March 02 2011

Clear, convincing in its simplicity and harsh truth, M. Sholokhov still makes the reader resent and shudder, love passionately and hate sharply.

The volume of the story is striking: the whole life of the family, and the war, and captivity. Even more amazing is the disclosure of Andrei Sokolov. On a small "platform" of the story, a person is shown in joy, and in trouble, and in hatred, and in love, and in peaceful labor, and in war. Behind this image is a multi-million, great, kind, patient people-workers. And how this peaceful people is transformed in the years of military disasters!

Russian soldier! What historian, artist has fully depicted, glorified his valor?! This is a sublime and complex image. Much is fused, intertwined in him such that made him "not only invincible, but also a great martyr, almost a saint - features that consisted of an ingenuous, naive faith, a clear, good-natured cheerful outlook on life, cold and businesslike courage, humility in the face of death, pity for the vanquished, endless patience and amazing physical and moral endurance” (A. Kuprin).

Typical features for a Russian soldier are embodied in the image of Andrei Sokolov. Superimaginable endurance, steadfastness, high moral qualities in the most difficult moments of the war, captivity, post-war life of this man cause a feeling of admiration. “... And I began to gather my courage to look into the hole of the pistol fearlessly, as befits a soldier, so that the enemies would not see at my last minute that it’s still difficult for me to part with my life ... ”Sokolov says. The noble pride of a soldier who does not want to show the enemy the fear of death because shame is worse than death.

Even in cruel enemies, in whom fascism has burned out everything human, the dignity and self-control of the Russian soldier inspires respect. “That's what, Sokolov, you are a real Russian soldier. You are a brave soldier. I am also a soldier and respect worthy opponents. I won't shoot you. In addition, today our valiant troops reached the Volga and completely captured Stalingrad, ”says Muller.

The ability to bring the breadth of the display of life to an epic sound is characteristic only of great talent. Carefully reading the construction of the story, one cannot fail to notice the tale device used by the author, showing the single combat of the Lagerführer and “Russ Ivan”: as in epics and ancient tales that have come down to us from the depths of the people, M. Sholokhov uses the technique of triple amplification. The soldier drank the first glass, preparing for death, and did not have a bite. He drank the second glass and again refused the snack. And only after the third glass of schnapps drunk “stretched out” did he “bite off a small piece of bread, put the rest on the table.”

This is a traditional-fantastic increase in the drama of the action in time. It is used by the writer quite naturally, and this technique of storytellers harmoniously merges with his contemporary story. The work of M. Sholokhov is national in language. The typical image of the Russian soldier Andrei Sokolov reveals in the structure of thought and speech, saturated with well-aimed, original words and folk sayings.

But not only in the noted external signs, such as the technique of triple amplification and the saturation of the language with vivid expressions and proverbs, but, as Belinsky said, in the very "fold of the Russian mind, in the Russian way of looking at things" the writer's nationality is manifested. A sensitive artist, M. Sholokhov, with all his life, with all his thoughts, was connected with the life of his people, with their thoughts and hopes. it was nourished by the life-giving springs of folk wisdom, its great truth and beauty. This determined the fidelity of every detail, every intonation of his work. The main advantage of the story, probably, is that it is built on the correct disclosure of the deepest movements of the human soul.

It would seem that the strength of Andrei Sokolov, mercilessly beaten by life, is about to run out. But no! In his soul lies an inexhaustible source of love. And this love, this good beginning in a person guides all his actions.

No one is able to read without excitement the following monologue by Andrey Sokolov at the beginning of the story: “Sometimes you don’t sleep at night, you look into the darkness with empty eyes and think:“ Why did you, life, cripple me like that? Why did you distort it like that?" I don’t have an answer either in the dark or in the clear sun ... No, and I won’t wait!

Millions of Sokolov's peers, who did not return from the battlefields, who died of wounds and premature illnesses already in peacetime, after the Victory, will never wait for a painful answer to this question.

Only very recently have we begun to talk openly about the huge, often completely unnecessary victims of the Second World War; that it might not exist at all, if Stalin's policy towards Germany had been more far-sighted; about our completely immoral attitude towards our compatriots who were in German captivity ... But after all, the fate of a person can no longer be reversed, not altered!

