What is the work of the stationmaster. Analysis of the work "The Stationmaster" (A. Pushkin). Genre and direction

The story "The Stationmaster" is included in Pushkin's cycle of stories "Belkin's Tale", published as a collection in 1831.

Work on the stories was carried out in the famous "Boldino autumn" - the time when Pushkin arrived at the Boldino family estate to quickly resolve financial issues, and stayed for the whole autumn because of the cholera epidemic that broke out in the vicinity. It seemed to the writer that there would be no more boring time, but inspiration suddenly appeared, and the stories began to come out from under his pen one after another. So, on September 9, 1830, the story “The Undertaker” ended, on September 14, “The Stationmaster” was ready, and on September 20, he finished “The Young Lady-Peasant Woman”. Then a short creative break followed, and in the new year the stories were published. The stories were republished in 1834 under the original authorship.

Analysis of the work

Genre, theme, composition

The researchers note that The Stationmaster is written in the genre of sentimentalism, but there are many moments in the story that demonstrate the skill of Pushkin as a romantic and realist. The writer deliberately chose a sentimental manner of narration (more precisely, he put sentimental notes into the voice of his hero-narrator, Ivan Belkin), in accordance with the content of the story.

Thematically, The Stationmaster is very multifaceted, despite the small content:

• the theme of romantic love (with an escape from the father's house and following the beloved against the parental will),
• search for happiness theme
• the theme of fathers and children,
• the theme of the "little man" is the greatest theme for the followers of Pushkin, the Russian realists.

The thematic multilevel nature of the work allows us to call it a miniature novel. The story is much more complex and expressive in terms of meaning than a typical sentimental work. There are many issues raised here, in addition to the general theme of love.

Compositionally, the story is built in accordance with the rest of the stories - a fictional narrator talks about the fate of the stationmasters, people downtrodden and in the lowest positions, then tells a story that happened about 10 years ago, and its continuation. The way it starts

“The Stationmaster” (reasoning-beginning, in the style of a sentimental journey), indicates that the work belongs to the sentimental genre, but later at the end of the work there is a severity of realism.

Belkin reports that station employees are people of a difficult lot who are treated impolitely, perceived as servants, complained and rude to them. One of the caretakers, Samson Vyrin, was sympathetic to Belkin. He was a peaceful and kind man, with a sad fate - his own daughter, tired of living at the station, ran away with the hussar Minsky. The hussar, according to his father, could only make her a kept woman, and now, 3 years after the escape, he does not know what to think, because the fate of seduced young fools is terrible. Vyrin went to St. Petersburg, tried to find his daughter and return her, but could not - Minsky sent him out. The fact that the daughter does not live with Minsky, but separately, clearly indicates her status as a kept woman.

The author, who personally knew Dunya as a 14-year-old girl, empathizes with his father. Soon he learns that Vyrin has died. Even later, visiting the station where the late Vyrin once worked, he learns that his daughter came home with three children. She cried for a long time at her father's grave and left, rewarding a local boy who showed her the way to the old man's grave.

Heroes of the work

There are two main characters in the story: a father and a daughter.

Samson Vyrin is a diligent worker and a father who tenderly loves his daughter, raising her alone.

Samson is a typical “little man” who has no illusions both about himself (he is perfectly aware of his place in this world) and about his daughter (neither a brilliant party nor sudden smiles of fate shine like her). Samson's life position is humility. His life and the life of his daughter are and should be on a modest corner of the earth, a station cut off from the rest of the world. Beautiful princes do not meet here, and if they are shown on the horizon, they promise girls only a fall and danger.

When Dunya disappears, Samson cannot believe it. Although matters of honor are important to him, love for his daughter is more important, so he goes to look for her, pick her up and return her. Terrible pictures of misfortune are drawn to him, it seems to him that now his Dunya is sweeping the streets somewhere, and it is better to die than to drag out such a miserable existence.

Dunya

In contrast to his father, Dunya is a more determined and steadfast being. The sudden feeling for the hussar is rather a heightened attempt to break out of the wilderness in which she vegetated. Dunya decides to leave her father, even if this step is not easy for her (she allegedly delays the trip to church, leaves, according to witnesses, in tears). It is not entirely clear how Dunya's life turned out, and in the end she became the wife of Minsky or someone else. Old man Vyrin saw that Minsky rented a separate apartment for Dunya, and this clearly indicated her status as a kept woman, and when meeting with her father, Dunya looked at Minsky “significantly” and sadly, then fainted. Minsky pushed Vyrin out, preventing him from communicating with Dunya - apparently, he was afraid that Dunya would return with his father, and apparently she was ready for this. One way or another, Dunya achieved happiness - she is rich, she has six horses, servants and, most importantly, three "barchats", so for her justified risk, one can only rejoice. The only thing she will never forgive herself is the death of her father, who brought his death closer with a strong longing for his daughter. At the grave of the father, come belated repentance to the woman.

Characteristics of the work

The story is riddled with symbolism. The very name "station guard" in Pushkin's time had the same shade of irony and slight contempt that we put into the words "conductor" or "watchman" today. This means a small person, capable of looking like servants in the eyes of others, working for a penny, not seeing the world.

