The main character of "Quiet Don" is, without a doubt, the people. The novel shows the patterns of the era through the prism of the many heroic destinies of ordinary people. If among other heroes Grigory Melekhov comes to the fore, it is only because he is the most...
Goal: To form in students a holistic understanding of the character traits and vicissitudes of the fate of the main character of the novel M.A. Sholokhov “Quiet Don”; show the relationship between the life and work of the writer, the conditionality of the author’s positions by the historical context;...
Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov, creating the epic novel “Quiet Don” in the turning years of the revolution and civil war, devotes a lot of space to the Cossack woman: her hard work in the field and at home, her grief, her generous heart. Unforgettable is the image of Grigory’s mother, Ilyinichna....
Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov, creating the epic novel “Quiet Flows the Don” during the critical years of the revolution and civil war, devotes a lot of space to the Cossack woman: her hard work in the field and at home, her grief, her generous heart. Unforgettable is the image of Grigory’s mother, Ilyinichna....
“Petro resembled his mother: small, snub-nosed, with wild, wheat-colored hair, and brown eyes.” In the portrait description of Grigory’s elder brother there is not even a hint of Turkish blood, which distinguished the Melekhovs from the rest of the villagers. He doesn't have those qualities that...
Sholokhov initially called the epic novel “Donshchina,” but as the plan expanded, he also changed the name of his main book: “Quiet Don.” It so happened historically that the Cossacks have always been independent, freedom-loving warriors who settled in...
Creating the image of Grigory Melekhov, the main character of the novel “Quiet”
Don,” M. A. Sholokhov achieves artistic integrity in the depiction of his actions, thoughts and feelings, no matter how different and contradictory they may be. The basis of Gregory’s personality is complete truthfulness to oneself, spontaneity, and uncompromisingness. He doesn't know how to hide his feelings. And this character trait repeatedly brings him into conflict with others. But with all his complexity and contradictions, Grigory Melekhov remains integral, true to himself, his thoughts, ideas, and beliefs.
The writer does not isolate his hero, does not separate him from the rest of the Cossacks. Knowing well the history of the Don Cossacks, Mikhail Alexandrovich shows the reader the life and customs of these people. The Don Cossacks, who did not know serfdom, were a special type of peasantry. The Cossacks differed from the peasants not only in that from an early age they were prepared for military service, and from childhood they were taught courage, daring, and resourcefulness. The tsarist government cultivated a sense of class isolation among the Cossacks, despising the “muzhik” and the “urban” worker. They were trained to serve as servants loyal to the “tsar, throne and fatherland.”
The Cossack family was built on patriarchal principles. The father was the eldest in her and the absolute master of the house. At his request, the gathering could publicly flog his disobedient son. From childhood, the Cossack had to absorb the fear of disobedience. Obedience and respect for elders were brought up not only in childhood, but were also instilled in military service. Thus, Cossacks of older years of service were given the right to punish young Cossacks.
The environment that raised and raised Grigory Melekhov is comprehensively shown in “Quiet Don”. This is, first of all, of course, the Melekhov family - grandfather Grigory Melekhov, who brought a captive Turkish woman from Turkey. “From then on, Turkish blood began to interbreed with Cossack blood. This is where the hook-nosed, wildly beautiful Melekhovs, and in the street style – Turks, came to be in the village.”
“...the youngest, Grigory, took after his father: half a head taller than Peter, although six years younger, the same as his father’s, a drooping kite nose, slightly slanting slits with blue almonds of hot eyes, sharp slabs of cheekbones covered with brown, ruddy skin. Grigory stooped in the same way as his father, even in their smile they both had something in common, a little beastly.”
How the family of middle peasants Melekhov lived can be seen from the words of its head Pantelei Prokofievich: “... even without the current harvest, we have enough for two years of bread. We have, thank God, up to our nostrils in our bins, and there are some of them somewhere.” But the Melekhovs are first and foremost a working family. In portraying her, M.A. Sholokhov does not remain silent about the harsh disposition of Pantelei Prokofievich, nor about the difficult lot of a woman, nor about the possessive habits under the roof of the Melekhov kuren. But, despite the fact that the wayward owner asserted his power with the help of a crutch, an atmosphere of friendship, mutual caring, and love reigned in the family. There were actually three families living in the house, but there were no clashes between them, no quarrels broke out that would destroy family relationships.
The Melekhovs were known not only for their loyalty to the patriarchal way of life, but also for their spirit of love of freedom and proud rebellion. The origins of the story about them lie in the romantically tragic story of Prokofy, who did not want to obey the farm rules and became a victim of prejudice. And Panteley Prokofievich, and his children, and even grandchildren are portrayed as people of high human worth.
The depiction of the tragic fate of the Melekhov family is one of
greatest artistic achievements in Sholokhov's novel. The story of the Melekhov family is, in essence, the story of how the foundations of social injustice were destroyed in the old village. On the quiet Don, irreconcilable currents awoke and met. Mighty blows shake the Melekhov house. Panteley Prokofievich feels how unknown and frightening in its novelty forces are tearing the roots that forever, it seemed, connected the Cossacks with the monarch, with the ataman power. Grigory struggles, unable to escape from the circle of contradictions that surround him.
In all modern world literature one cannot find a figure as expressive as he is controversial. Equally captivating the eyes of readers and encouraging them, looking around, to look for Grigory Melekhov among non-fictional living people.1
Grigory Melekhov grew up in an atmosphere of admiration for the Cossack military virtues. Cossacks in uniforms with shoulder straps, wearing all the insignia, went to church and to the village gathering. St. George's crosses and medals evoked reverence, deep respect, and this respectful attitude towards titles and royal awards was instilled in childhood.
