What is the main theme of the story the night before Christmas. Fairy tale "The Night Before Christmas": main characters

Composition

Nowadays it is difficult to meet a person who would not be familiar with the characters of N.V. Gogol’s book “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka” and especially the story “The Night Before Christmas”. They have become an integral part of our lives, they help us to better know and understand the past and present. The main theme of N.V. Gogol’s work was the theme of the people. He lovingly reflected the same theme in the story “The Night Before Christmas”; he picturesquely recreated in his work the way of life of Ukrainians, their way of life, traditions and customs.

The story describes Christmas Eve - the evening before Christmas. According to the Bible, Christmas marks the birth of Jesus Christ. Since ancient times, people have considered Christmas Eve a magical time. At this time, the birth of another, unknown life took place, and everything new and unknown people extraordinary properties are always attributed. Likewise, the night before Christmas is credited with the ability to impart ordinary objects magical power. In addition, it was believed that on this evening all evil spirits manifest themselves most fully. It is no coincidence that Gogol depicts on this very night the appearance of a witch and a devil in the sky, the theft of the month by the devil.

Gogol, who knew the traditions of the Ukrainian people well, very accurately, with all the details, describes the celebration of Christmas. For a long time, this event was accompanied by various folk rituals such as fortune telling, caroling and others. People believed that if you make a wish that evening, it will certainly come true. Every family covered festive table, where kutia was always present - a sign of a rich harvest, as well as fish, borscht, dumplings, all kinds of pies, “varenukha, saffron-distilled vodka and a lot of other edibles.”

In the story “The Night Before Christmas” we see young boys and girls walking carols from house to house. “Crowds of boys and girls showed up with bags. The songs began to ring, and under the rare hut there were no crowds of carolers.” Carols are funny songs, jokes, wishes for happiness and prosperity to the owners of the house. As a reward, the hostess’s hand pokes out of the windows every now and then “with a sausage in her hands or a piece of pie.” Even before morning comes, the whole village gathers in the church: here are elderly women “in white cloth scrolls”, and noblewomen “in green and yellow jackets, and others even in blue kuntushas with golden back mustaches”, and girls “who have there was a whole shop of ribbons, and on the neck monist, crosses and ducats,” and in front of everyone were nobles and simple men with mustaches and forelocks, “in kobenyaks, from under which a white scroll showed, and some had a blue scroll.” And on everyone’s faces there is a feeling of celebration.

The whole story is filled with a joyful, bright holiday atmosphere. Great master words, N.V. Gogol so vividly depicted the Christmas customs of the people that, reading his work, we ourselves seem to plunge into the atmosphere of the national holiday, becoming its participants. The story "The Night Before Christmas" allows you to better understand folk traditions, the entire way of life of the Ukrainian peasantry.

Other works on this work

In the story by N.V. Gogol's "The Night Before Christmas" the devil appears before the reader, first of all, as the embodiment of evil and deceit. Being a negative hero, at the same time, he involuntarily causes laughter with many of his antics.

Gogol describes the appearance of the devil, comparing him either with a German, because of his “narrow, constantly spinning and sniffing everything that came his way” muzzle, or with a provincial attorney, because of his “sharp and long tail, like uniform tails.” However, from his thin legs, snout, goatee and horns, it becomes clear that “he is not a German or a provincial attorney, but just a devil.”

The author deliberately endowed the devil with qualities inherent in humans: he is cunning and witty, inventive and dexterous, but also cowardly and vindictive. Thanks to his similarity to ordinary people, the devil seems to us to be a more real creature than just a fairy-tale character. But the hero is also not without a magical gift, characteristic of fairy tales: either he transforms into a horse, or suddenly becomes so small that he can easily fit into a pocket.

The main goal of the evil one is revenge on the blacksmith Vakula, who, by painting a picture in the church depicting St. Peter on the Day of the Last Judgment, condemned the evil spirit to expulsion from hell. Vakula has tender feelings for Oksana - very beautiful girl, daughter of the rich Cossack Chub. On the night before Christmas, Chub was supposed to go to the clerk for kutya. The devil, knowing this, steals a month from the sky, hoping that because of the impenetrable darkness, Chub will change his mind about visiting the clerk halfway through and return home, where he will find Vakula.

