The image of Ilyinichna
The mainstay of the Melikhov family is the mother of Grigory, Peter and Dunyashka - Ilyinichna. This is an elderly Cossack woman who has adult sons, and the youngest daughter Dunyashka is a teenager.
The old woman, restless and busy, always busy with endless household chores, seems at first invisible, and takes little part in the events taking place. Even her portrait characteristics are not in the first chapters of the book, but only some details by which it can be judged that this woman has experienced a lot: “completely entangled in a web of wrinkles, a portly woman”, “knotty and heavy hands”, “shuffling with senile flabby bare feet” . And only in the last parts of The Quiet Flows the Don is the rich inner world of Ilyinichna revealed.
One of the main character traits of this woman is calm wisdom. Otherwise, she simply could not get along with her emotional and quick-tempered husband. Without any fuss, Ilyinichna manages the household, takes care of children and grandchildren, not forgetting their emotional experiences.
Ilyinichna is an economical and prudent hostess. She maintains not only external order in the house, but also monitors the moral atmosphere in the family. She condemns Grigory’s relationship with Aksinya, and, realizing how hard it is for Grigory’s legal wife Natalya to live with her husband, treat her like her own daughter, trying in every possible way to facilitate her work, pity her, sometimes even give her an extra hour to sleep. The fact that Natalya lives in the house of the Melekhovs after a suicide attempt says a lot: this house has the warmth that a young woman so needed.
In any life situation, Ilyinichna is deeply decent and sincere. She understands Natalya, who was tormented by her husband's betrayals, lets her cry, and then tries to dissuade her from rash acts: “You young people have a great temper, a true god! A little something - you're pissed off. If you lived the way I lived from a young age, what would you do then? Grishka hasn’t laid a finger on you all his life, and you’re dissatisfied, what a miracle you’ve done: and you were about to leave him, and you were shattered, and no matter what you did, you confused God in your filthy deeds ... Well tell me, tell me, sick, and is it good? And my good idol from a young age killed to death, but for no reason at all, my guilt before him was not in the least. He messed up himself, but plucked it out of spite. He used to come at dawn, cry out with bitter tears, reproach him, well, he will give free rein to his fists ... For a month, she was all blue, like iron, but she survived, and she fed the children, she never thought to leave the house.
She carefully cares for the sick Natalya, for her grandchildren. Condemning Daria for too free behavior, nevertheless hides her illness from her husband so that he does not kick her out of the house. There is some greatness in her, the ability not to pay attention to trifles, but to see the main thing in family life.
The strong, wise Ilyinichna constantly fusses, worries and takes care of all the household members, tries in every possible way to protect them from troubles, adversities, from rash acts; stands between her husband, uncontrollable in anger, and proud, temperamental sons, for which he receives blows from her husband, who, feeling the advantage of his wife in everything, is thus affirmed.
Ilyinichna did not understand the events of the revolution and the civil war, but she turned out to be much more humane, smarter, more perspicacious than Grigory and Panteley Prokofievich. So, for example, she reproaches her youngest son, who chopped sailors in battle, supports Panteley Prokofievich, who kicks Mitka Korshunov out of his convoy. “So you and I, and Mishatka and Polyushka, could have been chopped up for Grisha, but if they didn’t, they had mercy,” says the indignant Ilyinichna Natalya. When Darya shot the captive Kotlyarov, Ilyinichna, according to Dunyasha, "was afraid to spend the night with her in the same hut, went to her neighbors."
All her life she, not sparing her health, worked, making good bit by bit. And when the situation forces her to give up everything and leave the farm, she declares: “Let them kill you at the threshold - everything is easier than dying under someone else's wattle fence!” This is not greed, but the fear of losing one's nest, roots, without which a person loses the meaning of life. She understands this with a feminine, maternal instinct, and it is impossible to convince her.
Ilyinichna values honesty, decency, and purity in people. She is afraid that the cruelty surrounding them will affect the soul and consciousness of Mishatka's grandson. She resigned herself to the idea that the murderer of her son Peter became a member of their family by marrying Dunyasha. The old mother does not want to go against the feelings of her daughter, and man's strength is needed in the household. Ilyinichna reconciles, seeing how Dunyasha reaches out to this man, how the nervous, hard look of Koshevoy warms up at the sight of her grandson, Mishatka. She blesses them, knowing that the life she has known so far cannot be returned, and she has no power to fix it. This shows the wisdom of Ilyinichna.
The heart of a Russian woman-mother is so easy-going that Ilyinichna, hating the killer of her eldest son Mishka Koshevoy, sometimes feels maternal pity for him, either sending him a sackcloth so as not to freeze, or darning clothes. However, with the arrival of Koshevoy in the Melekhovsky house, she suffers mental anguish, she remains alone in her house, unnecessary to anyone. Ilyinichna, overcoming the anguish and pain of her losses, took a decisive step towards the new that will come after her, to which others will be witnesses, and with them her grandson Mishatka. And how little Koshevoy needed to show tenderness, not at all to her, but to her grandson Mishatka, so that she would make this breakthrough, reuniting in our minds into a single majestic image of Ilyinichna - both young and old, and Ilyinichna of the last days of her life ... Here , in fact, the culmination of Ilyinichna's spiritual movement towards the new that will come after her. She now firmly knew that the "killer" could not smile so tenderly at Mishatka - Grisha's son, her grandson ... And Ilyinichna, resigned to the will of her daughter, before the force of circumstances, steps over the natural repulsion from the murderer of her eldest son, takes into the house so hated by her , charged with an alien "truth" of a person, and even begins to feel "unsolicited pity" for him, when he is exhausted, oppressed and tormented by malaria. Here it is - the great, redeeming pity of the mother's heart for the lost children of this cruel world! And before her death, she gives Dunyasha the most precious thing for Mishka - Grigory's shirt, let him wear it, otherwise he was already soaked with sweat! This is the highest gesture of forgiveness and reconciliation on her part!
