Turbine house. Analysis of the theme of family values ​​in M.A’s novel

ANALYSIS OF THE THEME OF FAMILY VALUES IN THE NOVEL BY M.A. BULGAKOV "WHITE GUARD"

ANALYSIS OF THE INTERIOR OF THE TURBINE HOUSE IN THE NOVEL “THE WHITE GUARD”

The interior of the Turbins' house appears in Bulgakov's novel on the very first pages and will be reproduced by the author many times throughout the novel. Historical time and the events taking place, great, close in scale to the biblical ones, are already comprehended by the author in the first sentence of the work: “Great and terrible was the year after the birth of Christ 1918, from the beginning of the second revolution.” History is inscribed in this tragic union of the era and world events. ordinary family Turbins, whose existence becomes the focus of all the key problems and characteristic features of the time and is divided by a milestone revolutionary year into 2 stages: BEFORE and AFTER. The death of the head of the family - the mother, the center of the entire former Turbino “cosmos” - also occurred in terrible year, the first “from the beginning of the revolution”: the coincidence of family and historical catastrophes becomes for Bulgakov a great omen of future sad events. And the only protection, “a life-saving ship in a terrible sea of ​​disasters” becomes for the Turbins their home, left to them by their parents as a special spiritual world, an ark storing lasting, eternal values.

Let's look at the first picture of the Turbino house. By drawing it, the author emphasizes antiquity - tradition (the word translated means “transmission”), habitability, the long-established way of life and family relations. The atmosphere of the house is shrouded in childhood impressions, preserved by memory, strengthened by habits that have become part of the character of the Turbin family itself. The center of the interior - and the whole house - is a “blazing hot” tiled stove, a legendary hearth, a “wise rock”, a symbol of comfort and well-being, tranquility and inviolability family traditions. She's the keeper family history: inscriptions different years, made by the children's hands of the little Turbins, and by guests of the house, and by gentlemen in love with Elena - this is an “album”-chronicle, a Book from which you can “read” how the family lived in this house. Warmth, happiness and wise carelessness emanate from these tiles.

From the same home stove a person “dances” in life, Bulgakov believes: what he was taught at home, what he remembered and learned from his parents, in the family, will determine him moral character, his destiny, his purpose.

And the Turbins learn from their home: their life is subordinated to the order that, according to Bulgakov, was given to man from time immemorial by his ancestors; This is how their house is built. Each room has its own purpose: the dining room, the children’s room, the parents’ bedroom, “all seven dusty and full rooms that raised the young Turbins” - these are special microworlds, necessary components big world The family, shown through the eyes of not only the author, who recreated the world of his own childhood in this interior, but also the adult Turbins: “this tile, and the furniture of old red velvet, and beds with shiny cones, the best cabinets in the world with books that smell of mysterious ancient chocolate ..." - all these are his memories and everlasting memory his heroes.

The image of this particular collective hero - the Turbin family, which formerly included the elders, the founders, the creators of the tradition, and is now beheaded, but still living and preserving its world - is interesting to the author. But not so much social status The Turbins (a family of intellectuals) worries the author how many there are spiritual state, brought up, “grown” within the walls of this house. Not only the material wealth of a wealthy family (“gilded cups, silverware”), but also spiritual treasures fill him: “as one often read at ... the tiled square “The Carpenter of Saardam” (a book about Peter I), the historical figures of Alexei Mikhailovich are well known to Turbin, Louis XIV (even if at first the acquaintance took place on the patterns of worn carpets); The characters of Russian literature became almost like family (“cabinets with books (...), with Natasha Rostova, Captain's daughter..."). Pushkin’s “Take care of honor from a young age,” learned by the Turbins from childhood, will be constantly felt in every action of each of them.

The entire interior is based on personification: the hot tiles, the lights of Christmas candles, and vintage photographs, made back then, “when women wore funny sleeves with bubbles at the shoulders,” and the hero of the children’s book, the Saardam Carpenter, and even beds with shiny cones... As in Andersen’s fairy tales, these things live their own special life, accessible only to children’s understanding, and respond to our every call inner voice. The author's ability to verbally reproduce the perception of the world that distinguishes a child from an adult is amazing.

special, distinctive feature Bulgakov's signature style is his careful and close attention to detail, which makes his style similar to the creative style of his beloved Gogol and is clearly manifested in this interior. The smell of pine needles from a festive tree and “mysterious ancient chocolate” emanating from books, a bronze lamp under a lampshade (another eternal symbol of the integrity and eternity of home comfort), “wonderful curls” on Turkish carpets and music, the “native voice” of a clock - this is it a unique and fragile world that the Turbines will protect from the terrible destructive misfortunes that surge in waves civil war.