The Cossack did not like the blacksmith and did not approve of his love for Oksana, which means he could not allow them to get married. The cunning devil hoped that Vakula, although very devout, would decide to commit suicide, but his expectations were not justified. On the contrary, no matter what the devil came up with, everything turned against him. At first he ended up in a small bag in which he sat for a long time, hiding from Solokha’s numerous lovers. Then, discovered by the hated blacksmith, he was forced to carry him on his own back from Dikanka to St. Petersburg and back in order to beg slips from the queen for Chub’s capricious daughter. And finally, as a “thank you,” the devil receives three powerful blows from Vakula with a twig. So, instead of causing trouble for others, the hero harms himself.

The devil plays a very important role in the work: with the help this image Gogol shows that evil, no matter what abilities it has, will always be punished according to its deserts.

Option 2

Nikolai Vasilyevich, having written his story, filled it with magic and mythical heroes. He portrays one of them as a devil. He shows it in his work as negative hero, a cunning and insidious prankster, but at the same time he causes laughter with his behavior.

The author never ceases to compare his appearance, either with a German because of his small and narrow muzzle, or with a provincial attorney because of his sharp and very long tail. But his thin legs, flattened, ridiculous nose, as well as small goat-like horns, and long beard. It becomes clear that he does not look like a provincial attorney or a German, but is simply a devil.

Gogol specifically endowed him with qualities characteristic of a person, such as:

1. cunning;
2. ingenuity;
3. dexterity;
4. wit;
5. vindictiveness;
6. cowardice.

Due to its similarity with an ordinary person, the devil appears before the reader as a real creature, and not just a mythical and fairy-tale character. But the author does not deprive him of his magical gift.

The devil's goal is to take revenge on the blacksmith Vakula, and in every possible way tries to harm him and prevent him from marrying the beautiful Oksana, for whom he has feelings. But all his pranks turn against him, and only with his cunning he brings troubles and problems to himself, receiving continuous scoldings.

Summing up Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol’s story “The Night Before Christmas,” we can say that it is one of his best and most successful works. Filled with magic and fabulous atmosphere. Thanks to its unobtrusive atmosphere, it is interesting to read to the end. So many years after its publication, it has not lost its relevance and demand to this day. She teaches goodness and, like in any fairy tale, evil defeats goodness and good deeds. So in Gogol’s story, the prankster devil was punished with kindness and positive hero blacksmith Vakula.

Essay about the Devil

The negative character and representative of dark forces in the story is the Devil. The author gives him the qualities of an insidious, evil person, but with some funny habits and amusing antics. The devil plays not only a negative role in the story: he also unwittingly performs good deeds.

The author endows the devil with human character traits so that his motives and actions are clear. He is cunning, cunning and evil. The devil is very offended by the blacksmith Vakula and is trying to take revenge on him, despite the fact that he is the son of Solokha, whom he is trying to court. On the last day before Christmas, the devil is trying to harm not only him. He steals the month and causes a major snowstorm. However, his actions are not devoid of childishness and cause laughter.

The devil is vindictive. Most of all, he tries to harm Vakula, because he painted a picture of the devil being expelled. He knows that he is in love with Oksana, the daughter of a wealthy Cossack who does not greet the blacksmith. The girl also laughs at Vakula, which drives him to despair. The devil steals a month for Chub to lose his way and return home, finding the blacksmith at his home. However, his trick harms other heroes more than Vakula.

The devil hopes that the blacksmith will commit suicide out of despair. However, he himself ends up in a bag, which Vakula takes out of the house. Having realized who is hiding in it, the blacksmith uses the power of the devil to carry out his plan and bring Oksana the slippers of Empress Catherine. He fails to deceive the young man, despite his cunning and resourcefulness.

The devil is a little cowardly, so he obeys the courageous and decisive Vakula. Having in you dark force, he is still afraid of the blacksmith. It turned out that the devil wanted to get even with him, but with his tricks he punishes himself. Unwittingly, he helps the blacksmith win Oksana’s favor, although he wanted to do something completely different.

