What is the meaning of the conflict of the work of Makar Chudra. Makar chudra - analysis of the work

What is the meaning of the conflict of the work of Makar Chudra.  Makar chudra - analysis of the work
What is the meaning of the conflict of the work of Makar Chudra. Makar chudra - analysis of the work

The problem of freedom always worried artists of the word. Exactly freedom was attractive to romantic heroes. For her sake, they were ready to die. After all, romanticism as a literary movement formed a quite definite canon: an exceptional personality, making exceptional demands on the world. Therefore, the hero is an order of magnitude higher than the people around him, so he rejects society as such. This also determines the typical loneliness of the hero: for him this is a natural state, and the hero finds an outlet only in communication with nature, and more often with the elements.

Maxim Gorky in his early works refers to traditions of romanticism, but in the context of the twentieth century, his work receives the definition neo-romantic.

The first romantic story appeared in print in 1892 "Makar Chudra", in which an old gypsy appears in front of the reader surrounded by a romantic landscape: he is enveloped in "Haze of autumn night", opening the endless steppe on the left and the endless sea on the right. The writer gives him the opportunity to talk about himself, about his views, and the story of Loiko Zobar and Radda, told by the old shepherd, becomes the main means of disclosure the image of the protagonist, because the story is named after him.

Telling about Rudd and Loiko, Chudra speaks more about himself. At the heart of his character is the only beginning, which he considers the most valuable - the maximum striving for freedom... For heroes, will is also the most precious thing in the world. In Rudda, the manifestation of pride is so strong that even love for Loiko Zobar cannot break it: “I have never loved anyone, Loiko, but I love you. And I also love freedom! Will, Loiko, I love more than you ".

Such an insoluble contradiction between love and pride in a romantic character is perceived by Makar Chudra as absolutely natural, and it can only be resolved by death: a romantic hero cannot sacrifice either his boundless love or absolute pride. But love implies humility, self-sacrifice and the ability to submit to a loved one. And this is precisely what the heroes of the legend told by Chudra cannot do.

What assessment does Makar Chudra give to this position? He believes that this is the only way a real person who is worthy of imitation should understand life, and only with such a position can personal freedom be preserved.

But does the author agree with his hero? What is the author's position and what are the means of expressing it? To answer this question, it is necessary to note an important compositional feature of Gorky's early works - the presence narrator image... At first glance, this is an imperceptible image, because it does not manifest itself in any actions. But it is the position of this person, a wanderer who meets different people on his way, that is especially important for the writer himself.

In almost all early romantic works of Maxim Gorky, both negative consciousness, distorting the real picture of life, and positive, filling life with higher meaning and content will be embodied. And the gaze of the autobiographical hero seems to capture the most striking characters, such as Makar Chudra.

And let him rather skeptically listen to the objections of the hero-narrator, but it is the ending that puts all the dots on the “i” in the position of the author. When the narrator, looking into the darkness of the endless steppe, sees how the gypsies Loiko Zobar and Radda "Circled in the darkness of the night smoothly and silently", and no way "Handsome Loiko could not catch up with proud Radda", he also reveals his position. Yes, there is admiration in these words, but the thinking reader realizes the futility of such a bloody outcome: even after the death of Loiko, he cannot become on a par with the beautiful Radda.

In accordance with the best traditions of romanticism, Maxim Gorky used many means of expression in his story. Describing the main characters, he uses hyperbole: the beauty of Radda can only be played on the violin, and Loiko's mustache fell on his shoulders and mixed with curls. To convey the features of speech, especially the old Chudra, he introduces addresses, interjections, rhetorical exclamations.

The landscape plays a significant role, but not simple, but animated, where Makar controls the waves, and the sea sings a gloomy, but at the same time solemn hymn to a pair of proud handsome gypsies.

  • "Childhood", a summary of the chapters of the story by Maxim Gorky
  • "At the Bottom", analysis of the drama by Maxim Gorky
  • "Old woman Izergil", analysis of Gorky's story

The meaning of the name

Makar Chudra is the name of an old gypsy, wise with life experience, who tells the sad love story of Radda and Loiko, reminiscent of a legend.

The main theme of the work


The main theme of the work is human will.

Makar Chudra has visited many regions during his long life. Having grown old, he only became even more firmly entrenched in the opinion that human happiness lies in constant movement.

The gypsy with a grin refers to people who have been in one place all their lives. Having chained themselves to land and work, they become slaves. Makar believes that life is already too short to impose restrictions on it and never know the "breadth of the steppe" and "sea wave".

Makar gives an example from his life when he went to prison. For a gypsy, bondage is worse than death. Exhausted from longing for endless spaces, Makar then almost committed suicide.

The old gypsy prides himself on being a proud and free people. In support of his words, he tells a story that could only happen in a gypsy camp.

Loiko Zobar stood out even among his fellow tribesmen for his courage and recklessness. Danilov's daughter Rudd was a match for him. Two beautiful and proud young people, apparently, at first glance appreciated each other. As a man, Loiko tried to subdue the girl, but faced the same strong and indomitable character.

It is not in vain that Makar warns the interlocutor that any woman is a danger, because sooner or later he conquers the will of a person in love with her. Radda's demand to bow at her feet in front of the whole camp meant for Loiko a voluntary fall into slavery. The proud gypsy has never bowed his head to anyone.

There could be no winner in this clash of two independent personalities. Loiko and Rudda preferred death to the necessity of submitting. Radda had a presentiment that her beloved would rather kill her than admit himself defeated. And Loiko himself knew that his father would not forgive him for the murder of his beloved daughter.

The lovers died, but became a symbol of gypsy freedom and independence. Their bodies have decayed long ago, but the souls in the minds of all gypsies are still waging an irreconcilable struggle against any manifestation of slavery.

Problematic

At the early stage of his career, Gorky was inherent in going to extremes. Any problem was solved by the writer on the principle: all or nothing. At the same time, he considered freedom to be the highest value.

