What is unique about the composition of the story of the old woman Izergil. “Features of the composition of M. Gorky’s story “The Old Woman Izergil. Other works on this work

1. Gorky is an artist-thinker.
2. Compositional features of the story.
3. The main idea of ​​the legend about Larra, its moral and philosophical basis.
4. Danko’s heroic deed.
5. Old woman Izergil and her life position.
6. Pictures of nature in the story.

His heroes combined typical features, behind which stood a good knowledge of life and literary tradition, and a special kind of “philosophy”, which the author endowed the heroes with at his own request, not always consistent with the “truth of life”.

M. A. Protopopov M. Gorky is an unusual writer. He was an artist-thinker who emerged from the people. The writer himself went through the hard school of life, and therefore he well understood the feelings and thoughts of people tormented by an unfair reality. The heroes of his works often talk about the hardships of their lives.

Thus, in the story “Old Woman Izergil” the old woman herself tells the “passing person” about her life, how in confession she reveals her whole soul. Through all her sufferings, trials and joyful events, Izergil retained that great > desire for freedom, which is characteristic of almost all of M. Gorky’s heroes.

The composition of the story itself is very unusual, it consists of three independent episodes: The first episode is the legend of Larra, the second is the old woman’s story about her life, and the third is the legend of Danko. Moreover, both legends about Larra and Danko are absolutely opposed to each other; they seem to show different worldviews and ideas about life. The structure of the story, connecting the two legends and the life story of the old woman, emphasizes the existence of a connection between the legend and real life. Another feature of this story is that the narration is told from two persons. One of the narrators is the author himself, he speaks with his reasoning, gives certain assessments of the characters and events. The second narrator is the old woman Izergil, who talks about good and evil in human life.

Larra is a proud, egoist, individualist and self-lover. He was born from the father of an eagle and an earthly woman, so he puts himself above everyone else, opposes himself to the whole society. He is overly arrogant and disrespectful towards ordinary people. In the legend, Larra kills a girl who rejected him, for which he receives contempt from people in return. The half-man Larra strove for freedom and in the end he still gets it, but in the form of expulsion from society. Winning freedom at the expense of other people's misfortune is a crime, and the loneliness that Larra receives as a result is the most terrible punishment in life. He was left alone, and in the melancholy and emptiness everything around him immediately depreciates and loses its meaning. Larra's fate and the punishment he received are absolutely fair. The moral and philosophical basis of this legend is that before demanding any benefits for yourself, you must first do something useful for others. It is this point of view that the old and wise Izergil expresses when she evaluates Larra: “for everything that a person takes, he pays with himself: with his mind and strength, sometimes with his life.”

According to M. Gorky, a true hero is not the one who puts himself above others, but the one who is able to sacrifice himself and his life for the sake of the people.

Danko is such a hero. This is a person who is capable of a feat: he is ready to give all of himself without reserve, to do anything for the good of the people. The idea of ​​faithful service to the people can be traced throughout the legend. The path of the main character is difficult and very complex. The courageous young man led his people through darkness and insurmountable obstacles. Tired of all the trials of this path, people were already ready to turn back, when suddenly Danko tore his chest with his hands and took out his heart: “It burned as brightly as the sun, and brighter than the sun, and the whole forest fell silent, consecrated by this torch of great love for people... - Let's go! - Danko shouted and rushed forward to his place, holding his burning heart high and illuminating the path for people with it.” Thus, with his heroic death, Danko showed the immortality of the feat in the memory of the people, he was able to prove to everyone that he was truly free. The main idea of ​​this legend is boundless love for the people and readiness for self-sacrifice for the happiness of the people. The old woman Izergil herself plays an important role in the story. The heroine talks about her life, which at first glance consists of many love affairs. Izergil is a heroine, in the words of M. Gorky himself, of a “rebellious life”, who strives to find her happiness and freedom. She went through many life's hardships and difficulties, but still remained faithful to freedom. Izergil speaks with admiration about people who are capable of feats and have a strong will and character: “...he loved feats. And when a person loves feats, he always knows how to do them and will find where it is possible. In life, you know, there is always room for exploits.” The heroine knows that she left her mark on earth, it will be preserved in the memory of the people to whom she gave her love. For the sake of a worthy person, Izergil was also ready to sacrifice herself - this is the main meaning of the heroine’s life.

