Who can live well in Rus' is a problem. Moral problems in Nekrasov's poem: who can live well in Rus' Moral problems in Rus' can live well

Introduction

“The people are liberated, but are the people happy?” Nekrasov asked this question, formulated in the poem “Elegy,” more than once. In his final work, “Who Lives Well in Rus',” the problem of happiness becomes the fundamental problem on which the plot of the poem is based.

Seven men from different villages (the names of these villages - Gorelovo, Neelovo, etc. make it clear to the reader that they have never seen happiness in them) set off on a journey in search of happiness. The plot of searching for something in itself is very common and is often found in fairy tales, as well as in hagiographic literature, where a long and dangerous journey to the Holy Land was often described. As a result of such a search, the hero acquires a very valuable thing (remember the fairy-tale I-don’t-know-what), or, in the case of pilgrims, grace. What will the wanderers find from Nekrasov’s poem? As you know, their search for happiness will not be crowned with success - either because the author did not have time to finish his poem, or because, due to their spiritual immaturity, they are still not ready to see a truly happy person. To answer this question, let’s look at how the problem of happiness is transformed in the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'.”

Evolution of the concept of “happiness” in the minds of the main characters

“Peace, wealth, honor” - this formula of happiness, derived at the beginning of the poem by the priest, exhaustively describes the understanding of happiness not only for the priest. It conveys the original, superficial view of the happiness of wanderers. Peasants who have lived in poverty for many years cannot imagine happiness that is not supported by material wealth and universal respect. They form a list of possible lucky ones according to their ideas: priest, boyar, landowner, official, minister and tsar. And, although Nekrasov did not have time to realize all his plans in the poem - the chapter where the wanderers would reach the tsar remained unwritten, but already two from this list - the priest and the landowner, were enough for the men to become disappointed in their initial view for luck.

The stories of the priest and the landowner, met by wanderers on the road, are quite similar to each other. Both sound sadness about the past happy, satisfying times, when power and prosperity themselves fell into their hands. Now, as shown in the poem, the landowners were taken away everything that made up their usual way of life: land, obedient slaves, and in return they were given an unclear and even frightening covenant to work. And so the happiness that seemed unshakable disappeared like smoke, leaving only regrets in its place: “... the landowner began to cry.”

After listening to these stories, the men abandon their original plan - they begin to understand that real happiness lies in something else. On their way they come across a peasant fair - a place where many peasants gather. The men decide to look for the happy one among them. The problematic of the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” changes - it becomes important for wanderers to find not just an abstract happy person, but a happy one among the common people.

But none of the recipes for happiness proposed by people at the fair - neither the fabulous turnip harvest, nor the opportunity to eat enough bread, nor magical power, nor even a miraculous accident that allowed us to stay alive - convinces our wanderers. They develop an understanding that happiness cannot depend on material things and simply preserving life. This is confirmed by the life story of Ermil Girin, told there at the fair. Yermil always tried to act truthfully, and in any position - burgomaster, scribe, and then miller - he enjoyed the love of the people. To some extent, he serves as a harbinger of another hero, Grisha Dobrosklonov, who also devoted his whole life to serving the people. But what kind of gratitude was there for Yermil’s actions? They shouldn’t consider him happy, they tell the men, Yermil is in prison because he stood up for the peasants during the riot...

The image of happiness as freedom in the poem

A simple peasant woman, Matryona Timofeevna, offers wanderers a look at the problem of happiness from the other side. Having told them the story of her life, full of hardships and troubles - only then was she happy, as a child she lived with her parents - she adds:

"The keys to women's happiness,
From our free will,
Abandoned, lost..."