“Serve as you should,” father inspired Gregory, who was drafted into the army before the imperialist war. The Tsar’s service will not be wasted.” And he signed the letter: “Your parent, senior officer Panteley Melekhov.” My father was not just a father, but also a senior officer. This military rank, according to the deep conviction of Pantelei Prokofievich, obliged him to additional respect.
Work was Gregory's need; he could not imagine his life outside of work. And more than once during the war, with a dull, heart-grabbing melancholy, Grigory recalled his close people, his native farm, work in the fields: “It would be nice to take the chapigs with your hands and follow the plow along the wet furrow, greedily taking in with your nostrils the damp and insipid smell of loosened earth, the bitter aroma of grass cut with a ploughshare.”
From childhood, Gregory was brought up with humanity, love for the earth, nature, and the animal world. While mowing, Grigory accidentally cut the chick in half, picked it up, “with a sudden feeling of acute pity, he looked at the dead lump lying in his palm.”
Before the war and the revolution that shook the whole country, Grigory Melekhov did not think about social issues. He loves his family, his kuren, and is attached to his native farm. He never had a feeling of rejection of the order of life in which he grew up. Even breaking up with his family and becoming a farm laborer did not distance Gregory from farm life. And when Aksinya suggested leaving everything and going to the mines, to the mines, “far away,” Grigory
In the difficult family drama, in the little things of everyday life, in the trials of war, the deep humanity of Grigory Melekhov is revealed. His character is characterized by a heightened sense of justice, awareness of the dignity of his human personality, strong, passionate love for all innumerable manifestations of life. And it is natural that Gregory, thrown into the heat of war, experiences his first battle heavily and painfully, and cannot forget the Austrian he killed. “I cut down a man in vain and because of him, the bastard, my soul is sick,” he complains to his brother Peter. Gregory develops a feeling of rejection of the imperialist war, a vague awareness of its aimlessness and destructiveness...
Grigory, like all Cossacks, is a man of agricultural labor, endowed with a feeling of an inextricably strong connection with the surrounding world of life, he is sensitive to everything beautiful. Gregory’s inherent sense of understanding a person is also revealed in the history of his relationships with Aksinya and Natalya. Love for the proud Aksinya, whose fiery, destructive beauty does not fade over the years, life with Natalya - a wonderful woman of a different kind, a faithful and loving wife - mother - helps us to grasp and understand a lot in Gregory.
Gregory is a man of strong passions, decisive actions and actions. His love for Aksinya, full of dramatic vicissitudes, shocks with its strength and depth. Returning from the hospital on leave after being wounded, Grigory learns that Aksinya has “confused” with the young Lisnitsky... Grigory, a simple Cossack, terribly and brutally beat the plump-chested centurion, abandoned Aksinya, and returned to the farm, to his native kuren. But neither Aksinya’s betrayal, nor life with Natalya, nor the children extinguished the strong, passionate feeling. During the long nights at the front, he remembered and yearned for Aksinya.
Gregory is distinguished by a developed sense of self-esteem, consciousness of himself as a full-fledged person. In a class society built on the subordination and oppression of some by others, it inevitably had to lead and did lead to sharp clashes.
During the conscription, a group of officers inspected the equipment of the Cossack recruits. White-handed officers evoke a hostile feeling in Grigory. His fingers, “rough and dark,” touched the “white, sugar fingers” of one of the officers. He pulled his hand back and, wincing in disgust, wiped it on the lining of his overcoat. Grigory looks at the officer with an evil smile, and the officer, meeting his gaze, could not stand it and shouted: “How are you looking? How do you look, Cossack? This same Gregory, when the sergeant came at him with his fists near the well, says with terrible power of hatred: “That’s what... if you hit me, I’ll still kill you!” Understood?" And the sergeant hastily moved away from Gregory.
In the gray everyday life of army service, Grigory acutely feels the “impenetrable silent wall” between himself and the well-dressed officers who are slackers. This is the feeling of a man - a worker who feeds on the labor of his hands and, not realizing the class division of society, nevertheless clearly understands that landowners and officers are people of another world, and despises this world of parasites and slackers standing above them. These feelings will grow in Gregory and during the years of the civil war they will more than once burst into heavy, scorching hatred of the oppressors and parasites.
Gregory is always ready to stand up for the trampled dignity of a person. He rushes at the Cossacks who raped the maid Franya, they tied him up and threatened to kill him. And when the officer during the examination asked why a button on his overcoat was torn off, Grigory, remembering what happened in the stable, for the first time in a long period of time almost cried from shame and the consciousness of his powerlessness. This is how the imperialist war finds Grigory Melekhov.
It seems that we learned a lot about Gregory from the everyday environment in which he and his family lived, from the complex and intricate relationships that he developed with Natalya and Aksinya. A dark-skinned Cossack with a sullen, bestial look stands before us as if alive, hot-tempered to the point of recklessness, proudly protecting his human dignity, decisive, sharp, gentle and rude... Remarkable strength is felt in his stooped figure, in his quick glance, and his deft work acumen, in his dashing Cossack landing. And yet, there will be a certain incompleteness in our ideas about Grigory Melekhov until we understand what he thought about the war, with what ideas about the nature of its meaning he was plunged into the bloody abyss of battles.