The problem of love relationships in the story is solved straightforwardly. If absolutely free love is impossible, then there is only one way out - death. The author, along with Makar, approves of this development of events, although for most people it looks at least strange.

The story of Loiko and Radda is a beautiful legend, not a direct guide to action. This is a kind of hymn to the invincible striving for freedom. Love is one of the strongest human feelings, but even love should not lead to slavery and submission of one person to others.

In a broader sense, the story "Makar Chudra" raises the main problem that worries young Gorky. This is the need to fight oppression and injustice, led by the most proud and freedom-loving people.

The problem of freedom always worried artists of the word. Exactly freedom was attractive to romantic heroes. For her sake, they were ready to die. After all, romanticism as a literary movement formed a quite definite canon: an exceptional personality, making exceptional demands on the world. Therefore, the hero is an order of magnitude higher than the people around him, so he rejects society as such. This also determines the typical loneliness of the hero: for him this is a natural state, and the hero finds an outlet only in communication with nature, and more often with the elements.

Maxim Gorky in his early works refers to traditions of romanticism, but in the context of the twentieth century, his work receives the definition neo-romantic.

The first romantic story appeared in print in 1892 "Makar Chudra", in which an old gypsy appears in front of the reader surrounded by a romantic landscape: he is enveloped in "Haze of autumn night", opening the endless steppe on the left and the endless sea on the right. The writer gives him the opportunity to talk about himself, about his views, and the story of Loiko Zobar and Radda, told by the old shepherd, becomes the main means of disclosure the image of the protagonist, because the story is named after him.

Telling about Rudd and Loiko, Chudra speaks more about himself. At the heart of his character is the only beginning, which he considers the most valuable - the maximum striving for freedom... For heroes, will is also the most precious thing in the world. In Rudda, the manifestation of pride is so strong that even love for Loiko Zobar cannot break it: “I have never loved anyone, Loiko, but I love you. And I also love freedom! Will, Loiko, I love more than you ".

Such an insoluble contradiction between love and pride in a romantic character is perceived by Makar Chudra as absolutely natural, and it can only be resolved by death: a romantic hero cannot sacrifice either his boundless love or absolute pride. But love implies humility, self-sacrifice and the ability to submit to a loved one. And this is precisely what the heroes of the legend told by Chudra cannot do.

What assessment does Makar Chudra give to this position? He believes that this is the only way a real person who is worthy of imitation should understand life, and only with such a position can personal freedom be preserved.

But does the author agree with his hero? What is the author's position and what are the means of expressing it? To answer this question, it is necessary to note an important compositional feature of Gorky's early works - the presence narrator image... At first glance, this is an imperceptible image, because it does not manifest itself in any actions. But it is the position of this person, a wanderer who meets different people on his way, that is especially important for the writer himself.

In almost all early romantic works of Maxim Gorky, both negative consciousness, distorting the real picture of life, and positive, filling life with higher meaning and content will be embodied. And the gaze of the autobiographical hero seems to capture the most striking characters, such as Makar Chudra.

And let him rather skeptically listen to the objections of the hero-narrator, but it is the ending that puts all the dots on the “i” in the position of the author. When the narrator, looking into the darkness of the endless steppe, sees how the gypsies Loiko Zobar and Radda "Circled in the darkness of the night smoothly and silently", and no way "Handsome Loiko could not catch up with proud Radda", he also reveals his position. Yes, there is admiration in these words, but the thinking reader realizes the futility of such a bloody outcome: even after the death of Loiko, he cannot become on a par with the beautiful Radda.

In accordance with the best traditions of romanticism, Maxim Gorky used many means of expression in his story. Describing the main characters, he uses hyperbole: the beauty of Radda can only be played on the violin, and Loiko's mustache fell on his shoulders and mixed with curls. To convey the features of speech, especially the old Chudra, he introduces addresses, interjections, rhetorical exclamations.

The landscape plays a significant role, but not simple, but animated, where Makar controls the waves, and the sea sings a gloomy, but at the same time solemn hymn to a pair of proud handsome gypsies.

