What character traits are inherent in Grigory Melekhov? Image of Grigory Melekhov. Tragic fate. Killing a person, contrary to the nature of Gregory

Grigory Melekhov - main character M. Sholokhov's epic novel "Quiet Don". His image cannot be called typical, because it also contains special individual traits.

Grigory Melekhov is an ordinary Don Cossack, who grew up in a fairly wealthy family with a patriarchal way of life. From the very first pages of the novel, he is depicted in everyday peasant life, which helps the reader to immediately see the main character traits of Gregory. He reveals a love for nature and for all living things: “with a sudden feeling of acute pity” he looks at a duckling accidentally cut with a scythe while mowing a meadow. In addition, the hero is characterized by sincerity and honesty. He forever retains his love for Aksinya in his soul, and immediately admits to his wife Natalya that he feels nothing for her: “And I feel sorry for you... to die, during these days we became close, but there is nothing in my heart... Empty.” However, I think that all this can be attributed to the typical traits of a hero.

In my opinion, the individual traits of Grigory Melekhov include his desire to find his way in life, to find himself. The hero seeks the truth, despite all the difficulties and vicissitudes of fate. He is an uneducated and politically illiterate person, so he is easily instilled with different views on war and life in general. However, Gregory does not give up and, when those around him offer him different paths, he firmly answers: “I myself am looking for an entrance.”

Throughout his life, the hero often commits terrible offenses, but Gregory looks for the root of all mistakes in himself, in his actions. He is not without self-condemnation. The war could not destroy his soul and all that goodness that was originally in it. She broke the hero, but did not break him completely. By the end of the novel, the most important values ​​for Melekhov are home, family, and children. War, murder and death only disgust him. Therefore, one can even say that Gregory is epic hero, which takes upon itself all historical responsibility. His image is equal to the image of an entire people. And Melekhov’s path to truth is the tragic path of man’s wanderings, full of mistakes and losses, evidence of man’s deep connection with history. This is the special individuality inherent only in the image of Gregory.

Melekhov is a complex hero, combining both typical and individual traits. However, this gives his image versatility and tragedy, making it memorable and very original.

Grigory Melekhov - central character the novel “Quiet Don”, unsuccessfully searching for his place in a changing world. In the context historical events showed the difficult fate of the Don Cossack, who knows how to passionately love and selflessly fight.

History of creation

Contemplating new novel, Mikhail Sholokhov did not imagine that the work would eventually turn into an epic. It all started innocently. In mid-autumn 1925, the writer began the first chapters of “Donshchina” - this was the original name of the work in which the author wanted to show life Don Cossacks during the years of the revolution. That’s how it started - the Cossacks marched as part of the army to Petrograd. Suddenly the author was stopped by the thought that readers were unlikely to understand the motives of the Cossacks in suppressing the revolution without a backstory, and he put the manuscript in a far corner.

Only a year later the idea was fully matured: in the novel, Mikhail Alexandrovich wanted to reflect the lives of individual people through the prism of historical events that happened in the period from 1914 to 1921. The tragic fates of the main characters, including Grigory Melekhov, had to be integrated into the epic theme, and for this it was necessary to become better acquainted with the customs and characters of the inhabitants of the Cossack farm. The author of “Quiet Don” moved to his homeland, to the village of Vishnevskaya, where he plunged headlong into the life of the “Don region”.

In search of bright characters and a special atmosphere that settled on the pages of the work, the writer traveled around the area, met with witnesses of the First World War and revolutionary events, collected a mosaic of tales, beliefs and elements of folklore local residents, and also stormed Moscow and Rostov archives in search of the truth about the life of those dashing years.

Finally, the first volume of “Quiet Don” was released. It showed Russian troops on the war fronts. In the second book, the February coup and the October Revolution were added, the echoes of which reached the Don. In the first two parts of the novel alone, Sholokhov placed about a hundred heroes, later they were joined by another 70 characters. In total, the epic spanned four volumes, the last one being completed in 1940.

