“He was also lucky”... With such ironic words the image of grandfather Savely is introduced into Nekrasov’s poem. He lived a long, difficult life and is now living out his life in the family of Matryona Timofeevna. The image of Savely, the Holy Russian hero in the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” by Nekrasov is very important, because he embodies the idea of Russian heroism. The theme of strength, endurance and long-suffering of the people in the poem grows from chapter to chapter (remember the story of the strongman at the fair, which serves as a prerequisite for the story of Savely) and is ultimately resolved in the image of the hero Savely.
Savely comes from a remote forest region, where even “the devil looked for a way for three years.” The very name of this region breathes power: Korega, from “to distort”, i.e. bend, break. A bear can damage something, and Savely himself “looked like a bear.” He is also compared with other animals, for example, with elk, and it is emphasized that he is much more dangerous than a predator when he walks through the forest “with a knife and a spear.” This strength stems from a deep knowledge of one’s land, complete unity with nature. Savely’s love for his land is visible, his words “My forest!” sound much more convincing than the same statement from the lips of the landowner Obolt-Obolduev.
But the master’s hand will reach into any, even the most impassable region. Savely's free life ends with the arrival of a German manager in Korega. At first, he seemed harmless and did not even demand the due tribute, but set a condition: to work off the money by chopping wood. Simple-minded men built a road out of the forest and then they realized how much they had been deceived: gentlemen came to Korezhina along this road, the German brought his wife and children, and began to suck all the juice out of the village.
“And then came hard labor
To the Korezh peasant -
Ruined me to the bone!”
For a long time, the peasants endured the bullying of the German - he beats them and forces them to work beyond measure. A Russian peasant can endure a lot, that’s why he is a hero, says Savely.
This is what he says to Matryona, to which the woman answers ironically: even a mouse can eat such a hero. In this episode, Nekrasov outlines an important problem of the Russian people: their irresponsibility, unpreparedness for decisive action. It is not for nothing that Savely’s characterization coincides with the image of the most motionless of epic heroes– Svyatogor, who at the end of his life grew into the ground.
“To not endure is an abyss; to endure is an abyss.” This is how the hero Savely thinks, and this simple but wise folk philosophy leads him to rebellion. Under the word he invented, “Pump it up!” the hated German manager is buried in the ground. And although Savely ends up in hard labor for this act, the beginning of liberation has already been made. For the rest of his life, the grandfather will be proud that he, although “branded, is not a slave!”
But how does his life develop next? He spent more than twenty years in hard labor, and another twenty were taken away from his settlements. But even there Savely did not give up, he worked, was able to raise money, and, returning to his homeland, built a hut for himself and his family. And yet his life was not allowed to end peacefully: while his grandfather had money, he enjoyed the love of his family, and when they ran out, he was met with dislike and ridicule. The only joy for him, as well as for Matryona, is Demushka. He sits on the old man’s shoulder “like an apple in the top of an old apple tree.”
But something terrible happens: through his, Savely’s, fault, the grandson dies. And it was this event that broke the man who had gone through the whips and hard labor. The grandfather will spend the rest of his life in a monastery and wandering, praying for remission of sins. That is why Nekrasov calls it Holy Russian, showing another feature inherent in all people: deep, sincere religiosity. Grandfather Savely lived for “one hundred and seven years,” but his longevity did not bring him happiness, and his strength, as he himself recalls bitterly, “was gone in small ways.”
In the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus',” Savely embodies precisely this deeply hidden strength of the Russian peasant and his enormous, although so far unrealized, potential. It is worth waking up the people, convincing them to abandon humility for a while, and then they will win happiness for themselves, this is what Nekrasov is talking about with the help of the image of the hero Savely.
Work test
The next chapter written by Nekrasov is "Peasant Woman"- also seems to be a clear deviation from the scheme outlined in the “Prologue”: the wanderers are again trying to find a happy one among the peasants. As in other chapters, the beginning plays an important role. It, as in “The Last One,” becomes the antithesis of the subsequent narrative, allowing us to discover more and more new contradictions in “mysterious Rus'.” The chapter begins with a description of the ruined landowner's estate: after the reform, the owners abandoned the estate and the servants to the mercy of fate, and the servants ruined and destroyed beautiful house, once a well-kept garden and park. The funny and tragic aspects of the life of an abandoned servant are closely intertwined in the description. Household servants are a special peasant type. Torn out of their usual environment, they lose the skills of peasant life and the main one among them - the “noble habit of work.” Forgotten by the landowner and unable to feed themselves by labor, they live by stealing and selling the owner’s things, heating the house by breaking gazebos and turned balcony posts. But there are also truly dramatic moments in this description: for example, the story of a singer with a rare in a beautiful voice. The landowners took him out of Little Russia, were going to send him to Italy, but forgot, busy with their troubles.
