Story by M.A. Sholokhov's “The Fate of Man” was published for the first time in 1956. The plot of the work is based on real facts. The story the author heard from a former front-line soldier became a story about difficult fate person. The main character of the story experienced all the horrors of the past war.
The life story of Andrei Sokolov begins in the pre-war years. The young man got married and over time children appeared in his family: a son and two daughters. They lived amicably and happily. The war, which brought grief to millions of people, also invaded the lives of the Sokolovs. The head of the family is drafted into the army on the second day of the war. The wife, who did not want to let her husband go to war, simply hung on him. Then Andrei had to forcefully tear her away from him and push her away. Later, when he remembers this day, he will reproach himself for this rudeness.
During the four years of war, Sokolov had to endure a lot. At the front, as in civilian life, he was a driver. He was captured after his car was hit by an enemy shell. Andrei was wounded and shell-shocked. In captivity, he suffered so many difficult trials that it would have been enough for several human lives. The hero of the story was transferred from camp to camp. And in each camp, the most difficult conditions of survival and hard, exhausting work awaited him.
But something kept me in this world when so many people were dying nearby. In the most difficult moments of testing, the image of his wife and children appeared before his eyes. This probably gave him the strength to overcome everything and return home alive. One day, in a temper, Sokolov expressed out loud his dissatisfaction with the living conditions in the camp. Someone reported him. These words were conveyed to the camp administration. The hero was summoned by the camp commandant.
It is unknown what someone else would have done in Andrei’s place, but Sokolov behaved with dignity. The brave front-line soldier was appointed as a driver for a military engineer as a reward. And an escape plan matured in the hero’s head. His first escape from the camp was unsuccessful, he was caught and placed in a punishment cell on a whole month. For the second time, Sokolov captured a military engineer and crossed the front line in the car in which he was driving his boss.
For escaping from captivity with the captured “tongue,” Andrei was rewarded with a short-term vacation. He went home. All the way he thought about meeting his family. And when he arrived at the place, he saw a huge bomb crater instead of his house. His wife and two daughters died. The hero returned to the front again. The only thing that warms his soul is that his son, fighting somewhere at the front, is alive and well. Sokolov only dreamed of meeting his son. But the meeting did not take place. His son died at the very end of the war.
Heartbroken, Andrei did not return to his native place, where he no longer had a home or relatives. He moves to another area and gets a job as a truck driver. Chance gave him a gift in the form of a little orphan boy. Vanyushka lost his parents during the war and became a street child. Hope began to glimmer in the tormented heart of the front-line soldier. In the person of the boy Vanya, he found his new family
Essay Image and characteristics of Andrei Sokolov
In the story by Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov, war times are described; people meet at the crossing: Andrei Sokolov with his adopted son Vanechka and the narrator. Andrei Sokolov decides to talk to the narrator, he is so lonely that at least he will talk to someone.
He tells the story of when he spoke incorrectly about the commandant in his cell, and someone denounced him. They called him and wanted to shoot him, but showing his Russian spirit of pride and inflexibility, saved his life. Andrei Sokolov, despite the fact that life beat him so hard, always remained human in any situation and never stinted on emotions.
At the front, Andrei learns that his family was killed, his wife and two daughters were buried in the house after the bombing, and his son is unknown where. Sokolov suddenly became lonely and unhappy, he lost absolutely everything, the world collapsed and the earth was disappearing from under his feet. Soon Andrei receives a letter from his son Anatoly, he is also at the front and has already managed to rise to a good rank. They arrange a meeting, and here a huge blow awaits Sokolov’s son, he is killed by a sniper, Andrei has lost his last loved one.
Andrei Sokolov goes to his friend and gets a job there, where he meets Vanya, a street child, and is called his father. The man himself is very kind and compassionate, despite the fact that the war took away all his relatives, he did not become callous and cruel. He decides to make the boy happy, who, like him, is left alone in this world and promises him to take care of him.
Having gone through a thousand trials, Andrei Sokolov did not stop helping people along the way and did not remain indifferent to the grief of others. Sokolov wanted to raise the boy and give him everything he could, filling the void in his heart and in his own. In his story, Sholokhov described a man with a great Russian soul, who was not broken by the war, but only made stronger. Andrey Sokolov is a wonderful example for every person that you should never give up.
Option 3
The events of the Great Patriotic War are one of the main themes of writers Soviet period. The heroism of the people and individuals in terrible conditions wartime more than once became the central idea of the works.