Thus, the stationmaster is a symbol of a “humiliated and insulted” person, a bug for the mercantile and powerful.

The symbolism of the story manifested itself in the painting that adorns the wall of the house - this is "The Return of the Prodigal Son". The stationmaster longed for only one thing - the embodiment of the scenario of the biblical story, as in this picture: Dunya could return to him in any status and in any form. Her father would have forgiven her, would have humbled himself, as he had humbled himself all his life under the circumstances of a fate that was merciless to "little people."

"The Stationmaster" predetermined the development of domestic realism in the direction of works that defend the honor of the "humiliated and insulted." The image of Vyrin's father is deeply realistic, strikingly capacious. This is a small man with a huge range of feelings and with every right to respect for his honor and dignity.

Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin is one of the most widely read authors. His name is known to all our compatriots, young and old. His works are read everywhere. This is truly a great writer. And, perhaps, his books are worth studying more deeply. For example, the same "Tales of the late Ivan Petrovich Belkin" are simple only at first glance. Let's consider one of them, namely "The Stationmaster" - a story about how important it is to realize in time the significance of people dear to the heart.

In 1830, Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin went to Boldino to solve some financial problems. He was about to return, but in Russia at that time the deadly cholera had spread greatly, and the return had to be postponed for a long time. This period of development of his talent is called the Boldin autumn. At this time, some of the best works were written, including a cycle of stories called "The Tales of the Late Ivan Petrovich Belkin", consisting of five works, one of which is "The Stationmaster". Its author finished on September 14th.

During the forced confinement, Pushkin suffered from separation from another lady of the heart, so his muse was sad and often set him in a sad mood. Perhaps the very atmosphere of autumn contributed to the creation of The Stationmaster - a season of withering and nostalgia. The protagonist withered as quickly as a leaf dropped from a branch.

Genre and direction

Pushkin himself calls his work "tales", although in essence each of them is a small novel. Why did he call them that? Alexander Sergeevich answered: “Tales and novels are read by everyone and everywhere” - that is, he did not see much difference between them, and made a choice in favor of a smaller epic genre, as if pointing to the modest volume of the work.

In a separate story "The Stationmaster" laid the foundations of realism. A hero is a very real hero who could meet at that time in reality. This is the first work in which the theme of the "little man" is raised. It is here that Pushkin first talks about how this unnoticed subject lives.

Composition

The structure of the story "The Stationmaster" allows the reader to look at the world through the eyes of a narrator, in whose words the personality of Pushkin himself is hidden.

1. The story begins with a lyrical digression of the writer, where he abstractly talks about the ungrateful profession of the stationmaster, who is already humiliated on duty. In such positions, the characters of small people are formed.
2. The main part consists of the author's conversations with the main character: he arrives and learns the latest news about his life. The first visit is an introduction. The second is the main plot twist and climax when he learns about Dunya's fate.
3. Something like an epilogue is his last visit to the station, when Samson Vyrin was already dead. It reports the remorse of his daughter

About what?

The story "The Stationmaster" begins with a small digression, where the author talks about what a humiliating position it is. No one pays any attention to these people, they are “shoved”, sometimes even beaten. No one ever says a simple “thank you” to them, and in fact they are often very interesting interlocutors who can tell a lot.

Then the author tells about Samson Vyrin. He holds the position of stationmaster. The narrator comes to him at the station by accident. There he meets the caretaker himself and his daughter Dunya (she is 14 years old). The guest notes that the girl is very pretty. After a couple of years, the hero again finds himself at the same station. During this visit, we will learn the essence of the "Station Master". He meets Vyrin again, but his daughter is nowhere to be seen. Later, from the father's story, it becomes clear that one day a hussar drove into the station, and because of his illness, he had to stay there for some time. Dunya constantly looked after him. Soon the guest recovered and began to get ready for the journey. In parting, he offered to bring his nurse to the church, but she did not come back. Later, Samson Vyrin learns that the young man was not sick at all, he pretended to lure the girl by deceit and take him to St. Petersburg with him. On foot, the caretaker goes to the city and tries to find the deceitful hussar there. Having found him, he asks to return Dunya to him and not to dishonor him anymore, but he refuses. Later, the unfortunate parent also finds the house in which the kidnapper keeps his daughter. He sees her dressed richly, admires her. When the heroine raises her head and sees her father, she gets frightened and falls on the carpet, and the hussar drives the poor old man away. After that, the caretaker never saw his daughter again.

After a while, the author again finds himself at the station of the good Samson Vyrin. He learns that the station was disbanded, and the poor old man died. Now a brewer and his wife live in his house, who sends her son to show where the former caretaker is buried. From the boy, the narrator learns that some time ago a rich lady with children came to the city. She also asked about Samson, and when she learned that he had died, she wept for a long time, lying on his grave. Dunya repented, but it was too late.

