Deadline
Old woman Anna lies motionless, without opening her eyes; it has almost frozen, but life still glimmers. The daughters understand this by raising a piece of a broken mirror to their lips. It fogs up, which means mom is still alive. However, Varvara, one of Anna’s daughters, believes it is possible to mourn, to “voice her back,” which she selflessly does first at the bedside, then at the table, “wherever it is more convenient.” At this time, my daughter Lucy is sewing a funeral dress tailored in the city. The sewing machine chirps to the rhythm of Varvara’s sobs.
Anna is the mother of five children, two of her sons died, the first, born one for God, the other for the soar. Varvara came to say goodbye to her mother from the regional center, Lyusya and Ilya from nearby provincial towns.
Anna can't wait for Tanya from distant Kyiv. And next to her in the village was always her son Mikhail, along with his wife and daughter. Gathering around the old woman on the morning of the next day after her arrival, the children, seeing their mother revived, do not know how to react to her strange revival.
“Mikhail and Ilya, having brought vodka, now did not know what to do: everything else seemed trivial to them in comparison, they toiled, as if passing through every minute.” Huddled in the barn, they get drunk with almost no snacks, except for the food that Mikhail’s little daughter Ninka carries for them. This causes legitimate female anger, but the first glasses of vodka give men a feeling of genuine celebration. After all, the mother is alive. Ignoring the girl collecting empty and unfinished bottles, they no longer understand what thought they want to drown out this time, maybe it’s fear. “The fear from the knowledge that the mother is about to die is not like all the previous fears that befall them in life, because this fear is the most terrible, it comes from death... It seemed that death had already noticed them all in the face and had already won't forget again."
Having gotten thoroughly drunk and feeling the next day as if they had been put through a meat grinder, Mikhail and Ilya are thoroughly hungover the next day. “How can you not drink?” says Mikhail. “Laziness, second, even for a week, it’s still possible. And if you don’t drink at all until your death? Just think, there’s nothing ahead. It’s all the same thing. How many ropes are holding us and at work and at home, you can’t help but groan, you should have done so much and didn’t do it, you should, should, should, should, and the further you go, the more you should - let it all go to waste. He did what he needed to do. And what he didn’t do, he shouldn’t have done, and he did the right thing in what he didn’t do.” This does not mean that Mikhail and Ilya do not know how to work and have never known any other joy than from drunkenness. In the village where they all once lived together, there was a common work - “friendly, inveterate, loud, with a discord of saws and axes, with the desperate hooting of fallen timber, echoing in the soul with enthusiastic anxiety with the obligatory banter with each other. Such work happens. Once during the firewood harvesting season - in the spring, so that they have time to dry over the summer, yellow pine logs with thin silky skin, pleasant to the eye, are placed in neat woodpiles." These Sundays are organized for oneself, one family helps another, which is still possible. But the collective farm in the village is falling apart, people are leaving for the city, there is no one to feed and raise livestock.
Remembering her former life, the city dweller Lyusya with great warmth and joy imagines her beloved horse Igrenka, on which “slam a mosquito, he will fall down,” which in the end happened: the horse died. Igren carried a lot, but couldn’t handle it. Wandering around the village through the fields and arable land, Lucy realizes that she does not choose where to go, that she is being guided by some outsider who lives in these places and professes her power. ...It seemed that life had returned back, because she, Lucy, had forgotten something here, had lost something very valuable and necessary for her, without which she could not...
While the children drink and indulge in memories, the old woman Anna, having eaten the children's semolina porridge specially cooked for her, cheers up even more and goes out onto the porch. She is visited by her long-awaited friend Mironikha. “Oti-moti! Are you, old lady, in any way alive? - says Mironikha. - Why is death not taking you?
Anna grieves that among the children gathered at her bedside there is no Tatyana, Tanchora, as she calls her. Tanchora was not like any of the sisters. She stood, as it were, between them with her special character, soft and joyful, human. Without waiting for her daughter, the old woman decides to die. “She had nothing more to do in this world and there was no point in postponing death. While the guys are here, let them bury them, carry them out, as is customary among people, so that they don’t have to return to this concern another time. Then, you see, Tanchora will come too.. . The old woman thought about death many times and knew her as herself. In recent years they became friends, the old woman often talked to her, and death, sitting somewhere on the side, listened to her reasonable whisper and sighed knowingly. They agreed that the old woman would leave at night, first she will fall asleep, like all people, so as not to frighten death with her open eyes, then she will quietly snuggle, take away her short worldly sleep and give her eternal peace.” This is how it all turns out.
Valentin Grigorievich Rasputin has long received public recognition and earned the title of one of the best country writers. The main problem that the writer raised in his work is man’s destructive attitude towards nature and the loss of moral values under the influence of civilization. Rasputin remained true to his priorities in the story “The Deadline”. We will consider a brief summary of this work.
