Story by I.S. Turgenev "Biryuk" is included in the collection of stories "Notes of a Hunter". It is generally accepted that the approximate time of its creation is 1848-50s, since the writer began working on stories in the 1840s, and published complete collection in 1852.
The collection is united by the presence of one “off-screen” main character-narrator. This is a certain Pyotr Petrovich, a nobleman who in some stories is a mute witness to events, in others a full-fledged participant. “Biryuk” is one of those stories where events take place around Pyotr Petrovich and with his participation.
Story Analysis
Plot, composition
Unlike most writers of that time, who portrayed peasants as a faceless gray mass, the author in each essay notes some special feature of peasant life, which is why all the works combined in the collection gave a bright and multifaceted picture of the peasant world.
A genre work stands on the border between a story and an essay (the title “note” emphasizes the sketchiness of the work). The plot is another episode from the life of Pyotr Petrovich. The events described in Biryuk are presented by Pyotr Petrovich in the form of a monologue. An avid hunter, he once got lost in the forest and got caught in a downpour in the evening twilight. The forester he meets, a figure known in the village for his gloominess and unsociability, invites Pyotr Petrovich home to wait out the bad weather. The rain subsided, and the forester heard the sound of an ax in the silence - someone was stealing the forest he was protecting. Pyotr Petrovich wanted to go with the forester “to detention”, to see how he worked. Together they caught the “thief,” who turned out to be a poor little peasant, disheveled and in rags. It was clear that the man began to steal timber not because of a good life, and the narrator began to ask Biryuk to let the thief go. For a long time, Pyotr Petrovich had to persuade the principled forester, getting into a fight between Biryuk and the detainee. Unexpectedly, the forester released the caught man, taking pity on him.
Heroes and problems of the story
Main character works - Biryuk, a serf forester, zealously and fundamentally protecting the lordly forest. His name is Foma Kuzmich, but people in the village treat him with hostility and give him a nickname for his stern, unsociable character.
It is no coincidence that the forester’s character is drawn from the words of a nobleman witness - Pyotr Petrovich still understands Biryuk better than the villagers, for him his character is quite explainable and understandable. It is clear why the villagers are hostile to Biryuk, and why no one is to blame for this enmity. The forester mercilessly catches the “thieves,” claiming that in the village there is “a thief on a thief,” and they keep climbing into the forest out of despair, out of incredible poverty. The villagers keep ascribing some kind of imaginary “power” to Biryuk and threatening to take it away, completely forgetting that he is just an honest performer of work and “doesn’t eat the master’s bread for nothing.”
Biryuk himself is as poor as the peasants he captures - his home is miserable and sad, filled with desolation and disorder. Instead of a bed - a pile of rags, dim light from a torch, lack of food except bread. There is no mistress - she ran away with a visiting tradesman, leaving her husband and two children (one of them is just a baby and, apparently, sick - he breathes “noisily and quickly” in his cradle, takes care of infant girl about 12 years old).
Biryuk himself is a real Russian hero, with powerful muscles and a cap of dark curls. He is a correct, principled, honest and lonely person - this is repeatedly emphasized by his nickname. Loneliness in life, loneliness in his beliefs, loneliness due to his duty and being forced to live in the forest, loneliness among people - Biryuk evokes sympathy and respect.
The man who is caught as a thief evokes only pity, because, in contrast to Biryuk, he is petty, pathetic, justifying his theft by hunger, the need to feed big family. The men are ready to blame anyone for their poverty - from the master to the same Biryuk. In a fit of evil sincerity, he calls the forester a murderer, a bloodsucker and a beast, and rushes at him.
It would seem that two socially equal people - both poor, both serfs, both with the responsibilities of a family man - to feed children, but the man goes for theft, and the forester does not, and therefore one may not believe in the description given by fellow villagers to the forester. Only those whom he prevented from stealing can call him a “beast”, “murderer”, “bloodsucker”.
The title of the story contains the nickname of the main character, which indicates not at all the character of the forester, but the circumstances in which he lives hopelessly; to his place, which people have assigned to him. Serfs do not live richly, and honest serfs in the service of the master are also forced to be alone, since they are not understood by their own brothers.