The work was published in the publications “October”, “Roman-newspaper”, “ New world" and "Izvestia", rapidly gaining recognition among readers. They bought magazines, flooded the editors with reviews, and the author with letters. Soviet bookworms perceived the tragedies of heroes as personal shocks. Among the favorites, of course, was Grigory Melekhov.

It’s interesting that Grigory was absent from the first drafts, but a character with that name appeared in early stories writer - there the hero is already endowed with some features of the future “resident” of “Quiet Don”. Researchers of Sholokhov’s work consider the Cossack Kharlampy Ermakov, who was sentenced to death in the late 20s, to be the prototype of Melekhov. The author himself did not admit that it was this man who became the prototype of the book Cossack. Meanwhile, Mikhail Alexandrovich during the training camp historical basis Roman met Ermakov and even corresponded with him.

Biography

The novel sets out the entire chronology of Grigory Melekhov’s life before and after the war. The Don Cossack was born in 1892 on the Tatarsky farm (Veshenskaya village), although the writer does not indicate the exact date of birth. His father Panteley Melekhov once served as a constable in the Ataman Life Guards Regiment, but was retired due to old age. For the time being, the life of a young guy passes in serenity, in ordinary peasant affairs: mowing, fishing, caring for the farm. At night there are passionate meetings with the beautiful Aksinya Astakhova, a married lady, but passionately in love with a young man.

His father is dissatisfied with this heartfelt affection and hastily marries his son to an unloved girl - meek Natalya Korshunova. However, a wedding does not solve the problem. Grigory understands that he is unable to forget Aksinya, so he leaves his legal wife and settles with his mistress on the estate of a local gentleman. On a summer day in 1913, Melekhov became a father - his first daughter was born. The couple’s happiness turned out to be short-lived: life was destroyed by the outbreak of the First world war, who called Gregory to repay his debt to the Motherland.

Melekhov fought selflessly and desperately in the war; in one of the battles he was wounded in the eye. For his bravery, the warrior was awarded the Cross of St. George and a promotion in rank, and in the future three more crosses and four medals will be added to the man’s awards. Overturned Political Views The hero meets the Bolshevik Garanzha in the hospital, who convinces him of the injustice of the tsarist rule.

Meanwhile, a blow awaits Grigory Melekhov at home - Aksinya, heartbroken (by the death of her little daughter), succumbs to the charms of the son of the owner of the Listnitsky estate. Arriving on leave common law husband did not forgive the betrayal and returned to his legal wife, who later bore him two children.

In the outbreak of the Civil War, Gregory takes the side of the “reds”. But by 1918, he became disillusioned with the Bolsheviks and joined the ranks of those who staged an uprising against the Red Army on the Don, becoming a division commander. The death of his elder brother Petro at the hands of a fellow villager, an ardent supporter of the Soviet regime, Mishka Koshevoy, awakens even greater anger towards the Bolsheviks in the hero’s soul.

Passions are also boiling on the love front - Grigory cannot find peace and is literally torn between his women. Because of his still-living feelings for Aksinya, Melekhov cannot live peacefully in his family. Her husband's constant infidelities push Natalya to have an abortion, which destroys her. The man endures the premature death of a woman with difficulty, because he also had peculiar, but tender feelings for his wife.

The Red Army's offensive against the Cossacks forces Grigory Melekhov to go on the run to Novorossiysk. There, the hero, driven into a dead end, joins the Bolsheviks. The year 1920 was marked by Gregory’s return to his homeland, where he settled with Aksinya’s children. The new government began persecuting the former “whites,” and while escaping to Kuban for a “quiet life,” Aksinya was mortally wounded. After wandering around the world a little more, Gregory returned to his native village, because the new authorities promised amnesty to the Cossack rebels.

Mikhail Sholokhov put an end to the story at the very interesting place, without telling readers about future fate Melekhova. However, it is not difficult to guess what happened to him. Historians urge curious fans of the writer’s work to consider the year of death of his favorite character as the date of death of his favorite character - 1927.

Image

The author conveyed the difficult fate and internal changes of Grigory Melekhov through a description of his appearance. By the end of the novel, a carefree, stately young man in love with life turns into a stern warrior with gray hair and a frozen heart:

“...knew that he would no longer laugh as before; knew that his eyes were sunken and his cheekbones were sticking out sharply, and in his gaze the light of senseless cruelty began to shine through more and more often.”