And at first, Sokolov's life developed like that of many of his peers. “I was in the civilian life in the Red Army ... In the hungry twenty-second, I went to the Kuban, to kill the fists, and therefore survived.” Fate generously rewarded Sokolov for his ordeals, giving him such a wife as his Irinka: “Affectionate, quiet, does not know where to seat you, fights to prepare sweet kvass for you even with a small income.” Maybe Irinka was like that because she was brought up in an orphanage and all the unspent affection fell on her husband and children?

But a person often does not appreciate what he has. Underestimated, it seems to me, his wife and Andrei Sokolov before leaving for the front. “Other women are talking to their husbands, talking to their sons, and mine clung to me like a leaf to a branch, and only trembles all over ... She says, and sobs behind every word: “My dear ... Andryusha ... we won’t see you ... you and I ... more ... in this ... world ... " Andrei Sokolov appreciated those farewell words much later, after the news of the death of his wife along with her daughters: "Until my death, until my last hour, I will die, and I will not forgive myself for pushing her away then!. ."

The rest of his actions during the war and after the Victory were worthy, masculine. Real men, according to Sokolov, are at the front. He “could not stand such slobbering people, who every day, to the point and not to the point, wrote to wives and sweethearts, smeared snot on paper. It's hard, they say, it's hard for him, and look, they'll kill him. And here he is, a bitch in his pants, complaining, looking for sympathy, salivating, but he doesn’t want to understand that these unfortunate women and kids were no sweeter than ours in the rear.

It was not sweet at the front for Sokolov himself. Provo-shaft it is less than a year old. After two minor wounds - a severe shell shock and captivity, which was considered a disgrace in the official Soviet propaganda of that time. However, Sholokhov successfully circumvents the pitfalls of this problem: he simply does not touch it, which is not surprising if you remember the time when the story was written - 1956. But on the other hand, Sholokhov measured out Sokolov in full for trials behind enemy lines. The first test is the murder of the traitor Kryzhnev. Not every one of us decides to help a completely unfamiliar person. And Sokolov helped. Maybe he did this because shortly before that, a completely unfamiliar military officer helped Sokolov? He fixed his dislocated arm. There is the humanism and nobility of one and the meanness and cowardice of the other.

Sokolov himself cannot be denied courage. The second test is an attempt to escape. Andrei took advantage of the oversight of the guards, fled, went for forty kilometers, but he was caught, the dogs were let loose ... He survived, did not bend, did not keep silent, "criticized" the regime in the concentration camp, although he knew that for this - certain death. Sholokhov masterfully describes the scene of confrontation between the Russian soldier Sokolov and the commandant of the concentration camp Müller. And it is decided in favor of the Russian soldier. Even a great connoisseur of the Russian soul, who spoke Russian no worse than us, Müller was forced to admit: “Here's the thing, Sokolov, you are a real Russian soldier. You are a brave soldier. I am also a soldier and respect worthy opponents. I won't shoot you."

Sokolov repaid Muller and all enemies for the gift of life in full, having carried out a successful escape from captivity and grabbing an invaluable language - his major builder. It seemed that fate should have mercy on Sokolov, but no ... Frost passes through the skin when you learn about two more blows that befell the hero: the death of his wife and daughters under the bombing in June 1942 and his son on Victory Day.

Nobody likes war. But for thousands of years people have suffered and died, killed others, burned and broken. To conquer, to seize, to exterminate, to seize - all this was born in greedy minds both in the mists of time and in our days. One force collided with another. Some attacked and robbed, others defended and tried to save. And during this confrontation, everyone had to show everything they are capable of. There are enough examples of heroism, courage, fortitude and bravery in Russian history. This is the invasion of the Tatar-Mongols, when the Russians had, without sparing themselves, to fight for every piece of their native land, when their army of many millions was forced to take the cities defended by one or two hundred heroes for weeks. Or during the invasion of Napoleon, beautifully described by Tolstoy in War and Peace, we meet the boundless strength, courage and unity of the Russian people. Every single person, and the whole nation, was a hero. The more the population of the earth became, the more hatred accumulated in the hearts, the more fierce the wars became. With the development of science, military equipment and military art were also improved. Less and less depended on each individual, everything was decided in the battles of huge armies and equipment. And yet people remained the determining factor. The combat effectiveness of companies, regiments, and armies depended on the behavior of each. There are no superheroes in war. All heroes. Everyone performs his own feat: someone rushes into battle, under bullets, others, outwardly invisible, establish communications, supplies, work in factories to exhaustion, save the wounded. Therefore, it is the fate of an individual person that is especially important for writers and poets. Mikhail Sholokhov told us about a wonderful man. The hero experienced a lot and proved what power a Russian person can possess.

