Grigory Melikhov's plan of life events. Composition on the topic: The path of searching Grigory Melikhov in the novel Quiet Don, Sholokhov

"Quiet Don" is a work that shows the life of the Don Cossacks in one of the most difficult historical periods in Russia. The realities of the first third of the twentieth century, which turned the whole habitual way of life upside down, like caterpillars drove through the fate of the common people. Through the life path of Grigory Melekhov in the novel “Quiet Flows the Don”, Sholokhov reveals the main idea of ​​​​the work, which is to depict the clash of the individual and historical events beyond his control, his wounded fate.

The struggle between duty and feelings

At the beginning of the work, the protagonist is shown as a hardworking guy with a hot temper, which he inherited from his ancestors. Cossack and even Turkish blood flowed in him. Oriental roots endowed Grishka with a bright appearance that could turn the head of more than one Don beauty, and the Cossack stubbornness, in places bordering on stubbornness, ensured the stamina and steadfastness of his character.

On the one hand, he shows respect and love for his parents, on the other hand, he does not listen to their opinion. The first conflict between Gregory and his parents happens because of his love affair with a married neighbor Aksinya. To end the sinful connection between Aksinya and Grigory, his parents decide to marry him. But their choice in the role of the sweet and meek Natalya Korshunova did not solve the problem, but only exacerbated it. Despite the official marriage, love for his wife did not appear, and for Aksinya, who, tormented by jealousy, was increasingly looking for a meeting with him, only flared up.

The blackmail of his father with his house and property forced the hot and impulsive Gregory to leave the farm, his wife, relatives in his hearts and leave with Aksinya. Because of his act, the proud and adamant Cossack, whose family from time immemorial cultivated their own land and grew their own bread, had to become a mercenary, which made Grigory ashamed and disgusted. But he now had to answer both for Aksinya, who had left her husband because of him, and for the child she was carrying.

War and betrayal of Aksinya

A new misfortune was not long in coming: the war began, and Gregory, who swore allegiance to the sovereign, was forced to leave both the old and the new family and recover at the front. In his absence, Aksinya remained in the master's house. The death of her daughter and news from the front about the death of Grigory crippled the woman's strength, and she was forced to succumb to the onslaught of the centurion Listnitsky.

Having come from the front and learned about Aksinya's betrayal, Grigory returns to his family again. For some period, his wife, relatives and soon appeared twins delight him. But the troubled time on the Don, associated with the Revolution, did not allow them to enjoy family happiness.

Ideological and personal doubts

In the novel "Quiet Flows the Don" Grigory Melekhov's path is full of quests, doubts and contradictions both politically and in love. He constantly rushed about, not knowing where the truth was: “Everyone has his own truth, his own furrow. People have always fought for a piece of bread, for a plot of land, for the right to life. We must fight those who want to take life, the right to it ... ". He decided to lead the Cossack division and repair the pillars of the advancing Reds. However, the longer the Civil War continued, the more Gregory doubted the correctness of his choice, the more clearly he understood that the Cossacks were waging war with windmills. Nobody was interested in the interests of the Cossacks and their native land.

The same model of behavior is typical in the personal life of the protagonist of the work. Over time, he forgives Aksinya, realizing that he cannot live without her love and takes him to the front. After he sends her home, where she is forced to once again return to her husband. Arriving on a visit, he looks at Natalya with different eyes, appreciating her devotion and loyalty. He was drawn to his wife, and this intimacy culminated in the conception of a third child.

But again the passion for Aksinya took over him. His last betrayal led to the death of his wife. Gregory drowns his remorse and the impossibility of resisting feelings in the war, becoming cruel and merciless: “I got so smeared on someone else’s blood that I didn’t have any stings left for anyone. Childhood - and I almost do not regret this one, but I don’t even think about myself. The war took everything out of me. I became terrible myself. Look into my soul, and there is blackness, as in an empty well ... ".

Alien among their own

The loss of loved ones and the retreat sobered Gregory, he understands: you need to be able to save what he has left. He takes Aksinya with him on his retreat, but due to typhus, he is forced to leave her.

He again begins to search for the truth and finds himself in the Red Army, taking command of a cavalry squadron. However, even participation in hostilities on the side of the Soviets will not wash away Grigory's past, stained by the white movement. He is threatened with execution, about which his sister Dunya warned him. Taking Aksinya, he makes an attempt to escape, during which the woman he loves is killed. Having fought for his land and on the side of the Cossacks and the Reds, he remained a stranger among his own.

The path of Grigory Melekhov's search in the novel is the fate of a simple man who loved his land, but lost everything that he had and appreciated, protecting it for the life of the next generation, which in the final personifies his son Mishatka.