In the hospital, Gregory met a smart and sarcastic soldier - the Bolshevik Garanzha. Under the fiery power and truth of his words, the foundations on which Gregory’s consciousness rested began to smoke. “These foundations were rotten, the monstrous absurdity of war undermined them with rust, and only a push was needed. An impetus was given, a thought awoke, it exhausted, pressed down Gregory’s simple, ingenuous mind.” The truth about the unnecessaryness of war, revealed to him by Garanzha, seemed terrible to Gregory. The dream leaves him, Grigory wakes up Garanzhu at night, angrily and anxiously asks: “You say that for the needs of the rich they are driving us to death, but what about the people? Does he not understand? Gregory struggles with the question: how to stop the war? “... Everything must be put upside down?.. And under the new government, where will you go?.. What will you give to shorten the war?..” Garanzha answered everything. And Grigory, parting with him, excitedly thanked him: “Well, Little Russian, thank you for opening my eyes. Now I’m sighted and... angry!”
The importance of Gregory's first political school cannot be underestimated. It was fully felt in the first months after the October Revolution, when Gregory, taking the side of the Bolsheviks, led the Cossacks against the White Guards.
Even if the truth discovered by Garanzha did not possess him for long, it nevertheless gave a strong impetus to unprecedented thoughts and feelings...
Grigory is going home on leave. Dissatisfaction with the war, rage against those who drove people to slaughter, combined with offended personal feelings, erupted in the scene of the brutal beating of Listnitsky. The family, the farm, oiled his troubled heart, caressed him with honor and undisguised flattery. Well, the first gentleman of St. George in the farmstead came on leave! The old people talked to him as an equal. Grigory caught respectful and amazed glances, the women and girls took off their hats at his bow, and did not hide the admiration of the women and girls. The family looked after him attentively, almost ingratiatingly. Panteley Prokofievich walked proudly next to him on the way to the Maidan or to church. Well, how could the poor head not get dizzy! Not everyone received such an honor. In the foggy distance of memories, the great truth discovered by Garanzha faded, the harsh bitterness of his words was forgotten. The order established from time immemorial seemed inviolable, the concepts of Cossack honor and military valor, nurtured throughout life, again acquired their exciting, primordial value. “Grigory came from the front one person, and left another. Not putting up with the senselessness of war in his soul, he honestly cherished his Cossack glory...” And this Gregory “seized the opportunity to express selfless courage, took risks, acted extravagantly, went to the Austrians in disguise, took down outposts without bloodshed, the Cossack horse-rided and felt that that pain had gone away irrevocably for the person who crushed him in the first days of the war.”
With the beginning of such a historical event as a war, fraught with the most serious and unexpected consequences, in an atmosphere of a brewing revolutionary crisis, it was important to find out and bring to the fore the social and political feelings of Gregory. M.A. Sholokhov pits Melekhov against people with sharply expressed opposite social likes and dislikes. The Cossack Chubatiy and the soldier Garanzha, like litmus tests, contribute to the manifestation of different traits in the image of Melekhov.
The imperialist war brought Grigory together with Chubaty at the front. Chubaty professes a disgusting and wretched philosophy of hatred and contempt for man. This is who fully expressed the ideal of the Cossack - the grunt, the faithful servant of the “tsar, the throne and the fatherland”, which was so loved by the ruling classes of Tsarist Russia! To Gregory, who recalled with heightened pain the Austrian he had killed, Chubaty cynically lectured: “Cut down a man boldly... Don’t think about how or what. You are a Cossack, your job is to chop without asking... You cannot destroy an animal without need - a heifer, say, or whatever - but destroy a person. He’s a filthy man... Evil spirits, he stinks on the earth, he lives like a mushroom - a toadstool.” Gregory was initially hostile towards Chubaty. He shoots Chubaty when he cut down a captured Magyar for no reason. “If I killed you, it would be one less sin on my soul,” Grigory says directly and openly later, when Chubaty reminded him of the skirmish.
That unconscious humanism, which was absorbed with the milk of his working mother, defeated the destructive philosophy of Chubaty in Grigory’s soul. The obvious senselessness of the war provokes restless thoughts, melancholy, and acute discontent in him. Thus, the writer, as it were, leads Gregory to a meeting with Garanzha, to the perception of a great human truth. Democracy and humanism gain victory over proprietary and class prejudices in Gregory for some time.
Gregory's intense search for the great truth, suitable for all the people, begins. By creating this image of a restless seeker of truth, the writer revealed in him the complex theme of the tragedy of a man who was crippled by the forces of the past, entangling and blinding him on a difficult path.1 Subsequently, he will abandon these searches as naive childhood dreams and will think, seek the truth, suitable only for the Cossacks. Grigory goes home from the hospital firmly convinced that he knows where and on which side the truth lives in the world.
After returning from home, rested, once again imbued with his “Cossack” identity, Grigory became close to Chubaty. There are no more clashes and quarrels between them. Chubaty's influence affected Grigory's psyche and character. “Pity for the man has disappeared,” Gregory’s heart has “hardened, become coarse.” And we suddenly feel quite clearly the terrible connection that exists between the centuries-old Cossack way of life and the anti-human, degenerate philosophy of Chubaty. The Melekhov family, the circumstances of their life and Chubaty came into contact with something very significant in the reader’s perception...
