The Great Patriotic War, even after many decades, remains the greatest blow to the whole world. What a tragedy this is for the fighting Soviet people, who have lost the most people in this bloody duel! The lives of many (both military and civilian) were broken. Sholokhov's story "The Fate of a Man" truthfully depicts this suffering, not of an individual person, but of the entire people who rose to defend their homeland.

The story "The Fate of a Man" is based on real events: M.А. Sholokhov met a man who told him his tragic biography. This story was almost a ready-made plot, but did not immediately turn into a literary work. The writer nurtured his idea for 10 years, but put it on paper in just a few days. And he dedicated it to E. Levitskaya, who helped him print the main novel of his life "Quiet Don".

The story was published in the newspaper Pravda on the eve of the new year, 1957. And soon it was read on the All-Union radio, heard by the whole country. Listeners and readers were shocked by the strength and truthfulness of this work, it won the popularity it deserved. In literary terms, this book opened up a new way for writers to reveal the theme of war - through the fate of a little man.

The essence of the story

The author accidentally meets the main character Andrei Sokolov and his son Vanyushka. During the forced delay at the crossing, the men started talking, and a casual acquaintance told the writer his story. That's what he told him about.

Before the war, Andrei lived like everyone else: wife, children, household, work. But then thunder struck, and the hero went to the front, where he served as a driver. One fateful day, Sokolov's car came under fire, he was concussed. So he was captured.

A group of prisoners was brought to the church to spend the night, many incidents happened that night: the execution of a believer who could not desecrate the church (they were not even released "until the wind"), and with him several people who accidentally fell under the gunfire, help from doctor Sokolov and others wounded. Also, the main character had to strangle another prisoner, since he turned out to be a traitor and was going to extradite the commissioner. Even during the next drive to the concentration camp, Andrei tried to escape, but was caught by the dogs, who stripped him of his last clothes and bit everything, that "the skin and meat flew in shreds."

Then the concentration camp: inhuman work, an almost starving existence, beatings, humiliation - that's what Sokolov had to endure. "They need four cubic meters of production, but for the grave of each of us and one cubic meter through the eyes is enough!" - Andrei said imprudently. And for this he appeared before Lagerführer Müller. They wanted to shoot the main character, but he overcame his fear, bravely drank three shots of schnapps for his death, for which he earned respect, a loaf of bread and a piece of bacon.

Towards the end of hostilities, Sokolov was appointed a driver. And, finally, there was an opportunity for escape, and even together with the engineer whom the hero was driving. The joy of salvation did not have time to subside, grief arrived in time: he learned about the death of his family (a shell hit the house), but all this time he lived only in the hope of a meeting. Only one son survived. Anatoly also defended his homeland, with Sokolov they simultaneously approached Berlin from different sides. But right on the day of victory, they killed the last hope. Andrey was left all alone.

Subject

The main theme of the story is a man at war. These tragic events are an indicator of personal qualities: in extreme situations, those character traits that are usually hidden are revealed, it is clear who is who in reality. Andrei Sokolov before the war was not particularly different, he was like everyone else. But in battle, having survived captivity, a constant danger to life, he showed himself. His truly heroic qualities were revealed: patriotism, courage, perseverance, will. On the other hand, a prisoner like Sokolov, probably also no different in ordinary peaceful life, was going to betray his commissar in order to curry favor with the enemy. So, the theme of moral choice is also reflected in the work.

Also M.A. Sholokhov touches on the topic of willpower. The war took away from the protagonist not only health and strength, but the whole family. He has no home, how can he continue to live, what to do next, how to find meaning? This question has interested hundreds of thousands of people who have experienced similar losses. And for Sokolov, caring for the boy Vanyushka, who was also left without a home and family, became a new meaning. And for the sake of him, for the sake of the future of your country, you need to live on. This is the disclosure of the topic of the search for the meaning of life - a real person finds it in love and hope for the future.

Problematic

1. The problem of choice takes an important place in the story. Every person faces a choice every day. But not everyone has to choose on pain of death, knowing that your fate depends on this decision. So, Andrei had to decide: betray or remain faithful to the oath, bend under the blows of the enemy or fight. Sokolov was able to remain a worthy person and citizen, because he determined his priorities, guided by honor and morality, and not by the instinct of self-preservation, fear or meanness.
2. The whole fate of the hero, in his life trials, reflects the problem of the common man's defenselessness in the face of war. Little depends on him, circumstances are piling on him, from which he tries to get out at least alive. And if Andrei was able to save himself, then his family was not. And he feels guilty about it, even though he is not.
3. The problem of cowardice is realized in the work by means of secondary characters. The image of a traitor who is ready to sacrifice the life of a fellow soldier for the sake of momentary profit becomes a counterweight to the image of the brave and strong-willed Sokolov. And such people were in the war, says the author, but there were fewer of them, that's why we won the victory.
4. The tragedy of the war. Numerous losses were suffered not only by the soldiers' units, but also by civilians who could not protect themselves in any way.

Characteristics of the main characters

1. Andrei Sokolov is an ordinary person, one of many who had to leave a peaceful existence in order to defend their homeland. He exchanges a simple and happy life for the danger of war, without even realizing how to stay away. In extreme circumstances, he retains spiritual nobility, shows willpower and resilience. Under the blows of fate, he managed not to break. And to find a new meaning in life, which betrays kindness and responsiveness in him, because he sheltered an orphan.
2. Vanyushka is a lonely boy who has to spend the night wherever he has to. His mother was killed during the evacuation, his father was at the front. Torn, dusty, in watermelon juice - this is how he appeared before Sokolov. And Andrei could not leave the child, introduced himself as his father, giving a chance for a further normal life for himself and for him.

What is the meaning of the work?

One of the main ideas of the story is the need to take into account the lessons of the war. The example of Andrei Sokolov shows not what war can do with a person, but what can do with all of humanity. Prisoners tortured by a concentration camp, orphaned children, destroyed families, burnt fields - this should never be repeated, therefore it should not be forgotten.

