Description of the picture of a mother's memory of her son. An essay based on the painting by V. E. Makovsky “Two Mothers. Mother is adopted and dear.” Back to a new life

Written on the theme of the Great Patriotic War huge amount books, musical works, many films have been made.
This topic is truly inexhaustible, because it has turned the lives of several tens of millions of people upside down and divided it into “before” and “after”.

Unfortunately, not all mothers, wives and daughters waited for their sons, husbands, fathers from the front, from the battlefields.
I believe that in pictures or with the help of others artistic means It is possible to convey only a small part of the pain and suffering that people had to endure in those years.

One of these destinies formed the basis of V. Igoshev’s painting “She’s Still Waiting for Her Son.”
It shows an elderly woman standing at the open gate of her old house.
Her eyes are full of longing, sadness, expectation, suffering.
I think she's been in this position for a long time.
Every day a woman goes to this place in the hope that her beloved son will return, safe and sound.
She invariably looks into the distance, but, unfortunately, the miracle does not happen.
Perhaps she herself understands that there is no point in suffering and waiting, but she can’t help herself.
The whole meaning of her post-war life boils down to this.

Behind the grandmother's back is a house with a clean, open window.
There are flowers on the windowsill, and the frames are painted blue.
The woman tries as best she can to keep it in good condition, but every year it becomes more and more difficult for her to do this.
Next to the window, the author painted thin white birch trees, as if reminding us that we need to live on, no matter what.

Despite the tragedy of the picture, the woman is shown in a white blouse and scarf, and a black skirt.
From under the scarf we see gray hair heroines.
Her face is wrinkled and her eyes are narrowed.
We can only guess what thoughts are visiting her gray-haired head at this moment.
Maybe she remembers how her son went to the front, how he grew up... In any case, her thoughts are only about one thing - about her own, only child, whom she will never see again.

Vladimir Egorovich Makovsky (1846-1920) was born into a wealthy family cultural traditions. His father, E.I. Makovsky, was one of the founders of the famous School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in Moscow, from which many outstanding masters of art emerged.

IN parental home often gathered people who were already famous for their contribution to art - composer M. I. Glinka, writer N. V. Gogol, actor M. S. Shchepkin, artists K. P. Bryullov, V. A. Tropinin and others. Vladimir Yegorovich’s mother played music and sang. So it is not surprising that children who grew up

in the atmosphere of art - besides Vladimir, the family had two more sons and two daughters - also eventually became creative people. All three brothers became artists, and their younger sister Maria is a singer. Vladimir Yegorovich himself also had beautiful voice, inherited from his mother, played the guitar and violin. The boy became interested in drawing early, and this interest later grew into his life’s work.

Taught his first drawing lessons to Vladimir Makovsky famous artist V. A. Tropinin. Makovsky studied with him later, becoming a student at the School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. This educational institution the young man finished with a silver medal.

In his work, Makovsky devoted a significant place to ordinary people. The artist most often took subjects for his paintings from life, choosing moments when the characters and relationships of people were most clearly revealed. When in 1873 Makovsky received the title of academician for the painting “The Nightingale Lovers”, and the painting was exhibited at the World Exhibition in Vienna, the writer F. M. Dostoevsky described it as follows: “... in these small pictures, in my opinion, there is even love to humanity, not only to Russians in particular, but even in general.”

Makovsky was an active participant and was even elected as a member of the board of the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions, which were organized to make art accessible to the general public. the masses. He taught at the School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in Moscow, then at the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, and later became its rector. Created several sketches for the painting of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. Among the students of V. E. Makovsky are the artists A. E. Arkhipov, V. N. Baksheev, E. M. Cheptsov.

Like most of Makovsky’s works, the painting “Adoptive and Dear Mother” was painted according to real events. The painting was purchased by the Samara merchant Shikhobalov, philanthropist and friend of Makovsky. For some time the canvas was in Shikhobalov’s collection, and after the 1917 revolution this collection entered the Samara City Museum. Now this is Samara art museum, the painting is still there.

The author of the painting himself told Shikhobalov that the event depicted in the painting took place in the family of his friend the artist. This family once adopted a boy, the son of a simple peasant woman, and raised him as their own son. But one day she appeared birth mother child and laid claim to her son.

The painting emotionally captures the moment when this woman appears. The family was just sitting at the table. The table setting, the interior of the room, and the clothing of family members clearly indicate material wealth. The table is covered with a white tablecloth and expensive dishes are placed on it. The windows have light white curtains and heavy draperies from ceiling to floor. One of the walls, behind the arriving peasant woman, is hung with paintings. The boy's adoptive parents are smartly dressed: the father is in a dark suit, the mother is in a white dress with a large collar trimmed with a lush frill. In addition to the adoptive parents, the boy and his natural mother, in the back of the room there is also an elderly woman in a white cap and a light dress, over which a large black shawl is draped - probably this is the child’s nanny.

