In the famous Boldino autumn of 1830, A.S. In 11 days, Pushkin wrote an amazing work - “Belkin's Tales” - which included five independent stories told to one person (his name is in the title). In them, the author managed to create a gallery of provincial images, truthfully and without embellishment to show life in modern Russia for the writer.
The story “” occupies a special place in the cycle. It was she who laid the foundations for the development of the theme of the “little man” in Russian literature of the 19th century.
Meet the heroes
The story of the station superintendent Samson Vyrin was told to Belkin by a certain I.L.P., a titular councilor. His bitter thoughts about the attitude towards people of this rank set the reader up in a not very cheerful mood from the very beginning. Anyone stopping at the station is ready to curse them. Either the horses are bad, or the weather and road are bad, or even the mood is not going well - and the stationmaster is to blame for everything. The main idea of the story is to show the plight of a common man without a high rank or rank.
All the demands of those passing by were calmly endured by Samson Vyrin, a retired soldier, a widower who raised his fourteen-year-old daughter Dunechka. He was a fresh and cheerful man of about fifty, sociable and sensitive. This is how the titular councilor saw him at their first meeting.
The house was clean and cozy, balsams grew on the windows. And Dunya, who learned how to manage a house early on, gave everyone who stopped tea tea from a samovar. She, with her meek appearance and smile, humbled the anger of all those who were dissatisfied. In the company of Vyrin and the “little coquette,” time flew by for the adviser. The guest said goodbye to the hosts as if they were old acquaintances: their company seemed so pleasant to him.
How Vyrin has changed...
The story “The Station Agent” continues with a description of the second meeting of the narrator with the main character. A few years later, fate again threw him to those parts. He drove up to the station with anxious thoughts: anything could happen during this time. The premonition indeed did not deceive: instead of a vigorous and cheerful man, a gray-haired, long-unshaven, hunched old man appeared before him. It was still the same Vyrin, only now very taciturn and gloomy. However, a glass of punch did its job, and soon the narrator learned Dunya's story.
About three years ago a young hussar passed by. He liked the girl, and he pretended to be sick for several days. And when he achieved mutual feelings from her, he took her secretly, without blessing, from her father. Thus, the misfortune that befell changed the long-established life of the family. The heroes of “The Station Agent,” father and daughter, will never meet again. The old man's attempt to return Dunya ended in nothing. He reached St. Petersburg and was even able to see her, richly dressed and happy. But the girl, looking at her father, fell unconscious, and he was simply kicked out. Now Samson lived in melancholy and loneliness, and his main companion was the bottle.
The story of the prodigal son
Even when he first arrived, the narrator noticed pictures on the walls with captions in German. They depicted the biblical story of the prodigal son who took his share of the inheritance and squandered it. In the last picture, the humble youth returned to his home to the parent who had forgiven him.
This legend is very reminiscent of what happened to Vyrin and Dunya, which is why it is no coincidence that it is included in the story “The Station Agent”. The main idea of the work is related to the idea of helplessness and defenselessness of ordinary people. Vyrin, well familiar with the foundations of high society, could not believe that his daughter could be happy. The scene seen in St. Petersburg was not convincing either - everything can still change. He waited for Dunya's return until the end of his life, but their meeting and forgiveness never took place. Perhaps Dunya simply did not dare to appear before her father for a long time.
Return of the daughter
On his third visit, the narrator learns of the death of an old acquaintance. And the boy who accompanied him to the cemetery will tell him about the lady who came after the station superintendent died. The content of their conversation makes it clear that everything turned out well for Dunya. She arrived in a carriage with six horses, accompanied by a nurse and three barchats. But Dunya no longer found her father alive, and therefore the repentance of the “lost” daughter became impossible. The lady lay on the grave for a long time - this is how, according to tradition, they asked forgiveness from a deceased person and said goodbye to him forever - and then she left.
Why did the daughter’s happiness bring unbearable mental suffering to her father?
Samson Vyrin always believed that life without blessings and as a mistress is a sin. And the fault of Dunya and Minsky, probably, first of all, is that both their departure (the caretaker himself convinced his daughter to accompany the hussar to the church) and the misunderstanding at the meeting in St. Petersburg only strengthened him in this conviction, which, in the end, will bring the hero to the grave . There is another important point - what happened undermined my father’s faith. He sincerely loved his daughter, who was the meaning of his existence. And suddenly such ingratitude: in all the years Dunya never made herself known. It was as if she had erased her father from her life.
Portraying a poor man of the lowest rank, but with a high and sensitive soul, A.S. Pushkin drew the attention of his contemporaries to the position of people who were at the lowest rung of the social ladder. The inability to protest and resignation to fate make them defenseless in the face of life's circumstances. This turns out to be the stationmaster.
The main idea that the author wants to convey to the reader is that it is necessary to be sensitive and attentive towards every person, regardless of his character, and only this will help change the indifference and bitterness reigning in the world of people.
The story “The Station Warden” is included in Pushkin’s cycle of stories “Belkin’s Tales”, published as a collection in 1831.
Work on the stories was carried out during the famous “Boldino autumn” - the time when Pushkin came to the family estate of Boldino to quickly resolve financial issues, but stayed for the whole autumn due to the cholera epidemic that broke out in the surrounding area. It seemed to the writer that there would never be a more boring time, but suddenly inspiration appeared, and stories began to come out from his pen one after another. So, on September 9, 1830, the story “The Undertaker” was completed, on September 14, “The Station Warden” was ready, and on September 20, “The Young Lady-Peasant” was finished. Then a short creative break followed, and in the new year the stories were published. The stories were republished in 1834 under the original authorship.
Analysis of the work
Genre, theme, composition
Researchers note that “The Station Agent” was written in the genre of sentimentalism, but the story contains many moments that demonstrate the skill of Pushkin the romantic and realist. The writer deliberately chose a sentimental manner of narration (more precisely, he put sentimental notes into the voice of his hero-narrator, Ivan Belkin), in accordance with the content of the story.
Thematically, “The Station Agent” is very multifaceted, despite its small content:
- the theme of romantic love (with escaping from one’s home and following one’s loved one against one’s parents’ will),
- theme of fathers and sons,
- The theme of the “little man” is the greatest theme for Pushkin’s followers, Russian realists.