The story "Chelkash" refers to the early romantic works of M. Gorky. He is included in the cycle of the so-called stories about tramps. The writer has always been interested in this "class" of people that emerged in Russia in the late 19th - early 20th centuries.
Gorky considered tramps to be an interesting "human material", as it were, outside of society. He saw in them a kind of embodiment of his ideals of man: "I saw that although they live worse than" ordinary people ", they feel and realize themselves better than them, and this is because they are not greedy, do not strangle each other, do not save money" ...
At the center of the narrative of the story (1895) are two heroes opposed to each other. One is Grishka Chelkash, "an old poisoned wolf, well known to the Havana people, an inveterate drunkard and a clever, brave thief." This is already a mature person, a bright and extraordinary nature. Even in a crowd of tramps like him, Chelkash stood out for his predatory strength and integrity. No wonder Gorky compares him to a hawk: "he immediately drew attention to himself by his resemblance to a steppe hawk, his predatory thinness and this aiming gait, smooth and calm in appearance, but internally excited and alert, like the years of that bird of prey that he resembled." ...
In the course of the development of the plot, we learn that Chelkash lives by robbing ships and then selling his booty. Such activities and lifestyle are quite suitable for this hero. They satisfy his need for a sense of freedom, risk, unity with nature, a sense of his own strength and unlimited personal possibilities.
Chelkash is a hero from the village. He is the same peasant as the other hero of the story - Gavrila. But how different these people are! Gavrila is young, physically strong, but weak in spirit, pitiful. We see how Chelkash struggles with contempt for this "young heifer" who dreams of a prosperous and well-fed life in the village, and even advises Grigory how to "better fit" in life.
It becomes clear that these completely different people will never find a common language. Although they have the same roots, their nature, nature is completely different. Against the background of the cowardly and weak Gavrila, the figure of Chelkash looms with all his might. This contrast is especially clearly expressed at the moment when the heroes "went to work" - Grigory took Gavrila with him, giving him the opportunity to earn money.
Chelkash loved the sea and was not afraid of it: “On the sea, a wide, warm feeling always rose in it, - embracing his whole soul, it slightly cleansed it of everyday filth. He appreciated this and loved to see himself as the best here, in the midst of water and air, where thoughts about life and life itself always lose - the first - the sharpness, the second - the price. "
This hero was fascinated by the sight of the majestic element, "endless and mighty." The sea and the clouds intertwined into one whole, inspiring Chelkash with its beauty, "arousing" high desires in him.
The sea evokes completely different feelings in Gavrila. He sees it as a black, heavy mass, hostile, carrying mortal danger. The only feeling that the sea evokes in Gavrila is fear: "There is only fear in it."
The behavior of these heroes at sea is also different. In the boat, Chelkash sat upright, calmly and confidently looked at the water surface, forward, communicating with this element on an equal footing: "Sitting on the stern, he cut the water with the steering wheel and looked forward calmly, full of desire to go long and far along this velvet surface." Gavrila is crushed by the sea element, she bends him, makes him feel insignificant, a slave: "... embraced Gavrila's chest with a strong hug, squeezed him into a timid lump and chained him to the boat bench ..."
Having overcome many dangers, the heroes safely return to the shore. Chelkash sold the loot and received the money. It is at this moment that the true natures of the heroes manifest themselves. It turns out that Chelkash wanted to give Gavrila more than he promised: this guy touched him with his story, stories about the village.
It should be noted that Chelkash's attitude to Gavrila was not unambiguous. The "young heifer" irritated Grigory, he felt the "alienness" of Gavrila, did not accept his philosophy of life, his values. But, nevertheless, grumbling and cursing at this person, Chelkash did not allow himself meanness or meanness towards him.
Gavrila, this gentle, kind and naive person, turned out to be completely different. He confesses to Grigory that he wanted to kill him during their trip in order to get himself all the spoils. Later, not daring to do this, Gavrila begs Chelkash to give him all the money - with such wealth he will live happily ever after in the village. For this, the hero lies at the feet of Chelkash, humiliates himself, forgetting about his human dignity. For Gregory, such behavior causes only disgust and disgust. And as a result, when the situation changes several times (Chelkash, having learned new details, either gives or does not give Gavrila money, a serious fight ensues between the heroes, and so on), Gavrila receives money. He asks for forgiveness from Chelkash, but does not receive it: Gregory's contempt for this wretched creature is too great.
It is no coincidence that a thief and a tramp becomes a positive hero of the story. Thus, Gorky emphasizes that Russian society does not allow its rich human potential to unfold. He is only satisfied with the Gavrils with their slavish psychology and average capabilities. Extraordinary people striving for freedom, flight of thought, spirit and soul have no place in such a society. Therefore, they are forced to become tramps, outcasts. The author emphasizes that this is not only a personal tragedy of tramps, but also a tragedy of society, which is deprived of its rich potential, its best strength.

The work "Old Woman Izergil" was written by Maxim Gorky in 1895. The story belongs to the early works written by Gorky. "Old Woman Izergil" is one of Gorky's works, filled with the spirit of romanticism. After all, Gorky is rightfully considered the first to introduce romanticism into Russian literature. Romantic works occupy a huge place in the writer's work. The composition of the story "Old Woman Izergil" is unusual. Gorky himself said that "The Old Woman Izergil" is one of the works that was built at the highest level, he considered it one of his best works. The composition is such that Gorky writes a story in a story, or rather, three stories in a story. The work consists of three parts: the legend of Larra, the life of the “old woman Izergil” and the legend of Danko. All three stories are different, but they have something in common, and this in common is that Gorky, through the means of these "three stories", is looking for an answer to the question "about the meaning of life."
The first part is the legend of Larra. The main character, which is a young man, the son of an eagle and an ordinary woman. He is proud, freedom-loving, impudent, selfish, and he paid for these qualities. Considering himself the best, regardless of the opinions of other people, he could not easily get along in society and therefore commits such a daring act as killing the daughter of one of the elders. For this he received his punishment, the most terrible for any person, this is expulsion from society and immortality in solitude. People call him Larra, which means outcast. At first, Larra likes this outcome of events, since he was a freedom-loving person, but after a certain amount of time has passed, the main character understands the meaning of life, but already too late he bears the well-deserved punishment. He remained immortal and lonely, time drained him and turned him into a shadow that reminded people of his existence.
The second part is autobiographical. The old woman Izergil talks about her life. From her story, we learn that she had many men, and she loved everyone, as it seemed to her for real. Her life was full of travel, she visited many parts of the country and even beyond. She played on the feelings of people, but at the same time had pride, which was in her first place. If she loved, then she loved with all her heart and no obstacles on her path to happiness could interfere with her (the murder of a sentry at the post), and if she abandoned, then she abandoned it completely, irrevocably and irrevocably. Just like in the legend of Larra, Gorky is trying to show us what is in common that unites these stories. This is the meaning of life. The old woman reflects on fate, saying at the same time: “What is fate here? Everyone is his own destiny! " She realizes the meaning of life, this is not wandering around the world in search of her love, but a calm quiet life in some village with her husband and children.
And finally, the third part is the legend of Danko. The protagonist of the legend is the romantic hero Danko. He was handsome, courageous, strong, a real leader, able to lead the people, freedom-loving and disinterested. Danko is one of those people who are always brave, he decides to help his people, he leads them in order to lead people out of the dense forest. The road was not easy, and when the whole people rebelled against Danko, he tore his heart out of his chest in order to illuminate the road for people and give people kindness and warmth emanating from a heart burning with love. But as soon as people reached the desired goal, no one even remembered the dying Danko, who loved the people so much and did everything to make the people feel good. Sparks, burning in the night of the steppe expanse, reminded people of the glorious disinterested hero Danko, who saw his meaning in life in helping people.
Romanticism in the works of Gorky occupies a central position. The work "old woman Izergil" is one of the assets of this trend in the literature of the late 19th century. Gorky fully reveals his idea of ​​the meaning of life. It shows three points of view, thereby giving the reader a question to think about "what is the meaning of life?"


