After the death of his father, Alyosha Peshkov began to live in his grandfather's house AND DID NOT LOVE HIM IMMEDIATELY. The closest person to him was his grandmother. The boy was drawn to people and with some unknown feeling he understood which person was kind and which was evil.
Alyosha was especially interested in the freeloader, who rented a room next to the kitchen. He was a thin, round-shouldered man with a white face, silent, inconspicuous, and completely alone. The Good Deed dressed poorly, and his clothes were always wrinkled, in patches. A dirty collar of his shirt stuck out above the collar of his jacket, his trousers were stained and on his bare feet there were worn-out shoes. His room was as untidy as its occupant. All these details describing the freeloader underline the fact that this person was completely alone. In the room he had some kind of bottles filled with multi-colored liquids. Pieces of copper and rods of lead lay all around. He was always busy with some strange things: soldering, melting, weighing something. Alyosha secretly watched him. This strange enthusiastic person, unlike everyone who surrounded Alyosha, was very attracted to him.
Good Deed had kind eyes that looked attentively through glasses, Alyosha understood that only good man and he was drawn to it. When invited to dine or drink tea, he invariably replied: "Good job!". Grandmother Akulina Ivanovna began to call him in the eyes and behind the eyes. No one in the house liked the Good Deed, everyone spoke of him mockingly, called him a pharmacist, a sorcerer. Once Alyosha approached him, what does he do. Instead of answering, the freeloader invited him to his place through the window. But having learned who Alyosha was, Good Deed promised to make a liquor for a bat and in return asked him not to come to him anymore. He knew that grandfather would punish his grandson for such friendship - this offended the boy and he replied: "I will never come anyway." And yet Alyosha was drawn to him, a strange friendship began between Alyosha and Good Deed. Good Deed, instilled in him a love of reading books, his experiments aroused curiosity in the boy. He always gave valuable advice. Once Alyosha went with his grandmother to Sennaya Square for water, and saw how five burghers beat one. The boy was shocked by what he saw and ran to the freeloader and began to talk excitedly. He listened and said: “You brother don’t stop at these cases - it’s not good to remember. With this advice, he protected Alyosha, fearing that the soul of the child would harden. Grandmother arranged tea parties on rainy evenings. She invited everyone and told different tales or stories. One story about Myron the Hermit impressed H.D. This is terribly true, ours ... "His eyes were full of tears." write down what grandmother says. This, brother, will come in handy! - he said to Alyosha. Grandmother felt that his influence on her grandson was great and therefore one day he was asked to leave the room, saying that Alyosha's mother would live here. It was not true, everyone understood this. For that they don't like you? - asked A.Kh.D. hugged him and answered: “Alien, you understand? That's for it. Not like that ... ”In the evening, affectionately saying goodbye to everyone, he left. Thus ended A.'s friendship with the first person from an endless series of people in his native country, her best people.
The story of Maxim Gorky "Childhood" was written in 1913 and was included in the collection of stories and essays "Across Russia". The work is written in the genre of an autobiographical story, in which the author rethought and portrayed many episodes from his childhood in a different way. Through the eyes of the main character, the boy Alexei Kashirin, the reader sees the harsh, very cruel world surrounding the hero, which, nevertheless, is inextricably linked with the fairy tales that his grandmother told Alexei. The story refers to literary direction"neorealism".
On our website you can read online a summary of "Childhood" chapter by chapter. Gorky in his story revealed many "eternal" topics: the relationship of fathers and children, the development of a child's personality, the formation of a person in society and the search for one's place in the world. Retelling "Childhood" will be useful to students in grade 7 in preparing for the lesson or control work by work.
main characters
Alexei- the main character of the work, whose childhood the reader follows throughout the story and on whose behalf the entire description of the story "Childhood" is conducted.
Akulina Ivanovna Kashirina- Alexei's grandmother, "round, big-headed, with huge eyes and a funny loose nose" with a luxurious thick braid, "moved easily and dexterously, like a big cat - she is as soft as this affectionate beast."
Vasily Vasilievich Kashirin- Alexei's grandfather, very strict, "a small, dry old man, in a black long robe, with a red beard like gold, with a bird's nose and green eyes."
Other heroes
barbarian- Alexei's mother, "herself an orphan for life."
Michael- Uncle Alexei, "black smooth-haired."
Jacob- Uncle Alexei, "dry, like a grandfather, fair and curly."
Gregory- a half-blind master who served with the Kashirins, "a bald, bearded man in dark glasses."
Ivan the Gypsy- the adopted son of the Kashirins, an apprentice, "square, broad-chested, with a huge curly head." Cheerful and resourceful guy, but naive as a child.
Good Deed- a freeloader, one of the guests of the Kashirins, "a thin, round-shouldered man, with a white face in a black forked beard, with kind eyes, wearing glasses", "silent, invisible."
Evgeny Maksimov- stepfather of Alexei, second husband of Varvara.
Chapter 1
The main character, the boy Alexei, lived with his mother and father in Astrakhan. The story begins with the boy's memories of how his father Maxim dies of cholera. From grief at the mother of Alexei, Varvara, on the day of her husband's death, premature birth began. The boy remembered everything very vaguely, in fragments, since at that time he was very ill.
After the funeral, the boy's grandmother Akulina Ivanovna Kashirina took her daughter with two grandchildren to Nizhny Novgorod. The family was on a boat, the main character's little brother Maxim died on the way, and during a stop in Saratov, the women carried out and buried the dead baby. To distract Alexei from everything that was happening, the grandmother told the boy on the road fairy tales, which she knew a lot.
In Nizhny Novgorod, grandmother, mother and Alexei were met by the large Kashirin family. Immediately, the boy met the head of the family - a strict, wizened old man - Vasily Vasilyich Kashirin, as well as his uncles - Mikhail and Yakov, cousins. The boy immediately did not like the grandfather, since he "immediately felt an enemy in him."
Chapter 2
The whole large family lived in a huge house, but everyone constantly quarreled and quarreled with each other. Alexei was very frightened by the constant hostility in the family, because he was used to living in a friendly atmosphere. In the lower part of the house there was a dyeing workshop - the reason for the feud between uncles and grandfather (the old man did not want to give them part of the workshop - Varvara's inheritance, which the woman did not receive, as she married without the blessing of her grandfather).
According to family custom, every Saturday the grandfather punished all the guilty grandchildren - flogged them with rods. Alyosha did not escape this fate either - one of his cousins persuaded him to paint the front tablecloth. Grandfather was very angry when he learned about this prank. During the punishment, the boy, not accustomed to beatings, bit his grandfather, for which the old man, very angry, severely cut him off.
After that, Alexei was ill for a long time, and one day his grandfather himself came to put up with him, talking about his difficult past. The boy realized that his grandfather was "not evil and not terrible."
