Analysis of the poem to whom in Russia to live well essay. "Who should live well in Russia": "Pop" (chapter analysis)

“Who in Russia should live well” Nekrasov

"Who in Russia to live well" analysis of the work - theme, idea, genre, plot, composition, characters, problems and other issues are disclosed in this article.

In February 1861, serfdom was abolished in Russia. This progressive event greatly stirred up the peasants and caused a wave of new problems. Nekrasov described the main one in the poem "Elegy", where there is an aphoristic line: "The people are liberated, but are the people happy?" In 1863, Nikolai Alekseevich began to work on a poem "Who in Russia to live well", which addresses the problems of all segments of the country's population after the abolition of serfdom.

Despite the rather simple, folklore style of narration, the work is quite difficult for correct perception, since it touches on serious philosophical issues. For many of them, Nekrasov was looking for answers all his life. And the poem itself, which was created for a long 14 years, was never completed. Of the planned eight parts, the author managed to write four that do not follow one after another. After the death of Nikolai Alekseevich, the publishers faced a problem: in what order should the parts of the poem be published. Today we are getting acquainted with the text of the work in the order proposed by Korney Chukovsky, who meticulously worked with the writer's archives.

Some of Nekrasov's contemporaries argued that the author had the idea of ​​the poem back in the 50s, before the abolition of serfdom. Nikolai Alekseevich wanted to fit into one work everything he knew about the people and heard from many people. To some extent, he succeeded.

Many genre definitions have been selected for the poem "Who Lives Well in Russia". Some critics claim that this is a "poem-journey", others speak of it as a "Russian Odyssey". The author himself considered his work epic because it depicts the life of the people at a turning point in history. Such a period can be a war, a revolution, and in our case, the abolition of serfdom.

The author tried to describe the current events through the eyes of ordinary people and using their vocabulary. As a rule, there is no main character in the epic. Nekrasov's poem "To whom it is good to live in Russia" fully meets these criteria.

But the question of main character The poem has been raised more than once; it haunts literary critics to this day. If approached formally, then the main characters can be considered arguing men who went to look for happy people in Russia. Perfect for this role Grisha Dobrosklonov- People's educator and savior. It is quite possible to admit that the main character in the poem is the entire Russian people. This is clearly reflected in the mass scenes of festivities, fairs, haymaking. Important decisions are made in Russia by the whole world, even a sigh of relief after the death of the landowner escaped from the peasants at the same time.

Plot The work is quite simple - seven men accidentally met on the road, who started a dispute on the topic: who lives well in Russia? To solve it, the heroes set off on a journey across the country. On a long journey, they meet a variety of people: merchants, beggars, drunkards, landowners, a priest, a wounded soldier, a prince. The disputants also had a chance to see many pictures from life: a prison, a fair, birth, death, weddings, holidays, auctions, elections of a burgomaster, etc.

Seven men are not described by Nekrasov in detail, their characters are practically not disclosed. Wanderers go together towards the same goal. But the characters of the second plan (the village headman, Saveliy, the serf Yakov and others) are drawn brightly, with many small details and nuances. This allows us to conclude that the author, in the person of seven men, created a conditionally allegorical image of the people.

Problems that Nekrasov raised in his poem are very diverse and relate to the life of different strata of society: greed, poverty, illiteracy, obscurantism, swagger, moral degradation, drunkenness, arrogance, cruelty, sinfulness, the difficulty of transitioning to a new way of life, unlimited patience and a thirst for rebellion , oppression.

But the key problem of the work is the concept of happiness, which each character decides on their own. For wealthy people such as the pop and the landowner, happiness is personal well-being. It is very important for a man to be able to get away from troubles and misfortunes: the bear chased, but did not catch up, they beat him hard at work, but they did not beat him to death, etc.

But there are characters in the work who do not seek happiness only for themselves, they strive to make all people happy. Such heroes are Yermil Girin and Grisha Dobrosklonov. In the mind of Gregory, love for his mother grew into love for the whole country. In the soul of the guy, the poor and unfortunate mother was identified with the same poor country. And the seminarian Grisha considers the enlightenment of the people the goal of his life. From the way Dobrosklonov understands happiness, the main idea of ​​the poem follows: only the person who is ready to devote his life to the struggle for the happiness of the people can fully feel this feeling.

Oral folk art can be considered the main artistic means of the poem. The author makes extensive use of folklore in the pictures of the life of the peasants and in the description of the future protector of Russia, Grisha Dobrosklonov. Nekrasov uses folk vocabulary in the text of the poem in different ways: as a direct stylization (the prologue is composed), the beginning of a fairy tale (self-assembled tablecloth, the mythical number seven) or indirectly (lines from folk songs, references to various legends and epics).

The language of the work is stylized as a folk song. There are many dialectisms in the text, numerous repetitions, diminutive suffixes in words, stable constructions in descriptions. Because of this, the work “Who Lives Well in Russia” is perceived by many as folk art. In the middle of the nineteenth century, folklore was studied not only from the point of view of science, but also as a way for the intelligentsia to communicate with the people.

Having analyzed in detail Nekrasov’s work “Who Lives Well in Russia”, it is easy to understand that even in its unfinished form it is a literary heritage and is of great value. And today the poem is of great interest to literary critics and readers. Studying the historical features of the Russian people, we can conclude that they have changed a little, but the essence of the problem has remained the same - the search for one's happiness.