The writer covers relatively little of Gregory’s front-line life after returning from home. This is stated either in general terms or in Gregory’s memoirs. M.A. Sholokhov focuses on the internal transformations of the hero. “With cold contempt he played with someone else’s and his own life... he knew that he would no longer laugh as before; he knew that his eyes were sunken and his cheekbones were sticking out sharply; he knew that it was difficult for him, when kissing a child, to look openly into clear eyes; Gregory knew what price he paid for a full bow of crosses and production.” This is, as it were, the result of what Gregory the man came to the revolution with.
But Garanja planted a living seed in his soul. The words of the smart, evil neighbor in the hospital ward were not forgotten. Grigory once outlined to Chubatom
Finding the meaning of life, your path
The Great October Revolution and the Civil War posed the question to Grigory Melekhov, as well as to all Cossacks: with whom to go and where to go?
The Bolsheviks brought peace to the tormented country. The majority of Cossacks - front-line soldiers, exhausted by the war, took the side of the Bolsheviks. Grigory Melekhov was among them.
Gregory came to the revolution with weak, undeveloped sympathies for the Bolsheviks. He did not have strong political convictions, and he would not have them throughout the entire civil war. But the events associated with the uprising were of decisive importance for the entire future fate of Gregory. It was necessary to show Melekhov from all sides: the attitude of the Cossacks towards him, painful doubts about the correctness of the chosen path, the behavior of the sailors in battle, love for Aksinya, grief after the death of Natalya... Self-characteristics that came to the fore in psychological analysis, the psychological significance of the events had to convey Gregory’s intense inner life, his search for the right path.
The combination of the Cossack rebels with the whites sharpens Gregory’s understanding of the incompatibility of the interests of the Cossacks with the goals of the counter-revolutionary movement. A whole series of scenes follows: a clash with Fitzkhalaurov, indignation at the English officer. In this chain of events, the writer reveals Gregory’s growing antipathy towards the White Guards and shows the deep connection between spontaneous patriotic feeling and Melekhov’s working nature. The hostile attitude towards the “cadets” manifests itself in the harshest form: refusal to carry out Fitzkhalaurov’s orders, cancellation of Ermakov’s combat mission.
Melekhov's further stay in the White Army becomes uninteresting. And it is no coincidence that Sholokhov says almost nothing about this period of Gregory’s life. There is not a single event associated with it. Sick with typhus, he is brought home on the eve of the counter-revolutionary movement. In fact, he no longer takes part in the struggle. He follows along with those retreating, not as part of a military unit, but on his own. It is as if he were observing the decomposition and collapse of the army from the outside. At night, in the steppe, listening to an ancient Cossack song, which was sung by a cavalry regiment passing by, repeating its words to himself, Gregory, with aching melancholy, with tears, experiences all the shame of the inglorious struggle against the Russian people. This is one of those events that prepared Grigory for the transfer to serve in the Red Army.
The sequence of events reveals the internal logic of Melekhov’s actions, the pattern of his fate. In accordance with the truth of the turbulent revolutionary era, the writer constantly confronts his hero with the need for immediate action. Every time Gregory has to choose between two things: life will not give him the opportunity to evade decisions. He himself didn’t know how to wait and hide, and he didn’t want to. A chain of actions is created that are tightly connected and condition each other. Outwardly, he found himself in some kind of vicious circle: in the war he became an officer; for this, the Red Army soldiers of one of the regiments that entered Tatar almost killed him; He was running; then again he had to hide from arrest; joined the uprising.
The sequence of actions and their character reveal a combination of objective and subjective factors in the fate of Grigory Melekhov. M.A. Sholokhov achieves here a complete merging of the truth of history and the truth of character. It is in this fusion that the greatest artistic persuasiveness and authenticity of the image of Grigory Melekhov lies. His fluctuations and flights from one side to the other during the civil war were inevitable. The painful search for the path to follow continues. “I wanted to turn away from everything seething with hatred, hostile and incomprehensible world. There, behind, everything was confused and contradictory. It was difficult to find the right path; as if in a muddy path, the soil began to clog under your feet, the path became fragmented, and there was no certainty whether he was following the right one. He was drawn to the Bolsheviks - he walked, led others along with him, and then he began to think, his heart grew cold. “... Who should I lean against?”
But life more than once gave Gregory the opportunity to choose. Before Podtyolkov’s execution, he could have gone to the Red Army, but he didn’t leave and ended up in the White Cossack camp; during the uprising he could have submitted to the Soviet authorities on time, but did not do so and ended up with the defeated White army reaching the sea; He could have served in the Red Army until the end of the war, but he returned to the farmstead, in the difficult situation of an imminent anti-Soviet uprising, and ended up in Fomin’s gang. The criticism expressed the idea that, by bringing Grigory Melekhov into Fomin’s gang, the writer executed his hero in a spectacle of a bloody parody of the ideals that he once professed and defended with arms in his hands during the days of the Veshensky rebellion.1
The fourth volume of “The Quiet Don” is a book of results. Every scene, picture, detail here is filled with deep meaning and significance. They are selected and evaluated with that measure of artistic tact and expediency that does not allow anything superfluous or unnecessary. Sholokhov keeps the reader in extreme suspense.
In the eighth part of “The Quiet Don,” Grigory, demobilized from the Red Army, returns home. In the stormy, faded autumn steppe, he recalls his distant childhood, dreams of a peaceful life, of happiness with Aksinya.
We haven't seen him for a long time. We said goodbye to him in Novorossiysk, when a patrol of red horsemen came around the corner to meet Gregory and his companions, also participants in the Verkhnedonsky. From the words of Prokhor Zykov, we learned that Grigory served in the Red Army, fought with Wrangel and the White Poles. Many events took place during this time in the farmstead. Grigory’s mother died without waiting for her “little one”, “desired”.
