The image of the main character in the work of Vasily Terkin. The image and characteristics of Vasily Terkin in Tvardovsky's poem Vasily Terkin essay

The Great Patriotic War is one of those events in the history of the country that remain in the memory of the people for a long time. Such events largely change people's ideas about life and art. The war caused an unprecedented surge in literature, music, painting, and cinema. But, perhaps, there has not been and will not be a more popular work about the war than the poem by Alexander Trifonovich Tvardovsky "Vasily Terkin".
A. T. Tvardovsky wrote firsthand about the war. At the very beginning of the war, he, like many other writers and poets, goes to the front. And passing along the roads of war, the poet creates an amazing monument to the Russian soldier, his feat. The hero of the “Book about a fighter”, as the author himself defined the genre of his work, is Vasily Terkin, who is a collective image of a Russian soldier. But there is another hero in the book - the author himself. We cannot even say that it is always Tvardovsky himself. Rather, we are talking about the generalized image of the author-narrator, which is present in "Eugene Onegin", "A Hero of Our Time" and other works that form the basis of the Russian literary tradition. Although some facts from the poem coincide with the real biography of A. T. Tvardovsky, the author is clearly endowed with many features of Terkin, they are constantly together (“Terkin - further. The author - after”). This allows us to say that the author in the poem is also a man of the people, a Russian soldier, who differs from Terkin, in fact, only in that “the course passed in the capital”. A. T. Tvardovsky makes Terkin his countryman. And therefore the words

I tremble with sharp pain,
Malice bitter and holy.
Mother, father, siblings
I have beyond that line -

become the words of both the author and his hero. Amazing lyricism colors those lines of the poem that speak of the “small homeland” that each of the soldiers who took part in the war had. The author loves his hero, admires his actions. They are always unanimous:

And I'll tell you, I won't hide,
In this book, here and there,
What to say to the hero,
I speak personally.
I am responsible for everything around
And notice, if you haven't noticed,
Like Terkin, my hero,
Sometimes speaks for me.

The author in the poem is an intermediary between the hero and the reader. A confidential conversation is constantly conducted with the reader, the author respects the “friend-reader”, and therefore seeks to convey to him the “real truth” about the war. The author feels his responsibility to the readers, he understands how important it was not only to tell about the war, but also to instill in the readers (and we remember that “Vasily Terkin” was published in separate chapters during the war, and the idea goes back to the time of the Finnish war) faith in the invincibility of the spirit of the Russian soldier, optimism. Sometimes the author, as it were, invites the reader to check the truth of his judgments and observations. Such direct contact with the reader greatly contributes to the fact that the poem becomes understandable to a large circle of people.
The poem constantly shows subtle author's humor. At the very beginning of the poem, the author calls a joke the most necessary thing in a soldier's life:

You can live without food for days
You can do more, but sometimes
In a one minute war
Can't live without a joke
Jokes of the most unwise.

The text of the poem is filled with jokes, sayings, sayings, and it is impossible to determine who their author is: the author of the poem, the hero of the poem Terkin, or the people in general.
The author's powers of observation, the vigilance of his gaze and the skill of conveying the details of front-line life are striking. The book becomes a kind of "encyclopedia" of the war, written "from nature", in a field situation. The author is faithful not only to details. He felt the psychology of a man in the war, felt the same fear, hunger, cold, just rejoiced and grieved... the author to tell his contemporaries and descendants about the war in which “the battle is holy and right. Mortal combat is not for the sake of glory, for the sake of life on earth.

Alexander Trifonovich Tvardovsky was born in 1910 on one of the farms in the Smolensk region, into a peasant family. For the formation of the personality of the future poet, the relative erudition of his father, love for the book, which he brought up in his children, also mattered. “Entire winter evenings,” writes Tvardovsky in his autobiography, “we often devoted ourselves to reading a book aloud. My first acquaintance with "Poltava" and "Dubrovsky" by Pushkin, "Taras Bulba" by Gogol, the most popular poems by Lermontov, Nekrasov, A.K. Tolstoy, Nikitin happened exactly in this way.