The artist vividly depicted the shock experienced by the adoptive mother and nanny, and by the child himself. The nanny clasped her hands, the foster mother frantically clutched the child to herself. And the boy himself, judging by the way he clings to his adoptive mother and looks distrustfully and fearfully at his own mother, is clearly not eager to leave the house that he is accustomed to consider his own. And this is not just a matter of wealth, although it is obvious, of course, that the boy is well fed and clothed. There is a wicker chair with a napkin at the table - apparently, this is usually the boy’s place at the table. He probably has his own room and toys, the likes of which peasant children have never even seen. But the main thing is that the boy is loved here, he has become family to these people who care about him. And he got used to them and loved them, considered them his parents. It is unknown whether he remembers his birth mother; judging by the way he clung to his adoptive mother, it is unlikely that this woman who suddenly appeared in the house is just a strange aunt for him; it is unclear why she wants to pick him up and take him to God knows where.

The peasant woman, the child’s own mother, does not seem to feel much embarrassment because she broke into someone else’s house, once left her son, and now, in fact, is invading his happy life, roughly breaks it. It is unknown what prompted her to come for the child. Her face does not express any feelings for her son - only pressure and confidence that she has the right to take him.

The steadfastness of the father serves as a counterbalance to the confusion of the adoptive mother and the child himself. He smokes a cigar, calmly looking at the woman who burst into his house. He's not going to give in to her. He probably intends to offer her money so she won't bother his family anymore. She also came for the boy, perhaps in the hope that now that he had grown up, he would begin to work for her.

The boy's mother is dressed sparsely. She is wearing dark outerwear, from under which you can see the hem of a brown skirt and a colorful striped long apron, such as peasant women wore. A red scarf is tied on his head. In one hand the woman holds a small bag with things, in the other - paper, apparently a document confirming her right to a child.

We can guess how events will unfold next. The child will remain in the family, the peasant woman who left him will take the money offered by the adoptive father and leave. But the peace and tranquility of the people living in this house is still destroyed. The woman who raised the child is accustomed to considering him her own; she is scared at the thought that he will be taken away from her. The child may not even have suspected that his father and mother were not his relatives. How long will it take before the mental storm caused by the appearance of someone else's aunt, who calls herself his mother, subsides?

It is impossible not to admit that the artist masterfully showed the deep experiences of the people whom he captured at a dramatic moment for them.

Glossary:

– essay based on Makovsky’s painting Two Mothers

– description of the painting in Makovsky two mothers, adoptive mother and native

– Makovsky two mothers description of the painting

– Two mothers exposition

– Makovsky two mothers

Other works on this topic:

1. In 1883, Vladimir Makovsky writes famous painting called "Date". At first, based on the title, it may seem that the canvas depicts something romantic, perhaps...
2. What place does a mother occupy in the ranks of our relatives, friends, acquaintances - this is the problem that I. F. Goncharov considers. A famous Russian teacher convinces us, readers, of...
3. Many works by V. E. Makovsky demonstrate his interest in the “little man.” He reminded the viewer of human injustice, of the “humiliated and insulted.” Having a compassionate attitude towards life...
4. The artists who created their masterpieces in the 60-70s of the 19th century sought in their works to convey the revolutionary mood that was happening at that time in Russia. Among many...
5. Vladimir Egorovich Makovsky is a magnificent artist, consummate master genre and everyday scenes. From childhood, young Makovsky was surrounded by creative people, since his father was one of...

Even in oral poetry, the image of a mother acquired the captivating features of a keeper of the hearth, a capable and faithful wife, a protector of her own children and an invariable caretaker for all the disadvantaged, insulted and offended. These defining qualities of the mother’s soul are reflected and sung in Russian folk tales And folk songs. The people always honored the Mother! It is no coincidence that people also have many good, affectionate words about their mother. We don’t know who said them for the first time, but they are very often repeated in life and passed on from generation to generation. These are tales and epics about how women-mothers saved their children and their relatives. One such example is Avdotya Ryazanochka from a folk tale about the courage of a simple woman-mother. This epic is remarkable in that it was not a man-warrior, but a woman-mother, who “won the battle with the horde.” She stood up to defend her relatives, and thanks to her courage and intelligence, Ryazan did not “go to ruin.” Here it is - the immortality of true poetry, here it is - the enviable length of its existence in time!

Numerous proverbs and sayings about mother describe the most sincere, most deep feelings to a loved one.

Wherever the mother goes, so goes the child.

The mother feeds her children like the earth does people.

Mother’s anger is like spring snow: a lot of it falls, but it will soon melt.

A person has one natural mother, and he has one Motherland.

The native land is the mother, the foreign side is the stepmother.

The bird is happy about spring, and the baby is happy about its mother.

There is no sweeter friend than your own mother.

He who has a uterus has a smooth head.

It's warm in the sun, good in mother's presence.

The mother's prayer from the day of the sea takes out (takes out).

