The image and characteristics of Vasily Terkin in Tvardovsky’s poem Vasily Terkin essay. Vasily Terkin as an epic hero Several interesting essays

Vasya Terkin is a real hero. I know he was and still is loved by many. He can be mistaken for a real person, and not for a fictional character. He still evokes sympathy, even admiration.

Not only did he manage to shoot down a German plane, even though Vasya was in the infantry, which he adores... He also twisted a German with his bare hands. Although the fight scene shows how difficult it all was. The German is well-fed, smooth, strong. But Vasya has lost weight and is tired. Of course, he jokingly asks the local chef for more. And in general he gets it, but the cook is not very happy - there are probably not enough products. And he even makes a remark to Tyorkin: “Shouldn’t you join the navy, such a glutton.” But Tyorkin, which is his remarkable quality, is not offended. He laughs it off and is hard to offend.

But he (such a cheerful fellow) also experiences negativity. For example, when his small homeland is belittled. This is when you're in the hospital young hero was offended that Tyorkin mistook him for a fellow countryman. Why is Smolensk land worse?! And for her sake, Terkin is ready to perform feats. Or when a colleague laments that he has lost his pouch, Tyorkin ends up freaking out. He said to the bewildered man once with a smile, twice with a joke, but he still didn’t let up. But it is clear that this was the last straw for the loser. He even complains that he lost his family, his home, and now he’s wearing a pouch. But Terkin generously gives his, saying that the main thing is not to lose the Motherland. What is needed for this? First of all, don’t be discouraged!

That is, Vasily is an optimist, he is generous and brave. He respects civilians: children, old people... By the way, so does his superiors. There he was talking about the general - how smart he should be. But this experience is also because when the soldier was still in the cradle, the future general had already fought.

I remember the scene with the presentation of the order. When they called Tyorkin to that same general, and the soldier’s clothes were wet - only washed. And Vasya is in no hurry to see the general, although he was given “two minutes” of time, because he can’t do it in wet pants. He understands that there are certain boundaries that cannot be violated.

So far I see only advantages in Vasya. Laziness is not about him either. He wouldn’t have been able to sit out in the rear or in the hospital during the war... The only thing is that he would give me a headache. There are too many jokes and jokes.

But in a terrible time of war, this was necessary, I think.

Option 2

Vasily Terkin is a collective image of a Russian soldier. Where did he come from? Soldiers from all fronts wrote to Tvardovsky and told their stories. It was some of them that formed the basis of Tyorkin’s exploits. That’s why it’s so recognizable, so popular. Yes, in the next company there, Vanya or Petya did exactly the same as Tyorkin.

A cheerful, cheerful joker who knows how to make everything with his own hands.

He served in the “Queen of the Fields” - the Mother Infantry, which marched all the way to Berlin across Europe. Vasily managed to shoot down a German plane. And in a hand-to-hand fight he defeated a healthy Fritz. And when the cook asks for more, but it is not provided - there is not enough food, he grumbles and sends him to the fleet. The navy at that time was better fed than the infantry.

Terkin is a collective character, and every soldier recognized familiar features in him. Each chapter is a separate story about Vasily’s next feat. Tvardovsky wrote the poem not after the war, but during the fighting, in the intervals between battles. He was a front-line correspondent.

Terkin was as if alive. He communicated with the soldiers as equals and gave practical advice. The soldiers eagerly awaited the release of each new chapter in a front-line newspaper. Terkin was a friend and comrade to everyone. He was one of them. If Tyorkin could do this, then every soldier could do exactly this. The soldiers read with pleasure about his exploits and adventures.

Tvardovsky specially invented his Tyorkin so that he would help the soldiers morally. Maintained their morale. Terkin means “grated.”

Here he is melted to the opposite bank under enemy fire. Alive, swam, and it was late autumn. The water in the river is cold. But it was necessary to personally deliver the report to someone, because... there was no connection.

The other messengers did not reach the shore. And Vasya swam. The lives of many soldiers and officers who were melted from one shore to another were at stake and came under fascist fire.

And he doesn’t demand anything for his feat. You don't even need an order. He agrees to a medal. And the medal “For Courage” was considered a soldier’s order. Well, another hundred grams of alcohol inside to warm up. Why spend everything on leather? He also has the strength to joke.