Artwork test

Mikhail Sholokhov... He knows the most

secret movements of human souls and

shows great skill

This. Even the most random of his heroes,

whose life began and ended on

the same page, remain for a long time -

in your memory.

V.Ya. Shishkov

We can rightfully call M. Sholokhov a chronicler of the Soviet era, its researcher, its singer. He created a whole gallery of images that, in terms of their expressiveness and artistic value, are on a par with the most remarkable images of advanced literature.

"Quiet Flows the Don" - a novel about the fate of the people in a critical era. This is also the principal author's point of view on the revolution and the Civil War. The dramatic fates of the main characters, the cruel lessons of the fate of Grigory Melikhov, the protagonist of the novel, are formed by Sholokhov into the unity of the historical truth of the people on the path of building a new life. Following the thorny path of Grigory's life quest, one can understand how Sholokhov himself managed to solve the problem of the moral quest of his protagonist.

At the beginning of the story, young Grigory - a real Cossack, a brilliant horseman, hunter, fisherman and hardworking rural worker - is quite happy and carefree. The traditional Cossack commitment to military glory helps him out in the first trials on the bloody battlefields in 1914. Distinguished by exceptional courage, Gregory quickly gets used to bloody battles. However, he is distinguished from his brothers in arms by his sensitivity to any manifestation of cruelty. To any violence against the weak and defenseless, and as events unfold, also a protest against the horrors and absurdities of war. In fact, he spends his whole life in an environment of hatred and fear alien to him, becoming hardened and disgusted to discover how all his talent, his whole being goes into the dangerous skill of creating death. He has no time to be at home, in the family, among people who love him.

All this cruelty, dirt, violence made Gregory take a fresh look at life: in the hospital where he was after being wounded, under the influence of revolutionary propaganda, doubts about loyalty to the tsar, fatherland and military duty appear.

In the seventeenth year, we see Gregory in chaotic and painful attempts to somehow decide in this "troubled time." He searches for political truth in a world of rapidly changing values, guided more often by the external signs of events than by their essence.

At first he fights for the Reds, but the killing of unarmed prisoners by them repels him, and when the Bolsheviks come to his beloved Don, doing robberies and violence, he fights them with cold fury. And again, Gregory's search for truth does not find an answer. They turn into the greatest drama of a man completely lost in the cycle of events.

The deep forces of Gregory's soul repel him from both the Reds and the Whites. “They are all the same! he says to his childhood friends leaning towards the Bolsheviks. “They are all a yoke around the neck of the Cossacks!” And when he learns about the rebellion of the Cossacks in the upper reaches of the Don against the Red Army, he takes the side of the rebels. Now he can fight for what is dear to him, for what he loved and cherished all his life: “As if there were no days of searching for the truth, trials, transitions and heavy internal struggle behind him. What was there to think about? Why was the soul tossed about - in search of a way out, in resolving contradictions? Life seemed mocking, wisely simple. Now it already seemed to him that from eternity there was no such truth in it, under the wing of which anyone could warm up, and embittered to the extreme, he thought: everyone has his own truth, his own furrow. For a piece of bread, for a plot of land, for the right to life - people have always fought and will fight as long as the sun shines on them, while warm blood oozes through their veins. One must fight with those who want to take life, the right to it; you have to fight hard, not swaying, - like in a wall, - but the intensity of hatred, hardness will give the fight!

Both a return to the dominance of officers in the event of a victory for the Whites, and the power of the Reds on the Don are unacceptable for Grigory. In the last volume of the novel, the demotion as a result of disobedience to the White Guard general, the death of his wife and the final defeat of the White Army bring Gregory to the last degree of despair. In the end, he joins Budyonny's cavalry and heroically fights the Poles, wanting to clear himself of his guilt before the Bolsheviks. But for Gregory there is no salvation in Soviet reality, where even neutrality is considered a crime. With bitter mockery, he tells the former messenger that he envies Koshevoy and the White Guard Listnitsky: “It was clear to them from the very beginning, but everything is still unclear to me. They both have their own, straight roads, their own ends, and since the seventeenth year I have been walking along the forks, swinging like a drunk ... "

One night, under the threat of arrest, and therefore the inevitable execution, Grigory flees from his native farm. After long wanderings, yearning for children and Aksinya, he secretly returns. Aksinya hugs him, presses her face against his wet overcoat and sobs: “Better kill, but don’t leave again!” Having begged his sister to take the children, he and Aksinya flee at night in the hope of making their way to the Kuban and starting a new life. Enthusiastic joy fills the soul of this woman at the thought that she is again next to Gregory. But her happiness is short-lived: on the way they are caught by a horse outpost, and they rush into the night, pursued by bullets flying after them. When they find shelter in the ravine, Grigory buries his Aksinya: “With his palms, he diligently pressed wet yellow clay on the grave mound and knelt near the grave for a long time, bowing his head, gently swaying.

