MUNICIPAL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION
KARGASOKI SECONDARY SCHOOL No. 2
ABSTRACT
CREATIVE HISTORY OF CREATION
STORY BY I.S. TURGENEV
"MUMU"
Completed:
Bragina Sveta,
5th grade student
Supervisor:
Bragina G.A., teacher
Russian language and
literature
Kargasok
2011
Content
Introduction page 3
Main part
The time of writing the story “Mumu” p.4
Turgenev's attitude to serfdom p.5
Writing a story and appearing in print p.7
Turgenev's childhood in connection with the biography of his mother p.8
Real events, which are the basis of the story p.12
Conclusion p.14
Information resources p.15
1. Introduction
Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev is one of the writers beloved by children, although he never wrote specifically for children. The ideological content of his stories, the simplicity and elegance of his language, the liveliness and brightness of the pictures of nature he painted and the deep sense of lyricism that permeates every work of the writer are very attractive not only to adults, but also to children.
My acquaintance with Turgenev began in a literature lesson with reading the story “Mumu”. He struck me with the drama of the events presented, the tragedy of Gerasim’s situation, and the sad fate of the dog.
The purpose of this work is to learn more about Turgenev’s childhood, about the real events underlying the story, about the reasons for its appearance in print, to find out the role and significance of Turgenev for his time as a fighter against serfdom.
Relevance of the work: this work can be used in literature lessons in 5th grade.
3.
2.1.
Time of writing "Mumu"
The main issue of the era of the 40-50s of the 19th century was the question of serfdom.
The entire population of Russia was divided into several groups called estates: nobility, clergy, merchants, philistines, peasants. A person could move from one class to another in very rare cases. The nobility and clergy were considered privileged classes. Nobles had the right to own land and people - serfs peasants. The nobleman who owned the peasants could impose any punishment on them; he could sell the peasants, for example, sell his mother to one landowner, and her children to another. Serfs were considered by law to be the complete property of their master. The peasants had to work for the landowner in his field or give him part of the money they earned.
It was here, in such conditions, that the author of “Notes of a Hunter” wrote his famous story"Mumu." By this Turgenev proved that he was not going to deviate from his main themes - struggle with serfdom, but will further develop and deepen it in his work. From his conclusion, Turgenev wrote to his friends about his future plans: “... I will continue my essays about the Russian people, the strangest and most amazing people, which only exists in the world."
After serving a month in prison and receiving an order to go to live in his village, Turgenev read “Mumu” for his friends before leaving. “A truly touching impression,” wrote one of the listeners, “was made by this story, which he took from the house he moved out, both in its content and in the calm, albeit sad, tone of presentation.”
Turgenev managed to publish the story with the help of friends. It was published in the third book of N.A. Nekrasov’s magazine “Contemporary” for 1854. The police came to their senses only after the story was published.
7.
2.4. Turgenev's childhood in connection with the biography of his mother
Why did Turgenev, a nobleman by birth and upbringing, rebel against serfdom? It seems that the answer must be sought in the biography of the writer, in his childhood years. It was they who left an indelible mark on the horrors of violence and tyranny.
I.S. was born. Turgenev on October 28, 1818 in the city of Orel, into a wealthy noble family. His childhood was spent among the amazing and unique beauty of central Russia in the Spassky-Lutovinovo estate in the Oryol province.
The writer's parents were the richest landowners in the region. They had over five thousand serfs. Sixty families served the manor house. Among them were mechanics, blacksmiths, carpenters, gardeners, clerks, tailors, shoemakers, painters, and musicians.
Father - Sergei Nikolaevich, in his youth an officer of a cuirassier regiment, handsome, spoiled, lived the way he wanted, did not care about his family or his extensive household. Mother Varvara Petrovna, née Lutovinova, a powerful, intelligent and sufficiently educated woman, did not shine with beauty. She was short and squat, with a broad face marred by smallpox. And only the eyes were beautiful: large, dark and shiny.
