Probably, there is no page in the life of Viktor Astafyev that would be unknown to literary scholars. Close attention is given not only to the artistic originality of his works, but also to the autobiographical nature of stories and short stories. They provide researchers with food for thought and thought. These include the story "Theft", which will be discussed in this article.
Who is V.P. Astafiev?
Victor Astafyev was born in 1924 in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the village of Ovsyanka. He was left without a mother early and after a new marriage of his father ended up in an orphanage. He graduated from the railway school, and in 1943 went to the front.
In 1951, he became a literary officer in the publication Chusovskoy Rabochiy, where he published correspondence and essays. In the same newspaper his first story “Siberian” was published.
What did you write?
In 1953, the debut book “Until Next Spring” was released, then annually there are works for children and in 1958, the novel “Snow is melting”. Astafyev’s work attracted the attention of critics in 1959, after the publication of the pass “Pass”, “Prikamye”, and “Theft”. Astafyev is known to readers for his works on war, childhood and the world: “Shepherd and Shepherdess”, “War Thunders Somewhere”, “Last Bow”, “Sad Detective” and many others.
How does it write?
In the works of the writer of the 60s, the obvious gift of the narrator was revealed, he skillfully captivates the reader with a subtle lyrical feeling, brackish humor and philosophical detachment. A special place in the work of this period is the novel "Theft".
What is he writing about?
He was worried about becoming a person in difficult conditions. This is reflected in Starfall, Theft. About the people of the village, about the impressions of childhood, about Siberia, he writes in Tsar Fish and The Last Bow. The stories are filled with descriptions of village fun and games, fishing, descriptions of nature and meetings with extraordinary people.
Astafiev devoted many works to the relationship between nature and man. The novel "Sad Detective", which tells of the immorality and lawlessness that a police officer had to face, V. Bykov called "a cry of the soul." The writer who went through the war repeatedly returned to this topic and talked about the events of those years. In the novel “Cursed and Killed," he destroys the prevailing stereotype of those tragic events.
The author of the story "Theft" Astafyev on the verge of censorship depicted the unsightly side of Soviet life. One of the first he openly wrote about that hungry time, about a criminalized society and the cruelty of adolescents, and spoke about people who vegetated in the dark and self-destruction.
Here he writes about changes in the character of a person who was left without relatives and without the support of loved ones in the terrible 30s. An autobiographical work introduces the reader to characters with different surnames and stories, but with a similar fate and a dramatic search for life “in good conscience”.
History of creation
The draft for “Theft” of Astafyev was served as the story “Only Lived in the World”. The author wrote that he had been working on the work for a long time, and it tells how little children were stolen from their childhood and forced to shout for it: “Thanks to my beloved ...” In 1965 he wrote in letters to friends that he worked all winter and summer over the work, “walked three times over the story” and handed it over to the Young Guard publishing house, where it was approved and reviewed: “The right book. Young people need ideals and should know about our difficult childhood. ” The story “Theft” was first published in the magazine “Siberian Lights” in 1966.
In 1967, the author wrote criticism of Makarov: “Do you really think that I myself gave the castration of the novel?” In his diary there is an entry: “Here and“ Theft ”pickle. Shovel it after each edit. " Astafyev’s “Theft” was called the “Noteworthy Book of the Year” and the subject of heated discussions. In 1967 alone, more than 10 publications in various newspapers and magazines were devoted to her. In 1968, the collection “Theft” was published; in June Astafyev received a letter from Germany - they wanted to publish the story there.
Prototypes of heroes
The author writes to Igarka TV reporters and talks in detail about work on the work, about the reality of events, prototypes of heroes: “The image of the town of Kraesvetsk is somewhat collective. Although the old-timers will be able to learn a lot of what was in Igarka. ”
Mentor Astafiev Vasily Ivanovich Sokolov played a big role in his life, he became the prototype of the teacher Repnin. In reality, he was transferred to the north, to the island of Polar, where he remained until the end of his life. A native of St. Petersburg, he was on the side of the whites during the Civil War, served with Kolchak and accompanied the train with gold of the Russian Empire.
Sokolov managed to survive. A person with an integral character, restrained and intelligent, realized that his further life will depend on his habitat. So he ended up in Igarka, where the childhood of a writer passed, who said that Sokolov was the first truly cultured and educated person he met on his way; he forever remained an example to him.
Without pedagogical experience, he became a mentor for children, it was incredibly difficult for him, but he persistently sought an approach to his wards. By the example of the head of the orphanage Repnin in The Theft, Victor Astafyev revealed his inner feelings and struggles, human qualities.
There is also a no less remarkable character from real life in the story - the chairman of the executive committee Stupinsky. He carefully treats talented people and is responsible for almost everything that happens in the orphanage, for the activities of the former White Guard. The prototype was the commandant of Igarka, his author does not remember very well, but he heard how wonderful people spoke of him.
Real life heroes
Some of the characters in the story bear real names, those with whom he happened to be in an orphanage together. Zavgorono Golikova was bred under her last name as a warning to those teachers who oppress, oppress and humiliate defenseless children with impunity.
The pupil Marusya Cherepanova was written under her real name, the prototype of Popik was Vasya Petrov, who worked at one time in Igarka as the head of a fur farm.
The cook, Aunt Ulya, remained an Aunt Uley. “The world rests on people like her,” the writer says, “but we don’t understand this and notice too late.”
Many episodes of Astafyev’s story “Theft” are taken from the author’s life. For example, when a hungry boy buys a ticket for the film "The Big Waltz", for a ruble accidentally in his hands. The music of Strauss melted the soul of a child and caused kind, bright tears. On the screen, life was played out, far from the orphanages. And a boy who was not needed was sitting in the hall and cried sobbing with happiness.
About the plot and the characters
The central character of the story - Tolya Mazov - from a family of dispossessed peasants. All relatives of the boy will die in the Siberian exile. The last one under the wheels of collectivization will be the disappearance of great-grandfather Jacob, “a twisted ridge from which an ax bounces,” and leave Tolya at the mercy of fate. Even a superficial analysis of Astafyev’s “Theft” will reveal that the author recreated the scenes of orphanage life with compassion and cruelty and presented the reader with a lot of children's characters broken by fate and time. They fall into tantrums, engage in quarrels, scoff at the weak, or quite unexpectedly unite in sympathy. With the support of former whiteguard officer Repin, director of the orphanage, Tolya begins to fight for this “people”.
Summary
In "Theft" by Astafyev, the action takes place in the 30s. Three boys sneak around the snowy courtyard to get into the room under cover of night, where they prepared everything the next day and opened the window.
The guys are returning to their rooming house. Everything is behind, and they are looking forward to enjoying what they have stolen and reading for a long, long time. The object of the crime was the local library. The boys surrounded their comrade, spellbound listening to the words flying from his lips, and plunged into such an unfamiliar and mysterious world.
In the morning, the tracks trampled by them lead to the precinct. And now they are already surrounded by the walls of the orphanage, where the children were for various reasons: some parents abandoned, some died. It’s hard for the kids to be in this limited space, and they get used to it and to each other.
From the summary of Astafyev’s “Theft”, it is clear that the story reflects not only the lives of the boys of the 30s, but also the writer himself with utmost sincerity and directness. His victory and joy, loss and grief. It contains the author’s sorrowful thoughts about the fate of the Motherland and its long-suffering people, a great part of which was himself.