Why does the author stop at Matryona's? The life story of Matryona Vasilievna, or the Word about the salvation of the Russian soul... (lesson based on the story of A.I.

1. Development of analytical skills and skills for working with literary text.
2. Studying E. Zamyatin’s novel “We” in the context of world and Russian literature, identifying the features of the dystopian genre; teach independent search truths based on the work.
3. Formation of conscious choice in accordance with moral principles, a clear life position, a firm outlook on life; develop the ability to work in a team.

Epigraphs:

The progress of the future is always in the present...

A person is like a novel: until the very last
pages you don’t know how it will end.
Otherwise it wouldn't be worth reading...

E. Zamyatin.

Lesson progress

I. The teacher's word.

Good afternoon We are starting a literature lesson, the topic of which is “The fate of the individual in a totalitarian state.” Throughout the lesson, we will look for answers to the questions: what made Zamyatin write the work, what is the place of the novel in world and Russian literature, why the author thinks about the future of Russia, what awaits the country after the revolution of 1917... And we will carry out all the work through the analysis of this work.

Humanity has always strived to imagine an ideal society, which is reflected in works of art called utopia. This is “Utopia” by Thomas More, and “City of the Sun” by T. Campanella, and the socialist utopia in the dreams of Vera Pavlovna in Chernyshevsky’s novel “What is to be done?” But Zamyatin’s “We” is a dystopia.

II. Guys, explain what the term “dystopia” means? (Warning, the world does not have to be the way the writer portrays it).

What is totalitarianism? From the word TOTALITARIC (Ozhegov) - based on the complete domination of the state over all aspects of society, violence, destruction democratic freedoms and individual rights. Unfortunately, this word is relevant for modern society. Totalitarianism took shape in the 30s of the 20th century. But even in the 21st century there are states based on this order and way of life. These are Iraq, Cuba, North Korea.

So, in order to understand the influence of totalitarianism on a person, you need to take a closer look at individual citizens, because “a person is like a novel...”

III. Characteristics of the main character.

Let's meet the main character.

What's his name? His profession? Hobbies? (Main character– D-503, builder of Integral (today we would say chief designer), leads diary entries).

Can D-503 be called an ordinary hero of the work? (No, he is a talented engineer, scientist, mathematician, passionate about his work. In addition, he keeps diary entries, which speaks of his originality. After all, it is not so common to meet people who keep diary entries, since the epistolary genre is complex shape presentation of thoughts, requiring internal work).

Why do you think D-503 keeps records? (The fear of saying your thoughts out loud is a hallmark totalitarian state).

By the way, why does the hero have this? strange name- D-503? Make your point. (Lives in a totalitarian state - the United State, where everything is impersonal, subordinate to the will of the Benefactor)

Think and answer, is the idea of ​​the state formed if members of society have such names and numbers? Imagine, I open the magazine and call a student K-3, S-1? (You get the picture, and it’s not the best: you feel a certain depersonalization...)

Conclusion: So, D-503 is not by chance the main character. This is a talented engineer, a scientist who not only builds the Integral, but also thinks and tries to understand the world around us, albeit somewhat narrow and straightforward, but it is interesting to us, because “a person is like a novel: until the very last page you don’t know how it will end. Otherwise it wouldn’t be worth reading…”

IV. Characteristics of the Unified State.

The hero lives in a special state.

What is the name of the state? Why One? (United, Totalitarian - such a state needs a special society so that people obey unquestioningly, are cogs in the machine. Therefore, it is busy educating society. Let us remember the history of our country. In the 60s of the 20th century, a moral code of the Soviet citizen was developed in the Soviet Union, according to which the people of the country of the Soviets are devoted to the cause of communism, everyone is equal, unquestioningly fulfills the will of the party...)

One State is a totalitarian regime. Let's see how it treats its citizens, how they educate them, and what goals they set.

Episode analysis. Expressive reading, discussion.

Analysis of episode No. 1.