The abolition of serfdom in 1861 caused a wave of controversy in Russian society. ON THE. Nekrasov also responded to the debate "for" and "against" the reform with his poem "Who Lives Well in Russia", which tells about the fate of the peasantry in the new Russia.

The history of the creation of the poem

Nekrasov conceived the poem back in the 1850s, when he wanted to tell about everything that he knew about the life of a simple Russian backgammon - about the life of the peasantry. The poet began to work thoroughly on the work in 1863. Death prevented Nekrasov from finishing the poem, 4 parts and a prologue were published.

For a long time, researchers of the writer's work could not decide in what order the chapters of the poem should be printed, since Nekrasov did not have time to indicate their order. K. Chukovsky, having thoroughly studied the personal notes of the author, allowed such an order as is known to the modern reader.

Genre of the work

“Who should live well in Russia” is attributed to various genres - a travel poem, a Russian Odyssey, a protocol of the all-Russian peasantry. The author gave his own definition of the genre of the work, in my opinion, the most accurate is the epic poem.

The epic reflects the life of an entire nation at a turning point in its existence - wars, epidemics, and so on. Nekrasov shows events through the eyes of the people, uses the means of the folk language to make them more expressive.

There are many heroes in the poem, they do not hold together separate chapters, but logically connect the plot into one whole.

The problems of the poem

The story of the life of the Russian peasantry covers a wide range of biography. Men in search of happiness travel around Russia in search of happiness, get acquainted with various people: a priest, a landowner, beggars, drunken jokers. Festivities, fairs, rural festivities, the burden of labor, death and birth - nothing escaped the poet's gaze.

The protagonist of the poem is not identified. Seven traveling peasants, Grisha Dobrosklonov - most of all stands out among the rest of the heroes. However, the main character of the work is the people.

The poem reflects the numerous problems of the Russian people. This is the problem of happiness, the problem of drunkenness and moral decay, sinfulness, freedom, rebellion and tolerance, the clash of the old and the new, the difficult fate of Russian women.

Happiness is understood by the characters in different ways. The most important thing for the author is the embodiment of happiness in the understanding of Grisha Dobrosklonov. From here grows the main idea of ​​the poem - true happiness is real only for a person who thinks about the welfare of the people.

Conclusion

Although the work is unfinished, it is considered integral and self-sufficient in terms of the expression of the author's main idea and his author's position. The problems of the poem are relevant to this day, the poem is interesting to the modern reader, who is attracted by the pattern of events in the history and worldview of the Russian people.

The long-awaited abolition of serfdom brought freedom to the peasants. But did the people begin to live well and happily? This is the main question of the poem, which Nekrasov is trying to answer.

The poem took 14 years to complete and was completed in 1877. The poet failed to complete his plan - he died. Nekrasov himself defined the genre of the work - an epic poem. The plot is very simple - seven men decided to find out independently of each other how life is in Russia. They went in different directions.

They meet with different people - a priest, a landowner, a beggar, a drunkard, a merchant. And in modern terms, "they are interviewed." The main character of the poem is the Russian people. The men are endowed with common features, there is no portrait description. Their image is collective, any person from the people could well fit the description of one of the seven men.

What problems can a free people now have? Worldly - drunkenness, human sins, the problem of freedom and rebellion. Nekrasov was the first to identify the problems of a Russian woman. And the main problem is the problem of happiness. Everyone understands it in their own way. For the priest and the landowner, happiness is personal well-being, honor, more money.

A man has his own happiness - a series of misfortunes. Either he fell into the clutches of a bear, then in the service he fell under the hot hand of the boss. Grisha gives the main answer to the question of happiness. This is the main idea of ​​the poem - happy is the one who lives not for himself, but for the sake of society. Not directly, but Gregory calls on everyone to love their people and fight for their happiness.

The poem is relevant today. Legally, the Russian people are free. But is he happy with what he sees around him. If you send those seven people in different directions so that they can see? Abandoned collective farm fields, dilapidated houses in the villages. They didn't live like that after the war. Closed post offices and schools, kindergartens, first-aid posts (health optimization), the complete absence of work in the villages, total drunkenness, leading to deaths. The youth do not want to return to the villages.

Men, as in the old days, go to work in distant lands, do not see families, do not take part in raising children. They are left to themselves, feel abandoned and useless. They shoot teachers and their classmates in schools.

So who is good to live in Russia? The question remains unanswered.

Option 2

The poem “To whom it is good to live in Russia” appeared just at the time of the abolition of serfdom. The author has been working on it for about ten years. Of course, he did not have time to finish it, but still it is finished. Nekrasov could not stay away. After him, his best friends and relatives completed it and collected material. Many readers really like this poem and to this day remains popular and famous. Although this work is difficult to understand and not many can understand it the first time. And in order to understand its meaning, you need to do an analysis.

The poem began with the fact that several peasants met on a pole path. But readers do not know the nature of each of them. But all the same, they have persistence in the fact that they are not going to agree with someone else's opinion, but are trying to find their own truth. All other villagers are described here in a bit more detail. Each of them began to tell how this or that person lives in Russia. Of course, how many people have so many opinions, and therefore the conversation gradually turned into an argument.

