Other female characters: Daria, Elizaveta Mokhova, Dunyasha. The history of the melekhov family Dunyasha, Natalia and Daria

THE HISTORY OF THE MELEKHOV FAMILY AS A REFLECTION OF SOCIAL CATACLISMS OF THE ERA

One of the main themes of the epic novel "Quiet Flows the Don" is a family, a simple, "private" person in the whirlpool of history. For the first time in Russian literature, not representatives of the upper classes and the intelligentsia, but ordinary people from the people, were in the center of a large work. Soldiers and farmers. For the Russian reader, it has become almost an axiom (this was taught by literature) that the depth of emotions and the power of passions are the privilege of the chosen, intelligent natures, possessing a fine organization of the psyche, and a high culture. Sholokhov, on the other hand, demonstrated that powerful passions are inherent in people from the earth, that they too sensitively perceive earthly joys and really suffer. Sholokhov describes in detail the life and customs of the Cossacks, their established patriarchal morality, of course, not devoid of survivals.

In this patriarchal system of values, the main thing is camaraderie, friendship, mutual assistance, respect for elders, caring for children, honesty and ingenuity, goodness in everyday life, decency, aversion to lies, duplicity, hypocrisy, arrogance and violence.

Grishak's grandfather Korshunov and grandfather Maxim Bogatyrev can serve as a true role model. The first visited a Turkish company, the second - back in the Caucasus. Sitting at the wedding table, they recall the years of their youth. However, grandfather Maxim gnaws at remorse: once upon a time they took away the carpet with a fellow soldier: “Before that, I never took someone else's ... it used to be, we took a Circassian aul, an estate in saklyas, but I don’t envy ... Someone else's, that is, from the unclean ... And then you go ... A carpet got into my eyes ... with makhras ... Here, I think, the horse's blanket will be ... "

And Grishak's grandfather recalls how he took a Turkish officer prisoner in battle: “He shot and missed. Then I crushed the horse, I overtake him. I wanted to cut it down, but after that I changed my mind. Man it ... "
Or an even more telling example. An experienced warrior, a participant in the Turkish campaign, in whose kuren the Cossacks who are heading to the front spend the night, says to them: “- Remember one thing: if you want to be alive, to get out of mortal combat whole, you have to observe human truth.
- Which one? - Asked Stepan Astakhov, lying on the edge ...
- But what: do not take someone else's in the war - once. God forbid touching women ...
The Cossacks turned and started talking all at once ... Grandfather sternly directed his eyes, answered all at once:
- Women should not be touched in any way. Not at all! If you can't stand it, you will lose your head or you will get a wound, after you wake up, but it's too late. "

The most important value, the stronghold of patriarchal morality, which brought up their best qualities in people, was the family. A striking example of such a family is the Melekhov family. It is headed by Panteley Prokofievich, a tough and wayward person, but behind him is great righteousness, since he protects the peace and well-being of loved ones. Not out of tyranny, Panteley Prokofievich is trying to persuade Grigory when he began to meet with Aksinya, but because in his own way he worries about the future of his son and the family of the Astakhovs' neighbors. After the marriage of the son, Natalia and the children should have been protected from suffering. The same feelings are experienced by the wise, strong-willed Ilyinichna, who is also the keeper of the hearth.

Panteley Prokofievich was absolutely right when he rushed at a gallop to separate the quarreling sons. The point is not in the arapnik, which he holds in his hand with the aim of supposedly punishing the guilty (this just did not happen), but in the fact that there is a head of the family, a father who keeps order, not letting his family go away.

It is difficult to argue with Ilyinichna and Panteley Prokofievich when they see to it that Natalya and Daria, the wives of their sons, do equal work in the household.

Speaking about the Melekhov family, Sholokhov is talking about folk morality, about the rational and human in it. A writer for a strong family in which there is peace, harmony, and order.

This peace was first broken by Gregory, leaving his lawful wife and leaving with Aksinya to Yagodnoye, to the estate of Pan Listnitsky. The act of Gregory serves as a herald of the coming tragic events.

And they were not long in coming. The First World War, the February Revolution, the October Revolution, and the Civil War broke out. With the onset of cataclysms and shocks, a gradual burning out began, which led to the death of most of the Melekhovs. Only Dunyashka, Grigory and his son survived. Yes, and Gregory returns to his native farm before the amnesty, to certain death.

