The problem of serfdom in literary works. The creative history of the creation of the story “Mumu

He clearly depicted the evil of serfdom. In several stories he depicted character traits this life from a tragic point of view (“ Raspberry water", "Ovsyannikov's Palace", "Office") and from the comic ("Lgov").

Video lecture by D. Buck about “Notes of a Hunter”

In the story “Raspberry Water” the same theme is developed that forms the basis of Nekrasov’s poems: “ Reflections at the front door" And " Forgotten Village" The peasant Vlas, under the pressure of various misfortunes that befell him (mainly the death of his adult son), became poor, was unable to pay the quitrent and went on foot from the village to Moscow to ask the master himself for “mercy,” but “the master not only did not wished to enter into his position - he even “got angry” because the man dared to “bother” him in addition to the clerk, and kicked him out with nothing. Exhausted by many days of walking, heat and hunger, the grief-stricken man, a victim of the landowner's heartlessness, made such a pitiful impression that even the unfortunate Stepushka, an impersonal downtrodden creature, without clan or tribe, felt a surge of compassion for Vlas. The man had already “suffered” all his grief and spoke about it “with a grin, as if they were talking about someone else; but a tear was welling up in his small and shrunken eyes; his lips were twitching.” “Well, are you going home now?” - “And then where? It is known - home. My wife, tea, is now whistling into her fist from hunger.” “Yes, you would...that...” Stepushka suddenly spoke, became confused, fell silent and began to dig in the pot.” This awkward “advice”, however, reflected the immense power of sympathy from one poor man to another - and the downtrodden, silent “fool” Stepushka grew much taller than his heartless “educated” master.

In the story “Ovsyannikov’s One-Palace”, several stories about the unbridled morals of the good old days are put into the mouth of the narrator, Ovsyannikov himself. Particularly vividly depicted is Turgenev’s grandfather, a tyrant and despot, who by force takes away land from his neighbors and punishes innocent people without mercy. In the person of another landowner-reveler, a gentleman-reveler is depicted, drunk and disorderly with his dissolute servants; whips play a prominent role here too.

The story: “The Office” depicts the chief clerk who abuses the mistress’s trust and, under her patronage, carries out his “deeds.” The story: “The Burmist” depicts a burgomaster who completely deals with the peasants, robs them and enriches himself at their expense.

The story: “Lgov” tells the tragicomic fate of an old courtyard man, nicknamed “Bitch,” who experienced full force the tyranny of their masters. At their whim, they not only changed his names, but also ruined his life: he was a coachman, and a cook, and a “coffee shop,” and an “akhter,” and a Cossack, and a “faletor,” and a gardener, and a delivery driver, and a shoemaker and, finally, lived out his gray days as a fisherman in a pond in which there were no fish. After such an everyday “alteration”, we have before us a completely impersonal creature, killed by someone else’s whim. He was being punished because his brother ran away; he remained single because the lady, an “old wench” herself, did not allow anyone to marry - he was beaten, insulted, humiliated - and, in the end, he, resigned and unrequited, thanks God for the fact that in his old age he has free food : “The grub is given out - and then, glory to You, Lord, I am very pleased. Extend, O Lord, the centuries of your mistress!” - says this lonely, downtrodden old man.

Less space is allocated in the Notes to landowners. Turgenev does not dwell on them for particularly long, although he still gives several living types: first the weak-willed Karataev with his soft heart flashes before you, then the good-natured and warm-hearted Tatyana Borisovna, then the honest madman Tchertop-hanov - the Russian Don Quixote, then the liberal Penochkin, sending to the stable to flog his footman for an unheated glass of wine - all these are living faces, drawn in a versatile and truthful way. Turgenev, obviously, does not set out to “convict” the nobility, but simply wants to broadly and freely depict the life of the Russian province - peasant and noble life - which is why he paints both the good and the evil of this life equally impartially. In the story: “Ovsyannikov’s One-Palace” we have before us a whole gallery of lordly images from the distant past, and modern Turgenev. And again, in the depiction of them all, one can feel the calm objectivity of the artist-author.

Russian literature has repeatedly touched upon problems associated with serfdom. Whole line writers directed their efforts, some to a greater extent, others to a lesser extent, to ensure that the long-awaited event happened: the shackles of serfdom fell. Sometimes these were only indirect indications of the terrible situation of the peasantry at the mercy of the landowners. In other cases, it was serfdom that served main theme literary work.

The first work this kind in Russian literature is the book by A.N. Radishchev “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow.” This work is devoted by the author exclusively to the question of the situation of the peasants and is directed entirely against serfdom. The picture painted by Radishchev is truly terrible. But his book turned out to be written at the wrong time, and the author personally paid for it. The ground had not yet been prepared for this kind of work, the time had not yet come for the implementation of Radishchev’s ideal - the fall of serfdom. Radishchev was captured by order of Empress Catherine II and interrogated, but even here he did not renounce his convictions. To give legal form to his conviction, he was accused of treason and exiled to Siberia.