In the last chapters, Sholokhov reveals the tragedy of a mother who lost her husband, son, many relatives and friends: “She lived, broken by suffering, aged, miserable. She had to experience a lot of grief, perhaps even too much ... ". The “hard old woman” Ilyinichna “did not shed a tear when she learned about the death of her husband, but only closed herself in. Having buried her eldest son, husband, daughter-in-law within a year, Ilyinichna was most afraid of Grigory's death. Ilyinichna thinks only of him. She lived only for them the last days: “I have become old ... And my heart hurts about Grisha ... It hurts so much that nothing is cute for me and it hurts to look at my eyes.” In longing for her son, who still did not return, Ilyinichna takes out his old coat and cap, hangs them in the kitchen. “You enter the base, take a look, and somehow it becomes easier ... As if he is already with us ...”, she says to Dunyasha, smiling guiltily and pitifully.
A short letter from Grigory with a promise to come on a visit in the autumn brings great joy to Ilyinichna. She proudly says: “The little one remembered his mother. How does he write? By patronymic, Ilyinichnaya, he called ... I bow low, writes to my dear mother and dear children ... "
War, death, anxiety for a loved one reconciled Ilyinichna with Aksinya, and through the eyes of Aksinya we see the grief of an inconsolable mother, who understands that she will no longer see her son: an inaccessible distant star, the fire laid out by mowers flickered. Aksinya clearly saw Ilyinichna's swollen face illuminated by the blue moonlight, a gray strand of hair escaping from under the old woman's black shawl. Ilyinichna looked for a long time into the twilight blue of the steppe, and then, not loudly, as if he were standing right there, next to her, she called: “Gryshenka! My dear one! - She paused and already in a different, low and deaf voice she said: - my little blood ... "
If earlier Ilyinichna was restrained in her feelings, then at the end of the novel everything changes, she seems to be all made up of motherly love: “It is amazing how short and poor life turned out to be and how much hard and sadness was in it, in her thoughts she turned to Grigory ... And on her deathbed she lived with Gregory, she thought only of him...”.
The image of Ilyinichna in the novel is a pure image of motherhood, the image of the "Don Madonna". And maternal love, thanks to this image, turns out to be especially naturally deeply connected with the metaphysical limits of human life: birth and death. Only a mother, with every cell of her being, with every drop of blood, cannot accept the death of her son, his disappearance from the white world, where she gave birth to him for life and joy. How many maternal tears, longing, lamentations spilled over the "Quiet Don"! And mothers burrow into the shirts left over from their dead sons, looking for in their “folds the smell of sons’ sweat”, at least some, but a material trace and a remnant of the person they most deeply loved.
Introduction
The fate of Grigory Melekhov in the novel "Quiet Flows the Don" by Sholokhov is in the center of the reader's attention. This hero, who, by the will of fate, fell into the thick of complex historical events, has been forced to search for his life path for many years.
Description Grigory Melekhov
Already from the first pages of the novel, Sholokhov introduces us to the unusual fate of grandfather Grigory, explaining why the Melekhovs outwardly differ from the rest of the inhabitants of the farm. Grigory, like his father, had "a drooping vulture nose, blue tonsils of hot eyes in slightly oblique slits, sharp cheekbones." Remembering the origin of Panteley Prokofievich, everyone in the farm called the Melekhovs "Turks".
Life changes the inner world of Gregory. His appearance also changes. From a carefree cheerful guy, he turns into a stern warrior whose heart is hardened. Grigory “knew that he would no longer laugh as before; He knew that his eyes were hollow and his cheekbones were sticking out sharply, ”and in his eyes“ the light of senseless cruelty began to shine through more and more often.
At the end of the novel, a completely different Gregory appears before us. This is a mature man tired of life "with a tired squint of eyes, with red tips of a black mustache, with premature gray hair at the temples and hard wrinkles on the forehead."
Characteristics of Gregory
At the beginning of the work, Grigory Melekhov is a young Cossack living according to the laws of his ancestors. The main thing for him is the household and the family. He enthusiastically helps his father with mowing and fishing. Unable to argue with his parents when they marry him to the unloved Natalya Korshunova.
But, for all that, Gregory is a passionate, addicted nature. Despite the prohibitions of his father, he continues to go to night games. Meets with Aksinya Astakhova, the neighbor's wife, and then leaves her home with her.
Gregory, like most Cossacks, is inherent in courage, sometimes reaching recklessness. He behaves heroically at the front, participates in the most dangerous sorties. At the same time, the hero is not alien to humanity. He is worried about a gosling that he accidentally slaughtered while mowing. For a long time he suffers because of the murdered unarmed Austrian. “Subjecting to the heart”, Gregory saves his sworn enemy Stepan from death. Goes against a whole platoon of Cossacks, protecting Franya.
