Vanyushka from the legendary film “The Fate of Man” worked as a taxi driver for many years. “What is the significance of the meeting between Andrei Sokolov and Vanyusha for each of them?” (based on the story by M

  • 30.06.2020

There are many works in Russian literature that tell about the Great Patriotic War. A striking example is Mikhail Sholokhov’s story “The Fate of a Man,” where the author gives us not so much a description of the war, but a description of the life of an ordinary person during the difficult war years. In the story "The Fate of Man" the main characters are not historical figures, not titled officials, nor famous officers. They are ordinary people, but with a very difficult fate.

Main characters

Sholokhov's story is small in volume, it takes up only ten pages of text. And there are not so many heroes in it. The main character of the story is a Soviet soldier - Andrei Sokolov. Everything that happens to him in life, we hear from his lips. Sokolov is the narrator of the entire story. His named son, the boy Vanyusha, plays an important role in the story. It ends the sad story of Sokolov and opens a new page in his life. They become inseparable from each other, so let’s classify Vanyusha as one of the main characters.

Andrey Sokolov

Andrei Sokolov is the main character of the story “The Fate of Man” by Sholokhov. His character is truly Russian. How many troubles he experienced, what torments he endured, only he himself knows. The hero speaks about this on the pages of the story: “Why did you, life, cripple me like that?

Why did you distort it like that?” He slowly tells his life from beginning to end to a fellow traveler with whom he sat down to have a cigarette by the road.

Sokolov had to endure a lot: hunger, captivity, the loss of his family, and the death of his son on the day the war ended. But he endured everything, survived everything, because he had a strong character and iron fortitude. “That’s why you’re a man, that’s why you’re a soldier, to endure everything, to endure everything, if need calls for it,” Andrei Sokolov himself said. His Russian character did not allow him to break down, retreat in the face of difficulties, or surrender to the enemy. He snatched life from death itself.
All the hardships and cruelties of the war that Andrei Sokolov endured did not kill his human feelings or harden his heart. When he met little Vanyusha, just as lonely as he was, just as unhappy and unwanted, he realized that he could become his family. “There is no way for us to disappear separately! I’ll take him as my child,” Sokolov decided. And he became a father to a homeless boy.

Sholokhov very accurately revealed the character of the Russian man, a simple soldier who fought not for ranks and orders, but for the Motherland. Sokolov is one of those many who fought for the country, not sparing their lives. He embodied the entire spirit of the Russian people - persistent, strong, invincible. The characterization of the hero of the story “The Fate of a Man” is given by Sholokhov through the speech of the character himself, through his thoughts, feelings, and actions. We walk with him through the pages of his life. Sokolov goes through a difficult path, but remains human. A kind, sympathetic person who lends a helping hand to little Vanyusha.

Vanyusha

A boy of five or six years old. He was left without parents, without a home. His father died at the front, and his mother was killed by a bomb while traveling on a train. Vanyusha walked around in tattered, dirty clothes, and ate what people served. When he met Andrei Sokolov, he reached out to him with all his soul. “Dear folder! I knew! I knew you would find me! You'll find it anyway! I’ve been waiting so long for you to find me!” – the delighted Vanyusha shouted with tears in his eyes. For a long time he could not tear himself away from his father, apparently afraid that he would lose him again. But in Vanyusha’s memory the image of his real father was preserved; he remembered the leather cloak that he wore. And Sokolov told Vanyusha that he probably lost him in the war.

Two loneliness, two destinies are now intertwined so tightly that they can never be separated. The heroes of “The Fate of Man” Andrei Sokolov and Vanyusha are now together, they are one family. And we understand that they will live according to their conscience, in truth. They will survive everything, they will survive everything, they will be able to do everything.

Minor characters

There are also a number of minor characters in the work. This is Sokolov’s wife Irina, his children – daughters Nastenka and Olyushka, son Anatoly. They don’t speak in the story, they are invisible to us, Andrei remembers them. The company commander, the dark-haired German, the military doctor, the traitor Kryzhnev, Lagerführer Müller, the Russian colonel, Andrei’s Uryupinsk friend - all these are the heroes of Sokolov’s own story. Some have neither a first nor a last name, because they are episodic characters in Sokolov’s life.