Happiness is compared to a thing unattainable for a long time for peasants - free will, i.e. freedom. Matryona obeyed all her life: to her husband, his unkind family, the evil will of the landowners who killed her eldest son and wanted to flog the younger one, injustice, because of which her husband was taken into the army. She receives some kind of joy in life only when she decides to rebel against this injustice and goes to ask for her husband. This is when Matryona finds peace of mind:

"Okay, easy,
Clear in my heart"

And this definition of happiness as freedom, apparently, is to the liking of the men, because already in the next chapter they indicate the goal of their journey as follows:

“We are looking, Uncle Vlas,
Unflogged province,
Ungutted parish,
Izbytkova village"

It is clear that here the first place is no longer given to “excess” - wealth, but to “purity”, a sign of freedom. The men realized that they would have wealth after they had the opportunity to manage their own lives. And here Nekrasov raises another important moral problem - the problem of servility in the minds of Russian people. Indeed, at the time of the creation of the poem, the peasants already had freedom - the decree on the abolition of serfdom. But they have yet to learn to live as free people. It is not for nothing that in the chapter “The Last One” many of the Vakhlachans so easily agree to play the role of imaginary serfs - this role is profitable, and, what is there to hide, habitual, not forcing one to think about the future. Freedom of speech has already been obtained, but the men still stand in front of the landowner, taking off their hats, and he graciously allows them to sit down (chapter “Landowner”). The author shows how dangerous such pretense is - Agap, supposedly flogged to please the old prince, actually dies in the morning, unable to bear the shame:

“The man is raw, special,
The head is unbowed”...

Conclusion

So, as we see, in the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” the problems are quite complex and detailed and cannot be reduced in the end to simply finding a happy person. The main problem of the poem is precisely that, as the wandering of the men shows, the people are not yet ready to become happy, they do not see the right path. The consciousness of wanderers gradually changes, and they become able to discern the essence of happiness beyond its earthly components, but every person has to go through this path. Therefore, instead of the lucky one, a figure appears at the end of the poem people's defender, Grisha Dobrosklonova. He himself is not from the peasant class, but from the spiritual class, which is why he so clearly sees the intangible component of happiness: a free, educated Rus' that has recovered from centuries of slavery. Grisha is unlikely to be happy on his own: fate is preparing for him “consumption and Siberia.” But he embodies in the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” the people's happiness, which is yet to come. Along with the voice of Grisha, singing joyful songs about free Rus', one can hear the convinced voice of Nekrasov himself: when the peasants are freed not only verbally, but also internally, then each individual person will be happy.

The given thoughts about happiness in Nekrasov’s poem will be useful to 10th grade students when preparing an essay on the topic “The problem of happiness in the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'”.”

Work test

What problems does Nekrasov pose in the work “Who Lives Well in Rus'”? and got the best answer

Answer from Alexey Khoroshev[guru]
The poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” is the central and largest work in the work of Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov. The work, begun in 1863, was written over several years. Then the poet was distracted by other topics and finished the poem already terminally ill in 1877, with a bitter awareness of the incompleteness of his plans: “One thing I deeply regret is that I did not finish my poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'.” However, the question of the “incompleteness” of the poem is very controversial and problematic. It is conceived as an epic that can be continued endlessly, but you can put an end to any part of its path. We will treat the poem as a finished work that poses and resolves a philosophical question - the problem of the happiness of the people and the individual.
The central characters that connect all the characters and episodes are seven male wanderers: Roman, Demyan, Luka, the Gubin brothers - Ivan and Mitrodor, the old man Pakhom and Prov, who set off on a journey no less, how can you find out:
Who has fun?
Free in Rus'?
The form of travel helps the poet show the life of all layers of society in all its diversity and throughout Russia.
“We have measured half the kingdom,” the men say.
Talking with the priest, the landowner, and the peasants from the chapter “Happy,” Ermila Girin, our travelers do not find a truly happy person, satisfied with his fate, living in abundance. In general, the concept of “happiness” is quite diverse.
The sexton states:
That happiness is not in pastures.
Not in sables, not in gold,
Not in expensive stones.
- What is it?
“In good humor! ”
The soldier is happy:
That in twenty battles I was, and not killed!
The “Olonchan stonemason” is happy that he is endowed by nature with heroic strength, and the slave of Prince Peremetyev is “happy” that he is sick with “noble gout.” But all this is a rather pathetic semblance of happiness. Yermil Girin is somewhat closer to the ideal, but He also “stumbled”, taking advantage of his power over people. And our travelers come to the conclusion that we need to look for a happy woman among women.
Matryona Timofeevna's story is full of drama. The life of a “happy” peasant woman is full of losses, grief, and hard work. The words of Matryona Timofeevna’s confession are bitter:
The keys to female happiness,
From our free will
Abandoned, lost
From God himself!
Isn't this situation dramatic? Is it really impossible for male wanderers to find a truly happy person, satisfied with his life, in the whole world? Our wanderers are depressed. How long do they have to go in search of happiness? Will they ever see their families?
Having met Grisha Dobrosklonov, the men understand that what is before them is true happy man. But his happiness does not lie in wealth, contentment, or peace, but in the respect of the people, who see Grisha as their intercessor.
Fate had in store for him
The path is glorious, the name is loud
People's Defender,
Consumption and Siberia.
During their journey, the wanderers grew spiritually. Their voice merges with the opinion of the author. That is why they unanimously call happy the poor and still unknown Grisha Dobrosklonov, in whose image the features of Russian democrats are clearly visible: Chernyshevsky, Belinsky, Dobrolyubov.
The poem ends with a stern warning:
The army is rising - Innumerable!
The strength in her will be indestructible!
This army is capable of much if it is led by people like Grisha Dobrosklonov.

