“Shot” (analysis of the story). Analysis of “Shot” Pushkin Theme and main idea of ​​the story Shot

"Shot" analysis of the work - theme, idea, genre, plot, composition, characters, issues and other issues are discussed in this article.

Work "Shot" included in the cycle of Pushkin’s first prose collection entitled “Tales of the late Ivan Petrovich Belkin.” It was written during the productive period of the poet’s work - the Boldino autumn. Pushkin finished work on “The Shot” on October 14, 1830, and the entire cycle was first published in St. Petersburg in 1831.

The story has a complex structure. It features three narrators: the lieutenant colonel, the count and Silvio. The destinies of these people are intertwined, and the reader learns about events from the point of view of different characters. This technique helps to reveal images of heroes most objectively.

The story consists of two parts. In the center of each is a shot from a duel. The first part is devoted to the personality of the main character - Silvio. First, the lieutenant colonel talks about him, then the hero himself describes the events that make up the plot of the work. The reader learns about the duel between Silvio and the Count from the latter’s narration.

In the second part of “The Shot” the central figure is the Count. The initial description of him as the lieutenant colonel's future neighbor is given by Silvio. Then the lieutenant colonel himself shares his impressions of his new neighbors. At the end of the story, the Count talks about the last meeting with Silvio, which took place during a duel. The events in “The Shot” constantly alternate with the memories of the characters, but this does not interfere with the perception of the work; the story is surprisingly easy to read.

Literary critics point to an interesting technique that Pushkin used. At first perception, the work seems filled with romantic cliches. There is a mysterious hero with an intriguing name. He is a former hussar and an excellent marksman. Jealousy, envy, revenge, slap, duel, hatred and even the heroic death of the main character are also present in the plot. But then it turns out that the romantic atmosphere of the story is just a beautiful wrapper. In fact, the work is deeply realistic, and even with elements of the poet’s autobiography.

Researchers of Pushkin's creativity believe that image of Silvio has its own prototype. This is the famous duelist and widely educated linguist Liprandi, whom Pushkin met during his exile in Chisinau. Liprandi, however, was not a hussar, but was related to military intelligence.

Episodes with a shot cap and cherry berries at gunpoint are facts from the biography of Pushkin himself. In Chisinau, during a duel with Zubov, the young poet ate cherries and spat out the seeds. Kuchelbecker shot through the new hat of Pushkin’s second Delvig. Touched by Alexander Sergeevich's ridicule, he accidentally pulled the trigger. Delvig miraculously survived.

It is known that in his youth Pushkin was very fascinated by the romance of duels. He has about thirty fights to his name. Most of them fall on the Chisinau period. Pushkin was an excellent shooter, placing another bullet into the previous one from twenty steps. Such an episode is also described in the story “The Shot”.

The images of the two opponents (Silvio and the Count) are similar in many ways. Both combine “youth, intelligence, beauty, the most frantic gaiety, the most carefree courage”. The reason for Silvio's envy lies in poverty and not so noble origin. He hates the rival who suddenly appeared and pushed Silvio off the pedestal.

Characters of the heroes revealed in dynamics, which contradicts traditions romanticism. This manifested the author’s changed attitude towards the ideals of his stormy youth. Mature Pushkin, like his heroes in the second part of the work, understands the value human life. Silvio does not kill his opponent. It is enough for him to stroke his pride, to see fear in his opponent’s eyes. Gradually, an image appears before the reader that is far from an honest and noble romantic hero. The features of the mysterious, gloomy, generous and proud daredevil Silvio are complemented by anger, vindictiveness, and the desire to win at any cost. He lacks basic decency to spare the count's young wife from a painful sight. The image of Silvio evokes different feelings in readers. Some consider his actions correct and fair, others are disappointed and indignant. There is no consensus among literary critics either.

Final scheme romantic work is destroyed in the last sentence, which talks about the death of Silvio. Pushkin, albeit indirectly, indicates the place and date of this tragic event. The image of a brave and proud duelist finally acquires real features.

The author's skill was manifested not only in the skillful use of romantic surroundings for philosophical reflections on honor and the meaning of life. The dynamics of the plot, the richness of the literary language and the contradictory actions of the main characters constantly attract the attention of readers to the story “The Shot”.