The real, audible hero here is the author. He meets Andrei Sokolov at the crossing and listens to his life story. It is with him that our hero talks, to whom he tells his fate.

Work test

M. A. Sholokhov is one of the most talented Russian writers. He is a master of creating atmosphere and color. His stories immerse us completely in the life and everyday life of the characters. This writer writes about complex things simply and clearly, without going into the jungle of artistic generalizations. His unique talent manifested itself both in the epic “Quiet Don” and in short stories. One of these small works is the story “The Fate of Man,” dedicated to the Great Patriotic War.

What is the meaning of the title of the story “The Fate of Man”? Why, for example, not “The Fate of Andrei Sokolov,” but so generalized and indirectly? The fact is that this story is not a description of the life of a specific person, but a show of the fate of the entire people. Sokolov lived normally, like everyone else: work, wife, children. But his ordinary, simple and happy life was interrupted by the war. Andrei had to be a hero, had to risk himself to protect his home and family from the Nazis. And so did millions of Soviet people.

What helps Andrei Sokolov endure the trials of fate?

The hero went through the hardships of war, captivity, and concentration camps, but what helps Andrei Sokolov endure the trials of fate? It's about the hero's patriotism, humor and, at the same time, will. He understands that his trials are not in vain; he is fighting against a strong enemy for his land, which he will not give up. Sokolov cannot disgrace the honor of a Russian soldier, therefore he is not a coward, does not stop fulfilling his military duty, and continues to behave with dignity in captivity. One example is the hero’s call to Chief Müller in a concentration camp. Sokolov spoke frankly about the camp’s output: “They need four cubic meters of output, but for the grave of each of us, one cubic meter through the eyes is enough.” This was reported to the authorities. The hero was taken out to be interrogated; he was threatened with execution. But the hero does not beg, does not show his fear to the enemy, does not refuse his words. Müller offers to drink to the victory of the Germans, but Sokolov rejects the offer, but for his death he is ready to drink not just one, but three glasses without blinking an eye. The hero’s fortitude surprised the fascist so much that “Russian Ivan” was pardoned and awarded.

Why does the author call Andrei Sokolov “a man of unbending will”?

First of all, the hero did not break, although he lost all his loved ones and went through hell on earth. Yes, his eyes “seem to be sprinkled with ashes,” but he does not give up, he cares about the homeless boy Van. Also, the hero always acts according to his conscience, he has nothing to reproach himself with: if he had to kill, it was only for the sake of safety, he did not allow himself to betray himself, he did not lose his composure. It is phenomenal that he has no fear of death when it comes to the honor and defense of his homeland. But Sokolov is not the only one, such are the people of unbending will.

Sholokhov in one story described the will to victory of the entire people, who did not break, did not bend under the onslaught of a severe enemy. “We should make nails out of these people,” said Sholokhov’s colleague Mayakovsky. It is this idea that the writer embodies in his great creation, which still inspires us to accomplishments and exploits. The willpower of the human spirit, the Russian spirit, appears before us in all its splendor in the image of Sokolov.

How does Andrei Sokolov manifest himself in a situation of moral choice?

War puts people in extreme, critical circumstances, so it is then that the best and worst in a person emerges. How does Andrei Sokolov manifest himself in a situation of moral choice? Finding himself in German captivity, the hero saved from death an unfamiliar platoon commander, whom his colleague Kryzhnev was going to hand over to the Nazis as a communist. Sokolov strangled the traitor. It is difficult to kill one of your own, but if this person is ready to betray someone with whom he risks his life, can such a person be considered one of his own? The hero never chooses the path of betrayal; he acts for reasons of honor. His choice is to stand up for his homeland and defend it at any cost.

