The theme of indifference in the work of the Paustovsky telegram. Essay based on the story Paustovsky's telegram

Konstantin Paustovsky is a wonderful Russian writer who went through two wars and wrote many books imbued with kindness and love. His story "Telegram" cannot leave anyone indifferent, it touches the most delicate spiritual strings. In the article you will find a school essay on the main idea of ​​this work and the position of the author.

The "Telegram" tells about an elderly woman, Katerina Petrovna, who lives in the village in her father's house. He was a famous artist, traveled to countries and cities, talked with famous people. Katerina Petrovna is looked after by the neighbor girl Manyushka and the watchman Tikhon. They do it disinterestedly, just like that, from a pure soul.

Katerina Petrovna has a daughter, Nastya, who went to Leningrad, and very rarely visits her mother, does not write letters, only sends money that is completely unnecessary for a woman. Nastya herself worked as a secretary in the Union of Artists, organized exhibitions and competitions. She helped artists and sculptors exhibit their work and become famous. She did not have time to escape to her mother in the village.

Suddenly, at the next exhibition, Nastya receives a telegram “Katya is dying. Tikhon. After reading it, she did not understand who it was about, crumpled up a piece of paper and threw it into her bag.

At the exhibition, everyone applauded her, and she kept thinking what kind of telegram. She raised her eyes and saw a sculpture of Gogol, who looked at her reproachfully and with her appearance helped to understand who Katya and Tikhon were.

Nastya arrived in the village two days after the old woman's funeral. She wept in an empty house all night, went to the grave and went back to the city stealthily so that no one would notice her.

The main idea of ​​the story

This story advises us to never forget our parents, to show our love for them more often, to express care, despite all our busyness and passion for everyday affairs. After all, parents are the most precious thing in life, their life is not eternal, and at any moment they may be gone. Paustovsky himself speaks of this very precisely in his other work, in The Book of Wanderings: “Perhaps, looking at the back of a person who is leaving forever is the worst thing that one has to endure.”

The position of the author in the story "Telegram"

The image of Gogol well demonstrates the author's own view of what is happening, shows his attitude towards Nastya and her actions. The sculpture in Nastya's imagination constantly condemns her behavior, that is, it is a kind of voice of conscience. Why Gogol? And not Pushkin, for example, or some other famous Russian writer? As you know, one of Gogol's most popular works is the poem Dead Souls. And a daughter who demonstrates such indifference to the mother who raised and raised her can also rightfully be considered a dead soul. We remember how Tikhon, turning to Manyushka, says that goodness must be repaid with kindness, not to be ungrateful, otherwise such a person is not a person at all, but a “kestrel”.

The story "Telegram" describes a strange paradox, which Paustovsky very accurately noticed - we express concern for unfamiliar people, but for some reason we completely forget about those closest to us. About those who really need us, who love us like no one else and never more. After all, Nastya really helps an unfamiliar sculptor, but does not respond to her mother's last letter. At the end of the work, Nastya finally realizes her guilt, but it's too late. The author leaves the heroine unforgiven, because the one who could forgive her is gone forever.

And in conclusion, I want to recall the words of Cicero: "Love for parents is the basis of all virtues." It is impossible not to agree.

"Telegram" - a work written by Paustovsky. On Wikipedia, you can learn more about the author and his work.

Paustovsky refers to the topic of "fathers and children", which, of course, will not leave the reader indifferent. The problem is urgent, acute, characteristic of everyone who has or had a family. The summary of Paustovsky's "Telegram" will allow you to feel the feelings that the author put into it, having drawn the main idea.

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Also, meet the characters. and understand the reasons behind their actions. To complete the picture, if necessary, it is better, of course, to familiarize yourself with the text in its entirety. It occupies only twelve typewritten pages.

Analysis of the work "Telegram"

Structure

A story before us or a story? "Telegram" Paustovsky - short story . It can be conditionally divided into five parts, each of which carries a certain semantic load in the plot:

1. About mother
2. About daughter
3. disturbing news
4. tragic denouement
5. Outcome.

The first part is the presentation of the mother, Katerina Petrovna. It is told that an old woman lives alone in a remote village and has a daughter. The second part is an acquaintance with Nastya, a description of her work. In the third, the climax occurs - the birth and sending of the telegram itself by the mother about her illness. In the same place, the peasant Tikhon, who is not indifferent to everything, sends an answer supposedly from his daughter for Katerina Petrovna. But she understands and thanks him for the spiritual impulse, without receiving, however, a true letter from Nastya. In the fourth, the daughter arrives, but does not find her mother alive. And in the fifth, she rethinks her act, summing up.

What is the plot about: a short summary

Read summary and you will find out that: Katerina Petrovna is living her life in a village remote from the city. Her house was built by her grandfather, a talented artist. The woman is uncommunicative and has practically no contacts with her fellow villagers, but she has a daughter who does important work and sends money to her mother. At some point, Katerina Petrovna realizes that she is mortally ill and wants to see her daughter for the last time, which she asks for in a telegram . However, Nastya does not accept the letter seriously and leaves two weeks later, when he learns that the death of his mother is not far off. The girl is late for the funeral and feels bitterness, belated remorse for her slowness.

