How is the Russian character portrayed in the story "Russian Character"? A.N. Tolstoy Russian character creative work of students in literature (grade 11) on the topic Work of Russian character brief content.

Alexei Tolstoy’s artistic task was to explore those traits of the Russian character that throughout history made it possible to survive and win. The completion of the cycle “Stories of Ivan Sutsarev” (1942-1944) was a story with the significant title “Russian Character” (1944).

An employee of the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper told Tolstoy about the fate of the tanker, who almost burned to death in the tank. This particular story acquired a general meaning and grew into the writer’s reflections on the strength of spirit of the Russian man, the courage of a soldier, the love of a mother, and the fidelity of a woman.

In the depiction of Yegor Dremov, the typical character of the hero is emphasized first of all. He was, according to the narrator, a “simple, quiet, ordinary” man. He is endowed with the most common biography: before the war he lived in a village, treated his mother and father with respect, worked conscientiously on the land, and now he is fighting heroically. Dremov, like his father and grandfather, bears the name Yegor, which means “cultivator of the land,” and with this detail the author emphasizes the connection between generations and continuity moral values people.

It is this “ordinary” person who is aesthetically singled out by the writer from others, placed in circumstances that, despite their reality, cannot but be considered exceptional. Even outwardly, Yegor is especially noted for his heroic build and beauty: “You used to see him crawling out of a tank turret - the god of war! He jumps from the armor to the ground, pulls off the helmet from his wet curls, wipes his grimy face with a rag and will certainly smile from spiritual affection.” The motif of “heroism” is also heard in the story about the deeds of Yegor, who is one of the few! - marked with an “asterisk” (“Golden Star” of the Hero Soviet Union).

But the main thing in the story is not the combat episodes with the participation of Lieutenant Dremov (they are shown in the presentation of other characters). At the center of the work is a seemingly personal situation related to the hero’s experiences after being seriously wounded during a tank battle on the Kursk Bulge.

Dremov's face was almost completely burned, and his voice changed after the operations. A number of details emphasized by the author make it possible to show the process of exposing the deep essence of character. Yegor has lost his external attractiveness (the motif of “ugliness” in the second part of the story varies in the instinctive reaction of people to the appearance of the burnt tanker). But the more clearly the inner beauty and strength of the hero manifests itself.

It is in the desire to remain in the ranks, in the real military brotherhood that connects Yegor with his comrades in arms, in his love for his loved ones and care for them.

The culmination of the story was the scene in his home, when the most dear people They didn’t recognize Yegor as a man with a disfigured face, but he decided not to be a burden for them with his misfortune and called himself by someone else’s name. But now his relatives are teaching Yegor a lesson in true humanity and love. A mother who felt in her heart that it was her son who was in his home.

The father, as always, laconicly said the main thing: “We need to be proud of a face like this one who came to us” (the epithet “fair” used in relation to the father is not accidental). Katya Malysheva, who forever linked her life with Yegor (“beautiful Katya,” whose image emphasizes the harmony of internal and external). “Yes, here they are, Russian characters! It seems that a simple person, but a severe misfortune will come, in big or small, and a great power rises in him - human beauty».

These words, which conclude the story, sum up the emotional conclusion of Tolstoy’s thoughts about the Russian character, the artistic study of which the writer conducted throughout his life.

Russian character! - For a short story The title is too meaningful. What can you do? I just want to talk to you about the Russian character.

Russian character! Go ahead and describe it... Should I talk about heroic deeds? But there are so many of them that you get confused which one to prefer. So one of my friends helped me out with a little story from his personal life. I won’t tell you how he beat the Germans, although he wears a gold star and half his chest in orders. He is a simple, quiet, ordinary person - a collective farmer from a Volga village in the Saratov region. But among others he is noticeable by his strong and proportionate build and beauty. You used to look at him when he climbed out of the tank turret - the god of war! He jumps from the armor to the ground, pulls off the helmet from his wet curls, wipes his grimy face with a rag and will certainly smile from spiritual affection.