This development is aimed at deep penetration into the fabric of the work. Group work will allow students to deeply and fully understand the main problems of the story. The lesson promotes the development of self-analysis of a work of art.

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Rudenko Victoria Ivanovna

“Egoism for the sake of egoism” Based on the story “Shot” by A.S. Pushkin.

Goals:

• Find out what place “Shot” occupies in the cycle.
• reveal the plot of the work
• consider the features of the composition;
• be able to determine the topic, the main idea in the text, using literary terms in answers
• Develop the ability to expressively read and analyze the text of a work of art.
• Develop the ability to characterize the hero of a work.
• Reveal the meaning of the title of the story

1. Teacher's opening speech.

We continue to work with Belkin's Tales, created by Pushkin in Boldino in 1830. When working with text, we pay attention to three main concepts:

• Meaning of life
• The purpose of life
• The value of human life.

2. Lexical work.

Revenge is an action in retribution for harm caused, retribution for something.

Hatred is a feeling of strong enmity, anger.

Selfishness is selfishness, disregard for the interests of society and others.

3. Group assignment:

• Characteristics of Silvio
• Room description
• Silvio's story
• Silvio's condition during the 1st duel.
• The count's story.
• Silvio's condition during the 2nd duel.

4. Determining the order of stories.

The sequence of stories in which they were created:	The order created by Pushkin.
Undertaker	Shot
Stationmaster	Blizzard
Peasant young lady	Undertaker
Shot	Stationmaster
Blizzard	Peasant young lady

Composition of the work.

Part 1.

1. The officer’s story about military life and Silvio’s encounter with a young lieutenant.

2. Silvio’s story about the first duel with the count.

Part 2

1. The narrator’s officer’s story about village life.

2. The count's story about the second meeting with Silvio.

3. Information about the further fate of the hero.

The image of the main character. Group report.

Who main character stories?

1 group.

Experience, gloominess, tough temper, evil tongue, mystery.

Conclusion: before us is an extraordinary, attractive personality, capable of much - great, heroic deeds.

What action almost damaged him in the opinion of young people?

Is public opinion important to Silvio?

2nd group.

Pushkin briefly and figuratively draws Silvio’s home: “bare walls, worn out by bullets,” as an emblem of a destroyed hearth.

3rd group.

What haunts Silvio?

What words from his story convey his attitude towards the young count? (“He was angry”, “excitement of anger”, “his indifference enraged me”, “evil thought”, “thought of revenge”)

Is the word “revenge” appropriate in relation to Silvio’s actions?

The only reason for the challenge is a slap in the face, it was deliberately provoked by him. The reason was that “my primacy was shaken”; there was a desire to assert my superiority over the young lucky man.

It is not “revenge”, but “hatred” that motivates the hero, pushes him to actions (the desire to humiliate a person)

4th group.

“I hated him,” sounds in Silvio’s story to the narrator. The duel “enraged” the hero.

What “demon” possessed him? Explain the meaning of this metaphor.

The hero gave such a direction to fate, which pursues a black, unworthy goal. For the sake of “revenge” he gives up a lot.

From what, for example?

How does the officer-narrator feel about Silvio’s story? What do you think of the hero’s actions?

5 group.

And now we move on to the climax of the story.

How did Count Silvio see him waiting in the office? (“... I saw in the darkness a man covered in dust and overgrown with a beard”; his voice “suddenly made my hair stand on end”)

6 group.

What changed the hero so much?

What kind of inner life and work was going on in Silvio’s mind during the clearly difficult years for him?

How did this duel end?

What shot did Pushkin use in the title of the story?

What did Silvio want to say with his shot at the painting? Show your superiority once again?

The shot looks like a point of sorts.

What could the hero put an end to?

Silvio's shot marks a moment of insight. Wasn't it time to put an end to senseless anger and turn life in a different direction? Now we can explain why the author does not end the story with this episode, but adds another paragraph. We now see: his life has a new meaning.