In 1938, an important event took place in the life of Tvardovsky - he joined the ranks of the Communist Party. In the autumn of 1939, immediately after graduating from the Moscow Institute of History, Philosophy and Literature (IFLI), the poet participated in the liberation campaign of the Soviet Army in Western Belarus (as a special correspondent for a military newspaper). The first meeting with the heroic people in a military situation was of great importance for the poet. According to Tvardovsky, the impressions received then anticipated those deeper and stronger ones that flooded over him during the Second World War. Artists drew amusing pictures depicting the unusual front-line adventures of an experienced soldier Vasya Terkin, and poets composed text for these pictures. Vasya Terkin is a popular popular character who performed supernatural, dizzying feats: he got a tongue, pretending to be a snowball, covered his enemies with empty barrels and lit up, sitting on one of them, “he takes the enemy with a bayonet, like sheaves with a pitchfork.” This Terkin and his namesake - the hero of the poem of the same name by Tvardovsky, who gained nationwide fame - are incomparable.
For some slow-witted readers, Tvardovsky will subsequently specifically hint at the deep difference that exists between a genuine hero and his namesake:
Can't you conclude now?
What, they say, grief does not matter,
What the guys got up, took
Tree without difficulty?
What about constant luck
Terkin accomplished a feat:
Russian wooden spoon
Eight Fritz laid down!

Such lubok heroism was in the spirit of Vasya Terkin, the hero of the humorous page of the newspaper On Guard for the Motherland.
However, the captions to the drawings helped Tvardovsky achieve ease of colloquial speech. These forms are preserved in the "real" "Vasily Terkin", having improved significantly, expressing a deep life content.
The first plans to create a serious poem about the hero of the people's war date back to the period 1939-1940. But these plans changed significantly later under the influence of new, formidable and great events.
Tvardovsky was always interested in the fate of his country at turning points in history. History and people are its main theme. Back in the early 1930s, he created a poetic picture of the complex era of collectivization in the poem "Country Ant". During the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) A..T. Tvardovsky writes the poem "Vasily Terkin" about the Great Patriotic War. The fate of the people was decided. The poem is dedicated to the life of the people in the war.
Tvardovsky is a poet who deeply understood and appreciated the beauty of the national character. Large-scale, capacious, collective images are created in “The Land of the Ant”, “Vasily Terkin”: the events are enclosed in a very broad plot framework, the poet turns to hyperbole and other means of fabulous convention. In the center of the poem is the image of Terkin, which unites the composition of the work into a single whole. Terkin Vasily Ivanovich - the protagonist of the poem, an ordinary infantryman from Smolensk peasants.

"Just a guy himself
He is ordinary"

Terkin embodies the best features of the Russian soldier and the people as a whole. A hero named Vasily Terkin first appears in the poetic feuilletons of the Tvardov period of the Soviet-Finnish war (1939-1940). The words of the hero of the poem:

"I am the second, brother, war
I'm fighting for the ages"

The poem is built as a chain of episodes from the military life of the protagonist, which do not always have a direct event connection with each other. Terkin tells young soldiers about the everyday life of the war with humor; says that he has been fighting since the very beginning of the war, he was surrounded three times, was wounded. The fate of an ordinary soldier, one of those who bore the brunt of the war on his shoulders, becomes the personification of the national fortitude, the will to live. Terkin swims across the icy river twice to re-establish contact with advancing units; Terkin occupies a German dugout alone, but comes under fire from his own artillery; on the way to the front, Terkin finds himself in the house of old peasants, helping them with the housework; Terkin steps into hand-to-hand combat with the German and, with difficulty, overcoming, takes him prisoner. Unexpectedly for himself, Terkin shoots down a German attack aircraft from a rifle; Terkin reassures the envious sergeant:
“Do not worry, the German has this
Not the last plane

Terkin takes over command of the platoon when the commander is killed and breaks into the village first; however, the hero is again seriously wounded. Lying wounded in the field, Terkin converses with Death, who persuades him not to cling to life; in the end, he is discovered by the fighters, and he tells them:

"Remove this woman,
I am a soldier still alive

In the image of Vasily Terkin, the best moral qualities of the Russian people are combined: patriotism, readiness for a feat, love for work.
The character traits of the hero are interpreted by the poet as traits of the collective image: Terkin is inseparable and inseparable from the militant people. It is interesting that all fighters - regardless of their age, tastes, military experience - feel good with Vasily; wherever he appears - in battle, on vacation, on the way - contact, friendliness, mutual disposition are instantly established between him and the fighters. Literally every scene is about it. The fighters listen to Terkin's playful bickering with the cook at the first appearance of the hero:
And sitting under a pine tree,
He eats porridge, hunched over.
"Mine?" - fighters among themselves, -
"Mine!" - exchanged glances.