No less important is the idea that in any, even the most terrible situation, one must remain human, not become like an animal that, out of fear, acts only on the basis of instincts. Survival is the main thing for anyone, but if this comes at the cost of betraying oneself, one's comrades, and the Motherland, then the escaped soldier is no longer a person, he is not worthy of this title. Sokolov did not betray his ideals, did not break down, although he went through something that is even difficult for a modern reader to imagine.

Genre

The story is a short literary genre that reveals one storyline and several characters. “Man's destiny” refers specifically to him.

However, if you look closely at the composition of the work, you can clarify the general definition, because this is a story within a story. Initially, the story is told by the author, who, by the will of fate, met and got into conversation with his character. Andrei Sokolov himself describes his difficult life, the first-person narrative allows readers to better feel the feelings of the hero and understand him. Author's remarks are introduced to characterize the hero from the sidelines ("eyes, as if sprinkled with ashes", "I did not see a single tear in his seemingly dead, extinct eyes ... only large, limply lowered hands trembled shallowly, chin trembled, hard lips trembled") and show how deeply this strong man suffers.

What values \u200b\u200bdoes Sholokhov promote?

The main value for the author (and for the readers) is the world. Peace between states, peace in society, peace in the human soul. The war destroyed the happy life of Andrei Sokolov, as well as many people. The echo of the war still does not subside, so its lessons must not be forgotten (although this event has often been overestimated recently for political purposes that are far from the ideals of humanism).

Also, the writer does not forget about the eternal values \u200b\u200bof the individual: nobility, courage, will, the desire to help. The time of knights, noble dignity is long gone, but true nobility does not depend on origin, it is in the soul, expressed in its ability to mercy and empathy, even if the world around us collapses. This story is a great lesson in courage and morality for today's readers.

Interesting? Keep it on your wall!

(Literary investigation)

Taking part in the investigation:
Leading - librarian
Independent historian
Witnesses are literary heroes

Leading: 1956 year. 31th of Decemberthe story is published in Pravda "The fate of man" ... This story began a new stage in the development of our military literature. And here Sholokhov's fearlessness and Sholokhov's ability to show the era in all its complexity and in all its drama through the fate of one person played a role.

The main plot of the story is the fate of a simple Russian soldier Andrei Sokolov. His life of the same age is correlated with the biography of the country, with the most important events in history. In May 1942, he was captured. For two years he traveled around "half of Germany", escaped from captivity. During the war he lost his entire family. After the war, having met by chance an orphan boy, Andrei adopted him.

After "The Fate of Man", it became impossible to say nothing about the tragic events of the war, about the bitterness of captivity experienced by many Soviet people. Soldiers and officers who were very loyal to the Motherland and found themselves in a desperate situation at the front were also captured, but they were often treated as traitors. Sholokhov's story seemed to pull off the veil from many things that were hidden by the fear of offending the heroic portrait of Victory.

Let's go back to the years of the Great Patriotic War, to its most tragic period - 1942-1943. A word to an independent historian.

Historian: August 16, 1941Stalin signed an order № 270 which said:
"Commanders and political workers who surrender to the enemy during the battle are considered malicious deserters, whose families are subject to arrest, as families of those who have violated the oath and betrayed their homeland."

The order demanded to destroy the prisoners by all "By means of both ground and air, and the families of the surrendered Red Army soldiers should be deprived of state benefits and assistance"

In 1941 alone, according to German data, 3 million 800 thousand Soviet servicemen were taken prisoner. By the spring of 1942, 1 million 100 thousand people remained alive.

In total, during the war, out of about 6.3 million prisoners of war, about 4 million were killed.

Leading: The Great Patriotic War ended, victorious volleys died down, and the peaceful life of the Soviet people began. How did the fate of such people as Andrei Sokolov, who passed captivity or survived the occupation, develop in the future? How did our society treat such people?

Testifies in his book "My adult childhood".

(The girl testifies on behalf of L.M. Gurchenko).

Witness: Not only Kharkiv residents, but also residents of other cities began to return to Kharkov from evacuation. All had to be provided with living space. Those who remained in the occupation looked askance. They were first of all moved from apartments and rooms on floors to basements. We waited for our turn.

In the classroom, the new arrivals announced a boycott to those who remained with the Germans. I did not understand anything: if I had gone through so much, saw so much terrible, on the contrary, they should understand me, feel sorry for me ... I began to be afraid of people who looked at me with contempt and let go of the "shepherd". Oh, if they knew what a real German shepherd is. If they saw how the shepherd dog leads people straight to the gas chamber ... these people would not say so ... When films and a chronicle appeared on the screen, in which the horrors of the execution and reprisals of the Germans in the occupied territories were shown, gradually this "disease" began to fade into the past ...

Leading: ... 10 years have passed after the victorious 45th year, the war did not let Sholokhov go. He was working on a novel "They fought for the Motherland" and a story "The fate of man."

According to the literary critic V. Osipov, this story could not have been created at any other time. He began to write when its author finally regained his sight and understood: Stalin is not an icon for the people, Stalinism is Stalinism. As soon as the story came out - so praise from almost every newspaper or magazine. Remarque and Hemingway responded by sending telegrams. And to this day, no anthology of Soviet short stories can do without it.

Leading: You have read this story. Please share your impressions, what touched you in it, what left you indifferent?

(Answers guys)

Leading: There are two opposite opinions about the story of M.A. Sholokhov's "The Fate of a Man": Alexandra Solzhenitsyn and a writer from Alma-Ata Benjamin Larina. Let's listen to them.

(A young man testifies on behalf of A.I.Solzhenitsyn)

Solzhenitsyn A.I .: "The fate of a man" is a very weak story, where war pages are pale and unconvincing.

First: the most not criminal case of captivity was chosen - without memory, in order to make it indisputable, to get around the whole urgency of the problem. (And if you gave up in memory, as was the case with the majority - what and how then?)

Secondly: the main problem is presented not in the fact that the homeland left us, renounced, cursed us (Sholokhov did not say a word about this), but this creates a hopelessness, but that traitors were declared among us there ...

