Summary: "Alien Blood" by Mikhail Sholokhov. Analysis of the work

It is difficult to write a soulful novel about something simple, for example, about youthful love, or about a person’s love for animals, or about the eternal affection of parents for their child. But it’s even more difficult to write a story about it so that there is nothing superfluous in it, but only what is needed for the plot. Anton Pavlovich Chekhov argued: the story should not have decorative details, each of its elements must “work” on the author’s plan. It was such a work that Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov was able to create with a unique literary brilliance. The focus is on its summary. “Alien Blood” is a story published in 1926.

The main character

The story “Alien Blood”, the brief content of which we will now consider, begins with a description of the life of the main character of the story - grandfather Gavrila. He has been waiting for his son since the Civil War of 1917. Grandfather lives not alone, but with his wife, whose name is not revealed to the reader. She remains simply an “old woman” in an essay. Parents do not lose hope. They are preparing in every possible way for the possible arrival of their son, both morally and financially. Grandfather does not want to think that he is no longer one of the closest people, that his child died in the merciless and meaningless "meat grinder" of the civil war. But everyday night awakenings say: Gavrila still knows the truth, but carefully hides it from herself and from her old woman. This is the author’s intention of the story “Alien Blood”. The summary of the exposition of the work cannot be retold without mentioning the hero’s mental torment.

Tie

Instead of Petro (that is the name of the son of elderly parents), his fellow soldier Prokhor returns to the village (she, of course, is on the Don). He informs his grandfather and his old woman that their son is no more. He died in the war, like many. This moment, when parents learn about the death of their son, can be considered the plot of the work. The same applies to the appearance in the village, in the courtyard of my grandfather, three "food detachments", accompanied by the chairman. Grandfather Gavrila did not know that the surplus appraisal "walks" around the country with iron feet. Its main meaning is this: the state alienates foodstuffs from the population, and then, according to its discretion and established standards, gives them back. As it is easy to understand, this is an anti-crisis measure. Food surplus was practiced by the Soviet authorities several times, Gavril’s grandfather was the victim of one of the first such procedures. Only bread was taken from him.

But the guys sent by the new government did not have time to take away everything that they could carry away. Suddenly, right next to the threshing floor they were shot by an unknown on a horse, and then he just as suddenly disappeared. Grandfather at this time was heading to the house and was simply dumbfounded by such a development of events.

A little later, when he came to his senses, the hero went to inspect the defeated minions of the Soviet regime. And an amazing thing, but one of them even after severe injuries breathed.

The main moral conflict. Disclosure of the main problems of the work

Despite the fact that we are discussing only a brief summary, “Alien Blood” by Sholokhov even in an abridged version encourages the reader to comprehend the moral content of the work.

It was at this point in the story where it turns out that one of the shot guys still beats timidly when an old man feels his chest, MA Sholokhov and asks the reader an almost Christian question: "What to choose: good or evil, hatred or love?" Yes, the "Reds" killed the son of Gabriel, but is this the reason not to save the boy who fell in the snow? Is the blond guy who is stuck between life and death to blame? Everyone will probably answer this question in their own way, but grandfather chose kindness and love for his neighbor, so he put the young angel of the civil war on his back and brought it into the house, which, of course, very frightened his grandmother. Here the tension and intrigue of the work reaches its climax, it is felt even when a brief summary is read. Alien Blood (its full version) captures even more.

Petro is dead, long live Petro

The old people have been anxiously caring for their enemy friend for three months. When he regained consciousness, he told his story: his name was Nikolai, he was an orphan. He worked all his life (not too long) at the Ural iron foundry. Kolya was a convinced communist. The old men became sympathetic and said: “Since you have no one, stay, man, with us, only Petro will now call you. Our son was Petro, and now you will be in his place. ” Nicholas easily did such a favor to the old people, but only promised that he would live with them until the fall, and then it would be seen.

When Kolya-Petro recovered from physical and moral upheavals, he began to help his grandfather in the household. The old people were happy: they lost their son, but in the "alien blood" they found one more.

Final story

Maybe this is not very good in relation to the deceased child, but the old people became more and more attached to the newly made Petro, imbued with warm feelings for him and gradually forgetting the bitterness of loss. Nicholas not only aroused the love of these parents, but also gained their respect, because, despite his injury (he only had one arm because of an injury), he worked for two.

But in the summer a letter came to Grandfather Gavrila in the name of Skew Nikolai. The men from the factory sent Kolya a "hello" and asked him for help. Kolya (since he was a respectable communist and an excellent person) lost peace and sleep. On the one hand, he did not want to leave the elderly to their own devices, and on the other, he was eager for native land.

Grandfather Gavril was a wise man, seeing the ordeal of his son, weeping for the last time, blessed Nikolai-Petro and let him go. The farewell of the old man and his son ends with the story of the author, which means that his summary is also completed. Sholokhov's “Another's Blood” is a truly remarkable work about parental love.