He who honors his mother and father will never perish.

A mother's blessing does not sink in water and does not burn in fire.

Without a father, you are half an orphan, and without a mother, you are an entire orphan.

You can find bird's milk even in a fairy tale, but you won't find another father or mother in a fairy tale.

A blind puppy crawls towards its mother.

The mother's word is not spoken past.

There are many relatives, but my mother is dearest of all.

Living with your mother means neither sorrow nor boredom.

God rules by the mother's word.

Not the father-mother who gave birth, but the one who gave him water, fed him and taught him goodness.

A mother beats as if she were stroking, and a stranger strokes as if she were beating.

Without mother, the dear one and the flowers bloom colorlessly.

My dear mother is an unquenchable candle.

Warm, warm, but not summer; good, good, but not my own mother.

A mother's heart warms better than the sun.

And how much has been written about mother, how many poems, songs, wonderful thoughts and sayings!

The child recognizes his mother by her smile.

Leo Tolstoy

Mom is the most beautiful word uttered by a person.

Kyle Gibran

Everything beautiful in a person comes from the rays of the sun and from the Mother's milk...

Maxim Gorky

I do not know a brighter image than a mother, and a heart more capacious for love than a mother’s heart.

Maxim Gorky

This is the great purpose of a woman - to be a mother, a homemaker.

V. Belov

There is nothing more sacred and selfless than the love of a Mother; every attachment, every love, every passion is either weak or self-interested in comparison with it.

V. Belinsky.

The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.

Peter de Vries

There is no such flower in the world, nor in any field, nor in the sea, such a pearl as a child on its mother’s lap.

O. Wild

The Lord cannot keep up everywhere at the same time, and that is why he created mothers.

Mario Pioso

Eat holy word- Mother.

Omar Khayyam

A person who was his mother's undisputed favorite carries through his entire life a feeling of victory and confidence in luck, which often lead to real success.

Z. Freud

There is nothing that a mother's love cannot withstand.

Paddock

The future of the nation is in the hands of mothers.

O. Balzac

A mother's heart is an abyss, in the depths of which forgiveness will always be found.

O. Balzac

Give us better mothers and we will be better people.

J.-P. Richter

For some reason, many women think that having a child and becoming a mother are the same thing. One could just as well say that having a piano and being a pianist are one and the same thing.

S. Harris

A great feeling, we keep it alive in our souls until the end. / We love our sister and wife and father, / But in agony we remember our mother.

N.A. Nekrasov

We will forever glorify that woman whose name is Mother.

M. Jalil

Motherhood ennobles a woman when she gives up everything, renounces, sacrifices everything for the sake of the child.

J. Korczak

A real woman-mother is gentle, like the petal of a newly blossoming flower, and firm, courageous, unbending to evil and merciless, like a just sword.

V. Sukhomlinsky

Motherhood is both a great joy and a great knowledge of life. Giving back, but also retribution. There is probably no more sacred meaning of existence in the world than raising a worthy loved one next to you.

Ch. Aitmatov

The most beautiful word on earth - mother. This is the first word that a person utters, and it sounds equally gentle in all languages. Mom has the kindest and most affectionate hands, they can do everything. Mom has the most loyal and sensitive heart - love never fades in it, it does not remain indifferent to anything. And no matter how old you are, you always need your mother, her affection, her gaze. And the greater your love for your mother. The more joyful and brighter life is.

Z. Voskresenskaya

Mother... The most dear and close person. She gave life, she gave happy childhood. A mother's heart, like the sun, shines always and everywhere, warming us with its warmth. She - best friend, wise advisor. Mother is a guardian angel. It is no coincidence that many writers and poets, when creating their works, drew inspiration from memories of childhood, home, and mother.

Surprisingly, all his life he kept as a gift the lullaby that he early childhood mother sang, Russian poet M.Yu. Lermontov. This was reflected in his poem “An Angel Flew Across the Midnight Sky” and in “Cossack Lullaby”. She has strength mother's love blesses, admonishes a small child, conveys to him folk ideals as a revelation in the simplest and most uncomplicated words. Lermontov deeply felt the wisdom, the power of maternal feeling, which guides a person from the first minutes of his life. It is no coincidence that the loss of his mother in early childhood had such a painful impact on the poet’s mind.

The theme of the mother was truly profound in the poetry of Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov. Closed and reserved by nature, Nekrasov literally could not find enough vivid words and strong expressions to appreciate the role of his mother in his life. Both young and old, Nekrasov always spoke about his mother with love and admiration. Such an attitude towards her, in addition to the usual sons of affection, undoubtedly stemmed from the consciousness of what he owed her:

And if I easily shake off the years
There are noxious traces from my soul,
Having trampled everything reasonable with her feet,
Proud of the ignorance of the environment,
And if I filled my life with struggle
For the ideal of goodness and beauty,
And carries the song composed by me,
Living love has deep features -
Oh, my mother, I am moved by you!
saved me living soul You!
(From the poem "Mother")

In the poem “Mother,” Nekrasov recalls that as a child, thanks to his mother, he became acquainted with the images of Dante and Shakespeare. She taught him love and compassion for those “whose ideal is diminished grief,” that is, for the serfs. The image of a woman-mother is also vividly presented by Nekrasov in his other works “In full swing of the village suffering”, “Orina, the soldier’s mother”.

