Topic: satirical depiction of reality in fairy tales

Lesson topic: Satirical depiction of reality in fairy tales wild landlord" And " wise gudgeon» M.E. Saltykov - Shchedrin.

Lesson type: a combined lesson using elements of the technology "Development of critical thinking through reading and writing."

Techniques used:“Letter in a circle”, “Mosaic”, “Double diary”, “Reading with stops”.

Goals: didactic (training) - to acquaint with the stages of the life and work of the writer, to reveal artistic originality fairy tales M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin.

Developing:- to continue developing the skills and abilities of the analysis of a work of art; development of a culture of oral and written speech, development of the skill to characterize a literary hero.

Educational: moral education students.

The ability to see human vices to strive to eradicate them in others and in oneself. Education of a respectful attitude to literature, the Russian language.

Interdisciplinary connections: literature, Russian language, history.

Ensuring the lesson:

Visual aids: portrait of the writer M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, texts of fairy tales "The Wild Landowner", "The Wise Gudgeon".

Handout: reference logic circuit “Tales of M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, literary dictionary(dictionary literary terms), illustrations for fairy tales.

Literature: texts of fairy tales, textbook Yu.V. Lebedev "Literature", dictionaries.

Normative and technical documentation: KTP lesson plan.

Work notes on the board:

“I am a writer, this is my calling.”

Stages of the biography and creativity of M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. The satirical depiction of reality in the fairy tales "The Wild Landowner" and "The Wise Minnow" by M.E. Saltykov - Shchedrin.

aliveness of pain and

Continuous her

Feeling serves

source of the living

Images.

M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin

Name of the stage of the lesson

Technology element name

Student activities

Teacher activity

Time

Orgmoment

Workplace preparation

Definition of readiness for work.

introduction

Motivation

Message "Stages of the biography and work of Saltykov-Shchedrin"

Providing necessary assistance

Analysis of the fairy tale "The Wild Landowner"

Working with the text of a fairy tale:

Retelling, answers to questions, analysis of fairy tales.

retelling

Checking the knowledge of the text by a chain

Reading text conversation

Question answer

frontally

Teacher questions

Work with illustrations based on the fairy tale "The Wild Landowner"

Element of technology "Letter in a circle"

Paperwork students

Teacher control

The story according to the scheme

Mosaic technology element

Each group answers the question proposed according to the scheme

vocabulary work

Writing in notebooks, searching for vocabulary words in the text

Teacher help

Summing up the work on fairy tales

Conclusion of students

Homework

Element "Double diary"

Filling in the table "Phrases from the text"

Analysis of the fairy tale "The Wise Minnow":

1. Historical background

Student message

Teacher control

2. Retelling

Student activities

Teacher help

3. Analysis of the fairy tale

Q&A frontal

Questions are asked by the teacher

4. Conclusion on a fairy tale

Conclusion of students

5. Vocabulary work

Element "Reading with stops"

Writing in notebooks

whiteboard writing

6. Conclusion on a fairy tale

The question "What does a fairy tale teach?"

7. Logic work

Mosaic technology element

Studying the circuit, answers

8. The result of the lesson

The result is summed up by the teacher

9. Homework

Tech element "Double diary"

Writing in notebooks

Teacher's explanation

Stages of the lesson

Introductory speech of the teacher. (3 minutes)

"Stages of the biography and work of Saltykov-Shchedrin". (student reports)

(7 minutes)

Work with the text of fairy tales. Reading, retelling and analysis of the fairy tales "The Wild Landowner", "The Wise Minnow". (60 minutes)

Vocabulary: (10 minutes)

Summary of work. (4 minutes)

6. Analysis of the lesson (implementation of the plan, grading). (3 minutes)

7. Homework. (3 minutes)

Lesson scenario

I. Organizational moment. Introductory speech of the teacher.

1. The topic and objectives of the lesson are reported.

2. M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin is a writer of great skill. His work continues and deepens the satirical trend in Russian literature.

