Analysis of the chapter on war by Vasily Terkin. Analysis of a chapter from Tvardovsky’s poem “Vasily Terkin” (“About the Reward”)
Born on June 8 (21 NS) in the village of Zagorye, Smolensk province, in the family of a blacksmith, a literate and even well-read man, in whose house books were not uncommon. The first acquaintance with Pushkin, Gogol, Lermontov, Nekrasov took place at home, when these books were read aloud on winter evenings. He started writing poetry very early. Studied at rural school. At the age of fourteen, the future poet began sending small notes to Smolensk newspapers, some of them were published. Then he ventured to send poetry. Isakovsky, who worked in the editorial office of the newspaper Rabochiy Put, accepted the young poet and helped him develop as a poet. In 1930 he entered the pedagogical institute, but left the third year and completed his studies at the Moscow Institute of History, Philosophy and Literature. Tvardovsky’s works were published in, but he himself believed that only with the poem about collectivization “The Country of Ant” (1936) did his literary activity. The publication of this book changed the poet’s life: he moved to Moscow, graduated from MIFLI, and published a book of poems “ Rural chronicle" In 1933, the poet was drafted into the Red Army and participated in the liberation of Western Belarus. With the outbreak of the war with Finland, already in the rank of officer, he was in the position of special correspondent for a military newspaper. During the Second World War, the poem “Vasily Terkin” () was created - a vivid embodiment of the Russian character and national patriotic feeling. In 1946 the poem “House by the Road” appeared. The poem “Beyond the Distance” and “By the Right of Memory” were written, which tells the truth about the fate of the poet’s father, who became a victim of collectivization. In 1947, a book about the past war, “Motherland and Foreign Land,” was published. For many years, Tvardovsky was the editor-in-chief of the Novy Mir newspaper. On December 18, 1971, the poet died after a serious illness.
The history of the creation of the poem For the first time, Terkin’s name appeared in the newspaper “On Guard of the Motherland” dated December 18, 1939 as a “correspondent” of the humor department of the newspaper “Direct Fire”. According to the plan of the literary group of this newspaper (N. Tikhonov, A. Tvardovsky, V. Sayanov, etc.), Vasya Terkin was supposed to be a kind of political educator of the fighters. The means of education was satire. On January 5, 1940, Tvardovsky’s poem “Vasily Terkin” appeared, which gave a biography and characteristics of an experienced soldier, “extraordinary” fairy tale hero, the miracle hero Vasya Terkin, a successful and cheerful hero. The main author of Terkin was the Red Army poet N. Shcherbakov. Very soon, the initiative was taken up by readers, mainly ordinary soldiers: folklore began to be created around Terkin. On September 4, 1942, the newspaper “Krasnoarmeyskaya Pravda” reported: Alexander Tvardovsky wrote a new poem “Vasily Terkin”. Today we are starting to print this poem. In this new poem the poet presented his hero in a new light. He sought to reveal the rich inner content of Terkin, great life front, as it was reflected in the character and behavior of Soviet soldiers, therefore, before the first chapters saw the light, the concept of the poem was changed several times. "Terkin" was supposed to be a work that would also be original artistic chronicle war, and its chronicle, and the story of the destinies of the people. Several times the author wanted to complete his poem. But the war was not over! Tvardovsky received numerous letters from front-line soldiers who persistently asked the poet to continue the poem, offering him various options this continuation, excluding, however, the possibility of Terkin’s death. As the “Book about a Soldier” continued and his work on it deepened, the poet came to a greater understanding that the original concept of the poem as a work in which he intended to depict individual episodes from the front-line “biography” of a soldier was changing in many ways: the plot of the poem became more comprehensive. In the second part, the author strived mainly for a broad coverage of the events of the Second World War, to reflect the pathos of the struggle of the people as a whole, decisively abandoning the “temptation of plot”. In 1946, three were published simultaneously complete editions poems. This revision has largely become final. For the first time, Terkin’s name appeared in the newspaper “On Guard of the Motherland” dated December 18, 1939 as a “correspondent” of the humor department of the newspaper “Direct Fire”. According to the plan of the literary group of this newspaper (N. Tikhonov, A. Tvardovsky, V. Sayanov, etc.), Vasya Terkin was supposed to be a kind of political educator of the fighters. The means of education was satire. On January 5, 1940, Tvardovsky’s poem “Vasily Terkin” appeared, which gave a biography and characteristics of an experienced soldier, an “extraordinary” fairy-tale hero, the miracle hero Vasya Terkin, a successful and cheerful hero. The main author of Terkin was the Red Army poet N. Shcherbakov. Very soon, the initiative was taken up by readers, mainly ordinary soldiers: folklore began to be created around Terkin. On September 4, 1942, the newspaper “Krasnoarmeyskaya Pravda” reported: Alexander Tvardovsky wrote a new poem “Vasily Terkin”. Today we are starting to print this poem. In this new poem, the poet presented his hero in a new light. He sought to reveal the rich inner content of Terkin, the great life of the front, as it was reflected in the character and behavior of Soviet soldiers, therefore, before the first chapters saw the light, the concept of the poem was changed several times. "Terkin" was supposed to be a work that would be a kind of artistic chronicle of the war, and its chronicle, and a story about the destinies of the people. Several times the author wanted to complete his poem. But the war was not over! Tvardovsky received numerous letters from front-line soldiers who persistently asked the poet to continue the poem, offering him various options for this continuation, which, however, excluded the possibility of Terkin’s death. As the “Book about a Soldier” continued and his work on it deepened, the poet came to a greater understanding that the original concept of the poem as a work in which he intended to depict individual episodes from the front-line “biography” of a soldier was changing in many ways: the plot of the poem became more comprehensive. In the second part, the author strived mainly for a broad coverage of the events of the Second World War, to reflect the pathos of the struggle of the people as a whole, decisively abandoning the “temptation of plot”. In 1946, three complete editions of the poem were published simultaneously. This revision has largely become final.
