Bravery in the work is the fate of a person. Essay: Human fate, folk fate in Sholokhov’s story The Fate of Man

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Item: reading and speech development

Class: 9 "B".

Target: give an idea of ​​the concept of courage in its various manifestations.

Tasks:

Educational:

To form knowledge that the Great Patriotic War was a just war of the people for the freedom and independence of their Motherland, based on the content of M. Sholokhov’s story. Recall real facts from the history of the war, compare examples of courage and heroism Soviet people. Be able to read a passage in roles, observing the correct intonation, and retell what you read.

Corrective.

To develop in students the ability to analyze and compare real facts and events described in a work of fiction. Learn to listen to classmates and the teacher, complement the answers of your comrades. Develop intonation expressiveness of speech.

Educational:

To instill in students a sense of national pride for their country, for the courage and heroism of the defenders of the Fatherland during the Great Patriotic War, and the desire to be like them. To develop the ability to maintain a friendly atmosphere in the classroom and the ability to work in a team.

Interdisciplinary connections: history, Russian language.

Preliminary work: introductory reading of the story " Man's destiny", conversations about the Great Patriotic War, reading fiction about the events and heroes of the Great Patriotic War.

Equipment: textbook "Reading" 9th grade for special (correctional) classes of 8th type, A.K. Aksenova, Moscow "Enlightenment", 2006; slide presentation for the lesson, audio recording of the song "Holy War", video recording of the film "The Fate of Man", cards with test tasks, school explanatory dictionary ed. M.S. Lapatukhina, Russian language dictionary S.I. Ozhegova.

During the classes

The fate of the people in tragic periods
history (based on the works of M.A. Sholokhov)War as a tragedy of the people in Russian literature of the 20th centuryGreat
Patriotic War ended 55 years ago, but the memory of it is alive and will live forever, because it was in
This war revealed the best features of the Russian national character: his courage, fortitude, mass heroism
and patriotism. Our people broke the back of the fascist beast, under whose feet Europe lay submissively. Yes, we
We won, but this victory came at too high a price. The war became not only the triumph of the people, but its greatest
tragedy. She left destroyed cities, extinct villages. She brought death to a whole generation of young people,
healthy, talented people. The flower of the nation was destroyed. How many of them, the great defenders of the homeland, died in
air battles, burned in tanks, killed in infantry?! Both heroic and tragic in the war were clearly seen by M.A.
Sholokhov captured it in the story “The Fate of a Man.” This is a story about common man in a big war. Russian
the man went through all the horrors of the war imposed on him and at the cost of enormous, irreparable personal losses and
tragic hardships, he defended his homeland, asserting the great right to life, freedom and independence of his homeland.
The story raises the problem of the psychology of the Russian soldier - a person who embodied the typical traits
national character. The reader is presented with a life story an ordinary person. Humble worker
the father of the family lived and was happy in his own way. And suddenly there was war... Andrei Sokolov went to the front to defend his homeland.
Like thousands of others just like him. The war tore him away from his home, from his family, from peaceful work. And all
his life seemed to go downhill. All the troubles of the wartime befell the soldier, life suddenly began for nothing.
beat and whip him with all your might. The feat of man appears in Sholokhov’s story mainly not on the battlefield and
not on the labor front, but in conditions of fascist captivity, behind the barbed wire of a concentration camp. In spiritual
combat with fascism reveals the character of Andrei Sokolov, his courage. Far from the front, the soldier survived
all the hardships of war, the inhuman bullying of the fascists. Andrei had to endure a lot of terrible torment in two
years of captivity. After the Germans poisoned him with dogs, so much so that his skin and meat flew in shreds, and then
kept in a punishment cell for a month for escaping, beaten with fists, rubber sticks and all kinds of iron, trampled underfoot,
They were given almost no food and were forced to work a lot. And more than once death looked him in the eye, each time he found
he had courage and, despite everything, remained human. He refused to drink on Muller's orders for victory
German weapons, although he knew that he could be shot for this. But he sees not only in a clash with the enemy
Sholokhov is a manifestation of a heroic person in nature. His losses become no less serious trials.
The terrible grief of a soldier, deprived of loved ones and shelter, his loneliness. After all, Andrei Sokolov, who came out of the war
the winner, who returned peace and tranquility to people, he himself lost everything he had in life, love, happiness... Harsh fate
did not even leave the soldier shelter on earth. In the place where the house built by his hands stood, there was a dark crater
from a German air bomb. Andrei Sokolov, after everything that he had experienced, it seemed that he could become embittered,
become bitter, break down, but he does not grumble at the world, does not withdraw into his grief, but goes to people. Left alone on
in this world, this man gave all the warmth that remained in his heart to the orphan Vanyusha, replacing his father. And again
life takes on high human meaning: raise a man from this ragamuffin, from this orphan. With all logic
In his story, M.A. Sholokhov proved that his hero is in no way broken and cannot be broken by life.
Having gone through difficult trials, he retained the main thing: his human dignity, love of life,
humanity, helping to live and work. Andrey remained kind and trusting of people. I believe that in “Fate”
person” sounds an appeal to the whole world. To every person. Stop for a minute. Think about what it means
war, what it can bring. The end of the story is preceded by the author’s leisurely thought, a lot of thought
who has seen and known a person in life. In this reflection there is an affirmation of the greatness and beauty of what is truly human.
Glorification of courage, perseverance, glorification of a man who withstood the blows of a military storm, endured
impossible. Two themes - tragic and heroic, feat and suffering - are constantly intertwined in the story
Sholokhov, forming a single whole. The sufferings and exploits of Sokolov are not an episode connected with the fate of one
people, this is the fate of Russia, the fate of millions of people who participated in the brutal and bloody struggle against
fascism, but despite everything they won, and at the same time remained human. This is the main point
story "The Fate of Man". The story “The Fate of Man” is addressed to our days, to the future, and reminds us of
what a person should be, reminds us of those moral principles without which life itself loses its meaning and
to which we must be faithful in all circumstances.