A lot can be said about a person by learning his views on the environment. How D-503 perceives nature. Tell me, don’t you worry about this attitude towards the world around you? What is strange about this description of nature? Why does the number of the United State not see the beauty of nature?

Conclusion: There is no person, just a number.

Analysis of episode No. 2.

Construction of Integral. Any totalitarian state seeks to spread ideology beyond its borders. Therefore, the main task is the development of industry, industrialization, in order to be economically free, independent, and to subjugate other countries.

How does this manifest itself in the One State? What is it building? (An integral that should bring happiness to everyone).

It is natural that most of people spend time at construction sites. Let's read the description of the Integral Builder's workplace.

A very poetic description. But something is alarming. Name keywords excerpt. (“Unfree movement, ideal unfreedom”).

Why does he see and describe this way? (What the state imposed, instilled, remained at the subconscious level. They cannot see the influence of the State in any other way).

Conclusion: “unfree movement, ideal unfreedom” and “soul-filled flight” by A.S. Pushkin “Eugene Onegin”.

This idea of ​​the world, of beauty, formed the Totalitarian, Unified State...

Analysis of episode No. 3. Free time.

Or maybe this is only true during civil service?

Guys, let's remember how the “numbers” spend their free time? Reading a passage.

In historical scientific works socialism is called “barracks socialism.” Why exactly such a state was built in the Soviet Union. Why does the passage focus on the marching gait of the heroes? (It’s easier to control a formation and give orders).

Getting into action. After reading the passage, stand up and march in place. But next to her is her beloved D-503 - O-90, or rather, the one for whom the pink coupon was issued... I so want to take her hand and say that she is in a great mood... Cool, pay attention to the intonation. Try saying, “How wonderful you look, O-90! What a beautiful day!”

“Who is walking right there? Left! Left! Left!” “Revolutionary, keep your step! The restless enemy never sleeps!” Stop! One-two!

Why couldn’t I pronounce the suggested phrase? Was something in the way? What? Answer the question, dear, why did you pronounce the phrase so strangely?

Connection with what was previously studied.

Now I have uttered two quotes from the works you studied earlier. Which? The authors Mayakovsky and Blok are contemporaries of the 1917 revolution, contemporaries of Zamyatin. They caught the spirit of the times and showed the truth of those days. And Blok even foresaw what could happen if we take such a step into the future. SLIDE No. 2. Remember, the bourgeoisie is at the crossroads.. Why costs at a road intersection?.. What is a crossroads? Standing where the heart of the crucified Jesus Christ once was? Connection with epigraph 1. “The progress of the future is always in the present...” E. Zamyatin. (It is impossible without faith in Him, in His commandments... Otherwise, you can come to the kind of state described by Zamyatin).

Guys, please tell me, what is personal life? Did you have it? Soviet people? Who needed to subordinate his personal life? (Interests of the State. Easier to subjugate, barracks socialism).

Conclusion: Personal life– freedom of choice. Freedom is the ability to act in accordance with one’s interests and goals.

In any regime there is at least one person who does not want to obey, who does not want someone else’s will to be imposed on him. Such people are punished. Punishment is always carried out according to the law. But there must be a measure. Today there is a lot of talk about punishment, about death penalty. Russia declared a moratorium on the death penalty in 1993, and literally two weeks ago extended the moratorium, although the majority in society is “for” the death penalty. And how were dissidents punished in the United State? (They staged show executions, which normal person only cause a feeling of hostility. But not in a totalitarian state. Main role at the Benefactor).

Analysis of episode No. 4.

What figurative and expressive means does the author use to describe the Benefactor? Justify the author's choice.

Epithets - heavy - heavy, heavy, ponderous - heavy...
Stone - like an idol, he is an idol, a deity, a Benefactor...
Like fate - comparison - the inevitability of punishment...

Guys, doesn’t the figure of the Benefactor evoke any historical parallels? (Stalin. A significant figure in the history of the country. It is with this person that the totalitarian regime in the Soviet Union is associated. Such people can subjugate everyone to their will. “When he entered the hall of the Yalta Conference, we all stood up, as if on command, and, strangely, why “They kept their hands at their sides” - W. Churchill).