The thematic multi-level nature of the work allows us to call it a miniature novel. The story is much more complex and more expressive in its semantic load than a typical sentimental work. Many issues are touched upon here, in addition to the general theme of love.
Compositionally, the story is built in accordance with the other stories - the fictional author-narrator talks about the fate of the station guards, downtrodden people and those in the lowest positions, then tells a story that happened about 10 years ago, and its continuation. The way it begins
“The Station Agent” (an opening argument in the style of a sentimental journey) indicates that the work belongs to the sentimental genre, but later at the end of the work there is the severity of realism.
Belkin reports that station employees are people of a difficult lot, who are treated impolitely, perceived as servants, complain and are rude to them. One of the caretakers, Samson Vyrin, was sympathetic to Belkin. He was a peaceful and kind man, with a sad fate - his own daughter, tired of living at the station, ran away with the hussar Minsky. The hussar, according to her father, could only make her a kept woman, and now, 3 years after the escape, he does not know what to think, for the fate of seduced young fools is terrible. Vyrin went to St. Petersburg, tried to find his daughter and return her, but could not - Minsky sent him away. The fact that the daughter lives not with Minsky, but separately, clearly indicates her status as a kept woman.
The author, who personally knew Dunya as a 14-year-old girl, empathizes with her father. He soon learns that Vyrin has died. Even later, visiting the station where the late Vyrin once worked, he learns that his daughter came home with three children. She cried for a long time at her father’s grave and left, rewarding a local boy who showed her the way to the old man’s grave.
Heroes of the work
There are two main characters in the story: father and daughter.
Samson Vyrin is a diligent worker and father who dearly loves his daughter, raising her alone.
Samson is a typical “little man”, who has no illusions both about himself (he is perfectly aware of his place in this world) and about his daughter (for someone like her, neither a brilliant match nor sudden smiles of fate shine). Samson's life position is humility. His life and the life of his daughter takes place and must take place on a modest corner of the earth, a station cut off from the rest of the world. There are no handsome princes here, and if they do appear on the horizon, they promise girls only the fall from grace and danger.
When Dunya disappears, Samson cannot believe it. Although matters of honor are important to him, love for his daughter is more important, so he goes to look for her, pick her up and return her. He imagines terrible pictures of misfortunes, it seems to him that now his Dunya is sweeping the streets somewhere, and it is better to die than to drag out such a miserable existence.
In contrast to her father, Dunya is a more decisive and persistent creature. The sudden feeling for the hussar is rather a heightened attempt to escape from the wilderness in which she was vegetating. Dunya decides to leave her father, even if this step is not easy for her (she supposedly delays the trip to church and leaves, according to witnesses, in tears). It is not entirely clear how Dunya’s life turned out, and in the end she became the wife of Minsky or someone else. Old Vyrin saw that Minsky had rented a separate apartment for Dunya, and this clearly indicated her status as a kept woman, and when she met her father, Dunya looked “significantly” and sadly at Minsky, then fainted. Minsky pushed Vyrin out, not allowing him to communicate with Dunya - apparently he was afraid that Dunya would return with her father and apparently she was ready for this. One way or another, Dunya has achieved happiness - she is rich, she has six horses, a servant and, most importantly, three “barchats”, so one can only rejoice at her successful risk. The only thing she will never forgive herself is the death of her father, who hastened his death by intense longing for his daughter. At the grave of the father, the woman comes to belated repentance.
The story is riddled with symbolism. The very name “station warden” in Pushkin’s time had the same shade of irony and slight contempt that we put into the words “conductor” or “watchman” today. This means a small person, capable of looking like a servant in the eyes of others, working for pennies without seeing the world.
Thus, the stationmaster is a symbol of a “humiliated and insulted” person, a bug for the mercantile and powerful.
The symbolism of the story was manifested in the painting decorating the wall of the house - this is “The Return of the Prodigal Son”. The stationmaster longed for only one thing - the embodiment of the script of the biblical story, as in this picture: Dunya could return to him in any status and in any form. Her father would have forgiven her, would have reconciled himself, as he had reconciled himself all his life under the circumstances of fate, merciless to “little people.”
“The Station Agent” predetermined the development of domestic realism in the direction of works that defend the honor of the “humiliated and insulted.” The image of Father Vyrin is deeply realistic and amazingly capacious. This is a small man with a huge range of feelings and with every right to respect for his honor and dignity.
College Registrar,
Postal station dictator.
Prince Vyazemsky.