The work of M.A. Sholokhov is no exception. In his story “The Fate of Man” he describes the life ordinary person, who suffered all the horrors of war, the loss of loved ones and the return to life after the tragedy. An interesting fact is that the prototype of the main character was real person, who told the story of his life to the author.
Andrei Sokolov is the main character of the story. A participant in the civil war, he is good and loving husband and father. The war interrupted the happy and quiet life Sokolov family. Andrei goes to the front, after being wounded he is captured by the Nazis. The hero bravely endures all the horror of captivity; he tries to escape, but fails. He is sentenced to death; his courage and pride in front of the invaders saved Andrei’s life. The commandants not only did not shoot him, but also gave him food. Sokolov shared with his comrades. This action shows generous soul hero. For Andrei Sokolov, captivity is worse than death; he again tries to escape, this time successfully. A purposeful person always achieves his goal.
After the escape, another terrible blow was the news of the death of his wife and daughter. A courageous man, he does not bend under the weight of loss. The dream of a son whom they should meet becomes the meaning of his life. But his hope was not destined to be justified. The son dies in the war.
It’s hard for Andrey to return from the front. There is no more home, no more relatives. It seems that there is nothing to live for now, but the strength of spirit does not allow one to give up. Having met the orphan Vanyusha, Sokolov becomes a real father for the boy.
The amazing fate of man is shown by Sholokhov in his work. But there were many such destinies in those days. The strength of the human soul, courage and boundless heroism of an ordinary soldier is depicted in the image of the main character. He doesn’t need awards or honors, he wants ordinary earthly happiness. And I want to believe that after suffering grief, he finds it. This is it main meaning story.
The Russian man is a symbol of courage and selfless devotion to his homeland. Bravery and generosity, intelligence and honor, will and justice are the main qualities that the author endowed with his hero.
Works about war teach us to live according to our conscience, to remember that a peaceful sky on earth was given to us by such ordinary soldiers as Andrei Sokolov. We must honor the memory of heroes and firmly understand that war cannot be allowed.
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After a long and painfully cold winter, the long-awaited spring has finally arrived, bringing warmth and bright sunshine
Mikhail Sholokhov met the prototype of the main character of his future story in 1946. The fate of the front-line soldier interested him so much that he promised himself to write a story about him. But Sholokhov returned to this plot only 10 years later.
The main characters of the story “The Fate of Man”:
Andrey Sokolov – front-line soldier, driver, about 40 years old. A strong man, hard-working, open and honest. He liked his job as a driver. During the war he was also a driver. Once in his life he decided to kill a man - a traitor who was ready to betray his commander. When Müller gave him bread and lard, he brought every last crumb to the barracks, where the rations were divided among the prisoners. Having decided to escape from captivity, he grabbed the major whom he was transporting at that moment. The information contained in the major's briefcase turned out to be very valuable for the Soviet command.
Irina, Andrei's wife, pupil orphanage, wise beyond her years, soft, affectionate. She pacified her husband with her kindness. She loved her husband and children. She never allowed him to raise his voice and treated him for a hangover if Andrei had to overdo it with friends.
Anatoly- a capable young man, he studied well, was capable of mathematics. After the house was bombed, he asked to go to the front. He graduated from the artillery school, rose to the rank of captain, and had front-line awards. “He darned the parent from all over.”
Lagerführer Müller – bad guy. Camp commandant. Apparently, he was from the Volga Germans. “He spoke Russian like you and me, and even leaned on the “o” like a native Volga resident. And he was a terrible master at swearing.” It can be assumed that Müller somehow managed to escape to Germany during the deportation period in 1941. Short, dense, blond. In appearance, Müller was clearly an albino. AND cruel person by nature. He mercilessly beat prisoners before work, and called it flu prevention.
Vanyushka- orphan. A smart boy, trusting and naive, like all children. Vanyushka was afraid of losing his father again, so at first he even went to work with him, went to meet him at the elevator. A kind, affectionate child, smart, beyond his age.
Twelve years after the Great Patriotic War in 1957, M.A. Sholokhov writes the story “The Fate of a Man”, the main character of which is a simple Russian man - Andrei Sokolov.
M. Sholokhov reveals the personality of Andrei Sokolov using various artistic techniques, characterizing actions, showing the relationship of the hero with different people, putting him in various life situations. The story about the fate of Andrei Sokolov is told in the first person, which makes the story more objective for the reader; the hero himself characterizes his actions. The author, using artistic and expressive means, evaluates what he heard. This way the reader gets to know the writer's position. For example, having met Andrei Sokolov, the narrator drew attention to his “big dark hands,” testifying to the hard backbreaking labor that befell him, and to his “eyes, as if sprinkled with ashes,” speaking about what he had experienced.