In childhood and adolescence she suffered many injustices, and as a result her character became very hardened. To understand this, we need to tell a little of her story.
Varvara Petrovna was an orphan. Her mother, the writer’s grandmother, was left without any means of support after the death of her husband and was forced to remarry a widower. He already had children. Varvara Petrovna’s mother devoted her entire life to caring for other people’s children and completely forgot about her own daughter.
Varvara Petrovna recalled: “Being an orphan without a father and mother is hard, but being an orphan with your own mother is terrible, and I experienced it, my mother hated me.” The girl had no rights in the family. Her stepfather beat her, and her sisters didn’t like her either.
After her mother's death, her situation became even worse. Unable to withstand humiliation and insults, the fifteen-year-old girl decided to run away from her stepfather’s family in order to find shelter with her uncle, Ivan Ivanovich Lutovinov, a stern and unsociable man, the owner of the rich Spasskoye estate. She walked more than seventy kilometers. But her uncle himself did not make it any easier for her.
8.
I.I. Lutovinov was a cruel landowner. He oppressed his serfs immensely. He paid little attention to his niece, but demanded slavish submission from her. For the slightest disobedience he threatened to throw me out of the house.
For fifteen years, the niece endured humiliation and bullying from her uncle. The girl decided to run away.
But the sudden death of her uncle unexpectedly made Varvara Petrovna the owner of numerous estates, several thousand serfs, and a huge financial fortune.
Varvara Petrovna became one of the richest brides in the region. Soon Varvara Petrovna married Sergei Nikolaevich. It would seem that the insults, oppression, and humiliation suffered in childhood and youth should make a person softer and more compassionate, but everything can be different. A person can become embittered and become a despot himself. This is exactly what happened to Varvara Petrovna. She turned into an angry and cruel landowner. All the servants were afraid of her; with her appearance she intimidated those around her.
Turgenev's mother was a very unbalanced and contradictory person. The main features of her nature were selfishness, despotism, and contempt for the poor. And at the same time, she had the traits of a gifted personality and a peculiar charm. When she spoke to the peasants, she sniffed cologne because the “peasant smell” irritated her. She crippled the lives of many of her serfs: she drove some to hard labor, others to remote villages to settle, and others to become soldiers. She brutally dealt with the servants using rods. For the slightest offense they were whipped in the stables. There are many memories of Varvara Petrovna’s cruelty, both from her son and his contemporaries. The writer close to Turgenev, Pavel Vasilievich Annenkov, recalled: “As a developed woman, she did not humiliate herself to the point of personal reprisals, but subject to persecution and insults in her youth, which embittered her character, she was not at all averse to taking radical home measures to correct those who were disobedient or not loved by her subjects. ...No one could equal her in the art of insulting, humiliating, making a person unhappy, while maintaining decency, calm and one’s dignity” 3.
The fate of serf girls was also terrible. Varvara Petrovna did not allow them to get married, she insulted them.
In her home environment, the landowner tried to imitate the crowned heads. Serfs differed among themselves by court ranks: she had a minister of the court, a minister of post. Correspondence to Varvara Petrovna was presented on a silver tray. If the lady was pleased with the letters she received, everyone rejoiced, but if it was the other way around, then everyone fell silent with bated breath. The guests were in a hurry to leave the house.
Varvara Petrovna was terrible in anger, she could get angry over the slightest trifle. The writer, as a boy, recalled such an incident. One day, while the lady was walking in the garden, two serf gardeners, busy with work, did not notice her and did not bow to her when she passed by. The landowner was terribly indignant, and the next day the offenders were exiled to Siberia.
Turgenev recalled another incident. Varvara Petrovna loved flowers very much, especially tulips. However, her passion for flowers was very costly for the serf gardeners. Once someone tore an expensive tulip out of a flower bed. The culprit was not found and all the gardeners in the stable were flogged for this.