Radishchev's fate must have served as a stern warning to more than one writer, and after him no literary works directly directed against serfdom appeared for a long time. Nevertheless, all the prominent writers of the subsequent era spoke out against this phenomenon of Russian life, in a more hidden form. This issue was touched upon by Pushkin and Griboyedov, Lermontov and Gogol.

In Griboyedov's "Woe from Wit" in several places through the mouth characters his attitude towards serfdom is revealed. Individual expressions touching on the situation of the servants slip through Lisa’s work, but in the foreground here we need to put Chatsky’s story about the landowner’s exchange of peasants who saved his life for greyhound dogs and about the “sale of one by one” “zephyrs” and “cupids.”

Pushkin also touched upon this issue and spoke out much more clearly than Griboyedov, becoming, of course, in the ranks of opponents of serfdom. Everyone knows final words his poem "Village":
“I will see, friends, a people liberated
And slavery, which fell due to the king’s mania..."

At this time, society, as a result of events in the West, as well as thanks to advanced minds and literary influence, already had a different attitude towards serfdom and became more and more imbued humane treatment to the peasants and the thought of the need to liberate them. This was also reflected in later works Pushkin: Onegin, as a person belonging to the enlightened strata of Russian society, “replaced corvée with easy rent.”

Lermontov also paid attention to the issue of serfdom. In his " to a strange man“notes sympathetic to the peasantry break through.

There are also a few references to serfdom in Gogol. Only in a few places in “Dead Souls” does he touch upon the peasantry, but here he shows sympathy for them more than once, as, for example, when describing poverty in the village of Plyushkin, in the story of how Korobochka sold her peasant women, and especially in Chichikov’s reflection on the list dead souls. Here Gogol himself speaks through the mouth of Chichikov, and shows deep sympathy for the men, deep lyricism when describing their fate.

Grigorovich, a contemporary of Turgenev, who only shortly before the appearance of “Notes of a Hunter”, who wrote the famous story “The Village” and then, in next year, "Anton Goremyk". Here, serfdom alone serves as both the theme and the content; the depiction of the situation of the peasants is not a sidebar, and the author’s intention is not hidden by it. He openly attacks serfdom and directly declares himself its enemy. But now he has nothing to fear from Radishchev’s fate; half a century has passed since then, and Russian life has moved far forward. The soil is already shaking under the feet of the serf owners. And so, Turgenev becomes in the first ranks of their enemies, perhaps even at the head of those attacking serfdom.

Social significance of Turgenev’s “Notes of a Hunter”

Turgenev was deeply imbued with the awareness of the harmfulness of serfdom, its injustice, cruelty and shamefulness. He could not come to terms with its existence; he was clearly, definitely aware of the need to abolish it and, prompted by this consciousness, dealt him sensitive blows. A direct consequence of this way of thinking was the famous “Annibal’s oath,” Turgenev’s vow to himself to use all his strength to overthrow the then shaky serfdom, which for him was, in his own words, his personal enemy.

In order to better implement his plan of attack, Turgenev settled abroad: from a distance he could better, having gathered his strength, attack his enemy. And indeed, he carried out this attack, and it resulted in the form of “Notes of a Hunter” - stories, first published separately in different magazines, and then published by Turgenev himself as a collection in two parts.

“Notes of a Hunter” - this was the fulfillment of Turgenev’s “Annibal’s oath”, and in a loud protest against the prevailing shameful injustice - their social significance.

Turgenev’s “Notes of a Hunter” influenced not only those layers of society that were already inclined to condemn serfdom. It is especially important to note that Emperor Alexander II himself, who had previously spoken out against some laws that alleviated the situation of the peasants, subsequently said that after he read “Notes of a Hunter,” the thought of the need to free the peasants did not leave him for a minute.

One of the most difficult works to understand, which is included in the 5th grade curriculum, is the story “Mumu” ​​by I. S. Turgenev. It can be very difficult for fifth-graders to appreciate the depth and seriousness of a work. The guys, first of all, feel sorry for the unfortunate dog Mumu, they pity and at the same time admire heroic strength deaf and dumb Gerasim, someone condemns him for drowning Mumu without trying to confront the lady. That is, first of all, these are emotions. And the whole complexity of this work lies in putting aside emotions and seeing in the deaf-mute Gerasim a symbol of serf Russia - just as strong, powerful and unable to speak or resist.

This is the last in the study of this work. The results are summed up, conclusions are drawn, and the facts of the writer’s biography are recalled.

1) Educational:

Review knowledge about childhood and beginnings literary path I. S. Turgenev, plunging into the era in which the writer lived and worked, develop an interest in the personality of the writer and his work;

Recall the history of the creation of the story “Mumu”;

Consider the characters and their actions.