Many questions arise before the disputants in the work of N.A. Nekrasov. The main one is who lives happily?

The problem of happiness in the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” goes beyond the usual understanding of the philosophical concept of “happiness”. But this is understandable. Men of the lowest class are trying to solve the problem. It seems to them that the free, the rich, and the cheerful can be happy.

Components of happiness

Literary scholars are trying to explain to the reader who the author ultimately wanted to present as truly happy. Their opinions differ. This confirms the genius of the poet. He managed to make people think, search, think. The text does not leave anyone indifferent. The poem does not have an exact answer. The reader has the right to remain unconvinced. He, like one of the wanderers, is looking for an answer, going far beyond the scope of the poem.

The opinion of individual studies is interesting. They suggest that men who are looking for an answer to a question should be considered happy. The Wanderers are representatives of the peasantry. They are from different villages, but with “speaking” names that characterize the life of the country’s population. Shoeless, hungry, in clothes with holes, after lean years, survivors of illness, fires, walkers receive a self-assembled tablecloth as a gift. Her image is expanded in the poem. Here she not only feeds and waters. The tablecloth protects shoes and clothes. Walk around the country, man, all the problems of everyday life remain aside. Wanderers meet different people, listen to stories, sympathize and empathize. Such a journey during the harvest and usual work activities is real happiness. Find yourself far from a poor family, a poor village. It is clear that not all of them realize how happy they were in their search. The man became free, but this did not bring him wealth and the opportunity to live according to his desires. Happiness stands opposite to serfdom. Slavery becomes the antonym of the desired concept. It is impossible to collect all the components of national happiness into a single whole.

Each class has its own goals:

• Men - a good harvest;
• The priests are a rich and large parish;
• Soldier - maintaining health;
• Women are kind relatives and healthy children;
• Landowners - a large number of servants.

A man and a gentleman cannot be happy at the same time. The abolition of slavery led to the loss of the foundations of both classes. Truth-seekers walked many roads and conducted a survey of the population. Stories about happiness make some people want to roar at the top of their lungs. Vodka makes people happy. That's why there are so many drinkers in Rus'. The man, the priest, and the gentleman want to drown the grief.

Components of true happiness

In the poem, the characters try to imagine good life. The author tells the reader that everyone’s perception of the environment is different. What does not please some is the highest pleasure for others. The beauty of Russian landscapes captivates the reader. People with feelings of nobility remained in Rus'. They are not changed by poverty, rudeness, illness and adversity of fate. There are few of them in the poem, but they are in every village.

Yakim Nagoy. Hunger and the hard life of the peasant did not kill the desire for beauty in his soul. During a fire, he saves paintings. Yakima's wife saves icons. This means that in a woman’s soul there lives a belief in the spiritual transformation of people. Money remains in the background. But they saved them for many years. The amount is amazing - 35 rubles. Our Motherland was so poor in the past! Love for beauty makes a man stand out and inspires faith: wine will not flood the “bloody rain” of the peasant’s soul.