Thirdly: a fantastically detective escape from captivity was composed with a bunch of exaggerations so that the obligatory, unswerving procedure of those who came from captivity did not arise: "SMERSH-testing and filtration camp".

Leading: SMERSH - what is this organization? A word to an independent historian.

Historian: From the encyclopedia "The Great Patriotic War":
"By the decree of the State Committee for Defense of April 14, 1943, the Main Directorate of Counterintelligence" SMERSH "-" Death to Spies "was established. The intelligence services of fascist Germany tried to deploy broad subversive activities against the USSR. They created on the Soviet-German front over 130 intelligence and sabotage agencies and about 60 special intelligence and sabotage schools. Subversive detachments and terrorists were thrown into the active Soviet Army. The SMERSH authorities were actively searching for enemy agents in the areas of hostilities, in the locations of military facilities, and ensured timely receipt of data on the dispatch of enemy spies and saboteurs. After the war, in May 1946, the SMERSH organs were transformed into special departments and subordinated to the USSR Ministry of State Security. "

Leading: And now the opinion of Benjamin Larin.

(A young man on behalf of V. Larin)

Larin V .: Sholokhov's story is praised for only one theme of a soldier's feat. But literary critics kill - safely for themselves - the true meaning of the story. Sholokhov's truth is wider and does not end with a victory in a battle with a fascist captivity machine. They pretend that the big story has no continuation: like a big state, big power relates to a small person, albeit a great one. Sholokhov rips out the revelation from his heart: look, readers, how the authorities relate to a person - slogans, slogans, and what, to hell, care for a person! The captivity cut a man to pieces. But he was there, in captivity, even shredded, remained faithful to his country, but returned? Nobody needs! An orphan! And with the boy there are two orphans ... Grains of sand ... And not only under a military hurricane. But Sholokhov is great - he was not tempted by a cheap twist of the topic: he did not invest in his hero any pitiful pleas for sympathy, or curses against Stalin. I saw in his Sokolov the eternal essence of the Russian man - patience and perseverance.

Leading: Let's turn to the work of writers who write about captivity, and with their help we will recreate the atmosphere of the difficult war years.

(Testified by the hero of the story "The Road to the Father's House" by Konstantin Vorobyov)

Partisan's Tale: I was taken prisoner near Volokolamsk in 1941, and although sixteen years have passed since then, and I have survived, and divorced my family, and so on, but I do not know how to talk about how I got a nickname in captivity: I don’t have Russian words for this. No!

We fled from the camp together, and over time, a whole detachment gathered from us, former prisoners. Klimov ... restored our military ranks. You see, you were, say, a sergeant before captivity, and you stayed with that. I was a soldier - be it to the end!

It used to be ... you destroy an enemy truck with bombs, immediately the soul in you seems to straighten up, and something will rejoice there - now I am fighting not for myself alone, as in the camp! We will defeat his bastard, we will definitely finish it, and this is how you get to this place before victory, that is, stop!

And then, after the war, you will immediately need a questionnaire. And there will be one small question - was he in captivity? In place, this question is just a one-word answer "yes" or "no".

And to the one who will hand you this questionnaire, it is not at all important what you did during the war, but it is important where you were! Ah, in captivity? So ... Well, what does it mean - you yourself know. In life and in truth, this situation should have been quite the opposite, but come on! ...

Let me put it briefly: exactly three months later we joined a large partisan detachment.

How we acted until the arrival of our army, I will tell you another time. Yes, I think it doesn't matter. It is important that we not only turned out to be alive, but also entered the human system, that we again turned into fighters, and we remained Russian people in the camps.

Leading: Let's listen to the confession of the partisan and Andrei Sokolov.

Partisan: You were, say, a sergeant before captivity, and stay with him. Was a soldier - be him to the end.

Andrey Sokolov : That's why you are a man, then you are a soldier, to endure everything, to demolish everything, if the need calls for it.

For both one and the other, war is hard work that needs to be done in good faith, to give all of yourself.

Leading:Major Pugachev testifies from the story V. Shalamov "The last battle of Major Pugachev"

Reader: Major Pugachev recalled the German camp from which he fled in 1944. The front was approaching the city. He worked as a chauffeur on a truck inside a huge cleaning camp. He remembered how he had dispersed the truck and knocked down the barbed, single-strand wire, pulling out hastily set posts. Shots of sentries, shouts, mad driving through the city in different directions, an abandoned car, the road at night to the front line and a meeting - interrogation in a special department. The charge of espionage, the sentence is twenty-five years in prison. Vlasov emissaries came, but he did not believe them until he himself got to the Red Army units. Everything that the Vlasovites said was true. He was not needed. The authorities were afraid of him.

Leading: After listening to the testimony of Major Pugachev, you involuntarily note: his story is direct - confirmation of Larin's correctness:
“He was there, in captivity, even shredded, remained faithful to his country, but returned? .. No one needs! An orphan!"

Testified by Sergeant Alexei Romanov, a former school history teacher from Stalingrad, a real hero of the story Sergei Smirnov "The Way to the Homeland" from the book "Heroes of the Great War".

(The reader testifies on behalf of A. Romanov)

Alexey Romanov: In the spring of 1942 I ended up at the Feddel international camp, on the outskirts of Hamburg. There, in the port of Hamburg, we prisoners, worked unloading ships. The thought of running away did not leave me for a minute. With my friend Melnikov, they decided to run away, they thought out an escape plan, frankly, a fantastic plan. Escape from the camp, enter the port, hide on a Swedish steamer and sail with it to one of the ports in Sweden. From there it is possible with a British ship to get to England, and then with some caravan of allied ships to come to Murmansk or Arkhangelsk. And then again pick up an assault rifle or a machine gun and already at the front pay off the Nazis for everything that they had to endure in captivity over the years.

We escaped on December 25, 1943. We were just lucky. Miraculously, they managed to get to the other side of the Elbe, to the port where the Swedish ship was stationed. We climbed into the hold with coke, and in this iron coffin without water, without food, we sailed to the Motherland, and for this we were ready for anything, even to death. I woke up a few days later in a Swedish prison hospital: it turned out that we were found by workers unloading coke. They called a doctor. Melnikov was already dead, but I survived. I began to seek to be sent home, got to Alexandra Mikhailovna Kollontai. She helped to return home in 1944.