In Gregory, passion and obedience, madness and gentleness, kindness and hatred coexist at the same time.
The fate of Grigory Melekhov and his path of quest
The fate of Melekhov in the novel "Quiet Don" is tragic. He is constantly forced to look for a "way out", the right path. It is not easy for him in the war. His personal life is also complicated.
Like the favorite heroes of L.N. Tolstoy, Grigory goes through a difficult path of life quests. In the beginning, everything seemed clear to him. Like other Cossacks, he is called to war. For him there is no doubt that he must defend the Fatherland. But, getting to the front, the hero realizes that his whole nature resists the murder.
Gregory goes from white to red, but here he will be disappointed. Seeing how Podtelkov dealt with the captured young officers, he loses faith in this government and the next year he again finds himself in the white army.
Tossing between the whites and the reds, the hero himself becomes hardened. He loots and kills. Tries to forget himself in drunkenness and fornication. In the end, fleeing from the persecution of the new government, he finds himself among the bandits. Then he becomes a deserter.
Grigory is exhausted by throwing. He wants to live on his own land, raise bread and children. Although life hardens the hero, gives his features something "wolf", in fact, he is not a killer. Having lost everything and never found his way, Grigory returns to his native farm, realizing that, most likely, death awaits him here. But, the son and the house is the only thing that keeps the hero in the world.
Grigory's relationship with Aksinya and Natalya
Fate sends the hero two passionately loving women. But, relations with them are not easy for Gregory. While still single, Grigory falls in love with Aksinya, the wife of Stepan Astakhov, his neighbor. Over time, the woman reciprocates his feelings, and their relationship develops into unbridled passion. “So unusual and obvious was their crazy connection, so frenziedly they burned with one shameless fire, people without conscience and without hiding, losing weight and turning black in their faces in front of their neighbors, that now people were ashamed to look at them for some reason when they met.”
Despite this, he cannot resist the will of his father and marries Natalya Korshunova, promising himself to forget Aksinya and settle down. But, Gregory is not able to keep the oath given to himself. Although Natalya is beautiful and selflessly loves her husband, he again converges with Aksinya and leaves his wife and parental home.
After Aksinya's betrayal, Grigory returns to his wife again. She accepts him and forgives past wrongs. But he was not destined for a quiet family life. The image of Aksinya haunts him. Once again fate brings them together. Unable to bear the shame and betrayal, Natalia has an abortion and dies. Gregory blames himself for the death of his wife, severely experiences this loss.
Now, it would seem, nothing can prevent him from finding happiness with his beloved woman. But, circumstances force him to leave the place and, together with Aksinya, again set off on the road, the last for his beloved.
With the death of Aksinya, Grigory's life loses all meaning. The hero no longer has even an illusory hope for happiness. “And Gregory, dying of horror, realized that it was all over, that the worst thing that could have happened in his life had already happened.”
Conclusion
In conclusion of my essay on the topic “The Fate of Grigory Melekhov in the Novel “Quiet Flows the Don”,” I want to fully agree with critics who believe that in The Quiet Don, the fate of Grigory Melekhov is the most difficult and one of the most tragic. Using the example of Grigory Sholokhov, he showed how the whirlpool of political events breaks human destiny. And the one who sees his destiny in peaceful labor suddenly becomes a cruel killer with a devastated soul.
Artwork test
"Quiet Flows the Don" by M. Sholokhov is a novel about the fate of the people in a critical era. The fate of the main characters of the novel develops dramatically. Women's destinies are also complicated, marked by a deep and vivid feeling of love. The image of Grigory Melekhov's mother, Ilyinichna, personifies the difficult lot of a Cossack woman, her highest moral qualities. Life with her husband was not easy for her. Sometimes, flaring up, he beat her severely. Ilyinichna grew old early, was ill a lot, but until the last day she remained a caring and energetic hostess.
M. Sholokhov calls Ilyinichna a “courageous and proud” old woman. She has wisdom and justice. Ilyinichna is the keeper of the family way of life. She comforts her children when they feel bad, but she also judges them severely when they do wrong. She tries to dissuade Gregory from excessive cruelty: "You are God ... God, son, do not forget ...". All her thoughts are connected with the fate of the children, especially the youngest - Gregory. But she loves not only children and her husband, but also her native land, tormented by wars and revolutions.
The image of Aksinya is distinguished by external and internal beauty. She is completely absorbed in love for Gregory, in the struggle for happiness she shows pride and courage. Having experienced all the bitterness of a woman's joyless fate early, Aksinya boldly and openly rebels against patriarchal morality. In her passionate love for Gregory, a resolute protest is expressed against ruined youth, against the torture and despotism of her father and her unloved husband. Her struggle for Gregory, for happiness with him is a struggle for the assertion of her human rights.
Rebellious and rebellious, with her head held high, she went against prejudice, hypocrisy and falsehood, causing evil talk and gossip. Throughout her life, Aksinya carried her love for Grigory. The strength and depth of her feelings was expressed in the readiness to follow her beloved to the most difficult trials. In the name of this feeling, she leaves her husband, the household and leaves with Grigory to work as a laborer for Listnitsky. During the Civil War, she goes with Grigory to the front, sharing with him all the hardships of camp life. And for the last time, at his call, she leaves the farm with the hope of finding her “share” with him in the Kuban. All the strength of Aksinya's character was expressed in one all-encompassing feeling - love for Grigory.