Ermil Girin. The selfless man managed to win the lawsuit against the merchant with the help of the people. They lent him their last pennies, without fear of deception. Honesty did not find its happy ending in the fate of the hero. He ends up in prison. Yermil experiences mental anguish when he replaces his brother at the recruiting office. The author believes in the peasant, but understands that a sense of justice does not always lead to the desired result.

Grigory Dobrosklonov. The defender of the people is the prototype of the revolutionary-minded part of the inhabitants, a new emerging movement in Rus'. They try to change their native place, abandon their own well-being, and do not seek peace for themselves. The poet warns that the hero will become famous and glorious in Rus', the author sees them walking ahead and singing hymns.

Nekrasov believes: the wrestlers will be happy. But who will know and believe in their happiness? History tells the opposite: hard labor, exile, consumption, death - this is not all that awaits them in the future. Not everyone will be able to convey their ideas to the people; many will remain outcasts, unrecognized geniuses.

The answer to the question “Who can live well in Rus'?” may not be found. Doubts penetrate the souls of readers. Happiness is a strange category. It can come for a moment from the joy of ordinary life, lead to a state of bliss from wine, barely perceptible in moments of love and affection. What needs to be done to make everyone happy in the understanding of the common man? Changes must affect the structure and structure of the country. Who is capable of carrying out such reforms? Will freedom give this feeling to a person? Even more questions appear than at the beginning of reading the poem. This is the task of literature: to make you think, evaluate, and plan actions.

Nekrasov conceived the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” as a “people's book.” He began writing it in 1863 and ended up terminally ill in 1877. The poet dreamed that his book would be close to the peasantry. At the center of the poem is a collective image of the Russian peasantry, the image of a guardian native land. The poem reflects the peasant's joys and sorrows, doubts and hopes, the thirst for freedom and happiness. All the most important events in the life of a peasant were contained in this work. The plot of the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” is close to folk stories about the search for happiness and truth. Peasants are a symbol of awakening Russia. Among the peasants depicted by Nekrasov, we see many persistent seekers of truth. These are seven men. Their main goal is to find “manly happiness.” And until he was found, the men decided that they would not return home. Not to see either wives or little children... But besides them, in the poem there are seekers of people's happiness. One of them is depicted by Nekrasov in the chapter “Drunken Night”. This is Yakim Nagoya. In his appearance and language, one senses inner dignity, unbroken by either hard work or powerless situation. Yakim argues with the “smart Mr. Pavlus Veretennikov. He defends men from accusations that they “drink until they go crazy.” Yakim is smart, he understands perfectly why life is so difficult for peasants. His rebellious spirit does not resign himself to such a life. In the mouth of Yakim Nagogo comes a menacing warning: “Every peasant has a Soul like a black, angry, menacing cloud...”. The chapter “Happy” tells about another man - Ermil Girin. He became famous throughout the area for his intelligence and selfless devotion to the interests of the peasants. The story about Ermil Girin begins with a description of the hero's lawsuit with the merchant Altynnikov over the orphan mill. Ermila turns to the people for help.

Ermila is endowed with a sense of justice. Only once did he stumble when he shielded “his younger brother Mitri from recruiting.” But this act cost him severe torment; in a fit of repentance, he almost committed suicide. At a critical moment, Ermila Girin sacrifices her happiness for the sake of the truth and ends up in prison. We see that the heroes of the poem understand happiness in different ways. From the point of view of the priest, this is “peace, wealth, honor.” According to the landowner, happiness is idle, well-fed, fun life, unlimited power over the peasants. In search of wealth and power, “a huge crowd, greedy for temptation,” writes Nekrasov. In the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus',” Nekrasov also touches on the problem of women’s happiness. It is revealed through the image of Matryona Timofeevna. This is a typical peasant woman of the Central Russian zone, endowed with restrained beauty and self-esteem. On her shoulders fell not only the entire burden of peasant labor, but also responsibility for the fate of the family, for raising children. The image of Matryona Timofeevna is collective. She experienced everything that can befall a Russian woman. The difficult fate of Matryona Timofeevna gives her the right to tell travelers on behalf of all Russian women:

“The keys to female happiness, From our free will, are abandoned, lost from God himself!”

from our free will, abandoned, lost from God himself!”