Dunyasha married Koshevoy, who became the chairman of the Council. Aksinya returned to her kuren, having recovered from typhus. What happened to Gregory? What has he become now?
As if anew, after a long separation, when all the changes are seen sharper, more clearly, we peer into Gregory through the eyes of his random companion, “name.” This choice of life situation revealed the mature skill of the author. After all, Sholokhov could convey the appearance of the present Gregory in a variety of circumstances: when meeting with close people - Aksinya,
Dunyashka, Prokhor, and finally, in the author’s objectified description, Sholokhov gives the appearance of Gregory as perceived by a random female guide. An author's portrait in this place would lack the spontaneity of feeling; Aksinya and Dunyashka, from the excitement and joy of meeting, would not have been able to see Gregory the way the studying, curious, worldly, experienced eyes of his “name” saw him: “He is not very old, although he is gray-haired. And kind of eccentric,” she thought. - All his eyes are frowning, why are they squinting? How, tell me, is he so tired, how, tell me, did they carry a cart on him... But he’s nothing of himself. Only there is a lot of gray hair and his mustache is almost gray. And so it’s okay. Why is he still thinking?
The unwise woman seems to be talking to herself, you can even hear a conversational intonation here. And this “squinting his eyes” Grigory, “depressed, how, say, they drove a cart on him,” she saw, not only reminds us of those seven years of war during which he “did not get off his horse.” This Gregory awakens pity, a nagging, melancholy presentiment. Oh, I can’t believe that he has reached a peaceful family haven! Life had much more grief and loss in store for him...
The writer found an image of great emotional strength and expressiveness, which not only recreated the appearance of Gregory, “killed” by grave delusions, a war that reminded him of his past, but also an image in which there is a premonition of a tragic ending. The ability to see, feel and excite in this way distinguishes a perfect master.
Critics about the tragedy of Grigory Melekhov
The life of Grigory Melekhov was not easy; his journey ends tragically in “Quiet Flows the Flow.” Who is he: a victim of delusions who experienced the full brunt of historical retribution, or an individualist who broke with the people and became a pitiful renegade? In the critical literature about Sholokhov and his novel, debates about the essence of the tragedy of Grigory Melekhov still continue. At first, the prevailing opinion was that this was a tragedy of a renegade. This view is most clearly expressed in the work of L. Yakimenko:
“...the tragedy of Grigory Melekhov is ultimately precisely in isolation from the revolutionary people, who affirm in life the high ideals of the new society. Grigory Melekhov’s break with the laboring Cossacks and revolt were the result of unresolved hesitations and anarchic denial of the new reality. His defection becomes tragic, since this confused man from the people went against himself, against millions of workers just like himself.”1
But Doctor of Philology V.V. Agenosov refutes this point of view: “The renegade does not evoke sympathy - even those who in the ranks of the Red Army mercilessly dealt with the real Melekhovs cried over the fate of Gregory. Gregory did not become a beast, did not lose the ability to feel, suffer, and did not lose the desire to live.”
“The tragedy of Grigory Melekhov is a tragedy of historical error,” - this point of view, going back to the article by B. Emelyanov “On the “Quiet Don” and its critics,” which appeared in 1940, is currently most sharply and consistently pursued by A. Britikov and N. Maslin. According to this theory, Gregory carried within himself many traits of the Russian national character, the Russian peasantry. “One cannot but agree with this, but “he wanders like a blizzard in the steppe” not because he is an owner, like any peasant, but because in each of the warring parties he does not find absolute moral truth, which he strives for with the inherent Russian people maximalism,” writes V.V. Agenosov.
V. Hoffenschefer argued that in the eighth part of the novel the story of the tragedy of Gregory as a typical representative of the Cossacks ends and the story of an unfortunate man broken by trials begins.2
There is another way of looking at this issue. G. A. Frolov, a researcher of the work of M. A. Sholokhov, writes: “The origins of the tragedy of Grigory Melekhov lie in the fact that he is a typical representative of the Don Cossacks, who became a victim of revolutionary violence. The fate of Gregory in the novel is universalized, it actualizes important problems for the 20th century: man - revolution - power - freedom. Through the broken fate of Gregory, through the collapse of the Melekhov family, Sholokhov showed the fate of the Russian peasantry at a turning point in history, in its rejection or contradictory attitude towards the revolution. And Grigory Melekhov, being one of the leaders of the uprising, fights not only for his kuren and allotment of land. This is a fight against violence, against an inhuman regime, against forms of enslavement, a fight for a free Don, for the idea of freedom. And this is the truly correct “third path” of Sholokhov’s hero, chosen in torment and doubt.”
Much has been written about Sholokhov’s novel; critics have been arguing about its characters for decades, but the character of Grigory Melekhov and his tragic fate still remain mysterious, because none of the existing concepts covers the image in its entirety.
The tragedy of Grigory Melekhov is the tragedy of the Don and the entire Russian Cossacks as a whole. Here’s what M. A. Sholokhov himself said about this to the correspondent of “Soviet Russia”: “Gregory, in my opinion, is a kind of symbol of the middle peasant Cossacks. Those who know the history of the civil war on the Don, who know its course, know that it was not just Grigory Melekhov and dozens of Grigori Melekhovs who staggered until 1920.”1
And in a conversation with V. Vasiliev, he noted: “... the social appearance of Grigory Melekhov embodies features characteristic not only of a certain layer of the Cossacks, but also of the peasantry in general. After all, what happened among the Don Cossacks during the years of the revolution and civil war happened in similar forms among the Ural, Kuban, Siberian, Semirechensk, Transbaikal, Terek Cossacks and among the Russian peasantry”2.
