The story of the creation of the story “The Fate of Man” was told by journalist M. Kokta in the essay “In the village of Veshenskaya”. In particular, the journalist wrote that Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov met the prototype of the main character while hunting. It was near the Mokhovsky farm.

Sholokhov came here to hunt wild geese and geese. Sitting down to rest after a hunt near the steppe river Elanka, the writer saw a man and a boy walking towards the river crossing. The travelers mistook Sholokhov for “their brother-driver.” In the ensuing casual conversation, the traveler spoke about his fate.

The story greatly excited the writer. Mikhail Alexandrovich was so shocked that he even forgot to ask the name of his casual acquaintance, which he later very much regretted. “I will definitely, definitely write a story about this,” Sholokhov repeated.

Ten years later, Sholokhov read stories by Hemingway, Remarque, and other foreign masters of the pen. They painted a doomed, powerless man. That unforgettable meeting at the river crossing again appeared before the writer’s eyes. The long-gestating plan received new impetus. For seven days Sholokhov hardly looked up from his desk. On the eighth day the story was finished.

Responses to the story

The story “The Fate of a Man” was published in the Pravda newspaper, in issues dated December 31, 1956 and January 1, 1957. Soon it was read out on All-Union Radio. The text was read by the popular film actor of those years, Sergei Vladimirovich Lukyanov. The story immediately found a response in the hearts of the listeners.

According to the recollections of the writer Efim Permitin, who visited Sholokhov in the village of Veshenskaya, after the radio broadcasts, Sholokhov’s desktop was literally littered with letters coming from all over the country. Workers and collective farmers, doctors and teachers, Soviet and foreign writers wrote to him. Letters came from people, like the main character of the story, who survived fascist captivity and from the families of fallen front-line soldiers. Neither the author himself nor his assistants were physically able to answer even a tiny part of the letters.

Soon, Yuri Lukin and Fyodor Shakhmagonov wrote a film script based on the story “The Fate of a Man,” which was published in Literaturnaya Gazeta in November 1957. The film based on this scenario was directed by Sergei Bondarchuk, who also played the main role in it. The film was released in 1959. He collected numerous prizes at domestic and international festivals.

Composition

The Russian people endured all the horrors of war and, at the cost of personal losses, won victory and the independence of their homeland. The best features of the Russian character, thanks to whose strength the victory in the Great Patriotic War was won, M. Sholokhov embodied in the main character of the story - Andrei Sokolov. These are traits such as perseverance, patience, modesty, and a sense of human dignity.

At the beginning of the story, the author calmly talks about the signs of the first post-war spring; he seems to be preparing us for a meeting with the main character, Andrei Sokolov, whose eyes “as if sprinkled with ashes, filled with inescapable mortal melancholy.” Sholokhov’s hero recalls the past with restraint, wearily; before confession, he “hunched over” and placed his large, dark hands on his knees. All this makes us feel how tragic the fate of this man is.

The life of an ordinary person, the Russian soldier Andrei Sokolov, passes before us. Since childhood, he learned how much a “pound is worth” and fought in the Civil War. A modest worker, the father of a family, he was happy in his own way. The war ruined this man’s life, tore him away from home, from his family. Andrei Sokolov goes to the front. From the beginning of the war, in its very first months, he was wounded twice and shell-shocked. But the worst thing awaited the hero ahead - he falls into fascist captivity.

The hero had to experience inhuman torment, hardship, and torment. For two years, Andrei Sokolov steadfastly endured the horrors of fascist captivity. He tries to escape, but is unsuccessful; he deals with a coward, a traitor who is ready to hand over the commander to save his own skin. Self-esteem, enormous fortitude and self-control were revealed with great clarity in Sokolov’s moral duel with the concentration camp commandant. An exhausted, exhausted, exhausted prisoner is ready to face death with such courage and endurance that it amazes even a fascist who has lost his human appearance.