1. The poem “Vasily Terkin” is perhaps the most famous, the most popular work Tvardovsky, which was highly appreciated by people of various political and aesthetic views. Even I.A. Bunin, who had a sharply negative attitude towards everything Soviet, spoke enthusiastically about the poem: “This is a truly rare book: what freedom, what wonderful daring, what accuracy, accuracy in everything and what an extraordinary folk, soldier's language- not a hitch, not a single false, ready-made, that is, literary-vulgar, word. It is possible that he will remain the author of only one such book, will begin to repeat himself, write worse, but even this can be forgiven for “Terkin a”.
Tvardovsky himself talks about creative history of his poem: “Vasily Terkin... has been known to the reader, primarily the army, since 1942. But Vasya Terkin has been known since the period of the Finnish campaign. Once, discussing together with the editorial staff the tasks and nature of our work in a military newspaper, we decided that we needed to start something like a “humor corner” or a weekly collective feuilleton, where there would be poems and pictures... And here we are, writers who worked in the editorial office of “On Guard of the Motherland,” they decided to portray a character who would appear in a series of amusing pictures, equipped with poetic captions. This was supposed to be some kind of cheerful, successful fighter, a conventional figure, a popular popular figure... Someone suggested calling our hero Vasya Terkin, namely Vasya, and not Vasily. There were proposals to name Vanya, Fedya, or something else, but they settled on Vasya. This is how this name was born... Before the spring of 1942, I arrived in Moscow and, looking at my notebooks, suddenly decided to revive Vasily Terkin. The transfer of the hero from the situation of the Finnish campaign to the situation of the WWII front gave him a completely different meaning than in the original plan.” Not only the hero of the poem has changed - its character, its content, philosophy, form: composition, genre, plot have become different. The main theme was the Motherland and the people, the people at war. “A book about a fighter” - this is the subtitle the author gave to his poem.
2. Conversation on the text of the poem. - What is he like, Vasily Terkin, what do we learn about him from the author? (author: Terkin - who is he? Let’s be honest: He’s just a guy himself. He’s ordinary). -What qualities made Terkin the readers’ favorite hero? (Terkin – bright personality, a cheerful, good-natured Russian nature, combining soulfulness and nobility, wit and gaiety, simplicity, sharpness and wisdom with endurance and patience, common sense, vitality, courage, with feeling military duty, responsibility, modesty. The basis of all these qualities is sincere patriotism.) - Select episodes in which these qualities of the hero are revealed. -What does the hero’s surname say? (“Terkin” means seasoned by life, experienced. There is a saying “grated kalach.” “A man seasoned by life,” the author defines it. At the same time, the surname sounds common, short, bright.) -How does Terkin’s character develop? (In the first chapters, Terkin is a joker; looking at him, everyone feels better. Terkin’s gaiety masks his feelings - this makes it easier for him himself and this is how he supports others. Terkin experiences pain, bitterness, and annoyance, which he can hide behind a joke, may sometimes openly cry.) -What is the relationship between the Author and his hero? -What is the role of the Author in the poem? - What is the author’s attitude towards readers?
The role of the author in the poem. The image of the Author appears in lyrical digressions, in special chapters “From the Author”. In them, the Author introduces Terkin as his friend, comrade: “Not joking, Vasily Terkin, / You and I became friends.” It is no coincidence that many thought that Terkin- a real man. The author and his hero have a common “small homeland” - Tvardovsky made Terkin his fellow countryman, a native of the Smolensk region. The war for the hero and the Author becomes a battle for native home. The idea of a large, common Motherland is inseparable from the memory of specific native places. Tvardovsky writes about his hero with extraordinary warmth and lyricism: From Moscow to Stalingrad You are always with me - My pain, my joy, My rest and my feat! The entire poem is permeated with the author's lyricism. The author has a free conversation with the reader, addressing him respectfully: “friend-reader.” Confidential conversation The author acts as an intermediary between the hero and the reader.
“Vasily Terkin” was, according to the poet himself, his lyrics and journalism, a song and a lesson, an anecdote and a saying, a heart-to-heart conversation and a remark to the occasion. We can say that the Author and his hero walked the roads of war side by side. The publication of the first chapters began in 1942 after the difficult summer retreat of our troops to the Volga and North Caucasus. The poem was operational, reacting to military events. It was published in chapters, which have relative independence, and at the same time the poem complete work. The three parts of the poem correspond to three stages of the situation on the fronts: the initial retreat, the turning point after the victory at Salingrad, the victorious offensive and the complete defeat of the enemy on its territory: one of the last chapters is called “On the Road to Berlin.” Tvardovsky finished the poem synchronously with the end of the war.
Test on the work “Vasily Terkin” 1. The leitmotif of the chapter “Crossing” are the words: A) “Left bank, right bank”; B) “Crossing, crossing!” C) “To whom is memory, to whom is glory.” 2. But the guys are already coming, Fighters live in war, So someday in the twentieth Their comrades are fathers. They follow the same harsh path that two hundred years ago the Russian toiling soldier walked with a flintlock gun. In these lines the author strives:
A) show the vitality of the traditions of Russian warriors of past centuries. B) Convey the heaviness of the path; C) remember the old soldiers. 3. Craftsmanship colloquial speech in the last part of the chapter “Crossing 4. appears in: A) the dialogue of the soldiers standing on patrol; B) pathetic tone; C) a true picture of the war. 4. Crossing, crossing! guns fire in pitch darkness. The battle is holy and just. Mortal combat is not for the sake of glory, for the sake of life on earth. This stanza of the chapter “Crossing” is perceived as: A) a description of a difficult battle; B) reminder about the crossing; B) oath, military call.
5. In the chapter “About the Reward” Vasily Terkin appears as a person: A) vain; B) simple, kind, cheerful. C) dreaming of the impossible. 6. The chapter “Two Soldiers” in its coloring approaches: A) an everyday fairy tale; B) ballad; B) essay. 7. Drawing images of heroes in the chapter “Two Soldiers”, the author uses: A) opposition; B) comparison; B) comparison. 8. The character of the hero in the chapter “About the Reward” is revealed in: A) the hero’s monologue; B) a story about him from someone present; C) the narrator’s story about him.
9Today we are responsible for Russia, for the people and for everything in the world. From Ivan to Thomas, dead or alive, We are all together - we are that people, Russia. In these lines of the chapter “On War” the author reminds: A) about the huge losses in the war; B) about the guilt of the living before the dead; C) that the fate of each person is inextricably linked with the fate of his country.