The same simple and firm attitude was evident in the situation when he stood on the carpet with Müller. This meeting is very indicative: the German, although he bribed, threatened, was the master of the situation, could not break the Russian spirit. In this conversation, the author showed the whole war: the fascist pressed, but the Russian did not give up. No matter how hard the Mullers tried, the Sokolovs outplayed them, although the advantage was on the enemy’s side. Andrei’s moral choice in this fragment is the principled position of the entire people, who, although they were far, far away, supported their representatives with their invincible power in moments of difficult trials.

What role did the meeting with Vanya play in the fate of Andrei Sokolov?

The losses of the USSR in the Great Patriotic War broke all records; as a result of this tragedy, entire families died, children lost their parents and vice versa. The main character of the story was also left completely alone in the world, but fate brought him together with an equally lonely creature. What role did the meeting with Vanya play in the fate of Andrei Sokolov? The adult found in the child hope for the future, that not everything in life is over. And the child found his lost father. Sokolov’s life may not be the same, but it is still possible to find meaning in it. He went to victory for the sake of such boys and girls, so that they would live freely and not be left alone. After all, they are the future. In this meeting, the author showed the readiness of the war-weary people to return to peaceful life, not to become embittered in battles and hardships, but to restore their home.

1. What character traits of Andrei Sokolov appeared in this fragment?
2. What role do artistic details play in the above fragment?

And here it is, war. On the second day, a summons from the military registration and enlistment office, and on the third, please go to the train. All four of my friends saw me off: Irina, Anatoly and my daughters Nastenka and Olyushka. All the guys behaved well. Well, the daughters, not without that, had sparkling tears. Anatoly just shrugged his shoulders as if from the cold, by that time he was already seventeen years old, and Irina is mine... I have never seen her like this in all the seventeen years of our life together. At night, the shirt on my shoulder and chest did not dry out from her tears, and in the morning the same story... We came to the station, but I couldn’t look at her out of pity: my lips were swollen from tears, my hair had come out from under my scarf, and the eyes are dull, meaningless, like those of a person touched by the mind. The commanders announced the landing, and she fell on my chest, clasped her hands around my neck and was trembling all over, like a felled tree... And the kids tried to persuade her, and so did I - nothing helps! Other women are talking to their husbands and sons, but mine clung to me like a leaf to a branch, and only trembles all over, but cannot utter a word. I tell her: “Pull yourself together, my dear Irinka! Tell me at least a word goodbye." She says and sobs behind every word: “My dear... Andryusha... we won’t see each other... you and I... anymore... in this... world...”
Here my heart breaks to pieces out of pity for her, and here she is with these words. I should have understood that it’s not easy for me to part with them either; I wasn’t going to my mother-in-law’s for pancakes. Evil got me here! I forcibly separated her hands and lightly pushed her on the shoulders. It seemed like I pushed lightly, but my strength was stupid; She backed away, took three steps back and again walks towards me in small steps, holding out her hands, and I shout to her: “Is this really how they say goodbye? Why are you burying me alive ahead of time?!” Well, I hugged her again, I see that she is not herself...
He abruptly stopped his story mid-sentence, and in the ensuing silence I heard something bubbling and gurgling in his throat. Someone else's excitement was transmitted to me. I looked sideways at the narrator, but did not see a single tear in his seemingly dead, extinct eyes. He sat with his head bowed dejectedly, only his large, limply lowered hands trembled slightly, his chin trembled, his hard lips trembled...
- Don’t, friend, don’t remember! “I said quietly, but he probably didn’t hear my words and, by some enormous effort of will, overcoming his excitement, he suddenly said in a hoarse, strangely changed voice:
- Until my death, until my last hour, I will die, and I will not forgive myself for pushing her away then!..
He fell silent again for a long time. I tried to roll a cigarette, but the newsprint was torn and the tobacco fell onto my lap. Finally, he somehow made a twist, took several greedy puffs and, coughing, continued:
“I broke away from Irina, took her face in my hands, kissed her, and her lips were like ice. I said goodbye to the kids, ran to the carriage, and already on the move jumped onto the step. The train took off quietly; I should pass by my own people. I look, my orphaned children are huddled together, waving their hands at me, trying to smile, but it doesn’t come out. And Irina pressed her hands to her chest; her lips are white, like chalk, she whispers something with them, looks at me, doesn’t blink, and she leans all forward, as if she wants to step against a strong wind... That’s how she remained in my memory for the rest of my life: hands pressed to breasts, white lips and wide open eyes, full of tears... For the most part, this is how I always see her in my dreams... Why did I push her away then? I still remember that my heart feels like it’s being cut with a dull knife...
(M.A. Sholokhov. “The Fate of Man”)

