A message on the topic of the fate of Grigory Melekhov. Interesting Facts
Grigory Melekhov is the central character of the novel “Quiet Don”, unsuccessfully searching for his place in a changing world. In the context of historical events, he showed the difficult fate of the Don Cossack, who knows how to passionately love and selflessly fight.
History of creation
When conceiving a new novel, Mikhail Sholokhov did not imagine that the work would eventually turn into an epic. It all started innocently. In mid-autumn 1925, the writer began the first chapters of “Donshchina” - this was the original name of the work in which the author wanted to show the life of the Don Cossacks during the years of the revolution. That’s how it started - the Cossacks marched as part of the army to Petrograd. Suddenly the author was stopped by the thought that readers were unlikely to understand the motives of the Cossacks in suppressing the revolution without a backstory, and he put the manuscript in a far corner.
Only a year later the idea was fully matured: in the novel, Mikhail Alexandrovich wanted to reflect the lives of individual people through the prism of historical events that happened in the period from 1914 to 1921. The tragic fates of the main characters, including Grigory Melekhov, had to be included in the epic theme, and for this it was necessary to become better acquainted with the customs and characters of the inhabitants of the Cossack farm. The author of “Quiet Don” moved to his homeland, to the village of Vishnevskaya, where he plunged headlong into the life of the “Don region”.
In search of bright characters and a special atmosphere that settled on the pages of the work, the writer traveled around the area, met with witnesses of the First World War and revolutionary events, collected a mosaic of tales, beliefs and elements of folklore of local residents, and also stormed Moscow and Rostov archives in search of the truth. about the life of those hard years.
Finally, the first volume of “Quiet Don” was released. It showed Russian troops on the war fronts. In the second book, the February coup and the October Revolution were added, the echoes of which reached the Don. In the first two parts of the novel alone, Sholokhov placed about a hundred heroes, later they were joined by another 70 characters. In total, the epic spanned four volumes, the last one being completed in 1940.
The work was published in the publications “October”, “Roman-newspaper”, “New World” and “Izvestia”, rapidly gaining recognition among readers. They bought magazines, flooded the editors with reviews, and the author with letters. Soviet bookworms perceived the tragedies of heroes as personal shocks. Among the favorites, of course, was Grigory Melekhov.
It is interesting that Grigory was absent from the first drafts, but a character with that name appeared in the writer’s early stories - there the hero was already endowed with some of the traits of the future “resident” of “Quiet Don”. Researchers of Sholokhov’s work consider the Cossack Kharlampy Ermakov, who was sentenced to death in the late 20s, to be Melekhov’s prototype. The author himself did not admit that it was this man who became the prototype of the book Cossack. Meanwhile, Mikhail Alexandrovich, while collecting the historical basis of the novel, met Ermakov and even corresponded with him.
Biography
The novel sets out the entire chronology of Grigory Melekhov’s life before and after the war. The Don Cossack was born in 1892 on the Tatarsky farm (Veshenskaya village), although the writer does not indicate the exact date of birth. His father Panteley Melekhov once served as a constable in the Ataman Life Guards Regiment, but was retired due to old age. For the time being, the life of a young guy passes in serenity, in ordinary peasant affairs: mowing, fishing, caring for the farm. At night there are passionate meetings with the beautiful Aksinya Astakhova, a married lady, but passionately in love with a young man.
His father is dissatisfied with this heartfelt affection and hastily marries his son to an unloved girl - meek Natalya Korshunova. However, a wedding does not solve the problem. Grigory understands that he is unable to forget Aksinya, so he leaves his legal wife and settles with his mistress on the estate of a local gentleman. On a summer day in 1913, Melekhov became a father - his first daughter was born. The couple’s happiness turned out to be short-lived: life was destroyed by the outbreak of the First World War, which called Gregory to repay his debt to his homeland.
Melekhov fought selflessly and desperately in the war; in one of the battles he was wounded in the eye. For his bravery, the warrior was awarded the Cross of St. George and a promotion in rank, and in the future three more crosses and four medals will be added to the man’s awards. The hero's political views were changed by his acquaintance in the hospital with the Bolshevik Garanzha, who convinces him of the injustice of the tsarist rule.
