Russia, somewhere in the early 1900s. A small settlement where tireless factory workers live. From the very morning, with all the streets buzzing, crowds of workers march almost in formation to their workplaces, and in the dark, slowly communicating with each other, they leave the factory to begin work again in the morning.
Even on holidays and weekends, all conversations, no matter how hard they try, revolve around disputes at the factory, and sometimes it even comes to fights. But only Mother Pelageya is thoughtful; she increasingly notices that one worker, Pavel Vlasov, her son, is starting a completely different life, new for the entire people.
The Vlasov family is starting to see Pavel’s friends more and more often: Nakhodka Andrey, a man who recently started working in a factory, but has already become friends with Pasha, the girl Natasha is a strange girl, she comes from rich family, but chose to leave them and work as a teacher, Nikolai Ivanovich and the girl Alexandra, who, by the way, also came from a prosperous and very wealthy family.
Sasha and Pasha have been in love with each other for a very long time, but they don’t want to get married at all, because they think that revolutionary actions After the wedding there will be no time, but what time will it be, the children will start, it will be necessary to organize their life, do work in order to have at least some income for the future of the children.
All these people very often gather in groups to read books with strange content and discuss worker solidarity, since these people have been and will be the most unprotected. Until these days, my mother had never heard a new word, “socialists.”
A little time passed, signs and papers appeared at the factory workplaces about injustice and inequality towards working people, news came from all over the world about strikes in the main city of St. Petersburg. It seems that everything around is beginning to encourage workers to think about fighting for themselves, for justice.
The mother watches everything that is happening around her very carefully, clearly understanding that her son Pavel did all this, she becomes very scared for the child, but she tries not to show it. Soon the gendarmes come to check on the Vlasov family. But no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t find anything, and they couldn’t find anything at all.
The young people were warned in time, and they managed to hide all the papers, signs, and leaflets. But, in spite of everything, Pasha’s comrade Andrei was arrested by the gendarmes.
Meanwhile, at the factory, managers begin to come up with new fees again. Money. This time they are collecting money to drain the swamps. Factory workers increasingly begin to approach Pavel with questions and inquiries. He begs Mother Pelageya to go to the nearest town and try to give the news about the monetary extortions to the editor so that everyone can see the injustice and be able to support the workers, and he himself gathers a huge number of people at the factory right at their workplaces.
Together with the factory workers, he demands a ban on all kinds of extortion, including financial exactions. Bosses and managers refuse everyone who is present, and workers, not understanding the need to assert their rights, leave. Paul is saddened by the weak character and
people's lack of will, he believes that they must fight at all costs.
As soon as it got dark outside and Pavel returned home, the gendarmes came and took Pasha with them under arrest. A couple of days passed, or maybe a little more, Yegor Ivanovich visited Mother Pelageya Nilovna and told his mother that this moment Forty-eight people who went on strike at the factory were arrested, and now there is no one to carry leaflets into the factory.
The mother, without thinking twice, decides to take on this difficult and dangerous work herself, and as soon as the opportunity arises, she gets a job as an assistant to a lunch seller, deftly carries the papers, and not a single inspector even thinks about who it could be.
Comrades Andrei and Pavel are returning home from the place of arrest, starting holiday gatherings for the First of May, they are increasingly thinking about how to explain to people that they must defend their rights. Pasha wants to proudly walk with the banner, he knows how dangerous it is, and that again he will end up behind bars, and this time for a longer term.
In the morning they head to the gathering place; there are already a few people, but there are already enough of these people. Pavel, proudly holding the banner in front of him, says that this is a social democratic party, they declare reason, truth and freedom, that this is the only way to see later life, which will be more progressive.
Pavel and Andrei are instantly arrested by gendarmes and taken away. Nilovna now definitely wants to convey to people that she finally understood what his son and all his comrades are fighting for, that they all must go and fight for the truth and a better life. Mom Pelageya Nilovna quickly comes to Nikolai Ivanovich, since he promised his sons to try to look after her if they were under arrest, and no one doubted this. With him, she plunges headlong into her work, realizing more and more more need decisive action, the work of his son.