Who hasn’t cursed the stationmasters, who hasn’t sworn at them? Who, in a moment of anger, did not demand from them a fatal book in order to write into it his useless complaint about oppression, rudeness and malfunction? Who does not consider them monsters of the human race, equal to the late clerks or, at least, the Murom robbers? However, let us be fair, we will try to enter into their position and, perhaps, we will begin to judge them much more leniently. What is a stationmaster? A real martyr of the fourteenth grade, protected by his rank only from beatings, and even then not always (I refer to the conscience of my readers). What is the position of this dictator, as Prince Vyazemsky jokingly calls him? Isn't this real hard labor? I have peace neither day nor night. The traveler takes out all the frustration accumulated during a boring ride on the caretaker. The weather is unbearable, the road is bad, the driver is stubborn, the horses are not moving - and the caretaker is to blame. Entering his poor home, a traveler looks at him as if he were an enemy; it would be good if he managed to get rid of the uninvited guest soon; but if the horses don’t happen?.. God! what curses, what threats will rain down on his head! In the rain and slush, he is forced to run around the yards; in a storm, in the Epiphany frost, he goes into the vestibule, just to rest for a minute from the screams and pushes of an irritated guest. The general arrives; the trembling caretaker gives him the last two threes, including the courier one. The general leaves without saying thank you. Five minutes later - the bell rings!.. and the courier throws his travel document on his table!.. Let's look into all this carefully, and instead of indignation, our hearts will be filled with sincere compassion. A few more words: for twenty years in a row I traveled across Russia in all directions; I know almost all postal routes; I know several generations of coachmen; I don’t know a rare caretaker by sight, I haven’t dealt with a rare one; I hope to publish a curious stock of my travel observations in a short time; For now I will only say that the class of stationmasters is presented to the general opinion in the most false form. These much-maligned caretakers are generally peaceful people, naturally helpful, inclined towards community, modest in their claims to honor and not too money-loving. From their conversations (which are inappropriately neglected by gentlemen passing by) one can glean a lot of interesting and instructive things. As for me, I confess that I prefer their conversation to the speeches of some 6th class official traveling on official business. You can easily guess that I have friends from the venerable class of caretakers. Indeed, the memory of one of them is precious to me. Circumstances once brought us closer together, and this is what I now intend to talk about with my dear readers. In 1816, in the month of May, I happened to be driving through the *** province, along a highway that has now been destroyed. I was in a minor rank, rode on carriages and paid fees for two horses. As a result of this, the caretakers did not stand on ceremony with me, and I often took in battle what, in my opinion, was rightfully due me. Being young and hot-tempered, I was indignant at the baseness and cowardice of the caretaker when this latter gave the troika he had prepared for me under the carriage of the official master. It took me just as long to get used to having a picky servant hand me a dish at the governor’s dinner. Nowadays both seem to me to be in the order of things. In fact, what would happen to us if instead of the generally convenient rule: honor the rank, something else came into use, for example, honor your mind? What controversy would arise! and who would the servants start serving the food with? But I turn to my story. The day was hot. Three miles from the station it began to drizzle, and a minute later the pouring rain soaked me to the last thread. Upon arrival at the station, the first concern was to quickly change clothes, the second was to ask myself some tea, “Hey, Dunya! - the caretaker shouted, “put on the samovar and go get some cream.” At these words, a girl of about fourteen came out from behind the partition and ran into the hallway. Her beauty amazed me. “Is this your daughter?” - I asked the caretaker. “My daughter, sir,” he answered with an air of satisfied pride, “she’s so intelligent, so nimble, she looks like a dead mother.” Then he began to copy out my travel document, and I began to look at the pictures that decorated his humble but neat abode. They depicted the story of the prodigal son: in the first, a respectable old man in a cap and dressing gown releases a restless young man, who hastily accepts his blessing and a bag of money. Another vividly depicts the depraved behavior of a young man: he sits at a table, surrounded by false friends and shameless women. Further, a squandered young man, in rags and a three-cornered hat, tends pigs and shares a meal with them; his face shows deep sadness and remorse. Finally, his return to his father is presented; a kind old man in the same cap and dressing gown runs out to meet him: the prodigal son is on his knees; in the future, the cook kills a well-fed calf, and the elder brother asks the servants about the reason for such joy. Under each picture I read decent German poetry. All this has been preserved in my memory to this day, as well as pots with balsam, and a bed with a colorful curtain, and other objects that surrounded me at that time. I see, as now, the owner himself, a man of about fifty, fresh and cheerful, and his long green frock coat with three medals on faded ribbons. Before I had time to pay my old coachman, Dunya returned with a samovar. The little coquette noticed at second glance the impression she made on me; she lowered her big blue eyes; I began to talk to her, she answered me without any timidity, like a girl who has seen the light. I offered my father her glass of punch; I served Duna a cup of tea, and the three of us began talking as if we had known each other for centuries. The horses were ready a long time ago, but I still didn’t want to part with the caretaker and his daughter. Finally I said goodbye to them; my father wished me a good journey, and my daughter accompanied me to the cart. In the entryway I stopped and asked her permission to kiss her; Dunya agreed... I can count a lot of kisses,
Since I've been doing this,
But none of them left such a long, such a pleasant memory in me.
Several years passed, and circumstances led me to that very road, to those very places. I remembered the old caretaker's daughter and rejoiced at the thought that I would see her again. But, I thought, the old caretaker may have already been replaced; Dunya is probably already married. The thought of the death of one or the other also flashed through my mind, and I approached the *** station with a sad premonition. The horses stopped at the post house. Entering the room, I immediately recognized the pictures depicting the story of the prodigal son; the table and bed were in the same places; but there were no longer flowers on the windows, and everything around showed disrepair and neglect. The caretaker slept under a sheepskin coat; my arrival woke him up; he stood up... It was definitely Samson Vyrin; but how he has aged! While he was getting ready to rewrite my travel document, I looked at his gray hair, at the deep wrinkles of his long-unshaven face, at his hunched back - and could not marvel at how three or four years could turn a vigorous man into a frail old man. “Did you recognize me? - I asked him, “you and I are old acquaintances.” “It may be,” he answered gloomily, “there is a big road here; many travelers visited me.” - “Is your Dunya healthy?” - I continued. The old man frowned. “God knows,” he answered. - “So apparently she’s married?” - I said. The old man pretended not to hear my question and continued to read my travel document in a whisper. I stopped my questions and ordered the kettle to be put on. Curiosity began to bother me, and I hoped that the punch would resolve the language of my old acquaintance. I was not mistaken: the old man did not refuse the offered glass. I