Essay Image of Vasily Terkin image with characteristics with examples and quotes from the text

Tvardovsky wrote his poem not after the war in the quiet of his offices, but practically in it, in the intervals between hostilities. The newly written chapter was immediately published in the front-line newspaper. And the soldiers were already waiting for her; everyone was interested in Tyorkin’s further adventures. Tvardovsky received hundreds of letters from all fronts from soldiers like Vasily Terkin.

They told him interesting stories about the exploits of his fellow soldiers. Tvardovsky later “attributed” some episodes to his hero. That's why it turned out to be so recognizable and popular.

There was no real person with that first and last name. This image is collective. It contains all the best that is inherent in a Russian soldier. Therefore, everyone could recognize themselves in him. Tvardovsky specially invented it so that in difficult times he would be as if alive. real person helped the soldiers morally. There was everyone best friend. Each company and platoon had its own Vasily Terkin.

Where did Tvardovsky get such a surname? “Torkin” means grated roll, beaten by life. A Russian person can endure everything, survive, grind, get used to everything.

From the poem you can learn a little about Tyorkin’s biography. He comes from the Smolensk region and was a peasant. A good-natured Russian guy, easy to talk to, loves to tell all sorts of stories, a joker and a merry fellow. At the front from the first days of the war. Was wounded.

Brave, courageous, fearless. At the right moment he took command of the platoon. It was he who was sent across the river with a report that the platoon had entrenched itself on the opposite bank. Those who sent it understood that there was little chance of getting there. But he got there. Alone, swimming, in the icy November water.

Like all Russian peasants, Terkin is a jack of all trades. He did everything he could - he repaired a watch, sharpened a saw, and even played the harmonica. He was probably the first guy in the village. Modest “...why do I need an order, I agree to a medal...”

He lay in the cold trenches under heavy fire from the Nazis. In the face of death, he did not chicken out, but asked her for a one-day reprieve to see the victory and fireworks. And death retreated.

Initially, Tvardovsky planned Tyorkin as a feuilleton character in order to entertain soldiers and raise their morale. But he didn’t notice how he fell in love with his hero, and decided to make his image real, and not a caricature. Endow him with the best human traits - resourcefulness, courage, patriotism, humanism, a sense of military duty.

The author compares his beloved hero with the hero of Russian folk tales, a soldier who managed to cook soup from an ax. Those. he is resourceful and savvy, he can find a way out of any seemingly hopeless situation. "Russian miracle man." All of Russia rests on people like Tyorkin.

The poem is written in simple language, easy and long-lasting to remember.

Essay 4

Vasya Terkin, of course, is a well-known character and even beloved by everyone. But still, I have a slightly different opinion.

I think he's just a character, not real hero. That is, it is clear that such a person does not exist, cannot exist in reality. He is too cheerful, optimistic, joyful... To be honest, he would irritate me. I'm surprised that none of the soldiers hit him. That is, raising morale is, of course, good, but fooling around when there is war all around...

For example, in the scene with the lost pouch. A fighter who has lost an expensive item is clearly not in the mood for jokes. From the outside it may seem that the pouch is nonsense. But it is clear that for the fighter this loss was the last straw, as they say. He held on when he lost his home, his family, but he held on because last bit of strength. And here is a pouch...

And our “hero” Vasya does not understand the soldier’s suffering. Laughs, mocks, shames! To some extent he says that losing your homeland is scary. But it’s understandable, I compared it: the pouch and the Motherland.

So, Terkin is too positive. I’m not sure that such a person (with such dashing habits) could hold out on the real front.

But of course, Tvardovsky tried to invest a lot good qualities into your hero. And he bravely fights the Germans, and he cannot be kept in the hospital... However, what unprecedented luck Vasily must still have in order to shoot down a German plane with a gun! It looks more like a soldier's story! However, that’s how Tyorkin is – lucky. In fact, he was lucky in hand-to-hand combat with the German, although the Fritz was well-fed and strong. He was lucky when our tank crews picked him up wounded in his hut, took him to the doctor and saved him.

I think that at that time the front line needed such a hero. He is almost a hero, almost Ivan the Fool. He instills in readers faith in victory. The poet repeats through his lips that we will not lose in this war. Fortunately, these words came true.