She and Nikolai Ivanovich’s sister, having found the robes of nuns, infiltrate new establishments and distribute forbidden texts, appealing for their reading and support in achieving the goal. Returning, mother visits her son. She gives her son parcels and somehow, incredibly, manages to pass on a note about the escape.
He refuses the idea. The day of the trial arrived, and relatives were allowed to attend. The judges don't care about this case, and neither do the witnesses. Pasha does not try to defend himself, he says that he is not a violator, but a socialist revolutionary. The mother is proud of her son. The judge sentences those arrested to a colony settlement. His beloved asks to come to him, and Pelageya will come when her grandchildren appear.
Nikolai decides to print Paul's speech, which he said in court. The mother decides to spread it. But everything turned out to be not so simple, she notices a familiar face and realizes that she was caught. But the gendarmes decided that she was a thief. Choking with resentment, she threw proclamations to the people. The gendarmes are trying to disperse everyone, and one of them, clutching his throat, does not allow his mother to speak.
Studying the chapter-by-chapter summary of Gorky’s novel “Mother,” one can understand why this work was first published in the USA. The author published it only in 1907–1908, it had major changes regarding censorship. Original without changes Russian readers were able to see it after.
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History of creation
Although work on the work took place in mid-1906, the first sketches were made back in 1903. By mid-October, Gorky moved from America closer to Russia and - to Italy, where he finishes the first edition. The history of the creation of the novel is connected with the close acquaintance of the author and the Sormovo workers. The material for creating the novel “Mother” was the actions taking place at the Sormovo plant in Nizhny Novgorod.
He witnessed the preparations for the May demonstration and the trial of its participants. Close communication with the workforce of the enterprise in 1901–1902. allowed Gorky to collect material that served basis for creating a novel, where the main character Pavel Vlasov and his friend Andrei Nakhodka experience similar events.
Important! The author's attention is paid to the strength of the protesting oppressed class, called the proletariat. It reflects his struggles in others as well. early works. For example, the play “Bourgeois”, which reveals the image of a worker revolutionary, or “Enemies”, which depicts the events of the first Russian revolution.
Main character's family
The image of Pavel Vlasov in Gorky’s novel “Mother” begins with a description of the hero at the age of 14. The main character's father's name was Mikhail, he was a factory mechanic who was disliked by his colleagues. Rude, grumpy character, reflected in loved ones: his wife and child were periodically beaten. Before his death, coming home from work, he decided to teach his son a lesson, to pull his hair. Pavel grabbed a heavy hammer - his father was afraid to touch the young man. After the incident Mikhail became isolated, and when he died of a hernia, no one was sorry.
After this, Pavel continues to work at the factory. Suddenly he changes, he starts going for walks on holidays, bringing and reading forbidden literature. Mother explains her behavior desire to know the truth, for which they can be sent to hard labor or imprisoned.
Every Saturday revolutionaries gather in the hero's house. They read books, sing forbidden songs, characterize political system, discuss the life of workers.
Mother understands: “socialist” - scary word, however, he sympathizes with his son’s comrades. Nilovna is only 40 years old, but the author describes her as an elderly woman, broken by a difficult hopeless life and a difficult fate.
Plot development
Maxim Gorky in the novel “Mother” revealed Nilovna's motherly love: She becomes closer to her son’s friends, while her relationship with Pavel becomes better. Among the guests visiting the house, the author identifies several:
- Natasha is a young girl from a wealthy family who left her parents and came to work as a teacher;
- Nikolai Ivanovich - well-read, clever man, can always find interesting topic and tell the workers;
- Sashenka is the daughter of a landowner who left her family for the sake of an idea;
- Andrey Nakhodka is a young man who grew up an orphan.
