From Paustovsky's story "telegram". Evgenia Mingelene, p. Kortkeros, Komi Republic Moral content of Paustovsky's story telegram

In Paustovsky’s story “Telegram,” the heroes live their lives far from their loved ones, forgetting that the human age is short-lived. The description of Ekaterina Petrovna’s old, dilapidated house, her dull life and state of mind are piercing, deep and so strong that you want to change the plot of the work. The author is ruthlessly realistic in depicting the last days of the elderly woman’s life; the image of her daughter does not evoke compassion. She lives in a parallel “universe”, where they talk pompously about care and love for one’s neighbor, about the meaning of human life. In all this fuss, Nastya forgets about her own mother...

Characteristics of the heroes “Telegram”

Main characters

Ekaterina Petrovna	An elderly woman, alone, living out her life in a dilapidated house without children or owner. Her father was an artist, she lived in Paris and saw Victor Hugo's funeral. Her daughter sends her 200 rubles every few months, and her mother imagines that they smell like Nastya’s perfume. Ekaterina Petrovna is desperately bored, but does not complain. She loves her daughter, who visited her about 3 years ago. Feeling that she will not survive the winter, she writes a letter to her daughter asking to see her. Nastya forgets the letter in her purse and has no time to read it. The woman lives out her life alone, even before her death she does not manage to see her own daughter.
Nastya	Lives in Leningrad, works in the Union of Artists. She has no time to visit her mother, she is busy with work, chores, other people's lives and interests. Having achieved an exhibition of a strange, fastidious sculptor, Nastya suddenly remembers her mother. Realizing that she is late, she goes to the station and barely catches the last train. Cries, remembering her childhood and mother. She didn’t have time to meet her mother; she arrived on the second day after the funeral. She is ashamed and hurt, after being at home for a while, she leaves, hiding from neighbors and acquaintances.
Tikhon	Watchman, Ekaterina Petrovna's neighbor. He knew the woman's father, remembered and respected him. He came to Ekaterina Petrovna to do housework, chopped wood, and talked to her. He sincerely feels sorry for the woman, seeing her longing for her daughter. Tikhon sends a telegram to Nastya in Leningrad, informing her that her mother is dying. On the last day of Ekaterina Petrovna’s life, Tikhon took a form from the post office and wrote a telegram on it on behalf of Nastya, the old woman’s daughter, that she was going. Before his death, when Tikhon reads the “invented” telegram, Ekaterina Petrovna thanks him for his kindness...she understands everything.
Manyushka	A neighbor's girl, she brings water to Ekaterina Petrovna, cleans her house, and cooks. For her help, the old woman gives her various old-fashioned things that mean nothing to the girl. She lives in the village, aristocratic rarity does not touch her, she sincerely tries to help the woman, to ease her suffering. Ekaterina Petrovna, having practically lost her sight and not getting up, spends her last days in the company of Manyushka.

Minor characters

In the work, the author raises problems of morality: responsibility, kindness, repentance, guilt, conscience. Pictures of nature play an important role: they are in tune with the state of mind of a lonely woman and emphasize the events taking place in the story. The main character of “Telegram” is human loneliness, the worst thing that can happen is 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.

Work test

“Argumentation. Involvement of literary material" is one of the main criteria for evaluating the final essay. By competently using literary sources, the student demonstrates his erudition and deep understanding of the problem at hand. At the same time, it is important not only to provide a link to the work, but also to skillfully include it in the discussion, analyzing specific episodes that correspond to the chosen topic. How to do it? We offer you, as an example, arguments from literature in the direction of “Indifference and Responsiveness” from 10 famous works.