How a tragic, critical time affected the family, causing the collapse of centuries of established foundations, is especially clearly seen in the example of the image of Panteley Prokofievich.
At the beginning of the work, we see Panteley Prokofievich as the sovereign master in his house. Even with his mother's milk, he absorbed the patriarchal foundations and stands guard over them. He does not hesitate to raise his hand to his family to cool their ardor.

However, in the context of that time, this was part of his duties, it was considered a duty to his children. The Bible says: "He who spares his rod, he hates his son, and he who loves, he punishes him from childhood", "punish your son, and he will give you peace and bring joy to your soul."

At the same time, he is a very hardworking person, economic, in whose kuren prosperity reigns.

The whole meaning of Panteley Prokofievich's life lies in the family. He is immensely proud of his sons who rose to the rank of officer. Likes to show off their successes. For example, he takes Gregory, who has come on vacation, from the station through the entire farm, bypassing his own alley. “I saw my sons off to the war as rank-and-file Cossacks, and won the favor of an officer. Well, al I am not proud to give my son a ride around the farm? Let them look and envy. But my heart, brother, is poured with oil! " - Panteley Prokofievich confesses.

Some researchers, in particular, Yakimenko, condemn Panteley Prakofievich for this feature, but, I think, in vain. Is it bad when a father is proud of his children, rejoices in their success as his own?

But then a civil war begins. Now one side, then the other wins. The authorities are changing. More than once Panteley Prokofievich has to abandon his house, to flee. And, returning, he sees more and more destruction and devastation.

At first, Panteley Prokofievich is trying to fix something, restore. But far from everything could already be restored. And the stingy Panteley Prokofievich, who had previously taught his family to take care of every match, to do without a lamp in the evening (since "kerosene is expensive"), now, as if defending himself from heavy losses and devastation, gave up on everything. He is trying, at least in his own eyes, to devalue what he has acquired with such difficulty. Increasingly, in his speeches, a funny and pitiful consolation sounds: "He and the piglet was like that, one grief ...", "He was a barn ..." suitable. Such is his habit of consoling himself. "

But property losses were only part of the trouble. In front of Panteley Prokofievich's eyes, a strong, friendly family collapsed. No matter how hard he tried, Panteley Prokofievich could not keep the old order in the house.

Dunyashka was the first to break away from the family. In her love for Mikhail Koshevoy, the murderer of her brother, Dunyashka went against the whole family. Natalya, who was acutely experiencing the new rapprochement between Gregory and Aksinya, is also alien to the old people. Daria, after the death of Peter, strove, under any pretext, to leave home to take a walk in the wild. Panteley Prokofievich, seeing all this discord and confusion in the family, could not do anything. Everything that was familiar and established was collapsing around him, and his power of the master, the elder, the father vanished like smoke.

The character of Pantelei Prokofievich is changing dramatically. He still shouts at his family, but he knows well that he no longer has either his former strength or power. Daria constantly argues with him, Dunyashka disobeys, Ilyinichna, and she increasingly rereads to her old man. His severe irascibility, which once plunged the whole house into fear and confusion, now does not pose a serious danger to others and therefore often causes laughter.
Over time, something miserable and fussy appears in the guise of Panteley Prokofievich. With feigned vigor, boastfulness, he seems to be trying to protect himself from the merciless blows of fate.

And life did not spare either him or the other Melekhovs. In a short period of time, Peter and Natalya die, who could not stand Gregory's betrayal, did not want to give birth to him and after an abortion died of blood loss. Hiding from his loved ones, Panteley Prokofievich bitterly mourned this death, because he loved Natalya like his own daughter. Less than a month later, there was another smell of incense in the Melekhovs' house. Daria drowned, unwilling to live with a "bad disease."

Panteley Prokofievich thinks with horror of the danger to which Grigory's life is exposed at the front. The old man had so much grief and loss that he could no longer bear them.
This new state of Pantelei Prokofievich Sholokhov expresses in that feeling of being driven, fear of misfortune, which did not leave the old man. He became afraid of everything. He escapes from the farm when the killed Cossacks are brought there. "In one year, death struck down so many relatives and friends that at the very thought of them, his soul felt heavy and the whole world dimmed and seemed to be dressed in some kind of black veil."

