Sometimes there is not enough time to read the entire work of one of the great classics of literature. Quickly familiarize yourself with it, the main characters will help with a brief summary. “The boy is at Christ's tree” - a story written by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. In it, the famous writer shares his thoughts with readers, provides an opportunity to see from the side what human indifference leads to, comes up with a very kind and positive ending, which can be not only a figment of imagination, but also a reality.
Structure of the work
So, a short summary begins to introduce us to the story. “The Boy at Christ at the Christmas Tree” consists of two parts, the second is called that way, and the first writer is entitled “The Boy with the Pen.”
The first and second chapters tell about different guys. They have the same age and low social background. Although both children are very poor, the second is more sympathetic than the first. For his unspoiled soul, for the fact that he did nothing wrong to anyone, for the unjust offenses to which he was subjected, Christ will reward his second child according to his deserts.
Part One - “The Boy with the Pen”
It is with it that the work itself and its brief content begin. “The boy at Christ at the tree” first introduces us to one child. The writer says that before Christmas he met a boy who was no more than seven years old. He was dressed in severe frost almost like a summer. The child was begging, children like him were called “with a pen” because they walked with outstretched hands and asked for alms.
When asked by the writer, the child replied that his sister was ill, so he went to ask. Then Dostoevsky says that there were many such children at that time, he reveals to the reader the fate that awaits these kids. Many of them become thieves. In dysfunctional families - drinking parents, they send their children for vodka. Fathers, uncles who beat their wives, “for the sake of laughter” can pour even their son, nephew, into the mouth of this fiery water. Then these non-humans also laugh when the children fall to the floor unconscious ...
Naturally, in such a family, it is very difficult for a child to become a good person, therefore, having already matured, and even going to work at a factory, adolescents become real criminals, and themselves, like their parents, start drinking. Here is such a bleak picture Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky described.
"The boy at Christ on the Christmas tree"
The main characters of this story are boys who were not familiar with each other. One of them was at least somehow adapted to a miserable existence, the other fell into that world full of hardships, unprepared and ended up there alone - without protection, without the care of adults.
Dostoevsky begins the second chapter of the story with the words that he is still a novelist. The author says that it seems to him that he had already heard something similar, but maybe it was just a dream.
The second story also happened on Christmas Eve. It starts in the basement. Here, laying a bale under her head, lies a seriously ill woman. A boy of six or less years sits near her. In another corner lies an alien old woman, who often grumbles at a child. He and his mother came to this city from somewhere far away. Apparently, famine drove the family from their homes. Mom and boy came here to feed themselves. Perhaps the woman wanted to get a job here, but she fell ill or was completely weakened from hunger. This begins the second chapter, which Dostoevsky called "The Boy at Christ at the Christmas Tree." The summary of the story continues.
Completely alone
The child was hungry. He could get drunk, but there was no food. He had tried many times to wake his mother, but she did not open her eyes. The boy touched the woman, she was cold. The child felt terrible, he didn’t exactly understand what had happened, but he felt that he was cold and scared in this dark basement, where the lights were not lit.
The kid threw his light outerwear, which the author calls a dressing gown, and went outside, she hit him. There were a lot of lights around, such a child had not yet seen. There, from where he arrived, in the evenings there was a single dim lamp on the street, and everyone was sitting in their houses after sunset.
There was a busy movement, the windows of the houses burned with bright light. In one large window, the child saw a huge Christmas tree, on which were hanging toys, apples. Overcome by a feeling of intense hunger, the baby opened the door to this magical world. After all, through it came many wealthy guests invited by the owners of a large Christmas tree for a holiday. But the lady waved her hands at him, put the child a pretty penny and drove away. The kid was frightened, ran and dropped a trifle.
Bad people
Such cruel people are described in this instructive work, which F. M. Dostoevsky called "The Boy at Christ at the Christmas Tree." A brief summary of the story tells about these points in more detail. After all, by that time the child was already freezing. There was a terrible cold, and he was dressed quite easily. The fingers and hands of the child were very sore - they turned red, there was a frostbite.
If that lady let the child warm in the heat, feed him, he could survive. But not only this woman is to blame. After all, when the boy was walking along the street, a guard of order passed by and deliberately turned away so as not to see the baby. Although he was obliged to fulfill his duty, to take the child to the station, to the hospital or to the shelter. It was because of such people that this cute angel did not die. Dostoevsky came up with a very kind ending to the story, very soon we will approach him.
In heaven
A summary is ongoing. The boy at Christ on the Christmas tree will be very soon. Having run out of the rich house, he stopped near the window and stared at the funny mechanical dolls. At this time, someone angry pulled off his robe. The child was again frightened, ran and hid in the yard behind a log of wood. He dozed off, he felt warm and well. The boy felt himself soaring around an unusually beautiful Christmas tree. Around him fly the same angels - boys and girls. They hug, kiss him, their mothers, who stand a little apart and look at their children with tears in their eyes.
The boy’s mother was there, and Christ arranges the Christmas tree for those children who did not have it in earthly life, as well as our hero’s work, which Dostoevsky called “The Boy is at the Christmas Tree with Christ”. A brief retelling, like the story itself, ends here. It remains only to tell that in the morning the janitor found the corpse of the boy in the morning, and his mother died even earlier.
Such a sad and at the same time bright story was written and called by Dostoevsky “The Boy at Christ at the Christmas Tree”. Criticism of that time and modern appreciated the work. Readers of the 21st century say that they really liked the story, which evokes a sense of compassion and touches the best strings of the human soul.