Heroes of the story

All heroes can be divided into groups:

• main actors: mother Katerina, daughter Nastya
• secondary actors. In the village: an elderly watchman Tikhon, a neighbor girl Manyushka. Nastya: sculptor Timofeev.
• The secondary characters are the villagers at the funeral. Postman, teacher, etc.
• inactive: father of Katerina Petrovna, artist. Here you can also highlight the sculpture of Gogol - she speaks in the mind of Nastya with the voice of conscience. Thus, through it, the reader gets acquainted with the author's position of the work.

The main characters in the "Telegram"

Katerina Petrovna, most likely, comes from a noble family. Paustovsky hints that she was brought up in an intelligent family, versed in art. In her youth, the woman was in the company of creative people, and in Paris she found the funeral of Victor Hugo. Katerina Petrovna is educated and spiritually developed.

But in the village no one needs her She has no one to talk to. A woman has a chic wardrobe of a noblewoman, an unprecedented luxury there. Nevertheless, there are not indifferent acquaintances who visit the old woman. Among them is the watchman Tikhon, and the girl, and the postman. Katerina Petrovna expects the participation of only one person - her daughter. She sends her mean replies, referring to employment. The mother is afraid to disturb her once again with her telegrams, only once she could not stand it and sent her first. When is dying.

Nastya is inexperienced and only learns the world around her. It has a lot of ambition and illusions. The girl seems sincere and reverent, but she pays little attention to her mother. Responds to a call for help not the first time, and even then to someone else's letter.

The role of Tikhon

Tikhon is a hard worker, illiterate, but sincere and responsive in soul to other people's troubles. He is a caretaker in the house of a dying woman. Memories of Katerina Petrovna's father are still alive in his heart, Tikhon also respects her as an educated and polite lady. He is imbued with her misfortune and composes a response letter, ostensibly from his daughter. Despite, that the deception was understood by a woman, the old woman thanked Tikhon for participating. And his act itself can be considered a disinterested impulse of the soul, bright and kind. His telegram is a symbol of the story.

Instead of a conclusion

Nastya repents, but it's too late. She leaves the village in tears, she is ashamed. Paustovsky does not give a specific assessment of the girl's behavior. But through the sculpture of Gogol, as it were, he conveys the call of conscience and reason. Nastya feels on herself how wrong she was, how recklessly she acted, postponing the last meeting with her mother.

As a result, the reader understands that the daughter, no matter how callous it may seem, nevertheless woke up and admitted her guilt, even if this mistake now becomes a heavy cross for her. Still, the story carries a bright thought and makes it possible to learn from the mistakes of others. To love and cherish your parents while they are alive, and not think only about selfish desires.

Read Paustovsky's short work and draw your own conclusions.

In Paustovsky's story "Telegram", the characters live their lives far from their relatives, forgetting that the human age is short. The description of the old, dilapidated house of Ekaterina Petrovna, her dull life and state of mind are piercing, deep and strong so much that you want to change the plot of the work. The author in the image of the last days of the life of an elderly woman is ruthlessly realistic, the image of her daughter does not cause compassion. She lives in a parallel “universe”, where people stiltedly talk about care and love for one's neighbor, about the meaning of human life. Behind this fuss, Nastya forgets about her own mother ...

Characteristics of the heroes of “Telegram”

main characters

Minor characters

In the work, the author raises the problems of morality: responsibility, kindness, remorse, guilt, conscience. Pictures of nature play an important role: they are consonant with the state of mind of a lonely woman, they emphasize the events taking place in the story. Main character"Telegram" - human loneliness, the worst thing that can be - lonely old age. Written immediately after the war, Astafiev's story "Telegram" was included in the list of the most famous works of socialist realism.

Artwork test

from Paustovsky's story "Telegram"

Attitude of a person towards parents, indifference towards relatives

Very often, children forget about their parents, plunging into their worries and affairs. So, for example, in the story of K.G. Paustovsky's "Telegram" shows the daughter's attitude towards her aged mother. Katerina Petrovna lived alone in the village, while her daughter was busy with her career in Leningrad. The last time Nastya saw her mother was 3 years ago, she rarely wrote letters, she sent her 200 rubles every two or three months. This money worried Katerina Petrovna a little, she re-read a few lines that her daughter wrote along with the translation (that there is no time not only to come, but also to write a normal letter). Katerina Petrovna missed her daughter very much, listened to every rustle. When she became very ill, she asked her daughter to come to see her before her death, but Nastya did not have time. There were many cases, she did not take her mother's words seriously. This letter was followed by a telegram stating that her mother was dying. Only then did Nastya realize that "no one loved her as much as this decrepit, abandoned old woman." She realized too late that there had never been anyone dearer than her mother in her life and never would be. Nastya went to the village to see her mother for the last time in her life, to ask for forgiveness and say the most important words, but she did not have time. Katerina Petrovna is dead. Nastya did not even have time to say goodbye to her and left with the realization of "irreparable guilt and unbearable severity."