Writer - satirist, publicist, critic, editor covers many areas public life Russia.

Saltykov-Shchedrin's heritage we rightly call classical, because his literary name remains in the spiritual consciousness of descendants, enriches us with knowledge of human characters, the experience of history. So today we will try to understand the stages of life, creative heritage this amazing writer

II. The message "Stages of the biography and work of Saltykov - Shchedrin (students compose chronological table).

On January 15 (27), 1826, in the village of Spas - the Corner of the Kalyazinsky district of the Tver province, the son Mikhail was born in the family of landowners Saltykov, but 30 years later, in August 1856, he was destined to be born again, but already as a writer Saltykov-Shchedrin.

“I grew up in the bosom of serfdom, fed with the milk of a serf nurse, brought up by serf mothers and, finally, taught to read and write by a serf literate,” the writer recalled.

Belinsky V.G. had a great influence on the future writer. Russian critic who taught to think, to indicate the purpose of life.

In 1844, Saltykov-Shchedrin was released from the lyceum (Tsarskoe Selo), and before that he received an excellent education at the Noble Institute in Moscow and was sent to the office of the military ministry. Then he joins the circle of Mikhail Petrashevsky, where revolutionary ideas are spread.

In 1847, the first story "Contradictions" was written, and then "A Tangled Case" under the pseudonym "Nikolai Shchedrin".

For participation in the work of the Petrashevsky circle, for composing his stories, published without the knowledge of his superiors, Saltykov-Shchedrin was exiled to Vyatka (1848)

In 1855, after 7 years of exile, Emperor Alexander II allowed the official Saltykov to "reside and serve wherever he wanted." From 1848 to 1856 in literary activity there was a break. And although in 1856 they published " Provincial essays”, which brought the writer truly recognition and fame, he continues to serve first in the Ministry of the Interior, and then as a vice-governor in Ryazan and Tver. “I will not let a man be hurt,” these words of the writer became the motto of all activities in the field of service to the tsar and the fatherland. But in 1862 he left the position, deciding to devote all his time literary work. Upon arrival in St. Petersburg, he became a member of the editorial board of the Sovremennik magazine. “I am a writer, this is my vocation,” said Shchedrin.

In 1877, after the death of N.A. Nekrasov, he will head the magazine " Domestic notes", which was organized instead of the banned "Contemporary". In the spring of 1884 this magazine will also be closed. Summing up his life, in the fall of 1887, Saltykov-Shchedrin wrote: “In 1868 he completely left the service and devoted himself exclusively to literature, wrote 22 book titles.” His thoughts and thoughts focused on one literature, for the sake of it he sacrificed a lot, he thought about it in the last minutes of his life.

III. Analysis of the fairy tale "The Wild Landowner"

Each group works on the questions that were given in advance as homework.

Questions for homework:

Fairy tale "Wild landowner"

Plan: 1 – brief retelling

2 - find elements folk tale

3 - what is the difference from folk tales

4 - what vices does the writer distinguish? What is he laughing at?

5 - what episodes caused a smile while reading?

Fairy tale "The wise minnow"

Plan: 1 - brief retelling

2 - analysis

3 - how do you understand the meaning of the title?

4 - what is the meaning of the epithet "wise"

Retelling (short) of the fairy tale "The Wild Landowner".

Reading conversation

1. Introduce the elements of a folk tale (In a certain kingdom, no sooner said than done, by magic, how much, how little time has passed, elements that are usually found in CNTs: “black heap”, the body is white, loose, crumbly”).

2. What is the difference from folk tales? (“And this landowner was stupid. He read the newspaper “Vest”).

3. What vices does the writer point out? What is he laughing at?

(The stupid landowner is full of fear that the peasants will “come” all his goods. The “liberated” peasants “wherever they look - everything is impossible and not allowed, but not yours.” The exhausted peasants prayed: “Lord! small than to toil like this all your life! ”The desire of the peasants was fulfilled“ the merciful byg heard the orphan’s tearful prayer, and there was no peasant in the entire space of the possessions of the stupid landowner.