In war, constantly hovering near death, people become better, all nonsense peels off from them, like unhealthy skin after a sunburn, and remains in the person - the core. Of course, some have it stronger, others have it weaker, but even those who have a flawed core are drawn to it, everyone wants to be a good and faithful comrade. But my friend, Yegor Dremov, was of strict behavior even before the war, extremely respected and loved his mother, Marya Polikarpovna, and his father, Yegor Yegorovich. “My father is a sedate man, first of all, he respects himself. “You, son, he says, will see a lot in the world and go abroad, but be proud of your Russian title...”

He had a bride from the same village on the Volga. We talk a lot about brides and wives, especially if there is calm at the front, it’s cold, the fire is smoking in the dugout, the stove is crackling and people have had dinner. If they say something like this here, it will make you laugh. They will start, for example: “What is love?” One will say: “Love arises on the basis of respect...” Another: “Nothing like that, love is a habit, a person loves not only his wife, but his father and mother and even animals...” - “Ugh, stupid! - the third will say, “Love is when everything is boiling in you, a person walks around as if drunk...” And so they philosophize for an hour and another, until the foreman, intervening, with an commanding voice defines the very essence... Egor Dremov, it must be embarrassed by these conversations, he only casually mentioned to me about his fiancée - she was, they say, a very good girl, and even if she said that she would wait, she would wait until he returned on one leg...

He also didn’t like to talk about military exploits: “I don’t want to remember such things!” He frowns and lights a cigarette. We learned about the combat performance of his tank from the words of the crew; the driver Chuvilev especially surprised the listeners:

-...You see, as soon as we turned around, I saw a tiger crawling out from behind a hill... I shouted: “Comrade Lieutenant, tiger!” - “Forward,” he shouts, “full throttle!..” I’ll camouflage myself along the spruce forest - to the right, to the left... He moves the tiger’s barrel like a blind man, he hit it - missed... And the comrade lieutenant will hit him in the side , - splashes! As soon as it hits the tower, he raised his trunk... As he hits the third time, smoke poured out of all the cracks of the tiger, and flames burst out of it a hundred meters up... The crew climbed through the emergency hatch... Vanka Lapshin fired a machine gun, and they lay there, kicking their legs... For us, you know, the path has been cleared. Five minutes later we fly into the village. Here I just lost my life... The fascists are all over the place... And - it’s dirty, you know - another one will jump out of his boots and in only his socks - Pork. Everyone runs to the barn. Comrade lieutenant gives me the command: “Come on, move around the barn.” We turned the gun away, at full throttle I ran into a barn... Fathers! Beams rattled across the armor, boards, bricks, fascists who were sitting under the roof... And I also - and ironed it - the rest of my hands up - and Hitler was kaput...

This is how Lieutenant Yegor Dremov fought until a misfortune happened to him. During the Battle of Kursk, when the Germans were already bleeding and faltering, his tank - on a hillock, in a wheat field - was hit by a shell, two of the crew were immediately killed, and the tank caught fire from the second shell. The driver Chuvilev, who jumped out through the front hatch, again climbed onto the armor and managed to pull out the lieutenant - he was unconscious, his overalls were on fire. As soon as Chuvilev pulled the lieutenant away, the tank exploded with such force that the turret was thrown fifty meters away. Chuvilev threw handfuls of loose earth on the lieutenant’s face, head, and clothes to put out the fire. Then he crawled with him from crater to crater to the dressing station... “Why did I drag him then? — Chuvilev said, “I hear his heart beating...”

Yegor Dremov survived and did not even lose his sight, although his face was so charred that bones were visible in places. He spent eight months in the hospital, they treated him one after another plastic surgery, the nose, lips, eyelids, and ears were restored. Eight months later, when the bandages were removed, he looked at his and now not his face. The nurse who handed him a small mirror turned away and began to cry. He immediately returned the mirror to her.

“It can be worse,” he said, “you can live with it.”