Another case. The writer's mother had one talented boy as a serf. He loved to draw. Varvara Petrovna sent him to study painting in Moscow. Soon he was ordered to paint the ceiling in a Moscow theater. When the landowner found out about this, she returned the artist to the village and forced him to paint flowers from life.
“He wrote them,” Turgenev himself said, “thousands of them, both garden and forest, he wrote with hatred, with tears... they disgusted me too. The poor fellow struggled, gnashed his teeth, drank himself to death and died.” 4
Varvara Petrovna’s cruelty extended to her beloved son. Therefore, Turgenev did not remember his childhood years well. His mother knew only one educational tool - the rod. She couldn't imagine how she could raise her without her.
Little Turgenev was flogged very often in childhood. Turgenev later admitted: “They beat me up for all sorts of trifles, almost every day.” 5
One day some old hanger-on gossiped something to Varvara Petrovna about her son. Turgenev recalled that his mother, without any trial or questioning, immediately began to flog him. Sekla with my own hands, and to all his pleas to say why he was being punished, she said: you know, guess for yourself, guess for yourself why I’m being flogged.
The boy did not know why he was being whipped, he did not know what to confess, so the section lasted three days. The boy was ready to run away from home, but his German tutor rescued him. He talked to his mother, and the boy was left alone.
As a child, Turgenev was a sincere, simple-minded child. He often had to pay for this. Turgenev was seven years old when the then famous poet and fabulist I.I. Dmitriev came to visit Varvara Petrovna. The boy was asked to read one of the guest's fables. He willingly did this, but in conclusion, to the great horror of those around him, he said that his fables were good, but I.A. Krylov’s were much better. According to some sources, his mother personally whipped him with a rod for this, according to others, the boy was not punished this time.
Turgenev admitted more than once that in his childhood he was kept under a tight rein and was afraid of his mother like fire. He said bitterly that he had nothing to remember his childhood with, not a single bright memory.
From childhood, Turgenev hated serfdom and swore an oath to himself never, under any circumstances, to raise his hand against a person who was in any way dependent on him.
“Hatred of serfdom lived in me even then,” wrote Turgenev, “it, by the way, was the reason that I, who grew up among beatings and torture, did not desecrate my hands with a single blow - but before “Notes of a Hunter” there was far. I was just a boy – almost a child.” 6
Subsequently, having survived the harsh years of childhood, received an education and became a writer, Turgenev directed all his literary and social activities against the oppression and violence that reigned in Russia. This is evidenced by remarkable anti-serfdom stories. Most of them were included in the book “Notes of a Hunter.”
2.5. Real events based on the story
The story “Mumu” is close to them in content. The material for writing was a real incident that occurred in Moscow on Ostozhenka in house number 37.
The prototypes of the main characters of the story are people well known to Turgenev: his mother and the janitor Andrei, who once lived in their house.
One day, while touring her estates, Varvara Petrovna noticed a peasant of heroic build who could not answer the lady’s questions: he was mute. She liked the original figure, and Andrei was taken to Spasskoye as a janitor. From that time on, he received a new name - Mute.
“Varvara Petrovna flaunted her giant janitor,” said V.N. Zhitova. “He was always beautifully dressed and, apart from red red shirts, he did not wear any and did not like; in winter a beautiful sheepskin coat, and in summer a corduroy jacket or a blue overcoat. In Moscow, the shiny green barrel and the beautiful dapple-gray factory horse, with which Andrei went for water, were very popular at the fountain near the Alexander Garden. There everyone recognized Turgenev’s Mute, greeted him warmly and communicated with him by signs.” 7
The mute janitor Andrey, like Gerasim, found and sheltered a stray dog. Got used to it. But the lady did not like the dog, and she ordered it to be drowned. The mute carried out the lady's orders and continued to live and work peacefully for the lady. No matter how bitter it was for Andrei, he remained faithful to his mistress, served her until his death and, besides her, no one was his
I didn’t want to acknowledge her as my mistress. An eyewitness said that after the tragic death of his favorite, Andrei never petted a single dog.
