Platonov’s story “Fro” is a small sketch from the life of a simple family. There are almost no events in this work. Not the plot, but the images are important in the story "Fro." A summary and analysis of the work can be found in this article.
The main character is a girl named Euphrosyne. Father - a retired railway worker - calls her affectionately Frosy. The husband endowed with a strange name - Fro. Actions in the story begin from the moment when the husband of the main character leaves for an unknown period of time.
Yearning
What is the Fro story about? The summary can be summarized as follows: the husband left for a long time, and the wife is extremely sad. But the idea of the work is deeper.
Life for Frosi really lost its meaning. She dropped out of the train connection, which she was inspired to do by her husband’s extraordinary intelligence. But he left, and everything around him lost its color. Life became colorless and dull, and a place in it remained only for sadness. But not only Frosyu was seized by this excruciating feeling. Her father is also in anguish.
Nefed Stepanovich retired. He worked so long that he could not live otherwise. Having become a pensioner, he returns to his former workplace every day, wanders there for a long time, gives useful advice to his former colleagues, and then returns home tired, being in the illusion that his fatigue is the result of a good time. This is the plot of the work "Fro." A summary of other, less significant events should nevertheless be stated.
Return
The old man is so punctual in his visits to the depot that he, after all, is taken again. He is being returned to his former place, but he is now working in a different mode. Nefed Stepanovich is called only in an emergency case, when, for example, he becomes ill, one of the mechanics. But he is happy. And now the backup mechanic is in full readiness day and night. He does not take off his work clothes even during sleep. Every evening, has a tight dinner and tries not to waste his strength. After all, they can call him, but at work, nothing should interfere with the normal labor process.
Frosya fraudulently calls her husband. She sends him a telegram on behalf of her father, in which he allegedly talks about the imminent death of her daughter. The husband comes and does not hold evil at the liar. They are happy and remain in this state for several days. But once he disappears again. The girl is left alone, and somewhere far away, perhaps in the Far East, the man who called her the strange name Fro ...
The summary can also be supplemented with other details.
Work
Ordinary people who are characterized by sadness and joy, depicted Andrei Platonov. Fro once, walking along the platform, sees workers who carry construction tools. The girl expresses a desire to join the work and, when she starts work, forgets for a while her longing for her husband.
There is no need to talk about the role of labor in the life of Frosy's father. Inaction kills him. The lack of labor duties confuses and frightens him, and makes him sad. The image of this hero deserves special attention.
Brief analysis of the story
“Fro” is a work that can be called a sad story about a little man. The image of the main character - Frosy's father - is sad and touching. Moreover, the sympathy of the reader can cause not so much his longing for work, as the relationship with his daughter.
Nefed Stepanovich appears in the work as a man without a face, active, talkative. With the help of small details he depicted his image of Platonov. “Fro” is a story in which the main background at first glance is created by the experiences of the heroine. However, upon closer examination, it turns out that the image of the father plays almost the main role. It is no coincidence that the story “Fro” is filled with subtle hints and details that the author seems to accidentally add to the narrative. The image of Frosy's father is characterized by the following fragments:
- The father happily awaits the return of his daughter, because he loves to talk with her. But he, the author mentions, is pleased to have conversations with anyone. And this is his loneliness.
- The reserve mechanic annoys the daughter, and she throws insulting words into his face. He is not sad. After all, Frosi’s father knows that children are enemies, and you shouldn’t be angry with enemies. But then Platonov portrays him crying in private.
- He is crying over yesterday’s pasta pan, and suddenly a notice arrives: he is being called to work. The mechanic immediately transforms and becomes energetic and outwardly cheerful. Perhaps the work for him is not only a habitual way of life, but also a way to get rid of loneliness?
- At the end of the story, before the second departure of Frosy's husband, his father sleeps for several days at the station. And the daughter does not notice it. And this, perhaps, is the main idea in Platonov’s story: the closest people are sometimes incredibly far away.