Mumu is one of Turgenev ’s most famous works. True, not everyone knew about this. No, not about the book, but about who wrote "Mumu." In the article provided below, both the work itself and its author will be examined in detail. Readers are waiting for: Turgenev's biography, the content and analysis of the story, as well as the meaning of it.
The author of "Mumu"
It turns out that despite the celebrity of the work under discussion, not everyone knows who wrote Mumu. Everyone has heard Gerasim and his dog, everyone knows what happened to the latter and thanks to whom. But not everyone can remember from school, who wrote "Mumu" - the most famous work. And the story was created by none other than the Russian writer Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev.
Biography of Turgenev
It will also be useful to find out what kind of person the author of the story “Mumu” ​​was. Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev was born in the city of Orel on October 28 (or November 9), 1818, and died in Buzhival, which is located near Paris, on August 22 (or September 3), 1883, having lived 64 full years. Despite the place of his death, the writer is still buried in Russia, namely in St. Petersburg, at the Volkov Cemetery.
Mother Turgenev was a wealthy landowner, and his father belonged to an old noble family. However, the boy immediately hated serfdom. When Ivan was 9 years old, his family moved to Moscow, where the boy studied with home teachers and in private boarding houses until 1833, until he entered one of the Moscow word departments. A year later, Turgenev moved to St. Petersburg, where he moved to the Faculty of History and Philology.
Turgenev decided to show his first sketches - then poetic - in 1836 to university professor Pletnev. Two years later, in Sovremennik published two poetic works by Ivan Sergeyevich - Towards the Venus of Medicament and Evening.
When did the work appear?
It’s possible to paint Turgenev’s biography for a very long time, but we are still interested in a specific story - “Mumu”. The author of many published works at that time was at the time of writing his famous masterpiece in congresses. All because he wrote a response related to the death of Gogol, which the authorities did not like, for which they removed Turgenev away. It was in April 1852.
Retelling of the work
Below is a brief summary of Mumu for those who either did not read this story or forgot what it was about. Everyone only perfectly remembers the essence: Gerasim drowned his dog, but under what circumstances a man did this, not everyone can remember. So, retelling.
Gerasim, a deaf-mute man who resembles a hero thanks to his great growth and powerful strength, once attracted the lady, and she took him with her to work in her yard. Despite his reluctance, the peasant had no choice, he did not have the right to oppose the rich landowner, and therefore he soon moved to a city where there was much less work. However, the latter only annoyed the hardworking man, ready to plow for days on end, interrupting only for sleep.
All people are afraid of Gerasim because of his unfriendly appearance. However, this does not prevent a man from falling in love with a sweet, modest girl named Tatyana. Gerasim periodically approached his lover, smiled at her and made small pleasant gifts. She, in turn, did not reciprocate, and Gerasim himself was afraid, like everyone else, although he treated her extremely positively. Once the lady mistook the thought of marrying one local drunkard - Kapiton Klimov - in order to rid him of alcoholism with the help of a female affection. And she chose him as a companion of life - such a coincidence - Tatyana. Soon the wedding was played, and even later (a year later) the girl left her town with her husband.
One day, Gerasim was walking along the river and noticed how someone was floundering in the mud near the shore. He looked closely at the man and realized that this was a small puppy. Gerasim took it to himself, found out that this was a girl, but called her Mumu, since he could not say anything else.
A dog lived for a whole year with its new owner. They fell in love with each other incredibly, attached. Mumu became a kind, spiteless dog, quite intelligent and quick-witted; she showed respect to all people, but loved only Gerasim. He, in turn, treated her about the same as a mother to her child.
One fine day, when the lady was in a good mood, she noticed a dog in the courtyard that was gnawing a bone. She ordered immediately to deliver the dog, which, by the way, at first liked her. They brought Mumu to the lady’s chambers, but out of habit, the animal was scared of everything and everything, and therefore almost pulled the woman who pulled her arms toward her. The lady got angry, ordered that the aggressive dog be removed from her living room. After last night, the woman complained to the butler Gavril that Mumu had not given her sleep, moreover, they already have one old dog in the yard, why the hell is another pet for them? And the lady ordered to remove the silent dog from the city.
People fulfilled the task, but soon the dog returned to his master, who until then had not found himself. The lady knew about this, got angry more than ever, again ordered to get rid of the dog. And Gerasim understood for the first time that Mumu was missing for a reason, therefore, when subordinates appeared on the dog’s soul, he said (showed) that he would kill her. And indeed, Gerasim carried his darling to the river and drowned her.
After the perfect action, the man collected his belongings and left the city. The lady was upset by such a loss, yelled at her subordinates, they say that they misunderstood everything and there was no order to kill the dog. Later, Gerasim was found in his own village, but the lady did not begin to return him, considering him ungrateful. And the rest of his life a man spent in his native land. Never once did he start a dog, never once did he look at women, he only worked tirelessly.
Analysis of the work
“Mumu” ​​is a story not only about the hard peasant life, in which every bonded person has to follow any orders coming from “above”, but also about kindness, love and bitterness from loss. Below are the images of Gerasim and the lady, as well as a discussion on the topic of the main issue, which tormented more than one reader.
The image of the lady
You can not deprive the attention of the main anti-hero of the work. So what kind of lady is she? Why does it cause the reader a persistent feeling of dislike?