Masha

In 1926, Nabokov's first prose work, the novel Mashenka, was published. On this occasion, the magazine "Niva" wrote: "Nabokov, himself and his fate in different variations, having fun, tirelessly embroiders on the canvas of his works. But not only his own, although hardly anyone interested Nabokov more than himself. It is also the fate of a whole human type - the Russian intellectual-emigrant. " Indeed, for Nabokov, life in a foreign land was still quite difficult. The past became a consolation, in which there were bright feelings, love, a completely different world. Therefore, the novel is based on memories. There is no plot as such, the content unfolds like a stream of consciousness: the dialogues of the characters, the internal monologues of the protagonist, descriptions of the scene are interspersed.

The main character of the novel, Lev Glebovich Ganin, having found himself in exile, has lost some of the most important personality traits. He lives in a boarding house, which he does not need and is not interesting, its inhabitants seem pathetic to Ganin, and he himself, like other emigrants, is not needed by anyone. Ganin yearns, sometimes he cannot decide what to do: "whether to change the position of the body, whether to get up to go and wash his hands, whether to open the window ...". "Twilight obsession" - this is the definition that the author gives to the state of his hero. Although the novel belongs to the early period of Nabokov's work and is perhaps the most "classic" of all the works he created, the writer’s play with the reader is present here as well. It is unclear what is the root cause: whether emotional experiences deform the external world, or, on the contrary, ugly reality deadens the soul. There is a feeling that the writer has put two crooked mirrors in front of each other, the images in which are refracted ugly, doubling and tripling.
The novel "Mashenka" is built as a memory of the hero of his former life in Russia, cut short by the revolution and the Civil War; the narration is from a third person. There was one important event in Ganin's life before emigration - his love for Mashenka, who remained at home and was lost with her. But quite unexpectedly, Ganin recognizes in the woman depicted in the photo, the wife of a neighbor in the Berlin boarding house, Alferov, his Mashenka. Ganin's heavy melancholy passes, his soul is filled with memories of the past: a room in a Petersburg house, a country estate, three poplars, a barn with a painted window, even the flickering of the spokes of a bicycle wheel. Ganin again seems to be immersed in the world of Russia, preserving the poetry of "noble nests" and the warmth of family relations. Many events happened, and the author selects the most significant ones. Ganin perceives the image of Mashenka as "a sign, a call, a question thrown into the sky," and to this question he suddenly receives a "semi-precious, delightful answer." Meeting Mashenka should be a miracle, a return to the world in which Ganin could only be happy. Having done everything to prevent his neighbor from meeting his wife, Ganin ends up at the station. At the moment of the stop of the train on which she arrived, he feels that this meeting is impossible. And he leaves for another station to leave the city.

It would seem that the novel assumes the situation of a love triangle, and the development of the plot pushes for this. But Nabokov rejects the traditional ending. The deep feelings of Ganin are much more important for him than the nuances of the heroes' relationships. Ganin's refusal to meet with his beloved has not a psychological, but rather a philosophical motivation. He understands that a meeting is unnecessary, even impossible, not because it entails inevitable psychological problems, but because time cannot be turned back. This could lead to submission to the past and, consequently, the abandonment of oneself, which is generally impossible for Nabokov's heroes.

In the novel Mashenka, Nabokov for the first time turns to themes that will then appear repeatedly in his work. This is the theme of the lost Russia, serving as an image of the lost paradise and the happiness of youth, the theme of remembrance, at the same time opposing the all-destroying time and failing in this futile struggle.

The image of the main character, Ganin, is very typical of V. Nabokov's work. In his works, unsettled, "lost" emigrants appear all the time. The dusty boarding house is unpleasant for Ganin, because it will never replace his homeland. Those living in the boarding house - Ganin, the teacher of mathematics Alferov, the old Russian poet Podtyagin, Klara, the laughing dancers - are united by their uselessness, some kind of disconnection from life. The question arises: why do they live? Ganin acts in films selling his shadow. Is it worth living to “get up and go to the print shop every morning,” as Clara does? Or “to look for an engagement,” as dancers are looking for? To humiliate himself, beg for a visa, explaining himself in bad German, how is Podtyagin forced to do this? None of them have a purpose that would justify this miserable existence. All of them do not think about the future, do not strive to get settled, to improve their lives, living on this day. Both the past and the prospective future remained in Russia. But to admit it to yourself is to tell yourself the truth about yourself. After that, you need to draw some conclusions, but then how to live, how to fill boring days? And life is filled with petty passions, romances, vanity. “Podtyagin went into the room of the hostess of the boarding house, stroking a black affectionate dachshund, pinching her ears, a wart on a gray muzzle and talking about his old man's painful illness and that he had been busy for a long time about a visa to Paris, where pins and red wine were very cheap ".

Ganin's connection with Lyudmila does not leave the feeling for a second that we are talking about love. But this is not love: "And longing and ashamed, he felt like a senseless tenderness - a sad warmth that remained where love had slipped very fleetingly, - makes him cuddle without passion for the purple rubber of her yielding lips ..." Did Ganin have true love? When he met Mashenka as a boy, he fell in love not with her, but with his dream, the ideal of a woman invented by him. Mashenka turned out to be unworthy of him. He loved silence, solitude, beauty, he was looking for harmony. She was frivolous, pulling him into the crowd. And "he felt that from these meetings true love diminishes." In Nabokov's world, happy love is impossible. It is either associated with treason, or the heroes do not know at all what love is. Individualistic pathos, fear of submission to another person, fear of the possibility of his judgment make Nabokov's heroes forget about her. Often, the plot of the writer's works is based on a love triangle. But the intensity of passions, nobility of feelings in his works cannot be found, the story looks vulgar and boring.