Before the war, Andrei Sokolov lived an ordinary life: “he studied the car business, sat behind the wheel of a truck,” married his beloved Irinka, had a son and two daughters, “worked...for these ten years, day and night,” “earned good money,...lived... Not worse than people" The war changed his life. With particular pain Andrei Sokolov recalls the scene of farewell to his wife, who “clung ... like a leaf to a branch, and only trembles all over, but cannot utter a word,” the hero then pushed his wife away and cannot forgive himself for this years later, because then it was their last meeting. This is how the author describes the state of Andrei Sokolov after what was told: “... I didn’t see a single tear in his seemingly dead, extinct eyes.” This detail shows the hero’s relationship to the past: for him, the events of those days still remain the most important in life, Sokolov is still alive, but has “dead eyes.”
During the war, the hero faces a real test - captivity. Andrei Sokolov showed steadfastness, mental firmness, and strength of character there too: without hesitation, he killed a traitor who wanted to betray his platoon commander; tried to escape. The scene at Commandant Müller’s is significant, where they brought Sokolov, hungry and tired after hard work. And here the hero did not flinch: he “drank three glasses of vodka, but didn’t snack on anything, because “I wanted... to show them, damned, that although I’m starving, I’m not going to choke on their handout, that I have my own.” , Russian dignity and pride and that they did not turn me into a beast, no matter how hard they tried.” The courage of the Russian soldier amazed Müller. Having received a loaf of bread and a piece of bacon, Andrei Sokolov divided the food equally between the prisoners, “they divided it without offense.” This fact also testifies to the breadth of the Russian soul. Having escaped from captivity, in the hospital the hero learns about the death of his wife and daughters. The death of his loved ones did not embitter him; he again dreams of happiness, now with his son Anatoly: “I began to have old man’s dreams at night: how the war will end, how I will marry a son, and I myself will live with the young, work as a carpenter and nurse my grandchildren.” But the war took Andrei Sokolov and his son away. The only thing that the war did not take away from the hero was self-esteem, honor, and love for people. The Russian soldier did not become bitter, he was able to overcome himself and find a kindred spirit in the little orphan Vanyusha. Andrey Sokolov – winner strong character: he was able to survive in inhumane conditions fascist captivity, survived the death of loved ones, found a new son.
The title of the story “The Fate of a Man” is important for understanding the essence of the character of a simple Russian soldier. The life of a particular person is summarized by the writer and becomes the fate of thousands of Russian people who survived the war and lost loved ones, but retained the main thing - human soul. The humanistic orientation of the story allows the writer to talk about Andrei Sokolov as a real person. The main means of revealing the image of the main character is the soldier's monologue-story about himself. Here the author acts as a listener, without giving direct assessments of the events, but only observing the state of Andrei Sokolov: “The narrator fell silent for a minute, and then spoke in a different, intermittent and quiet voice.” The hero’s sincerity made him closer to the author: “A stranger, but a man who had become close to me stood up and extended a large hand, hard as a tree...”
Thus, the image of Andrei Sokolov, the character of the hero is revealed by the writer through his speech, his own description of actions, the author’s assessment of what he heard, through the title of the story “The Fate of a Man.”
There are many works about the Great Patriotic War, one of them is the story of M.A. Sholokhov "The Fate of Man" summary which is presented below.
The plot of this work does not contain a description of military operations or exploits in the rear; here we are talking about a man who was captured, and what mark the war as a whole left on his life.
Analysis of this work and its summary will help you get to the heart of the story.
About the story “The Fate of Man”
The work describes the complex ups and downs of the life of an ordinary Soviet soldier who saw the horrors of war, survived the hardships of German captivity, lost his family, was on the verge of life and death many times, but despite all this, retained his humanity and found the strength to live on.
"The fate of man" from the point of view genre affiliation is considered to be a story. However, this work contains signs of different genres.
The volume of the work is small, which means it is more like a story. However, what is described here is not a single incident, but a large period of time, several years long, which allows us to call this book a story.
Who is the author of the story “The Fate of Man”
Mikhail Alexandrovich Sholokhov is one of greatest writers of his time, as well as a prominent public figure.
He was awarded the title of academician, twice Hero Socialist Labor, and in 1965 became a laureate Nobel Prize according to literature.