noticed that the rum cleared up his sullenness. During the second glass he became talkative: he remembered or showed the appearance that he remembered me, and I learned from him a story that at that time greatly interested and touched me. “So you knew my Dunya? - he began. - Who didn’t know her? Ah, Dunya, Dunya! What a girl she was! It happened that whoever passed by, everyone would praise, no one would judge. The ladies gave it as a gift, sometimes with a handkerchief, sometimes with earrings. Gentlemen passing by deliberately stopped, as if to have lunch or dinner, but in fact only to take a closer look at her. Sometimes the master, no matter how angry he was, would calm down in her presence and talk kindly to me. Believe it, sir: couriers and couriers talked to her for half an hour. She kept the house going: she kept up with everything, what to clean, what to cook. And I, the old fool, can’t get enough of it; Didn’t I really love my Dunya, didn’t I cherish my child; Did she really have no life? No, you can’t get away from trouble; what is destined cannot be avoided.” Then he began to tell me in detail his grief. - Three years ago, one winter evening, when the caretaker was lining a new book, and his daughter was sewing a dress for herself behind the partition, a troika drove up, and a traveler in a Circassian hat, in a military overcoat, wrapped in a shawl, entered the room, demanding horses. The horses were all in full speed. At this news the traveler raised his voice and his whip; but Dunya, accustomed to such scenes, ran out from behind the partition and affectionately turned to the traveler with the question: would he like to have something to eat? Dunya's appearance had its usual effect. The passerby's anger passed; he agreed to wait for the horses and ordered himself dinner. Taking off his wet, shaggy hat, unraveling his shawl and pulling off his overcoat, the traveler appeared as a young, slender hussar with a black mustache. He settled down with the caretaker and began to talk cheerfully with him and his daughter. They served dinner. Meanwhile, the horses arrived, and the caretaker ordered that they immediately, without feeding, be harnessed to the traveler’s wagon; but when he returned, he found a young man almost unconscious lying on a bench: he felt sick, his head ached, it was impossible to go... What to do! the caretaker gave him his bed, and it was supposed, if the patient did not feel better, to send to S*** for a doctor the next morning. The next day the hussar became worse. His man went on horseback to the city to get a doctor. Dunya tied a scarf soaked in vinegar around his head and sat down with her sewing by his bed. The patient groaned in front of the caretaker and did not say almost a word, but he drank two cups of coffee and, groaning, ordered himself lunch. Dunya did not leave his side. He constantly asked for a drink, and Dunya brought him a mug of lemonade she had prepared. The sick man wet his lips and each time he returned the mug, as a sign of gratitude, he shook Dunyushka’s hand with his weak hand. The doctor arrived at lunchtime. He felt the patient’s pulse, spoke to him in German, and announced in Russian that all he needed was peace and that in two days he would be able to hit the road. The hussar gave him twenty-five rubles for the visit and invited him to dinner; the doctor agreed; They both ate with great appetite, drank a bottle of wine and parted very pleased with each other. Another day passed, and the hussar completely recovered. He was extremely cheerful, joked incessantly, first with Dunya, then with the caretaker; he whistled songs, talked with passers-by, wrote down their travel information in the postal book, and became so fond of the kind caretaker that on the third morning he was sorry to part with his kind guest. The day was Sunday; Dunya was getting ready for mass. The hussar was given a wagon. He said goodbye to the caretaker, generously rewarding him for his stay and refreshments; He said goodbye to Dunya and volunteered to take her to the church, which was located on the edge of the village. Dunya stood in bewilderment... “What are you afraid of? - her father said to her, “after all, his high nobility is not a wolf and will not eat you: take a ride to the church.” Dunya sat down in the wagon next to the hussar, the servant jumped onto the handle, the coachman whistled, and the horses galloped off. The poor caretaker did not understand how he could allow his Duna to ride with the hussar, how blindness came over him, and what happened to his mind then. Less than half an hour had passed before his heart began to ache and ache, and anxiety took possession of him to such an extent that he could not resist and went to mass himself. Approaching the church, he saw that the people were already leaving, but Dunya was neither in the fence nor on the porch. He hastily entered the church: the priest was leaving the altar; the sexton was extinguishing the candles, two old women were still praying in the corner; but Dunya was not in the church. The poor father forcibly decided to ask the sexton whether she had attended mass. The sexton replied that she had not been. The caretaker went home neither alive nor dead. There was only one hope left for him: Dunya, in the frivolity of her young years, decided, perhaps, to take a ride to the next station, where her godmother lived. In painful anxiety he awaited the return of the troika on which he had let her go. The coachman did not return. Finally, in the evening, he arrived alone and drunk, with the murderous news: “Dunya from that station went further with the hussar.” The old man could not bear his misfortune; he immediately went to bed in the same bed where the young deceiver had lain the day before. Now the caretaker, considering all the circumstances, guessed that the illness was feigned. The poor man fell ill with a severe fever; he was taken to S*** and someone else was assigned to his place for the time being. The same doctor who came to the hussar also treated him. He assured the caretaker that the young man was completely healthy and that at that time he still guessed about his evil intention, but remained silent, fearing his whip. Whether the German was telling the truth or just wanting to show off his foresight, he did not console the poor patient in the least. Having barely recovered from his illness, the caretaker asked S*** the postmaster for leave for two months and, without telling anyone a word about his intention, he set off on foot to fetch his daughter. From the road station he knew that Captain Minsky was traveling from Smolensk to St. Petersburg. The driver who was driving him said that Dunya cried all the way, although it seemed that she was driving of her own accord. “Perhaps,” the caretaker thought, “I’ll bring my lost sheep home.” With this thought in mind, he arrived in St. Petersburg, stopped at the Izmailovsky regiment, in the house of a retired non-commissioned officer, his old colleague, and began his search. He soon learned that Captain Minsky was in St. Petersburg and lived in the Demutov tavern. The caretaker decided to come to him. Early in the morning he came to his hallway and asked him to report to his nobility that the old soldier was asking to see him. The military footman, cleaning his boot on the last, announced that the master was resting and that he would not receive anyone before eleven o'clock. The caretaker left and returned at the appointed time. Minsky himself came out to him in a dressing gown and a red skufia. “What do you want, brother?” - he asked him. The old man’s heart began to boil, tears welled up in his eyes, and in a trembling voice he said only: “Your Honor!.. do such a divine favor!..” Minsky looked at him quickly, flushed, took him by the hand, led him into the office and locked him behind him. door. “Your Honor! - continued the old man, - what fell from the cart is lost: at least give me my poor Dunya. After all, you were amused by her; Don’t destroy her in vain.” “What has been done cannot be undone,” said the young man in extreme confusion, “I am guilty before you and am glad to ask you for forgiveness; but don’t think that I could leave Dunya: she will be happy, I give you my word of