Creativity of Rasputin
Valentin Rasputin is a writer who knows how to convey the national spirit of his people, working within the framework of the traditional school of Russian literature. This is what earned him recognition both at home and abroad.
Rasputin owes his love for nature and understanding of its subtle beauty to the place of his birth (the writer’s native village was located on the banks of the Angara River). The prose writer always saw the task of his work as the preservation of natural resources and spiritual morality of people, because the connection between man and nature is inextricable.
The themes of morality and the connection between man and nature are reflected in the story “The Deadline”. Rasputin summarized the content of this work to the eternal problem of life and death.
Theme of the story
The fundamental theme on which the entire narrative is built is the problem of morality, or rather its modern understanding. Rasputin considered this story to be the most important in his work. “The Last Term” (a summary of the chapters can be read below) reflected the changes taking place in the thoughts and soul of modern man.
But the theme of the story is much broader and more varied; it is not limited to just one thing. Rasputin raises the following problems in the work: relationships between relatives, old age, causes of alcoholism, attitude to honor and conscience, fear of death.
Rasputin's plan
Rasputin sees the main task of his story “The Last Term” in exposing the moral decline of modern society. With the advent of progress, selfishness, heartlessness, cruelty and callousness began to take possession of the souls of modern people. Rasputin wanted to draw the attention of his readers to this. Modern man has lost touch with his roots and nature, he has lost the meaning of life, moral guidelines, and spiritual wealth.
Anna's image
To briefly describe “The Deadline,” Rasputin Valentin appears as a writer fighting for the preservation of the human soul. And representatives of the older generation become examples of worthy people in his works.
Anna is a dying old woman, but she is not afraid of death. She lived a decent life, was a good mother, was happy, and there were sorrows in her life, but she also takes them for granted. The main character is endowed with incredible moral strength, which stems from Anna's confidence that a person must be responsible for the life he lives.
The image of Anna is idealized by the writer, who sees in ordinary women incredible spiritual strength, the ability to be a real mother and a worthy person.
“Deadline” (Rasputin): summary
Anna is an old woman, there is barely a glimmer of life in her, she can no longer even move. Daughters, to check if their mother is dead, hold a mirror to her face. Varvara, one of Anna’s daughters, considers it possible to begin to mourn her dying mother, and another daughter, Lyusya, is already sewing a black dress.
Anna has five children, but now only Varvara, Lyusya and Ilya are with her, and her son Mikhail, who lives in the same village as his mother. The main character is waiting for the arrival of Tanya, who lives in Kyiv. As soon as all the children, except Tatyana, gather around the dying woman, she seems to be reborn, and the children immediately fall into bewilderment.
The men, not knowing what to do, go to the barn and get drunk there. Gradually they are overcome with joy - the mother is still alive. But the more they drink, the more fear seizes them - the fear of losing Anna, the fear of inevitable death: “death has already noticed everyone in the face and will not forget.”
The summary of the book “Deadline” by the author Valentin Rasputin can be continued with a scene describing the next morning. Ilya and Mikhail feel unwell and in order to get rid of this condition they decide to get hungover. They compare drinking to gaining freedom, because in a drunken state nothing holds them back: neither home, nor work. They did not always find joy in alcohol; there were days during the days of the collective farm when the entire village worked collecting firewood. This kind of work was to their liking and brought them pleasure.
Lucy also remembers her former life. Previously, the family had a horse - Igren, whom the girl loved very much, but he died from hard, backbreaking work. Wandering through the surrounding fields, Lucy remembers that before she seemed to feel some direction in her life, as if someone’s hand was leading her, but in the city this feeling disappeared. Rasputin put a lot of thoughts about his former prosperity into the story “The Last Term”. In the words of the heroes one can hear a cry for an irrevocable life, when everyone lived in harmony with each other and nature.
Anna gradually comes to life and can already get up and go out onto the porch on her own. He comes to visit his friend Mironikha. But the old woman’s heart is still full of sadness because Tanya won’t come. Tanchora, as her family called her, differed from her brothers and sisters in her gentle human character. But her daughter doesn’t go, and Anna decides to die. In recent years, the old woman has come to terms with the inevitable and even made friends with death. She negotiates with her to pick her up in her sleep. That's how it all happens.
Conclusion
So, the story “The Last Term” (Rasputin), a summary of which we gave above, is a vivid illustration of the writer’s creativity and the key to understanding his moral and spiritual ideals. Rasputin’s greatest value, therefore, turns out to be his homeland and a person’s connection with his roots.