Andrei still manages to escape and becomes a soldier again. Death looked him in the eye more than once, but he remained human to the end. And yet the most serious trials befell the hero when he returned home. Having emerged from the war as a winner, Andrei Sokolov lost everything he had in life. In the place where the house built by his hands stood, there was a dark crater left by a German air bomb... All members of his family were killed. He says to his random interlocutor: “Sometimes you don’t sleep at night, you look into the darkness with empty eyes and think: “Why have you, life, maimed me like that?” I have no answer either in the dark or in the clear sun..."

After everything that this man had experienced, it would seem that he should have become embittered and bitter. However, life could not break Andrei Sokolov; it wounded, but did not kill the living soul in him. The hero gives all the warmth of his soul to his adopted orphan Vanyusha, a boy with “eyes as bright as the sky.” And the fact that he adopts Vanya confirms the moral strength of Andrei Sokolov, who managed to start life over again after so many losses. This person overcomes grief and continues to live. “And I would like to think,” writes Sholokhov, “that this Russian man, a man of unbending will, will endure, and near his father’s shoulder will grow one who, having matured, will be able to withstand everything, overcome everything on his way, if his Motherland calls him to this.” .

Mikhail Sholokhov's story “The Fate of Man” is imbued with a deep, bright faith in man. Its title is symbolic: this is not just the fate of the soldier Andrei Sokolov, but a story about the fate of a Russian man, a simple soldier who bore all the hardships of the war.

The writer shows at what enormous cost the victory in the Great Patriotic War was won and who was the real hero of this war. The image of Andrei Sokolov instills in us deep faith in the moral strength of the Russian person. In “The Fate of Man,” Sholokhov reminds the reader of the disasters that the Great Patriotic War brought to the Russian people, of the fortitude of a person who withstood all the torment and did not break. Sholokhov's story is permeated with boundless faith in the spiritual strength of the Russian person.

The plot is based on vivid psychological episodes. Farewell to the front, captivity, attempted escape, second escape, news of the family. Such rich material would be enough for a whole novel, but Sholokhov managed to fit it into a short story.

Sholokhov based the plot on a real story told to the author in the first post-war year by a simple driver who had just returned from the war. There are two voices in the story: “led” by Andrei Sokolov, the main character. The second voice is the voice of the author, listener, random interlocutor.

Andrei Sokolov's voice in the story is a frank confession. He told a stranger about his entire life, pouring out everything that he had kept in his soul for years. The landscape background for Andrei Sokolov's story was surprisingly unmistakably found. The junction of winter and spring. And it seems that only in such circumstances could the life story of a Russian soldier be heard with the breathtaking frankness of confession.

This man had a hard time in life. He goes to the front and is captured in inhuman living conditions. But he had a choice; he could have ensured a tolerable life for himself by agreeing to inform on his own comrades.

Once at work, Andrei Sokolov carelessly spoke about the Germans. His statement cannot be called a remark thrown at the enemy, it was a cry from the soul: “Yes, one square meter of these stone slabs is enough for the grave of each of us.”

A well-deserved reward was the opportunity to see my family. But, having arrived home, Andrei Sokolov learns that the family has died, and in the place where his home stood there is a deep hole overgrown with weeds. Andrei's son dies in the last days of the war, when the long-awaited victory was just around the corner.

The author's voice helps us to comprehend human life as a phenomenon of an entire era, to see in it universal human content and meaning. But in Sholokhov’s story, another voice sounded - a ringing, clear child’s voice, which seemed not to know the full extent of all the troubles and misfortunes that befall the human lot. Having appeared at the beginning of the story so carefree and loud, he then leaves, this boy, in order to become a direct participant in the final scenes, the protagonist of a high human tragedy.

All that remains in Sokolov’s life are memories of his family and an endless road. But life cannot consist of only black stripes. The fate of Andrei Sokolov brought him together with a boy of about six years old, as lonely as he was. Nobody needed the grimy boy Vanyatka. Only Andrei Sokolov took pity on the orphan, adopted Vanyusha, and gave him all his unspent fatherly love.

It was a feat, a feat not only in the moral sense of the word, but also in the heroic one. In Andrei Sokolov’s attitude towards childhood, towards Vanyusha, humanism won a great victory. He triumphed over the inhumanity of fascism, over destruction and loss.