Against the background of the tragicomic crowd of ragged and hungry courtyard servants, “whining servants,” the “healthy, singing crowd of reapers and reapers” returning from the field seems even more “beautiful.” But even among these stately and beautiful people stands out Matrena Timofeevna, “glorified” by the “governor” and the “lucky one”. The story of her life, as told by herself, occupies a central place in the narrative. Dedicating this chapter to a peasant woman, Nekrasov, it seems, not only wanted to open the soul and heart of a Russian woman to the reader. A woman’s world is a family, and when talking about herself, Matryona Timofeevna talks about those sides folk life, which have so far only been indirectly touched upon in the poem. But they are the ones who determine a woman’s happiness and unhappiness: love, family, everyday life.
Matryona Timofeevna does not recognize herself as happy, just as she does not recognize any of the women as happy. But she knew short-lived happiness in her life. Matryona Timofeevna’s happiness is a girl’s will, parental love and care. Her girlhood life was not carefree and easy: from childhood, from the age of seven, she performed peasant work:
I was lucky in the girls:
We had a good
Non-drinking family.
For father, for mother,
Like Christ in his bosom,
I lived, well done.<...>
And on the seventh for the beetroot
I myself ran into the herd,
I took my father to breakfast,
She was feeding the ducklings.
Then mushrooms and berries,
Then: “Get a rake
Yes, turn up the hay!”
So I got used to it...
And a good worker
And the sing-dance huntress
I was young.
She calls it “happiness” last days girl’s life, when her fate was being decided, when she “bargained” with her future husband - argued with him, “bargained” for her freedom in married life:
- Just stand there, good fellow,
Directly against me<...>
Think, dare:
To live with me - not to repent,
And I don’t have to cry with you...<...>
While we were bargaining,
It must be so I think
Then there was happiness.
And hardly ever again!
Her married life is indeed full of tragic events: the death of a child, a severe flogging, a punishment she voluntarily accepted to save her son, the threat of remaining a soldier. At the same time, Nekrasov shows that the source of Matryona Timofeevna’s misfortunes is not only the “fortress”, the powerless position of a serf woman, but also the powerless position of the youngest daughter-in-law in a large peasant family. The injustice that triumphs in large peasant families, the perception of a person primarily as a worker, the non-recognition of his desires, his “will” - all these problems are revealed by the confessional story of Matryona Timofeevna. Loving wife and mother, she is doomed to an unhappy and powerless life: to please her husband’s family and the unfair reproaches of the elders in the family. That is why, even having freed herself from serfdom, having become free, she will grieve about the lack of a “will,” and therefore happiness: “The keys to women’s happiness, / From our free will, / Abandoned, lost / From God himself.” And she speaks not only about herself, but about all women.
This disbelief in the possibility of a woman’s happiness is shared by the author. It is no coincidence that Nekrasov excludes from the final text of the chapter the lines about how Matryona Timofeevna’s difficult position in her husband’s family happily changed after returning from the governor’s wife: in the text there is no story either that she became the “big lady” in the house, or that she “conquered” her husband’s “grumpy, abusive” family. All that remains are the lines that the husband’s family, having recognized her participation in saving Philip from the soldiery, “bowed” to her and “apologized” to her. But the chapter ends with a “Woman’s Parable”, asserting the inevitability of bondage-misfortune for a woman even after the abolition of serfdom: “And to our women’s will / There are still no keys!<...>/Yes, they are unlikely to be found...”
