Vasily Terkin is a symbol of courage and heroism, cheerful prowess and mental fortitude. Essay “On the great feat of the people during the war years (using the example of the poem “Vasily Terkin”)
Tvardovsky’s poem “Vasily Terkin”, which also has another name - “The Book about a Fighter”, is considered one of the most important and famous works written by the poet during his period creative activity.
Being the pinnacle of epic Russian poetry, it received nationwide recognition. Many lines of Tvardovsky’s work “Vasily Terkin” have become an integral part of oral speech or popular aphorisms pronounced in poetic form. Moreover, “The Book about a Fighter” received not only popular, but also national recognition.
History of creation
Tvardovsky began work on the poem “Vasily Terkin” in 1939-1940. At that time, he was a war correspondent, publishing his material in the newspaper “On Guard of the Motherland” of the Leningrad Military District. This was the period of the Finnish campaign. The image and name of Tvardovsky's main character - Vasily Terkin - became the fruit of the joint creativity of many members of the editorial board. Among them: S. Marshak, N. Shcherbakov, N. Tikhonov. The result was a very successful image of a good-natured, strong and at the same time simple Russian guy.
Initially, Terkin was a satirical hero of feuilletons and poems written for the newspaper. And from that time on, the readers of the district newspaper fell in love with the Russian soldier. This led Tvardovsky to think about the prospects of this topic and the need for its development within the framework of major work.
Start of war with Nazi Germany for some time it not only interrupted work on the poem. This caused the plan to be adjusted. As a result, the feuilleton Vasya Terkin turned into a Soviet fighter, in whose image the best moral aspects of the entire pre-war generation were embodied. Tvardovsky gave his hero the features of the broadest generalization, while maintaining his recognition and specificity.
Tvardovsky’s work “Vasily Terkin” was loved by soldiers who fought on the fields of war. It was the feeling of the need for the book that forced the author to continue working on it.
Already at the end of 1942, readers could familiarize themselves with the new chapter of the work “Who Shot?”, which was included in the second part of the poem. After this, Tvardovsky continued his work and completely completed work on the book in March 1945. Let's get acquainted with summary"Vasily Terkin" by Tvardovsky.
From the author
In the first chapter of the work, the reader gets acquainted with the hero of the poem “Vasily Terkin”. Tvardovsky, starting his story, claims that the most important thing in war is not food at all, but a good saying and saying, as well as a joke. No less important at this time is the real truth. And even if it is bitter.
Tvardovsky's hero, Vasily Terkin, whom the author introduces us to, plays important role at war. After all, this hard time There must be a place for fun and jokes. In the first chapter of the work, the author decided on the form of his narrative. He pointed out to the reader that the book he picked up had neither beginning nor end. The first chapter is only the middle of the story.
At a rest stop
Getting acquainted with the content of “Vasily Terkin” by Tvardovsky, the reader learns that main character works ended up in the first infantry platoon, where he immediately became one of his own. Throughout the first night after his appearance, the soldiers could not sleep, listening to the stories of the experienced soldier. Vasily Terkin's jokes help to survive the hardships of an unsettled military life, cold, hunger, dirt and sleeping on bare roots and in wet overcoats.
Based on Tvardovsky's reasoning, Vasily Terkin is a person who can be found in every company. And even though this fighter is of average height, unprepossessing, not very handsome and has no awards. But still he fought and was able to survive in any position and under any fire.
Before the fight
Let's move on to consider the next chapter of "Vasily Terkin" by Tvardovsky. In it, the hero of the poem talks about how he got out of encirclement and was a political instructor, conducting a conversation with the soldiers with only the words “don’t be discouraged.”
From this chapter of “Vasily Terkin” by Tvardovsky, we understand that the Soviet army is retreating. She leaves her native lands, which will soon be occupied. The soldiers feel guilty before the civilian population. On their way home village commander The platoon goes there. The commander's wife invites the soldiers to the hut and treats them. The children are happy to see their father, who, as it seems to them at first, came in the evening after working in the field. However, they understand that tomorrow he will leave, and the Germans will most likely enter their house. The commander stays up all night and chops wood. He is trying to somehow help his wife.
For a long time, the cries of the children who woke up at dawn and saw their father and the soldiers leaving the house could be heard in Terkin’s head. Vasily dreams of how after his release native land he will come to the hospitable hostess and bow to her for her stay.
Crossing
We continue our acquaintance with the summary of the chapters of Tvardovsky’s poem “Vasily Terkin”. In the next one, the reader learns about how soldiers of three platoons tried to cross the river in winter. Only the soldiers of the unit where Terkin served managed to swim to the other shore. After this, the Germans began shelling. By nightfall, the one who remained alive no longer hoped to see his comrades, believing that they had all died.
What does the chapter “Crossing” in Tvardovsky’s “Vasily Terkin” tell the reader next? At dawn, the lookouts reported that they saw a small black dot on the river. At first they decided that this was the body of a soldier killed during artillery shelling. However, the sergeant took his binoculars and saw a man swimming. Someone joked that only Terkin could swim across the river in icy water. Indeed, it turned out to be him. Vasily reported to the colonel that the first platoon was intact, awaiting further instructions and asking for support with artillery fire. Terkin is changed into dry clothes, forced to run, rubbed with alcohol and given inside to warm up. At night, the fighters resumed their crossing to fight for the sake of life on earth, and not at all for the sake of glory.