Conclusion:

He conceived a devilish revenge, not yet understanding that, in fact, he was depriving himself of happiness, first of all. Selfishness for the sake of selfishness. All other human virtues (bravery, faithfulness of hand, prowess) are only conditions for achieving the goal.

What happens?

The meaning of life is to achieve superiority over everyone.

The purpose of life is revenge.

The value of human life is low.

The work is not so much about the duel itself as such, but about the entire life of the main character, which one way or another turned out to be devoted to the desire for revenge.

We talk about how important such concepts as “home”, “family”, “family happiness” are for Pushkin. Pay attention to where the second part of the story begins. Pushkin once again draws the reader's attention to the importance of a happy family life, the importance of having a home.

Silvio conceived a devilish revenge, not yet understanding that he was taking his own life first of all: there was no family, no children.

What is this story about?

The story is not about a duel, but about the meaning of a person’s life, about a person’s path to this meaning, about the road of life from his former self to his other self. Having succumbed to temptation, you need to find the strength to stop, put an end to it and turn your life into the direction of goodness and justice.

The cycle “Belkin's Tale” was created during the “Boldino Autumn” in 1830. This was the period when, due to the outbreak of cholera, a quarantine was declared on entry and exit to St. Petersburg and Pushkin was forced to spend the entire autumn until the end of the quarantine on the Boldino estate. The stories were published in 1831. The publication was anonymous, that is, Pushkin attributed the authorship to a certain Belkin. The cycle consists of five stories, which, allegedly, were once told to the author by the now deceased Ivan Petrovich Belkin. These are the stories: “The Peasant Young Lady”, “The Undertaker”, “The Station Agent”, “The Blizzard” and “The Shot”.

The idea of ​​the cycle is that the author showed all the levels of Russian society, from bottom to top. Everything is presented here concisely and simply, there is not a single extra word. Pushkin does not explain the actions of his heroes, much less indulge in lengthy explanations of the motives for their actions. Nevertheless, the reader perfectly understands the motives of the actions of his heroes, with their advantages and disadvantages.

The characters in the stories are not bright individuals, like most of Pushkin's heroes. They are typical representatives of their environment. In the foreground they have the everyday side. But Pushkin's story structure, plot development, climax and happy ending hold the reader's interest throughout the entire narrative.

Analysis of works

Shot

The plot of the story is quite simple. The hero of the story, Silveo, being a remarkable person in everything related to hussar daring, hated his no less worthy young rival. It came to a duel, during which his opponent showed such indifference to death that Silveo did not shoot, reserving the right to shoot. For many years he waited for the right opportunity for revenge, until he finally received news of his enemy's marriage. Having come to him with a demand to realize his shot, he received complete satisfaction, humiliating him in front of his wife. In parting, he quite accurately shot at the picture, leaving a hole in it, which served as a reason for the memories.

The main character of the story is, of course, a strong and extraordinary person. But all his advantages fade against the background of his envy of his more successful opponent. Envy, as we know, does not look good on a man, especially a hussar. His dignity fades even more from petty vindictiveness. These qualities are all the more aggravated when he terrifies the count's wife by aiming at him. However, at the last moment something stops him from killing. I think that the true reason is not so important, what is more important is that the person did not kill another person. It is quite possible that at this moment true human feelings awakened in the main character.

Such an ending is characteristic of that Pushkin spirit that gives so much spiritual warmth to Belkin’s Tales. He convinces the reader, without unnecessary pathos, to believe in the triumph of “good feelings” over the stupid and worthless rules of society. Silveo’s nobility may seem spontaneous, but this is a quality of soul that originally lived in him.

Blizzard

A kind of play of situations. Fatal and happy accidents, which play an important role in the story. The romantic heroine of the story, Marya Gavrilovna, agrees to a secret marriage with Vladimir, rejected by her parents. As a result of a fatal accident, more precisely due to a strong snowstorm, the heroine marries an unknown hussar. Vladimir goes to war with Napoleon and dies. As a result of a chain of happy accidents, the story comes to a happy ending.