A retelling of the summary of Gorky's novel "Mother" reveals the life of revolutionaries. Nilovna feels that Pavel and Sashenka love each other However, for the good of the revolution, young people refuse to start a family, as this may distract from an important matter. Andrey Nakhodka understands what it is mother's love: the mistress of the house treats him like family. Soon the Vlasovs invite him to live with them, and he agrees.
The promotion of the plot and the next presentation of the image of Pavel Mikhailovich Vlasov in Gorky’s novel “Mother” begins with an episode called "swamp penny". Summary is as follows: the factory management imposes an additional tax on the already small wages of the workers. It will be intended for the development of swamp lands located near the walls of the enterprise. Main character decides to pay attention to this and writes a note in the city newspaper. The traitor's mother is called to take the text to the editor. At this time, he himself is leading a rally taking place at the plant. However, the director calms the crowd from the first word and sends everyone to their jobs. Pavel understands that people do not trust him because of his young age. At night, the gendarmes take Pavel to prison.
Traitor's Mother
What Gorky’s work “Mother” is about becomes clear from the first chapters. The main problem is to reveal the image and spirit of the workers, fighting against the current government and extortions. After reading the novel, the name of the main character’s mother would hardly have been remembered if not for the subsequent events in which she finds herself in the foreground of the novel’s plot. Gradually analyzing the meaning of the book chapter by chapter, the motivation for the elderly woman’s actions becomes clear: this is maternal love.
Immediately after the arrest, Nilovna’s son’s friend comes to her and asks for help. The fact is that a total of 50 people were arrested, but it is possible to prove non-involvement in the rally only by continuing distributing leaflets. The mother of her traitorous son agrees to carry the papers to the factory. She begins delivering lunches to the factory for the workers, which are prepared by a woman she knows; she takes advantage of the fact that the old woman is not searched. After some time, the main characters, Andrei Nakhodka and Pavel Vlasov, are released.
Attention! In Maxim Gorky’s novel “Mother,” the image of the main characters is depicted in such a way that after leaving prison they are not afraid, but continue to engage in underground activities.
Arrest again
Workers are preparing for the May Day holiday. It is planned to march through the city streets and give a speech at the factory square. Pavel cannot think of anything except that he will lead the procession, carrying the red banner of freedom in his hands.
However, gendarmes and soldiers block the demonstrators' path and disperse the procession. Many end up behind bars, and Vlasov is among them.
Nilovna was present when her son was arrested, she saw everything. The one who wrote “Mother” understood perfectly what was going on in a mother’s heart. Further development The events are characterized by the spontaneous and thoughtless actions of an elderly woman: she picks up a piece of the banner that her only son was carrying and takes it home.
After the events described, the old woman is taken by Nikolai Ivanovich (such conditions were agreed upon in advance between him, Andrei and Pavel). The flame of desire burns in a mother's heart better life and simultaneous resentment for the fate of her son, so she leads active underground activities:
- distributes underground books and magazines;
- talks with people, listens to stories;
- convinces them to join.
Traveling around the province, Nilovna sees how poorly the common people live, unable to take advantage of the enormous riches of their native land. Returning back, the mother hurries to meet Pavel. Friends are worried about best friend, are trying to arrange an escape, initiated by Sashenka. The hero refuses help, explaining his actions by his desire to make a speech before the court.
At trial
Maxim Gorky wrote about Paul's trial as sad picture past tense: the speeches of a lawyer, a judge, a prosecutor are perceived as one. The words of Pavel Vlasov sounded loudly and boldly. He did not say words of justification, the young man tried to explain to those present who they were - people of new times. Although they are called rebels, they are socialists. The slogan consists of simple, understandable words:
- Power to the people!
- Means of production for the people!
- Labor is obligatory for all citizens!
The judge reacted negatively to the young revolutionary’s statements and passed a sentence: “All detainees will be sent to a settlement in Siberia.” The mother is skeptical about the verdict for her son, realizing the court's decision only after some time. Nilovna does not believe in the possibility of separation from her only Pavel for many years.
The problems of Gorky's novel "Mother" touch upon last chapters works. The court pronounces a verdict: the accused refer to the settlement. Sashenka is going to follow her lover, Nilovna plans to come if her son has grandchildren.