In the end, they came to nothing, because each person remained with his own opinion. And in order to find the answer to this question, they decided to travel around the world. On the way they meet different people, and each new person tells about his life. They meet first in the priest, he talks about his life. Then they meet a drunkard who has his own views on life. After that, they meet with a poor man who is offended by life, because he has it unsweetened.

The author lets the reader in with the life of each of the people who meet the poem. It is sometimes very difficult for a poor person to work and get himself a penny for housing. But the master does not care about anything at all, because he has everything, and his pockets are full of money.

It may seem to many that there is nothing complicated here, but it is perceived easily and simply, but in fact it is not.

Among all the men, it is Grisha who will find the answer to this question. In addition, he will be able to reflect everything that people expect in the future.

In the most difficult or difficult situations, all the people unite and then the solution comes by itself, and it is much easier to cope with these problems than before. The landowner does not give rest to anyone in this village, and when he dies, everyone just sighs with relief.

Often there are problems among the people that they solve together. Drinking often takes place in the village, people share happy moments with each other.

Grisha always felt sorry for his mother, who often got it from her husband. And when he grew up, he began to feel sorry for the homeland in which he lives. He believes that if a person thinks not about himself, but about other people, he will soon become a happy person. He always loved his people and did everything to protect them in everything and always and solve their problems.

In the end, one can understand that, despite the fact that the work is unfinished, it is still of great literary value. And it is relevant today.

Who should live well in Russia - Analysis

In 1861, a reform was finally carried out in Russia - the abolition of serfdom. The whole community was extremely animated by this news. However, despite the freedom given by the king, many people still wondered: "Are the people happy after the reforms?" and "Is there true freedom in society?". Nekrasov, who passionately loved the common people, undoubtedly could not ignore such an important event as the fall of serfdom. Two years after the release of the manifesto, he takes up the writing of the poem "Who Lives Well in Russia". It shows the life of the Russian people after the reforms. This creation of Nekrasov is considered the most significant - it is also very popular in modern times. At first glance, the reader can identify that the plot of the work is simple and primitive, but this work is very ornate for perception. For this reason, it would be reasonable to analyze the poem - with the help of it you can delve into the deep meaning of the work, determine the problems raised in it.

"Who should live well in Russia" - a work that was created by the writer Nikolai Nekrasov in the period 1863 and 1877. As evidenced by his close people and contemporaries, the idea, the idea came to Nekrasov in the middle of the nineteenth century. The talented poet set as his goal to put into the poem absolutely everything that he knows about the people, everything that he heard from them. But Nekrasov did not succeed in completing the work due to his death, only a few parts of the work with a prologue came out.

On the shoulders of the publisher of the poem lay a difficult task - to decide what sequence the parts of the poem would have, for Nikolai Nekrasov did not combine them into one whole. Chukovsky dealt with this problem, after analyzing the writer's works, he came to the conclusion that it would be best to print disparate parts in the form in which they are presented to the current reader.

There is a lot of controversy about what genre the poem belongs to. This is according to people and the poem-journey and the Russian Odyssey, there are other definitions. Yet the vast majority of critics unanimously assert that "To whom it is good to live in Russia" is an epic poem. Creation is called epic because it reflects the life of an entire people, in a certain important period of history - wars, various social cataclysms. The writer Nekrasov describes everything from the position of the people and resorts to folklore to show the people's attitude to the problem. As a rule, the epic contains many heroes who form a plot.

To whom in Russia to live well? This issue still worries many people, and this fact explains the increased attention to the legendary poem by Nekrasov. The author managed to raise a topic that has become eternal in Russia - the topic of asceticism, voluntary self-denial in the name of saving the fatherland. It is the service of a high goal that makes a Russian person happy, as the writer proved using the example of Grisha Dobrosklonov.

“Who is living well in Russia” is one of the last works of Nekrasov. When he wrote it, he was already seriously ill: he was struck by cancer. That is why it is not finished. It was collected bit by bit by the poet's close friends and arranged the fragments in random order, barely capturing the confused logic of the creator, broken by a fatal illness and endless pains. He was dying in agony, and yet he was able to answer the question posed at the very beginning: Who lives well in Russia? In a broad sense, he himself turned out to be lucky, because he faithfully and selflessly served the interests of the people. This ministry supported him in the fight against the fatal illness. Thus, the history of the poem began in the first half of the 60s of the 19th century, approximately in 1863 (serfdom was abolished in 1861), and the first part was completed in 1865.

The book was published in fragments. The prologue was already published in the January issue of Sovremennik in 1866. More chapters came out later. All this time, the work attracted the attention of censors and was mercilessly criticized. In the 70s, the author wrote the main parts of the poem: "Last Child", "Peasant Woman", "Feast for the Whole World". He planned to write much more, but due to the rapid development of the disease, he could not and stopped at "Feast ...", where he expressed his main idea regarding the future of Russia. He believed that such holy people as Dobrosklonov would be able to help his homeland, mired in poverty and injustice. Despite the fierce attacks of reviewers, he found the strength to stand up for a just cause to the end.

