Who wrote the story shot. Analysis of “Shot” Pushkin
I swore to shoot him by right of duel (he still had my shot left behind him).
Evening at the bivouac. I. We stood in the town of ***. The life of an army officer is known. In the morning training, playpen; lunch with the regimental commander or in a Jewish tavern; in the evening punch and cards. In *** there was not a single open house, not a single bride; we gathered at each other's houses, where we saw nothing but our uniforms.
The story “Shot” became the fourth in the cycle “Belkin’s Stories”. It was based on a real incident 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, the literary direction is realism. The hero Silvio at first appears to us as a 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 scare 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 a 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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Annotation
© Artist V. MILASHEVSKY
© Design by artist YU.BOYARSKY
© Illustrations. Publishing house "Fiction"
Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin
Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin
Belkin's stories
Mrs. Prostakova.
Well, my father, he is still a hunter of stories.
Skotinin.
Mitrofan for me. Minor
Shot
We were shooting. Baratynsky
I swore to shoot him by right of duel (he still had my shot left behind him). Evening at the bivouac
I
We were standing in the town of ***. The life of an army officer is known. In the morning training, playpen; lunch with the regimental commander or in a Jewish tavern; in the evening punch and cards. In *** there was not a single open house, not a single bride; we gathered at each other's houses, where we saw nothing but our uniforms.
Only one person belonged to our society, not being a military man. He was about thirty-five years old, and for that we considered him an old man. Experience gave him many advantages over us; Moreover, his usual gloominess, harsh disposition and evil tongue had a strong influence on our young minds. Some kind of mystery surrounded his fate; he seemed Russian, but had a foreign name. He once served in the hussars, and even happily; no one knew the reason that prompted him to resign and settle in a poor town, where he lived both poorly and wastefully: he always walked on foot, in a worn black frock coat, and kept an open table for all the officers of our regiment. True, his dinner consisted of two or three courses prepared by a retired soldier, but the champagne flowed like a river. No one knew either his fortune or his income, and no one dared to ask him about it. He had books, mostly military ones, and novels. He willingly gave them to read, never demanding them back; but he never returned to the owner the books he had borrowed. His main exercise was pistol shooting. The walls of his room were all riddled with bullets, all in holes, like a honeycomb. A rich collection of pistols was the only luxury of the poor hut where he lived. 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.
The conversation between us often concerned fights; Silvio (that's what I'll call him) never interfered with it. When asked if he had ever fought, he answered dryly that he had, but did not go into details, and it was clear that such questions were unpleasant to him. We believed that some unfortunate victim of his terrible art lay on his conscience. However, it never occurred to us to suspect anything like timidity in him. There are people whose appearance alone removes such suspicions. The accident surprised us all.
One day about ten of our officers were having lunch with Silvio. They drank as usual, that is, a lot; After lunch we began to persuade the owner to sweep the bank for us. For a long time he refused, because he almost never played; Finally he ordered the cards to be brought, poured fifty chervonets onto the table and sat down to throw. We surrounded him and the game began. Silvio used to remain completely silent while playing, never argued or explained himself. If the punter happened to be shortchanged, he immediately either paid the extra amount or wrote down the excess. We already knew this and did not stop him from managing things in his own way; but between us was an officer who had recently been transferred to us. He, while playing right there, absent-mindedly bent an extra corner. Silvio took the chalk and equalized the score as usual. The officer, thinking that he had made a mistake, launched into an explanation. Silvio continued throwing silently. The officer, losing patience, took a brush and erased what seemed to him to be written down in vain. Silvio took the chalk and wrote it down again. The officer, inflamed by the wine, the game and the laughter of his comrades, considered himself severely offended, and in a rage he grabbed a copper shandal from the table and threw it at Silvio, who barely managed to duck the blow. We were confused. Silvio stood up, pale with anger, and with sparkling eyes said: “Dear sir, if you please come out, and thank God that this happened in my house.”