About war
The next chapter of Tvardovsky’s poem “Vasily Terkin” contains the arguments of the main character. He believes that with the advent of war, one must forget about everything and be only responsible for the Motherland and for one’s people. At this time it is necessary to be one with all people. Terkin believes that we must also forget about ourselves. Each fighter must beat the Germans, fight selflessly and be fully prepared to carry out the orders of the command at any cost. Even if you have to give your life for it. At the same time, soldiers must believe that their descendants will be grateful to them.
Terkin is wounded
Continuing our acquaintance with the chapters of A. T. Tvardovsky’s poem “Vasily Terkin,” we learn that its main character in one of winter days I had to establish a connection. At this time, Vasily moved after rifle company. Suddenly a shell hissed next to him. Everyone got scared and fell to the ground. Terkin was the first of all the fighters to rise. He handed the reel to the soldiers and decided to see if the enemy was firing from a nearby cellar. But there was no one there. He himself set up an ambush in this dugout, deciding to hold the defense using two grenades.
The Nazis were approaching. Two steps away from himself, Terkin noticed German soldier. The enemy rushed at Vasily and wounded him in the shoulder. Terkin hit the German with a bayonet. At this time, heavy artillery shelling began.
At the end of this chapter of Tvardovsky’s poem “Vasily Terkin,” the reader learns that the wounded soldier was found by Soviet tank crews. He was already bleeding and losing consciousness. The tankers saved his life.
About the award
In the next chapter of A. T. Tvardovsky’s poem “Vasily Terkin,” the reader becomes acquainted with the main character’s reasoning that he does not need an order at all. The fighter agrees to a medal. He will need this award after the war, when, having returned to his homeland, he will tell the girls about how he once went on the attack. The author regrets that now Vasily cannot go to his native land. After all, he takes part in a terrible, mortal, bloody battle for life on earth, and not for the sake of glory.
Harmonic
What is told in the next chapter of A. T. Tvardovsky’s poem “Vasily Terkin”? The reader learns that after being wounded and staying in the hospital, the soldier returns to the rifle regiment to the soldiers of his first company. On the way, he was picked up by a truck heading to the front. The marching column had to stop due to a snow jam. In forced moments of rest, two tankers gave Terkin an accordion, which was left over from the commander who had recently died in battle.
From the sounds musical instrument all the fighters feel warmer in their souls, and some of them start dancing. The tankers even begin to think that they are already familiar with Terkin. Taking a closer look at him, they recognized Vasily as the wounded soldier whom they had saved from death. The tankers gave Terkin their commander's accordion. They understand that war is not a time when you need to grieve for the dead and wonder who will be able to survive and return home.
Two soldiers
What does the reader know from the next chapter of A. T. Tvardovsky’s poem “Vasily Terkin”? Just three miles from the front line, the main character of the work entered a house where two old men lived. My grandfather was himself a soldier in the past. Terkin helped the old man repair his watch and saw. With jokes, Vasily lured food from the old woman. Reluctantly, she took out lard from her bins and fried two eggs for the men. After having lunch and drinking alcohol from a flask, the two soldiers started talking about the everyday difficulties of war. At the end, Vasily bowed to the hosts and promised that the German would definitely be defeated.
About loss
What will the reader learn from the next chapter of Alexander Tvardovsky’s poem “Vasily Terkin”? This story says that our hero’s comrade lost his pouch. This made him very sad. But Vasily reassures the fighter, saying that he has already lost his native land and family. This is the main disappointment. There is no need to regret everything else. Terkin gives his comrade his tobacco pouch, noting that they should never lose Russia, for which they are responsible.
Duel
From the plot of “Vasily Terkin” by Tvardovsky, the reader learns that the main character of the work entered into hand-to-hand combat with a fascist. A German is a strong and dexterous man, large and well-fed. However, our soldier does not give up and does not lose heart. The German knocked out Terkin’s teeth, and Vasily blackened his enemy’s eye. It is very difficult for our soldier. He can hardly control his wounded right hand and exhausted, but at the same time does not give up. The fascist took his helmet off his head and began to fight with it. Terkin hit his enemy with an unloaded grenade, stunned and tied him up.
Vasily is pleased with himself. He enjoys military success and is proud that he is walking on Soviet soil and driving the “language” to the headquarters, realizing that everyone who comes across him is glad that Terkin returned from reconnaissance alive.
Message from the author
The next chapter is a kind of respite in the “war tale” created by the author. After all, listening to it is good for those who have already been able to defeat the enemy and returned home. Tvardovsky says that a soldier at war would like to read a peaceful fairy tale. However, until motherland continues to remain in captivity, the author will talk about the war.
Who shot?