Rasputin's work is a reflection of the values of modern man. Valentin Rasputin is one of the most famous and talented writers of modern Russian literature.
The theme of modern perception of morality is fundamental to most of his works. Most often, his story “The Deadline” is mentioned, which the author calls the most important in his own work.
His works are filled with vivid images and thoughts that help reveal the changes taking place in the psychology of modern man.
Through the eyes of Rasputin we see the loss of many valuable human qualities; the writer shows how gradually kindness, mercy and conscience leave the hearts of people, and how this affects the life of society as a whole, and in particular the life and destiny of each person.
The meaning of the story "The Deadline"
The themes that Rasputin touches on in the story “The Deadline” are deeper and more multifaceted than they might seem at first glance.
Relationships between family members, attitudes towards parents, alcoholism, old age, concepts of conscience and honor - all these motives are woven into a single reflection of the meaning of a person’s life in “The Last Term”; and by touching on these topics, Rasputin only reflects reality.
The main character of the story is the eighty-year-old old woman Anna, who lives with her son. Her inner world is filled with worries about children who have long since moved away and lead lives separately from each other. Anna only thinks that she would like to see them happy before she dies. And if not happy, then just to see them all one last time.
But her grown-up children are children of modern civilization, busy and businesslike, they already have their own families, and they can think about many things - and they have enough time and energy for everything, except their mother. For some reason, they hardly remember her, not wanting to understand that for her the feeling of life remains only in them, she only lives in thoughts about them.
When Anna feels death approaching, she is ready to wait until the end for a few more days, because she really wants to see her family. Until her last minute, she loves them with all her soul and vitality that still remains in her, but the children find time and attention for her only for the sake of decency.
Rasputin reveals their lives in such a way that it seems that they generally live in this world for the sake of decency. Moreover, the sons are mired in drunkenness, and the daughters are busy with their “important” affairs.
They are ridiculous and insincere in their last desire to pay attention to their dying mother. After all, in the last days of the mother’s life, they could have at least corrected something, they could have simply sincerely talked to her and given her the attention worthy of a mother, but they weren’t enough for that either.
Analysis of the plan “Deadline” - the meaning of the name
Valentin Rasputin points out to modern society and people their moral decline, the callousness, heartlessness and selfishness that have taken possession of their lives and souls.
What do such people live for? For the sake of anger and hatred, envy and disrespect for other people? If they cannot even say goodbye to their dying mother in a human way, what can we say about their attitude to the world around them, about their life purpose and role...
The writer shows how pitiful the life of such people can be, how soulless and gloomy, and the main idea is that they created such a world around themselves with their own hands.
And only one question remains regarding the title of the story and what meaning Rasputin put into it.
Old woman Anna lies motionless, without opening her eyes; it has almost frozen, but life still glimmers. The daughters understand this by raising a piece of a broken mirror to their lips. It fogs up, which means mom is still alive. However, Varvara, one of Anna’s daughters, believes it is possible to mourn, “to cast her voice,” which she selflessly does first at the bedside, then at the table, “wherever it is more convenient.” At this time, my daughter Lucy is sewing a funeral dress tailored in the city.
The sewing machine chirps to the rhythm of Varvara’s sobs. Anna is the mother of five children, two of her sons died, the first, born one for God, the other for the soar. Varvara came to say goodbye to her mother from the regional center, Lyusya and Ilya from nearby provincial towns. Anna can't wait for Tanya from distant Kyiv. And next to her in the village was always her son Mikhail, along with his wife and daughter. Having gathered around the old woman on the morning of the next day after her arrival, the children, seeing their mother revived, do not know how to react to her strange revival.
“Mikhail and Ilya, having brought vodka, now did not know what to do: everything else seemed trivial to them in comparison, they toiled, as if passing through every minute.” Huddled in the barn, they get drunk with almost no snacks, except for the food that Mikhail’s little daughter Ninka carries for them. This causes legitimate female gays, but the first shots of vodka give the men a feeling of genuine celebration. After all, the mother is alive.
Ignoring the girl collecting empty and unfinished bottles, they no longer understand what thought they want to drown out this time, maybe it’s fear. “The fear from the consciousness that the mother is about to die is not like all the previous fears that befall them in life, because this fear is the most terrible, it comes from death... It seemed that death had already noticed them all in the face and had already won't forget again." Having gotten thoroughly drunk and feeling the next day “as if they had been put through a meat grinder,” Mikhail and Ilya are thoroughly hungover the next day.
“How can you not drink? - says Mikhail. - Laziness, second, even if it’s a week, it’s still possible. What if you don’t drink at all until your death? Just think, there is nothing ahead. It's all the same thing. There are so many ropes that hold us both at work and at home that we can’t groan, so much you should have done and didn’t do, you should, should, should, should, and the further you go, the more you should - let it all go to waste. And he drank, as soon as he was released, he did everything that was necessary.