The novel "Mashenka" is characterized by features that also manifested themselves in the further work of Nabokov. This is a play with literary quotes and the construction of the text on the elusive and re-emerging leitmotifs and images. Here sounds become independent and meaningful (from nightingale singing, meaning the natural beginning and the past, to the noise of a train and tram, personifying the world of technology and the present), smells, repetitive images - trains, trams, light, shadows, comparisons of heroes with birds. Nabokov, speaking about the meetings and partings of the heroes, undoubtedly hinted to the reader about the plot of Eugene Onegin. Also, the attentive reader can find in the novel images typical for the lyrics of A.A. Feta (nightingale and rose), A.A. Blok (dating in a blizzard, the heroine in the snow). At the same time, the heroine, whose name is included in the title of the novel, never appeared on its pages, and the reality of her existence sometimes seems doubtful. The game with illusions and reminiscences is constantly being played.

“Makar Chudra” is the first story of Maxim Gorky, so it showed all the sincerity of the young artist, his romantic nature. The story is written based on the impressions of the future writer's wanderings around Bessarabia, his acquaintance with the free wandering life of gypsies, bright characters, the spirit of freedom inherent in the expanses of those places. The dependence of Gorky's story on Pushkin's poem "The Gypsies" (1824) is beyond doubt. But "Makar Chudra" is not at all a repetition of Pushkin's work in new images in another historical time. For Gorky, Pushkin's poem became a source of inspiration, served as an example of the development of a plot situation, the creation of images.

Gorky uses the traditional scheme of the characters' interaction in the story. There are four heroes. First of all, it is the listener and author-narrator of the story, that is, this image is simultaneously “in” the story being told and “outside” it. The second important figure is the narrator - the old gypsy Makar Chudra. Note that in Pushkin, too, the old gypsy sometimes manifests itself in this quality, but not in those cases when direct events take place in the poem. And finally, the core of the romantic story is the love of two bright natures: a young gypsy who embodied the very daring and freedom, Loiko Zobar and the beautiful gypsy Rudda, in whose image all earthly beauty and indomitable will are combined. Thus, the reader learns an extraordinary story-legend about love and freedom from the story of an old gypsy, which, in turn, is retold by the author-narrator. It turns out that the story goes through like three "filters": the personal experience of its direct participants, the assessment and reasoning of the gypsy, and the artistic rethinking of the author-narrator.

The conflict in the story "Makar Chudra" can be presented from two perspectives. First of all, he continues Pushkin's theme in The Gypsies. However, if Pushkin's romantic poem embodies ideas that go beyond the boundaries of this literary trend, then Gorky, on the contrary, asserts the romantic ideal in spite of reality. That is why the love conflict in Pushkin's poem, in which the Russian exile Aleko, the gypsy woman Zemfira and the young gypsy participate, in Gorky's work is replaced by a conflict between two gypsies, between whom there is no barrier except the will, which they value more than life. Consequently, the conflict in Gorky's story is not realistic, as in Pushkin's, but romantic.

Why did Gorky call the story "Makar Chudra", because he is just a storyteller? It seems that the role of the old gypsy is very important in the work and is not limited only to the function of the storyteller. Makar Chudra serves as a spokesman for the ideas of the story from the position of a person who is outside social life, outside the oppression of morality and obligations. Thanks to the ideological purpose of this image, the plot role of Makar Chudra rises to the role of a wise teacher expressing the innermost thoughts of a young writer.

The romantic spirit of Gorky's early works was in demand in Russian society of that time, which needed a voice that affirms freedom, love, and human dignity. A very characteristic pictorial technique of early Gorky was that he expanded the traditional possibilities of prose by attracting other types of art, such as painting and graphics. Such is, for example, the description of the hero: "Here is a horse cut out of the darkness, and on it a man sits and plays, approaching us." The verb "cut out" is akin to a colorful epithet, and it is necessary for Gorky to clearly and visually highlight the main image of his early work - a proud and free man.

Source: G.V. Moskvin Literature: Grade 9: 2 hours Part 2 / G.V. Moskvin, N.N. Puryaeva, E.L. Erokhin. - M .: Ventana-Graf, 2016

Chekhov highly appreciated Gorky's stories "On the Rafts" and "In the Steppe": they were consonant with the work of Chekhov and his contemporaries with a strict, sad and merciful attitude towards the world and the person of everyday life. The novelty of Gorky's position manifested itself, however, in a new approach to man. It was not enough for him to say how bad people live. It was not enough for him to teach the reader to feel sorry for and love the humiliated and oppressed. In all spheres of life, Gorky began to look for those who were capable of feat.

The semi-legendary legend of the "experienced man" Makar Chudra about the young gypsies Loiko Zobar and Radda, the daughter of the glorious soldier Danila, sounded as a hymn of freedom and love. Beauty Radda, loving, smiled like a queen. Loiko was like a mountain eagle. Their love burned with a bright, incinerating flame. But in the gloomy life that humans have created, the beloved would have to "submit to the tightness that squeezed them." Like a flash of lightning, their love could not get along with the world of ordinary, dim living people who were ready to either sell or buy what they called love. Such love Rudd and Loiko - both - preferred death. It is hard to believe that the legend of their love, their rapture with will and their fearless death is based on reality. Gorky painted such unusual characters, feeling souls so strongly that the reader fancies heroes of heroic proportions: they wanted love-will, which can be seen in a dream or which can be heard in a fairy tale.

The atmosphere of a romantic fairy tale is supported by a corresponding description of nature: gusts of cold wind, the severity of the endless steppe, the splash of a sea wave running on the shore, the bright flame of a bonfire, pushing the darkness of an autumn night. The romantic flavor is enhanced by the story of Zobar's daring robbery life, who was not afraid of Satan himself and his retinue. And even more - with allusions to the demonic nature of the image of Radda: Makar Chudra alternately calls her "damn girl", now "damned Radda", now "devil girl". However, despite the seemingly ominous epithets and comparisons, the general tone of the story-legend is magical, fairytale, highly romantic.

