question of the poem - who lives well in Russia? - Nekrasov answers not in monosyllables, but like a real artist, drawing a lively, multifaceted image of the "people's protector". That is why the poet says: "To be our wanderer under the native roof, if they could know what was happening with Grisha." Difficult, but beautiful is the path that Grisha Dobrosklonov follows, for only he can be happy, says Nekrasov, who devotes himself to the struggle for the good and happiness of the people. The poem "To whom it is good to live in Russia" is a work about the people, their life, work, struggle. In an effort to create a work that is understandable and close to the people, Nekrasov turned to the treasures created by the people themselves - oral folk art. In folklore, as in a mirror, the spiritual life of the people, their thoughts, hopes, way of life are reflected. Nekrasov called folklore "the repository of the Russian people." The connection of the poem with folklore was manifested in the plot, marked by the stamp of fabulousness. Such characters as a wonderful bird, speaking in a human voice, and a self-assembled tablecloth, which made it easier for wanderers to find a happy one, are also fabulous. The beginning of the poem is also characteristic of folklore literature. Strengthening the impression of him, Nekrasov resorts to the technique of repeated repetition. When meeting with each new person, the wanderers repeat who they are, where they come from, what they argued about. They also repeat the story about that "caring woman" who got them out of their homes, "unfriended" them with work, "repulsed them from food." The poem uses a large number of folk riddles. Most often, Nekrasov gives them along with a guess:
The castle is a harmful dog,
Doesn't bark, doesn't bite
He won't let you in the house!
The language of the poem is distinguished by the accuracy and simplicity that characterize the speech of the people. The poem, the main character of which is the people, could not have been written differently. The speech of the peasants is full of jokes, sayings, sometimes "juicy" words and vulgarisms:
Grunt
Lie down in a ditch, drink water,
Perhaps, the foolishness will jump off!
Nekrasov used all the techniques of oral folk poetry: constant epithets (“cheese earth”, “black crows”, “violent winds”), negative comparisons (“violent winds do not blow, not mother earth sways”), beginnings, repetitions, hyperbole and etc. The verse of the poem is musical and melodious, deeply emotional. It expresses joy and sadness, anger and pity, contempt and love, painted either in the tones of mercilessly scourging satire, or in light crafty humor. Only this can be a truly folk work.