An important item in Turbino’s home world is the clock: “bronze, with gavotte” - in the mother’s bedroom, “black wall” with a tower strike - in the dining room. The symbolism of watches is one of the most “talking” in world art. In Bulgakov, it takes on new meanings: if in the period before the start of the revolution, clocks playing their music were a sign of habitation, movement, seething life within these walls, now, after the death of their father and mother, their hands are counting last hours a beautiful but fading former life. But the author does not believe in the possibility of the death of this house. And even in the style of this fragment, in the use of repetitions (the refrain is “beaten with a tower fight”), he asserts eternity, the inviolability of both material symbols (a clock and a bronze lamp) and spiritual ones, because “the clock, fortunately, is completely immortal, immortal and the Saardam Carpenter, and the Dutch tile, like a wise rock, life-giving and hot in the most difficult times.” This is the main goal of creating the interior of the Turbins’ house.

The events of M.A. Bulgakov’s novel “The White Guard” take place during the Civil War in Russia, which began in 1917. Fear, chaos and panic reign in the country. In such an environment, a person needs a place where he will feel safe, some small island of kindness and tranquility, an unshakable fortress. House No. 13 on Alekseevsky Spusk is exactly such a place for the Turbin family.

Bulgakov admires this house. Despite the horrors of war, it is always cozy and warm here, an atmosphere of love and goodwill reigns. Alexey, Nikolka and especially Elena, the keeper of the hearth and family comfort, carefully protect this atmosphere. The central piece in the apartment is a Dutch tiled stove, where a bright, life-giving flame is constantly burning.

The tiles are painted with many illustrations and inscriptions, reflecting everything that worried the members of the Turbin family and their friends in different time 1918. In the corridor the wall clock chimes like a tower, the books in the cabinets smell of “mysterious chocolate”, in the bedroom there is a bronze lamp, always with a lampshade. On the piano are the open notes of the eternal Faust. On the table in the dining room there is a perfectly starched white tablecloth, festive dinnerware, and fresh flowers. There are cream curtains on the windows, which seem to separate this quiet haven from the outside world. “This is from Elena, who cannot do otherwise, this is from Anyuta, who grew up in the Turbins’ house.” All these things don't represent heroes material value, but they are dear to the memories embedded in them.

The Turbin family are people with highly developed morals and moral convictions.

Decency, justice, honor, courage, sincerity, compassion, nobility - all these qualities are unshakable and immutable for them. They despise lies and cowardice, which is why Alexey reproached himself for shaking Thalberg's hand before his flight from the City. Spiritual beauty is the core of the character of these people. In this house they honor and readily fulfill the mother’s behest - to live together. Turbines treasure what constitutes beauty and joy human existence not in a class sense, but in a universal human understanding. Even during the raging Civil War, books, music, art, love, kindness, and hospitality are still important to them. Time invades this house, ruins family nest, but despite this, the heroes do not change morally. The doors of the Turbins' house are always open to those who need it, be it family friends, namely Shervinsky, Myshlaevsky and Studzinsky, or distant relatives (Lariosik), or even the Lisovichs, forced to seek help due to a robbery.

For contrast, Bulgakov uses a description of the house of engineer Lisovich, a householder. It is absolutely the opposite of the description of the Turbins’ house: a cool and damp apartment, complete silence, smelling of “mice, mold, grumpy sleepy boredom.” Lisovich himself and his wife are contrasted with Alexei, Elena and Nikolka: for these people there are no concepts of honor, decency, duty, love for the Fatherland; they are cowardly, greedy, secretive and two-faced. The main thing for Vasilisa and Vanda Mikhailovna is own safety and a comfortable existence.

Thus, the house for Bulgakov is something more than an ordinary home. This is a place that can unite people, protect them from adversity, give the warmth of family traditions, the personification peaceful life and peace. It is home and family that bring goodness and harmony into a person’s spiritual life.

Updated: 2017-07-21

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The novel is based on M.A. Bulgakov's "The White Guard", written in 1925, became real events tragic time: civil war in Ukraine. Much is autobiographical here: The city is beloved Kyiv, the address is House No. 13 on Alekseevsky Spusk (in fact, the Bulgakovs lived in house 13 on Andreevsky Spusk, where the M.A. Bulgakov Museum is now). The atmosphere of the Turbin family, large and friendly, but going through difficult times, is also autobiographical.

