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In Rasputin, the heroes say goodbye to their mother. Three generations of heroes of the story “Farewell to Mother” - three views on the solution to the problem “man and native land”

The story “Farewell to Matera” is included in the group of works belonging to “village prose”. Authors such as F. Abramov, V. Belov, V. Tendryakov, V. Rasputin, V. Shukshin raised the problems of the Soviet village. But their focus is not on social, but on moral issues. After all, it is in the village, in their opinion, that the spiritual foundations are still preserved. Analysis of the story "Farewell to Matera" helps to better understand this idea.

The plot of the work is based on real events. In 1960, during the construction of the Bratsk hydroelectric power station, it was flooded home village writer - Old Atalanka. Residents of many surrounding villages were moved to a new territory from the flood zone. A similar situation is described in the story “Farewell to Matera,” created in 1976: the village of Matera, located on the island of the same name, must go under water, and its inhabitants are sent to a newly built village.

The meaning of the title of the story “Farewell to Matera”

The title of the story is symbolic. The word “Matera” is associated with the concepts of “mother” and “seasoned”. The image of the mother is associated with central character- old woman Daria, keeper of the traditions on which the life of the home, family, village, and the world rests. In addition, Matera is associated with a folklore and mythological figure - Mother Earth, which was considered by the Slavs a symbol of femininity and fertility. “Mother” means strong, experienced, and has seen a lot.

The word “farewell” evokes associations with eternal separation, death and memory. It also correlates with the word “forgiveness”, with final repentance. Let's continue the analysis of "Farewell to Matera" below.

Problems of Rasputin's story

Rasputin’s story “Farewell to Matera” touches on a wide range of problems, primarily moral problems. The central issue is the preservation of spiritual memory, respect for what has been created on earth by the creative labor of many generations.

Related to this is the question of the price of progress. It is unacceptable, according to the writer, to improve technical achievements by destroying the memory of the past. Progress is possible only when the forward movement of technology is inextricably linked with the spiritual development of man.

The question of the spiritual bonds of people, the relationship between “fathers and sons” is also important. We see three generations in the work. The elders include old women (Nastasya, Sima, Katerina, Daria). They are the keepers of memory, family, home, land.

To the middle - Pavel Pinigin, Petrukha, Claudia. Among them there are people who have no respect for the past, and this is one of the key thoughts in the analysis of “Farewell to Matera.” So, in order to get money, Petrukha set fire to his own hut, which they were going to take to the museum. He even “forgets” his mother on the island. It is no coincidence that old woman Daria calls him dissolute. This word conveys the idea that a person has lost his way in life. It is symbolic that Petrukha almost forgot given name(after all, Petrukha is a nickname, in fact his name is Nikita Alekseevich). That is, without respect for one’s ancestors, without memory of the past, a person has no future. The image of Pavel Pinigin is much more complex. This is the son of old woman Daria. He loves Matera, he good son and a good worker in his land. But Pavel, like everyone else, is forced to move to a new village. He constantly travels through the Angara to Matera to visit his mother and finish business, but he must work in the village. Pavel is shown as if at a crossroads: ties with his old life are almost severed, he has not yet settled into his new place. At the end of the story, he got lost in thick fog on the river, which symbolizes ambiguity, uncertainty later life.

The younger generation is Andrey, Daria’s grandson. He is focused on the future, strives to be in the whirlpool of events, wants to be in time and also take part in the construction of a hydroelectric power station. Concepts such as youth, energy, strength, and action are associated with his image. He loves Matera, but for him she remains in the distant past. Old woman Daria is especially offended that, when leaving the village, Andrei did not say goodbye to her, did not walk around the island, did not look at last time the places where he grew up and spent his childhood.

“Rasputin’s old women” in the analysis of the story “Farewell to Matera”

“Rasputin’s old women” are wise keepers of memory, traditions, and a way of life that is a thing of the past. But the main thing is the bearers of the spiritual principle, who reflect on man, on truth and conscience. The main character of the story “Farewell to Matero,” the old woman Daria, is standing at the last frontier; she has little left to live. The old woman saw a lot, raised six children, three of whom she had already buried, and survived the war and the death of loved ones.