4. What episodes when reading caused a smile. (Students share their impressions).

6. What happens to the landowner after the disappearance of the peasant? (There comes not only hunger and all sorts of hardships, but also complete savagery. The Russian nobleman turns into a wild beast that tears prey with his nails, and eats with all the insides with a skin).

7. What does the savagery of the landowner testify to?

(The fact that the people are the creator of both material and spiritual values). Without it, not only meat and butter disappear from the market, but culture declines. Hence the conclusion: the Russian peasant is the breadwinner and waterer, Russia lives as a peasant, by his work and cares. The people are the creator of material and spiritual wealth, without it hunger and savagery will come.

(The words of the satirist dedicated to the people are filled with bitterness. He endures the oppression of the landowner and only turns to God for help. At the end of the tale, a swarm of peasants flies, “now this grace has been collected, put in a cage and sent to the county.” Of course, this is a grotesque image, but the bitter truth is expressed in a fantastic form. The peasants are likened to dumb creatures living a herd life. In a fairy tale, there is a call to struggle, to action).

Vocabulary work. Writing in workbooks:

Grotesque- type artistic imagery based on fiction; depiction of reality in an exaggerated, ugly comic way.

Hyperbola- exaggeration of certain properties of the depicted object.

Fantastic- a world of bizarre ideas and images born of the imagination on the basis of previously learned facts of real life.

Aesopian language (Aesop is an ancient Greek satirist) - artistic speech based on forced allegory with the use of irony.

Relying on dictionary words, find examples of the grotesque, hyperbole in the fairy tale "The Wild Landowner".

Working with illustrations Kukryniksov, E. Muratova, E. Racheva to the fairy tale "The Wild Landowner".

Questions for illustrations:

Determine which of the episodes of the fairy tale is depicted by artists?

Which of the drawings seems the most expressive and why?

The study of the logical scheme for the fairy tale "The Wild Landowner".

Work with reference circuit displayed on the board.

"For children fair age»

Task: denunciation of vices, coverage of topical issues of Russian reality, expression of popular ideals, advanced ideas

Peculiarities: fantasy, reality, comic + tragic, grotesque, hyperbole, Aesopian language.

"Wild Landlord"

Target: awaken self-awareness, show the relationship between

landowners

perseverance, patience, diligence

Summarizing the knowledge gained:

IV. Analysis of the fairy tale "The Wise Gudgeon"

Teacher's word.

So, we have finished work on the fairy tale "The Wild Landowner", and now let's move on to the analysis of the fairy tale "The Wise Minnow".

historical background given by Felyushova K. (3 minutes)

After the successful assassination attempt by the Narodnaya Volya on Tsar Alexander II, it is time for a reaction, Russian liberalism openly proclaims this event as a betrayal of the Fatherland. In life there is cowardice, denunciations, cowardice. In this gloomy time, the satirist writer Saltykov-Shchedrin writes the fairy tale "The Wise Minnow", deciding to remind his contemporaries about human dignity, about honor and shame, about wisdom, true and imaginary.

Brief summary.

Reading conversation

How do you understand the meaning of the title? What does the prefix pre- mean?

Choose epithets for the word wise (smart, wise, sensible, reasonable, reasonable, that is, having a healthy mind).

What about antonyms? (stupid, unintelligent, unintelligent, stupid).

Tell about life position old minnow. "Look at both." The position of the old minnow is a warning, reminding you of the need to get rid of the mass of life's dangers and hardships, take care of yourself, your own safety and well-being).

Does the overall tone of the story change towards the end? general mood? Yes, it's changing. The author evokes in readers either ridicule, or a caustic response, or a feeling of disgust. At the end, there is even compassion for the miserable fate of the gudgeon.

What do you think caused these changes? (The dreary truth is revealed to the Shchedrin gudgeon at the end of his long life: “they live, they take up space for nothing and eat food.”