Conclusion. What is the role of a leader in a totalitarian state? (Absolute power, submission, blind faith in the leader and, as a rule, an inadequate assessment of what is happening). A striking example is the next episode.

Episode #5.

There's arithmetic here! Remember the name of the hero who spoke about arithmetic, replacing the word “man” with the soothing word “louse”? (Raskolnikov. What did the theory lead to? Collapse. Failure..)

Conclusion: the cruelty of a totalitarian state knows no limits, the death of a person is nothing compared to a machine.

Day of Unanimity.

In the United State, on the Day of Unanimity, a Benefactor was elected. Unanimously. As always.

Already on the first pages of the novel, E. Zamyatin creates a model of an ideal, from the point of view of utopians, state, where the long-awaited harmony of public and personal is found, where all citizens have finally found the desired happiness. In any case, this is how it appears in the perception of the narrator - the builder of Integral, mathematician D-503. What is the happiness of the citizens of the United State? At what moments in their life do they feel happy?

Obviously, in order to create an ideal society from the point of view of the utopians, it is necessary to change the human nature. Authors of utopias most often ignore the ways in which the world order they depict is achieved. Even if pictures of the future are included in works about modernity (Chernyshevsky), the gap between imperfection today and ideal tomorrow is huge. At best, utopians rely on reason, but they do not explore the mechanism of reason’s influence on human nature. In the works of revolutionary utopians, there are hints of the need for a social revolution, but the revolution itself is not depicted. Authors of dystopias appeal special attention precisely on the path of building an “ideal society”, because they are convinced that the world of dystopia is the result of attempts to realize utopia. The United State has deprived a person of personal attachments, a sense of kinship, since any connections other than with the United State are criminal. Despite the apparent unity, the “numbers” are completely alienated from each other, and therefore easily controlled. The Green Wall plays a significant role in creating the illusion of happiness. A person who does not have the ability to compare and analyze becomes controlled and obedient. The state also subjugated the time of each number, creating the Tablet of Hours. The United State took away from its citizens the opportunity for intellectual and artistic creativity, replacing it with the Unified State Science, mechanical music and state poetry. The element of creativity is forcibly tamed and placed at the service of society. Just look at the titles of the poetic books: “Flowers of Judgments”, the tragedy “Late for Work”, “Stanzas on Sexual Hygiene”. However, the United State does not feel completely safe and creates a system of suppressing dissent. This is the Guardian Bureau (the spies make sure everyone is “Happy”), and the Operations Room with its Gas Bell, and Great Operation, and denunciation, elevated to the rank of virtue (“They came to accomplish a feat,” writes the hero about informers).

This “ideal” social order was achieved through the violent abolition of freedom. Universal happiness here is not the happiness of each person, but his suppression, equalization and physical destruction.

The state skillfully manipulates people. This aspect of the novel is especially important, since the problem of manipulating consciousness is still relevant in our time. At the very beginning of the novel, we see how delighted the hero-narrator is by daily marching to the sounds of the Music Factory: he experiences absolute unity with the others. “As always, the Music Factory sang the March of the United State with all its trumpets. In measured rows, four at a time, enthusiastically beating time, there were numbers - hundreds, thousands of numbers, in bluish unifs, with gold plaques on the chest - the state number of each and every one. And I—we four—are one of the countless waves in this mighty stream.” Note that in the fictional country created by Zamyatin’s imagination, there live not people, but numbers, devoid of names, dressed in unifs (that is, uniforms). Externally similar, they are no different from each other internally. It is no coincidence that the hero admires the transparency of homes with such pride. All their life activity, prescribed by the Tablet of Hours, is characterized by the sameness and mechanicalness. These are the characteristic features of the depicted world. To be deprived of the opportunity to perform the same functions day after day means to be deprived of happiness and doomed to suffering, as evidenced by the story of “The Three Freedmen.” A straight line and a plane, a mirror surface, be it the sky without a single cloud or face, “not clouded by the madness of thought,” become a symbolic expression of the protagonist’s ideal of life.

