If childhood years are remembered kind words, which means you need to remember them. And remember as long as you are able to retain important fragments in your memory. And when the realization comes that the past is being forgotten, then it is necessary to collect memories and arrange them for posterity in a separate publication. Actually, in “Junkers,” Alexander Kuprin spoke about the everyday life of one student, named Alexandrov, at the Moscow Alexander School, where he himself studied. It is worth thinking that what happens in the work with the main character also happened with Kuprin himself. And if so, we are talking about a personal perception of what once happened. The past cannot be erased, but it can be embellished.
No longer a cadet, now a freshman, main character continues to maintain a tendency to violate discipline. By unspoken rules school, one must confess to misconduct when one of the mentors demands it, so that the guilty suffer, and not the innocent. That is why it is sad for the reader to see how, having not yet had time to play tricks, a young man is forced to go to the punishment cell, thanks to the fame of a troublemaker. Kuprin creates a portrait of a rake, immediately presenting the main character in his characteristic frivolity.
Indeed, nothing is holding Alexandrov back. He always lived without worries, studies moderately well and has no idea later life. He is not interested in academic performance. He is also interested in girls out of necessity, although he does not attach serious importance to relationships. It is easy to cope with rejection and improve relationships with others. A year later, the picture of the world for the main character of the work will turn upside down and he will come to his senses, because there will be a need to think about obligations to his future young wife, who cannot be supported on the salary paid to lower officer ranks.
Everything around Alexandrov is perfect. What is happening is subject to clear laws and you need to comply with them. No in military profession negativity, while the cadets are drilled by mentors, driving nobility and high morality into the subconscious of the younger generation. Maybe later these young people will become disillusioned with the system and take the path of degradation, but during their studies there will be no talk about this. No matter how idiotic they are, their spirit must correspond to the standard of the school: always a cheerful appearance, a marching step, a model for others.
The main character has another important inclination. He feels the need to write. This hobby seems artificially introduced into what is happening. As if in passing, Alexander Kuprin describes the difficulties of self-expression and further attempts to integrate written stories: the main character sold his first novel for one and a half rubles and never saw it again. If this part of the work is considered as the formation of Kuprin himself as a writer, then, undoubtedly, the reader will learn valuable information. How could one find out how a successful publication cost a talented cadet additional time in a punishment cell?
The main character is obliged to think about life after graduating from college. He must get the required graduation grade or he will be assigned to an unattractive duty station, like an infantry regiment in the Great Muds. Of course, the main character will make efforts. Kuprin will contribute to this. Let a mediocre cadet turn into a mediocre officer. The reader already understands which path Alexandrov, presented on the pages, wants to take. He is destined to create works of art, including about yourself.
At the very end of August, Alyosha Alexandrov’s cadet adolescence ends. Now he will study at the Third Junker Infantry School named after Emperor Alexander II. In the morning he pays a visit to the Sinelnikovs, but he manages to stay alone with Yulenka for no more than a minute.
She is always in the foreground, always in the main place; incomprehensible, unattainable, incomparable, unique, amazing, dizzying - Julia.
The girl invites Alyosha to forget the summer dacha nonsense: both of them have now become adults.
Alyosha appears in the school building with sadness and confusion in his soul. True, he is flattered that he is already a “pharaoh,” as the second-year “chief officers” called the first-year students. Alexander's cadets are loved in Moscow and proud of them. The school invariably participates in all ceremonies. Alyosha will remember the magnificent meeting for a long time Alexandra III in the fall of 1888, when royal family walked along the line at a distance of several steps and the “pharaoh” fully tasted the sweet, sharp delight of love for the monarch.
However, during their studies, the young men are faced with extra work, cancellation of vacation, and arrest. They love the cadets, but at the school they are mercilessly “warmed” by the platoon officer, course officer and commander of the fourth company, Captain Fofanov, nicknamed Drozd. Daily exercises with heavy infantry berdanks and drills could have caused an aversion to service if not for the patience and stern participation of all the “warm-ups.”
There is no bullying at the school by juniors, which is common in St. Petersburg schools. The atmosphere of knightly military democracy and stern but caring camaraderie prevails here. Everything related to service does not allow for relaxation, even among friends, but outside of this, a friendly address on “you” is prescribed.
After taking the oath, Drozd reminds them that they are now soldiers and for their misconduct they will be sent not to their mother, but as privates in an infantry regiment. And yet, boyishness, which has not been completely eradicated, forces young cadets to give everything around them their own names. The first company is called “stallions”, the second - “animals”, the third - “dabs” and the fourth (Aleshina) - “fleas”.
Each commander, except for the second course officer Belov, also has a nickname. From the Balkan War, Belov brought a Bulgarian wife of indescribable beauty, before whom all the cadets bowed, which is why the personality of her husband is considered inviolable. But Dubyshkin is called Pup, the commander of the first company is Khukhrik, and the battalion commander is Berdi-Pasha. All cadet officers are mercilessly persecuted, which is considered a sign of youth.
However, the lives of eighteen-twenty-year-old boys cannot be entirely absorbed by the interests of service. Alexandrov vividly experiences the collapse of his first love, but is also keenly interested in the younger Sinelnikov sisters. At the December ball, Olga Sinelnikova informs Alyosha about Yulenka’s engagement. Shocked, Alexandrov replies that he doesn’t care. He has loved Olga for a long time and will dedicate his first story to her, which will soon be published by Evening Leisure.