Before the war, he lived an ordinary, inconspicuous life. He worked "in a carpenter's artel, then went to the factory, learned to be a locksmith." I found myself a good, kind, loving wife. They had children and went to school. Everything was calm, quiet, smooth. And the man began to think about a happy old age. "And here it is, the war." Crosses out all hopes and forces to part with the house. But the duty to the Motherland and to himself makes Sokolov boldly go to meet the enemy. Any person experiences terrible torment, breaking away from his beloved family, and only truly courageous people can go to death not only for the sake of their home and relatives, but also for the life and peace of other people.

But fighting is not as easy as it seems. It is difficult to maintain order and clarity during combat. Where is the enemy, where are our own, where to go, who to shoot at - everything is mixed up. So Sokolov, in the chaos of the war, was shell-shocked and taken prisoner. “I woke up, but I can’t get on my feet: my head is twitching, everything is shaking, as if in a fever, there is darkness in my eyes ...” Then the Nazis took him. And here, in captivity, the most terrible trials begin. People are cut off from their homeland, there is no chance of survival, and there is also bullying and torture. “They beat you because you are Russian, because you are still looking at the wide world ...” The food was bad: water, gruel, sometimes bread. And they were forced to work from morning to evening.

But being a prisoner does not mean being useless to the country. It's not betrayal, it's not weakness. Even in captivity there is a place for heroism. You must not lose heart, you must believe in victory, believe in your strength and not lose hope for deliverance. Despite the fact that a person was deprived of shoulder straps, weapons, he still must remain a soldier, be faithful to his homeland to the end. That is why Sokolov cannot accept Kryzhnev's betrayal. This vile and low man is ready to betray his friends for the sake of his life. “Your shirt is closer to your body,” says this nonentity. And so, fulfilling his soldier's duty,

Sokolov strangled the traitor with his own hands and did not feel any pity or shame, but only disgust: as if I was not a person, but some kind of creeping reptile ... ”Sokolov had to see and experience a lot in captivity. They were chased all over Germany, humiliated, forced to bend their backs. And more than once death passed by. But the strongest, most acute test happened to Sokolov when he met the commandant of the B-14 camp, when the real threat of death hung over him. It was here that the fate of Sokolov as a soldier, as a real son of the Motherland, was decided. After all, you also need to be able to die with dignity! Sokolov was able not to follow the commandant's lead and maintain human dignity to the end. He did not give in to the authorities, but, on the contrary, showed himself with dignity. And with an unbending will, Sokolov won the right to life from fate. And even a German officer recognized in Sokolov a person, and not a slave, resignedly going to his death.

From that moment on, Sokolov felt better. He even got a job as a driver. The Russians were advancing and were already close. With extraordinary strength, Sokolov's desire for the Motherland increased. Both fear and a sense of danger receded into the background, risking his life - all that he had left - Sokolov breaks through the front line. “You are my dear lip-slap. Dear son! What kind of Fritz am I to you when I am a natural Voronezh citizen? - he exclaims at a meeting with his own. His joy is immeasurable.

Much difficult, terrible was the fate of Sokolov. He lost loved ones. But it was important not to break down, but to endure and remain a soldier and a man to the end: “That’s why you are a man, that’s why you are a soldier, to endure everything, to demolish everything ...” And Sokolov’s main feat is that he did not become stale soul, did not get angry at the whole world, but remained able to love. And Sokolov found himself a "son", the very person to whom he would give his whole fate, life, love, strength. He will be with him in joy and in sorrow. But nothing will erase this horror of war from Sokolov’s memory, he will be carried with him by “eyes, as if sprinkled with ashes, filled with such inescapable mortal longing that it is difficult to look into them.”

Sokolov lived not for himself, not for fame and honors, but for the lives of other people. Great is his feat! A feat in the name of life!

1. New!

   Twelve years after the Great Patriotic War in 1957 M.A. Sholokhov writes the story "The Fate of a Man", the main character of which is a simple Russian man - Andrei Sokolov. The personality of Andrei Sokolov M. Sholokhov reveals using ...