“Vasily Terkin” is a wonderful poem by A.T. Tvardovsky. From the first days of the Great Patriotic War, the poet was in the ranks of the Soviet army. He spent the entire war at the front, writing a large number of lyrical, epic, propaganda and satirical poems for Red Army newspapers. In the difficult trials of the war, the main character of Tvardovsky’s most popular poem, Vasily Terkin, a seasoned, brave, resilient Russian soldier, was born and raised. The poem about Terkin was written by Tvardovsky throughout the war.
The image of Vasily Terkin is the result of a huge number of life observations. It represents a generalized portrait, in real and deep human traits which found expression in hundreds and thousands like him. In order to give Terkin a universal, national character, Tvardovsky chose a person who, at first glance, did not stand out with any special qualities. The hero does not express love and devotion to the Motherland in pompous phrases. Often, where Terkin is silent, he speaks for him.
The battle is holy and right,
Mortal combat is not for glory -
For the sake of life on earth.
These lines contain the main motive of Tvardovsky’s poem. The author pronounces them in one of the chapters of the poem - “The Crossing”. In the merging of the author with the hero there is a deep artistic sense. Tvardovsky himself states:
And I’ll tell you, I won’t hide it,-
In this book, here and there,
What a hero should say
I speak personally myself.
I am responsible for everything around me,
And notice, if you didn’t notice,
Like Terkin, my hero,
Sometimes it speaks for me.
The poem has absorbed both the grief and joy of the people; it contains lines that are harsh, mournful, but even more filled with folk humor, full great love to life. It seemed incredible that it was possible to write about the most cruel and difficult war in the history of nations so life-affirmingly, with such a bright philosophy of life, as Tvardovsky did in “Vasily Terkin.”
Remaining entirely on the basis of reality, with amazing generosity depicting the real life and struggle of the people during the Great Patriotic War, in all its harsh guise, the poet constantly turns his gaze to the future. He remembers that “golden list of glory”, in which the descendants will include nameless heroes who gave their lives and hearts for victory.
The high lyrical principle coexists perfectly with the epic nature of the poem and its narrative character. Moreover, it literally permeates the poem. And the sincere lines about the battle, which is waged “not for the sake of glory - for the sake of life on earth,” and the wonderful passage about a woman seeing off a soldier to war, and Terkin’s conversation with death, and many other places in the poem express the innermost, most sincere thoughts of the author , both the hero and the reader. The epic and lyrical beginnings in “Vasily Terkin” are united and inseparable.
The language of the poem is simple and clear. Tvardovsky in his work relies on best samples Russian poetry. But at the same time, the author used many elements of everyday folk speech - jokes, proverbs, jokes, sayings, proverbs. This material folk art Tvardovsky uses it, processing and modifying it, using it thoughtfully, in full accordance with the general literary intent.
Tvardovsky’s poem has been republished several times, has been translated into many languages and is eagerly read by both the older generation and young people.
The history of the creation of Tvardovsky’s work “Vasily Terkin”
Since the autumn of 1939, Tvardovsky participated in the Finnish campaign as a war correspondent. “It seems to me,” he wrote to M.V. Isakovsky, “that the army will be my second theme for the rest of my life.” And the poet was not mistaken. In the edition of the Leningrad Military District “On Guard of the Motherland,” a group of poets had an idea to create a series of entertaining drawings about the exploits of a cheerful soldier-hero. “Someone,” recalls Tvardovsky, “suggested calling our hero Vasya Terkin, namely Vasya, and not Vasily.” In creating a collective work about a resilient, successful fighter, Tvardovsky was instructed to write an introduction: “... I had to give at least the most general “portrait” of Terkin and determine, so to speak, the tone, the manner of our further conversation with the reader.”
This is how the poem “Vasya Terkin” appeared in the newspaper (1940 - January 5). The success of the feuilleton hero prompted the idea to continue the story about the adventures of the resilient Vasya Terkin. As a result, the book “Vasya Terkin at the Front” (1940) was published. During the Great Patriotic War, this image became the main one in Tvardovsky’s work. “Vasily Terkin” walked along with Tvardovsky along the roads of war. The first publication of “Vasily Terkin” took place in the newspaper Western Front“Krasnoarmeyskaya Pravda”, where on September 4, 1942 the introductory chapter “From the author” and “At a halt” were published. From then until the end of the war, chapters of the poem were published in this newspaper, in the magazines “Red Army Man” and “Znamya”, as well as in other print media.
“...My work ends coincidentally with the end of the war. One more effort of a refreshed soul and body is needed - and it will be possible to put an end to it,” the poet wrote on May 4, 1945. This is how the completed poem “Vasily Terkin. A book about a fighter" (1941-1945). Tvardovsky wrote that working on it gave him a “feeling” of the legitimacy of the artist’s place in the great struggle of the people... a feeling of complete freedom to handle poetry and words.
In 1946, almost one after another, three complete editions of “The Book about a Fighter” were published.
Type, genre, creative method of the analyzed work
In the spring of 1941, the poet worked hard on the chapters of the future poem, but the outbreak of war changed these plans. The revival of the idea and the resumption of work on "Terkin" dates back to the middle of 1942. From this time it began new stage work on the work: “The entire character of the poem, its entire content, its philosophy, its hero, its form - composition, genre, plot - have changed. The nature of the poetic narrative about the war has changed - the homeland and the people, the people in the war, have become the main themes.” Although, when starting to work on it, the poet was not too worried about this, as evidenced by his own words: “I did not long languish with doubts and fears regarding the uncertainty of the genre, the lack of an initial plan that embraces the entire work in advance, and the weak plot connection of the chapters with each other. Not a poem - well, let it not be a poem, I decided; there is no single plot - let it be, don’t; there is no very beginning of a thing - there is no time to invent it; the climax and completion of the entire narrative is not planned - let it be, we must write about what is burning, not waiting, and then we’ll see, we’ll figure it out.”