Among his most famous works are such novels as “Virgin Soil Upturned,” the epic novel “ Quiet Don", "They Fought for the Motherland" and of course, the story "The Fate of a Man".
The year the story “The Fate of Man” was written
The story “The Fate of Man” was written in 1956. The war ended more than 10 years ago, but it still worried M. Sholokhov.
It was at this time that the author rethought the image of the heroic Victory.
In 1953, I.V. died. Stalin. Sholokhov looked critically at many things, including the actions of the deceased head of state.
Stalin’s well-known order No. 270 stated that everyone who surrendered to the enemy should be considered deserters and traitors to the Motherland. They were to be exterminated and their families deprived of any government support.
Sholokhov's story "The Fate of Man" opened new page V military literature those years. The horrors of captivity described in the story, which millions of soldiers had to endure, became the starting point for changing attitudes towards people who found themselves in such a situation.
The history of the creation of the story “The Fate of Man”
The work is based on true story a man whom Sholokhov met while hunting on the Upper Don about a year after the end of the war.
In a casual conversation, the writer heard a story that shook him to the core. “I will definitely, definitely write about this,” Sholokhov thought.
Only 10 years later the writer decided to bring his plan to life. At this time, he read the works of Hemingway and, the main characters of which are powerless, worthless people who have lost the meaning of life after returning from the war.
Then he remembered his casual acquaintance and decided that it was time to write his story, a story of hardship, difficult trials and faith in life no matter what.
It took Sholokhov only seven days to write the text of the story. December 31, 1956 is the date of writing and publication of the story in the Pravda newspaper.
The work found a great response in the writing community, including abroad. A little later the story was read on the radio famous actor S. Lukyanov.
The main characters of M. Sholokhov’s story “The Fate of Man”
There is only one main character in the story - Andrei Sokolov, a man of iron will, but at the same time not without a soft heart.
This hero embodies the main features of a true Russian character - willpower, love of life, patriotism and mercy.
The story is told on his behalf.
Other characters in “The Fate of Man” by M.A. Sholokhov
About the rest characters we learn from the memories of the main character.
He speaks warmly about his family: his wife Irina and children - Anatoly, Nastenka and Olyushka.
In the episodes there are heroes whom the narrator sympathizes with - a military doctor who helped Russian soldiers in captivity, a company commander saved by Sokolov from an informer, and a Uryupinsk friend who sheltered the hero at home after the war.
There are also negative characters: traitor Kryzhnev, commissar of the Müller camp, German major engineer.
The only character we see in the hero’s present is his adopted son Vanyusha, little boy, firmly believing that Sokolov is his real father.
“The Fate of Man” - summary
The story is not told in chapters, but in continuous text, but for an abbreviated retelling it is convenient to divide it into small segments.
Andrey Sokolov
In its structure, the work is a story within a story.
The road ahead was not easy, and halfway through the journey they had to cross a river that stretched for a whole kilometer. At the crossing, a thin, leaky boat was waiting for them, which could only carry two people at a time. The boatman was the first to cross the narrator.
On the other bank, while waiting for his friend, the author met a man with a boy of 4-5 years old. A conversation ensued. The man mistakenly assumed that the narrator had the same profession as him - a driver. Perhaps that is why he suddenly wanted to pour out his soul and tell the story of his difficult life.
He didn’t introduce himself right away, but as the story progresses we learn that his name is Andrey Sokolov. Now the story is told on his behalf.
Pre-war time
From the very beginning of Andrei Sokolov's life, he was haunted by difficulties and hardships.
He was born in 1900 in the Voronezh province. Passed Civil War, in the hungry year of 1922 he ended up in the Kuban, and that’s the only way he survived. And his relatives - father, mother and two sisters - died of hunger in their homeland.
There was no relative left in the whole world. Returning from Kuban, he moved to Voronezh, where he started working as a carpenter, then worked at a factory, and mastered metalworking skills.
Soon he started a family. Married a modest orphan girl great love. After the loss of his loved ones, she became a joy for him - smart, cheerful and at the same time wise. Life began to improve: children appeared - son Anatoly and two daughters, Nastya and Olya - all excellent students and the pride of their father.
The hero mastered a new profession as a driver, began to earn good money and rebuilt a house with two rooms. Only the location of the house was unfortunate - near an aircraft factory. He did not know then what fatal role this would play in his life.
War and captivity
A new war suddenly burst into the life of Andrei Sokolov. Already on the third day, the whole family gathered to accompany him to the station.