2) Developmental:

To develop the ability to analyze the text of a work of art;

Develop the ability to express your thoughts, evaluate an action - generalize, draw conclusions;

Form an idea of ​​the characters of the work based on a comparison of verbal and graphic images;

Learn to present a narrative text concisely;

Develop communication skills, enrich vocabulary;

Continue work to develop the speech culture of schoolchildren.

3) Educational:

Education of universal human values;

Ability to work in a group: respect the opinion of a friend, develop a sense of mutual assistance and support.

Good afternoon guys. You and I read the story “Mumu” ​​by Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev. In our lesson we finish talking about this surprisingly interesting, but at the same time very complex work the great Russian writer of the second half of the 19th century, Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev “Mumu”. Today we have to solve a difficult problem, which lies in the following concepts: serfdom and personality. Let's write down the topic of the lesson in a notebook.

First, we need to define the meaning of these concepts. At home by explanatory dictionary S.I. Ozhegova, our classmates looked at the meaning of these words and wrote them down in their notebooks. Let's read them. (Pre-prepared students read the definitions).

(Serfdom– historical system in Russia,The form of dependence of the peasants: their attachment to the land and subordination to the administrative and judicial power of the feudal lord. IN Western Europe(where in the Middle Ages the English villans, Catalan remens, French and Italian serfs were in the position of serfs), elements of serfdom disappeared in the 16th-18th centuries. In Central and Eastern Europe in the same centuries, harsh forms of serfdom spread; here serfdom was abolished during the reforms late XVIII-XIX centuries In Russia, on a national scale, serfdom was formalized by Sudebnik 1497, decrees on reserved summers and during school years and finally - Council Code 1649. In the XVII-XVIII centuries. the entire unfree population merged into the serf peasantry. Abolished by the peasant reform of 1861).

Serf man -Serf - 1. Related to social order, under which the landowner had the right to forced labor, property and personality of the peasants attached to the land and belonging to him. 2. Serf peasant.

Personality -Man as a bearer of some properties)

The story "Mumu" was written in 1851, nine years before 1861, when serfdom was abolished. Let's write in our notebook:

1852 - the story “Mumu”, 1861 - the abolition of serfdom.

What is serfdom?

(Message from a previously prepared student)

The entire population of Russia was divided into several groups called estates: nobility, clergy, merchants, petty bourgeoisie (small merchants, artisans, minor employees), peasantry. A person could move from one class to another in very in rare cases. The nobility and clergy were considered privileged classes.

The nobles had the right to own land and people - serfs. More than a half peasant population Central Russia was a serf.

What do you know about serfs? (Children's answers)

The nobleman who owned the peasants could impose any punishment on them, could sell the peasants, including dividing families; for example, selling a mother to one landowner, and her children to another. Serfs were considered by law to be the complete property of their master. In essence, it was a legalized form of slavery. The peasants had to work for the landowner in his field (corvée) or give him part of the money they earned (quitrent).

Often the nobles lived in the villages that belonged to them, but it also happened that the nobles traveled, lived in the city or abroad, and the manager was in charge of the village. If noble vein V own home in the city, she was served by numerous servants, that is, serfs who lived with their owners in the city.

Guys, to what class did I. S. Turgenev belong?

(Children's answers)

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev was born in the Oryol province. The village of Spasskoye-Lutovinovo is located several miles from Mtsensk. County town Oryol province. A huge manorial estate, in a birch grove, with a horseshoe-shaped estate, with a church, with a house of forty rooms, endless services, greenhouses, wine cellars, storerooms, stables, with a park and an orchard.

Spasskoye belonged to the Lutovinovs. The last of the Lutovinovs to own it was the girl Varvara Petrovna, the mother of the future writer. What information do you know about her?

Student: Turgenev's mother, Varvara Petrovna, nee Lutovinova, was a powerful, intelligent and fairly educated woman, but did not shine with beauty. She was short, stocky, with wide face, spoiled by smallpox. And only the eyes were good: large, dark and shiny. Having lost her father early, she was raised in her stepfather’s family, where she felt like a stranger and powerless. She was forced to flee home and found shelter with her uncle, who kept her strictly and threatened to kick her out of the house for the slightest disobedience. But unexpectedly the uncle died, leaving his niece huge estates and almost five thousand serfs.

She was already nearly thirty years old when a young officer Sergei Nikolaevich Turgenev came to Spasskoye to purchase horses from her factory. What information do we know about Ivan Sergeevich’s father?

Student: This was a young officer who came from an old noble family, which by that time had become impoverished. He was handsome, graceful, smart.

Varvara Petrovna immediately fell in love with the young officer. Their wedding took place in 1816. A year later their son Nikolai was born, and then their son Ivan. What does Turgenev remember about his childhood?