Biryuk lets the man go out of compassion - feeling has prevailed over reason and principles. Pyotr Petrovich offers to reimburse the cost of the tree the man felled, since the foresters, who did not keep track of the theft, had to pay for the damage from their own pockets. Despite the fine threatening him, Biryuk commits human act and it is clear that he feels relief.
“Biryuk,” like the rest of the stories in “Notes of a Hunter,” is a collection of images of peasants, each of whom is famous for some aspect of his character, his actions or talents. The appalling plight of these talented and strong people, which does not allow them to open up, to care about at least something other than the search for food and pushes them to commit crimes - this is main issue story voiced by the author.
Russia is shown simply, poetically and lovingly in “Notes of a Hunter” by I. S. Turgenev. The author admires simple folk characters, fields, forests, meadows of Russia. No matter how one views the stories, this is first and foremost poetry, not politics. Written with great love and observation short story cycle "Biryuk". The depth of the content is combined with the perfection of the form, which speaks of the writer’s ability to subordinate all the components of the work, all of his artistic techniques a single creative task.
Biryuk in the Oryol province was called a gloomy and lonely person. Forester Foma lived alone in a smoky, low hut with two young children; his wife left him; family grief and hard life made him even more gloomy and unsociable.
The main and only event of the story is the forester’s capture of a poor peasant who cut down a tree in the master’s forest. The conflict of the work consists of a clash between a forester and a peasant.
The image of Biryuk is complex and contradictory, and in order to understand it, let’s pay attention to the artistic means that the author used.
The description of the situation shows how poor the hero is. This dwelling was a sad sight: “I looked around - my heart ached: it’s not fun to enter a peasant’s hut at night.”
The psychological portrait of the forester testifies to Biryuk’s exceptional strength; it becomes clear why all the surrounding men were afraid of him. “He was tall, broad-shouldered and beautifully built. ...A black curly beard covered half of his stern and courageous face; from under the fused wide eyebrows small brown eyes looked boldly.” In appearance this man is rude and formidable, but in reality he is good and kind. And the narrator clearly admires his hero.
The key to understanding the character of Thomas is the nickname that the peasants give him. From them we receive an indirect description of the forester: “a master of his craft”; “the fagots will not be allowed to be dragged away”; “strong... and as dexterous as a devil... And nothing can take him: neither wine, nor money; doesn’t take any bait.”
The plot, consisting of two episodes (the forester met the hunter during a thunderstorm and helped him; he caught the peasant at the scene of the crime, and then set him free), reveals the best features of the hero’s character. It is difficult for Foma to make a choice: to act according to the dictates of duty or to take pity on the man. The despair of the caught peasant awakens the best feelings in the forester.
Nature in the story serves not just as a background, it is an integral part of the content, helping to reveal Biryuk’s character. Combinations of words depicting the rapid onset of bad weather, sad pictures of nature emphasize the drama of the situation of the peasants: “a thunderstorm was approaching,” “a cloud was slowly rising,” “clouds were rushing.”
Turgenev helped not only to see the life of the peasants, to sympathize with their troubles and needs, he turned us to the spiritual world of the Russian peasant, noticed many unique, interesting individuals. “Still, my Rus' is dearer to me than anything else in the world...” I. S. Turgenev would later write. “Notes of a Hunter” is a writer’s tribute to Russia, a kind of monument to the Russian peasantry.
Essay on the topic “Characteristics of Biryuk”The work was completed by a student of class 7 “B” Balashov Alexander
The main character of the story is I.S. Turgenev's "Biryuk" is the forester Foma. Foma is a very interesting and unusual person. With what admiration and pride the author describes his hero: “He was tall, broad-shouldered and beautifully built. His powerful muscles bulged out from under the wet manner of his shirt.” Biryuk had a “manly face” and “small brown eyes” that “looked boldly from under fused wide eyebrows.”
The author is struck by the wretchedness of the forester’s hut, which consisted of “one room, smoky, low and empty, without floors ...”, everything here speaks of a miserable existence - both “a tattered sheepskin coat on the wall” and “a pile of rags in the corner; two large pots that stood near the stove...” Turgenev himself sums up the description: “I looked around - my heart ached: it’s not fun to enter a peasant’s hut at night.”
