âWho lives in Russia wellâ is one of the most famous works of N.A. Nekrasov. In the poem, the writer managed to reflect all the hardships and torments that the Russian people suffer. Characterization of heroes is especially significant in this context. âWho lives in Russia wellâ is a work rich in bright, expressive and original characters, which we will consider in the article.
Prologue Value
A special role for understanding the work is played by the beginning of the poem âWho Should Live Well in Russiaâ. The prologue resembles a fabulous conception of the type âIn a certain kingdomâ:
In what year - count
In what land - guess ...
The following is about peasants who came from different villages (Neelova, Zaplatova, etc.). All the names and names speaking them Nekrasov gives a clear description of the places and heroes. In the prologue, the journey of the men begins. This ends the fabulous elements in the text, the reader is introduced into the real world.
List of heroes
All the heroes of the poem can be divided into four groups. The first group consists of the main characters who went for happiness:
- Demian;
- Novel;
- Prov;
- Groin;
- Ivan and Mitrodor Gubin;
- Luke.
Then come the landowners: Obolt-Obolduev; Glukhovsky; Utyatin; Shalashnikov; Peremetev.
Slaves and peasants met by travelers: Yakim Nagoy, Yegor Shutov, Yermil Girin, Sidor, Ipat, Vlas, Klim, Gleb, Jacob, Agap, Proshka, Savely, Matryona.
And heroes not related to the main groups: Vogel, Altynnikov, Grisha.
Now consider the key characters in the poem.
Dobrosklonov Grisha
Grisha Dobrosklonov appears in the episode "Feast to the World", the entire epilogue of the work is dedicated to this character. He himself is a seminarian, the son of a clerk from the village of Big Wahlaki. The family of Grisha lives very poorly, only thanks to the generosity of the peasants it was possible to raise himself and his brother Savva to their feet. Their mother-laborer died early from overwork. For Grisha, her image merged with the image of her homeland: "With love for the poor mother, love for the whole elk."
As a fifteen-year-old child, Grisha Dobrosklonov decided to devote his life to helping people. In the future, he wants to go to Moscow to study, but for now, together with his brother, he helps the peasants as best he can: works with them, explains new laws, reads documents to them, writes letters for them. Grisha composes songs that reflect observations of poverty and suffering of the people, discussions about the future of Russia. The appearance of this character enhances the lyricism of the poem. The attitude of Nekrasov towards his hero is uniquely positive, the writer sees in him a revolutionary from the people who should become an example for the upper layers of society. Grisha voices the thoughts and position of Nekrasov himself, the solution of social and moral problems. The prototype of this character is considered N.A. Dobrolyubova.
Ipat
Ipat is a âsensitive serf,â as Nekrasov calls him, and the poetâs irony is heard in this characterization. This character also causes laughter among strangers when they learn about his life. Ipat is a grotesque character, he became the embodiment of a faithful footman, a master servant who remained faithful to his master even after the abolition of serfdom. He is proud and considers for himself a great good deed the way the gentleman bathed him in an ice hole, harnessed him to a cart, saved him from death, to which he himself was doomed. Such a character cannot even arouse sympathy in Nekrasov, only laughter and contempt are heard from the poet.
Korchagina Matrena Timofeevna
Peasant Matrena Timofeevna Korchagina is the heroine to whom the whole third part of the poem dedicated the Nekrasov. Here is how the poet describes her: âA woman, thirty years old, wide and dense. Beautiful ... big eyes ... harsh and dark. It has a white shirt and a short sundress. â Travelers are led to a woman by her words. Matrena agrees to talk about her life if the men help in the harvest. The title of this chapter (âPeasant Womanâ) emphasizes the typical fate of Korchagina for Russian women. And the authorâs words âitâs not a happy business between women to look forâ emphasize the futility of wanderers' searches.
Matrena Timofeevna Korchagina was born in a non-drinking, good family, and there she lived happily. But after marriage, she found herself âin hellâ: the father-in-law is a drunkard, the mother-in-law is superstitious, she had to work for her sister-in-law, without straightening her back. My husband Matrena was still lucky: he only beat her once, but all the time, except winter, he was on earnings. Therefore, there was no one to stand up for the woman, the only one who tried to protect her was Grandfather Saveliy. A woman suffers the harassment of Sitnikov, for whom there is no government, because he is the administrator. Matrenaâs only consolation is her first child, Dema, but due to the oversight of Savely, he dies: pigs eat the boy.
Time passes, Matrena has new children, parents and grandfather Savely die of old age. The leanest years are when the whole family has to go hungry. When her husband, the last intercessor, is taken out of the line of service, she goes to the city. He finds the generalâs house and throws himself at his wifeâs feet, asking him to intercede. Thanks to the help of Generals Matrena and her husband return home. It was after this incident that everyone considered her lucky. But in the future, a woman will face only troubles: her eldest son is already in the soldiers. Nekrasov, summing up, says that the key to female happiness has long been lost.
Agap Petrov
Agap is an unruly and stupid man, according to the peasants who know him. And all because Petrov did not want to put up with voluntary slavery, which the peasants pushed fate. The only thing that could calm him was wine.
When he was caught carrying a log from the lord's forest and accused of theft, he could not stand it and told the owner everything he thought about the real situation and life in Russia. Klim Lavigne, not wanting to punish Agap, is staging a brutal reprisal against him. And then, wanting to console, he watered him. But humiliation and excessive drunkenness lead the hero to the fact that in the morning he dies. Such is the payment of the peasants for the right to openly express their thoughts and desire to be free.