It has long been indisputable that the fate of Gregory uniquely refracts the path of the historical errors of the Cossacks during the years of the Civil War. If you follow Gregory step by step along his entire path, from memorable meetings with Izvarin and Podtyolkov to Novorossiysk, to joining the ranks of Budyonny’s cavalry, then you will notice the amazing commonality of his fate, the consonance of moods, the kinship of illusions with the fate, moods and illusions of the Cossacks .
Even the outline of the external fate of Grigory Melekhov during the Veshensky uprising peculiarly reflects the ebbs and flows in the mood of the Cossack masses
[It is more important for Sholokhov to show that not only the external fate of Gregory coincides with the fate of the Cossacks during the days of the uprising, but also his thoughts and moods are surprisingly consonant with those thoughts and moods that engulfed the Cossacks. A writer with an astonishing succession As if reluctantly, Grigory Melekhov became involved in the fight against the Reds, but gradually bitterness came to him. But the same sentiments were also captured by the Cossacks, who, too, succumbing to bitterness, took prisoners less and less, and more and more often engaged in robberies. The idea of the ideological and moral community of Grigory Melekhov with the Cossack masses receives its artistic implementation in the compositional structure, in the logic of plot development.
Grigory Melekhov is closely connected with the Cossack masses, personifying their intelligence and prejudices, those features of the Cossacks that developed historically and manifested themselves in the heated situation of the civil war. The path of historical error that befell the Cossacks, the social roots that gave birth to the “Don Vendee”, also uniquely determined the fate of Grigory Melekhov: he found himself a participant in a reactionary movement, historically doomed. But this was a movement of the masses awakened by the revolution, so the process of overcoming prejudices and destroying illusions that pushed people onto the wrong path of fighting the revolution was inevitable. These were hard lessons that became a turning point in the movement of the Cossacks towards a new life.
Grigory Melekhov fully experienced the bitterness of the collapse of illusions and the painful feeling of shame. However, the difficult experiences of searching for the truth did not pass without a trace for him. Spontaneous impulses are replaced by the ability to think. Moral and psychological prerequisites for the evolution of character in the direction that the masses of the Cossacks suffered at a difficult cost are outlined.
Introduction
The fate of Grigory Melekhov in the novel “Quiet Don” by Sholokhov becomes the focus of the reader’s attention. This hero, who by the will of fate found himself in the midst of difficult historical events, has been forced to search for his own path in life for many years.
Description of Grigory Melekhov
Already from the first pages of the novel, Sholokhov introduces us to the unusual fate of grandfather Grigory, explaining why the Melekhovs are outwardly different from the rest of the inhabitants of the farm. Gregory, like his father, had “a drooping kite nose, in slightly slanting slits there were bluish almonds of hot eyes, sharp slabs of cheekbones.” Remembering the origin of Pantelei Prokofievich, everyone in the farmstead called the Melekhovs “Turks.”
Life changes Gregory's inner world. His appearance also changes. From a carefree, cheerful guy, he turns into a stern warrior whose heart has hardened. Gregory “knew that he would no longer laugh as before; knew that his eyes were sunken and his cheekbones were sticking out sharply,” and in his gaze “a 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 tired squinting eyes, with the reddish 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 farming and family. He enthusiastically helps his father with mowing and fishing. He is unable to contradict his parents when they marry him to the unloved Natalya Korshunova.
But, for all that, Gregory is a passionate, addicted person. Contrary to his father's prohibitions, he continues to go to night games. He meets Aksinya Astakhova, his neighbor’s wife, and then leaves his home with her.
Gregory, like most Cossacks, is characterized by courage, sometimes reaching the point of recklessness. He behaves heroically at the front, participating in the most dangerous forays. At the same time, the hero is not alien to humanity. He is worried about a gosling he accidentally killed while mowing. He suffers for a long time because of the murdered unarmed Austrian. “By obeying his heart,” Grigory saves his sworn enemy Stepan from death. He goes against an entire platoon of Cossacks, defending 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 road. It's not easy for him in the war. His personal life is also complicated.
Like the beloved heroes of L.N. Tolstoy, Grigory goes through a difficult path of life’s quest. At the beginning, everything seemed clear to him. Like other Cossacks, he is called up for war. For him there is no doubt that he must defend the Fatherland. But, getting to the front, the hero understands that his whole nature is opposed to murder.
Grigory moves from white to red, but even here he will be disappointed. Seeing how Podtyolkov deals with captured young officers, he loses faith in this power and the next year he again finds himself in the White Army.
Tossing between the whites and the reds, the hero himself becomes embittered. He loots and kills. He tries to forget himself in drunkenness and fornication. In the end, fleeing the persecution of the new government, he finds himself among the bandits. Then he becomes a deserter.
Grigory is exhausted from tossing and turning. He wants to live on his land, raise bread and children. Although life hardens the hero and gives his features something “wolfish,” in essence, he is not a killer. Having lost everything and not having found his way, Grigory returns to his native farm, realizing that, most likely, death awaits him here. But a son and a home are the only things that keep the hero alive.
