A. I. Solzhenitsyn is a talented writer who created both voluminous novels and short stories. Among the latter is the work “What a pity”, which makes a strong impression on the reader.
“What a pity”: a brief summary
Once Anna Modestovna came to a certain institution where she needed to get a certificate, but the employees left for lunch. It's a shame, of course, but the woman decided to wait: in fifteen minutes they should have returned to work. There was no desire to stand on the stairs, and Anna Modestovna went out into the street. A drizzle was dripping.
Newspaper article
Anna walked along the boulevard and suddenly noticed a newspaper stand, standing on columns of light blue. Behind the glass flaunted "Labor", hung both its inner and outer sides. The woman noticed a large headline: "New Life of the Chu River Valley." Anna Modestovna wiped the glass with a glove and began to read what was written. By the way, Solzhenitsyn created the story “What a pity”, thinking about one real woman.
The content of the article
The author of the article was a clearly talented journalist. He wrote about hydraulic works, irrigation canals and water discharge, generously seasoning all this with terms. He talked about how beautiful the desert, which now bears fruit, and admired the abundance of harvested crops.
And in conclusion, he wrote that the entire main project was completed by painstaking calculations four decades ago, back in 1912, gifted by the hydrograph V * Modest Aleksandrovich, who worked hard, despite the unfavorable and dangerous time in which he lived. It was about his dedication and hard work that Solzhenitsyn wanted to tell. Summary “What a pity” does not convey all the charm of the work.
Anna bent to take a closer look at the text located in the corner, rubbed the glass again, and, barely restraining her emotions, continued to read. The journalist wrote that under the tsarist regime, which never took into account the interests of people, the ideas of a hydrograph could not be realized. What a pity! It is unfortunate that such a talented person died without waiting for the implementation of his plans.
Attempt to steal a newspaper, meeting with a policeman
Suddenly Anna felt like she was all overwhelmed with fear, since she already knew what her next action would be: she would steal a newspaper! As soon as she plucked her, she heard behind her a distinct and loud whistle of a policeman. The woman did not run away: it was too late, and it would have looked somehow silly. Probably, Solzhenitsyn himself adhered to this opinion. Summary “What a pity” allows you to get acquainted with the plot of the famous story.
Outcome of the situation
In a quiet voice, the guard asked if Anna would pay a fine of twenty-five rubles. The woman could only answer that she was very sorry, and she was ready to hang the publication back, if the policeman allows. She looked at her accuser and expected punishment. The policeman asked why she did not like this print publication. Anna replied that it says about her father. Now the policeman understood her and suggested that they would probably criticize him. But will one torn newspaper help in this case? The woman hastened to explain that her father was praised. A policeman asked why she did not want to buy a newspaper in a store. Anna explained that this is an old edition, and now it is impossible to find anywhere. The policeman took pity on the woman and allowed her to pick up the newspaper, until no one noticed. Anna warmly thanked him and hastened to leave. It is good that Solzhenitsyn envisioned such a favorable outcome of the situation. The summary “What a pity”, however, can be called rather gloomy, like the story itself.
The woman walked swiftly, forgetting why she came to this boulevard, clutching an unevenly folded publication to her chest. Rather to mom! Urgently need to read the article together! Soon dad will be determined permanent residence, and after that, mom will go there, taking a newspaper with her.
Tragic ending
The journalist did not know that this great man is still alive. He managed to wait for the realization of his brilliant ideas, as the death penalty was decided to be replaced by imprisonment, and he spent twenty years in hard labor and in prisons. What a tragic and stunning finale Solzhenitsyn wrote! Summary “What a pity”, however, makes a weaker impression than the full story.
Story analysis
The work “What a pity”, created in 1965, differs markedly from other Solzhenitsyn's stories, despite the fact that it also tells of a human destiny crippled by a totalitarian society. The plot does not unfold in prison or in the camp. There are no horrifying pictures describing the work of convicts (as, for example, in the author’s novels “One Day by Ivan Denisovich” and “The Gulag Archipelago”). There are no moments depicting the suffering and torment of prisoners. But after reading the work, the reader is still impressed for a long time. Human fate in a totalitarian society is gloomy and bleak, both in prison and in the wild. By the way, there cannot be truly free people in such a state. This is the story of “What a pity.” Solzhenitsyn would approve of the analysis, because it readily explains the meaning of the work.
Interestingly, the writer does not tell us anything about Anna's age and appearance. This indicates that he wanted to portray in her person a collective image of a citizen living in the period of a kind of terror carried out by Stalin. The author managed to draw a generalized portrait of an educated man eking out an unhappy existence in those terrible years.