Main characters

1. Samson Vyrin is a kind and sociable old man of about 50, who does not have a soul in his daughter. She protects him from beatings and abuse from visitors. When they see her, they always behave calmly and benevolently. At the first meeting, Samson looks like a sympathetic and timid man who is content with little and lives only with love for his child. He does not need wealth or fame, as long as his dear Dunyasha is nearby. In the subsequent meeting, he is already a flabby old man who seeks solace in a bottle. The escape of his daughter broke his personality. The image of the stationmaster is a textbook example of a small person who is unable to withstand circumstances. He is not outstanding, not strong, not smart, he is just an inhabitant with a kind heart and a meek disposition - this is his characteristic. The merit of the author is that he was able to give an interesting description of the most ordinary type, to find drama and tragedy in his modest life.
2. Dunya is a young girl. She leaves her father and leaves with a hussar not out of selfish or unkind motives. The girl loves her parent, but naively trusts the man. Like any young woman, she is attracted by a great feeling. She follows him, forgetting everything. At the end of the story, we see that she is worried about the death of a lonely father, she is ashamed. But what has been done cannot be corrected, and now she, already a mother, is crying at the grave of her parent, regretting that she did this to him. Years later, Dunya remains the same sweet and caring beauty, whose appearance did not reflect the tragic story of the stationmaster's daughter. All the pain of separation was absorbed by her father, who never saw his grandchildren.

Subject

• In "The Station Agent" rises for the first time little man theme. This is a hero that no one notices, but who has a big soul. From the author's story, we see that he is often scolded just like that, sometimes even beaten. He is not considered a person, he is the lowest link, the service personnel. But in fact, this uncomplaining old man is infinitely kind. Despite everything, he is always ready to offer travelers an overnight stay and dinner. He allows the hussar, who wanted to beat him and whom Dunya stopped, to stay for a few days, calls a doctor for him, and feeds him. Even when his daughter betrays him, he is still ready to forgive her everything and accept any of her back.
• Love Theme also reveals itself in the story. First of all, this is the feeling of a parent for a child, which even time, resentment and separation are powerless to shake. Samson recklessly loves Dunya, runs to save her on foot, searches and does not give up, although no one expected such courage from a timid and downtrodden servant. For her sake, he is ready to endure rudeness and beatings, and only after making sure that his daughter made a choice in favor of wealth, he dropped his hands and thought that she no longer needed her poor father. Another aspect is the passion of the young lady and the hussar. At first, the reader was worried about the fate of the provincial girl in the city: she really could be deceived and dishonored. But in the end it turns out that a casual relationship turned into a marriage. Love is the main theme in The Station Agent, since it was this feeling that became both the cause of all troubles and the antidote for them, which was not delivered in a timely manner.

Issues

Pushkin raises moral issues in his work. Yielding to a fleeting feeling, unsupported by anything, Dunya leaves his father and follows the hussar into the unknown. She allows herself to become his mistress, she knows what she is getting into, and still does not stop. Here the ending turns out to be happy, the hussar nevertheless takes the girl as his wife, but even in those days this was a rarity. However, even for the sake of the prospect of a marriage union, it was not worth renouncing one family while building another. The bridegroom of the girl behaved unacceptably rudely, it was he who made her an orphan. Both of them easily stepped over the grief of the little man.

Against the background of Dunya's act, the problem of loneliness and the problem of fathers and children develop. From the moment the girl left her father's house, she never visited her father, although she knew in what conditions he lives, she never wrote to him. In pursuit of personal happiness, she completely forgot about the person who loved her, raised her and was ready to forgive literally everything. This is happening to this day. And in the modern world, children leave and forget their parents. Having escaped from the nest, they try to "break out into people", achieve goals, pursue material prosperity and do not remember those who gave them the most important thing - life. The fate of Samson Vyrin is lived by many parents, abandoned and forgotten by their children. Of course, after a while, young people remember the family, and it’s good if it’s not too late to meet with her. Dunya did not have time for the meeting.

the main idea

The idea of ​​the "Station Master" is still urgent and relevant: even a small person must be treated with respect. You can not measure people by rank, class or ability to offend others. The hussar, for example, judged those around him by strength and position, so he caused such grief to his wife, his own children, depriving them of their father and grandfather. By his behavior, he pushed away and humiliated the one who could become his support in family life. Also, the main idea of ​​the work is a call for us to take care of our loved ones and not put off reconciliation until tomorrow. Time is fleeting and can rob us of the chance to correct our mistakes.

If you look at the meaning of the story "The Stationmaster" more globally, then we can conclude that Pushkin opposes social inequality, which became the cornerstone of the relationship between people of that time.

What makes you think about?

Pushkin also makes negligent children think about their old people, instructs them not to forget their parents, to be grateful to them. Family is the most valuable thing in the life of every person. It is she who is ready to forgive us everything, to accept us in any way, to comfort and reassure us in difficult times. Parents are the most devoted people. They give us everything, and ask for nothing in return, except for love and a little attention and care from our side.