The forester's wife ran away with a passing tradesman and abandoned two children; Maybe that’s why the forester was so stern and silent. Foma was nicknamed Biryuk, that is, a gloomy and lonely man, by the surrounding men, who feared him like fire. They said that he was “strong and dexterous like a devil…”, “he won’t let you drag fagots of brushwood” out of the forest, “no matter what time it is... he’ll come out of the blue” and don’t expect mercy. Biryuk is a “master of his craft” who cannot be conquered by anything, “neither wine nor money.” However, despite all his sorrows and troubles, Biryuk retained kindness and mercy in his heart. He secretly sympathized with his “wards”, but work is work, and the demand for the stolen goods will first of all be from himself. But this does not prevent him from doing good deeds, releasing the most desperate ones without punishment, but only with a fair amount of intimidation.
Biryuk's tragedy stemmed from the understanding that it was not because of a good life that peasants came to steal timber. Often, feelings of pity and compassion prevail over his integrity. So, in the story, Biryuk caught a man chopping down a forest. He was dressed in tattered rags, all wet, with a disheveled beard. The man asked to let him go or at least give him the horse, because there were children at home and there was nothing to feed them. In response to all the persuasion, the forester kept repeating one thing: “Don’t go stealing.” In the end, Foma Kuzmich grabbed the thief by the collar and pushed him out the door, saying: “Get to hell with your horse.” With these rude words, he seems to cover up his generous act. So the forester constantly oscillates between principles and a sense of compassion. The author wants to show that this gloomy, unsociable person actually has a kind, generous heart.
Describing the forced people, dispossessed and oppressed, Turgenev especially emphasizes that even in such conditions he was able to maintain his living soul, the ability to empathize and respond with your whole being to kindness and affection. Even this life does not kill humanity in people - that is what is most important.
Writers of the previous era rarely wrote about peasants, and if they did, they depicted them as a common gray mass. Despite this, Turgenev undertook to note the peculiarities of peasant life, thanks to which the collection “Notes of a Hunter” presented a bright and multifaceted composition of the life of peasants. The stories immediately attracted readers and allowed them to gain special fame.
Features of the stories “Notes of a Hunter”
Each story features one main character, whose name is Pyotr Petrovich. He is a nobleman from the village of Spassky and is actively involved in hunting and hiking. Ivan Turgenev talks about different stories that took place during hunting trips. The main character has acquired such valuable character traits as observation and attention, thanks to which the narrator better understands various life situations and successfully conveys them to the reader.
“Biryuk” is a story included in the collection “Notes of a Hunter.” The work was written in 1848 and corresponds to the general literary composition. The main character again finds himself in interesting story, which he talks about in the form of a monologue.
The plot of the story "Biryuk"
One evening Pyotr Petrovich was returning from hunting and got caught in a downpour. A further trip turned out to be impossible: we had to wait out the bad weather. Fortunately, Peter saw a forester who invited the master to his house. In Biryuk's hut took place important conversation. As it turned out, the forester was nicknamed Biryuk because he has a gloomy and unsociable character. Despite such harsh character traits, Biryuk decided to tell a lot about his life interesting facts.
After the rain ended, the hospitable owner of the forest hut heard the sound of an ax and decided to catch the intruder. Pyotr Petrovich supported the idea, so the two of them went in search of the intruder. The thief turned out to be a beggar man, dressed in rags and with a disheveled beard. Most likely, the violation was due to a difficult life situation. Pyotr Petrovich took pity on the beggar and asked Biryuk for an important favor, or rather, to let the poor peasant go. However, the forester did not agree and led the man into his hut. The offender was released only after repeated requests for mercy from the master.
Biryuk as a person
Biryuk is an interesting and integral person, but, unfortunately, tragic. The main tragedy lies in the presence of special views on life, which sometimes have to be sacrificed. The story noted that many peasants in mid-19th century For centuries, theft has been considered commonplace. This was precisely the main tragedy of Biryuk.
It is important to note that the peasants’ worldview was explained by serious social problems:
Insecurity of the peasant people;
Lack of good education;
Immorality of behavior due to lack of education.
Forester Biryuk was different from ordinary peasants. He is ready to live as a beggar even if such a situation turns out to be difficult. Any life circumstances could not motivate theft.