The straightforwardness, rationalism, and mechanical nature of the life structure of the United State explain why the number chooses the figure of Taylor as the object of worship. Admiring Taylor's genius, the hero of the novel "We" repeatedly pronounces Kant's name with obvious disdain. Kant's views are interesting: man is not a passive creature of nature or society, he is capable of determining his own will and behavior. But, recognizing the right to independence, a person must recognize it for everyone around him. Based on this, Kant formulates the moral law: “...act in such a way as to use a person for yourself as well as for another, always as an end and never only as a means,” “the other person must be holy for you.” The contrast between the rationalistic system of thinking (Taylor), where man is a means, and the humanistic system (Kant), where man is the goal, runs through the entire narrative. Thus, the idea of ​​universal equality, central idea any utopia, turns into a dystopia of universal sameness and averageness. The idea of ​​harmony between the personal and the general is replaced by the idea of ​​absolute subordination to the state of all spheres human life. “Happiness lies in unfreedom,” say the heroes of the novel. The hero experiences the highest bliss on the Day of Unanimity, which allows everyone to feel like a small part of the huge “we”. The hero reflects with irony on the ancient secret vote in elections. The author talks about how absurd “elections” are without the right to choose, how absurd the society that preferred them is. In the context of the literature of the 20s, the desire to subordinate personal will to the tasks of social progress was characteristic feature a person's worldview. The world in Zamyatin's novel is shown through the perception of a person with an awakening soul. Gradually, the positions of the author and the hero come closer: moral values which the author himself professes become close to him.

Gradually, like-minded people join the hero - with his behavior he challenges the United State i-330, an unnamed poet who wrote dangerous poems. O-90 suddenly felt the need for simple human happiness, for the happiness of motherhood. So, the One State, its absurd logic in the novel is opposed by the awakening soul, that is, the ability to feel, love, suffer. The United State would like to rely on slavish obedience, but since we're talking about about living people who are characterized by the qualities of living people, it is not able to stop the emergence of “seditious” thoughts.

The novel is remarkable not only because the author, already in 1920, was able to predict global disasters XX century. The main question, which he posed in his work: will a person withstand the ever-increasing violence against his conscience, soul, will?

Despite the rather sad end of the novel, one can still feel a certain optimism of the author, who, demonstrating the model of a totalitarian state, all its horror and absurdity, brings out characters capable of opposing themselves to a zombified society, a rigid machine government, capable of thinking and making decisions that go against generally accepted guidelines. Totalitarian society is United State, has no chance of survival for one simple reason - there are people in it who think differently, who are capable of opposing themselves to a deceitful and merciless state. The truth has been revealed to them, and they will no longer be able to live as before. Moreover, they will try to spread this truth, perhaps even at the cost of their lives.

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Goals and objectives:

• formation of moral guidelines for students;
• introducing students to the work of A. Solzhenitsyn;
• updating the moral and value meanings of Solzhenitsyn’s works;
• developing students' ability to work with text work of art: highlight the main thing, analyze what you read, draw conclusions;

Design: a multimedia kit, a presentation for the lesson, cards with questions and tasks for each group, a candle that occupies a prominent place on the teacher’s desk.

Epigraph:“And every living person is given only his own labor - and his own soul” (A. I. Solzhenitsyn “Dashing Potion”)

PROGRESS OF THE LESSON

I. Opening remarks teachers.

– One of A. I. Solzhenitsyn’s stories ends with these words ... (the epigraph to the lesson is read out).
Work and soul...Material and spiritual... “Not so much,” some will say, “a person needs much more.”
– What can we say to such people?

(Thus, children begin to talk and try to think)

- Yes, what is given from above is priceless, priceless - and defenseless. “How much work the farmer puts in: preserving the grains until the deadline, sowing as desired, bringing good plants to fruit. But the weeds shoot up with wild agility... Why is it that good plants always have less strength?” – the writer lamented in the story “Dashing Potion”. And yet there lived in him holy faith and hope that he would survive human soul, will ripen and give its good fruits. This is what the story “Matryonin’s Dvor” is about.