In this chapter, the author tells the story of how, after yesterday's battle, soldiers are in trenches not far from enemy positions. Descends to the ground summer evening, reminding the soldiers of peacetime and peasant labor. Suddenly the sound of an approaching enemy aircraft is heard. A fascist circles over the positions of Soviet soldiers. Death is very close. However, no one wants to die. And here the author of the work began to talk about what time of year is best to die in war. As a result, he comes to the conclusion that no time is suitable for this.
But here Terkin came to the aid of his comrades. He stood up, fired at the plane with his rifle, and knocked it out. Vasily became a hero. For this he received an order.
About the hero
In the next chapter of the poem, its main character talks about how he met, while in the hospital, a young soldier-order bearer from near Tambov. He hinted to him that there simply couldn’t be such daredevils like him in the Smolensk region, Terkin’s homeland. Now Vasily is glad that he received the order. He doesn't boast about his small homeland, but at the same time he is proud of the region where he was born and raised, and also values it.
General
This chapter tells about the second summer of the war. There are battles on the Volga. Terkin is on the defensive and sleeps in a trench on the river bank. Half asleep, he hears a song that talks about a river that can crawl under barbed wire and reach his native village, conveying greetings and words of love to the soldier’s mother. And here he was called to the general to present the order. Terkin refuses his allotted leave, and decides to go home at a time when the army begins to liberate Smolensk. The general agrees with his words, firmly shakes Vasily’s hand, hugs him and looks into the soldier’s eyes. He behaves with him as he would behave with his son. The general bids farewell to Terkin warmly.
About Me
In this chapter, the author tells the reader about how he preserved his father’s house in his soul, although he left it in his youth. The poet recalls the forest not yet scarred by war and summer days, his native courtyard and the stitch leading to the well. He identifies himself with those Soviet people who left behind the front lines their families and everything that they had of their own. Now the land of the author and Terkin, his fellow countryman, is suffering in captivity. And for this they both must answer.
Fight in the swamp
Terkin's platoon fights for locality Borki. They have been fighting in the swamp for three days now, which seems pointless to them. It's hungry and damp all around. The soldiers cannot even smoke, because all the tobacco has gone sour. And at this time Terkin manages to encourage his comrades. He tells the fighters that they are among their own and on their native territory. In addition, the soldiers are protected by Soviet artillery. According to Vasily, everything is not so bad. And this swamp can be compared to a resort. The words spoken by Terkin amused the fighters, after which they occupied the village without much difficulty.
About love
In the next chapter of the poem, the author argues that every soldier was certainly accompanied to war by a woman. Her love always encourages, glorifies, warns and condemns. Soldiers' wives never complain in their letters about how hard life is for them. And these news from home work real miracles with the soldiers. The author claims that love is much stronger than war, and calls on women to write to their husbands at the front more often. The poet also asks the girls to take a closer look at the hero of the poem and fall in love with him.
Rest Terkina
From the next chapter, the reader learns that paradise for a soldier is a place where he can sleep off. Tvardovsky’s hero ended up in such a peaceful house. There is a warm stove and a bedroom with a bed made clean linen. In this “paradise” you don’t need to sit in your clothes, cut bread with a bayonet and put a rifle at your feet, or put a spoon behind the top of your boot. In such purity, Vasily becomes uncomfortable. Sometimes it even begins to seem to him that he is back in the hospital. The fighter continues to think about those who are at war, and because of this he cannot sleep. However, the Soviet army has not yet achieved victory. That is why Terkin is again sent to the front line. Until the end of the war, he will have to rest only on the road and where chance leads him.
On the offensive
The next chapter tells that the soldiers have become very accustomed to being in the harrow. However, an order arrived requiring the army to go on the offensive. Young soldiers try to emulate Terkin. And this, despite the fact that he is also scared, lying on the ground, waiting for the next break. The lieutenant running in front of the attack was seriously wounded and died right on the battlefield. And then Terkin led the soldiers forward. But he was also seriously wounded.
Death and the Warrior
In this chapter, the author tells the reader about how death came to the bleeding Terkin. She called him with her, scared him with injury and said that the war would go on for a very long time, so there was no meaning in life. However, Vasily did not give up. He still wanted to see victory and, returning home, take a walk with living people.
The funeral team found the fighter. He was placed on a stretcher and taken to the medical battalion. All this time, death was nearby. But when she saw that the living were taking good care of each other, she left.
Terkin writes
This chapter talks about the time when Vasily is in the hospital.
He writes to his fellow soldiers that he has survived and that his leg is already healing. After the hospital, Terkin dreams of returning to his native part, which became home and family for the soldier. Vasily wants to reach the very border with his comrades, and if this does not work out, then meet his death among his fellow soldiers.
Terkin-Terkin
After recovery, Vasily again found himself in his regiment. However, now he feels like a complete stranger. And then someone asked: “Where is Terkin?” The first to answer the question was an unfamiliar red-haired fighter. Terkin the old had a grudge lurking in his soul. He decided to fully find out which of them was real. It turned out that the new soldier's name was Ivan Terkin. He was awarded two orders. And due to the fact that Ivan knocked out one more enemy vehicle, he is sure that the book about the fighter was written specifically about him. The author came up with another name only for rhyme. How did the heroes of “Vasily Terkin” by A. T. Tvardovsky resolve their dispute? The foreman resolved the conflict. He announced that each company would now have its own Terkin.