It is important to note that Biryuk’s poor position was confirmed by the description of his house in the forest:
One room;
Smoky;
Low and empty hut;
No floors or partitions.
You can understand how difficult Biryuk’s life turns out to be. It can be assumed that if a poor man sacrificed his principles, he, being in the forest, could build a beautiful hut for himself.
Biryuk understands that if every peasant steals, the overall situation will only worsen. The forester is confident that he is right, so it is difficult for him to deviate from existing principles. Despite such character traits and the desire to walk firmly through life, sometimes you have to face challenges. The situation described in the story clearly demonstrates the struggle between feelings of pity and compassion with clear principles and the desire to improve the world. The essay shows how difficult it is to hesitate between feelings and existing principles, not to know what to choose.
“Biryuk” is a fascinating story that reveals the characters of each participant in the story. Ivan Turgenev understood the peculiarities of peasant life in the 19th century, and therefore successfully reflected them in his works. The logic of life is a worthy basis, without which it is impossible to change realities.
“Biryuk” is a story that reflected the unfair situation of many serfs. Each reader has the right to independently place emphasis on those feelings that arise when comparing heroes from the same peasant environment, but differing in their life principles and character traits.
The plot of the story is based on a direct conflict between the forester Biryuk, who is considered lonely and gloomy, and the poor peasant. Biryuk honestly fulfills his duties and tries to protect the forest. The peasant got into a difficult situation life situation, so he steals firewood. The master hunter, Pyotr Petrovich, stopped in a forest hut due to a sudden downpour, so he becomes an accidental witness to a conflict situation. He sees how during bad weather Biryuk decides to go into the forest and tries to catch the unfortunate thief.
Biryuk lives poorly and raises his children himself. His wife went to a passing tradesman, leaving her family. Despite such life circumstances, theft still remains the last thing, so Biryuk tries to identify violators and punish them... But you need to understand how fair such behavior turns out to be. Growing up children are hungry and eat bad bread... Biryuk shows distrust and gloominess, says little and behaves insincerely. Biryuk, of course, invites the hunter to his place and is ready to take him home, but still shows a merciless judicial attitude towards the beggar.
Biryuk is ready to justify his actions with the following point: he is a forced laborer, so they can exact a penalty from him... At the same time, during the plaintive explanations of the poor peasant, the forester remains silent. Such moments reflect serious internal struggle. The forester wants to justify the unfortunate thief, realizing that in bad weather he steals wood from the master to fire the stove and prepare food for a hungry family, but still leaves the offender locked up. The attitude changes only after the unfortunate man at the very end of the story calls Biryuk a “beast,” a “damned murderer.” The violator is ready to accept any punishment, because even death does not frighten him. However, accusing the forester of inhumanity immediately leads to a different effect, because Biryuk lets him go. In an unexpected way, a serious internal conflict was resolved:
Cruelty and duty of service;
Clear life principles;
Sincere sympathy and understanding of the misfortune of a stranger.
At the same time, the master, Pyotr Petrovich, contributed to the successful resolution of the current situation, since he was immediately imbued with the explanations of the unfortunate thief. The situation is better revealed through detailed descriptions of the landscape. Throughout history, a thunderstorm rages, representing state of mind Biryuka. In addition, many serfs consider the forester a manifestation of a thunderstorm. But nevertheless, Biryuk is freed from the sense of duty, since he commits a human act and goes to meet the unfortunate person. According to the law that was in force at that ominous time, the forester. who did not catch the thief had to reimburse the entire cost of the illegally cut down trees. If this could not be done, there was a risk of a lawsuit with further exile to Siberia, but the fear of punishment loses... Biryuk nevertheless releases the thief and gives him his horse.
The meaning of the story “Biryuk”
Biryuk is special hero in the story of Ivan Turgenev, because he has unique life principles and is sometimes ready to sacrifice them. Mental struggle allows you to understand how difficult it is sometimes to accept correct solution. Detailed descriptions of bad weather and thunderstorms contribute to better understanding life principles and feelings, emotions of the forester. It is important to understand that a person who is in need and cannot find the right path is forced to decide on hopelessness. The oscillation between feelings and principles is the best reflection of humanity.