He loves Gregory and Natalya, a woman of high moral purity. But she is unloved, and her fate is marked by suffering. However, Natalia hopes for a better life. She curses Gregory, but loves him endlessly. And happiness comes, harmony and love reign in the family. She gave birth to twins - a son and a daughter. Natalya turned out to be just as loving and caring mother as she was a wife. But in the end, Natalya cannot forgive her husband's infidelity, she refuses motherhood and dies. Destroyed and insulted, Natalya did not want to live, because the ideal of her life is purity.
The complete opposite of her is Daria Melekhova, a broken, dissolute woman, ready to “twist love” with the first person she meets. But here comes the decisive hour - the hour of trials, and behind this street morality, behind the swagger, something else, hitherto hidden, is revealed, which promised other possibilities, another direction and development of character. Daria decided to die so as not to be disfigured by a "bad disease." This decision is a proud challenge and human strength.
Each of the women - the heroines of the novel "The Quiet Flows the Don" - goes through her own way of the cross. This path is marked by love, not always happy, more often painful, but always genuine.
The main characters of the novel are people with bright individual characters, strong passions, and difficult destinies. , whose moral character and thorny life path are shown in the novel most deeply, it is no coincidence that it occupies a central place in the novel. His life searches reflected the fate of the entire Don Cossacks in this difficult time. From childhood, Gregory absorbs the craving for free peasant labor, concern for strengthening the economy, for the family. The writer shows us that the traditions of the Cossacks include universal moral values. The world in which the Cossacks live is filled with colors, saturated with the beauty of their native nature. The author of the novel creates beautiful landscapes of the Don land, which help him to reveal the characters of the characters more deeply, and the readers to feel the strength and beauty of the life of the Cossacks.
The beginning of the novel depicts the life and customs of the Cossack village on the eve of the First World War. It would seem that nothing portends future upheavals. The life of the Cossack farm Tatarsky flows peacefully and calmly. This peace is disturbed only by the rumor about the relationship of the married soldier Aksinya Astakhova with Grishka Melekhov. Already at the very beginning of the novel, we see the original bright characters of the characters, whose feelings contradict generally accepted morality. It is in Gregory and Aksinya that the characteristic features of the Cossacks are most fully reflected. The story of Gregory's marriage suggests that in the Cossack environment, the son must unquestioningly obey the will of his father. On the example of the fate of Gregory, we see how much the father's decision could determine the course of his son's entire future life. Gregory is forced to pay for his submission to the will of his father all his life. This decision also makes two outstanding, proud and loving Gregory women unhappy. The drama of the hero's personal life is exacerbated by the upheavals that came to the Don land in 1918. The author of the novel shows how the habitual way of life of the Cossacks collapses, how yesterday's friends become enemies, how family ties are broken...
We see how the life paths of former friends Grigory Melekhov and Mikhail Koshevoy, who is imbued with the political views of the Bolsheviks, diverge. Unlike Gregory, he does not experience doubts and hesitation. The idea of justice, equality and fraternity takes over Koshevoy so much that he no longer considers friendship, love, and family. Despite the fact that Gregory is his old friend and brother of his wife, he insists on his arrest. And when wooing Grigory's sister Dunyashka, he completely pays no attention to Ilyinichna's anger. But he shot her son Peter. Nothing is sacred to this man. He does not even allow himself to relax and enjoy the beauty of his native land. “There, people decide their own and other people's fate, and I feed the fillies. How so? You have to leave, otherwise it will suck you in, ”Mishka thinks when he works as a farmer. Such a fanatical service to the idea, an unshakable confidence in the correctness of their thoughts and actions is also characteristic of other communist heroes portrayed by Sholokhov in the novel.
The writer Grigory Melekhov portrays in a completely different way. This is an outstanding personality, a thinking, searching person. During the First World War, he fought bravely at the front, even received the St. George Cross. He faithfully fulfilled his duty. The ensuing October Revolution and the civil war brought Sholokhov's hero into disarray. Now he no longer knows who is right, on whose side to fight. He is trying to make his choice. And what? At first, he fights for the Reds, but their killing of unarmed prisoners repels him. And when the Bolsheviks come to his homeland, he fiercely fights them. But the search for truth by this Sholokhov hero does not lead to anything, turning his life into a drama.
The whole essence of Gregory resists violence against a person, this repels him from both the Reds and the Whites. “They are all the same! he says to his childhood friends leaning towards the Bolsheviks. “They are all a yoke around the neck of the Cossacks!” And when Grigory learns about the rebellion of the Cossacks in the upper reaches of the Don against the Red Army, he takes the side of the rebels. Now he thinks: “As if there were no days of searching for the truth, trials, transitions and heavy internal struggle. What was there to think about? Why was the soul tossed about - in search of a way out, in resolving contradictions? Life seemed mocking, wisely simple. Gregory comes to the understanding that “everyone has his own, his own furrow. For a piece of bread, for a plot of land, for the right to life - people have always fought and will continue to fight ... We must fight with those who want to take life, the right to it.