Now there was no need for him to rush. It was all over…”

Hiding for weeks in the forest thicket, Grigory is experiencing an increasingly strong desire "to be like ... in his native places, to show off like children, then he could die ...". He returns to his native farm.

Having touchingly described Grigory's meeting with his son, Sholokhov ends his novel with the words: “Well, that little thing that Grigory dreamed about during sleepless nights has come true. He stood at the gates of his native house, holding his son in his arms ... This was all that remained in his life, which still made him related to the earth and to all this huge world shining under the cold sun.

Gregory did not have long to enjoy this joy. Obviously, he came back to die. To perish from communist necessity in the person of Mikhail Koshevoy. In a novel full of cruelty, executions and murders, Sholokhov wisely lowers the curtain on this last episode. In the meantime, a whole human life flashed before us, flashing brightly and slowly fading away. Sholokhov's biography of Grigory is quite voluminous. Gregory lived, in the full sense of the word, when his life idyll was not disturbed in any way.

He loved and was loved, he lived an extraordinary worldly life on his native farm and was satisfied. He always tried (to do the right thing, and if not, well, everyone has the right to make a mistake. Many moments of Gregory’s life in the novel are a kind of “escape” from events that are beyond his mind. The passion of Gregory’s searches is replaced most often by a return to himself, to natural life, to his home. But at the same time, it cannot be said that Grigory's life searches reached a dead end, no. He had true love, and fate did not deprive him of the opportunity to be a happy father. But Grigory was forced to constantly look for a way out of the difficult situations that have arisen. Speaking of Gregory's moral choice in life, it is impossible to say unequivocally whether his choice was always really the only true and correct one. But he was almost always guided by his own principles and beliefs, trying to find a better share in life, and this is his desire was not a simple desire to “live better than anyone.” It was sincere and affected the interests not only of himself, but also of many people close to him, in particular the woman he loved. Despite the fruitless aspirations in life, Gregory was happy, although for a very short time. But even these short minutes of much-needed happiness were enough. They did not disappear in vain, just as Grigory Melekhov did not live his life in vain.

>Compositions based on the work Quiet Flows the Don

The path of searching Grigory Melikhov

The epic novel by M. A. Sholokhov “Quiet Don” (1928-1940) is a work about the life of the Don Cossacks during the civil war. The protagonist of the novel, Grigory Melekhov, is a worthy son of his father, a loving and just person, a seeker of truth. Gregory's personal development against the backdrop of changing, often hostile events in the world is the main problem of the novel. The author skillfully depicts the stages of formation and development of the character of the hero, his exploits and disappointments, and most importantly, the search for a life path.

The image of Grigory Melekhov is complex and contradictory. He combined family, social, historical and love lines. It cannot be considered separately from other characters. He is in close unity with his parents, his family and other Cossacks. The "millstones" of the war did not spare Gregory. They went through his soul, crippling it and leaving bloody footprints. On the battlefields, he matured, received many awards, supported the Cossack honor, but at what cost. The kind and humane Gregory hardened, his character was tempered, and he became different. If after the first murder he could not sleep at night, tormented by his conscience, then over time he learned to ruthlessly kill the enemy and even developed the technique of a fatal blow. However, until the last chapter, he remained a loving, open and fair person.

In search of the truth, Gregory rushed from one camp to another, from the “reds” to the “whites”. As a result, he became a renegade. He even envied those who firmly believed in one truth and fought for only one idea. The hero experienced moral hesitation not only at the front, but also at home. On the one hand, a devoted and loving Natalya was waiting for him, and on the other hand, he loved Aksinya all his life - the wife of Stepan Astakhov. This ambiguous position in various social spheres indicates that Gregory is a doubting nature. He always lived "between two fires." The author himself sympathizes with his hero - a man who lived in troubled times, when all moral guidelines were shifted.

Having never understood what the “truth” was and why this senseless war was needed, having lost almost all relatives and friends, at the end of the novel, Gregory returned to his native land. The only person who made him related to the earth and this vast world was his son Mishatka. According to the author, this could be the life of a Cossack: the son returned to his mother, that is, the Cossack land. Perhaps this was the "truth" that Gregory had been looking for so long.