However, during transportation of printed judicial speech Paul in a neighboring town, an elderly woman recognizes in the look young man familiar features.
He was present in the courthouse, next to the prison. The guy whispers to the watchman, who approaches his mother and calls her a thief. The latter, in turn, calls the accusation a lie, handing out leaflets with her son’s speech to those around her. The gendarme arrives in time and grabs the woman by the throat; in response, wheezing and exclamations are heard from the people who see this spectacle.
Gradually following the chapters, the woman does not realize: from an ordinary mother, whose son is in prison, she has turned into the mother of a traitor. A brief summary of the plot of the work does not allow one to fully plunge into the cycle of problems that have washed over the simple Russian heroine. The problems of Gorky's novel "Mother" affect a wide range of popularity of revolutionary ideas among the working class.
The author shows life as the depicted object ordinary person, becoming a person, capable of thinking and reflecting. The work is a socio-political book that pushes to identify promising idea the emergence of a persistent struggle against the oppressing class.
Brief summary of Gorky's novel "Mother"
Analysis of Maxim Gorky's novel "Mother"
Conclusion
Separately, it should be mentioned that the main characters of Gorky’s novel “Mother” were invented after meeting revolutionaries, because of which the author had to emigrate to America. The significance of the novel lies in the fact that the author wrote for millions, he tried to make his works simple and understandable. But, despite this, after the novel was written and published, Gorky was not satisfied with his work, just like many others.
You can talk endlessly about Mothers. For several weeks now the city had been surrounded by a close ring of enemies clad in iron; At night, fires were lit, and the fire looked out of the black darkness at the walls of the city with many red eyes - they glowed with malicious joy, and this lurking combustion evoked gloomy thoughts in the besieged city. From the walls they saw how the enemy’s noose was shrinking ever closer, how their black shadows flickered around the lights; you could hear the neighing of well-fed horses, you could hear the clink of weapons, loud laughter, you could hear the cheerful songs of people confident in victory - and what is more painful to hear than the laughter and songs of the enemy? The enemies covered all the streams that fed the city with water, they burned out the vineyards around the walls, trampled the fields, cut down the gardens - the city was open on all sides, and almost every day the cannons and muskets of the enemies showered it with cast iron and lead. By narrow streets detachments of soldiers, battle-weary and half-starved, walked sullenly through the city; From the windows of the houses poured out the groans of the wounded, the cries of delirium, the prayers of women and the cries of children. They talked depressedly, in a low voice and, stopping each other's speech mid-sentence, listened intently - were the enemies about to attack? Life became especially unbearable in the evening, when in the silence moans and cries sounded clearer and more abundantly, when blue-black shadows crawled out of the gorges of the distant mountains and, hiding the enemy’s camp, moved towards the half-broken walls, and over the black battlements of the mountains the moon appeared like a lost shield , beaten by blows of swords. Without expecting help, exhausted by labor and hunger, losing hope every day, people looked in fear at this moon, the sharp teeth of the mountains, the black mouths of the gorges and the noisy camp of the enemies - everything reminded them of death, and not a single star shone comfortingly for them. them. People were afraid to light lights in the houses, thick darkness filled the streets, and in this darkness, like a fish in the depths of a river, a woman silently flashed, her head wrapped in a black cloak. People, seeing her, asked each other:
- That's her? - She!