In connection with the question of the genre of Tvardovsky’s work, the following judgments of the author seem important: “The genre designation of “The Book about a Fighter”, which I settled on, was not the result of a desire to simply avoid the designation “poem”, “story”, etc. This coincided with the decision to write not a poem, not a story or a novel in verse, that is, not something that has its own legalized and to a certain extent obligatory plot, composition and other features. These signs didn’t come out for me, but something did come out, and I designated this something as “The Book about a Fighter.”
This, as the poet himself called it, “Book about a fighter” recreates a reliable picture front-line reality, reveals the thoughts, feelings, experiences of a person in war. It stands out among other poems of that time for its special completeness and depth of realistic depiction of the people's liberation struggle, disasters and suffering, exploits and military life.
Tvardovsky's poem is a heroic epic, with corresponding epic genre objectivity, but permeated with a living author's feeling, original in all respects, a unique book, at the same time developing the traditions of realistic literature and folk poetry. And at the same time, this is a free narrative - a chronicle (“A book about a fighter, without beginning, without end...”), which covers the entire history of the war.
Subjects
The theme of the Great Patriotic War forever entered into the work of A.T. Tvardovsky. And the poem “Vasily Terkin” became one of his most striking pages. The poem is dedicated to the life of the people during the war; it is rightfully an encyclopedia of front-line life. In the center of the poem is the image of Terkin, an ordinary infantryman from the Smolensk peasants, uniting the composition of the work into a single whole. Vasily Terkin actually personifies the entire people. Found in it artistic embodiment Russian national character. Became a symbol of the victorious people in Tvardovsky’s poem ordinary person, ordinary soldier.
In “The Book about a Fighter” the war is depicted as it is - in everyday life and heroism, intertwining the ordinary, sometimes even comic (chapters “At a Rest”, “In the Bath”) with the sublime and tragic. The poem is strong, first of all, with the truth about war as a harsh and tragic - at the limit of possibilities - test of the vital forces of a people, a country, every person.
Idea of the work
Fiction of the Great Patriotic War period has a number of characteristic features. Its main features are patriotic pathos and a focus on universal accessibility. The most successful example of this work of art The poem “Vasily Terkin” by Alexander Trifonovich Tvardovsky is rightfully considered. The feat of a soldier in war is shown by Tvardovsky as everyday and hard military labor and battle, and moving to new positions, and spending the night in a trench or right on the ground, “shielding from black death only with his own back...”. And the hero who accomplishes this feat is an ordinary, simple soldier.
It is in the defense of the Motherland, life on earth that the justice of the people's Patriotic War lies: “The battle is holy and just, mortal combat is not for the sake of glory - for the sake of life on earth.” Poem by A.T. Tvardovsky’s “Vasily Terkin” has become truly popular.
Main characters
An analysis of the work shows that the poem is based on the image of the main character - private Vasily Terkin. Real prototype he doesn't have. This collective image, combining the typical features of the spiritual appearance and character of an ordinary Russian soldier. Dozens of people wrote about Terkin’s typicality, drawing the conclusion from the lines “there is always a guy like this in every company, and in every platoon” that this is a collective, generalized image, that one should not look for any individual qualities in him, so everything typical for Soviet soldier. And since “he was partially scattered and partially destroyed,” this means that this is not a person at all, but a certain symbol of the whole Soviet army.
Terkin - who is he? Let's be honest: He's just a guy himself. He's ordinary.
However, the guy is no matter what, a guy like that
There is always one in every company, and in every platoon.
The image of Terkin has folklore roots, it is “a hero, a fathom in the shoulders”, “a merry fellow”, “an experienced man”. Behind the illusion of simplicity, buffoonery, and mischief lie moral sensitivity and a sense of filial duty to the Motherland, the ability to accomplish a feat at any moment without phrases or poses.
The image of Vasily Terkin really captures what is typical for many: “A guy like this / There is always a guy in every company, / And in every platoon.” However, in him the traits and properties inherent in many people were embodied brighter, sharper, more original. Folk wisdom and optimism, perseverance, endurance, patience and dedication, everyday ingenuity and skill of the Russian person - a worker and a warrior, and finally, inexhaustible humor, behind which something deeper and more serious always appears - all this is fused into a living and integral human character. The main feature of his character is his love for home country. The hero constantly remembers his native places, which are so sweet and dear to his heart. Terkin cannot help but be attracted by mercy and greatness of soul; he finds himself in war not because of the military instinct, but for the sake of life on earth; the defeated enemy evokes in him only a feeling of pity. He is modest, although he can sometimes boast, telling his friends that he does not need an order, he agrees to a medal. But what attracts most about this person is his love of life, worldly ingenuity, mockery of the enemy and of any difficulties.
Being the embodiment of Russian national character, Vasily Terkin is inseparable from the people - the mass of soldiers and ranks episodic characters(grandfather-soldier and grandmother, tankers in battle and on the march, a girl nurse in the hospital, a soldier’s mother returning from enemy captivity, etc.), he is inseparable from his mother-homeland. And the entire “Book about a Fighter” is a poetic statement of national unity.
Along with the images of Terkin and the people, an important place in the overall structure of the work is occupied by the image of the author-narrator, or, more precisely, lyrical hero, especially noticeable in the chapters “About myself”, “About war”, “About love”, in four chapters “From the author”. Thus, in the chapter “About Myself,” the poet directly states, addressing the reader: “And I will tell you: I will not hide, / - In this book, here or there, / What the hero should say, / I say personally myself.”
The author in the poem is an intermediary between the hero and the reader. A confidential conversation is constantly conducted with the reader; the author respects his friend-reader, and therefore strives to convey to him the truth about the war. The author feels his responsibility to his readers; he understands how important it was not only to talk about the war, but also to instill in readers faith in the indestructible spirit of the Russian soldier and optimism. Sometimes the author seems to invite the reader to check the truth of his judgments and observations. Such direct contact with the reader greatly contributes to the poem becoming understandable big circle of people.
The poem constantly permeates the author's subtle humor. The text of the poem is filled with jokes, sayings, sayings, and it is generally impossible to determine who their author is - the author of the poem, the hero of the poem Terkin or the people. At the very beginning of the poem, the author calls a joke the most necessary “thing” in a soldier’s life:
You can live without food for a day, You can do more, but sometimes in a war you can’t live for one minute without a joke, The jokes of the most unwise ones.