But such a truth of life is still not to his liking. He cannot look with indifference at unharvested wheat, uncut bread, empty threshing floors, thinking about how women are torn from overwork at a time when men are waging a senseless war. Why can't you live in peace on your own land and work for yourself, for your family, for the country, after all? This question is asked by Grigory Melekhov, and in his person - all the Cossacks, who dream of free labor in their native land. Gregory hardens, falls into despair. He is forcibly torn away from everything that is dear to him: from home, family, loving people. He is forced to kill people for ideas that he cannot understand... The hero comes to the realization that "life's course is wrong", but he cannot change anything. Although he wants with all his heart that there should be harmony in the Cossack world.
Inviolability among the Cossacks of the house, family M. Sholokhov also reveals in female images. Grigory Ilyinichna's mother and his wife Natalya embody the best features of a Cossack woman: reverence for the sanctity of the hearth, fidelity and devotion in love, patience, pride, diligence.
Rival Natalia Aksinya - a beauty with an independent bold character, stormy temperament - complements the female image of the Cossack, making it more vivid. Gregory's mother was a truly close person for him. She understood him like no other. She also called him to philanthropy: “We used a rumor that you chopped up some sailors ... Lord! Yes, you, Grishenka, come to your senses! You’ve got to get out, looking at what children are growing up, and these, ruined by you, also, I suppose, have left children ... In your childhood, how affectionate and desirable you were, but at the same time you live with shifted eyebrows.
Human life is priceless, and no one has the right to dispose of it even in the name of the noblest ideas. Grigory's mother spoke about this, and the hero himself came to the realization of this as a result of his life ordeals. This idea leads the reader to Sholokhov, who returns us with his novel to the tragic pages of Russian history. In the novel "Quiet Flows the Don", the author affirms a simple truth, telling us that the meaning of human life lies in work, in love, and in caring for children. It is these values that underlie the morality of the Cossacks, whose tragic fate at the beginning of the 20th century is so fully and widely shown by Sholokhov in his wonderful novel.
Grigory Melekhov is the most famous and memorable character in Sholokhov's novel The Quiet Flows the Don. But few people know that in the first edition of the work there was no such hero at all. His place was taken by a certain Abram Ermakov, who outwardly looked very much like Grigory. Why the author decided to make changes to the novel is still unknown.
Hero's appearance
Grigory Melekhov (the characterization of the character will be discussed in detail in this article) is endowed by the author with a “wild” beauty, like all the Cossacks of his kind. He was taller than his older brother, black-haired and hook-nosed, which made him look like a gypsy. The eyes are slightly slanted, almond-shaped and “bluish”, and “the sharp slabs of the cheekbones are covered with brown skin.” His smile was "animal", "wolf teeth" snow-white. Hands are stubborn and callous to caress.
In all his appearance, wildness and rudeness are felt, combined with incredible beauty. Even during the war, he did not lose his attractiveness. Although he lost a lot of weight and became more like an Asian.
Grigory Melikhov wore traditional Cossack clothes: wide trousers, woolen white stockings, chiriks (shoes), a zipun, a spacious shirt, and a sheepskin coat. The clothes have a direct indication of nationality. The author emphasizes the Cossack origin of his hero.
Who is the main character of the novel?
Let's start with the fact that the focus of Sholokhov is the people, and not a specific person. And Gregory stands out from the general background only because he is the embodiment of folk traits. It became a reflection of the Cossack prowess and "love for the economy, for work" - the two main commandments of the Cossacks, who were warriors and farmers at the same time.
But Grigory Melekhov (“Quiet Flows the Don”) is famous not only for this. Distinctive features of his character were self-will, the desire for truth and independence in actions. He always seeks to verify everything personally and does not take anyone's word for it. For him, truth is born slowly, from concrete reality, painfully and painfully. His whole life is the search for truth. The same thoughts tormented the Cossacks, who first encountered the new government.
Grigory Melekhov and Aksinya
The love conflict is one of the main ones in the novel. The relationship of the protagonist with Aksinya runs like a red thread through the entire work. Their feeling was high, but tragic.
Let's talk a little about the heroine. Aksinya is a stately, beautiful and proud Cossack woman, who perceives what is happening very emotionally. A difficult fate fell on her. At the age of sixteen, Aksinya was raped by her father, and a year later they married Stepan Astakhov, who beat her. This was followed by the death of a child. An unloved husband and hard work - that's the whole life of a young woman. Such was the fate of many peasant women and Cossack women, and therefore it is generally accepted that it reflects the whole era of the Quiet Don.
The fate of Grigory Melekhov was closely intertwined with the life of Aksinya. The woman wanted true love, so she so readily responded to the courtship of a neighbor. Passion broke out between the young people, burning fear, shame and doubt.
Even marrying Natalya did not stop Gregory. He continued to meet with Aksinya, for which he was expelled from the house by his father. But even here the lovers did not give up. Their life as workers does not bring happiness. And Aksinya's betrayal with the master's son forces Grigory to return to his wife.
However, the final break does not occur. The lovers start dating again. They carry their feelings through life, despite all the misfortunes and tragedies.
Character
Grigory Melekhov does not run away from reality. He soberly assesses everything that happens around and takes an active part in all events. This is considered the most striking and memorable in his image. He is characterized by breadth of soul and nobility. So, he saves the life of Stepan Astakhov, risking himself, although he does not have any friendly feelings for him. Then he bravely rushes to the rescue of those who killed his brother.