I do not need, brothers, orders,
I don't need fame.

Terkin is characterized by respect and careful attitude of the master to the thing, as to the fruit of labor. It is not for nothing that he takes away the saw from his grandfather, which he mangles, not being able to sharpen it. Returning the finished saw to the owner, Vasily says:

On-ko, grandfather, take it, look.
Will cut better than new
In vain do not measles the tool.

Terkin loves work and is not afraid of it (from the hero's conversation with death):

I am an employee
I would go into business at home.
- The house is destroyed.
- I'm a carpenter.
- There is no stove.
And the baker...

a hero is usually a synonym for his mass character, the absence of features of exclusivity in him. But this simplicity has another meaning in the poem: the transparent symbolism of the hero's surname, Terkin's “tolerate-tolerate” sets off his ability to overcome difficulties simply, easily. Such is his behavior even when he swims across an icy river or sleeps under a pine tree, completely content with an uncomfortable bed, and so on. In this simplicity of the hero, his calmness, sober outlook on life, important features of the national character are expressed.

In the field of view of A.T. Tvardovsky in the poem "Vasily Terkin" is not only the front, but also those who work in the rear for the sake of victory: women and the elderly. The characters of the poem not only fight - they laugh, love, talk with each other, and most importantly - dream of a peaceful life. The reality of war is united by what is usually incompatible: tragedy and humor, courage and fear, life and death.
The chapter "From the Author" depicts the process of "mythologization" of the main character of the poem. Terkin is called by the author "a holy and sinful Russian miracle man." The name of Vasily Terkin has become legendary and a household name.
The poem "Vasily Terkin" is distinguished by a kind of historicism. Conventionally, it can be divided into three parts, coinciding with the beginning, middle and end of the war. The poetic comprehension of the stages of the war creates a lyrical chronicle of events from the chronicle. A feeling of bitterness and sorrow fills the first part, faith in victory - the second, the joy of the liberation of the Fatherland becomes the leitmotif of the third part of the poem. This is explained by the fact that A.T. Tvardovsky created the poem gradually, throughout the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.
The composition of the poem is also original. Not only individual chapters, but also periods, stanzas within chapters are distinguished by their completeness. This is due to the fact that the poem was printed in parts. And it should be accessible to the reader from "any place".
The poem has 30 chapters. Twenty-five of them fully, comprehensively reveals the hero, who finds himself in a wide variety of military situations. In the last chapters, Terkin does not appear at all (“About an Orphan Soldier”, “On the Road to Berlin”). The poet has said everything about the hero and does not want to repeat himself, to make the image illustrative.
It is no coincidence that Tvardovsky's work begins and ends with lyrical digressions. An open conversation with the reader brings the work closer to the inner world, creates an atmosphere of common involvement in the events. The poem ends with a dedication to the fallen.
Tvardovsky talks about the reasons that pushed him to such a construction of the poem:
“I did not long languish with doubts and fears about the uncertainty of the genre, the lack of an initial plan that embraces the whole work in advance, the weak plot connection of the chapters with each other. Not a poem - well, let yourself not a poem, - I decided; there is no single plot - let yourself not, do not; there is no very beginning of a thing - there is no time to invent it; the culmination and completion of the whole story is not planned - let it be written about what is burning, not waiting ... ”
Of course, the plot in the work is necessary. Tvardovsky knew and knows this very well, but in an effort to convey to the reader the "real truth" of the war, he polemically declared his rejection of the plot in the usual sense of the word.

There is no plot in war...
................
However, the truth does not hurt.

The poet emphasized the veracity and reliability of broad pictures of life by calling Vasily Terkin not a poem, but a “book about a fighter.” The word "book" in this popular sense sounds somehow special in a significant way, as a subject "serious, reliable, unconditional," says Tvardovsky.
The poem "Vasily Terkin" is an epic canvas. But lyrical motifs also sound powerful in it. Tvardovsky could call (and called) the poem "Vasily Terkin" his lyrics, because in this work for the first time the appearance of the poet himself, the features of his personality, were so vividly, diversely and strongly expressed.

