Roman Fadeyev "Defeat": analysis

In 1927 A. Fadeyev's novel "The Rout" was published, in which the author turned to the events of the revolution and civil war. By the time this topic was already sufficiently covered in the literature. Some writers considered events that completely changed the life of the country, as the greatest tragedy of the people, others portrayed everything in a romantic aura.

A somewhat different approach to the coverage of the revolutionary movement Fadeyev Alexander. He continued the tradition of L. Tolstoy in the study of the human soul and created a psychological novel that often blamed him for "new writers" who rejected classical traditions.

The plot and composition of the work

The action is developing in the Far East, where the combined forces of the White Guards and the Japanese fought bitterly against the partisans of Primorye. The latter often found themselves in complete isolation and had to act independently without receiving support. It is in this situation that Levinson's detachment, about whom Fadeyev's novel "The Rout" is narrated. Analysis of his composition determines the main task that the writer set himself: to create psychological portraits of the people of the revolution.

The novel of 17 chapters can be conditionally divided into 3 parts.

1. 1-9 chapters - an extensive exposition acquainting with the situation and the main characters: Frosty, Mechik, Levinson. The detachment is on vacation, but its commander must maintain discipline in the "combat unit" and be ready to speak at any time. Here, the main conflicts are outlined and the action takes place.
2. 10-13 chapters - the detachment makes endless transitions and enters minor encounters with the enemy. Fadeyev Alexander Alexandrovich pays great attention to the development of the characters of the main characters, often falling into difficult situations.
3. 14-17 chapters - the culmination of action and denouement. Of the entire squad, forced alone to fight, only 19 remain alive. But the main emphasis is on the moral choice of Morozka and Mechik, caught up in equal conditions - in the face of death.

Thus, in the novel there is no heroic description of the combat feats of people defending the ideas of the revolution. To show the influence of the events that took place on the formation of the human person - A. Fadeev aspired to this. "The defeat" is an analysis of a difficult situation, when a "selection of human material" takes place. In such conditions, according to the author, everything "hostile is swept away," and "rose from the genuine roots of the revolution ... tempered, grows, develops."

Antithesis as the main reception of the novel

Contrast in the work occurs at all levels. It concerns the positions of the opposing sides (the "reds" - "whites"), and the moral analysis of the actions of people involved in the events that served as the basis for Fadeyev's novel "The Rout."

The analysis of the images of the protagonists, Morozki and Metchik, makes it clear that they are opposed in everything: origin and education, appearance, committed acts and their motivation, relations with people, place in the detachment. Thus, the author gives his answer to the question, what is the path of different social groups in the revolution.

Frozen

With the "miner in the second generation" the reader is already acquainted in the first chapter. This is a young man who goes through a complex path of becoming a person.

At first it seems that Morozka consists of some flaws. Rude, uneducated, constantly violating discipline in the detachment. He did all his actions rashly, and life seemed to him "simple, uncharitable." At the same time, the reader immediately notices his boldness: he, risking his life, saves an absolutely unfamiliar person - Metchik.

Frosty pays much attention to Fadeyev's novel "Defeat". An analysis of his actions makes it possible to understand how the attitude of the hero to himself and others changed. The first significant event for him was the court for stealing melons. The frost shook and frightened him that he could be expelled from the detachment, and for the first time he gave the "miner's" word to reform, which he would never violate. Gradually, the hero realizes his responsibility to the detachment, learns to live meaningfully.

The advantage of Morozka was that he clearly knew why he had come to the detachment. He was always attracted only to the best people, many of which in Fadeyev's novel "The Rout." An analysis of the actions of Levinson, Baklanov, Goncharenko will be the basis for the formation of the best miner in the former miner. A loyal comrade, a self-sacrificing fighter, a man who feels responsible for his actions, Morozka appears in the finale, when the detachment saves her life at the cost of her own life.

Mechik

Absolutely different Paul. For the first time appearing in the rushing crowd, he will never find his place until the end of the novel.

Metchik is introduced into Fadeyev's novel "The Rout", not by accident. The urban citizen, educated and well educated, clean (in the hero's description words with diminutive suffixes are often used) is a typical representative of the intelligentsia, whose attitude to the revolution has always provoked controversy.

Mecik often provokes contempt. Once he imagined a romantic, heroic atmosphere that would await him in the war. When the reality turned out to be quite different ("dirtier, lousy, harder"), I was very disappointed. And the more Metchik was in the detachment, the more subtle was the connection between him and the partisans. Pavel does not use the opportunity to become part of the "detachment mechanism" - Fadeev often gives them to them. The "defeat", whose problems are connected with the role of the intelligentsia in the revolution, ends with the moral fall of the hero. He betrays the detachment, and the condemnation of his own cowardice is quickly replaced by joy from the fact that for him the "terrible life" has now ended.

Levinson

This character begins and ends the narrative. The role of Levinson is significant: it helps to unite the detachment, unites the partisans into one whole.

The hero is interested in the fact that his appearance (due to the low growth and red beard with a wedge he resembled the Dwarf Mecca) did not correspond in any way to the image of a heroic commander in a leather jacket, created in literature. But the unsightly appearance only emphasized the uniqueness of the person. The attitude to him of all the heroes of Fadeyev's novel "The Rout", the analysis of actions and thoughts prove that Levinson was an unquestioned authority for everyone in the detachment. No one could even imagine a commander in doubt, he always served as an example of a "special, right breed." Even the moment when the peasants are selected the last to rescue the detachment, it seems, for example, Morozka is not robbery, similar to the stealing of melons, but a necessary thing. And only the reader becomes a witness of the fact that Levinson is a living person with inherent fears and insecurities.

It is also noteworthy that difficulties only harden the commander, make him stronger. Only such a person, according to the writer, can lead people.

The idea of the novel, as Fadeyev saw it

The "defeat", the content and theme of which is largely explained by the author himself, shows how in the process of complex historical events the true character of man manifests itself.

"The huge alteration of people" refers to representatives of different ages and social groups. Some of them come out of the tests with dignity, in the moral appearance of others, emptiness and worthlessness are exposed.

Today the work of Fadeyev is perceived ambiguously. So, to the indisputable merits of the novel can be attributed a deep analysis of the psychology of the main characters, especially since this was almost the first attempt in postrevolutionary literature. But at the same time it is difficult to agree with the opinion that for the sake of the triumph of the idea all the methods are good, even the murder of the fatally wounded Frolov. No purpose can justify cruelty and violence - this is the main principle of the indestructible laws of humanism, on which humanity is held.