Student: Varvara Petrovna was mainly involved in raising children. The suffering she suffered at one time in the house of her stepfather and uncle was reflected in her character. Willful, capricious, she treated her children unevenly. “I have nothing to remember my childhood with,” Turgenev said many years later. – Not a single bright memory. I was afraid like fire. I was punished for every trifle - in a word, I was drilled like a recruit. Rarely did a day pass without rods, when I dared to ask why I was being punished, my mother categorically declared: “You better know about this, guess.”

Even in childhood, having learned the horror of serfdom, young Turgenev took an oath to Annibal: “I could not breathe the same air, stay close to what I hated... In my eyes, this enemy had a certain image, wore famous name: this enemy was serfdom. Under this name I collected and concentrated everything that I decided to fight against to the end - which I vowed never to try on... This was my Hannibal oath.” “Notes of a Hunter”, the story “Mumu” ​​- these are the first works in which the vow given by the young writer is fulfilled.

So let's get to the story. First, we need to remember the atmosphere of the manor's house and its owner - the lady.

What does the lady's house look like? (In one of the remote streets of Moscow, in a gray house with white columns, a mezzanine and a crooked balcony).

Draw verbal portrait ladies. (An old woman, wearing a white cap, possibly with pince-nez).

What did we learn about the lady at the very beginning of the story? (A widow, surrounded by numerous servants. Her sons served in St. Petersburg, her daughters got married; she rarely traveled and lived out her life in solitude last years of his stingy and bored old age. Her day, joyless and stormy, has long passed; but her evening was blacker than night).

If we summarize our observations, what conclusion can we draw? Who is this lady and what is the atmosphere of the house in which all the events unfold? (The manor’s house is neglected and not well-kept. The old lady, forgotten by everyone, is living out her days. The sons served in St. Petersburg, the daughters got married and probably rarely visited their mother).

Turgenev shows us a domineering and capricious old woman. But she isn't the main character story. And who is the main character? (Gerasim).

We have to work in groups and answer some questions.

Forms of work in the lesson:

1. frontal;
2. individual.

Target:

1. give full description the image of the main character of the story - Gerasim;
2. show moral strength Gerasim, his superiority over other heroes of the story;
3. to show the ugliness of social relations based on the personal dependence of man on man, to reveal the tragedy of the fate of the serfs.

During the classes

I. Teacher's opening speech

Turgenev’s story “Mumu” ​​often remains in the memory of readers creepy story about a drowned dog, causing a puzzling question: “Why didn’t Gerasim go to the village with her?”

At the same time, this story is not so simple for an adult reader. To understand him correctly, today we need to give a complete description of the main character Gerasim, try to understand his actions, and understand the human relationships that took place during Turgenev’s life. This is the purpose of our lesson today.

I know that you know the text well, you liked the story (your drawings show this), and you will actively work in the lesson. So let's begin.

II. Individual task.

The time when the story “Mumu” ​​was written is 1852. What is historical background of this work? What characterizes this time in Russia? He will tell us about this...

(A short story about the serfdom of a previously prepared student.)

In Russia in the 19th century, people lived under serfdom. This meant that there were rich landowners and poor peasants who were completely subordinate to their masters. One master had a lot of people, but they were just “people”, “servants”, “slaves”. They work all day, they huddle in closets, they get tired, they don’t get enough sleep, and all this in order to please their master, please him, and fulfill his every desire. Some landowners did not even consider their serfs to be people. Regarding serfs, they said: “My thing. I do what I want with her. I am the owner!

That’s why the power of the arbitrariness of the serf owners was terrible, because it was this class that had the opportunity to do whatever they wanted with their serfs. It was under serfdom that the most terrible right existed - the exploitation of one person by another. This is what serfdom is.

III. Work on the topic of the lesson.

Now let’s return to our work and give a full description of Gerasim’s appearance, character and actions.

1. Characteristics of Gerasim (slide 2, 3).

Listen to the audio recording that begins the characterization of Gerasim, and continue the analysis of Gerasim according to the proposed plan, using the textbook material (pp. 209-211).

1. The extraordinary strength of Gerasim.
2. Gerasim's new responsibilities.
3. Relationships with other servants.
4. An incident in the neighborhood.
5. Gerasim's character.

2. Working with comparisons.

– When describing Gerasim, Turgenev uses many comparisons - depicting one phenomenon by comparing it with another (slide 4). Find these comparisons in the text and explain their use.

1. “He grew like a tree grows in fertile soil.”
   Will he have the strength to take root in new soil?
2. “I was bored and perplexed by how a young healthy bull, which had just been taken from the field, was put on a carriage railway and they rush, but God knows where.”
3. "Caught Beast"
   – How should a caught animal feel? (Fear, horror of the unknown, near death).
   - So, how do we see Gerasim? (Hardworking, responsible, suffering, feeling uncomfortable).
   – What is the source of his suffering? (The fact that he is a serf, that others control his fate).
   – There is one more comparison that takes one away from thinking about the hard lot of a serf.
4. "The sedate gander."
   – Why is it compared with a gander? Are there any explanations in the text? (The goose, as you know, is an important and sensible bird. Gerasim felt respect for them).