Leading: Before we continue our conversation, a word to the historian. What the figures tell us about the fate of the former prisoners of war

Historian: From the book "The Great Patriotic War. Figures and facts "... Those who returned from captivity after the war (1 million 836 thousand people) were sent: more than 1 million people - for further service in the Red Army, 600 thousand - to work in industry as part of workers' battalions, and 339 thousand ( including some of the civilians), as having compromised themselves in captivity - in the NKVD camps.

Leading: War is a continent of brutality. It is sometimes impossible to protect hearts from the madness of hatred, bitterness, fear in captivity, in blockade. A person is literally brought to the gates of the last judgment. Sometimes it is more difficult to endure, to live a life in a war, surrounded by people, than to endure death.

What is common in the fates of our witnesses, what makes their souls related? Are the accusations against Sholokhov's address fair?

(We listen to the guys' answers)

Resilience, tenacity in the struggle for life, the spirit of courage, camaraderie - these qualities are traditionally derived from the Suvorov soldier, they were sung by Lermontov in Borodino, Gogol in the story Taras Bulba, Leo Tolstoy admired them. All this is Andrei Sokolov, the partisan from the story of Vorobyov, Major Pugachev, Alexei Romanov.

Remaining a man in a war is not just about surviving and “killing him” (ie, the enemy). It is to keep your heart for good. Sokolov went to the front as a man, and he remained with him after the war.

Reader: A story about the tragic fate of prisoners is the first in Soviet literature. Was written in 1955! So why is Sholokhov deprived of the literary and moral right to begin a topic this way and not otherwise?

Solzhenitsyn reproaches Sholokhov for not writing about those who “surrendered” to captivity, but about those who were “captured” or “taken”. But he did not take into account that Sholokhov could not otherwise:

Brought up on Cossack traditions. It was no accident that he defended Kornilov's honor before Stalin by an example of escape from captivity. And in fact, a person from ancient battle times, first of all, gives sympathy not to those who “surrendered”, but to those who were “taken and taken” in captivity due to irresistible hopelessness: injury, encirclement, disarmament, due to betrayal of the commander or betrayal of the rulers;

He took the political courage to give up his authority in order to protect from political stigma those who were honest in the performance of military duty and man's honor.

Maybe the Soviet reality is embellished? The last lines about the wretched Sokolov and Vanyushka began in Sholokhov as follows: "With heavy sadness I looked after them ...".

Maybe Sokolov's behavior in captivity is embellished? There are no such reproaches.

Leading: Now it is easy to analyze the words and actions of the author. Or maybe it's worth thinking: was it easy for him to live his own life? Was it easy for an artist who could not, did not have time to say everything he wanted, and, of course, could say. Subjectively I could (there was enough talent, courage, and material!), But objectively I could not (the time, the era, were such that it was not printed, and therefore not written ...) How often, how much our Russia has lost at all times: not created sculptures, not painted pictures and books, who knows, maybe the most talented ... Great Russian artists were born at the wrong time - either early or late - objectionable to the rulers.

IN "Conversation with father" M.M. Sholokhov transmits the words of Mikhail Alexandrovich in response to the criticism of the reader, a former prisoner of war who survived the Stalinist camps:
“Do you think I don’t know what happened in captivity or after it? What do I know, the extreme degrees of human baseness, cruelty, meanness? Or do you think that knowing this, I am doing it myself? ... How much skill does it take to tell people the truth ... "

Could Mikhail Alexandrovich keep silent about many things in his story? - I could! Time taught him to be silent and under-talk: an intelligent reader will understand everything, guess everything.

Many years have passed since, at the behest of the writer, more and more readers meet the heroes of this story. They think. Yearning. They cry. And they are surprised at how generous the human heart is, how inexhaustible kindness is in it, how ineradicable the need to protect and protect, even when, it would seem, there is nothing to think about.

Literature:

1. Biryukov FG Sholokhov: to help teachers, high school students. and applicants / FG Biryukov. - 2nd ed. - M.: Publishing house of Moscow University, 2000 .-- 111 p. - (Rereading the classics).

2. Zhukov, Ivan Ivanovich. The hand of fate: Truth and lies about M. Sholokhov and A. Fadeev. - M.: Gaz.-Zhurn. Publication "Sunday", 1994. - 254, p., fol. silt : ill.

3. Osipov, Valentin Osipovich. The secret life of Mikhail Sholokhov ...: documentary chronicle without legends / V.O. Osipov. - M.: LIBERIA, 1995 .-- 415 p., Fol. port p.

4. Petelin, Viktor Vasilievich. Sholokhov's Life: The Tragedy of Rus. genius / Victor Petelin. - M.: Tsentrpoligraf, 2002 .-- 893, p., Fol. silt : portr. ; 21 cm - (Immortal names).

5. Russian literature of the XX century: a guide for high school students, applicants and students / LA Iezuitova, SA Iezuitov [and others]; ed. T.N. Nagaitseva. - SPb. : Neva, 1998 .-- 416 p.

6. Chalmaev V. A. Stay human in war: Front pages of Russian prose of the 60s-90s: to help teachers, high school students and applicants / V. A. Chalmaev. - 2nd ed. - M.: Publishing house of Moscow University, 2000 .-- 123 p. - (Rereading the classics).

7. Sholokhova S. M. Executed plan: To the history of an unwritten story / p. M. Sholokhovva // Peasant. - 1995. - No. 8. - Feb.

"The fate of man": how it was

Shot from the film "The Fate of Man" (1959)

Andrey Sokolov

Spring. Upper Don. The narrator and his friend rode in a chaise drawn by two horses to the village of Bukanovskaya. It was difficult to ride - the snow began to melt, the mud was impassable. And here, near the Mokhovsky farm, the Elanka river. Shallow in the summer, has now spread over a kilometer. Together with the chauffeur who has come from nowhere, the narrator swims across the river in some dilapidated boat. The driver drove a Willis car parked in the barn to the river, got into the boat and went back. He promised to be back in two hours.