Listening to the horrors of war,

With every new casualty of the battle

I feel sorry for not my friend, not my wife,

I'm sorry not for the hero himself...

Alas! the wife will be comforted,

And the best friend will forget his friend.

But somewhere there is one soul -

She will remember it to the grave!

Among our hypocritical deeds

And all sorts of vulgarity and prose

I've spied the only ones in the world

Holy, sincere tears -

Those are the tears of poor mothers!

They will not forget their children,

Those who died in the bloody field,

How not to pick up a weeping willow

Its drooping branches...

“Who will protect you?” - the poet addresses in one of his poems. He understands that, besides him, there is no one else to say a word about the sufferer of the Russian land, whose feat is invisible, but great!

Nekrasov traditions in the depiction of the bright image of a peasant mother in the lyrics of Sergei Yesenin. The bright image of the poet’s mother runs through Yesenin’s work. Endowed with individual traits, it grows into a generalized image of a Russian woman, appearing even in the poet’s youthful poems, as a fairy-tale image of one who not only gave the whole world, but also made her happy with the gift of song. This image also takes on the concrete, earthly appearance of a peasant woman busy with everyday affairs: “The mother cannot cope with the grips, she bends low...”. Loyalty, constancy of feeling, heartfelt devotion, inexhaustible patience are generalized and poeticized by Yesenin in the image of his mother. "Oh, my patient mother!" - this exclamation escaped him not by chance: a son brings a lot of excitement, but the mother’s heart forgives everything. This is how Yesenin’s frequent motive of his son’s guilt arises. On his trips, he constantly remembers his native village: it is dear to the memory of his youth, but most of all he is drawn there by his mother, who yearns for her son. The “sweet, kind, old, gentle” mother is seen by the poet “at the parental dinner.” The mother is worried - her son has not been home for a long time. How is he there, in the distance? The son tries to reassure her in letters: “The time will come, dear, dear!” In the meantime, “evening untold light” flows over the mother’s hut. The son, “still just as gentle,” “dreams only about returning to our low house as soon as possible out of rebellious melancholy.” In “Letter to a Mother,” filial feelings are expressed with piercing artistic force: “You alone are my help and joy, you alone are my unspeakable light.”

Yesenin was 19 years old when, with amazing insight, he sang in the poem “Rus” the sadness of maternal expectation - “waiting for gray-haired mothers.” The sons became soldiers, the tsarist service took them to the bloody fields of the world war. Rarely, rarely do they come from “doodles, drawn with such difficulty,” but everyone is waiting for them in “frail huts,” warmed by a mother’s heart. Yesenin can be placed next to Nekrasov, who sang “the tears of poor mothers.”

They will not forget their children,
Those who died in the bloody field,
How not to pick up a weeping willow
Of its drooping branches.

These lines from the distant 19th century remind us of the bitter cry of the mother, which we hear in Anna Andreevna Akhmatova’s poem “Requiem”. Akhmatova spent 17 months in prison lines in connection with the arrest of her son, Lev Gumilyov: he was arrested three times: in 1935, 1938 and 1949.

I've been screaming for seventeen months,
I'm calling you home...
Everything's messed up forever
And I can't make it out
Now, who is the beast, who is the man,
And how long will it take to wait for execution?

The suffering of the mother is associated with the state of the Virgin Mary; the suffering of a son is with the torment of Christ crucified on the cross.

Magdalene fought and cried,
The beloved student turned to stone,
And where Mother stood silently,
So no one dared to look.

The mother's grief is boundless and inexpressible, her loss is irreparable, because this is her only son.

The image of the mother occupies a special place in the work of Marina Tsvetaeva. Not only poetry, but also prose is dedicated to her: “Mother and Music”, “Mother’s Tale”. In Tsvetaeva’s autobiographical essays and letters one can find many references to Maria Alexandrovna. The poem “To Mom” (collection “Evening Album”) is also dedicated to her memory. It is very important for the author to emphasize the spiritual influence of a mother on her daughters. A subtle and deep nature, artistically gifted, she introduced them to the world of beauty. From the very early years For Tsvetaeva, the music was identical to her mother’s voice: “In the old Straussian waltz for the first time / We heard your quiet call.” “Mother is the lyrical element itself,” writes Tsvetaeva.