The enemies burned down his native hut, Ruined his entire family. Where is the soldier to go now, Whom to bear his sadness? M. V. Isakovsky “The Fate of a Man” is a story about how a person defeated his fate, and a child became a symbol of this victory. At the front and in German...

Criticism has already written about the peculiar circular composition of the story. The meeting of the narrator with Andrei Sokolov and his adopted son Vanyusha at the crossing over the spring flooded river at the beginning and farewell at the end with the boy and a stranger, but now become...

The name of M. A. Sholokhov is known to all mankind. In the early spring of 1946, that is, in the first post-war spring, M.A. Sholokhov accidentally met an unknown person on the road and heard his story-confession. For ten years the writer hatched the idea of ​​a work, ...

Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov is a writer whose work reflects the life of his native people at the frontiers that become historical milestones. One of the brightest chapters in the life of the Russian people is associated with the years of the Great Patriotic War.

At the beginning of the war, Sholokhov was drafted into the ranks of the Soviet Army as a reserve commissar, where he became a war correspondent for Pravda and Krasnaya Zvezda. From the first days of the war, Sholokhov devoted his work to serving the people, who entered into a deadly battle with the Nazis. Therefore, the deeply patriotic theme - the feat of man in the Great Patriotic War - hushed up for a long time the main place in the writer's works. During these years, he creates the works "The Fate of a Man" and "They Fought for the Motherland."

Russian literature of the 20th century is characterized by close attention to the inner world of man. M.A. Sholokhov is one of those masters of the word who, showing the spiritual beauty of their heroes, reveal the essence of the human personality.

war, the writer with amazing skill depicted "the main thing that is commonly called the moral image of the people, its national character."

In the story "The Fate of a Man", published in 1956, a Russian man is drawn with great love.

In The Fate of a Man, Sholokhov reminds the reader of the disasters that the Great Patriotic War brought to the Russian people, of the stamina of a man who endured all the torment and did not break. Sholokhov's story is permeated with boundless faith in the spiritual strength of the Russian people.

The plot is based on vivid psychological episodes. Seeing off to the front, captivity, an attempt to escape, a second escape, news of the family.

Such rich material would be enough for a whole novel, but Sholokhov managed to fit it into a short story.

Sholokhov based the plot on a real story told to the author in the first post-war year by a simple driver who had just returned from the war. There are two voices in the story: Andrey Sokolov, the main character, “leads”. The second voice is the voice of the author, listener, random interlocutor

In the first post-war spring, two strangers met on the Upper Don land.

The tragedy and life circumstances of one man stirred up the soul of another, who also knew firsthand the price of suffering.

Andrei Sokolov mistakenly mistook a man standing near an old car for a driver and felt special confidence in the stranger.

He lets his adopted son Vanya play near the water, and word by word he told the story of his own ordeals.

In addition, Sokolov saw that his interlocutor was dressed in "soldiers' cotton trousers and a quilted jacket", which means he fought. Front-line soldiers always feel their inner kinship and communicate as close people.

Having told about his pre-war life, the hero “resurrected” the images of people dear to him: his wife Irina, two daughters and a son. Ten years of family life, according to Sokolov, rushed by like one day. “I made good money, and we lived no worse than people. And the children made us happy: all three of them studied “excellently” ... they have a roof over their heads, they are dressed, shod, so everything is in order, ”says the hero-narrator. Such a peaceful happiness of millions was destroyed in one day by the war.

Andrey Sokolov perceives the perfidious attack of the enemy both as his own misfortune and as a tragedy for the whole people. From the very beginning of the war, Sokolov was in the ranks of the Red Army, at the forefront. No matter how bravely the Russian soldiers fought, they still had to retreat in the first months of the battles.

Sholokhov emphasizes the similarity of the military biography of his hero with the fate of thousands of soldiers. Being wounded, Andrey Sokolov gets into fascist captivity. Being in captivity, when the enemy tramples on his native land, destroys everything that is dear to the heart of a Russian person, becomes a difficult moral test for the hero. “Oh, brother, this is not an easy thing to understand that you are not in captivity of your own free will.

Whoever has not experienced this in their own skin, you will not immediately enter into the soul, so that it comes to him as a human being what this thing means, ”Andrei Sokolov said bitterly.

