Each citizen of Russia over time is determined in the national orientation of the state. Contemporaries are looking with interest at the events of the 1917 revolution and the Civil War. The writer Boris Lavrenev expressed his vision of these events in the story "Forty-first." After all, our divided society still feels the consequences of those events. This work is also called the "poem in prose", it contains a lot of revolutionary elements, violent passions, cruel fratricidal scenes. The summary of “Forty-first” Lavrenev (chapters) proves that the book is small in volume, but fascinating and has a certain amount of humor. Well, we offer you to get to know better with this work.
A little bit about the biography of Boris Lavrenev
From the biography of the writer himself, we could get a plot for an adventure film. Little Borya loved books, stories about exploits and wanderings. His parents worked as teachers at school. His favorite book was "The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe." The homeland of the writer is Kherson land, but he received his education at Moscow University, where he graduated from the law faculty.
The rapid fall of the tsarist empire, the revolutionary events in the country caused many thoughts. At first he was in the ranks of the white movement, then he joined the ranks of the Red Army. After the civil war, Lavrenev began to serve as a political worker in Central Asia. He wrote several short stories, but the most famous work was precisely the story we described, which appeared in 1924. Further we suggest you to get acquainted with the summary of "Forty-first" Lavrenev. Reading this piece is pretty easy.
The dynamic beginning of the story
Summary of “Forty-first” Boris Lavrenev indicates that the book consists of 10 chapters. In the first of them, readers see the terrible reprisal of the White Cossacks over the Red Army soldiers who were captured. Only 24 people managed to escape from the entire Red squad. Among them was the shooter girl Marutka. She worked with a sniper rifle. On her account there were already forty killed White Guards. The girl was an orphan and originally from a fishing village. Since childhood, she worked hard and dreamed of a better life. This led her to volunteer in the Red Army.
In the following chapters, romanticism, realism and expressionism are intertwined. Maryutka swore an oath that she would not lead a woman’s life, give birth to children until the capitalists were defeated. She even began to write poetry about the revolution and the birth of a new world. They were not entirely successful. However, in shooting she was more fortunate: her accuracy was known. She considered every murdered White Guard a retaliation for the poverty and powerlessness of Tsarist Russia.
Portrait of Vadim Govoruhi-Youth
The second chapter, in accordance with the summary of “Forty-first” Lavrenev, introduces the reader to another main character - the Guard Lieutenant Vadim Nikolayevich Govorukha-Otrok. This is an outstanding character representing the Romanov Empire. The prototype for the image was a friend of the writer who served in the tsarist army.
Vadim Govorukha is captured by the Red Army, where Maryutka served. His behavior was worthy and courageous. He refuses to tell the red commander about his secret assignment. They entrusted the lieutenant to Maryutka. At a halt, she reads her poems to him. He immediately notices all the flaws, because he himself was a man of European culture and traditions, knew French and German.
Opposing ideas of heroes about the future of Russia
A detachment with a prisoner crossed the Aral Sea. Suddenly a storm happened, and Maryutka with a lieutenant was thrown onto an uninhabited fishing island. Heroes are very cold, cold. On land, they found a fishing shed and settled in it. Vadim jokingly called himself Robinson, and Maryutka - Friday.
The lieutenant fell seriously ill, fell into unconsciousness from a cold. The girl looked after him, fed, watered. Soon, a love feeling flared up between the heroes. Maryutka saved Vadim's life, and he opened the world of culture to her, telling fairy tales in the evenings.
The idyll of the heroes did not last long: they differently imagined their own future and the fate of the country. The lieutenant dreamed of a quiet life in the country, and the girl dreamed of fighting for the victory of the revolution. On this occasion, they were arguing.
The tragic ending of the story
Once, a White Guard longboat appeared on the coast. The overjoyed Vadim runs to meet him. At this place there is a tragic end to the story. Monutka instinctively grabbed a rifle and shot at her beloved lieutenant. The shot was accurate, hit right in the head and knocked out an eye. It was her forty-first victim.
After that, an impressive scene of human grief begins. Desperate Maryutka rushes to her beloved and howls oppressively: "My dear! Blue-eyed! What have I done?" Such an ending is a sign of condemnation for all civil wars.
Today in Russia again one can observe class stratification: oligarchs and ordinary people. Today, the country again faces a choice. Every citizen must make a choice in order to protect the national interests of the state without victims.