And they hid in niches under the gates or, with their heads down, silently ran past her, and the patrol commanders sternly warned her: “Are you on the street again, Monna Marianna?” Look, they can kill you, and no one will look for the culprit... She straightened up, waited, but the patrol passed by, not daring or disdainful to raise a hand against her; armed people walked around her like a corpse, and she remained in the darkness and again quietly, lonelyly walked somewhere, moving from street to street, dumb and black, like the embodiment of the misfortunes of the city, and around, chasing her, sad sounds crawled pitifully: groans , crying, prayers and gloomy talk of soldiers who had lost hope of victory. A citizen and mother, she thought about her son and homeland: at the head of the people who were destroying the city, stood her son, a cheerful and ruthless handsome man; just recently she looked at him with pride, as at her precious gift to her homeland, as at good power, born by her to help the people of the city - the nest where she herself was born, gave birth to and fed him. Hundreds of unbreakable threads connected her heart with the ancient stones from which her ancestors built houses and laid the walls of the city, with the ground where the bones of her blood relatives lay, with legends, songs and hopes of people - the heart of the mother of the person closest to him lost and cried: it was like scales, but, weighing the love for his son and the city, he could not understand what was easier, what was harder. So she walked the streets at night, and many, not recognizing her, were frightened, mistook the black figure for the personification of death, which was close to everyone, and when they recognized her, they silently walked away from the traitor’s mother. But one day, in a remote corner, near the city wall, she saw another woman: kneeling near a corpse, motionless, like a piece of earth, she prayed, raising her mournful face to the stars, and on the wall, above her head, the guards were quietly talking and grinding weapons, hitting the stones of the battlements. The traitor's mother asked: “Husband?” - No. - Brother? - Son. The husband was killed thirteen days ago, and this one was killed today. And, rising from her knees, the mother of the murdered man humbly said: “Madonna sees everything, knows everything, and I thank her!” - For what? - asked the first, and she answered her: - Now that he died honestly, fighting for his homeland, I can say that he aroused fear in me: frivolous, he loved too much have a fun life, and it was fearful that for the sake of this he would betray the city, as did the son of Marianna, the enemy of God and people, the leader of our enemies, damn him, and damn the womb that carried him!.. Covering her face, Marianna walked away, and in the morning the next day she appeared to the defenders of the city and said: “Either kill me because my son has become your enemy, or open the gates for me, I will go to him...” They answered: “You are a man, and your homeland should be dear to you.” ; your son is as much an enemy for you as he is for each of us. “I am a mother, I love him and I consider myself guilty that he is what he has become.” Then they began to consult what to do with her, and decided: “In honor, we cannot kill you for your son’s sin, we know that you could not instill this in him.” terrible sin, and we can guess how you must suffer. But the city does not need you even as a hostage - your son does not care about you, we think that he has forgotten you, the devil, and - here is your punishment if you find that you deserve it! It seems to us worse than death!
- Yes! - she said. - This is worse.
They opened the gates for her, let her out of the city and watched for a long time from the wall as she walked along native land, thickly saturated with the blood shed by her son: she walked slowly, with great difficulty lifting her feet from this ground, bowing to the corpses of the city’s defenders, disgustedly pushing away the broken weapon with her foot - mothers hate offensive weapons, recognizing only those with which life is protected. It was as if she was carrying a cup full of moisture in her hands under her cloak, and was afraid of spilling it; As she moved away, she became smaller and smaller, and to those who looked at her from the wall, it seemed as if despondency and hopelessness were leaving them with her. They saw how she stopped halfway and, throwing off the hood of her cloak from her head, looked at the city for a long time, and there, in the enemy camp, they noticed her, alone in the middle of the field, and, slowly, carefully, black figures like her were approaching her . They came up and asked who she was, where is he going ? “Your leader is my son,” she said, and not one of the soldiers doubted it. They walked next to her, praising how smart and brave her son was, she listened to them, proudly raising her head, and was not surprised - her son should be like that! And here she is before the man whom she knew nine months before his birth, before the one whom she had never felt outside her heart - he is in silk and velvet before her, and his weapon is in precious stones. Everything is as it should be; This is exactly how she saw him many times in her dreams - rich, famous and loved. - Mother! - he said, kissing her