“Passion for poetry comes from my mother.” Thanks to her, art has become a kind of second reality for children, sometimes more desirable. The soul, Maria Alexandrovna was convinced, must be able to resist everything ugly and bad. Tirelessly leaning towards children's dreams (Without you, I only looked at them for a month!), You led your little ones past the Bitter life of thoughts and deeds. The mother taught the children to feel pain - their own and that of others, and managed to turn them away from the lies and falsehood of external manifestations, giving them early wisdom: “From an early age, those who are sad are close to us, / Laughter is boring...”. Such moral attitude gave rise to inner restlessness, the inability to be satisfied with everyday well-being: “Our ship does not set sail at a good moment / And sails according to the will of all the winds!” The Mother Muse was tragic. In 1914, Tsvetaeva wrote to V.V. Rozanov: “Her tormented soul lives in us - only we reveal what she hid. Her rebellion, her madness, her thirst reached us to the point of screaming.” The load taken on the shoulders was heavy, but it also constituted the main wealth of the young soul. The spiritual inheritance bequeathed by the mother meant depth of experience, brightness and acuteness of feelings and, of course, nobility of heart. As Tsvetaeva admitted, she owes all the best in herself to her mother.

In the autobiographical novel “The Childhood Years of Bagrov the Grandson” S.T. Aksakov wrote: “The constant presence of my mother merges with my every memory. Her image is inextricably linked with my existence, and therefore it does not stand out much in the fragmentary pictures of the first time of my childhood, although it constantly participates in them.”

I remember the bedroom and the lamp,
Toys, warm bed

……………………………….

You will cross, kiss,

I remember, I remember your voice!

Lamp in the dark corner
And the shadows from the chains of the lamp...
Were you not an angel?

Appeal to the mother, tenderness, gratitude to her, later repentance, admiration for her courage and patience is the main theme of the lyrics, which always remains relevant, regardless of the century in which the true poet works.

The central image of the mother becomes poetic world Tvardovsky and rises from the private - dedications to his own mother - to the universal and highest aspect of motherhood in Russian poetry - the image of the Motherland. The most important motives for the poet are memory, native places ( small homeland), filial duty and filial gratitude are connected precisely in the image of the mother, and this connection is a separate theme in his work. Tvardovsky described the real fate of his mother in the 1935 poem “You came to your husband’s house with one beauty...”. The story of one fate takes place against the backdrop of history in general, the plot privacy against the background of the general life of the country. It was not for nothing that Tvardovsky called himself a prose writer: in this poem he consistently tells the story of his mother’s life, without comparisons, metaphors, or bright rhymes. In this vein, poems about the mothers of new Soviet heroes arise (“Sailor”, “Flight”, “Son”, “Mother and son”, “You timidly lift him up...”). The best thing in this series of poems from the 30s is “You timidly lift him up...”, where a genuine image of the hero’s mother is created. During the war years, the image of the mother becomes more significant in Tvardovsky’s work, but now the image of the mother is equated with the image of the universal Motherland, the country, being correlated with the images of ordinary peasant women. The complete movement of the image of the mother into the area of ​​memory occurs in the cycle “In Memory of the Mother,” written in 1965 year. There is no mother image here as such; here the mother lives only in the memory of her son, and therefore his feelings are revealed more than the image of the mother, who has become disembodied. This poem is the last where the image of the mother appears, it completes the maternal line in Tvardovsky’s poetry, and itself becomes the song that “in memory alive,” in which the image of the mother, and the poet’s own mother, and the generalized image of motherhood: peasant women, workers, women with a difficult fate, are forever alive.

The image of the mother has always carried the features of drama. And he began to look even more tragic against the backdrop of the terrible in its brutality of the Great Patriotic War. Who has suffered more than a mother at this time? There are many books about this. Of these, the books of mothers E. Kosheva “The Tale of a Son”, Kosmodemyanskaya “The Tale of Zoya and Shura”...

Can you really tell me about this?
What years did you live in?
What an immeasurable burden
It fell on women's shoulders!
(M, Isakovsky).

Vasily Grossman's mother died in 1942 at the hands of fascist executioners. In 1961, 19 years after his mother's death, his son wrote her a letter. It was preserved in the archives of the writer’s widow. “When I die, you will live in the book that I dedicated to you and whose fate is similar to yours.” And that hot tear shed by the writer for his old mother burns our hearts and leaves a scar of memory on them.

War is the main theme of some of Ch. Aitmatov’s works, as in the story “Mother’s Field”. In it, Aitmatov’s image of his mother is multi-valued. Firstly, this is the mother who gave birth to the child (the heroine of the story Tolgonai sent her three sons to the war and lost all three). Secondly, the people’s mother: remembering her children, Tolgonai is proud and understands that “maternal happiness comes from the people’s happiness.”A red thread runs through the thought of the power of maternal love, as capable of uniting, making relatives, and resurrecting: “I swallowed the bread with tears and thought: “Bread of immortality, do you hear, my son Kasim! And life is immortal, and work is immortal!”