honor. Why do you need it? She loves Me; she was unaccustomed to her previous state. Neither you nor she will forget what happened.” Then, putting something down his sleeve, he opened the door, and the caretaker, without remembering how, found himself on the street. He stood motionless for a long time, and finally saw a bundle of papers behind the cuff of his sleeve; he took them out and unfolded several crumpled five- and ten-ruble banknotes. Tears welled up in his eyes again, tears of indignation! He squeezed the pieces of paper into a ball, threw them on the ground, stamped his heel and walked away... After walking a few steps, he stopped, thought... and turned back... but the banknotes were no longer there. A well-dressed young man, seeing him, ran up to the cab driver, sat down hastily and shouted: “Get off!..” The caretaker did not chase him. He decided to go home to his station, but first he wanted to see his poor Dunya at least once again. For this purpose, two days later he returned to Minsky; but the military footman told him sternly that the master did not accept anyone, pushed him out of the hall with his chest and slammed the doors in his face. The caretaker stood, stood, and then went. On this very day, in the evening, he walked along Liteinaya, having served a prayer service for All Who Sorrow. Suddenly a smart droshky raced in front of him, and the caretaker recognized Minsky. The droshky stopped in front of a three-story house, right at the entrance, and the hussar ran onto the porch. A happy thought flashed through the mind of the caretaker. He returned and, drawing level with the coachman: “Whose horse, brother? - he asked, “isn’t it Minsky?” “Exactly so,” answered the coachman, “what do you want?” - “Well, here’s the thing: your master ordered me to take a note to his Dunya, and I’ll forget where his Dunya lives.” - “Yes, here, on the second floor. You are late, brother, with your note; now he’s with her.” “There’s no need,” the caretaker objected with an inexplicable movement of his heart, “thanks for the advice, and I’ll do my job.” And with that word he walked up the stairs. The doors were locked; he called, several seconds passed in painful anticipation. The key rattled and it was opened for him. “Is Avdotya Samsonovna standing here?” - he asked. “Here,” answered the young maid, “why do you need it?” The caretaker, without answering, entered the hall. “You can’t, you can’t! - the maid shouted after him, “Avdotya Samsonovna has guests.” But the caretaker, without listening, walked on. The first two rooms were dark, the third was on fire. He walked up to the open door and stopped. In a beautifully decorated room, Minsky sat thoughtfully. Dunya, dressed in all the luxury of fashion, sat on the arm of his chair, like a rider on her English saddle. She looked at Minsky with tenderness, wrapping his black curls around her sparkling fingers. Poor caretaker! Never had his daughter seemed so beautiful to him; he couldn't help but admire her. "Who's there?" - she asked without raising her head. He was still silent. Receiving no answer, Dunya raised her head... and fell onto the carpet screaming. Frightened Minsky rushed to pick her up and, suddenly seeing the old caretaker at the door, left Dunya and approached him, trembling with anger. “What do you want? - he said to him, gritting his teeth, - why are you sneaking after me everywhere like a robber? or do you want to stab me? Go away!" - and with a strong hand, grabbing the old man by the collar, he pushed him onto the stairs. The old man came to his apartment. His friend advised him to complain; but the caretaker thought, waved his hand and decided to retreat. Two days later he set out from St. Petersburg back to his station and again took up his post. “For the third year now,” he concluded, “I have been living without Dunya and there is neither a rumor nor a breath of her. Whether she is alive or not, God knows. Stuff happens. Not her first, not her last, was lured away by a passing rake, but there he held her and abandoned her. There are a lot of them in St. Petersburg, young fools, today in satin and velvet, and tomorrow, look, they are sweeping the street along with the tavern's nakedness. When you sometimes think that Dunya, perhaps, is disappearing right away, you will inevitably sin and wish for her grave...” This was the story of my friend, the old caretaker, a story repeatedly interrupted by tears, which he picturesquely wiped away with his lap, like the zealous Terentyich in Dmitriev’s beautiful ballad. These tears were partly aroused by the punch, of which he drew five glasses in the continuation of his story; but be that as it may, they touched my heart greatly. Having parted with him, I could not forget the old caretaker for a long time, I thought for a long time about poor Duna... Recently, driving through the town of ***, I remembered my friend; I learned that the station over which he commanded had already been destroyed. To my question: “Is the old caretaker alive?” - no one could give me a satisfactory answer. I decided to visit a familiar side, took free horses and set off for the village of N. This happened in the fall. Gray clouds covered the sky; a cold wind blew from the reaped fields, blowing red and yellow leaves from the trees they encountered. I arrived in the village at sunset and stopped at the post office. In the entryway (where poor Dunya once kissed me) a fat woman came out and answered my questions that the old caretaker had died a year ago, that a brewer had settled in his house, and that she was the brewer’s wife. I felt sorry for my wasted trip and the seven rubles spent for nothing. “Why did he die?” - I asked the brewer’s wife. “I got drunk, father,” she answered. “Where was he buried?” - “Outside the outskirts, near his late mistress.” - “Is it possible to take me to his grave?” - “Why not? Hey Vanka! You've had enough of messing around with the cat. Take the master to the cemetery and show him the caretaker’s grave.” At these words, a ragged boy, red-haired and crooked, ran out to me and immediately led me beyond the outskirts. - Did you know the dead man? - I asked him dear. - How not to know! He taught me how to carve pipes. It used to be (may he rest in heaven!) he would come out of a tavern, and we would follow him: “Grandfather, grandfather! nuts!” - and he gives us nuts. Everything used to mess with us. - Do passers-by remember him? - Yes, but there are few travelers; Unless the assessor wraps it up, he has no time for the dead. In the summer, a lady passed by, and she asked about the old caretaker and went to his grave. - Which lady? - I asked curiously. “Beautiful lady,” answered the boy; - she rode in a carriage of six horses, with three little barchats and a nurse, and a black pug; and when they told her that the old caretaker had died, she began to cry and said to the children: “Sit still, and I’ll go to the cemetery.” And I volunteered to bring it to her. And the lady said: “I know the way myself.” And she gave me a silver nickel - such a kind lady!.. We came to the cemetery, a bare place, unfenced, dotted with wooden crosses, not shaded by a single tree. I have never seen such a sad cemetery in my life. “Here is the grave of the old caretaker,” the boy told me, jumping onto a pile of sand into which was buried a black cross with a copper image. - And the lady came here? - I asked. “She came,” answered Vanka, “I looked at her from afar.” She lay down here and lay there for a long time. And there the lady went to the village and called the priest, gave him money and went, and gave me a nickel in silver - a nice lady! And I gave the boy a penny and no longer regretted either the trip or the seven rubles I spent.“The Station Agent” is the beginning of a new period in the work of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. If in the novel in verse “Eugene Onegin” he tries to hide his attitude towards everyday issues under some humor and a sarcastic attitude towards surrounding problems. And Belkin himself in other stories tries to disguise his sympathetic attitude towards simple and ordinary routine life, but in this story he describes it as it is, without humor and the desire to embellish the current situation.