Researchers noted Nekrasov’s plan: creating image of Matryona Timofeevna y, he aimed for the widest generalization: her fate becomes a symbol of the fate of every Russian woman. The author carefully and thoughtfully selects episodes of her life, “leading” his heroine along the path that any Russian woman takes: a short carefree childhood, labor skills instilled from childhood, girlish will and a long-term powerless situation married woman, women workers in the field and in the house. Matrena Timofeevna experiences all possible dramatic and tragic situations that befall a peasant woman: humiliation in her husband’s family, beatings of her husband, the death of a child, the harassment of a manager, flogging, and even, albeit briefly, the share of a soldier. “The image of Matryona Timofeevna was created like this,” writes N.N. Skatov, “that she seemed to have experienced everything and been in all the states that a Russian woman could have been in.” Included in Matryona Timofeevna's story folk songs, cries, most often “replacing” her own words, her own story, - further expand the narrative, allowing us to comprehend both the happiness and misfortune of one peasant woman as a story about the fate of a serf woman.
In general, the story of this woman depicts life according to God’s laws, “in a divine way,” as Nekrasov’s heroes say:
<...>I endure and do not complain!
All the power given by God,
I put it to work
All the love for the kids!
And the more terrible and unfair are the misfortunes and humiliations that befell her. "<...>In me / There is no unbroken bone, / There is no unstretched vein, / There is no unspoiled blood.<...>“This is not a complaint, but a true result of Matryona Timofeevna’s experience. The deep meaning of this life - love for children - is also affirmed by Nekrasov with the help of parallels from natural world: the story of Dyomushka’s death is preceded by a cry about a nightingale, whose chicks burned on a tree lit by a thunderstorm. The chapter telling about the punishment taken to save another son, Philip, from whipping, is called “The She-Wolf.” And here the hungry wolf, ready to sacrifice her life for the sake of the wolf cubs, appears as a parallel to the fate of the peasant woman who lay down under the rod to free her son from punishment.
The central place in the chapter “Peasant Woman” is occupied by the story of Saveliya, the Holy Russian hero. Why is Matryona Timofeevna entrusted with the story about the fate of the Russian peasant, the “hero of Holy Russia,” his life and death? It seems that this is largely because it is important for Nekrasov to show the “hero” Saveliy Korchagin not only in his confrontation with Shalashnikov and the manager Vogel, but also in the family, in everyday life. Your big family“grandfather” Savely is a pure and holy man, he was needed while he had money: “As long as there was money, / They loved grandfather, they cared for him, / Now they spit in his eyes!” Savely's inner loneliness in the family enhances the drama of his fate and at the same time, like the fate of Matryona Timofeevna, gives the reader the opportunity to learn about the everyday life of the people.
But it is no less important that the “story within a story,” connecting two destinies, shows the relationship between two extraordinary people, who for the author himself were the embodiment of the ideal folk type. It is Matryona Timofeevna’s story about Savelya that allows us to emphasize what brought us together in general different people: not only the powerless position in the Korchagin family, but also a commonality of characters. Matryona Timofeevna, whose whole life is filled only with love, and Saveliy Korchagin, whom hard life has made “stony”, “fierce than a beast”, are similar in the main thing: their “angry heart”, their understanding of happiness as a “will”, as spiritual independence.
It is no coincidence that Matryona Timofeevna considers Savely lucky. Her words about “grandfather”: “He was also lucky...” are not bitter irony, for in Savely’s life, full of suffering and trials, there was something that Matryona Timofeevna herself values above all else - moral dignity, spiritual freedom. Being a “slave” of the landowner according to the law, Savely did not know spiritual slavery.
Savely, according to Matryona Timofeevna, called his youth “prosperity,” although he experienced a lot of insults, humiliations, and punishments. Why does he consider the past to be “blessed times”? Yes, because, fenced off by “marsh swamps” and “dense forests” from their landowner Shalashnikov, the residents of Korezhina felt free:
We were only worried
Bears...yes with bears
We managed it easily.
With a knife and a spear
I myself am scarier than the elk,
Along protected paths
I go: “My forest!” - I shout.
“Prosperity” was not overshadowed by the annual flogging that Shalashnikov inflicted on his peasants, beating out rent with rods. But the peasants are “proud people,” having endured a flogging and pretending to be beggars, they knew how to keep their money and, in turn, “amused” the master who was unable to take the money:
Weak people gave up
And the strong for the patrimony
They stood well.
I also endured
He remained silent and thought:
“No matter how you take it, son of a dog,
But you can’t knock out your whole soul,
Leave something"<...>
But we lived as merchants...
The “happiness” that Savely speaks of, which is, of course, illusory, is a year of free life without a landowner and the ability to “endure”, withstand the flogging and save the money earned. But the peasant could not be given any other “happiness”. And yet, Koryozhina soon lost even such “happiness”: “hard labor” began for the men when Vogel was appointed manager: “He ruined him to the bone!” / And he tore... like Shalashnikov himself!/<...>/ The German has a death grip: / Until he lets him go around the world, / Without leaving, he sucks!”