The protagonist of the poem is a collective, generalized image, embodying the entire warring people. Almost nothing is said about the specific personality of Vasily Terkin. It is only known that he is over twenty - closer to thirty, and that he, like the author, comes from the Smolensk region, that "he fought in Karelian - across the Sestra River."

Terkin is a great lover of life, "a hunter to live up to ninety years old", got into service from the reserve, serves in the infantry, in the troops, "the closest to the earth, to cold, to fire and death." For him, war is an ordinary job that needs to be done correctly, skillfully, not for the sake of glory, but "for the sake of life on earth."

Terkin - who is he?
Let's be frank:
Just a guy himself
He is an ordinary...
Not tall, not that small
But a hero is a hero...

Through commonness, averageness Tvardovsky shows. the typicality of Terkin, because he is the embodiment of the mass of soldiers who endured all the hardships of the war. However, the image of Terkin is devoid of schematism. This is a cheerful, full-blooded hero, with his own special character.

He is a merry fellow, a joker on a halt, a lover of a hearty meal, he is not averse to amusing his comrades by playing the accordion (“Accordion”), helping the old men (“Two Soldiers”), chopping firewood for a soldier (“Before the battle”).

This is a life-loving, good-natured, broad Russian nature, having a generous heart, combining such primordially Russian qualities as soulfulness and nobility, sharpness and wisdom, determination and courage.

Vasily Terkin is a heroic image. He, without hesitation, crosses to the other side by swimming in November to report that the crossing platoon has entrenched itself on the other side (“Crossing”), occupies an enemy bunker and holds it until its own troops arrive (“Terkin is wounded”), shoots down an enemy aircraft (“Who fired?”), taking the place of the killed lieutenant, raises the fighters to attack and breaks into the village first (“On the offensive”), cheers and inspires the exhausted soldiers during the battle for the unknown “settlement of Borki”, “Where the war paved the way , / / ​​Where the water was for the infantry / Knee-deep, mud - pile-deep ("Fight in the swamp").

In the chapter "Duel", which is the culmination of the entire poem, Terkin enters into hand-to-hand combat with a physically stronger German:

Tervin knew that in this fight
He is weaker: not those grubs.

But Terkin's morale and confidence in victory are stronger, so he emerges victorious:

And then,
Anger and pain taking into a fist,
unloaded grenade

Terkin German - on the left - shmyak!
The German groaned and went limp...

This chapter echoes the epic epic, and the fight itself grows to a symbolic generalization of "Man-People". Terkin, symbolizing Russia, confronts a strong and formidable enemy, symbolizing Nazi Germany:

Like an ancient battlefield

Chest to chest, that shield to shield, -
Instead of thousands, two fight
As if a fight would solve everything.

But it should be noted that the image of Terkin is deliberately devoid of a romantic halo by the author. as if even lowered. This is achieved through the introduction of colloquial vocabulary, vernacular (“snapped a German between the eyes”, “put it in a sled”, “gave a bream”, Terkin of a German on the left - “shmyak”, etc.)

Thus, the author seeks to emphasize that the main character is not only a generalized image-symbol, but also a personality, individuality, that for him war is work, hard, dirty, but necessary, inevitable, not for glory, not for orders and medals, not for promotion.
And only in the final stanza does the author allow himself to rise to a large-scale, solemn sounding generalization:

A terrible battle is going on, bloody,
Mortal combat is not for glory,
For life on earth.

In a dispute between two forces, goodness, love and life itself won. These lines are repeatedly heard in the poem, they are a kind of refrain emphasizing the main theme of the work: the unprecedented feat of the Russian soldier.

We meet the same method of generalization and individualization in the chapter "Terkin - Terkin". Vasily meets with his namesake Ivan. Ivan differs from Vasily only in hair color (he is red), a front-line profession (armor-piercer), but otherwise both heroes are similar. The dispute between them is decided by the foreman:

What you don't understand here
Don't understand each other?
According to the charter of each company
Terkin will be given his own.

Tvardovsky's poem is often called an encyclopedia of military reality during the Great Patriotic War" (similar to Pushkin's "Eugene Onegin"). Indeed, the book about a fighter is written exclusively truthfully. The truth of war, no matter how bitter, hits right into the soul.

The poet does not embellish the events, does not depict the exploits of his hero as light and funny, on the contrary, in the poem the strongest chapters are the chapters painted with tragic pathos: "Crossing", "Fight in the swamp", "Death and the warrior", "About the orphaned soldier ".