The plot and composition of the analyzed work
The originality of the book's plot and composition is determined by military reality itself. “There is no plot in war,” the author noted in one of the chapters. And in the poem as a whole there really are no such traditional components as plot, climax, denouement. But within chapters with a narrative basis, as a rule, there is a plot of its own, and separate plot connections arise between these chapters. Finally, general development events, the revelation of the character of the hero, with all the independence of individual chapters, is clearly determined by the very course of the war, the natural change of its stages: from the bitter days of retreat and the hardest defensive battles - to the hard-fought and won victory. This is how Tvardovsky himself wrote about compositional construction of his poem:
“And the first thing I accepted as the principle of composition and style was the desire for a certain completeness of each individual part, chapter, and within a chapter - of each period and even stanza. I had to keep in mind the reader who, even if he was unfamiliar with the previous chapters, would find in this chapter, published today in the newspaper, something whole, rounded. Besides, this reader might not have waited for my next chapter: he was where the hero is—at war. It was this approximate completion of each chapter that I was most concerned with. I didn’t keep anything to myself until another time, trying to speak out at every opportunity—the next chapter—to the end, to fully express my mood, to convey a fresh impression, a thought, a motive, an image that had arisen. True, this principle was not determined immediately - after the first chapters of Terkin were published one after another, and new ones then appeared as they were written.”
The poem consists of thirty independent and at the same time closely interconnected chapters. The poem is structured as a chain of episodes from the military life of the protagonist, which do not always have a direct event connection with each other. Terkin humorously tells young soldiers about the everyday life of war; He says that he has been fighting since the very beginning of the war, he was surrounded three times, and was wounded. The fate of an ordinary soldier, one of those who bore the brunt of the war on their shoulders, becomes the personification of national fortitude and the will to live.
The plot outline of the poem is difficult to follow; each chapter tells about a separate event from the life of a soldier, for example: Terkin swims twice across the icy river to restore contact with the advancing units; Terkin alone occupies a German dugout, but comes under fire from his own artillery; on the way to the front, Terkin finds himself in the house of old peasants, helping them with the housework; Terkin enters into hand-to-hand combat with the German and, having difficulty defeating him, takes him prisoner. Or, unexpectedly for himself, Terkin shoots down a German attack aircraft with a rifle. Terkin takes command of the platoon when the commander is killed, and is the first to break into the village; however, the hero is again seriously wounded. Lying wounded in a field, Terkin talks with Death, who persuades him not to cling to life; in the end he is discovered by the soldiers, and he tells them: “Take away this woman, / I am a soldier still alive.”
It is no coincidence that Tvardovsky’s work begins and ends with lyrical digressions. An open conversation with the reader brings him closer to the inner world of the work and creates an atmosphere of shared involvement in events. The poem ends with a dedication to the fallen.
The poem “Vasily Terkin” is distinguished by its peculiar historicism. Conventionally, it can be divided into three parts, coinciding with the beginning, middle and end of the war. Poetic understanding of the stages of the war creates a lyrical chronicle of events from the chronicle. A feeling of bitterness and sorrow fills the first part, faith in victory fills the second, the joy of the liberation of the Fatherland becomes the leitmotif of the third part of the poem. This is explained by the fact that A.T. Tvardovsky created the poem gradually, throughout the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.
Artistic originality
Analysis of the work shows that the poem “Vasily Terkin” is distinguished by its extraordinary breadth and freedom of use of means of oral, literary and folk poetic speech. This is truly a vernacular language. It naturally uses proverbs and sayings (“out of boredom I’m a jack of all trades”; “spending time is an hour of fun”; “the river you float along is the one you create a glory ...”), folk songs (about an overcoat, about a river ). Tvardovsky perfectly masters the art of speaking simply but poetically. He himself creates sayings that have come into life as proverbs (“don’t look at what’s on your chest, but look at what’s ahead”; “war has a short path, love has a long one”; “guns go backwards to battle”, etc.) .
Freedom - the main moral and artistic principle of the work - is also realized in the very construction of the verse. And this is a find - a relaxed ten-line, eight-, and five-, and six-, and quatrains - in a word, there will be as many rhyming lines as Tvardovsky needs at this moment in order to speak out in full. The main size of “Vasily Terkin” is trochaic tetrameter.
S.Ya. wrote about the originality of Tvardovsky’s verse. Marshak: “Look how one of them was built best chapters"Vasily Terkina" - "Crossing". In this truthful and seemingly artless story about genuine events observed by the author, you will nevertheless find a strict form and a clear structure. You will find here a repeating leitmotif, which sounds in the most crucial places of the narrative, and each time in a new way - sometimes sad and alarming, sometimes solemn and even menacing:
Crossing, crossing! Left bank, right bank. The snow is rough. The edge of the ice... To whom is memory, to whom is glory, To whom is dark water.
You will find here a lively, laconic, impeccably accurate dialogue constructed according to all the laws of a ballad. This is where real poetic culture comes into play, which gives us the means to depict events from the most vibrant modern life.”
Meaning of the work
Poem "Vasily Terkin" - central work in the works of A.T. Tvardovsky, “the best of everything written about war in war” (K. Simonov), one of the peaks of Russian epic poetry in general. It can be considered one of the truly folk works. Many lines from this work migrated into oral folk speech or became popular poetic aphorisms: “mortal combat is not for the sake of glory - for the sake of life on earth”, “forty souls are one soul”, “crossing, crossing, left bank, right bank” and many other.
The recognition of “The Book about a Soldier” was not only popular, but also national: “...This is a truly rare book: what freedom, what wonderful prowess, what accuracy, accuracy in everything and what an extraordinary folk soldier’s language - not a hitch, not a hitch, not a single hitch.” a single false, ready-made, that is, literary-vulgar word!” — wrote I.A. Bunin.
The poem "Vasily Terkin" was repeatedly illustrated. The very first were illustrations by O.G. Vereisky, which were created directly after the text of the poem. The works of artists B. Dekhterev, I. Bruni, Yu. Neprintsev are also known. In 1961 at the Moscow Theater named after. Mossovet K. Voronkov staged “Vasily Terkin”. Known literary compositions chapters of the poem performed by D.N. Zhuravlev and D.N. Orlova. Excerpts from the poem are set to music by V.G. Zakharov. Composer N.V. Bogoslovsky wrote the symphonic story “Vasily Terkin”.