Savely does not glorify patience as such. Not everything a peasant can and should endure. Savely clearly distinguishes between the ability to “understand” and “tolerate.” To not endure means to succumb to pain, not to bear the pain and to morally submit to the landowner. To endure means to lose dignity and agree to humiliation and injustice. Both of these make a person a “slave”.
But Saveliy Korchagin, like no one else, understands the whole tragedy of eternal patience. With him, an extremely important thought enters the narrative: about the wasted strength of the peasant hero. Savely not only glorifies Russian heroism, but also mourns this hero, humiliated and mutilated:
That's why we endured
That we are heroes.
This is Russian heroism.
Do you think, Matryonushka,
The man is not a hero?
And his life is not a military one,
And death is not written for him
In battle - what a hero!
The peasantry in his thoughts appears as a fabulous hero, chained and humiliated. This hero is bigger than heaven and earth. A truly cosmic image appears in his words:
Hands are twisted in chains,
Feet forged with iron,
Back...dense forests
We walked along it - we broke down.
What about the breasts? Elijah the prophet
It rattles and rolls around
On a chariot of fire...
The hero endures everything!
The hero holds up the sky, but this work costs him great torment: “While he was under terrible pressure / He lifted it up, / Yes, he went into the ground up to his chest / With effort! There are no tears running down his face - blood is flowing!” However, is there any point in this great patience? It is no coincidence that Savely is disturbed by the thought of a life gone in vain, strength wasted in vain: “I was lying on the stove; / I lay there, thinking: / Where have you gone, strength? / What were you useful for? / - Under rods, under sticks / She left for little things!” And these bitter words are not only the result own life: this is grief for the ruined people's strength.
But the author’s task is not only to show the tragedy of the Russian hero, whose strength and pride “gone away in small ways.” It is no coincidence that at the end of the story about Savelia the name of Susanin, the peasant hero, appears: the monument to Susanin in the center of Kostroma reminded Matryona Timofeevna of “grandfather”. Saveliy’s ability to preserve freedom of spirit, spiritual independence, even in slavery, and not submit to his soul, is also heroism. It is important to emphasize this feature of the comparison. As noted by N.N. Skatov, the monument to Susanin in Matryona Timofeevna’s story does not look like the real one. “A real monument created by sculptor V.M. Demut-Malinovsky, writes the researcher, turned out to be more of a monument to the Tsar than to Ivan Susanin, who was depicted kneeling near the column with the bust of the Tsar. Nekrasov not only kept silent about the fact that the man was on his knees. In comparison with the rebel Savely, the image of the Kostroma peasant Susanin received, for the first time in Russian art, a unique, essentially anti-monarchist interpretation. At the same time, comparison with the hero of Russian history Ivan Susanin put the finishing touch on the monumental figure of the Korezhsky hero, the Holy Russian peasant Savely.”
(372 words) The heroes of N. Nekrasov’s poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” met on their way the “hero of the Holy Russian” Savely, whose image is of great importance in the work. He embodies the basic qualities of the Russian people, which distinguish them from all others. On the one hand, these properties are the key to happiness, and on the other hand, they are the curse of the common man.
At the time of the poem, Savely is already a hundred-year-old man. He lived a stormy life, which led him, proud and courageous, to humility and repentance. Being an ordinary peasant, he was completely subservient to the German clerk. The master sent him to manage his lands. Over the course of 17 years of activity, Vogel completely ruined his charges. The exhausting work and black ingratitude of the boss prompted Savely and other men to deal with the oppressor. In this situation, the phenomenal patience of the Russian people is demonstrated - they have endured terrible treatment for almost two decades! But here another one appears, dark side the souls of Russian people - the meaninglessness and mercilessness of rebellion, which A. Pushkin spoke about. They buried the living clerk in a hole that he ordered to be dug. Then the hero and his friends were sent to hard labor, which, despite all its torment, did not break the spirit of these people. Savely doesn’t give a damn corporal punishment: “The fighting there is bad,” he complains. It is also known that he escaped several times, and the punishment did not bother him either. This speaks of the courage, endurance and fortitude of a simple Russian peasant. His craving for freedom and inner independence amaze and make us admire him as folk hero. But after hard labor, life in a settlement and all the dramatic events, he comes to the most difficult test - pangs of conscience. They were awakened by the death of his great-grandson. Saveliy did not finish watching, and Dema was eaten by pigs. Then the strongman and the threat of the settlement begins to melt before our eyes and constantly disappears at the boy’s grave. He realizes his guilt not only before Matryona, but also before the entire Christian world for the blood that stained his strong hands. Unshakable moral basis His character makes itself felt when we see the scale of his repentance: he leaves the world for a monastery in order to completely surrender to grief and regret.