In the reflections, experiences of Panteley Prokofievich, a feeling of impending death begins to sound. In the autumn forest, everything reminds Panteley Prokofievich of death: “and a falling leaf, and screaming geese flying in the blue sky, and deathly grass…” When they were digging Daria's grave, Panteley Prokofievich chose a place for himself. But he happened to die far from his native place. After another offensive of the Red Army, Panteley Prokofievich went on the run. Having fallen ill with typhus, he died in the Kuban. Grigory Melekhov and Prokhor Zykov, Melekhov's orderly, buried him in a foreign land.

who can as much as possible (help a lot) this is an internal examination in literary 1. What is the tragedy of love of Zheltkov, the hero of Kuprin's story "The Garnet Bracelet"?
2. Prove that for the hero of Kuprin's story "Garnet Bracelet" love is the highest value in the world.
3. Show the wealth of the spiritual world of the heroine of Kuprin's story "Olesya".
4. Prove by giving examples from Kuprin's works that his beloved hero is a young man, gentle, intelligent, conscientious, ardently sympathetic to his "little brother" and at the same time weak-willed, tragically submitting to the force of the environment and circumstances.
5. Why is the era of poets at the beginning of the 20th century characterized as the “silver age” of Russian poetry? What are its fundamental differences from the "golden age"?
6. What are the three pieces of advice given to the young poet by the lyrical hero of the poem V.Ya. Bryusov "To the Young Poet"? Do you agree with his position? What, in your opinion, should a true poet be? Read the poem by heart.
7. Tell us what you know about Bryusov - translator. What are his main translations? From what languages ​​are they implemented?
8. How is interest in ancient Slavic folklore manifested in Balmont's lyrics? What images arise? Analyze the poems Evil Charm and The Firebird.
9. What picture does Balmont paint in the poem "First Love"? Tell us about your perception of this poem.
10. Describe the work of early Mayakovsky. What are its main specific features? Read one poem from this period by heart.
11. "Freedom is the most beautiful thing in life, for the sake of it a person should be ready to sacrifice everything, even life." Confirm Gorky's words with examples from his stories "Makar Chudra" and "Old Woman Izergil".
12. Prove that even an insane, but extraordinary step, according to Gorky, will remain in the memory of people. Give examples from Song of the Falcon, Song of the Petrel, The Legend of Marco.
13. What is the meaning of the title of the play "At the Bottom"? Explain its symbolic sound.
14. To whom is the cycle of the Bloc's poems "Poems about the Beautiful Lady" dedicated? In connection with what is it written? Analyze 3 poems from this collection. Read one by heart.
15. How is the theme of the House revealed in Bulgakov's novel "The White Guard"? What symbolic meaning does the word "house" have for Bulgakov?
16. What philosophical problems are raised in Bulgakov's novel The Master and Margarita?
17. Show the inseparability of the connection between Tsvetaeva's fate and work with Moscow. Analyze the cycle "Poems about Moscow". Read one poem by heart.
18. Describe the image of the lyric heroine of the poem "Requiem".
19. Describe the Cossack way of life, depicted by Sholokhov. Show the features of the speech of the Cossacks. How they help the writer convey the vitality of the environment. How does the writer describe the life of the village?
20. Describe the family lifestyle of the Melekhovs, Korshunovs, Astakhovs. Make a comparative characteristic.
21. How is the First World War depicted in the novel "Quiet Flows the Don"?
22. Compare Aksinya and Natalya, explain Gregory's feelings for each of them. What is the meaning of the names of the heroines? Why do both die?
23. What is the meaning of the title of Sholokhov's story "The Fate of a Man"?
24. Give a detailed description of military prose and poetry. Analyze 2 pieces.
25. Give a detailed description of urban prose. Analyze 2 pieces.

To complete the task, select only ONE of the four proposed essay topics (17.1-17.4). Write an essay on this topic in the volume of at least 200 words (if the volume is less than 150 words, the essay is evaluated 0 points).

Expand the topic of the essay fully and multidimensionally.

Argument your theses by analyzing the elements of the text of the work (in an essay on lyrics, at least three poems must be analyzed).

Identify the role of artistic means that is important for the disclosure of the topic of the essay.

Think over the composition of the essay.

