In December 1961, A. I. Solzhenitsyn presented the second story (for familiarization) to the chief editor of the New World magazine. It was called “A village does not stand without a righteous one,” but was immediately renamed “Matrenin Dvor”. The problem was not only the content of the work, but also the title containing the “religious term”. It was possible to publish the story only a year later - in the January issue of 1963, the most widely read literary magazine in the USSR.
Plot plot
That time is usually called the thaw. There were certain reasons for this: many millions of recent prisoners of the Stalinist camps and exiles left places with a difficult frosty or desert climate and recovered to the European part of the Union - not to large cities (they were not allowed to go there), but to middle-sized villages and towns. Here, amid softly rustling foliage forests, near flowing quiet rivers, long-suffering people all seemed nice and cozy. Nevertheless, life even in these parts was not easy. It was not easy to get a job, although it was easier than recently when even a former prisoner would not have been trusted with a wheelbarrow. These circumstances did not bother the narrator, on behalf of whom the narrative was being conducted. He felt an urgent need for quite simple things, namely: getting a job as a mathematics teacher in a rural school, finding a place to live. These were his "primary tasks and problems raised." An accidental acquaintance who was selling milk at the railway station brought him to Matrenin’s yard. There were no other options; only an elderly woman had free space. Her name was Matrena. And so their acquaintance took place.
Pension
So, it was 1956, a lot was changing in the country, but the collective farm life remained wretched. Many aspects of peasant life in the post-Stalin era were highlighted by Alexander Isaevich in the story Matrenin Dvor. The problem of his landlady to the modern reader may seem trivial, but in the early Khrushchev years she faced many villagers of a vast country. The collective farm pension - beggarly, eighty-ruble (8 rubles new, post-reform) - and she was not supposed to be a woman who honestly worked her whole life. She went to instances, collected some kind of income certificate of her deceased husband, faced with constant stupid callousness and unfriendly bureaucratic indifference, and, in the end, got her way. She was given a pension, and taking into account the additional payment for the teacher’s lodging (Ignatich, on behalf of whom the story is being kept), her incomes, by rural standards, acquired a tremendous amount - as much as one hundred eighty rubles (18 rubles after 1961) - “you don’t need to die ".
And also a peat machine ...
Peat
Yes, this type of fuel is often used for heating in places with a marshy climate. It seems to be enough for everyone, but in the harsh Soviet reality of the fifties there was a lack of everything that people needed. This situation was largely maintained throughout the Soviet era. In the High Field, they did not bake bread, did not sell food, all this had to be dragged in bags from the regional center. But, in addition to supplying the population with edible food, A. I. Solzhenitsyn talks about another important aspect of peasant life in the story “Matrenin Dvor”. The problem of heating by the collective farm leadership was completely shifted to the villagers, and they solved it independently and as they could: they stole peat. Ignatich naively believed that a truck of fuel was a lot, that it was enough for the whole winter, but in fact it took three times more. All the women of the village carried peat on themselves - at the risk of being caught, hiding stolen from the chairman, who, of course, took care of the warmth in his house.
Personal life
Matrena's house was owned by a spacious, once solid, but from the time and lack of male hands it fell into disrepair. The history of this real estate is rooted in pre-revolutionary times. The landlady was married, lived here a long time, gave birth to six children, none of whom survived. Matrena raised her niece as a daughter, taking her from her husband’s brother’s large family. There was a background: as a bride, she was going to marry Thaddeus, her current “divir”, but it did not work out. He went missing in German, but she did not wait, she married his brother. Thaddeus later showed up, was very angry, but Matrena and Efim had already remained.
Real estate rights have caused conflict between relatives who have already decided how they will divide Matrenin Dvor. The problems and arguments given by future heirs have caused many contradictions and mystically led to the death of a woman.
Life and loneliness
The village is a special world in which its unwritten laws rule. Many consider Matrena stupid. She does not conduct housekeeping as is the practice with almost everyone. Mistresses' material problems in the work "Matrenin Dvor" are illustrated by the absence of a cow and a piglet, which the villagers usually cannot do without. She is criticized for this, although it would seem, who cares about how a single elderly woman lives? She herself quite clearly explains the reason for such negligence. Milk is given to her by a goat, with which the trouble of feeding is much less (the prospect of feeding a shepherd does not smile at all, and her health leaves much to be desired). From living creatures, mice live with her, a lame cat and cockroaches, of which there are many - that’s the whole Matrenin Dvor. The problem of senile solitude was, is and will be.
Righteousness
Now we should recall the original version of the title of the story. What does the righteous have to do with it, and why is this Orthodox concept applicable to the most ordinary peasant woman living in poverty, loneliness and not very different from many millions of women like her throughout the Soviet Union? How is it different from others? After all, it was not in vain that Alexander Isaevich wanted to name his work like that? What problems does he raise in the Matrenin Yard story?
The fact is that Matrona has an important human quality. She never refuses to help others, without making a distinction between “good” and “bad”. The chairwoman's wife came, an important lady, and with aplomb demands (does not ask) to go to work, "help the collective farm." She does not even say hello , she only notifies that she must take the trench tool with her. The sick elderly woman seems to want to refuse, but she immediately wonders what time to come. As for the neighbors, Matrena does not need to be asked here - she is always ready to harness herself, not even considering this as a service on her part and refusing any material reward, although it would not hurt her in any way. Ignatych had never heard from her a word of condemnation of anyone's actions, his mistress never gossips.
The death of Matryona
The notorious "housing problem" really spoils our, in general, good people. And the characters of the work also suffer from this problem. In Solzhenitsyn’s short story “Matrenin Dvor”, old Thaddeus became an exponent of fussy greed and excessive housekeeping. He is eager to receive part of the bequest of inheritance, and right now. There are problems with the scaffold: the old woman does not need an extension, he wants to take it apart and transfer it to her. This desire in itself does not express anything bad, but it is important to note here that Thaddeus knows that Matrena will not be able to refuse. The problems raised in the story “Matrenin Dvor” exist in society, regardless of the level of income. Parsimony and haste, in the end, lead to a tragic accident. The overloaded hitch of the sleigh with building materials breaks off at the level crossing, the drivers do not notice it and collide with the tractor. People are dying, including Matron, who, as always, has taken to helping.
Funeral and Wake
Subtle psychologism, irony and even gloomy humor are present in the farewell scene with the main character of the story "Matrenin Dvor". The problems and arguments encrypted in the funeral laments and laments of different characters are deciphered by explaining their true background. The reader is involuntarily offended that Matrena, a woman, who is kindly and unsophisticated during her life, is so sophisticated and intriguing. True, there are people who loved the deceased, they cry sincerely. Thaddeus, meanwhile, is busy: he urgently needs to take out the property before it is gone, and he “solves this issue”, keeping up with the commemoration, which, as often happens, ends with an almost cheerful feast. All this first of all exposes moral problems.
In the story Matrenin Dvor, as in other works of A. I. Solzhenitsyn, the writer's annoyance merges into a vain-mercenary attitude to life and faith in a good righteous beginning.