The history of the creation of the work of Gorky "Makar Chudra"

The story "Makar Chudra" was published in the Tiflis newspaper "Kavkaz" on September 12, 1892. For the first time, the author signed himself with the pseudonym Maxim Gorky. This story begins a romantic period in the writer's work. The romantic works of M. Gorky also include: the story "The Old Woman Izergil", "The Song of the Falcon" and "The Song of the Petrel", the poem "The Girl and Death" and other works of the writer.
In one of the letters to A.P. Gorky wrote to Chekhov: “Really, the time has come for the need for the heroic: everyone wants something exciting, bright, something, you know, so that it doesn't look like life, but is higher than it, better, more beautiful. It is imperative that the present literature begins to embellish life a little, and as soon as it begins to embellish life, that is, people will heal faster, brighter. "
The title of the story is associated with the name of the protagonist. Makar Chudra is an old gypsy, a thoughtful philosopher who knows the essence of life, whose camp wanders around the south of Russia.

Genre, genre, creative method of the analyzed work

The cycle of romantic works by M. Gorky immediately attracted the attention of critics and readers with its excellent literary language, relevance of the topic, interesting composition (including legends and fairy tales in the narration). For romantic works, the opposition between the hero and reality is characteristic. This is how the story “Makar Chudra” is constructed, the genre feature of which is “a story within a story”. Makar Chudra acts not only as the main character, but also as a storyteller. Such an artistic technique gives the narration a greater poetry and originality, helps to a greater extent to reveal the ideas about the values ​​of life, the ideals of the author and the storyteller. The story is set against the backdrop of a seething sea, steppe wind, and anxious night. This is an atmosphere of freedom. The narrator assigns himself the role of a wise contemplator of life. Makar Chudra is a skeptic disillusioned with people. Having lived and seen a lot, he values ​​only freedom. This is the only criterion by which Makar measures the human personality.

The theme of the writer's romantic works is the desire for freedom. "Makar Chudra" also talks about will and freedom. The work is based on the poetic love story of Loiko and Radda, told by Makar Chudra. The heroes of a beautiful legend cannot make a choice between pride, love of freedom and love. The passion for freedom determines their thoughts and actions. As a result, both die.
Idea
The short story contains the ideas of freedom, beauty and joy of life. The reasoning of Makar Chudra about life testifies to the philosophical mindset of the old gypsy: “Aren't you yourself life? Other people live without you and will live without you. Do you think that someone needs you? You are not bread, not a stick, and no one needs you ... ". Makar Chudra talks about striving for inner freedom, freedom without restrictions, since only a free person can be happy. Therefore, the wise old gypsy advises the interlocutor to go his own way, so as not to "waste it for nothing." The only value on earth is freedom, for the sake of it it is worth living and dying, as the heroes of this story believe. This is what dictated the actions of Loiko and Radda. In the story, Gorky performed a hymn to a beautiful and strong man. The striving for heroic deeds, the worship of strength, the glorification of freedom are reflected in the story "Makar Chudra".

The nature of the conflict

For an old gypsy, the most important thing in life is personal freedom, which he would never exchange for anything. His desire for freedom is also embodied in the heroes of the legend told by Makar Chudra. Young and beautiful Loiko Zobar and Radda love each other. But both have a desire for personal freedom so strong that they even look at their love as a chain that fetters their independence. Each of them, confessing their love, sets their own conditions, trying to dominate. This leads to a tense conflict that ends in the death of the heroes.

Main characters

One of the main characters in the story is the old gypsy Makar Chudra. The wisdom of the gypsy is revealed through the legend he passed on about the lovers Loiko and Rudda. He believes that pride and love are incompatible. Love makes you reconcile and submit to your loved one. Makar talks about man and freedom: “Knows his will? Is the steppe width clear? Does the sea wave speak to his heart? He is a slave - as soon as he was born, and that's it! " In his opinion, a person born as a slave is incapable of performing a feat. Makar admires Loiko and Radda. He believes that this is how a real person, worthy of imitation, should perceive life, and that only in such a life position can one preserve one's own freedom. As a real philosopher, he understands: it is impossible to teach a person anything if he himself does not want to learn, because "everyone learns by himself." He answers the question to his interlocutor with a question: “Can you learn to make people happy? No you can not".
Next to Makar there is an image of the listener, on whose behalf the narration is being conducted. This hero does not take so much space in the story, but for understanding the author's position, intention and creative method, his significance is great. He is a dreamer, romantic, feeling the beauty of the world around him. His vision of the world brings into the story a romantic beginning, joy, boldness, an abundance of colors: “A damp, cold wind blew from the sea, spreading across the steppe a pensive melody of the lapping of the waves running ashore and the rustle of coastal bushes; ... the darkness of the autumn night surrounding us shuddered and, fearfully moving away, opened for a moment on the left - the endless steppe, on the right - the endless sea ... ".
An analysis of the work shows that the romantic beginning lies in the heroes of a beautiful legend - young gypsies, who absorbed the spirit of free life with their mother's milk. For Loiko, the highest value is freedom, frankness and kindness: “He loved only horses and nothing else, and even then for a short time - he travels, and will sell, and whoever wants, take the money. He did not have the cherished - you need his heart, he himself would have pulled it out of his chest, and he would have given it to you, if only it made you feel good ”. Radda is so proud that her love for Loiko cannot break her: “I have never loved anyone, Loiko, but I love you. And I also love freedom! Will, Loiko, I love more than you. " The insoluble contradiction between Radda and Loiko - love and pride, according to Makar Chudra, can only be resolved by death. And the heroes refuse love, happiness and prefer to perish in the name of will and absolute freedom.