Roman M.A. Sholokhov's "Quiet Don" is a novel about the Cossacks in the era of the Civil War. The protagonist of the work - Grigory Melekhov - continues the tradition of Russian classical literature, in which one of the main images is the hero-truth seeker (the works of Nekrasov, Leskov, Tolstoy, Gorky).
Grigory Melekhov also strives to find the meaning of life, to understand the whirlwind of historical events, to find happiness. This simple Cossack was born in a simple and friendly family, where centuries-old traditions are sacred - they work hard, have fun. The basis of the hero's character - love for work, for his native land, respect for the elders, justice, decency, kindness - is laid right here, in the family.
Handsome, hardworking, cheerful, Grigory immediately wins the hearts of those around him: he is not afraid of human rumors (almost openly loves the beautiful Aksinya, the wife of the Cossack Stepan), he does not consider it shameful to become a farm laborer in order to maintain relations with his beloved woman.
And at the same time, Gregory is a man who tends to hesitate. So, despite his great love for Aksinya, Grigory does not resist his parents, marries Natalya Korshunova at their will.
Without fully realizing it himself, Melekhov strives to exist "in truth." He is trying to understand, to answer for himself the question “how should one live?”. The search for a hero is complicated by the era in which he was born - the time of revolutions and wars.
Gregory will experience strong moral hesitation when he gets to the fronts of the First World War. The hero went to war, thinking that he knew which side the truth was on: you need to defend the fatherland and destroy the enemy. What could be easier? Melekhov does just that. He fights valiantly, he is brave and selfless, he does not shame the honor of the Cossacks. But gradually doubts come to the hero. He begins to see in opponents the same people with their hopes, weaknesses, fears, joys. What is all this slaughter for, what will it bring to people?
The hero begins to realize this especially clearly when fellow countryman Melekhov Chubaty kills a captive Austrian, still a very young boy. The prisoner tries to establish contact with the Russians, openly smiles at them, tries to please. The Cossacks were pleased with the decision to bring him to the headquarters for interrogation, but Chubaty kills the boy simply out of love for violence, out of hatred.
For Melekhov, this event becomes a real moral blow. And although he firmly protects the Cossack honor, deserves a reward, he understands that he was not created for war. He desperately wants to know the truth in order to find the meaning of his actions. Having fallen under the influence of the Bolshevik Garandzhi, the hero, like a sponge, absorbs new thoughts, new ideas. He starts fighting for the Reds. But the killing of unarmed prisoners by the Reds pushes him away from them too.
The childishly pure soul of Gregory alienates him from both the Reds and the Whites. Melekhov reveals the truth: the truth cannot be on either side. Reds and whites are politics, class struggle. And where there is a class struggle, blood is always shed, people die, children remain orphans. The truth is peaceful work in the native land, family, love.
Gregory is a wavering, doubting nature. This allows him to seek the truth, not to stop there, not to be limited by other people's explanations. Gregory's position in life is a position "between": between the traditions of the fathers and his own will, between two loving women - Aksinya and Natalya, between whites and reds. Finally, between the need to fight and the realization of the senselessness and uselessness of the massacre (“my hands need to plow, not fight”).
The author himself sympathizes with his hero. In the novel, Sholokhov objectively describes the events, talks about the "truth" of both the Whites and the Reds. But his sympathy, feelings are on the side of Melekhov. It fell to this man to live at a time when all moral guidelines were shifted. It was this, as well as the desire to search for the truth, that led the hero to such a tragic ending - the loss of everything that he loved: “Why did you, life, cripple me like that?”
The writer emphasizes that the civil war is a tragedy for the entire Russian people. There are no right or wrong in it, because people die, brother goes against brother, father against son.
Thus, Sholokhov in the novel "Quiet Flows the Don" made a man from the people and from the people as a truth seeker. The image of Grigory Melekhov becomes the concentration of the historical and ideological conflict of the work, an expression of the tragic searches of the entire Russian people.

1892 - 1914
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1892 - late autumn
Grigory Panteleevich was born on the Tatarsky farm in the Vyoshenskaya village of the Don Cossack Region in a Cossack family. At the time of his birth, he was the second son and child in the family of a retired senior officer of the Life Guards Ataman Regiment. The elder brother Peter was born in 1886

1899 - approximate date
Birth of Evdokia, younger sister of Gregory and Peter

1911 - end of February
Maslenitsa
Grigory takes part in a wall-to-wall fight between the married couple and the unmarried on the side of the latter. Neighbor Astakhov felt sorry for Grigory when he ran away and did not beat him to death

1912 - May
Grigory begins attempts to get closer to Astakhov's wife, who is called up for military training.