In many of M. Gorky’s works, the writer uses a description of nature itself to describe the strong-willed characters of the heroes and the emotional tension of various life situations. This is the landscape against which Old Woman Izergil tells her story about Larra and Danko: clouds of “lush, strange shapes and colors” walk across the sky. M. Gorky in his landscapes at the same time tries to show the beauty, sublimity and unusualness of both nature itself and man as a whole: “All this - sounds and smells, clouds and people - was strangely beautiful and sad, it seemed like the beginning of a wonderful fairy tale.” Through the landscape, the writer seems to unite nature and man, reality is mixed with fiction. Both legends about the heroes Lara and Danko invented by the writer are told against the backdrop of a bright and fabulous nature. Here M. Gorky, as it were, humanizes nature itself, endows it with human qualities: Mighty trees, huge giants stand close to each other so as not to miss a person “giants - trees creaked, and angry songs hummed”, “trees engulfed in the cold fire of lightning, Gnarled, long arms seemed to be alive, stretching around people leaving the captivity of darkness, weaving them into a thick network...” The real people who surround the old woman Izergil look just as strong, powerful and at the same time almost fabulous. But the main thing is that gloomy pictures of nature are always replaced by joyful ones: “... the sun shone, the steppe sighed, the grass glittered in the diamonds of the rain, and the river sparkled with gold...”.

As a result, M. Gorky, with his story “The Old Woman Izergil,” showed the need for a strong and strong-willed personality, which arises during a period of social change. “The earth, the entire globe, awaits man, a strong man” (M. M. Prishvin).

"Old Woman Izergil" refers to the early period of creativity of Maxim Gorky, develops ideas and elements of romanticism. According to the writer himself, this work is one of the best among all written. What Old Woman Izergil teaches us: analysis of the work.

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History of creation

In 1891 (more exact date is unknown), Alexey Peshkov known to everyone under the pseudonym Maxim Gorky, wanders around the southern lands of Bessarabia. He spends the spring searching for impressions that will later be reflected in his works. This creative time in the writer’s life reflects his admiration for the personality, integrity and unity of man.

It is with such romantic thoughts that Gorky’s story “Old Woman Izergil” is filled. His heroes are legendary people of their time who face different life obstacles, the author clearly showed the different results of the confrontation between the individual and the crowd. The main stories in the direction of romanticism are:

1. "Old Isergil",
2. "The Girl and Death"
3. "Song of the Falcon".

There is no exact information about the date of writing “Old Woman Izergil”. The work was published in 1895, and was written presumably in 1894. It was published in three spring issues of Samara Gazeta. The author himself highly appreciated his story and even admitted in letters to A.P. To Chekhov: “Apparently, I won’t write anything as harmoniously and beautifully as I wrote “The Old Woman Izergil.” The name is closely related to the author’s surname, because it is one of those that brought him popularity.

The work “Old Woman Izergil” was allegedly written in 1894.

Composition

The principle of constructing the story is very unusual. The composition consists of three parts.

• The Legend of Larra;
• The story of the narrator's life;
• The Legend of Danko.

Moreover, two of them are fairy tales told by the main character. This leads to the following principle: story within a story. The author uses this technique because he wants to focus not only on the personality of the hero, but on his stories, living in the memory of the character and the people.

The main feature is contrast of legends according to its meaning. It is very difficult to determine “The Old Woman Izergil” is a story or a story, since the boundaries of these genres are very blurred. However, literary scholars are inclined to believe that this the work is not a story, since the number of characters and storylines is limited.

The main theme runs through all three chapters of “The Old Woman Izergil” - life values. The author is trying to find an answer to the question of what freedom and the meaning of life are. All chapters give different interpretations and attempts to explain the answers. But despite their differences, they make this story a single and complete work.

An introduction should also be added to the outline of the story of the main character, the old woman Izergil, because it is in it that the reader is immersed in the mysterious seaside atmosphere and gets acquainted with the narrator of fairy tales.

In the story's introduction, the youth of the male protagonist, who leads conversation with an old woman, is contrasted with the old woman Izergil’s advanced years and her weariness with life.