In the story "Mumu" Gerasim is shown as a rebel. He does not put up with the insult caused to him by his lady. As a sign of protest, he leaves the cruel lady for the village to plow his native land.
A report from a tsarist official from the secret correspondence of the censorship department of that time has been preserved. In it, the official says that readers, after reading the story, will be filled with compassion for the peasant, oppressed by the landowner's waywardness.
This document confirms the great artistic expressiveness and the ideological power of Turgenev’s work.
I.A. Aksakov saw Gerasim as a kind of symbol - this is the personification of the Russian people, their terrible strength and incomprehensible meekness... The writer was sure that he (Gerasim) would speak over time. This idea turned out to be prophetic.
3. Conclusion
Let us draw the following conclusions:
A person who suffered suffering and pain in childhood, entering adult life, behaves differently: someone, like Varvara Petrovna, becomes angry and vindictive, and someone, like Turgenev, becomes sensitive to human suffering, ready to help people not only in word, but also in deed.
Humiliation and insults seen in childhood human personality and virtues formed in the future writer an aversion to serfdom. Although Turgenev was not a political fighter, with the help of his literary talent and social activities he fought against feudal tyranny.
In “Mumu,” two forces collide: the Russian people, straightforward and strong, and the serfdom world represented by a capricious, out-of-mind old woman. But Turgenev gives this conflict new twist: his hero makes a kind of protest, expressed in his unauthorized departure from the city to the village. The question arises, what is serfdom based on, why do the peasant heroes forgive their masters any whims?
Great educational reference book. Russian writers of the 19th century. M.: Bustard, 2000
Life and work of Turgenev I.S.: Materials for the exhibition at the children's library school comp. and introductory article by N.I. Yakunin, M.: Children's literature, 1988
Zhitova V.N. From memories of the family of I.S. Turgenev. Literature 5th grade ed. G.I. Belenkogo - M.: Mnemosyne, 2010
Naumova N.N. I.S. Turgenev. Biography. A manual for students. L.: “Enlightenment”, 1976
Oreshin K. History of the story “Mumu” Shift No. 491 November 1947 [Electronic resource]/ Access mode: Smena- online. ru> storiya-Rasskaza-mumu
Turgenev I.S. Complete collection essays and letters in 28 volumes. Letters. M.-L., 1961 T.2
Turgenev at school: A manual for teachers / comp. T.F.Kurdyumova.- M.: Education, 1981- 175 p.
Sher N.S. Stories about Russian writers. Photos. M.: Children's literature, 1982, 511 p.
Turgenev I. S.
An essay on a work on the topic: Depiction of the cruelty of masters towards serfs in the story “Mumu” by I. S. Turgenev
Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev is not only a great Russian writer, but also an active defender of the weak, humiliated and disadvantaged. As a small boy, he observed the cruel and unfair treatment of serfs by his imperious landowner mother, and there were plenty of other examples around. Having become an adult and having received a good education, I. S. Turgenev devoted himself entirely to literature and on the pages of his works tried to express his attitude towards serfdom as honestly and openly as possible.
Reading the story “Mumu”, we get acquainted with many people - the heroes of the events described. This is the “nice guy” Gerasim,
and the timid washerwoman Tatyana, and the quick-witted butler Gavrila, and the degraded shoemaker Kapiton Klimov, and many others. Each of them experienced a lot of grief and resentment in their lives, but the most amazing thing is that the fates of all these people are completely given into the hands of a capricious, touchy, domineering and stupid lady, any change in whose mood can cost even the life of a serf. Surrounded by flattering and cowardly hangers-on, the lady never thinks that a forced person can have pride and dignity. Treating the serfs like toys, she, in her own way, marries them, moves them from place to place, executes them and pardons them. Adapting to the absurd character of the mistress, the servants become cunning, resourceful, deceitful, or intimidated, cowardly, and unresponsive. The worst thing is that no one is trying to change anything, because this state of affairs is the norm accepted by everyone. And if the life of serfs is gray and monotonous, then the life of a lady is “joyless and stormy.” She did not, does not and never will have friends, loved ones and even truly close ones, because she does not need honesty and frankness, she does not know what it is.