hands. “You came to me, it means you understood me, and tomorrow I will take this damned city!” “The one you were born in,” she reminded. Intoxicated by his exploits, maddened by a thirst for even greater glory, he told her with the daring fervor of youth: “I was born in the world and for the world, in order to amaze it with surprise!” I spared this city for your sake - it is like a thorn in my foot and prevents me from moving as quickly to glory as I want. But now - tomorrow - I will destroy the nest of stubborn people! “Where every stone knows and remembers you as a child,” she said. “Stones are mute, if a person doesn’t make them talk, let the mountains talk about me, that’s what I want!” - But people? she asked. - Oh yes, I remember them, mother! And I need them, because only in the memory of people are heroes immortal! She said: “A hero is someone who creates life in spite of death, who conquers death...” “No!” - he objected. “He who destroys is as glorious as he who builds cities.” Look - we don’t know whether Aeneas or Romulus built Rome, but the name of Alaric and other heroes who destroyed this city is definitely known. “Who survived all the names,” the mother reminded. So he spoke to her until sunset, she interrupted his crazy speeches less and less, and her proud head sank lower and lower. Mother creates, she protects, and to talk about destruction in front of her means to speak against her, but he did not know this and denied the meaning of her life. Mother is always against death; the hand that introduces death into people's homes is hateful and hostile to Mothers - her son did not see this, blinded by the cold brilliance of glory that kills the heart. And he did not know that the Mother is a beast as intelligent, ruthless as fearless, if it comes to the life that she, the Mother, creates and protects. She sat bent over, and through the open canvas of the leader’s rich tent she could see the city where she first experienced the sweet trembling of conception and the painful spasms of the birth of a child who now wants to destroy. The crimson rays of the sun drenched the walls and towers of the city with blood, the glass of the windows shone ominously, the whole city seemed wounded, and the red juice of life flowed through hundreds of wounds; Time passed, and then the city began to turn black, like a corpse, and the stars lit up above it, like funeral candles. She saw there, in dark houses where they were afraid to light a fire so as not to attract the attention of enemies, on the streets, full of darkness, the smell of corpses, the suppressed whispers of people awaiting death - she saw everything and everyone; something familiar and dear stood close to her, silently awaiting her decision, and she felt like a mother to all the people of her city. Clouds descended from the black peaks of the mountains into the valley and, like winged horses, flew towards the city, doomed to death. “Perhaps we will fall on him at night,” said her son, “if the night is dark enough!” It’s inconvenient to kill when the sun is looking into your eyes and the shine of the weapon blinds them - there are always a lot of wrong blows,” he said, examining his sword. His mother told him: “Come here, lay your head on my chest, rest, remembering how cheerful and kind you were as a child and how everyone loved you...” He obeyed, lay down on her lap and closed his eyes, saying: “I love you.” only glory and you, for giving birth to me as I am. - And women? - she asked, leaning over him. - There are a lot of them, they quickly get boring, like everything too sweet. She asked him in last time: - And you don’t want to have children? - For what? To be killed? Someone like me will kill them, and it will hurt me, and then I will be old and weak to avenge them.
“You are beautiful, but barren as lightning,” she said with a sigh. He answered smiling: - Yes, like lightning...
And he dozed off on his mother’s chest like a child. Then she, covering him with her black cloak, stuck a knife into his heart, and he, shuddering, died immediately - after all, she knew well where her son’s heart beats. And, throwing his corpse from her knees at the feet of the astonished guards, she said towards the city: “Man, I did everything I could for my homeland; Mother - I stay with my son! It’s too late for me to give birth to another, no one needs my life. And the same knife, still warm from his blood - her blood - she plunged with a firm hand into her chest and also correctly hit her heart - if it hurts, it’s easy to hit.
The novel takes place in Russia in the early 1900s. Factory workers and their families live in the working settlement, and the whole life of these people is inextricably linked with the factory: in the morning, with the factory whistle, workers rush to the factory, in the evening it throws them out of their rock depths; on holidays, when they meet each other, they only talk about the factory, drink a lot, and when drunk they fight. However, the young worker Pavel Vlasov, unexpectedly for his mother Pelageya Nilovna, the widow of a mechanic, suddenly begins to live a different life:
On holidays he goes to town, brings books, reads a lot. To his mother’s perplexed question, Pavel replies: “I want to know the truth and that’s why I read forbidden books; if they are found on me, they will put me in prison.”