Veretennikov Pavlusha
Veretennikov was met by men in the village of Kuzminsky, at the fair, he is a collector of folklore. Nekrasov gives a poor characterization of his appearance and does not say about his origin: "What kind of rank, men did not know." However, for some reason everyone calls him the master. This uncertainty is necessary in order for the image of Pavlusha to have a generalized character. Against the backdrop of people, Veretennikov stands out for his concern for the fate of the Russian people. He is not an indifferent observer, like members of the many inactive committees that Yakim Nagoy denounces. Nekrasov emphasizes the heroâs kindness and responsiveness by the fact that his first appearance is marked by an unselfish act: Pavlusha rescues a peasant who purchases his granddaughterâs boots. Genuine care for the people has travelers to the "master".
The prototype of the image was the ethnographers-folklorists Pavel Rybnikov and Pavel Yakushkin, who participated in the democratic movement of the 60s of the XIX century. The surname belongs to the journalist P.F. Veretennikov, who attended rural fairs and published reports in the Moscow Gazette.
Jacob
Jacob is a faithful servant, a former courtyard, is described about him in the part of the poem entitled "Feast to the whole world." The hero was loyal to the owner, endured any punishment and meekly performed even the most difficult work. This continued until the master, who liked the bride of his nephew, sent him to recruitment service. Yakov first washed down, but still returned to the owner. However, the man wanted revenge. Once, when he was taking Polivanov (master) to his sister, Yakov turned off the ravine from the road to Chertov, harnessed his horse and hung himself in front of the owner, wanting to leave him alone all night with his conscience. Similar instances of revenge were indeed common among the peasants. Nekrasov took the basis of his story as a genuine story he had heard from A.F. Horses.
Yermila Girin
The characterization of the heroes âTo whom it is good to live in Russiaâ is impossible without a description of this character. It is Yermila that can be attributed to those lucky people who were sought by travelers. The prototype of the hero was A.D. Potanin, a peasant who runs the Orlov estate, became famous for his unprecedented justice.
Jirin is revered among the peasants because of their honesty. For seven years he was a burgomaster, but only once allowed himself to abuse power: he did not give his younger brother Mitri to recruits. But an unrighteous act tortured Yermil so much that he nearly killed himself. The masterâs intervention saved the situation, he restored justice, returned the peasant unjustly sent to the recruits and sent Mitria to serve, but he personally cared for him. Jirin then left the service and became a miller. When the mill that he rented was sold, Yermila won the bid, but he did not have the money to pay the deposit with him. The peasant was rescued by the people: in half an hour they gathered for him a thousand rubles men who remembered the good.
All actions of Jirin were governed by a desire for justice. Despite the fact that he lived in abundance and had a considerable economy, when a peasant revolt broke out, he did not stand aside, for which he fell into prison.
Pop
The characterization of the heroes continues. âTo Whom It Is Good to Live in Russiaâ is a work rich in characters from different classes, characters and aspirations. Therefore, Nekrasov could not help but turn to the image of a clergyman. According to Luke, it was the priest who should "live merrily, freely in Russia." And the first on their journey, seekers of happiness meet a village priest who refutes Luke's words. The priest does not have happiness, wealth or tranquility. And getting an education is not easy. The life of a clergyman is not at all sweet: he sees off the dying on his last journey, blesses those who are born, and his soul hurts about a suffering and tormented people.
But the people themselves do not particularly honor the priest. He and his family constantly become objects for superstition, jokes, obscene ridicule and songs. And all the wealth of the priests consisted of donations from parishioners, among which there were many landowners. But with the abolition of serfdom, most of the wealthy flock scattered around the world. In 1864, the clergy was also deprived of yet another article of income: dissenters, by decree of the emperor, were transferred to the care of civil authority. And with the pennies that the peasants bring, "life is hard."
Gavrila Afanasevich Obolt-Obolduev
Our characterization of the heroes âTo whom it is good to live in Russiaâ is coming to an end, of course, we could not give descriptions to all the characters of the poem, but included in the review the most important ones. The last of their significant heroes was Gavrila Obolt-Obolduev - a representative of the lordly estate. He is tidy, pot-bellied, usatenky, ruddy, nasty, he is sixty years old. One of the illustrious ancestors of Gavril Afanasevich is a Tatar, who entertained the empress with wild animals, stole from the treasury and plotted the arson of Moscow. Obolt-Obolduev is proud of his ancestor. But he is saddened by the
abolition of serfdom, since now he can no longer profit from peasant labor, as before. The landowner covers up his sorrows with concern for the peasant and the fate of Russia.
This idle, ignorant and hypocritical person is convinced that the purpose of his estate in one is âto live by the labor of othersâ. Creating this unflattering image, Nekrasov does not skimp on shortcomings and gives his hero also cowardice. This feature manifests itself in the comic case when Obolt-Obolduev takes unarmed peasants for robbers and threatens them with a pistol. The peasants had to reassure the former owner of the big efforts.
Conclusion
Thus, the poem of N. A. Nekrasov is saturated with a number of bright, distinctive characters, called on all sides to reflect the situation of the people in Russia, the attitude of different classes and representatives of the authorities towards it. It is thanks to so many descriptions of human destinies, often based on real stories, that the work leaves no one indifferent.