Sholokhov focuses the reader’s attention not only on the episode of Sokolov’s meeting with the orphan Vanya. The scene in the church is also very colorful. The Germans shot the man only because he asked to go outside so as not to desecrate God’s temple. In the same church, Andrei Sokolov kills a man. Sokolov killed a coward who was ready to betray his commander.

Andrei Sokolov endured so much in his life, but he did not become embittered at fate, at people, he remained a man with a kind soul, a sensitive heart, capable of love and compassion. Perseverance, tenacity in the struggle for life, the spirit of courage and camaraderie - these qualities not only remained unchanged in the character of Andrei Sokolov, but also increased. Sholokhov teaches humanism. This concept cannot be turned into a beautiful word. After all, even the most sophisticated critics, discussing the topic of humanism in the story “The Fate of Man,” talk about a great moral feat. Joining the opinion of critics, I would like to add one thing: you need to be a real person in order to be able to endure all the grief, tears, parting, death of relatives, the pain of humiliation and insults and not after that become a beast with a predatory look and an eternally embittered soul, but remain human.
Need an abstract with

Other works on this work

“Struggle is a condition of life...” (V. G. Belinsky) “War is the most monstrous phenomenon on earth” (based on M. Sholokhov’s story “The Fate of Man”). “Every noble person is deeply aware of his blood connection with the fatherland...” (V.G. Belinsky). “Russian miracle man...” (based on the story “The Fate of a Man”) Analysis of the story by M. A. Sholokhov “The Fate of a Man” Analysis of M. Sholokhov’s story “The Fate of Man” Analysis of the ending of M. A. Sholokhov’s story “The Fate of a Man” Humanism in Sholokhov’s story “The Fate of Man” Humanistic theme in M. Sholokhov's story The Fate of Man The humanistic theme in M. A. Sholokhov’s story “The Fate of Man.” The life path of Andrei Sokolov (based on the story “The Fate of a Man” by M. A. Sholokhov) Depiction of Russian character in M. A. Sholokhov’s story “The Fate of a Man” The true beauty of man (based on the story by M. A. Sholokhov “The Fate of Man”). How did the author’s position manifest itself at the end of the story “The Fate of Man”? What is the significance of the meeting between Andrei Sokolov and Vanyusha for each of them? (based on the story “The Fate of Man” by M. A. Sholokhov) Literary hero in M. Sholokhov’s story “The Fate of Man” My thoughts on M. A. Sholokhov’s story “The Fate of a Man” The moral strength of the Russian person (based on the story by M. Sholokhov “The Fate of Man”) The moral feat of man in Sholokhov's story "The Fate of Man" The image of Andrei Sokolov in the story “The Fate of a Man” by M. A. Sholokhov The image of a warrior-worker in the story “The Fate of Man” by M. A. Sholokhov The image of a Russian person in M. A. Sholokhov’s story “The Fate of a Man” The feat of man in war (based on the story by M. A. Sholokhov “The Fate of Man”) The problem of a person’s moral choice in the story “The Fate of a Man” by M. A. Sholokhov. Problems of the story by M. Sholokhov “The Fate of Man” The story of M. A. Sholokhov “The Fate of a Man” M. Sholokhov's story "The Fate of Man" Review of M. Sholokhov’s story “The Fate of a Man.” Russian character (About the story "The Fate of a Man") Essay-review on the story by M. A. Sholokhov “The Fate of a Man” The fate of the military generation The fate of the family in the fate of the country (based on the story by M. A. Sholokhov “The Fate of Man”) The fate of a person (based on the stories of M. A. Sholokhov “The Fate of a Man” and A. I. Solzhenitsyn “Matrenin’s Dvor”) Scene of the interrogation of Andrei Sokolov by Muller (Analysis of an episode of the story by M. A. Sholokhov “The Fate of a Man”) The theme of the heroism of the Russian people in M. Sholokhov’s story “The Fate of Man” The theme of Russian character in the story by M.A. Sholokhov "The Fate of Man" The theme of the tragedy of the Russian people in M. Sholokhov’s story “The Fate of Man” Artistic features of M. Sholokhov’s story “The Fate of a Man” The theme of war in Sholokhov’s story “The Fate of Man” My thoughts on Sholokhov’s story “The Fate of Man” The problem of moral choice in Sholokhov’s story “The Fate of Man” The image of the main character in Sholokhov’s story “The Fate of Man” Hard times of war and the fate of man (based on the work “The Fate of Man”) The fate of man is the fate of the people. (based on Sholokhov's story "The Fate of Man") The problem of a person’s moral choice in Sholokhov’s story “The Fate of a Man” Essay reflection on the story by M. A. Sholokhov “The Fate of Man” The artistic originality of the story "The Fate of Man" A book about the war that excited me (Sholokhov’s “The Fate of Man”) The image and character of Andrei Sokolov What is the meaning of the title of M. A. Sholokhov’s story “The Fate of Man” What ideological load does the image of Vanyushka carry in the story “The Fate of a Man”? The theme of honor of human dignity At important times in life, sometimes a spark of heroism flares up in the most ordinary person. The fate of man during the Great Patriotic War (based on the story “The Fate of Man” by M.A. Sholokhov) The fate of man in the civil war The theme of Russian character in M. A. Sholokhov’s story “The Fate of a Man” An orphan man and an orphan child in the story “The Fate of Man” But he was just a soldier. Soldiers are not born. The fate of Russian people during the war The fate of man. Scene of the interrogation of Andrei Sokolov by Muller (analysis of an episode from M.A. Sholokhov’s story “The Fate of a Man”) Problems of the story by Mikhail Sholokhov “The Fate of Man” How do you understand the word "fate" The embodiment of the Russian character of the era in the story “The Fate of a Man” "The theme of human destiny in one of the works of Russian literature." Sholokhov.M.A. - The fate of man Folklore elements of poetics in the story “The Fate of a Man” Having gone through all the circles of hell (Sholokhov’s story “The Fate of Man”) “Defense of the Motherland is defense of one’s dignity” (N.K. Roerich) (based on the story “The Fate of a Man” by M. Sholokhov) The truth about the war in Sholokhov’s story “The Fate of a Man” The meaning of the title of Sholokhov’s story “The Fate of a Man” “The Fate of Man” M.A. Sholokhov “In times of peace, sons bury their fathers, in times of war, fathers bury their sons” About the title of the story “The Fate of Man” The fate of man, the fate of the people The image of a warrior in Mikhail Sholokhov’s story “The Fate of Man” Analysis of the work The most important episodes for revealing the character of Andrei Sokolov, the main character of the story The theme of honor and human dignity in one of the works of Russian literature (Based on the story “The Fate of Man”)