1. The heroine of the novel by L.N. Tolstoy's "War and Peace" Natasha Rostova is a person with a sensitive heart. Thanks to her intervention, the carts, originally intended for moving and loaded with things, were given over to transport wounded soldiers. Another example of a caring attitude towards the world and people is Platon Karataev. He goes to war, helping out his younger brother, and although he doesn’t like fighting at all, even in such conditions the hero remains kind and sympathetic. Plato “loved and lived lovingly with everything that life brought him together,” helped other prisoners (in particular, he fed Pierre when he was captured), and took care of a stray dog.
2. In the novel by F.M. Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment" many heroes show themselves as pronounced altruists or egoists. The first, of course, includes Sonechka Marmeladova, who sacrifices herself to provide for her family and then goes into exile after Raskolnikov, trying to save his soul. We must not forget about Razumikhin: he is poor and lives hardly better than Raskolnikov, but he is always ready to help him - he offers his friend a job, buys him clothes, gives him money. In contrast to these noble people, for example, the image of Luzhin is presented. Luzhin “loved and valued... his money more than anything in the world”; he wanted to marry Raskolnikov’s sister Duna, pursuing the base goal of taking a poor wife who would be forever indebted to him. It is noteworthy that he does not even bother himself with ensuring that the future bride and her mother reach St. Petersburg comfortably. Indifference to the fate of those closest to him results in the same attitude towards the world and characterizes the hero from a negative side. As we know, fate rewarded sympathetic characters, but punished indifferent characters.
3. The type of person who lives for himself is depicted by I.A. Bunin in the story "Mr. from San Francisco". The hero, a certain wealthy gentleman whose name we never learn, goes on a journey “solely for the sake of entertainment.” He spends his time among his own kind, and divides other people into service personnel and annoying “interference” with his pleasure - such, for example, are the commission agents and ragamuffins on the embankment, as well as the inhabitants of the miserable houses that the gentleman from San Francisco has to see along the way . However, after his sudden death, he himself, from a supposedly respected and revered person, becomes a burden, and the same people, in whose devotion he believed, because “he was generous,” send his corpse to his homeland in a soda box. With this crude irony I.A. Bunin illustrates the well-known folk wisdom: as it comes around, so it will respond.
4. An example of dedication is the hero of the collection of stories by M.A. Bulgakov "Notes of a Young Doctor". A young doctor named Bomgard, recently graduated from university, goes to work in a rural hospital, where he is faced with harsh living conditions, human ignorance, terrible diseases and, finally, death itself. But, despite everything, he fights for every patient; goes to the sick day and night, not sparing himself; constantly learns and improves her skills. It is significant that Bomgard is not a heroic person, he is often unsure of himself and, like everyone else, experiences fear, but at the decisive moment the sense of professional duty overcomes everything else.
5. The indifference of people to each other is especially scary when it, like a virus, covers the entire society. This situation occurred in the story of V.P. Astafiev "Lyudochka" It contrasts the heroine’s life path and the attitude towards her from others, from family to society as a whole. Lyudochka is a village girl who moves to the city in search of a better life. She works hard at work, meekly takes care of the housework instead of the woman from whom she rents an apartment, endures the rudeness of the “youth” around her, until the last minute comforts a dying man in the hospital... She is too different from the stupid, spoiled herd of people she is forced to be surrounded by, and this leads her to trouble over and over again. Alas, no one, not even her own mother, extended a helping hand to her at the right moment, and the girl committed suicide. The saddest thing is that for society this situation is in the order of things, which is reflected in the dry but terrible statistics.
6. The image of a kind-hearted, sympathetic person is key in the work of A.I. Solzhenitsyn "Matryonin's Dvor". Matryona’s fate cannot be called enviable: she was a widow, buried six children, worked for many years on a collective farm “for workdays,” did not receive a pension, and remained poor in her old age. Despite this, the heroine retained her cheerful disposition, sociability, love of work and willingness to help others, without demanding anything in return. The apogee of her self-sacrifice is a tragic accident on the railway, which ends in the death of the heroine. What’s surprising is that her face, untouched by the terrible accident, was “intact, calm, more alive than dead” - just like the face of a saint.
7. In the story “Gooseberry” by A.P. In Chekhov we meet a hero obsessed with a base material goal. This is the narrator’s brother, Nikolai Chimsha-Himalayan, who dreams of buying an estate, and certainly with gooseberry bushes. For this, he stops at nothing: he lives stingily, is greedy, marries an old rich widow and torments her with hunger. He is indifferent to people, so he is ready to sacrifice their interests for his own. Finally, his dream comes true, he feels happy and does not notice that the gooseberries are sour - to such an extent he has renounced real life. This terrifies the narrator, he addresses the “happy man” with a fiery speech, urging him to remember “that there are unfortunate people, that no matter how happy he is... trouble will befall... and no one will see or hear him, just as now he does not see or hear hears others." The narrator discovered that the meaning of life is not in personal happiness, “but in something more reasonable and greater.” "Do good!" - this is how he concludes his speech, hoping that young people who still have the strength and opportunity to change something will not follow the path of his brother and will become responsive people.
8. It can be difficult for a person with an open and sympathetic soul to live in the world. This happened with Chudik from the story of the same name by V.M. Shukshina. As an adult man, the hero thinks and behaves like a child. He is drawn to people, loves to talk and joke, strives to be on good terms with everyone, but constantly gets into trouble due to the fact that he does not look like a “proper adult.” Let's remember one episode: on the plane, Chudik asks his neighbor to buckle up, as the flight attendant ordered; he perceives his words with obvious displeasure. The landing is not entirely successful: Chudik’s neighbor falls from his chair, so much so that he loses his false jaw. The weirdo rushes to his aid - but in response he again receives a portion of irritation and anger. And this is how everyone treats him, from strangers to family members. Chudik’s responsiveness and society’s reluctance to understand someone who does not fit into the framework are two sides of the same problem.
9. The story of K.G. is devoted to the topic of indifference to one’s neighbor. Paustovsky "Telegram". The girl Nastya, secretary of the Union of Artists, devotes all her strength to her work. She worries about the fate of painters and sculptors, organizes exhibitions and competitions, and never finds time to see her old sick mother who lives in the village. Finally, having received a telegram that her mother is dying, Nastya sets off, but it is too late... The author warns readers against making the same mistake, the guilt for which will probably remain with the heroine for life.
10. Manifestations of altruism in times of war are of particular importance, since we are often talking about life and death. T. Keneally's novel “Schindler's Ark” is a story about a German businessman and NSDAP member Oskar Schindler, who during the Holocaust organizes production and recruits Jews, thereby saving them from extermination. This requires a lot of effort from Schindler: he has to maintain connections with the right people, bribe, forge documents, but the result - more than a thousand lives saved and the eternal gratitude of these people and their descendants - is the main reward for the hero. The impression of this selfless act is enhanced by the fact that the novel is based on real events.
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A person’s attitude towards parents, indifference towards loved ones.
Very often children forget about their parents, immersed in their own worries and affairs. So, for example, in the story by K.G. Paustovsky's "" 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 wrote letters extremely rarely, and sent her 200 rubles every two or three months. This money didn’t bother Katerina Petrovna much; she re-read a few lines that her daughter wrote along with the translation (about not only not having time to come, but also to write a normal letter). Katerina Petrovna missed her daughter very much and listened to every rustle. When she felt really bad, she asked her daughter to come to see her before she died, but Nastya didn’t have time. There was a lot to do, she didn’t take her mother’s words seriously. This letter was followed by a telegram that her mother was dying. Only then did Nastya realize that “no one loved her as much as this decrepit old woman abandoned by everyone.” 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 didn’t have time. Katerina Petrovna died. Nastya didn’t even have time to say goodbye to her and left with the awareness of “irreparable guilt and unbearable heaviness.”