In 1995, a monument to Terkin was unveiled in Smolensk (author - People's Artist Russian sculptor A.G. Sergeev). The monument is a two-figure composition depicting a conversation between Vasily Terkin and A.T. Tvardovsky. The monument was erected using publicly collected money.
This is interesting
The painting by Yu.M. became the most famous. Neprintsev “Rest after the battle” (1951).
In the winter of 1942, in a front-line dugout, barely illuminated by a homemade lamp, the artist Yuri Mikhailovich Neprintsev first became acquainted with the poem by A.T. Tvardovsky "Vasily Terkin". One of the soldiers read the poem aloud, and Neprintsev saw how the soldiers’ concentrated faces brightened, how, forgetting about fatigue, they laughed while listening to this wonderful work. What is it enormous strength impact of the poem? Why is the image of Vasily Terkin so close and dear to the heart of every warrior? The artist was already thinking about this. Neprintsev rereads the poem several times and becomes convinced that its hero is not some kind of exceptional nature, but an ordinary guy, in whose image the author expressed all the best, pure and bright that is inherent in Soviet people.
A merry fellow and joker who knows how to Hard time To raise the spirits of his comrades, to cheer them up with a joke, a sharp word, Terkin also shows resourcefulness and courage in battle. Such living Terkins could be found everywhere on the roads of war.
The great vitality of the image created by the poet was the secret of his charm. That is why Vasily Terkin immediately became one of the favorite national heroes. Captivated by this wonderful, deeply truthful image, Neprintsev long years I couldn't part with him. “He lived in my mind,” the artist later wrote, “accumulating new features, enriching himself with new details, in order to become the main character of the picture.” But the idea for the painting was not born right away. The artist went through a long journey, full of work and thought, before he began painting the painting “Rest after the Battle.” “I wanted,” the artist wrote, “to depict the soldiers of the Soviet Army not at the moment of accomplishing any heroic deeds“When all a person’s mental strength is strained to the limit, show them not in the smoke of battle, but in a simple everyday environment, in a moment of short rest.”
This is how the idea of a painting is born. Memories of the war years help define its plot: a group of soldiers, during a short break between battles, settled down in a snowy clearing and listened to a cheerful narrator. In the first sketches it was already planned general character future painting. The group was positioned in a semi-circle, facing the viewer, and consisted of only 12-13 people. The figure of Terkin was placed in the center of the composition and highlighted in color. The figures located on each side of him formally balanced the composition. There was a lot of far-fetched and conditional in this decision. The small number of the group gave the whole scene a random character and did not create the impression of a strong, friendly group of people. Therefore, in subsequent sketches, Neprintsev increases the number of people and places them in the most natural way. Main character Terkin is moved by the artist from the center to the right, the group is built diagonally from left to right. Thanks to this, the space increases and its depth is outlined. The viewer ceases to be only a witness to this scene, he becomes, as it were, a participant in it, drawn into the circle of fighters listening to Terkin. To give even more authenticity and vitality to the whole picture,
Neprintsev abandoned solar lighting, since spectacular contrasts of light and shadow could introduce elements of theatrical convention into the picture, which the artist so avoided. The soft, diffused light of a winter day made it possible to more fully and brightly reveal the diversity of faces and their expressions. The artist worked a lot and for a long time on the figures of the fighters, on their poses, changing the latter several times. Thus, the figure of a mustachioed foreman in a sheepskin coat only after a long search turned into a sitting fighter, and an elderly soldier with a bowler hat in his hands only in the last sketches replaced the girl nurse bandaging the soldier. But the most important thing for the artist was working on the image inner world heroes. “I wanted,” Neprintsev wrote, “for the viewer to fall in love with my heroes, to feel them as living and close people, so that he would find and recognize his own front-line friends in the film.” The artist understood that only then would he be able to create convincing and true images heroes when they are extremely clear to him. Neprintsev began to carefully study the characters of the fighters, their manner of speaking, laughing, individual gestures, habits, in other words, he began to “get used to” the images of his heroes. In this he was helped by the impressions of the war years, combat encounters, and the memories of his front-line comrades. His front-line sketches and portraits of his fighting friends provided him with an invaluable service.
Many sketches were made from life, but they were not transferred directly to the painting, without preliminary modification. The artist searched for, highlighted the most striking features of this or that person and, on the contrary, removed everything secondary, random, interfering with the identification of the main one. He tried to make each image purely individual and typical. “In my painting I wanted to give a collective portrait of the Soviet people, the soldiers of the great liberating army. A true hero my picture is the Russian people.” Each hero in the artist’s imagination has his own interesting biography. He can talk about them fascinatingly for hours, conveying the smallest details of their lives and fates.
So, for example, Neprintsev says that he imagined the fighter sitting to the right of Terkin as a guy who had recently joined the army from a collective farm, was still inexperienced, perhaps it was his first time participating in battle, and he was naturally scared. But now, lovingly listening to the stories of the experienced soldier, he forgot about his fear. Behind Terkin is a young man handsome guy in a jauntily tilted hat. “He,” the artist wrote, “listens to Terkin somewhat condescendingly. He himself could have told it no worse. Before the war, he was a skilled worker at a large factory, an accordion player, a participant in amateur performances, and a favorite of girls>>. The artist could tell a lot about the mustachioed foreman who laughs at the top of his lungs, and about the elderly soldier with a bowler hat, and about the cheerful soldier sitting to the left of the narrator, and about all the other characters... The most difficult task was the search appearance Vasily Terkin. The artist wanted to convey the image that had developed among the people; he wanted Terkin to be recognized immediately. Terkin should be a generalized image, it should combine the features of many people. His image is, as it were, a synthesis of all the best, bright, pure that is inherent in Soviet man. The artist worked for a long time on Terkin’s appearance, on his facial expression and hand gestures. In the first drawings, Terkin was depicted as a young soldier with a good-natured, sly face. There was no sense of dexterity or sharp ingenuity in him. In another sketch, Terkin was too serious and balanced; in the third, he lacked life experience, life school. From drawing to drawing there was a search, gestures were refined, and the pose was determined. According to the artist, the gesture right hand Terkina was supposed to emphasize some sharp, strong joke addressed to the enemy. Countless drawings have been preserved in which a variety of turns of the figure, tilts of the head, hand movements, individual gestures were tried - until the artist found something that satisfied him. The image of Terkin in the film became a significant, convincing and completely natural center. The artist devoted a lot of time to searching for a landscape for the painting. He imagined that the action was taking place in a sparse forest with clearings and copses. Early spring, the snow is not melting yet, but only loosening a little. He wanted to convey the national Russian landscape.