In the characteristics main character, the author immediately notes that she was brought up on French novels, which is why she is in love. It is possible that she liked Vladimir because she had read many novels. This already indicates the frivolity of her character, as well as her romanticism. Vladimir is not at all behind Maria. Such a romantic. He is inclined to dream of a secret wedding, after which, in his opinion, his parents will be moved and give them their blessing. His reasoning is somewhat reminiscent of one of Gogol’s heroes, Manilov. When circumstances require action, he, by and large, turns out to be incapable of anything.

The author does not hide his ironic attitude towards the characters with their passion for romantic fashion. But when war comes into play, a lot changes. Any war opens the souls of people, leaving only the true. The romantic Vladimir dies heroically and becomes a hero. Burmin, for fun, having married an unknown girl, now looks at it differently and is looking for his unknown wife in order to marry his beloved. The best pages of the story are the description of the blizzard, the main character of the story, which played a fatal role for Vladimir and a happy one for Marya Gavrilovna and Burmin.

Undertaker

Here we find ourselves among traders and artisans. The main characters here are the undertaker Prokhorov Adrian, his daughters and friends. The heroes are not preoccupied with romantic fantasies; they walk firmly on the earth and solve earthly problems. Such as the upcoming rich funeral of the merchant Tryukhina, which competitors may intercept. The death of a person for people like the undertaker is just an opportunity to make money. Even in his sleep, he views his deceased clients only in terms of their profitability. In the dead who came to visit Adrian, the author clearly reflected those social relations that existed in society at that time.

Pushkin's little man is the progenitor of Gogol's Akakiy Bashmachkin. An official who can be beaten by noble travelers. Confident that his daughter Dunya, stolen by a passing hussar, was abandoned by him, he wishes her death. However, everything happens the other way around. Hussar Minsky, who turned out to be a worthy man, married Duna. The father's expectations were not justified; his daughter became rich and noble. However, the experienced reader understands that Samson Vyrin still lost his daughter. Vyrin's world and Minsky's world are separated by a huge hole that he is unable to overcome. Dunya was able to step over it without hesitation only thanks to her blind love for Minsky and feminine spontaneity.

However, she did not have the courage to go further and step over the rules of the “decent” society in which she found herself. In fact, she abandoned her father. Her subsequent visit to her father’s grave is just an attempt to calm her conscience. If the end had been as Vyrin expected, it would have been another story about an unfortunate, gullible girl and a scoundrel-seducer, of which there were many at that time. However, with Pushkin everything is much deeper and more realistic. It would seem that the happy ending of the story leaves a tragic aftertaste.

Peasant young lady

This is the last story in the series. In many ways, it resembles a vaudeville story with dressing up. The heroes here are also romantic, but their romanticism is born not from French novels, but from their natures. In addition, the romanticism of the heroes is active. They are fighting for their happiness, Alexey is ready to make a sacrifice for the sake of his beloved and give up his father’s fortune.

The heroine of the story, Liza, the daughter of a rich master, disguised as a peasant woman, meets Alexei Berestov in the forest and the young people fall in love. Alexey, sincerely considering Liza-Akulina a peasant, decides to marry her, disdaining social prejudices. A decent solution for young man, I must admit. Characterizes him from the very the best side. Respect for him especially increases when he is ready to give up wealth for the sake of his beloved girl. This characterizes him not only as an honest and noble person, but also courageous. Lisa's masquerade image helped to reveal the true feelings of the heroes when ordinary Russian people were revealed in them.

The story “The Shot,” the last one written by Pushkin, stands at the head of “Belkin’s Tales.” Let's try to consider the plot and compositional features of the work.

The narration is told on behalf of the main narrator - Lieutenant Colonel I. L. P. In addition to him, there are two more narrators in the story - Silvio and the Count. All three narrators are simultaneously the protagonists of the story. However, I. L. P. appears with the heroes alternately - first there is a story about Silvio, then about the count.

Since there are three narrators in the story, then, accordingly, the images of the main characters are given in triple perception, which was noted by D. Blagoy. So, for example, Lieutenant Colonel I.L.P. first talks about Silvio, then Silvio himself tells his story, and finally, the count describes the end of their duel. The story of Count B. is presented in exactly the same way: first Silvio tells Lieutenant Colonel I.L.P. about him, as if in absentia introducing the main narrator to his future neighbor, then Lieutenant Colonel I.L.P. himself meets Count B. and describes it to the readers; finally, the count himself talks about himself.