Conclusion: Strong, dexterous, skillful, resourceful, hardworking, a hero who fulfills his duty - serfdom, a strict and serious disposition, suffering, perplexed, respecting himself and others, a person with self-esteem.

3. The bright spot in Gerasim’s life was Tatyana.

Retelling of Gerasim's relationship with Tatyana.

– Why didn’t Gerasim fight for Tatyana?

Conclusion: One can feel Gerasim’s moral superiority over the people around him. This is a strong and gentle man, generous and capable of maintaining a sense of human dignity, and therefore does not go into conflict, because he understood that he depends on the lady, that he does not solve anything.

4. Gerasim and Mumu.

Having seen off Tatyana, Gerasim walked along the river in serious condition...

This is how Mumu came into his life (slide 5).

- New joyful worries dispersed gloomy thoughts, and Gerasim “was very pleased with his fate.”

– Has Gerasim himself changed with the appearance of Mumu?

- Explain the meaning of the words: “No mother has ever cared for her child the way Gerasim cared for his pet.”

5. Gerasim and the lady.

(Pause - an invitation to the theater to meet the heroine of the story).

But the happiness of Gerasim and Mumu did not last long. One day…

And now I suggest you relax a little and take a trip to the theater. Sit back, listen carefully, because a lady has come to visit us.

Monologue of a student in the role of a lady.

(Please tell me what kind of dog was barking in our yard all night? It didn’t let me sleep! I don’t know if it was the dumb one or someone else, but it didn’t let me sleep. Yes, I’m surprised why there’s such an abyss of dogs! I wish know. After all, we have a yard dog? Well, what else, what else do we need a dog for? Just to cause trouble. The eldest is not in the house - that’s what. And what does a mute need a dog for? Who allowed him to keep dogs in my yard? Yesterday I went to the window, and she was lying in the front garden, she had brought some kind of abomination, she was gnawing - and I had roses planted there... So that she wouldn’t be here today... Do you hear? Today!)

-What was the lady like? (slide 6).

– Why did the lady decide to remove the dog at any cost? How did she bother her? (Disobedience)

– Is Gerasim taking any measures to save Mumu?

- Why does Gerasim decide to carry out the lady’s order himself?

Conclusion: The forces are unequal, everyone is against him, he will not be able to save Mumu from the lady’s people. No exit. The only thing he can do is to save the dog from cruelty and insensitive lackeys, to alleviate its suffering, because he understands that it is the lady’s order.

6. Death of Mumu.

Watch an excerpt from the video film of the same name.

– The death of a beloved creature served as an impetus for the hero’s decisive, independent actions.

– What is Gerasim doing?

7. Expressive reading teacher of the scene of Gerasim’s departure from the city to the village (pp. 240-241), (slide 7).

- Why did Gerasim go to the village, disobeying his lady?

– What does the final comparison with the lion add to our idea of ​​the hero?

Conclusion: He is no longer a caught beast, but the lion is the king, the master of the situation. Comparison with a lion helps to feel a powerful surge of strength that makes him invulnerable to dangers. Is a person who is part of such beautiful world, may be someone's property, a blind instrument of evil in the wrong hands. And Gerasim, by leaving for the village, protests against the actions of the lady. He can no longer put up with the situation in which he finds himself.

IV. Lesson summary. General conclusion.

1. Gerasim’s prototype (slide 8).

The prototype of the image of Gerasim was the mute janitor Andrei, who lived with Varvara Petrovna Lutovinova, the writer’s mother. It was a handsome man brown hair And blue eyes, enormous growth and with the same strength, he lifted 10 pounds. The insults that Gerasim suffered from his mistress almost completely repeat the insults inflicted on the real janitor Andrey. Andrei, unlike Gerasim, served the lady until the end of his life and retained slavish obedience to her even after the destruction of the dog.

– Why did Turgenev change the end of the story with the deaf-mute?

(The author at the end of the story expresses his triumph - Gerasim’s victory not only over the mistress’s oppression, but also over himself, over the habit of tolerating and obeying, the habit of not having and not daring to have his own decisions).

2. Think about who is to blame for Mumu’s death? Why do you think so? (slide 9)

1. Gerasim.
2. Lady.
3. Stepan, who conveyed the lady's order.
4. I. S. Turgenev.
5. Serfdom.

Conclusion: Throughout the course of the narrative, Turgenev proves that it is not so much the mistress who is to blame for Gerasim’s fate, but the existing system, based on the dependence of one person on another, i.e. serfdom. The image of Gerasim shows the best features of the working people: nobility, spiritual purity, depth of feelings, love for native land, self-esteem, and most importantly, the ability to resist injustice (slide 10).