Meanwhile, a blow awaits Grigory Melekhov at home - Aksinya, heartbroken (by the death of her little daughter), succumbs to the charms of the son of the owner of the Listnitsky estate. The common-law husband, who arrived on leave, did not forgive the betrayal and returned to his legal wife, who later bore him two children.
In the outbreak of the Civil War, Gregory takes the side of the “reds”. But by 1918, he became disillusioned with the Bolsheviks and joined the ranks of those who staged an uprising against the Red Army on the Don, becoming a division commander. The death of his elder brother Petro at the hands of a fellow villager, an ardent supporter of the Soviet regime, Mishka Koshevoy, awakens even greater anger towards the Bolsheviks in the hero’s soul.
Passions are also boiling on the love front - Grigory cannot find peace and is literally torn between his women. Because of his still-living feelings for Aksinya, Melekhov cannot live peacefully in his family. Her husband's constant infidelities push Natalya to have an abortion, which destroys her. The man endures the premature death of a woman with difficulty, because he also had peculiar, but tender feelings for his wife.
The Red Army's offensive against the Cossacks forces Grigory Melekhov to go on the run to Novorossiysk. There, the hero, driven into a dead end, joins the Bolsheviks. The year 1920 was marked by Gregory’s return to his homeland, where he settled with Aksinya’s children. The new government began persecuting the former “whites,” and while escaping to Kuban for a “quiet life,” Aksinya was mortally wounded. After wandering around the world a little more, Gregory returned to his native village, because the new authorities promised amnesty to the Cossack rebels.
Mikhail Sholokhov put an end to the story at the most interesting point, without telling the readers about Melekhov’s further fate. However, it is not difficult to guess what happened to him. Historians urge curious fans of the writer’s work to consider the year of death of his favorite character as the date of death of his favorite character - 1927.
Image
The author conveyed the difficult fate and internal changes of Grigory Melekhov through a description of his appearance. By the end of the novel, a carefree, stately young man in love with life turns into a stern warrior with gray hair and a frozen heart:
“...knew that he would no longer laugh as before; knew that his eyes were sunken and his cheekbones were sticking out sharply, and in his gaze the light of senseless cruelty began to shine through more and more often.”
Gregory is a typical choleric person: temperamental, hot-tempered and unbalanced, which manifests itself both in love affairs and in relationships with the environment in general. The character of the main character of "Quiet Don" is an alloy of courage, heroism and even recklessness; he combines passion and humility, gentleness and cruelty, hatred and endless kindness.
Gregory is a typical choleric person Sholokhov created a hero with an open soul, capable of compassion, forgiveness and humanity: Grigory suffers from a gosling accidentally killed in the mowing, protects Franya, not being afraid of an entire platoon of Cossacks, saves Stepan Astakhov, his sworn enemy, Aksinya’s husband, in the war
In search of the truth, Melekhov rushes from the Reds to the Whites, eventually becoming a renegade who is not accepted by either side. The man appears to be a true hero of his time. Its tragedy lies in the story itself, when a calm life was disrupted by shocks, turning peaceful workers into unhappy people. The character’s spiritual quest was accurately conveyed by the novel’s phrase:
“He stood on the brink in the struggle of two principles, denying both of them.”
All illusions were dispelled in the battles of the civil war: anger towards the Bolsheviks and disappointment in the “whites” forces the hero to look for a third way in the revolution, but he understands that in “the middle it is impossible - they will crush you.” Once a passionate lover of life, Grigory Melekhov never finds faith in himself, remaining at the same time a national character and an extra person in the current fate of the country.
Screen adaptation of the novel "Quiet Don"
The epic of Mikhail Sholokhov appeared on movie screens four times. Based on the first two books, a silent film was made in 1931, where the main roles were played by Andrei Abrikosov (Grigory Melekhov) and Emma Tsesarskaya (Aksinya). There are rumors that, with an eye on the characters of the heroes of this production, the writer created a continuation of “Quiet Don”.
A poignant picture based on the work was presented to the Soviet audience in 1958 by the director. The beautiful half of the country fell in love with the hero performed by. The mustachioed handsome Cossack was in love with, who convincingly appeared in the role of the passionate Aksinya. She played Melekhov's wife Natalya. The film's collection of awards consists of seven awards, including a diploma from the Directors Guild of America.
