Shukshin, "Critics": summary, main characters and analysis of the story

Today, it is rare to hear an objective judgment about how ordinary people lived in the Soviet Union. Young people are particularly difficult to navigate the flow of information, which often mixed diametrically opposed opinions. Some argue that the USSR was an earthly paradise for workers, workers and peasants, while others point to the monstrous contradictions characteristic of the "society of developed socialism", the system's systemic flaws and the absence of civil liberties. To judge who is right is difficult, each of the opinions on something is based. The atmosphere of the sixties was beautifully conveyed in his literary works and films by the great writer of the Russian land, Vasily Shukshin. The story of "Criticism", a brief summary of which will be given below and partly analyzed, is one of many characteristic of the creative legacy of this beautiful author.

Author

Despite many difficulties and tragic death, it can be argued that the creative destiny of Vasily Shukshin has developed in general and successfully. He managed to realize his plans, see his works printed, enjoy acting glory and get a well-deserved recognition of his own directorial works. Apparently, the main business of Shukshin's life was literature, and he gave most of his strength to it. He is sometimes called a village writer, although some of the stories occur in the city and with the townspeople (a vivid example is "Hello to Sivoy!"). Yes, the place of events, in general, and it does not matter, the main thing in these sketches (and they are in Chekhov's short) is completely different. About people wrote in the story in question Vasily Shukshin ("Critics"). The summary is set out inside the work itself in the language of the official police protocol, written illiterately, but conveying the facts fairly reliably.

Plot

Yes, indeed, an elderly man came home drunk. Then he made a scandal and smashed the screen of the TV picture tube with a booted boot (the district police officer specified the place of the damage, "where it usually happens"). The protocol has a large number of completely unnecessary details, and it would be one more if the witnesses remembered the name of the film that caused the conflict. Nevertheless, the document states that the movie was about collective farm life. Then the grandfather was taken to the sobering-up station. Formally, that's the whole story about which Shukshin wrote "Critics". The summary is the most laconic expression of the plot.

Preamble of the story

Yes, the plot is not simple at first glance. But there is also a history of scandalous events. After all, the story begins with a description of two people, a grandfather who is 73 years old, and a grandson, he is thirteen. Two characters, in honor of which, in fact, called the work Shukshin - critics. The brief content of the first part of the story contains information about the favorite form of leisure for grandfather and grandson, they go to the cinema. Movies sometimes they like, and sometimes the improbability of director's attempts to provoke their rejection. In any case, native people certainly discuss what they saw. At the same time, the grandfather does not miss the opportunity to point out the inconsistencies of the works, evidently in the genre of socialist realism, of real life, and do it in an expressive manner. It is clear that he is a seasoned man, who was fighting in his youth, who has seen a lot in his time and worked a lot. This was also Vasily Shukshin. "Critics", the main characters of the story, are close to him, he also despised the glossy brilliance of the official cinema art.

The emergence of conflict

The conflict begins at a time when the grandfather has not yet drunk alcohol. He came home with his grandson, and one can assume with a high degree of certainty that he would never allow himself to "eat" in front of the boy. There is a film on TV, his relatives come to see him and another guest, a family member, the boy's husband who visited the house, apparently for the first time. From the subsequent replicas of a drunken grandfather, one can understand that he was offended by the fact that he was not invited to the table. He did not give a kind look, but from the remark about the manner of the actor who was filming in the film, he could not hold the ax. In this whole Shukshin. "Critics", the short content of this story and its name in the aggregate suggest that the author had in mind not only grandfather and grandson. For secondary-looking characters, it's also very interesting to watch. They are also critics.

Tetkin's husband

The most brilliant, in addition to his grandfather and grandson, the hero of the narrative is the same husband of the sister of the boy's mother. He behaves at ease, believing, apparently, his position is the highest among all present, not to mention the elderly owner of the house and a young boy. The man is smiling all the time, and behind the intonations (in this the real mastery of the author was manifested) condescension is condescending. A good man would not have provoked an elderly carpenter, dragging him into a conflict situation that was known to be a conflict. He asked the old man again about the cause of the discontent, although he clearly defined it with the words "It does not happen that way." He triumphantly triumphs in the victory of his own intellect. Perhaps such Vasily Shukshin himself saw in the editorial offices and bureaucratic offices of such politely wicked villains. Critics, the main heroes of the ideological front, ready to wipe out the disagreeable author who writes "typical not that", personified in this character.