It is not only the description of her appearance that helps to imagine the image of an old woman against the backdrop of the sea and vineyards, but also the creaky voice in which she told her life and legends, captivating the reader with their attractiveness and fabulousness. What is the story of old woman Izergil about?

The Legend of Larra

The central figure of the first narrative is proud and selfish- young man Larra. Having a handsome appearance, he was son of a simple woman and an eagle. From the bird of prey, the young man inherited an indomitable temper and the desire to achieve anything, at any cost. Instincts deprive him of all human traits, only outwardly it is impossible to distinguish him from other people. This character is inside completely soulless. The only value for him is himself, the satisfaction of his pleasures is the goal of his life. Therefore, the hero easily goes for the kill.

His conviction in his perfection and disregard for other lives lead to the fact that he deprived of ordinary human fate. For his selfishness, he receives the most terrible punishment - Larra is doomed to eternal and complete loneliness. God gave him immortality, but it cannot be called a gift.

Hero name means "outcast". Being away from people is the worst punishment a person can suffer, according to the author.

Attention! The principle of life of this hero is “Live without people for yourself.”

Life of an old woman

In the second part of the story you can follow the actions of the old woman Izergil. Looking at her, it is difficult for the male narrator to believe that once upon a time she was young and beautiful, as she constantly claims. On the path of life Izergil I had to go through a lot. Her beauty is gone, but wisdom has replaced it. The woman’s speech is rich in aphoristic expressions. The main one here is love theme- this is personal, unlike legends, which mean love not for an individual, but for a people.

The actions of the old woman cannot be called unambiguous, because Izergil lived listening to her heart. She is ready to rescue the person she loves from captivity, without being afraid to kill another. But, having felt the falsehood and insincerity, while still a young girl, she could proudly continue her life journey alone. At the end of her life, she comes to the conclusion that there are far fewer beautiful and strong people in the world than when she was full of energy.

The Legend of Danko

The last tale that the woman tells helps the reader conclude how to live correctly.

Danko – fairy tale character, who sacrificed himself in a terrible moment to save people. Despite the bitterness of others, he felt only love for each person. The meaning of his life - give your heart to others, serve for good.

Unfortunately, Gorky says in the story, people are not able to treat such a sacrifice with full understanding. Little of, many are afraid of such rejection.

All that remains of Danko, who tore his fiery heart out of his chest, is only blue sparks. They still continue to flicker among people, but few people pay attention to them.

Important! Danko committed his act free of charge, solely for the sake of love. Danko and Larra are two opposites, but both were driven by the same feeling.

What does Gorky's story teach?

“Old Woman Izergil” shows the reader not only the attitude of an individual to the crowd, in this case Danko and Larra are compared, but also the love of people for each other. For a writer, living with people and for people is of great value. However, even in this case, it is possible between them the emergence of conflicts and misunderstandings.

Old Isergil. Maxim Gorky (analysis)

Features of romanticism in Maxim Gorky’s story “Old Woman Izergil”

Conclusion

After analyzing the work and the characters of “Old Woman Izergil”, the reader can come to the conclusion that in Gorky’s story, indeed, deep issues raised and issues of attitude towards life and others. They make you think about the main human values.

Gorky's story "Old Woman Izergil" is a legendary work written in 1894. The ideological content of this story was fully consistent with the motifs that dominated the early romantic period of the writer’s work. The author, in his artistic search, tried to create a conceptual image of a person who is ready to make self-sacrifice for the sake of lofty humane goals.

History of the creation of the work.

It is believed that the work was written in the fall of 1894. The date is based on a letter from V. G. Korolenko to a member of the editorial committee of Russkie Vedomosti.

The story was first published a year later in Samara Gazeta (issues 80, 86, 89). It is noteworthy that this work was one of the first in which the revolutionary romanticism of the writer, improved in literary form a little later, is especially clearly manifested.

Ideology.

The writer tried to awaken a person’s faith in the future, to set the audience in a positive mood. The philosophical reflections of the main characters were of a specific moral nature. The author operates with such basic concepts as truth, self-sacrifice and the thirst for freedom.