Another multi-part film adaptation of the novel belongs to. Russia, Great Britain and Italy worked on the 2006 film “Quiet Don”. They also approved for the main role.
For “Quiet Don” Mikhail Sholokhov was accused of plagiarism. Researchers considered the “greatest epic” stolen from a white officer who died in the Civil War. The author even had to temporarily postpone work on writing a sequel to the novel while a special commission investigated the information received. However, the problem of authorship has not yet been resolved.
Beginning actor of the Maly Theater Andrei Abrikosov woke up famous after the premiere of Quiet Don. It is noteworthy that before this, in the temple of Melpomene, he had never appeared on stage - they simply were not given a role. The man also didn’t bother to get acquainted with the work; he read the novel when filming was already in full swing.
Quotes
“You have a smart head, but the fool got it.”
"The blind man said, 'We'll see.'
“Like a steppe scorched by fires, Gregory’s life became black. He lost everything that was dear to his heart. Everything was taken from him, everything was destroyed by merciless death. Only the children remained. But he himself still frantically clung to the ground, as if, in fact, his broken life was of some value to him and to others.”
“Sometimes, remembering your whole life, you look, and it’s like an empty pocket, turned inside out.”
“Life turned out to be humorous, wisely simple. Now it seemed to him that from eternity there had not been such a truth in it, under the wing of which anyone could warm up, and, embittered to the brim, he thought: everyone has their own truth, their own furrow.
“There is no one truth in life. It can be seen that whoever defeats whom will devour him... But I was looking for the bad truth.”
Grigory Melekhov is the most famous and memorable character in Sholokhov’s novel “Quiet Don”. But few people know that in the first edition of the work there was no such hero at all. His place was taken by a certain Abram Ermakov, who looked very much like Gregory. Why the author decided to make changes to the novel is still unknown.
Hero's appearance
Grigory Melekhov (the characteristics of the character will be discussed in detail in this article) is endowed by the author with “wild” beauty, like all the Cossacks of his family. He was taller than his older brother, with black hair and a hooked nose, which made him look like a gypsy. The eyes are slightly slanted, almond-shaped and “blue,” and “sharp slabs of cheekbones are covered with brown skin.” His smile was “bestial”, his “wolf teeth” were snow-white. Hands are stubborn and callous to affection.
In his entire appearance one can feel wildness and roughness, combined with incredible beauty. Even during the war, he did not lose his attractiveness. Although he lost a lot of weight and looked more like an Asian.
Grigory Melikhov wore traditional Cossack clothing: wide trousers, white woolen stockings, chiriki (shoes), zipun, loose shirt, short fur coat. The clothing has a direct indication of nationality. The author emphasizes the Cossack origin of his hero.
Who is the main character of the novel?
Let's start with the fact that Sholokhov's focus is on the people, and not on a specific individual. And Gregory stands out from the general background only because he is the embodiment of folk traits. It became a reflection of Cossack prowess and “love for farming, for work” - the two main commandments of the Cossacks, who were warriors and farmers at the same time.
But Grigory Melekhov (“Quiet Don”) is famous not only for this. The distinctive features of his character were self-will, the desire for truth and independence in action. He always strives to verify everything personally and does not take anyone’s word for it. For him, truth is born slowly, from concrete reality, painfully and painfully. His whole life is a search for truth. The same thoughts tormented the Cossacks, who first encountered the new government.
Grigory Melekhov and Aksinya
The love conflict is one of the main ones in the novel. The main character's relationship with Aksinya runs like a red thread throughout the entire work. Their feeling was high, but tragic.
Let's talk a little about heroin. Aksinya is a stately, beautiful and proud Cossack woman who perceives what is happening very emotionally. She had a difficult fate. At sixteen, Aksinya was raped by her father, and a year later she was married to Stepan Astakhov, who beat her. This was followed by the death of the child. An unloved husband and hard work - this is the whole life of a young woman. This was the fate of many peasant and Cossack women, which is why it is generally accepted that “Quiet Don” reflects an entire era.
The fate of Grigory Melekhov turned out to be closely intertwined with the life of Aksinya. The woman wanted true love, which is why she responded so readily to her neighbor’s advances. Passion flared up between the young people, burning away fear, shame and doubt.