Genre, genre, direction

ON THE. Nekrasov called his creation “the epic of modern peasant life” and was precise in his wording: the genre of the work “Who should live well in Russia?” - epic poem. That is, at the base of the book, not one kind of literature coexists, but two whole: lyrics and epic:

1. epic component. In the history of the development of Russian society in the 1860s, there was a turning point when people learned to live in new conditions after the abolition of serfdom and other fundamental changes in the usual way of life. This difficult historical period was described by the writer, reflecting the realities of that time without embellishment and falsehood. In addition, the poem has a clear linear plot and many original characters, which indicates the scale of the work, comparable only to a novel (epic genre). The book also absorbed the folklore elements of heroic songs that tell about the military campaigns of heroes against enemy camps. All these are generic features of the epic.
2. lyric component. The work is written in verse - this is the main property of lyrics, as a kind. The book also has a place for author's digressions and typical poetic symbols, means of artistic expression, features of the characters' confession.

The direction within which the poem “Who Lives Well in Russia” was written is realism. However, the author significantly expanded its boundaries by adding fantastic and folklore elements (prologue, beginnings, symbolism of numbers, fragments and heroes from folk legends). The poet chose the form of travel for his idea, as a metaphor for the search for truth and happiness, which each of us carries out. Many researchers of Nekrasov's work compare the plot structure with the structure of the folk epic.

Composition

The laws of the genre determined the composition and plot of the poem. Nekrasov was finishing the book in terrible agony, but still did not have time to finish it. This explains the chaotic composition and many branches from the plot, because the works were formed and restored from drafts by his friends. He himself in the last months of his life was not able to clearly adhere to the original concept of creation. Thus, the composition “Who is living well in Russia?”, comparable only to the folk epic, is unique. It was developed as a result of the creative assimilation of world literature, and not the direct borrowing of some well-known model.

1. Exposition (Prologue). The meeting of seven men - the heroes of the poem: "On the pillar path / Seven men came together."
2. The plot is the oath of the heroes not to return home until they find the answer to their question.
3. The main part consists of many autonomous parts: the reader gets to know a soldier happy that he was not beaten, a serf proud of his privilege to eat out of the master's bowls, a grandmother whose turnip was mutilated in her garden to her joy ... While the search for happiness stands still, the slow but steady growth of national self-consciousness is depicted, which the author wanted to show even more than the declared happiness in Russia. From random episodes, a general picture of Russia emerges: impoverished, drunk, but not hopeless, striving for a better life. In addition, the poem contains several large and independent inserted episodes, some of which are even placed in autonomous chapters (“Last Child”, “Peasant Woman”).
4. Climax. The writer calls Grisha Dobrosklonov, a fighter for the happiness of the people, a happy man in Russia.
5. Interchange. A serious illness prevented the author from completing his great plan. Even those chapters that he managed to write were sorted and marked by his confidants after his death. It must be understood that the poem is not finished, it was written by a very sick person, therefore this work is the most complex and confusing of Nekrasov's entire literary heritage.
6. The final chapter is called "A Feast for the Whole World". All night the peasants sing about the old and new times. Kind and hopeful songs are sung by Grisha Dobrosklonov.

What is the poem about?

Seven peasants met on the road and argued about who should live well in Russia? The essence of the poem is that they were looking for an answer to this question on the way, talking with representatives of different classes. The revelation of each of them is a separate story. So, the heroes went for a walk in order to resolve the dispute, but only quarreled, starting a fight. In the night forest, at the moment of a fight, a chick fell from the bird's nest, and one of the men picked it up. The interlocutors sat down by the fire and began to dream in order to also acquire wings and everything necessary for traveling in search of the truth. The warbler bird turns out to be magical and, as a ransom for her chick, tells people how to find a self-assembled tablecloth that will provide them with food and clothes. They find her and feast, and during the feast they vow to find the answer to their question together, but until then they will not see any of their relatives and not return home.

On the way, they meet a priest, a peasant woman, a farce Petrushka, a beggar, an overworked worker and a paralyzed former courtyard, an honest man Yermila Girin, a landowner Gavrila Obolt-Obolduev, a survivor of the mind of the Last Duck and his family, a serf Yakov the faithful, God's wanderer Ion Lyapushkin but none of them were happy people. Each of them is associated with a story full of genuine tragedy of suffering and misfortune. The goal of the journey is reached only when the wanderers stumble upon the seminarian Grisha Dobrosklonov, who is happy with his selfless service to his homeland. With good songs, he instills hope in the people, and this is how the poem “Who lives well in Russia” ends. Nekrasov wanted to continue the story, but did not have time, but he gave his heroes a chance to gain faith in the future of Russia.

Main characters and their characteristics

It is safe to say about the heroes of “Who Lives Well in Russia” that they represent a complete system of images that streamlines and structures the text. For example, the work emphasizes the unity of the seven wanderers. They do not show individuality, character, they express the common features of national self-consciousness for all. These characters are a single whole, their dialogues, in fact, are a collective speech that originates from oral folk art. This feature makes Nekrasov's poem related to the Russian folklore tradition.