M.A. Sholokhov, having made the main character a man who had been in captivity, rehabilitated the good name of those who, against their will, ended up in German camps and continued to fight against the hated enemy there. The Russian national character of Andrei Sokolov manifested itself primarily in the fact that the Nazis could not break his will, failed to change his mind, did not incline him to betrayal.

Thousands of prisoners of war, despite physical torture, did not submit to the enemy. This is the historical truth.

The writer, through the mouth of the hero-narrator, conveys the terrible and bitter truth. It is difficult for Sokolov to remember the captivity, but for the sake of the memory of the soldiers who died in the fascist dungeons, he continues his terrible story. Sokolov emphasizes that he always found moral and physical support in his comrades in misfortune. If he talks about his stay in captivity, as if apologizing to someone, then the story of a military doctor who was captured, but who provided assistance to wounded compatriots, is colored with an intonation of admiration: “That's what a real doctor means! He did his great work both in captivity and in the dark. Betrayal among Russian soldiers is an extremely rare case. That is why Sokolov strangled Private Kryzhnev, who, in order to save his own skin, planned to betray his platoon leader. And this, it seems, manifested the Russian national character of the hero, who destroyed the one who, in his opinion, dishonors the title of Russian soldier.

Sokolov survived in captivity only because he dreamed of breaking free, joining the Red Army and mercilessly beating the enemy who desecrated the Russian land.

The first attempt ended in failure. Mutilated by dogs and beaten by the Nazis, Andrei Sokolov is put in a punishment cell.

Having reached this episode in his military biography, the hero interrupts the story. He does not want to talk about himself, because he believed that others were even worse in Nazi captivity. Turning to the interlocutor, he frankly says: “It’s hard for me, brother, to remember ... when you remember all the friends and comrades who were tortured there in the camp, the heart is no longer in the chest, but in the throat beats, and it becomes difficult to breathe .. ."

The words about the torture to which the Germans subjected people were uttered with bitterness. In such a simple form, the hero of the story outlined the essence of fascism - an anti-human system, a death machine.

It was the Russian people who destroyed the "brown plague of the 20th century", because we are a spiritually strong nation.

The psychological duel between Andrei Sokolov and Lagerführer Müller is evidence of the greatness of the Russian people. The hero was summoned to the head of the camp for reprisals. The Nazis loved to demonstrate their power over a person, they knew how to mock prisoners in a sadistic way.

Sokolov rejected the offer to "drink to the victory of German weapons", but agreed to drink "to his death." The prisoner proudly refused snacks. He explained to his new acquaintance: “I wanted to show them, damned, that although I’m dying of hunger, I’m not going to choke on their sop, that I also have my own, Russian dignity and pride, and that they didn’t turn me into cattle, no matter how hard you try."

And yet the hero realized his cherished dream, which he cherished for two terrible years. He managed to escape from captivity and move to his own, to the active army.

The joy of liberation was overshadowed by the most terrible news that a person can receive: "... back in June of the forty-second year" during the German bombing, his wife and daughters were killed. The voice of the hero-narrator trembles, "suffocation crushes" him.

Through the eyes of the author we see spring nature: “In the forest flooded with hollow water, a woodpecker tapped loudly ... everything was the same ... clouds floated in the cherry blue, but in these moments of mournful silence, the boundless world seemed to me different, preparing for the great deeds of spring, to the eternal affirmation of the living in life.

This changed face of the world confirms the truth: Russian people are able to perceive someone else's pain as their own. Death has been reaping a bloody harvest for four years, and the post-war spring so insistently affirms the triumph of life.

From the story of Andrei Sokolov, we learned about the last terrible loss: on Victory Day, his eldest son dies in Berlin. Everything that was dear to the hero-narrator was carried away by the war.