The author feels deep pity, he is incredibly sorry for the broken life of the stationmaster, he experienced a real storm and severe pain at the very end of his own existence, so he parted with her on a rather sad note.
For the first time in his work, Pushkin admits notes of serious condemnation towards divine frivolity, which, despite all the contradictions, was quite close and dear to him.
The stationmaster lives a quiet and calm life, the meaning of which is his daughter Dunya. But at one moment everything collapses, she dies, which completely destroys the usual way of life. He cannot get used to the fact that the center of his existence has disappeared, and now he will have to continue living alone. He meets a hussar who did not want to share his grief with him; he does not try to understand the elderly man, who at that moment needed help and support.
Belkin's stories became the first realistic stories that received wide publicity. The author was able to accurately convey the realism of different life situations of that era; a small revolution was taking place in every person at that time, which the main author observes from the side. A real revolution takes place in the life of the Station Warden, which ends in tragedy.
He was unable to deal with his own contradiction, deal with what happened and break the situation. He lost his loved one and loved one, now he has no one to share his sorrows and happiness with. Alexander Sergeevich accurately conveys all his inner experiences, suffering and loneliness that he experiences. This is precisely why the reader understands that there will be no successful outcome.
Analysis 2
For every creator, the existence of a common man looks rather strange and slightly alienated. Still, a creative person exists with slightly different experiences and concerns; completely different priorities live in his consciousness.
However, if you look at the works of many Russian writers, they actively touch upon the theme of the so-called little man, that is, a simple person who practically does not think about high things and lives by his simple interests.
This theme in many ways begins with the Station Warden Pushkin, where the author almost for the first time begins to sympathize with ordinary people and sincerely sympathize with the difficult fate of such people. After all, if you look at previous works, then the author still focuses on secular people, examines how representatives of the high society of the village and the city differ, and other topics that are not particularly close to the common people.
In The Station Warden, Pushkin shifts the emphasis and we see confirmation of this fact in the description of the hussar Minsky, who is given only in small strokes and does not represent a personality as such. This hero could become the main one if we looked from the other side and played out a story in the work similar to how Pechorin kidnaps Bella. However, here a representative of a higher class, who is far from the needs of the common people, is given as a kind of destructive and disharmonious element.
The main character, in turn, is the embodiment of simple everyday happiness. Samson Vyrin is not a stupid or narrow-minded person, yes, he does not and will not accomplish feats, he is accustomed to comfort, but in a sense, he is the salt of the earth, it is on such people that the world rests. At the same time, Minsky here is almost the complete opposite of happiness, he pursues only personal interests and ultimately creates a tragedy not only for the caretaker, but also for Dunya.
Most likely, she will never forgive herself for such a separation from a man who lived only for her. Minsky feels an obvious competitor in Vyrin and that is why he kicks him out of his house so much, he understands how attached Dunya is to him. In essence, he buys his happiness, although happiness cannot be bought.
As a result, in fact, Minsky only buys unhappiness; he makes two people unhappy who were previously happy. Of course, he can give Duna well-being and some kind of family comfort, but will she be as calm as she was calm at the station, daily observing identical pictures on the walls, a colorful bed curtain and pots of balsam? Will this heroine discover something new for herself besides secular society, which in reality is deeply unhappy?
In this work, Pushkin, although not openly, quite clearly sympathizes with the main character and is sad about his broken fate. He sees the negative side of the hussar's willfulness and his sensuality. He also sees some beauty and true happiness in the simple and uncomplicated life of a little person.
Essence, meaning and idea
The work belongs to the period of the poet’s work, called the Boldino Autumn, and in terms of its genre orientation it is a story written in the style of sentimentalism and realism, included in the author’s prose collection entitled “Tales of the late Ivan Petrovich Belkin.”
The main theme of the work is reflection on the problems of little people who find themselves in a disadvantaged position. In addition to this topic, the author examines in the story issues of morality and human love, which are relevant in the modern world.
The compositional structure of the story consists of three components, the first of which is a lyrical digression by the author, the second part is presented in the form of conversations between the narrator and the main character, where the storyline goes through its development and culmination, and in the third part it is described in the form of an epilogue.
The author presents the key character of the story as a fifty-year-old man, Samson Vyrin, distinguished by his kindness and sociability, and boundless love for his only daughter Dunyasha. A man is characterized by cordiality, responsiveness, a meek and open soul.
The girl is the second main character of the work and is portrayed as a caring daughter, protecting the old man from the claims of the guests, who, however, is carried away by a visiting military officer and leaves her father alone. As a result of the departure of his beloved daughter, Samson sinks, washing his grief down with alcohol, and subsequently dies without waiting for Dunyasha to return.
The semantic load of the work lies in revealing the image of a little man, unable to withstand the life circumstances that have broken his weak, stupid, but kind and meek personality.
In this regard, the author reflects on moral issues in the relationship between parents and children, emphasizing the need to remember the person who made it possible to feel a taste for life, as well as experience the best human feelings in the form of love, motherhood, and personal happiness.
The ending of the story is presented by the author as sad and melancholy, but the narrative content is filled with hope for changes in the human heart that can overcome selfishness and indifference in loved ones. This is demonstrated in the scene of the girl’s awareness of the impossibility of returning to this life a dear and devoted person and deep human repentance.
Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin is a famous Russian poet, prose writer, playwright who created many wonderful works. In his bibliography you can find works for all occasions.
In the story of Alexander Kuprin, true love is described with extraordinary subtlety and tragedy, although unrequited, but pure, undeniable and sublime. Who else if not Kuprin to write about this great feeling.
Honor is a difficult word to understand, but, nevertheless, everyone imagines something different when they hear it. There is true and imaginary honor, they are both different from each other
History of creation
The work “The Station Warden” is included in A. S. Pushkin’s cycle “Tales of the late Ivan Petrovich Belkin.” Thanks to the author's dating, the exact date of completion of work on the second story is known - September 14, 1830.