1. Seven Wanderers are former serfs "from adjacent villages - Zaplatova, Dyryavina, Razutov, Znobishina, Gorelova, Neyolova, Neurozhayka, too." All of them put forward their own versions of who lives well in Russia: a landowner, an official, a priest, a merchant, a noble boyar, a sovereign minister or a tsar. Perseverance is expressed in their character: they all demonstrate unwillingness to take sides. Strength, courage and the pursuit of truth - that's what unites them. They are ardent, easily succumb to anger, but the appeasement compensates for these shortcomings. Kindness and responsiveness make them pleasant interlocutors, even despite some meticulousness. Their temper is harsh and cool, but life did not spoil them with luxury: the former serfs always bent their backs, working for the master, and after the reform, no one bothered to attach them properly. So they wandered in Russia in search of truth and justice. The search itself characterizes them as serious, thoughtful and thorough people. The symbolic number "7" means a hint of good luck that awaited them at the end of the journey.
2. Main character- Grisha Dobrosklonov, seminarian, son of a deacon. By nature, he is a dreamer, a romantic, loves to compose songs and make people happy. In them, he talks about the fate of Russia, about her misfortunes, and at the same time about her mighty strength, which will someday come out and crush injustice. Although he is an idealist, his character is firm, as are his convictions to devote his life to the service of the truth. The character feels a calling to be a people's leader and singer of Russia. He is happy to sacrifice himself to a lofty idea and help his homeland. However, the author hints that a difficult fate awaits him: prisons, exile, hard labor. The authorities do not want to hear the voice of the people, they will try to shut them up, and then Grisha will be doomed to torment. But Nekrasov makes it clear with all his might that happiness is a state of spiritual euphoria, and it can only be known by being inspired by a lofty idea.
3. Matrena Timofeevna Korchagina- the main character, a peasant woman, whom the neighbors call lucky because she begged the wife of her husband's military leader (he, the only breadwinner of the family, was to be recruited for 25 years). However, the story of a woman's life reveals not luck or good fortune, but grief and humiliation. She knew the loss of her only child, the anger of her mother-in-law, everyday, exhausting work. Detailed and her fate is described in an essay on our website, be sure to look.
4. Savely Korchagin- the grandfather of Matryona's husband, a real Russian hero. At one time, he killed a German manager who mercilessly mocked the peasants entrusted to him. For this, a strong and proud man paid for decades of hard labor. Upon his return, he was no longer good for anything, years of imprisonment trampled on his body, but did not break his will, because, as before, he stood up for justice with a mountain. The hero always said about the Russian peasant: "And it bends, but does not break." However, without knowing it, the grandfather turns out to be the executioner of his own great-grandson. He did not notice the child, and the pigs ate it.
5. Ermil Girin- a man of exceptional honesty, a steward in the estate of Prince Yurlov. When he needed to buy the mill, he stood in the square and asked people to rush to help him. After the hero got to his feet, he returned all the borrowed money to the people. For this, he earned respect and honor. But he is unhappy, because he paid for his authority with freedom: after the peasant revolt, suspicion fell on him in his organization, and he was imprisoned.
6. Landlords in the poem“To whom in Russia to live well” are presented in abundance. The author portrays them objectively and even gives some images a positive character. For example, the governor's wife Elena Alexandrovna, who helped Matryona, appears as a people's benefactor. Also, with a note of compassion, the writer portrays Gavrila Obolt-Obolduev, who also treated the peasants tolerably, even arranged holidays for them, and with the abolition of serfdom, he lost the ground under his feet: he was too accustomed to the old order. In contrast to these characters, the image of the Last Duck and his treacherous, prudent family was created. The relatives of the hard-hearted old serf-owner decided to deceive him and persuaded the former slaves to participate in the performance in exchange for profitable territories. However, when the old man died, the rich heirs brazenly deceived the common people and drove him away with nothing. The apogee of the nobility of the nobility is the landowner Polivanov, who beats his faithful servant and sends his son to the recruits for trying to marry his beloved girl. Thus, the writer is far from denigrating the nobility everywhere, he is trying to show both sides of the coin.
7. Kholop Yakov- an indicative figure of a serf, the antagonist of the hero Saveliy. Yakov absorbed the whole slavish essence of the oppressed class, downtrodden with lack of rights and ignorance. When the master beats him and even sends his son to certain death, the servant meekly and meekly endures the offense. His revenge was a match for this humility: he hanged himself in the forest right in front of the master, who was crippled and could not get home without his help.
8. Iona Lyapushkin- God's wanderer, who told the peasants several stories about the life of people in Russia. It tells about the epiphany of ataman Kudeyara, who decided to atone for sins by killing for good, and about the cunning of Gleb the headman, who violated the will of the late master and did not release the serfs on his orders.
9. Pop- a representative of the clergy, who complains about the difficult life of a priest. The constant clash with grief and poverty saddens the heart, not to mention the popular witticisms against his dignity.

The characters in the poem "To whom it is good to live in Russia" are diverse and allow us to paint a picture of the customs and life of that time.