Turbines love their home, cozy and warm. Its entire environment seems to be inspired by the memories associated with it. The tiled stove in the dining room is a symbol of the warmth of the hearth - “it warmed and raised little Elena, Alexey the elder and very tiny Nikolka.” “The Carpenter of Saardam” was read near the blazing heat of the stove, “the grease played for hours, and always at the end of December there was a smell of pine needles, and multi-colored paraffin burned on the green branches.” Things are valuable not in themselves, but because of what is connected with them: a watch - a memory of a deceased father, “the best cabinets in the world with books that smell of mysterious ancient chocolate”, which speak of the spiritual world of growing children, a bronze lamp under the lampshade gives an idea of ​​the warmth and comfort of the evening twilight." Terrible trials also affected the Turbin family - the mother died, who bequeathed to the children to live together. And the destruction of time could not but affect the usual life: the mother's festive service was used every day, the food for tea. The tiled stove is covered with “historical records” and drawings on topical topics: the revolution, the offensive of Itlura, the expression of political sympathies and antipathies. “It’s anxious in the City, foggy, bad...” And although the tablecloth is “still white and starchy,” because Elena cannot do otherwise, and the flowers affirm “the beauty and strength of life,” one feels that the former comfort is fragile and fragile, that at any moment treacherous enemy“can break the beautiful snowy City and trample the fragments of peace with his heels.”

It is difficult for children without their mother; they involuntarily feel the possibility of the collapse of their usual good world. “The walls will fall, the alarmed falcon will fly away from the white mitten, the fire in the bronze lamp will go out, and “The Captain’s Daughter” will be burned in the oven.” Turbines value their home; they preserve its traditions and the relationships that have developed in the family. Here the brothers love and take care of their sister, for her sake they agree to tolerate her husband, whom they themselves do not like, and they console Elena when she is worried about her husband. Friends are always welcome here: how frostbitten Myshlaevsky comes to the Turbins’ home after - unsuccessful defense on the approaches to the City, and he is truly received as a welcome guest. Shervinsky, who is caring for Elena, and Karas, Myshlaevsky’s gymnasium friend and colleague, come here. Lariosik, who came from Zhitomir, at first doesn’t understand why he likes it so much in the Turbins’ home, but he likes it here so much that he feels like his soul “comes to life.” The outside world behind the cream curtains is “dirty, bloody and meaningless,” and “wounded souls seek peace perishably behind such cream curtains.” This explanation by Lariosik clearly proves that all the Turbins’ friends value in their home, first of all, the warmth of friendly relations, an atmosphere of trust, mutual assistance, and the cordiality of the owners. Even Vasilisa, the apartment owner, greedy and cowardly, in a moment of danger comes to the Turbins for protection and support.

So, the Turbins’ house is not just a home, “my fortress” that Vasilisa dreams of, having been robbed in her own apartment. This is not just the comfort and warmth of home - it is a special atmosphere of love and mutual understanding. In a cruel and disturbing world, this is an island of goodness, a reliable place, protected from dangers, where you can believe that everything will finally be good and happy.

Composition

Civil war... Chaos... Shots... Bad weather...

City. A feeling of anxiety that everyone experiences. Fear is in the souls of people. Where can I find peace?

M. Bulgakov brings his heroes into the family. It is she, the Turbin family, who resists the nightmare and horror that reigns in the City. The city is fear. Home is cream curtains and a starched tablecloth. These are the Turbines themselves. Only here, where there are roses on the table, where the woman is a demigod, do people warm up from the cold of the City and find peace and peace of mind.

For Bulgakov, both in life and in books, family is sacred, it is a place where a person finds peace, which he so lacks outside the home. The law of this family is honor. Honor lies not only in loyalty to the fatherland and oath, but also in loyalty and devotion to all family members. And in this Family there is a cult of decency. Decency in everything: both in relation to each other and in relation to those who come to the Turbins’ house.

“The White Guard” is a novel about a terrible storm of civil war that shakes the Turbins’ house, where “the best cabinets in the world are filled with books that smell of mysterious, ancient chocolate, with Natasha Rostova, “The Captain’s Daughter.” Books that raised the young Turbins. Comfort, poetry of home, warmth of family... The tiled stove in the dining room becomes almost a symbol of the stability and indestructibility of this family.

At the beginning of the novel, the Turbins suffered grief - their mother died: “Why such an insult? Injustice?" This death is terrible for children, but it is not related to war. Life is death, there’s no escape. But it’s insulting and unfair when the death is absurd and violent. The Turbins’ house survived, although it had cracked: “For many years before his death, in house No. 13 on Aleksandrovsky Spusk, the tiled stove in the dining room warmed and raised little Elenka, Alexey the elder and very tiny Nikolka. ... But the clock, fortunately, is completely immortal, the Saardam Carpenter is immortal, and the Dutch tile, like a wise rock, is life-giving and hot in the most difficult times.”