The problem of loneliness, indifference towards loved ones.

No person deserves to be alone. Even worse are situations when people who are actually not alone in this world become lonely. This happened to the heroine of the story by K.G. Paustovsky "" 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 going was the anticipation of meeting her daughter. She waited three years, but she only needed a couple of days. Very often, indifference towards loved ones kills more than illness. Perhaps if Nastya had been more sensitive, the sick person would not have had to die alone.

Guilt

Guilt is a feeling that is familiar to every 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 "". 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 sick. Nastya did not take the last letter from her mother seriously. For this reason, she never had time to tell her mother that she loved her, and 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 my 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 he gained great Soviet and foreign fame. The origins of the story can be found in the works of 1937 - the cycle of stories “Summer Days”, the story “Meshcherskaya Side”. There is a mention here of the fate of the daughter of a famous artist, which is subsequently transformed into an independent story “Telegram”. The short story was not studied in Soviet schools until the late 90s, as larger works of the socialist realist genre took precedence.

Story Analysis

Description of the story

The plot of the story can be summarized in a few sentences: a lonely elderly woman 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 a complete stranger to the villagers, with whom she has no common ground. Surprisingly, she has a daughter who sometimes sends her mother money and writes short letters to her about how busy she is. The time comes when the elderly mother understands that she will not survive the approaching winter, and she writes a letter of conscription to her daughter. Nastya leaves more than two weeks later, and then only after an alarming telegram about the approaching death of her mother. The daughter does not make it to the dying woman’s bedside or to 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 occurs, the unusualness of her existence is mentioned, and it is noted that she is an unusual person. The second part tells about daughter Nastya, her important work and character. The third part is related to the story of a telegram, or rather, two telegrams. She was the first to notify Nastya that her mother was seriously ill. The second one is written out of deepest sympathy by Tikhon, the watchman in Katerina Petrovna’s house. A man from the people, an ignorant but pure person, he also remembers Katerina Petrovna’s father and has respect for both of them as smart, intelligent people. Tikhon's ignorance does not prevent him from having a kind, sympathetic heart and unbreakable moral principles in him. Tikhon composes a telegram for the dying Katerina Petrovna, supposedly from her daughter, in which he writes on her behalf that he will arrive soon. However, she allows such an absurd phrase structure in the telegram that Katerina Petrovna immediately understands that it was not Nastya who wrote this. Katerina Petrovna guesses everything and thanks Tikhon for his affection and kind words. This second telegram is a symbol of pure impulse, a holy lie for salvation, and its voicing by Tikhon is the climactic peak of the story.