Topic

• The main theme of the piece is freedom- rests on the problem that the Russian peasant did not know what to do with it, and how to adapt to new realities. The national character is also “problematic”: people-thinkers, people-seekers of truth still drink, live in oblivion and empty talk. They are not able to squeeze slaves out of themselves until their poverty acquires at least the modest dignity of poverty, until they stop living in drunken illusions, until they realize their strength and pride, trampled down by centuries of humiliating state of affairs that have been sold, lost and bought.
• Happiness Theme. The poet believes that a person can get the highest satisfaction from life only by helping other people. The real value of being is to feel needed by society, to bring goodness, love and justice to the world. Selfless and selfless service to a good cause fills every moment with sublime meaning, with an idea, without which time loses color, becomes dull from inaction or selfishness. Grisha Dobrosklonov is happy not with wealth and position in the world, but with the fact that he leads Russia and his people to a brighter future.
• Homeland Theme. Although Russia appears in the eyes of readers as a poor and tortured, but still a beautiful country with a great future and a heroic past. Nekrasov pities his homeland, devoting himself entirely to its correction and improvement. The homeland for him is the people, the people are his muse. All these concepts are closely intertwined in the poem "To whom in Russia it is good to live." The author's patriotism is especially pronounced at the end of the book, when wanderers find a lucky man who lives in the interests of society. In a strong and patient Russian woman, in the justice and honor of a hero-peasant, in the sincere good-heartedness of a folk singer, the creator sees the true image of his state, full of dignity and spirituality.
• The theme of labor. Useful activity elevates the impoverished heroes of Nekrasov above the vanity and depravity of the nobility. It is idleness that destroys the Russian master, turning him into a self-satisfied and arrogant nonentity. But the common people have skills that are really important for society and genuine virtue, without them there will be no Russia, but the country will manage without noble tyrants, revelers and greedy seekers of wealth. So the writer comes to the conclusion that the value of each citizen is determined only by his contribution to the common cause - the prosperity of the motherland.
• mystical motif. Fantastic elements appear already in the Prologue and immerse the reader in the fabulous atmosphere of the epic, where you have to follow the development of the idea, and not the realism of the circumstances. Seven owls on seven trees - the magic number 7, which promises good luck. The raven praying to the devil is another guise of the devil, because the raven symbolizes death, grave decay and infernal forces. He is opposed by a good force in the form of a warbler bird, which equips the men on the road. A self-assembled tablecloth is a poetic symbol of happiness and contentment. The “Wide Path” is a symbol of the open ending of the poem and the basis of the plot, because on both sides of the road, travelers open up a multifaceted and genuine panorama of Russian life. Symbolic is the image of an unknown fish in unknown seas, which has swallowed "the keys to female happiness." A weeping she-wolf with bloody nipples also clearly demonstrates the difficult fate of a Russian peasant woman. One of the most vivid images of the reform is the “great chain”, which, having broken, “spread one end along the gentleman, the other along the peasant!”. The seven wanderers are a symbol of the entire people of Russia, restless, waiting for change and seeking happiness.

Issues

• In the epic poem, Nekrasov touched on a large number of acute and topical issues of that time. The main problem is “Who is it good to live in Russia?” - the problem of happiness, both socially and philosophically. It is connected with the social theme of the abolition of serfdom, which greatly changed (and not for the better) the traditional way of life of all segments of the population. It would seem that here it is, freedom, what else do people need? Is this not happiness? However, in reality, it turned out that the people, who, due to long slavery, do not know how to live independently, turned out to be thrown to the mercy of fate. A priest, a landowner, a peasant woman, Grisha Dobrosklonov and seven peasants are real Russian characters and destinies. The author described them, relying on rich experience of communicating with people from the common people. The problems of the work are also taken from life: disorder and confusion after the reform to abolish serfdom really affected all classes. No one organized jobs for yesterday's serfs, or at least land allotments, no one provided the landowner with competent instructions and laws governing his new relationship with workers.
• The problem of alcoholism. Wanderers come to an unpleasant conclusion: life in Russia is so hard that without drunkenness a peasant will completely die. Forgetfulness and fog are necessary for him in order to somehow pull the strap of a hopeless existence and hard labor.
• The problem of social inequality. The landlords have been torturing the peasants with impunity for years, and Savelyia has been deformed for the murder of such an oppressor all her life. For the deceit, there will be nothing for the relatives of the Last, and their servants will again be left with nothing.
• The philosophical problem of the search for truth, which each of us encounters, is allegorically expressed in the campaign of seven wanderers who understand that without this discovery their life is depreciated.

The idea of ​​the work

The road skirmish of the peasants is not an everyday quarrel, but an eternal, great dispute, in which all layers of Russian society of that time appear to one degree or another. All its main representatives (priest, landowner, merchant, official, tsar) are called to the peasant court. For the first time men can and have the right to judge. For all the years of slavery and poverty, they are not looking for retribution, but for an answer: how to live? This is the meaning of Nekrasov's poem "Who is living well in Russia?" - the growth of national consciousness on the ruins of the old system. The author's point of view is expressed by Grisha Dobrosklonov in his songs: “And your burden was lightened by fate, companion of the days of the Slav! You are still a slave in the family, but the mother is already a free son! ..». Despite the negative consequences of the reform of 1861, the creator believes that behind it is a happy future for the fatherland. It is always difficult at the beginning of change, but this work will be rewarded a hundredfold.

The most important condition for further prosperity is to overcome internal slavery:

Enough! Finished with the last calculation,
Done with sir!
The Russian people gather with strength
And learning to be a citizen

Despite the fact that the poem is not finished, Nekrasov voiced the main idea. Already the first of the songs of “A Feast for the Whole World” gives an answer to the question posed in the title: “The share of the people, their happiness, light and freedom, first of all!”

End

In the finale, the author expresses his point of view on the changes that have taken place in Russia in connection with the abolition of serfdom and, finally, sums up the results of the search: Grisha Dobrosklonov is recognized as the lucky one. It is he who is the bearer of Nekrasov's opinion, and in his songs the true attitude of Nikolai Alekseevich to what he described is hidden. The poem “To whom it is good to live in Russia” ends with a feast for the whole world in the truest sense of the word: this is the name of the last chapter, where the characters celebrate and rejoice at the happy end of the search.