After some time, Pavel’s comrades begin to gather in the Vlasovs’ house on Saturday evenings: Andrei Nakhodka - “the Little Russian from Kanev,” as he introduces himself to his mother, who recently arrived in the settlement and entered the factory; several factory - suburban guys whom Nilovna knew before; people come from the city: a young girl Natasha, a teacher who left Moscow from rich parents; Nikolai Ivanovich, who sometimes comes instead of Natasha to work with the workers; a thin and pale young lady Sashenka, like Natasha, left the family: her father is a landowner, a zemstvo chief. Pavel and Sashenka love each other, but they cannot get married: they both believe that married revolutionaries are lost for business - they need to earn a living, buy an apartment, and raise children. Gathering in the Vlasovs’ house, the circle members read books on history, talk about the plight of the workers of the whole earth, about the solidarity of all workers, and often sing songs. At these meetings, the mother hears the word "socialists" for the first time.
His mother really likes Nakhodka, and he fell in love with her too, affectionately calling her “nenko”, saying that she looks like his deceased foster mother, but he doesn’t remember his own mother. After some time, Pavel and his mother invite Andrei to move into their house, and the Little Russian happily agrees.
Leaflets appear at the factory, which talk about workers' strikes in St. Petersburg, about the injustice of the conditions at the factory; leaflets call on workers to unite and fight for their interests. The mother understands that the appearance of these sheets is connected with her son’s work; she is both proud of him and fears for his fate. After some time, gendarmes come to the Vlasovs’ house with a search. The mother is scared, but she tries to suppress her fear. Those who came found nothing: having been warned in advance about the search, Pavel and Andrei took prohibited books from the house; Nevertheless, Andrei is arrested.
An announcement appears at the factory that the management will deduct a penny from every ruble earned by the workers to drain the swamps surrounding the factory. The workers are dissatisfied with this decision of the management; several older workers come to Pavel for advice. Pavel asks his mother to go to the city to take his note to the newspaper so that the story with the "swamp penny" gets into the nearest issue, and he goes to the factory, where, having led a spontaneous meeting, in the presence of the director, he sets out the workers' demands for the abolition of the new tax .
Beginning of the 20th century. The factory village is dark, poor, dirty. The entire life of the inhabitants of the village is centered around the factory: even before dawn, the whistle calls everyone to work, hard, exhausting, bringing neither joy nor money... In the evening, the workers no longer have the strength to do anything - except maybe drink vodka and fall asleep. On holidays they definitely drink, and sometimes they even fight. Nilovna, the heroine of the novel, is accustomed to such a life. Her son Pavel is going to live the same way as his father - work and drink. However, when the father tries to Once again beat his mother, Pavel resolutely resists.
At the beginning of the story, Nilovna is just over forty years old, but she is presented as an elderly woman - her difficult, hopeless life has broken her and aged her before her time.
After the death of his father, Pavel leads the life of an ordinary factory worker for some time, but then changes dramatically: on holidays he goes to the city, reads a lot, and brings home forbidden books.
He explains to his mother that he wants to know the truth, but this truth can lead to jail time.
On Saturdays, revolutionaries and his comrades begin to gather in Pavel’s house. They read books, sing revolutionary songs, talk about the fate of workers in Russia and other countries. “Socialists” is a terrible word, but the mother feels in her heart that these are good, honest and pure people.
Here is Natasha - for the sake of her convictions, she left her wealthy family and began working as a teacher.
Here is Nikolai Ivanovich - serious man, he has something to tell the workers about.
Here is Sashenka - thin and pale, she also left the family, because she decided to devote herself to the cause of the workers, and her father is a landowner. Nilovna, with her keen heart, notices that between this girl and her son - real love. But the young people decided not to start a family, as this would interfere with the cause of the revolution - after all, caring for an apartment and children would distract them from the main and only thing.