Ivan Bunin writes very reverently and tenderly about his mother in his works. He compares her bright appearance to a heavenly angel:

I remember the bedroom and the lamp,
Toys, warm bed
And your sweet, meek voice:
“Guardian angel above you!”
……………………………….

You will cross, kiss,
Remind me that he is with me,
And with faith in happiness you will charm...
I remember, I remember your voice!

I remember the night, the warmth of the crib,
Lamp in the dark corner
And the shadows from the chains of the lamp...
Were you not an angel?

Do sons and daughters have an obligation to care for their parents? Or do they give this debt to their children? Lyudmila Kulikova answered these questions in her short work. "Meet each other" summary which is presented in this article is a touching story about the fate of a mother who experienced such an unbearable experience that it became easier for her to believe in the death of her son rather than in his betrayal.

Sons of ingratitude

An extremely complex topic was revealed in the work short prose writer Lyudmila Kulikova. “We met” is a brief summary of a deep topic dedicated to the ingratitude of children, which Pushkin also touched upon in his story “ Stationmaster”, and Dostoevsky in the novel “Humiliated and Insulted”. Young people often, having fluttered out of their parents’ nest, fly away to new life rapidly, They are driven by an irresistible desire not to repeat the fate of unfortunate mothers and fathers, a dull and joyless picture of their father’s house and ordinary human selfishness. Ahead lies a different existence. It has its joys and difficulties. And behind is a disgusting house, in which everything is done in gray tones, and time seems to have stopped. Its inhabitants have no future. So why confuse the past with the present, if you can simply forget, banish from memory the image of a person who, somewhere far away, perhaps languishes and suffers in painful anticipation? And it’s even easier to convince yourself that no one is waiting and everything is forgotten.

The image of abandoned parents in Russian literature

The volume is quite small piece, which was created by L. Kulikova. “We Met,” a summary of which is outlined below, is, nevertheless, the story of a whole life. Comparing the story of a modern author with the works of representatives of Russian classical literature, you will find that little has changed over the past two hundred years. There are still ungrateful children. And the same applies to old people whose life cannot continue after the loss of their beloved son or daughter.

The story discussed in this article is included today in school curriculum. This makes it possible for modern teenagers to understand the deep reality of today. The appearance of a person and what surrounds him changes over time. Human feelings and vices remain unchanged. Therefore, we can safely say that the problem of children’s ingratitude is best revealed in the following works:

• A. S. Pushkin “Station Warden”.
• F. M. Dostoevsky “Humiliated and Offended.”
• L. N. Kulikova “We met.”

The main character of the story is Tolik. Last name: Titov. More full name the author does not endow him with it, perhaps because this person does not have a mature worldview characteristic of his age. Or maybe the fact is that he was and remains Tolik, for whom a loving mother is waiting somewhere far away.

The actions in the story begin to unfold in the new cozy apartment of the main character. Tolik became the owner of a separate home, which means his dream has come true. After all, this is what he strived for all his adult life. And now, on the occasion of housewarming, the wife baked a cake, and for festive table the whole family gathered.

It should be said that Kulikova’s hero is a character with valuable positive qualities. He is an ideal family man, a man who lives for his wife and children. For twenty-four years now he has been working tirelessly. The new spacious apartment is the result of his many years of hard work. The story “We Met” is a short fragment from the life of a hardworking man, the father of a family. But this hero is a contradictory person. How could he not remember the woman who gave him life for such a long period? But only during a family dinner in a new spacious apartment does he suddenly remember his mother. which reigns in the Titovs’ house is unexpectedly overshadowed by the comparison: “Like in my mother’s childhood.” But it is precisely this thought that prompts the hero, many years later, to finally visit his home.

Memories

Suddenly Tolik begins to remember his mother’s letters, which he received while in the army and immediately tore into small pieces. He thinks that he has not seen her for almost a quarter of a century, and has not written for more than ten years. Tolik goes to his native village to see the woman who gave birth to him. But when they meet, he hesitates to call her mother, and she refuses to believe that he is her son. Mother lived too long waiting. Over the years, she got tired of crying and came to terms with the fact that her son was no more. It turned out that a son's betrayal is unbearable for a mother's heart.

Tolik still didn’t understand anything. Having visited his mother, he left his home forever, “cutting off a wide slice of life’s bread and throwing it on the road.” Kulikova depicts these events in her story “We Met.” Analysis of the work, however, suggests that this story is unfinished. Tolik’s real torment of conscience is still ahead. Expand peace of mind the main character and the reason for his such a heartless attitude towards his mother can be considered artistic techniques, which Kulikov uses in the story “We Met.”

Analysis of the image of the Titov house

Tolik enjoys everything in his new apartment. And the smell in it is pleasant, and a certain confidence in the future is in the air. He was so tired of wandering around rented apartments that even the many days of tedious preparation for the move could not overshadow the happiness of purchasing his own home. And now he feels such strong confidence in the future that it seems to him as if he is almost immortal. It was not in vain that he worked so hard all these years. He still managed to “stake out a place on the globe.”