Gregory is a typical choleric person: temperamental, hot-tempered and unbalanced, which manifests itself both in love affairs and in relationships with the environment in general. The character of the main character of "Quiet Don" is an alloy of courage, heroism and even recklessness; he combines passion and humility, gentleness and cruelty, hatred and endless kindness.

Gregory is a typical choleric person

Sholokhov created a hero with an open soul, capable of compassion, forgiveness and humanity: Grigory suffers from a gosling accidentally killed in the mowing, protects Franya, not being afraid of an entire platoon of Cossacks, saves Stepan Astakhov, his sworn enemy, Aksinya’s husband, in the war

In search of the truth, Melekhov rushes from the Reds to the Whites, eventually becoming a renegade who is not accepted by either side. The man appears to be a true hero of his time. Its tragedy lies in the story itself, when a calm life was disrupted by shocks, turning peaceful workers into unhappy people. The character’s spiritual quest was accurately conveyed by the novel’s phrase:

“He stood on the brink in the struggle of two principles, denying both of them.”

All illusions were dispelled in the battles of the civil war: anger towards the Bolsheviks and disappointment in the “whites” forces the hero to look for a third way in the revolution, but he understands that in “the middle it is impossible - they will crush you.” Once a passionate lover of life, Grigory Melekhov never finds faith in himself, remaining at the same time folk character And extra person in the current fate of the country.

Screen adaptation of the novel "Quiet Don"

The epic of Mikhail Sholokhov appeared on movie screens four times. Based on the first two books, a silent film was made in 1931, where the main roles were played by Andrei Abrikosov (Grigory Melekhov) and Emma Tsesarskaya (Aksinya). There are rumors that the writer created a sequel to “Quiet Don” with an eye on the characters of the characters in this production.

A poignant picture based on the work was presented to the Soviet audience in 1958 by the director. The beautiful half of the country fell in love with the hero performed by. The mustachioed handsome Cossack was in love with, who convincingly appeared in the role of the passionate Aksinya. She played Melekhov's wife Natalya. The film's collection of awards consists of seven awards, including a diploma from the Directors Guild of America.

Another multi-part film adaptation of the novel belongs to. Russia, Great Britain and Italy worked on the 2006 film “Quiet Don”. On main role approved and .

For “Quiet Don” Mikhail Sholokhov was accused of plagiarism. Researchers considered the “greatest epic” stolen from a white officer who died in the Civil War. The author even had to temporarily postpone work on writing a sequel to the novel while a special commission investigated the information received. However, the problem of authorship has not yet been resolved.

Beginning actor of the Maly Theater Andrei Abrikosov woke up famous after the premiere of Quiet Don. It is noteworthy that before this, in the temple of Melpomene, he had never appeared on stage - they simply were not given a role. The man also didn’t bother to get acquainted with the work; he read the novel when filming was already in full swing.

Quotes

“You have a smart head, but the fool got it.”

"The blind man said, 'We'll see.'

“Like a steppe scorched by fires, Gregory’s life became black. He lost everything that was dear to his heart. Everything was taken from him, everything was destroyed by merciless death. Only the children remained. But he himself still frantically clung to the ground, as if, in fact, his broken life was of some value to him and to others.”

“Sometimes, remembering your whole life, you look, and it’s like an empty pocket, turned inside out.”

“Life turned out to be humorous, wisely simple. Now it seemed to him that from eternity there had not been such a truth in it, under the wing of which anyone could warm up, and, embittered to the brim, he thought: everyone has their own truth, their own furrow.

“There is no one truth in life. It can be seen that whoever defeats whom will devour him... But I was looking for the bad truth.”