MUNICIPAL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION

KARGASOKI SECONDARY SCHOOL No. 2

ABSTRACT
CREATIVE HISTORY OF CREATION

STORY BY I.S. TURGENEV

"MU MU"
Performed:

Bragina Sveta,

5th grade student
Supervisor:

Bragina G.A., teacher

Russian language and

literature

Kargasok

2011
Content

1. 
   Introduction page 3
2. 
   Main part
   1. 
      The time of writing the story “Mumu” ​​p.4
   2. 
      Turgenev's attitude to serfdom p.5
   3. 
      Writing a story and appearing in print p.7
   4. 
      Turgenev's childhood in connection with the biography of his mother p.8
   5. 
      Real events, which are the basis of the story p.12
3. 
   Conclusion p.14
4. 
   Information resources p.15

1. Introduction

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev is one of the writers beloved by children, although he never wrote specifically for children. The ideological content of his stories, the simplicity and elegance of his language, the liveliness and brightness of the pictures of nature he painted and the deep sense of lyricism that permeates every work of the writer are very attractive not only to adults, but also to children.

My acquaintance with Turgenev began in a literature lesson with reading the story “Mumu”. He struck me with the drama of the events presented, the tragedy of Gerasim’s situation, and the sad fate of the dog.

The purpose of this work is to learn more about Turgenev’s childhood, about the real events underlying the story, about the reasons for its appearance in print, to find out the role and significance of Turgenev for his time as a fighter against serfdom.

Relevance of the work: this work can be used in literature lessons in 5th grade.

3.
2.1. Time of writing "Mumu"

The main issue of the era of the 40-50s of the 19th century was the question of serfdom.

The entire population of Russia was divided into several groups called estates: nobility, clergy, merchants, philistines, peasants. A person could move from one class to another in very rare cases. The nobility and clergy were considered privileged classes. Nobles had the right to own land and people - serfs peasants. The nobleman who owned the peasants could impose any punishment on them; he could sell the peasants, for example, sell his mother to one landowner, and her children to another. Serfs were considered by law to be the complete property of their master. The peasants had to work for the landowner in his field or give him part of the money they earned.

It was here, in such conditions, that the author of “Notes of a Hunter” wrote his famous story"Mu Mu". By this Turgenev proved that he was not going to deviate from his main themes - struggle with serfdom, but will further develop and deepen it in his work. From his conclusion, Turgenev wrote to his friends about his future plans: “... I will continue my essays about the Russian people, the strangest and most amazing people, which only exists in the world."

After serving a month in prison and receiving an order to go to live in his village, Turgenev read “Mumu” ​​for his friends before leaving. “A truly touching impression,” wrote one of the listeners, “was made by this story, which he took from the house he moved out, both in its content and in the calm, albeit sad, tone of presentation.”

Turgenev managed to publish the story with the help of friends. It was published in the third book of N.A. Nekrasov’s magazine “Contemporary” for 1854. The police came to their senses only after the story was published.

7.
2.4. Turgenev's childhood in connection with the biography of his mother
Why did Turgenev, a nobleman by birth and upbringing, rebel against serfdom? It seems that the answer must be sought in the writer’s biography, in his childhood years. It was they who left an indelible mark on the horrors of violence and tyranny.

I.S. was born. Turgenev on October 28, 1818 in the city of Orel, in a rich noble family. His childhood was spent among amazing and unique beauty central Russia in the Spassky-Lutovinovo estate, Oryol province.

The writer's parents were the richest landowners in the region. They had over five thousand serfs. Sixty families served manor house. Among them were mechanics, blacksmiths, carpenters, gardeners, clerks, tailors, shoemakers, painters, and musicians.

Father - Sergei Nikolaevich, in his youth an officer of a cuirassier regiment, handsome, spoiled, lived the way he wanted, did not care about his family or his extensive household. Mother, Varvara Petrovna, nee Lutovinova, a powerful, intelligent and sufficiently educated woman, did not shine with beauty. She was short and squat, with a broad face marred by smallpox. And only the eyes were beautiful: large, dark and shiny.

In childhood and adolescence she suffered many injustices, and as a result her character became very hardened. To understand this, we need to tell a little of her story.

Varvara Petrovna was an orphan. Her mother, the writer’s grandmother, was left without any means of support after the death of her husband and was forced to remarry a widower. He already had children. Varvara Petrovna’s mother devoted her entire life to caring for other people’s children and completely forgot about her own daughter.

Varvara Petrovna recalled: “Being an orphan without a father and mother is hard, but being an orphan with your own mother is terrible, and I experienced it, my mother hated me.” The girl had no rights in the family. Her stepfather beat her, and her sisters didn’t like her either.

After her mother's death, her situation became even worse. Unable to bear the humiliation and insults, the fifteen-year-old girl decided to run away from her stepfather’s family in order to find shelter with her uncle, Ivan Ivanovich Lutovinov, a stern and unsociable man, the owner of the rich Spasskoye estate. She walked more than seventy kilometers. But her uncle himself did not make it any easier for her.