The narrator sat down on a fallen fence and was about to light a cigarette, but the cigarettes got wet during the crossing. So he would be bored for two hours in silence, loneliness, without food, water, drink and smoke - as a man with a child approached him and greeted him. The man (this was the main character of the further narration, Andrei Sokolov) mistook the narrator for a chauffeur - because of a car parked nearby and went to talk to a colleague: he himself was a chauffeur, only in a truck. The narrator did not begin to upset the interlocutor, revealing his true profession (and remained unknown to the reader) and lied that the authorities were waiting.

Sokolov replied that he was in no hurry, and that he was hunting for a smoke. Smoking alone is boring. Seeing the cigarettes laid out to dry, he treated the narrator to his own tobacco.

They lit a cigarette and started talking. The narrator was embarrassed by a petty deception, so he listened more, and Sokolov spoke.

Pre-war life of Sokolov

At first my life was ordinary. I myself am a native of the Voronezh province, born in nineteen hundred. During the civil war he was in the Red Army, in the Kikvidze division. In a hungry twenty-second year, he moved to the Kuban, to play against the kulaks, and therefore survived. And the father, mother and sister died of hunger at home. One left. Rodney - even rolling, - nowhere, no one, not a single soul. Well, a year later he returned from the Kuban, sold his hut, went to Voronezh. At first he worked in a carpentry artel, then went to a factory, learned to be a locksmith. Soon he got married. The wife was brought up in an orphanage. Orphan. I got a good girl! Meek, cheerful, obsequious and clever, not my match. She learned from childhood how much a pound of dashing is worth, maybe this affected her character. To look from the outside - she was not so visible from herself, but I was not looking at her from the side, but point-blank. And it was not more beautiful and desirable for me, it was not in the world and never will be!

You come home from work tired, and sometimes angry as the devil. No, she will not be rude to you in response to a rude word. Affectionate, quiet, does not know where to seat you, beats so that even with a small income, a sweet piece can be prepared for you. You look at her and move away with your heart, and after a little hug her, say: “Forgive me, dear Irinka, I was naughty to you. You see, my work has gone wrong these days. ” And again we have peace, and I have peace in my soul.

Then he told again about his wife, how she loved him and did not reproach him even when he had to drink too much with his comrades. But soon they had children - a son, and then two daughters. Then the booze was over - except that he allowed himself a glass of beer on the weekend.

In 1929 he was carried away by cars. He became a truck driver. He lived for himself and made good money. And here - the war.

War and captivity

The whole family saw him off to the front. The children kept themselves in control, but the wife was very upset - for the last time they say we see each other, Andryusha ... In general, it’s so sickening, and then the wife buries alive. In frustrated feelings he went to the front.

In the war, he was also a chauffeur. Lightly wounded twice.

In May 1942, he found himself near Lozovenki. The Germans went on the offensive, and he volunteered to carry ammunition to our artillery battery to the front line. I didn't deliver the ammunition - the shell fell very close, the blast wave turned the car over. Sokolov lost consciousness. When I woke up, I realized that I was in the rear of the enemy: the battle was rattling somewhere behind, and tanks were walking by. Pretended to be dead. When he decided that everyone had passed, he raised his head and saw six fascists with machine guns walking straight towards him. There was nowhere to hide, so he decided to die with dignity - he got up, although he could hardly stand on his feet - and looked at them. One of the soldiers wanted to shoot him - but the other held him back. They took off Sokolov's boots and sent him on foot to the west.

After a while, a column of prisoners from the same division as himself caught up with Sokolov, who was barely walking. I walked on with them.

We spent the night in the church. During the night, 3 noteworthy events happened:

a) A certain person, who introduced himself as a military doctor, set Sokolov's arm dislocated during the fall from the truck.

b) Sokolov saved from death a platoon commander he did not know, whom his colleague Kryzhnev was going to hand over as a communist to the Nazis. Sokolov strangled the traitor.

c) The Nazis shot a believer who bored them with requests to be released from the church for a visit to the toilet.

The next morning they began to ask - who is the commander, commissar, communist. There were no traitors, so the communists, commissars and commanders survived. They shot a Jew (perhaps it was a military doctor - at least in the film the case is presented this way) and three Russians who looked like Jews. They drove the prisoners further west.

All the way to Poznan, Sokolov thought about escape. Finally, an opportunity presented itself: the prisoners were sent to dig graves, the guards were distracted - and he pulled to the east. On the fourth day, the Nazis with shepherd dogs caught up with him, Sokolov's dogs almost bitten him. They kept him in a punishment cell for a month, then they sent him to Germany.

“They drove me everywhere in two years of captivity! He traveled half of Germany during this time: he was in Saxony, he worked at a silicate plant, and in the Ruhr region he rolled away a coal at a mine, and in Bavaria, a hump made money on earthworks, and he stayed in Thuringia, and damn it, where it was not necessary in German to resemble the earth "

In the balance of death

In camp B-14 near Dresden, Sokolov and others worked in a stone quarry. He managed to come back after work one day to say, in the barracks, among other prisoners: "They need four cubic meters of production, but for the grave each of us will have one cubic meter through the eyes."

Someone reported these words to his superiors and called him in, the camp commandant Müller. Mueller knew Russian perfectly, so he communicated with Sokolov without an interpreter.

“I will do you a great honor, now I will personally shoot you for these words. It's inconvenient here, let's go to the courtyard, and there you will sign. " “Your will,” I tell him. He stood, thought, and then threw the pistol on the table and poured a full glass of schnapps, took a piece of bread, put a slice of bacon on it and gave it all to me and said: "Before you die, drink, Russ Ivan, for the victory of German weapons."

