There are at least two reasons in the year to talk about the “sun of Russian poetry” Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin — the date of birth and the date of death of the poet. Fortunately, not so long ago, namely on June 6, was the birthday of “our everything”. This article will not analyze poetry. It will feature prose by A.S. Pushkin. We will consider only one story (presenting a brief summary) - "Station Warden".
Author's conception
The story begins with the fact that the author, I.P. Belkin, says kind words to the station rangers. He complains about their unenviable share: they come across different people on duty, and they should all be pleased, be polite to them. But the author admits that he didn’t always think about station rangers, then he tells a story that should soften the reader of the lines of the story and make him more tolerant of these unfortunate people. This is a kind of introduction to the story. It is important for the author, therefore we begin our summary with him. Station Warden is written for a specific purpose.
What is this post - station supervisor?
This is an ordinary official - the head of the post station. He rewrites a variety of travel documents of those who stop at the station. This is the lowest rank among the bureaucrats of the 19th century. That is why he needs the intercession of I.P. Belkin. At Pushkin, the caretaker is rather the one who entertains travelers, while they are waiting for horses, and he fills in the papers between cases.
The caretaker and his daughter Dunya
I.P. Belkin comes to visit the caretaker in May 1816. The author fell into the rain on the road and decided to dry in the hut of the caretaker Samson Vyrin. He lived not alone, but with his daughter Dunya. Dunya quickly set the table, and the narrator invited his father and daughter to share his food with him. The rain is already over. Horses were handed over, and the narrator still did not want to say goodbye to his new acquaintances. But the visitor liked, of course, not the caretaker himself, but his daughter. Despite her young age (only 14 years old), she was already fabulously beautiful and acted hypnotically on all male visitors.
The decoration of the hut requires separate words: the house was neat, clean, pleasant to the eye. In other words, a female hand was felt in the external environment and atmosphere. S. Vyrin was very proud of his daughter, he said that she was all in her mother.
If we talk about the description of the station caretaker, then he looked like a prosperous man and completely satisfied with his share. But he was completely different in the second meeting with the author of the story.
The second meeting of the author and the caretaker
4 years passed, and the author of the story again skidded to the same place, and he succumbed to the temptation and visited the same hut. The caretaker's house and he himself have changed beyond recognition. The hut was no longer beautifully cleaned, there were no flowers on the windowsill. Dirt and desolation reigned everywhere. When I.P. Belkin entered the hut, he found the caretaker sleeping on the bed with dirty sheets, and an old, worn sheepskin coat served him with a blanket. The narrator was amazed at the transformation of the caretaker into an old man in 4 years, although when they last saw each other he was about 50. Belkin, of course, immediately asked about Duna (the caretaker's daughter): what was with her, where was she. Samson Vyrin said he did not know anything about her affairs today. And since Belkin was fond of literary work, he apparently felt some intrigue in this unsightly at first glance story, which could serve as a good basis for a story or story (as it happened). The amateur writer decided to talk to the gloomy old man at all costs. And under the punch, the caretaker told the nobleman the story of the legal abduction of Duni by the hussar of Minsk.
Here already the description of the station caretaker draws us a man not so prosperous. The protagonist of the story causes pity and despair among the reader. Having lost his daughter, the caretaker seemed to have lost the main core that had held his whole life.
Gusar Minsky and the fate of Duni
The hussar, like the author once, appeared in the caretaker's hut in bad weather. He shouted at the caretaker for a long time. The reason was that he had not been given horses for a long time. But, seeing the Dunya, the officer calmed down. He, too, came under the magnetic action of the girl’s blue eyes. He was so quiet that he even became ill. He lay in bed for several days, a doctor was called to him. Aesculapius prescribed him "calm, only calm." In this case, the patient did not seem sick at all. They dined with the doctor, and he received 25 rubles from the hussar. and left.
The military got better. When he was leaving, he invited Duna to take her to the church, there just began the mass. At first Dunya did not make up her mind and cast a timid glance at her father, but then the priest encouraged her, and she sat in the carriage to the hussar.
The ranger did not talk to her anymore. He tried to look for her. And even twice met with Minsky, but all to no avail: he pushed him up, giving a little money. So ends the story of the caretaker I.P. Belkin.
Unfortunately, a brief summary (“Station Warden” is not an exception here) does not imply a description of the ordeals of the protagonist in all colors.
And what happened next, the author already found out on his own.
The fact that the protagonist did not humble himself and beg for a meeting with his daughter is a characteristic of the station caretaker, who perfectly defines him as a proud person. Another thing, why didn’t the daughter find a way to see her father? She could thereby extend his life.
Black cross and pile of sand
The most dramatic moment was told by the storyteller I.P. Belkin to the finale: the author was apparently drawn to this place magically, and he decided to find out how the matter had ended. He visited these magical places for the third time for him, discovered that other people now live in Samsov Vyrin’s house, and their son took the narrator to the grave of the station warden. All that remained was a black cross and a pile of sand. It is also interesting that a lady with children came some time ago and also asked about the caretaker, and then for a long time lay and cried on this very grave. Thus ends the work of Pushkin, which means that our exposition comes to an end. The Stationmaster, as the reader probably already understood, is a story filled with the deep tragedy of the loneliness of human existence. However, there is still something, namely, a discussion of the composition on the work of A. S. Pushkin. And we proceed to it without delay.
Station Warden: Composition Plan
In the end, it remains to say only one thing: Pushkin, intentionally or not, but supplies his story with one significant blank spot - it is not clear why, for 3 years of absence, Dunya has not found a way to see her father. Therefore, a reader may think up on this subject, who may want to fill this void in Pushkin’s narrative.
The plan of the essay (of course, an example) may look like this:
- plot;
- Description of key events
- reflections on the motives of Duni's behavior.