The image of Melekhov is complex and ambiguous. He is characterized by throwing, a feeling of inner dissatisfaction with his actions. That is why he constantly rushes about, for him to make a choice is not an easy task.
Social aspect
The character of the hero is determined by his origin. For example, Listnitsky is a landowner, and Koshevoy is a laborer, so you cannot rely on them. Grigory Melekhov has a completely different origin. "Quiet Don" was written during the heyday of socialist realism and harsh criticism. Therefore, it is not surprising that the main character has a peasant origin, which was considered the most “correct”. However, the fact that he was from the middle peasants became the reason for all his throwing. A worker and an owner coexist in the hero at the same time. This is the cause of internal discord.
Grigory Melekhov in the war practically does not care about his family, even Aksinya fades into the background. At this time, he is trying to understand the social structure and his place in it. In war, the hero does not seek benefits for himself, the main thing is to find the truth. That is why he looks so intently at the world around him. He does not share the enthusiasm of other Cossacks regarding the coming of the revolution. Gregory does not understand why they need her.
Previously, the Cossacks themselves decided who would rule them, chose the ataman, and now they are imprisoned for this. On the Don, neither generals nor peasants are needed, the people will figure it out themselves, as they figured it out before. Yes, and the promises of the Bolsheviks are false. They say that everyone is equal, but here comes the Red Army, chrome boots on the platoon, and the soldiers are all in windings. And where is the equality?
Search
Grigory Melekhov sees reality very clearly and soberly assesses what is happening. In this he is similar to many Cossacks, but there is one difference - the hero is looking for the truth. This is what gives him no rest. Sholokhov himself wrote that the opinion of all the Cossacks was embodied in Melekhov, but his strength was that he was not afraid to speak out and tried to resolve contradictions, and did not humbly accept what was happening, hiding behind words about brotherhood and equality.
Gregory could recognize the correctness of the Reds, but he felt the lie in their slogans and promises. He could not take everything on faith, and when he checked it in practice, it turned out that he was lied to.
Closing one's eyes to lies was tantamount to betraying oneself, one's land and one's people.
How to deal with an unwanted person?
Grigory Melekhov (the characterization confirms this) stood out against the background of other representatives of the Cossacks. This attracted Shtokman's attention to him. This man did not have time to convince people like our hero, so he immediately decided to eliminate him. The innocent Gregory was doomed to arrest and death. And what else to do with unnecessary people who ask unnecessary questions?
The order is given to Koshevoy, who is surprised and embarrassed. Gregory, his friend, is accused of a dangerous way of thinking. Here we see the main conflict of the novel, where two sides clash, each of which is right. Shtokman takes every measure to prevent an uprising that could interfere with the reign of the Soviet power, which he serves. The character of Gregory does not allow him to accept either his fate or the fate of his people.
However, Shtokman's order becomes the beginning of the very uprising that he wanted to prevent. Together with Melekhov, who entered into battle with Koshev, all the Cossacks rise. In this scene, the reader can be convinced with distinct clarity that Gregory is indeed a reflection of the people's will.
Melekhov decides to fight the power of the Reds. And this decision was due to a series of incidents: the arrest of his father, numerous executions in Tatarsky, a threat to the life of the hero himself, insults to the Red Army soldiers stationed at his base.
Gregory has made his choice and is sure of it. However, not all so simple. This is not the last turn in his life.
Throwing
The image of Grigory Melekhov in the novel "Quiet Don" is very ambiguous. He is constantly in throwing and is not sure of the correctness of the choice. So it is with the decision to confront the Red Army. He sees the prisoners and the dead who participated in his uprising, he understands who can benefit from it. The final epiphany comes when Gregory rushes alone to the machine gun and kills the sailors who controlled it. Melekhov then rolls in the snow and exclaims: “Who did I kill!”
The hero again finds himself in conflict with the world. All Melekhov's throwings reflect the fluctuations of the entire Cossacks, which first came from monarchism to Bolshevism, then decided to build autonomy, and then returned to Bolshevism again. Only on the example of Gregory do we see everything more clearly than it happened in reality. This is due to the very character of the hero, with his intransigence, passion, unbridledness. Strictly Melekhov judges himself and those around him. He is ready to answer for his wrong deeds, but he wants others to answer.
Summing up
The image of Grigory Melekhov in the novel "Quiet Don" is full of tragedy. Throughout his life he tried to find the truth, but what did he get in the end? In the last chapter of the book, we see how the hero loses the most precious thing - the woman he loves. The death of Aksinya was the most terrible blow for Melekhov. At that moment, the meaning of life was taken away from him. In this world, he no longer has close people. Spiritual devastation leads him to the forest. He tries to live alone, but can't stand it and returns to the farm where his son lives - the only thing left of Aksinya and their love.
What is the tragedy of Grigory Melekhov? He came into conflict with the world, could not come to terms with its new laws, attempts to change something ended in failure. But the hero could not come to terms with what was happening. The new era "ground" and distorted his fate. Gregory just turned out to be a man who could not adapt to change.