Daria believes that she is obliged to preserve the memory of the past, because while she is alive, those whom she remembers have not disappeared without a trace: her parents, her matchmaker Ivan, her deceased son and many others. It is no coincidence that Daria dresses up her hut in last way like a dead man. And after that he no longer allows anyone to enter it.

All her life, Daria tried to follow her father’s behest that one must live according to one’s conscience. Now it’s difficult for her not because of old age, but because of the heaviness of her thoughts. She is trying to find answers to the main questions: how to live correctly, what is a person’s place in this world, is a connection between the past, present and future possible, or should each next generation go its own way.

Symbolism in Rasputin’s story “Farewell to Matera”

Symbolic images play a significant role in the work. If you are doing an analysis of "Farewell to Matera", do not miss this idea. Such symbols include the image of the Master of the island, royal foliage, hut, fog.

The owner in the story “Farewell to Matera” is a small animal that guards and guards the island. Anticipating everything that will happen here, he walks around his possessions. The image of the Master is combined with ideas about brownies - good spirits protecting the house.

Royal foliage is an immense, mighty tree. Workers who came to destroy the forest before flooding could not cut it down. Foliage correlates with the image of the world tree - the fundamental principle of life. It is also a symbol of man’s struggle with nature and the impossibility of defeating it.

A hut is a home, the basis of life, the keeper of the hearth, family, and memory of generations. It is no coincidence that Daria treats her hut as a living being.

Fog symbolizes uncertainty, blurriness of the future. At the end of the story, the people who sailed to the island to fetch the old women wander for a long time in the fog and cannot find their way.

We hope that the analysis of the story “Farewell to Matera” by Rasputin given in this article turned out to be useful and interesting for you. On our literary blog you will find hundreds of articles on similar topics. You may also be interested in articles

The inhabitants of the island of Matera are people of different generations. Ancient old people, elderly people, mature people, youth, and children live here. All of them are united by one problem (one could say “trouble” if many did not treat it as something long-awaited) - the impending flooding of the island. Rasputin shows how differently different generations perceive the imminent separation from their native land.

Three bright representatives of different generations of one family - main character the story of Daria, her son Pavel and grandson Andrei. For all of them, Matera is their homeland. They were all born and raised here. But how differently these people, dear to each other, relate to their homeland!

Here is Daria, a stern, unyielding woman for whom you feel an involuntary respect when reading, perhaps because she does not allow herself to give in to weakness. Daria not only spent her entire life on Matera, she never even left it.* Matera feeds her all her life, generously giving her the most valuable things - bread and potatoes. In return, Daria put enormous effort into the land and looked after it.

But is it only the labor invested in the land that makes it dear to us? Yes, that too, but there is something that binds us even more strongly. These are family graves. You can't escape them. Only next to our loved ones do we want to lie in the ground, although, it would seem, won’t we all care after death? Daria is the person who thinks: no, it doesn’t matter. We are connected to our land by a chain of generations that came before us. People with high moral qualities, cannot help but have love for their land. Man, like a tree, is connected to the earth. No wonder Nastasya says: “Who replants an old tree?” It is not for nothing that the story draws an analogy between Daria and the “royal foliage” (the author does not compare them openly, but the comparison of a persistent tree and a stern old woman comes to mind naturally). Are only Daria and Nastasya so attached to their land? And Katerina, whose hut he set on fire native son? And the blasphemer Bogodul, who looks like a devil? For all of them, memory is sacred, the graves of their ancestors are inviolable. That's why they stay on the island until the last moment. They cannot betray their native land, even if it is devastated and burned to the ground.

Daria's son, Pavel, is a representative of the middle generation. He fluctuates in his beliefs between the old and the young, and is angry with himself for this. It pains him to part with Matera, but he is no longer as attached to the graves as his mother (maybe that’s why he never had time to move them). Pavel lives on two banks. Of course, he feels the pain of saying goodbye to Matera, but at the same time he feels that the truth is on the side of the young.

