A lot of books have been written about the Great Patriotic War . We admire the heroism of the soldiers who defended our homeland. But we must not forget about the civilian population - workers, peasants, who made their contribution to the victory.
Vitaly Zakrutkin tells about a simple woman in his novel “The Mother of Man”. An analysis of this work will help the reader understand what profound meaning the author has put into his creation.
Background to writing a story
Vitaly Alexandrovich Zakrutkin begins his book with a story about a woman. He says that hard trials fell on her, but she overcame them and was able to keep her soul clean. Her kind nature has remained so.
Further, the author tells which particular case prompted him to write the story. At the request of his old friend, he went to the Carpathian region. Every day, even before sunrise, he went for a walk, climbed the Prince's Mountain. When Vitaly Alexandrovich sat down to rest on a bench, he saw a niche in which stood a statue - Madonna was holding a baby in her arms.
Reflecting on the mother of God, the writer remembered the earthly woman who also lost her son, about how much she had survived. And he decided that he was obliged to tell people about her. An analysis of the work “The Mother of Man” by Zakrutkin will help us understand that Russian Maria is the same Madonna. Earthly woman is also worthy of honor and respect.
Mary is losing everything
The events of the work “The Mother of Man” begin in September 1942. Explosions thundered at night, everything around was blazing - there was a fierce battle. Mary hid from this horror in corn and lay in a deep groove on her stomach. But for a long time, being in this position was difficult for a woman, since she was in the first months of pregnancy. Then the peasant woman turned over to one side.
Mary asked God for death, said that she could no longer live like that. Why did the future human mother decide to take such a desperate step? Analysis of the next episode of the book will help to understand this.
Previously, a woman had a family - her beloved husband and son Vasyatka, but the Germans hanged both, and without them Maria did not know how to live. She was saved from a desperate step by the fact that she was expecting a child and could not take his life.
Farmers are being stolen to Germany
The Nazis did many troubles in the village - they blew up a new barn, burned everything at home. Now they forcibly drove to Germany those who were still alive. From her shelter in corn, a woman saw how, supporting each other, old people walked, women carried babies. It was worth someone to cry, to cry, as the German ran up and beat the butt of a gun.
Despite this, Sanya Zimenkova, a fifteen-year-old girl, shouted loudly that she would not go to Germany and would not be a laborer there. Her mother tried to persuade her daughter not to make noise so that the Germans would not be killed, but the brave girl said that she would not be silent.
There was an automatic burst, and the girl fell. When the procession went far ahead, Maria left the shelter and rushed to Sanka. She was still alive, but the Germans mortally wounded her. In the morning the girls died. She was buried by Mary - the mother of man. An analysis of the book will help to understand why Vitaly Alexandrovich so called a simple Russian woman.
Collective farm field
What other best words can be selected when speaking of this peasant woman who was digging hard ground with bleeding fingers to dig a grave for a girl, not to leave her unburied ... Yes, this is Madonna - the Mother of Man. Analysis of subsequent events will help to verify this more than once.
Then Maria picked up the corn leaves, lay down on them and forgot her heavy sleep. She did not know that during these 3 hours the Germans burned all the surrounding villages, the surviving inhabitants were driven to Germany. Therefore, the woman was left alone in the huge scorched territory.
Realizing hunger and thirst, she went to the fields where collective farmers planted beets, potatoes and other vegetables. Further, the author describes a young woman. She was short, brown-eyed, with freckles on her nose. Agree, it does not look like a great heroine at all. But it was not in vain that the simple peasant gave the name Zakrutkin the Mother of Man. An analysis of her deeds and actions will clarify the opinion of the author.
Memoirs of Mary
Lying on a potato field, looking up at the sky, a woman remembered her whole life. From an early age, the girl drank grief. When she was seven, the White Guards shot the communist father. At 16, she buried her mother. From her youth, Maria was a toiler - she was able to graduate from only 4 classes, since she had to work, work on the housework in order to feed herself. Her future husband Ivan also studied for only 4 years for the same reason. However, both were admitted to the Komsomol and the collective farm. So, the villagers respected the young.
The boy and the girl got married, a year later their son Vasya was born. The girl worked as a milkmaid in the third brigade, her husband - in the same place, as a driver.
When the war began, Ivan went to the front, but returned without a hand. Mary comforted him as best she could. Together with other fellow countrymen, she went to dig trenches for Soviet soldiers, so as to help them.
Then the Germans came to the village. At first, they did not touch the residents, but when someone blew up their car with the officers and took away valuable documents, the Nazis began to take revenge - they hanged Ivan, Fenya, who stood up for him, and Maria's son. The last woman covered her mouth with her hands so that she would not scream, because then the punishers would have killed her too.
Then the fellow villagers hid the unfortunate woman in corn, ordered them not to leave until everything was quiet. Therefore, Mary remained alive. This means that fate wished that this woman, the Mother of Man, would not perish. After all, who would have saved so many living souls, tried to cure a seriously wounded enemy? Do not take revenge on him, but show compassion and mercy. She was able to do this - the Human Mother. Analysis of the work will tell about the tragedy of the following events.