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History of creation

Boldin autumn in the work of A.S. Pushkin became truly "golden", since it was at this time that he created many works. Among them is Belkin's Tales. In a letter to his friend P. Pletnev, Pushkin wrote: "... I wrote 5 stories in prose, from which Baratynsky neighs and beats." The chronology of the creation of these stories is as follows: on September 9, "The Undertaker" was completed, on September 14 - "The Stationmaster", on September 20 - "The Young Lady-Peasant Woman", after almost a month's break, the last two stories were written: "Shot" - October 14 and "Snowstorm" - October 20. The Belkin Tales cycle was Pushkin's first completed prose work. Five stories were united by the fictional face of the author, about which the "publisher" spoke in the preface. We learn that P.P. Belkin was born "of honest and noble parents in 1798 in the village of Goryukhino." “He was of medium height, had gray eyes, blond hair, a straight nose; his face was white and thin. “He led the most moderate life, avoided all kinds of excesses; it never happened ... to see him tipsy ... he had a great inclination towards the female sex, but his bashfulness was truly girlish. In the autumn of 1828, this sympathetic character "fell ill with a catarrhal fever, which turned into a fever, and died ...".

At the end of October 1831, The Tales of the Late Ivan Petrovich Belkin were published. The preface ended with the words: “Considering it a duty to respect the will of our author's venerable friend, we express our deepest gratitude to him for the news brought to us and hope that the public will appreciate their sincerity and good nature. A.P. The epigraph to all the stories, taken from Fonvizin's "Undergrowth" (Ms. Prostakova: "That, my father, he is still a hunter of stories." Skotinin: "Mitrofan is for me"), speaks of the nationality and simplicity of Ivan Petrovich. He collected these “simple” stories, and wrote them down from different narrators (“The Overseer” was told to him by the titular adviser A.G.N., “The Shot” by Lieutenant Colonel I.L.P., “The Undertaker” by the clerk B.V., “The Snowstorm” and “The Young Lady” by the maiden K.I.T.), processing them according to his skill and discretion. Thus, Pushkin, as a real author of stories, hides behind a double chain of simple-minded storytellers, and this gives him great freedom of narration, creates considerable opportunities for comedy, satire and parody, and at the same time allows him to express his attitude to these stories.

With the full designation of the name of the real author, Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, they were published in 1834. Creating in this cycle an unforgettable gallery of images living and acting in the Russian provinces, Pushkin talks about modern Russia with a kind smile and humor. While working on Belkin's Tales, Pushkin defined one of his main tasks as follows: "Our language needs to be given more will (of course, in accordance with its spirit)." And when the author of the stories was asked who this Belkin was, Pushkin replied: “Whoever he is, you need to write stories like this: simply, briefly and clearly.”

The story "The Stationmaster" occupies a significant place in the work of A.S. Pushkin and is of great importance for all Russian literature. It is almost the first time that life's hardships, pain and suffering of the one who is called the "little man" are depicted in it. The theme of “humiliated and offended” begins with it in Russian literature, which will introduce you to kind, quiet, suffering heroes and will allow you to see not only meekness, but also the greatness of their souls and hearts. The epigraph is taken from a poem by P.A. Vyazemsky’s “Station” (“College registrar, / Postal station dictator”), Pushkin changed the quote, calling the station superintendent “college registrar” (the lowest civil rank in pre-revolutionary Russia), and not “provincial registrar”, as it was in the original, since this rank is higher.

Genus, genre, creative method

"The Tales of the late Ivan Petrovich Belkin" consists of 5 stories: "Shot", "Snowstorm", "The Undertaker", "The Stationmaster", "The Young Lady-Peasant Woman". Each of Belkin's Tales is so small in size that one could call it a story. Pushkin calls them stories. For a realist writer reproducing life, the forms of the story and the prose novel were especially suitable. They attracted Pushkin with their much greater than poetry, intelligibility to the widest circles of readers. “Tales and novels are read by everyone and everywhere,” he noted. Belkin's Tale" are, in essence, the beginning of Russian highly artistic realistic prose.

Pushkin took the most typical romantic plots for the story, which in our time may well be repeated. His characters initially find themselves in situations where the word "love" is present. They are already in love or just crave this feeling, but it is from here that the deployment and pumping of the plot begins. Belkin's Tales was conceived by the author as a parody of the genre of romantic literature. In the story "The Shot", the main character Silvio came from the outgoing era of romanticism. This is a handsome strong brave man with a solid passionate character and an exotic non-Russian name, reminiscent of the mysterious and fatal heroes of Byron's romantic poems. The Blizzard parodies Zhukovsky's French novels and romantic ballads. At the end of the story, a comic confusion with suitors leads the heroine of the story to a new, hard-won happiness. In the story "The Undertaker", in which Adrian Prokhorov invites the dead to visit him, Mozart's opera and the terrible stories of romantics are parodied. The Young Lady Peasant Woman is a small elegant sitcom with dressing up in the French style, unfolding in a Russian noble estate. But she kindly, funny and witty parodies the famous tragedy - "Romeo and Juliet" by Shakespeare.