Father

The behavior of the son of the oldest character of the story, as well as the sister of his wife, who was obviously an ex-member, is also interesting. Maybe, in honor of them, Shukshin's "Critics" called his story? The summary of the conversation that took place before the TV before and after the accurate throw of the boot, speak in favor of this version. At first the father, trying to please the "dear guest", simultaneously tries to avoid the conflict, but it is unsuccessful. Grandfather understands his son's replicas as doubts about his own competence in carpentry. It seems to him that he is called a fool, although no one says this. It is this insult that forces the elderly person to leave the house and go to the nearest tavern. After the transition of the conflict to a "hot" stage, the father repeatedly repeats the completely inappropriate word "bother", which betrays his confusion, which does not prevent, however, cheerfully tie the old man's hands.

Aunt

There is another character who is rich in the story of "Critics". Shukshin clearly worried about the indifference of the guest, namely the sister of the mother of the boy, the former wife of his father. Apparently, after her successful marriage (according to the condescending intonations of her chosen one, one can assume that he is some kind of boss, and guesses from the mention of "writing at the studio" that he is on television), he felt an increase in his own social status. Aunt indulgently explains to the old man his vision of the role of art and its conventions, completely not caring about whether he understands it. It does not matter whether the actor is holding the ax correctly, and for grandfather it matters more. But the opinion of the elderly carpenter is indifferent to her.

The militiaman

The time of the described events can be established to within a calendar year, Vasily Shukshin took care of this. Analysis of the story "Critics" directly points to the date. Grandfather, according to the protocol, was born in 1890, he 73. So, the case takes place in 1963. In general, you can learn about the older "criticism" a lot, despite the brevity of the work. It is clear that his entire working career took place on the collective farm, which explains the scarcity of pensions. Going to the cinema "ate" her half, as much as five rubles.

So, in 1963 (and maybe a little earlier or later), Secretary General N.S. Khrushchev honestly answered the acute question of one of the correspondents concerning the presence of fools in the police service. The head of state admitted that they work everywhere (and not only in law enforcement agencies). One of them was brightly depicted by Shukshin. Critics, whose reviews at the time were equivalent to a sentence to a young writer, and also censors could not forgive a writer such liberties, but since the First Secretary himself acknowledged individual cases ...

The scene of "detention" of the grandfather with comments to the grandson that the criminal is now being put in jail, the style of the protocol drawn up at the scene, the boy's tears - all this makes a depressing impression. Especially considering that the senior sergeant Ermolai Kibiakov calls the old carpenter Uncle Timothy.

Shukshin, "Critics". the main idea

So what is the story about? Is it really only about how the pensioner Timofei Makarych Novoskoltsev, born in 1890, got into the police without any special signs? Or, maybe, about how he broke the TV? No, the story is not even about an old man with a rugged character who does not tolerate an indulgent attitude towards himself. He is about fathers and children, sons and grandchildren, relatives who are so often wounding each other in trying to simplify their lives. On the "straightforwardness that foolishness knows", about the lie, mocking simplicity, in general, the plot looks plain, but in fact Shakespeare's.

The themes of love for one's neighbor, respect for elders, patience and forgiveness permeate all the literary works of Vasily Shukshin, from the epic novel "I came to give you the will" to the very short story. About this and "Critics".

The narrative is laconic, but very capacious. The friendship of a teenager with his grandfather testifies to the enormous influence exerted on his emerging character by this seasoned old man. It would be more correct, perhaps, if the father was more engaged in the upbringing of his son, but it just so happened, and maybe, for the better. A guy will grow up and never repeat such mistakes. I want to believe in it.