Who can live well in Rus'? Characteristics of peasants. Please write an essay on the topic: Russian peasantry in the poem by N.A. Nekrasov "Who Lives Well in Rus'"

The main idea of ​​Nekrasov’s poem was to depict Russian peasants from the time when serfdom was abolished. Throughout the entire poem, the heroes travel throughout Rus' in order to answer the question: “Who lives cheerfully, at ease in Rus'?”, who is in complete prosperity, happy, and who is not.

Men seeking the truth

The main characters of the work come forward, seven men, wandering through Russian towns and villages, looking for an answer to a very difficult question. In the image of peasants there are the main features of poverty of ordinary Russian men, such as: poverty, curiosity, unpretentiousness. These men ask the same question to everyone who crosses their path. In their minds, the lucky ones are the priest, the merchant, the landowner, the nobleman and the Tsar Father himself. However, the main place in the author’s work is given to the peasant class.

Yakim Nagoy

He works until his death, but lives poorly and is constantly hungry, like the bulk of the residents of Bosovo. Yakim understands that the peasants great power and he is proud that he belongs to them, he knows the weak and strong points of the peasants’ character. It assumes that the main enemy of men is alcohol, which destroys them.

Ermila Girin

Yermila received honesty and intelligence from Nekrasov. He lives for the population, he is fair, he will not leave anyone in grief. There was one dishonest thing, he saved his nephew from recruiting. But he did this not for himself, but for the sake of his family. He sent his widow's son instead of his nephew. He was so tormented by his own lies that he almost led to hanging. Then he corrected the mistake and marched with the rebels, after which he was put in prison.

Saveliy the hero

The author admits the idea that ordinary men are like Russian heroes. Here the image of Savely, the Holy Russian hero, appears. Saveliy empathizes with Matryona from the bottom of his heart and takes Demushka’s death hard. This hero contains kindness, sincerity, and helping other people in difficult situations.

Matrena Timofeevna

All peasant women are shown in the guise of this woman. She has a powerful soul and willpower. Throughout his life he fights for the freedom and joy of women. Her life is similar to many peasant women of that time. Considering that after marriage she ends up in a family that despises her. Her husband beat her once, her first child was eaten by piglets, and she spends the rest of her life working in the fields.

Essay Peasants (Who lives well in Rus')

In the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” N. A. Nekrasov raises and examines one of the main problems Russian state, which is still relevant today. The images of peasants as the main characters of this problem and, accordingly, the poem reveals its entire essence.

The writer creates a group portrait of seven peasants who travel around Rus' and look for happy people, among whom, they are sure, there are no peasants, soldiers and other lower classes. The author identifies the characteristics of wanderers: poverty, curiosity, independence. Nekrasov clearly points out the hostility of the peasants towards those who live and get rich for their work, while the poor peasants are pure in heart, honest in their work, kind at heart. This can be seen in the described case with Matryona Timofeevna, when ordinary men came to her to help with the harvest.

The image of Yakima Nagoy personifies all the peasants who work tirelessly and live in starving poverty. HE works so hard that he already merges with the ground, which he plows day and night.

And to Mother Earth myself
He looks like: brown neck,
Like a layer cut off by a plow,
Brick face...

The myth that all peasants are poor because of drunkenness is not confirmed; in fact, the reason is in fate to work for the owner.

Ermila Girin wins over the reader with her honesty and great intelligence. After he framed a neighbor's boy as a soldier, he is tormented by his conscience instead of his brother. He is visited by the thought of suicide, but still he goes to the people to repent. The author introduces the image of Savely to demonstrate the idea that the people are heroes. Despite his illness, he knows how to empathize with others. Nekrasov gives him the role of a philosopher.

It is fashionable to see the female share in Matryona Timofeevna. She is strong-willed and resilient. Any successful merchant can envy her inner core. Her fate is so typical for all Russian women that she does not advise looking for a happy one among them. She, as the breadwinner of the family, is obliged to work and not spare herself and her strength.

Such images of peasants arise as a consequence of the reform of 1861. The peasants try not to look at the cruel reality and live in their own religious and humane world, which still treats them cruelly.

Option 3

The poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” talks about the difficulties of the life of peasants after the serfdom reform of Alexander II. Ordinary men, peasants, I decide to find out who in Rus' lives better than everyone else, who is truly happy: a landowner, a merchant, a priest, or maybe only the tsar himself is happy?

In search of the truth and an answer to their question, seven wanderers walk across Russian soil. On the way they meet a variety of heroes, and the wanderers help everyone and provide all kinds of support. This is how the wanderers help Matryona Timofeevna, whose harvest was dying. The peasant peasants of the Illiterate province also provide all possible assistance.

By showing the journeys of the heroes, the author of the poem thereby introduces readers to the most different strata of society. Wanderers meet merchants, nobility, and clergy. In comparison of all these classes, peasants stand out clearly in their behavior and character traits.

When reading the poem, the reader meets a poor peasant whose name is Yakim Naga. Despite the fact that Yakim worked all his life, he did not get rich at all, remaining among the poorest people in society. Many residents of the village of Bosovo are the same as the character Yakim Nagoy.