From the author
In this chapter, the poet refutes rumors about the death of the beloved hero. He says that Terkin is alive, and is not heard from only because he is fighting in the West.
Grandfather and grandmother
The heroes with whom the reader met in the chapter of Tvardovsky’s poem “Vasily Terkin” - “Two Soldiers”, met again during the offensive Soviet troops. Grandfather and woman were sitting in the cellar, hiding from shots, when they heard the voices of scouts, among whom was our fighter. The old people accepted Vasily as their own son, feeding him lard. Terkin assured them that the Soviet army would not retreat back again. He promised to bring watches from Berlin that the Germans had taken from the elderly.
On the Dnieper
Having created collective image Vasily Terkin, Tvardovsky argued that throughout the war his hero never ceased to feel his own guilt before his native land under occupation. He was ashamed that he was not among those who liberated his native village. The front continued to advance towards the Dnieper, where at dawn, at the very end of the Indian summer, a battle took place. Our troops successfully crossed the river. At the same time, they captured the Germans, who practically did not resist this.
The image of Vasily Terkin in Tvardovsky’s poem had already undergone significant changes. In this fighter we see a completely different person - calm, experienced, who has already lost many, many things.
About an orphan soldier
Soviet army continues its offensive. The fighters liberating city after city already dream of taking Berlin as if it were something real. After analyzing Tvardovsky’s “Vasily Terkin”, it becomes clear that the popularity of the protagonist of the poem began to decline. He was held in high esteem during the times when the army was retreating. At that time, Vasily raised the spirits of the fighters. Now this role is assigned to generals.
It becomes clear that the war in Tvardovsky’s “Vasily Terkin” is nearing its end. Residents of European capitals greet the liberators with joy. However, a simple soldier does not stop thinking about his native village.
One of the author's fellow countrymen was orphaned. His house was burned and his family was killed. He learned about this during the offensive near Smolensk, when he asked for leave to go to his native village of Krasny Most. The soldier silently returned to his unit and, holding a plate of cold soup in his hands, cried. The author urges the reader not to forgive the Nazis for these tears, to achieve victory and avenge the grief brought by the Germans.
On the way to Berlin
The war in Tvardovsky’s poem “Vasily Terkin” is increasingly approaching the end. The Soviet army is in a foreign land, where the soldiers are unfamiliar with red tiles and foreign speech.
People are walking towards the east. These are the British, French and Poles who look friendly at the Russian liberating soldiers. Here the fighters meet a Russian woman who is returning across the Dnieper to her destroyed yard. Terkin gives her a horse with harness, a sheep, a cow and various household utensils.
In the bath
The Russian bathhouse becomes a real father's home for soldiers in a foreign land. She gives them a lot of pleasure. The only regret the fighters have is that they have to take water from other people's rivers. However, the author notes that it will be worse in war if soldiers begin to wash, for example, near Moscow.
In the bathhouse, everyone undresses, and all the wounds on the body immediately become visible. They are marks of war. On the tunics that fighters put on after the bath, it stands out a large number of medals. The soldiers joke that this is not all. After all, the final frontier awaits them.
From the author
In this chapter, the author says goodbye to Terkin. After the war, he was no longer needed, since the time had come for a different song. But the “Book about a Fighter” created by Tvardovsky is dear to him. After all, Terkin is the poet’s pain, his joy, rest and feat. Everything written by the author should have pleased the reader.
Analysis of the poem
“Vasily Terkin” by Tvardovsky is rightfully on the list of the most significant works Russian literature written in the second half of the 20th century.
The poem includes 29 chapters. Each of them can be considered as an independent work. The book contains many lyrical digressions. At the same time, its form and content are close to folk narratives.
In the poem you can find a whole fusion of genres, epic and lyrics. The poetic form of the work is rich in humor and pathos, sketches of front-line life and heroic battles, casual jokes and tragedy. There is a folk language and high oratory here. That is why the work is sometimes called not a poem at all. It can be considered folk book. Tvardovsky invented a universal genre and chose military theme. Moreover, the author showed the war from the very beginning to the end.
From the lyrical digressions, the image of the author becomes clear to us. The reader realizes that the poet loves his hero very much.
The entire plot of the work carries a high ideological thought. And simplicity poetic language, which is close to the folk, makes the poem understandable to all people. Tvardovsky’s poems made the soldiers on the battlefield feel warm. They give us inexhaustible spiritual energy even now, after many years.
As for the character of the main character, the author reveals him to his reader gradually. Passing from chapter to chapter, Terkin appears to us with different sides. Sometimes he shows real courage and courage. The reader sees this in the chapter “Crossing”. When describing what is happening in the war, the author never ceases to emphasize that soviet soldiers are not heroes from birth. They are simple young guys, and many of them are wearing military uniform first. Nevertheless, their faces light up with heroism.