In the Belkin Tales cycle, the center and peak are the Stationmaster. The story laid the foundations of realism in Russian literature. In essence, in terms of its plot, expressiveness, complex capacious theme and tenial composition, in terms of the characters themselves, this is already a small, concise novel that influenced subsequent Russian prose and gave rise to Gogol's story "The Overcoat". The people here are simple, and their history itself would be simple if various everyday circumstances had not intervened in it.

Subject

In Belkin's Tales, along with the traditional romantic themes from the life of the nobility and estate, Pushkin reveals the theme of human happiness in its broadest sense. Worldly wisdom, rules of everyday behavior, generally accepted morality are enshrined in catechisms, prescriptions, but following them does not always and does not always lead to good luck. It is necessary that fate give a person happiness, so that circumstances successfully converge. The Tales of Belkin shows that there are no hopeless situations, one must fight for happiness, and it will be, even if it is impossible.

The story "The Stationmaster" is the saddest and most difficult work of the cycle. This is a story about the sad fate of Vyrin and the happy fate of his daughter. From the very beginning, the author connects the modest story of Samson Vyrin with the philosophical meaning of the entire cycle. After all, the stationmaster, who does not read books at all, has his own scheme for perceiving life. It is reflected in the pictures "with decent German verses", which are hung on the walls of his "humble, but tidy monastery." The narrator describes in detail these pictures depicting the biblical legend of the prodigal son. Samson Vyrin looks at everything that happened to him and his daughter through the prism of these pictures. His life experience suggests that misfortune will happen to his daughter, she will be deceived and abandoned. He is a toy, a small man in the hands of the powerful of the world, who have turned money into the main measure.

Pushkin declared one of the main themes of Russian literature of the 19th century - the theme of the "little man". The significance of this topic for Pushkin was not in exposing the downtroddenness of his hero, but in discovering in the “little man” a compassionate and sensitive soul, endowed with the gift of responding to someone else’s misfortune and someone else’s pain.

From now on, the theme of the "little man" will be constantly heard in Russian classical literature.

Idea

“None of the Tales of Belkin has an idea. You read - sweetly, smoothly, smoothly: you read it - everything is forgotten, there is nothing in your memory but adventures. "Belkin's Tales" are easy to read, because they do not make you think" ("Northern Bee", 1834, No. 192, August 27).
“True, these stories are entertaining, they cannot be read without pleasure: this comes from a charming style, from the art of telling, but they are not artistic creations, but simply fairy tales and fables” (V. G. Belinsky).

“How long have you been re-reading Pushkin's prose? Make me a friend - read all Belkin's Tales first. They should be studied and studied by every writer. I did this the other day and I cannot convey to you the beneficent influence that this reading had on me ”(from a letter from L.N. Tolstoy to P.D. Golokhvastov).

Such an ambiguous perception of the Pushkin cycle suggests that there is some secret in Belkin's Tales. In "The Stationmaster" it is contained in a small artistic detail - wall paintings telling about the prodigal son, which were a frequent part of the station environment in the 1920s and 1940s. The description of those pictures takes the narrative out of the social and everyday plane into the philosophical one, makes it possible to comprehend its content in relation to human experience, and interprets the “eternal story” about the prodigal son. The story is imbued with the pathos of compassion.

The nature of the conflict

In the story "The Stationmaster" - a humiliated and sad hero, the ending is equally sad and happy: the death of the stationmaster, on the one hand, and the happy life of his daughter, on the other. The story is distinguished by the special nature of the conflict: there are no negative characters who would be negative in everything; there is no direct evil - and at the same time, the grief of a simple person, a stationmaster, does not become less from this.

The new type of hero and conflict entailed a different narrative system, the figure of the narrator - the titular adviser A. G. N. He tells the story he heard from others, from Vyrin himself and from the “red-haired and crooked” boy. The abduction of Dunya Vyrina by a hussar is the beginning of a drama, followed by a chain of events. From the post station the action is transferred to Petersburg, from the caretaker's house to the grave outside the outskirts. The caretaker is unable to influence the course of events, but before bowing to fate, he tries to turn back the story, save Dunya from what seems to the poor father to be the death of his “child”. The hero comprehends what happened and, moreover, descends into the grave from a powerless consciousness of his own guilt and the irreparable misfortune.

“Little man” is not only a low rank, lack of high social status, but also loss in life, fear of it, loss of interest and purpose. Pushkin was the first to draw the attention of readers to the fact that, despite his low origin, a person still remains a person and he has all the same feelings and passions as people of high society. The story "The Stationmaster" teaches you to respect and love a person, teaches you the ability to sympathize, makes you think that the world in which the stationmasters live is not arranged in the best way.

Main heroes

The author-narrator sympathetically speaks of "real martyrs of the fourteenth grade", stationmasters accused of all sins by travelers. In fact, their life is a real hard labor: “The traveler takes out all the annoyance accumulated during a boring ride on the caretaker. The weather is unbearable, the road is bad, the coachman is stubborn, the horses are not driven - and the caretaker is to blame ... You can easily guess that I have friends from the respectable class of caretakers. This story is written in memory of one of them.