But he no longer asked the nurse for a mirror, he only often felt his face, as if he was getting used to it. The commission found him fit for non-combatant service. Then he went to the general and said: “I ask for your permission to return to the regiment.” “But you are disabled,” said the general. “No way, I’m a freak, but this won’t interfere with the matter, I’ll restore my combat capability completely.” (The fact that the general tried not to look at him during the conversation, Yegor Dremov noted and only grinned with purple lips, straight as a slit.) He received a twenty-day leave to fully restore his health and went home to his father and mother. This was just in March of this year.

At the station he thought about taking a cart, but he had to walk eighteen miles. There was still snow all around, it was damp, deserted, the icy wind blew away the skirts of his overcoat, whistling in his ears with lonely melancholy. He arrived in the village when it was already dusk. Here was the well, the tall crane swayed and creaked. Hence the sixth hut - the parents' hut. He suddenly stopped, putting his hands in his pockets. He shook his head. I turned diagonally towards the house. Stuck knee-deep in the snow, bending over to the window, I saw my mother - in the dim light of a screwed-on lamp above the table, she was getting ready for dinner. Still in the same dark scarf, quiet, unhurried, kind. She was older, her thin shoulders stuck out... “Oh, if only I knew, every day she would have to write at least two little words about herself...” She gathered some simple things on the table - a cup of milk, a piece of bread, two spoons, a salt shaker and thought, standing in front of the table, his thin arms folded under his chest... Yegor Dremov, looking through the window at his mother, realized that it was impossible to frighten her, it was impossible for her old face to tremble desperately.

OK! He opened the gate, entered the courtyard and knocked on the porch. The mother answered outside the door: “Who’s there?” He replied: “Lieutenant, Hero of the Soviet Union Gromov.”

His heart was pounding so hard - he leaned his shoulder against the ceiling. No, the mother did not recognize his voice. He himself, as if for the first time, heard his own voice, which had changed after all the operations - hoarse, dull, unclear.

- Father, what do you want? she asked.

— Marya Polikarpovna brought a greeting from his son, Senior Lieutenant Dremov.

Then she opened the door and rushed to him, grabbed him by the hands:

- Is my Yegor alive? Are you healthy? Father, come into the hut

Yegor Dremov sat down on the bench by the table, in the very place where he sat when his legs did not reach the floor and his mother used to stroke his curly head and say: “Eat, Irrita.” He began to talk about her son, about himself - in detail, how he eats, drinks, does not suffer need for anything, is always healthy, cheerful, and - briefly about the battles where he participated with his tank.

- Tell me, is it scary in war? - she interrupted, looking into his face with dark eyes that did not see him.

- Yes, of course, it’s scary, mom, but it’s a habit.

My father, Yegor Yegorovich, who had also passed over the years, came, and his beard felt like flour. Looking at the guest, he stamped on the threshold with his broken felt boots, slowly unwound his scarf, took off his sheepskin coat, walked up to the table, shook hands - ah, it was familiar, a wide, fair parental hand! Without asking anything, because it was already clear why the guest was wearing orders, he sat down and also began to listen, with his eyes half-closed.

The longer Lieutenant Dremov sat unrecognizable and talked about himself and not about himself, the more impossible it was for him to open up, to stand up and say: acknowledge me, freak, mother, father!.. He felt both good at his parents’ table and offended.

“Well, let’s have dinner, mother, pack something for the guest.” Yegor Yegorovich opened the door of an old cupboard, where in the corner to the left lay fishing hooks in a matchbox—they were lying there—and there was a teapot with a broken spout, he stood there, where it smelled of bread crumbs and onion skins. Yegor Yegorovich took out a bottle of wine - just two glasses, and sighed that he couldn’t get more.

We sat down to dinner, as in previous years. And only at dinner, Senior Lieutenant Dremov noticed that his mother was especially closely watching his hand with a spoon. He grinned, the mother raised her eyes, her face trembled painfully.

We talked about this and that, what spring would be like and whether the people would be able to cope with sowing, and that this summer we had to wait for the end of the war.

- Why do you think, Yegor Yegorovich, that we must wait for the end of the war this summer?

“The people are angry,” answered Yegor Yegorovich, “they passed through death, now you can’t stop them, the Germans are kaput.”