Saying goodbye to his family was a difficult ordeal for him. The always calm and quiet wife suddenly went into a frenzy, did not let him go, but only insisted that they would not have to see each other again.
He felt offended that they were burying him alive, and pushed his wife away, for which he reproached himself every day afterwards.
Military everyday life began for Andrei Sokolov: he worked as a driver and received two minor wounds. He wrote letters to his family infrequently and always very briefly, never complaining. In this, for the first time, his special masculine endurance was revealed: he did not tolerate soldiers sending tearful letters to their relatives, for whom it was already difficult in the rear.
His greatest test came in May 1942. There was a fierce battle near Lozovenki. The ammunition was running out and Andrei Sokolov had to deliver it to a battery of soldiers under fire. But he did not reach his destination. The blast wave threw him aside and temporarily disabled him.
When he came to his senses, he discovered that he was behind enemy lines. At first he tried to pretend to be dead so as not to give up, but passing Germans discovered him. Then Sokolov gathered his remaining strength to stand up and face death with dignity. One German raised his machine gun, but the other pulled it back, realizing that Sokolov could still be useful for work.
Sokolov, along with other prisoners, was driven west. The Germans treated them like cattle: they shot all the wounded on the spot, they did the same to those who tried to escape, and they beat them - they beat them just like that, out of anger.
The episode in the church is of particular importance in the story. On one of the first nights, the Germans drove the soldiers into the church.
Here Sokolov was able to get to know more closely who was captured with him. He was surprised that the military doctor, who immediately set his shoulder, even in such a situation selflessly continued to do his job.
Then he accidentally overheard the conversation and then something else struck him: the soldier was going to betray his commander, who was facing death for his adherence to the Communist Party. Sokolov decided to strangle the traitor, he killed a person for the first time, and “his own,” but for him he was worse than an enemy.
Another significant incident occurred in the church: the Germans shot a prisoner who did not want to desecrate the holy place by relieving himself.
All the way to the camp Sokolov was thinking about escape, and then an opportunity arose. The prisoners were sent into the forest to dig graves for their own, the guards were distracted and Sokolov managed to escape.
But four days later, the Germans and dogs caught up with the exhausted soldier. There was no living space left on him from the beatings of the Nazis and dog bites; he spent a whole month in a punishment cell, but survived and was transported to Germany.
Andrei Sokolov traveled half of Germany, worked in factories and mines in Saxony and Thuringia. The conditions were such that it would have been easier to die.
The prisoners were constantly beaten, brutally, almost to death, fed with a tiny piece of bread with sawdust and rutabaga soup, and forced to work until they lost their pulse. Sokolov recalls that he once weighed almost ninety kilograms, but now he didn’t even reach fifty.
On the brink of death
One of climaxes story - an incident in Dresden. At this time, Sokolov was working in a stone quarry.
The work was extremely hard, and Sokolov, unable to bear it, somehow let slip: “They need four cubic meters of output, but for the grave of each of us, one cubic meter through the eyes is enough.” This phrase of his reached the commandant.
When they called to Commandant Muller, Sokolov said goodbye to his comrades in advance, since he knew that he was going to his death. Müller had an excellent command of the Russian language and did not need an intermediary in a conversation with a Russian soldier. He immediately said that he would now personally shoot Sokolov. To which he replied: “Your will.”
Müller was a little drunk and tipsy, and there was a bottle and various snacks on the table, then he poured a full glass of schnapps, put a piece of bread with lard on it and handed it all to Sokolov with the words: “Before you die, Russian Ivan, drink to the victory of German weapons "
Of course, Sokolov was not satisfied with such a toast, and he preferred to refuse, pretending not to drink. Then Müller offered him a drink “to his death.” Sokolov took the glass and drank it in one gulp, without taking a bite.
Müller pointed to the bread, but Sokolov explained that he didn’t snack after the first one. Then the commandant poured him a second glass. Sokolov also swallowed it, but did not take the bread.
Despite severe hunger, he wanted to show that they had not yet knocked the man out of him, and he would not pounce on a German handout. He said out loud that he wasn’t used to snacking after the second one either.
Muller was very amused by this and poured a third glass. Sokolov drank it slowly and broke only a small piece of bread. Such dignity amazed the commandant, he recognized Sokolov as a brave soldier and released him, giving him a loaf of bread with lard.
Release from captivity
In 1944 there was turning point During the war, the Germans began to run out of people. Drivers were needed, and then Sokolov was assigned to a German major engineer.
At some point, the major was sent to the front line. Sokolov found himself close to Soviet troops for the first time in two years.