Avoid factual, logical, speech errors.

Write your essay clearly and legibly, observing the norms of written speech.

S17.1. How do the epic and lyrical principles relate in "The Lay of Igor's Campaign"?

S17.2. What gave reason to critic N. A. Dobrolyubov to call the merchants of the city of Kalinov a "dark kingdom"? (Based on the play by A. Ostrovsky "The Thunderstorm")

S17.3. What role did the Melekhov family play in the formation of the spiritual world of Gregory? (Based on the novel "Quiet Don" by M. A. Sholokhov)

Explanation.

Comments on essays

S17.1. How do the epic and lyrical principles relate in "The Lay of Igor's Campaign"?

The Lay of Igor's Host is unique in its combination of lyrical and epic principles. The plot of the work tells about the campaign of Prince Igor in 1185. The prince is a brave, courageous warrior who openly and sincerely loves his homeland and is ready to go to feats for her sake. The people are in no way inferior to the princes, they are ready to fight for their beloved land to their last breath. This is an epic beginning. Lyrical motives are woven into the narrative: these are descriptions of nature, and the truly popular lament of Yaroslavna. The narration is filled with vivid folklore images. This allows us to consider "The Word ..." as a lyric-epic work.

C17.2. What gave reason for critic N. A. Dobrolyubov to call the merchants of the city of Kalinov a "dark kingdom"? (Based on the play by A. Ostrovsky "The Thunderstorm")

The motive of the complete isolation of the Kalinov world is constantly intensified in the course of the play. Residents do not see anything new and do not know other lands and countries. They retained only vague legends about their past, which had lost their connection and meaning. Life in Kalinov freezes, dries up, the past is forgotten, news from the big world is brought to them by the wanderer Feklusha. It seems that nothing can disturb the peace of the "dark kingdom". Everything in him seemed to be asleep, frozen in its immobility and inviolability. Compositionally, two heroes are put forward in the center of the play: Katerina and Kabanikha, representing the two poles of the Kalinov world. The image of Katerina is undoubtedly correlated with the image of Kabanikha. Both of them are maximalists, both will never come to terms with human weaknesses and will not compromise. Both, finally, believe the same, their religion is harsh and merciless - there is no forgiveness for sin, and they both do not remember mercy. Only Kabanikha is all chained to the ground, all her forces are directed at holding, collecting, defending the way of life. She perceives life as a ceremonial, and it is scary for her to think about the spirit of this form that has long disappeared, flown away. Using the example of Katerina, Ostrovsky showed that in the ossified world of Kalinov, a folk character of amazing beauty and strength can arise, whose faith is based on love, on the dream of justice, beauty, some kind of higher truth. Katerina feels in a new way, no longer in Kalinov's way, although she does not realize it. In the finale of The Thunderstorm, not only the death of Katerina, but also the crash of Kabanikha.

C17.3. What role did the Melekhov family play in the formation of the spiritual world of Gregory? (Based on the novel "Quiet Don" by M. A. Sholokhov)

The image of Grigory Melekhov is central in M. Sholokhov's epic novel "Quiet Don". It is immediately impossible to say about him whether this is a positive or negative hero. For too long he wandered in search of the truth, his path. Grigory Melekhov appears in the novel primarily as a truth-seeker.

“Melekhovsky Dvor is on the very edge of the farm,” this is how the novel begins, and throughout the story, Sholokhov talks about the representatives of this family. The life of the inhabitants of the house appears from the pages of the epic in the interweaving of contradictions and struggle. The entire Melekhov family found themselves at the crossroads of major historical events, bloody clashes. The revolution and civil war bring drastic changes to the existing family and everyday life of the Melekhovs: the usual family ties are crumbling, new morals and ethics are born. Sholokhov, with great skill, managed to reveal the inner world of a person from the people, to recreate the Russian national character of the era of the revolutionary time. A line of defense runs through the Melekhovs' courtyard, it is occupied by either red or white, but the paternal house forever remains the place where the closest people live, always ready to receive and warm.

At the beginning of the story, the author introduces the reader to the head of the family. Panteley Prokofievich is a true Cossack, brought up on the traditions of valor and honor. On the same traditions, he raised his children, showing sometimes the traits of a tough character. The head of the Melekhov family does not tolerate disobedience, but at heart he is kind and sensitive. He is a skillful and hardworking owner, knows how to economically manage the household, he works from dawn to dawn. On him, and even more so on his son Gregory, the reflection of the noble and proud nature of grandfather Prokofy, who once challenged the patriarchal customs of the Tatarsky farm, falls.