The author of the work compares the character with Mother Earth. His neck is brown and his face is brick. From this description it becomes clear what kind of work Yakim does. But our hero is not much upset by his situation, because he sincerely believes in the bright future of all peasants.

Another peasant in the poem who is completely different from Yakima is Ermila Girin. Ermila is distinguished by her intelligence, as well as crystal honesty. Revealing the image of this character, Nekrasov shows how solidarity the peasants were, how united they were. For example, the people trust Ermila when purchasing a mill, and Girin in return supports the rebellion, thereby taking the side of the peasants.

Many times in the text, when describing the peasants, Nekrasov compares them with heroes. For example, Savely - strong man. However, despite the strongly expressed features of a stern man, Savely is very bright and sincere. He treats Matryona Timofeevna with tender trepidation. Savely is haunted by thoughts about why the people should endure all the hardships that fall on them and, in general, should they endure it?

Nekrasov embodied all the female images in the poem in the heroine Matryona Timofeevna. This woman spent her entire life striving for freedom and happiness. It can be assumed that in her understanding, freedom was already the embodiment of happiness. She was an unusually strong and resilient woman. Having got married, she steadfastly accepted all the trials that came to her, and in the end she took on hard work on an equal basis with the men.

In the poem, Nekrasov shows ordinary peasants and tries to tell readers that peasants are not work force, but people with their aspirations, feelings and dreams. And, of course, these people must be free, their opinions must also be listened to.

My grandmother makes me eat porridge in the morning. She says that breakfast is very important for the body. Thanks to breakfast, I will have a lot of strength and energy throughout the day.

They say: “It is the people’s fault to be sad, so that the fools may wake up.” Please, I will make a good deal with this Vislov, because the dream can truly become the sense of life for any person.

// Images of peasants in Nekrasov’s poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'”

The famous poem by N.A. Nekrasova's "" opens and describes to readers the images of peasants who happened to experience the hardships and difficulties of the post-reform era in Russia. Nekrasov introduces us to ordinary peasant men who decided to find out who is really happy in Russia - a landowner, a merchant, a priest, or the Tsar himself?

Seven wanderers travel around Russian lands in search of truth. They meet different characters along the way, but never refuse to help anyone. The travelers help out Matryona Timofeevna after learning that her crop is dying. The Illiterate Province also felt the help of the men.

Thanks to the wanderings of the heroes, Nikolai Alekseevich introduces readers to various persons who occupy completely different positions in society. This includes the clergy, the merchants, and the nobility. And against the background of them, the author can contrast the representatives of the peasantry - the travelers themselves, with their distinctive features character and behavior.

While reading the poem, we meet a poor peasant named Yakim Nagoy. He, working all his life, remained in the lavas of the most impoverished sections of the population. Most of the residents of the village of Bosovo are like him.

Analyzing a portrait of this hero, in which Nekrasov compares him to Mother Earth herself, calling his neck brown and his face brick, one can guess what kind of work he does and performs every day for the benefit of others. However, Yakim is not upset about his situation, because he believes in the peasants, that they have a bright and decent future.

Another Nekrasov character was distinguished by his incorruptibility and honesty. In addition, he was unusually smart.

Using the example of this hero, Nekrasov shows how united the peasants were. The people trusted Ermila during the purchase of the mill, for which he takes the side of the peasants and supports their rebellion.

Repeatedly, when describing the image of a real peasant, Nekrasov mentions the heroes that many of them resembled. The image of Savely is a clear confirmation of this. He is tall, powerful and strong. And despite such peasant traits, Savely is an unusually sincere, kind and pure person. He treats Matryona Timofeevna with trepidation and love. Savely often falls into philosophical thoughts about whether the common people should endure all the humiliations and burdens that have fallen on the working shoulders.

As for female images, to whom Nekrasov paid considerable attention, their description merged together in the person of Matryona Timofeevna. This is a woman who strived with all her might to fight for happiness, for freedom. She was strong and had extraordinary endurance and perseverance. Her fate was not easy. Having got married, she endured the trials of misfortunes and, ultimately, took up hard work along with the men.

Very often she poured out her emotions through songs. Nekrasov calls the song the soul of the people, because in it the peasants poured out all their pain, all the bitterness that burdened their difficult lives.

In addition, the text of the poem also contains characters of landowner servants who took the abolition of serfdom seriously. They are so used to serving and doing errands that they have completely lost their self-esteem and become faceless.

This is Yakov, who deals with himself in front of the master in order to take revenge on him. This is both Klim and Ipat. Ordinary peasants despise these people, and they hate the landowners even more. After all, they sold out and became spineless and low creatures.

In this field, Nikolai Nekrasov describes the strong stratification that occurred among the peasants. And the reason for it all was the reform of 1861.

Nekrasov, in the text of his poem, did not forget to mention that the peasants were unusually religious. Their faith in God, in the Almighty, was strongest. They turned to him for help, looking for protection and support. Only with hope and faith could the peasant representatives move forward to a happy life.

In the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus',” Nikolai Alekseevich revealed the images of typical representatives of the peasant class. The writer is trying to say that peasants are not just slaves, they are a force that can ultimately manifest and show itself. Therefore, it must be taken into account and endowed with its own rights and freedoms.