The battle is holy and right,

Mortal combat is not for glory,

For the sake of life on earth.

A. Tvardovsky

The most terrible and bloody second one has ended World War, but someone was hatching plans for a new one. Humanist writer Mikhail Alexandrovich Sholokhov made a passionate appeal for peace. In 1957, his story “The Fate of a Man” was published in the Pravda newspaper, which amazed the world with its artistic power.

Main character story - Andrei Sokolov is the same age as the century, his life has absorbed the history of the country. He is a peaceful worker who hates war. With trepidation, Sokolov recalls pre-war life, when he had a family and was happy. About his wife he says: “And for me there was no one more beautiful and more desirable than her, there was not in the world and there never will be!” Andrei Sokolov complains that his house was near an aircraft factory: “If my shack had been in a different place, maybe life would have turned out differently...” And I still can’t forget how, when we parted, he pushed away his wife, who was clinging to him: “Why did I push her away then?” ? To this day, as I remember, my heart feels like it’s being cut with a dull knife...”

This man with unparalleled fortitude endured all the trials that befell him: a difficult separation from his family when going to the front, injury, fascist captivity, torture and bullying by the Nazis, the death of his family left behind and, finally, tragic death beloved son Anatoly on the last day of the war - May 9th. “Take courage, father! Your son, captain Sokolov, was killed today at the battery. Come with me!” Andrei Sokolov withstood this ordeal, did not shed a single tear, apparently, “his heart dried up. Maybe that’s why it hurts so much?”

The suffering he experienced was not in vain; it sprinkled ashes on the eyes and soul of Andrei Sokolov, but did not kill the person in him. No matter how great it was personal grief Sokolov, but in all trials he was supported by his love for his Motherland and a sense of responsibility for its fate. He bravely performed his military duty at the front. Near Lozovenki he was tasked with transporting shells to the battery. “We had to hurry, because the battle was approaching us: on the left someone’s tanks were rattling, on the right there was shooting, there was shooting ahead, and it was already starting to smell like something fried... The commander of our company asks: “Will you get through, Sokolov?” And there was nothing to ask here. My comrades may be dying there, but I’ll be sick here? I have to rush through and that’s it!”

Stunned by the explosion of a shell, he woke up already in captivity. With pain and powerless rage, Sokolov watches as the advancing German troops march to the east. Hearing at night that a coward next to him wanted to betray the commander, Sokolov decided to prevent this and at dawn strangled the traitor with his own hands. Andrei did not compromise the dignity of a Soviet man in any way. German captivity, nor at the front, where he returned again, having escaped from captivity, taking with him a major, whom he drove in a passenger car. “I jumped into this forest, opened the door, fell to the ground and kissed it, and I couldn’t breathe.” Left alone in the whole world, this man retained warmth in his wounded heart and gave it to the orphan Vanyusha, replacing his father.