Meaning of the name
The stationmaster is the main character of the story, holding the rank of collegiate registrar - the lowest class (14th) in the Table of Ranks.
The main theme of the work is the unfortunate fate of the poor official
The story begins with a lengthy digression by the author, in which he reflects on the true situation of numerous Russian station keepers. The epigraph contains a statement from Prince Vyazemsky: “Collegiate registrar,” postal station dictator.” Pushkin rightly refutes this mocking statement.
The author judges on the basis of his many years of experience traveling across the vast Russian expanses. He knows that the stationmaster's power is very ephemeral. Every passing person considers him his enemy and the culprit of the delay. In the absence of other people, travelers take out all the anger accumulated over the long journey on the “fourteenth class martyr.” Despite his low, but still official bureaucratic status, the caretaker can even be beaten by an influential person.
The author concludes that there is a completely wrong impression regarding station guards. For the most part, these are “peaceful people, naturally helpful... modest in their claims... and not too money-loving.” Communicating on duty with a variety of travelers, on-site station guards accumulate vast life experience and become very interesting interlocutors.
A striking example of the unenviable fate of station keepers is the sad story of one of the author’s acquaintances, Samson Vyrin. During the first meeting, he made a very pleasant impression on the narrator: “a man of about fifty, fresh and cheerful”.
The author is clearly disingenuous. He liked Samson’s faithful assistant, his young daughter Dunya, much more than the owner. The girl reminds the caretaker of his deceased wife not only by her appearance, but also by her ability to work. The author finds it difficult to part with his hospitable family, leaving behind the best memories of her.
The next time the author managed to visit this station was only a few years later. He has a presentiment that these years could not pass without a trace for the happy father and daughter, but the reality turned out to be much harsher than his assumptions.
The once strong and energetic Samson turned into a decrepit old man, gloomy and taciturn. The caretaker now lived alone. Only after the offered glass did he tell the author his sad story.
Dunya grew up and became an indispensable assistant in Vyrin’s house. Her blossoming beauty and skillful manners calmed the most formidable passers-by, who instantly changed their anger to mercy at the sight of the caretaker’s daughter.
Samson was happy and overlooked the impending danger. One of the next travelers (Captain Minsky) paid special attention to Dunya. Pretending to be sick, he spent three days at the station and during this time managed to conquer the simple-minded beauty with flattering speeches. When leaving, Minsky persuaded Dunya to take a ride with him to the church as a farewell. The girl never returned home.
The despair of the poor stationmaster was unbearable. He became seriously ill and after recovery decided to return his daughter at any cost. Samson managed to find Minsky in St. Petersburg. However, at the first meeting, the captain tried to cynically pay off with money; during the second, he rudely kicked the grief-stricken father out of the house with the words: “...why are you following me everywhere like a robber? …Go away!". Samson resigned to fate and returned home. For three years now he has not known anything about his daughter and is afraid that Minsky, having played to his heart’s content, abandoned Dunya and doomed her to poverty.
Issues
Pushkin raises the problem of the “little man”. Samson Vyrin is absolutely defenseless. He is constantly subjected to threats and insults from every higher official, that is, from anyone passing through.
The only joy in life for Samson is his beloved daughter, but it turns out that he can be deprived of this joy with impunity. In essence, Minsky simply stole a naive girl from her father. He is not afraid of consequences, because nobility and wealth will turn the law in his favor. Samson doesn’t even try to complain: all his troubles will be in vain.
The ending of the story is relatively favorable. Dunya broke her father's hearts and will regret it for the rest of her life. But at the same time, she still became Minsky’s legal wife. In reality, sooner or later the captain would have abandoned the provincial girl, and she would have suffered the fate of a fallen city woman.
Composition
The short story consists of four parts: the author's introduction and a description of his three visits to the *** station. During these visits, a complete picture emerges of the unfortunate fate of Samson Vyrin and his daughter.
What the author teaches
Pushkin draws the reader's attention to people deprived of fate. Samson is not just a defenseless petty official. First of all, this is a living person who experiences his joys and sufferings. Minsky's callous attitude becomes the main reason for the stationmaster's premature death.
The story “The Station Warden” is included in Pushkin’s cycle of stories “Belkin’s Tales”, published as a collection in 1831.
Work on the stories was carried out during the famous “Boldino autumn” - the time when Pushkin came to the family estate of Boldino to quickly resolve financial issues, but stayed for the whole autumn due to the cholera epidemic that broke out in the surrounding area. It seemed to the writer that there would never be a more boring time, but suddenly inspiration appeared, and stories began to come out from his pen one after another. So, on September 9, 1830, the story “The Undertaker” was completed, on September 14, “The Station Warden” was ready, and on September 20, “The Young Lady-Peasant” was finished. Then a short creative break followed, and in the new year the stories were published. The stories were republished in 1834 under the original authorship.
Analysis of the work
Genre, theme, composition
Researchers note that “The Station Agent” was written in the genre of sentimentalism, but the story contains many moments that demonstrate the skill of Pushkin the romantic and realist. The writer deliberately chose a sentimental manner of narration (more precisely, he put sentimental notes into the voice of his hero-narrator, Ivan Belkin), in accordance with the content of the story.
Thematically, “The Station Agent” is very multifaceted, despite its small content:
- the theme of romantic love (with escaping from one’s home and following one’s loved one against one’s parents’ will),
- the theme of the search for happiness,
- theme of fathers and sons,
- The theme of the “little man” is the greatest theme for Pushkin’s followers, Russian realists.
The thematic multi-level nature of the work allows us to call it a miniature novel. The story is much more complex and more expressive in its semantic load than a typical sentimental work. Many issues are touched upon here, in addition to the general theme of love.
Compositionally, the story is built in accordance with the other stories - the fictional author-narrator talks about the fate of the station guards, downtrodden people and those in the lowest positions, then tells a story that happened about 10 years ago, and its continuation. The way it begins
“The Station Agent” (an opening argument in the style of a sentimental journey) indicates that the work belongs to the sentimental genre, but later at the end of the work there is the severity of realism.