Veretennikov Pavlusha - a collector of folklore who met men - seekers of happiness - at a rural fair in the village of Kuzminskoye. This character is given a very sparse external description (“He was good at acting out, / Wore a red shirt, / A cloth undergirl, / Grease boots...”), little is known about his origin (“What kind of rank, / The men didn’t know, / However, they called him “master”). Due to such uncertainty, V.’s image acquires a generalizing character. His keen interest in the fate of the peasants distinguishes V. from among indifferent observers of the life of the people (figures of various statistical committees), eloquently exposed in the monologue of Yakim Nagogo. V.’s first appearance in the text is accompanied by a selfless act: he helps out the peasant Vavila by buying shoes for his granddaughter. In addition, he is ready to listen to other people's opinions. So, although he blames the Russian people for drunkenness, he is convinced of the inevitability of this evil: after listening to Yakim, he himself offers him a drink (“Veretennikov / He brought two scales to Yakim”). Seeing the genuine attention from the reasonable master, and “the peasants open up / to the gentleman’s liking.” Among the alleged prototypes of V. are folklorists and ethnographers Pavel Yakushkin and Pavel Rybnikov, figures of the democratic movement of the 1860s. The character probably owes his surname to the journalist P.F. Veretennikov, who visited the Nizhny Novgorod Fair for several years in a row and published reports about it in the Moskovskie Vedomosti.

Vlas- headman of the village of Bolshie Vakhlaki. “Serving under a strict master, / Bearing the burden on his conscience / An involuntary participant / in his cruelties.” After the abolition of serfdom, V. renounced the post of pseudo-burgomaster, but accepted actual responsibility for the fate of the community: “Vlas was the kindest soul, / He was rooting for the entire Vakhlachina” - / Not for one family.” When the hope for the Last One flashed with the death free life “without corvee... without taxes... Without sticks...” is replaced for the peasants by a new concern (litigation with the heirs for the flood meadows), V. becomes an intercessor for the peasants, “lives in Moscow... was in St. Petersburg ... / But there’s no point!” Along with his youth, V. lost his optimism, is afraid of new things, and is always gloomy. everyday life his is rich in unnoticed good deeds, for example, in the chapter “A Feast for the Whole World”, at his initiative, the peasants collect money for the soldier Ovsyanikov. V.'s image is devoid of external specificity: for Nekrasov, he is primarily a representative of the peasantry. His difficult fate (“Not so much in Belokamennaya / On the pavement passed, / As in the soul of a peasant / Offenses passed ...”) is the fate of the entire Russian people.

Girin Ermil Ilyich (Ermila) - one of the most likely candidates for the title of lucky. The real prototype of this character is the peasant A. D. Potanin (1797-1853), who managed by proxy the estate of Countess Orlova, which was called Odoevshchina (after the surnames of the former owners - the Odoevsky princes), and the peasants were baptized into Adovshchina. Potanin became famous for his extraordinary justice. Nekrasovsky G. became known to his fellow villagers for his honesty even in those five years that he served as a clerk in the office (“A bad conscience is necessary - / A peasant should extort a penny from a peasant”). Under the old Prince Yurlov, he was fired, but then, under the young Prince, he was unanimously elected mayor of Adovshchina. During the seven years of his “reign” G. only once betrayed his soul: “... from the recruiting / He shielded his younger brother Mitri.” But repentance for this offense almost led him to suicide. Only thanks to the intervention of a strong gentleman was it possible to restore justice, and instead of Nenila Vlasyevna’s son, Mitriy went to serve, and “the prince himself takes care of him.” G. quit his job, rented the mill “and it became more powerful than ever / Loved by all the people.” When they decided to sell the mill, G. won the auction, but he did not have the money with him to make a deposit. And then “a miracle happened”: G. was rescued by the peasants to whom he turned for help, and in half an hour he managed to collect a thousand rubles in the market square.

G. is driven not by mercantile interest, but by a rebellious spirit: “The mill is not dear to me, / The resentment is great.” And although “he had everything he needed / For happiness: peace, / And money, and honor,” at the moment when the peasants started talking about him (chapter “Happy”), G., in connection with the peasant uprising, is in prison. The speech of the narrator, a gray-haired priest, from whom it becomes known about the arrest of the hero, is unexpectedly interrupted by outside interference, and later he himself refuses to continue the story. But behind this omission one can easily guess both the reason for the riot and G.’s refusal to help in pacifying it.

Gleb- peasant, “great sinner.” According to the legend told in the chapter “A Feast for the Whole World”, the “ammiral-widower”, participant in the battle “at Achakov” (possibly Count A.V. Orlov-Chesmensky), granted by the empress with eight thousand souls, dying, entrusted to the elder G. his will (free for these peasants). The hero was tempted by the money promised to him and burned the will. Men are inclined to regard this “Judas” sin as the most serious sin ever committed, because of it they will have to “suffer forever.” Only Grisha Dobrosklonov manages to convince the peasants “that they are not responsible / For Gleb the accursed, / It’s all their fault: strengthen yourself!”