Ivan Tsyganok made a special impression on Alexei, who also came to talk to him. Tsyganok told the boy that during the punishment he stood up for him, putting his hand under the rods so that they would break.
Chapter 3
When Alexei recovered, he began to communicate more with Gypsy and they became friends. The gypsy was thrown one winter to the house of his grandparents, and the woman, insisting that he should be left, brought him up almost like her own son. Grandmother was sure all the time that Tsyganok would not die a natural death.
Soon Tsyganok died (as master Gregory said, he was killed by his uncle Alexei). This happened by chance: one day, Yakov decided to take a heavy oak cross to the grave of his wife, whom he himself killed, (the man vowed after his wife’s death that on the anniversary day he would carry this cross on his own shoulders to her grave). Ivan-Tsyganok and Mikhail helped Yakov. Carrying the butt, Tsyganok stumbled at some point and the brothers, fearing that they would be crippled, lowered the cross. Heavy wood crushed Ivan, from which he soon died.
Chapter 4
The atmosphere in the house was getting worse, the only outlet for the hero was communication with his grandmother. Alexei really liked to watch how his grandmother prayed. After praying, she told the boy stories about angels, devils, heaven and God.
One evening, the Kashirins' workshop caught fire. While grandfather could not pull himself together, grandmother organized people and ran into the burning workshop herself to take out a bottle of vitriol, which could explode and smash the whole house.
Chapter 5
"By Spring, the Uncles Divided". “Mikhail went across the river, and my grandfather bought himself a big house on Polevaya Street, with a tavern in the lower stone floor, with a small cozy room in the attic and a garden.” The grandfather rented the whole house to the tenants and only on the top floor did he set aside a large room for himself and receiving guests, while grandmother and Alexei settled in the attic. The boy's mother came very rarely and not for long.
Grandmother understood herbs and potions, so many people turned to her for help as a doctor and midwife. Once a woman briefly told Alexei about her childhood and youth. Grandmother's mother was a skilled lacemaker, but one day the master scared her and the woman jumped out of the window. The woman did not die, but only lost her arm, so she had to leave her craft and walk with her daughter around people, asking for alms. The woman gradually taught the girl everything she knew - lace weaving, healer's business. My grandfather also spoke about his childhood, who remembered his early years “from a Frenchman”. The man shared his memories of the war, of the French prisoners.
After some time, grandfather began to teach Alexei to read and write from church books. The boy turned out to be a capable student. Alexei was rarely allowed to walk outside, as the local boys constantly beat him.
Chapter 6
One evening, an excited Yakov ran up, reporting that the enraged son Mikhail was coming to his grandfather to kill him and take away Varvara's dowry. The grandfather drove his son away, but Mikhail did not calm down and began to come to them regularly, arguing all over the street. Once the grandfather came up to the window with a lit candle, Mikhail threw a stone at him, but did not hit, only breaking the glass. Another time, my uncle, trying to knock out the front door with a thick stake, broke a small window next to the door. And when the grandmother put out her hand to drive him away, he hit her too, breaking the bone. Angry, the grandfather opened the door, hit Mikhail with a shovel, doused him with cold water and, having tied him up, laid him in the bathhouse. A chiropractor was called to Grandmother's - a hunched, with a sharp nose, an old woman leaning on a stick. Alexei mistook her for death itself and tried to drive her away.
Chapter 7
Alexei “realized very early that his grandfather had one god, and his grandmother had another.” Grandmother prayed differently every time, as if communicating with God, and her God was always there. Everything on earth was subject to him. "Grandmother's god was understandable to me and not terrible, but before him it was impossible to lie, it's a shame." Once a woman, teaching her grandson, said “memorable words” to him: “Do not get confused in the affairs of adults! Adults are corrupt people; they have been tested by God, but you have not yet, and live with the mind of a child. Wait for the Lord to touch your heart, show you your work, lead you on your path, understand? Who is to blame for what is none of your business. God judge and punish. Him, not us! . The grandfather's god, on the contrary, was cruel, but helped him. The old man always prayed the same way, like a Jew: he took the same posture and recited the same prayers.
When master Gregory became blind, his grandfather drove him out into the street, and the man had to go begging. Grandmother always tried to serve him. The woman was sure that God would definitely punish her grandfather for this.
Chapter 8
At the end of winter, my grandfather sold the old house and bought a new, more comfortable one along Kanatnaya Street, also with an overgrown garden. Grandfather began to recruit tenants and soon the house was full strangers, among which Aleksey nahlebnykh was especially attracted by “Good Deed” (the man constantly uttered these words). There were many strange things in his room, the freeloader was constantly inventing something, melting metals.
Once a grandmother told a fairy tale about Ivan the Warrior and Myron the Hermit, in which Miron, before his death, began to pray for the whole human world, but the prayer turned out to be so long that he reads it to this day. At the end, the freeloader burst into tears, after which he asked for forgiveness for his weakness, justifying himself that “You see, I’m terribly alone, I don’t have anyone! You are silent, you are silent, - and suddenly - it will boil in your soul, it will break through ... Ready to speak to a stone, a tree. His words impressed Alexei.
Aleksey gradually became friends with the freeloader, although grandparents did not like their friendship - they considered the Good Deed to be a sorcerer, they were afraid that he would burn down the house. The guest always knew when Alexei was telling the truth and when he was lying. The freeloader taught the boy that “real strength is in the speed of movement; the faster, the stronger." However, after some time, Good Deed survived and he had to leave.
Chapter 9
Once Aleksey, passing by Ovsyannikov's house, saw three boys playing in the yard through a crack in the fence. The hero became an accidental witness of how the younger boy fell into the well and helped the elders to pull him out. Alexey began to make friends with the guys, came to visit them, until the colonel, the boys' grandfather, saw him. When Ovsyannikov put the hero out of his house, the boy called him "old devil", for which his grandfather severely punished him and forbade him to be friends with the "barchuks". Once the driver Peter noticed that the boy was communicating with them through the fence and reported to his grandfather. From that moment on, a war began between Alexei and Peter. They constantly messed with each other, until Peter was killed for robbing churches - a cab driver was found dead in the garden of the Kashirins.
Chapter 10
Alex rarely remembered his mother. One winter, she returned and, settling in the freeloader's room, began to teach the boy grammar and arithmetic. The grandfather tried to force the woman to marry again, but she refused in every possible way. The grandmother tried to stand up for her daughter, the grandfather got angry and beat his wife severely, after which Alexei helped the grandmother to get the hairpins deeply embedded under the skin out of her head. Seeing that the grandmother was not offended by the grandfather, the boy said to her: “You are exactly a saint, they are torturing you, they are torturing you, but nothing to you!” . Deciding to take revenge on his grandfather for his grandmother, the boy cut his saints.
Grandfather began to arrange “evenings” in the house, inviting guests, among whom was an old taciturn watchmaker. Grandfather wanted to marry Varvara to him, but the woman, indignant, refused to marry him.