Still from the film “The Fate of Man” (1959)

Andrey Sokolov

Spring. Upper Don. The narrator and a friend rode on a chaise drawn by two horses to the village of Bukanovskaya. It was difficult to travel - the snow began to melt, the mud was impassable. And here near the Mokhovsky farm there is the Elanka River. Small in the summer, now it has spilled over a whole kilometer. Together with a driver who has appeared from nowhere, the narrator swims across the river on some dilapidated boat. The driver drove a Willis car parked in the barn to the river, got into the boat and went back. He promised to return in two hours.

The narrator sat down on a fallen fence and wanted to smoke - but the cigarettes got wet during the crossing. He would have been bored for two hours in silence, alone, without food, water, booze or smoking - when a man with a child came up to him and said hello. The man (this was the main character of the further story, Andrei Sokolov) mistook the narrator for a driver - because of the car standing next to him and came up to talk with a colleague: he himself was a driver, only in a truck. The narrator did not upset his interlocutor by revealing his true profession (which remained unknown to the reader) and lied about what the authorities were waiting for.

Sokolov replied that he was in no hurry, but wanted to take a smoke break. Smoking alone is boring. Seeing the cigarettes laid out to dry, he treated the narrator to his own tobacco.

They lit a cigarette and started talking. The narrator was embarrassed because of the petty deception, so he listened more, and Sokolov spoke.