Despite the intra-family split, Pantelei Prokofievich tries to combine the pieces of the old life into one whole, at least for the sake of his grandchildren and children. More than once he voluntarily leaves the front and returns home, to his native land, which was the basis of his life for him. With inexplicable force, she beckoned him to her, as she beckoned all the Cossacks who were tired of the intense and senseless war. Pantelei Prokofievich dies in a foreign land, far from his home, to which he gave all his strength and endless love, and this is the tragedy of a man whose time has taken away the most precious thing - family and shelter.

The father passed on the same all-consuming love for his home to his sons. The youngest, Grigory, went to his father - "Grigory stooped in the same way as his father, even in a smile they both had something in common, brutal." Grigory, like his father, loves his house, where Panteley Prokofievich forced him to nurse his horse, loves his wedge of earth behind the farm, which he plowed with his own hands. The last pages of the novel return readers to where the work began - to “family thought”. The friendly Melekhov family suddenly disintegrated. The death of Peter, the death of Daria, the loss of Pantelei Prokofievich's dominant position in the family, the death of Natalya, the departure of Dunyashka from the family, the destruction of the economy during the offensive of the Red Guards, the death of the head of the family in retreat and the departure of Ilyinichna to another world, the arrival of Mishka Koshevoy, the death of Polyushka - all these are stages of the collapse of what at the beginning of the novel seemed unshakable. Remarkable are the words once said by Pantelei Prokofievich to Grigory: "Everything collapsed equally for everyone." And although we are talking only about felled wattle fences, these words take on a broader meaning. The destruction of the family, from the father's house, affected not only the Melekhovs, it is a common tragedy, the fate of the Cossacks. The families of the Korshunovs, Koshevs, Mokhovs perish in the novel. The age-old foundations of human life are crumbling. The narrative in The Quiet Don, as in Tolstoy's novel War and Peace, is based on the depiction of family nests. But if Tolstoy's heroes, having gone through severe trials, come to create a family, then Sholokhov's heroes are painfully experiencing its disintegration, which with special force emphasizes the tragedy of the era depicted in the novel.

S17.4. Which of the Russian poets turned to the depiction of the drama of a lone hero? (on the example of two or three works).

The poem "Hamlet" opens a cycle of poems by Yuri Zhivago. The theme of the poem is the choice of a person's moral position in the world of evil and violence. The beginning immediately acquaints the reader with a person who has found himself at the crossroads of fate. The lyrical hero tries to comprehend, comprehend the past and the present. The word "age" has a generalized meaning. This is not only the "century" of the hero, but also a century, an era. The lyrical hero Pasternak tries to find not only his own content of life, but also the meaning of the life of the whole world. In the main part of the poem, we feel the intense struggle that takes place in the soul of the hero. This is a fight against the twilight of the night.

But the schedule of actions is thought out,

And the end of the road is inevitable.

As you can see, here the hero is powerless, he is not able to change what is destined, and here the element of life dictates his will to a person.

The lone hero is also characteristic of Lermontov's poetry. In the poems: "And it's boring and sad", "I go out on the road alone" the lyric hero reflects on his place in the world, he is alone, because he is disgusted with the inaction of his contemporaries, he feels like a stranger among them. The hero does not know how to rectify the situation. And although, unlike Pasternak's hero, Lermontov's hero is not weak-willed, hopelessness is a common fate for them.

O. Mandelstam's poem "We live without feeling the country ..." is a response to the terrible Soviet reality of the thirties. Mandelstam very accurately describes the signs of that time. The huge state preferred to be silent: "Our speeches are not heard for ten steps ...". For any word unwanted by the authorities, one could end up in camps or be shot. The atmosphere of total fear reigned in the USSR. Of course, the lyrical hero of the poem can be regarded as a rebel, although, of course, he is a lone rebel.