This writing debut of his actually happens, but at the evening roll call Drozd assigns him three days in a punishment cell for publishing without the sanction of his superiors. Alexandrov takes Tolstoy’s “Cossacks” into the cell and, when Drozd asks whether the young talent knows why he is being punished, he cheerfully replies: “For writing a stupid and vulgar essay.”
Alas, the troubles don't end there. In the dedication, a fatal mistake is discovered: instead of “O” there is “U” (such is the power of first love!). Soon the author receives a letter from Olga: “For some reasons, I’m unlikely to ever be able to see you, and therefore goodbye.”
There is no limit to the cadet's shame and despair, but time heals all wounds. Alexandrov attends a ball at the Catherine Institute. This is not part of his Christmas plans, but Drozd stops all Alyosha’s reasoning. Long years Aleksandrov will remember the brilliant entrance of the old house, the marble staircases, the bright halls and the pupils in formal dresses with a ballroom neckline.
At the ball, Alyosha meets Zinochka Belysheva, from whose mere presence the air itself brightens and sparkles with laughter. Between them there is a real and mutual love. In addition to her undeniable beauty, Zinochka has something more valuable and rare.
Alexandrov confesses his love to Zinochka and asks him to wait for him for three years. In three months he will graduate from college, and will serve for another two years before entering the General Staff Academy. Then he will pass the exam and ask for her hand. The second lieutenant receives forty-three rubles a month, and he will not allow himself to offer her the pitiful fate of a provincial regimental lady. Zinochka promises to wait.
True love, like gold, never rusts or oxidizes.
Since then, Alexandrov has been trying to get the highest score. With nine points, you can choose a suitable regiment for service. He is only about three tenths short of a nine because of a six in military fortification.
But now all the obstacles have been overcome, Alexandrov receives nine points and the right to choose his first duty station. When Berdi Pasha calls his last name, the cadet, without looking, points his finger at the list and stumbles upon the unknown Undom infantry regiment.
And now a brand new officer’s uniform is put on, and the head of the school, General Anchutin, gives his students farewell. Usually there are at least seventy-five officers in a regiment, and in such a large society, gossip is inevitable, corroding this society.
Having finished his parting words, the General says goodbye to the newly minted officers. They bow to him, and General Anchutin remains “forever in their minds with such firmness, as if he were carved with a diamond on carnelian.”
Retold
“Junker” by Kuprin A.I.
Like other major Russian writers who, finding themselves in a foreign land, turned to the genre of artistic autobiography (I. A. Bunin, I. S. Shmelev, A. N. Tolstoy, B. K. Zaitsev, etc.), Kuprin devotes his youth The most significant thing is the novel "Junker". IN in a certain sense it was a summing up. ““Junker,” the writer himself said, “is my testament to Russian youth.”
The novel recreates in detail the traditions and life of the Third Alexandrovsky Junker School in Moscow, talks about the teachers and officer-educators, classmates of Alexandrov-Kuprin, talks about his first literary experiments and the youthful “mad” love of the hero. However, “Junkers” is not just a “home” story of the cadet school on Znamenka. This is a story about the old, “specific” Moscow - the Moscow of the “forty forties”, the Iverskaya Chapel Mother of God and the Catherine Institute of Noble Maidens, on Tsaritsyn Square, all woven from fleeting memories. Through the haze of these memories, familiar and unrecognizable silhouettes of the Arbat, Patriarch's Ponds, and Zemlyanoy Val emerge. “What’s amazing about the Junkers is this strength artistic vision Kuprin,” wrote prose writer Ivan Lukash, responding to the appearance of the novel, “the magic of reviving memories, his mosaic work of creating from “shards” and “specks of dust” an airy beautiful, light and bright Moscow fresco, full of absolutely living movement and absolutely living people of the times Alexander III".
“Junker” is both a human and artistic testament of Kuprin. TO best pages The novel can be classified as those where the lyrics most powerfully acquire their internal justification. Such, in particular, are the episodes of Alexandrov’s poetic passion for Zina Belysheva.
And yet, despite the abundance of light, music, festivities - “a furious funeral service for the passing winter”, the thunder of a military orchestra at divorces, the splendor of the ball at the Catherine Institute, the elegant life of the Alexander cadets (“Roman Kuprin - detailed story about the bodily joys of youth, about the ringing and seemingly weightless feeling of life of youth, vigorous, pure,” Ivan Lukash said very accurately), this is a sad book. Again and again, with “indescribable, sweet, bitter and tender sadness,” the writer mentally returns to Russia. “You live in a wonderful country, among smart and good people, among the monuments of the greatest culture,” Kuprin wrote in his essay “Motherland.” “But it’s all just make-believe, it’s like a movie unfolding.” And all the silent, dull grief is that you no longer cry in your sleep and do not see in your dreams either Znamenskaya Square, or Arbat, or Povarskaya, or Moscow, or Russia.”
the cadet corps remained with me for the rest of my life.”15
Maybe that's why he wrote this story. The entire system of education in the cadet corps was disgusting; Kuprin opposed it, fought against it, defending the rights of the child, dreaming of a strong family connection between educators and students.
1.4 Bitterness as a result of upbringing
What happened then in educational institutions, in particular in the cadet corps, cannot be called education. Growing up in an atmosphere of cruelty, brought up on the rod and the punishment cell, people who left the corps, and then from the cadet schools, used the same methods in relation to their subordinates (soldiers), flogging them to prepare them to serve the Fatherland. “From military gymnasiums came the future torturers of soldiers, rapists and sadists, cynics and ignoramuses,”16 with whom the story “The Duel” will be so densely populated. Rarely did the pupils retain something human in themselves, but if the educational institution did not break them, the army broke them. Smart, pure, romantically inclined young men (after all) were doomed to death.