Saveliy's potential is enormous: he learned to read and write in prison, and had remarkable strength. But such heroes need to be given the right direction, because they themselves cannot complete their rebellion to the end, they cannot carry it out honestly and without unnecessary cruelty. Because people's defender is Grisha Dobrosklonov, who must persuade the people to do good, as follows from his last name.
Interesting? Save it on your wall!Essay on the topic: Savely. Work: Who lives well in Rus'
Savely - “the hero of the Holy Russian”, “With a huge gray mane, Tea has not been cut for twenty years, With a huge beard, Grandfather looked like a bear.” He was definitely similar in strength to a bear; in his youth he hunted it with his bare hands.
S. spent almost his entire life in Siberia in hard labor for burying a cruel German manager alive in the ground. Native village S. was in the wilderness. Therefore, the peasants lived in it relatively freely: “The zemstvo police did not come to us for a year.” But they resignedly endured the atrocities of their landowner. It is in patience, according to the author, that the heroism of the Russian people lies, but there is a limit to this patience. S. was sentenced to 20 years, and after an escape attempt, another 20 were added. But all this did not break the Russian hero. He believed that “Branded, but not a slave!” Returning home and living with his son’s family, S. behaved independently and independently: “He didn’t like families, he didn’t let them into his corner.” But S. treated his grandson’s wife, Matryona, and her son Demushka well. An accident made him responsible for the death of his beloved great-grandson (due to S. Demushka’s oversight, pigs killed him). In inconsolable grief, S. goes to repentance in a monastery, where he remains to pray for the entire destitute Russian people. At the end of his life, he pronounces a terrible sentence on the Russian peasantry: “For men there are three roads: Tavern, prison and penal servitude, And for women in Rus' there are three nooses... Climb into any one.”
The reader recognizes one of the main characters of Nekrasov’s poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” - Savely - when he is already an old man who has lived a long and difficult life. The poet paints a colorful portrait of this amazing old man:
With a huge gray mane,
Tea, twenty years uncut,
With a huge beard
Grandfather looked like a bear
Especially, like from the forest,
He bent over and went out.
Savely's life turned out to be very difficult; fate did not spoil him. In his old age, Savely lived with the family of his son, Matryona Timofeevna’s father-in-law. It is noteworthy that grandfather Savely does not like his family. Obviously, all household members have far from the most best qualities, and an honest and sincere old man feels this very well. In his family of origin Saveliy is called “branded, convict.” And he himself, not at all offended by this, says: “Branded, but not a slave.
It’s interesting to observe how Savely is not averse to making fun of his family members:
And they will annoy him greatly -
He jokes: “Look at this
Matchmakers are coming to us!” Unmarried
Cinderella - to the window:
but instead of matchmakers - beggars!
From a tin button
Grandfather sculpted a two-kopeck coin,
Tossed on the floor -
Father-in-law got caught!
Not drunk from the pub -
The beaten man trudged in!
What does this relationship between the old man and his family indicate? First of all, it is striking that Savely differs both from his son and from all his relatives. His son does not possess any exceptional qualities, does not disdain drunkenness, and is almost completely devoid of kindness and nobility. And Savely, on the contrary, is kind, smart, and outstanding. He shuns his household; apparently, he is disgusted by the pettiness, envy, and malice characteristic of his relatives. Old man Savely is the only one in his husband’s family who was kind to Matryona. The old man does not hide all the hardships that befell him:
“Oh, the share of Holy Russian
Homemade hero!
He's been bullied all his life.
Time will change its mind
About death - hellish torment
In the other world they are waiting.”