And yet, for me this hero is too simple. But this is just my personal opinion.

Option 5

Alexander Trofimovich Tvardovsky is the author of the unforgettable work “Vasily Terkin.” Being himself in the thick of things, since he himself fought at the front and went through the entire war as a war correspondent, he communicated a lot with soldiers, and he himself more than once found himself in various difficult situations. Everything he describes in his book, he heard from ordinary soldiers, infantrymen. During the Great Patriotic War, the infantry played a vital role in the history of the war, and it is mainly to it that the main credit for the victory belongs. Here we go main character The author of the story belonged to the infantry.

The image turned out to be collective and average. He is an ordinary guy who dreams of love, happiness, family and a peaceful life. One participant in the war wrote: The Germans loved, knew how and wanted to fight, and we fought out of necessity. Turki also fought out of necessity. His beloved land was attacked by a cruel enemy. Its serene happy life on the collective farm was cruelly cut short by a terrible disaster, and the war became work for him, like a hot suffering on the collective farm when the rains came. The whole country turned into a single battle camp, and even in the rear the fascist could not sleep peacefully. Terkin endlessly loves his homeland, calling the land “mother.” His cheerfulness, courage and kindness permeate every chapter of the book. The cheerful and kind-hearted Tyorkin does not burn in fire and does not drown in water. Because his will to defeat the Nazis is very great, in order to free Mother Earth from the damned invader. He is a savvy person, as he skillfully gets out of all the troubles in which the author puts him. In addition, he has great feeling humor, which helps to easily, tipsily endure the hardships and difficulties of the front, and, not unimportantly, helps the reader to follow with bated breath the adventures of our hero and worry about him.

At the front, all the soldiers eagerly awaited the release of each new chapter about Tyorkin. They loved him as a brother and as a friend. And everyone found in themselves and in their comrades something of their favorite hero. The author is trying to show through his Tyorkin what the Russian people should be like. Only great courage, selflessness and kindness could lead the country to victory. And we won because the Russian engineers were more talented, the technologists more brilliant, and our twelve- and fourteen-year-old boys, who stood at the machines instead of their fathers who had gone to the front, turned out to be more skillful and resilient than the over-aged German soldiers. And about each of them we can say that his name was Vasily Terkin. The soldiers fought and died not because their commanders sent them to die, but because they fought for their homeland!!! This feat was, is and will always be, this is the peculiarity of the Russian soldier - to sacrifice himself: the Brest Fortress held out until November, everyone died for their homeland! And there are tens of thousands of such examples!

“Vasily Terkin” can be called a bestseller of that time. Glory to the Russian soldier!

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Vasily Terkin. This name has long become a household name for the Russian soldier. This hero can rightfully be called epic, since his image is large-scale, great and comprehensive.

As the poem progresses, Terkin's character changes and develops. At first, he is simply a cheerful, simple-minded, lucky, energetic, cheerful and resourceful person. This was Tvardovsky’s original plan. He wanted to collect in the image of Terkin characteristic features Russian private. Gradually, Terkin’s character goes beyond author's intention. He literally becomes an epic figure. However, it should immediately be noted that what distinguishes him from the traditional epic hero is the combination of the everyday and the heroic, the comic and the serious. Heroism is complemented by humor, something lyrical, songlike, and all together presents an attractive image Soviet man at war.

Terkin went through the entire war from beginning to end. He absorbed all the bitter experience that a person can have in war. He fought in a swamp, crossed rivers, entered into hand-to-hand combat, shot down an enemy plane, was wounded more than once, faced death, and lay in hospitals. The author allowed him alone to experience all the hardships and hardships of the war. Tvardovsky could not do otherwise, feel sorry for his hero, because Terkin is not a person who can be pitied, but a portrait of the entire people. Like all the people, he had to experience the yoke of war. Maybe he went through something that others did not go through, but this is what gave him the opportunity to understand what a national tragedy is. That’s why this character is revealed so unexpectedly when Terkin remembers his native Smolensk region with the words:

My dear mother earth,

All Smolensk relatives,

I'm sorry, I don't know why,

Just forgive me.