The source of life for Sokolov was his love for an orphan boy. “I went to bed with him and for the first time in for a long time fell asleep peacefully. However, at night I got up four times. I wake up, and he’s nestled under my arm, like a sparrow under cover, quietly snoring, and my soul becomes so joyful that I can’t even put it into words... you light a match and admire him...”

The writer ends the story “The Fate of a Man” with the confidence that “this Russian man, a man of unbending will, will endure, and near his father’s shoulder will grow one who, having matured, will be able to endure everything, overcome everything on his way, if his Motherland calls him to it.” "

The form of the story “The Fate of a Man” is simple and ingenious at the same time - “a story within a story.” The participant in the events narrates about himself. This allows you to create a special trust, a truthful picture of the story. “The Fate of Man” is the most short work Mikhail Alexandrovich Sholokhov, but in its emotional impact it is not inferior to his other creations. The generalized image of the hero is emphasized by the title. This, indeed, is the fate of many Soviet people, who shared all the hardships and difficulties with the country, but retained humanity, kindness, and love for all living things. The world rests on such people!

GBPOU RO "ZernPK"

"Russian character in the story

M. Sholokhov "The Fate of Man"

(Lesson of Courage)

compilers:

Shagrova L.P., bibliographer

Chevgan S.B., librarian

Zernograd

“Man is not born

and becomes who he is"

Helvetius

Mikhail Sholokhov born in the south of Russia, in Rostov region in the large steppe farm Kruzhilin of the village of Veshenskaya May 24, 1905. His mother, Anastasia Danilovna, comes from Ukraine, his father, Alexander Mikhailovich, comes from the Ryazan province. Misha studied first at the Karginsky elementary school, and then at several gymnasiums. The studies were interrupted by the 1917 revolution and Civil War.

IN 1922 year Sholokhov goes to Moscow to complete his education and try his hand at literature. The stories written by Sholokhov at that time were compiled into collections “Don Stories” and “Azure Steppe”.

In January 1924, in his homeland, Sholokhov married Maria Petrovna Gromoslavskaya and took his young wife to Moscow, where he lived at that time. But, since he believed that it was necessary to engage in creativity not in Moscow, but on the Don, where there was less fuss, and most importantly, the heroes of his future works were nearby, the family moved to the village of Veshenskaya. Here, in 1926 year, Sholokhov began work on his main work - the novel "Quiet Don" The efficiency that Sholokhov showed at this time is amazing. IN 1928 year he publishes first two books « Quiet Don».

IN 1932 the first book of the novel was published "Virgin Soil Upturned" Sholokhov was finishing the second book of “Virgin Soil Upturned”, but did not have time to complete work on it - it began war 1941-1945 years. Sholokhov did not stay away from the struggle.

The writer often visited the front line, wrote essays based on fresh impressions, and accumulated material for his works. Essay and journalistic story "The Science of Hate" was published in June 1942. There Sholokhov wrote: “And if love for the Motherland is kept in our hearts and will be kept as long as these hearts beat, then we always carry hatred of our enemies at the tips of our bayonets.”

Stalin, having read the story, told Sholokhov that in the conditions of the fascist invasion the story was timely and necessary.

Mikhail Alexandrovich in 1943 year begins work on a novel "They fought for their homeland". The work tells about the difficult days of the retreat, about the deadly battle at Stalingrad, which turned the entire course of the war. The first chapters of the novel are being published.

There were stagings of this work on theater stages, but Sholokhov was unable to complete the novel either immediately after the war or in subsequent years: too much in the text turned out to be not newspaper, but genuine truth.

The relationship between Stalin and Sholokhov was complex. An open letter from Stalin appeared in the central press: “Comrade Sholokhov in his “Quiet Flows the Flow” made a number of gross mistakes and downright incorrect information...” The publication of Stalin’s letter in 1949 led to an unspoken ban on reprinting the novel until the leader’s death in 1953. He was not allowed to visit the archives of the General Staff - to collect material for new job. Nevertheless, Sholokhov’s work is appreciated.

He winner of many prizes and awards, and in 1965 ode awarded Nobel awards for the novel "Quiet Don"".

