Plan
1. Introduction
2. History of creation
3.The meaning of the name
4.Kind and genre
5.Theme
6. Problems
7.Heroes
8.Plot and composition
"The Station Warden" is part of the cycle "Tales of the late Ivan Petrovich Belkin." The story of a man who lost his only daughter was a great success among his contemporaries. The work was filmed in 1972.
History of creation. The story was created in the famous “Boldino autumn” of 1830 - one of the most fruitful stages of Pushkin’s work. The poet's manuscript states the completion date of work on the work - September 14. The story was published in 1831.
The meaning of the name. The title refers to the main character of the work - the station superintendent Samson Vyrin. At the beginning of the story there is a digression by the author, in which he speaks with sympathy about this category of officials who work as if in “hard labor.”
Gender and genre. Sentimental story
main topic works - the fate of the "little man". Station wardens in Pushkin's time were a downtrodden and humiliated category of officialdom. Passers-by took out all their anger and irritation on them. The stationmaster belonged to the lowest, fourteenth class on the Table of Ranks. Any traveler treated him with disdain and did not mince words. According to the author, there were frequent cases of assault that remained without consequences. Pushkin himself often traveled around Russia and knew many station guards. The poet respected people below him. He saw that every person has his own deep inner world. The despised people are often much purer and nobler than the refined upper class. Most likely, Minsky does not even think that he is committing a vile act. In his opinion, Duna would, in any case, be better off in St. Petersburg than at this God-forsaken station. He doesn’t think about Samson’s feelings at all. As a last resort, Minsky is ready to pay him with money. For him, Dunya is simply a commodity, a treasure that must be taken from the stationmaster.
Issues. The main problem of the story is the defenselessness of the stationmaster. Samson Vyrin’s hard service was brightened up by his only daughter, who served as joy and consolation for the old man. Naturally, the beautiful girl attracted the attention of everyone passing by. Samson did not even suspect the danger and was glad that Dunya was helping him with his work. The girl really softened the hearts of irritated travelers. The hussar's meanness hit the main character hard. He understands that Dunya would never leave him voluntarily. The girl succumbed to the seductive persuasion of the handsome traveler, and when she came to her senses, it was already too late. In St. Petersburg, Samson is again subjected to humiliation. The hussar, without hesitation, hands him money in exchange for his daughter. After this, the old man is not even allowed on the threshold. Another problem of the story is the danger to which the daughters of defenseless people were constantly exposed. The nobility enjoyed its advantage and cases of seduction were the order of the day. In the story, Dunya was not deceived and became the legal wife of the hussar, but this is a very rare case. In reality, after some time the girl would have become tired of Minsky and would have been forced to return to her father in disgrace. Dunya achieved happiness at a very high price. She probably felt indelibly guilty towards her father for the rest of her life. Belated repentance is evidenced by the boy’s story, who says that the lady lay motionless on the grave for a long time.
Heroes. Stationmaster Samson Vyrin, his daughter Dunya, captain Minsky.
Plot and composition. The story consists of three visits by the narrator to one of the stations. During the first, he met Samson Vyrin and appreciated his lively daughter Dunya. The second visit occurred a few years later. The narrator was amazed at how old his friend had become. He learned his sad story. A passing captain Minsky tricked Dunya into taking him with him. Heartbroken, Samson reached St. Petersburg and tried to pick up his daughter. But Minsky treated him rudely, and Dunya no longer showed any desire to return back. Several more years passed. The narrator visited the station again and learned that Samson had died from drunkenness. The boy told him that Dunya came to his father’s grave. The narrator himself went to the cemetery to pay tribute to his unfortunate father.
What the author teaches. Pushkin draws readers' attention to the fact that people who do not enjoy any respect also experience great joy and deep suffering. Samson's grief was understandable only to the narrator. Minsky didn’t pay any attention to him at all and tried to pay him off. Similar incidents occurred at every step, but only a few felt compassion for the deceived and humiliated poor.
The plot of the story “The Station Agent” is based on an incident from ordinary life. For the reader, the situation is simple and recognizable: a postal station located in the wilderness, monotonous, tiresome bustle, endless passing people. Pushkin chooses as an epigraph a humorous poetic statement from his friend, the poet Prince P.A. Vyazemsky:
College Registrar,
Postal station dictator.
