Furmanov’s novel Chapaev is a famous work dedicated to the hero of the Civil War. It became one of the most famous novels in Soviet literature. In 1934, the historical drama of the Vasilyev brothers was released, in which the main role was played by Boris Babochkin. In this article we will give a brief summary of the work, talk about its features.
Author
The novel "Chapaev" was written by a young 32-year-old revolutionary and Soviet prose writer. Furmanov was of peasant origin. At school, he decided to devote his life to literature. He entered the philological faculty of Moscow University. He graduated in 1915, but did not manage to pass exams, as he went to the First World War.
In 1917, Dmitry Furmanov was first on the side of the Socialist Revolutionaries, then anarchists. Then he went over to the Bolsheviks. He took part in the suppression of the Yaroslavl uprising, drawing closer to Frunze.
In 1919, Furmanov went to the Eastern Front as a political worker. There he meets Chapaev. Within a few months, he was transferred to Turkestan due to a conflict with the divisional commander. Chapaev had an affair with Furmanov’s wife. After he served in the Kuban army, where he received a strong concussion.
In 1926 he died in Moscow from meningitis at the age of 34.
Summary
The novel "Chapaev" begins with a description of the working detachment under the command of Frunze, who goes to fight with Kolchak. On behalf of the detachment, Fedor Klychkov says goodbye to the weavers. Yesterday's student, when the revolution began, showed himself in the role of an experienced organizer. Able to find a common language with workers who consider it their own.
The train reaches Samara in about two weeks. At this time, Klychkov receives a note from Frunze with an order to immediately arrive in Uralsk before the main detachment. Political workers hit the road on crossroads.
Already in the city, Klychkov constantly hears stories about the commander Chapaev, who is described as a national hero. In Uralsk, he is appointed commissioner in a group that is led by the very same division commander.
At the front
The continuous battles in which the Red Army takes part do not allow the hero of D. A. Furmanov’s novel “Chapaev” to establish political and organizational work. The structure of the units themselves is so confused that it is not clear how far the power of a given commander extends.
Politruk attentively looks at military experts who have sided with the Red Army. He cannot understand in any way whether they honestly serve the new government. Klychkov expects Chapaev to arrive, since after this much needs to be clarified.
In the diary, which Fedor keeps, he describes in detail the first impressions that a meeting with a divisional commander makes on him. He strikes him with the appearance of the most ordinary person, with relatively small physical strength. But at the same time he has a unique opportunity to attract the views of others. In Chapaev, everyone around them feels an inner power that unites people.
At the very first meeting, after listening to all the commanders, he makes his own conclusion, which turns out to be surprisingly accurate. Klychkov sees how much in Chapaev is uncontrollable and spontaneous. He believes that his role is to exert ideological influence on the people's commissar.
First fight
In the novel "Chapaev" the first battle is described, during which Klychkov watches the division commander. This is the battle for the village of Slomikhinsky. Chapaev on a horse rushes along the entire front edge, cheering the fighters and giving the necessary orders. In the hottest spots, he always finds himself at the right time.
Klychkov admired this commander. Moreover, due to his own inexperience, he lags behind the Red Army men who burst into the village. In Slomikhinskaya robberies and riots begin. Chapaev suppresses them only by his performance. He orders the soldiers not to rob anymore; all obey him implicitly. True, the loot is returned only to the poor, and that which was taken from the rich is divided among themselves.
Challenge to Frunze
At this time, Frunze calls Klychkova and Chapaev to Samara, where he is located. By ordering the political instructor to cool the partisan ardor of the commander, he promotes the service. Fedor emphasizes that he is working in precisely this direction.
On the way back, Chapaev tells his biography. It turns out that he was born from a gypsy artist and daughter of the Kazan governor. Klychkov doubts this, referring the information to the excessive imagination of the hero of the Civil War.
Otherwise, there is nothing unusual in his fate. In childhood, shepherd cattle, then traded with a merchant, worked as a carpenter, even walked with a barrel organ along the Volga. He went to serve when the war began. His wife cheated on him, then Vasily Ivanovich took the children who now live with one widow. He himself wanted to study all the time, tried to read as much as possible, however, he still painfully feels a lack of education, recognizing that he is a dark man.
Fighting Kolchak
The division, led by the main character of Furmanov’s novel “Chapaev,” fights against Kolchak. Successes alternate with failures, after which the political instructor insistently advises the division commander to begin to master strategy and tactics.
Acute disputes arise between them periodically, in which Chapaev begins to listen more and more often to the commissioner. Milestones of the heroic path of the division - Belebey, Buguruslan, Uralsk, Ufa. The main characters draw closer to each other, Klychkov oversees the formation of the general talent of the division commander. His authority in the troops is simply enormous.
Denouement
In the final of the novel “Chapaev” in 1923, the division moves to Lbischensk, from here to Uralsk about a hundred kilometers. Around the continuous steppe. The population is hostile to the red shelves. Scouts are being sent to the Chapaevites, who inform Kolchak about the poor supply of the Red Army. They lack ammunition, shells and food. White is literally taken aback by the hungry and exhausted troops. The commander is forced to wander along the steppe in order to give orders to his units as quickly as possible. Klychkov is summoned to Samara, although he asked him to leave, looking at the difficulties surrounding the division.
The division headquarters is located in Lbischensk, from where the main character of the novel "Chapaev" Furmanova visits the units every day. Intelligence reports that no Cossacks were found in the area of ​​the railway station. At night, for an unknown reason, the reinforced guard was removed, although Chapaev himself did not give such an order. At dawn, whites attack the division by surprise. In a terrible and rapid battle, almost all die. The commander himself is wounded in the arm. Next to him is his faithful messenger Petka Isaev, who is being killed on the banks of the Urals. The divisional commander tries to swim across the river, but when he is already almost on the opposite bank, they kill him with a bullet in the head.
The units remaining from the division with fights break out of the encirclement.
Analysis
When analyzing the novel "Chapaev" it is worth noting that this is a classic novel in the spirit of social realism. In it, the author visually paints a picture of the Civil War, depicting the process of forming the consciousness of the people, the victory of the new over the old.
The book depicts how the type of commander of the Civil War is formed, who is ready to devote all his strength to victory.
Of great importance is the protagonist Klychkov - a faithful comrade who helps Chapaev cope with all difficulties. Furmanov portrayed himself in the image of this character. He admires the commander, but at the same time dominates him, trying to gain authority and help in the implementation of the great historical task that the Red Army faces.