Sholokhov's works have been staged several times and cranized. Stories: “Insolent”, “The Foal”, “The Don Tale”, “Alien Blood”, “The Fate of a Man”. Novels: “Virgin Soil Upturned”, “Quiet Don”, “They Fought for the Motherland”.

IN last years Throughout his life, Sholokhov was seriously ill, but remained steadfast. Even the doctors were surprised at his patience. Svetlana Sholokhova said: “After a terrible concussion, which he received during a plane crash on a flight from Moscow to Kuibyshev, my father had a stroke, then a second one. Then severe diabetes began, to which cancer was added.

He was in terrible pain, but he behaved so stoically that no one would ever have thought that he was suffering terribly. I was with him in the hospital in Moscow just before his death. The doctors asked me: “Svetlana Mikhailovna, persuade him to inject a painkiller, it’s such a pain!” Dad responded to all persuasion: “I don’t have any pain, and I don’t need injections.” Then he asked me to pick him up from the hospital and said: “Call a plane, I have nothing to do here.” He was afraid that he would be buried in Moscow. He knew he didn't have much time left. And we flew to Veshenskaya.”

War theme(first civil, then the Great Patriotic War) is in the works of Sholokhov main theme. In military correspondence, essays “On the Don”, “In the South”, “Prisoners of War”, “On Cossack collective farms” the writer reveals the anti-human nature of the war unleashed by the Nazis.

In June 1942 the story was published "The Science of Hate." This is an artistic summary of the experience of a people who have acquired the firm conviction that there can be no reconciliation with the enemy; burning hatred for everything that carries loss of life, enslavement; patriotism, confidence in victory over the enemy.

IN 1943-1944 the newspapers Pravda and Krasnaya Zvezda began publishing chapters novel "They Fought for the Motherland." After the war in Pravda published essays “The Word about the Motherland”, “The Struggle Continues”, “The Executioners Cannot Escape the Judgment of Nations”, etc.

One of the most memorable was the story "The Fate of Man" written after the war, in 1956 year. Today we will talk about it in more detail.

About the story “The Fate of Man.”

- What is your impression of the story? Was it easy to read?

Sholokhov wrote this story in a very short time: in just a few days. However creative history it takes him many years: between a chance meeting with a man who became the prototype of Andrei Sokolov and the appearance of “The Fate of a Man,” ten years passed.

In this story, Sholokhov depicted the fate of an ordinary Soviet person who went through the war, captivity, who experienced a lot of pain, hardships, losses, deprivations, but was not broken by them and managed to maintain the warmth of his soul.

For the first time we meet the main character Andrei Sokolov at the crossing. We get an idea of ​​him through the impression of the narrator. Sokolov is a tall, stooped man with large dark hands, eyes “as if sprinkled with ashes, filled with such an inescapable mortal melancholy that it is difficult to look into them.” Life has left deep and terrible marks on his appearance. But he says about his life that it was ordinary, although, as we learned later, in fact it was full of terrible shocks.

Andrei Sokolov, as if inadvertently, told a random stranger a sad story that happened to him, and before our eyes stood a generalized image of a Russian person, endowed with the features of true humanity and true heroism.

- Why do you think Andrei Sokolov tells the story of his life? to a stranger?

When Sokolov got married, a bright streak appeared in his life. His happiness was in his family. He spoke of his wife Irina with love and tenderness. She was a skilled homemaker and tried to create comfort and a warm atmosphere in the house, for which her husband was immensely grateful to her. Andrei Sokolov found his simple happiness: his wife is smart, his children are excellent students, his own house, modest income - that's all he needed.

But the war destroyed his life, like thousands of other people's lives. It was hard for him to say goodbye to his family. His wife's heart had a presentiment that this separation would be forever. Then he pushed away for a moment, got angry, thinking that she was “burying him alive,” but it turned out the other way around: he returned, and the family died. This loss is a terrible grief for him, and now he blames himself for every little thing, remembers his every step. But Sokolov unfairly blames himself, because he did everything he could to return alive, and honestly fulfilled this duty.

-What does A. Sokolov see as happiness before the war? (Family, work, home, children.)

When it was necessary to deliver ammunition to a battery that found itself without shells under enemy fire, the company commander asked: “Will you get past Sokolov?” But for him this issue was initially resolved: “And there was nothing to ask here. My comrades may be dying there, but I’ll be sick here?” A shell hit his car, and Sokolov was captured. He endured a lot of pain, hardship, and humiliation in captivity, but in any situation he retained his human dignity. When the German ordered him to take off his boots, he handed him his foot wraps, which put the fascist in a stupid position in the eyes of his comrades. And the enemies laughed not at the humiliation of the Russian soldier, but at their own.