Tvardovsky emphasizes his idea that the feat accomplished by these young fighters is nothing more than a continuation of the military successes of their grandfathers and fathers who participated in the wars of past centuries.
The author covers Terkin’s participation in battles using a half-joking form. At the same time, he talks about the dreams of his hero, who wants to return home as soon as possible. Vasily does not mind receiving an award, but at the same time shows modesty. Most of all, he wants to impress the girls with his medal.
After cheerful scenes in which Vasily’s dreams are described, the author moves on to descriptions of a terrible battle. By this, he seeks to emphasize that the path to happiness lies through struggle, and also points out the connection between the fate of each person and the future of the country.
In the poem, the author collected people's joy and grief. You can find here both harsh and mournful lines. However, most of all in the work is folk humor, which affirms a great love for life. Sometimes it seems incredible that a story about the most difficult and cruel war that has ever happened in the history of nations would sound so life-affirming. But Tvardovsky in his “Vasily Terkin” successfully coped with a similar task.
The work depicts with amazing brightness and truthfulness real picture life and struggle of the people during the harsh years of war. At the same time, the author constantly turns the reader’s gaze to the future. He also mentions the list of golden glory, in which descendants will add nameless heroes who gave their lives for victory.
The epic nature of the poem, as well as its narrative nature of the plot, coexists perfectly with the high lyrical beginning, which subsequently literally permeates all the chapters. The reader becomes acquainted with the author’s most sincere thoughts in the descriptions of the battle, and in the story about the woman who sees off the soldier, and in the conversation that Terkin has with death. Thus, the lyrical and epic principles in the work are united and inseparable.
Tvardovsky’s poem “Vasily Terkin” has been republished more than once. There are many translations of it into various languages. And today, both the older generation and young people willingly read it.
Vasily Terkin! When you pronounce this name, the image of a gallant soldier immediately appears in your imagination, and your lips spread into a smile. Vasily Terkin is Mr. Pitkin or good soldier Schweik on our soil. But Terkin was not only cheerful, he was brave, courageous, persistent.Alexander Tvardovsky wrote his “Book for a Soldier”, understanding how a soldier needs a joke at a rest stop, support in battle. This is what his poem “Vasily Terkin” became. The image of Terkin appeared as if from funny comics and gradually acquired seriousness, absorbed humor, simplicity, and talent of the people who defended their fatherland. Tvardovsky writes the truth about the war, and this truth is understood by a simple Russian soldier who stands two steps away from death:
And how submissive you are suddenly
You lie on your earthly chest,
Shielding myself from black death
Only with your own back.
Vasily Terkin, “a boy of not quite twenty years old,” he wants to stay alive, return home, come to his village for a party as a hero, but in war it’s like in war: either you’re joking, then “now you’re finished, now you’re no longer there.” " This is how the hero talks about death simply. But while he is alive, he is a “strong guy.” A simple soldier, he can do anything: set up a saw, repair a watch, and fry eggs. He knows how to play the accordion, so much so that everyone starts dancing, and the tankers, saddened by the death of their commander, lose heart and give him the commander’s accordion. Terkin is the person you can trust with the memory of a friend.
He forgets about himself, he doesn’t care about difficulties. And he doesn’t even dream of a special award:
So I’ll say: why do I need an order?
I agree to a medal.
Terkin is a real soldier, a wonderful comrade. This image was close to every soldier; it seemed that everyone had encountered this image at some point. A merry fellow like Terkin was in every company, platoon, and battalion. Without such people, our people would not have won the war. Because what won during the Great Patriotic War was not so much strength as spirit, daring, the fortitude of people, their patriotism and love for their native fatherland.
“The Book about a Soldier” (“Vasily Terkin”) by Alexander Tvardovsky became a popular book during the war, because its author managed to tell about the war through the mouth of a soldier, on whom the greatness of Russia and its freedom have always rested and will always rest. Even such a super-strict connoisseur as I. A. Bunin, who was openly hostile to Soviet literature, admired “Terkin” and the talent of its author. Features of wartime determined artistic originality poem: it consists of separate chapters that are not connected by plot (“There is no plot in war,” says the author), each of which tells about some episode from the combat life of the main character. This composition of the work is also due to the fact that it was published in front-line newspapers, on separate leaflets, and the reader did not have the opportunity to follow the plot - who knows, whether the “continuation” of Tyorkin’s story will reach him, because war is war, one cannot guess here ...
Analysis of the chapter "Crossing"
In the chapter “The Crossing,” Tvardovsky defines the difference between this war and all previous ones: “The battle is holy and just. Mortal combat is not for the sake of glory, For the sake of life on earth.” These words express author's position, author's assessment what is happening, which determines both his view of events and heroes, and his attitude towards them. Tyorkin's feat, described in this chapter, became integral part the common feat of the “guys” who completed their task at the cost of losses: “That night a bloody trail was carried out to the sea by a wave.” The “first platoon” that “clung” to the right bank is not left to the mercy of fate, they remember and worry about it, feeling guilty: “As if those on the left bank are to blame for something.” And at this dramatic moment, when the fate of the soldiers remaining on the wrong bank is unknown, Tyorkin appears, having swam across the winter river (“Yes, water.. It’s scary to think about. Even the fish are cold”) in order to report “The platoon on the right bank is alive and well out of spite.” to the enemy!" After he reports that the first platoon is ready to “secure the crossing,” Terkin returns to his comrades, again exposing himself to mortal danger, because his comrades are waiting for him - and he must return.