Mikhail Sholokhov wrote a truly brilliant work about such an estate in Russia as the Cossacks. This is the novel Quiet Flows the Don. The heroes of the book are ordinary people with their own difficulties and problems. Women's images in this work are revealed on the basis of traditional ideas about what the purpose of a Cossack woman is, who should be a good mother and keeper of the hearth. The female image in the novel "Quiet Don" helps to reveal the personality of the main character, Grigory Melekhov. Before turning to an analysis of the female images of this famous novel, let us say a few words about how it was created.
History of creation: Quiet Don
The idea of writing a novel about the revolution and ordinary people came to Sholokhov in the mid-20s of the last century.
Sholokhov was puzzled by the need to write a novel in such a way as to explain the historical conditions that led to the revolution. The author writes about the life of people, their life, difficulties, trying to show the growth of revolutionary sentiments. The change in idea led to the fact that the novel received a new name - Quiet Flows the Don.
The life of the characters in the work embodies, according to the author's intention, the life of different segments of the population during the war and revolution.
In addition, Sholokhov sets himself the task of telling about the tragic fate of people who fell into the whirlpool of events from 1914 to 1921.
The concept of the novel The Quiet Flows the Don, which, as can now be seen, differed from the original idea of the author, matured in the last days of 1926. The collection of material for the work began.
To this end, the writer moved to the Veshenskaya village, making trips to nearby farms and talking with participants in the war and revolution. In order to study the folklore of the Cossacks well, the author visits the archives of Rostov and Moscow.
As Sholokhov wrote, he published parts of his novel. Reviews of this work did not leave the pages of the press. Work on the fourth book did not go very quickly, which prompted readers who were worried about the fate of the heroes to write numerous letters to Sholokhov.
It is known that a rumor spread among writers that the novel was written not by Sholokhov, but by a certain murdered officer, from whose bag the manuscript was seized. The author was forced to go to Rostov and assemble a commission to refute the slander.
However, the novel written by Sholokhov has stood the test of time. Many generations of people continue to read it, admiring the original characters of the main characters and experiencing the difficulties of life with them.
So, now we know the history of the creation of "Quiet Flows the Don". Let's move on to the main female images of the novel.
Love triangle
The classic novel is characterized by the main characters of the novel "Quiet Flows the Don" are also doomed to this. In this work, two women, Natalya and Aksinya, love the same Cossack - Grigory Melekhov. Natalya is his legal wife, Aksinya is the wife of the Melekhovs' neighbor, Stepan Astakhov. In the novel The Quiet Flows the Don, Aksinya passionately loves Grigory with forbidden sensual love. It is not surprising that her sincere attitude deeply touched the Cossack's heart.
Aksinya
The image of this woman is central in the novel. She is independent, strong, beautiful. Aksinya is capable of deep feelings. She personifies the ability of a Cossack woman to be independent and passionately love, sacrificing herself.
The character and fate of the heroine
Aksinya's life was not easy. The connection with Grigory, about which the whole farm chatted, became known to her husband, Stepan Astakhov. When he asked if this was true, Aksinya confessed to him without hesitation. Her willingness to take responsibility for her actions betrays in her. What happened between her and Melekhov for Aksinya is not a simple affair, but a deep feeling.
She, like Gregory, did not lie, did not pretend. Both were firmly convinced that the connection between them was not an accidental affair. Such behavior was perceived by the inhabitants of the farm as immoral.
Life according to the dictates of the heart
In the novel "Quiet Flows the Don", Aksinya personifies a sensual nature who wants to live according to her own will, obeying only the dictates of her heart. She is even more courageous than her lover, Grigory Melekhov. It is Aksinya who offers Grigory to leave his native farm, breaking with conventions.
This woman always followed her beloved without asking where they were going, her feeling was so selfless.
Weaknesses and vices
The heroes of the novel "Quiet Flows the Don", like any people, have their own shortcomings. Aksinya is a woman who is capable of strong feelings, her life is ruled by passions, which brings a lot of grief to those around her and herself. Her love for Melekhov in many ways became the reason for his discord with his wife Natalya. Aksinya does not back down even when Grigory and Natalya have children. women also became the reason for her betrayal of Melekhov and Listnitsky. Nevertheless, it is worth recognizing that Aksinya's infidelity further shows her strong feeling for Grigory.
Hopelessness of love between Aksinya and Gregory
Aksinya loves Gregory passionately, her feeling sweeps away everything in its path. She follows him everywhere. People who are able to feel so strongly, as a rule, are rarely happy, they want to be near their loved ones everywhere, to occupy their life completely. The author emphasizes the doom of these relations by the fact that the children of Aksinya and Grigory could not survive. Their union is not harmonious, because such a passion violates the natural balance.
Natalia
Unlike Aksinya, Natalya has a completely different character. "Quiet Don" in the images of these two women shows different types of Cossacks. If Aksinya is freedom-loving, sensual, strong, then Natalya is completely different. She is a faithful wife, a good housewife, a mother. This woman is beautiful, kind, hardworking, but at the same time deeply unhappy. She is the dream of any Cossack, but her husband lacks something in her character, who, in his own way, of course, loves her.
Natalia's love for Gregory
Natalia was deeply in love with Gregory before the wedding. Upon learning that the Melekhovs should marry her, the girl declares that she does not want to marry anyone else.
After the wedding, for her, as for an exemplary wife, her husband and children become the only happiness. Her love for Gregory is submissive and highly moral.