8.
I.I. Lutovinov was a cruel landowner. He oppressed his serfs immensely. He paid little attention to his niece, but demanded slavish submission from her. For the slightest disobedience he threatened to throw me out of the house.

For fifteen years, the niece endured humiliation and bullying from her uncle. The girl decided to run away.

But sudden death Uncle unexpectedly made Varvara Petrovna the owner of numerous estates, several thousand serfs, and a huge financial fortune.

Varvara Petrovna became one of the richest brides in the region. Soon Varvara Petrovna married Sergei Nikolaevich. It would seem that the insults, oppression, and humiliation suffered in childhood and adolescence should make a person softer and more compassionate, but everything can be different. A person can become hardened and become a despot himself. This is exactly what happened to Varvara Petrovna. She turned into an angry and cruel landowner. All the servants were afraid of her; with her appearance she intimidated those around her.

Turgenev's mother was very unbalanced and contradictory nature. The main features of her nature were selfishness, despotism, and contempt for the poor. And at the same time, she had the traits of a gifted personality and a peculiar charm. When she spoke to the peasants, she sniffed cologne because the “peasant smell” irritated her. She crippled the lives of many of her serfs: she drove some to hard labor, others to remote villages to settle, and others to become soldiers. She brutally dealt with the servants using rods. For the slightest offense they were whipped in the stables. There are many memories of Varvara Petrovna’s cruelty, both from her son and his contemporaries. The writer close to Turgenev, Pavel Vasilievich Annenkov, recalled: “As a developed woman, she did not humiliate herself to the point of personal reprisals, but subject to persecution and insults in her youth, which embittered her character, she was not at all averse to taking radical home measures to correct those who were disobedient or not loved by her subjects. ...No one could equal her in the art of insulting, humiliating, making a person unhappy, while maintaining decency, calm and one’s dignity” 3 .
The fate of serf girls was also terrible. Varvara Petrovna did not allow them to get married, she insulted them.

IN home environment the landowner tried to imitate the crowned heads. Serfs differed among themselves by court ranks: she had a minister of the court, a minister of post. Correspondence to Varvara Petrovna was presented on a silver tray. If the lady was pleased with the letters she received, everyone rejoiced, but if it was the other way around, then everyone fell silent with bated breath. The guests were in a hurry to leave the house.

Varvara Petrovna was terrible in anger, she could get angry over the slightest trifle. The writer, as a boy, recalled such an incident. One day, while the lady was walking in the garden, two serf gardeners busy, did not notice her and did not bow to her when she passed by. The landowner was terribly indignant, and the next day the offenders were exiled to Siberia.

Turgenev recalled another incident. Varvara Petrovna loved flowers very much, especially tulips. However, her passion for flowers was very costly for the serf gardeners. Once someone tore an expensive tulip out of a flower bed. The culprit was not found and all the gardeners in the stable were flogged for this.

Another case. The writer's mother had one talented boy as a serf. He loved to draw. Varvara Petrovna sent him to study painting in Moscow. Soon he was ordered to paint the ceiling in a Moscow theater. When the landowner found out about this, she returned the artist to the village and forced him to paint flowers from life.

“He wrote them,” Turgenev himself said, “thousands of them, both garden and forest, he wrote with hatred, with tears... they disgusted me too. The poor fellow struggled, gnashed his teeth, drank himself to death and died.” 4

Varvara Petrovna’s cruelty extended to her beloved son. Therefore, Turgenev did not remember his childhood years well. His mother knew only one educational tool - the rod. She couldn't imagine how she could raise her without her.

Little Turgenev was flogged very often in childhood. Turgenev later admitted: “They beat me up for all sorts of trifles, almost every day.” 5

One day some old hanger-on gossiped something to Varvara Petrovna about her son. Turgenev recalled that his mother, without any trial or questioning, immediately began to flog him. She flogged him with her own hands, and in response to all his pleas to tell him why he was being punished, she said: you know, guess for yourself, guess for yourself why I’m flogging.

The boy did not know why he was being whipped, he did not know what to confess, so the section lasted three days. The boy was ready to run away from home, but his German tutor rescued him. He talked to his mother, and the boy was left alone.

As a child, Turgenev was a sincere, simple-minded child. He often had to pay for this. Turgenev was seven years old when the then famous poet and fabulist I.I. Dmitriev came to visit Varvara Petrovna. The boy was asked to read one of the guest's fables. He willingly did this, but in conclusion, to the great horror of those around him, he said that his fables were good, but I.A. Krylov’s were much better. According to some sources, his mother personally whipped him with a rod for this, according to others, the boy was not punished this time.

Turgenev admitted more than once that in his childhood he was kept under a tight rein and was afraid of his mother like fire. He said bitterly that he had nothing to remember his childhood with, not a single bright memory.