Vasya Terkin is a real hero. I know that he was and still is loved by many. It 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, while Vasya was in the infantry, which he adores ... He twisted the German with his bare hands. Although the fight scene shows how difficult it all was. The German is fat, sleek, strong. And Vasya has grown thin, tired. Of course, he jokingly asks for supplements from a local chef. And in general he gets it, but the cook is not very pleased - there are probably few products. And he even makes a remark to Terkin: “Why don’t you go to the fleet, such a glutton.” But Terkin, which is his remarkable quality, is not offended. He laughs it off, it's hard to hurt him.

But he (such a merry fellow) is experiencing negativity. For example, when his small homeland is belittled. This is when in the hospital the young hero was offended that Terkin mistook him for a fellow countryman. Why is Smolensk land worse?! And for her sake, Terkin is ready to perform feats. Il when a colleague laments that he has lost his pouch, Terkin freaks out in the end. He said to the bewildered once with a smile, twice with a joke, but he still does not let up. But it is clear that this was the last straw for the one who lost. He even complains that he lost his family, home, and now that pouch. But Terkin generously gives his own, saying, they say, the main thing is not to lose the Motherland. And what is needed for this? Cheer up, first of all!

That is, Vasily is an optimist, he is generous and courageous. He respects civilians: children, old people... By the way, the authorities too. Here 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 was already at war.

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

While I see some pluses in Vasya. Laziness is also not about him. He would not be able to sit out in the rear or in the hospital when the war ... The only thing that would give me a headache from him. There are way too many jokes.

But in the terrible time of the war it 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 the exploits of Terkin. Therefore, it is so recognizable, so popular. Yes, in the next company there, Vanya or Petya did exactly the same as Terkin.

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

He served in the "queen of the fields" - 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 supplements, but it is not provided - there is not enough food, he grumbles and sends him to the fleet. The naval at that time were fed better than the infantry.

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

Terkin was as alive. He communicated with the soldiers on an equal footing, gave practical advice. The soldiers were looking forward to the release of each new chapter in the front-line newspaper. Terkin was a friend and comrade for everyone. He was one of them. If Terkin could do such a thing, then every soldier could do exactly that. The soldiers enjoyed reading about his exploits and adventures.

Tvardovsky specially invented his Terkin so that he would help the soldiers morally. Supported their fighting spirit. Terkin means "gritty".

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

The other messengers did not make it to shore. And Vasya swam. At stake was the life of many soldiers and officers who melted down from one shore to another and came under fire from the Nazis.

And for his feat does not require anything. 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 keep warm. Why waste everything on skin? He also has the strength to joke around.

Composition Image of Vasily Terkin image with a description with examples and quotes from the text

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

They told him interesting stories about the exploits of their fellow soldiers. Some episodes Tvardovsky then "attributed" to his hero. That is why it turned out to be so recognizable and popular.

There was no real person with that name and surname. This image is collective. It contains all the best that is inherent in the Russian soldier. Therefore, everyone could recognize himself in it. Tvardovsky specially invented him so that in difficult times, like a living, real person, he would help the soldiers morally. Everyone was the best friend. Each company and platoon had its own Vasily Terkin.

Where did Tvardovsky get such a surname from? "Torkin" means a 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 the biography of Terkin. He comes from the Smolensk region, was a peasant. A good-natured Russian guy, easy to talk to, likes to tell all sorts of stories, a joker and a merry fellow. At the front from the first days of the war. Was injured.

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 was entrenched on the opposite bank. Those who sent it understood that he had little chance of getting it. But he got there. Alone, swimming, in the icy November water.

Like all Russian peasants, Terkin is a jack of all trades. What he just didn’t do was fix the clock, sharpen the saw, and even play the harmonica. He must have been 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 get scared, but asked her for a respite for one day to see victory and salute. And death receded.

Initially, Tvardovsky planned Terkin as a feuilleton image in order to entertain the soldiers and raise their morale. But he did not notice how he himself fell in love with his hero, and decided to make his image real, not caricatured. To endow him with the best human traits - resourcefulness, courage, patriotism, humanism, a sense of military duty.

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

The poem is written in simple language, easy and long remembered.

Essay 4

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

I think he is a character, not a real hero. That is, it is clear that such a person does not exist, cannot actually exist. He is too cheerful, optimistic, so joyful ... He would, frankly, annoy me. I'm surprised no one hit him from the soldiers. That is, raising morale is, of course, good, but playing tricks when there is a war around ...