We will talk about the results of the education of future officers later, considering the story “The Duel.”
Chapter 2. “Junkers”: second stage of training
future officers
2.1 Idealization of everyday life as a distinctive feature of the novel
The second work that we conditionally included in our trilogy is the novel “Junker”. It is closely interconnected with “Cadets” and “Duel”, as it depicts the second stage in the formation of the personality of the future officer. “This story is partly a continuation of my own story “At the Turning Point” (“Cadets”)17,” Kuprin wrote in 1916. But this work is sharply distinguished by its pathos. This is explained primarily by the fact that “Junkers” were written by Kuprin in exile. The aging writer's view of his youth becomes idealized. Apparently, after so many changes in the social life of Russia, in the life of Kuprin himself, he is overcome by a sentimental mood. Being far from his homeland, from everything that was once close to the writer, the author of “Junkers” remembers the past; it seems beautiful to him, despite some shortcomings.
“Here I am completely at the mercy of the images and memories of cadet life with its ceremonial and inner life, with the quiet joy of first love and meetings at dance parties with my “sympathies.” I remember the cadet years, the traditions of our military school, the types of educators and teachers. And many good things will be remembered."18
When you read the novel “Junker”, it seems that it was written by a completely different person, not the author of “Cadets” and “Duel”. And this person argues with Kuprin, with the accusatory nature of these two works. People and time are shown here from a different angle. It’s not that there are no accusatory assessments at all in “The Junkers” - they are there, especially at the beginning of the novel, where the last days of cadet Alexandrov’s stay in the corps are described, although significantly softened, by the end of the novel they practically disappear.
Having barely touched on the unsightly aspects of cadet life, the author immediately, often contradicting the facts and himself, rushes to put forward exculpatory circumstances. Kuprin attributed to his hero what he himself at times thought about the Russian army in exile. The writer in this work makes some adjustments to his previous bold judgments. And how could it be otherwise? In the years when “The Duel” was written, Kuprin and those people who were now also next to him in exile (or, better said, most of them) were on opposite sides of the barricade. He is a democrat, denounced the social foundations of which the nobility and the ruling elite were so proud. And now - he is with them, and “they don’t go to someone else’s monastery with their own rules” - we need to change our views, somehow adapt to the life that we have chosen, finding ourselves at a crossroads.
In addition, it is impossible to remain without a homeland on a foreign side, in that life that he himself calls “unreal.” “While the new Russia seems hostile and alien to him, he “grabs” at the old Russia like a straw... This is how the theme of the homeland, artificially “cleansed” of filth, arises and expands in the work of Kuprin of the emigrant years... This is Russia from the front door "19 - notes A. Volkov.
Perhaps these facts influenced the content of the novel. But we can’t say for sure. Now, many years later, it is difficult for us to understand what motivated the writer, who so radically changed his view on the methods of educating future officers, on the morals and customs of the military environment.
And in essence, with his novel “Junkers”, Kuprin puzzled readers, made them doubt where the truth was: in “Cadets”, “Duel” or “Junkers”. We will pose this question and subsequently try to answer it. In the meantime, let's turn to the content of this work.
2.2 Three sides of the life of cadet Alexandrov
The novel focuses on three moments in the life of Alyosha Alexandrov, a student at the cadet school: emerging youthful love, passion for art, and the everyday life of a closed military educational institution. The novel was published as work on it progressed, chapter by chapter, over a five-year period from 1927 to 1932. Perhaps this is why the chapters, each of which reproduces an episode from the life of a cadet, are loosely connected with each other; their sequence is not always determined by the development of the plot - “the story of the growth and organization of character.”
“Kuprin often “jumped” in the process of writing from chapter to chapter, as if he still had a unclear idea of what place to put each of them - in the middle or at the beginning of the novel,” noted F.I. Kuleshov. Many researchers note that the chapters are not subordinate to each other, they contain unnecessary repetitions, such as, for example, about the company commander of the cadet Alexandrov: “This is the commander of our fourth company, Captain Fofanov, and in our opinion Drozd.” In addition, researchers, and in particular F.I. Kuleshov, note that “the chronology in the novel is arbitrarily shifted”21. Alyosha’s heartfelt passions and his writing debut are dated back to the first months of the hero’s stay at the military school, and these chapters are overextended, overloaded with minor events, and more important ones are abbreviated. The pages telling about the second year of stay are similar to a chronicle. The third part of the novel is generally less developed than the previous two. One gets the impression that it was written with difficulty, without enthusiasm, as if in order to complete the two-year life of cadet Alexandrov.
But let's take a closer look at what is happening in the Junkers.
2.2.1 Poetry of youthful love
The novel begins with a description of the arrival of cadets who have completed the full course to the corps, for the last time before they become full-fledged cadets. Aleksandrov walks along roads well-trodden and avoided many times and recalls the years that have passed in the corps, the case when he, a generally recognized scoundrel, was sent to a punishment cell by Captain Yablukinsky, but this time undeservedly. Alexandrov’s pride rebelled: “Why should I be punished if I am not guilty of anything? What do I mean to Yablukinsky? Slave? Subject?.. let them tell me that I am a cadet, that is, like a soldier, and must unquestioningly obey the orders of my superiors without any reasoning? No! I am not a soldier yet, I have not taken the oath... So: I am not at all connected with the corps and can leave it at any moment (VIII, 205). And he leaves the punishment cell by deception.