We had no doubt about the consequences, and assumed that our new comrade had already been killed. The officer went out, saying that he was ready to answer for the insult, as the banker pleases. The game continued for several more minutes; but feeling that the owner had no time for the game, we fell behind one by one and scattered to our apartments, talking about an imminent vacancy.
The next day, in the arena, we were already asking whether the poor lieutenant was still alive, when he himself appeared among us; we asked him the same question. He replied that he had not yet had any news about Silvio. This surprised us. We went to Silvio and found him in the yard, putting bullet after bullet into an ace glued to the gate. He received us as usual, without saying a word about yesterday's incident. Three days passed, the lieutenant was still alive. We asked in surprise: will Silvio really not fight? Silvio didn't fight. He was content with a very easy explanation and made peace.
This greatly damaged him in the opinion of the youth. Lack of courage is least of all excused by young people, who usually see courage as the height of human virtue and an excuse for all sorts of vices. However, little by little everything was forgotten, and Silvio again regained his former influence.
I could no longer approach him alone. Having a naturally romantic imagination, I was most strongly attached to a man whose life was a mystery, and who seemed to me the hero of some mysterious story. He loved me; at least with me alone he abandoned his usual harsh slander and spoke about various subjects with simplicity and extraordinary pleasantness. But after the unhappy evening, the thought that his honor was soiled and not washed through his own fault, this thought did not leave me and prevented me from treating him as before; I was ashamed to look at him. Silvio was too smart and experienced not to notice this and not guess the reasons for it. This seemed to upset him; at least I noticed twice in him a desire to explain himself to me; but I avoided such cases, and Silvio abandoned me. From then on, I saw him only in front of my comrades, and our previous, frank conversations ceased.
Absent-minded residents of the capital have no idea about many experiences that are so familiar to residents of villages or towns, for example, about waiting for mail day: on Tuesday and Friday, our regimental office was full of officers: some were waiting for money, some for letters, some for newspapers. The packages were usually immediately unsealed, the news was reported, and the office presented the most animated picture. Silvio received letters addressed to our regiment and was usually right there. One day they handed him a package, from which he tore the seal with an air of great impatience. As he ran through the letter, his eyes sparkled. The officers, each busy with their letters, did not notice anything. “Gentlemen,” Silvio told them, “circumstances require my immediate absence; I'm going tonight; I hope that you will not refuse to dine with me for the last time. “I’m waiting for you too,” he continued, turning to me, “I’m definitely waiting.” With this word he hurriedly left; and we, having agreed to unite at Silvio’s, each went our separate ways.
The army regiment is stationed in the town of ***. Life goes according to the routine established in the army, and the garrison boredom is dispelled only by the officers’ acquaintance with a certain man named Silvio, who lives in this place. He is older than most of the regiment's officers, gloomy, has a tough temper and an evil tongue. There is some secret in his life that Silvio does not reveal to anyone. It is known that Silvio once served in a hussar regiment, but the reason for his resignation is unknown to anyone, as well as the reason for living in this outback. Neither his income nor his fortune are known, but he keeps an open table for the officers of the regiment, and at dinners champagne flows like a river. For this, everyone is ready to forgive him. The mystery of Silvio's figure sets off his almost supernatural skill in shooting with a pistol. He does not take part in the officers’ conversations about fights, and when asked if he has ever fought, he answers dryly that he has. Among themselves, the officers believe that some unfortunate victim of his inhuman art lies on Silvio’s conscience. One day, several officers gathered at Silvio’s as usual. Having drunk a fair amount, they started a card game and asked Silvio to sweep the bank. During the game, as usual, he was silent and wordlessly corrected the punters’ mistakes in the notes. One young officer, who had recently joined the regiment and did not know Silvio’s habits, thought that he had made a mistake. Enraged by Silvio's silent persistence, the officer threw a shandal at his head. Silvio, pale with anger, asked the officer to leave. Everyone considered the fight inevitable and had no doubt about its outcome, but Silvio did not call the officer, and this circumstance ruined his reputation in the eyes of the officers, but gradually everything returned to normal and the incident was forgotten. Only one officer, with whom Silvio sympathized more than the others, could not come to terms with the idea that Silvio had not washed away the insult.