For example, in the scene with the lost pouch. A fighter who has lost an expensive thing 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 a fighter this loss was the last straw, as they say. He held on when he lost his home, his family, but he held on with the last of his strength. And here is the pouch...

And our "hero" Vasya does not understand the suffering of a soldier. Laughing, mocking, shaming! To something he says that losing the Motherland is scary. But it is understandable, compared: the pouch and the Motherland.

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

But of course, Tvardovsky tried to put a lot of good qualities into his hero. And he boldly 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 bike! However, here he is Terkin - lucky. In fact, he was also lucky in hand-to-hand combat with the German, although the Fritz was well-fed and strong. It was lucky when our tankers picked him up in the wounded hut, took him to the doctor - they 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 gives readers confidence in victory. The poet repeats through his lips that we will not lose in this war. Fortunately, these words have come true.

And yet, for me, this character is too simple. But that's just my personal opinion.

Option 5

Alexander Trofimovich Tvardovsky - 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 whole war as a war correspondent, he talked a lot with soldiers, and he himself more than once got into various difficult situations. Everything that he describes in his book, he heard from ordinary fighters, foot soldiers. During the Great Patriotic War, the infantry played a crucial role in the history of the war, and mainly it was to her that the main merit in the victory belongs. So the main character of the author's story belonged to the infantry.

The image turned out to be collective and averaged. 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, but we fought out of necessity. Turki also fought out of necessity. A cruel enemy attacked his beloved land. His serene happy life on the collective farm was severely cut short by a formidable misfortune, and the war became work for him, like a hot suffering on the collective farm when the rains burst. The whole country turned into a single military camp, and even in the rear, the fascist could not sleep peacefully. Terkin endlessly loves his homeland, calling the earth "mother". His cheerfulness, courage and kindness permeate every chapter of the book. The cheerful and kind-hearted Terkin does not burn in fire and does not sink in water. Because his will to defeat the Nazis is very great in order to free mother earth from the damned invader. He is savvy, as he masterfully gets out of all the troubles in which the author puts him. In addition, he has a great sense of humor, which helps to endure the hardships and difficulties of the front with ease, tipsy, and, not least, helps the reader to follow the adventures of our hero with bated breath and worry about him.

At the front, all the soldiers were looking forward to the release of each new chapter about Terkin. They loved him as a brother and as a friend. And everyone found in themselves and in their comrades something from their favorite hero. The author is trying to show through his Terkin 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 were more brilliant, and our twelve- and fourteen-year-old boys, who got up to the machines instead of their fathers who had gone to the front, turned out to be more skillful and enduring than the overgrown German soldiers. And about each of them we can say that his name was Vasily Terkin. Soldiers fought and died not because their commanders sent them to their deaths, but because they fought for their homeland!!! This feat was, is and will always be, this is a feature 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 the bestseller of that time. Glory to the Russian soldier!

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The poem "Vasily Terkin" was written by Alexander Trifonovich Tvardovsky during the Great Patriotic War and was published chapter by chapter in various newspapers. This work supported the fighting spirit of the soldiers, gave them hope, inspired and, most importantly, it could be read from any chapter. This is due to the fact that each chapter in the poem is a separate story, which is full of deep patriotism, optimism, faith in the future.

The image of the main character Vasily Terkin, a simple Russian soldier, is an example of human dignity, courage, love for the Motherland, honesty and selflessness. All these qualities of the hero are revealed in each chapter of the work, but, of course, only the study and analysis of the entire poem as a whole can give a complete picture of the character of the hero, of all his virtues.

Since the work was written during the war, it goes without saying that the main qualities of the hero, on which the author focuses, are selfless courage, heroism, a sense of duty and responsibility.

In the chapter “Crossing”, Vasily Terkin bravely agrees to swim across the icy river, and when he finds himself on the opposite bank, frozen and tired, he immediately begins to report, showing his responsibility and sense of duty:

Allow me to report...

The platoon on the right bank is alive and well

To spite the enemy!

In the chapter "Who shot?" the protagonist, instead of hiding in a trench like everyone else, bravely shoots down an enemy plane from a rifle, risking his life in the process.

