I am often accused of having decided to “smear” on the glory of the Nobel laureate in literature Mikhail Sholokhov and wrote a sequel to his legendary novel “Quiet Flows the Don”. Therefore, I decided to explain why I took the liberty of continuing the famous work.
As a child, like most Soviet people, I often watched the classic film of the same name by Sergei Gerasimov, which made an indelible impression on me. I re-read the novel several times, but some internal inconsistency tormented me for many years. Only when I entered the history faculty of Donetsk University, I guessed what was the matter.
Gerasimov's main character Grigory Melekhov at the end of the film is shown as an elderly, tired man. Remember the scene of Gregory drinking with a British officer. He looks clearly over forty years old. This is a gray-haired, flabby man, whose life is tending to decline. Subconsciously, the audience understands that during the film the whole life of the hero is shown, although this is far from the case.
The last scenes of the novel take place in early 1922. This can be easily calculated, since before that Grigory ends up in Fomin's gang, where there is talk of the Kronstadt mutiny that took place in March 1921. Melekhov spends several months in a gang, then hides for some time with deserters. Thus, we can safely say that Sholokhov finished the novel precisely in 1922.
How old was Grigory at that time? I answer absolutely precisely - it was twenty-eighth year. It is quite simple to prove this statement. In tsarist times, the Cossacks went to the service for the first time in their twentieth year of life. Gregory was called up in the spring of 1914, and the First World War soon began. Thus, the year of his birth is easily calculated - 1894.
The novel begins two years earlier, that is, in 1912. In the fishing scene, when Grigory and Aksinya first drew attention to each other, Melekhov is shown as a very young guy. That's right, because he is eighteen years old. It turns out that the four books of the novel cover a period of only ten years and at the end of the story the main character is quite young.
Having come to such conclusions, I wondered what could have happened to him if Sholokhov had the opportunity to write a sequel. Most likely, his novel "Virgin Soil Upturned", the unfinished novel "They Fought for the Motherland" and the post-war story "The Fate of a Man" and testifies that he subconsciously continued the fate of his main literary hero- Grigory Melekhov.
This image, like no other, is suitable to explain why the country torn apart by the revolution was able to win the Second World War. It is he who is the collective personification of the Soviet soldier who broke the back of Hitler's Germany.
One battle can change the results of an entire war, and one soldier can win an individual battle. I am sure that the Battle of Stalingrad changed the course of the Great patriotic war, therefore, for me, Grigory is participating in this epic battle and is a symbol of the Soviet soldier - the winner.
Another new work of mine will be dedicated to the unforgettable feat of our people. In a humorous way, I will try to consider the other side of this great war... This will be a continuation of another famous work of Soviet literature, and a famous character will also appear there. The reasons that prompted me to revive it almost coincide with the above. Starting tomorrow, I will start publishing the chapters I have just written, so I ask you in advance not to throw rotten tomatoes at me, but to read and help correct the flaws. Thank you for your attention!