What about the young people? What is their relationship to the land that raised them? Here is Andrey. He lived in Matera for eighteen years. He ate bread and potatoes born from this land, he mowed, plowed and sowed, he put a lot of labor into the land, and received a lot, too, just like his grandmother. Why does Andrei not only part with Matera without pity, but is also going to take part in the construction of a hydroelectric power station, that is, become a participant in the flooding? The fact is that young people’s connection with the earth is always much weaker than that of old people. Perhaps this is due to the fact that old people already feel the approach of death and this gives them the right and opportunity to think about the eternal, about the memory that they will leave behind, about the meaning of their existence. Young people are mostly focused on the future. They have no time to sit on a piece of land that bears the abstract name Motherland and grieve about it. They strive forward to implement high ideas, like Andrey. Or, like Klavka and Petrukha, to a more comfortable life. These two are even ready to set fire to their huts in order to quickly break free. Petrukha eventually sets fire to the house in which he grew up. However, he does not feel the slightest regret. But his mother, Katerina, a representative of the older generation, suffers.

It has been the custom since time immemorial that the old are the keepers of traditions, and the youth move progress forward. But, even while pursuing the best goals, should we forget our homeland, our roots? After all, your land is your mother. It is not for nothing that the word “Matera” is consonant with the word “mother”. One can, of course, condemn old people for their unwillingness to face the future, but we all need to learn from them love and respect for the Motherland.

In his story "Farewell to Matera" V. Rasputin explores national peace, his value system and his fate in the crisis of the twentieth century. For this purpose, the writer recreates a transitional, borderline situation, when death has not yet occurred, but it can no longer be called life.

The plot of the work tells us about the island of Matera, which is about to sink due to the construction of a new hydroelectric power station. And along with the island, the life that has developed here for three hundred years will have to disappear, that is, plot-wise, this situation depicts the death of the old patriarchal life and the reign of a new life.

The inscription of Matera (the island) into the infinity of the natural world order, its location “within” it is complemented by the inclusion of Matera (the village) in the movement historical processes, not as coordinated as natural ones, but along with them are an organic part human existence in this world. Three hundred s extra years Matera (village), she saw the Cossacks sailing to settle Irkutsk, she saw exiles, prisoners and Kolchakites. It is important that the social history of the village (Cossacks setting up the Irkutsk prison, merchants, prisoners, Kolchakites and Red partisans) has a duration in the story that is not as extended as the natural world order, but presupposes the possibility of human existence in time.

Combining, the natural and social introduce into the story the motif of the natural existence of Matera (islands and villages) in a single stream of natural and historical existence. This motif is complemented by the motif of the ever-repeating, endless and stable cycle of life in this repetition (the image of water). At the level of the author’s consciousness, the moment of interruption of the eternal and natural movement opens, and modernity appears as a cataclysm that cannot be overcome, like the death of the previous state of the world. Thus, flooding begins to mean not only the disappearance of the natural (Matera-island), but also the ethical (Matera as a system of generic values, born both from being in nature and being in society).

In the story, two levels can be distinguished: life-like (documentary beginning) and conventional. A number of researchers define the story "Farewell to Matera" as a mythological story based on the myth of the end of the world (eschatological myth). The mythological (conventional) plan is manifested in the system of images and symbols, as well as in the plot of the story (the name of the island and the village, Larch, the owner of the island, the ritual of seeing off the deceased, which is the basis of the plot, the ritual of sacrifice, etc.). The presence of two plans - realistic (documentary-journalistic) and conventional (mythological) is evidence that the author explores not only the fate of a particular village, not only social problems, but also the problems of human existence and humanity in general: what can serve as the basis for the existence of humanity, current state existence, prospects (what awaits humanity?). The mythological archetype of the story expresses the author's ideas about the fate of the "peasant Atlantis" in modern civilization.


In his story, V. Rasputin explores past national life, traces changes in values ​​over time, and reflects on what price humanity will pay for the loss traditional system values. The main themes of the story are the themes of memory and farewell, duty and conscience, guilt and responsibility.