Old man Savely is very freedom-loving. It combines qualities such as physical and mental strength. Savely is a real Russian hero who does not recognize any pressure over himself. In his youth, Savely had remarkable strength; no one could compete with him. In addition, life was different before, the peasants were not burdened with the difficult responsibility of paying dues and working off corvée. As Savely himself says:
We did not rule the corvee,
We didn't pay rent
And so, when it comes to reason,
We'll send you once every three years.
In such circumstances, the character of young Savely was strengthened. No one put pressure on her, no one made her feel like a slave. Moreover, nature itself was on the side of the peasants:
There are dense forests all around,
There are swampy swamps all around,
No horse can come to us,
Can't go on foot!
Nature itself protected the peasants from the invasion of the master, the police and other troublemakers. Therefore, the peasants could live and work peacefully, without feeling someone else’s power over them.
When reading these lines, fairy-tale motifs come to mind, because in fairy tales and legends people were absolutely free, they were in charge of their own lives.
The old man talks about how the peasants dealt with bears:
We were only worried
Bears... yes with bears
We managed it easily.
With a knife and a spear
I myself am scarier than the elk,
Along protected paths
I go: “My forest!” - I shout.
Savely, like a real fairy-tale hero, lays claim to the forest surrounding him. It is the forest - with its untrodden paths and mighty trees - that is the real element of the hero Savely. In the forest, the hero is not afraid of anything; he is the real master of the silent kingdom around him. That is why in old age he leaves his family and goes into the forest.
The unity of the hero Savely and the nature surrounding him seems undeniable. Nature helps Savely become stronger. Even in old age, when years and adversity have bent the old man’s back, remarkable strength is still felt in him.
Savely tells how in his youth his fellow villagers managed to deceive the master and hide their existing wealth from him. And even though they had to endure a lot for this, no one could blame people for cowardice and lack of will. The peasants were able to convince the landowners of their absolute poverty, so they managed to avoid complete ruin and enslavement.
Savely is a very proud person. This is felt in everything: in his attitude to life, in his steadfastness and courage with which he defends his own. When he talks about his youth, he remembers how only people weak in spirit surrendered to the master. Of course, he himself was not one of those people:
Shalashnikov tore excellently,
And he received not so much great income:
Weak people gave up
And the strong for the patrimony
They stood well.
I also endured
He remained silent and thought:
“Whatever you do, son of a dog,
But you can’t knock out your whole soul,
Leave something behind!”
Old man Savely bitterly says that now there is practically no self-respect left in people. Now cowardice, animal fear for oneself and one’s well-being and lack of desire to fight prevail:
These were proud people!
And now give me a slap -
Police officer, landowner
They're taking their last penny!
Savely's young years were spent in an atmosphere of freedom. But peasant freedom did not last long. The master died, and his heir sent a German, who at first behaved quietly and unnoticed. The German gradually became friends with everything local population, little by little observed peasant life.
Gradually he gained the trust of the peasants and ordered them to drain the swamp, then cut down the forest. In a word, the peasants came to their senses only when a magnificent road appeared along which their godforsaken place could be easily reached.
And then came hard labor
To the Korezh peasant -
ruined the threads
The free life was over, now the peasants fully felt all the hardships of a forced existence. Old man Savely speaks about people's long-suffering, explaining it by the courage and spiritual strength of people. Only the truly strong and courageous people can be so patient as to endure such bullying, and so generous as not to forgive such treatment of themselves.
That's why we endured
That we are heroes.
This is Russian heroism.
Do you think, Matryonushka,
A man is not a hero"?
And his life is not a military one,
And death is not written for him
In battle - what a hero!
Nekrasov finds amazing comparisons when talking about people's patience and courage. He uses folk epic, speaking about heroes:
Hands are twisted in chains,
Feet forged with iron,
Back...dense forests
We walked along it - we broke down.
What about the breasts? Elijah the prophet
It rattles and rolls around
On a chariot of fire...
The hero endures everything!
Old man Savely tells how the peasants endured the arbitrariness of the German manager for eighteen years. Their whole life was now at the mercy of this cruel man. People had to work tirelessly. And the manager was always dissatisfied with the results of the work and demanded more. Constant bullying from the Germans causes strong indignation in the souls of the peasants. And one day another round of bullying forced people to commit a crime. They kill the German manager. When reading these lines, the thought of supreme justice comes to mind. The peasants had already felt completely powerless and weak-willed. Everything they held dear was taken from them. But you can’t mock a person with complete impunity. Sooner or later you will have to pay for your actions.