Usually the devil is portrayed as a dangerous and treacherous creature, but Gogol adds comic and charming features to him. At some point, the reader begins to laugh at his antics and sympathize when he has to obey Vakula and accept lashes from him as gratitude. He is very touching when he tries to court Solokha. At the same time, the woman herself seduces him, and he humbly succumbs to her charms.

Despite the devil’s cunning and vindictiveness, he does not evoke only negative feelings. You want to laugh and make fun of him, and sympathize a little when he falls into the power of the strong Vakula. But still damn - negative character, and in Gogol’s story he is a representative of evil, which inevitably defeats good in the person of the young blacksmith.

Sample 4

The story “The Night Before Christmas” by N.V. Gogol is one of best works writer, where there are different fairy tale characters: Damn, the witch Solokha, Patsyuk, they are the ones who fill the more interesting atmosphere. The author has endowed this wonderful poem with magic, celebration and humor. It is also impossible not to notice that we are reminiscent of a fairy tale with a good instructive ending. All people love New Year review a film based on Gogol's poem.

The work shows the devil as an evil who wants to ruin everything for everyone and at the same time remain a winner. Gogol shows him as cunning, smart and at the time funny. It is through his tricks that the devil becomes a negative and comedic hero. The author compares his appearance to a German or a chimney sweep; his thin legs, goatee and horns are no different from them. Since he fairy tale hero, then has the ability to fly and transform, which is more interesting to the reader.

It can be noticed that main character endowed with those qualities that are inherent in humans: cunning, insidious, intelligent, cowardly, vengeful. At any opportunity, he can take revenge on any person who did not satisfy him, at the same time he rejoices and immediately comes to action. For example, when Vakula painted a picture that the devil didn’t like, he was constantly preparing mean things for him. Let's remember when at the beginning of the story the devil stole a month to do a dirty trick. Due to the fact that it will be very dark outside, the father will have to return home and find his daughter with Vakula. However, all his plans fail and become against him, since it is known that good always emerges victorious.

I think that the author is once again trying to prove to readers that every bad deed will turn out the opposite, and evil will be defeated by good. As shown in this story, the devil was defeated, and Vakula revived good.

Option 5

In his works, Gogol always tried to achieve the effect of surprise, maybe even shocking his reader, with the help of terrible, mystical history, which he often took from folklore. And he coped with this task with a bang, since many of his works were reread dozens, if not hundreds of times, which made him so popular. Without a doubt, this author made a great contribution to the development of folklore and culture of our country. An example would be the work “The Night Before Christmas.”

In the work, the narration introduces us to an amazing, magical story, during the development of which we become acquainted with a huge variety of amazing characters, even the mythical Devil. In the work, the Devil plays the role of universal evil, and the other characters play the role of good, which defeats this very evil by any means. Thus, the author creates amazing picture, in which we see the struggle between good and evil itself, in their true manifestations. At the end of the struggle, the author shows that good always defeats evil, in any case, even regardless of the circumstances, which in turn motivates the reader to do only good deeds, which in turn make the world around us better and a little kinder.

The devil appears before us exactly as he is described in folklore, from where Gogol took his prototype. He is small, black, with animal features. Disgusting with everything appearance Thus, the author creates the image of an anti-hero, whose task in the work is to push away the reader’s sympathy with all his might. Which he does quite well.

In character, the Devil as such does not have any human traits, but desperately tries to imitate them, and, moreover, not to imitate the most best features, and not at all virtues. He shows himself as a cunning, malicious, and greedy creature who is ready to do anything, and not sacrifice the most disgusting actions, in order to get what he wants, and thus it turns out external image a character that the author has filled with many interesting unique features, and which, together with the character and his story, create unique image, which is etched in the reader’s memory and leads him into some reflection on what he read.

I believe that it was these character traits and image that were shown in the work “The Night Before Christmas” in the character of the Devil.

Sample 6

“The Night Before Christmas” is a story by Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol, written in 1830–1831. She saw the light of day in the publication “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka” and won the love of the people. Vivid, lively descriptions of the main characters, characters thought out to the smallest detail and a detailed description of evil spirits that presented a picture in the reader’s mind were easily given to the writer.

The image of the devil in this story was no exception to the writer’s rules. A real devil appears before the reader, with a narrow muzzle like a German’s, ending in a heel like a pig’s, thin legs and a sharp long tail like that of a real provincial attorney. Such a comparison with people is not simple; it deliberately ridicules and compares them to the devil. The devil is also endowed with small horns on his head and a goatee.