This quality of Sokolov was also evident in the scene in the church, when he heard that one of the soldiers was threatening to betray him to the young commander. Sokolov is disgusted by the idea that a Russian person is capable of such a vile betrayal. Andrei strangled the scoundrel, and he felt so disgusted, “as if he was not strangling a person, but some kind of reptile.”

- What is the significance of the episode “In the Church”? How do people express themselves? Which position is closest to Sokolov?

Sokolov tried to escape from captivity; he wanted to return to his own people at all costs. However, the first time he failed, he was found with dogs, beaten, tortured and put in a punishment cell for a month. But this did not break him; he still had the dream of escape. He was supported by the thought that in his homeland they were waiting for him, and should wait.

In the end, Sokolov managed to escape, but even here he thought about his duty to his homeland and brought with him a German engineer with valuable information.

But life did not spare Andrei. The war took his family away from him, and on Victory Day his pride was his only son. But she could not destroy the spirit of the Russian man. Andrei managed to preserve warmth in his soul for the little boy, an orphan, whom he found at the door of the teahouse and became his father.

- What role does the meeting with Vanyushka play in Sokolov’s fate?

Sokolov could not live only for himself, it seemed pointless to him, he needed to take care of someone, to someone to turn his unspent love for his forever lost family. Sokolov’s whole life was now concentrated in this boy. And even when another setback befell him: an ill-fated cow was run over by a car on the road, and his driver’s license was unjustly taken away, he did not become embittered, because now he had a little man for whom it was worth living and saving warmth.

This is how Sholokhov presented to us the difficult life of one ordinary Russian man. He is an ordinary soldier - a hard worker, the kind in Soviet army there were millions. And even the tragedy he experienced is not exceptional: during the years of the Nazi invasion of our country, many people lost their dearest and closest ones.

"If you really want to understand why Soviet Russia won great victory in the Second World War, watch this film,” wrote one English newspaper about the film “The Fate of Man,” and therefore about the story itself.

- Why do you think such a story could not have appeared earlier?

(Order of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command of the Red Army No. 270 dated August 16, 1941 states that all units of the Red Army are obliged to fight to the last opportunity, and if they decide to surrender, they will be destroyed by their own. The families of those who surrendered were deprived of help and benefits. Stalin said that we have no prisoners, we only have traitors).

For the same reason, M. Blanter’s song and the words of M. Isakovsky “ENEMIES BURNED THEIR HOME” were not performed for many years. Written shortly after the end of the war, it was played only once on the radio and then was not performed for about... fifteen years.

The story “The Fate of Man” became not only a literary phenomenon, it restored the dignity of hundreds of thousands of prisoners of war.

- In which scenes of the story “The Fate of Man” is the “Fate of Man” most fully shown? Russian dignity and pride"?

In the story “The Fate of a Man,” Mikhail Sholokhov showed the best features of the Russian national character, thanks to which Soviet Union managed to win.

- Do Russian people need such qualities in the 21st century?

“The Russian character is light, open, good-natured, compassionate, when life does not require him to make a heavy sacrifice. But when trouble comes, the Russian man is stern, hard-working and merciless to the enemy - not sparing himself, he does not spare the enemy either”... A.N. Tolstoy "Russian character".

Russian character! Where can you see this? A real Russian person has it, and there are many examples of this (students give their own examples).

Many authors have written about Russian character. These are Yegor Dremov from Alexei Tolstoy’s story “Russian Character” and five anti-aircraft gunner girls from Boris Vasiliev’s story “The Dawns Here Are Quiet”, fighter pilot A. Meresyev from Boris Polevoy’s story “The Tale of a Real Man”, and a major from Konstantin’s poem Simonov "Son of an Artilleryman".

Excerpt from the poem “Son of an Artilleryman” by Konstantin Simonov:

Third radio signal:

The Germans are around me

Strike four, ten,

Don't spare the fire!

The major turned pale when he heard:

Four, ten - just right

The place where his Lenka

Must sit now.

But without showing it,

Forgetting that he was a father,

The major continued to command

With a calm face:

"Fire!" - shells were flying.

"Fire!" - charge quickly!

Square four, ten

There were six batteries.