Output

In Russia, the hero of Nekrasov, Grisha Dobrosklonov, is well, as he serves people, and, therefore, lives with meaning. Grisha is a fighter for the truth, a prototype of a revolutionary. The conclusion that can be drawn on the basis of the work is simple: a lucky man has been found, Russia is embarking on the path of reforms, the people, through thorns, are drawn to the title of citizen. This bright omen is the great meaning of the poem. For more than a century it has been teaching people altruism, the ability to serve high ideals, and not vulgar and passing cults. From the point of view of literary skill, the book is also of great importance: it is truly a folk epic, reflecting a controversial, complex, and at the same time the most important historical era.

Of course, the poem would not be so valuable if it only gave lessons in history and literature. She gives life lessons, and this is her most important property. The moral of the work “To whom it is good to live in Russia” is that it is necessary to work for the good of one’s homeland, not to scold it, but to help it with deeds, because it’s easier to push around with a word, but not everyone really wants to change something. Here it is, happiness - to be in your place, to be needed not only for yourself, but also for the people. Only together can a significant result be achieved, only together can we overcome the problems and hardships of this overcoming. Grisha Dobrosklonov, with his songs, tried to unite, rally people so that they would meet changes shoulder to shoulder. This is his holy purpose, and everyone has it, it is important not to be too lazy to go out on the road and look for him, as the seven wanderers did.

Criticism

The reviewers were attentive to the work of Nekrasov, because he himself was an important person in literary circles and had great authority. Entire monographs were devoted to his phenomenal civil lyrics with a detailed analysis of the creative methodology and the ideological and thematic originality of his poetry. For example, here is how the writer S.A. spoke about his style. Andreevsky:

He retrieved the anapaest abandoned on Olympus from oblivion and for many years made this heavy, but flexible meter as walking as from the time of Pushkin to Nekrasov only the airy and melodious iambic remained. This rhythm, chosen by the poet, reminiscent of the rotational movement of a hurdy-gurdy, made it possible to stay on the borders of poetry and prose, to joke with the crowd, to speak fluently and vulgarly, to insert a cheerful and cruel joke, to express bitter truths and imperceptibly, slowing down the beat, with more solemn words, to turn into ornate.

Korney Chukovsky spoke with inspiration about the thorough preparation of Nikolai Alekseevich for work, citing this example of writing as a standard:

Nekrasov himself constantly “visited Russian huts”, thanks to which both soldier and peasant speech became thoroughly known to him from childhood: not only from books, but also in practice, he studied the common language and from his youth became a great connoisseur of folk poetic images, folk forms thinking, folk aesthetics.

The death of the poet came as a surprise and a blow to many of his friends and colleagues. As you know, F.M. Dostoevsky with a heartfelt speech inspired by the impressions of a recently read poem. Specifically, among other things, he said:

He, indeed, was highly original and, indeed, came with a "new word."

The “new word”, first of all, was his poem “Who in Russia should live well”. No one before him was so deeply aware of the peasant, simple, worldly grief. His colleague in his speech noted that Nekrasov was dear to him precisely because he bowed "to the people's truth with his whole being, which he testified to in his best creations." However, Fedor Mikhailovich did not support his radical views on the reorganization of Russia, however, like many thinkers of that time. Therefore, criticism reacted violently to the publication, and in some cases aggressively. In this situation, the honor of a friend was defended by a well-known reviewer, a master of the word Vissarion Belinsky:

N. Nekrasov in his last work remained true to his idea: to arouse the sympathy of the upper classes of society for the common people, their needs and requirements.

Quite sharply, recalling, apparently, professional disagreements, I. S. Turgenev spoke about the work:

Nekrasov's poems, collected in one trick, are burning.

The liberal writer was not a supporter of his former editor and openly expressed his doubts about his talent as an artist:

In white threads sewn together, seasoned with all sorts of absurdities, painfully hatched fabrications of the mournful muse of Mr. Nekrasov - she, poetry, is not even worth a penny ”

He really was a man of very high nobility of soul and a man of great mind. And as a poet he is, of course, superior to all poets.

On February 19, 1861, a long-awaited reform took place in Russia - the abolition of serfdom, which immediately stirred up the whole society and caused a wave of new problems, the main of which can be expressed in a line from Nekrasov's poem: "The people are liberated, but are the people happy? ..". The singer of folk life, Nekrasov, did not stand aside this time either - since 1863, his poem “Who Lives Well in Russia” begins to be written, telling about life in post-reform Russia. The work is considered the pinnacle in the writer's work and to this day enjoys the well-deserved love of readers. At the same time, despite its seemingly simple and stylized fairy tale plot, it is very difficult to perceive. Therefore, we will analyze the poem “Who Lives Well in Russia” in order to better understand its meaning and problems.

History of creation

Nekrasov created the poem “Who Lives Well in Russia” from 1863 to 1877, and some ideas, according to contemporaries, arose from the poet as early as the 1850s. Nekrasov wanted to present in one work everything that, as he said, “I know about the people, everything that I happened to hear from their lips”, accumulated “by word” over 20 years of his life. Unfortunately, due to the death of the author, the poem remained unfinished, only four parts of the poem and a prologue were published.