The author perceives the family as the basis of life and the preservation of tribal laws. In accordance with this idea, the writer builds a system of characters in the story, which represents a whole chain of generations. The author examines three generations born on Matera and traces their interactions with each other. Rasputin explores the fate of moral and spiritual values ​​in different generations. Rasputin is most interested in the older generation, because it is they who are the bearer and custodian of national values, which civilization is trying to destroy by liquidating the island. The older generation of “fathers” in the story is Daria, “the oldest of the old,” the old woman Nastasya and her husband Yegor, the old women Sima and Katerina. The generation of children is Daria's son Pavel, Katerina Petrukha's son. Generation of grandchildren: Daria’s grandson Andrey.

For the old women, the inevitable death of the island is the end of the world, since they cannot imagine themselves or their lives without Matera. For them, Matera is not just land, but it is part of their life, their soul, part of the common connection with those who have left this world and with those who are to come. This connection gives the old people the feeling that they are the owners of this land, and at the same time a sense of responsibility not only for their native land, but also for the dead who entrusted this land to them, but they could not preserve it. “They’ll ask: how did you allow such rudeness, where did you look? They’ll say they relied on you, what about you? But I can’t even answer. I was here, it was up to me to keep an eye on it. And if it gets flooded with water, it seems like it’s also my fault,” - Daria thinks. The connection with previous generations can be traced in the system moral values.

Mothers treat life as a service, as a kind of debt that must be carried to the end and which they have no right to shift to anyone else. Mothers also have their own special hierarchy of values, where in the first place is life in accordance with conscience, which used to be “very different”, not like in the present time. Thus, basics of this type national consciousness(ontological worldview) become the perception of the natural world as spiritual, recognition of one’s specific place in this world and the subordination of individual aspirations to collective ethics and culture. It was these qualities that helped the nation continue its history and exist in harmony with nature.

V. Rasputin is clearly aware of the impossibility of this type of worldview in new history, so he is trying to explore other variants of popular consciousness.

A period of heavy thoughts, vague state of mind Not only the old women are worried, but also Pavel Pinigin. His assessment of what is happening is ambiguous. On the one hand, it is closely connected with the village. Arriving in Matera, he feels like time is closing behind him. On the other hand, he does not feel that pain behind native home, with which the souls of old women are filled. Pavel recognizes the inevitability of change and understands that the flooding of the island is necessary for the common good. He considers his doubts about resettlement to be a weakness, because young people “do not even think of doubting.” This type of worldview still retains the essential features of ontological consciousness (rootedness in work and home), but at the same time resigns itself to the onset of machine civilization, accepting the norms of existence set by it.

Unlike Pavel, according to Rasputin, the young people had completely lost their sense of responsibility. This can be seen in the example of Daria’s grandson Andrey, who left the village a long time ago, worked at a factory and now wants to get into the construction of a hydroelectric power station. Andrey has his own concept of the world, according to which he sees the future exclusively as technological progress. Life, from Andrey's point of view, is in constant movement and one cannot lag behind (Andrei’s desire to go to the hydroelectric power station - the country’s leading construction project).

Daria, on the other hand, sees the death of man in technological progress, since gradually man will obey technology, and not control it. “He’s a small man,” says Daria. “Small”, that is, one who has not gained wisdom, far from the boundless mind of nature. He still does not understand that it is not in his power to control modern technology which will crush him. This contrast between Daria’s ontological consciousness and the “new” consciousness of her grandson reveals the author’s assessment of the technocratic illusions of the reorganization of life. The author's sympathies are, of course, on the side of the older generation.

However, Daria sees not only technology as the cause of a person’s death, but mainly in alienation, his removal from home, his native land. It is no coincidence that Daria was so offended by Andrei’s departure, who did not even look at Matera once, did not walk over her, did not say goodbye to her. Seeing the ease with which the younger generation lives, falling into the world of technological progress and forgetting the moral experience of previous generations, Daria thinks about the truth of life, trying to find it, because she feels responsible for the younger generation. This truth is revealed to Daria in the cemetery and it lies in memory: “Truth is in memory. He who has no memory has no life.”

