Analysis of the episode “Storm in the Steppe”
from A.S. Pushkin’s story “The Captain’s Daughter”
MBOU "Secondary School No. 1" named after. Maksimova N.M., teacher of Russian language and literature.
Abdieva Sania Anvarovna
What is blackened there among the muddy swirling snowstorm?
Basis of the story- these are “living pictures” of the relationships between individuals against the backdrop of a “historical snowstorm”. But we will talk about a blizzard as a natural phenomenon.
Readdescription. What artistic means does the author use? What role does this episode play in the work?
The coachman galloped off; but kept looking to the east. The horses ran together. Meanwhile, the wind became stronger hour by hour. The cloud turned into a white cloud, which rose heavily, grew and gradually covered the sky. It began to snow lightly and suddenly began to fall in flakes. The wind howled; there was a snowstorm. In an instant, the dark sky mixed with the snowy sea. Everything has disappeared. “Well, master,” the coachman shouted, “trouble: a snowstorm!”...
I looked out of the wagon: everything was darkness and whirlwind. The wind howled with such ferocious expressiveness that it seemed animated; the snow covered me and Savelich; the horses walked at a pace - and soon stopped. “Why aren’t you going? “I asked the driver impatiently.” “Why go? - he answered, getting off the bench, - God knows where we ended up: there is no road, and there is darkness all around.”
If we try to characterize the manner of narration in “The Captain’s Daughter,” then we must say: clarity, simplicity, and laconicism are the most essential features of the style of Pushkin’s historical novel. And with this focus on simplicity and clarity, the narrative remains highly poetic. Using meager means, the writer is able to create memorable images of people, visually tangible pictures of nature, and vivid episodes of reality.
In the language of the narrative, laconicism and simplicity are manifested in the usual, normal construction of the phrase. Nouns - subjects and verbs - predicates are accompanied by a minimum number of absolutely necessary secondary members of the sentence; complex sentences occur, but they never turn into a common period.
The landscape is also brief. Moreover, it is always included in the narrative, is an element of the plot, the development of the action.
The main thing in this description is action, dynamics. The state of nature changes instantly: wind, snow, blizzard, blizzard, haze. A.S. Pushkin uses very modestepithets, only two contrasting colors - dark sky - snowy sea (previously - a white cloud).
Metaphoronly two: the wind howled - the beast howls; snow sea - an infinity of snow mass, similar to the sea element. Pushkin is a master of landscape. But his landscape is static, frozen, but changing, moving, as in life. The description of the snowstorm has several meanings in the story:
A)compositional– thanks to the snowstorm, the heroes (Pugachev and Grinev) not only meet, but also develop sympathy for each other;
b)allegorical- blizzard, rampant elements - symbolizes future events, rampant rebellion, which, like the blizzard, posed a threat to the hero’s life;
V)realistic– Snowstorms still occur in the steppes. Thus, this description gives the story the authenticity of what actually happened.
Let's see this by looking at the episode"Storm in the steppe."
Expressive reading of a passage.
Educational conversation with elements of analysis:
What impression does the picture of the steppe make on us at the beginning of the passage, how do we imagine it?
A huge silent plain, here and there hills and ravines, everything covered with snow; evening, lonely carriage.
The picture gives a dull, sad impression (“sad plains stretched out”), because there are no people visible, nothing living, only white snow all around.
Why were the travelers caught in a snowstorm in the steppe? What did the coachman advise?
The coachman is a local man, he knows well the signs of an approaching snow storm, he knows how dangerous it is to stay in the open steppe during a snowstorm. He addresses Grinev respectfully, takes off his hat in front of him, asks about his orders, because Grinev is a nobleman, a master.
Why didn’t Grinev agree with the coachman and Savelich and ordered them to move on, although he had heard about misfortunes during snowstorms?
Grinev is too young, inexperienced, accustomed to taking into account only himself, acts frivolously (“the wind seemed... not strong”).
In what sequence does Pushkin describe what happens in nature during a snowstorm?
The sequence is temporary. First, it talks about what happens when it begins, and then about what the travelers saw when the storm was at its height. It is told about the sky, wind, snow at different moments: before the storm, at the beginning of it and when it broke out.
Let's see how the cloud, sky, wind, and snow change. We will reflect our observations in the plan.
“Sad deserts stretched all around.”
Before the storm:
a) white cloud,
b) clear sky,
c) slight wind.
3. The storm begins:
a) the wind became stronger,
b) a white cloud covered the sky,
c) it snowed lightly, then began to fall in flakes.
4. The storm broke out:
a) the wind howled,
b) blizzard, snowy sea,
c) “everything was darkness and whirlwind.”
Why can we imagine the picture of a storm so vividly and in detail?
Pushkin described everything that happens in nature from the very beginning of the storm to its end. He showed that everything in nature is in motion. In change: from clear sky to darkness, from silence to fierce wind, from fine light snow to a snowy sea.
Using words from which part of speech allows you to convey all these changes?
We find in the text and write down verbs that convey the state and changes of wind, snow, clouds, sky.
The cloud—the cloud—turned into a white cloud, rose, grew, and covered the entire sky.
The sky - clear sky, dark sky, mixed with the snowy sea.
It snowed, fell, fell asleep, fell.
The wind rose slightly, swept away the powder, became stronger, howled, howled with such ferocious expressiveness.