Marya Polikarpovna asked:

“You didn’t say when he’ll be given leave to visit us on leave.” They haven't seen him for three years, he's grown up, he walks around with a mustache... So - every day - near death, his tea and his voice have become rough?

“But when he comes, maybe you won’t recognize him,” said the lieutenant.

They assigned him to sleep on the stove, where he remembered every brick, every crack in the log wall, every knot in the ceiling. It smelled of sheepskin, bread - that familiar comfort that is not forgotten even in the hour of death. The March wind whistled over the roof. Behind the partition my father was snoring. The mother tossed and turned, sighed, and did not sleep. The lieutenant was lying face down, his face in his hands: “Really she didn’t recognize it,” I thought, “Really she really didn’t recognize it? Mom, mom..."

The next morning he woke up to the crackling of firewood, his mother was carefully fiddling around the stove; his washed foot wraps hung on a stretched rope, and his washed boots stood by the door.

— Do you eat millet pancakes? she asked.

He didn’t answer right away, got off the stove, put on his tunic, tightened his belt and, barefoot, sat down on the bench.

— Tell me, does Katya Malysheva, Andrei Stepanovich Malysheva’s daughter, live in your village?

— She graduated from courses last year and is our teacher. Do you need to see her?

“Your son definitely asked me to convey my regards to her.”

Her mother sent a neighbor girl to fetch her. The lieutenant didn’t even have time to put on his shoes when Katya Malysheva came running. Her wide gray eyes sparkled, her eyebrows flew up in amazement, and there was a joyful blush on her cheeks. When she threw the knitted scarf from her head onto her broad shoulders, the lieutenant even groaned to himself - he could kiss that warm blond hair!.. This was the only way he imagined his girlfriend - fresh, gentle, cheerful, kind, so beautiful that she came in and the whole hut turned gold...

— Did you bring a bow from Yegor? (He stood with his back to the light and just bowed his head because he couldn’t speak.) And I’m waiting for him day and night, so tell him...

She came close to him. She looked, and as if she had been lightly hit in the chest, she leaned back and got scared. Then he firmly decided to leave - today.

Mother baked millet pancakes with baked milk. He again talked about Lieutenant Dremov, this time about his military exploits - he talked cruelly and did not raise his eyes to Katya, so as not to see the reflection of his ugliness on her sweet face. Yegor Yegorovich began to fuss to get a collective farm horse, but he left for the station on foot as he came. He was very depressed by everything that had happened, even when he stopped, he hit his face with his palms and repeated in a hoarse voice: “What should we do now?”

He returned to his regiment, which was stationed deep in the rear for replenishment. His comrades greeted him with such sincere joy that everything that had prevented him from sleeping, eating, or breathing fell away from his soul. I decided to let his mother not know about his misfortune for a longer time. As for Katya, he will tear this thorn out of his heart.

About two weeks later a letter came from my mother:

“Hello, my beloved son. I’m afraid to write to you, I don’t know what to think. We had one person from you - a very good person, only with a bad face. I wanted to live, but I immediately packed up and left. Since then, son, I haven’t slept at night, it seems to me that you came. Yegor Yegorovich scolds me for this, - he says, you, old woman, have gone crazy: if he were our son, wouldn’t he have revealed himself... Why should he hide if it were him - with such a face as his We should be proud of whoever came to us. Yegor Egorovich will persuade me, and a mother’s heart is all hers: he is it, he was with us! this!.. Egorushka, write to me, for Christ’s sake, you fool me - what happened? Or really, I’ve gone crazy...”

Yegor Dremov showed this letter to me, Ivan Sudarev, and, while telling his story, wiped his eyes with his sleeve. I told him: “Here, I say, the characters clashed! You fool, you fool, write to your mother quickly, ask her for forgiveness, don’t drive her crazy... She really needs your image! This way she will love you even more.”

On the same day he wrote a letter: “My dear parents, Marya Polikarpovna and Yegor Yegorovich, forgive me for my ignorance, you really had me, your son...” And so on, and so on - on four pages in small handwriting, He could have written it on twenty pages - it would have been possible.