Even marrying Natalya did not stop Gregory. He continued to meet with Aksinya, for which he was expelled from home by his father. But even here the lovers did not give up. Their life as workers does not bring happiness. And Aksinya’s betrayal with her master’s son forces Gregory to return to his wife.
However, the final break does not occur. The lovers begin to meet again. They carry their feelings throughout their lives, despite all misfortunes and tragedies.
Character
Grigory Melekhov does not run from reality. He soberly assesses everything that happens around him and takes an active part in all events. This is considered the most striking and memorable in his image. He is characterized by breadth of soul and nobility. So, he saves the life of Stepan Astakhov, risking himself, although he does not have any friendly feelings towards him. He then bravely rushes to save those who killed his brother.
The image of Melekhov is complex and ambiguous. He is characterized by tossing and feeling of internal dissatisfaction with his actions. That is why he constantly rushes about; making a choice is not an easy task for him.
Social aspect
The character of a hero is determined by his origin. For example, Listnitsky is a landowner, and Koshevoy is a farm laborer, so they cannot be relied upon. Grigory Melekhov has a completely different origin. “Quiet Don” was written during the heyday of socialist realism and harsh criticism. Therefore, it is not surprising that the main character has a peasant origin, which was considered the most “correct”. However, the fact that he was from the middle peasants was the reason for all his throwing. The hero is both a worker and an owner. This is the cause of internal discord.
During the war, Grigory Melekhov practically does not care about his family, even Aksinya fades into the background. At this time, he is trying to understand the social structure and his place in it. In war, the hero does not seek benefit for himself, the main thing is to find the truth. That is why he peers so intently at the world around him. He does not share the enthusiasm of other Cossacks for the coming of the revolution. Grigory does not understand why they need her.
Previously, the Cossacks themselves decided who would rule them, they chose an ataman, but now they are imprisoned for this. There is no need for generals or peasants on the Don; the people will figure it out themselves, just as they figured it out before. And the promises of the Bolsheviks are false. They say that everyone is equal, but here comes the Red Army, the platoon commander has chrome boots, and the soldiers are all in bandages. And where is the equality?
Search
Grigory Melekhov sees reality very clearly and soberly assesses what is happening. In this he is similar to many Cossacks, but there is one difference - the hero is looking for the truth. This is what haunts him. Sholokhov himself wrote that Melekhov embodied the opinion of all Cossacks, but his strength lies in the fact that he was not afraid to speak out and tried to resolve contradictions, and did not humbly accept what was happening, hiding behind words about brotherhood and equality.
Grigory could admit that the Reds were right, but he felt the lies in their slogans and promises. He could not take everything on faith, and when he checked it in reality, it turned out that he was being lied to.
Turning a blind eye to lies was tantamount to betraying oneself, one’s land and one’s people.
How to deal with an unnecessary person?
Grigory Melekhov (his characterization confirms this) stood out from other representatives of the Cossacks. This attracted Shtokman's attention to him. This man did not have time to convince people like our hero, so he immediately decided to eliminate him. The innocent Gregory was doomed to arrest and death. What else to do with unnecessary people who ask unnecessary questions?
The order is given to Koshevoy, who is surprised and embarrassed. Gregory, his friend, is accused of having a dangerous way of thinking. Here we see the main conflict of the novel, where two sides collide, each of which is right. Shtokman is taking all measures to prevent an uprising that could prevent the accession of Soviet power, which he serves. Gregory’s character does not allow him to come to terms with either his fate or the fate of his people.
However, Shtokman's order becomes the beginning of the very uprising that he wanted to prevent. Together with Melekhov, who entered into battle with Koshev, the entire Cossacks rise. In this scene, the reader can clearly see that Gregory is truly a reflection of the people's will.
Melekhov decides to fight the power of the Reds. And this decision was due to a series of incidents: the arrest of his father, numerous executions in Tatarskoye, a threat to the life of the hero himself, insults to the Red Army soldiers stationed at his base.
Gregory has made his choice and is confident in it. However, not all so simple. This is not the last turn in his fate.