Grigory Panteleevich Melekhov is the main character of M. A. Sholokhov’s epic novel “Quiet Don” (1928-1940), a Don Cossack, an officer who rose from the ranks. This is a young resident of the village of Tatarskaya, an ordinary farm boy, full of strength and thirst for life. At the beginning of the novel it is difficult to classify Gregory as a positive or negative heroes. He is rather a freedom-loving truth-seeker. He lives thoughtlessly, but according to traditional principles. Despite strong love to Aksinya, allows his father to marry him to Natalya. Grigory spends his entire life tossing between two women. In the service, he also finds himself between the Reds and the Whites. Harsh life nevertheless put a saber in the hands of this man, not cruel by nature and not fond of bloodshed, and forced him to fight.

The tragic turning point in his personal life coincided with a sharp turning point in the history of the Don Cossacks. Thanks to his natural abilities, Gregory managed to rise first from an ordinary Cossack to an officer, and then to the commander of the rebel army. However, it later becomes clear that military career Melekhov’s life was not destined to work out. The Civil War threw him either into the white formations or into the Budennovsky detachment. He did this not out of thoughtless submission to the way of life, but out of a search for the truth. Being an honest man, he fully believed in the promised equality, but the conclusions were disappointing. From his marriage to Natalya, Grigory had a son and a daughter, from Aksinya, the daughter died in childhood. At the end of the novel, having lost

Introduction

The fate of Grigory Melekhov in the novel “Quiet Don” by Sholokhov becomes the focus of the reader’s attention. This hero, who by the will of fate found himself in the midst of difficult historical events, has been forced to search for his own path in life for many years.

Description of Grigory Melekhov

From the very first pages of the novel, Sholokhov introduces us to the unusual fate of grandfather Grigory, explaining why the Melekhovs are outwardly different from the rest of the inhabitants of the farm. Gregory, like his father, had “a drooping kite nose, in slightly slanting slits there were bluish almonds of hot eyes, sharp slabs of cheekbones.” Remembering the origin of Pantelei Prokofievich, everyone in the farmstead called the Melekhovs “Turks.”
Life changing inner world Gregory. His appearance also changes. From a carefree, cheerful guy, he turns into a stern warrior whose heart has hardened. Gregory “knew that he would no longer laugh as before; knew that his eyes were sunken and his cheekbones were sticking out sharply,” and in his gaze “a light of senseless cruelty began to shine through more and more often.”

At the end of the novel, a completely different Gregory appears before us. This is a mature man, tired of life, “with tired squinting eyes, with the reddish tips of a black mustache, with premature gray hair at the temples and hard wrinkles on the forehead.”

Characteristics of Gregory

At the beginning of the work, Grigory Melekhov is a young Cossack living according to the laws of his ancestors. The main thing for him is farming and family. He enthusiastically helps his father with mowing and fishing. Unable to contradict his parents when they marry him to the unloved Natalya Korshunova.

But, for all that, Gregory is a passionate, addicted person. Contrary to his father's prohibitions, he continues to go to night games. He meets Aksinya Astakhova, his neighbor’s wife, and then leaves his home with her.

Gregory, like most Cossacks, is characterized by courage, sometimes reaching the point of recklessness. He behaves heroically at the front, participating in the most dangerous forays. At the same time, the hero is not alien to humanity. He is worried about a gosling he accidentally killed while mowing. For a long time suffers because of the murdered unarmed Austrian. “By obeying his heart,” Grigory saves his sworn enemy Stepan from death. He goes against a whole platoon of Cossacks, defending Franya.

In Gregory, passion and obedience, madness and gentleness, kindness and hatred coexist at the same time.

The fate of Grigory Melekhov and his path of quest

The fate of Melekhov in the novel “Quiet Don” is tragic. He is constantly forced to look for a “way out,” the right road. It's not easy for him in the war. His personal life is also complicated.

Like the beloved heroes of L.N. Tolstoy, Grigory goes through a difficult path life's quest. At the beginning, everything seemed clear to him. Like other Cossacks, he is called up for war. For him there is no doubt that he must defend the Fatherland. But, getting to the front, the hero understands that his whole nature is opposed to murder.

Grigory moves from white to red, but even here he will be disappointed. Seeing how Podtyolkov deals with captured young officers, he loses faith in this power and the next year he again finds himself in the White Army.