But, of course, the murder of the manager did not go unpunished:
Bui-city, There I learned to read and write,
So far they have decided on us.
The solution has been reached: hard labor
And whip first...
The life of Savely, the Holy Russian hero, after hard labor was very difficult. He spent twenty years in captivity, only to be released closer to old age. Savely's whole life is very tragic, and in his old age he turns out to be the unwitting culprit in the death of his little grandson. This incident once again proves that, despite all his strength, Savely cannot withstand hostile circumstances. He is just a toy in the hands of fate.
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Who can live well in Rus'?
Savely - “the hero of the Holy Russian”, “With a huge gray mane, Tea has not been cut for twenty years, With a huge beard, Grandfather looked like a bear.” He was definitely similar in strength to a bear; in his youth he hunted it with his bare hands.
S. spent almost his entire life in Siberia in hard labor for burying a cruel German manager alive in the ground. S.’s native village was located in the wilderness. Therefore, the peasants lived in it relatively freely: “The zemstvo police did not come to us for a year.” But they resignedly endured the atrocities of their landowner. It is in patience, according to the author, that the heroism of the Russian people lies, but there is a limit to this patience. S. was sentenced to 20 years, and after an escape attempt, another 20 were added. But all this did not break the Russian hero. He believed that “Branded, but not a slave!” Returning home and living with his son’s family, S. behaved independently and independently: “He didn’t like families, he didn’t let them into his corner.” But S. treated his grandson’s wife, Matryona, and her son Demushka well. An accident made him responsible for the death of his beloved great-grandson (due to S. Demushka’s oversight, pigs killed him). In inconsolable grief, S. goes to repentance in a monastery, where he remains to pray for the entire destitute Russian people. At the end of his life, he pronounces a terrible sentence on the Russian peasantry: “For men there are three roads: Tavern, prison and penal servitude, And for women in Rus' there are three nooses... Climb into any one.”
The reader recognizes one of the main characters of Nekrasov’s poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” - Savely - when he is already an old man who has lived a long and difficult life. The poet paints a colorful portrait of this amazing old man:
With a huge gray mane,
Tea, twenty years uncut,
With a huge beard
Grandfather looked like a bear
Especially, like from the forest,
He bent over and went out.
Savely's life turned out to be very difficult; fate did not spoil him. In his old age, Savely lived with the family of his son, Matryona Timofeevna’s father-in-law. It is noteworthy that grandfather Savely does not like his family. Obviously, all members of the household do not have the best qualities, but the honest and sincere old man feels this very well. In his own family, Savely is called “branded, convict.” And he himself, not at all offended by this, says: “Branded, but not a slave.
It’s interesting to observe how Savely is not averse to making fun of his family members:
And they will annoy him greatly -
He jokes: “Look at this
Matchmakers are coming to us!” Unmarried
Cinderella - to the window:
But instead of matchmakers - beggars!
From a tin button
Grandfather sculpted a two-kopeck coin,
Tossed on the floor -
Father-in-law got caught!
Not drunk from the pub -
The beaten man trudged in!
What does this relationship between the old man and his family indicate? First of all, it is striking that Savely differs both from his son and from all his relatives. His son does not possess any exceptional qualities, does not disdain drunkenness, and is almost completely devoid of kindness and nobility. And Savely, on the contrary, is kind, smart, and outstanding. He shuns his household; apparently, he is disgusted by the pettiness, envy, and malice characteristic of his relatives. Old man Savely is the only one in his husband’s family who was kind to Matryona. The old man does not hide all the hardships that befell him:
“Oh, the share of Holy Russian
Homemade hero!
He's been bullied all his life.
Time will change its mind
About death - hellish torment
In the other world they are waiting.”
Old man Savely is very freedom-loving. It combines qualities such as physical and mental strength. Savely is a real Russian hero who does not recognize any pressure over himself. In his youth, Savely had remarkable strength; no one could compete with him. In addition, life was different before, the peasants were not burdened with the difficult responsibility of paying dues and working off corvée. As Savely himself says:
We did not rule the corvee,
We didn't pay rent
And so, when it comes to reason,
We'll send you once every three years.
In such circumstances, the character of young Savely was strengthened. No one put pressure on her, no one made her feel like a slave. Moreover, nature itself was on the side of the peasants:
There are dense forests all around,
There are swampy swamps all around,
No horse can come to us,
Can't go on foot!