The protagonist of the epic novel by MA Sholokhov "Quiet Don" Grigory Melekhov is a tragic character. The origins of his tragedy are primarily in the insoluble conflict between personality and history. Nature endowed Gregory with kindness, spiritual generosity, the ability to feel someone else's pain, an unmatched ability to love, but the world in which he lives makes him be cruel, teaches him to hate. The Melekhs are painfully looking for the truth, their place in life, the real truth, a fulcrum. On his way, he makes a lot of mistakes, loses, gets confused. Going to the truth, the hero finds himself in Fomin's gang. Grigory Melekhov for a long time tossed between whites and reds, was disappointed in one or the other, but his arrival in the gang is not a sad result of life's delusions, not a conscious and well-considered choice, but the result of tragic despair. He looks like a hunted animal, wandering around the farms: “All day he lay in the upper room, he went out into the courtyard only at night. It all looked like a prison. Gregory was languishing with melancholy, with oppressive idleness .... In the end, it became unbearable to live like that. " Melekhov's heart calls not to rob, it pulls him where it is warm and comfortable, where there is peace and harmony: "He was irresistibly drawn home - to the children, to Aksinya." It is a pity to see Gregory when the owner, who was hiding him, drives him out of the yard, and his stern wife calls Melekhov a parasite. “Where can I go? - asks the hero. - All exits are closed for me. " In fact, driven out of the yard and walking where his eyes were looking, Gregory meets several horsemen on his way. So he ends up in Fomin's gang. The situation in which the hero was put is extremely dramatic Civil War ... “So, there are three roads, and none of them has a waypoint ... There is nowhere to go, that's why I chose,” he says. Melekhov from the very beginning understands the inconsistency, meaninglessness, absurdity and hopelessness of the Fominsk idea. And Fomin's leadership abilities seem to him very doubtful. "It is as empty as a cork, and stupid, downright impenetrably stupid!" - says about Fomin Kaparin. Gregory's intention is not to participate in bloodshed, but at the first opportunity to leave the gang and end the war forever. “He was firmly convinced that the Fomin case was lost and that sooner or later the gang would be defeated. He knew that at the first serious clash with any regular cavalry unit of the Red Army, they would be utterly crushed. And yet he remained an assistant with Fomin, "secretly hoping to hold out somehow until the summer, and then grab a couple of the best horses in the gang, wave off at night to Tatarsky and from there - together with Aksinya - to the south." Violence has long become disgusting in Gregory. Having seen everyone during the war, he cannot get used to human death. Gregory is hard on the murder of a Red Army soldier, the stupid and cruel reprisal against him makes a depressing impression on Melekhov. In Fomin's gang, Grigory remains true to himself in everything. He still shows himself as a good warrior, fighting bravely and bravely in battle. Unlike the careless Fomin, Grigory calculates everything well, deftly dodges someone else's checker; saving his life, he chops himself. Gregory is still sincere. He directly answers the questions of the arrogant and stupid Fomin. The hero does not deviate from moral values and tries to appeal to them the gang members, mired in drunkenness and looting. Not finding support from the Cossacks, the members of the gang and its leader himself are looking for consolation in moonshine. They rob the families of Soviet employees, taking away everything that comes to hand. Tired of witnessing this disgusting sight, Grigory exclaims: “I'm tired of this, Fomin! Stop the robbery and partying! " Fominsk marauders cease to be real warriors. Selling loot on the farms, they become like "merchant peddlers". Gregory is ashamed to look at them, he is torn apart by indignation and anger. For this reason, Melekhov comes into conflict with Fomin, and he still manages to call him to order for a while. Fomin personally shot one of the notorious robbers in the ranks with a revolver. Fomin's misbehavior leads to the defeat of the gang, of which only five people remain. The fifth of them, thanks to his courage and skill, is saved by Gregory. "You do not command a detachment, but guard the sheep!" - he says angrily to Fomin. The Cossacks respect Melekhov, but he does not agree to become the leader of the detachment. This is not what he was looking for. Gregory understands that he is a "short guest" in this gang. Grigory separates Fomin and Kaparin in a fight. Kaparin, seeing Fomin's stupid self-confidence, wants to leave the gang. He persuades Gregory to escape, but Melekhov does not allow treason and betrayal in the name of saving his own life. Hearing Caparin's daring plan, he shudders with indignation, then takes away his weapon, thereby depriving him of the opportunity to escape. The cowardly and vile Kaparin is humiliated, crying before Grigory, and the generous Melekhov does not betray him to Fomin. "What a slimy person you are ..." - Grigory says to him with disgust. The murder of Ster-lyadnikov, the crimson heads of tulips cut off by horse hooves, causes a burning pain in Grigory. His life in the gang oppresses him, and when Fomin begins to recruit real criminals and people generally far from the Cossacks and war, Melekhov cannot stand it. The hero realizes that life in a gang is not what he was striving for, that it is not on his way with the bandits. "And with such people I tied my fate ..." - he thought, seized with melancholy, bitterness and anger at himself, for all this hateful life ... ". Grigory, finding himself in the most difficult situations in life, does not allow his moral decline, and his participation in the gang is only a consequence of the fact that he, in a passionate search for the truth, fell into a tragic dead end. "He's not a bandit, your father," says Aksinya to Mishatka, "He is so ... an unhappy person." He longed for the truth and did not find it. I was looking for myself and did not find myself in a world split by universal enmity and hatred. “My hands have to work, not fight,” says Grigory Aksinye when he returns, and in these words of him is the key to understanding the novel - the great epic about the tragic fate of the Don Cossacks.