From the first pages it seems to us that we are in the same situation that was depicted by Kuprin in “Cadets”. But, despite the fact that we are back at the cadet school, we do not recognize it: the colors are not so gloomy, the sharp corners are smoothed out. There was no case in the Cadets when a student was approached with a kind word, advice, trying to help him. But here the situation is different. For example, the civilian teacher Otte is trying to calmly and politely explain the situation to the excited young man and reason with Lieutenant Mikhin. But the boy was again sent to the punishment cell, although the culprit of the whistle confessed, and the company buzzed with displeasure. And here the narrative includes an episode in which two cases of cadet rebellion are told: the first, over a kulebyak with rice, was resolved peacefully, and in the neighboring building, discontent escalated into an uprising and pogrom, which were stopped with the help of soldiers. One of the instigators was given up as a soldier, many students were expelled from the corps. The author concludes: “It’s true: you can’t mess with the people and the boys...” (VIII, 209). Here the intonation of the former Kuprin slips through, and then he again “puts on rose-colored glasses.”
His mother arrives, begins to reproach Alyosha, remembers his escape from the Razumovsky School (I wonder what caused it?). Then a conversation with the priest of the corps church, Father Mikhail, who simply and softly speaks to the teenager about love for his mother, admits Yablukinsky’s injustice, and does not force Alyosha to ask for forgiveness. And this kindness and kindness will be remembered by Alexandrov for the rest of his life, and, having already become a famous artist, he will come to the old Father Mikhail for a blessing.
The situation was sorted out, the child was understood, the cadet was pleased with the outcome, and there was clear attention to the teenager’s personality, despite all the “buts.” This is no longer the cadet school where Bulanin studied, although the same characters are found here, for example, Uncle Nonsense.
Alexandrov said goodbye to the school. And here he is five minutes later, a cadet. Here, for the first time, a female image appears on the pages of the novel, and the theme of love becomes one of the leading ones. The pages about the hero's intimate experiences are undoubtedly the best in the novel. His first, summer hobby is Julia, “the incomprehensible, incomparable, unique, delightful, hair-eyed goddess” (VIII, 217). Such epithets are given to her by a cadet in love. And he? He, of course, is insignificant compared to her, ugly and just a boy. Despite the deification of Yulia, Alexandrov does not forget to pay attention to her younger sisters Olga and Lyuba. Suffering, poems dedicated to the lady of the heart, jealousy and a quarrel with the enemy, and then again the resurrection of hope, the first kisses, the first ball at the cadet school, which destroys the hero’s dreams.
Having sent three tickets to the Sinelnikovs, Alexandrov expects the arrival of Yulia and her sisters, but only the younger ones come. Olenka tells him that Yulia is marrying a quite wealthy man who has been courting her for a long time. But Alyosha takes this news calmly and immediately confesses his love to Olga.
The hero constantly feels the need to love someone: his awakened heart can no longer live without love, he needs knightly admiration for a woman. “He falls in love quickly, falls in love with the same naive simplicity and joy with which grass grows and buds bloom,”22 writes F.I. in his study. Kuleshov.
It is difficult to list his “loved ones.” Aleksandrov could be in love with two or three girls at the same time and was tormented by the question, which one is more? Each time he thought that this was a strong, real feeling that would last a lifetime. But time passed, and there was new love and the words “to the grave.”
It cannot be said that Alexandrov looked like a romantic hero-admirer, a pure, chaste young man. Let us at least remember the adventure in the rye with the peasant woman Dunyasha or the mention of a relationship with the wife of the forester Yegor, Marya, “a beautiful, healthy woman.” But on the other hand, he was not dissolute and morally corrupt, he did not play “Don Juan”. Falling in love, Alexandrov did not think that this was just another affair or adventure. He loved passionately and sincerely.
After the first love, the second will follow. (The chapter is called “Second Love”). Alyosha is tormented about which of the Sinelnikov sisters should he fall in love with now: Olenka or Lyubochka? “To Olenka,” he decides and promises to dedicate a “suite” to her, which will soon be published in a magazine. But an unfortunate mistake occurred, and hopes for reciprocity were lost.
The most wonderful and vivid chapters of the novel are dedicated to Alexei’s love for Zina Belysheva (“Catherine’s Hall”, “Arrow”, “Waltz”, “Love Letter”). They describe the surroundings through the prism of the romantic perception of cadet Alexandrov. From the moment of his arrival at the Catherine Institute, impressions overwhelm him. Everything seems fabulously beautiful, from the staircase to the main hall. The descriptions are dominated by such epithets as “amazing”, “unusual”, “magnificent”, “graceful”, “beautiful”. And the girl’s voice that Alexey hears is also “extraordinary sonority,” her figure is “airy,” her face is “unrepeated,” her smile is “affectionate,” her lips are “perfectly shaped.” He already reproaches himself for his past hobbies, calling them fun and games, “but now he loves. Loves!., now a new life begins in the infinity of time and space, all filled with glory, splendor, power, exploits, and all this, together with my ardent love, I lay at your feet, oh beloved, oh queen of my soul! (VIII, 328).
The emergence and development of love feelings, expressed by the sparkle of the eyes, a special look, a gesture and a thousand tiny elusive signs, a change of mood - all this is masterfully depicted by Kuprin, everything - from the first dance to a declaration of love and plans for the future: “You will have to wait for me around three years" (VIII, 382).