After some time, we are standing at the training ground, - the soldier comes running and - to Yegor Dremov: “Comrade captain, they are asking you...” The soldier’s expression is this, although he is standing in full uniform, as if a man is about to drink. We went to the village and approached the hut where Dremov and I lived. I see that he is not himself, he keeps coughing... I think: “Tanker, tanker, ah - nerves.” We enter the hut, he is in front of me, and I hear:

“Mom, hello, it’s me!..” And I see that the little old woman fell on his chest. I look around, and it turns out there is another woman. I give my word of honor, there are other beauties somewhere, she’s not the only one, but personally, I haven’t seen one.

He tore his mother away from him, approached this girl, - and I already remembered that with all his heroic build this was the god of war, “Katya! - he says, - Katya, why did you come? You promised to wait for this, not this...”

Beautiful Katya answers him, and although I have gone into the hallway, I hear: “Egor, I am going to live with you forever. I will love you truly, I will love you very much... Don’t send me away..."

Yes, here they are, Russian characters! It seems that a simple person, but a severe misfortune will come, in big or small ways, and a great power rises in him - human beauty.

The work of A. Tolstoy “Russian character”, summary which is given in the article, has the subtitle “From “Stories of Ivan Sudarev”. Thus, the author uses the “story within a story” technique, in which his friend, a fellow soldier, told the reader about the Russian warrior. And although the action takes place in the early forties, the focus is not on the valiant exploits of the protagonist, but on what happened to him after being seriously wounded. The author’s task is to show how powerful and amazing the character of the Russian person is.

An ordinary guy - Egor Dremov

A. Tolstoy begins the story “Russian Character,” a summary of which you are reading, by introducing the main character. This is a quiet, simple tanker who lived on a collective farm before the war. He was perhaps different from his comrades. appearance. Tall, with curls and always with a warm smile on his face, he resembled a god. Dremov loved and respected his parents very much, and spoke with respect of his father, who was an example for him. Yegor also had a beloved girl, whose feelings he had no doubt at all: he would wait, even if he happened to return on one leg.

Dremov did not like to boast about his military exploits. This is the real Russian character. A summary of his driver’s stories, meanwhile, shows that they were not uncommon for him. Chuvilev recalled with pride how their tank performed against the German tiger and how skillfully Lieutenant Dremov was able to neutralize the enemy.

So everything went as usual until misfortune happened to the hero. It was this that showed how strong and firm the Russian character can be.

The crew had a chance to participate in the battle of Kursk. By the end of the battle the tank was knocked out. Two died immediately, and the driver pulled the burning lieutenant out of the car just before it exploded. Yegor received large burns: bones were visible in places under the charred skin. The face was badly damaged, but his vision was preserved. The guy had several plastic surgeries, and when the bandages were removed, a complete stranger was looking at him from the mirror. But he reassured his sister, saying that she could live with this. And he himself often felt his face, as if he was getting used to a new appearance - continues the story “Russian Character” by Tolstoy.

The summary of the conversation between the lieutenant and the general, to whom the tanker came after he was declared fit only for combat duty, boils down to the following. Yegor asked to be returned to the regiment and clarified that he was a freak, not a disabled person: “... This will not interfere with the matter.” The general, who tried not to look at him, accepted the arguments and ordered twenty days of leave to recover. After which the hero went home.

Meeting with family

He came to the village in the evening. Having made my way through the snow to the window, I saw how my mother, leisurely, kind, but thin and aged, was preparing for the table. And then she thought, folding her arms over her chest. Yegor realized that he could not frighten her with his appearance, and, knocking on the door, he introduced himself as his son’s friend, Lieutenant Gromov. He entered a house where everything was painfully familiar. The mother peered at him and asked about her son. Soon their father joined them. And the longer Dremov sat, the harder it was for him to admit to the old people that he was their son.