Book four
Part Eight
Aksinya returned to her native farm again. Fear for Grigoriy brought her closer to Ilyinichna: they both expected news of him, were equally afraid for him. Ilyinichna greatly yearns for her son, grieves for him more than for her deceased husband. Du-nyasha began to invite Aksinya to visit in order to amuse her mother with conversations. The Cossacks passing through the farm could not report anything about the fate of Gregory. Finally, Prokhor Zykin brought the message. He said that Melekhov had enlisted in the Red Army and went to fight against the White Poles.
Ilyinichna began to prepare for the meeting of her son, which, as the old woman believed, would be fast. Mishka Koshevoy showed up on the farm. Ilyinichna greeted him coldly. She was against his visits, but Dunyasha insisted that Koshevoy appear in their kuren and beyond. Mishka little by little helped the women with the housework. Gradually, Ilyinich-na became attached to him.
Soon the wedding was celebrated. Dunyasha insisted on a church wedding, which spoiled the mood of both young people. The wedding was quiet and boring, Ilyinichna grieved at the appearance of a stranger in the house, she felt lonely and superfluous on her own base. The old woman would have prayed for death, but she wanted to wait for Gregory. Fortunately for her, one day Prokhor brought the news that Grigoriy was coming on leave in the fall. Ilyinichna shared her joy with Aksinya. Then the old woman felt worse, and she despaired of waiting for her son: she realized that she would die earlier. And so it happened. Grishkin's children were taken by Aksinya, who buried Ilyinichna.
Mishka Koshevoy was exhausted from boredom at the farm. He quickly got tired of doing business, he wanted to return to the front, where a struggle was unfolding against Wrangel, Mach-no and other anti-Soviet forces. Koshevoy, in disputes with the Pro-chorus, expresses the idea that those who fought on the side of the Whites should be punished, even if they then went to the Reds and atoned for their guilt with blood. Soon Mish-ku was appointed chairman of the local revolutionary committee, and Koshevoy decided to put things in order on the farm. First of all, he went to Kirill Gromov, whom he wanted to arrest, as he suspected of keeping weapons. Gromov fled, despite Mishka's efforts to detain him.
Koshevoy lived in constant fear for his life, he was seriously afraid of an attack by Gromov. In addition, many Cossacks grumbled at Soviet power, since life on the farm was poor, there were not enough basic necessities. The bear shouted at the dissatisfied or deceived them, telling about the atrocities of the whites that he invented, who left the country without salt, matches, railways And so on. Mishka also quarreled with Dunyasha: she did not like his words against Grigory, and now she clung to every word of Koshevoy. Koshevoy hastened to write her as an enemy of the Soviet regime.
Melekhov was returning on a bull cart to his native farm. In his thoughts, he either turned to his childhood, or to Aksinya, whom he firmly decided to take to his house so that she would look after the children. Out of patience, Gregory walked part of the way on foot. Mishka met Melekhov with restraint, postponing the important conversation for later. In the meantime, it was decided to celebrate the return of Gregory, for. which were invited to visit Prokhor Zykin and Aksinya. When the guests left, Mikhail and Grigory started talking about their future life. Koshevoy openly said that he did not trust the former "con-tre", and demanded to urgently register with the Revolutionary Committee.
Melekhov learns from Prokhor about an uprising nearby - against the Bolsheviks and food appropriation. This worries Grigorius, since he is sure that he can be accused of the instigator. Gregory envies those for whom everything was clear and understandable since 1917, who did not hesitate in their choice. By noon-nude, he came to the village for registration, but at first he did not want to go through all the instances, being afraid of arrest. Towards the end, the Cossack changed his mind, deciding to be held accountable for his deeds.