The painting “Rest after the battle” is the result of the artist’s intense, serious work, excited love for his heroes, and great respect for them. Each image in the picture is a whole biography. And before the gaze of an inquisitive viewer passes whole line bright, individually unique images. The deep vitality of the idea determined the clarity and integrity of the composition, the simplicity and naturalness of the pictorial solution. Neprintsev’s painting resurrects the difficult days of the Great Patriotic War, full of heroism and severity, hardships and adversity, and at the same time the joy of victory. That is why she will always be dear to the heart of the Soviet people, loved by the broad masses Soviet people.
(Based on the book by V.I. Gapeev, E.V. Kuznetsov. “Conversations about Soviet artists.” - M.-L.: Education, 1964)
Gapeeva V.I. Kuznetsova V.E. “Conversations about Soviet artists. - M.-L.: Enlightenment, 1964.
Grishung AL. “Vasily Terkin” by Alexander Tvardovsky. - M., 1987.
Kondratovich A. Alexander Tvardovsky: Poetry and personality. - M., 1978.
Romanova R.M. Alexander Tvardovsky: Pages of life and creativity: A book for high school students high school. - M.: Education, 1989-
Tvardovsky A. Vasily Terkin. A book about a fighter. Terkin in the next world. Moscow: Raritet, 2000.
The work of Alexander Tvardovsky is widely known in Russia and abroad. It was the poem “Vasily Terkin” that became his business card, brought enormous fame and recognition. The poem is studied in 8th grade; in preparation for literature lessons you will need detailed analysis works according to plan and additional information about the biography and history of Tvardovsky’s creation of “Vasily Terkin”. In “Vasily Terkin” the analysis is specific due to the autonomy of the chapters and the absence general plot, so we suggest that you familiarize yourself with full analysis literary text in our article.
Brief Analysis
Year of writing – 1942-1945.
History of creation– Main character – completely fictional character, the author finished the story about him with the victory of the Russian army in the Great Patriotic War.
Subject- the feat of a simple soldier, Russian character, moral strength Russian person.
Composition– 30 chapters with a prologue and epilogue, autonomous, but united by a common goal and the image of the main character.
Genre- a poem, a lyric epic work, “a book about a fighter.”
Direction– realism.
History of creation
The main character of the poem is fictional hero- was invented and named by the editorial board of the Leningrad newspaper “On Guard of the Motherland,” which included, in addition to the author himself, artists and poets. Vasily was supposed to become the main character of small feuilleton poems. However, the character became so popular that Alexander Tvardovsky decided to write a larger-scale work.
In 1942, the first chapters of the legendary poem were written and published. Until 1945, it was published in newspapers in parts; in 1942, the first edition of the poem, still incomplete, was published. Thus, Tvardovsky worked on the poem for three years. It turned out to be so popular that the news that work on it had been completed prompted many letters asking for a continuation of the story about Vasily Tyorkin.
Concept The poem came to Tvardovsky during the Russian-Finnish War in 1939, when he participated in military events as a war correspondent. The Great Patriotic War, in which the author himself took part, became the impetus for writing a work in which real events: battle on the Volga, crossing the Dnieper River, capture of Berlin. In 1942, after participating in the hottest battles, the author returned to Moscow and began work on the poem.
Subject, which Tvardovsky chose is multifaceted and diverse, in his work everything is based on humor and optimism - just like in real life fighters in military field conditions. Despite pressure from the authorities for the absence in the poem of references to the significance of the party, its contribution to victory and struggle, the writer did not include ideological aspects in the narrative. They, according to the author, were completely incompatible with the general tone of the work, its idea and goals. Despite the fact that censorship required editing of works, “Vasily Terkin” was republished by all well-known publications (“Znamya”, “Pravda”, “Izvestia”), and its popularity grew. Every schoolchild knew the lines from the poem by heart, it was recited on the radio, read to soldiers at the front, and publications were given as gifts as a sign of special military merit.
Subject
Topic Tvardovsky’s immortal poem can be described as follows: faith in victory, the strength of Russian character, the feat of a simple soldier. The poem tells about a simple guy who lives laughing, does not lose heart, believes in victory and holds on to life. His character, humor and exploits became a real legend for the soldiers at the front. People believed that Vasily was a real person, they looked up to him, dreamed of seeing the hero and shaking his hand.
The writer achieved such a “living image” thanks to his front-line experience, artistic means and the power of his talent. The main idea of the work is to believe in victory, to continue to live and fight in any situation, even in the face of death (as Tyorkin does in one of the chapters).
Criticism and censorship were dissatisfied with what the poem taught the reader; it was necessary to emphasize the role of the party in defeating the enemy. But the general direction of the narrative, its style and character were alien to ideology, therefore Problems, raised in the poem, are devoid of partisanship and ideological overtones.
The main character becomes close and dear to the reader, he is a friend, a comrade in arms, a guy from a neighboring company, but not a charismatic leader, not a mentor, not a government servant. Due to controversy and pressure from censorship, Tvardovsky experienced a serious creative crisis in 1942-43, but was able to bypass the prohibitions and realize the original idea of the work.
Composition
In the structure of the poem 30 chapters, prologue and epilogue. It is not subject to geographical or specific historical dates. The time of action - the Great Patriotic War, the place - front-line roads - it was this universality and generalization of the image of Tyorkin that made the work immortal. “War has no plot,” said the author of the poem himself.