Do you think in our time people are capable of such actions, such feats? Is the Russian character still preserved?

(examples: emergency workers, firefighters, and ordinary people saving others. One of the last bright examples manifestations of Russian character we can call a military man Armed Forces Russian Federation, senior lieutenant, participant military operation Russia in Syria, Alexander Prokhorenko, who died on March 17, 2016 in the line of duty, Hero of the Russian Federation).

The works we talked about today teach us mercy, high morality, citizenship, teach us to be people from those people who look people in the eyes without hiding their eyes.

I would like to end our meeting with you with these words from I. Becher:

But being human is not that easy.

But to be human is heroism in our age!

Oh, I wish I could stand up and shout from the podium, from the platform:

Preserve your humanity, man!

Bibliography

Andriasov, M. Son of the Quiet Don / M. Andriasov. – M.: Sov. Russia, 1969. –208 pp.: ill.

Berezin, V. A word about happiness (story by M. Sholokhov “The Fate of a Man”) / V. Berezin // Literature: Newspaper of the Publishing House “First of September”. – 1997. - No. 33. – P. 13

Biryukov, F.G. About the people's feat: Life and work of M.A. Sholokhova/ F.G. Biryukov. – M.: Education, 1989.-207 p.: ill.

Guis, I. Story by M.A. Sholokhov's "The Fate of Man" and its film interpretation / I. Guis // Literature: Newspaper of the Publishing House "First of September". - 2009.-№10.-P.40-43.

Zapevalov, V.N. Sholokhov Mikhail Alexandrovich / V.N. Zapevalov // Russian writers: XX century: biobibliographic dictionary: in the 2nd century. Part 1. M-Ya/ editor. ON THE. Groznova and others; edited by N.N. Skatova. -M.: Education, 1998.-P.609-615

Kobrinsky, A. About M. Sholokhov’s story “The Fate of a Man.” Myth and ideology / A. Kobrinsky // Literature: Newspaper of the Publishing House “First of September”. – 2003. - No. 17. – P. 7

Kovalchuk, O. Russian character in M. Sholokhov’s story “The Fate of a Man” / O. Kovalchuk // Literature: Newspaper of the Publishing House “First of September”. – 2003. - No. 17. – P. 5-6.

Mikhail Alexandrovich Sholokhov (1905-1984)//Masters of literature, theater and cinema. -M.: Veche, 2006. – P.80-83.

Osipov, V. Classic in literature and media / V. Osipov // Library. – 2000. - No. 5. – P. 81

Platonova, T. “The Fate of Man” by M. Sholokhov and the Galicia-Volyn Chronicle. Parallel reading experience. 9th grade / T. Platonova // Literature at school. – 2003. - No. 6. – pp. 32-34.

Soldatkina, Ya.V. Russian national character in prose by M.A. Sholokhov and A.I. Solzhenitsyn: “The Fate of Man” and “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” / Y. V. Soldatkina // Russian Literature. - 2009.-№6.-P.29-32

Fed, N.M. M.A. Sholokhov: touches to the biography / N.M. Fed // Literature at school. – 1993. - No. 4. – pp. 28-33.

Sholokhov, M.A. Collected works: in 9 volumes. T.1-9 / Sholokhov Mikhail Alexandrovich; comp., preface, note. V. Vasilyeva. - M.: TERRA - Book Club, 2001.

Sholokhov, M.A. Don Stories/M.A. Sholokhov. – M.: Artist. lit., 1980. – 302 p.

Sholokhov, M.A. They fought for their homeland: chapters from the novel; The fate of a person: a story / M.A. Sholokhov. – M.: Friendship of Peoples, 1994. – 320 p.

Sholokhov, M.A. The fate of a person: stories/M.A. Sholokhov. – M.: Soviet Russia, 1983. – 128 p.

M.A. Sholokhov went through the Great Patriotic War almost from beginning to end - he was a war correspondent. Based on front-line notes, the writer created chapters of the book “They Fought for the Motherland”, the stories “The Science of Hatred”, “The Fate of Man”.

“The Fate of Man” is not just a description of military events, but a deep artistic research the internal tragedy of a man whose soul was crippled by war. The hero of Sholokhov, whose prototype is a real man, with whom Sholokhov met ten years before the creation of the work, Andrei Sokolov, talks about his difficult fate.