I put the glass on the table, put the appetizer and say: "Thank you for the treat, but I'm not a drinker." He smiles: “Would you like to drink for our victory? In that case, drink to your doom. " What could I have to lose? “I will drink for my destruction and deliverance from torment,” I tell him. With that he took the glass and in two gulps poured it into himself, but did not touch the appetizer, politely wiped his lips with his palm and said: “Thank you for the treat. I'm ready, Herr Commandant, come and sign me. "

But he looks attentively and says: "You at least have a snack before you die." I answer him: “I don’t have a snack after the first glass”. He pours the second one, gives it to me. I drank the second one and, again, I don’t touch the appetizer, I beat it for courage, I think: “At least I’ll get drunk before I go into the yard, to part with my life.” The commandant raised his white eyebrows high and asked: “Why don't you have a snack, Russ Ivan? Do not be shy!" And I told him mine: "Excuse me, Herr Commandant, I am not used to having a snack after the second glass." He puffed out his cheeks, snorted, and then, as he burst out laughing, and through the laughter he speaks German quickly: apparently he is translating my words to friends. They also laughed, pushed their chairs, turning their faces towards me and already, I notice, they are looking at me somehow differently, seemingly softer.

The commandant pours me a third glass, and my hands are shaking with laughter. I drank this glass in a stretch, took a bite of a small piece of bread, put the rest on the table. I wanted them, the damned ones, to show that although I disappear from hunger, I am not going to choke on their handouts, that I have my own Russian dignity and pride, and that they did not turn me into cattle, no matter how hard they tried.

After that, the commandant became serious in appearance, straightened two iron crosses on his chest, left the table unarmed and said: “That's what, Sokolov, you are a real Russian soldier. You are a brave soldier. I am also a soldier and I respect worthy opponents. I won't shoot you. In addition, today our valiant troops have reached the Volga and completely captured Stalingrad. This is a great joy for us, and therefore I generously give you life. Go to your block, and this is for your courage, "- and gives me a small loaf of bread and a piece of bacon from the table.

Harchi shared Sokolov with his comrades - all equally.

Liberation from captivity

In 1944, Sokolov was identified as a driver. He drove a German major engineer. He treated him well, sometimes sharing food.

On the morning of June twenty-ninth, my major ordered him to take him out of town, in the direction of Trosnitsa. There he supervised the construction of fortifications. We left.

On the way, Sokolov stunned the major, took the pistol and drove the car straight to where the ground was buzzing, where the battle was going on.

The submachine gunners jumped out of the dugout, and I deliberately slowed down so that they could see that the major was coming. But they raised a cry, waving their hands, they say, it’s impossible to go there, but I don’t seem to understand, threw in the gas and went all eighty. Until they came to their senses and began to beat from machine guns at the car, and I already on no land between the funnels looping no worse than a hare.

Here the Germans are beating from behind, and here they are outlined, they are scribbling towards me from machine guns. In four places the windshield was broken, the radiator was proportioned with bullets ... But now the forest over the lake, our people are running to the car, and I jumped into this forest, opened the door, fell to the ground and kissed it, and I have nothing to breathe ...

Sokolov was sent to the hospital to receive medical treatment and feed. In the hospital I immediately wrote a letter to my wife. Two weeks later I received an answer from a neighbor, Ivan Timofeevich. In June 1942, a bomb hit his house, his wife and both daughters were killed. The son was not at home. Upon learning of the death of his family, he volunteered for the front.

Sokolov was discharged from the hospital and received a month's leave. A week later I got to Voronezh. I looked at the crater in the place where his house was - and on the same day went to the station. Back to the division.

Son Anatoly

But three months later, joy flashed to me, like the sun from behind a cloud: Anatoly was found. He sent me a letter to the front, you see, from another front. I learned my address from a neighbor, Ivan Timofeevich. It turns out that at first he got into an artillery school; it was there that his talents for mathematics came in handy. A year later, he graduated with honors from college, went to the front and now he writes that he received the rank of captain, commanded a battery of "forty-five", has six orders and medals.

After the war

Andrey was demobilized. Where to go? I didn't want to go to Voronezh.

I remembered that my friend lives in Uryupinsk, demobilized in the winter after being wounded - he once invited me to his place, - I remembered and went to Uryupinsk.

My friend and his wife were childless, they lived in their own house on the outskirts of the city. Although he had a disability, he worked as a chauffeur in an autotube, and I got a job there too. He settled with a friend, they sheltered me.

Near the teahouse he met the homeless boy Vanya. His mother died in an air raid (during the evacuation, probably), his father died at the front. Once on the way to the elevator, Sokolov took Vanyushka with him and told him that he was his father. The boy believed and was very happy. I adopted Vanyushka. A friend's wife helped look after the child.

Maybe we would have lived with him for another year in Uryupinsk, but in November a sin happened to me: I was driving through the mud, in one farm my car skidded, and then a cow turned up, and I knocked her down. Well, it's a known thing, the women raised a cry, the people came running, and the traffic inspector was right there. He took the driver's book from me, no matter how I asked him to have mercy. The cow got up, lifted its tail and went galloping along the lanes, and I lost my book. During the winter I worked as a carpenter, and then I got in touch with a friend, also a colleague - he works as a driver in your region, in the Kasharsky district, and he invited me to his place. He writes that, they say, you will work for six months on the carpentry department, and there in our region they will give you a new book. Here we are with my son and are sent to Kashary in marching order.

Yes it is, how can I tell you, and if I had not had this accident with a cow, I would still have moved from Uryupinsk. Melancholy does not allow me to sit for a long time in one place. Now, when my Vanya grows up and I have to send him to school, then maybe I will calm down, settle down in one place

Then the boat came and the narrator said goodbye to his unexpected acquaintance. And he began to think about the story he had heard.

Two orphaned people, two grains of sand, thrown into foreign lands by a military hurricane of unprecedented strength ... Something awaits them ahead? And I would like to think that this Russian man, a man of unbending will, will endure and grow up next to his father's shoulder one who, having matured, will be able to endure everything, overcome everything on his way, if his Motherland calls for this.