It is this feature that is characteristic of the composition of the work - it brought together several stories, uniting them with the image of the main character. Another feature of the construction of a literary text is the dialogue between the author himself and his character - they are fellow soldiers, fellow countrymen. The author presents many important points in the form of arguments or conversations with his hero. Each chapter of the poem can be considered a separate poem - they are all complete and have a weak connection, relative autonomy. This is due to the fact that the poem was published in separate chapters, and the reader might not be familiar with the content of the previous parts.
Main characters
Genre
The genre of the work is defined as a poem. Essentially, this is more of a lyric epic work, since it contains many plot narratives, but also lyrical digressions tantamount to an epic beginning. The author himself calls the genre a “book about a fighter”, since it can fit within traditional structures and the components he failed. His story about the guy-shirt Vasily turned out to be too special and original to fall into the framework of a certain genre. The issues raised by the author are very large-scale to fit into the genre of a poem or story in verse.
The most famous work A.T. Tvardovsky’s poem “Vasily Terkin” has become beloved by the Russian people since the Second World War. This is proven by the fact that in 1995, a monument was erected in the writer’s homeland, in the center of Smolensk. As if alive, Alexander Trifonovich cast from bronze and his famous hero with an accordion in his hands. These sculptures are a symbol of memory of the strong Russian character, capable of surviving anything to save the Motherland.
Genre features of the work
In literature, it is customary to classify “Vasily Terkin” as a poem. However, the writer himself was not so categorical on this issue.
Firstly, you need to pay attention to the subtitle “A book about a fighter” made by the author. This already suggests some unconventionality of the work. Indeed, in the content there is no plot connection of the chapters as such, there is no climax, and the question of completeness is quite controversial. main reason the fact that the work “Vasily Terkin” was written in chapters, which became an instant response to the events taking place at the front.
Secondly, Tvardovsky’s notes have been preserved, where he speaks out about the genre: “... a chronicle is not a chronicle, a chronicle is not a chronicle...”. This confirms the fact that the basis of the work was real events played out by the author.
Thus, this is a unique book, which is an encyclopedia of the life of the people during the terrible war years. And the main thing in it is that the writer managed to skillfully describe a hero who embodied the best features of the Russian character.
Composition and plot
The poem “Vasily Terkin” had a special purpose: it was written in 1942-45 and was addressed, first of all, to the ordinary soldier who fought in the trenches. This determined its composition: independent chapters (in the post-war edition the author left 29, including 5 “author’s” chapters) with a separate plot. “No beginning, no end, no special plot” - this is how Tvardovsky defined the features of “The Book about a Fighter.” This approach was explained quite simply: in wartime conditions it was not possible to fully read the poem “Vasily Terkin”. The chapters, which were united by the image of the main character, who always found himself in the center of events, told about some important moment in the soldier’s everyday life. This made the work valuable in terms of its scale and nationality.
Vasily Terkin: image analysis
The first chapters appear in 1942. In them, the image of an ordinary soldier appears, who appears either as a joker and a merry fellow, then as a jack of all trades and a skilled accordionist, or as a courageous and devoted fighter to his homeland. Tvardovsky does not give a detailed character: his features are as realistic as possible and are characteristic of most people. There is no clear indication of his place of residence, although from the author’s digressions one can understand that Tvardovsky and Terkin are fellow countrymen. This approach deprives the hero of individuality and gives the image a generalized character. That is why every reader found familiar features in Terkin and accepted him as one of their own.
The hero, a former worker of the earth, perceives the war as important work. He is shown either at a rest stop, or in a peasant hut, or swimming across a river, or talking about a well-deserved reward, or playing the accordion... It doesn’t matter what situation Vasily Terkin, who experienced a lot (the connection of his surname with the word “grated”), found himself in during his life. An analysis of his actions and behavior shows that even in such difficult conditions he maintains a love of life and the best firmly believes in victory and in his comrades. The rhyme “Vasily-Russia” is also interesting, which is used several times in the text and emphasizes the true folk features created image.
Image of war
The author also had a special approach to describing the setting of the poem “Vasily Terkin”. Analysis of the text shows that there are practically no specific geographical names and the exact chronology of events. Although the type of troops is quite definitely indicated - infantry, since it was they who had the opportunity to experience all the hardships of front-line life to a greater extent.
Description plays an important role individual parts and items of soldiers' everyday life, which add up to one living and large-scale picture of the war against the Nazis. At the same time, quite often the image of Terkin is associated with a warrior-hero of all “companies and times.”
Author's image
An important person in the poem is not only Vasily Terkin. Analysis of the chapters “From the Author” allows us to imagine the narrator and at the same time the mediator between the hero and the readers.
This is a man who himself experienced the full hardships of war (A.T. Tvardovsky went to the front as a correspondent from the first days). In his reflections the characteristics of the hero are given (in the first place psychological aspect) and popular assessment terrible events. The latter is especially important, especially since the recipients of the poem were both front-line soldiers (L. Ozerov described it as a helper book in the war) and those who remained in the rear. The appearance of new chapters was eagerly awaited, and parts of them were memorized.
Language and style of the poem “Vasily Terkin”
The theme of war is usually revealed through the use of sublime vocabulary. Tvardovsky departs from this tradition and writes a poem about an ordinary soldier, a man of the people in an easy, simple language. This gives the whole narrative and the image of the hero naturalness and warmth. The author skillfully combines colloquial, sometimes even colloquial, and literary speech, resorts to turns and oral creativity, paraphrases small ones These are numerous sayings and jokes (“your hut is on edge these days”), words with a diminutive meaning (son, falcon), constant epithets(“bitter time”), expressions like “startled clear falcon", "grab-praise."
Another feature is the abundance of dialogues, in which there are many short ones. They easily recreate pictures of everyday soldier’s life and make the characters simple and close to the reader.
A monumental work about the fate of the people
The poem became a decisive event not only in the work of A.T. Tvardovsky, but also in all literature of the war period. The author managed to show in it heroic path an ordinary soldier, like Vasily Terkin. Analysis of military events by a direct participant makes the story believable. Three parts of the poem tell about the decisive stages of the war: the retreat, the turning point and the victorious march to Berlin.
The action of the work ends simultaneously with the victory, since its main task is to tell about the incredible courage of the Soviet people during the war against fascism - A.T. Tvardovsky fully complied.