Aksinya, dressed up for a meeting with Melekhov, comes to Dunyasha's house. She weepingly informs Astakhova that Grigory may not return from the village. Aksinya throws a kuren, returns home. But Gregory still came, albeit late in the evening. Looking home, he almost immediately went to Aksinya.
Grigory showed Koshevoy the formalized documents and no longer communicated with him. Soon Melekhov had to say goodbye to his sister. He left her father's kuren, and he himself decided to move with the children to Aksinya. Having moved to Astakhova, he never found peace in family life and household chores. Grigory tried not to meet with his neighbors, so as not to blurt out too much and not to incur suspicion. One night, Sister runs to Grigory to warn him about the impending arrest. Melekhov quickly packs up and leaves the house.
Soon, an uprising broke out on the Don, which was organized by the Cossacks, dissatisfied with the surplus appropriation system. One of its most active organizers was Melekhov's former friend Yakov Fomin, who commanded the red squadron. Under the influence of Fomin's propaganda, the entire esca-drone declared war on the commissars engaged in food-processing.
Grigory lived with distant relatives of Aksinya for some time, and then moved to the Yagodny farm. Halfway through, he was intercepted by the Red Army, who turned out to be Fomin's men. Yakov told Grigory about his rebellion. Melekhov agreed to join the gang, despite the retraction to the methods that Fomin used to put things in order in the district.
Fomin traveled around the farmsteads and tried to attract the Cossacks to his side, but his agitation did not work. Most of the people who were hungry and tired of the war did not agree to support the gang. At first, Yakov calmly endured refusals, but then more and more often threatened the Cossacks. The Cossacks either answered gloomily or laughed. Cossack women openly made fun of the Fomins and were rude to them.
In the spring, the gang began to melt. People who saw the futility of the struggle were drawn to the ground. The Fomins decided to retreat at the first opportunity and merge with another, larger gang. Gregory was tired of the current situation, he saw that he was among the robbers. Soon, due to the short-sightedness and mediocrity of Fomin as a commander, his detachment was surrounded and almost completely destroyed. Gregory managed to remove only a few people from the encirclement. The survivors agreed to dismount and hide in the forest, then go to the Rubezhny farm.
Fomin's closest ally, the former Socialist-Revolutionary Kaparin, frightened of the upcoming difficulties, offers Melekhov to kill Fomin and the others in order to then surrender to Soviet power: Fomin's blood will serve as an excuse for Kaparin and Grigory. Gregory does not make a deal and, for his own safety, disarms Kaparin. The Fomintsy, guessing everything, killed Kaparin on the same night.
XvMaterial from the site
Fomin freely crossed the Don, where one Cossack joins his detachment. The Fomins finally decide to merge with the famous Maslak's gang. In search of this gang, they had to travel around a few farmsteads and run into a Red Army divorce and a police detachment. One of the Fomins (Sterlyadniki) was wounded in the leg during the pursuit, and the wound became inflamed. Ster-lyadnikov asked to kill him, which was in the hands of Fomin. The wounded soldier was killed by his comrade Chumakov, who was very worried about this.
After a week and a half, forty more Cossacks joined Fomin's detachment, and the gang began to engage exclusively in robberies. Fomin, however, argued to his close comrades that this was a temporary state and that they were actually fighting for the happiness of the working people. Gregory secretly prepares everything for leaving the gang. On one of the night crossings, he managed to carry out his plan.
Melekhov reappeared at his native farm. He unmarked made his way into the house of Aksinya and invited her to go with him to the Kuban away from danger. Aksinya agreed to this, deciding to temporarily leave the children to Dunyasha. During the crossing at one of the farms on their way, Melekhov and Aksinya ran into a police post. Aksinya was mortally wounded. Grigory took her to the forest, where the woman died in the arms of the Cossack without regaining consciousness.