This was his chance. He came up with a plan according to which he was supposed to escape, taking with him the major with the drawings in order to hand him over to his own.
And so he did: while driving around German fortifications, he stunned the major, changed into a pre-prepared German uniform to deceive the checkpoint, and, under bullets rushing from both sides, “surrendered” to his own people.
Sokolov was received as a hero and promised to be nominated for an award. He was sent to the hospital to improve his health. He immediately wrote a letter home, but the answer did not come for a long time.
Finally, he received news, but not from his family. His neighbor wrote, he reported tragic news: during the bombing of an aircraft factory, a large shell hit the house where Sokolov’s wife and two daughters were at that time, and the son, having learned about the death of the family, voluntarily went to the front.
Having received a month's leave, the hero went to Voronezh, but almost immediately returned to the division: his soul was so heavy.
Son Anatoly
A few months later, the hero receives a letter from his son, who briefly described his life: he serves not far from his father and is already in command of a battery.
Sokolov is filled with pride. He is already dreaming of how they will live together after the war, how his son will get married, and he will start babysitting his grandchildren, everything will work out.
But these aspirations were not destined to come true. On the morning of May 9, Victory Day, Anatoly is killed by a German sniper.
Post-war time
The war is over. Sokolov was sick of returning to hometown, and he went to Uryupinsk to visit his friend, who had been calling him to his place for a long time.
There the hero again got a job as a driver, and everyday work began.
One day Sokolov noticed a street boy near the teahouse where he always had lunch. It turned out that Vanyusha’s mother died when the train was shelled, and her father died at the front.
Sokolov felt some warmth in his chest, looking at this grimy baby with eyes as bright as stars. I couldn’t stand it, I called him over and called him his father. Thus two orphaned hearts united.
Because of the accident, Sokolov’s driver’s license was taken away, and he decided to leave Uryupinsk with his new son. Our narrator found them on the road.
Conclusion
Sholokhov's story “The Fate of Man” makes you think about many things: about the will to live and patriotism, about real masculine actions and mercy for the weak, about fearlessness before death and feat in the name of loved ones and the country.
But main idea is this: war is the worst thing that can happen to a person, it not only exterminates people, but also breaks the fate of those who survived.
The immortal work of M. A. Sholokhov “The Fate of Man” is a real ode to the common people, whose life was completely broken by the war.
Features of the story composition
The main character here is not represented by the legendary heroic personality, A a simple person, one of the millions of people touched by the tragedy of war.
The fate of man in wartime
Andrei Sokolov was a simple rural worker who, like everyone else, worked on a collective farm, had a family and lived an ordinary measured life. He boldly goes to defend his fatherland from the fascist invaders, thus leaving his children and wife to the mercy of fate.
At the front, the main character begins those terrible trials that turned his life upside down. Andrei finds out that his wife, daughter and youngest son died as a result of an air attack. He takes this loss very hard, as he feels his own guilt for what happened to his family.
However, Andrei Sokolov has something to live for; he still has his eldest son, who during the war was able to achieve significant success in military affairs, and was his father’s only support. IN last days During the war, fate prepared the last crushing blow for Sokolov; his son is killed by his opponents.
At the end of the war, main character, is morally broken and does not know how to live further: he lost his loved ones, his home was destroyed. Andrey gets a job as a driver in a neighboring village and gradually begins to drink.
As you know, fate, which pushes a person into the abyss, always leaves him a small straw through which, if desired, he can get out of it. Andrei's salvation was a meeting with a little orphan boy whose parents died at the front.
Vanechka had never seen his father and reached out to Andrei, because he longed for the love and attention that the main character showed to him. The dramatic peak in the story is Andrei’s decision to lie to Vanechka that he is his own father.
An unfortunate child who did not know love, affection and good relations with tears he throws himself on Andrei Sokolov’s neck and begins to say that he remembered him. So, in essence, two destitute orphans begin a joint life path. They found salvation in each other. Each of them gained a meaning in life.
The moral “core” of Andrei Sokolov’s character
Andrei Sokolov had a real inner core, high ideals of spirituality, steadfastness and patriotism. In one of the episodes of the story, the author tells us how, exhausted by hunger and labor in a concentration camp, Andrei was still able to maintain his human dignity: for a long time he refused the food that the Nazis offered him before they threatened to kill him.
The strength of his character aroused respect even among the German murderers, who ultimately had mercy on him. The bread and lard that they gave to the main character as a reward for his pride, Andrei Sokolov divided among all his starving cellmates.