Main characters

The origin of Katerina Petrovna is probably noble, because the author mentions that she was raised in a family related to art. Katerina Petrovna received a good education, she knew 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, conversations about art will not be interesting to anyone in a godforsaken village, just like antique things from a woman’s wardrobe - ostrich feathers, wrinkled gloves, beaded clothes. People in the village live who are not indifferent - the girl neighbor, the postman and the watchman Tikhon visit the elderly woman, but they simply cannot brighten up her loneliness, the people are too different. Katerina Petrovna is waiting for letters from her daughter, but she does not write so as not to bother the girl. He can’t stand it only once, sending touching lines to the girl, as he has a presentiment of his imminent death.

(Still from the film "Telegram" 1957)

The life of the second heroine, Nastya, on the contrary, is full of energy and worries. And if the reader had not learned in the previous part of the story what was happening to her mother, he would have considered Nastya a sensitive, warm-hearted and sympathetic person. After all, her soul responds so impulsively 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 doesn’t even read the letter from her mother right away, but goes to her after 2 weeks.

Repentance comes too late. Nastya doesn’t have time to go anywhere, not even to the funeral. The girl cries all night in her mother's empty house, and in the morning she leaves secretly from the village, as if sneaking - she is ashamed.

“Telegram” is a work written by Paustovsky. On Wikipedia you can learn more about the author and his work.

Paustovsky addresses the topic of “fathers and sons,” which, of course, will not leave the reader indifferent. The problem is relevant, acute, and is common to everyone who has or had a family. A brief summary of Paustovsky’s “Telegram” will allow you to feel the emotions that the author put into it, gleaning the main idea.

In contact with

And also meet the heroes and understand the reasons for their actions. To complete the picture, if necessary, it is, of course, better to read the entire text. It takes up only twelve typewritten pages.

Analysis of the work “Telegram”

Structure

Is this a story or a story? “Telegram” by Paustovsky - short story. It can be divided into five parts, each of which carries a certain semantic meaning in the plot:

1. About mother
2. About my daughter
3. Alarming news
4. Tragic ending
5. Bottom line.

The first part is the introduction 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 introduction to Nastya, a description of her work. In the third, the climax occurs - the origin and sending of the telegram itself by the mother about her illness. There, a man who is not indifferent to everything, Tikhon, sends an answer supposedly from his daughter for Katerina Petrovna. But she understands and thanks him for his emotional impulse, without, however, receiving 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 action and takes stock.

What is the plot about: short summary

Read the summary and find out that: Katerina Petrovna lives out her life in a village remote from the city. Her house was built by her grandfather, a talented artist. The woman is unsociable and has virtually no contact with fellow villagers, but she has a daughter who is engaged in important work and sends her mother money. At some point, Katerina Petrovna realizes that she is terminally ill and wants to see her daughter one last time, which is what she asks her to do in a telegram . However, Nastya does not accept the letter seriously and leaves two weeks later when he finds out that his mother’s death is not far off. The girl is late for the funeral and experiences bitterness and belated remorse for her slowness.

Heroes of the story

All heroes can be divided into groups:

• main characters: mother Katerina, daughter Nastya
• secondary active ones. In the village: the elderly watchman Tikhon, the neighbor girl Manyushka. Nastya has: sculptor Timofeev.
• The third-rate characters are the villagers at the funeral. Postman, teacher, etc.
• inactive: Katerina Petrovna’s father, artist. Here we can also highlight the sculpture of Gogol - it speaks in Nastya’s mind with the voice of conscience. Thus, through it the reader becomes acquainted with the author’s position of the work.

The main characters in "Telegram"

Katerina Petrovna most likely comes from a noble family. Paustovsky hints that she was raised in an intelligent family versed in art. In her youth, the woman was in the company of creative people, and in Paris she attended 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 say a word to. The woman has the luxurious wardrobe of a noblewoman, unprecedented luxury. Nevertheless, there are caring acquaintances who visit the old woman. Among them are the watchman Tikhon, the girl, and the postman. Katerina Petrovna expects participation from only one person - her daughter. She sends her terse replies, citing being busy. The mother is afraid to disturb her again with her telegrams, only once she could not stand it and sent her first. When he is near death.

Nastya is inexperienced and is just learning about the world around her. She has a lot of ambitions and illusions. The girl seems sincere and reverent, but pays little attention to her mother. He does not respond to a call for help 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 the troubles of others. He is a watchman in the house of a dying woman. Memories of Katerina Petrovna’s father are still alive in his heart; Tikhon respects her herself as an educated and polite lady. He is imbued with her misfortune and composes a response letter supposedly from his daughter. Despite, that the woman understood the deception, the old lady thanked Tikhon for his participation. And his act itself can be considered a selfless 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 Gogol’s sculpture it seems to convey the call of conscience and reason. Nastya feels 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 she seemed, still woke up and admitted her guilt, even if this mistake would now become a heavy cross for her. Still, the story carries a bright thought and provides an opportunity to learn from the mistakes of others. Love and take care of your parents while they are alive, and not think only about selfish desires.

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