The main character in the story "The Stationmaster" is Samson Vyrin, a man of about 50 years old. The caretaker was born around 1766, in a peasant family. The end of the 18th century, when Vyrin was 20-25 years old, was the time of the Suvorov wars and campaigns. As is known from history, Suvorov developed initiative among his subordinates, encouraged soldiers and non-commissioned officers, promoting them in their service, instilling camaraderie in them, demanded literacy and ingenuity. A man from the peasantry under the command of Suvorov could rise to the rank of non-commissioned officer, receive this title for faithful service and personal courage. Samson Vyrin could be just such a person and served, most likely, in the Izmailovsky regiment. The text says that, having arrived in St. Petersburg in search of his daughter, he stops at the Izmailovsky regiment, in the house of a retired non-commissioned officer, his old colleague.

It can be assumed that around 1880 he retired and received the post of stationmaster and the rank of collegiate registrar. This position gave a small but constant salary. He got married and soon had a daughter. But the wife died, and the daughter was the father's joy and consolation.

Since childhood, she had to shoulder all the women's work on her fragile shoulders. Vyrin himself, as he is presented at the beginning of the story, is “fresh and cheerful”, sociable and unembittered, despite the fact that undeserved insults rained down on his head. Just a few years later, driving along the same road, the author, stopping for the night at Samson Vyrin's, did not recognize him: from "fresh and vigorous" he turned into an abandoned, flabby old man, whose only consolation was a bottle. And the whole point is in the daughter: without asking for parental consent, Dunya - his life and hope, for the sake of which he lived and worked - fled with a passing hussar. The act of his daughter broke Samson, he could not bear the fact that his dear child, his Dunya, whom he protected from all dangers as best he could, was able to do this with him and, even worse, with herself - she became not a wife, but a mistress.

Pushkin sympathizes with his hero and deeply respects him: a man of the lower class, who grew up in need, hard work, did not forget what decency, conscience and honor are. Moreover, he puts these qualities above material goods. Poverty for Samson is nothing compared to the emptiness of the soul. It is not in vain that the author introduces into the story such a detail as pictures depicting the story of the prodigal son on the wall in Vyrin's house. Like the father of the prodigal son, Samson was ready to forgive. But Dunya did not return. The father’s suffering was aggravated by the fact that he knew well how such stories often end: “There are a lot of them in St. Petersburg, young fools, today in satin and velvet, and tomorrow, you see, they are sweeping the street along with the barren tavern. When you sometimes think that Dunya, perhaps, immediately disappears, you involuntarily sin and wish her a grave ... ". An attempt to find a daughter in the vast Petersburg ended in nothing. This is where the stationmaster gave up - he took to drinking completely and after a while he died without waiting for his daughter. Pushkin created in his Samson Vyrin an amazingly capacious, truthful image of a simple, small person and showed all his rights to the title and dignity of a person.

Dunya in the story is shown as a jack of all trades. No one better than her could cook dinner, clean the house, serve the passerby. And the father, looking at her agility and beauty, could not get enough. At the same time, this is a young coquette, knowing her strength, entering into a conversation with a visitor without shyness, "like a girl who has seen the light." Belkin in the story sees Dunya for the first time, when she is fourteen years old, an age at which it is too early to think about fate. Dunya knows nothing about this intention of the visiting hussar Minsky. But, breaking away from her father, she chooses her female happiness, albeit, perhaps, not for long. She chooses another world, unknown, dangerous, but at least she will live in it. It's hard to blame her for choosing life over living, she took a risk and won. Dunya comes to her father only when everything she could only dream of has come true, although Pushkin does not say a word about her marriage. But six horses, three children, a nurse testify to the successful completion of the story. Of course, Dunya herself considers herself guilty of the death of her father, but the reader will probably forgive her, as Ivan Petrovich Belkin forgives.

Dunya and Minsky, the inner motives of their actions, thoughts and experiences, throughout the story, the narrator, the coachman, the father, the red-haired boy are described from the outside. Maybe that's why the images of Dunya and Minsky are given somewhat schematically. Minsky is noble and rich, he served in the Caucasus, the rank of captain is not small, and if he is in the guard, then he is already big, equal to an army lieutenant colonel. The kind and cheerful hussar fell in love with the ingenuous caretaker.

Many actions of the heroes of the story are incomprehensible today, but for Pushkin's contemporaries they were natural. So, Minsky, having fallen in love with Dunya, did not marry her. He could do this not only because he was a rake and a frivolous person, but also for a number of objective reasons. First, in order to marry, an officer needed the permission of the commander, often marriage meant resignation. Secondly, Minsky could depend on his parents, who would hardly have liked the marriage with the dowry and non-noblewoman Dunya. It takes time to resolve at least these two problems. Although Minsky was able to do it in the final.