Dog and cows
In the evening, when the peasant woman went to the beetroot field, she heard the crunch of dry branches, she was frightened and ran. When the woman looked around, she saw that the once evil dog of the shepherd Gerasim and 4 cows rushed after her, from whose udder milk was dripping. Animals sought salvation next to man. It was very hard for under-fed cows. Maria decided to help them. After all, she was very kind, this Mother of man.
At first, the woman made milk directly on the ground, but then she realized that it would help her satisfy her hunger and thirst. She drank milk and a dog who gladly accepted the treat, as she was hungry.
Mary said goodbye to the animals and went back to hide in the corn, but God's creatures followed her, since now only the Human Mother Mary could save them. So they went to bed: A friend settled down next to the woman, and the cows - a little off. She later sheltered chickens and sheep, who also came to her in search of warmth, food and care. But not only animals will be saved by the Human Mother. Analysis of the work will show how mentally she reacted to people.
Werner Bracht
Maria remembered that she and her husband had dug a reliable cellar, which they had well strengthened and even covered the walls with clay. It had a tunnel for storing potatoes in the winter. She decided to settle with the animals there, but when they came closer, the dog barked heartily. The woman took the pitchfork and went inside. There she saw a German soldier who, without blinking, looked at her.
At first, hatred swept the woman, but, you must give her credit, Mary was able to cope with emotions and did not kill the German because other soldiers of the same kind took her dearest — husband and son. An analysis of the work “The Mother of Man” by Zakrutkin testifies to the magnanimity and compassion of the peasant woman. But these qualities of her were awakened only when the German shouted in Russian: "Mom." This scream pierced her hearts and saved the wounded soldier, who was still just a boy.
He was wounded in the chest. The woman bandaged the soldier, gave him milk. However, despite all her efforts, he died a few days later. The woman buried this young man, who did not want to fight and so perish in a foreign land.
Maria takes care of the farm
October came, with it came the cold. The woman knew that she needed to prepare for the frost. She began to walk through abandoned German dugouts and collect everything that came in handy. Here she found a lamp, soap, and most importantly - a stove.
No wonder Zakrutkin called her the Mother of Man. An analysis of this point shows that in order to survive, save livestock and the unborn child in such conditions, everything must be provided for. Without a stove, a woman would simply perish from the cold of a winter cold, and with her other living souls, for whom she was now responsible. Therefore, Maria took off her dead German’s boots, took her overcoat. Before that, she wore only a light chintz dress, which had already turned into rags.
Maria also took care of the dogs (by that time there were already two of them). The second is the Lady, an animal executed by the enemies of Feni. The woman refreshed the carcass of a German horse killed by a shell, she cleaned the meat in reserve, sprinkling it with salt, and the dogs gnawed the bones, which saved them from hunger.
The harness removed from the horse also went into action. Maria put her on the cow Zorka, because it was much easier to transport things in this way.
Hardworking woman
There was only one well on the farm; the Nazis threw the bodies of dead animals into it. Of course, it was impossible to drink such water, but it is impossible to live without it. Therefore, Mary cleaned out the well. Helped in this harnessed Dawn. Maria climbed into the well. She tied a wire to each corpse of the animal, then she shouted to the cow to walk, and the obedient Zorka did so. Then the woman scooped up bad water and cleaned the bottom.
Later, she will re-equip a part of the barn for four cows, but there will also live 3 horses, hens, sheep, who are also sheltered by a compassionate farmer.
Here she is so smart, economical, hardworking - a simple Russian peasant woman. An analysis of Zakrutkin’s novel “The Mother of Man” will help find more and more evidence for this.
She came up with and made some kind of needle out of wire, sewed a dress for herself from the bags found in the trenches. Maria took any thing she found - socks, a shirt, a tunic, washed it all in a river, dried it and put it in reserve. If a woman knew how these things would come in handy for the children she would find.
“Mother of Man” - analysis. Children whom Mary saves life
Further study of the story proves that there is no limit to human capabilities. Maria, so that the labor of collective farmers of the third brigade did not disappear, she went every day to harvest corn, sunflowers, vegetables.
On one of those already winter days, a woman heard voices in a haystack and saw seven children. They walked for many days, eating raw potatoes, which they found in the fields. These were children from a bombed train that was transporting evacuated from besieged Leningrad. Out of 160 people, only 7 survived. Maria left the children. First, she took them home, washed, gave milk, washed clothes, then she began to sew them new ones that she had previously found in the trenches.
Older girls began to help the woman harvest the third brigade.
New life
The analysis of the story “Mother of Man” can be completed with a very significant moment. When the time came, Mary gave birth to a son. She decided to name him as well as the deceased - Vasya, to continue the human race, her family, in order to somehow make up for the bitterness of loss.
Correctly, the author says that when a woman gave birth to a son, it seemed to her that she also gave birth to those children whom she had saved from cold and hunger. Now it became completely clear why Vitaly Zakrutkin called her the Human Mother. The analysis of the story proves that this is a real woman heroine, before whom I want to kneel and remember with the kindest and most beautiful words!