This conversation took place in March. And then more than three months pass, and after so many dreams Alexandrov never remembers Zinaida or his vow to marry. Not a single meeting, not a note! Why does the cadet forget about the subject of his passion? And does he forget? Most likely, the writer forgets about her, who strives to finish the story as quickly as possible and negates a wonderful love story without finishing it with at least hints, without motivating such a strange behavior of the cadet. The reader waits until the last pages for a continuation, but is disappointed without seeing it. “The last pages of the novel give rise to a feeling of incompleteness of the plot and patter in the narrative: the story about the hero’s stay within the walls of the school has been exhausted, but there is not even a hint of a possible denouement of his intimate drama”23, writes the author of the monograph “The Creative Path of Kuprin” F.I. Kuleshov. And he’s right: the reader, who is accustomed to Kuprin’s brilliant style of writing, to his precision and thoughtfulness, is at a loss: what happened? The author of “The Junkers” is betrayed by his skill: despite the actual completion of the novel, it seems unfinished. But at the same time, we still recognize the former Alexander Ivanovich: true to himself, in “The Junkers” he glorifies sublime earthly love as a wonderful song of humanity, the most magnificent and unique.
2.2.2 Passion for art
Creative quests are also internally connected with the intimate experiences of the hero in love. Even as a child, Alexandrov’s talent manifested itself, and he dreamed of becoming a poet. Kuprin talks with humor about Alexey’s childhood poetic experiments and cites his own children’s poems as an example, attributing them to his hero:
Hurry up, oh birds, fly
You are away from us to warm countries,
When you arrive again,
Then it will be spring with us... (VIII, 274)
At his mother’s request, Alyosha often read them to guests, they admired them, and success flattered his pride. When Alexandrov grew up, he became ashamed of his poetry and tried to express himself in prose, and, imitating F. Cooper, wrote the novel “Black Panther” (from the life of the North American savages of the Vayax tribe and about the war with the pale-faced), which was full of exoticism and completely contrived , was difficult to write and was eventually sold for one and a half rubles to a bookseller. The hero was better at making watercolor pictures and pencil caricatures of teachers and comrades. But this type of creativity at that time attracted little attention to the young man.
Attempts at writing continued. The fact that he did have literary talent was evidenced by his class essays, which were assessed at “a full twelve points” and were often read aloud as an example. From prose Alyosha again moves on to poetry. He tries to translate poems by German romantics, but they come out “heavy.” He makes more and more attempts, and the praise of comrade Sasha Guryev disturbs his pride. Alyosha decides on one last experiment: to translate Heine’s short poem “Lorelei” and compare his translation with the translations of venerable literary artists. Aleksandrov himself understands that his translation is imperfect and, wanting to experience all the bitterness of failure, submits the translation for evaluation by a German teacher. He praises the cadet, noting his undoubted literary abilities. But how vain everyone is in their youth! Just good and nothing more! What a disgrace! “Of course, my writing is forever and ever” (VIII, 280). But the thought of fame did not want to break away from the magical world imagined by Alexandrov.
One summer, at his older sister’s dacha, Alyosha meets Diodor Ivanovich Mirtov, a famous Russian poet, a nervous and exalted man, who advises the young man to try to create prose, noting his observation skills, and promises to help him publish a story. And encouraged by interest in his work, Alexandrov created the suite “The Last Debut” (why the suite, he himself did not know - he just liked this foreign word). And he wrote about things and feelings unknown to him: the theatrical world, tragic love that ended in suicide... Alekhan Andronov signed it and brought it to Mirtov, who praised it and congratulated him on his initiation into the “knight of the pen.” And here is the moment of glory: the suite is published, friends congratulate the author, he is proud and happy! And in the morning the unlucky writer is sent to a punishment cell. From a triumphant he again turns into a “pathetic pharaoh.” Sitting there, after much explanation and reflection, Alyosha comes to the conclusion that his entire story (suite) is stupid, far-fetched, there are many clumsy, dull places in it, exaggerations, heavy turns of phrase, all the characters are lifeless.
And then Vincent, in order to brighten up his comrade’s hours of boredom, brings him the story “Cossacks” by L.N. Tolstoy. And Alexandrov is amazed that “an ordinary person... in the simplest words, without the slightest effort, without any trace of invention, took and calmly spoke about what he saw, and from him grew an incomparable, inaccessible, charming and completely simple story” ( VIII, 293). And his suite is just a piece of cake; there is absolutely no truth in life in it.
Such a critical conclusion could not have occurred to the young man; this self-recognition was derived from the writing experience of Kuprin himself, and he attributes these mature thoughts to Alexandrov. A young man could not have been so demanding of himself and formulated the principle of truth in life. After all, he himself admitted that the work of Shakespeare, Goethe, Byron, Homer, Pushkin, Dante is a great miracle, which he does not understand, although he bows to it with reverence.
“Alexandrov generally does not feel an organic need for deep thoughts, for philosophical reflections; they are beyond his capabilities. He perceives the beautiful in art and the beautiful in nature thoughtlessly, with almost childlike spontaneity... In Kuprin’s attempt to force Alexandrov, an extremely emotional nature, to engage in the “philosophy of art,” the author’s tendency to lift the hero of the novel a little was revealed,”24, F.I. makes an apt remark . Kuleshov.
