I.S. Turgenev is a writer for the elite. Not everyone will appreciate the gentle lyrics of his stories when he reads "Notes of the Hunter" or "The Noble Nest."
"Mumu" - Turgenev's story, familiar to everyone from childhood. Sometimes it is included in the school curriculum, sometimes it is read to children at home, most of it knows its summary. “Mumu” is just as famous a plot as Krylov ’s fables , “Eugene Onegin” by Pushkin. The heroes of “Mumu”, we can say, have become popular. There are even jokes about them.
Turgenev, "Mumu": a summary
This is a story about a deaf-mute janitor, a person with disabilities, as we would say now. Gerasim, the name of the hero of the work, was born and raised in the village. But by order of the mistresses he was transported to the city so that he would serve as a janitor there. Gerasim is strong, rustic in foundation, and therefore the whole courtyard of a rather big noble house respects him. And Gerasim himself found affection: he likes the laundress Tatyana. But Gerasim, although physically strong, cannot stand up for himself. Tatyana is persuaded to pretend to be drunk, and Gerasim, in fact, by virtue of intrigue, is experiencing his first disappointment.
Even a brief summary of “Mumu” makes you sharply empathize with Gerasima, and when reading the original, tears often come to my eyes. Gerasim lives very lonely. For obvious reasons, he does not communicate with anyone, he does not have real affection, and no one thinks seriously about him. But soon Gerasim finds another affection for himself: he saves a puppy from the water and takes him as a pet.
Summary "Mumu" does not give an idea of the personality of Gerasim. But in the work itself, he appears as a responsible person, devoted to his work. Gerasim bears his heavy burden without complaining. Turgenev's work “Mumu” (summary) is a story not only about Gerasim, but also about the soullessness of others. For example, the lady does not consider Gerasim as a person. She decides his fate, joking, based on her whims and dislikes. She wanted to marry Tatyana to a drunkard, she betrayed her, she did not like the janitor's dog, so she had to be drowned.
For the lady, the people from the house are not people, they, like soft sofas, must exist solely to satisfy her own
desires.
Why is Gerasim drowning a dog, why does he obey the lady? This indicates an unprecedented submission, that he himself considers himself unworthy to have affection. But then he leaves for the village, showing self-will that was unprecedented in those days. What is it? Riot against such an attitude towards yourself? Dumb protest, an attempt to make the lady understand that she was wrong? This is to be understood by the reader, and not by someone who has read only a brief summary of Mumu. It is interesting to discuss this topic in a literature lesson, but it is hardly possible to understand the psychology of a yard, serf man. He was born and grew up in completely different conditions, was raised in a different way, and realizes himself in a different way. And the man of our time will no longer be able to project the situation of Gerasim. People whose grandfathers and great-grandfathers were born free will not understand the psychology of a slave. Maybe he thought that a dog is unworthy of life, if the lady does not like it. In the end, respect for a person as a person is characteristic of free and developed people. But all these questions can be asked and comprehended only after reading the entire book.
"Mumu" - a monument of the era of serfdom, it is worth reading this story and as historical evidence.