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The name of M. A. Sholokhov is known to all mankind. In the early spring of 1946, that is, in the first post-war spring, M.A. Sholokhov accidentally met an unknown man on the road and heard his confession story. For ten years the writer nurtured the idea of ​​the work, events faded into the past, and the need to speak out increased. And so in 1956 he wrote the story “The Fate of Man.” This is a story about the great suffering and great resilience of the ordinary Soviet man. 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.
Andrei Sokolov is a tall man, stooped, his hands are large and dark from hard work. He was dressed in a burnt padded jacket, which had been mended by an inept male hand, and his general appearance was unkempt. But in the appearance of Sokolov, the author emphasizes “the eyes, as if sprinkled with ashes; filled with such inescapable melancholy." And Andrei begins his confession with the words: “Why, life, did you cripple me like that? Why did you distort it like that?” . And he cannot find the answer to this question.
The life of an ordinary person, the Russian soldier Andrei Sokolov, passes before us. . From childhood I learned how much a pound is worth, and during the civil war he fought against the enemies of Soviet power. Then he leaves his native Voronezh village for Kuban. Returns home, works as a carpenter, mechanic, driver, and starts a family.
With trepidation, Sokolov recalls pre-war life, when he had a family and was happy. 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.
Sokolov had to experience inhuman torment, hardship, and torment. For two years, Andrei Sokolov steadfastly endured the horrors of fascist captivity. He tried to escape, but was unsuccessful; he dealt with a coward, a traitor who was ready to hand over the commander to save his own skin.
Andrei did not lose the dignity of a Soviet man in a duel with the commandant of the concentration camp. Although Sokolov was exhausted, exhausted, exhausted, he was still ready to face death with such courage and endurance that he amazed even the fascist. Andrei still manages to escape and becomes a soldier again. But troubles still haunt him: his home was destroyed, his wife and daughter were killed by a fascist bomb. In a word, Sokolov now lives only with the hope of meeting his son. And this meeting took place. For the last time, the hero stands at the grave of his son, who died in the last days of the war.
It seemed that after all the trials that befell one person, he could become embittered, break down, and withdraw into himself. But this did not happen: realizing how difficult the loss of relatives is and the joylessness of loneliness, he adopts the boy Vanyusha, whose parents were taken away by the war. Andrey warmed and made the orphan's soul happy, and thanks to the warmth and gratitude of the child, he himself began to return to life. The story with Vanyushka is, as it were, the final line in the story of Andrei Sokolov. After all, if the decision to become Vanyushka’s father means saving the boy, then the subsequent action shows that Vanyushka also saves Andrei and gives him a meaning for his future life.
I think that Andrei Sokolov is not broken by his difficult life, he believes in his strength, and despite all the hardships and adversities, he still managed to find the strength to continue living and enjoy his life!

2.5. Which stories from works of domestic and foreign literature are relevant to you and why? (Based on the analysis of one or two works.)

Explanation.

Comments on essays

2.1. What brings together the images of “little people” - Akaki Akakievich and the tailor Petrovich? (Based on the story “The Overcoat” by N.V. Gogol.)

Both Akaki Akakievich and Petrovich are “little people”, humiliated and insulted. Their life is worthless, they are like guests in this life, having neither their place nor a certain meaning in it. The overcoat is an image with which all the heroes of the story are connected in one way or another: Bashmachkin, the tailor Petrovich, Bashmachkin’s colleagues, night robbers and a “significant person.” So, for both Akaki Akakievich and Petrovich, the appearance of a new overcoat is a turning point in life. Petrovich “felt to the full that he had done a considerable job and that he had suddenly shown himself the abyss separating the tailors who only add linings and forward them from those who sew again.” The brand new overcoat in which Bashmachkin dresses symbolically means both the gospel “robe of salvation”, “light clothes”, and the female hypostasis of his personality, making up for his incompleteness: the overcoat is the “eternal idea”, “friend of life”, “bright guest”.