And indeed, by more carefully examining the spiritual life of the young cadet, we will come to the conclusion about the limitations of his mental interests. He reads little: at school he only read “Queen Margot” and L. Tolstoy’s story “Cossacks”, and even then he met the second by accident, and before college he was fond of the works of Dumas, Schiller, Scott, Cooper, that is, he read those books above which did not require much thought. True, he once made an attempt to read Dobrolyubov “as a banned writer,” but he could not master it in its entirety - out of boredom he did not even make it to a quarter of the book.
And this is very characteristic of the hero of the novel: he often lacks endurance, perseverance, and patience in serious matters. He draws quite well, but we learn about this only as information; nothing is said about his studies in this type of creativity, except that Alexandrov took lessons from Pyotr Ivanovich Shmelnov. The cadet's love for the theater is mentioned, but there is not a single visit to any dramatic performance. Perhaps all this happened in Alexandrov’s life, but was left behind the scenes by the writer, as insignificant in the spiritual development of the young man.
What is important? Balls, parties, dances, skating rink. These pictures are bright, detailed and impressive. Here one can clearly feel the cadet’s admiration for all this easy, carefree life, admiration for his own grace and worldliness. One gets the impression that Aleksandrov is a person incapable of serious studies, his image is far from the image of the truth-seeker Romashov from “The Duel”, he is infantile and little intellectual. First at the skating rink and in the fencing hall, in dance class and at the parade, Alexandrov is far from the interests of advanced Russian youth. It turns out that the center of the novel is not the internal, spiritual development of the emerging personality, the search for its place in life, reflection on the fate of the people (which was the subject of attention in “The Duel”), but only pictures of the external existence of a young man, in the alternation of pranks and punishments, sports and social exploits, the excitement of first love. And maybe that’s why the researcher of creativity A.I. Kuprina I.V. Koretskaya in her monograph concludes: “Although the author called “Junker” a novel, it is essentially just a suite of sketches of military and city life, bright and masterful in form, but not giving any broad reflection of the reality of that time”25. It seems that, despite the many successful images and scenes, this conclusion is correct. So, for example, the image of Moscow occupies a large place in the novel, but it is given in everyday terms, and its social boundaries are small: the life of a cadet school, the life of students of the Catherine Institute. Basically, this is the life of middle-income Muscovites: balls, an ice skating rink, troikas running through snow-covered streets, riotous Maslenitsa, traditional bargaining on Red Square.
2.2.3 Everyday life of a closed military educational institution
Of course, the life of the cadets is depicted more vividly and in detail. This topic is most closely connected with the other two works of the trilogy we tentatively created - “Cadets” and “Duel”. From everyday life and living conditions in the cadet corps, the author moves on to a description of the life of the cadet school - the second stage in military training and education of future officers. These works have a lot in common, but there are even more differences, at least in the approach to describing the morals, customs, and living conditions of the students. Let us note once again that in “Junkers” life in a military educational institution is highly idealized.
“The beginning of the novel, which describes the last days of cadet Alexandrov’s stay in the corps, is in a somewhat softened tone, but still continues the critical line of the story “At the Turning Point.” However, the power of this inertia is very quickly depleted, and along with interesting and true descriptions of the life of the school, laudatory characteristics are heard more and more often, gradually forming into a jingoistic glorification of the cadet school,”26 emphasizes A. Volkov.
But, despite attempts to veil reality, it still appears repeatedly through the lines of the novel through some hints, random strokes, phrases. Kuprin is an experienced writer, and he could not change his worldview, cross out all his work, in particular his peak - “The Duel”, as well as “Cadets” and many stories written on a military theme, which are imbued with a critical attitude towards the tsarist army, to the education of future officers, their cruelty and dullness.
Let us turn to further analysis of the text of the novel “Junker”.
So, having said goodbye to the cadet corps, where Alexey spent eight years (two years in the same class), he becomes a student of the Alexandrovsky cadet school. The most striking impression of the first day was the minute when Alexandrov learned that he belonged to the category of “pharaohs.” “Why am I a pharaoh?” (VIII, 227) - he asks and learns that all first-year students are called this, and second-year students are “chief officers.”
Chapter five is called “Pharaoh”, and it tells in detail how former cadets were drawn into the regime of the cadet school: “... with difficulty, very slowly and sadly” (VIII, 228), and then there is a softening of this phrase .
At the Alexander School there is no rude or even humiliating treatment of senior students towards juniors: freedom-loving Moscow did not recognize the capital’s “things.” There are rules here: do not mock the younger ones, but still keep them at a certain distance, in addition, every second-year student must carefully monitor that “pharaoh” with whom he ate the same porridge a year ago, in order to “cut or tighten his hair” in time "
And from the next chapter, “The Torment of Tantalus,” we can conclude that first-year cadets were subjected to many hours of “strictest” drill at the school.
The first thing they had to remember: each of them, if necessary, could be drafted into the active army. I had to learn a lot again, for example, the drill step. “Yes, these were the days of truly quadruple heating. My fellow classmate was rowing, his platoon cadet was warming, his course officer was warming, and, finally, the main warmer, the eloquent Drozd...” (VIII, 239).
All the days of the cadets were completely cluttered with military duties and training: “They taught marching in formation with a gun, always with a rolled up overcoat over the shoulder and in high government boots... They taught, or rather, re-taught gun techniques” (VIII, 239). But no one except the freshman Zhdanov could lift a twelve and a half pound infantry rifle by the bayonet at arm's length. It’s a little hard... And training in giving honor! For several hours they walked along the corridors and saluted. Yes, it's really difficult. “Of course,” Kuprin makes a reservation, “these daily exercises would seem infinitely disgusting and would cause premature bitterness in the souls of the young men, if their tutors were not so imperceptibly patient and so sternly sympathetic” (VIII, 240). Although they could sharply rebuke their chicks, anger, pickiness, insult and mockery were completely absent in their treatment of the younger ones.