From that day on, Melekhov wandered aimlessly across the steppe for three days. In the forest, he found the refuge of the deserters and settled with them. Later, among them was Chumakov, who told Grigory about the death of Fomin. Soon Chumakov left "to joke about an easy life", and after him left the forest and Me-lekhov - went to his native farm. Here he learned that he had lost his daughter, who died of scarlet fever. All that Gregory still had was the opportunity to stand at the gates of his house and hold his son in his arms, which he dreamed of in his youth.
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Preview:
Municipal budgetary educational institution
"Evening (shift) comprehensive school number 4"
Artyomovsk urban district
Literature lesson on the topic:
“A man on fire of history. The fate of Grigory Melekhov "
(Grade 12)
L.A. Starovoitova,
teacher of Russian language and literature MBOU VSOSH № 4
Artyomovsk urban district
The purpose of the lesson: continue acquaintance of students with the novel "Quiet Don". To determine the main character traits of Grigory Melekhov, to reveal what is the tragedy of Grigory's fate. Expand the role of the portrait of the hero in the novel. Show the inevitability of the tragic fate of Grigory Melekhov, the connection of this tragedy with the fate of society.
To educate students: peacefulness, respect for human life, self-esteem.
Methodical techniques:in a commented reading, conversation on the topic, the teacher's story.
Lesson equipment:photographs of Sholokhov, postcards from episodes of feature films, illustrations for the novel "Quiet Don" (artist Vereisky).
Lesson plan:
- Teacher's word.
- Homework check.
- Conversation on questions.
- Homework.
During the classes:
- Teacher's word.
The hero of the novel, Grigory Melekhov, is a representative of the average Cossack. Hard peasant labor is a familiar thing for him. Gregory is a brave Cossack, but he is still honest and conscientious, and also truly talented (he becomes a cornet, stands at the head of a division). His life collapse is due to the fact that the hero himself is too deep and complex for the unambiguous choice required by time.
- Homework check.
How is Grigory Melekhov presented at the beginning of the novel?(carefree, cheerful, hardworking).
How is the character of Grigory Melekhov revealed in relations with Aksinya and Natalia in episodes of Book I?
- Conversation on questions.
Why does Grigory Melekhov refuse the truth of the Bolsheviks?
“We have the earth - at least be swallowed up by it. You don't need it anymore, otherwise they will cut each other on the streets. " He does not see equality and justice in the actions of the Red Army: “Take the Red Army: here they were going through the farm. The platoon commander in chrome boots, and "Vanyok" in the windings. I saw the commissar, he was all over the skin: both pants and a jacket, and the other didn’t have enough leather on his boots ”. The salary is said to be the same. "From a boor a pan is a hundred times worse! ... got out into people and will become drunk from the authorities and is ready to put the skin off another, just to sit on this shelf."
Refusing the truth of the Bolsheviks, from the truth of the whites, Grigory Melekhov takes an active part in the Cossack uprising. He goes to defend the Cossack truth. What does this path lead to?
In Chapter XXXVIII, Gregory compares himself in his inner monologue with a "wolf flapped on a raid," then Sholokhov notes in the hero "a sense of wild, animal excitement" and "bestial instinct." And after that the ruthless self-characterization of the hero sounds: “Ha! Conscience! ... I forgot to think about it! "
How does the episode of the felling of sailors end?
What makes this episode so dramatic?
(The rhythm of the narrative: sharp, fragmentary, incomplete sentences make the text elastic and dynamic. The episode is crowned with a sharp contrast in Melekhov's behavior: the excitement of the attack is unexpectedly cut off by heavy remorse, hysteria - the hero has not forgotten about his conscience).
A moral dead end, he thinks: “Should an illiterate Cossack rule over thousands of lives and bear cross responsibility for them? And most importantly, who am I fighting against? Against the people ... Who is right? " Gregory tries to forget himself in a drunken revelry. Conscience pushes Gregory to risky actions. He forcibly forces the head of the prison to hand over the keys, where old people, women, children, relatives of the Red Army men languish.
What doubts creep into Grigory's soul when he meets Colonel Georgidze?