Plot and composition

The compositional construction of Belkin's Tales, which consists of five separate stories, has been repeatedly addressed by Russian writers. He wrote about his intention to write a novel with a similar composition in one of his letters to F.M. Dostoevsky: “The stories are completely separate from each other, so that they can even be put on sale separately. I believe Pushkin was thinking of a similar form for the novel: five tales (the number of Belkin's Tales) sold separately. Pushkin's stories are indeed separate in all respects: there is no cross-cutting character (as opposed to the five stories of Lermontov's Hero of Our Time); no common content. But there is a general technique of mystery, "detective", which lies at the basis of each story. Pushkin's stories are united, firstly, by the figure of the narrator - Belkin; secondly, by the fact that they are all told. Narrativeness was, I suppose, the artistic device for which the whole text was started. Narrativeness, as common to all stories, simultaneously allowed them to be read (and sold) separately. Pushkin thought of a work that, being whole as a whole, would be whole in every part. I call this form, using the experience of subsequent Russian prose, a novel-cycle.

The stories were written by Pushkin in the same chronological order, but he arranged them not according to the time of writing, but on the basis of a compositional calculation, alternating stories with "unfavorable" and "prosperous" endings. Such a composition communicated to the entire cycle, despite the presence of deeply dramatic provisions in it, a general optimistic orientation.

Pushkin builds the story "The Stationmaster" on the development of two destinies and characters - father and daughter. Stationmaster Samson Vyrin - an old honored (three medals on faded ribbons) retired soldier, a kind and honest man, but rude and simple-hearted, is at the very bottom of the table of ranks, at the lowest rung of the social ladder. He is not only a simple, but a small person whom every passing nobleman can insult, shout, hit, although his lowest rank of the 14th class still gave the right to personal nobility. But all the guests were met, calmed down and given tea by his beautiful and lively daughter Dunya. But this family idyll could not continue forever and ended, at first glance, badly, because the caretaker and his daughter had different fates. A passing young handsome hussar Minsky fell in love with Dunya, deftly acted out the illness, achieved mutual feelings and took away, as befits a hussar, a crying but not resisting girl in a troika to Petersburg.

The little man of the 14th grade did not reconcile himself with such an insult and loss, he went to St. Petersburg to save his daughter, whom, as Vyrin, not without reason, believed, the insidious seducer would soon leave, drive out into the street. And his very reproachful appearance was important for the further development of this story, for the fate of his Dunya. But it turned out that the story is more complicated than the caretaker imagined. The captain fell in love with his daughter and, moreover, turned out to be a conscientious, honest man, he blushed with shame at the unexpected appearance of his father, deceived by him. And the beautiful Dunya answered the kidnapper with a strong, sincere feeling. The old man gradually drank himself from grief, longing and loneliness, and contrary to the moralizing pictures about the prodigal son, the daughter never came to visit him, disappeared, and was not even at her father's funeral. The rural cemetery was visited by a beautiful lady with three small barchats and a black pug in a luxurious carriage. She silently lay down on her father's grave and "lay for a long time." This is the folk custom of the last farewell and commemoration, the last "forgive". This is the greatness of human suffering and repentance.

Artistic originality

All the features of the poetics and style of Pushkin's artistic prose were revealed in relief in Belkin's Tales. Pushkin appears in them as an excellent novelist, who is equally accessible to a touching story, a short story sharp in plot and twists and turns, and a realistic sketch of manners and life. Artistic requirements for prose, which were formulated by Pushkin in the early 1920s, he now implements in his own creative practice. Nothing unnecessary, one thing necessary in the narrative, accuracy in definitions, conciseness and conciseness of the syllable.

"Tales of Belkin" are distinguished by the extreme economy of artistic means. From the very first lines, Pushkin introduces the reader to his heroes, introduces him into the circle of events. The characterization of the characters is just as stingy and no less expressive. The author almost does not give an external portrait of the characters, almost does not dwell on their emotional experiences. At the same time, the appearance of each of the characters emerges with remarkable relief and distinctness from his actions and speeches. “A writer needs to study this treasure without ceasing,” Leo Tolstoy advised a familiar writer about Belkin's Tales.

The meaning of the work

In the development of Russian artistic prose, a huge role belongs to Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. Here he had almost no predecessors. Prosaic literary language was also at a much lower level compared to poetry. Therefore, Pushkin faced a particularly important and very difficult task of processing the very material of this area of ​​verbal art. Of Belkin's Tales, The Stationmaster was of exceptional importance for the further development of Russian literature. The very truthful image of the caretaker, warmed by the author's sympathy, opens the gallery of “poor people” created by subsequent Russian writers, humiliated and offended by the social relations of the then reality that were the most difficult for the common man.

The first writer who opened the world of “little people”* to the reader was N.M. Karamzin. Karamzin's word echoes Pushkin and Lermontov. Karamzin's story "Poor Lisa" had the greatest influence on subsequent literature. The author laid the foundation for a huge cycle of works about "little people", took the first step into this hitherto unknown topic. It was he who opened the way for such writers of the future as Gogol, Dostoevsky and others.

A.S. Pushkin was the next writer, whose sphere of creative attention began to include the whole of vast Russia, its open spaces, the life of villages, Petersburg and Moscow opened not only from a luxurious entrance, but also through the narrow doors of poor people's houses. For the first time, Russian literature so poignantly and clearly showed the distortion of the individual by a hostile environment. Pushkin's artistic discovery was directed to the future, it was paving the way for Russian literature into the still unknown.