The tears of a soldier are worth a lot. He doesn’t know why to forgive him, and he doesn’t know why he’s crying. But his soldier's tears are a reaction to the terrible misfortune that he saw in front of him for so long. This scene reveals the depth of Vasily Terkin’s character and his spiritual growth. The meaning of these lines is vague, the author does not explain them, but gives the reader every opportunity to figure it out.

And in Terkin’s unexpected moods one can discern the deep sense of responsibility of everyone that has matured in him for everything the country has experienced, for its pain and suffering. The earth did not deserve this pain, but it endured it and remained the same as it was.

Vasily Terkin’s feeling of guilt can be explained in the same way as the guilt of survivors towards those who died. And many died, perhaps just a few weeks or even days before victory. Your friend has died. He still has relatives on earth. And you're alive. This motive is heard more than once in Tvardovsky. Who knows if Vasily Terkin considered himself responsible for those who did not see the spring of 1945? Here Terkin again appears as an epic hero, since he seems to take the blame for all those who died upon himself, becoming the people's conscience. The word "Guilty!" - the last thing Terkin says. Further, he will not be directly present in the poem.

Finally, Terkin also embodies that highest sadness, without which there is no joy, acquired at such a high price. We are talking about the fate of an “orphan soldier.” Not a word is mentioned that this is Terkin. The author only gives a slight hint of this, mentioning that the land on which everything happens is the Smolensk region. Terkin was from Smolensk. And here it is, the people's grief, embodied in an ordinary soldier:

Maybe he was crying about his son,

About the wife, about anything else,

About myself, what I knew: from now on

There is no one to cry for him.

We are not talking about just one soldier - about all those who did not spare themselves for the good of the Motherland, about those who returned to their home and found out that this home, drunk at night, no longer exists. This is a story about those who lived throughout the war with the dream of meeting their relatives and in one terrible moment learned that they had no relatives.

Terkin also appears at the end of the poem, but already invisible, as if behind the stage. Here Terkin is present both as a generalized image of a Russian soldier and as a specific person, but it is no longer clear whether it is Vasily himself or someone who simply called himself by a famous name. The fact is that Terkin is not alone. It found its embodiment in literally every soldier. If earlier he had one double - Ivan Terkin - now there are a great many of these doubles - the whole country.

In the final chapter, Terkin is presented as a collective image of the entire soldier's comradeship. We are talking about the chapter "In the Bath". The unknown soldier, as the author emphasizes, “is the same as Terkin.” Terkin's final dissolution into the mass of soldiers emphasizes his origins from the popular element. That is why they call the figure of Vasily Terkin epic. The author was able to reveal the richness of the unique personality of the hero of the poem, emphasizing that this is not a person, but an entire people, individualized solely so that the poem does not become a boring chronology of the war, but is imaginative and understandable to anyone.

How is the theme of war presented in the works of A. T. Tvardovsky? (Based on the poem “Vasily Terkin”) 1. Transformation of the former Vasya Terkin, a popular popular hero, into a beloved character. 2. The image of the Motherland in the poem. 3. The poem “Vasily Terkin” as an encyclopedia of war. 4. The author’s attitude towards his work.