Analysis of the chapter "Two Soldiers"
The chapter "Two Soldiers" in a humorous spirit shows the connection between generations on which the fighting spirit of the army rests. Terkin, a soldier of the current war, and the “grandfather-master”, who won his own, paid his debt to the fatherland, quickly find a common language, and this happens not only because Terkin easily and simply solves all “economic problems”, but because both they are defenders of the Motherland, and their conversation is “a conversation... a soldier’s.” This half-joking conversation, in which each of the interlocutors tries to “pick up” the other, actually concerns very important topic- the outcome of the current war, the most important question that can only worry any Russian person now: “Answer: will we beat the German, or maybe we won’t?” This question is asked to Terkin by an old soldier, and Terkin’s answer, given by him when the soldier, preparing to leave, was already “at the very door,” is short and precise: “We’ll beat you, father...”. Here the author makes excellent use of punctuation: the ellipsis at the end of the sentence deprives this answer of “official patriotism”; it shows that Terkin knows how difficult the path to victory will be, but he is also confident that victory will definitely come, that the Russian soldier will be able to achieve it. From such an intonation of thought and confidence at the same time, the hero’s words acquire special meaning and become especially weighty. The author ends an obviously humorous chapter (Terkin’s one sentence to “help” the old woman fry lard is worth it!) with serious, hard-won words of the hero, which reach the reader’s heart and become his own conviction of victory.
Analysis of the chapter "Duel"
The chapter “Duel” has a special meaning in the poem “Vasily Terkin”, because in it the author shows hand-to-hand combat, Terkin’s one-on-one fight with the German, who “was strong and dexterous, well cut, tightly sewn,” but in this fight as Russia and Germany and their armies would come together in generalized but individual images: “Like on an ancient battlefield, Chest against chest, like shield against shield, - Instead of thousands, two fight, As if the fight will decide everything.” It turns out that the outcome of the entire war depends on the outcome of this fight between Vasily Terkin, and the hero understands this, he gives all his strength to this fight, he is ready to die, but only together with the enemy. The description of the fight in some places seems to have an epic character, in others it is naturalistic, but the hero knows that his moral superiority is over the enemy (“Are you a man? No. A scoundrel!” says Tyorkin about the German and proves this by describing the “exploits” of this warrior) should help him, he feels the powerful support of the whole country, the whole people: “A brave guy is fighting to the death. So the smoke stands damp, As if the whole country-power Sees Terkin: - Hero!” Tvardovsky shows that the origins of the courage and heroism of the Russian soldier lie precisely in this - in the feeling and understanding of his unity with the people, in the awareness of himself as part of the people, which makes it impossible to retreat in battle, no matter how difficult this battle may be.
Analysis of the chapter "Who Shot?"
Chapter "Who Shot?" begins with a description of the landscape, a “wonderful evening”, which belongs not to war, but to peaceful life, and this evening “disturbed” the soldiers who were accustomed to war and now seem to have returned to the peaceful life for which they are fighting. They seem to be transported into this peaceful life, but “with a terrible roar” a German plane appears, which brings death with it, and the pictures of peaceful life recede before the fear of death: “Now you are done for, now you are no longer there.” However, the author, understanding the reasons for this fear, still cannot agree that it is fitting for a Russian soldier to fear death: “No, comrade, evil and proud, As the law tells a soldier, Face death face to face...”. And one of the soldiers responds to his words, who “hits from his knee From a rifle at the plane,” and this “unequal battle, short battle” ends with the German plane crashing into the ground in a “corkscrew!” A magnificent detail: “The shooter himself looks with fear: What did he do by chance”! The chapter ends with Terkin’s words addressed to the sergeant, who said that “the guy is lucky, Lo and behold, the order is out of the bush”: “Don’t worry, this is not the German’s last plane...”, and the author’s humor helps to avoid unnecessary reasoning about heroism, about the feat that Tyorkin actually accomplished, and the author shows that the hero’s feat was not that he shot down a plane (this could just have been an accident), but that he was able to overcome his fear, challenge death and defeat it.