1912 - June
Grigory and Aksinya Astakhova become lovers

1912 - July
Stepan Astakhov returns home. The fight between the Melekhov brothers and Stepan because of Aksinya

1912 - August 1 (old style)
Gregory is brought together with Natalya Korshunova, who is betrothed to him, the day of their wedding is appointed

1912 - early August
Grigory breaks off relations with Aksinya

1912 - September 28 (old style)
Grigory explains with Natalya and tells her that he does not love her and will not live with her family

1912 - early October
Grigory accidentally meets Aksinya and they realize that they cannot live without each other.

1912 - mid-December
Grigory takes the military oath in the village of Vyoshenskaya. The next day, after a stormy explanation with his father, Grigory leaves his wife and leaves his parental home. Soon he is hired as an assistant groom to the landowner Listnitsky in the Yagodny estate. Natalia goes to live with her parents

1912 - end of December
Grigory, through the sister of a friend, tells Aksinya where he is and offers to leave him from her husband. Aksinya runs away from home

1913 - April 12 (old style)
Palm Sunday
Grigory fell through the ice while crossing the Don, because of a cold, abscesses appear on his back

1913 - April 19 (old style)
Holy Sunday of Christ
Grigory refuses Natalya's request to return to her, sent through a note. Natalya tries to commit suicide, gets severe wounds and mutilation, but remains alive

1913 - May
Grigory, at the request of the son of the landowner Listnitsky, receives exemption from military training before being called up for service

1913 - July
Grigory and Aksinya have a daughter, Tanya

1913 - end of November
Natalia is recovering from her wounds

1913 - November 26 (old style)
Gregory is called up for military service. Due to boils on his back and "wildness" of facial features, Gregory is assigned to the 12th Don Cossack Regiment, and not to the Life Guards Ataman Regiment. The commission rejected Grigory's horse and he had to take on the service of his brother's horse.

1914 - early January
Grigory arrived in the regiment stationed in the town of Radzivilov, Volyn province, on the border with the Austro-Hungarian Empire. From the first days of service, he makes it clear to the sergeant that he will not allow himself to be beaten

1914 - February
The child of Peter and Daria Melekhov dies of an illness

1914 - March
Natalya Korshunova went to live with Grigory's parents

1914 - end of June
Grigory's regiment was redeployed for maneuvers in the Rivne region

1914 - July 21 (old style)
After the transfer by rail, the regiment of Gregory makes a march and at noon crosses the border of Austria-Hungary. In the area of ​​​​the town of Leshniuv, the regiment enters the battle, in which Grigory kills two soldiers of the Austrian army

1914 - end of July, August, beginning of September
Gregory, as part of his regiment, participates in battles and skirmishes with the Austrian army. At the end of August, the regiment was withdrawn from the line of battle for rest and replenishment for three days.

1914 - August 29 (old style)
In the battle near Shevel, the son of the landowner Listnitsky was seriously wounded

1914 - early September
Gregory's daughter dies of scarlet fever in Yagodnoe

1914 - September 15 (old style)
In a battle with the Hungarian cavalry near the town of Kamenka-Strumilov, Grigory is wounded in the head and contused. He loses consciousness and remains surrounded on the battlefield. In part, he is considered dead and a notice is sent to his relatives. Waking up at night, Grigory finds the seriously wounded commander of the 9th Dragoon Regiment, and carries him on himself to the location of the Russian units

1914 - September 18 (old style)
Grigory arbitrarily leaves the dressing station for his unit. For saving the life of a wounded officer, he is awarded the St. George Cross of the IV degree and promoted to order *

* - rank in the Cossack troops, corresponds to the rank of corporal

1914 - September 21 (old style)
During a raid by an Austrian airplane, Grigory's eye was damaged and he was sent to Moscow for treatment.

1914 - end of September
In Yagodnoye, the son of the landowner Listnitsky comes on vacation after being wounded. Evgeny Listnitsky and Aksinya become lovers

1914 - end of September, October
Grigory is being treated at the eye clinic of Dr. Kiselyov (Moscow, Kolpachny lane, 1), then a wound on his head opens and he is transferred to a combined arms hospital

1914 - end of October
Under the influence of conversations with one of the wounded, Grigory thinks about the reasons for the ongoing war and about who benefits from it. He dares the delegation visiting the hospital with members of the imperial family and, after being discharged, receives a leave to his homeland

1914 - November 4/5 (old style)
At night, Grigory arrives in Yagodnoye and learns about Aksinya's betrayal. In the morning he beats Eugene and returns to his wife in the parental home

1914 - end of November
Grigory returns to the regiment after a vacation