Dobrosklonov Grisha - a character who appears in the chapter “A Feast for the Whole World”; the epilogue of the poem is entirely dedicated to him. “Gregory / Has a thin, pale face / And thin, curly hair / With a tinge of redness.” He is a seminarian, the son of the parish sexton Trifon from the village of Bolshiye Vakhlaki. Their family lives in extreme poverty, only the generosity of Vlas the godfather and other men helped put Grisha and his brother Savva on their feet. Their mother Domna, “an unrequited farmhand / For everyone who helped her in any way / on a rainy day,” died early, leaving a terrible “Salty” song as a reminder of herself. In D.’s mind, her image is inseparable from the image of her homeland: “In the boy’s heart / With love for his poor mother / Love for all the Vakhlachina / Merged.” Already at the age of fifteen he was determined to devote his life to the people. “I don’t need silver, / Nor gold, but God grant, / So that my fellow countrymen / And every peasant / May live freely and cheerfully / Throughout all holy Rus'!” He is going to Moscow to study, while in the meantime he and his brother help the peasants as best they can: they write letters for them, explain the “Regulations on peasants emerging from serfdom,” work and rest “on an equal basis with the peasantry.” Observations on the life of the surrounding poor, reflections on the fate of Russia and its people are clothed in poetic form, D.'s songs are known and loved by the peasants. With his appearance in the poem, the lyrical beginning intensifies, direct author's assessment intrudes into the story. D. is marked with the “seal of the gift of God”; A revolutionary propagandist from among the people, he should, according to Nekrasov, serve as an example for the progressive intelligentsia. Into his mouth the author puts his beliefs, his own version of the answer to social and moral issues posed in the poem. The image of the hero gives the poem compositional completeness. The real prototype could have been N.A. Dobrolyubov.

Elena Alexandrovna - governor's wife, merciful lady, Matryona's savior. “She was kind, she was smart, / Beautiful, healthy, / But God did not give children.” She sheltered a peasant woman after a premature birth, became the child’s godmother, “all the time with Liodorushka / Was worn around like her own.” Thanks to her intercession, it was possible to rescue Philip from the recruiting camp. Matryona praises her benefactor to the skies, and criticism (O. F. Miller) rightly notes in the image of the governor echoes of the sentimentalism of the Karamzin period.

Ipat- grotesque image faithful servant, a lord's footman who remained faithful to his master even after the abolition of serfdom. I. boasts that the landowner “harnessed him with his own hand / into a cart,” bathed him in an ice hole, saved him from the cold death to which he himself had previously doomed. He perceives all this as great blessings. I. causes healthy laughter among wanderers.

Korchagina Matryona Timofeevna - a peasant woman, the third part of the poem is entirely devoted to her life story. “Matryona Timofeevna / A dignified woman, / Broad and dense, / About thirty-eight years old. / Beautiful; gray hair, / Large, stern eyes, / Rich eyelashes, / Severe and dark. / She’s wearing a white shirt, / And a short sundress, / And a sickle over her shoulder.” The fame of the lucky woman brings strangers to her. M. agrees to “lay out her soul” when the men promise to help her in the harvest: the suffering is in full swing. M.’s fate was largely suggested to Nekrasov by the autobiography of the Olonets prisoner I. A. Fedoseeva, published in the 1st volume of “Lamentations of the Northern Territory,” collected by E. V. Barsov (1872). The narrative is based on her laments, as well as other folklore materials, including “Songs collected by P. N. Rybnikov” (1861). Abundance folklore sources, often included practically without changes in the text of “Peasant Women,” and the very name of this part of the poem emphasize the typicality of M.’s fate: this ordinary fate Russian woman, convincingly testifying that the wanderers “have started / It’s not a matter - between women / / To look for happiness.” In his parents' house, in a good, non-drinking family, M. lived happily. But, having married Philip Korchagin, a stove maker, she ended up “by her maiden will in hell”: a superstitious mother-in-law, a drunken father-in-law, an older sister-in-law, for whom the daughter-in-law must work like a slave. However, she was lucky with her husband: only once did it come to beatings. But Philip only returns home from work in the winter, and the rest of the time there is no one to intercede for M. except grandfather Savely, father-in-law. She has to endure the harassment of Sitnikov, the master's manager, which stopped only with his death. For the peasant woman, her first-born De-mushka becomes a consolation in all troubles, but due to Savely’s oversight, the child dies: he is eaten by pigs. An unjust trial is being carried out on a grief-stricken mother. Having not thought of giving a bribe to her boss in time, she witnesses the violation of her child’s body.

For a long time, K. cannot forgive Savely for his irreparable mistake. Over time, the peasant woman has new children, “there is no time / Neither to think nor to grieve.” The heroine's parents, Savely, die. Her eight-year-old son Fedot faces punishment for feeding someone else's sheep to a wolf, and his mother lies under the rod in his place. But the most difficult trials befall her in a lean year. Pregnant, with children, she herself is like a hungry wolf. Recruitment set deprives her of her last protector, her husband (he is taken out of turn). In delirium they draw pictures of her scary pictures the life of a soldier, soldiers' children. She leaves the house and runs to the city, where she tries to get to the governor, and when the doorman lets her into the house for a bribe, she throws herself at the feet of the governor Elena Alexandrovna. With her husband and newborn Liodorushka, the heroine returns home, this incident secured her reputation as a lucky woman and the nickname “governor”. Further fate it is also full of troubles: one of the sons has already been taken into the army, “They were burned twice... God visited with anthrax... three times.” The “Woman’s Parable” sums up her tragic story: “The keys to women’s happiness, / From our free will / Abandoned, lost / From God himself!” Some of the critics (V.G. Avseenko, V.P. Burenin, N.F. Pavlov) met “The Peasant Woman” with hostility; Nekrasov was accused of implausible exaggerations, false, fake populism. However, even ill-wishers noted some successful episodes. There were also reviews of this chapter as the best part of the poem.