Throwing
The image of Grigory Melekhov in the novel “Quiet Don” is very ambiguous. He is constantly tossing around and is not sure of the right choice. This is what happens with the decision to confront the Red Army. He sees the prisoners and dead who took part in his uprising, and understands who might benefit from this. The final epiphany comes when Gregory alone rushes to the machine gun and kills the sailors who controlled it. Melekhov then rolls around in the snow and exclaims: “Who did I kill!”
The hero again finds himself in conflict with the world. All Melekhov’s vacillations reflect the vacillations of the entire Cossacks, who first came from monarchism to Bolshevism, then decided to build autonomy, and then returned to Bolshevism again. Only in the example of Gregory do we see everything more clearly than what actually happened. This is connected with the very character of the hero, with his intransigence, passion, and unbridledness. Melekhov judges himself and those around him strictly. He is ready to answer for his wrong actions, but he wants others to answer too.
Summing up
The image of Grigory Melekhov in the novel “Quiet Don” is full of tragedy. Throughout his life he tried to find the truth, but what did he get in the end? In the last chapter of the book, we see how the hero loses his most precious thing - his beloved woman. Aksinya's death was the most terrible blow for Melekhov. At that moment the meaning of life was taken away from him. He has no more close people left in this world. Mental devastation leads him to the forest. He tries to live alone, but cannot stand it and returns to the farm where his son lives - the only thing left of Aksinya and their love.
What is the tragedy of Grigory Melekhov? He came into conflict with the world, could not come to terms with its new laws, attempts to change something ended in failure. But the hero could not come to terms with what was happening. The new era “grinded” and distorted his fate. Gregory simply turned out to be a person who could not adapt to change.
Introduction
The fate of Grigory Melekhov in the novel “Quiet Don” by Sholokhov becomes the focus of the reader’s attention. This hero, who by the will of fate found himself in the midst of difficult historical events, has been forced to search for his own path in life for many years.
Description of Grigory Melekhov
From the very first pages of the novel, Sholokhov introduces us to the unusual fate of grandfather Grigory, explaining why the Melekhovs are outwardly different from the rest of the inhabitants of the farm. Grigory, like his father, had “a drooping kite nose, in slightly slanting slits there were bluish almonds of hot eyes, sharp slabs of cheekbones.” Remembering the origin of Pantelei Prokofievich, everyone in the farmstead called the Melekhovs “Turks.”
Life changes Gregory's inner world. His appearance also changes. From a carefree, cheerful guy, he turns into a stern warrior whose heart has hardened. Gregory “knew that he would no longer laugh as before; knew that his eyes were sunken and his cheekbones were sticking out sharply,” and in his gaze “a light of senseless cruelty began to shine through more and more often.”
At the end of the novel, a completely different Gregory appears before us. This is a mature man, tired of life, “with tired squinting eyes, with the reddish tips of a black mustache, with premature gray hair at the temples and hard wrinkles on the forehead.”
Characteristics of Gregory
At the beginning of the work, Grigory Melekhov is a young Cossack living according to the laws of his ancestors. The main thing for him is farming and family. He enthusiastically helps his father with mowing and fishing. He is unable to contradict his parents when they marry him to the unloved Natalya Korshunova.
But, for all that, Gregory is a passionate, addicted person. Contrary to his father's prohibitions, he continues to go to night games. He meets Aksinya Astakhova, his neighbor’s wife, and then leaves his home with her.
Gregory, like most Cossacks, is characterized by courage, sometimes reaching the point of recklessness. He behaves heroically at the front, participating in the most dangerous forays. At the same time, the hero is not alien to humanity. He is worried about a gosling he accidentally killed while mowing. He suffers for a long time because of the murdered unarmed Austrian. “By obeying his heart,” Grigory saves his sworn enemy Stepan from death. He goes against an entire platoon of Cossacks, defending Franya.
In Gregory, passion and obedience, madness and gentleness, kindness and hatred coexist at the same time.
The fate of Grigory Melekhov and his path of quest
The fate of Melekhov in the novel “Quiet Don” is tragic. He is constantly forced to look for a “way out,” the right road. It's not easy for him in the war. His personal life is also complicated.
Like the beloved heroes of L.N. Tolstoy, Grigory goes through a difficult path of life’s quest. At the beginning, everything seemed clear to him. Like other Cossacks, he is called up for war. For him there is no doubt that he must defend the Fatherland. But, getting to the front, the hero understands that his whole nature is opposed to murder.
