The author of the story is a wonderful writer Arkady Gaidar. “The Fate of a Drummer” is a book written for middle school children. But many guys will understand it before, when they have an interest in the topic of friendship, fidelity, honesty. Students who read the story "The Fate of the Drummer", a brief summary provides the basis for the composition. This material can also be recommended to teachers. It is useful for studying the entire work of Arkady Gaidar, not limited to the story "The fate of the drummer." A brief summary told to the children in the lesson will help to find common features with other works of the author.
The main characters and the beginning of events
The main character of the story is Seryozha, an 8-year-old pioneer, the son of the commander of a sapper company. His mother died, and his father, having retired, moved with his son to Moscow. Two years later, he again decided to marry, and at first everything went perfectly. Valentina, the beautiful and kind wife of her father, took care of the boy, they had a happy family.
Everything starts to change when Seryozha’s father gets the position of director in a textile store. Problems begin at home. Once in a new circle of friends, Valentine is gradually changing. She envy appears, the woman is constantly annoyed and complains about the lack of money. An honest and direct man cannot resist her pressure, and it all ends with the fact that Sergey’s father is accused of a crime. He is sentenced to five years in prison for embezzlement of state property. When his father was imprisoned, Sergei stayed with Valentina, who was supposed to take care of him. Seryozha is appointed the senior drummer of the detachment at the age of twelve. He is very proud of it.
Three years pass, and Valentina, Seryozha's stepmother, suddenly marries and leaves with her new husband, effectively leaving the boy to the mercy of fate. His father will be in prison for another two years, and Seryozha remains alone for this time. Everyone turns away from him, and no one cares about the boy. Feeling emptiness, he connects with bad people, "rolls down the sloping." When leaving, the stepmother left him one hundred and fifty rubles. But due to the poor company of a friend of Yurka, this money quickly ran out. The boy, trying to find at least some savings in the apartment, accidentally finds his father's browning. There is no money, and Seryozha decides to sell some things to a junkman for a penny. At the same time, he reads a book that describes the fate of the drummer. The summary of the history of the French soldier makes the boy compare himself with the hero of the story, alone and abandoned by everyone, like himself. He identifies himself with the hero of history, trying to perk up and gain courage in difficult times for him.
The alleged "relative" and Seryozha's suspicions
One day a stranger comes to Seryozha and introduces himself as the brother of Valentina, who escaped with her new husband.
Good-natured fat man settles in the apartment is not alone. With him appears the old man Jacob, his friend. This is an angry, ugly man who hates Seryozha. After some time, Serezha, his “uncle”, Valentina’s brother, and Yakov set off for Kiev. On the way, the boy is given incomprehensible instructions that he really does not like. Seryozha has doubts, he begins to suspect that the "uncle" and his friend are hiding something. He smells a strange smell in the house, finds strange paper. "Uncle" promises to arrange him at a midshipman school in Odessa, but Serezha learns that she simply does not exist. His suspicions are growing day by day. Once a “relative” instructs Seryozha to get acquainted and make friends with Slavka, a boy from an intelligent family. At first, he is bored with a new friend, but he turns out to be a true friend for verification.
Exposing spies and the return of Seryozha's father
Having accidentally overheard the conversation, Seryozha learns that the fat man was deceiving him from the very beginning. He is not an “uncle,” but a spy. Having found a lonely boy in Moscow, these people specially brought him to Kiev in order to get into confidence in Slavka, to get information about his father, a military engineer whom they wanted to kill. Serezha finds in the things of the imaginary "uncle" the browning of his father, who he stole, and takes him. Remembering the French drummer, the boy is determined to stop the villains and at the moment when the spies try to escape, he bravely stands in their way and shoots, and then faints.
Everything ended well: it turned out that the KGB had been following this couple for a long time. When the exchange of fire began, they intervened and arrested the "uncle", and Seryozha killed old Jacob with his shot. A father comes to a recovering boy in a hospital. He was released ahead of schedule, and now they together can begin a new life.
“The fate of the drummer”: what is the main idea of the work?
The fate of the drummer is the main idea of the author, which he wanted to convey to young readers. A person does not choose his parents and their environment, but can struggle with difficulties if he has the courage. You can obey the circumstances or build your own destiny. It is the strength of mind that children learn from books by an author such as Arkady Gaidar. The Fate of the Drummer is one of the books he wrote for his son Timur. The author did this to tell the child about what a person should be like, about bad and good deeds. For children, “The Fate of the Drummer” is a story about their fears and doubts. All teenagers are afraid of loneliness and make mistakes, trying to overcome it. Many parents read the story “The Fate of a Drummer” with their children. The summary will help to discuss with the child his difficulties, suggest a solution. This will help to avoid rash and rash acts in the future .
Parents of schoolchildren should remember that children should read the work in full, studying within the framework of the program, the story "The fate of the drummer." The summary cannot give an idea of the artistic features of the book, the style of the author and the atmosphere of that time. Therefore, it is better to familiarize yourself with the work in full.