The image of Vasily Terkin is multifaceted, he is not only a courageous soldier, but also a wonderful worker-craftsman. And we find confirmation of this in the chapter "Two Soldiers".

Terkin got up:

Or maybe, grandfather, she does not have a divorce?

He takes the saw himself - Come on ...

And in his hands she drank, for sure

Raised pike, Sharp back led.

The same thing happens with the clock, which stood for many years, and in the hands of Vasily it went again. To the old people, in whose house the hero manifests himself as a "jack of all trades", he has deep respect and reverence.

Vasily arouses great sympathy for the people around him also because he has a kind, cheerful disposition, his jokes are witty, they defuse the tense atmosphere, raise the morale of his colleagues, his funny stories distract the soldiers from gloomy thoughts. Terkin has amazing artistic abilities, he plays, sings, dances.

Another important feature of the hero is his spiritual tact, sensitivity and delicacy. When, after being wounded, Vasily was catching up with his detachment, he met tankers on the way. They had an accordion that belonged to a recently killed commander. The hero was imbued with sympathy for the soldiers and immediately gave up the desire to play on it, but the soldiers allowed him to do this and were fascinated by his game.

Throughout the work, Tvardovsky gives characteristics to his hero, expresses a personal attitude to his actions. He does this most openly in the last chapter, and it is this phrase that can be considered one of the main characteristics of Vasily Terkin.


In the midst of the Great Patriotic War, when our entire country was defending our homeland, the first chapters of A.T. Tvardovsky "Vasily Terkin", where a simple Russian soldier, "an ordinary guy" is displayed in the image of the main character.

The writer himself recalled that the beginning of work on "Vasily Terkin" was accompanied by difficulties: it was not easy to find the required art form, to determine the composition, and it was especially difficult to choose a main character who would be understandable not only to the wartime reader, but would also remain modern for many years. Alexander Trifonovich Tvardovsky found his hero - Vasily Terkin, whose image helped both the soldiers at the front and their wives and children in the rear, and is also interesting to the modern reader. What made the literary image of Terkin so popular for so many years?

Any artistic image has not only individualistic, personal features, but also carries something collective, general, is a spokesman, a characteristic hero of its time. On the one hand, Vasily Terkin is not like the rest of the soldiers in the company: he is a merry fellow, he is distinguished by a peculiar sense of humor, he is not afraid of danger, but at the same time, Tvardovsky, creating his hero, did not take any particular person as a model, so the writer turned out to be a collective image of a soldier, the defender of the Russian land, ready at any moment to repel the attacks of the enemy:

However, what is there to think, brothers,

We must hurry to beat the German.

That's all Terkin in a nutshell

You have to report.

Terkin is brave, courageous, he is not afraid of bullets, enemy bombing, or ice water. In any situation, the hero knows how to stand up for himself and not let others down. Terkin is a friend to a fighter at a halt, a son to an old man and an old woman in a dilapidated hut, a brother to a young woman who sent all her loved ones to the front. 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 endows his hero with a telling surname: Terkin, not without reason the most common phrase of the poem: “We will endure. Let's grind." The strength of the Russian spirit is such that a person can endure everything, can survive a lot, but this does not make him angrier, intolerant, but, on the contrary, seeks to help people, tries to make them believe in their own strength:

He sighed at the door

And said:

Let's go, father...

Savvy and resourceful Terkin not only in the war, during the battle, but also in everyday life. Thus, peaceful and military life merge into one. The hero, as it were, lives in the war, constantly dreaming of victory, of simple village work.

The writer Vasily Terkin calls differently in the poem, then he is an “ordinary guy”, with weaknesses inherent in any person, then a hero.

Gradually, the image of the hero grows from an individual personality to the level of a literary generalization:

Serious, funny

No matter what rain, what snow, -

Into battle, forward, into pitch fire

He goes, saint and sinner,

Russian miracle man...

The fact that the writer does not separate Terkin from himself is also important. In the chapter "About Me" he writes:

I am responsible for everything around

And notice, if you haven't noticed,

Like Terkin, my hero,

Sometimes speaks for me.

Bringing the hero closer to himself, making Vasily Terkin his countryman, A.T. Tvardovsky speaks of a direct connection between people during the war years, that everyone strives for a peaceful life, for returning to their home.

Therefore, the poem by A.T. Tvardovsky "Vasily Terkin" is still so popular, because its main character looks like the most ordinary person.


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