Chapter 11
“After this story [about the refusal of the watchmaker to marry], the mother immediately got stronger, stiffly straightened up and became the mistress of the house.” The woman began to invite the Maximov brothers to visit.
After Christmas, Alexei fell ill with smallpox. Grandmother began to drink, hiding a kettle of alcohol under the boy's bed. All the time while Alexei was sick, she looked after him, talking about Alexei's father. Maxim was the son of a soldier, he was a cabinetmaker by profession. They married Varvara against the will of their grandfather, so he did not immediately accept his son-in-law. Grandmother immediately liked Maxim, since he had the same cheerful and easy character as hers. After a quarrel with Varvara's brothers (they tried to drown their son-in-law drunk), Maxim and his family left for Astrakhan.
Chapter 12
Varvara married Evgeny Maksimov. Alexei did not like his stepfather right away. The mother and her new husband soon left. Alexei made himself a refuge in a hole in the garden, and spent almost the whole summer there. My grandfather sold the house and told my grandmother to go feed herself. The old man rented two dark rooms for himself in the basement; the grandmother lived for some time with one of her sons.
Soon Evgeny and again pregnant Varvara arrived. They told everyone that their housing had burned down, but it was clear that the stepfather had lost everything. The young people rented very modest housing in Sormovo, and Babushka and Alyosha moved in with them. Yevgeny made a living by buying credit notes from workers for nothing for food, which they were given instead of money.
Alexei was sent to school, but he did not get along well with the teachers: the children ridiculed his poor clothes, the teachers did not like his behavior.
The stepfather took a mistress and began to beat his wife, for which Alexei somehow almost stabbed him. Varvara's mother gave birth to a sick boy, Sasha, who died shortly after the birth of her second child, Nikolai.
Chapter 13
Alexey and his grandmother again began to live with his grandfather. In his old age, the man became quite stingy, so he divided the household in half, carefully making sure that they did not eat his food. Grandmother earned a living by weaving lace and embroidery, Alyosha collected rags and rented them out, stole firewood with other boys.
Alexei successfully moved to the third grade, he was even awarded a commendable diploma and a set of books. Soon a very sick mother came to them with a small, sick scrofula, Nikolai, since Eugene lost his job. The woman was very sick, every day she got worse. In August, when her stepfather again found a job and just rented a house, Varvara died without saying goodbye to her husband.
After Varvara was buried, grandfather told Alexei that “you are not a medal, on my neck there is no place for you, but go and join the people.”
And the boy went to the people.
Conclusion
The work of Maxim Gorky “Childhood” tells about the difficult childhood of little Alexei Kashirin, who, in spite of everything, gratefully accepted his fate: “as a child, I imagine myself as a beehive, where various simple, gray people carried, like bees, the honey of their knowledge and thoughts about life, generously enriching my soul, whoever could. Often this honey was dirty and bitter, but all knowledge is still honey.
The central idea of the story, which can be traced even when reading brief retelling“Childhood” of Gorky is the idea that always and in everything you need to look for something good: “Our life is not only amazing because a layer of any bestial rubbish is so prolific and fat in it, but because through this layer it is still victorious the bright, healthy and creative sprouts, the good - human grows, arousing indestructible hope for our rebirth to a light, human life.
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Retelling rating
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(M. Gorky. "Childhood")
Good Deed lived in a small, long room at the back of the Kashirins' house. He was a very quiet, reserved, uncommunicative person. No one knew exactly who he was, where he came from and what he was doing. The room he rented was full of jars and bottles of multi-colored liquids, thick, incomprehensible books. This man spent whole days conjuring over some mysterious drawings, mixing everything in a jar, which he put on fire from time to time. Because of his obscure occupation, he seemed suspicious, and therefore everyone shunned and disliked him.
Grandma called him a Good Deed. When she invited him to eat or drink tea, he invariably answered: "Good deal."
Mystery is always attractive. Therefore, it is not surprising that the inquisitive Alyosha was drawn to the Good Cause. In addition, the short-sighted eyes of this man seemed surprisingly kind to the boy. The first close acquaintance with an extraordinary person did not bring Alyosha joy - he offered him to make a copper ball for the game in exchange for friendship. This made the boy very upset. But, as it turned out later, the man did this in order to avoid grandfather's spanking. With Good Deed Alyosha was easy and simple. They talked a lot, and these conversations gave the boy untold pleasure. The words “terribly alone”, which the guest said to himself in a conversation with his grandmother, shocked the boy, in them “there was something understandable to me that touched my heart ...”. With Good Deed Alyosha was always frank and honest. The man appreciated it, because he himself was just that.
But soon the grandfather, who was afraid of a bad influence on Alyosha from his guest, evicted him. Remembering this, the boy says: “Thus ended my friendship with the first person from an endless series of strangers in his native country, her best people ...”
Composition on the topic: HOW DID FRIENDSHIP WITH A GOOD DEAL ENRICH ALYOSHA? (M. Gorky. "Childhood")
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Retelling plan
1. Alyosha Peshkov's father dies. She and her mother moved to Nizhny Novgorod.
2. The boy meets his numerous relatives.
3. Morals of the Kashirin family.
4. Alyosha learns the story of the Gypsy and becomes attached to him with all his heart.
5. One of the evenings in the Kashirins' house.
6. Death of a Gypsy.
7. The boy's acquaintance with the Good Deed.
8. Fire in the dyeing workshop.
9. Death of aunt Natalia.
10. The family is divided. Alyosha, together with his grandfather and grandmother, move to another house.
11. Grandfather teaches the boy to read.
12. Grandfather treats grandma rudely in front of Alyosha.
13. Fights in the Kashirin family.
14. Alyosha learns that grandfather and grandmother believe in God in different ways.
15. The boy is sad because he has no friends.
16. Moving to a new house. Friendship with a Good Deed.
17. Alyosha makes friends with Uncle Peter.
18. The boy gets acquainted with the neighbor's guys.
19. Alyosha's mother returns to her parents' family.
20. Difficult relationship between grandfather and his daughter (Alyosha's mother).
21. Alyosha goes to school.
22. Severe illness of a boy. Grandmother tells him about his father.
23. Alyosha's mother is getting married again and, leaving, does not take her son with her.
24. Mother and stepfather return, and then (already together with Alyosha) move to Sormovo.
25. Difficult relationship between mother and stepfather.
26. Alyosha, standing up for his mother, attacks his stepfather.
27. The boy lives with his grandparents again. They divided the property.
28. Alyosha, feeling sorry for his grandmother, begins to work. He gives her money.
29. The boy successfully passes the exam in the third grade.
30. Alyosha's mother dies. Grandfather sends his grandson to the people.
retelling
Chapter I
The chapter begins with a description of the experiences of the little hero-narrator connected with the death of his father. He cannot understand why this happened. The boy's memory was the funeral ceremony of his father, moving from Astrakhan to Nizhny Novgorod. The impression from the first meeting with the grandfather - Vasily Kashirin - and numerous relatives is indelible. The boy looked with curiosity at the house, yard, workshop (dyeing) of grandfather Kashirin.