In the story of M. A. Sholokhov "The Fate of a Man" appears not just a story, but really the fate of a man who embodied the typical features of the national Russian character. Andrei Sokolov, a humble worker, the father of a family, lived and was happy in his own way. But suddenly the war ... Sokolov went to the front to defend his homeland. Like thousands of others like him, Andrei faced inevitable and inevitable horrors in the war. She tore him away from his home, from his family, from work. Andrey Sokolov's existence seemed to be overturned, until recently such a happy life suddenly began to beat and whip him with all its might for no reason. Why is this man so punished? Sokolov's suffering is not an episode connected with the private fate of a person. . The horrors of the Second World War were imposed on the Russian man, and at the cost of enormous sacrifices and personal losses, tragic upheavals and hardships, he defended his homeland. This is the meaning of the story "The fate of man." In Sholokhov's story, the feat of a man appeared mainly not on the battlefield and not on the labor front, but in the conditions of fascist captivity, behind the barbed wire of a concentration camp. In the spiritual single combat with fascism, the character of Andrei Sokolov, his courage, is revealed. Andrei Sokolov survived all the hardships of the war away from his homeland. His share is the inhuman trials of fascist captivity. More than once death looked into his eyes. And the whole point of the story is that each time Andrei Sokolov found the courage to remain human. But not only in a collision with the enemy, Sholokhov sees the manifestation of a heroic person in nature. No less serious test for the hero are his losses, the loss of loved ones and home, his loneliness. After all, Andrei Sokolov emerged victorious from the war, returned peace to the world, and in the war he lost everything that he had in life "for himself": family, love, happiness. Ruthless and heartless fate did not leave the soldier even a haven on earth. In the place where his house, built by him, stood, there was a dark crater from a German air bomb. Andrei Sokolov says to his casual interlocutor: “Sometimes you don’t sleep at night, you look into the darkness with empty eyes and think:“ Why did you, life, cripple me like that? “There is no answer for me either in the dark or in the clear sun ... No, and I can’t wait!” After all that he had experienced, Andrei Sokolov, it would seem, could consider life a curse. But he does not grumble at the world, does not withdraw into his grief, but goes to the people. Left alone in this world, this man gave all the warmth that remained in his heart to the orphan Vanyusha, replacing his father. He adopted an orphan and that is why he began to gradually return to life. M. A. Sholokhov, with the whole logic of his story, proved that his hero is in no way broken and cannot be broken. Having gone through the most difficult trials, he retained the most important thing - human and civic dignity, love of life, humanity, helping to live, fight, work. . He is kind, trusting to people, caring, helpful with comrades, attentive to a person in trouble, fair and under no circumstances loses high human dignity, conscience, honor. His moral ties with people are so strong that even the most difficult experiences of the war could not cut them off. Andrei Sokolov M. Sholokhova is a truly Russian person, the best representative of a great people

but a man” is written in the usual Sholokhov style: the plot is based on vivid psychological episodes. Seeing off to the front, captivity, first meeting with the Germans on the road, an attempt to escape, explanations with Muller, a second escape, news of the family, news of the son. Such rich material would be enough for a whole novel, but Sholokhov managed to fit it into a short story. The plot of "The Fate of a Man" by M. Sholokhov was based on a real story told to the author in the first post-war year, on the day of a big spring flood, by a simple driver who had just returned from the war. There are two voices in the story. The first belongs to Andrei Sokolov - the main character, who talks about his life. The second voice is the voice of the author, listener, random interlocutor. Andrei Sokolov had a hard time in life. First, he goes to the front, leaving his wife and children at home, then he is captured by the Nazis. How many humiliations, insults, beatings the hero had to experience in captivity. A well-deserved reward for such fortitude of the soul was the opportunity to see the family. But, having arrived home, Andrey learns that the family has died, and in the place where the native house stood, there is a deep pit filled with rusty water and overgrown with weeds. That, it would seem, is all that remains in the life of Andrei Sokolov - weeds and rusty water, but he learns from neighbors that his son is at the front. However, here, too, fate did not spare the grief-stricken man: Andrei's son dies in the last days of the war, when the long-awaited victory was within easy reach. The author's voice helps us not only to experience, but also to comprehend a separate human life as a phenomenon of an entire era, to see in it the universal content and meaning. But in Sholokhov's story, another voice sounded - a sonorous, clear children's voice. Appearing at the beginning of the story so carefree-voiced, he then leaves to become a direct participant in the final scenes, the protagonist of a lofty human tragedy. In The Destiny of a Man, the humanistic condemnation of the war, of the fascist regime, resounds not only in the history of Andrei Sokolov. With no less force of the curse, it is heard in the story of Vanyusha. And what an indestructible force of good, the beauty of the soul is revealed to us in Andrei Sokolov, in the way he treated the orphan. He returned joy to Vanyushka, defended him from pain, suffering and sorrow. It was here, in Andrei Sokolov's attitude to childhood, to Vanyusha, that humanism won a great victory. M. Sholokhov focuses the reader's attention not only on the episode of Sokolov's meeting with the orphan Vanya. The scene in the church is also very colorful. The cruel Germans shot a man only because he asked to go out into the street so as not to desecrate the shrine, God's temple. In the same church, Andrey Sokolov kills a man. But not in the way that real cold-blooded killers do - he saved another person from the inevitable execution (the Germans killed all communists and Jews). Andrey Sokolov endured so much in his life, but he was not broken, did not become embittered at fate, at people, at himself, he remained a man with a kind soul, a sensitive heart, capable of pitying, loving and compassionate. Fortitude, spirit of courage and camaraderie - all these qualities not only remained unchanged in the character of Andrei Sokolov, but also multiplied. Joining the opinion of critics, I would like to add one thing: you need to be a great personality, a real person, in order to be able to endure all the grief, misfortune, tears, separation, death of relatives, the pain of humiliation and insults and not become after that a beast with a predatory look and an eternally embittered soul, but to remain a person with an open mind and a kind heart.