Pre-war life of Sokolov

At first my life was ordinary. I myself am a native of the Voronezh province, born in 1900. During the civil war he was in the Red Army, in the Kikvidze division. In the hungry year of twenty-two, he went to Kuban to fight the kulaks, and that’s why he survived. And the father, mother and sister died of hunger at home. There's only one left. Rodney - even if you roll a ball - nowhere, no one, not a single soul. Well, a year later he returned from Kuban, sold his little house, and went to Voronezh. At first he worked in a carpentry artel, then he went to a factory and learned to be a mechanic. Soon he got married. The wife was brought up in an orphanage. Orphan. I got a good girl! Quiet, cheerful, obsequious and smart, no match for me. Since childhood, she learned how much a pound is worth, maybe this affected her character. Looking from the outside, she wasn’t that distinguished, but I wasn’t looking at her from the outside, but point-blank. And for me there was nothing more beautiful and desirable than her, there was not in the world and there never will be!

You come home from work tired, and sometimes angry as hell. No, she will not be rude to you in response to a rude word. Affectionate, quiet, doesn’t know where to sit you, struggles to prepare a sweet piece for you even with little income. You look at her and move away with your heart, and after a little you hug her and say: “Sorry, dear Irinka, I was rude to you. You see, my work isn’t going well these days.” And again we have peace, and I have peace of mind.

Then he talked again about his wife, how she loved him and did not reproach him even when he had to drink too much with his comrades. But soon they had children - a son, and then two daughters. Then the drinking was over - unless I allowed myself a glass of beer on the day off.

In 1929 he became interested in cars. He became a truck driver. Lived well and made good. And then there is war.

War and Captivity

The whole family accompanied him to the front. The children kept themselves under control, but the wife was very upset - they say we’ll see each other for the last time, Andryusha... In general, it’s already sickening, and now my wife is burying me alive. In upset feelings he went to the front.

During the war he was also a driver. Lightly wounded twice.

In May 1942 he found himself near Lozovenki. The Germans were going on the offensive, and he volunteered to go to the front line to carry ammunition to our artillery battery. It didn’t deliver the ammunition - the shell fell very close, and the blast wave overturned the car. Sokolov lost consciousness. When I woke up, I realized that I was behind enemy lines: the battle was thundering somewhere behind, and tanks were walking past. Pretended to be dead. When he decided that everyone had passed, he raised his head and saw six fascists with machine guns walking straight towards him. There was nowhere to hide, so I decided to die with dignity - I stood up, although I could barely stand on my feet, and looked at them. One of the soldiers wanted to shoot him, but the other held him back. They took off Sokolov's boots and sent him on foot to the west.

After some time, a column of prisoners from the same division as himself caught up with the barely walking Sokolov. I walked on with them.

We spent the night in the church. Three noteworthy events happened overnight:

a) A certain person, who introduced himself as a military doctor, set Sokolov’s arm, which was dislocated during a fall from a truck.

b) Sokolov saved from death a platoon commander he did not know, whom his colleague Kryzhnev was going to hand over to the Nazis as a communist. Sokolov strangled the traitor.

c) The Nazis shot a believer who was bothering them with requests to be let out of the church to go to the toilet.

The next morning they began to ask who was the commander, the commissar, the communist. There were no traitors, so the communists, commissars and commanders remained alive. They shot a Jew (perhaps it was a military doctor - at least that’s how the case is presented in the film) and three Russians who looked like Jews. They drove the prisoners further west.

All the way to Poznan, Sokolov thought about escape. Finally, an opportunity presented itself: the prisoners were sent to dig graves, the guards were distracted - he pulled to the east. On the fourth day, the Nazis and their shepherd dogs caught up with him, and Sokolov’s dogs almost killed him. He was kept in a punishment cell for a month, then sent to Germany.

“They sent me everywhere during my two years of captivity! During this time, he traveled through half of Germany: he was in Saxony, he worked at a silicate plant, and in the Ruhr region he rolled out coal at a mine, and in Bavaria he made a living on earthworks, and he was in Thuringia, and the devil, wherever he had to, in German walk the earth"

On the brink of death

In camp B-14 near Dresden, Sokolov and others worked in a stone quarry. He managed to return one day after work to say, in the barracks, among other prisoners: “They need four cubic meters of output, but for the grave of each of us, one cubic meter through the eyes is enough.”

