Much has been written about the Great Patriotic War. Particularly noteworthy is the story "The Mother of Man" by V. Zakrutkin. Her heroine is a simple Russian woman who experienced inhuman torment. But for the sake of saving the new life that was beating inside her, she could survive, becoming a symbol of "imperishable faith ... hope, eternal ... love ...".
Instead of joining
Memories of the heroic deed of 29-year-old Maria were caused in the soul of the narrator by a stone statue. During a trip to the Carpathian city, he liked to relax in the park. Near the bench stood a stone niche, and in it was a sculpture of the Virgin Mary with a baby in her arms. Her appearance made us think of the hundreds and thousands of mothers who had experienced more terrible torments in their lives than she did. Among them was a young woman from a small farm, lost in the steppe. After the Germans arrived, she lost her family and home. Left alone in the neighborhood, Mary continued to fight and save everyone who needed help.
"Mother of Man": a summary
Read the full text of the work of art is necessary. This is the only way to understand what the heroine went through. However, there are situations when there is no time for this or a book is not at hand. In such cases, retelling of key scenes of the story will help.
All alone…
Acquaintance with the heroine begins with a description of the great tragedy. Plunging into the ground on the outskirts of a cornfield, a young woman prayed to God for death. Explosions were heard around, and a glow of fire was visible. There, to the people - this thought made Mary come to her senses. But, reaching the hill where the field ended, she witnessed a terrible picture. The summary (“The Mother of Man” is a tale that is not easy to read) does not allow one to describe everything as Zakrutkin did it. The farm burned, and the inhabitants — there were about a hundred — were driven by the Nazis on a current, and then driven along a road that went close to the field. Maria distinguished the faces of all the villagers. And when the column passed, a sonorous girlish voice suddenly sounded. This 15-year-old Sasha dared to challenge the Nazis. Next is the automatic queue. When it became quiet, Mary, overcoming fatigue and pain, crawled to the girl. She was still alive. But the wound was fatal, and at dawn she died. The woman, tearing apart her hands, dug the grave all day, after which she buried Sasha: you can’t leave the body for reproach. For several days Mary hides in the field. During this time, her past life passes before her - similar retrospectives are observed throughout the entire work “The Mother of Man”.
Content of Visions-Memories
The father of the heroine was killed by the White Guards, she lost her mother at age 16. She married a neighbor. They cared for the house, lived in harmony and love, raised a son. Ivan was called up in the early days of the war, but a few weeks before the Germans arrived, he returned with an amputated arm. The Nazis were located nearby for several weeks. On the day when they threw grenades at their car, they broke into a farm and hanged Mary's husband and son (10-year-old Vasyutka grabbed onto his father and did not want to let go). Maddened by grief, the inhabitants sent her to a corn field. And then they burned the farm. And the heroine of the story “Mother of Man” was left completely alone. The summary - to read it more easily emotionally - does not make it possible to convey her monologue, caused by a reminder of the unborn child and expressing her feelings and hatred of the enemy. The kid saved a desperate mother who called for death. To live for him and the killed Ivan and Vasyutka - only this thought made Mary fight.
Already not alone
The woman was relieved when she saw a dog and four cows from the farm - living creatures appeared nearby. A little calmer and stronger thanks to milk, Maria decided to return to the farm. Only there could a mother survive the cold winter. The summary (the story itself needs to be read) of the episode with the return to the ashes is as follows: hot earth, ash and asphyxiating burning smell, utterly burnt houses and trees, unsuitable for use well, missing bodies of beloved husband and son, emptiness in the place of his home ... Salvation came unexpectedly. Maria remembered the solid cellar that she built with her husband. He really survived.
Uninvited guest
As she descended into the cellar, Mary felt that there was someone there. Then she distinguished between a young frightened face and an enemy form. The first desire is to destroy (in the hands were forks) and avenge the death of Ivan and Vasyutka. But suddenly I heard: "Mom." So the wounded German youth remained in her care. They communicated with signs, but Mary realized that this soldier was the same victim as her. She even had the hope that maybe he would survive. However, Werner Bracht died, and the woman was left alone again. Now for a long time.
The economy is growing
Slowly, a woman was establishing a way of life. She went to the trenches and collected the things that remained after the Germans and her own things: a stove, an overcoat, a thermos, boxes, etc. I cut the carcass of the dead horse, as the weather allowed, picking up the remaining potatoes, carrots, beets, corn, sunflowers in the fields - I had to feed myself and the animals, to which were added a dozen sheep, hens, three horses and even pigeons. She placed them in the surviving part of the barn. Every day was scheduled - so she tried to save her life in the third brigade of the Lenin collective farm “mother of men”. Summary — the whole text needs to be read — it cannot convey everything that befell a small woman, whom her husband affectionately called the “minnows”. But she survived. True, there was a case when horsemen, as it turned out, passed their own past the farm, but Maria was afraid to find herself. Save the child - this was her main goal in those months.
Adopted children
One winter, Maria came across seven orphans from the Leningrad orphanage. Their train fell under the bombing, teachers and more than a hundred children were killed, and the survivors were hiding in ricks, interrupting what they find. The most memorable moment was when a two-year-old baby first called her mom. The woman got the feeling that she really gave birth not only to Vasyutka, but also to these orphans, and to Werner Bracht, and the Red Army soldier Slava buried by her (she found him in the trench), and all the other people who needed her help. Together with the children, she found the remains of her husband and son, and they finally found peace. And in the spring a baby was born, which became a continuation of Ivan and the murdered Vasyutka. Such - with a nursing baby in her arms and surrounded by children - and she saw her storyteller. And the regimental commander, going up to the woman, bowed his knees and pressed his cheek to his small hard hand ...
Instead of an afterword
“There are a lot of people like Maria, and the time will come - people will give them their due ...” - with these words V. Zakrutkina wants to complete the summary. “The Mother of Man” is a great monument to all women workers, continuers of the human race.