(The teacher lights a candle and invites you to observe and think about what parallel can be drawn between a burning candle and the human soul).

– As a result, we come to the conclusion: this clean and clear tongue of flame can warm, but it can also go out from any random draft.
The human soul is just as defenseless, open to all winds. How difficult it can sometimes be to keep this warm light! Many people fail, but Matryona succeeded... How?
(After this, the main problem of the lesson is fully formulated and written on the board: by looking into the history of Matryona’s life, understand how this woman managed to save her soul, save what was given to her from above)

II. Studying the story. Group work

The class is preliminarily divided into seven groups - according to micro-topics. Each person receives questions and assignments based on the text of the story. During the lesson, all members of the group participate in the work; in addition, during the discussion, other groups can make their own adjustments and additions. After this, the formulated conclusions on micro-topics are written down in workbooks.

Matryonin's house

• What brought the hero-storyteller to the village of Talnovo?
• Re-read the very first description of Matryona’s house. What is the first thing you involuntarily pay attention to? Does the impression of what you see change when you cross the threshold of this hut?
• A Russian stove, dark rags, a dull mirror, a crowd of ficus trees... What is the purpose of each of these things? What did Matryona especially value? Why?
• Remember who else lived with Matryona under the same roof? How do the stories of these “tenants” reveal the image of the owner of the house?

Draw a conclusion . What impressed Ignatich with this hut, both inside and out?
What prompted the hero-storyteller to settle with Matryona? ( From the outside it is an “old gray decaying” house. But behind the external wretchedness lies pure soul a well-built hut; there was nothing evil in it, there was no lie.)

One day in the life of Matryona Vasilievna

• When and how did Matrenin's day begin?
• Which chores were a burden to Matryona, which brought her joy, and why?
• Why did Ignatich, a “distant”, non-rural man, like Matryona’s lifestyle so much?

Draw a conclusion . What did Matryona find the meaning of everyday existence? ( Work – only in it did Matryona see the meaning of her existence. She was “treated” by work, “protected” from ill-wishers. The work returned her to a good mood, and, having “broken her back,” Matryona returned to the hut, already enlightened, happy with everything, with her kind smile.)

"Communication" with God

• How did such qualities as pagan superstition and faith in God coexist in Matryona? In which episodes does Matryona behave like a dense pagan, in which episodes does she behave like a true Christian?
• Remember the incident with the pot. Think about why this story happened to Matryona? Was she offended by people after that? Bitter? Are you estranged from God?
• Why did Matryona, even if she prayed, not “ostentatiously”, as if embarrassed or afraid of oppressing someone who was nearby?

Draw a conclusion. What prayer could Matryona most often turn to God with? What was it - a request for help, a complaint or a word of gratitude? ( Matryona did everything with an open soul - she worked, loved, prayed... Life taught her to steadfastly endure all troubles, not to complain, not to moan even in moments of severe “sickness.” Therefore, turning to God, Matryona would rather whisper words of gratitude than complain about her life.)

Matryona's past

• Re-read and comment on the first episode, which tells about Matryona’s past (the beginning of the 2nd part). What are these events? How does what you read make you feel? From whom could Ignatich learn this story (after all, Matryona herself did not like to talk about her past)? Why, just like the narrator, do we not even suspect that we will find anything interesting there?
• How does this past appear from her own story (2nd part; conversation between Matryona and Ignatich after Thaddeus’s visit)? Write down the brightest moments .
• Explain Matryona’s miraculous transformation at the time when she remembers her past.

“I... for the first time saw Matryona in a completely new way... all over the room, to my eyes, looking away from the light, there seemed twilight with a pink tint. And Matryona emerged from it. And her cheeks seemed to me not yellow, as always, but also with a pink tint.”
“Tied with an old faded handkerchief, Matryona’s round face looked at me in the indirect soft reflections of the lamp - as if freed from wrinkles, from everyday careless attire...”.