Chapter II
Description of the life of a half-orphan boy in his grandfather's house. A story about hostility between uncles over an undivided inheritance. All this directly concerns his mother, Varvara Vasilievna. Alyosha received his first literacy lessons from Aunt Natalya, who taught him the prayer "Our Father ..."
On Saturdays, the grandfather flogged the guilty grandchildren. For the first time, Alyosha saw how his cousin Sasha was flogged by a red-hot thimble. The boy is proud of his mother, considers her strong.
Alyosha also managed to be guilty. At the prompt of Yashka, he stole a white tablecloth from his grandmother, deciding to see what it would be like if it was dyed. He dipped the white tablecloth into the paint vat. For this he was punished by his grandfather. First he whipped Sasha, and then Alyosha. Alyosha's grandfather struck him unconscious, and for several days he fell ill, lying upside down in bed.
Grandmother came to see him, then grandfather also looked in. He sat with Alyosha for a long time, telling him about his life. So Alyosha became friends with his grandfather. He learned that his grandfather used to be a barge hauler. Tsyganok came to Alyosha, talked about his life, taught the boy to be more cunning.
Chapter III
Alyosha recovered and began to communicate with Gypsy. The gypsy woman occupied a special place in the house. Grandfather treated him with respect, his uncles also did not slander, did not “joke” at him. But for master Gregory, they arranged something offensive and evil almost every evening: either the handles of scissors were heated on fire, or a nail was stuck in the seat of a chair, or they painted their face with fuchsin ... Grandmother always scolded her sons for such “jokes”.
In the evenings, my grandmother would tell fairy tales or stories from her life, also like a fairy tale. The boy learned from his grandmother that Tsyganok was a foundling. Alyosha asked why the children were thrown up. Grandmother replied: from poverty. She would have had eighteen children if all had survived. Grandmother advised her grandson to love Ivanka (Gypsy). Alyosha fell in love with Gypsy and never ceased to be surprised by him. On Saturday evenings, when grandfather, having reprimanded the guilty, went to bed, Tsyganok arranged cockroach races in the kitchen; the mice under his command stood and walked on their hind legs; showed tricks with cards.
On holidays, in the grandfather's house, the workers arranged dances to the guitar, listened to and sang folk songs themselves.
Alyosha's friendship with Ivan grew ever stronger. The gypsy told the boy how once he was sent to the market for provisions. Grandfather gave five rubles, and Ivan, having spent four and a half, brought food for fifteen rubles. Grandmother was very angry with Gypsy for stealing at the market.
Alyosha asks the Gypsy not to steal anymore, otherwise he will be beaten to death. The gypsy in response says that he loves Alyosha, and the Kashirins do not love anyone, except for the “babani”. Soon Tsyganok died. He was crushed by an oak cross, which was supposed to be carried to the cemetery. Detailed description funeral. In the same chapter, the author recalls the first communication with the Good Deed.
Chapter IV
Grandmother prays for the health of the family, for the happiness of Alyosha's mother. The boy liked the grandmother's God. He often asks her to tell about him. Grandmother in the form of fairy tales tells about God.
Once Alyosha noticed that Aunt Natalya had swollen lips, bruises under her eyes, and asked his grandmother if her uncle beat her. Grandmother answered: he beats, he is angry, and she is kissel ... Grandmother recalls how her husband (grandfather Kashirin) beat her in her youth. Alyosha thinks that he often dreams of his grandmother's stories. One night, when my grandmother was praying in front of the images, she suddenly noticed that her grandfather's workshop was on fire. She woke up everyone, began to put out the fire, save property. When extinguishing the fire, grandmother showed the most activity and resourcefulness. After the fire, her grandfather praised her. Grandmother burned her hands and was in great pain. Aunt Natalia died the next day.
Chapter V
By spring, the uncles were divided: Yakov remained in the city, and Mikhail left for the river. Grandfather bought himself a large house on Polevaya Street, with a tavern in the lower stone floor. The whole house was filled with tenants, only on the top floor grandfather left one large room for himself and for guests. Grandmother busied herself all day around the house: she sewed, cooked, dug in the garden and in the garden, rejoicing that they began to live peacefully and quietly. With all the tenants, my grandmother lived amicably, they often turned to her for advice.
Alyosha spent the whole day circling next to Akulina Ivanovna in the garden, in the yard, going to the neighbors ... Sometimes his mother would come for a short time and quickly disappear. Grandmother told Alyosha about her childhood, about how she lived with her parents, remembered her mother with a kind word, how she taught her to weave lace and other household chores; about how she married her grandfather.
One day my grandfather took out a brand new book from somewhere and began to teach Alyosha to read and write. Mom watched with a smile as the grandson shouted over his grandfather, repeating the names of the letters after him. The diploma was given to the boy easily. Soon he read the Psalter in warehouses. Interrupting reading in the evenings, Alyosha asked his grandfather to tell him something. And grandfather remembered interesting stories from his childhood, adulthood, and everything he taught his grandson to be cunning, and not simple-hearted. Often grandmother came to these conversations, sat quietly in a corner and listened, sometimes asked questions and helped me remember some details. Going into the past, they forgot about everything, sadly recalling the best years. Grandmother tried to calm grandfather, but when she bent down to him, he hit her in the face with his fist. Grandmother called grandfather a fool and began to rinse her mouth, clearing it of blood. To Alyosha's question, does it hurt her. Akulina Ivanovna answered: her teeth are intact ... She explained that grandfather was angry because it was difficult for him now, he was haunted by failures.
Chapter VI
One evening, in the room where Alyosha and his grandfather and grandmother were drinking tea, Uncle Yakov burst in and said that Mishka was rowdy; got drunk and broke the dishes, tore his clothes and threatened to pull out his father's beard. Grandfather got angry: they all want to "grab" Varvara's dowry. Grandfather accused Uncle Yakov that he had specially drunk his younger brother and set him against his father. Jacob justified himself offendedly. Grandmother whispered to Alyosha to climb up, and as soon as Uncle Mikhailo appeared, he told her about it. Seeing Uncle Mikhail, the boy said that his uncle had entered the tavern. Watching from the window, Alyosha remembers the fairy tales told by his grandmother and puts his mother in the center of these stories and fables. The fact that she did not want to live in her family elevated her in the eyes of the boy.
Coming out of the tavern, Uncle Mikhail fell in the courtyard, waking up, he took a cobblestone and threw it at the gate. Grandmother began to pray... The Kashirins lived on Polevoy Street for only a year, but this house gained a noisy fame. The boys ran along the street and often shouted:
They are fighting again at the Kashirins!