In the famous Boldin autumn of 1830, A.S. Pushkin wrote an amazing work in 11 days - Belkin's Tales - which included five independent stories told to one person (his name is in the title). In them, the author managed to create a gallery of provincial images, truthfully and without embellishment to show life in contemporary Russia for the writer.

A special place in the cycle is occupied by the story "The Stationmaster". It was she who laid the foundation for the development of the theme of the "little man" in Russian literature of the 19th century.

Getting to know the characters

The story of the stationmaster Samson Vyrin was told to Belkin by a certain I.L.P., a titular adviser. His bitter thoughts about the attitude towards people of this rank set the reader in a not very cheerful mood from the very beginning. Anyone stopping at the station is ready to scold them. Either the horses are bad, or the weather and the road are bad, or the mood is not good at all - and the stationmaster is to blame for everything. The main idea of ​​the story is to show the plight of a simple person without a high rank and rank.

Samson Vyrin, a retired soldier, a widower who raised his fourteen-year-old daughter Dunechka, calmly endured all the claims of those passing by. He was a fresh and cheerful man of about fifty, sociable and sensitive. This is how the titular adviser saw him at the first meeting.

The house was clean and comfortable, with balsams growing on the windows. And all those who stopped by were given tea from a samovar by Dunya, who had learned to housekeeping early. She, with her meek look and smile, subdued the anger of all the dissatisfied. In the company of Vyrin and the “little coquette”, time for the adviser flew by unnoticed. The guest said goodbye to the hosts as if they were old acquaintances: their company seemed so pleasant to him.

How has Vyrin changed…

The story "The Stationmaster" continues with a description of the second meeting of the narrator with the main character. A few years later, fate again threw him into those parts. He drove up to the station with disturbing thoughts: everything could happen during this time. The premonition did not really deceive: instead of a cheerful and cheerful person, a grey-haired, long-shaven, hunched old man appeared before him. It was still the same Vyrin, only now very taciturn and sullen. However, a glass of punch did its job, and soon the narrator learned the story of Dunya.

About three years ago, a young hussar passed by. He liked the girl, and for several days he pretended to be sick. And when he got mutual feelings from her, he secretly took away, without blessing, from his father. So the misfortune that fell down changed the long-established life of the family. The heroes of The Stationmaster, father and daughter, no longer see each other. The old man's attempt to return Dunya ended in nothing. He got to St. Petersburg and was even able to see her, richly dressed and happy. But the girl, looking at her father, fell unconscious, and he was simply kicked out. Now Samson lived in anguish and loneliness, and the bottle became his main companion.

The story of the prodigal son

Even during his first visit, the narrator noticed pictures with signatures in German on the walls. They depicted the biblical story of the prodigal son who took his share of the inheritance and squandered it. In the last picture, the humble lad returned to his home to the parent who forgave him.

This legend is very reminiscent of what happened to Vyrin and Dunya, therefore it is no coincidence that it is included in the composition of the story "The Stationmaster". The main idea of ​​the work is connected with the idea of ​​helplessness and defenselessness of ordinary people. Vyrin, who is well acquainted with the foundations of high society, could not believe that his daughter could be happy. The scene seen in St. Petersburg did not convince either - everything can still change. He waited for the return of Dunya until the end of his life, but their meeting and forgiveness never took place. Perhaps Dunya simply did not dare to appear before her father for a long time.

Daughter's return

On his third visit, the narrator learns about the death of an old acquaintance. And the boy accompanying him to the cemetery will tell him about the mistress, who came after the stationmaster had died. The content of their conversation makes it clear that everything went well for Dunya. She arrived in a carriage with six horses, accompanied by a nurse and three barchettes. But Dunya did not find her father alive, and therefore the repentance of the “lost” daughter became impossible. The lady lay on the grave for a long time - this is how, according to tradition, they asked for forgiveness from a deceased person and said goodbye to him forever - and then left.

Why did the happiness of the daughter bring unbearable mental suffering to her father?

Samson Vyrin always believed that life without blessing and as a mistress is a sin. And the fault of Dunya and Minsky, probably, first of all, is that both their departure (the caretaker himself convinced his daughter to take the hussar to the church) and misunderstanding when meeting in St. Petersburg only strengthened him in this conviction, which, in the end, will bring the hero to the grave. There is another important point - what happened undermined the father's faith. He sincerely loved his daughter, who was the meaning of his existence. And suddenly such ingratitude: in all the years, Dunya has never made herself known. She seemed to have cut her father out of her life.

Having portrayed a poor man of the lowest rank, but with a high and sensitive soul, A.S. Pushkin drew the attention of contemporaries to the position of people who were on the lowest rung of the social ladder. The inability to protest and resignation to fate make them defenseless against life's circumstances. So is the stationmaster.

The main idea that the author wants to convey to the reader is that it is necessary to be sensitive and attentive towards each person, regardless of his character, and only this will help change the indifference and anger that reign in the world of people.