The first test that Sokolov passes is fascist captivity. Here the hero observes with his own eyes how the best and the worst manifest themselves in extreme conditions. human qualities how closely courage and cowardice, perseverance and despair, heroism and betrayal coexist. The most indicative in this regard is the night episode in the destroyed church, where Russian prisoners of war were herded.

So, before us appears, on the one hand, the image of a doctor who, even in such a desperate situation, does not lose his presence of mind, tries to help the wounded, remaining faithful to his professional and moral duty to the end. On the other hand, we see a traitor who is going to hand over his platoon commander, the communist Kryzhnev, to the Nazis, following the logic of opportunism and cowardice and declaring that “the comrades remained behind the front line” and “their shirt is closer to the body.” This man becomes the one whom Sokolov (until that time working as a military driver) kills for the first time in his life on the grounds that a traitor is “worse than a stranger.”

Descriptions of the existence of prisoners of war in forced labor are terrifying: constant hunger, backbreaking labor, severe beatings, persecution by dogs and - most importantly - constant humiliation... But Sholokhov’s hero withstands this test, symbolic proof of which can be his moral duel with the camp commandant Muller, when Sokolov refuses to drink German weapons for the victory and, rejecting bread and lard, demonstrates “his own Russian dignity and pride.” Andrei Sokolov managed to survive in such inhuman conditions - and this testifies to his courage.

However, despite the fact that the hero saved his life in physical sense, his soul was devastated by the war, which took away his home and all his relatives: “He had a family, his own home, all this was put together over the years, and everything collapsed in a single moment...”. A casual acquaintance of Sokolov, to whom he retells the story of his difficult fate, first of all, is amazed at the look of his interlocutor: “Have you ever seen eyes, as if sprinkled with ashes, filled with such an inescapable mortal melancholy that it is difficult to look into them?” Alone with himself, Sokolov mentally asks: “Why did you, life, cripple me like that? Why did you distort it like that?”

We see that the most severe test for Andrei Sokolov was precisely the peaceful, post-war life, in which he could not find a place for himself, he seemed to be superfluous, spiritually unclaimed: “Did I just dream about my awkward life?” In his dreams, the hero constantly sees his children and his crying wife, separated from him by the barbed wire of a concentration camp.

Thus, in a small work, the writer’s complex, ambiguous attitude to the events of wartime is revealed, the terrible truth of the post-war period is exposed: the war did not pass without a trace, leaving in the minds of each of its participants painful images of violence and murder, and in the heart - an unhealed wound of the loss of relatives , friends, fellow soldiers. The author treats the war for the Motherland as a holy, just cause, believing that a person who defends his country shows the highest degree of courage. However, the author emphasizes that war itself, as an event that makes millions of people physically and morally crippled, is unnatural and contrary to human nature.

Helped Sokolov to be reborn spiritually a little boy Vanyushka, thanks to whom Andrei Sokolov did not remain lonely. After everything he had experienced, loneliness for him would be tantamount to death. But he found a little man who needed love, care, affection. This saves the hero, whose heart, “hardened by grief,” gradually “moves away and becomes softer.”

The fate of Sholokhov’s heroes - “two orphaned people, two grains of sand, thrown into foreign lands by a military hurricane of unprecedented force”, surviving alone and after everything they experienced together “walking on Russian soil”, is an artistic summary of the fates of millions of our compatriots, whose lives were scorched by the war. The author uses the technique of maximum typification, reflecting the most character traits Russian national character.

Sokolov's worthy overcoming of the most difficult trials, the most terrible events– the death of loved ones, general destruction and destruction and his return to a full life, speak of the hero’s extraordinary courage, iron will and extraordinary fortitude.

In this regard, the confession of Andrei Sokolov, who lost his family, is that he is literally is the father of Vanyushka, who also lost his family, acquires symbolic meaning. The war, as it were, equalizes the heroes in their deprivation and, at the same time, allows them to compensate for spiritual losses, overcome loneliness, “leaving” in distant Voronezh their father’s leather coat, which Vanya accidentally remembers.

The image of the road that permeates the entire work is a symbol of eternal movement, changing life, and human destiny. It is also no coincidence that the narrator meets the hero in the spring - this time of year also symbolizes constant update, revival of life.

The Great Patriotic War is one of the most significant and, at the same time, most tragic pages in the history of Russia. This means that books written about this war, including “The Fate of Man,” will never lose the power of ideological and artistic influence on the reader and will remain literary classics for a long time.