In the novel "Quiet Don" M. Sholokhov with great skill showed the tragic moments in the revolution and the civil war and in a completely new way, relying on historical materials, his own experience, reproduced the true picture of the Don life, its evolution. "Quiet Don" is called an epic tragedy. And not only because the tragic character is placed in the center - Grigory Melekhov, but also because the novel is permeated with tragic motives from beginning to end. This is a tragedy for those who did not understand the meaning of the revolution and opposed it, and those who succumbed to deception. This is the tragedy of many Cossacks who were involved in the Veshensk uprising in 1919, the tragedy of the defenders of the revolution who perish for the people's cause.

The tragedies of the heroes unfold against the background of crucial events for our country - the old world was completely destroyed by the revolution, it is being replaced by a new social system. All this led to a qualitatively new solution to such "eternal" issues as man and history, war and peace, personality and the masses. For Sholokhov, a person is the most valuable thing on our planet, and the most important thing that helps the formation of a person's soul is, first of all, his family, the house in which he was born, grew up, where he will always be awaited and loved and where he will definitely come back.

“Melekhovsky Dvor is on the very edge of the farm,” this is how the novel begins, and throughout the story, Sholokhov talks about the representatives of this family. The life of the inhabitants of the house appears from the pages of the epic in the interweaving of contradictions and struggle. The entire Melekhov family found themselves at the crossroads of major historical events, bloody clashes. The revolution and civil war bring drastic changes to the existing family and everyday life of the Melekhovs: the usual family ties are crumbling, new morals and ethics are born. Sholokhov, with great skill, managed to reveal the inner world of a person from the people, to recreate the Russian national character of the era of the revolutionary time. A line of defense runs through the Melekhovs' courtyard, it is occupied by red and white, but the paternal house forever remains the place where the closest people live, always ready to receive and warm.

At the beginning of the story, the author introduces the head of the family - Panteley Prokofievich: “Panteley Prokofievich began to grow stiff under the slope of the slipping years: he was wide, slouched slightly, but still looked like an old man folding. He was dry in the bone, lame (in his youth, at the imperial show at the races, he broke his leg), wore a silver crescent-shaped earring in his left ear, his black beard and hair did not fade on him until old age, in anger he reached unconsciousness ... "Pantelei Prokofievich - a true Cossack, brought up on the traditions of valor and honor. On the same traditions, he raised his children, showing sometimes the traits of a tough character. The head of the Melekhov family does not tolerate disobedience, but at heart he is kind and sensitive. He is a skillful and hardworking owner, knows how to economically manage the household, he works from dawn to dawn. On him, and even more so on his son Gregory, the reflection of the noble and proud nature of grandfather Prokofy, who once challenged the patriarchal customs of the Tatarsky farm, falls.

Despite the intra-family split, Panteley Prokofievich tries to combine the pieces of the old life into one whole, at least for the sake of his grandchildren and children. More than once he voluntarily leaves the front and returns home, to his native land, which was the basis of his life for him. With inexplicable force, she beckoned him to her, as she beckoned all the Cossacks who were tired of the intense and senseless war. Pantelei Prokofievich dies in a foreign land, far from his home, to which he gave all his strength and endless love, and this is the tragedy of a man whose time has taken away the most precious thing - family and shelter.

The father passed on the same all-consuming love for his home to his sons. His eldest, already married son, Petro, resembled his mother: big, snub-nosed, with a riotous wheat-colored hair, brown-eyed, and the youngest, Grigory, went to his father - “Grigory stooped as much as his father, even in a smile they both had one thing in common, brutal. " Grigory, like his father, loves his home, where Panteley Prokofievich forced him to nurse his horse, loves his wedge of earth behind the farm, which he plowed with his own hands.

With great skill M. Sholokhov portrayed the complex character of Grigory Melekhov - an integral, strong and honest personality. He never looked for his own benefit, did not succumb to the temptation of profit and career. Delusional, Gregory shed a lot of blood of those who affirmed a new life on earth. But he realized his guilt, sought to redeem it with honest and faithful service of the new government.

The hero's path to truth is thorny and difficult. At the beginning of the epic, this is an eighteen-year-old guy - cheerful, strong, handsome. The author comprehensively reveals the image of the protagonist - there is a code of Cossack honor, and intense peasant labor, and daring in folk games and festivities, and an introduction to the rich Cossack folklore, and a feeling of first love. From generation to generation, the courage and courage brought up, nobility and generosity towards enemies, contempt for cowardice and cowardice determined the behavior of Gregory in all life circumstances. In the troubled days of revolutionary events, he commits many mistakes. But on the path of the search for truth, the Cossack is sometimes unable to comprehend the iron logic of the revolution, its internal laws.