Draw a conclusion . Would Matryona, if she had the opportunity, want to change her past: give up something, turn back something? ( No. After all, then she was truly happy: she had youth, love - and her whole life ahead...)

Matryona and Thaddeus Mironovich

• The first meeting with Thaddeus on the pages of the story. What kind of person does the old man appear to you? What is striking about his appearance? What impression did Thaddeus make on Ignatich, and what impression did he make on you personally?
• Why does Matryona hardly participate in the conversation during Thaddeus’s visit? Even after the old man leaves, Matryona prefers to remain silent throughout the long evening. What is he silent about? Matryona Vasilievna?
• Analyze the behavior of Matryona and Thaddeus in part 2 of the story and compose “verbal” characteristics of the heroes .

Identify the subtext here.
Draw a conclusion , re-reading the lines from the text: “...that good The language strangely calls our property ours, the people's or mine. And losing it is considered shameful and stupid in front of people.”

Answer the question: How good How does Matryona live, how does Thaddeus and others like him live? Why the word good Does the author put it in italics? ( Good for Matryona is everything spiritual; good for Thaddeus is everything material: personal property, belongings, things.)

The story of the upper room

• Why did Matryona bequeath her upper room to Kira?
• How does Matryona perceive everything that happens to her house? What gives her the strength to survive this?
• What unusual (even strange) happened while the room was being prepared to be taken out of the yard? Explain these "oddities."

Draw a conclusion. How does Solzhenitsyn depict the scene of “dismantling” Matryona’s room? What is the significance of the image of a broken hut in the characteristics of the breakers and Matryona herself? ( The upper room was dismantled "over the ribs"; under the blows of axes screamed And creaked tear-off boards. The author deliberately “revives” the broken hut, which suffers and suffers just like its owner. And the breakers, with each blow of the ax, lose their human appearance more and more (“torn off”, “twisted”)

Farewell to Matryona

• How to say goodbye to Matryona country people and what about her close relatives? What are the sisters and the husband’s relatives crying about? Whose behavior “stands out” from the general farewell scenario?
• Re-read the wake scene. Why, during the commemoration of the soul of the deceased, not a word was said about the soul itself?
• Explain why it was the disapproving reviews of his sister-in-law that allowed Ignatich to take a fresh look at the image of Matryona? What was the main surprise for him?

Draw a conclusion . How did Matryona's death affect those around him? ( Matryona's death is a reason to think: Who am I? Why am I here? What is false and what is true in this world? This is a reason to look into yourself, into your soul - to find it or lose it forever...)

We return to the problem of the lesson, which we are invited to reflect on in writing (miniature essay or cinquain). After this, written work is optionally read in class. At the end of the lesson, all notebooks with work notes are submitted for checking.
There is an exchange of opinions. The lesson is summarized.

IV. Final word teachers

– Matryona has almost nothing in her soul. But the soul is alive in her, that inner warm light that cannot burn - only warm...
They don’t understand her, they talk about her with contemptuous regret, but she listens only to the voice of her heart.
If only each of us could hear this quiet voice reminding us: “You are a man, God’s greatest creation, and God lives in your soul. Remember this."
How I want to be remembered...

Literature:

Solzhenitsyn A.I. One day of Ivan Denisovich. Stories. – M.: Eksmo, 2006.

« Matrenin Dvor» Solzhenitsyn - a story about tragic fate an open woman, Matryona, unlike her fellow villagers. Published for the first time in the magazine " New world"in 1963.

The story is told in the first person. The main character becomes Matryona's lodger and talks about her amazing fate. The first title of the story, “A village is not worthwhile without a righteous man,” well conveyed the idea of ​​the work about a pure, unselfish soul, but was replaced to avoid problems with censorship.

Main characters

Narrator- an elderly man who served some time in prison and wants a quiet, quiet life in the Russian outback. He settled with Matryona and talks about the fate of the heroine.

Matryona– a single woman of about sixty. She lives alone in her hut and is often sick.

Other characters

Thaddeus- Matryona's former lover, a tenacious, greedy old man.