Gregory's relationship with Aksinya and Natalya
Fate sends the hero two passionately loving women. But Gregory’s relationship with them is not easy. 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, they burned so frantically with one shameless flame, people without conscience and without hiding, losing weight and blackening their faces in front of their neighbors, that now for some reason people were ashamed to look at them when they met.”
Despite this, he cannot resist his father’s will and marries Natalya Korshunova, promising himself to forget Aksinya and settle down. But Gregory is unable to keep his vow to himself. Although Natalya is beautiful and selflessly loves her husband, he gets back together 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 grievances. But he was not destined for a calm family life. The image of Aksinya haunts him. Fate brings them together again. Unable to bear the shame and betrayal, Natalya has an abortion and dies. Grigory blames himself for the death of his wife and experiences this loss cruelly.
Now, it would seem, nothing can stop him from finding happiness with the woman he loves. But circumstances force him to leave his place and, together with Aksinya, set off on the road again, the last for his beloved.
With the death of Aksinya, Gregory's life loses all meaning. The hero no longer has even a ghostly hope for happiness. “And Grigory, dying of horror, realized that it was all over, that the worst thing that could happen in his life had already happened.”
Conclusion
In conclusion of my essay on the topic “The Fate of Grigory Melekhov in the novel “Quiet Don””, I want to fully agree with critics who believe that in “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 work suddenly becomes a cruel killer with a devastated soul.
Work test
Grigory Melekhov is the most famous and memorable character in Sholokhov’s novel “Quiet 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 looked very much like Gregory. Why the author decided to make changes to the novel is still unknown.
Hero's appearance
Grigory Melekhov (the characteristics of the character will be discussed in detail in this article) is endowed by the author with “wild” beauty, like all the Cossacks of his family. He was taller than his older brother, with black hair and a hooked nose, which made him look like a gypsy. The eyes are slightly slanted, almond-shaped and “blue,” and “sharp slabs of cheekbones are covered with brown skin.” His smile was “bestial”, his “wolf teeth” were snow-white. Hands are stubborn and callous to affection.
In his entire appearance one can feel wildness and roughness, combined with incredible beauty. Even during the war, he did not lose his attractiveness. Although he lost a lot of weight and looked more like an Asian.
Grigory Melikhov wore traditional Cossack clothing: wide trousers, white woolen stockings, chiriki (shoes), zipun, loose shirt, short fur coat. The clothing has 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 Sholokhov's focus is on the people, and not on a specific individual. And Gregory stands out from the general background only because he is the embodiment of folk traits. It became a reflection of Cossack prowess and “love for farming, for work” - the two main commandments of the Cossacks, who were warriors and farmers at the same time.
But Grigory Melekhov (“Quiet Don”) is famous not only for this. The distinctive features of his character were self-will, the desire for truth and independence in action. He always strives 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 a 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 main character's relationship with Aksinya runs like a red thread throughout the entire work. Their feeling was high, but tragic.
Let's talk a little about heroin. Aksinya is a stately, beautiful and proud Cossack woman who perceives what is happening very emotionally. She had a difficult fate. At sixteen, Aksinya was raped by her father, and a year later she was married to Stepan Astakhov, who beat her. This was followed by the death of the child. An unloved husband and hard work - this is the whole life of a young woman. This was the fate of many peasant and Cossack women, which is why it is generally accepted that “Quiet Don” reflects an entire era.
The fate of Grigory Melekhov turned out to be closely intertwined with the life of Aksinya. The woman wanted true love, which is why she responded so readily to her neighbor’s advances. Passion flared up between the young people, burning away fear, shame and doubt.
Even marrying Natalya did not stop Gregory. He continued to meet with Aksinya, for which he was expelled from home 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 her master’s son forces Gregory to return to his wife.
However, the final break does not occur. The lovers begin to meet again. They carry their feelings throughout their lives, despite all misfortunes and tragedies.
Character
Grigory Melekhov does not run from reality. He soberly assesses everything that happens around him 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 towards him. He then bravely rushes to save those who killed his brother.
The image of Melekhov is complex and ambiguous. He is characterized by tossing and feeling of internal dissatisfaction with his actions. That is why he constantly rushes about; making a choice is not an easy task for him.
Social aspect
The character of a hero is determined by his origin. For example, Listnitsky is a landowner, and Koshevoy is a farm laborer, so they cannot be relied upon. 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 was the reason for all his throwing. The hero is both a worker and an owner. This is the cause of internal discord.
During the war, Grigory Melekhov 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 benefit for himself, the main thing is to find the truth. That is why he peers so intently at the world around him. He does not share the enthusiasm of other Cossacks for the coming of the revolution. Grigory does not understand why they need her.
Previously, the Cossacks themselves decided who would rule them, they chose an ataman, but now they are imprisoned for this. There is no need for generals or peasants on the Don; the people will figure it out themselves, just as they figured it out before. And the promises of the Bolsheviks are false. They say that everyone is equal, but here comes the Red Army, the platoon commander has chrome boots, and the soldiers are all in bandages. 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 haunts him. Sholokhov himself wrote that Melekhov embodied the opinion of all Cossacks, but his strength lies in the fact 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.
Grigory could admit that the Reds were right, but he felt the lies in their slogans and promises. He could not take everything on faith, and when he checked it in reality, it turned out that he was being lied to.
Turning a blind eye to lies was tantamount to betraying oneself, one’s land and one’s people.
How to deal with an unnecessary person?