The story has numerous artistic merits, which have been confirmed by critics:
Real and picturesque descriptions of nature;
A special style of storytelling;
Unusual heroes.
“Biryuk” is a worthy representative of the legendary collection “Notes of a Hunter,” which made it possible to strengthen the position of Ivan Turgenev in Russian literature.
The story “Biryuk” by I. S. Turgenev was written in 1847 and was included in the series of works by the writer about the life, traditions and way of life of the Russian people “Notes of a Hunter”. The story refers to literary direction realism. In “Biryuk” the author described his memories of the life of peasants in the Oryol province.
Main characters
Biryuk (Foma Kuzmich)- a forester, a stern-looking man.
Narrator- master, the story is narrated on his behalf.
Other characters
Man- a poor man who was cutting down trees in the forest and was caught by Biryuk.
Julitta- Biryuk’s twelve-year-old daughter.
The narrator was driving alone from hunting in the evening, on treadmills. There were about eight miles left to his house, but a severe thunderstorm unexpectedly caught him in the forest. The narrator decides to wait out the bad weather under a wide bush, and soon, with the flash of lightning, he sees a tall figure - as it turned out, it was the local forester. He took the narrator to his house - “a small hut in the middle of a vast yard, surrounded by fences.” The door was opened for them by “a girl of about twelve, in a shirt, belted with a hem” - the daughter of the forester, Ulita.
The forester’s hut “consisted of one room,” a tattered sheepskin coat hung on the wall, a torch was burning on the table, and “in the very middle” of the house there was a cradle hanging.
The forester himself “was tall, broad-shouldered and beautifully built,” with a black curly beard, wide fused eyebrows and brown eyes. His name was Thomas, nicknamed Biryuk. The narrator was surprised to meet the forester, as he had heard from friends that “all the surrounding men were afraid of him like fire.” He regularly guarded the forest goods, not allowing even a bundle of brushwood to be taken out of the forest. It was impossible to bribe Biryuk.
Foma said that his wife ran away with a passing tradesman, leaving the forester alone with two children. Biryuk had nothing to treat his guest with - there was only bread in the house.
When the rain stopped, Biryuk said that he would see the narrator out. Leaving the house, Foma heard the distant sound of an ax. The forester was afraid that he would miss the thief, so the narrator agreed to walk to the place where the forest was being cut down, although he did not hear anything. At the end of the path, Biryuk asked to wait, and he went on. Through the noise of the wind, the narrator heard Thomas' cry and the sounds of a struggle. The narrator rushed there and saw Biryuk near a fallen tree, who was tying a man with a sash.
The narrator asked to let the thief go, promising to pay for the tree, but Biryuk, without answering, took the man to his hut. It started to rain again, and they had to wait out the bad weather. The narrator decided “to free the poor man at all costs” - by the light of the lantern he could see “his wasted, wrinkled face, drooping yellow eyebrows, restless eyes, thin limbs.”
The man began to ask Biryuk to free him. The forester sullenly objected that in their settlement everything was “thief after thief” and, not paying attention to the thief’s plaintive requests, ordered him to sit quietly. Suddenly the man straightened up, blushed and began to scold Thomas, calling him “an Asian, a bloodsucker, a beast, a murderer.” Biryuk grabbed the man by the shoulder. The narrator already wanted to protect the poor man, but Foma, to his amazement, “with one turn he tore the sash from the man’s elbows, grabbed him by the collar, pulled his hat over his eyes, opened the door and pushed him out,” shouting after him to get the hell out .
The narrator understands that Biryuk is actually a “nice fellow.” Half an hour later they said goodbye at the edge of the forest.
Conclusion
In the story “Biryuk” Turgenev portrayed an ambiguous character - forester Foma Kuzmich, whose personality is fully revealed only towards the end of the work. It is with this hero that the main conflict of the story is connected - the conflict between public duty and humanity, which occurs within Biryuk himself. Despite the outward severity and integrity of Foma Kuzmich, who closely protects the forest entrusted to him, in his soul he is a kind, sympathetic person - a “nice fellow.”
A brief retelling of “Biryuk” will be useful for familiarizing yourself with the plot of the story, for better understanding We recommend that you read it in its entirety.
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