In addition to the poems and essays written by Tvardovsky during the winter campaign of the Red Army of 1939-40, he took some part in the creation of the feuilleton character that appeared on the pages of the Leningrad Military District newspaper “On Guard of the Motherland” - the cheerful seasoned soldier Vasya Terkin.
“The enormity of the terrible and sad events of the war” (in the words of “Answer to Readers...”) sang to the significant transformation of the character of the newspaper feuilletons of 1939-1940. The former Vasya Terkin was a simplified, popular figure: “a hero, fathoms in the shoulders... he takes enemies with a bayonet, like sheaves with a pitchfork.” Perhaps this was also influenced by the then widespread misconception about the ease of the upcoming campaign.
“Vasily Terkin” is a wonderful poem by A. T. Tvardovsky. From the first days of the Great Patriotic War, the poet was in the ranks of the Soviet army. He spent the entire war at the front, writing a large number of poems for Red Army newspapers. In the difficult trials of the war, the main character of Tvardovsky’s most popular poem, Vasily Terkin, a seasoned, brave, resilient Russian soldier, was born and raised. The poem about Terkin was written by Tvardovsky throughout the war.
The image of Vasily Terkin is the result of a huge number of life observations. In order to give Terkin a universal, national character, Tvardovsky chose a person who, at first glance, did not stand out with any special qualities. The hero does not express love and devotion to the Motherland in pompous phrases.
Terkin - who is he? Let's be honest: He's just a guy himself. He's ordinary. However, the guy is good. There is always a guy like that in every company, and in every platoon.
The poem has absorbed both grief and people's joy; it contains harsh, mournful lines, but even more filled with folk humor, full of great love for life. It seemed incredible that it was possible to write about the most cruel and difficult war in the history of nations so life-affirmingly, with such light life philosophy. Terkin is an experienced soldier, a participant in the war with Finland. In Great Patriotic War he has been participating since the first days: “in service from June, into battle from July.” Terkin is the embodiment of the Russian character.
Like from the western border
He retreated to the east;
How did he go, Vasya Terkin,
From the reserve private,
In a salted tunic
Hundreds of miles of native land.
How big is the earth?
The greatest land.
And there was a husband's bonus.
Someone else's, or your own.
The soldiers consider Terkin their boyfriend and are glad that he ended up in their company. Terkin has no doubt about the final victory. In the chapter “Two Soldiers”, when asked by the old man whether he can beat the enemy, Terkin replies: “We will, father.” He is convinced that true heroism It’s not about the beauty of the pose. Terkin thinks that in his place every Russian soldier would have done the same thing.
I would dream, not for the sake of glory, Before the morning of battle, I would wish to go to the right bank, Having gone through the battle, to enter alive.
The image of the Motherland in the poem is always imbued with deep love. This is an old mother, and vast expanses, and a great land on which real heroes are born. The homeland is in danger, and it is everyone’s duty to defend it at the cost of their own lives.
The year has struck, the turn has come, Now we are responsible for Russia, for the people and for everything in the world. From Ivan to Thomas, Dead or alive, All of us together are us, That people, Russia. And since this is us, I’ll tell you, Sh>ats, We have nowhere to go from this mess. Here you cannot say: I am not me. I don't know anything. You can't prove that your house is on edge these days. It's not a big deal for you to think alone. The bomb is stupid. Foolishly will hit the spot. Forget yourself in war,
Remember the honor, however,
Get to work - chest to chest.
A fight means a fight.
The poem “Vasily Terkin” can be called an encyclopedia of the Great Patriotic War. In addition to the main character, the poem contains many other characters - soldiers serving with Terkin, ordinary residents experiencing a terrible time in the rear or in German captivity. Today we can say with confidence that the poem “Vasily Terkin” remains one of the most beloved works about the war.
The author himself wrote about the “Book for a Fighter”: “whatever its own literary significance, for me she was true happiness. She gave me a sense of the legitimacy of the artist’s place in the great struggle of the people, a sense of the obvious usefulness of my work.”

Ticket number 4

  1. Romanticism as an artistic movement in literature.

Romanticism - literary direction, formed in the early 19th century, which suggests an exceptional hero in exceptional circumstances. Romantic hero- this is a hero romantic work, which is characterized by proud loneliness, disappointment, a tragic attitude and at the same time rebellion and rebellion of spirit.

Romanticism can also be characterized by the affirmation of the intrinsic value of a spiritually creative personality, the depiction of strong passions and characters, spiritualized and healing nature. Also, romanticism is characterized by a special interest in the surrounding reality and opposition real world to the ideal. The typical hero of romanticism is a player. He plays with life and fate, because only in the game can a person feel the power of fate.

The main task of romanticism was to depict the inner world, mental life, and this could be done using the material of stories, mysticism, etc. It was necessary to show the paradox of this inner life, its irrationality. Classicism divides everything in a straight line, into good and bad, into black and white. Romanticism does not divide anything in a straight line. Classicism is a system, but romanticism is not. Sentimentalism shows the inner life of a person, in it it is in harmony with huge world. And romanticism contrasts inner world harmony.

Attempts to escape from reality and at the same time comprehend it gave rise to the emergence of a new ideological system - romanticism. Romantics often idealized patriarchal society, in which they saw the kingdom of goodness, sincerity, and decency. Poeticizing the past, they retreated into ancient legends, folk tales. Romanticism received its own face in every culture: among the Germans - in mysticism; among the English - in a personality that will oppose itself to reasonable behavior; among the French - in unusual stories

The center of the artistic system of romanticism is the individual, main conflict(individuals and society). The decisive prerequisite for the development of romanticism were the events of the Great French Revolution.