Nature itself protected the peasants from the invasion of the master, the police and other troublemakers. Therefore, the peasants could live and work peacefully, without feeling someone else’s power over them.
When reading these lines, fairy-tale motifs come to mind, because in fairy tales and legends people were absolutely free, they were in charge of their own lives.
The old man talks about how the peasants dealt with bears:
We were only worried
Bears... yes with bears
We managed it easily.
With a knife and a spear
I myself am scarier than the elk,
Along protected paths
I go: “My forest!” - I shout.
Savely, like a real fairy-tale hero, lays claim to the forest surrounding him. It is the forest - with its untrodden paths and mighty trees - that is the real element of the hero Savely. In the forest, the hero is not afraid of anything; he is the real master of the silent kingdom around him. That is why in old age he leaves his family and goes into the forest.
The unity of the hero Savely and the nature surrounding him seems undeniable. Nature helps Savely become stronger. Even in old age, when years and adversity have bent the old man’s back, remarkable strength is still felt in him.
Savely tells how in his youth his fellow villagers managed to deceive the master and hide their existing wealth from him. And even though they had to endure a lot for this, no one could blame people for cowardice and lack of will. The peasants were able to convince the landowners of their absolute poverty, so they managed to avoid complete ruin and enslavement.
Savely is a very proud person. This is felt in everything: in his attitude to life, in his steadfastness and courage with which he defends his own. When he talks about his youth, he remembers how only people weak in spirit surrendered to the master. Of course, he himself was not one of those people:
Shalashnikov tore excellently,
And he received not so much great income:
Weak people gave up
And the strong for the patrimony
They stood well.
I also endured
He remained silent and thought:
“Whatever you do, son of a dog,
But you can’t knock out your whole soul,
Leave something behind!”
Old man Savely bitterly says that now there is practically no self-respect left in people. Now cowardice, animal fear for oneself and one’s well-being and lack of desire to fight prevail:
These were proud people!
And now give me a slap -
Police officer, landowner
They're taking their last penny!
Savely's young years were spent in an atmosphere of freedom. But peasant freedom did not last long. The master died, and his heir sent a German, who at first behaved quietly and unnoticed. The German gradually became friends with the entire local population and gradually observed peasant life.
Gradually he gained the trust of the peasants and ordered them to drain the swamp, then cut down the forest. In a word, the peasants came to their senses only when a magnificent road appeared along which their godforsaken place could be easily reached.
And then came hard labor
To the Korezh peasant -
Threads ruined
The free life was over, now the peasants fully felt all the hardships of a forced existence. Old man Savely speaks about people's long-suffering, explaining it by the courage and spiritual strength of people. Only truly strong and courageous people can be so patient as to endure such bullying, and so generous as not to forgive such an attitude towards themselves.
That's why we endured
That we are heroes.
This is Russian heroism.
Do you think, Matryonushka,
A man is not a hero"?
And his life is not a military one,
And death is not written for him
In battle - what a hero!
Nekrasov finds amazing comparisons when talking about people's patience and courage. He uses folk epic when talking about heroes:
Hands are twisted in chains,
Feet forged with iron,
Back...dense forests
We walked along it - we broke down.
What about the breasts? Elijah the prophet
It rattles and rolls around
On a chariot of fire...
The hero endures everything!
Old man Savely tells how the peasants endured the arbitrariness of the German manager for eighteen years. Their whole life was now at the mercy of this cruel man. People had to work tirelessly. And the manager was always dissatisfied with the results of the work and demanded more. Constant bullying from the Germans causes strong indignation in the souls of the peasants. And one day another round of bullying forced people to commit a crime. They kill the German manager. When reading these lines, the thought of supreme justice comes to mind. The peasants had already felt completely powerless and weak-willed. Everything they held dear was taken from them. But you can’t mock a person with complete impunity. Sooner or later you will have to pay for your actions.
But, of course, the murder of the manager did not go unpunished:
Bui-city, There I learned to read and write,
So far they have decided on us.
The solution has been reached: hard labor
And whip first...
The life of Savely, the Holy Russian hero, after hard labor was very difficult. He spent twenty years in captivity, only to be released closer to old age. Savely's whole life is very tragic, and in his old age he turns out to be the unwitting culprit in the death of his little grandson. This incident once again proves that, despite all his strength, Savely cannot withstand hostile circumstances. He is just a toy in the hands of fate.