Kudeyar-ataman - “great sinner”, the hero of the legend told by God’s wanderer Jonushka in the chapter “A Feast for the Whole World”. The fierce robber unexpectedly repented of his crimes. Neither a pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulcher nor a hermitage brings peace to his soul. The saint who appeared to K. promises him that he will earn forgiveness when he cuts down a century-old oak tree “with the same knife that he robbed.” Years of futile efforts raised doubts in the heart of the old man about the possibility of completing the task. However, “the tree collapsed, the burden of sins rolled off the monk,” when the hermit, in a fit of furious anger, killed Pan Glukhovsky, who was passing by, boasting of his calm conscience: “Salvation / I haven’t been drinking for a long time, / In the world I honor only woman, / Gold, honor and wine... How many slaves I destroy, / I torture, torture and hang, / And if only I could see how I’m sleeping!” The legend about K. was borrowed by Nekrasov from folklore tradition, but the image of Pan Glukhovsky is quite realistic. Among the possible prototypes is the landowner Glukhovsky from the Smolensk province, who spotted his serf, according to a note in Herzen’s “Bell” dated October 1, 1859.

Nagoy Yakim- “In the village of Bosovo / Yakim Nagoy lives, / He works until he’s dead, / He drinks until he’s half to death!” - this is how the character defines himself. In the poem, he is entrusted to speak out in defense of the people on behalf of the people. The image has deep folklore roots: the hero’s speech is replete with paraphrased proverbs, riddles, in addition, formulas similar to those that characterize his appearance (“The hand is tree bark, / And the hair is sand”) are repeatedly found, for example, in folk spiritual verse "About Yegoriy Khorobry." Nekrasov reinterprets the popular idea of ​​the inseparability of man and nature, emphasizing the unity of the worker with the earth: “He lives and tinkers with the plow, / And death will come to Yakimushka” - / As a lump of earth falls off, / What has dried on the plow ... near the eyes, near the mouth / Bends like cracks / On dry ground<...>the neck is brown, / Like a layer cut off by a plow, / A brick face.”

The character’s biography is not entirely typical for a peasant, it is rich in events: “Yakim, a wretched old man, / Once lived in St. Petersburg, / But he ended up in prison: / He decided to compete with a merchant! / Like a piece of velcro, / He returned to his homeland / And took up the plow.” During the fire, he lost most of his property, since the first thing he did was rush to save the pictures that he bought for his son (“And he himself didn’t smaller than a boy/ Loved to look at them"). However, even in the new house, the hero returns to the old ways and buys new pictures. Countless adversities only strengthen his firm life position. In Chapter III of the first part (“ drunken night") N. pronounces a monologue, where his beliefs are formulated extremely clearly: hard labor, the results of which go to three shareholders (God, the king and the master), and sometimes are completely destroyed by fire; disasters, poverty - all this justifies peasant drunkenness, and it is not worth measuring the peasant “by the master’s standard.” This point of view on the problem of popular drunkenness, widely discussed in journalism in the 1860s, is close to the revolutionary democratic one (according to N. G. Chernyshevsky and N. A. Dobrolyubov, drunkenness is a consequence of poverty). It is no coincidence that this monologue was subsequently used by the populists in their propaganda activities, and was repeatedly rewritten and reprinted separately from the rest of the text of the poem.

Obolt-Obolduev Gavrila Afanasyevich - “The gentleman is round, / Mustachioed, pot-bellied, / With a cigar in his mouth... ruddy, / Stately, stocky, / Sixty years old... Well done, / Hungarian with Brandenburs, / Wide trousers.” Among O.'s eminent ancestors are a Tatar who amused the empress with wild animals, and an embezzler who plotted the arson of Moscow. The hero is proud of his family tree. Previously, the master “smoked... God’s heaven, / Wore the royal livery, / Wasted the people’s treasury / And thought to live like this forever,” but with the abolition of serfdom, “the great chain broke, / It broke and sprang: / One end hit the master, / For others, it’s a man!” With nostalgia, the landowner recalls the lost benefits, explaining along the way that he is sad not for himself, but for his motherland.

A hypocritical, idle, ignorant despot, who sees the purpose of his class in “the ancient name, / The dignity of the nobility / To support with hunting, / With feasts, with all kinds of luxury / And to live by the labor of others.” On top of that, O. is also a coward: he mistakes unarmed men for robbers, and they do not soon manage to persuade him to hide the pistol. Comic effect is intensified by the fact that accusations against oneself come from the lips of the landowner himself.