A similar compositional principle was then used by M. Yu. Lermontov in the novel “A Hero of Our Time.” The writer shows Pechorin from different points of view, starting with a description of the hero’s appearance and gradually revealing to readers his inner qualities. Following this task, Lermontov violates the principle of the life-chronological sequence of events. Pushkin, to a certain extent, also violates the chronology of life: stories about the past are interspersed with stories about the present.

The main plot of the story is a duel, the story of the duel between Silvio and the Count. In addition, both the description of Lieutenant Colonel I.L.P.’s youth, when he knew Silvio, and the description of his life in adulthood, next door to Count B., have their own plots. This is the so-called “personal” plot of the main narrator.

Let's consider the plot of the first story related to Silvio. The story of Lieutenant Colonel I.L.P. about the living conditions of army officers in the town***, the depiction of the image of Silvio represent an exposition of this story. A quarrel between officers during a card game is the beginning. The culmination of these events for the narrator I.L.P. is Silvio’s refusal to duel with R***. And Silvio’s story about Count B. is the denouement. This denouement in the narrator’s “personal” plot, therefore, represents an exposition and plot in the main plot of the story - the story of an extraordinary duel.

Now we move on to the second part in the narrator’s “personal” plot. This is a description of the life of Lieutenant Colonel I.L.P. in the poor village of N** county. The hero's solitude, housework, boredom - all this is an exposition of future events. But then Count and Countess B. come to the neighboring estate, and friendly relations begin between the neighbors. Arriving at the count for a visit and examining his office, Lieutenant Colonel I. "L.P. suddenly notices a picture shot through by two bullets, "planted one on top of the other." Here it turns out that Count B. is Silvio's opponent, and these precise shots - "a monument to the last meeting of heroes." This scene is the culmination of the narrator's "village" story. Count B.'s final story about the last meeting with Silvio represents the denouement in the "personal" plot of Lieutenant Colonel I. L. P. At the same time, this denouement is the culmination and denouement The main plot of the story is the story of the duel between Silvio and Count B.

Undoubtedly, such a construction of the story contributes to a deeper revelation of the characters' characters. So, Silvio at first seems to us a mysterious, demonic person, on whose conscience is “some unfortunate victim.” This is exactly how the main narrator characterizes him. Then the hero himself talks about himself, about his duel with Count B., and we discover new qualities in him: painful pride, vulnerability, impulsiveness, the desire to excel at any cost. Gradually, the image of an evil, desperately brave, vengeful person begins to emerge before us, never giving in to danger.

Silvio is an excellent shooter; it would seem that it would cost him nothing to win any fight. However, throughout the entire story the hero does not kill anyone. Silvio refuses a duel with Lieutenant R***, citing the impossibility of exposing himself to mortal danger due to the unfinished duel with Count B. However, this duel itself seems unusually interesting. Silvio saves the Count's life at the beginning of the duel. He explains his action by saying that the enemy’s life is currently devoid of any value: Count B. is not attached to anyone, he does not value anything. He does not kill this “lucky one” and ends the duel. Moreover, Silvio suggests starting the duel again, and the Count agrees. What motivates the hero's actions?

The thing is that Silvio is not a killer by nature. And the main motive of his behavior is that by nature he is a kind, even timid, insecure person, in his own way subtle, deep and strong. This inner strength lies in the depth of his nature, in his natural nobility, in his ability to forgive. But these qualities are completely unpopular among officers, where ideas about courage and honor are quite primitive. There they value only superficial traits: words must be backed up by deeds. Silvio's natural generosity, kindness and uncertainty would certainly be misunderstood. “Lack of courage is least excused by young people, who usually see courage as the height of human virtue and an excuse for all sorts of vices.” Living in this environment, Silvio could not help but assimilate its “philosophy”. Probably, he himself sees courage as “an excuse for all sorts of vices,” an excuse for his own timidity, the subtlety of his mental organization. Therefore, with all his might, the hero overcomes these qualities in himself, trying to convince others of the presence of completely opposite traits. And as always happens in such cases, it does not withstand the measure.