This is the image of Natalia. "Quiet Flows the Don" in this heroine personifies the ideal of the highest female virtue.
Rivals
So, the epic novel "Quiet Don" tells us about the love of two women who competed with each other.
The difference in their characters is very clearly manifested during their meetings with each other.
At the first meeting, Natalya begs Aksinya to leave Grigory. Beloved Gregory shows contempt for his lawful wife. Natalia is defeated.
The second meeting between the women takes place five years later. Natalia becomes stronger, she protects her son and daughter. Both rivals have matured: they have more self-esteem, they do not stoop to scolding and swearing, giving Gregory the opportunity to choose.
Death of Natalia and Aksinya
The novel "Quiet Flows the Don", whose characters formed such a love triangle typical of works of this type, describes the death of many heroes. During the civil war, in fact, people died in countless numbers.
The fate of Grigory Melekhov, who lost his beloved women: Aksinya, whom he loved passionately, and Natalya, turned out to be very difficult. He also loved her in his own way, although he did not admit it.
As for Natalya, this female image in the novel Quiet Flows the Don helps our imagination to imagine a beautiful, God-fearing, but nervous Cossack girl. Her husband's infidelity drove her to a suicide attempt, leaving a permanent scar on her neck.
Long before her death, Natalya thought of leaving the Melekhovs for her parents' house in order to give her husband the opportunity to live with Aksinya, but Grigory's mother dissuaded her from this.
Later, Natalya killed the child Grigory, whom she was carrying. This caused the death of a woman. After the death of Natalia, Aksinya takes care of her children, they even call her mom.
Gregory takes the death of his wife hard. At the sight of the telegram informing him of this, he feels pain in his heart. It became even more painful for him when he found out that Natalya had been pushed to such a terrible step by a conversation with Aksinya, the female image in the novel “Quiet Flows the Don”, which personifies selfless ardent love. However, her feelings are subject to reason, Aksinya has the strength to fight for Grigory. His wife, Natalya, loved him only with her heart, she was too pure, her ideas about people's relationships were too sublime. Aksinya told Grigory's wife about her relationship with him, after which Natalya decides to take a fatal step. It is not known whether beloved Melekhova imagined how this would turn out for her rival.
Having learned the truth, Grigory for some time feels dislike for Aksinya. He remembers Natalya, strokes and caresses the children for a long time, imagining how she kissed and baptized them before her death. It becomes even more painful for him when he learns from Ilyinichna that Natalya forgave him for everything, loving him until the last minute of her unhappy life.
The death of Aksinya also causes deep suffering in Grigory's soul. Beloved dies right in Melekhov's arms. Blood flows from her mouth, bubbling in her throat. This strong Cossack understands that the worst thing happened in his life.
Loneliness Grigory Melekhov
The death of Aksinya led to the fact that Grigory's life practically lost its meaning. He buries her himself, thinking that their parting will be short-lived.
Death has taken from the closest and dearest to his heart people. By the end of the work, he remains only with his son Mishatka.
The death of women dear to his heart, according to the author's intention, deepens the loneliness of the protagonist.
The female image in the novel "Quiet Don", whether it be Natalia, Aksinya or other heroines of the novel, is something that gives strength. Having lost such support, the main character ceases to understand the meaning of his existence.
Other female images in the novel Quiet Flows the Don
The central female images in the novel are, of course, Aksinya and Natalya. However, in this article we cannot ignore other female images.
Gregory's mother, Ilyinichna, deserves special attention. This is a middle-aged Cossack woman who devoted her life to the well-being of her children and family. Its author depicts with This is a real keeper of the hearth. In her youth, Ilyinichna was noted for her beauty and stature, but she quickly grew old from hard work. She drank a lot of grief from her husband, Panteley Prokofievich, who was distinguished by a very sharp temper, and in anger reached unconsciousness.
The whole life of this wise woman is filled with troubles and worries about the family, she tries to isolate them from hardships and troubles. That is her characteristic. Quiet Don portrays Ilyinichna as a good housewife, prudent and economical.
She treats Grigory's relationship with Aksinya negatively. However, during the war, Ilyinichna draws closer to her against the backdrop of worries about her son.
This elderly woman loves her daughter-in-law Natalya, worries about her, tries to shift part of the work to Daria. She feels pain from the fact that Gregory is cheating on her. The death of Natalia shocked Ilyinichna.
No less interesting is the wife of Grigory's older brother, Daria. "Quiet Don" in her image presents to our attention a dissolute, lazy, cunning heroine. She is beautiful, lives for sensual pleasures. Daria loves to attract the attention of men and knows how to do it. She likes gatherings and holidays. After the death of her husband, Daria tried to make up for lost years, twisted novels, which led her to illness and death.
The reader gets acquainted with Dunyasha Melekhova back at the time when she was a long-armed teenager with big eyes. Later, she becomes a slender Cossack woman with an obstinate character. The matured Dunyasha is presented in the novel as a smart, self-sufficient girl who achieves her goal by marrying She fell in love with him despite the fact that her chosen one committed many bloody crimes.
We examined the main female images of the novel "Quiet Flows the Don". It is they who help the author to comprehend a new milestone in the life of the Don Cossacks. The woman in the work of Sholokhov occupies a central place. With it, the author connects questions about the meaning of life, the concepts of happiness and love.