With heavy sadness I looked after them ... Maybe everything would have gone well at our parting, but Vanyushka, having walked a few steps and braiding his scanty legs, turned his face towards me as he walked, waving his pink hand. And suddenly, like a soft, but clawed paw squeezed my heart, and I hastily turned away. No, not only in a dream do elderly men who have turned gray during the war years cry. They also cry in reality. The main thing here is to be able to turn away in time. The most important thing here is not to hurt the heart of the child, so that he does not see a burning and avaricious man's tear running down your cheek ...

Retold by Mikhail Shtokalo for Briefly.

The test on the story of Sholokhov "The Fate of a Man" will help you better remember the key moments of the work.

Test on the "Fate of a Man" by Sholokhov with answers

1. The story of M. A. Sholokhov "The Fate of a Man" is written:

- in 1937, - in 1947, - 1957.

2. What the hero of the story "The Fate of a Man" did when he met an orphan boy Vanyusha:

- gave him to an orphanage

— adopted

- found his mother

3. The hero of the story by M. A. Sholokhov "The Fate of a Man":

- "ordinary Soviet man"

- a prominent military leader

- a peasant at the front

4. The story of M. A. Sholokhov "The Fate of a Man" is dedicated to the events:

- World War I

Civil War

-Great Patriotic War

5. The name of the hero of the story by MA Sholokhov "The Fate of a Man":

- Andrey Orlov

Alexey Sokolov

-Andrey Sokolov

Tests with answers "The fate of man"

1. Determine the composition of the work:A. Byl B. Story in a story C. Story G. Drama

2. Having chosen such a title for his work, Sholokhov narrates:

A. About the fate of Andrei Sokolov B. About the fate of one of the many Russian soldiers

C. About the fate of all mankind as a whole D. About the fate of Vanyusha

3. To whom was the story of MASholokhov "The Fate of a Man" dedicated:

A. Maria Petrovna Sholokhova B. Former captured soldiers

V. Evgeniya Grigorievna Levitskaya G. Nina Petrovna Ogareva

4. Time of year when the narrator met Sokolov:A. Spring B. Autumn C. Summer D. Winter

5. Year of birth of Andrey Sokolov?A. 1898 B. 1900 C. 1902 G. 1905

6. How many parts can the life of Andrey Sokolov be divided into?A. 2, B. 3, V. 1, G. 4

7. Where and when was Andrei Sokolov captured?

A. Near Stalingrad - July 1942 B. Near Kursk - July 1943

B. Near Leningrad - 1941-1944 G. Under Lozovenki - in May 1942

8.Andrey Sokolov, being captured:A. Resigned to his fate

B. Hoped for a speedy release by Soviet troops

B. Tried to do all the work without any complaints D. Always thought about escape

9. What was Andrei Sokolov's camp number?A. 881, B. 331, B. 734, G. 663.

10. Why didn't Sokolov touch the bread during the interrogation at Muller's?

B. Showed to enemies the dignity and pride of a soldier G. Cunning and hypocritical

11. Where did Sokolov have to visit during 2 years of captivity in Germany?

A. Saxony B. Hesse W. Warsaw G. Berlin

12. When Andrei Sokolov was released from captivity: A. 1944 B. 1945 V. 1942 G. 1943

13. What brand of car did Sokolov use to carry shells at the front?

A. ZIS-5 B. lorry V. GAZ-67 G. Oppel

14. How many times was A. Sokolov wounded?A. 2 B.3 C. 4 D. 1

15. What was the name of Andrei Sokolov's wife?A. Olga B. Lydia V. Irina G. Anna

16. What were the names of Andrei Sokolov's children?A. Anatoly, Olyushka, Nastenka B. Ksyusha, Sergey, Maxim

V. Nina, Tanyushka, Lenochka G. Alexander, Dmitry, Andreyka

17. In what year did the family of Andrei Sokolov die?

A. 1941 B. 1942 V. 1943 G. 1944

18. Name the farm opposite which the heroes of the story "The Fate of a Man" were crossing the river?A. Volokhovsky B. Mokhovskoy V. Solontsovskiy G. Roadside

A. 3-4 B. 4-5 C. 5-6 D. 7-8

20. When was Andrey Sokolov's son killed?

Time quickly pushes back into the depths of history important milestones in the life of countries and peoples. The last volleys have died down long ago. Time mercilessly takes the living witnesses of the heroic time into immortality. Books, films, memories return descendants to the past. An exciting work The Fate of a Man, the author of which is Mikhail Sholokhov, brings us back to those difficult years.

In contact with

The title suggests what it will be about. The focus is on the fate of a person, the author told about her in such a way that she absorbed the fate of an entire country and its people.

The fate of man main characters:

• Andrey Sokolov;
• boy Vanyusha;
• the son of the protagonist - Anatoly;
• wife Irina;
• the daughter of the main character - Nastya and Olyushka.

Andrey Sokolov

Meeting with Andrey Sokolov

The first post-war war turned out to be "energetic", on the Upper Don it quickly melted away, the roads were disordered. It was at this time that the narrator had to get to the village of Bukanovskaya. On the way, we crossed the flooded river Elanka, sailed for an hour in a dilapidated boat. While waiting for the second flight, he met his father and son, a boy of 5-6 years old. The author noted the deep longing in the man's eyes, as if they were sprinkled with ashes. Father's careless clothes suggested that he was living without female care, but the boy was dressed warmly and neatly. Everything became clear when the narrator learned a sad story a new acquaintance.

The life of the protagonist before the war

The hero himself is Voronezh. At first, everything in life turned out as usual. Born in 1900, passed, fought in the Kikvidze division. He survived the famine of 1922, working for the Kuban kulaks, but his parents and sister died that year of hunger in the Voronezh province.

All alone was left. Having sold the hut, he left for Voronezh, where started a family... He married an orphan, there was no one more beautiful and more desirable than his Irina for him. Children were born, son Anatoly and two daughters, Nastenka and Olyushka.