Talberg, Elena's husband, a man alien to the Turbins (just as Berg and Vera herself are alien to the Rostovs), flees the City. Talberg left home and family, but childhood friends came to the house - Myshlaevsky, Shervinsky, Karas. They love this house, they live up to the spirit of this house, they are defenders of the City.

Bulgakov's "White Guard" is full of everyday details, objects that surround the heroes. These are the same “talking” objects as the “book shelf” in village house Larins for Tatiana, “Lord Byron’s portrait” in Onegin’s office, the nanny’s chest on which the girls of the Rostov family confided their secrets to each other. These things enter into the spiritual world of the heroes, but the things seem to have absorbed their mysterious and poetic world. Everyday details are especially important, because any home, any family contains trinkets beloved by each family member, some dear to his heart.

Young Turbin’s life “was interrupted at dawn.” And yet they resisted, withstood internally, preserved what they absorbed into themselves in this house, the house that became Noah's Ark during the flood.

The Turbins’ dying mother, Anna Vladimirovna, bequeathed: “Amicably... live.” And they lived together. They loved each other, loved their home and took care of it. When Elena finally decided to leave the city with her husband (he’s a husband!), she, “thinner and strict,” instantly began packing her suitcase, and the room became “disgusting, like in any room, where packing is chaos, and even worse, when the shade is pulled off the lamp!” The lampshade becomes in the novel a symbol not only of the House, but also of the Soul, human decency, conscience, and honor. Bulgakov writes: “Never run like a rat into the unknown from danger. Doze by the lampshade, read - let the blizzard howl, wait until they come to you.”

What was cursed for decades, ridiculed as philistinism, was contemptuously called “everyday life”, for Bulgakov - the foundation of life, something that cannot be destroyed. Therefore, in the Turbins’ house “the tablecloth, despite the guns and nonsense, is white and starchy.” This is from Elena, who cannot do otherwise, this is from Anyuta, who grew up in the Turbins’ house... In the vase there are blue hydrangeas and two gloomy and sultry roses, “affirming the beauty and strength of life, despite the fact that on the approaches to the City there is an insidious enemy who , perhaps, can break the snowy, beautiful City and trample the fragments of peace with his heels.”

House. Family. "The beauty and strength of life." Behind the cream curtains the world is "dirty, bloody and meaningless." But here they know how to live: dream, read, have fun, make jokes. This House is contrasted with the apartment of engineer Lisovich, in which the silence of the night was disturbed by a mouse. She “gnawed and gnawed, annoyingly and busily, an old rind of cheese in the buffet, cursing the stinginess of the engineer’s wife, Vanda Mikhailovna.” The cursed Wanda was fast asleep in her cool and damp apartment. Lisovich himself was hiding money in secret places at that time.

In the description of this “house” everything has a minus sign, everything from the apartment to its owners. The bedroom “smelled of mice, mold, and grumpy, sleepy boredom.” This silence of “sleepy boredom” is broken from above from the Turbins’ apartment by “laughter and vague voices” and the sounds of a guitar. The Lisovichs have duplicity and cowardice, cowardice and readiness to betray... But also a readiness to seek salvation from “these” who are from the apartment on the floor above, which means the conviction that “these” will not sell.

It is no coincidence that it was to the Turbins, who personified family peace and comfort, that Lariosik settled in, this little funny man, almost a boy.

There, beyond the threshold of the House, the Family is “alarming.” The author constantly uses this word: “it’s alarming in the City.” Elena’s gaze is alarmed, and Thalberg’s favor is alarming. And this anxiety goes away only when a person comes home. That is why childhood friends Myshlaevsky and Shervinsky appear so often in the Turbins’ house.

Why are heroes so drawn to the Turbin family? Yes, because the basis of family is love. Love for each other, from which grew love for each person. Beneficial family love, which made the house a Home, the family a Family. This is the most important idea in Bulgakov’s novel “The White Guard”.

Other works on this work

The image of the house in the novel “The White Guard” is central. He unites the heroes of the work and protects them from danger. Turning events in the country instill anxiety and fear in the souls of people. And only home comfort and warmth can create the illusion of peace and security.

1918

Great is the year one thousand nine hundred and eighteen. But he is also scary. Kyiv was occupied on one side German troops, on the other - the hetman's army. And rumors about Petlyura’s arrival instill increasing anxiety in the already frightened townspeople. Visitors and all sorts of dubious characters are scurrying around on the street. Anxiety is even in the air. This is how Bulgakov depicted the situation in Kyiv in Last year war. And he used the image of the house in the novel “The White Guard” so that its heroes could hide, at least for a while, from the impending danger. The characters of the main characters are revealed within the walls of the Turbins’ apartment. Everything outside of it is like another world, scary, wild and incomprehensible.