The image of a cheerful and good-natured person was created in this work by Lyudmila Kulikova. “We Met” is a story that begins with a description of the picture of ideal family happiness. But only at first glance may memories of the mother seem random. Tolik, perhaps, all these years hid thoughts about her far away, at the very bottom of his soul. He had too many worries and other worries in his life. He had to build his own nest, provide a future for his sons, and take care of his beloved wife. But as soon as the goal was achieved, thoughts about his mother awoke, like a worm in a perfect apple. Events that span just a few days were reflected in this work by Lyudmila Kulikova. “We met” is a short segment of a life-long story. A sad story about the waiting of a mother who was forgotten by her son because of everyday problems and the desire to “save an extra penny.” A sharp contrast to the new house is created by the image of a neglected hut that Kulikova draws.

“Meet each other”: theme of the house

The village where the mother lives is depicted in gray, joyless tones. The houses have become dilapidated and sunk into the ground. There is despair and desolation all around. The hut itself is not illuminated, the situation in it is rather unsightly. The story “We Met” is built on an antithesis. On the one hand, there is a life-affirming picture of the Titovs’ family life. On the other hand, there is a lifeless atmosphere reigning in the hut. The idea put into the work by Lyudmila Kulikova is based on this opposition. “We Met,” the characters of which are described extremely sparingly, is in which “they talk” about houses and the situation in them. It is the image of the hut that reveals inner world her mistress.

Image of Olga Gerasimovna

His mother did not recognize him. But in the last phrase that ends the story “We Met” by Kulikova, it becomes clear that the heroine of this work did not forget anything. For many years the expectations killed her. She was no longer waiting for her son, and to see him alive and unharmed meant to be convinced of his betrayal. Although “see” is a word that does not apply to her, since she has lost her sight.

The image of his mother seemed completely alien to Tolik: a short old woman with unseeing eyes and burnt fingers. Is this really the woman from whom he so often received letters in the army and whose messages always ended with the simple saying “To my son Tolya from Olya’s mother”?

Letters to Mother

They irritated him extremely. Lengthy letters from his loving mother were uninteresting to him, and he tore them up immediately after reading them. It was much more pleasant to read messages from young girls. A topic that has always been relevant was raised in the story “We Met” by Kulikova. The work lies in the complex relationship between parents and children. However, difficulties can be of different types. There are often disagreements between mother and son regarding one issue or another. Children are often tired of excessive care, which one modern Russian author once called “the terror of love.” But Kulikova’s hero did not experience excessive care and did not suffer from the opinion imposed by his mother. He was simply ashamed of her. The reason for this low feeling can be revealed by further analysis of the work.

Fatherlessness

In one of the letters, Tolik’s mother tells him about his father’s death. He doesn't remember this man at all. Tolik grew up fatherless. When, having visited his mother, he tries to convince her that he is her beloved son Tolya, he remembers one of his friends, who was allegedly also the son of a single mother. The mention of a childhood friend who was similarly fatherless is one of the few that comes to mind to the prodigal son. And this is no coincidence.

Growing up without a father is not easy. And this is especially difficult when life takes place in a small village, where everyone knows everything about each other. The absence of a father for a boy does not pass without a trace. Some teenagers grow up earlier than their peers, entrusting themselves with caring for their mother. Others, on the contrary, strive to forget at all costs. offensive word“fatherlessness”, run away from him, hide. To create a full-fledged proper family somewhere far away. That's how Tolik was. He so wanted to have his own home and know the true joy of family happiness that, without hesitation, he erased from his memory everything connected with childhood, and above all, his mother.

Blindness

What is the meaning of the title of Kulikova's story? We met... The heroine of this work says this word more than once. She talks about wanting to “meet” her son in a letter to him. And she says the phrase “So we meet” after he leaves her for the last time.

She wanted see son. But since this desire turned out to be unattainable for her, she lost her sight. The mother's blindness in the story has symbolic meaning. As soon as Olga Gerasimovna’s hope of “meeting” her son faded, she lost the need to see. She no longer needed vision.

Failed repentance

The night he spent in Tolik’s mother’s house, he did not sleep a wink. He kept remembering the years past. About how difficult it was to earn money for a fur coat for my wife, trips to the sea, new apartment. Tolik wanted to tell Olga Gerasimovna about this in order to justify himself in her eyes. But I couldn't. She stubbornly did not recognize him as her son. But even if he had told her about the difficulties he had overcome all these years, she would hardly have understood him. There is no excuse for a person who has not found time to see his mother for most of his life.

Other heroes

The author spoke very little about the other characters. They are Tolik's wife and four sons. Yes, there is nothing to say about them, since they are part of a happy sunny picture of family happiness. The hero of the story lived and worked exclusively for their sake for the last twenty-four years, of which he was sincerely convinced. In reality, he betrayed his mother because of his own selfishness and weakness.