What kind of thoughts visit the minnow before death? A swarm of questions confuses the minnow: "What joys did he have"? Who did he comfort? "To whom good word said".

Minnow gnawing resentment that other fish call him "fool", "stupid".

Conclusion:

So, the fairy tale "The Wise Gudgeon" contains an important moral lesson: cowardice, fear, philistine indifference to everything in the world except for one's own person deprives life of any meaning, mind, honor, conscience.

Vocabulary work: the common man is

1. a permanent resident of some area, ny, i.e. judgmental, wise, sensible dignity, about honor and shame, about wisdom, true and imaginary.

goes for help. ern

1. this is a man deprived of a public outlook, with bone-headed petty-bourgeois views. The first definition is not for us. And the second? Lives?

Prove your position.

What does a fairy tale teach? (Honesty, civic courage, nobility, reminds of the price human life, about its meaning).

Working with a reference diagram

Fairy tale "The wise minnow"

The fate of the minnow

Life Purpose: Traits:

take care of your hateful stupidity, cowardice,

life helplessness

Summary of life:

"I lived and trembled and died - I trembled"

V. Summing up the work:

What human vices does the author make fun of in the fairy tales “The Wise Gudgeon” and “The Wild Landowner”. What do these stories teach? Why did the author put on his works of art in the form of fairy tales.

Lesson analysis. (implementation of the plan, grading.)

VII. Homework:

Make a table "Phrases from the text"

Working with a reference diagram

Fairy tale "The wise minnow"

Purpose: to show the meaning of life and the purpose of a person

The fate of the minnow

traits

stupidity, greed industriousness, humility,

Literature

Lebedev Yu.V. Russian literature of the 19th century II part M., 2006.

Russian literature of the 19th century. Ed. V.P. Zhuravlev. M., 1998.

Literature. Lesson plans.

Literary dictionary. M., 2004.

M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. Tales M., 1996.

Self-analysis of the lesson on the topic “The satirical image of reality in the fairy tales of M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin "Wild Landowner" and "Wise Gudgeon" using elements of the RKMCHP technology

In the introduction, goals and objectives were set, the work plan was reported.

Educational and educational goals, in my opinion, are formulated quite clearly. The chosen type of lesson is appropriate when studying this topic. The students are divided into groups, a competitive moment is announced: Each group will try to work better during the lesson. At the stage of calling the lesson, a message about the biography of M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. The students, listening to the speaker, filled in the workbooks with a chronological table of the life and work of the great Russian satirist.

At the "Comprehension" stage, work began with the text of fairy tales: retelling of the text, analysis of the text in the form of a question - answer. Questions for the analysis of fairy tales had a sufficient level of difficulty, but the students worked actively, defending their point of view.

During the analysis of fairy tales, vocabulary work was immediately carried out: students wrote down vocabulary words in workbooks, choosing them from the text, using the element of reading with stops.

Another type of work that I proposed is the preparation of part of the lesson plan - the element of the technology "Work on basic diagrams".

A supporting-logical scheme of fairy tales was proposed, which reflects the developing purpose of the lesson.

Applying the "Mosaic" element, each group worked according to this scheme, responding to question asked according to a passage of text (one group asked another, etc.) (there were 5 groups in total).

The following conclusions were drawn by the students:

The tales contain an important moral lesson.

It was proved during the analysis of the work that the reality presented by M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin is indeed depicted satirically with the techniques of hyperbole, grotesque, and fantasy.

The fairy tale teaches to be a citizen, a highly moral person, responsible for his actions.

The students noted that the use of the elements of the RCMCHP technology in the lesson was successful, expedient, and effective. Works become more accessible for assimilation, comprehension and understanding of the material.