The plot and composition of the work

The traveler meets the old gypsy Makar Chudra on the seashore. Talking about freedom, the meaning of life, Makar Chudra tells a beautiful legend about the love of a young gypsy couple. Loiko Zobar and Radda love each other. But both have a desire for personal freedom above everything else in the world. This leads to a tense conflict that ends in the death of the heroes. Loiko yields to Radda, kneels down in front of her in front of everyone, which the gypsies consider a terrible humiliation, and at the same moment kills her. And he himself perishes at the hands of her father.
A feature of the composition of this story is its construction according to the principle of "story within a story": the author puts a romantic legend in the mouth of the protagonist. It helps to better understand his inner world and value system. For Makar Loiko and Rudd - the ideals of love of freedom. He is sure that two beautiful feelings, pride and love, brought to their highest expression, cannot be reconciled.
Another feature of the composition of this story is the presence of the image of the narrator. It is almost invisible, but the author himself is easily guessed in it.

Artistic identity

In his romantic works, Gorky turns to romantic poetics. This primarily concerns the genre. Legends and fairy tales became the favorite genre of the writer during this period of creativity.
The palette of pictorial means used by the writer in the story is varied. "Makar Chudra" is full of figurative comparisons that accurately convey the feelings and mood of the heroes: "... a smile is the whole sun", "Loiko is standing in the fire as if in blood", "... she said, as if she threw snow at us" , "It looked like an old oak, burned by lightning ...", "... staggered like a broken tree," etc. A feature of the story is the unusual form of dialogue between Makar Chudra and the narrator. Only one voice is heard in it - the voice of the protagonist, and only from the remarks of this one speaker, we guess about the reaction and responses of his interlocutor: "Learn and teach, you say?" This peculiar form of phrases serves the author in order to make his presence in the story less noticeable.
Gorky pays great attention to the speeches of his heroes. So, for example, Makar Chudra, according to the gypsy tradition, interrupts his story by addressing the interlocutor, calling him a falcon: “Hey! It was, a falcon ... "," There he was, a falcon! .. "," This is what she was like Radda, a falcon! .. " an image close to the gypsy spirit, the image of a free and courageous bird. Chudra freely modifies some of the geographical names of the places in which the Gypsies roamed: "Galicia" instead of Galicia, "Slavonia" instead of Slovakia. In his story, the word “steppe” is often repeated, since the steppe was the main place of life of the gypsies: “The girl cries, seeing off the good fellow! A good fellow calls the girl to the steppe ... "," The night is bright, the month has flooded the whole steppe with silver ... "," Loiko barked all over the steppe ... ".
The author widely uses the technique of landscape sketches. The seascape is a kind of frame for the entire storyline of the story. The sea is closely connected with the state of mind of the heroes: at first it is calm, only "a damp, cold wind" carries "across the steppe a brooding melody of the splash of a wave running ashore and the rustle of coastal bushes." But then the rain began to drizzle, the wind grew stronger, and the sea rumbled dully and angrily and sang a gloomy and solemn hymn to a proud pair of handsome gypsies. In general, in nature, Gorky loves everything strong, impetuous, boundless: the boundless breadth of the sea and steppe, the bottomless blue sky, now playful, now angry waves, a whirlwind, a thunderstorm with its rolling roar, with its sparkling brilliance.
The characteristic feature of this story is its musicality. Music accompanies the entire story of the fate of lovers. “About her, this Rudda, words can’t say anything. Maybe her beauty could be played on the violin, and even then for someone who knows this violin as his soul. "

The meaning of the work

The role of M. Gorky in the literature of the XX century. it is difficult to overestimate. He was immediately noticed by L.N. Tolstoy and A.P. Chekhov, V.G. Korolenko, who endowed the young author with their friendly disposition. The significance of the innovative artist has been recognized by the new generation of writers, the wider readership, and critics. Gorky's works have always been at the center of controversy between supporters of different aesthetic trends. Gorky was loved by people whose names are included in the sacred list of the creators of Russian culture.
The origins of romantic works seem clear. What is absent in reality is glorified in legends. Not quite so. In them, the writer did not at all abandon his main sphere of observation - the contradictory human soul. The romantic hero is included in the environment of imperfect, if not cowardly, miserable people. This motive is reinforced on behalf of the storytellers whom the author listens to: the gypsy Makar Chudra, the Bessarabess Izergil, the old Tatar narrating the legend "Khan and his son", the Crimean shepherd who sings the "Song of the Falcon."
The romantic hero was first conceived as a savior of people from their own weakness, worthlessness, sleepy vegetation. About Zobar it is said: “With such a person you yourself become better”. That is why images-symbols of a “fiery heart”, flight, and battle appear. Majestic in themselves, they are still enlarged by the "participation of mother nature." She decorates the world with blue sparks in memory of Danko. The real sea listens to the "lion's roar" of the legendary waves, carrying the call of the Falcon.
Meeting with an unprecedented harmony of feelings and deeds calls for comprehension of existence in some new dimensions. This is the true influence of the legendary hero on the personality. We must remember this and not replace the content of Gorky's romantic works with an unambiguous call for social protest. In the images of Danko, Sokol, as well as in proud lovers, young Izergil, a spiritual impulse, a thirst for beauty is embodied.
Gorky was more worried about thinking about what a person is and what he should become than the real path that lies to the future. The future was portrayed as a complete overcoming of primordial spiritual contradictions. “I believe,” wrote Gorky I.Ye. Repin in 1899, - into the infinity of life, and I understand life as a movement towards the improvement of the spirit<...>... It is necessary that intellect and instinct merge in harmonious harmony ... ”Life phenomena were perceived from the height of universal human ideals. Therefore, apparently, Gorky said in the same letter: “... I see that I do not belong to anywhere, to any of our“ parties ”. I am glad about this, because it is freedom. "
(Based on the book by LA Smirnova "Russian literature of the late XIX - early XX century", Moscow: Education, 1993)