But everything ends sooner or later. A month later, intensive training of the “pharaohs” for agility, speed, and accuracy of military techniques ended, and the young people, having taken the oath, became full-fledged cadets. Alexandrov rejoices at the beautifully tight uniform. But the cadets ran out of time. Only two hours a day remained free for soul and body. And then the lessons began, which were often limited to cramming. Aleksandrov never forgot his impressions from the first days of his stay at the school, and if they were so engraved in his memory, then, probably, not from the sweet and good life. This is evidenced by the phrase where Kuprin says about his hero: “He had much more dark days than bright ones” (VIII, 234). But in the novel, on the contrary, more attention is paid to bright days, the proportions are not respected. Kuprin tries to leave everyday life aside, and the ceremonial side of life comes to the fore. Is military service hard? No, it just seems so at first, out of habit...
About two months passed. Aleksandrov developed into a real cadet. Service is no longer a burden. “The cadets live cheerfully and freely. Learning is not that difficult at all. The professors are the best there are in Moscow... True, the monotony is a little boring, but home parades with music... bring some variety here too” (VIII, 250). The cadets were imperceptibly drawn into the everyday life of the barracks with its laws and traditions, and discovered their own charms of school life: they were allowed to smoke in their free time between classes (recognition of cadet adulthood), and send an attendant to buy cakes from a nearby bakery. On major holidays, cadets were taken to the circus, theater and
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The work of front-line writer Vyacheslav Kondratiev, features of his depiction of war. Stages of V. Kondratiev’s life, his years in the war and the path to writing. Analysis of the story "Greetings from the Front." Ideological and moral connections in Kondratiev’s works.
The parable as a literary problem, the systematization of ideas about the features and traits of the parable. A study of the works of writers I. Bunin, A. Kuprin, B. Zaitsev from the point of view of the parable-like nature of the works, the features of the parable in their literature.
The historical and patriotic orientation of the novel by L.N. Tolstoy "War and Peace". Diversity inner worlds people of the novel. List of military actions and their heroes. Courage, patriotism and unity of the Russian people. Spiritual victory of the Russian people.
Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov as a great Russian poet, prose writer and playwright. Displaying childhood memories in the poems "Caucasus" and "Blue Mountains of the Caucasus, I greet you!" Drama" A strange man"as the focus of autobiographical motifs in Lermontov's lyrics.
The Christmas holiday is one of the most revered in the Christian world. A manifestation of ancient pagan tradition and religious symbols. Christmas stories by Charles Dickens: children's images and motifs. Ideas for educating youth in Russian Christmas stories.
Studying the biography of the Russian writer A.I. Kuprin, his peculiar features creative individuality. Analysis of works on the theme of love and its embodiment in many human destinies and experiences. Biblical motifs in the works of A.I. Kuprina.
A.I. turned to the problem of childhood with constant interest and attention. Kuprin. The heroes of his stories are children from the “lower classes”. His stories about children doomed by society to backbreaking work, poverty and extinction are imbued with real social protest.
General concepts of an argumentative essay, its goals and main elements. Having valid points of view, supporting judgments, and considering counterarguments. Public opinion about the problems of conscription into the army, contract recruitment and deferments from service.
A.S. Pushkin and his “Rusalka” is a truly folk, life-truthful drama. A number of expressive female characters A.N. Ostrovsky. Story by A.I. Kuprin "Olesya". L. Filatov's play "Once again about the naked king." Leonid Filatov, the use of verbal scum.
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Artistic concept of childhood in Russian literature. The problem of education and its connection with socio-political issues in the works of Maxim Gorky. Educational role heroic and sublime images of fiction in a child’s life.
Women in the life and fate of A.I. Kuprina. Spiritual elevation and moral decline of a woman in love. A story about betrayal, deceit, lies and hypocrisy in love. Some artistic and psychological means of creating female images in prose by A.I. Kuprina.
Biography of Vasily Bykov. Situation moral choice as the basis of his stories. Artistic research moral foundations of human behavior in their social and ideological conditioning. Great Theme Patriotic War in the works of V. Bykov.
Depiction of images of "vulgar people" and " special person" in Chernyshevsky's novel "What to do?". Development of the theme of the troubles of Russian life in Chekhov's works. The celebration of wealth spiritual world, morality and romanticism in Kuprin’s works.
The reasons for the controversy among critics around Tolstoy’s war stories, the specifics and distinctive features of these works. Psychologism of the writer’s military works in critics’ assessments. Characterology of stories by L.N. Tolstoy's assessments XIX critics century.
Conceptual and aesthetic functions of nature paintings in fiction. Landscape as a component of the text, as philosophy and ideological position writer, his dominant role in the overall semantic-stylistic structure of A.I.’s stories. Kuprina.
L.N. Tolstoy's epic novel "War and Peace", created by the writer in the sixties of the last century, became a great event in Russian and world literature. Back in 1860, the writer tried to turn to the genre of the historical novel.
Image " little man"in the works of A.S. Pushkin. Comparison of the theme of the little man in the works of Pushkin and the works of other authors. Disassembly of this image and vision in the works of L.N. Tolstoy, N.S. Leskov, A.P. Chekhov and many others.