Back to a new life

Tolik left his mother again. At the last moment her face seemed sad to him. Main character leaves this story, throwing aside everything that connects him with his home. He will never see his mother again, but he will remember her more than once. Over the years, the vanity of life will become less and less important. Meanwhile, the pain in my heart about my forgotten mother will continue to intensify. However, alas, he will no longer have anyone to “date” with.

In style psychological prose created the story “We Met” by Kulikov. This genre involves study and analysis human soul using the example of one or two heroes. In this work you can read the fates of all abandoned mothers and the mental torment of the sons who betrayed them.

"Maternal happiness."
1869.
Private collection.

"Young mother with child."
1871.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

"A young mother watching her sleeping child."
1871.
Private collection.

"The Happiness of Motherhood."
1878.
Private collection.

"Motherland".
1883.
Private collection.

"Mother with child."
1887.
Private collection.

"Mother".
1932.

Alexander Maksovich Shilov.
“In the cell (Mother Paisia). Pyukhtitsa Monastery.
1988.

1. A woman in relation to the children she gives birth to.
The son stroked his mother’s hand in confusion and was silent. ( M. Gorky. Life of Klim Samgin.)

2. The female in relation to her cubs.
At night they carry them [lambs and kids] to their mothers. ( Sholokhov. Upturned virgin soil.)

3. Addressing a female person.
Lizanka stood up from the hoop and began to clean up her work. - What are you talking about, my mother! Deaf or something! - the countess shouted. ( Pushkin. Queen of Spades.)

4. The name of the nun and also the wife clergyman(priest, deacon), usually attached to a name or title.
Mother Pulcheria herself, the Moscow abbess, sent her bows and gifts from pilgrims. ( Melnikov-Pechersky. In the forests.)

What (or how) did the mother give birth?- without clothes, naked.

“Dictionary of the Russian language. Moscow", "Russian language". 1982

Albrecht Altdorfer.
"Christ says goodbye to his mother."
1520.
National Gallery, London.

When a person is suddenly overtaken by trouble, his family and friends often receive some signal of misfortune. At the same time, paintings fall, dishes burst, clocks stop, visions arise, and doubles of the dying person appear. When one boy, left in the care of his grandmother, began to drown in the river, his mother, being thousands of kilometers away, clearly saw her child flopping desperately in the water. He was caught, and it was decided not to tell his mother anything, so as not to bother her in vain. But the mother came, told all the details of the adventure, showed the place where the boy almost drowned. This and many other similar cases are described in L. Vasilyeva’s book “Suggestion at a Distance.”

Anatoly Strozhkov. "There is a mysterious connection between living beings." “Behind seven seals” No. 7 2005.

Vasily Vasilievich Vereshchagin.
“Letter to the Motherland (Letter to Mother).”
1901.

Mother was called mother, mother, mother, mother, mother, parent.

Vasily Belov. "Lad." Moscow, "Young Guard". 1982

Vasily Grigorievich Perov.
"Mother with a sick child."
1878.

Vasily Ivanovich Surikov.
"Salome brings the head of John the Baptist to her mother Herodias."
1872.

“Two mothers. Mother is adopted and natural."
1906.
Samara Regional Art Museum, Samara.

"Mother and daughter."
1886.
State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.

Engraving by I.M. Bernigerota.

Mid-18th century.

"Johanna Elisabeth, Princess of Anhalt-Zerbst, née Princess of Holstein-Gottorp, mother of Empress Catherine II."
1870s.

“The Motherland is calling.”
1941.

Elizaveta Merkuryevna Boehm (Endaurova).
“The blue eyes look so sad and meek. I haven’t forgotten, you know, orphan of Mother’s affection!”

Ivan Akimovich Akimov.
“Grand Duke Svyatoslav kissing his mother and children upon returning from the Danube to Kyiv.”
1773.

"Mother with child."
1915.

Karl Pavlovich Bryullov.
"Mother Waking Up to Baby's Cry."
1831.

Karl Steuben.
"Peter the Great, saved by his mother from the fury of the archers."

"Mother".
1913.

"Mother".
1919.
Drawing for the magazine "Flame".

Leonardo da Vinci.
"The fetus is in the mother's womb."

"Breastfeeding mother"

M. Savitsky.
"Women-mothers".
Fragment of the painting " Patriotic War. 1944."

Unknown artist.
“Portrait of a Woman (Alleged portrait of the mother of the poet M. Yu. Lermontov).”

Nicholas Konstantinovich Roerich.
"Mother of the World"
1930.

Nikolay Nevrev.
“Peter I in foreign attire in front of his mother Queen Natalya, Patriarch Andrian and teacher Zotov.”
1903.

"Mother and Son."
Between 1716 and 1742.

"A mother teaches her daughter to write."

Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller.
"Portrait of the mother of Captain von Stirl-Holzmeister."

Frederic Leighton.
"Mother and Child".