In Russia, romanticism appeared in the poetry of V.A. Zhukovsky - he was considered the Russian founder of this genre. Romantic poets include K.N. Batyushkov, E.A. Baratynsky, N.M. Yazykov, and the early poetry of A.S. Pushkin developed within the framework of romanticism. The poetry of M.Yu. Lermontov, the “Russian baron,” can be considered the pinnacle of Russian romanticism. The philosophical lyrics of F.I. Tyutchev are the completion and overcoming of romanticism in Russia.

  1. Can Vasily Terkin be called a “hero of his time”?

Any artistic image possesses not only individualistic, personal traits, but also carries something collective, general, is an exponent, a characteristic hero of his time. On the one hand, Vasily Terkin is not like the rest of the soldiers in the company: he is a cheerful fellow, he is distinguished by a peculiar sense of humor, he is not afraid of danger, but at the same time, Tvardovsky, when creating his hero, did not take any specific person as a model, so he The writer turned out to be a collective image of a soldier, a defender of the Russian land, ready at any moment to repel enemy attacks.
Terkin is brave, courageous, he is not afraid of bullets, enemy bombing, or icy water. In any situation, the hero knows how to stand up for himself and not let others down. The character of the hero is woven from dozens and hundreds of characters of ordinary Russian soldiers, endowed with universal human traits: kindness, respect for people, decency.

A.T. Tvardovsky gives his hero a telling surname: Terkin, it’s not for nothing that the most common phrase in the poem is: “We’ll endure it. Let's talk." The strength of the Russian spirit is such that a person can endure anything, but this does not make him angrier or more impatient, but on the contrary, he strives to help people, makes them believe in their strength. Terkin is savvy and resourceful not only in war, but also in everyday life. Thus, peaceful and military life merge together. The hero lives in war, constantly dreaming of victory, of simple village work. The writer calls Vasily Terkin differently in the poem, either he is an “ordinary guy”, with the weaknesses inherent in any person, or a hero.

Gradually, from an individual personality, the image of a hero grows to the level of literary generalization. A.T. Tvardovsky talks about the direct connection between people during the war years, that everyone strives for a peaceful life.

Therefore, the poem by A.T. Tvardovsky's "Vasily Terkin" is still so popular, because its main character looks like an ordinary person, although in fact he is a hero of that time.

Why is Vasily Terkin considered a folk hero? ? Please help me write an essay. and got the best answer

Reply from Alexander Kelsov[guru]

He goes, holy and sinful,
Russian miracle man.


Reply from Andrey Gladchenko[guru]
Eh.... How long will they consider me a people's cat and not a street cat?


Reply from KArasavitsa[guru]
Prankster, don't care. In short: a liar, a talker and a laugher... Start from this.


Reply from GRIGORY SEDELNIKOV[guru]
!HERE, SELECT THE ENTIRE TOP LINE AND PASTE!


Reply from Sura Play[newbie]
To understand and appreciate the true scale of the artist’s talent, his contribution to literature, one must proceed from what he said new about life and man, how his vision of the world relates to the moral and aesthetic ideals, ideas and tastes of the people. Tvardovsky never sought to be original. Any pose, any artificiality is alien to him:
Here are the poems, and everything is clear.
Everything is in Russian.
Throughout the war, while at the front, Tvardovsky worked on the poem “Vasily Terkin” - a work that was at the same time a true chronicle of the war, an inspiring propaganda word, and a deep understanding of the heroic feat of the people. The poem reflects the main stages of the Great Patriotic War, from its first days to complete victory over the enemy. This is how the poem develops, this is how it is constructed:
These lines and pages -
There is a special count of days and miles,
Like from the western border
To your home capital,
And from that native capital
Back to the western border
And from the western border
All the way to the enemy capital
We did our own hike.
The battle is holy and right,
Mortal combat is not for glory,
For the sake of life on earth.
“Vasily Terkin” is a “book about a fighter.” Terkin appears on the first pages of the work as an unassuming soldier-buffoon, who knows how to amuse and amuse the soldiers on a campaign and at a rest stop, innocently laughing at the mistakes of his comrades. But his joke always contains a deep and serious thought: the hero reflects on cowardice and courage, loyalty and generosity, great love and hatred. However, the poet saw his task not only in truthfully drawing the image of one of the millions of people who took on their shoulders the entire burden of the fight against the enemy. Gradually, Terkin’s image increasingly acquires generalized, almost symbolic features. The hero personifies the people:
Into battle, forward, into utter fire
He goes, holy and sinful,
Russian miracle man.
The poet’s high skill was manifested in the fact that he was able, without embellishment, but also without “downgrading” the hero, to embody in him the fundamental moral qualities of the Russian people: patriotism, consciousness of responsibility for the fate of the Motherland, readiness for self-destruction.