Uncle Mikhail often came drunk to the house in the evenings and made fights. The author describes in detail one of the pogroms perpetrated by the drunken uncle Mikhail: he injured his grandfather's hand, broke the doors, dishes in the tavern...
Chapter VII
Alyosha suddenly makes a discovery for himself after watching his grandparents. He understands that grandfather has one God, and grandmother has another. Each of them prays and asks him for his own.
The author recalls how one day the grandmother quarreled with the innkeeper. The innkeeper scolded her, and Alyosha wanted to avenge her for this. When the innkeeper went down to the cellar, the boy closed the work above her, locked them and danced a dance of revenge in the cellar. Throwing the key on the roof, he ran to the kitchen. Grandmother did not immediately guess about this, but then she spanked Alyosha and sent him for the key. Having freed the innkeeper, the grandmother asked her grandson not to interfere in the affairs of adults.
The author recalls with humor how his grandfather prayed and how he corrected him when he forgot the words from the prayer. For this, the grandfather scolded Alyosha. The grandfather, telling his grandson about the boundless power of God, emphasized the cruelty of God: behold, people have sinned - and they are drowned, they have sinned again - and their cities have been burned, destroyed; Here God punished people with famine and pestilence, and "he is always a sword over the earth, a scourge for sinners." It was difficult for the boy to believe in the cruelty of God, he suspected that his grandfather was deliberately inventing all this in order to inspire him with fear not of God, but of him. His grandfather's God aroused fear and dislike in him: he does not love anyone, watches over everyone with a strict eye, looks for and sees bad, evil, sinful in a person. He does not trust a person, he always waits for repentance and loves to punish. Grandma's God is a dear friend to all living things. Alyosha was disturbed by the question: how is it that grandfather does not see the good God? - Alyosha was not allowed to play outside, he had no friends. The boys teased him, calling him the grandson of Koshei Kashirin. For this, Alyosha got into a fight and came home covered in blood and bruises.
The narrator recalls how hard it was for him to look at the poor and blessed Grigory Ivanovich, the dissolute woman Veronica and others. Each of them had difficult fate as the boy learned from his grandmother's stories.
There were a lot of interesting, funny things in the house of grandfather Kashirin, but the boy was choked by endless longing ...
Chapter VIII
Grandfather suddenly sold the house to a tavern keeper, bought another one. The new house was smarter, nicer than the old one. All the same, grandfather let tenants in. The audience was diverse: a soldier from the Tatars lived here, and two draft cabs, and a freeloader, whom my grandmother called the Good Deed.
Good Deed spent the whole day melting lead in his room, soldering some copper things, weighing something on small scales. Alyosha watched him, climbing onto the roof of the shed through the open window. No one in the house liked the Good Deed. Once, plucking up courage, Alyosha went to the door of the room and asked him what he was doing. The tenant did not recognize Alyosha. The boy was surprised, because he sat at the same table with him four times a day! But still he simply answered: “The grandson here…” The boy watched the actions of the Good Cause for a long time. He asked Alyosha not to come to him again ...
The boy recalls how, on rainy evenings, when his grandfather left home, his grandmother arranged the most interesting meetings in the kitchen, inviting all the tenants to drink tea. Good Deal with the Tatar played cards. Others drank tea, liqueur, and grandmother told different stories. And when one day the grandmother finished her story, Good Deed got worried and said that it should be written down. Grandmother allowed him to write it down, saying that she knew many more stories. In a conversation with his grandmother, Good Deed complained that he was left alone, and his grandmother advised him to marry. Alyosha began to go to the tenant, to communicate with him. Good Deed advised Alyosha to write down everything that grandmother tells, it will come in handy. Since then, Alyosha has become friends with Good Deed. He became necessary for the boy both in the days of bitter insults and in the hours of joys. Grandmother was worried that her grandson had been missing in the room at Good Cause for a long time. One day Alyosha saw Good Deed packing his things. Grandfather asked him to vacate the room. In the evening he left, and his grandmother began to wash the floors after him, clean the dirty room ... Thus ended the boy's friendship with the first person from an endless series of strangers in his native country - her best people.
Chapter IX
The chapter begins with a recollection that after the departure of Good Cause, Alyosha became friends with Uncle Peter. He looked like a grandfather - literate, well-read. Peter was very fond of cleanliness, order, often talked about how they wanted to kill him, shot him and wounded him in the arm. In conversations with Alyosha, Uncle Pyotr often talked about his wife Tatyana Lekseevna, about how much he suffered for her.
The author recalls how brothers came to visit them on holidays - the sad and lazy Sasha Mikhailov, the neat and omniscient Sasha Yakovov. And then one day, running along the roofs of buildings, Alyosha, on the advice of his brother, spat on the bald head of a neighboring gentleman. There was great noise and scandal. Grandfather flogged Alyosha for this mischief. Uncle Peter laughed at Alyosha, which made him angry. The narrator recalls another story: he climbed a tree because he wanted to catch a bird. From there I saw how one boy fell into the well. Alyosha and the brother of that boy helped the poor fellow to get out. So Alyosha made friends with the neighbor's guys. Grandfather forbade Alyosha to communicate with the boys. But despite the prohibitions, Alyosha continued his friendship with them.
On a weekday, when Alyosha and his grandfather were shoveling snow in the yard, a policeman suddenly came up and began to question his grandfather about something. It turned out that the corpse of Uncle Peter was found in the yard. All evening until late at night, strangers crowded in the Kashirins' house And shouted.
Chapter X
The author recalls how he was catching bullfinches in Petrovna's garden and suddenly saw a peasant bring someone on a troika of horses. Grandfather said that mother had arrived. Mother and son met with great joy. Alyosha looked at her for a long time—he hadn't seen her in a long time. Grandmother began to complain about her grandson that he was self-willed, did not obey. The grandfather began to scold his daughter for the child left somewhere. Grandmother stood up for her daughter, asked her grandfather to forgive her this sin. The grandfather, in a rage, began to shake Akulina Ivanovna by the shoulders, shouting that they would die beggars. Alyosha stood up for his grandmother, and the grandfather began to shout at him too.
In the evening, the mother said that Adesha was very much like his father. Alyosha recalls the joy of communicating with his mother, her affection, the warmth of her look and words. Mother teaches Alyosha "civil" literacy: she bought books, and Alyosha memorizes poetry. Alyosha told his mother that he remembered the verses he had learned: the words rhyme, others from memory. Mother is watching her son. He himself, it turns out, composes poetry.
The lessons of the mother began to burden the boy. But most of all he was worried about the fact that life was bad in the house of his mother's grandfather. Grandfather had something in mind for her. Mother did not listen to grandfather. The grandfather beat the grandmother. Grandmother asks Alyosha not to tell his mother about this. In order to somehow take revenge on his grandfather, Alyosha cut up all the images before which his grandfather prayed. For this, his grandfather whipped him. Soon the grandfather asked all the guests to vacate the apartments. On holidays, he began to invite guests, arranged noisy festivities, where they drank tea with rum.