An important nuance: the old woman Izergil in the story is a rather contradictory image, but, nevertheless, filled with high ideals. The author, inspired by the idea of ​​humanism, tried to demonstrate the strength of the human spirit and the depth of the soul. Despite all the hardships and hardships, despite the complexities of nature, the old woman Izergil retains faith in high ideals.

In fact, Izergil is the personification of the author's principle. She repeatedly emphasizes the primacy of human actions and their greatest role in shaping destiny.

Analysis of the work

Plot

The story is told by an old woman named Izergil. The first is the story of the proud Larra.

One day, a young girl is kidnapped by an eagle. The tribesmen search for her for a long time, but never find her. After 20 years, she herself returns to the tribe along with her son. He is handsome, brave and strong, with a proud and cold look.

In the tribe, the young man behaved arrogantly and rudely, showing contempt for even the most elderly and respected people. For this, his fellow tribesmen became angry and kicked him out, dooming him to eternal loneliness.

Larra has been living alone for a long time. From time to time he steals cattle and girls from former tribesmen. A rejected man rarely shows himself. One day he came too close to the tribe. The most impatient men rushed towards him.

Approaching closely, they saw that Larra was holding a knife and trying to kill himself with it. However, the blade did not even damage the man's skin. It became clear that the man was suffering from loneliness and dreaming of death. Nobody started killing him. Since then, the shadow of a handsome young man with the gaze of an eagle has been wandering around the world, who cannot wait for his death.

About the life of an old woman

An old woman talks about herself. She was once extraordinarily beautiful, loved life and enjoyed it. She fell in love at the age of 15, but did not experience all the joys of love. Unhappy relationships followed one after another.

However, not a single union brought those touching and special moments. When the woman turned 40, she came to Moldova. This is where she married and lived for the last 30 years. Now she is a widow, who can only remember the past.

As soon as night falls, mysterious lights appear in the steppe. These are sparks from Danko’s heart, which the old woman begins to talk about.

Once upon a time there lived a tribe in the forest, which was expelled by the conquerors, forcing them to live near the swamps. Life was hard, many members of the community began to die. In order not to submit to the terrible conquerors, it was decided to look for a way out of the forest. Brave and courageous Danko decided to lead the tribe.

The difficult path was exhausting, and there was no hope for a quick solution to the problem. No one wanted to admit their guilt, so everyone decided to blame the young leader for his ignorance.

However, Danko was so eager to help these people that he felt heat and fire in his chest. Suddenly he tore out his heart and raised it above his head like a torch. It lit the way.

People hastened to leave the forest and found themselves among the fertile steppes. And the young leader fell dead to the ground.

Someone approached Danko's heart and stepped on it. The dark night was illuminated by sparkles that can still be seen to this day. The story ends, the old woman falls asleep.

Description of the main characters

Larra is a proud individualist with exorbitant selfishness. He is the child of an eagle and an ordinary woman, so he not only considers himself better than others, but opposes his “I” to the entire society. A half-man, being in the company of people, strives for freedom. However, having received the desired independence from everything and everyone, he experiences bitterness and disappointment.

Loneliness is the worst punishment, much worse than death. In the emptiness around oneself, everything around oneself depreciates. The author is trying to convey the idea that before demanding anything from others, you should first do something useful for others. A true hero is one who does not put himself above others, but one who can sacrifice himself for the good of a high idea, carrying out difficult missions that are important for the entire people.

Danko is such a hero. This courageous and courageous man, despite his youth and inexperience, is ready to lead his tribe through the dense forests on a dark night in search of a bright future. In order to help his fellow tribesmen, Danko sacrifices his own heart, performing the greatest feat. He dies, but finds the freedom that Larra only dreams of.

A special character is the old woman Izergil. This lady not only tells the story of two men with radically different destinies, but also shares with the reader interesting stories from her own life. The woman thirsted for love all her life, but gravitated towards freedom. By the way, for the sake of her beloved, Izergil, like Danko, was capable of much.

Composition

The compositional structure of the story “Old Woman Izergil” is quite complex. The work consists of three episodes:

• The Legend of Larra;
• A woman's story about her life and love affairs;
• The Legend of Danko.