Analysis of the chapter "Death and the Warrior"
One of the most psychologically profound chapters of the poem “Vasily Terkin” by Tvardovsky is the chapter “Death and the Warrior,” in which the author shows the hero at perhaps the most difficult moment of his life: Terkin is seriously wounded, he is delirious, and in this delirium Death comes to him , with whom he talks and who convinces him to give up life himself: “One sign of agreement is needed, That you are tired of saving life, That you are praying for the hour of death...”. The hero’s complete surrender is if he himself begins to ask Death to “take” him, so she persuades him to give up the fight for life, explaining that it may happen that they will pick him up, and “you will regret that you did not die Here, on the spot, without any hassle.” ..." The weakened hero seems to give in to Death's persuasion ("And with Death it became beyond Man's strength to argue"), but he wants to bargain with her for at least one day to "walk among the living", but she refuses him this. This refusal is perceived by the hero as a sign that he must continue to fight for life: “So go away, Kosaya, I am a soldier still alive.” These words of the hero were not taken seriously by Death, she was sure that he would not get away from her, she was even ready to follow the soldiers from the funeral team, who became orderlies and were delivering the wounded to the medical battalion. The conversations of the half-dead soldiers and those who save him (“They take care of him, they carry him with caution”), giving him their mittens and the warmth of their souls, made Death “for the first time” think that she is not omnipotent, that her power must retreat and is retreating before the strength of human souls, before the strength of the soldier’s brotherhood, so she has to “reluctantly” give a “respite” to the wounded man, who is being torn from her hands by ordinary soldiers like himself. In this chapter of Tvardovsky’s work “Vasily Terkin,” which we analyzed, the author was able to show the unshakable strength of a soldier who will never be alone and can always count on the help and support of his comrades in arms in the common struggle for the freedom of the Motherland.
Alexander Trifonovich Tvardovsky wrote an outstanding work about the war - the poem “Vasily Terkin”. The book was very much loved by almost everyone who read it, and this is no coincidence: after all, this is so about the Great Patriotic War no one had ever written before Tvardovsky. Many outstanding commanders published their books in which they talked about plans for grandiose battles, the movements of armies, and the intricacies of the art of war. The military leaders knew and saw what they wrote about, and they had every right cover this particular side of the war.
But there was another life, a soldier’s, about which you need to know no less than about strategy and tactics. It is very important to understand the problems, experiences and joys of the rank and file. It is probably difficult to imagine the life of a simple soldier for a person who did not take part in the war. Tvardovsky tells us about it very truthfully, without embellishment, without holding back anything. The writer himself was at the front and learned about everything first-hand.
Tvardovsky understood that the victory over Germany consisted of feats accomplished ordinary people, ordinary soldiers, such as the main character of his poem, Vasily Terkin. Who was Vasily Terkin? A simple fighter, the kind you can often meet in war. He had a sense of humor, because
In a one-minute war
Can't live without a joke
Jokes of the most unwise.
Tvardovsky himself says about him:
Terkin - who is he?
Let's be honest:
Just a guy being himself.
He's ordinary.
However, the guy is good.
A guy like that
Every company always has
And in every platoon.
In the chapter “Terkin - Terkin” we meet another fighter with the same surname and the same name, and he is also a hero. Terkin speaks about himself in plural, thereby showing that he is a collective image:
And more than once on the usual path,
Along the roads, in the dust of columns,
I was partially distracted
And partially destroyed...
The first feat of Terkin that we learn about is his escape from German captivity. In those days, he could have been shot for not committing suicide. This is exactly what the country's leadership called on all prisoners in Germany. But what is the fault of a person who ends up among the enemies? He didn't do it of his own free will. I think that because of this attitude of the country towards those captured (by the way, many were taken because of the miscalculations of the leaders, especially in the first months of the war), the unfortunate people went over to the side of the fascists. But Terkin was not afraid, he fled from there to again defend his homeland from the enemy. Despite this, he felt guilty:
I went into any house,
As if to blame for something
In front of her. What could he do?
Yes, indeed, he couldn’t do anything, that’s just the way things were. We see that often in war, soldiers feel guilty because someone died. When one of the platoons remained on the enemy bank during the crossing, the other soldiers avoided talking about it:
And the guys are silent about him
In the fighting family circle,
As if they were to blame for something,
Who's on the left bank?
The soldiers no longer hoped to see their comrades alive, they mentally said goodbye to them, and suddenly the watchmen saw some point in the distance. Of course, they discuss what they saw, express different opinions, but do not even dare to think that someone could swim from that shore alive.
But the fact of the matter is that Terkin again committed heroic deed- I reached my people through icy water, which is “cold even to fish.” By this, he saved the life not only of himself, but also of the entire platoon, for which people were sent.
Terkin acted very courageously; not everyone would dare to do this. The soldier asked the colonel for a second glass of vodka: “It’s two ends.” Terkin cannot leave his friends in the dark, so he swims back to the other side to please them with the successful outcome of his journey. And the danger for him is not only the cold, but also “the guns are firing in pitch darkness,” because
The battle is holy and right,
Mortal combat is not for glory
- For the sake of life on earth.
Protecting life on earth is the main job of a soldier, and sometimes you have to sacrifice for this own life, health. In war you cannot do without injuries, and Terkin did not escape this either. He ended up in the Germans’ “cellar” to check whether the cannon was firing from there. The German sitting there fired and hit Terkin in the shoulder. Terkin spent a terrible day, “deafened by a heavy roar,” losing blood. They hit him with their own guns, and to die from your own is even more terrible than from your enemies.
Only a day later they found him, bleeding, “with a sallow face.” Needless to say, Terkin could well not have gone there, because no one forced him to go to the enemy alone.