The problem of loneliness, indifference towards relatives
No person deserves to be alone. Even worse are situations when people become lonely who are not really alone in this world. This happened to the heroine of the story K.G. Paustovsky "Telegram" by Katerina Petrovna. In her old age, she was left completely alone, although she had a daughter. Loneliness destroyed her every day, the only thing that kept Katerina Petrovna was the expectation of a meeting with her daughter. She waited three years, but only a couple of days were not enough for her. Very often, indifference towards loved ones kills more than illness. Perhaps if Nastya was more sensitive, then the sick person would not have to die alone.

Guilt
Guilt is a feeling that is familiar to any person. Guilt becomes especially terrible in cases where a person does not have the opportunity to correct the situation, as in the story of K.G. Paustovsky "Telegram". The main character Nastya showed callousness towards her mother. She did not come to her, because she was busy with her own affairs. She was not with her mother when she was ill. Nastya did not take the last letter from her mother seriously. For this reason, she did not have time to tell her mother that she loves her, she could not ask for forgiveness for not coming. Nastya realized her mistakes too late: Katerina Petrovna died. Therefore, all the words remained unsaid, and a terrible feeling of guilt remained in the soul. There are actions that cannot be corrected and there is guilt that nothing can atone for.

History of creation

The story "Telegram" was written by Paustovsky in 1946, soon after great Soviet and foreign fame came to him. The origins of the story can be found in the works of 1937 - the cycle of stories "Summer Days", the story "Meshcherskaya Side". Here there is a mention of the fate of the daughter of a famous artist, which is subsequently transformed into an independent story "Telegram". The story was not studied in the Soviet school until the end of the 90s, since larger works of the socialist realism genre had priority.

Story analysis

Description of the story

The plot of the story can be stated in a few sentences: a lonely woman of advanced age lives in a remote, remote village, in a “memorial” house built by her father, an outstanding artist. It's not even about physical help - the woman is completely alien to the villagers, with whom she has no points of contact. Surprisingly, she has a daughter who sometimes sends money to her mother and writes her short letters about how busy she is. There comes a time when the elderly mother realizes that she will not survive the impending winter, and she writes a draft letter to her daughter. Nastya leaves in more than two weeks, and then - after an already alarming telegram about the approaching death of her mother. The daughter does not have time either for the bed of the dying, or for the funeral, and when she arrives, she experiences the most terrible remorse in the world.

Compositionally, the story is divided into three parts: in the first, an acquaintance with Katerina Petrovna takes place, the unusual nature of her existence is mentioned, it is noted that this is an unusual person. The second part tells about the daughter Nastya, about her important work and character. The third part is connected with the story of the telegram, or rather, about two telegrams. The first one informed Nastya that her mother was seriously ill. The second, out of deepest sympathy, is written by Tikhon, the watchman in the house of Katerina Petrovna. A man from the people, an ignorant but pure man, he still remembers Katerina Petrovna's father and respects both of them as smart, intelligent people. Tikhon's ignorance does not prevent him from having a kind, sympathetic heart and indestructible moral principles in him. Tikhon composes a telegram for the dying Katerina Petrovna, allegedly from her daughter, in which she writes on her behalf that she will arrive soon. However, she allows such an absurd construction of the phrase in the telegram that Katerina Petrovna immediately understands that it was not Nastya who wrote it. Katerina Petrovna guesses everything and thanks Tikhon for his kindness and kind words. This second telegram is a symbol of a pure impulse, a holy lie for salvation, and its voicing by Tikhon is the climax of the story.

main characters

The origin of Katerina Petrovna is probably noble, because the author mentions that she was brought up in a family related to art. Katerina Petrovna received a good education, she was familiar with many people from the world of art, it is even mentioned that, while in Paris, she saw the funeral of Victor Hugo. But this information, talk about art, will not be of interest to anyone in a godforsaken village, just like antique things from a woman's wardrobe - ostrich feathers, wrinkled gloves, beaded clothes. People in the deren live indifferent - a neighbor girl, a postman and a watchman Tikhon, goes to an elderly woman, but they simply cannot brighten up her loneliness, too different people. Katerina Petrovna is waiting for letters from her daughter, but she does not write herself, so as not to bother the girl. He can’t stand it only once, sending touching lines to the girl, as he anticipates an imminent death.

(Frame from the movie "Telegram" 1957)

The life of the second heroine, Nastya, on the contrary, is full of energy and worries. And if the reader had not found out in the previous part of the story what was happening to her mother, he would have considered Nastya a sensitive, cordial and sympathetic person. After all, her soul responds so impetuously to art, to someone else's misfortune (for example, the harsh existence of the sculptor Timofeev). To someone else's, but not to her mother's - after all, Nastya does not even read a letter from her mother right away, but goes to her in general in 2 weeks.

Repentance comes too late. Nastya does not have time to go anywhere, even to the funeral. All night the girl cries in the empty mother's house, and in the morning she leaves secretly from the village, as if stealing away - she is ashamed.