Grigory Melekhov is a proud, freedom-loving personality and at the same time a philosopher and truth-seeker. For him, the greatness and inevitability of revolution must be revealed and proved by the entire subsequent course of life. Melekhov dreams of such a system of life in which a person would be rewarded by the measure of his mind, work and talent.

The women of the Melekhov family - Ilyinichna, Dunyashka, Natalya and Daria - are completely different, but they are united by a sublime moral beauty. The image of the old Ilyinichna personifies the hard lot of the Cossack woman, her high moral qualities. Pantelei Melekhov's wife, Vasilisa Ilinichna, is a native Cossack woman of the Upper Don region. Life was not sweet to her lot. It was she who most of all suffered from the hot-tempered nature of her husband, but patience and endurance helped her to keep the family. She grew old early, suffered from diseases, but despite this she remained a caring, energetic hostess.

The image of Natalia, a woman of high moral purity and feeling, is filled with high lyricism. Strong in character, Natalya put up with the position of her unloved wife for a long time and still hoped for a better life. She curses and loves Gregory endlessly. Even if not for long, she still found her feminine happiness. Thanks to patience and faith, Natalya managed to restore her family, return harmony and love. She gave birth to twins, a son and a daughter, and turned out to be as loving, devoted and caring mother as she was a wife. This beautiful woman is the embodiment of the dramatic destiny of a strong, beautiful, selflessly loving nature, ready to sacrifice everything for the sake of a high feeling, even her own life. Natalia's strength of spirit and conquering moral purity are revealed with unprecedented depth in the last days of her life. Despite all the evil that Gregory caused her, she finds the strength to forgive him.

Dunyashka is a prominent representative of the family. Nature endowed her with the same hot and firm character as Gregory. And this was especially clearly manifested in her desire to defend her happiness at any cost. Despite the dissatisfaction and threats of loved ones, she, with her usual stubbornness, defends her right to love. Even Ilyinichna, for whom Koshevoy has always remained a "murderer", the murderer of her son, understands that nothing will change her daughter's attitude to Mikhail. And if she fell in love with him, then nothing will tear this feeling out of her heart, as nothing could change Grigory's feelings for Aksinya.

The last pages of the novel return readers to where the work began - to “family thought”. The friendly Melekhov family suddenly disintegrated. The death of Peter, the death of Daria, the loss by Pantelei Prokofievich of the dominant position in the family, the death of Natalya, the departure of Dunyashka from the family, the destruction of the economy during the offensive of the Red Guards, the death of the head of the family in retreat and the departure of Ilyinichna to another world, the arrival of Mishka Koshevoy, the death of Polyushka - all these are stages of the collapse of what at the beginning of the novel seemed unshakable. Remarkable are the words once said by Pantelei Prokofievich to Grigory: "Everything collapsed equally for everyone." And although we are talking only about felled wattle fences, these words take on a broader meaning. The destruction of the family, from the father's house, affected not only the Melekhovs, it is a common tragedy, the fate of the Cossacks. The families of the Korshunovs, Koshevs, Mokhovs perish in the novel. The age-old foundations of human life are crumbling.

The narrative in The Quiet Don, as in Tolstoy's novel War and Peace, is based on the depiction of family nests. But if Tolstoy's heroes, having gone through severe trials, come to create a family, then Sholokhov's heroes are painfully experiencing its disintegration, which with special force emphasizes the tragedy of the era depicted in the novel. Talking about the disintegration of the Melekhov family, Sholokhov sets for us, the descendants, the task of reviving the family and confidently convinces that there is always something to start with. In the tortured soul of Gregory, many life values ​​lost their meaning, and only the feeling of family and homeland remained indestructible. It is no coincidence that Sholokhov ends the story with a touching meeting between father and son. The Melekhov family fell apart, but Grigory will be able to create a hearth where a flame of love, warmth and understanding will always glow, which will never go out. And despite the tragedy of the novel, which reflected the events of one of the most cruel periods in the history of our country, the reader remains to live with hope in this vast world shining under the cold sun.