It would be unfair to confine the whole problematic of Saltykov Shchedrin's fairy tales to a description of the confrontation between peasants and landowners and the inactivity of the intelligentsia. Being on public service, the author had the opportunity to get to know the so-called masters of life, whose images found their place in his fairy tales. Examples of such are “Poor Wolf”, “The Tale of the Toothy Pike”, etc. There are two sides to them - those who are oppressed and oppressed, and those who are oppressed and oppressed.
We are used to certain roles played by characters. For example, peasants are usually “good” and landowners are “bad”. The tales of Saltykov Shchedrin are distinguished by a mixture of clear boundaries. It turns out that both the oppressed and the oppressors each have their own shortcomings. Yes, the fox taunts the “sane” hare in order to eventually eat it. Both she and the hare understand this very well, but they cannot do anything. The fox is not even very hungry to eat a hare, but since “where is it seen that foxes themselves let go of their dinner”, then one has to obey the law willy-nilly. All clever theories of a hare are shattered into smithereens on the cruel prose of life. It turns out that hares were created to be eaten, and not to create new laws.
Oddly enough, the "oppressed" sometimes do not cause any sympathy, while the oppressors show us their weak sides. The tale “The Poor Wolf” is especially tragic in this regard. It turns out that the wolf is bloodthirsty and cruel, not because he likes it, but because such is the nature of things, or, as he himself says, “his complexion is tricky.” You can't go against nature itself. The fairy tale “Karas idealist” can serve as confirmation of this idea. Karas is overwhelmed by the ideas of liberalism and humanism. He begins to share his thoughts with everyone, and when the turn comes to the pike, she simply swallows him. The most interesting thing is that the pike did not want the death of the crucian at all, it just out of habit drew water into itself and the crucian with it. Why is it so? Yes, because the pike, like the wolf, has “such a tricky complexion”, and nothing can be done about it.
It turns out that the “masters of life” turn out to be not masters of themselves at all, but mired in the abyss of conventions, traditions and “laws” that cannot be violated. As a result of such a life, it turns out that “the wolves are hungry, and there are no hares.” In other words, rarely is anyone satisfied with the status quo. No, of course, one cannot generalize and introduce this statement as a general rule. Of course, it is much easier for predators to survive than defenseless hares, but this will hardly make their life more interesting, brighter and better. Moreover, it can be said that the secret calculation of mercy and indulgence of the authorities, which are predatory by nature, is not only vain, but also to a certain extent senseless.
If in the animal world the “predator-prey” state of affairs is the norm, then now is the time to recall what Saltykov Shchedrin wrote about people, covering their images with animal masks. Using the prevailing stereotypes, the author makes the images of landowners, peasants, intellectuals, officials and managers more vivid and alive. But it is always necessary to remember that people are hiding behind the masks of animals, and the main difference between a person and an animal is the presence of reason, the concepts of high morality and ethics. It is not clear what has happened to the world if people have to fight for survival, like animals. It turns out that people are gradually losing that little, but fundamentally important thing that distinguishes them from unreasonable beings. What is natural for a pike is not normal for a person. On the other hand, it should be recognized that the Aesopian language, combined with the grotesque, became a very successful authorial technique that gave saturation and richness to the content.

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Objects of satirical denunciation in fairy tales. M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin is one of the most original writers in Russian literature. His work is aimed at exposing the vices of society. His talent perfectly coped with the tasks that the era set before him. He devoted his whole life to the struggle for the liberation of the Russian people, criticizing autocracy and serfdom in his works, and after the reform of 1861, the remnants of serfdom that remained in the life and psychology of people. The satirist criticized not only the despotism and selfishness of the oppressors, but also the humility of the oppressed, their long-suffering, and slavish psychology.

Realizing that only the people can make a revolution, Saltykov-Shchedrin tries to awaken the self-consciousness of the people, calling them to fight. Saltykov-Shchedrin mastered the techniques of artistic exaggeration, sharpening of images, and the means of fantasy, in particular, the satirical grotesque. The most sensitive topics became the objects of his satirical denunciation. modern writer society. In harsh forms, he exposed the bureaucracy (“Pompadours and Pompadours”, “Lords of Tashkent”, “Lords of Molchalin”). With all the force of his inherent sarcasm, he condemned the monarchy, predicting its inevitable death and calling for an irreconcilable struggle against it (“History of one city "). The writer passed a harsh sentence on the feudal lords, already historically doomed, but still fiercely trying to maintain their privileges (“Lord Golovlevs”). He ridiculed the cowardice of those representatives of the “free-thinking” intelligentsia who, during the years of political reaction, acted “in relation to meanness” (“Modern Idyll”).