Reply from Sveta Svitlana[guru]
To understand and appreciate the true scale of the artist’s talent, his contribution to literature, one must proceed from what he said new about life and man, how his vision of the world relates to the moral and aesthetic ideals, ideas and tastes of the people. Tvardovsky never sought to be original. Any pose, any artificiality is alien to him.
The brilliant craftsmanship and nationality of Alexander Trifonovich’s creativity are visible in the principles artistic comprehension our lives, and in creation national characters era, renewal of poetic genres. V. Soloukhin said very correctly: “Tvardovsky is the largest Russian Soviet poet of the thirties, forties and fifties because the most important, most decisive events in the life of the country and people were best reflected in his poetry.”
Throughout the war, while at the front, Tvardovsky worked on the poem “Vasily Terkin” - a work that was at the same time a true chronicle of the war, an inspiring propaganda word, and a deep understanding of the heroic feat of the people. The poem reflects the main stages of the Great Patriotic War, from its first days to complete victory over the enemy. This is how the poem develops, this is how it is constructed.
Depicting war presented considerable difficulties for writers. Here one could fall into embellished reports in the spirit of superficial jingoistic optimism or fall into despair and present the war as a complete hopeless horror. In the introduction to “Vasily Terkin,” Tvardovsky defined his approach to the theme of war as the desire to show “the real truth,” “no matter how bitter it may be.” The poet depicts the war without any embellishment. The melancholy of retreat, painful anxiety for the fate of the Motherland, the pain of separation from loved ones, hard military labor and sacrifices, the ruin of the country, bitter cold- all this is shown in “Terkin” as the truth demands, no matter how much it hits the soul. But the poem does not leave a depressing impression at all, does not plunge one into despondency. The poem is dominated by faith in the victory of good over evil, light over darkness. And in war, as Tvardovsky shows it, in the respites between battles, people rejoice and laugh, sing and dream, happily take a steam bath and dance in the cold. The author of the poem and its hero are helped to overcome the difficult trials of the war by their boundless love for the Motherland and understanding of the just nature of the fight against fascism. The refrain runs through the entire poem:
The battle is holy and right,
Mortal combat is not for glory,
For the sake of life on earth.
“Vasily Terkin” is a “book about a fighter.” Terkin appears on the first pages of the work as an unassuming soldier-buffoon, who knows how to amuse and amuse the soldiers on a campaign and at a rest stop, innocently laughing at the mistakes of his comrades. But his joke always contains a deep and serious thought: the hero reflects on cowardice and courage, loyalty and generosity, great love and hatred. However, the poet saw his task not only in truthfully drawing the image of one of the millions of people who took on their shoulders the entire burden of the fight against the enemy. Gradually, Terkin’s image increasingly acquires generalized, almost symbolic features. The hero personifies the people.
The poet’s high skill was manifested in the fact that he was able, without embellishing, but also without “downgrading” the hero, to embody in him the fundamental moral qualities of the Russian people: patriotism, awareness of responsibility for the fate of the Motherland, readiness for selfless feats, love of work. The image of the folk hero Vasily Terkin created by Tvardovsky personifies the unbending character of the soldier, his courage and fortitude, humor and resourcefulness.
Tvardovsky's poem is an outstanding work, truly innovative. Both its content and form are truly folk. That's why it became the most significant poetic work about the Great Patriotic War, fell in love with millions of readers and, in turn, gave rise to hundreds of imitations and “sequels” among the people.