Teacher's Notes
Slide No. 2 Serfdom- this is a set of state laws that attached peasants to a specific plot of land and made them directly dependent on the landowner (landowner), which at times led to the deprivation of peasants of personal freedom. In Russia, serfdom existed since 1649.
Slide No. 3 Previously, Russia had a local system, which in its content was not serfdom, but was a rigid form of rental relations. The peasant leased a plot of land from the landowner, on which he had to work out the “agreement” until the harvest, as a result of which he would return part of it to the landowner in the form of “rent payment”. This payment was carried out during the period of one week before St. George's Day - November 26, and another week after it. The peasant did not have the right to leave without making a payment, and when he paid what was required, he could move on to another landowner.
Slide number 4 During the reign, in 1649, published, which was a new Russian list of laws. This code recognized the power of the landowner over the peasants who worked on his land. Such workers did not have the right to leave their plot and move to another owner, or even refuse to work on the land, going, for example, to the city to earn money.
Slide No. 5 As a result, the peasants were attached to the land, which gave rise to the name: serfdom. If land was transferred between landowners, workers were transferred along with it.
Slide No. 6 The nobles had the right to sell their serfs to another owner without land. Peasants were sold at the will of the owner, separating wives and husbands, children and parents.
Slide No. 7 Since the middle of the 18th century, serfdom has intensified in Russia, as a result of which landowners received the right to sell their peasants as recruits, exile them to Siberia or to hard labor.
Slides No. 8.9 The dependence of the peasants on the landowners was constantly expanding, and, consequently, their situation worsened: the landowners began to sell and buy serfs, exchange them for things and animals, marry them at will.
Slide number 10 This is a phenomenon in Russian history described by Ivan Turgenev in his story “Mumu”.
Slide number 11 The story is based on true story. The prototypes of the main characters of the story are people well known to Turgenev: his mother and the janitor Andrei, who once lived in their house. Everything described happened in house number 37 on Ostozhenka Street, which still exists in Moscow to this day.
Slide No. 12 Many years ago, in the distant village of Sychevo, there lived a man who was deaf and mute from birth, named Andrei. But his lady (mama Varvara Petrovna) noticed him, admired his guardsman’s height and bearish strength, and wished to have that guardsman in her Moscow house as a janitor. Let him chop wood for the kitchen and rooms, carry water from the Alexander Fountain in a barrel, look after and guard the manor’s courtyard. No one in all of Moscow will have such a giant janitor as the janitor of the widow of the colonel of the Yekaterinoslav Regiment. And what is mute and deaf as a plug - even better!
Slide number 13 For a man city work- easy, boring. But Andrei lived and lived, as if without complaining, in the presence of his mistress until her death, he performed his service carefully, he respected his mistress, and did not contradict her in anything.
One day a mute man took a liking to a quiet courtyard girl, and the lady, knowing this, decided to give her in marriage to someone else - he endured it. And his little dog, named Mumu, his favorite, rescued from the Fontanka river one winter, a joy and consolation, he meekly drowned himself, if the lady ordered.
How he said goodbye to her there, to the little dog, how he drowned it, is unknown. But from that time on Andrei never smiled, he accepted gifts from his mistress gloomily, like a stone, and did not look at the dogs, he turned away. After the death of the lady, just as gloomily, without gratitude, he accepted his freedom and went somewhere to Rus'.