Terkin’s attitude towards the award is interesting:
- No, guys, I'm not proud,
Without thinking into the distance,
So I’ll say: why do I need an order?
I agree to a medal.
Everywhere and always there are people who strive for high rewards; this is the main goal of their life. Of course, there were enough of these during the war. Many went out of their way just to receive the order. Moreover, usually these are people who do not particularly like to risk their lives, but rather sit at headquarters, curry favor with their superiors. As we understand from the words of the hero himself, he even needs the medal not for boasting, but as a memory of the war, and he deserved it:
Provide, since I am worthy.
And you all must understand:
It's the simplest thing
- The man came from the war.
In my opinion, refusing an order is also a kind of feat. Terkin had a terrible fight with a German:
So they came together, grappled closely,
What about clips, disks,
Machine guns - to hell, away!
If only a knife could help.
They fight one on one, “like on an ancient battlefield.” Tvardovsky understood perfectly well that such a fight is completely different, here everyone relies only on their own strength, it is like a return to the origins of martial art.
The outcome of any battle depends not only on physical strength opponents are ultimately decided by all feelings and emotions. And in hand-to-hand combat, this dependence of the outcome of the fight on feelings is even more pronounced. At the beginning of the chapter “The Duel,” the author shows the physical superiority of the German, “fed with free goods.” But Terkin was angry that someone dared to show up in Russian houses, demand food for themselves, restore “your own order” in the country. And what spurred Terkin even more was that the German swung his helmet at him:
Oh, there you are!
Fight with a helmet?
Aren't they vile people?
And this action of the German decided everything; the outcome of the fight was clear. Terkin took the “tongue” - the prey of the night. He accomplished the feat again, winning a terrible fight. Perhaps the creepiest place in “The Book of a Fighter” is the chapter “Death and the Warrior.” It tells how death came to our hero, who “lay unchosen.” Death tried to persuade him to surrender to it, but Terkin courageously refused, although it cost him a lot of effort. Death does not want to let his prey go so easily and does not leave the wounded man. Finally, when Terkin began to give in little by little, he asked Death a question:
I'm not the worst and I'm not the best
That I will die in the war.
But at the end of it, I obey.
Will you give me a day off?
From these words of the soldier, we understand that it is not even life that is most dear to him, he is ready to part with it, but he needs to see the victory of the Russians, he did not doubt it at all even at the very beginning of the war. Participation in the war against fascism, this most terrible and greatest event XX century is the main work of his life. Real fighters, such as Terkin, are not afraid of death, are not afraid of risk. They simply fight and perform exploits without thinking about the reward - the exploits of man in war.
A. T. Tvardovsky wrote an outstanding work about the war - the poem “Vasily Terkin”.
Tvardovsky’s literary hero rightfully deserved to have a monument erected to him. After all, along with him, the monument is also received by millions of those who in one way or another resembled Vasily, who loved their country and did not spare their blood, who found a way out of a difficult situation and knew how to brighten up the difficulties at the front with a joke, who loved to play or listen to music at a rest stop.
Who was Vasily Terkin? A simple fighter, the kind you can often meet in war. Tvardovsky himself says about him:
Terkin - who is he?
Let's be honest:
Just a guy being himself.
He's ordinary.
The work of Alexander Trifonovich is written in a light, figurative, vernacular. His poems are memorable on their own. The author suggests:
In short, a book from the middle
And let's begin. And it will go there.
But he does not lose heart. Lives and enjoys life. Today this quality is so lacking in many people. Terkin cannot but delight with his love of life. After all, he
In the kitchen - from a place, from a place - into battle.
Smokes, eats and drinks with gusto
Any position.
He can swim across an icy river, dragging, straining, his tongue. But here is a forced stop, “and it’s frosty - you can’t stand or sit down...”. And Terkin started playing someone else’s accordion.
And from that old accordion,
That I was left an orphan
Somehow it suddenly became warmer
On the front road.
Terkin is the soul of the soldier's company. It’s not for nothing that his comrades love to listen to his sometimes humorous or sometimes very serious stories. Here they lie in the swamps, where the “wet” infantry even dreams of “even death, but on dry land.” And Terkin grins and begins a long argument. He says that as long as a soldier feels the elbow of his comrade, he is strong. Behind him is a battalion, a regiment, a division. Or even the front. Why, all of Russia!
He had such talent. Such a talent that, lying in the dampness, his comrades laughed, they felt better.
In the chapter “Terkin - Terkin” we meet another fighter with the same surname and the same name, and he is also a hero. One could meet many such heroes on the roads of war.
However, the guy is good.
A guy like that
Every company always has
And in every platoon.
Real fighters, such as Terkin, are not afraid of death, are not afraid of risk. They fight for their homeland and perform feats, not thinking about the reward, but “for the sake of life on earth.”
Vasily Terkin became one of the favorites literary heroes many readers. In the image of Terkin, Tvardovsky portrays best features Russian character - courage, perseverance, resourcefulness, optimism and great devotion to their native land.
Our dear mother earth,