Grigory moves from white to red, but even here he will be disappointed. Seeing how Podtyolkov deals with captured young officers, he loses faith in this power and the next year he again finds himself in the White Army.
Tossing between the whites and the reds, the hero himself becomes embittered. He loots and kills. He tries to forget himself in drunkenness and fornication. In the end, fleeing the persecution of the new government, he finds himself among the bandits. Then he becomes a deserter.
Grigory is exhausted from tossing and turning. He wants to live on his land, raise bread and children. Although life hardens the hero and gives his features something “wolfish,” in essence, he is not a killer. Having lost everything and not having found his way, Grigory returns to his native farm, realizing that, most likely, death awaits him here. But a son and a home are the only things that keep the hero alive.
Gregory's relationship with Aksinya and Natalya
Fate sends the hero two passionately loving women. But Gregory’s relationship with them is not easy. While still single, Grigory falls in love with Aksinya, the wife of Stepan Astakhov, his neighbor. Over time, the woman reciprocates his feelings, and their relationship develops into unbridled passion. “So unusual and obvious was their crazy connection, they burned so frantically with one shameless flame, people without conscience and without hiding, losing weight and blackening their faces in front of their neighbors, that now for some reason people were ashamed to look at them when they met.”
Despite this, he cannot resist his father’s will and marries Natalya Korshunova, promising himself to forget Aksinya and settle down. But Gregory is unable to keep his vow to himself. Although Natalya is beautiful and selflessly loves her husband, he gets back together with Aksinya and leaves his wife and parental home.
After Aksinya's betrayal, Grigory returns to his wife again. She accepts him and forgives past grievances. But he was not destined for a calm family life. The image of Aksinya haunts him. Fate brings them together again. Unable to bear the shame and betrayal, Natalya has an abortion and dies. Grigory blames himself for the death of his wife and experiences this loss cruelly.
Now, it would seem, nothing can stop him from finding happiness with the woman he loves. But circumstances force him to leave his place and, together with Aksinya, set off on the road again, the last for his beloved.
With the death of Aksinya, Gregory's life loses all meaning. The hero no longer has even a ghostly hope for happiness. “And Grigory, dying of horror, realized that it was all over, that the worst thing that could happen in his life had already happened.”
Conclusion
In conclusion of my essay on the topic “The Fate of Grigory Melekhov in the novel “Quiet Don””, I want to fully agree with critics who believe that in “Quiet Don” the fate of Grigory Melekhov is the most difficult and one of the most tragic. Using the example of Grigory Sholokhov, he showed how the whirlpool of political events breaks human destiny. And the one who sees his destiny in peaceful work suddenly becomes a cruel killer with a devastated soul.
Work test
Mikhail Sholokhov knew and loved his small homeland and could describe it perfectly. With this he entered Russian literature. First appeared "Don Stories". The masters of that time drew attention to him (today’s reader does not know any of them) and said: “Beautiful! Well done!" Then they forgot... And suddenly the first volume of the work was published, which almost put the author on a par with Homer, Goethe and Leo Tolstoy. In the epic novel “Quiet Don,” Mikhail Alexandrovich reliably reflected the fate of a great people, the endless search for truth in the chaotic years and bloody revolution.
Quiet Don in the fate of a writer
The image of Grigory Melikhov captivated the entire reading public. Young talent needs to develop and develop. But circumstances were not conducive to the writer becoming the conscience of the nation and people. Sholokhov's Cossack nature did not allow him to strive to become the favorites of the rulers, but they did not allow him to become in Russian literature what he was supposed to become.
Many years after the Great Patriotic War and the publication of “The Fate of Man,” Mikhail Sholokhov made a strange, at first glance, entry in his diary: “They all liked my Man. So I lied? Don't know. But I know what I didn’t say.”
Favorite hero
From the first pages of "Quiet Don" the writer draws a diverse and wide river of life in the Don Cossack village. And Grigory Melikhov is only one of many interesting characters in this book and, moreover, not the most important, as it seems at first. His mental outlook is primitive, like his grandfather's saber. He has nothing to become the center of a large artistic canvas, except for his willful, explosive character. But from the first pages the reader feels the writer’s love for this character and begins to follow his fate. What attracts us and Gregory from our youth? Probably due to your biology, your blood.