After the death of the author, the publishers of the poem faced a difficult task - to determine in what sequence to publish the disparate parts of the work, because. Nekrasov did not have time to combine them into one. The task was solved by K. Chukovsky, who, relying on the writer's archives, decided to print the parts in the order in which they are known to the modern reader: "Last Child", "Peasant Woman", "Feast for the Whole World".

Genre, composition

There are many different genre definitions of “Who should live well in Russia” - they talk about it as a “poem-journey”, “Russian Odyssey”, even such a confusing definition is known as “the protocol of a kind of All-Russian peasant congress, an unsurpassed transcript of the debate on an acute political issue ". Nevertheless, there is also the author's definition of the genre, with which most critics agree: the epic poem. The epic involves the depiction of the life of an entire people at some decisive moment in history, whether it be a war or other social upheaval. The author describes what is happening through the eyes of the people and often turns to folklore as a means of showing the people's vision of the problem. The epic, as a rule, does not have one hero - there are many heroes, and they play a more connecting than plot-forming role. The poem "To whom it is good to live in Russia" fits all these criteria and can safely be called an epic.

Theme and idea of ​​the work, heroes, problems

The plot of the poem is simple: “on the pillar path” seven men converge who argued about who lives best in Russia. To find out, they go on a journey. In this regard, the theme of the work can be defined as a large-scale narrative about the life of peasants in Russia. Nekrasov covered almost all spheres of life - during his wanderings, the peasants will get to know different people: a priest, a landowner, beggars, drunkards, merchants, a cycle of human destinies will pass before their eyes - from a wounded soldier to a once all-powerful prince. The fair, prison, hard work for the master, death and birth, holidays, weddings, auctions and the election of the burgomaster - nothing escaped the writer's gaze.

The question of who should be considered the main character of the poem is ambiguous. On the one hand, formally it has seven main characters - men wandering in search of a happy person. The image of Grisha Dobrosklonov also stands out, in whose person the author portrays the future people's savior and enlightener. But besides this, the image of the people as the image of the main character of the work is clearly traced in the poem. The people appear as a single whole in the scenes of the fair, mass festivities (“Drunk Night”, “Feast for the Whole World”), haymaking. Various decisions are made by the whole world - from the help of Yermil to the election of a burgomaster, even a sigh of relief after the death of the landowner breaks out from everyone at the same time. Seven men are not individualized either - they are described as briefly as possible, do not have their own separate features and characters, pursue the same goal and even speak, as a rule, all together. The secondary characters (the serf Yakov, the village headman, Savely) are written by the author in much more detail, which allows us to talk about the special creation of a conditionally allegorical image of the people with the help of seven wanderers.

One way or another, the lives of the people are also affected by all the problems raised by Nekrasov in the poem. This is the problem of happiness, the problem of drunkenness and moral degradation, sin, the relationship between the old and the new way of life, freedom and lack of freedom, rebellion and patience, as well as the problem of the Russian woman, characteristic of many of the poet's works. The problem of happiness in the poem is fundamental, and is understood by different characters in different ways. For the priest, the landowner and other characters endowed with power, happiness is presented in the form of personal well-being, "honor and wealth." Peasant happiness consists of various misfortunes - the bear tried to bully, but could not, they beat him to death in the service, but they didn’t kill him to death ... But there are also such characters for whom there is no personal, personal happiness apart from the happiness of the people. Such is Yermil Girin, the honest burgomaster, such is the seminarian Grisha Dobrosklonov, who appears in the last chapter. In his soul, love for a poor mother outgrew and merged with love for the same poor homeland, for the happiness and enlightenment of which Grisha plans to live.

From Grisha's understanding of happiness, the main idea of ​​​​the work grows: real happiness is possible only for someone who does not think about himself, and is ready to spend his whole life for the happiness of everyone. The call to love your people as they are, and to fight for their happiness, not remaining indifferent to their problems, sounds distinctly throughout the poem, and finds its final embodiment in the image of Grisha.

Artistic media

An analysis of Nekrasov's "Who Lives Well in Russia" cannot be considered complete without considering the means of artistic expression used in the poem. Basically, this is the use of oral folk art - both as an object of image, to create a more reliable picture of peasant life, and as an object of study (for the future people's protector, Grisha Dobrosklonov).

Folklore is introduced into the text either directly, as a stylization: the stylization of the prologue as a fairy-tale beginning (the mythological number seven, a self-assembled tablecloth and other details speak eloquently about this), or indirectly - quotations from folk songs, references to various folklore plots (most often to epics).

Stylized as a folk song and the very speech of the poem. Let's pay attention to a large number of dialectisms, diminutive suffixes, numerous repetitions and the use of stable constructions in descriptions. Thanks to this, “To whom it is good to live in Russia” can be perceived as folk art, and this is not accidental. In the 1860s, an increased interest in folk art arose. The study of folklore was perceived not only as a scientific activity, but also as an open dialogue between the intelligentsia and the people, which, of course, was close to Nekrasov ideologically.

Output

So, having examined Nekrasov’s work “Who Lives Well in Russia”, we can confidently conclude that, despite the fact that it remained unfinished, it still represents a huge literary value. The poem remains relevant until today and can arouse interest not only among researchers, but also among the ordinary reader who is interested in the history of the problems of Russian life. “Who should live well in Russia” was repeatedly interpreted in other types of art - in the form of a stage production, various illustrations (Sokolov, Gerasimov, Shcherbakova), as well as popular prints on this plot.

Artwork test