Silvio envies the beauty, intelligence, courage, nobility and wealth of Count B. and begins to hate the latter, seeing him as a rival. N. Ya. Berkovsky explains Silvio’s boundless desire for primacy, his hatred of the count by the lack of nobility and money. And for the count, in addition to his wealth and birth, personal qualities: courage, confidence, wit. However, I think that this is not only a matter of the social status of the heroes. Silvio cannot afford natural behavior not only because of his own poverty - he is too insecure, generous, even gentle by nature.

If we analyze Silvio’s behavior in the town of ***, we will notice that nothing concrete is known about his “demonic atrocities.” All that is open to others is his age, which suggests experience, “ordinary gloominess” and “an evil tongue.” The remark about Silvio’s “tough disposition” is, rather, the conclusion of the narrator himself, rather than objective information. No one else knows anything about this man: Silvio’s fate is surrounded by mystery; those around him don’t even know whether his name is real.

The main activity of the hero is shooting with a pistol. “The art he achieved was incredible, and if he had volunteered to shoot a pear off someone’s cap with a bullet, no one in our regiment would have hesitated to offer their heads to him,” notes the narrator. But why does Silvio need this? He never interferes in conversations about fights, and apparently does not enter into the fights themselves, otherwise the narrator would certainly have mentioned it. When asked if he ever fought, he answers positively, but dryly and unambiguously, without going into details.

When all these details are compared, it seems that Silvio is creating an image for himself as a “demonic villain”. And he creates it very skillfully and successfully. “However, it never occurred to us to suspect anything like timidity in him. There are people whose appearance alone removes such suspicions,” the narrator notes. And this statement is significant. “Appearance removes... suspicions” - outwardly nothing is noticeable in a person. However, we do not want to declare Silvio a hypocrite. It is especially worth noting that the hero does not analyze his behavior and is not aware of it. Silvio's actions are unconscious.

Count B. is brave by nature, confident in himself just enough to be popular among the officers. However, let's try to analyze this image in more detail. Unlike Silvio, killing an opponent in a duel cannot cause the Count any mental anguish or hesitation. In reality, the count is a weak person, capable of both murder and dishonor. And he proved this with his behavior when he agreed to start the duel again.

The graph's behavior is not always simple and natural. Let us remember the scene at the beginning of the duel, when he, standing at gunpoint from the best shooter, blithely eats cherries for breakfast. The count is not stupid, he understands that now he will probably be killed. Silvio decides that this is the carelessness of youth; his opponent does not value life, since he does not yet have anything valuable in it. But I think Silvio’s assumption is not entirely correct. The count’s behavior did not reveal the carelessness of youth or panache. Here is the same brutality, the lack of subtlety of perception, which is a necessary component of his courage. Human life (including your own) is not very valuable in the count’s subconscious. Unlike Silvio, the Count lacks subtle spiritual organization, natural nobility and inner strength. Morally, the Count is significantly inferior to Silvio.

Thus, Pushkin's story contains a deep meaning. This is not just the story of an extraordinary duel, it is the story human soul, the story of the “external” and “internal” man.

In this article, the Literaguru team will analyze the story “The Shot” by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, which is part of the “Belkin’s Tale” cycle.

The story “The Shot” was written in 1830 in the village of Boldino. The work consists of two parts. It is interesting to note that initially Pushkin did not want to write the second chapter - after finishing writing the first, he wrote a note: “The ending is lost.” However, two days later the writer creates a continuation of the story, and the work takes on its final form on October 14, 1830.

The story “Shot” became the fourth in the cycle “Belkin’s Stories”. It was based on real case from the life of A.S. Pushkin, when the latter was challenged to a duel by his acquaintance, officer Zubov. Alexander Sergeevich was challenged by his comrade to a duel, as the poet accused Zubov of playing cards unfairly. During satisfaction, when the enemy was taking aim at him, Pushkin calmly ate cherries (later this moment will be reflected in the text of the story).