Grigory Melekhov (his characterization confirms this) stood out from 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. 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 having a dangerous way of thinking. Here we see the main conflict of the novel, where two sides collide, each of which is right. Shtokman is taking all measures to prevent an uprising that could prevent the accession of Soviet power, which he serves. Gregory’s character does not allow him to come to terms with 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, the entire Cossacks rise. In this scene, the reader can clearly see that Gregory is truly 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 Tatarskoye, 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 confident in it. However, not all so simple. This is not the last turn in his fate.
Throwing
The image of Grigory Melekhov in the novel “Quiet Don” is very ambiguous. He is constantly tossing around and is not sure of the right choice. This is what happens with the decision to confront the Red Army. He sees the prisoners and dead who took part in his uprising, and understands who might benefit from this. The final epiphany comes when Gregory alone rushes to the machine gun and kills the sailors who controlled it. Melekhov then rolls around in the snow and exclaims: “Who did I kill!”
The hero again finds himself in conflict with the world. All Melekhov’s vacillations reflect the vacillations of the entire Cossacks, who first came from monarchism to Bolshevism, then decided to build autonomy, and then returned to Bolshevism again. Only in the example of Gregory do we see everything more clearly than what actually happened. This is connected with the very character of the hero, with his intransigence, passion, and unbridledness. Melekhov judges himself and those around him strictly. He is ready to answer for his wrong actions, but he wants others to answer too.
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 his most precious thing - his beloved woman. Aksinya's death was the most terrible blow for Melekhov. At that moment the meaning of life was taken away from him. He has no more close people left in this world. Mental devastation leads him to the forest. He tries to live alone, but cannot 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 “grinded” and distorted his fate. Gregory simply turned out to be a person who could not adapt to change.
The world-famous novel by Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov “Quiet Don” is a novel about the tragedy of the civil war, about the tragedy of thousands of people. Speaking about his famous novel “Quiet Don,” the writer noted: “I describe the struggle of whites with reds, not the struggle of reds with whites.” This complicated the artist’s task, and it is no coincidence that critics are still arguing about the fate of the main character, about the results of his life’s quest. Who is he? A “renegade” who went against his own people, or a victim of history who failed to find his place in the general struggle and life?
Depicting the life of the Don Cossacks during the tragic period of the revolution and civil war, Sholokhov solves the complex philosophical problem of the relationship and interaction of the personal and the social. The attitude towards the revolution is a question that tormented not only the main character, it is a question of the era.
The first parts of the novel are a leisurely description of the life of the pre-war Cossacks. Life, traditions, customs that have developed over many generations seem unshakable and unshakable. And only Aksinya’s ardent, reckless love for Gregory is perceived by the villagers as a rebellion, as a protest against generally accepted moral norms.
But already from the second book, the novel goes beyond the framework of a family-everyday narrative; social motives become more and more pronounced. Sholokhov debunks the myth about the homogeneity and unity of the Cossacks. Shtokman and his underground circle appear; the brutal fight at the mill shows the arrogant arrogance of the Cossacks towards the peasants, who, in essence, are workers just like them.
With the outbreak of the World War of 1914, Grigory Melekhov comes to the fore in the novel, and through his fate, Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov traces the fate of the front-line Cossacks. In general, speaking about the war, emphasizing its unjust nature, the author speaks from an anti-militaristic position. Let us recall, for example, the scene of the murder of an Austrian soldier or the diary of a student. At the front and then in the hospital, Grigory comes to the understanding that the truth in which he still believed is illusory. A painful search for another truth begins. Melekhov comes to the Bolsheviks, but cannot fully accept that they are right. There are several reasons for this. First of all, he, a military officer, feels that in the Red camp they treat him with distrust, he is repulsed by the senseless cruelty and bloodthirstiness of the Bolsheviks. In addition, Melekhov’s class arrogance in relation to “badness” remains intact.
And he doesn’t linger with the whites, realizing that behind the loud words about saving Russia, self-interest and petty calculations often hide.
Grigory Melekhov is looking for a third way, naively believing that there is a special “Cossack” truth. However, in a world split into two irreconcilable camps, recognizing only two colors and not distinguishing shades, there is no third way.
Having survived the defeat of the Veshenian uprising, Grigory decides to leave the army and take up grain-growing work, but after a meeting and conversation with Koshev he understands that this fanatic lives by one thought - the thirst for revenge. Saving his life and Aksinya’s life, Melekhov runs away from his home and ends up in Fomin’s gang. He understands the price he is forced to pay: no matter what loud words Fomin says, his squad is an ordinary criminal gang. As punishment, fate takes away the most precious thing that Grigory Melekhov had - Aksinya. It is then that he sees the “dazzling black disk of the sun” - a symbol of the tragic ending. Material from the site
Grigory returns to the village, hoping neither for forgiveness nor for leniency. But even in this hopeless situation, a faint ray of hope flashed: the first person Melekhov saw was his son Mishka, life will continue in him, and maybe his fate will turn out differently.
The path to the home, the path to the small homeland, the path to the dear, beloved and close from birth, the path to the little son - this is the result of the life quest of the main character of the novel by M. A. Sholokhov “Quiet Don” Grigory Melekhov.
In my opinion, Grigory Melekhov is not a renegade, he is a victim of the tragedy of the civil war, a victim of history. In addition, he belongs to a type well known from Russian literature of the 19th century. This is a type of truth-seeker for whom the process of searching for one’s own truth sometimes turns out to be the meaning of existence. From this point of view, it can be argued that Mikhail Sholokhov’s novel “Quiet Don,” with all its tragic pathos, continues and develops the humanistic traditions of classical Russian literature.
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