The behavior of the devil is constant desire deceive. His heel sniffs all the time, as if looking for someone to fool. The devil is witty and dexterous, cowardly and vengeful. Having seen such a set of qualities, the reader can draw parallels, for example, that only cowards take revenge. Despite this, the devil is not deprived of magical, unusual powers: he turns into a horse, flies through the sky and then decreases in size in order to fit into the pocket of Vakula, the blacksmith. Comparison with people in appearance and behavior makes the image more vivid and understandable. Main goal of this hero The story is revenge on Vakula for painting a picture on the wall of the church at the entrance, where St. Peter casts out evil spirits.

Having stolen the month, the devil hopes that Chub, the father of Oksana, with whom Vakula is in love, will be afraid of the darkness and return home from the clerk. There, according to the devil’s plan, he was supposed to catch Vakula with Oksana and drive him away, since he did not approve of his love for his daughter. But no matter what the devil did, everything went far from his plans. And instead of ruining Vakula’s life, he, on the contrary, helps fulfill his dream - to marry Oksana. He transports the blacksmith on his own back to St. Petersburg to the queen, reaches into his pocket, takes him to an appointment with Catherine the Great and takes him back, again on his back. For all his work, Vakula rewards him with blows of rods and beatings. Good triumphs, because the devil could not interfere with the love and pure heart of the blacksmith.

The devil plays a huge role in the work. Despite his superhuman abilities, he loses to Vakula and follows his orders. The devil is defeated. I believe that in this way the author wanted to show that evil can and should be fought. The main thing is to be honest, kind and strong spirit and body, like Vakula - a blacksmith.

Essay 7

One of the most notable and truly universal works of the great writer Nikolai Gogol is the story “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka.”

Nikolai Vasilyevich meticulously came up with images, trying to show all the advantages and disadvantages, each hero is special in his own way. The writer believed in the fantastic, supernatural powers, as well as in folk superstitions, therefore, in his work he found a place for the witch and the devil, who became one of the most striking characters.

The devil is a reasonable and cunning kind of prankster. At the beginning of the story it is said that he has only one night left, when he has the opportunity to wander with impunity in the world of people and teach them to sin. As a result, the devil is trying to come and do mischief everywhere.

Nikolai Gogol gave mystical creature negative qualities people, such as: cunning, cowardice and insidiousness. However, he still notes that he is “smart as hell” and “damn handsome.”

This image is close to human, despite the presence of hooves, horns and a tail. It's common for the devil to freeze, just like ordinary people. It is also worth paying attention to his relationship with Solokha. While caring for her, he behaves like a simple man. Such things make the character not at all scary, but on the contrary, a little funny, bringing a smile to his face.

The hero’s vindictiveness manifested itself when he tried to annoy the blacksmith Vakula for creating a drawing that was offensive to him. However, his revenge resembles revenge small child. But the devil still rejoices, because he still has the opportunity to take revenge. A bright and memorable action was the theft of the moon so that the inhabitants of Dikanka would not find Right way. After a while, she slipped out of the devil’s hands, and everything fell into place.

After reading the entire work, one gets the impression that one of the main characters, the devil, is endowed with a special charm. A coward and a prankster, absolutely not scary, but funny. On top of that, with great moral characteristics.

Essays about various school subjects for grades 5-11

I have a friend. His name is Lyosha. He studies with me in the same class. After school we go for a walk. Sometimes we play in my yard, we have sports equipment there. We also love to play football

N.V. Gogol’s immortal work “The Night Before Christmas” has aroused inexhaustible interest among readers for many decades. It, like many other novels and short stories by the author, is filled with mystical events that occur in the lives of the inhabitants of a Ukrainian village in the 18th century.

Summary

The action of the story takes place in the large Little Russian village of Dikanka. Among the inhabitants of the village are young women, Cossacks, young boys and girls, clergy and, naturally, a witch, without whom not a single peasant society could do.

A young guy Vakula falls in love with the first beauty of the village Oksana, who does not reciprocate his feelings, because she is sure that she is worthy best game. Moreover, Oksana’s father, the Cossack Chub, does not like Vakula, and in every possible way prevents his daughter from communicating with him.