Point of view

It is interesting

In September 1892, the first printed work of Gorky, Makar Chudra, appeared in the Tiflis newspaper Kavkaz. This story was destined to open all the collected works of Maxim Gorky and become, in the words of I. Gruzdev, "the borderline in Russian literature." From the history of the creation of this work it is known that it was written in the Caucasus, in the apartment of Kalyuzhny, at a time when the young Alexei Maksimovich was actively promoting among the Tiflis workers. Although Gorky regarded this work as his first uncertain step on the path of a writer, he always emphasized that the creation of Makar Chudra was considered the beginning of his “literary life”.
There is a solid literature on the early work of M. Gorky, but the independence and originality of Gorky's literary debut is clearly underestimated by researchers. Usually, the story "Makar Chudra" is spoken about quickly, along the way, only as the artist's first printed word. The specific historical and literary analysis of Makar Chudra, comparing it with the works of the 80s and 90s, which depict the life of the people, make one think that this is not a simple test of the pen, but the voice of the future petrel of the revolution. Already in his first work, M. Gorky leads people out of the people, continuing and developing the best traditions of progressive Russian literature. In the story "Makar Chudra" he also resorts to historical parallels, to the resurrection of genuine heroic deeds forgotten by populist fiction, to the glorification of the strong and courageous in spirit.
Makar Chudra recalls his old friend Danilo, the soldier, the hero of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, who "fought with Kossuth together." According to Chudra's story, an incorruptible and courageous man looms in front of us, who threw in the face of the all-powerful sir impudent, full of hatred and contempt and at the same time his own dignity, words in response to the landowner's offer to sell him the beautiful Radd: “It is only the gentlemen who sell everything, from their pigs to my conscience, but I fought with Kossuth and do not trade in anything. " The story is based on a legend about brave and strong people. The legend is transmitted through the lips of a seasoned witness-storyteller in the form of a friendly conversation with the writers themselves. The action of the story is transferred to the south, to the seashore; and the haze of the cold autumn night that surrounded the heroes is not so bleak. She sometimes shuddered from the fire and, fearfully moving away, opened for a moment to the left - the endless steppe, to the right - the endless sea.
Makar Chudra has lived an interesting life: “Look,” he says to his interlocutor, “at fifty-eight I have seen so much that if you write all this on paper, you cannot put a thousand bags like yours. Well, tell me, where have I not been? And you won’t tell. You do not even know the regions where I have been. " "... Hey, as far as I know!" - exclaims the old gypsy. Makar's words are not empty bragging, he really knows a lot. Although Makar feels the beauty and charm of life, he himself is skeptical about work. His ideals are vague and contradictory. He only strongly advises Gorky not to stop at one place: “go, go - and that's it”; "As they run day and night, chasing each other, so you run away from thoughts about life, so as not to stop loving it." Lacking a clear consciousness, he does not know, does not see a way out for a man-slave: “... Knows his will? Is the steppe width clear? Does the sea wave speak to his heart? He is a slave - as soon as he was born, he is a slave all his life, and that's it! What can he do with himself? Only strangle himself if he grows wiser a little. " Makar sees no way out for a man-slave, but he knows one thing for sure - there should not be slavery, for slavery is the scourge of life. He does not believe in the power of a slave, but he believes in the power of freedom. He tells about the great power of a free personality in his legend about the beautiful Radda and Loiko Zobar. Loiko Zobar will not share her happiness with anyone, and the beautiful Radda will not yield to her will, her freedom. Strong, brave, beautiful, proud, they sow joy around them and enjoy it, valuing freedom above all, above love, above life itself, for life without freedom is not life, but slavery. Makar spares no pains to depict his heroes. If Loiko has a mustache, then certainly up to his shoulders, “eyes, like clear stars burn, and a smile is a whole sun, by God!” - swears old Chudra. Loiko Zobar is good, but even better is the beautiful Radda. The old gypsy does not even know the words that could describe her beauty. “Perhaps her beauty could be played on the violin, and even then to the one who knows this violin as his soul,” Makar assures. Radda is a brave and proud person. Powerless and ridiculous, the all-powerful pan appeared before Rudda. The old tycoon throws money at the beauty's feet, is ready to do anything for one kiss, but the proud girl did not even deign to look at him. "If an eagle went to a crow's nest of its own accord, what would it become?" - replied Rudda to all the solicitations of the pan and thus brought him out of the game. Rudda was free in love and happy. But her main sorrow is not about love, and her happiness is not about love. She says to Loiko Zobar: “I saw good fellows, and you are more daring and more beautiful in your soul and face. Each of them would shave off his mustache - if I blinked an eye at him, they would all fall at my feet if I wanted to. But what's the use? They are not too daring anyway, and I would have killed them all. There are few daring gypsies left in the world, few, Loiko. I have never loved anyone, Loiko, but I love you. And I also love freedom! Will, Loiko, I love more than you. " And she dies happy, brave, proud and invincible.
Analysis of the work shows that the gypsies in the story are active and active. Makar himself is a direct participant in the events. He is in admiration for his heroes, ready to follow them, like others in the camp. He is impressed by strong, courageous people who are able not to wait for happiness from someone else's hands, but to fight for it.
(Based on the article by I.K. Kuzmichev "The Birth of a Petrel"
("Makar Chudra" by M. Gorky)

Golubkov MM. Maksim Gorky. - M., 1997.
Ovcharenko A.I. Maxim Gorky and literary searches of the 20th century. - M., 1978.
About the work of Gorky. Collection of articles, ed. I.K. Kuzmichev. - Gorky: Gorky Book Publishing House, 1956.
Smirnova LA Russian literature of the late XIX - early XX century. - M .: Education, 1993.
Stechkin NYa. Maxim Gorky, his work and significance in the history of Russian literature and in the life of Russian society. - SPb., 1997.