After meeting with Colonel Georgidze Melekhov feels that the Cossacks are a toy in the hands of gentlemen who want to overthrow the Soviet regime solely in their own interests. Melekhov is disappointed. The spark in life is love for Aksinya, which flared up with new passion.
What is the role of portrait sketches in revealing the spiritual world of Grigory Melekhov in episodes of the 4th book?
Sholokhov's portrait of the hero, for all his picturesqueness, is not only an image of his appearance, he is distinguished by deep psychologism, and reflects the psychology of a person in development, noting the changes that have taken place in him
What changes have occurred to the hero over the past 7 years, noticed by his sister Dunyashka?
"Oh, and you have grown old, brother! ... Some gray one has become like a biruk!"
What new traits does service in Fomin's gang, in Grigory's "last war", impose on the hero?
“Aksinya looked at him more attentively and only now noticed how he had changed during these several months of separation. There was something harsh, almost cruel in the deep transverse wrinkles between the eyebrows of her beloved, in the folds of her mouth, in the sharply outlined cheekbones ... And she thought how terrible he must be in battle, on a horse, with a naked sword. Lowering her eyes, she glanced briefly at his large knotty hands and for some reason sighed. "
What one stroke sums up the whole bitter, tragic fate of Grigory Melekhov?
“Mishatka looked at him in dismay and lowered his eyes. He recognized this as a bearded and scary person father ... ".
How is the character of Grigory Melekhov revealed in the episodes associated with Fomin's gang?
Participation in Fomin's gang is not a conscious choice, but the result of a hopelessness in the situation in which the civil war put him. Grigory realizes that Fomin's case has been lost and wants to leave with Aksinya to the south. In the gang, he behaves bravely in battle, tries to put things in order in the squad, mired in debauchery and looting, and because of this comes into conflict with Fomin. The hero is alone. It is not without reason that he is compared to a privet (a lone wolf).
- Closing remarks from the teacher.
What is the tragedy of the hero? The novel ends not with retaliation against Gregory, but with the death of Aksinya. And here lies the impossibility of simple human happiness in the era of fierce class battles. “Black sky”, “black disk of the sun”, when daylight has darkened - this is how the world appears to the hero after the death of his beloved woman.
The tragedy of Grigory Melekhov is given a cosmic scale. There is no unambiguous interpretation of the hero's tragedy. But its origins are largely the unresolved conflict between the individual and the era, the conflict between natural man and social man.
- Homework.
Make a plan "The fate of Grigory Melekhov".
Introduction
In Sholokhov's novel "Quiet Don", according to the estimates of researchers of the writer's work, there are more than 880 characters. About 30 of them play a significant role in the narrative. Among the main characters " Quiet Don Sholokhov, one can single out: Grigory Melekhov, Aksinya Astakhova, Natalia Melekhova, Pyotr Melekhov, Stepan Astakhov, Panteley Prokofievich Melekhov. The list goes on. But we decided to consider only the fate of the heroes listed above.
Characteristics of the main characters of the novel "Quiet Don"
Aksinya Astakhova
- one of the main characters of "Quiet Don", a neighbor and beloved of Grigory Melekhov. At the age of eighteen, Aksinya was married to Stepan Astakhov, but the marriage did not bring her happiness. Stepan, having learned that he had got his wife "unclean", from the first day of marriage began to beat her. In addition, he drank and cheated on a woman constantly. The birth of the baby, it would seem, should have changed Stepan's attitude to Aksinya, but the child soon dies, and the heroine's torment continues.
Aksinya begins to pursue a neighbor, Grigory Melekhov. At first, a woman does not accept the boy's courtship, but gradually she also becomes infused with tender feelings for him. The heroes of the novel "Quiet Flows the Don" enter into a love affair, which, intermittently, continues throughout the entire work. Aksinya's life ends tragically. On the way to the Kuban, a random bullet overtakes her, and the heroine dies.