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At the very end of August, Alyosha Alexandrov’s cadet adolescence ended. Now he will study at the Third Junker Infantry School named after Emperor Alexander II.
In the morning he paid a visit to the Sinelnikovs, but he managed to stay alone with Yulenka for no more than a minute, during which, instead of a kiss, he was asked to forget the summer dacha nonsense: both of them had now become big.
His soul was confused when he appeared in the school building on Znamenka. True, it was flattering that he was already a “pharaoh,” as the “chief officers” called the first-year students - those who were already in their second year. Alexander's cadets were loved in Moscow and were proud of them. The school invariably participated in all ceremonies. Alyosha will long remember the magnificent meeting of Alexander III in the fall of 1888, when the royal family walked along the line at a distance of several steps and the “pharaoh” fully tasted the sweet, spicy delight of love for the monarch. However, extra days off work, cancellation of vacation, arrest - all this fell on the heads of the young men. The cadets were loved, but at the school they were “warmed” mercilessly: the warmer was a fellow student, a platoon officer, a course officer and, finally, the commander of the fourth company, Captain Fofanov, who had the nickname Drozd. Certainly, daily exercise with a heavy infantry berdank and drill could cause an aversion to service if all the warmers of the “Pharaoh” were not so patient and sternly sympathetic.
There was no “teasing” in the school - pushing around by juniors, common for St. Petersburg schools. An atmosphere of knightly military democracy and stern but caring camaraderie prevailed. Everything related to service did not allow for relaxation, even among friends, but outside of this, an invariable “you” and a friendly address, with a touch of familiarity that did not cross certain boundaries, were prescribed. After the oath, Drozd reminded that now they were soldiers and for misconduct they could be sent not to their mother, but as privates in an infantry regiment.
And yet, youthful enthusiasm, a boyishness that had not yet been completely extinguished, was visible in the tendency to give its name to everything around it. The first company was called “stallions”, the second - “animals”, the third - “daubs” and the fourth (Alexandrova) - “fleas”. Each commander also bore his assigned name. Only Belov, the second course officer, did not have a single nickname. From the Balkan War, he brought a Bulgarian wife of indescribable beauty, before whom all the cadets bowed, which is why the personality of her husband was considered inviolable. But Dubyshkin was called Pup, the commander of the first company was Khukhrik, and the battalion commander was Berdi-Pasha. A traditional manifestation of youth was bullying officers.
However, the lives of eighteen-twenty-year-old boys could not be entirely absorbed in the interests of the service.
Alexandrov vividly experienced the collapse of his first love, but he was also keenly and sincerely interested in the younger Sinelnikov sisters. At the December ball, Olga Sinelnikova announced Yulenka’s engagement. Alexandrov was shocked, but replied that it didn’t matter to him, because he had loved Olga for a long time and would devote his first story to her, which would soon be published by “Evening Leisure.”
This writing debut of his really took place. But at the evening roll call, Drozd appointed three days in a punishment cell for publishing without the sanction of his superiors. Alexandrov took Tolstoy’s “Cossacks” into his cell and, when Drozd asked whether the young talent knew why he was being punished, he cheerfully replied: “For writing a stupid and vulgar essay.” (After this he gave up literature and turned to painting.) Alas, the troubles did not end there. A fatal mistake was discovered in the dedication: instead of “O” there was “U” (such is the power of first love!), so soon the author received a letter from Olga: “For some reasons, I’m unlikely to ever be able to see you, and therefore goodbye.” .
There seemed to be no limit to the cadet’s shame and despair, but time heals all wounds. Alexandrov turned out to be “dressed up” for the most, as we now say, prestigious ball - at the Catherine Institute. This was not part of his Christmas plans, but Drozd did not allow him to reason, and thank God. For many years, with bated breath, Alexandrov will remember the mad race through the snow with the famous photogen Palych from Znamenka to the institute; the brilliant entrance of an old house; the seemingly equally old (not old!) doorman Porfiry, marble stairs, light-colored backsides and students in formal dresses with a ballroom neckline. Here he met Zinochka Belysheva, from whose mere presence the air itself brightened and sparkled with laughter. It was true and mutual love. And how wonderfully they suited each other both in dance, and at the Chistoprudny skating rink, and in society. She was undeniably beautiful, but she possessed something more valuable and rare than beauty.
One day Alexandrov admitted to Zinochka that he loved her and asked her to wait for him for three years. Three months later he graduates from college and serves for two months before entering the General Staff Academy. He will pass the exam, no matter what it costs him. Then he will come to Dmitry Petrovich and ask for her hand. The second lieutenant receives forty-three rubles a month, and he will not allow himself to offer her the pitiful fate of a provincial regimental lady. “I’ll wait,” was the answer.
From then on, the question of average score became a matter of life and death for Alexandrov. With nine points, you had the opportunity to choose the regiment that suited you for service. He is only about three tenths short of a nine because of a six in military fortification.
But now all the obstacles have been overcome, and nine points provide Alexandrov with the right to first choice of duty station. But it so happened that when Berdi Pasha called out his last name, the cadet almost at random poked his finger at the sheet and came across an unknown Undom infantry regiment.
And now a brand new officer’s uniform is put on, and the head of the school, General Anchutin, gives his students farewell. Usually there are at least seventy-five officers in a regiment, and in such a large society, gossip is inevitable, corroding this society. So when a comrade comes to you with news about comrade X., be sure to ask if he will repeat this news to X himself. Farewell, gentlemen.
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