One day, at the regimental office, where mail arrived, Silvio received a package, the contents of which greatly excited him. He announced his unexpected departure to the assembled officers and invited everyone to a farewell dinner. Late in the evening, when everyone was leaving Silvio's house, the owner asked the officer he liked most to stay and revealed his secret to him.
Several years ago, Silvio received a slap in the face, and his offender is still alive. This happened during the years of his service, when Silvio had a violent temper. He was the leader in the regiment and enjoyed this position until “a young man of a rich and noble family” joined the regiment. He was the most brilliantly lucky man, who was always fabulously lucky in everything. At first he tried to achieve Silvio’s friendship and affection, but, not succeeding in this, he moved away from him without regret. Silvio's championship wavered, and he began to hate this favorite of fortune. Once, at a ball held by a Polish landowner, they quarreled, and Silvio received a slap in the face from his enemy. At dawn there was a duel, to which the offender Silvio came with a cap full of ripe cherries. By lot, he got the first shot, having fired it and shot through Silvio’s cap, he stood calmly at the point of his pistol and happily feasted on cherries, spitting out the seeds, which sometimes flew to his opponent. His indifference and equanimity infuriated Silvio, and he refused to shoot. His opponent indifferently said that Silvio would have the right to use his shot whenever he pleased. Soon Silvio retired and retired to this place, but not a day passed that he did not dream of revenge. And finally his time has come. They inform him “that a famous person will soon enter into a legal marriage with a young and beautiful girl.” And Silvio decided to see “whether he will accept death as indifferently before his wedding as he once waited for it behind the cherries!” The friends said goodbye and Silvio left.
A few years later, circumstances forced the officer to resign and settle in his poor village, where he died of boredom until Count B*** came to a neighboring estate with his young wife. The narrator goes to visit them. The Count and Countess charmed him with their social manners. On the wall of the living room, the narrator's attention is drawn to a painting riddled with "two bullets embedded in one another." He praised the successful shot and said that he knew in his life a man whose shooting skill was truly amazing. When asked by the count what the shooter's name was, the narrator named Silvio. At this name, the Count and Countess were embarrassed. The Count asks if Silvio told his friend about one strange story, and the narrator realizes that the count is the same old offender of his friend. It turns out that this story had a continuation, and the shot-through picture is a kind of monument to their last meeting.
It happened five years ago in this very house, where the Count and Countess spent their honeymoon. One day the count was informed that a certain person was waiting for him, who did not want to give his name. Entering the living room, the count found Silvio there, whom he did not immediately recognize and who reminded him of the shot left behind him and said that he had come to unload his pistol. The countess could come in any minute. The Count was nervous and in a hurry, Silvio hesitated and finally forced the Count to draw lots again. And again the count got the first shot. Against all the rules, he fired and shot through the picture hanging on the wall. At that moment the frightened countess ran in. The husband began to assure her that they were just joking with an old friend. But what was happening did not look too much like a joke. The Countess was on the verge of fainting, and the enraged Count shouted at Silvio to shoot quickly, but Silvio replied that he would not do this, that he saw the main thing - the Count’s fear and confusion, and he had had enough. The rest is a matter of conscience for the count himself. He turned and walked towards the exit, but stopped right at the door and, almost without aiming, fired and hit exactly the place in the painting shot through by the count. The narrator did not meet Silvio again, but heard that he died while participating in the Greek uprising led by Alexander Ypsilanti.
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. Officers quarrel during card game- 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 things begin to develop between the neighbors. friendly relations. 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 the 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 this is not just about 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 deep meaning. This is not just the story of an extraordinary duel, it is the story of the human soul, the story of the “external” and “internal” man.