He worked as a carpenter, factory worker, locksmith, but really "lured" machines. Ten years passed by in labor and cares unnoticed. The wife bought two goats, the wife and owner Irina was excellent. The children were well fed, shod, and made me happy with excellent studies. Andrey was making good money, they saved some money. They built a house near the aircraft factory, which the main character later regretted. In another place, the house could have survived the bombing, and life could have turned out quite differently. Everything that was created over the years collapsed in an instant - the war began.

War

Andrey was summonedon the second day, the whole family was escorted to the war. The farewell was hard. His wife Irina seemed to feel that they would not see each other again, day and night, her eyes did not dry out from tears.

The formation took place in Ukraine, under the White Church. They gave a ZIS-5, and went to the front on it. Andrei fought for less than a year. He was twice wounded, but he quickly returned to duty. He rarely wrote home: there was no time, and there was nothing to write about - they retreated on all fronts. Andrey condemned those "bitches in trousers who complain, seek sympathy, slobber, but do not want to understand that these unfortunate women and children had no sweeter in the rear."

In May 1942 near Lozovenki the main character was taken prisoner by the Nazis. On the eve, he volunteered to deliver the shells to the gunners. The battery was less than a kilometer away when a long-range shell exploded near the car. He woke up, and the battle was going on behind him. Not of his own free will, he was captured. German machine gunners took off his boots, but did not shoot him, but drove a convoy of Russian prisoners to work in their Reich.

Once we spent the night in a church with a destroyed dome. A doctor was found, and in captivity he did his great job - he helped the wounded soldiers. One of the prisoners asked to go out into the street when needed. Holy faith in God does not allow a Christian to desecrate the temple, the Germans slashed at the door with a machine gun, wounding three at once and killing the worshiper. Fate and Andrey prepared a terrible test - to kill a traitor from "his". By chance, at night, he overheard a conversation, from which he realized that the muffled guy was planning to hand over the platoon to the Germans. Andrei Sokolov cannot allow Judas Kryzhnev to save himself at the cost of betrayal and the death of his comrades. An event full of drama in the church shows the behavior of different people in inhuman circumstances.

Important!It is not easy for the main character to commit a murder, but he sees salvation in the unity of people. In the story "The Fate of a Man" this episode is full of drama.

The unsuccessful escape from the Poznan camp, when they were digging graves for the prisoners, almost cost Andrei Sokolov his life. When they were caught, beaten, hounded by dogs, the skin with meat and clothes flew to shreds. They brought to the camp naked, covered in blood. He spent a month in a punishment cell, miraculously survived. For two years of captivityhe traveled half of Germany: he worked at a silicate plant in Saxony, in a mine in the Ruhr region, in Bavaria, Thuringia. The prisoners were severely beaten and shot. Here they forgot their name, remembered the number, Sokolov was known as 331. They were fed bread in half with sawdust, liquid gruel from rutabagas. The list of inhuman tests in captivity does not end there.

Survive and withstand Nazi captivity helped... Lagerführer Müller appreciated the fortitude of the Russian soldier. In the evening in the barracks, Sokolov was indignant at the four cubic meters of production, bitterly joking at the same time that there would be enough for the grave of each prisoner and one cubic meter for the eyes.

The next day, the camp commandant summoned Sokolov on the denunciation of some scoundrel. The description of the duel between the Russian soldier and Mueller is fascinating. Refusal to drink for the victory of German weapons could cost Sokolov his life. Muller did not shoot, said that he respects a worthy opponent. As a reward, he gave a loaf of bread and a piece of bacon, the products of the prisoners with a harsh thread were divided among all.

Sokolov did not leave the thought of running away. He drove a defense engineer with the rank of major. In the front line the captive driver managed to escape, grabbing a stunned engineer with important documents. For this they promised to present for a reward.

They sent me to the hospital for medical treatment, Andrei Sokolov immediately wrote a letter to Irina. Are your relatives alive or not? I waited a long time for an answer from my wife, but received a letter from a neighbor, Ivan Timofeevich. During the bombing of the aircraft factory, nothing was left of the house. Tolik's son was in the city at that time, and Irina and her daughters died... A neighbor reported that Anatoly volunteered for the front.

On vacation I went to Voronezh, but I could not stay for an hour in the place where his family happiness and family hearth were. He went to the station and returned to the division. Soon his son found him, received a letter from Anatoly and dreamed of meeting. The country was already preparing to celebrate the Victory when Andrey's son was killed, Anatoly. The sniper shot him on the morning of May 9th. It is very tragic that the son of Andrei Sokolov lived to see victory, but could not enjoy life in peacetime. The main character buried his son in a foreign land, and he himself was soon demobilized.

After the war

It hurt him to return to his native Voronezh. Andrey remembered that a friend invited me to Uryupinsk. I came and started working as a driver. Here fate brought two lonely people together. Boy Vanya is a gift of fate. A man wounded by the war has a hope for happiness.

Sholokhov's story ends with the father and son going on "marching order" to Kashary, where a colleague will arrange his father in a carpenter's artel, and then they will be given a driver's book. He lost his previous document by an unfortunate accident. On a muddy road, the car skidded and he knocked the cow down. Everything worked out, the cow got up and walked, but the book had to be laid out.

Important!Any true story or story about the fate of a person who miraculously survived fascist captivity is interesting. This is a special story, it is about the Russian character unbroken by the war. The author with the utmost clarity expressed admiration for the feat, heroism and courage of ordinary people during the Second World War.

Features of Sholokhov's story "The Fate of a Man"

In the history of literature, rarely a short story becomes a grandiose event. After the publication of the story “The Fate of a Man” in the first issue of the Pravda newspaper in 1957, the novelty attracted everyone's attention.

• In the story "The Fate of a Man" convincing and reliable description of real events wins over. Mikhail Sholokhov heard the tragic story of a Russian soldier in 1946. Then ten long years of silence. The year of writing a short story "The Fate of a Man" is considered end of 1956... The work was later filmed.
• Ring composition: the story "The Fate of a Man" begins with a chance meeting of the author with the main character. At the end of the conversation, the men say goodbye, go about their business. In the central part, Andrei Sokolov opened his soul to a new acquaintance. He heard the hero's story about pre-war life, years at the front, return to a peaceful life.