Stepan Astakhov
- husband of Aksinya, neighbor of the Melekhovs. This hero cannot be called positive in any way. Although he himself constantly drinks and walks around the "zhelmerki", Stepan regularly beats his wife because she got him "spoiled". Upon learning of Aksinya's connection with Grigory, Stepan is imbued with hatred of all the Melekhovs. A quarrel with Peter during a trip from the camp develops into a real enmity after the rescue of the Melekhov brothers by Aksinya, whom Stepan beats in the street.
During the First World War, Astakhova is saved from death by Grigory, whom Stepan has vowed to kill. Subsequently, Stepan talks with Grigory, even sits with him at the same table. But Astakhov and Melekhov in their hearts never reconcile with each other. Not finding his place on the farm under the new government, Stepan leaves for the Crimea.
Grigory Melekhov
- central actor"Quiet Don" and the most difficult character in the novel. It is his fate that attracts the attention of the reader. At the beginning of the work, Gregory leads the ordinary life of a farm boy. During the day he helps his father with the housework, and in the evening he goes to the "games". The only thing that disturbs the measured course of his life is his love for Aksinya Astakhova.
Everything changes first, service in the army, and then the first World War... Getting to the front, Gregory is faced with violence and injustice, which his soul cannot accept. The hero is attracted by the ideas of Garanji, and then Chubaty, and he goes over to the side of the Reds. But here, too, he is disappointed. The last straw is the shooting of young officers led by Chernetsov. Grigory leaves the Reds and participates in the Cossack uprising, and then finds himself in Fomin's gang.
Until the end of the work, Grigory Melekhov is in search of his own path. Tired of the war, he strives for a quiet life. But fate does not give him a chance for happiness. Aksinya, Gregory's beloved, dies, and the hero, completely devastated, without waiting for an amnesty, returns to his native farm to his sister and son.
Natalia Melekhova
– daughter of a wealthy Cossack Miron Grigorievich Korshunov, married to Grigory Melekhov. Natalia fell in love with her husband with all her heart, only he does not reciprocate her. In "Quiet Don" the heroes try to improve their lives several times, but to no avail. Grigory, who married Natalya not for love, but at the request of his father, cannot forget Aksinya. Natalia even tries to commit suicide, unable to withstand the shame and mental anguish.
Only the birth of children gives the heroine strength and fills her life with new meaning. The fate of Natalia, like many other characters in the novel, is tragic. Having learned from Daria that Gregory is meeting with Aksinya again, she decides to get rid of pregnancy and dies of blood loss.
Peter Melekhov
– eldest son of Panteley Prkofievich and Vasilisa Ilinichna, brother of Grigory. In years of peace, Peter manifests himself as a gentle person who loves his relatives, especially his younger brother. So, without hesitation, Peter helps him save Aksinya from the brutalized Stepan Astakhov, warns him about the consequences of his connection with Aksinya.
Peter changes dramatically when he goes to war. Unlike Gregory, there is no doubt for him which side he is on. The hero becomes cruel and greedy. He easily kills enemies, does not hesitate to loot, sending whole carts of looted goods to the farm. Peter's life ends near a ravine, not far from the farm, where he and other fellow villagers fight the Reds. Peter, captured, is shot by Mikhail Koshevoy.
Pantelei Prokofievich Melekhov
- the head of the Melekhov family, father of Grigory and Peter. Imperious and often unrestrained, he does not tolerate any objections from his family, often "teaching" them not only in word, but also in deed.
The elder Melekhov has lived in the interests of the family all his life. It was through his efforts that the Melekhovs' house became one of the most prosperous in the farm. He successfully, as it seems to him, marries his sons, rejoices at their success in military service. Only worries about the children undermine his strength, deprive him of his former power in the house. And he dies "having gone into indentation" in a foreign land, far from everything that was dear to him during his lifetime.
Conclusion
As you can see, in the novel "Quiet Flows the Don" the characters who play the main role in the narrative, for the most part, end their lives tragically. Historical events taking place in the country radically change the fate of people, often breaking it. Sholokhov's heroes, trapped in the whirlpool of history, also cannot stand aside.
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