Genre, direction

As mentioned above, this work belongs to the genre of the story, literary direction– realism. The hero Silvio first appears before us romantic character, but by the end of the work we understand that this is not such a simple character as it might seem at first glance. The courage of his actions, liveliness and audacity in decision-making reveal the hero’s ardent disposition, which indicates his belonging to the realistic movement.

The genre of the work is a story, this is indicated by the volume of the book and the number of storylines in it.

The essence

The narration is first told on behalf of Lieutenant Colonel I.L.P., then the retired hussar Silvio acts as the narrator, and then the count. I. L. P. describes to us the life of an army officer, which in its cyclical nature is not capable of surprising a simple soldier. Among the hero’s acquaintances, a certain Silvio, a sharp shooter, whose life was somewhat shrouded in mystery - no one knew either his income or fortune - stood out. At the same time, he had a rich collection of pistols at home, and the walls were worn out by bullets, like honeycombs. He was a generous host - champagne always flowed like a river in his house, and dinner consisted of two or three courses. Once, during one of these feasts, the guests persuaded Silvio to sweep the bank for them, which the hero usually did not like. Reluctantly he agreed. At some point, officer R***, recently transferred to the regiment, bent an extra corner, which displeased the owner, and subsequently irritated R***, who threw a candlestick (shandal) at Silvio. The enraged man drove the offender out of the house, however, surprisingly, this matter did not end in a duel.

I. L. P. is outraged by such a calm behavior of his friend, but in the end it turns out that Silvio needs to settle scores with one person - the future count, who at one time supplanted the hussar, eclipsed him with his charm, intelligence, beauty and, therefore, became his rival . Having said flat rudeness to his enemy, Silvio provoked the count, and he slapped him in the face. As a result, a duel was scheduled.

In the duel, the count got the first shot, with which he managed to pierce the hussar’s cap. But when it was Silvio’s turn, the count behaved unceremoniously - he ate cherries and spat out the seeds. This carelessness outraged Silvio, and he postponed the duel until another time. I. L. P. learned the continuation of this story later from the count himself, who turned out to be the narrator’s neighbor. Silvio came to the count during his honeymoon and threatened to kill him. In fact, the hussar only wanted to frighten the count, to show him his superiority and the fact that it was necessary to respect the conditions of the duel, and to know that sooner or later he would have to answer for his insolence. Perhaps the decisive role here was played by the request of the count’s wife, Masha.

We see a profound transformation of the hero - from a romantic he turns into a real realist, ready to look at things soberly and not afraid to achieve his goal - to put the offender in his place. At the end of the story, we learn that Silvio died the death of the brave in the battle of Skulany.

The main characters and their characteristics

The three main characters of this story - a lieutenant colonel, a count, a retired hussar - are also its narrators. The central figure, of course, is Silvio. Waiting for an opportunity to take revenge on the count for the insult and regularly practicing shooting, the hussar begins to see the light only at the moment when, finding himself on the territory of the enemy’s estate, the count again gets the first shot, and he pierced the picture hanging above the guest’s head with a bullet.

According to G. Makogonenko, there is a moral renewal of the hero; he understands how vulgar and base his desire to kill a happy opponent was. The Count, in turn, at this moment must have appreciated how wrong he was, and that revenge is not the main goal in life. The lieutenant colonel acts as a kind of observer of the lives of two people competing with each other.

Topics and issues

The story touches on an important issue - defending one's own honor, restoring a good name in the eyes of others at the cost of murder. Is it worth it? The author answers unequivocally: honor is not worth a person’s life.

the main idea

The message of the book is simple: you don't have to be cruel to establish yourself as a brave officer. You need to act honorably, be noble and at the right time be able to spare even the worst enemy, leaving him to your conscience.

According to G. Makogonenko, Silvio is alien to humility. For the hero there is more important goal in life - the battle for the freedom of the Greeks. A high goal contributes to spiritual renewal and personal enrichment. Revenge replaces generosity. This is what the main idea stories.

What does it teach?

The work teaches nobility, composure in actions, the ability to restrain yourself in difficult situations where everything can get out of your control.

It’s appropriate to give free rein to your ambition while fighting on the battlefield, but when communicating with people - be it your immediate circle or colleagues - you need to find a middle ground in everything.

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