Someone reported these words to the authorities and the commandant of the camp, Müller, summoned him to his office. Muller knew Russian perfectly, so he communicated with Sokolov without an interpreter.

“I will do you a great honor, now I will personally shoot you for these words. It’s inconvenient here, let’s go into the yard and sign there.” “Your will,” I tell him. He stood there, thought, and then threw the pistol on the table and poured a full glass of schnapps, took a piece of bread, put a slice of bacon on it and gave it all to me and said: “Before you die, Russian Ivan, drink to the victory of German weapons.”

I put the glass on the table, put down the snack and said: “Thank you for the treat, but I don’t drink.” He smiles: “Would you like to drink to our victory? In that case, drink to your death.” What did I have to lose? “I will drink to my death and deliverance from torment,” I tell him. With that, I took the glass and poured it into myself in two gulps, but didn’t touch the appetizer, politely wiped my lips with my palm and said: “Thank you for the treat. I’m ready, Herr Commandant, come and sign me.”

But he looks attentively and says: “At least have a bite before you die.” I answer him: “I don’t have a snack after the first glass.” He pours a second one and gives it to me. I drank the second one and again I don’t touch the snack, I’m trying to be brave, I think: “At least I’ll get drunk before I go out into the yard and give up my life.” The commandant raised his white eyebrows high and asked: “Why aren’t you having a snack, Russian Ivan? Don't be shy! And I told him: “Sorry, Herr Commandant, I’m not used to having a snack even after the second glass.” He puffed out his cheeks, snorted, and then burst into laughter and through his laughter said something quickly in German: apparently, he was translating my words to his friends. They also laughed, moved their chairs, turned their faces towards me and already, I noticed, they were looking at me differently, seemingly softer.

The commandant pours me a third glass, and his hands are shaking with laughter. I drank this glass, took a small bite of bread, and put the rest on the table. I wanted to show them, the damned one, that although I was dying of hunger, I was not going to choke on their handouts, that I had my own, Russian dignity and pride, and that they did not turn me into a beast, no matter how hard they tried.

After this, the commandant became serious in appearance, straightened two iron crosses on his chest, came out from behind the table unarmed and said: “That's what, Sokolov, you are a real Russian soldier. You are a brave soldier. I am also a soldier and I respect worthy opponents. I won't shoot you. In addition, today our valiant troops reached the Volga and completely captured Stalingrad. This is a great joy for us, and therefore I generously give you life. Go to your block, and this is for your courage,” and from the table he hands me a small loaf of bread and a piece of lard.

Kharchi divided Sokolov with his comrades - everyone equally.

Release from captivity

In 1944, Sokolov was assigned as a driver. He drove a German major engineer. He treated him well, sometimes sharing food.

On the morning of June twenty-ninth, my major orders him to be taken out of town, in the direction of Trosnitsa. There he supervised the construction of fortifications. We left.

On the way, Sokolov stunned the major, took the pistol and drove the car straight to where the earth was humming, where the battle was going on.

The machine gunners jumped out of the dugout, and I deliberately slowed down so that they could see that the major was coming. But they started shouting, waving their arms, saying you can’t go there, but as if I didn’t understand, I threw on the gas and went at full eighty. Until they came to their senses and started firing machine guns at the car, and I was already in no man’s land between the craters, weaving like a hare.

Here the Germans are hitting me from behind, and here their outlines are firing towards me from machine guns. The windshield was pierced in four places, the radiator was pierced by bullets... But now there was a forest above the lake, our people were running towards the car, and I jumped into this forest, opened the door, fell to the ground and kissed it, and I couldn’t breathe...

They sent Sokolov to the hospital for treatment and food. In the hospital I immediately wrote a letter to my wife. Two weeks later I received a response from neighbor Ivan Timofeevich. In June 1942, a bomb hit his house, killing his wife and both daughters. My son was not at home. Having learned about the death of his relatives, he volunteered for the front.