Ovsyanikov- soldier. “...He was fragile on his legs, / Tall and skinny to the extreme; / He was wearing a frock coat with medals / Hanging like on a pole. / You can’t say that he had a kind / face, especially / When he drove the old one - / Damn the devil! The mouth will snarl, / The eyes are like coals!” With his orphan niece Ustinyushka, O. traveled around the villages, earning a living from the district committee, when the instrument became damaged, he composed new sayings and performed them, playing along with himself on spoons. O.'s songs are based on folklore sayings and raesh poems recorded by Nekrasov in 1843-1848. while working on “The Life and Adventures of Tikhon Trostnikovaya. The lyrics of these songs sketch out life path soldier: the war near Sevastopol, where he was crippled, a negligent medical examination, where the old man’s wounds were rejected: “Second-rate! / According to them, the pension”, subsequent poverty (“Come on, with George - around the world, around the world”). In connection with the image of O., a topic that is relevant both for Nekrasov and for later Russian literature arises railway. The cast iron in the soldier’s perception is an animated monster: “It snorts in the peasant’s face, / Crushes, maims, tumbles, / Soon the entire Russian people / Will sweep cleaner than a broom!” Klim Lavin explains that the soldier cannot get to the St. Petersburg “Committee for the Wounded” for justice: the tariff on the Moscow-Petersburg road has increased and made it inaccessible to the people. The peasants, the heroes of the chapter “A Feast for the Whole World,” are trying to help the soldier and together collect only “rubles.”

Petrov Agap- “rude, unyielding,” according to Vlas, a man. P. did not want to put up with voluntary slavery; they calmed him down only with the help of wine. Caught by the Last One in the act of a crime (carrying a log from the master’s forest), he broke down and explained his real situation in the most impartial terms. Klim Lavin staged a brutal reprisal against P., getting him drunk instead of flogging him. But from the humiliation suffered and excessive intoxication, the hero dies by the morning of the next day. Such a terrible price is paid by peasants for a voluntary, albeit temporary, renunciation of freedom.

Polivanov- “...a gentleman of low birth”, however small funds did not in the least interfere with the manifestation of his despotic nature. He is characterized by the whole range of vices of a typical serf owner: greed, stinginess, cruelty (“with relatives, not only with peasants”), voluptuousness. By old age, the master’s legs were paralyzed: “The eyes are clear, / The cheeks are red, / The plump arms are as white as sugar, / And there are shackles on the legs!” In this trouble, Yakov became his only support, “friend and brother,” but the master repaid him with black ingratitude for his faithful service. Terrible revenge serf, the night that P. had to spend in a ravine, “driving away birds and wolves with groans,” force the master to repent (“I am a sinner, a sinner! Execute me!”), but the narrator believes that he will not be forgiven: “You will, master, exemplary slave, / faithful Jacob, / remember until the day of judgment!

Pop- according to Luke’s assumption, the priest “lives cheerfully, / At ease in Rus'.” The village priest, who was the first to meet the wanderers on the way, refutes this assumption: he has neither peace, nor wealth, nor happiness. With what difficulty “the priest’s son gets a letter,” Nekrasov himself wrote in the poetic play “Rejected” (1859). In the poem, this theme will appear again in connection with the image of seminarian Grisha Dobrosklonov. The priest’s career is restless: “The sick, the dying, / Born into the world / They do not choose time,” no habit will protect from compassion for the dying and orphans, “every time it gets wet, / The soul gets sick.” The priest enjoys dubious honor among the peasantry: people are associated with him folk superstitions, he and his family are regular characters in obscene jokes and songs. The priest's wealth was previously due to the generosity of parishioners and landowners, who, with the abolition of serfdom, left their estates and scattered, “like the Jewish tribe... Across distant foreign lands / And across native Rus'.” With the schismatics coming under supervision civil authorities in 1864, the local clergy lost another serious source of income, and from peasant labor “it’s hard to live on pennies.”

Savely- the Holy Russian hero, “with a huge gray mane, / Tea, not cut for twenty years, / With a huge beard, / Grandfather looked like a bear.” Once in a fight with a bear, he injured his back, and in his old age it bent. S’s native village, Korezhina, is located in the wilderness, and therefore the peasants live relatively freely (“The zemstvo police / Haven’t come to us for a year”), although they endure the atrocities of the landowner. The heroism of the Russian peasant lies in patience, but there is a limit to any patience. S. ends up in Siberia for burying a hated German manager alive. Twenty years of hard labor, an unsuccessful attempt to escape, twenty years of settlement did not shake the rebellious spirit in the hero. Having returned home after the amnesty, he lives with the family of his son, Matryona’s father-in-law. Despite his venerable age (according to revision tales, his grandfather is a hundred years old), he leads an independent life: “He didn’t like families, / didn’t let them into his corner.” When they reproach him for his convict past, he cheerfully replies: “Branded, but not a slave!” Tempered by harsh trades and human cruelty, S.’s petrified heart could only be melted by Dema’s great-grandson. An accident makes the grandfather the culprit of Demushka's death. His grief is inconsolable, he goes to repentance at the Sand Monastery, tries to beg for forgiveness from the “angry mother.” Having lived one hundred and seven years, before his death he pronounces a terrible sentence on the Russian peasantry: “For men there are three roads: / Tavern, prison and penal servitude, / And for women in Rus' / Three nooses... Climb into any one.” The image of S, in addition to folklore, has social and polemical roots. O. I. Komissarov, who saved Alexander II from the assassination attempt on April 4, 1866, was a Kostroma resident, a fellow countryman of I. Susanin. Monarchists saw this parallel as proof of the thesis about the love of the Russian people for kings. To refute this point of view, Nekrasov settled the rebel S in the Kostroma province, the original patrimony of the Romanovs, and Matryona catches the similarity between him and the monument to Susanin.