Answer

The feat of a soldier in M. Sholokhov's story "The Fate of a Man"

M. Sholokhov posed and resolved serious philosophical and moral problems in his works. In all the works of the writer, in one context or another, the interweaving of two main themes is traced: the theme of man and the theme of war.

In The Fate of a Man, Sholokhov reminds the reader of the disasters that the Great Patriotic War brought to the Russian people, of the stamina of a man who endured all the torment and did not break. Sholokhov's story is permeated with boundless faith in the spiritual strength of the Russian people.

The plot is based on vivid psychological episodes. Seeing off to the front, captivity, an attempt to escape, a second escape, news of the family. Such rich material would be enough for a whole novel, but Sholokhov managed to fit it into a short story.

Sholokhov based the plot on a real story told to the author in the first post-war year by a simple driver who had just returned from the war. There are two voices in the story: Andrey Sokolov, the main character, “leads”. The second voice is the voice of the author, listener, casual interlocutor. Andrei Sokolov's voice in the story is a frank confession. He told a stranger about his whole life, threw out everything that he had kept in his soul for years. Surprisingly unmistakably found landscape background for the story of Andrei Sokolov. The junction of winter and spring. And it seems that only in such circumstances the story of the life of a Russian soldier could sound with breathtaking frankness of confession.

This man had a hard time in life. He goes to the front, is captured with inhuman conditions of existence. But he had a choice, he could have secured a tolerable life for himself by agreeing to inform on his own comrades.

Once at work, Andrei Sokolov inadvertently spoke about the Germans. His statement cannot be called a remark thrown at the enemy, it was a cry from the heart: “Yes, one square meter of these stone slabs is a lot for the grave of each of us.”

A well-deserved reward was the opportunity to see the family. But, having arrived home, Andrei Sokolov learns that the era's family has died, and in the place where the native house stood is a deep pit overgrown with weeds. Andrei's son dies in the last days of the war, when the long-awaited victory was within easy reach. The voice of the author helps us to comprehend human life as a phenomenon of an entire era, to see in it the universal content and meaning. But in Sholokhov's story, another voice sounded - a sonorous, clear childish voice, it seemed that it did not know the full measure of all the troubles and misfortunes that fall to the human lot. Appearing at the beginning of the story so carefree-voiced, he then leaves, this boy, in order to become a direct participant in the final scenes, the protagonist of a high human tragedy. All that remains in Sokolov's life are memories of his family and an endless road. But life cannot consist of only black stripes. The fate of Andrei Sokolov brought him together with a boy of six years old, as lonely as himself. Nobody needed the grimy boy Vanyatka. Only Andrei Sokolov took pity on the orphan, adopted Vanyusha, gave him all his unspent father's love.

It was a feat, a feat not only in the moral sense of the word, but also in the heroic one. In Andrei Sokolov's attitude to childhood, to Vanyusha, humanism won a great victory. He triumphed over the anti-humanity of fascism, over destruction and loss. Sholokhov teaches humanism. This concept cannot be turned into a beautiful word. Indeed, even the most sophisticated critics, speaking on the topic of humanism in the story "The Fate of a Man", speak of a great moral feat. Joining the opinion of critics, I would like to add one thing: you need to be a real person in order to be able to endure all the grief, tears, separation, death of relatives, the pain of humiliation and insults and not become after that a beast with a predatory look and an eternally embittered soul, but remain human.