Intimate conversations

The theme of home in the novel "The White Guard" plays important role. The Turbins’ apartment is cozy and warm. But here, too, the heroes of the novel argue and conduct political discussions. Alexei Turbin, the oldest tenant of this apartment, scolds the Ukrainian hetman, whose most harmless offense is that he forced Russian population speak in " vile language" Next, he spews curses at representatives of the hetman’s army. However, the obscenity of his words does not detract from the truth that lies within them.

Myshlaevsky, Stepanov and Shervinsky, younger brother Nikolka - everyone is excitedly discussing what is happening in the city. And also present here is Elena, the sister of Alexei and Nikolka.

But the image of the house in the novel “The White Guard” is not the embodiment of a family hearth and not a refuge for dissident individuals. This is a symbol of what is still bright and real in a dilapidated country. A political change always gives rise to unrest and robbery. And people, in peacetime, seem to be quite decent and honest, in difficult situations show their true face. Turbines and their friends are few of those who have not been made worse off by the changes in the country.

Thalberg's betrayal

At the beginning of the novel, Elena's husband leaves the house. He runs into the unknown in a “rat run.” Listening to her husband’s assurances that Denikin will soon return with the army, Elena, “old and ugly,” understands that he will not return. And so it happened. Thalberg had connections, he took advantage of them and was able to escape. And already at the end of the work, Elena learns about his upcoming marriage.

The image of the house in the novel “The White Guard” is a kind of fortress. But for cowardly and selfish people, it is like a sinking ship for rats. Talberg flees, and only those who can trust each other remain. Those who are not capable of betrayal.

Autobiographical work

Based on own life experience Bulgakov created this novel. “The White Guard” is a work in which the characters express the thoughts of the author himself. The book is not national, since it is dedicated only to a certain social stratum close to the writer.

Bulgakov's heroes turn to God more than once in the most difficult moments. The family reigns complete harmony and mutual understanding. This is exactly how Bulgakov imagined his ideal house. But perhaps the theme of the house in the novel “The White Guard” is inspired by the author’s youthful memories.

Universal hatred

In 1918, bitterness prevailed in the cities. It had an impressive scale, as it was generated by the centuries-old hatred of peasants towards nobles and officers. And to this it is also worth adding the anger of the local population towards the occupiers and Petliurists, whose appearance is awaited with horror. The author depicted all this using the example of the Kyiv events. But only parents' house in the novel “The White Guard” is light, in a good way, inspiring hope. And here it’s not only Alexey, Elena and Nikolka who can take refuge from the external storms of life.

The Turbins’ house in the novel “The White Guard” also becomes a haven for people who are close in spirit to its inhabitants. Myshlaevsky, Karas and Shervinsky became relatives to Elena and her brothers. They know about everything that happens in this family - about all the sorrows and hopes. And they are always welcome here.

Mother's testament

Turbina Sr., who died shortly before the events described in the work, bequeathed her children to live together. Elena, Alexey and Nikolka keep their promise, and only this saves them. Love, understanding and support - the components of a true Home - do not allow them to perish. And even when Alexey is dying, and doctors call him “hopeless,” Elena continues to believe and finds support in prayers. And, to the surprise of the doctors, Alexey recovers.

The author paid much attention to the interior elements in the Turbins' house. Thanks to small details a striking contrast is created between this apartment and the one located on the floor below. The atmosphere in Lisovich's house is cold and uncomfortable. And after the robbery, Vasilisa goes to the Turbins for spiritual support. Even this seemingly unpleasant character feels safe in Elena and Alexei’s house.

The world outside this house is mired in confusion. But here everyone still sings songs, sincerely smiles at each other and boldly looks danger in the eyes. This atmosphere also attracts another character - Lariosik. Talberg's relative almost immediately became one of his own here, which Elena's husband failed to do. The thing is that the arriving guest from Zhitomir has such qualities as kindness, decency and sincerity. And they are mandatory for a long stay in the house, the image of which was depicted so vividly and colorfully by Bulgakov.

"The White Guard" is a novel that was published more than 90 years ago. When a play based on this work was staged in one of the Moscow theaters, the audience, whose fates were so similar to the lives of the heroes, cried and fainted. This work became extremely close to those who lived through the events of 1917-1918. But the novel did not lose relevance even later. And some fragments in it in an extraordinary way reminds us of the present time. And this once again confirms that the present literary work always, at any time relevant.