Andrei Nakhodka, the “crest from Kanev,” becomes the second son for Nilovna. Andrei is a foundling and does not know his own mother. But Nilovna reminds him of his adoptive mother - she’s just as kind. Andrey affectionately calls Nilovna “nenko” and happily moves to live with the Vlasovs.
Leaflets denouncing the existing system appear at the factory. These leaflets call on workers to unite in the fight for justice. The mother understands that this is the activity of her son and his comrades. Soon they come to the Vlasovs’ house with a search. Nothing prohibited is found - books and leaflets are hidden in a safe place. But Andrei was still arrested.
An important episode in the story is the “swamp penny”. The already poor workers were imposed a new tax: for every ruble earned - one kopeck to drain the swamps. Pavel writes a note in the newspaper and sends his mother to the city to deliver it. Let everyone know about the new extortions! He himself leads a spontaneous rally at the factory. He demands the abolition of the new tax. However, at the very first order of the director, all the protesters disperse to their places. Pavel is upset because they don’t trust him; he is obviously still too young. At night, the gendarmes take Pavel away.
One of the members of the circle, Yegor Ivanovich, comes to Nilovna. He says that besides Pavel, about fifty more workers were arrested. If leaflets had continued to be distributed at the factory, then the accusations against Pavel could have been considered groundless. Nilovna undertakes to distribute proclamations. She is hired as an assistant to a friend who sells lunch - and she is not searched like everyone else. Who would have thought that an old woman was distributing leaflets! At the very beginning of Nilovna’s activities, she is guided only by maternal love and the desire to save her son, but gradually she understands that “children, our blood, stand for truth for everyone!”
Andrei and Pavel are released from prison, and they immediately begin to prepare for the May Day demonstration. People are gathering in the square. Pavel, with a red banner in his hands, openly declares that today representatives of the Social Democratic workers' party raising the banner of workers' truth. A column of demonstrators moves along the streets of the village, but a chain of soldiers comes out to meet them. The column is crushed, Pavel and Andrei are arrested. Nilovna picks up the banner and goes home with it, reflecting on the justice of her children’s cause - she already considers all revolutionaries to be her children.
After Pavel’s arrest, Nilovna moves to the city to live with Nikolai Ivanovich (this was agreed upon in advance with Pavel and Andrei), she manages his simple household and gradually becomes more and more actively involved in revolutionary work. Together with Nikolai Ivanovich’s sister, Sophia, Nilovna, disguised as either a pilgrim or a merchant, travels around the villages and campaigns among the peasants. Yegor Ivanovich dies. His funeral spontaneously turns into a rally and escalates into a battle with the police. Nilovna takes the wounded young man away from this massacre and takes care of him.
The mother visits her son in prison and manages to give Pavel a note suggesting an escape, initiated by Sasha, who loves him.
However, Pavel refuses - it is important for him to speak at the trial.
Only relatives are allowed to attend the trial so that the speeches of the defendants are not heard by the people. The meeting proceeds “according to protocol”: fussy, fast - everything has already been decided in advance. However, everyone was shaken up by Paul’s inspired speech: socialists are not rebels, they are revolutionaries, they stand for the people, for work that is equal and obligatory for everyone. The fight cannot be stopped by arrests, the fight is until victory!
The judge reads out the verdict, it is unambiguous: all defendants refer to the settlement. Sashenka is going to submit a petition to be sent into exile along with Pavel. The mother promises to come to them and babysit her grandchildren.
It's a shame that Paul's speech was not heard by the people. Nikolai Ivanovich finds a way out: print it and distribute it! Nilovna volunteers to take the leaflets to another city. At the station she notices a spy, who accuses her of theft and offers to go to the police station. Nilovna opens her suitcase and begins scattering leaflets in the crowd: “This is my son’s speech! He’s political!”
The gendarmes surround the mother, one of them grabs her by the throat... Nilovna wheezes, unable to continue her speech.
Is this heroic woman still alive, the embodiment of maternal sacrificial love - not only for her son, but for all disadvantaged people? We don't find the answer in the story.