I liked it so much that I decided to choose it for my research. The topic of the study is “Condemnation of serfdom in the story “MUMU”. Studying the writer's biography and working with the text helped me find the answer to problematic issue: “How does serfdom affect a person?” In my work I covered the following questions:
· pages of the writer's biography
CONCLUSION:
The janitor Gerasim was a man of extraordinary strength, this is evidenced not only by his portrait, but also by the description of the room in which he arranged everything to his liking. By nature, he is a hardworking and responsible person, kind and able to sympathize. But at the same time, Gerasim is a deeply unhappy person: he loved Tatyana, but she was married off to the drunkard Kapiton, he became attached to Mumu with all his heart, but the lady ordered her to be drowned.
Who is to blame for the fact that Gerasim is unhappy? The answer is clear: the lady, and in her person is serfdom.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
· Serfdom cripples and disfigures the human soul
· Serfdom destroys families and breaks family ties
· A person cannot control his life, he does not belong to himself, he cannot be happy
· In the story “Mumu” Turgenev shows the first shoots of protest, they are still timid and spontaneous, but they are harbingers of future changes
· The story “Mumu” puts the writer in line with such fighters against serfdom as Pushkin, Gogol, Nekrasov. Honesty and nobility helped him make a bold choice, to join the ranks of defenders of the oppressed people.
Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev is not only a great Russian writer, but also an active defender of the weak, humiliated and disadvantaged. As a small boy, he observed the cruel and unfair treatment of serfs by his imperious landowner mother, and there were plenty of other examples around. Having become an adult and having received a good education, I. S. Turgenev devoted himself entirely to literature and on the pages of his works tried to express his attitude towards serfdom as honestly and openly as possible.
Reading the story “Mumu”, we get acquainted with many people - the heroes of the events described. This is the “nice guy” Gerasim,
and the timid washerwoman Tatyana, and the quick-witted butler Gavrila, and the degraded shoemaker Kapiton Klimov, and many others. Each of them experienced a lot of grief and resentment in their lives, but the most amazing thing is that the fates of all these people are completely given into the hands of a capricious, touchy, domineering and stupid lady, any change in whose mood can cost even the life of a serf. Surrounded by flattering and cowardly hangers-on, the lady never thinks that a forced person can have pride and dignity. Treating the serfs like toys, she, in her own way, marries them, moves them from place to place, executes them and pardons them. Adapting to the absurd character of the mistress, the servants become cunning, resourceful, deceitful, or intimidated, cowardly, and unresponsive. The worst thing is that no one is trying to change anything, because this state of affairs is the norm accepted by everyone. And if the life of serfs is gray and monotonous, then the life of a lady is “joyless and stormy.” She did not, does not and never will have friends, loved ones and even truly close ones, because she does not need honesty and frankness, she does not know what it is.
When you read works telling about the cruelty of serfdom, it seems incredible that it was abolished just some 150 years ago. And it was the writers who fearlessly opposed serfdom who did a lot for this. People like Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev.
- New!
Is it possible to talk about speech characteristics Gerasima? How did he communicate with others? Gerasim did not have oral speech in our usual understanding. But he communicated with those around him, and they understood him. Gestures, facial expressions, and sounds were used for communication. Even Mumu feels good...
Gerasim - main character story by I. S. Turgenev “Mumu”. I would even say that he is the only hero of this work. The tall, deaf-mute hero not only differs in appearance from those around him. Economical and hard-working, Gerasim retains the good in himself...
Gerasim is a janitor who lived with his lady. He is a tall man, very strong, but besides these good qualities he had his own illness that prevented him from living - he was deaf. Gerasim is unsociable and hard-working. He didn't like drunks. As I already said, Gerasim...
Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev’s story “Mumu” really struck me. When Gerasim killed the dog, I couldn’t hold back my tears. And how hard it was for him! After all, he raised Mumu from a small puppy. This is the only creature who loved Gerasim, and he too...
Gerasim is a man who belonged to an old lady. He lived in the village, but then he was taken to the city. He looked gloomy: big, healthy, strong. But he had one very big drawback: he was deaf and dumb. Gerasim worked as a janitor and was very...