The older generation in modern society sees the blurring of the boundaries between good and evil, the combination of these principles, incompatible with each other, into a single whole. The embodiment of the destroyed system of moral values ​​were the so-called “new” masters of life, the destroyers of the cemetery, who deal with Matera as if it were their own property, not recognizing the rights of the elderly to this land, and therefore, not taking their opinions into account. The lack of responsibility on the part of such “new” owners can also be seen in the way the village was built on the other bank, which was built not with the expectation of making life comfortable for people, but with the expectation of completing the construction faster. Marginal characters of the story (Petrukha, Vorontsov, cemetery destroyers) - the next stage of deformation folk character. The marginalized (“Arkharovites” in “Fire”) are people who have no soil, no moral and spiritual roots, so they are deprived of family, home, and friends. It is this type of consciousness, according to V. Rasputin, that the new technological era is giving birth to, completing the positive national history and signifying the catastrophe of the traditional way of life and its value system.

At the end of the story, Matera is flooded, that is, the destruction of the old patriarchal world and the birth of a new one (village).

Pinigina Daria

The main character of the work is an eighty-year-old elderly woman named Pinigina Daria Vasilievna, presented by the writer in the image of a native inhabitant of the island of Matera.

Daria Vasilievna is described in the story as a tall, lean old woman with a bloodless face, toothless mouth, dry lips, who lived through a difficult life. human life, but without losing her own energy. Despite her age, Daria Pinigina independently takes care of her large farm in the form of a vegetable garden, livestock and household work. Characteristics the heroine is her truthfulness, conscientiousness and justice, which attract people to her local residents islands who love to come for a cup of tea from Daria Vasilievna’s favorite samovar. The heroine has a special love for her native places, where her ancestors are buried, and prefers to stay on Matera, despite the flooding of the island.

Pavel Mironovich

Also, the key character of the story is the son of Daria Pinigina, Pavel Mironovich, a fifty-year-old man working on a state farm as a tractor driver, tired of the constant change from state farm foreman to garage manager. Pavel is characterized in the story as a simple, honest, hardworking man who treats his mother well and tries to provide her with any help. Pavel Mironovich has a family consisting of a wife and three sons, the youngest of whom, Andrei, having returned from the army, lives with his parents. In the situation with the island, associated with its flooding and the resettlement of local residents, Pavel feels great pity for Matera, is tired of his own experiences and rejoices when he realizes that certainty is coming.

Andrey Pinigin

Pavel's son, Andrei Pinigin, is one of the minor heroes of the work, and is a young twenty-two-year-old man, healthy in appearance, recently returned from the army, distinguished by his head held high and a soldier's bearing. Andrey is characterized in the story as a reasonable, adult person who builds his own life according to a plan developed in advance by him, wishing to implement labor activity at an important facility for the state, where advanced youth work without wasting energy on living in the wilderness.

Bohodul

Also minor character The story presents the old man Bogodul, who settled on the island in ancient times, but is not its native inhabitant. Bogodul positions himself as a representative of the Polish nation, does not like to speak Russian, but loves to use it in his speech swear words and expressions. The old man's appearance resembles a fairy-tale goblin, distinguished by a shaggy head, red eyes, huge hands and almost no all year round shoes on your feet. Local women are sympathetic to Bogodul, but the men avoid him, not understanding the eccentric nature of Bogodul.

Petrukha

One of the inhabitants of Matera is Petrukha, minor character story, a forty-year-old man, the son of one of the old women Katerina, who has the name given at birth Nikita Alekseevich Zotov. The local population calls him Petrukha, because in life the man manifests himself as a worthless, dissolute slob, who does not work, has no property except his beloved accordion, loves to chat and drink, characterized by laziness and stupidity. After the resettlement begins, Petrukha sets fire to her own hut in order to receive compensation, presenting it as an accident, and then sets fire to the houses of her neighbors.

Katerina Zotova

In addition, the island's inhabitants are portrayed in the story by Katerina Zotova, Petrukha's mother, who is a sweet and kind old woman, and the spouses Egor and Nastasya, who moved to the city from Matera due to the flooding, where old Egor, homesick for his homeland, dies, and Nastasya returns to the island to the remaining residents, as well as the old woman Sima with her grandson Kolya, left to her by her dumb daughter, and Boris Andreevich Vorontsov, who holds the position of chairman of the state farm.

Master island

Throughout the story, the writer uses the image of the Master of the island, described as invisible, fairy-tale creature, guarded by Materu, conducting nightly inspections of the doomed island settlement.

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