The grandfather told Alyosha's mother that the boy needed a father. He wanted Varvara to marry master Vasily. Barbara refused.
Chapter XI
The mother became the mistress of the house. Grandfather became inconspicuous, quiet, not like himself. He was reading a mysterious book in the attic. When asked by Alyosha what kind of book this was, the grandfather replied that he did not need to know.
Now the mother lived in two rooms. Guests came to her. After Christmas, the mother took Alyosha and Sasha, the son of Uncle Mikhail, to school. Alyosha did not like the school right away, but his brother, on the contrary, was very pleased in the first days. But then he ran away from school, and Alyosha's grandfather, grandmother and mother searched for him for a long time around the city. Finally Sasha was brought home. The boys talked all night and decided that they needed to study.
Suddenly Alyosha fell ill with smallpox. Grandmother, sitting by the sick bed, recalled all sorts of stories. And she told how her daughter married Maxim Peshkov (Alyosha's father) against her father's will, how her uncles disliked him, and she and Varvara left for Astrakhan.
The mother began to rarely appear at the bed of her son. And Alyosha was no longer carried away by the stories of his grandmother. He was worried about his mother. Alyosha sometimes dreamed that his father was walking somewhere alone, with a stick in his hand, and a shaggy dog was running after him...
Chapter XII
Having recovered from his illness, Alyosha went into his mother's room. Here he saw a woman in a green dress. It was his other grandmother. Alyosha took a dislike to the old woman and her son Zhenya. He asked his mother not to marry. But her mother did it anyway. The wedding was quiet: having come from the church, they drank tea sadly, then the mother went into the room to pack the chests.
Mother left the next morning. In parting, she asked Alyosha to obey his grandfather. Maksimov, my mother's new husband, was packing things in the wagon. The green old woman left with them.
Alyosha stayed with his grandfather and grandmother. The boy liked to read books in solitude. He was no longer interested in the stories of his grandfather and grandmother. In autumn, my grandfather sold the house, rented two rooms in the basement. Mother arrived soon: pale, thin. Her stepfather also came with her. From the conversations of adults, the boy realized that the house where his mother and stepfather lived had burned down, and they came back to their grandfather. A few months later they moved to Sormovo. Everything here was alien to Alyosha. He could not get used to life without his grandparents. He was rarely allowed outside. His mother often whipped him with a belt. Once Alyosha warned that he would bite her if she did not stop beating him.
The stepfather was strict with the boy, taciturn with his mother, often quarreled with her. His mother was pregnant and that made him angry. Before giving birth to his mother, Alyosha was taken to his grandfather. A grandmother soon arrived here with her mother and a small child.
Alyosha went to school. He took a dislike to the teacher and in every possible way harmed him. The teacher complained to his parents, and his mother severely punished Alyosha. Then the mother again sent Alyosha to his grandfather. He heard her arguing with her stepfather, jealous of him. The stepfather hit the mother. Alyosha took a kitchen knife and hit his stepfather in the side. The mother began to beat her son for this. The stepfather took the boy from his mother's arms. In the evening, when the stepfather left the house, the mother began to apologize to Alyosha.
Chapter XIII
Again Alyosha lives with his grandfather Kashirin. Grandfather, it turns out, shared the property with his grandmother. He gave the collected money in growth to his new friend, nicknamed Whiplash in the suburb. Everything in the house was strictly divided: one day the grandmother prepared dinner from the provisions bought with her money, the next day the grandfather bought the provisions. Grandfather began to count sugar and tea ... Alyosha was both funny and disgusted to see all these grandfather tricks. He himself began to earn money: he collected rags, paper, nails, bones from the yards and handed them over for salvage. I gave money to my grandmother. Then, with the other guys, Alyosha began to steal firewood. On Saturday evenings, the boys arranged holidays. At school, Alyosha was teased with a rag.
He successfully passed the exam in the third grade, received the gospel, Krylov's fables in cover and another book without cover, as well as a commendation sheet as a reward. The grandfather was very happy with the success of his grandson. Grandmother fell ill, and grandfather began to reproach her with a piece. Alyosha gave his books to the shopkeeper for fifty kopecks and brought the money to his grandmother.
During the holidays, Alyosha began to earn more. From early morning they went out with the boys to collect rags through the streets. But this life did not last long. The mother returned with her little son to his grandfather. She was seriously ill. Alyosha became attached to his brother. The mother was getting worse every day. Grandfather himself fed Kolya, sitting on his knees. Mother died in August. A few days after the funeral of his mother, the grandfather said to his grandson: “Well, Lexey, you are not a medal, you don’t have a place on my neck, but go and join the people.” And Alex went to the people.
In 1913, Maxim Gorky wrote the first part of the famous trilogy. "Childhood" (the content and analysis are given in the article) is a work about the formation of the personality of the protagonist Alyosha Peshkov, the prototype of which was the author himself. The story is told in the first person, which allows you to fully experience the feelings and experiences of a boy who finds himself in an environment that is unusual for him, which nevertheless contributed to his formation and maturation.
Genre Features
"Childhood" of Maxim Gorky is an autobiographical story. It was based on facts from the life of the writer himself, he even leaves the heroes their real names. However, this piece of art, since the task of the author is not just to tell about himself as a child, but to rethink what happened to him from the perspective of an adult, to assess the events. According to the author, his fate is not unique: there are many people who exist in that “close, stuffy circle of impressions” in which Alyosha was in the Kashirins' house. And this truth must be “know to the root” in order to be torn out of the memory and soul of the human, from the very way of the Russian, “heavy and shameful.” Thus, telling about himself and at the same time describing the "lead abominations of life", Gorky expresses the author's position regarding the present and future of Russia.
The beginning of the hero's growth
Alyosha Peshkov was brought up in a family based on mutual respect and love. Father Maxim was engaged in the construction of the triumphal gates, which were erected for the arrival of the king. Mother Varvara was expecting the birth of her second child. Everything changed when my father died of cholera. He was buried on a rainy day, and Alyosha forever remembered the frogs sitting in the pit - they were buried along with the coffin. The boy looked at them and held back tears. Never cry - his parents taught him to do this. And the mother of grief began premature birth. So sadly begins the first chapter of Gorky's work.
Then there was long haul along the Volga from Astrakhan to Nizhny Novgorod. The newborn died on the way, and the mother still could not calm down from the grief that had fallen. Alyosha was taken care of by her grandmother, Akulina Ivanovna, who arrived at a difficult moment for the family. It was she who took her daughter and grandson to Novgorod, from which Varvara left at one time against the will of her father. It was grandmother Gorky who dedicated the best pages of the story. She was a kind, sympathetic person, always ready to help. This was immediately noticed by the sailors on the ship, who found the hero when he got lost on one of the piers. Despite her fullness and age, Akulina Ivanovna moved quickly and deftly, resembling a cat. She often told amazing stories that attracted the attention of others. And it seemed to Alyosha that she was all glowing from within. It is the grandmother who in the future will become a source of good for the boy and the main support, will help to endure the coming hardships. And with their arrival in Nizhny, there will be a lot of them in the life of the hero, which Maxim Gorky will write about in his story.