Trophim (Tryphon) - “a man with shortness of breath, / Relaxed, thin / (Sharp nose, like a dead one, / Thin arms like a rake, / Long legs like knitting needles, / Not a man - a mosquito).” A former bricklayer, a born strongman. Yielding to the provocation of the contractor, he “carried one at the extreme / Fourteen pounds” to the second floor and broke himself. One of the most vivid and terrible images in the poem. In the chapter “Happy,” T. boasts of the happiness that allowed him to get from St. Petersburg to his homeland alive, unlike many other “feverish, feverish workers” who were thrown out of the carriage when they began to rave.

Utyatin (Last One) - "thin! / Like winter hares, / All white... Nose with beak like a hawk, / Gray mustache, long / And - different eyes: / The healthy one glows, / And the left one is cloudy, cloudy, / Like a tin penny!” Having “exorbitant wealth, / An important rank, a noble family,” U. does not believe in the abolition of serfdom. As a result of an argument with the governor, he becomes paralyzed. “It was not self-interest, / But arrogance cut him off.” The prince's sons are afraid that he will deprive them of their inheritance in favor of their side daughters, and they persuade the peasants to pretend to be serfs again. The peasant world allowed “the dismissed master to show off / During the remaining hours.” On the day of the arrival of wanderers - seekers of happiness - in the village of Bolshie Vakhlaki, the Last One finally dies, then the peasants arrange a “feast for the whole world.” The image of U. has a grotesque character. The absurd orders of the tyrant master will make the peasants laugh.

Shalashnikov- landowner, former owner of Korezhina, military man. Taking advantage of the distance from the provincial town, where the landowner and his regiment were stationed, the Korezhin peasants did not pay quitrent. Sh. decided to extract the quitrent by force, tore the peasants so much that “the brains were already shaking / In their little heads.” Savely remembers the landowner as consummate master: “He knew how to flog! / He tanned my skin so well that it lasts for a hundred years.” He died near Varna, his death put an end to the relative prosperity of the peasants.

Yakov- “about the exemplary slave - Yakov the faithful”, a former servant tells in the chapter “A Feast for the Whole World”. “People of servile rank - / Real dogs sometimes: / The more severe the punishment, / The dearer the gentlemen are to them.” So was Ya. until Mr. Polivanov, having coveted his nephew’s bride, sold him as a recruit. The exemplary slave took to drinking, but returned two weeks later, taking pity on the helpless master. However, his enemy was already “torturing him.” Ya takes Polivanov to visit his sister, halfway turns into the Devil's Ravine, unharnesses the horses and, contrary to the master's fears, does not kill him, but hangs himself, leaving the owner alone with his conscience for the whole night. This method of revenge (“to drag dry misfortune” - to hang oneself in the possessions of the offender in order to make him suffer for the rest of his life) was indeed known, especially among the eastern peoples. Nekrasov, creating the image of Ya., turns to the story that A.F. Koni told him (who, in turn, heard it from the watchman of the volost government), and only slightly modifies it. This tragedy is another illustration of the destructiveness of serfdom. Through the mouth of Grisha Dobrosklonov, Nekrasov summarizes: “No support - no landowner, / Drives a zealous slave to the noose, / No support - no servant, / Taking revenge / on his villain by suicide.”

The poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” is based on N.A. Nekrasov is an image of the Russian peasantry after the abolition of serfdom. Throughout the entire work, the characters are looking for the answer to the question: “Who lives cheerfully, at ease in Rus'?”, who is considered happy, who is unhappy.

Truth-seekers

On foreground The study follows the journey of seven men through Russian villages in search of an answer to the question posed. In the guise of the seven “freely obliged” we see only common features peasants, namely: poverty, inquisitiveness, unpretentiousness.

The men ask about the happiness of the peasants and soldiers they meet. They consider the priest, the landowner, the merchant, the nobleman and the tsar to be lucky. But the main place in the poem is given to the peasantry.

Yakim Nagoy

Yakim Nagoy works “to death”, but lives from hand to mouth, like most residents of Bosovo. In the description of the hero, we see how difficult Yakim’s life is: “...He himself looks like Mother Earth.” Yakim realizes that the peasants are the greatest power, he is proud that he belongs to this group of people. he is familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of the peasant character. The main disadvantage is alcohol, which has a detrimental effect on men.

For Yakima, the idea that the poverty of the peasantry is caused by drinking wine is unacceptable. In his opinion, this is due to the obligation to work for “shareholders.” The fate of the hero is typical for the Russian people after the abolition of serfdom: while living in the capital, he enters into an argument with a merchant, ends up in prison, from where he returns to the village and begins to plow the land.