Belkin reports that station employees are people of a difficult lot, who are treated impolitely, perceived as servants, complain and are rude to them. One of the caretakers, Samson Vyrin, was sympathetic to Belkin. He was a peaceful and kind man, with a sad fate - his own daughter, tired of living at the station, ran away with the hussar Minsky. The hussar, according to her father, could only make her a kept woman, and now, 3 years after the escape, he does not know what to think, for the fate of seduced young fools is terrible. Vyrin went to St. Petersburg, tried to find his daughter and return her, but could not - Minsky sent him away. The fact that the daughter lives not with Minsky, but separately, clearly indicates her status as a kept woman.
The author, who personally knew Dunya as a 14-year-old girl, empathizes with her father. He soon learns that Vyrin has died. Even later, visiting the station where the late Vyrin once worked, he learns that his daughter came home with three children. She cried for a long time at her father’s grave and left, rewarding a local boy who showed her the way to the old man’s grave.
Heroes of the work
There are two main characters in the story: father and daughter.
Samson Vyrin is a diligent worker and father who dearly loves his daughter, raising her alone.
Samson is a typical “little man” who has no illusions both about himself (he is perfectly aware of his place in this world) and about his daughter (for someone like her, neither a brilliant match nor sudden smiles of fate shine). Samson's life position is humility. His life and the life of his daughter takes place and must take place on a modest corner of the earth, a station cut off from the rest of the world. There are no handsome princes here, and if they do appear on the horizon, they promise girls only the fall from grace and danger.
When Dunya disappears, Samson cannot believe it. Although matters of honor are important to him, love for his daughter is more important, so he goes to look for her, pick her up and return her. He imagines terrible pictures of misfortunes, it seems to him that now his Dunya is sweeping the streets somewhere, and it is better to die than to drag out such a miserable existence.
Dunya
In contrast to her father, Dunya is a more decisive and persistent creature. The sudden feeling for the hussar is rather a heightened attempt to escape from the wilderness in which she was vegetating. Dunya decides to leave her father, even if this step is not easy for her (she supposedly delays the trip to church and leaves, according to witnesses, in tears). It is not entirely clear how Dunya’s life turned out, and in the end she became the wife of Minsky or someone else. Old Vyrin saw that Minsky had rented a separate apartment for Dunya, and this clearly indicated her status as a kept woman, and when she met her father, Dunya looked “significantly” and sadly at Minsky, then fainted. Minsky pushed Vyrin out, not allowing him to communicate with Dunya - apparently he was afraid that Dunya would return with her father and apparently she was ready for this. One way or another, Dunya has achieved happiness - she is rich, she has six horses, a servant and, most importantly, three “barchats”, so one can only rejoice at her successful risk. The only thing she will never forgive herself is the death of her father, who hastened his death by intense longing for his daughter. At the grave of the father, the woman comes to belated repentance.
Characteristics of the work
The story is riddled with symbolism. The very name “station warden” in Pushkin’s time had the same shade of irony and slight contempt that we put into the words “conductor” or “watchman” today. This means a small person, capable of looking like a servant in the eyes of others, working for pennies without seeing the world.
Thus, the stationmaster is a symbol of a “humiliated and insulted” person, a bug for the mercantile and powerful.
The symbolism of the story was manifested in the painting decorating the wall of the house - this is “The Return of the Prodigal Son.” The stationmaster longed for only one thing - the embodiment of the script of the biblical story, as in this picture: Dunya could return to him in any status and in any form. Her father would have forgiven her, would have reconciled himself, as he had reconciled himself all his life under the circumstances of fate, merciless to “little people.”
“The Station Agent” predetermined the development of domestic realism in the direction of works that defend the honor of the “humiliated and insulted.” The image of Father Vyrin is deeply realistic and amazingly capacious. This is a small man with a huge range of feelings and with every right to respect for his honor and dignity.
Themes, storylines, direction
In the cycle, the story “The Station Agent” is the compositional center, the pinnacle. It is based on the characteristic features of literary Russian realism and sentimentalism. The expressiveness of the work, the plot, and the capacious, complex theme give the right to call it a novel in miniature. This is a seemingly simple story about ordinary people, but everyday circumstances that interfere with the fate of the heroes make the meaning of the story more complex. Alexander Sergeevich, in addition to the romantic thematic line, reveals the theme of happiness in the broad sense of the word. Fate sometimes gives a person happiness not when you expect it, following generally accepted morality and everyday principles. This requires both a successful combination of circumstances and a subsequent struggle for happiness, even if it seems impossible.
The description of the life of Samson Vyrin is inextricably linked with the philosophical thought of the entire cycle of stories. His perception of the world and life is reflected in pictures with German poems hung on the walls of his home. The narrator describes the content of these pictures, which depict the biblical legend of the prodigal son. Vyrin also perceives and experiences what happened to his daughter through the prism of the images surrounding him. He hopes that Dunya will return to him, but she did not return. Vyrin's life experience tells him that his child will be deceived and abandoned. The stationmaster is a “little man” who has become a toy in the hands of the greedy, mercantile sows of the world, for whom the emptiness of the soul is more terrible than material poverty, for whom honor is above all.
The narration comes from the lips of the titular adviser, whose name is hidden behind the initials A.G.N. In turn, this story was “transmitted” to the narrator by Vyrin himself and the “red-haired and crooked” boy. The plot of the drama is the secret departure of Dunya with a little-known hussar to St. Petersburg. Dunya's father is trying to turn back time in order to save his daughter from what seems to him to be “death.” The story of the titular adviser takes us to St. Petersburg, where Vyrin is trying to find his daughter, and the mournful ending shows us the grave of the caretaker outside the outskirts. The destiny of the “little man” is humility. The irreparability of the current situation, hopelessness, despair, and indifference finish off the caretaker. Dunya asks her father for forgiveness at his grave; her repentance is belated.
- “The Captain’s Daughter”, a summary of the chapters of Pushkin’s story
- "Boris Godunov", analysis of the tragedy of Alexander Pushkin
- “Gypsies”, analysis of the poem by Alexander Pushkin