The History of a City (1869-1870) is the sharpest attack on the monarchy in Shchedrin's work and in all Russian literature. In this work, the satirist resorted to complex artistic disguise. He passed off his work as the notebooks of chroniclers found in the archive, who allegedly lived in the 18th century, and assigned himself only a modest role as a “publisher” of their notes. He presented the tsars and tsarist ministers in the form of city governors, and the state regime established by them - in the form of the city of Foolov. All these fantastic images and witty inventions were required in order to mockingly ridicule the tsarist government of their time.

An outstanding achievement of the last decade of the creative activity of Saltykov-Shchedrin is the book "Tales", which includes thirty-two works. This is one of the brightest and most popular creations of the great satirist. With a few exceptions, fairy tales were created over four years (1883-1886), at the final stage creative way writer. The tale is organically close artistic method satire.

Techniques of fiction, allegory, rapprochement of the accused, characteristic of the satire of Saltykov-Shchedrin social phenomena with the phenomena of the animal world led to the genre of fairy tales. In the ideological content of the tales of Saltykov-Shchedrin, three main themes can be distinguished: satire on the government elites of the autocracy and on the exploiting classes, the image of the life of the masses in tsarist Russia and denunciation of the behavior and psychology of the philistine-minded intelligentsia.

The satirical gift of Saltykov-Shchedrin was revealed in all its splendor in fairy tales. This genre allows you to hide the true meaning of the work from censorship. Saltykov-Shchedrin had an excellent command of the Aesopian language, in the allegorical form of which there is ambiguity, which the writer needs so much to convey all the absurdity and inconsistency of the depicted situation. “Department of plunder and distribution”, “angry movement of history” - these expressions were not invented by the author, but were born by the era itself, its arbitrariness and unrest reigning in Russia. The satire of Saltykov-Shchedrin is a formidable laugh, punishing for those sufferings and misfortunes that reign around. "Tales for children of a fair age" is the response of the patriotic writer to the surrounding injustice, this is his form of struggle with it.

How do humor, satire, sarcasm interact in the fairy tales of M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin?

Fairy tale - originally folk genre, at the base of the plot is a fiction that retains a connection with reality at the level of moral teaching, a reflection in a conditional, fantastic form of social realities. Saltykov-Shchedrin first of all used the satirical potential of the fairy tale. His fairy tales organically combine various types of comic: humor, satire, sarcasm.

Comic - an image of the funny, ridiculous, incongruous, strange in life. Comic can appear with different author's intonations. Humor is a positive manifestation of the comic, kind, cheerful laughter, a manifestation of cheerfulness, an assistant in life's creation. Satire - comic image public types and phenomena in literature in order to debunk and destroy them. The satirist shows what is unworthy in life, internally untenable. Sarcasm is a judgment containing a caustic, caustic mockery of the depicted. Sarcasm distinguishes the tone of indignation, indignation.

The tales of Saltykov-Shchedrin are thematically diverse. In the fairy tales “The Tale of How One Man Feeded Two Generals”, “The Wild Landowner”, “The Bear in the Voivodeship”, the government and social elites, the exploiting classes are satirically depicted. Two devices most often used by folklore form the basis of the plot of these works. "The Tale of How One Man Feeded Two Generals" places people in a conditional, fictional world to specify them more precisely. characteristics, relationship. In "The Bear in the Voivodeship" humanized animals become heroes.