Ermila Girin

Ermila Girina N.A. Nekrasov endowed him with honesty and great intelligence. He lived for the sake of the people, was honest, fair, and did not leave anyone in trouble. The only dishonest act he committed was for the sake of his family - saving his nephew from being recruited. He sent the widow's son instead. From his own deceit and torment of conscience, Girin almost hanged himself. He corrected his mistake and subsequently took the side of the rebellious peasants, for which he was imprisoned.

The episode with the purchase of Ermil's mill is remarkable, when the peasants express absolute trust in Ermil Girin, and he, in return, is completely honest with them.

Savely - hero

Nekrasov expresses the idea that peasants for him are akin to heroes. Here comes the image of Savely, the Holy Russian hero. He sincerely sympathizes with Matryona and has a hard time rethinking the death of Demushka. This hero combines goodness, simplicity, sincerity, help to the oppressed and anger towards the oppressors.

Matrena Timofeevna

Peasant women are represented in the image of Matryona Timofeevna. This strong soul a woman fights all her life for freedom and female happiness. Her life resembles the life of many peasant women of that time, although she is even happier than many. This is taking into account the fact that after marriage she ended up in a family that hated her, she was married only once, her first-born was eaten by pigs, and her whole life is based on hard work in the fields.

Peasant oppressors

The author shows how hard serfdom affects people’s lives, how it cripples them, destroying them morally. There are also peasants who chose the side of their masters - Ipat, Klim, Yakov the Faithful, who oppress the common people along with the landowners.

In his poem, Nekrasov showed the life of the peasantry after the reform of 1861, depicted images of Russian peasants, saying that the people have untold power and will soon begin to realize their rights.

The great Russian poet N.A. Nekrasov was born and raised in the rural outback, among endless meadows and fields. As a boy, he loved to run away from home to his village friends. Here he met ordinary working people. Later, having become a poet, he created a number of truthful works about ordinary poor people, their life, speech, as well as Russian nature.

About them social status Even the names of the villages speak: Zaplatovo, Dyryavino, Razutovo, Neelovo, Neurozhaiko and others. The priest they met also told about their plight: “The peasant himself is in need, and would be glad to give, but there is nothing...”.

On the one hand, the weather lets us down: it rains constantly, then the sun mercilessly burns, burning the crops. On the other side, most The harvest must be given in the form of taxes:

Look, there are three shareholders standing:

God, king and lord

Nekrasov’s peasants are great workers:

Not gentle white-handed ones,

And we are great people,

At work and at play!

One of these representatives is Yakim Nagoy:

He works himself to death

He drinks until he's half dead!

And he himself is all like Mother Earth: a brick face, a wooden hand, sandy hair. This is how hard peasant work dried him out.

Another representative of the “great people”, Ermila Girin, is shown as an honest, fair, conscientious man. He is respected among the peasants. The enormous trust of his compatriots in him is evidenced by the fact that when Ermila turned to the people for help, everyone chipped in and helped Girin out. He, in turn, returned every penny. And he gave the remaining unclaimed ruble to the blind man.

While in the service, he tried to help everyone and did not take a penny for it: “It takes a bad conscience to extract a penny from the peasant.”

Having once stumbled and sent another brother as a recruit instead of his brother, Girin suffers mentally to the point that he is ready to take his own life.

IN general image Girina is tragic. The wanderers learn that he is in prison for helping a rebellious village.

The lot of the peasant woman is equally bleak. In the image of Matryona Timofeevna, the author shows the stamina and endurance of a Russian woman.

Matryona's fate includes hard work, like men, family relationships, and the death of her first-born. But she endures all the blows of fate without complaint. And when it comes to her loved ones, she stands up for them. It turns out that there are no happy women among them:

The keys to women's happiness,

From our free will

Abandoned, lost, by God himself!

Only Savely supports Matryona Timofeevna. This is an old man who was once a Holy Russian hero, but who wasted his strength in hard work and hard labor:

Where have you gone, strength?

What were you useful for?

Under rods, under sticks

Left for little things!

Savely has weakened physically, but his faith in a better future is alive. He constantly repeats: “Branded, but not a slave!”

It turns out that Savely was sent to hard labor for burying alive the German Vogel, who was disgusted by the peasants because he mercilessly mocked and oppressed them.

Nekrasov calls Saveliy “the hero of Holy Russia”:

And it bends, but does not break,

Doesn't break, doesn't fall...

At Prince Peremetyev's

I was a beloved slave.

Prince Utyatin's lackey Ipat admires his master.

Nekrasov says about these peasant slaves:

People of servile rank

Real dogs sometimes.

The heavier the punishment,

That's why gentlemen are dearer to them.

In fact, the psychology of slavery was so ingrained in their souls that it completely killed their human dignity.

Thus, Nekrasov’s peasants are heterogeneous, like any society of people. But for the most part they are honest, hardworking, striving for freedom, and therefore happiness, representatives of the peasantry.

It is no coincidence that the poem ends with a song about Rus', in which one can hear hope for the enlightenment of the Russian people:

An innumerable army is rising,