Even male readers are not indifferent to him, like those women from real life who loved Gregory more than life itself. And he lives like Don. His inner masculine force draws everyone into his orbit. Nowadays, such people are called charismatic personalities.
But there are other forces at work in the world that require comprehension and analysis. However, they continue to live in the village, not suspecting anything, thinking that they are protected from the world by their courageous moral virtues: they eat their own (!) bread, serve the Fatherland as their grandfathers and great-grandfathers taught them. It seems to all village residents, including Grigory Melikhov, that a more just and sustainable life does not exist. They sometimes fight among themselves, mainly over women, not suspecting that it is women who choose, giving preference to powerful biology. And this is correct - Mother Nature herself ordered this so that the human race, including the Cossacks, would not dry out on Earth.
War
But civilization has given rise to many injustices, and one of them is a false idea, clothed in truthful words. The quiet Don flows truthfully. And the fate of Grigory Melikhov, who was born on its banks, did not foretell anything that would make the blood run cold.
The village of Veshenskaya and the village of Tatarsky were not founded by St. Petersburg and they were not fed by him either. But the idea that life itself was almost granted to each Cossack personally, not by God, but by his father and mother, but by some center, broke into the tough but fair life of the Cossacks with the word “war.” Something similar happened on the other side of Europe. Two large groups of people went to war against each other in an organized and civilized manner in order to flood the earth with blood. And they were inspired by false ideas, clothed in words about love for the Fatherland.
War without embellishment
Sholokhov paints the war as it is, showing how it cripples human souls. Sad mothers and young wives remained at home, and the Cossacks with pikes went to fight. Gregory's sword tasted human meat for the first time, and in an instant he became a completely different person.
A dying German listened to him, not understanding a word of Russian, but understanding that universal evil was being committed - the essence of the image and likeness of God was being mutilated.
Revolution
Again, not in the village, not on the Tatarsky farm, but far, far from the banks of the Don, tectonic shifts begin in the depths of society, the waves from which will reach the hardworking Cossacks. The main character of the novel returned home. He has a lot of personal problems. He has had his fill of blood and no longer wants to shed it. But the life of Grigory Melikhov, his personality is of interest to those who have not obtained a piece of bread for their own food for decades with their own hands. And some people bring false ideas to the Cossack community, clothed in truthful words about equality, brotherhood and justice.
Grigory Melikhov is drawn into a struggle that is alien to him by definition. Who started this quarrel in which the Russians hated the Russians? The main character does not ask this question. His fate carries through life like a blade of grass. Grigory Melikhov listens in surprise to the friend of his youth, who began to say incomprehensible words and look at him with suspicion.
And the Don flows calmly and majestically. The fate of Grigory Melikhov is just an episode for him. New people will come to its shores, new life will come. The writer says almost nothing about the revolution, although everyone talks about it a lot. But nothing they say is remembered. Don's image steals the show. And the revolution is also just an episode on its shores.
The tragedy of Grigory Melikhov
The main character of Sholokhov's novel began his life simply and clearly. Loved and was loved. He vaguely believed in God, without going into details. And in the future he lived as simply and clearly as in childhood. Grigory Melikhov did not retreat even one small step from his essence, nor from the truth that he absorbed into himself along with the water that he drew from the Don. And even his saber did not dig into human bodies with pleasure, although he had an innate ability to kill. The tragedy was precisely that Gregory remained an atom of society, which could either be split into component parts by a will alien to him, or combined with other atoms. He did not understand this and strived to remain free, like the majestic Don. On the last pages of the novel we see him calmed down, hope for happiness glimmers in his soul. A questionable point in the novel. Will the main character find what he dreams of?
The end of the Cossack way of life
An artist may not understand anything that happens around him, but he must feel life. And Mikhail Sholokhov felt it. Tectonic shifts in world history destroyed the beloved Cossack way of life, distorted the souls of the Cossacks, turning them into meaningless “atoms” that became suitable for the construction of anything and anyone, but not the Cossacks themselves.