However, this epigraph emphasizes the serious tone of the story, expressing deep sympathy for the fate of the station superintendent, an official of the lowest - fourteenth - class Samson Vyrin. The plot intrigue of the story is that a passing hussar takes with him Vyrin’s only daughter, the light and meaning of his entire joyless life - Dunya. This incident was very ordinary, not standing out in any way from the number of countless misfortunes that await a person. However, the purpose of the story is different: not to capture one of them, but to show the fate of the father and daughter in the conditions of changing times.
Pushkin called his story “The Station Warden,” wanting to emphasize that its main character is Samson Vyrin and that the idea of the story is connected primarily with him. The image of Samson Vyrin opens the theme of the “little man” in Russian classical literature, later developed by Pushkin himself in the poem “The Bronze Horseman” (1833) and continued by N.V. Gogol, first of all, in the story “The Overcoat” (1842). The theme of the “little man” was further developed in Russian literature in the prose of I.S. Turgenev and F.M. Dostoevsky, gradually replacing the literature of the nobility and creating the basis for works about the hero - a representative of the general population, the “man of the majority”. Therefore, the author, describing the low social position of the hero on the first pages of the story, calls for paying close attention to him as a person. This gives rise to an ironic reasoning about “what would happen to us if, instead of the generally convenient rule of rank, another was introduced into use, for example: honor the mind of the mind?” What disputes would arise!..”
The name of the hero - Samson Vyrin - was compiled by the author in order to express his attitude towards the personality and character of this person. The combination of the heroic biblical name Samson, who accomplished outstanding feats, and the ordinary, inexpressive surname Vyrin expresses the author’s idea that, despite the low origin of the hero, he is characterized by high, noble feelings. He loves his daughter selflessly, while caring only about her well-being. It also retains pride and dignity. Let us remember what his natural reaction was when the hussar slipped money into his sleeve cuff, as if paying off the old man.
The events of the story “The Station Agent” by Pushkin do not occur before the reader’s eyes; he learns them from the narrator, who acts both as a storyteller and as the hero of the work. The exposition, or prologue, of the work includes two parts: the narrator’s reasoning about the fate of the station guards, allowing the writer to use it to characterize the time, the state of the roads, morals, and to represent a specific place of action. Three times the hero-narrator comes to the station, which was located on a “road now destroyed,” as does the memory of the people who once lived there. Thus, the story itself about the main events consists of three parts, like a triptych - a three-part painting. The first part is an introduction to the inhabitants of the postal station, a picture of a peaceful, unclouded life; the second is the old man’s sad story about the misfortune that befell him and the fate that befell Duna; the third part conveys a picture of a rural cemetery, which serves as an epilogue. This composition gives the story a philosophical character.
The seasons play an important role in the story “The Station Agent”. This is how the story about the events begins: “In 1816, in the month of May, I happened to pass through the *** province...” This is how the narrative is introduced, as if the beginning of life is being depicted. The description of the weather also corresponds to this; everything around is full of strength and energy: “The day was hot. Three miles from the station it began to drizzle, and a minute later the pouring rain soaked me to the last thread.” And here is the last visit of the hero-narrator, the end of the story: “It happened in the fall. Gray clouds covered the sky; a cold wind blew from the reaped fields, carrying away red and yellow leaves from the trees oncoming.” This landscape sketch symbolizes the past life, dying. So the epilogue becomes a philosophical commentary on the story.
The content of the story “The Station Agent” correlates with the parable of the Prodigal Son. The narrator sees pictures depicting this plot on the walls of Vyrin’s room. The story of the prodigal son from the Bible tells us about the eternal situation in the life of a person who leaves his parents’ home without blessing, makes mistakes, pays for them and returns to his father’s house. Pushkin describes this story with light humor, but the humor serves not to express a mocking attitude, but to focus attention on the necessary points. For example, “...a respectable old man in a cap and dressing gown releases a restless young man, who hastily accepts his blessing and a bag of money.” In this scene, Pushkin draws the reader’s eye to two circumstances: the young man “hastily” accepts everything from his father, because he is in a hurry to start an independent and cheerful life, and the young man with equal haste accepts “a blessing and a bag of money,” as if they were of equal value for a person. Thus, the whole story is built on a wise and eternal story about human life, the irreversible flow of time and the inevitability of change.