From his childhood, Turgenev hated serfdom and swore an oath to himself never, under any circumstances, to raise his hand against a person who was in any way dependent on him.

“Hatred of serfdom lived in me even then,” wrote Turgenev, “it, by the way, was the reason that I, who grew up among beatings and torture, did not desecrate my hands with a single blow - but before “Notes of a Hunter” there was far. I was just a boy—almost a child.” 6

Later, having experienced harsh years childhood, having received an education and becoming a writer, Turgenev directed all his literary and social activities against the oppression and violence that reigned in Russia. This is evidenced by remarkable anti-serfdom stories. Most of them were included in the book “Notes of a Hunter.”

2.5. Real events based on the story
The story “Mumu” ​​is close to them in content. The material for writing was a real incident that occurred in Moscow on Ostozhenka in house number 37.

The prototypes of the main characters of the story are people well known to Turgenev: his mother and the janitor Andrei, who once lived in their house.

One day, while touring her estates, Varvara Petrovna noticed a peasant of heroic build who could not answer the lady’s questions: he was mute. She liked the original figure, and Andrei was taken to Spasskoye as a janitor. From that time on, he received a new name - Mute.

“Varvara Petrovna flaunted her giant janitor,” said V.N. Zhitova. “He was always beautifully dressed and, apart from red red shirts, he did not wear any and did not like; in winter a beautiful sheepskin coat, and in summer a corduroy jacket or a blue overcoat. In Moscow, the shiny green barrel and the beautiful dapple-gray factory horse, with which Andrei went to fetch water, were very popular at the fountain near the Alexander Garden. There everyone recognized Turgenev’s Mute, greeted him warmly and communicated with him by signs.” 7

The mute janitor Andrey, like Gerasim, found and sheltered a stray dog. Got used to it. But the lady did not like the dog, and she ordered it to be drowned. The mute carried out the lady's orders and continued to live and work peacefully for the lady. No matter how bitter it was for Andrei, he remained faithful to his mistress, served her until his death and, besides her, no one was his

I didn’t want to acknowledge her as my mistress. An eyewitness said that after that tragic end his favorite, Andrey never caressed a single dog.

In the story "Mumu" Gerasim is shown as a rebel. He does not put up with the insult caused to him by his lady. As a sign of protest, he leaves the cruel lady for the village to plow his native land.

A report from a tsarist official from the secret correspondence of the censorship department of that time has been preserved. In it, the official says that readers, after reading the story, will be filled with compassion for the peasant, oppressed by the landowner's waywardness.

This document confirms the great artistic expressiveness and the ideological power of Turgenev’s work.

I.A. Aksakov saw in Gerasim a kind of symbol - this is the personification of the Russian people, their terrible power and incomprehensible meekness... The writer was sure that he (Gerasim) would speak over time. This idea turned out to be prophetic.

3. Conclusion

Let us draw the following conclusions:

1. 
   A person who suffered suffering and pain in childhood, entering adult life, behaves differently: someone, like Varvara Petrovna, becomes angry and vindictive, and someone, like Turgenev, becomes sensitive to human suffering, ready to help people not only in word, but also in deed.
2. 
   The humiliations, insults to human personality and dignity seen in childhood formed in the future writer an aversion to serfdom. Although Turgenev was not a political fighter, but with the help of his literary talent, social activities he fought against serfdom.
3. 
   In “Mumu,” two forces collide: the Russian people, straightforward and strong, and the serfdom world represented by a capricious, out-of-mind old woman. But Turgenev gives this conflict a new twist: his hero makes a kind of protest, expressed in his unauthorized departure from the city to the village. The question arises, what is serfdom based on, why do the peasant heroes forgive their masters any whims?

1. 
   Big educational guide. Russian writers of the 19th century. M.: Bustard, 2000
2. 
   Life and work of Turgenev I.S.: Materials for the exhibition at the children's library school comp. And introductory article N.I. Yakunina, M.: Children's literature, 1988
3. 
   Zhitova V.N. From memories of the family of I.S. Turgenev. Literature 5th grade ed. G.I. Belenkogo - M.: Mnemosyne, 2010
4. 
   Naumova N.N. I.S. Turgenev. Biography. A manual for students. L.: “Enlightenment”, 1976
5. 
   Oreshin K. History of the story “Mumu” ​​Shift No. 491 November 1947 [ Electronic resource]/ Access mode: Smena- online. ru> storiya-Rasskaza-mumu
6. 
   Turgenev I.S. Complete collection essays and letters in 28 volumes. Letters. M.-L., 1961 T.2
7. 
   Turgenev at school: A manual for teachers / comp. T.F.Kurdyumova.- M.: Education, 1981- 175 p.
8. 
   Sher N.S. Stories about Russian writers. Photos. M.: Children's literature, 1982, 511 p.