There are a lot of didactic policies in volumes 2, 3, and 4 of the novel, but, describing the path of Grigory Melikhov, the artist involuntarily returned to the truth of life. And false ideas receded into the background and dissolved in the haze of centuries-old prospects. The triumphant notes of the final part of the novel are drowned out by the reader’s longing for the bygone life that the writer depicted with such incredible artistic power in volume 1 of “The Quiet Don.”
The first one as a basis
Sholokhov begins his novel with a description of the appearance of a child who founded the Melikhov family, and ends with a description of a child who should extend this family. "Quiet Don" can be called a great work of Russian literature. This work not only opposes everything that was later written by Sholokhov, but is a reflection of the core of the Cossack people, which gives hope to the writer himself that the existence of the Cossacks on Earth has not ended.
Two wars and a revolution are just episodes in the life of a people who recognize themselves as Don Cossacks. He will still wake up and show the world his beautiful Melikhovo soul.
The life of the Cossack family is immortal
The main character of Sholokhov's novel entered the very core of the worldview of the Russian people. Grigory Melikhov (his image) ceased to be a household name back in the 30s of the twentieth century. It cannot be said that the writer endowed the hero with the typical features of a Cossack. There is just not enough typical in Grigory Melikhov. And there is no special beauty in it. It is beautiful with its power, vitality, which is capable of overcoming all the sediment that comes to the banks of the free, quiet Don.
This is an image of hope and faith in the highest meaning of human existence, which is always the basis of everything. In a strange way, those ideas that tore apart the village of Veshenskaya and erased the Tatarsky farm from the earth have sunk into oblivion, but the novel “Quiet Don” and the fate of Grigory Melikhov remained in our consciousness. This proves the immortality of Cossack blood and clan.
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The main character of the novel is M.A. Sholokhov is the Don Cossack Grigory Melekhov. We see how dramatically the fate of Gregory develops on one of the most controversial and bloody pages of our history.
But the novel begins long before these events. First, we are introduced to the life and customs of the Cossacks. In this time of peace, Gregory lives a calm life, not caring about anything. However, at the same time, the hero’s first mental turning point occurs, when, after a stormy romance with Aksinya, Grishka realizes the importance of family and returns to his wife Natalya. A little later, the First World War begins, in which Gregory takes an active part, receiving many awards. But Melekhov himself is disappointed in the war, in which he saw only dirt, blood and death, and with this comes disappointment in the imperial power, which sends thousands of people to their deaths. In this regard, the main character falls under the influence of the ideas of communism, and already in the seventeenth year he takes the side of the Bolsheviks, believing that they will be able to build a new, just society.
However, almost immediately, when the Red commander Podtelkov carries out a bloody massacre of the captured White Guards, disappointment sets in. For Gregory, this becomes a terrible blow; in his opinion, it is impossible to fight for a better future while committing cruelty and injustice. Melekhov’s innate sense of justice repels him from the Bolsheviks. Returning home, he wants to take care of his family and housekeeping. But life does not give him this chance. His native village supports the white movement, and Melekhov follows them. The death of his brother at the hands of the Reds only fuels the hero’s hatred. But when Podtelkov’s surrendered detachment is mercilessly exterminated, Grigory cannot accept such cold-blooded destruction of his neighbor.
Soon, the Cossacks, dissatisfied with the White Guards, including Grigory, deserted and let the Red Army soldiers pass through their positions. Tired of war and murder, the hero hopes that they will leave him alone. However, the Red Army soldiers begin to commit robbery and murder, and the hero, in order to protect his home and family, joins the separatist uprising. It was during this period that Melekhov fought most zealously and did not torment himself with doubts. He is supported by the knowledge that he is protecting his loved ones. When the Don separatists unite with the white movement, Grigory again experiences disappointment.
In the final, Melekhov finally goes over to the Red side. Hoping to earn forgiveness and a chance to return home, he fights without sparing himself. During the war he lost his brother, wife, father and mother. All he has left are his children, and he just wants to return to them so he can forget about the fight and never take up arms. Unfortunately this is not possible. For those around him, Melekhov is a traitor. Suspicion turns into outright hostility, and soon the Soviet government begins a real hunt for Gregory. During the flight, his still beloved Aksinya dies. After wandering around the steppe, the main character, aged and gray, finally loses heart and returns to his native farm. He has resigned himself, but wishes to see his son perhaps one last time before accepting his sad fate.
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