This is how the hero’s first meeting with his parents in the story “Russian Character” is described. Brief summary (Alexey Tolstoy in every possible way emphasizes how difficult it was for both the hero and the mother) conversations at dinner can be reduced to questions about what spring will be like and how sowing will go when the war ends. The old woman was also interested in when her son would be given leave.

Meeting with the bride

The next day, Yegor wanted to meet their son’s fiancée, Katya, to pay his respects. The girl came running instantly: joyful, radiant, beautiful... She came very close to the guy, looked at him and stepped back. At that moment, Yegor decided: he needed to leave today. Then they ate millet pancakes, and the lieutenant talked about the exploits of Dremov (it turned out, his own). And he himself tried not to look at Katya, so as not to see the reflection of his ugliness on her beautiful face.

This is how the meeting with the past, pre-war life ended for the main character of the story “Russian Character”. The summary of the meeting suggests what decision Yegor made: to hide the truth from his mother for as long as possible and try to forget Katya forever.

Letter from home

Having met his comrades, Dremov felt relieved. And two weeks later he received a letter about his mother, forcing him to change his decision. Such is the Russian character. The summary of the letter is as follows. Marya Polikarpovna told how a man came to them. The mother's heart suggests that it was Yegor himself. The old man scolds and says that if he had a son, he would certainly open up. After all, you should be proud of such a face. That’s why she asked me to judge whether she was right or crazy.

Egor came with a letter to Sudarev, and he advised him to quickly give an answer and confess everything.

The story “Russian Character”, a summary of which you have read, receives an unexpected ending. After some time, Dremov was summoned by the captain, and Sudarev went with him. So the narrator witnessed Yegor’s meeting with his mother and Katya. The latter really was a beauty, and to the lieutenant’s words that she shouldn’t wait for him like that, she replied: “... I’m going to live with you forever...”.

“It seems like a simple man, but a severe misfortune will come... and a great strength rises in him - human beauty,” ends the story “Russian Character” by Tolstoy.

Egor Dremov is saved from spruce in the war. He's covered in burns. His face is disfigured. Yegor goes to his parents in the guise of their son's friend. He decides to abandon his beloved and leave his family forever, just not to scare them with his appearance. A letter from his mother and the confident attitude of his bride make him change his mind. Thanks to his strong and invincible character, the hero manages to regain the joy of life.

The main idea of the story Russian character of Tolstoy

The Russian character is so strong and invincible that it can withstand any troubles and illnesses.

Egor Dremov is the simplest and most ordinary tanker. He lives an ordinary life. Egor is very handsome guy. He is tall, strong, and has curly hair. Parents occupy a huge place in the hero’s life. He loves and respects them. Yegor has a chosen one. When leaving for war, he is sure that his beloved will be waiting for him and will accept him in any condition. During the war, Dremov performed many feats and brave deeds, however, he himself did not say a word about it to anyone. The war continued and Dremov fought bravely, but a terrible misfortune befell him.

During the next battle, Yegor's tank was knocked out. He was pulled out in a burning state a minute before the tank exploded. His friends died. The tanker's burns were so severe and severe that in some places bones could be seen under the burns and swollen skin. After the burns, Yegor had to undergo numerous plastic surgeries. His face was completely changed. It’s good that at least the poor guy still has his sight. Yegor looked in the mirror for a long time and tried to recognize the stranger looking at him from the mirror. The hero asks to be returned to the regiment, but is ordered to remain on vacation for another 20 days.

After resting he returns home. Egor meets with his parents. He does not want to scare them with his disfigured appearance. The idea comes to his mind to call himself a friend of their son. His parents warmly welcome him, feed him, give him water and ask him about their beloved son. The next day the hero meets his beloved girl, Katya. She immediately greets him joyfully, but when she sees his disfigured face, she shrinks away. Dremov talks about the exploits of her fiancé, and he decides to leave her life and forget about her forever.

Returning to the front, Yegor receives a letter from his mother, where she writes about her doubts that the son himself is coming to them. She wrote that she was proud of her son’s face and wanted to know the truth. Egor meets with his mother and fiancee. The mother accepts him, and the bride says that she wants to live her whole life only with him.