Nekrasov reveals the problem of people's happiness in the poem also with the help of the image of the people's intercessor Grisha Dobrosklonov. He is the son of a sexton who lived “poorer than the last impoverished peasant” and a “dumb farmhand.” A hard life gives rise to protest in this person. From childhood he decides that he will devote his life to the search for national happiness. “... At the age of fifteen, Gregory knew for sure that he would live for the happiness of his poor and dark native corner.” Grisha Dobrosklonov does not need wealth and personal well-being. His happiness lies in the triumph of the cause to which he devoted his entire life. Nekrasov writes that fate had prepared for him “a glorious path, a great name for the people’s intercessor, consumption and Siberia.” But he does not back down from the challenges ahead. Grisha Dobrosklonov sees that a people of many millions is already awakening: “A countless army is rising, the strength in it will be indestructible.” And this fills his soul with joy. He believes in a happy future for his native land and this is precisely the happiness of Gregory himself. To the question of the poem, Nekrasov himself answers that fighters for people’s happiness live well in Rus': “Our travelers would be under their own roofs if they could know what was happening to Grisha. He heard immense strength in his chest, the blessed sounds pleased his ears, the radiant sounds of the noble hymn he sang, the embodiment of the people’s happiness.”

The abolition of serfdom in 1861 caused a wave of controversy in Russian society. N.A. Nekrasov also responded to the debates “for” and “against” the reform with his poem “Who Lives Well in Rus',” which tells about the fate of the peasantry in the new Russia.

The history of the poem

Nekrasov conceived the poem back in the 1850s, when he wanted to tell about everything he knew about the life of a simple Russian backgammon - about the life of the peasantry. The poet began working thoroughly on the work in 1863. Death prevented Nekrasov from finishing the poem; 4 parts and a prologue were published.

For a long time, researchers of the writer’s work could not decide in what sequence the chapters of the poem should be printed, since Nekrasov did not have time to indicate their order. K. Chukovsky, having thoroughly studied the author’s personal notes, allowed for the order that is known to the modern reader.

Genre of the work

“Who Lives Well in Rus'” belongs to various genres - travel poem, Russian Odyssey, protocol of the All-Russian peasantry. The author gave his own definition of the genre of the work, in my opinion, the most accurate - epic poem.

The epic reflects the existence of an entire people at a turning point in its existence - wars, epidemics, etc. Nekrasov shows events through the eyes of the people, using the means of the folk language to give greater expressiveness.

There are many heroes in the poem; they do not hold together individual chapters, but logically connect the plot into one whole.

Problems of the poem

The narrative about the life of the Russian peasantry covers a wide scale of biography. Men in search of happiness travel around Russia in search of happiness, meet various people: a priest, a landowner, beggars, drunken jokers. Celebrations, fairs, rural festivities, hard work, death and birth - nothing escaped the poet’s gaze.

The main character of the poem is not defined. Seven traveling peasants, Grisha Dobrosklonov stands out most among the other heroes. However, the main actor works is the people.

The poem reflects numerous problems of the Russian people. This is the problem of happiness, the problem of drunkenness and moral decay, sinfulness, freedom, rebellion and tolerance, the collision of old and new, the difficult fate of Russian women.

Happiness is understood by the characters in different ways. The most important thing for the author is the embodiment of happiness in the understanding of Grisha Dobrosklonov. This is where the main idea of ​​the poem arises - true happiness is real only for a person who thinks about the good of the people.

Conclusion

Although the work is unfinished, it is considered integral and self-sufficient in terms of the expression of the author’s main idea and his author's position. The issues of the poem are relevant to this day; the poem is interesting to the modern reader, who is attracted by the pattern of events in history and the worldview of the Russian people.