The work "Childhood" continues with an acquaintance with new heroes. On the shore, the arrivals were met by a large Kashirin family, the main one in which was Vasily Vasilyevich. Small and wizened, Alyosha did not immediately like the grandfather, and it would take time before he looked at him in a new way and tried to understand him as a person.
First spanking
AT big house Kashirins, in addition to their grandfather and grandmother, their two sons lived with their families. Alyosha, who had previously grown up in a completely different environment, found it difficult to get used to the constant enmity and anger that reigned between relatives. Their main reason was the desire of Mikhail and Yakov to quickly divide the property, which the grandfather did not want to do. With the arrival of Varvara, the situation escalated even more, since she, too, was entitled to a share in her father's inheritance. In their desire to annoy each other, adults knew no bounds, and their confrontation extended to children.
Another boy witnessed a terrible procedure for him - every Saturday the children were flogged. The hero did not escape this fate. On the advice of one of his brothers, he decided to paint a festive tablecloth to bring joy to his grandmother. As a result, he ended up on a bench under the rods of his grandfather. Neither Akulina Ivanovna nor her mother could save her from punishment. This is one of the first bitter events in the new life of the hero, which Maxim Gorky introduces to the reader of the story. Alyosha will remember his childhood thanks to Gypsy, who, during the spanking, put his hands up, trying to take on the main force of the blows.
Grandfather flogged his grandson half to death, and the boy lay in bed for several days. During this time, Vasily Vasilyevich visited him and talked about his youth. It turned out that once the grandfather was a barge hauler, and suffering, mental and physical, hardened his heart. It was, in fact, a new acquaintance with his grandfather, which made it clear that he was not as scary and cruel as Alyosha had thought before. Be that as it may, according to the author, the first flogging seemed to expose Alyosha's heart and made him take a different look at everything that was happening around.
gypsies
Ivan was a foundling in the Kashirin family. The grandmother told her grandson that she gave birth to eighteen children, of whom only three survived. The best, in her opinion, God took to himself, and in return sent Gypsy. The story "Childhood" Gorky continues with a story about his bitter fate.
Ivan was found at the gate, and his grandmother took him to be brought up. Unlike his own sons, he grew up kind and caring. He also showed himself to be a good worker, which became another reason for the enmity of Mikhail and Yakov: each of them dreamed of taking Gypsy to himself in the future. Often, for the amusement of everyone, Ivan arranged entertainment with cockroaches or mice, showed tricks with cards. Alyosha also remembered the evenings when grandfather and Mikhail left home. During these hours, everyone gathered in the kitchen. Yakov tuned the guitar, and after the songs, the merry dance of the Gypsy began. Then Akulina Ivanovna joined him, who seemed to be returning at that moment to her time of youth: she became so younger and prettier during the dance.
Grandmother prophesied a bad future for the young man and was afraid for him. The fact is that Tsyganok went every Friday for groceries and, in order to save money and please his grandfather, he stole. Akulina Ivanovna believed that someday he would be caught and killed. Her fears came true, but in part: Gypsy was killed not by strangers, but by Mikhail and Yakov. The latter beat his wife to death, and as a repentance he vowed to put an oak cross on her grave. Three of them carried him, and Ivan was put under the butt. On the way, he stumbled, and he was crushed by the cross, which the brothers released at that moment, - Maxim Gorky notes.
“Childhood” in abbreviation introduces only the main points from the life of the protagonist, but it is impossible not to mention that Tsyganok, whose painful death was also deposited in the mind of the boy, along with his grandmother, became for him a source of light and kindness and helped to survive the first trials in a new life .
Grandmother
Alyosha liked to watch Akulina Ivanovna pray in the evenings. In front of the icons, she told about everything that happened during the day, and asked for everyone. And the boy also liked stories about what he, God. At these moments, grandmother was getting younger, and her eyes radiated a special, warm light. Sometimes Akulina Ivanovna saw devils, but they did not frighten her. Only cockroaches caused fear in my grandmother, and often at night she woke Alyosha and asked to kill them. But the image of the grandmother is especially vivid in the scene of the fire, which continues (it is described in detail by Maxim Gorky) "Childhood".
Grandmother was praying when grandfather ran in shouting: “We are burning!” The workshop was on fire, and Akulina Ivanovna threw herself into the flames to prevent an explosion. She took out the bottle and began to give orders what to do next. She calmed the horse, which the grandfather himself was afraid of. And then, with burned hands, she gave birth to Aunt Natalia. And only when it was all over (Mikhail's wife died after all), Alyosha heard the groans of his grandmother, caused by severe burns. All this leads to the thought: only a broad-minded person can fight fire so fearlessly, and then, tormented by pain, find words of comfort for others. This is exactly what Akulina Ivanovna was, who played decisive role in the life of Alyosha, which Maxim Gorky emphasizes more than once. “Childhood” (the characterization of the grandmother confirms this) is a work about how generosity and love can withstand anger and hatred, preventing the sprouts of good and good that were originally embedded in a person’s character from dying.
New house
Kashirin nevertheless divided. Alyosha moved with his grandparents to a stone house with a garden. Rooms, except for one, rented out. Her grandfather left for himself and the guests. Akulina Ivanovna and her grandson settled in the attic. Grandmother was again at the center of all events: tenants constantly turned to her for advice, and for everyone she found a kind word. The grandson was constantly next to her, as if rooted. Sometimes a mother appeared, but she quickly disappeared, leaving no memories of herself.
Once the grandmother told Alyosha about her life. She was born from a crippled lace-maker who threw herself out of a window when her master frightened her. Together they walked the world until they settled on Balakhna. Akulina learned to weave lace, and then her grandfather spotted her. He was famous at that time. And he chose a beggar girl as his wife, he decided that he would be submissive all his life.
And grandfather also decided to teach Alyosha letters. Seeing the cleverness of his grandson, he began to whip him less often and looked at him more and more attentively, sometimes telling fables from his own life. This is how Maxim Gorky's childhood passed.
And again hostility
The misfortunes of the Kashirins did not end. Once Yakov came running and said that Mikhail was going to kill his grandfather. Similar scenes began to be repeated often. And again, the main burden fell on the grandmother. One evening, she stuck her hand out the window, hoping to reason with her son, and Michael broke it with a stake. Watching all this, Alyosha began to think more and more about his mother. The fact that she refused to live in such a family markedly elevated her in the eyes of her son. And he represented Varvara either in the camp of robbers, or in the form of the prince-lady Engalycheva, about whom his grandmother told him. And sometimes the boy's chest seemed to fill with lead, and he felt stuffy and cramped in this room, reminiscent of a coffin. Bitter thoughts and feelings aroused in the hero, as Maxim Gorky shows, childhood. Their analysis leaves the same heaviness on the soul of the reader.