Themes, storylines, direction
In the cycle, the story “The Station Agent” is the compositional center, the pinnacle. It is based on the characteristic features of literary Russian realism and sentimentalism. The expressiveness of the work, the plot, and the capacious, complex theme give the right to call it a novel in miniature. This is a seemingly simple story about ordinary people, but everyday circumstances that interfere with the fate of the heroes make the meaning of the story more complex. Alexander Sergeevich, in addition to the romantic thematic line, reveals the theme of happiness in the broad sense of the word. Fate sometimes gives a person happiness not when you expect it, following generally accepted morality and everyday principles. This requires both a successful combination of circumstances and a subsequent struggle for happiness, even if it seems impossible.
The description of the life of Samson Vyrin is inextricably linked with the philosophical thought of the entire cycle of stories. His perception of the world and life is reflected in pictures with German poems hung on the walls of his home. The narrator describes the content of these pictures, which depict the biblical legend of the prodigal son. Vyrin also perceives and experiences what happened to his daughter through the prism of the images surrounding him. He hopes that Dunya will return to him, but she did not return. Vyrin's life experience tells him that his child will be deceived and abandoned. The stationmaster is a “little man” who has become a toy in the hands of the greedy, mercantile sows of the world, for whom the emptiness of the soul is more terrible than material poverty, for whom honor is above all.
The narration comes from the lips of the titular adviser, whose name is hidden behind the initials A.G.N. In turn, this story was “transmitted” to the narrator by Vyrin himself and the “red-haired and crooked” boy. The plot of the drama is the secret departure of Dunya with a little-known hussar to St. Petersburg. Dunya's father is trying to turn back time in order to save his daughter from what seems to him to be “death.” The story of the titular adviser takes us to St. Petersburg, where Vyrin is trying to find his daughter, and the mournful ending shows us the grave of the caretaker outside the outskirts. The destiny of the “little man” is humility. The irreparability of the current situation, hopelessness, despair, and indifference finish off the caretaker. Dunya asks her father for forgiveness at his grave; her repentance is belated.
- “The Captain’s Daughter”, a summary of the chapters of Pushkin’s story
- "Boris Godunov", analysis of the tragedy of Alexander Pushkin
- “Gypsies”, analysis of the poem by Alexander Pushkin
Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin is one of the most widely read authors. All our compatriots, young and old, know his name. 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 Station Agent” - a story about how important it is to realize in time the importance of people dear to your heart.
In 1830, Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin went to Boldino to solve some financial problems. He was about to return, but deadly cholera had spread greatly in Russia at that time, and his return had to be postponed for a long time. This period of development of his talent is called the Boldino autumn. During this time, some of the best works were written, including a cycle of stories called “Tales of the late Ivan Petrovich Belkin,” consisting of five works, one of which is “The Station Warden.” Its author finished on September 14th.
During his forced imprisonment, Pushkin suffered from separation from another lady of his heart, so his muse was sad and often put him in a sad mood. Perhaps the very atmosphere of autumn – the time of withering and nostalgia – contributed to the creation of “The Station Agent”. The main character faded as quickly as a leaf dropped from a branch.
Genre and direction
Pushkin himself calls his work “stories,” although essentially each of them is a small novel. Why did he call them that? Alexander Sergeevich answered: “Stories and novels are read by everyone, everywhere” - that is, he did not see much difference between them, and made a choice in favor of the smaller epic genre, as if pointing to the modest volume of the work.
The separate story “The Station Agent” lays the foundations of realism. A hero is a very real hero who could have been encountered in reality at that time. 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 Station Agent” allows the reader to look at the world through the eyes of the narrator, in whose words the personality of Pushkin himself is hidden.
- The story begins with a lyrical digression of the writer, where he abstractly talks about the thankless profession of a station superintendent, who is humiliated by his duty. It is in such positions that the characters of little people are formed.
- The main part consists of conversations between the author and 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.
- Something like an epilogue represents his last visit to the station, when Samson Vyrin was already dead. It reports his daughter's repentance
About what?
The story “The Station Warden” begins with a short digression, where the author talks about what a humiliating position this is. Nobody pays attention to these people, they are “shooed”, sometimes even beaten. No one ever simply says “thank you” to them, but they are often very interesting interlocutors who can tell a lot.