Matryona's sisters– women who seek their own benefit in everything treat Matryona as a consumer.

One hundred and eighty-four kilometers from Moscow, on the road to Kazan and Murom, train passengers were always surprised by a serious decrease in speed. People rushed to the windows and talked about possible track repairs. Passing this section, the train again picked up its previous speed. And the reason for the slowdown was known only to the drivers and the author.

Chapter 1

In the summer of 1956, the author returned from the “burning desert at random simply to Russia.” His return “dragged on for about ten years,” and he was in no hurry to go anywhere or to anyone. The narrator wanted to go somewhere into the Russian outback with forests and fields.

He dreamed of “teaching” away from the bustle of the city, and he was sent to a town with the poetic name Vysokoye Pole. The author didn’t like it there, and he asked to be redirected to a place with the terrible name “Peatproduct”. Upon arrival in the village, the narrator understands that “it’s easier to come here than to leave later.”

In addition to the owner, the hut was inhabited by mice, cockroaches, and a lame cat that had been picked up out of pity.

Every morning the hostess woke up at 5 am, fearing to oversleep, since she did not really trust her watch, which had been running for 27 years. She fed her “dirty white crooked goat” and prepared a simple breakfast for the guest.

Once Matryona learned from rural women that “a new pension law had been passed.” And Matryona began to seek a pension, but it was very difficult to get it, the different offices to which the woman was sent were located tens of kilometers from each other, and the day had to be spent just because of one signature.

People in the village lived poorly, despite the fact that peat swamps stretched for hundreds of kilometers around Talnovo, the peat from them “belonged to the trust.” Rural women had to haul bags of peat for themselves for the winter, hiding from the raids of the guards. The soil here was sandy and the harvests were poor.

People in the village often called Matryona to their garden, and she, abandoning her work, went to help them. Talnovsky women almost lined up to take Matryona to their garden, because she worked for pleasure, rejoicing at someone else’s good harvest.

Once every month and a half, the housewife had her turn to feed the shepherds. This lunch “put Matryona at great expense” because she had to buy her sugar, canned food, and butter. Grandmother herself did not allow herself such luxury even on holidays, living only on what her poor garden gave her.

Matryona once told about the horse Volchok, who got scared and “carried the sleigh into the lake.” “The men jumped back, but she grabbed the reins and stopped.” At the same time, despite her apparent fearlessness, the hostess was afraid of fire and, until her knees trembled, of trains.

By winter, Matryona still received a pension. The neighbors began to envy her. And grandma finally ordered herself new felt boots, a coat from an old overcoat, and hid two hundred rubles for the funeral.

Once, at Epiphany evenings, three of her came to Matryona. younger sisters. The author was surprised, because he had never seen them before. I thought maybe they were afraid that Matryona would ask them for help, so they didn’t come.

With the receipt of her pension, my grandmother seemed to come to life, and work was easier for her, and her illness bothered her less often. Only one event darkened the grandmother’s mood: at Epiphany in the church, someone took her pot with holy water, and she was left without water and without a pot.

Chapter 2

The Talnovsky women asked Matryona about her guest. And she passed the questions on to him. The author only told the landlady that he was in prison. I myself didn’t ask about the old woman’s past; I didn’t think there was anything interesting there. I only knew that she got married and came to this hut as a mistress. She had six children, but they all died. Later she had a student named Kira. But Matryona’s husband did not return from the war.

One day, when he came home, the narrator saw an old man - Thaddeus Mironovich. He came to ask for his son, Antoshka Grigoriev. The author recalls that for some reason Matryona herself sometimes asked for this insanely lazy and arrogant boy, who was transferred from class to class just so as “not to spoil the performance statistics.” After the petitioner left, the narrator learned from the hostess that it was the brother of her missing husband. That same evening she said that she was supposed to marry him. As a nineteen-year-old girl, Matryona loved Thaddeus. But he was taken to war, where he went missing. Three years later, Thaddeus’s mother died, the house was left without a mistress, and Thaddeus’s younger brother, Efim, came to woo the girl. No longer hoping to see her beloved, Matryona got married in the hot summer and became the mistress of this house, and in the winter Thaddeus returned “from Hungarian captivity.” Matryona threw herself at his feet, and he said that “if it weren’t for my dear brother, he would have chopped you both up.”