On the night before Christmas, the Cossack Chub goes to visit the clerk, who, on the occasion of the holiday, organizes a reception for the most respected residents of Dikanka. Taking advantage of Chub's absence, Vakula hurries to Oksana's house to see his beloved girl.

Then it was time for the devil to intervene, as he wandered around the village, pushing people to commit sins before the holiday. The devil has long disliked the guy because he painted an icon Last Judgment, on which he depicted him in an unsightly form.

A representative of evil spirits steals a month, with the thought that if it gets dark outside, Chub will stay at home and Vakula will not be able to go to Oksana. After stealing the month, the devil goes to visit his bosom friend the witch Solokha, who is also Vakula’s mother.

This is where the funniest events begin to happen: one after another, her admirers come to Solokha, whom the prudent witch takes turns hiding in bags. At this time, the narcissistic beauty Oksana gives Vakula an ultimatum: she will marry him only if he gives her the slippers that the empress wears.

The offended young man returns home, where in the middle of the room he sees many large bags. Thinking that the bags contain sweets for carolers, the guy takes one of them and decides to leave the village forever.

Suddenly the idea comes to his mind to consult with the old sorcerer Patsyuk and ask him for advice on how to get slippers for Oksana. In Patsyuk’s house, Vakula sees mystical picture: dumplings fly around the sorcerer and take turns jumping into his mouth.

The shocked guy did not have time to say a word before Patsyuk advised him to turn to the devil who was sitting behind him (Solokha hid the devil in the bag). With the help of the devil, Vakula travels to the capital and begs the queen for one pair of her shoes as a gift.

The next morning, the guy goes to Oksana with little shoes and offers to marry him, to which the beauty agreed. The girl admitted that she had loved Vakula for a long time and was very sorry for offending him.

Mysticism and reality in the story

Probably, it is unlikely that any of us in our lives will be lucky enough to meet a real devil who walks the streets of the city on Christmas night, or a witch cutting through the evening sky riding a broom. Or maybe you’ve ever seen how dumplings fly into a sorcerer’s mouth by themselves? Most likely no.

Such images and events described in the work “The Night Before Christmas” are mystical in nature. The story reminds fairy tale, in which the most wonderful things happen that can only happen to people on Christmas night.

The main theme of N.V. Gogol’s work was the theme of the people. He lovingly reflected the same theme in the story “The Night Before Christmas”; he picturesquely recreated in his work the way of life of Ukrainians, their way of life, traditions and customs.
AND IF YOU NEED AN ESSAY HERE

The story describes Christmas Eve - the evening before Christmas. According to the Bible, Christmas marks the birth of Jesus Christ. Since ancient times, people have considered Christmas Eve a magical time. At this time, the birth of another, unknown life took place, and people always attribute extraordinary properties to everything new and unknown. Likewise, the night before Christmas is credited with the ability to endow ordinary objects with magical powers. In addition, it was believed that on this evening all evil spirits manifest themselves most fully. It is no coincidence that Gogol depicts on this very night the appearance of a witch and a devil in the sky, the theft of the month by the devil.

Gogol, who knew the traditions of the Ukrainian people well, very accurately, with all the details, describes the celebration of Christmas. For a long time, this event has been accompanied by various folk rituals, such as fortune telling, caroling and others. People believed that if you make a wish that evening, it will certainly come true. Every family set a festive table, where kutia was always present - a sign of a rich harvest, as well as fish, borscht, dumplings, all kinds of pies, "varenukha, saffron-distilled vodka and a lot of other edibles."

In the story "The Night Before Christmas" we see young boys and girls walking carols from house to house. “Crowds of boys and girls appeared with sacks. The songs rang, and under the rare hut there were no crowds of carolers.” Carols are funny songs, jokes, wishes for happiness and prosperity to the owners of the house. As a reward, the hostess's hand pokes out of the windows every now and then "with sausage in her hands or a piece of pie." Even before morning comes, the whole village gathers in the church: here are elderly women “in white cloth scrolls”, and noblewomen “in green and yellow jackets, and others even in blue kuntushas with golden back mustaches”, and girls “who have there was a whole shop of ribbons, and on the neck there were monistas, crosses and ducats,” and in front of everyone were nobles and simple men with mustaches and forelocks, “in kobenyaks, from under which a white scroll showed, and some had a blue scroll.” And on everyone’s faces there is a feeling of celebration.