Then the author talks about Samson Vyrin. He holds the position of stationmaster. The narrator ends up at his 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. A couple of years later, the hero again finds himself at that same station. During this visit we learn the essence of “The Station Agent”. 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 stopped at the station, and due to 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. As a farewell, he offered to take his nurse to church, but she never came back. Later, Samson Vyrin learns that the young man was not sick at all, he was pretending to deceive the girl and take her with him to St. Petersburg. The ranger goes to the city on foot and tries to find the deceiving hussar there. Having found him, he asks to return Dunya to him and not disgrace him anymore, but he refuses him. Later, the unfortunate parent finds the house in which the kidnapper is keeping his daughter. He sees her, dressed richly, and admires her. When the heroine raises her head and sees her father, she gets scared and falls on the carpet, and the hussar drives the poor old man away. After that, the caretaker never saw his daughter again.
After some time, the author again finds himself at the station of the good Samson Vyrin. He learns that the station has been disbanded and the poor old man has 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 cried for a long time, lying on his grave. Dunya repented, but it was too late.
Main characters
- Samson Vyrin is a kind and sociable old man of about 50 who dotes on his daughter. She protects him from beatings and abuse from visitors. When they see her, they always behave calmly and friendly. 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 doesn’t need either wealth or fame, as long as his dear Dunyasha is nearby. At the next meeting, he is already a flabby old man who seeks solace in a bottle. His daughter's escape broke his personality. The image of the stationmaster is a textbook example of a small man who is unable to withstand circumstances. He is not outstanding, not strong, not smart, he is just an ordinary person with a kind heart and a gentle disposition - that 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.
- Dunya is a young girl. She leaves her father and leaves with the hussar not out of selfish or unkind motives. The girl loves her parent, but out of naivety she 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 her lonely father, she is ashamed. But what has been done cannot be undone, and now she, already a mother, cries at her parent’s grave, regretting that she did this to him. Years later, Dunya remains the same sweet and caring beauty, whose appearance is not affected by the tragic story of the station superintendent’s daughter. All the pain of separation was absorbed by her father, who never saw his grandchildren.
Subject
- In "The Station Agent" he first rises "little man" theme. This is a hero whom no one notices, but who has a big soul. From the author's story we see that he is often scolded for no reason, sometimes even beaten. He is not considered a person, he is a lower level, service staff. But in fact, this resigned old man is infinitely kind. No matter what, he is always ready to offer travelers overnight accommodation and dinner. He allows the hussar, who wanted to beat him and was stopped by Dunya, to stay with him for a few days, calls him a doctor, 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 is also revealed in a unique way 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 loves Dunya recklessly, 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 had made a choice in favor of wealth, he gave up and thought that she no longer needed her poor father. Another aspect is the passion of the young charmer and the hussar. At first, the reader was worried about the fate of a provincial girl in the city: she really could have been deceived and dishonored. But in the end it turns out that the 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 to them, which was not delivered in a timely manner.
Issues
Pushkin raises moral problems in his work. Succumbing to a fleeting feeling, not supported by anything, Dunya leaves her 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 still takes the girl as his wife, but even in those days this was rare. Nevertheless, even for the sake of the prospect of a marriage union, it was not worth renouncing one family while building another. The girl's fiancé behaved unacceptably rudely; it was he who made her an orphan. They both easily stepped over the little man's grief.
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 lived, she never wrote to him. In pursuit of personal happiness, she completely forgot about the man who loved her, raised her and was ready to forgive literally everything. This still happens today. And in the modern world, children leave and forget their parents. Having escaped from the nest, they try to “get out into the world”, achieve goals, chase material success and do not remember those who gave them the most important thing - life. Many parents live the same fate as Samson Vyrin, abandoned and forgotten by their children. Of course, after a while, young people remember their family, and it’s good if it turns out it’s not too late to meet them. Dunya didn’t make it to the meeting.
the main idea
The idea of the “Station Agent” is still vital and relevant: even a small person must be treated with respect. You cannot measure people by rank, class or ability to offend others. The hussar, for example, judged those around him by their strength and position, so he caused such grief to his own wife and his own children, depriving them of their father and grandfather. With his behavior, he alienated and humiliated someone who could have 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 deprive us of the chance to correct our mistakes.
If you look at the meaning of the story “The Station Agent” more globally, we can conclude that Pushkin opposes social inequality, which became the cornerstone of relationships between people of that time.
What makes you think?