First, the lady is heartless. It is not known whether she knew about Gerasim’s feelings for Tatyana, this is not mentioned in the work, however, given the speed with which rumors spread everywhere, it is easy to guess that she was probably in the know. In addition, she knew very well how her worker became attached to the dog, but still gave a cruel order.
Secondly, the lady is vindictive and harmful. The decision to kill the dog came to her mind only after Mumu nearly bit her. Because of this, the woman ordered to remove the dog. Is this not a grudge? Moreover, the lady pretended to feel bad because of the barking. In fact, obviously, she was infuriated not so much by barking as by the dog herself.
Thirdly, the lady is selfish. She wanted her to have a decent hardworking man in her yard - she brought him. She wanted two people who were unsympathetic to each other to get married - please. She realized that she had lost the man because of her own order - she blamed her people for everything, and not herself, saying that she did not ask for the murder of the dog. There are many examples, but in all it is obvious that the lady only cares about her own feelings, her own profit, she does not care about the rest.
The image of Gerasim
What was this country peasant like?
Firstly, kind and capable of sincere feelings. Despite the outward seriousness and power so frightening of the people around him, Gerasim always remained a good hero. It shows the best episode of the rescue of the dog. His ability to love is obvious: he courted Tatiana a decent amount of time, although she was afraid of him, and he became attached to Mum more than to anyone else.
Secondly, honest and open, able to keep his word. Let it be shown to us only at the moment when, after the promise to drown the dog, he really did it, but judging by the rest of the people, they were all sure that Gerasim would not deceive. They kept repeating that once a man said it means he will.
Thirdly, hardworking, strong and hardworking. He did not like moving to the city from the very beginning, not because he had to live among urban people, but because of the lack of a lot of work. Gerasim used to work hard, moreover, he liked to do it. Everything else, after returning to his native village, he only did what he worked.
Why did Gerasim not take the dog with him?
Surely most of the people after reading this question asked. Indeed, from the reader’s side, the way out seems obvious - to take the dog with you, since I was still going to leave the finicky lady. Why did Gerasim not do this? Didn't he love Mumu? Turgenev just mocked the reader? However, not all so simple.
During the whole work, Gerasim is deprived of something. In general, he was initially not completely free man, but a peasant, but after meeting with the lady everything is much more complicated.
Firstly, his native village. Gerasim loved her, he liked to plow for four, he liked to work hard, like a damned, he was completely happy with everything. However, with the advent of the new “leadership”, I had to leave my native village, to which the man really became attached.
Secondly, Tatyana. This girl not only liked Gerasim, he was in love with her. Perhaps this is the first representative of the beautiful half of humanity, on which our brave man has "sunk". But her mistress Gerasima also deprived her, betraying a meek modest woman as a local drunkard.
Thirdly, Mumu herself. Her Gerasim loved more than the village and Tatyana. He became attached to the belly so much that he was ready for her much. However, what? That's right, and the lady robbed the man of this happiness.
The author of the work “Mumu” ​​shows that everything that Gerasim became attached to, everything that he truly loved, flew into tartarara. Surely the man realized that all his feelings for something or someone made him vulnerable. He understood that he would not live if Mumu remained alive. Gerasim loved her, really loved her, but he could not keep her with him, because the lady would not have calmed down until she killed the hated dog. It was because of this that he never got anyone else, which is why he no longer paid attention to women upon returning to his native village - he did not want to feel affection and love again, to be vulnerable again. It is difficult, it is difficult, but in a sense Gerasim did the right thing.
Attachment is Evil
Judging by the above, it is precisely this opinion that people should come to. Perhaps attachment is truly evil. Especially when it comes to peasants, you must not forget at what time the story was written, so famous today. “Mumu” ​​is a work proving that it is extremely dangerous for ordinary, poor people to become attached to something or someone. Moreover, often not only the poor suffer.
To make it easier to understand, we can give a more modern example. How many films have been made where children or other close people are taken hostage for ransom or other fulfillment of any requirements? Countless. And all of them perfectly show that no matter who the person is attached to - a woman, a child or an animal - this makes him weaker, more vulnerable, defenseless in the eyes of others. Those who have no one are stronger than others morally. They have no weaknesses, they have nothing to lose.
Of course, the importance of loved ones in our lives cannot be denied. Without them, anyone will be bored, lonely and hard. However, if a person works for dangerous people who are capable of terrible deeds due to their influence and their connections, you need to be extremely careful in their own affections.
Turgenev and Mumu
In the modern world, almost everyone knows a work. True, often his name is tricked and called, supplementing, "Gerasim and Mumu." The author, despite such a small number of pages, perfectly conveyed his dislike of serfdom, expressed in the self-serving eccentric lady and forced to obey the "bosses" of the peasant. True, modern people like this work only because it makes them cry.
Indeed, many people studying Turgenev’s “Mumu” ​​story at school cried right in the classroom because of pity for an innocent dog. What an irony of fate - Gerasim saved his pet from the river, and then killed it there. Involuntarily attend thoughts that you will not run away from fate. In this story, apparently, Mumu was destined to die in the water, and the initial salvation only delayed death.
Conclusion
So, now you know who wrote Mumu, what sense the author put into his work. Of course, it is possible that everything was different, and the meaning of the story is completely different, but each version has a right to exist. Turgenev wrote “Mumu”, sitting in captivity, in captivity, and he got the corresponding story - heavy, serious and memorable.