2.2. How does the lyrical hero appear in the poetry of A. A. Fet?

Poetry A.A. Feta reflects the world of “volatile moods”. There is no place for political or civic motives in it. The main themes are nature, love, art.

The lyrical hero Feta subtly senses the overflows and transitions of the states of nature (“Whisper, timid breathing”, “Learn from them - from the oak, from the birch”, “Swallows”).

In thinking about the harmony and contradictions of man and nature, the lyrical hero finds his purpose - to serve beauty, which only the “initiated” understand (“With one push, drive away a living boat”, “How poor is our language!..”, “Melody”, “Diana” )… Contradictions constitute the main feature of love lyrics. Love is “an unequal struggle of two hearts”, an eternal clash of individualities, it is “bliss and hopelessness” (“She was sitting on the floor”, “Last love”, “With what sadness, with what longing in love”),

2.3. What is the role of female characters in M. Yu. Lermontov’s novel “A Hero of Our Time”?

The female images of the novel, bright and original, serve, first of all, to “shade” Pechorin’s nature. Bela, Vera, Princess Mary... At different stages of the hero’s life, they played an important role for him. These are completely different women in character. But they have one thing in common: the fate of all these heroines was tragic. In Pechorin's life there was a woman whom he truly loved. This is Vera. By the way, it’s worth thinking about the symbolism of her name. She was his faith in life and in himself. This woman understood Pechorin completely and accepted him entirely. Although her love, deep and serious, brought Vera only suffering: “... I sacrificed myself, hoping that someday you would appreciate my sacrifice... I was convinced that it was a vain hope. I was sad!”

And what about Pechorin? He loves Vera as best he can, as his crippled soul allows him. But Pechorin’s attempt to catch up and stop his beloved woman speaks most eloquently of all the words about Pechorin’s love. Having driven the horse in this pursuit, the hero falls next to its corpse and begins to sob uncontrollably: “... I thought my chest would burst; all my firmness, all my composure, disappeared like smoke.”

Each of the female characters in the novel is unique and inimitable in its own way. But they all have something in common - a destructive passion for the mysterious, the unknown - for Pechorin. And only one girl did not succumb to the charm of the hero of the novel. This is the undine from the story “Taman”.

All the women in the novel “A Hero of Our Time” just wanted to be happy. But happiness is a relative concept, today it exists, but tomorrow...

2.4. What was the significance of the meeting with Vanya for Andrei Sokolov? (Based on the story “The Fate of a Man” by M. A. Sholokhov.)

Andrei Sokolov has amazing courage and mental strength; the horrors he experienced do not make him embittered. The main character wages a continuous struggle within himself and emerges victorious. This man, who lost people close to him during the Great Patriotic War, finds the meaning of life in Vanyusha, who was also left an orphan: “Such a little ragamuffin: his face is covered in watermelon juice, covered with dust, dirty as dust, unkempt, and his eyes are like stars. at night after the rain! It is this boy with “eyes as bright as the sky” who becomes the new life of the main character.

Vanyusha’s meeting with Sokolov was significant for both. The boy, whose father died at the front and whose mother was killed on the train, still hopes that he will be found: “Dad, dear! I know that you will find me! You'll find it anyway! I've waited so long for you to find me." Andrei Sokolov’s fatherly feelings for someone else’s child awaken: “He pressed himself close to me and trembles all over, like a blade of grass in the wind. And there’s fog in my eyes and I’m also shaking all over, and my hands are shaking...” The glorious hero of the story again performs some kind of spiritual, and perhaps moral, feat when he takes the boy for himself. He helps him get back on his feet and feel needed. This child became a kind of “medicine” for Andrei’s crippled soul.