Pushkin also forces careless children to think about their old people, gives them instructions not to forget their parents and to be grateful to them. Family is the most valuable thing in every person’s life. She is the one who is ready to forgive us everything, accept us in any way, console us and calm us down in difficult times. Parents are the most devoted people. They give us everything and ask for nothing in return except love and a little attention and care on our part.
Interesting? Save it on your wall!In the famous Boldino autumn of 1830, A.S. In 11 days, Pushkin wrote an amazing work - “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 modern Russia for the writer.
The story “The Station Agent” occupies a special place in the cycle. It was she who laid the foundations for the development of the theme of the “little man” in Russian literature of the 19th century.
Meet the heroes
The story of the station superintendent Samson Vyrin was told to Belkin by a certain I.L.P., a titular councilor. His bitter thoughts about the attitude towards people of this rank set the reader up in a not very cheerful mood from the very beginning. Anyone stopping at the station is ready to curse them. Either the horses are bad, or the weather and road are bad, or even the mood is not going well - and the stationmaster is to blame for everything. The main idea of the story is to show the plight of a common man without a high rank or rank.
All the demands of those passing by were calmly endured by Samson Vyrin, a retired soldier, a widower who raised his fourteen-year-old daughter Dunechka. He was a fresh and cheerful man of about fifty, sociable and sensitive. This is how the titular councilor saw him at their first meeting.
The house was clean and cozy, balsams grew on the windows. And Dunya, who learned how to manage a house early on, gave everyone who stopped tea tea from a samovar. She, with her meek appearance and smile, humbled the anger of all those who were dissatisfied. In the company of Vyrin and the “little coquette,” time flew by for the adviser. The guest said goodbye to the hosts as if they were old acquaintances: their company seemed so pleasant to him.
How Vyrin has changed...
The story “The Station Agent” continues with a description of the second meeting of the narrator with the main character. A few years later, fate again threw him to those parts. He drove up to the station with anxious thoughts: anything could happen during this time. The premonition indeed did not deceive: instead of a vigorous and cheerful man, a gray-haired, long-unshaven, hunched old man appeared before him. It was still the same Vyrin, only now very taciturn and gloomy. However, a glass of punch did its job, and soon the narrator learned Dunya’s story.
About three years ago a young hussar passed by. He liked the girl, and he pretended to be sick for several days. And when he achieved mutual feelings from her, he took her secretly, without blessing, from her father. Thus, the misfortune that befell changed the long-established life of the family. The heroes of “The Station Agent,” father and daughter, will never meet again. The old man's attempt to return Dunya ended in nothing. He reached 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 melancholy and loneliness, and his main companion was the bottle.
The story of the prodigal son
Even when he first arrived, the narrator noticed pictures on the walls with captions in German. 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 youth returned to his home to the parent who had forgiven him.
This legend is very reminiscent of what happened to Vyrin and Dunya, which is why it is no coincidence that it is included in the story “The Station Agent”. The main idea of the work is connected with the idea of helplessness and defenselessness of ordinary people. Vyrin, well familiar with the foundations of high society, could not believe that his daughter could be happy. The scene seen in St. Petersburg was not convincing either - everything can still change. He waited for Dunya's return 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.
Return of the daughter
On his third visit, the narrator learns of the death of an old acquaintance. And the boy who accompanied him to the cemetery will tell him about the lady who came after the station superintendent died. The content of their conversation makes it clear that everything turned out well for Dunya. She arrived in a carriage with six horses, accompanied by a nurse and three barchats. But Dunya no longer found 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 forgiveness from a deceased person and said goodbye to him forever - and then she left.
Why did the daughter’s happiness bring unbearable mental suffering to her father?
Samson Vyrin always believed that life without blessings 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 accompany the hussar to the church) and the misunderstanding at the 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 my father’s faith. He sincerely loved his daughter, who was the meaning of his existence. And suddenly such ingratitude: in all the years Dunya never made herself known. It was as if she had erased her father from her life.
Portraying a poor man of the lowest rank, but with a high and sensitive soul, A.S. Pushkin drew the attention of his contemporaries to the position of people who were at the lowest level of the social ladder. The inability to protest and resignation to fate make them defenseless in the face of life's circumstances. This turns out to be 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 every person, regardless of his character, and only this will help change the indifference and bitterness reigning in the world of people.