The whole story is filled with a joyful, bright holiday atmosphere. The great master of words, N.V. Gogol so vividly depicted the Christmas customs of the people that, reading his work, we ourselves seem to plunge into the atmosphere of the national holiday, becoming its participants. The story “The Night Before Christmas” allows you to better understand folk traditions and the entire way of life of the Ukrainian peasantry.

N.V. Gogol “The Night Before Christmas” Heroes and the idea of ​​the story - page No. 1/1

Lesson Topic : N.V. Gogol " N just before Christmas"

Heroes and idea of ​​the story.

Purpose: 1. Characterize the main characters of the story.

2. Be able to analyze the actions of the characters and their speech.

3. Identify the main idea of ​​the work.

4. develop oral monologue speech students, logical thinking.
Equipment:

• 
  Textbook
• 
  Statement by A.S. Pushkin.
• 
  Costumes for the heroes of the story.
• 
  Portrait of N.V. Gogol.

During the classes.

1. 
   Teacher's opening speech.

Question: Why was Pushkin so amazed by “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka”?

/students' answers/

Question: What is this piece about?

The question posed can be answered only by analyzing the actions and actions of the heroes.

The target setting is given.

1. 
   Conversation.

Crap -

Oksana –

Vakula –

What two groups can the heroes be divided into and why? You must justify your answer.

/students' answers/

1. 
   Creative task: talk about the hero from the perspective of the hero himself. Choose a suit from the costume department.
2. 
   Individual task: Working with a collection of exercises for the textbook.

1. 
   Students' stories.
   • 
     Vakula. One of the students talks about Vakula on behalf of the hero.
   • 
     TASK FOR STUDENTS: Prepare and ask questions to Vakula.
   • 
     Conversation between Vakula and students.
   • 
     Assignment for students: Select and write down epithets that characterize Vakula.
   • 
     Oksana . (Actions and tasks similar to Vakula)
   • 
     Additional questions: Which heroine Pushkin's fairy tale reminds me of Oksana? Why does Gogol endow his heroine with such character traits as pride and self-will?
   • 
     Student answers. It is based on the love story of Vakula and Oksana. Why is the work called “The Night Before Christmas”?
   • 
     Why does Gogol introduce evil spirits into the story? Who is the representative of the Evil Ones?
   • 
     Solokha . (Students’ actions by analogy with Vakula).
   • 
     Why is Solokha considered a witch? Why does Gogol call Solokha “devil-woman”, “windy Solokha”? What does Gogol admire? How can you explain the quote: “Oh yes Solokha”!
   • 
     Crap. (Similar steps)
   • 
     Why did the devil steal the month? Why was the devil so angry with the blacksmith?

1. 
   Answer from a student working individually. Peculiarities portrait characteristics heroes.
2. 
   Generalizations and conclusions. Evil is weaker than good. It can't win. The devil is not omnipotent, he is not even scary to those who are noble and kind. For Gogol, the devil is the embodiment of vulgarity, which he hated. The devil seduces with gold, wealth, some kind of victory over all obstacles. But the man turns out to be kinder and braver: Vakul forced the devil to serve him.

The Night Before Christmas depicts the struggle between good and evil. Good conquers evil.

8. Task: Name the remaining heroes.

Questions: Why does Gogol introduce them into the narrative? Who struck, surprised, liked the most and why?

1. 
   Staging of the scene “At Patsyuk’s”.

1. 
   Protection of illustrations.
2. 
   The narrator's attitude towards the characters. The full title of the work, which included “The Night Before Christmas”, “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka”, published by Pasichnik Rudy Panko. How does the narrator himself relate to his characters?

1. 
   Generalizations and conclusions. What is this work about?

The fight between good and evil

(reason your answers)

(students' answers)

1. 
   Conclusion No. 2. (formulated by students). Gogol sought to create a picture of reality that would reflect the unity of the people’s existence and their moral ideal.

(students' answers)

1. 
   Homework. Individual tasks. Analyze language means in the story.