Sokolov was discharged from the hospital and received a month's leave. A week later I reached Voronezh. He looked at the crater in the place where his house was - and that same day he went to the station. Back to the division.

Son Anatoly

But three months later, joy flashed through me, like the sun from behind a cloud: Anatoly was found. He sent a letter to me at the front, apparently from another front. I learned my address from a neighbor, Ivan Timofeevich. It turns out that he first ended up in an artillery school; This is where his talents for mathematics came in handy. A year later he graduated from college with honors, went to the front and now writes that he received the rank of captain, commands a battery of “forty-fives”, has six orders and medals.

After the war

Andrey was demobilized. Where to go? I didn’t want to go to Voronezh.

I remembered that my friend lived in Uryupinsk, demobilized in the winter due to injury - he once invited me to his place - I remembered and went to Uryupinsk.

My friend and his wife were childless and lived in their own house on the edge of the city. Although he had a disability, he worked as a driver in an auto company, and I got a job there too. I stayed with a friend and they gave me shelter.

Near the teahouse he met a homeless boy, Vanya. His mother died in an air raid (during the evacuation, probably), his father died at the front. One day, on the way to the elevator, Sokolov took Vanyushka with him and told him that he was his father. The boy believed and was very happy. He adopted Vanyushka. A friend's wife helped look after the child.

Maybe we would have lived with him for another year in Uryupinsk, but in November a sin happened to me: I was driving through the mud, in one farm my car skidded, and then a cow turned up, and I knocked her down. Well, as you know, the women started screaming, people came running, and the traffic inspector was right there. He took away my driver’s book, no matter how much I asked him to have mercy. The cow got up, lifted her tail and started galloping along the alleys, and I lost my book. I worked as a carpenter for the winter, and then got in touch with a friend, also a colleague - he works as a driver in your region, in the Kasharsky district - and he invited me to his place. He writes that if you work in carpentry for six months, then in our region they will give you a new book. So my son and I are going on a business trip to Kashary.

Yes, how can I tell you, and if I hadn’t had this accident with the cow, I would still have left Uryupinsk. Melancholy does not allow me to stay in one place for a long time. When my Vanyushka grows up and I have to send him to school, then maybe I’ll calm down and settle down in one place

Then the boat arrived and the narrator said goodbye to his unexpected acquaintance. And he began to think about the story he had heard.

Two orphaned people, two grains of sand, thrown into foreign lands by a military hurricane of unprecedented force... What awaits them ahead? And I would like to think that this Russian man, a man of unbending will, will endure and grow up next to his father’s shoulder, one who, having matured, will be able to endure everything, overcome everything on his way, if his Motherland calls him to do so.

With heavy sadness I looked after them... Maybe everything would have turned out well if we parted, but Vanyushka, walking away a few steps and braiding his scanty legs, turned to face me as he walked and waved his pink little hand. And suddenly, as if a soft but clawed paw squeezed my heart, I hastily turned away. No, it’s not only in their sleep that elderly men, who have turned gray during the years of war, cry. They cry in reality. The main thing here is to be able to turn away in time. The most important thing here is not to hurt the child’s heart, so that he doesn’t see a burning and stingy man’s tear running down your cheek...

Retold by Mikhail Shtokalo for Briefly.

We must not forget the lessons that humanity learned from the common tragedy of the people, the Great Patriotic War. The war caused irreparable damage to millions of our fellow citizens, and one of them was Andrei Sokolov, the main character of Sholokhov’s story “The Fate of a Man.” The authenticity of the author's greatest creation has gained worldwide popularity, striking with its tragedy and humanity. We offer an analysis of the work “The Fate of Man” according to plan, in preparation for a literature lesson in 9th grade.

Brief Analysis

Year of writing– 1956

History of creation– The story is based on real events. A man he met while hunting told his story to the writer. The story struck the writer to the point that he decided to publish the story.

Subject– The main theme of the work is the theme of war, along with it the theme of the strength of the human spirit and the search for meaning in life is revealed.

Composition– The composition of this work consists of two stories, first the narration comes from the author’s perspective, then his new acquaintance tells his story. The work ends with the words of the author.

Genre- Story.

Direction– Realism.