Tossing between the whites and the reds, the hero himself becomes embittered. He loots and kills. He tries to forget himself in drunkenness and fornication. In the end, fleeing the persecution of the new government, he finds himself among the bandits. Then he becomes a deserter.

Grigory is exhausted from throwing. He wants to live on his land, raise bread and children. Although life hardens the hero and gives his features something “wolfish,” in essence, he is not a killer. Having lost everything and not having found his way, Grigory returns to his native farm, realizing that, most likely, death awaits him here. But a son and a home are the only things that keep the hero alive.

Gregory's relationship with Aksinya and Natalya

Fate sends the hero two passionate loving women. But Gregory’s relationship with them is not easy. While still single, Grigory falls in love with Aksinya, the wife of Stepan Astakhov, his neighbor. Over time, the woman reciprocates his feelings, and their relationship develops into unbridled passion. “So unusual and obvious was their crazy connection, they burned so frantically with one shameless flame, people without conscience and without hiding, losing weight and blackening their faces in front of their neighbors, that now for some reason people were ashamed to look at them when they met.”

Despite this, he cannot resist his father’s will and marries Natalya Korshunova, promising himself to forget Aksinya and settle down. But Gregory is unable to keep his vow to himself. Although Natalya is beautiful and selflessly loves her husband, he gets back together with Aksinya and leaves his wife and parental home.

After Aksinya's betrayal, Grigory returns to his wife again. She accepts him and forgives past grievances. But he was not destined for peace family life. The image of Aksinya haunts him. Fate brings them together again. Unable to bear the shame and betrayal, Natalya has an abortion and dies. Grigory blames himself for the death of his wife and experiences this loss cruelly.

Now, it would seem, nothing can stop him from finding happiness with the woman he loves. But circumstances force him to leave his place and, together with Aksinya, set off on the road again, the last for his beloved.

With the death of Aksinya, Gregory's life loses all meaning. The hero no longer has even a ghostly hope for happiness. “And Grigory, dying of horror, realized that it was all over, that the worst thing that could happen in his life had already happened.”

Conclusion

In conclusion of my essay on the topic “The Fate of Grigory Melekhov in the novel “Quiet Don””, I want to fully agree with critics who believe that in “ Quiet Don“The fate of Grigory Melekhov is the most difficult and one of the most tragic. Using the example of Grigory Sholokhov, he showed how the whirlpool of political events breaks human destiny. And the one who sees his destiny in peaceful work suddenly becomes a cruel killer with a devastated soul.

Work test

The immortal work of M.A. Sholokhov's "Quiet Don" reveals the essence Cossack soul and the Russian people without decorations and silences. Love for the land and loyalty to one’s traditions, along with betrayal, courage in struggle and cowardice, love and betrayal, hope and loss of faith - all these contradictions are organically intertwined in the images of the novel. With this, the author achieved such sincerity, truthfulness and vitality in the depiction of the people in the abyss of the terrible reality of the first third of the twentieth century, thanks to which the work still causes discussions and different opinions, but does not lose its popularity and relevance. Contradictions are the main feature that characterizes the image of Grigory Melekhov in the novel “Quiet Don” by Sholokhov.

The inconsistency of the character of the hero

The author depicts the life path of the main character using the method of parallel plotting. One line is love story Gregory, the second – family and household, the third – civil-historical. In each of them social roles: son, husband, father, brother, lover, he retained his ardor, inconsistency, sincerity of feelings and the steadfastness of his steely character.

The duality of nature may be explained by the peculiarities of the origin of Grigory Melekhov. "Quiet Don" begins with a story about his ancestors. His grandfather Prokofy Melekhov was a true Don Cossack, and his grandmother was a captured Turkish woman whom he brought back from his last military campaign. Grishka's Cossack roots endowed him with perseverance, strength and perseverance. life principles, and his eastern blood endowed him with a special wild beauty, made him a passionate nature, prone to desperate and often rash actions. Throughout my entire life path he rushes about, doubts and changes his decisions many times. However, the rebelliousness of the protagonist's image is explained by his desire to find the truth.