He later took as his wife “another Matryona” - a girl from a neighboring village, whom he chose as his wife only because of her name.

The author remembered how she came to her landlady and often complained that her husband beat her and offended her. She gave birth to Thaddeus six children. And Matryona’s children were born and died almost immediately. “Damage” is to blame for everything, she thought.

Soon the war began, and Efim was taken away, from where he never returned. Lonely Matryona took little Kira from the “Second Matryona” and raised her for 10 years, until the girl married a driver and left. Since Matryona was very ill, she took care of her will early, in which she ordered that part of her hut - a wooden outbuilding - be given to her pupil.

Kira came to visit and said that in Cherusty (where she lives), in order to get land for young people, it is necessary to erect some kind of building. The room bequeathed to Matrenina was very suitable for this purpose. Thaddeus began to come often and persuade the woman to give her up now, during her lifetime. Matryona did not feel sorry for the upper room, but she was afraid to break the roof of the house. And so, on a cold February day, Thaddeus came with his sons and began to separate the upper room, which he had once built with his father.

The room lay near the house for two weeks because a blizzard covered all the roads. But Matryona was not herself, and besides, her three sisters came and scolded her for allowing the room to be given away. On those same days, “a lanky cat wandered out of the yard and disappeared,” which greatly upset the owner.

One day, returning from work, the narrator saw old man Thaddeus driving a tractor and loading a dismantled room onto two homemade sleighs. Afterwards we drank moonshine and in the dark drove the hut to Cherusti. Matryona went to see them off, but never returned. At one o'clock in the morning the author heard voices in the village. It turned out that the second sleigh, which Thaddeus had attached to the first out of greed, got stuck on the flights and fell apart. At that time, a steam locomotive was moving, you couldn’t see it because of the hillock, you couldn’t hear it because of the tractor engine. He ran into a sleigh, killing one of the drivers, the son of Thaddeus and Matryona. Deep at night Matryona’s friend Masha came, talked about it, grieved, and then told the author that Matryona bequeathed her “faggot” to her, and she wanted to take it in memory of her friend.

Chapter 3

The next morning they were going to bury Matryona. The narrator describes how her sisters came to say goodbye to her, crying “to show” and blaming Thaddeus and his family for her death. Only Kira truly grieved for her deceased adoptive mother, and “Second Matryona,” Thaddeus’s wife. The old man himself was not at the wake. When they transported the ill-fated upper room, the first sleigh with planks and armor remained standing at the crossing. And, at a time when one of his sons died, his son-in-law was under investigation, and his daughter Kira was almost losing her mind with grief, he was only worried about how to deliver the sleigh home, and begged all his friends to help him.

After Matryona’s funeral, her hut was “filled up until spring,” and the author moved in with “one of her sisters-in-law.” The woman often remembered Matryona, but always with condemnation. And in these memories arose completely new image a woman who was so strikingly different from the people around her. Matryona lived with with an open heart, always helped others, never refused help to anyone, even though her health was poor.

A. I. Solzhenitsyn ends his work with the words: “We all lived next to her, and did not understand that she was the same righteous person, without whom, according to the proverb, not a village would stand. Neither the city. Neither the whole land is ours."

Conclusion

The work of Alexander Solzhenitsyn tells the story of the fate of a sincere Russian woman, who “had fewer sins than a lame-legged cat.” Image main character- this is the image of that very righteous man, without whom the village does not stand. Matryona devotes her entire life to others, there is not a drop of malice or falsehood in her. Those around her take advantage of her kindness, and do not realize how holy and pure this woman’s soul is.

Because brief retelling“Matrenin’s Dvor” does not convey the original author’s speech and the atmosphere of the story; it is worth reading it in full.

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