History of creation

The history of the creation of this story is interesting. One day while hunting, M. Sholokhov met a man. A conversation began between the new acquaintances, and a random passer-by told Sholokhov about his sad fate. The tragic story deeply touched the writer’s soul, and he decided to write a story. He did not start work right away; for ten years the writer discussed this idea, and only then, in just a few days, he transferred it to paper, and the year the story was written became 1956. The work was published at the very end of the year, on the eve of 1957.

The story “The Fate of Man” was dedicated to the writer E. G. Levitskaya. She was among the first readers of "Quiet Don" and contributed to the publication of this novel.

Subject

In the story “The Fate of Man,” analysis of the work immediately reveals main topic, the theme of war, and not only war, but the person who participated in it. This tragedy of an entire country reveals the very depths of the human soul, it makes it clear what a person really is.

Before the war, Andrei Sokolov was an ordinary person, he had a home, family, and work. Like all ordinary people, Sokolov lived and worked, perhaps dreamed of something. In any case, war was not included in his plans. Andrei trained to be a driver, worked on a truck, the children did well at school, and his wife took care of the house. Everything went as usual, and suddenly war broke out. Already on the third day, Sokolov went to the front. As a true patriot of his Motherland, Sokolov becomes its defender.

Sholokhov was one of the writers who was confident in the strength of the spirit of the Russian man, capable of preserving real human qualities even in a bloody battle. In his story, the main idea is the fate of Andrei Sokolov, who managed to remain human, and his fate is in tune with millions of other Soviet people who went through the meat grinder of war, captivity, concentration camps, but managed to return to normal life without losing the most important thing in themselves - humanity.

This work expresses problems morality and spirituality. The war has forced everyone to make a choice, and everyone solves these problems themselves. People like Andrei Sokolov did not bend before the enemy, managed to resist, endure, and only further strengthen their faith in the power of the Motherland and the Russian people. But there were also those who, in order to preserve their petty, worthless life, were ready to betray both their comrade and their homeland.

A person remains a person in any situation, no matter how terrible it may be. In the worst case, a person will choose death, but human dignity will not allow him to commit treason. And if a person chooses his own life at the cost of the lives of his comrades, he can no longer be called a man. This is what Sokolov did: when he heard about the impending betrayal, he simply strangled this vile little bastard.

The fate of Andrei Sokolov was tragic, and he had a hard time during the war, and after the war it became even worse. His family was bombed by the Germans, his eldest son died on Victory Day, and he was left completely alone, without a family and without a home. But even here Sokolov stood his ground, picked up a homeless boy, and called himself his father, giving hope for the future to both him and himself.

Having analyzed the story, we can conclude that humanity is invincible, as well as nobility, courage and bravery. Anyone who reads “The Fate of Man” should understand what this heroic story teaches. This story is about the courage and heroism of an entire people who defeated a treacherous enemy and maintained faith in the future of the country.

The years of war broke many destinies, took away the past, and deprived them of the future. The hero of the story went through all the hardships of wartime, and was left alone, having lost his home and family, he also loses the meaning of life. A little boy was left without a home and family, just as restless as Sokolov. Two people found each other, and again found the meaning of life, and revived faith in the future. Now they have someone to live for, and they are happy that fate brought them together. A person like Sokolov will be able to raise a worthy citizen of the country.

Composition

Compositionally in the work it appears story within a story, it comes from two authors. The narration begins from the author's point of view.

One of the critics subtly noticed how different the author’s language is from Sokolov’s. Sholokhov skillfully uses these expressive artistic means, and his work gains brightness and depth of content, adding extraordinary tragedy to Sokolov’s story.

Main characters

Genre

Sholokhov himself called his work a story, and in essence it corresponds to this genre. But in terms of the depth of its content, in its tragedy, covering the fate of entire humanity, it can be compared with an epoch-making epic, in terms of the breadth of its generalization, “The Fate of Man” is an image of the fate of the entire Soviet people during the war.

The story has a pronounced realistic direction, it is based on real events, and the characters have their own prototypes.

Work test

Rating analysis

Average rating: 4.6. Total ratings received: 1546.