Youth and desperation

At the beginning of the work, the main character of the novel appears before the reader in the image of a hot young nature, a beautiful and free Don lad. He falls in love with his neighbor Aksinya and begins to actively and boldly conquer her, despite her marital status. He does not hide the stormy romance that began between them, thanks to which he gained the reputation of a local womanizer.

To avoid a scandal with a neighbor and distract Grigory from a dangerous relationship, his parents decide to marry him, to which he easily agrees and leaves Aksinya. Future spouse Natalya falls in love at the first meeting. Although her father doubted this hot, free Cossack, the wedding still took place. But could the bonds of marriage change Gregory’s ardent character?

On the contrary, the desire for forbidden love only flared up in his soul. “So extraordinary and obvious was their crazy connection, so frantically they burned with one shameless flame, people without conscience and without hiding, losing weight and blackening their faces in front of their neighbors.”

Young Grishka Melekhov is distinguished by such a trait as carelessness. He lives lightly and playfully, as if by inertia. He does his homework automatically, flirts with Aksinya without thinking about the consequences, obediently marries at his father’s orders, gets ready for work, in general, calmly floats with the flow of his carefree young life.

Civic duty and responsibility

Grishka accepts the sudden news of war and the call to the front with honor and tries not to disgrace his old Cossack family. This is how the author conveys his prowess and courage in the battles of the First World War: “Grigory firmly guarded the Cossack honor, seized the opportunity to show selfless courage, took risks, acted extravagantly, went to the rear of the Austrians in disguise, took down outposts without bloodshed, the Cossack was a horseman...” However, being at the front cannot pass without leaving a trace. Many human lives on his own conscience, albeit enemies, but still people, the blood, groans and death that surrounded him made Gregory’s soul callous, despite his high services to the sovereign. He himself understood at what cost he got four St. George Crosses for courage: “The war drained everything from me. I myself became scary. Look into my soul, and there’s blackness there, like in an empty well...”

The main feature that characterizes the image of Gregory in “Quiet Flows the Flow” is the perseverance that he will carry through years of anxiety, loss and defeat. His ability not to give up and fight, even when his soul was black from anger and numerous deaths, which he had to not only see, but also bear with sin on his soul, allowed him to withstand all adversity.

Ideological quest

With the onset of the Revolution, the hero is trying to figure out which side to take, where is the truth. On the one hand, he swore allegiance to the sovereign who was overthrown. On the other hand, the Bolsheviks promise equality. He, at first, began to share the ideas of equality and people's freedom, but when he saw neither one nor the other in the actions of the red activists, he headed the Cossack division, which fought on the side of the whites. The search for truth and doubt is the basis of the characterization of Grigory Melekhov. The only truth, which he accepted, was the struggle for the possibility of a peaceful and quiet life on his land, growing bread, raising children. He believed that it was necessary to fight with those who take away this opportunity.

But in the whirlpool of events Civil War, he became increasingly disillusioned with the ideas of certain representatives of military-political movements. He saw that everyone has their own truth, and everyone uses it as it suits them, and no one cared about the fate of Don and the people living there. When the Cossack troops disbanded, and the white movement more and more resembled gangs, the retreat began. Then Gregory decided to take the side of the Reds and even led a cavalry squadron. However, returning home at the end of the Civil War, he became an outcast, a stranger among his own, since local Soviet activists, in particular in the person of his son-in-law Mikhail Koshevoy, did not forget about his white past and threatened to shoot him.

Awareness of core values

In the work of Mikhail Sholokhov, central attention is paid to the problem of a person’s search for his place in a world where everything familiar and familiar instantly changed its appearance, turning into the most severe living conditions. In the novel, the author states a simple truth: even in inhuman conditions one must remain human. However, not everyone was able to implement this covenant at that difficult time.

The difficult trials that befell Gregory, such as the loss of loved ones and close people, the struggle for his land and freedom, changed him and formed a new person. The once carefree and daring boy realized the true price of life, peace and happiness. He returned to his roots, to his home, holding in his arms the most valuable thing he had left - his son. He realized what price had been paid for standing on the threshold of his home with his son in his arms under a peaceful sky, and he understood that there was nothing more expensive and more important than this opportunity.

Work test