Injustice
There is another hero in the work, whom Alyosha met immediately upon arrival in Novgorod. This is Grigory Ivanovich, a master who worked for his grandfather. He was old and blind, and the boys, like their uncles, often mocked him. For example, they could put a red-hot breastplate under the arm. When the Kashirins shared and grandfather moved to Polevaya Street, the craftsmen were simply kicked out into the street. It was excruciatingly embarrassing: to see how Grigory was begging, because Alyosha avoided meeting him and hid every time he appeared, - Maxim Gorky recalls. "Childhood", the heroes of which are people of different social strata, shows how dissatisfaction with the life that he saw gradually matured in the boy. And the merit of the writer is that he made it clear that a person does not always go with the flow. Many find the strength to resist evil, thereby gradually changing the world for the better.
As for Gregory, his grandmother often called him to her and tried to somehow belittle the troubles that befell the one who devoted her whole life to her family. One day she told Alyosha that God would severely punish them for this man. Years later, when Akulina Ivanovna was no more, the grandfather himself went to beg, repeating the fate of his master.
Good Deed
And again, Vasily Vasilyevich changed his place of residence, Gorky continues the story "Childhood". On Kanatnaya Street, where the Kashirins now settled, fate brought Alyosha together with another amazing person. Good Deed - that was the name of the tenant for the words that he invariably used in his speech - was considered a freeloader and constantly conducted some experiments in his room, which caused his grandfather's displeasure. One evening, according to tradition, everyone gathered at my grandmother's, and she started a story about Ivan the Warrior. This story made an extraordinary impression on Good Cause. He suddenly jumped up and shouted that this must be written down. And later he gave advice to Alyosha: by all means study. And yet - write down everything that Akulina Ivanovna says. From this, perhaps, the writer's love for literature began.
But soon the Good Deed left the house, and Gorky wrote about this in his story: thus ended the friendship with the first (best) person from "an endless series of strangers in his native ... country."
Meeting with mother
Varvara appeared at the Kashirins' house unexpectedly. Alyosha immediately noticed that she had changed, but still did not look like her brothers and father. And again I thought: I won’t live here for long. The mother began to teach her son to read and even decided to take up his upbringing. But during the time spent away from each other, they no longer understand each other. The boy was also oppressed by the constant quarrels between his grandfather and mother, especially since Varvara was not going to change to please anyone. And yet she broke Kashirin. After refusing to marry an old watchmaker, whom her grandfather looked after, Varvara practically became the mistress of the house, - Maxim Gorky continues "Childhood". The chapters dedicated to the mother of the hero introduce how she, against the will of her father, married Maxim, who was completely different from her family. How young people came to bow to the old man-Kashirin, but refused to live in his house, which caused a new anger of the old man. How the sisters Mikhail and Yakov disliked their husband, dreaming of snatching her share in the inheritance. How, finally, the Peshkovs left for Astrakhan, where they lived together and happily.
And although the mother always evoked only warm feelings in Alyosha, she never became for her son a person who helped him overcome the first hardships of life, withstand the blows of fate.
Change again
And Varvara, meanwhile, was getting prettier and came to see her son less and less. Then she remarried and moved out. Now life in the house has become even more painful - Maxim Gorky makes it clear. Childhood (an analysis of the work leads to this thought) for the hero was gradually ending. Alyosha increasingly spent time alone, became unsociable. He dug a hole in his garden and made a comfortable seat there. The grandfather often came here, fiddling with plants, but his grandson's stories were no longer interesting. Yes, and Vasily Vasilyevich himself, after the departure of his daughter, became embittered, often cursed and drove his grandmother out of the house. He became even greedier than before. At the same time, he taught his grandson: “We are not a bar. We need to do everything ourselves.” And in the autumn he sold the house altogether, telling Akulina Ivanovna that she should now feed herself. The next two years, according to the author, passed in a terrible shaking, which he felt from the moment he sat in the cart when moving to the basement.
"Lead abominations of life"
Such a definition appears in the story "Childhood" by Maxim Gorky after the story of how Alyosha almost stabbed his stepfather. A mother with a young son and her husband appeared in the basement of the Kashirins shortly after they moved there. She said that the house burned down, but it was clear to everyone that Maximov had lost everything. The hero's brother turned out to be a sick boy, Varvara herself became noticeably uglier and was pregnant again. Her relationship with her young husband did not develop, and one day Alyosha witnessed their quarrel: Maximov was heading to his mistress, and his mother screamed heart-rendingly. The hero grabbed a knife and rushed at his stepfather, but the benefit only cut his uniform and slightly hooked the skin. These memories, along with all the others described above, made the author think about whether it is necessary to talk about these abominations? And he confidently answers: yes. Firstly, this is the only way to uproot evil "from the memory, from the human soul, from our whole life, heavy and shameful" (quote from Gorky's work). Secondly, such baseness shows (this has already been noted in the article) that the Russian person is nevertheless “still so healthy and young in soul that he overcomes and overcomes them.” And this "bright, healthy and creative", embodied in the story in the images of the grandmother, Gypsy, Good Cause, gives hope that the revival of mankind is possible.
The people
After the incident with his stepfather, Alyosha again ended up with his grandfather. Vasily Vasilyevich insisted that he and his grandmother cook dinners in turn, and each with his own money. However, he always saved money. The hero had to earn money himself: after school, he went to collect rags and sold them cheaply. He gave his earnings to his grandmother and once spied how she was crying over his nickels.
School was tough. Here Alyosha was called a rag-maker, and no one wanted to sit with him. But he nevertheless passed the exams for the third grade, for which he received a certificate of merit and several books as a reward. The boy took the last ones to the shop when Akulina Ivanovna fell ill and there was nothing to live on.
Another memorable event in the life of the hero of the story "Childhood" by Maxim Gorky is the death of his mother. Varvara returned to the Kashirins quite ill, dried up, and soon died of consumption. A few days after her funeral, her grandfather sent Alexei "to the people" so that he himself would earn his own bread. From this moment, childhood ends, and the second story of Gorky's autobiographical trilogy begins.
Epilogue
The ability for spiritual self-development in the conditions of tragic reality is, perhaps, the main thing that Maxim Gorky wants to draw the reader's attention to. Childhood (the theme of the work, stated in the title, emphasizes this) is the main time in a person's life. A child usually remembers forever what made a great impression on him. And it is good that during this period Alyosha witnessed not only inhumanity and cruelty, but also met people who were infinitely kind and open to others. This helped him resist the "lead abominations" and grow up as a bright person who does not put up with evil, which can become an example for everyone else.
