Arkady Petrovich Gaidar for many years was the idol of Soviet children. The works written by him did not leave anyone indifferent. The tale "Hot Stone", a summary of which is given below, is one of such masterpieces. And today, the writer's works are not forgotten, they are interesting to modern boys and girls. Like dozens of years ago, works evoke emotions in the souls of children, raise many questions.
Fairy tale "Hot Stone". History of creation
The work was written in April 1941. And in August-September, when the Great Patriotic War was already underway, it was published in the magazine "Murzilka". Since then, the tale has not left the bookshelves of children's libraries. Today, the work is recommended for study in literary reading lessons in the elementary grades of the school.
Arkady Gaidar called “Hot Stone” both a fairy tale and a story; he treated the work with a certain degree of irony. But behind the author’s kind grin in the content of the creation, a very important question was raised about how a person needs to live his life. After all, no one has been given back to correct mistakes.
The work mentions events related to the history of the country — the Great October Socialist Revolution, the Civil War, and the years of the restoration of the national economy. Gaidar, like the main character of the tale, was not an outside observer of what was happening. On the contrary, all events left a noticeable mark on the fate of the author and the old man.
A wealth of everyday experience allowed the writer to predict the onset of harsh times for the country - the main character of the work speaks of them. History has confirmed that fears were not in vain - less than two months after writing the tale, the Nazis unleashed a war against our country.
Author's representation of a fairy tale
The story "Hot Stone", like all his other works, Arkady Petrovich Gaidar himself read to the audience before publication. Listeners have always praised his ability to convey the main idea of the work.
The editor-in-chief of the Murzilka magazine is the person who first heard the tale "Hot Stone". Recalling this event, he says that when reading in the author’s voice there was neither pathos nor edification. It seemed that Gaidar himself was a participant in the events described, so he just told the story. At the same time, Arkady Petrovich knew exactly where to pause and allow listeners to recall similar situations from their own lives or simply evaluate the actions of the heroes of the fairy tale “Hot Stone”.
Summary of the work
In the first chapter of the tale, readers get acquainted with one of its main characters - a gloomy, unsociable old man. All the inhabitants of the village knew that he had lived a difficult, anxious life. Although the old man spoke little about himself, people knew that he was worthy of respect. Even in his declining years, a man did not remain idle, he tried to be useful to society. And he was very serious about working as a watchman in a collective farm garden.
Ivashka is also a character in the fairy tale "Hot Stone". The summary of the work does not allow to fully describe the relationship that developed between the boy and the old man, although the plot is built on this.
The main characters meet each other when the boy tries to get into the collective farm garden, where he was caught by a guard. Ivashka was sure that severe punishment awaited him, but the old man released the boy without saying a single word.
Ivashka burned with shame for a perfect misconduct. Experiencing, he wandered into the forest and accidentally ended up in a swamp, where he discovered an unusual stone. It was hot, and the inscription on the surface indicated that the find was truly magical. The meaning of the words written on the stone was that thanks to its power it was possible to restore youth and start life anew. To do this, it was enough to break an unusual stone.
Ivashka decided that he did not need to start life all over again, since there were moments that he would not want to forget. The boy considered himself a completely happy person. But the sick wounded old man could use magic to change fate. With this proposal, Ivashka Kudryashkin came to the watchman.
The old man restrainedly listened to the boy’s offer and asked him to pull a stone from the swamp onto the mountain. Ivashka, fulfilling the request, was proud that thanks to him, the old man would become a happy person. To do this, he will not need to climb into the swamp to break a magic stone, just climb the mountain.
But the continuation of the story turned out to be completely unexpected for Ivashka - the old man, having come to the stone, refused to break it and regain his youth. The boy learns that the life lived by the old man was full of happy moments, he did not want to forget what he had to go through.
Gaidar's story "Hot Stone" has an unexpected ending with a deep meaning. The main characters of the work agree that they will leave the stone on the mountain, in the place where it will be visible to many people. And they will do this in order to observe what will happen to the stone. Many years passed, but the magical item remained intact.
Arkady Gaidar himself also saw a hot stone - he visited the famous mountain, but did not dare to break it. A person must live one life, being able to discern luck, mistakes, happy moments in it. It is this approach to life that the author considers correct, and also tries to convince readers of this.
Idea of the work
Each person during his life must evaluate his own actions, arising desires. This is the main idea of the tale, which was written by Gaidar.
"Hot Stone", the main characters of which belong to different generations, is a work where the author conveys the idea that a person’s view of his life largely depends on age and experience. Not everyone is able to correctly evaluate everything that happens to him, but this must be sought. Only in this way is a person able to understand whether he is really happy.
Main characters
We continue to consider how Gaidar wrote "Hot Stone". The main characters of the tale are the little boy Ivashka Kudryashkin and the keeper of the collective farm garden. They are described very realistically. In the fairy tale "Hot Stone", a brief summary of which is given above, the author deliberately introduces heroes belonging to different generations.
It turns out to little readers that the image of Ivashka is close and understandable. And in order to understand the character of the old man, the children have to go through all the mental and physical tests that fell to his lot with the boy.
The fairy tale also contains the image of the author. He owns the words pointing to the main idea of the whole work.
Fairytale Attributes
The presence of magical objects in the plot is one of the requirements of the fairy-tale genre. The presence of a stone that can restore youth and enable a person to start a new life allows us to rank the work "Hot Stone" precisely as fairy tales.
And although not one of the heroes used this symbolic item for its intended purpose, its magical power is still palpable. After all, everyone who was near the stone, began to think about the meaning of the days lived, made attempts to change for the better.
Characteristic of an old man
At the very beginning of the work, readers see the old man through the eyes of the author. He is presented as a person who has seen a lot of grief. Surrounding people treat their grandfather with sympathy. To children, he seems unsociable and gloomy, so they are afraid of the old man.
Further events of the tale show that the kolkhoz garden guard turns out to be a kind and compassionate person - he does not punish Ivashka for serious misconduct.
At the end of the work, the boy and the readers with him are imbued with respect for the old man. This happens after he tells the story of his life, filled with bright, and sometimes tragic events.
The old man feels himself a truly happy person, he is proud of his life and does not seek to change anything in it.
Iwashka Characteristic
Kind and sympathetic boy showed Ivashka Gaidar. "Hot Stone" reviews from young readers receive the most enthusiastic thanks to this very image. The character is very close to every child.
The boy, like all children, is capable of rash acts. But readers see that he seeks to correct mistakes. It is then that Ivashka’s true spiritual qualities are manifested - kindness, responsiveness, honesty, the ability to sympathize with other people. He worthily overcame difficulties when he dragged a stone from a swamp onto a mountain. This indicates the persistence of the boy, the ability to bring the promised to the end.
The instructive role of a fairy tale
After reading the work and its detailed analysis, we can easily answer the question of what the “Hot Stone” teaches. A person should value every day of his life, not forgetting that there will be no opportunity to go back. The mistakes made must be remembered and corrected as quickly as possible. Only then does a person know what real happiness is.