A wild landowner from the fairy tale of the same name dreamed of liberating his own lands from peasants who annoyed him with their lives, activities, appearance. The dream has come true, but with its realization, people and all the means by which a comfortable and outwardly “cultural” existence was maintained disappear. The landowner gradually runs wild, turns into a half-animal. Interestingly, even in this state, he stubbornly adheres to his strange choice to live without peasants. This shows the depth of hatred and alienation from the life of the people by a significant part of the landowners.

Readers are transported to the top of the social pyramid by the vicissitudes of the plot of the fairy tale "The Bear in the Voivodeship". Very often, the satirical charge of the fairy tales of Saltykov-Shchedrin is directed against public position and behavior of various strata of the Russian intelligentsia. The tales “The Selfless Hare”, “Karas-Idealist” are dedicated to this. The image of the protagonist of the fairy tale " Wise Piskar". Irony replaces mockery, irony - bitter sarcastic laughter at a creature that took its own life, "trembling" all its long, but absolutely fruitless and meaningless age.

The History of a City is the greatest satirical canvas-novel. This is a merciless denunciation of the entire system of government of tsarist Russia. The History of a City, completed in 1870, shows that the people in the post-reform period remained as disenfranchised as the officials were petty tyrants of the 1970s. differed from the pre-reform ones only in that they robbed in more modern, capitalist ways.

The city of Foolov is the personification of autocratic Russia, the Russian people. Its rulers embody the specific features of historically reliable, living rulers, but these features are brought to their "logical end", exaggerated. All the inhabitants of Foolovo - both the mayors and the people - live in some kind of nightmare, where the appearance of a ruler with an organ instead of a head, cruel tin soldiers instead of living ones, an idiot who dreams of destroying everything on earth, a bungler who walked "a mosquito eight miles to catch, etc. These images are built in the same way as the images of folk fantasy, but they are more terrible, because they are more real. The monsters of Foolov's world are generated by this same world, nourished by its rotten soil. Therefore, the satirist does not confine himself in the "History of a City" to one ridicule of the rulers of the city, he bitterly laughs at the slavish patience of the people.

The chapter “On the Root of the Origin of the Foolovites” was supposed to show, according to the writer’s intention, the tradition of the emergence of the favorite pastime of the mayors – cutting and collecting arrears.

Initially, the Foolovites were called bunglers, because “they had the habit of banging their heads against everything that they met on the way. The wall comes across ─ they sting against the wall; They start praying to God - they rub the floor. This “grabbing” already speaks enough about the spiritual, innate qualities of the bunglers, who developed in them independently of the princes. With a bitter laugh, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin writes that “having gathered together the Kurales, the Gushcheeds and other tribes, the bunglers began to settle inside, with the obvious goal of achieving some kind of order.” “It started with the fact that Kolga was kneaded with a thick coat, then they dragged zhelemka to the bathhouse, then they boiled kosha in a purse” and performed other senseless deeds, because of which even two stupid found princes did not want to “volunteer” bunglers, calling them Foolovites. But the people could not arrange themselves in any way. We certainly needed a prince, "who will make soldiers with us, and build the prison, which follows, will build!" Here, the “historical people”, “carrying the Wartkins, Burcheevs, etc. on their shoulders”, with whom the writer, as he himself admitted, could not sympathize, are subjected to satirical ridicule.

The bunglers voluntarily surrendered to bondage, "sighed unrelentingly, cried out loudly," but "the drama had already taken place irrevocably." And the oppression and robbing of the Foolovites began, bringing them to revolts that were beneficial to the rulers. A " historical times” for Glupov began with a cry: “I’ll screw up!” But despite the sharply critical attitude towards people's passivity, humility and long-suffering, the author in the "History of a City" in other chapters paints the image of the people with penetrating colors, this is especially evident in the scenes of national disasters.

But in his work, the author does not limit himself to showing pictures of the arbitrariness of the rulers and the long-suffering of the people, he also reveals the process of growing anger of the oppressed, convincing readers that it cannot continue like this: either Russia will cease to exist, or there will come a turning point that will sweep away the Russian land from the face of the earth. the existing state system.