Thanks to the careful selection of words and their expressiveness, Pushkin makes us see these gradual changes in nature, be present with the travelers at the onset of the storm, and experience with them the fear of its consequences.
Let us pay attention to the speech of the heroes, especially the speech of the coachman. Can we guess that this is the peasant speaking?
In the driver’s speech, many common words and phrases are used: see how he sweeps away the powder, God knows where we went, etc.
What is the compositional function of the episode? How is it connected to subsequent events?
The snowstorm becomes the reason that Grinev's wagon went astray and a meeting of two heroes took place, which determined their further relationship and, in general, the fate of one of them - Grinev.
Homework:
Possible further work on the text: writing a summary.
Descriptions of nature in Pushkin's prose are as simple and brief as descriptions of the appearance, home environment, and life of the characters. Here, for example, is one of the landscapes in the story “The Captain's Daughter”: “Sad deserts stretched around me, intersected by hills and ravines. Everything was covered with snow. The sun was setting." Another landscape is even more succinct: “The sun was shining. The snow lay in a dazzling veil on the vast steppe.” The main landscape of the story is a picture of a snowstorm: “The coachman galloped; but kept looking to the east. The horses ran together. Meanwhile, the wind became stronger hour by hour. The cloud turned into a white cloud, which rose heavily, grew and gradually covered the sky. It began to snow lightly and suddenly began to fall in flakes. The wind howled; it became a blizzard. In an instant, the dark sky mixed with the snowy sea. Everything disappeared. “Well, master,” the coachman shouted, “trouble: a snowstorm!”... I looked out of the wagon: everything was darkness and whirlwind.” This landscape is in many ways symbolic, it anticipates the upcoming events and the participation of the main character in them, by the will of fate caught in a snowstorm. Buran is a symbol of the Pugachev freemen. The darkness, the whirlwind, the muddy whirling of the blizzard remind us of human delusions, of the fact that human souls are often in darkness, where it is impossible to distinguish between good and evil, good and bad. In “The Captain's Daughter” Pugachev also unexpectedly appears from the blizzard. Thus, Pushkin already in this landscape declares his attitude to the described historical events. The image of Pugachev in the poem is certainly ambiguous. He has intelligence, courage, and generosity, but “to live by murder and robbery” means “to peck at carrion.” And Pugachev’s “gangs of robbers” are committing villainy everywhere, destroying villages, fortresses, autocratically executing and pardoning... The significance of the snowstorm scene in the story is not limited to the fact that in symbolic form it depicts Pugachev’s rebellion. This is also a reminder that a person must choose his own, the only true path in life and be able not to stray from it. One wrong step - and you get lost, die, freeze, caught in a blizzard. Human life is fragile, “right” actions are extremely important in it, the source of which can only be love and mercy. It is this philosophical thought that is realized in Pushkin’s plot. Remembering the meeting with the young man, about the hare sheepskin coat given to Grinev, Pugachev saves him from the death penalty and saves Masha’s life. However, in addition to a certain spiritual didacticism, the idea of fate and its meaning in human life also sounds quite strongly in the story. A meeting with an unfamiliar black-bearded man in a terrible, deadly snowstorm determines the entire future fate of the hero. The counselor takes Grinev to the inn, preventing the young man from dying from the snowy elements. In the same way, Pugachev subsequently “brings” him out of the whirlwind of historical events, preventing his “well done” from hanging him and sparing Masha. These events in the story are preceded not only by the picture of a snowstorm, but also by Grinev’s “prophetic” dream.
Pushkin was an extremely superstitious person; he believed in signs and meanings of dreams. It is no coincidence that his heroes often see “prophetic” dreams (remember Tatyana Larina, Hermann in “The Queen of Spades”). Grinev also sees his “prophetic” dream. From the further content of the story, we learn that, indeed, the road to happiness will pass through “dead bodies” and “bloody puddles” for Grinev and Masha, and Pugachev will become a kind of “imprisoned father” for them. An ax in the hands of a black-bearded man will turn out to be a symbol of retribution.
Thus, on the steppe road (its other meaning is the path of life), the fate of the main character of the story, Grinev, will intersect with the fate of Pugachev. Their paths will cross more than once, and more than once Pugachev will save both Grinev himself and his bride. It is important for Pushkin to emphasize the significance of this scene. Hence the symbolic image of the snowstorm, and the details recreating the appearance of Pugachev. And everywhere we see the invisible sympathy that has arisen between the two heroes.
Storm scene. Pushkin's landscape is laconic, precise and expressive. Short sentences without pompous epithets and comparisons nevertheless give a figurative picture: the cloud “rose heavily, grew and gradually covered the sky.” The metaphor helps to feel the fear and helplessness of people in front of the approaching elements: “In an instant, the dark sky mixed with the snowy sea.”
The image of a blizzard or blizzard in literature is not new. What was new was the symbolic meaning of the elements, which, following Pushkin, was picked up by many Russian writers (for example, A. Blok in the poem “The Twelve”). A raging sea, a furious wind, a blizzard are symbols of spontaneous epochal events: uprisings, revolutions.
In this episode there is "darkness and whirlwind" and driving across the field, similar "to the navigation of a ship on a stormy sea." Pushkin's snowstorm in the steppe is a symbol of the spontaneity of the popular uprising led by Pugachev. Hence the animation in the description of the blizzard: “And the wind howled with such fierce expressiveness that it seemed animated.”