The first and third episodes tell about people whose life philosophies, morals and actions are radically opposite. Another interesting feature: the story is narrated by two people at once. The first narrator is the old woman herself, the second is an unknown author, giving an assessment of everything that is happening.

Conclusion

M. Gorkikh, in many of his novels, tried to reveal the key aspects of human morality, thinking about the main qualities of a typical hero: love of freedom, courage, fortitude, courage, a unique combination of nobility and love for humanity. Often the author “shaded” one or another of his thoughts using a description of nature.

In the story “Old Woman Izergil”, the description of landscapes allows us to show the beauty, sublimity and unusualness of the world, as well as man himself, as an integral component of the universe. Gorky's romanticism is expressed here in a special way: touching and naive, serious and passionate. The craving for beauty is associated with the realities of modern life, and the selflessness of heroism always calls for heroism.

The story “The Old Woman Izergil” (1894) is one of the masterpieces of M. Gorky’s early work. The composition of this work is more complex than the composition of the writer's other early stories. The story of Izergil, who has seen a lot in her life, is divided into three independent parts: the legend of Larra, Izergil’s story about her life, and the legend of Danko. At the same time, all three parts are united by a common idea, the author’s desire to reveal the value of human life. The legends about Larra and Danko reveal two concepts of life, two ideas about it. One of them belongs to a proud man who loved no one but himself. When Larra was told that “for everything a person takes, he pays with himself,” the selfish man replied that this law does not concern him, because he wants to remain “whole.”

The arrogant egoist imagined that he, the son of an eagle, was superior to other people, that everything was allowed to him and that only his personal freedom was valuable. This was an assertion of the right to dominance of a strong individual opposed to the masses. But free people rejected the individualist killer, condemning him to eternal loneliness. The self-loving Larra is contrasted with the hero of the second legend - Danko. Larra valued only himself and his freedom, but Danko decided to get it for the whole tribe. And if Larra did not want to give people even a particle of his “I”, then Danko died saving his fellow tribesmen. Illuminating the way forward, the daredevil “burned his heart for people and died without asking them for anything as a reward for himself.”

Izergil, whose raspy voice “sounded as if all forgotten centuries were grumbling,” told two ancient legends. But Gorky did not want to connect the answer to the question: “What is the meaning of life and real, not imaginary, freedom?” only with the wisdom of past years. The three-part composition allowed the artist to establish a connection between the legends told by the heroine and reality. Izergil’s narrative about her own fate, placed at the center of the work, serves as a connecting link between legend and real life. Izergil herself met freedom-loving and courageous people on her way: one of them fought for the freedom of the Greeks, the other ended up among the rebel Poles. And therefore, not only legends, but also her own observations led her to a significant conclusion: “When a person loves feats, he always knows how to do them and will find where it is possible. In life, you know, there is always room for exploits.” No less important is Izergil’s second conclusion: “Everyone is his own destiny!

“Along with the glorification of heroism in the name of people’s happiness, another, no less characteristic feature of Gorky’s work appeared in the story - exposing the cowardly inertia of the average person, the bourgeois desire for peace. When Danko died, his brave heart continued to burn, but “a cautious man noticed this and, fearing something, stepped on his proud heart.” What confused this man? Danko’s feat could inspire other young men in their tireless quest for freedom, and therefore the tradesman tried to extinguish the flame that illuminated the road ahead, although he himself took advantage of this light, finding himself in a dark forest. Ending the story with thoughts “about the great burning heart,” Gorky seemed to explain what the true immortality of man lies. Larra has alienated himself from people, and only a dark shadow reminds of him in the steppe, which is difficult to even discern. And a fiery memory of Danko’s feat was preserved: before a thunderstorm, blue sparks of his trampled heart flared up in the steppe. There is a clear connection in the story with the traditions of romanticism. They manifested themselves in the contrasting opposition of two heroes, in the use of traditional romantic images (darkness and light in the legend of Danko), in an exaggerated depiction of the heroes (“What will I do for people!?” Danko shouted louder than thunder”), in pathos, intense emotion speech. The connection with the romantic tradition is also felt in the interpretation of certain themes, for example, in Larra’s understanding of personal freedom. In the romantic traditions, pictures of nature are also given in the story.