And what he didn’t do, he shouldn’t have done, and he did the right thing in what he didn’t do.” This does not mean that Mikhail and Ilya do not know how to work and have never known any other joy than from drunkenness. In the village where they all once lived together, there was a common work - “friendly, inveterate, loud, with a discord of saws and axes, with the desperate hooting of fallen timber, echoing in the soul with enthusiastic anxiety with the obligatory banter with each other. Such work happens once during the firewood harvesting season - in the spring, so that the yellow pine logs with thin silky skin, pleasant to the eye, have time to dry over the summer, are placed in neat woodpiles.”
These Sundays are organized for oneself, one family helps another, which is still possible. But the collective farm in the village is falling apart, people are leaving for the city, there is no one to feed and raise livestock. Remembering her former life, the city dweller Lyusya with great warmth and joy imagines her beloved horse Igrenka, on which “slam a mosquito, he will fall down,” which in the end happened: the horse died. Igren carried a lot, but couldn’t handle it.
Wandering around the village through the fields and arable land, Lucy understands that she does not choose where to go, that she is being guided by some outsider who lives in these places and professes her power. ...It seemed that life had returned back, because she, Lucy, had forgotten something here, had lost something very valuable and necessary for her, without which she could not...
While the children drink and indulge in memories, the old woman Anna, having eaten the children's semolina porridge specially cooked for her, cheers up even more and goes out onto the porch. Her long-awaited friend Mironikha visits her. “Ochi-mochi! Are you, old lady, alive? - says Mironikha. “Why doesn’t death take you?.. I’m going to her funeral, I think she was kind enough to console me, but she’s still a tut.” Anna grieves that among the children gathered at her bedside there is no Tatyana, Tanchora, as she calls her.
Tanchora was not like any of the sisters. She stood, as it were, between them with her special character, soft and joyful, human. Without waiting for her daughter, the old woman decides to die. “She had nothing more to do in this world and there was no point in postponing death. While the guys are here, let them bury them, carry them out as is customary among people, so that they don’t have to return to this concern another time. Then, you see, Tanchora will come too... The old woman thought about death many times and knew it as herself. In recent years they had become friends, the old woman often talked to her, and Death, sitting somewhere on the side, listened to her reasonable whisper and sighed knowingly. They agreed that the old woman would go away at night, first fall asleep, like all people, so as not to frighten death with open eyes, then she would quietly snuggle, take her short worldly sleep away and give her eternal peace.” This is how it all turns out.
Rasputin ("The Deadline") tests the village's moral strength in his story. An analysis of the work is presented in this article. The action here lasts only three days: this is the time given by God to the dying village old woman Anna in order to see the children who came to their native village to say goodbye to their weakened mother before her death.
Old woman Anna, whose prototype is the writer’s own grandmother, is the personification of folk wisdom, spirituality, and generous maternal love. This is the key character of the peasant universe. “I am especially struck by old women’s calm attitude towards death, which they take as a matter of course,” said the writer in an interview with the magazine “Voprosy Liieratura” (1970. No. 9). A village person perceives the fact of his own death as a natural withering. Shukshin was also interested in the attitude of a village person to death (“How the old man died”). The heroes of both writers “sense” their hour of death and are in a hurry to finish their worldly affairs without unnecessary fuss. And at the same time, they are uniquely individual - even at their last feature: the old man in Shukshin’s story represents death soberly and visibly; Old woman Anna is poetic in a feminine way, moreover, sometimes death seems to her like her own double.
The image of Anna in the story is associated with eternal problems (death, the meaning of life, the relationship with nature, the relationship between fathers and children), and the images of children are topical (city and countryside, the moral essence of the younger generation, loss of connection with the earth).
Half of the text of the story is occupied by images of children: they are revealed through action, speech, and the author’s assessments. Lucy is a firm, consistent, but tough person, living according to the laws of reason, not feelings; Varvara is kind, but stupid, she has no emotional tact. Son Mikhail is a rude man and a drunkard, but his mother lives with him and his wife. The spineless Ilya, who traveled a lot around the world, never acquired either intelligence or experience. But Tanchora, who was the most affectionate child in childhood, did not come at all. The author does not explain her action in any way, hoping that a kind reader will justify her by finding his own evidence for this, and a bad reader will condemn her. Before us is an attempt to apply the variable principle in depicting the actions of characters, which V. Rasputin and A. Bitov experienced in different forms in their work in the 70s.
The author shows that the moral potential of the generation replacing the village elders is much lower: leaving the village is fraught with irreversible consequences for it. The global process of change is also affecting those few young people who remain in the countryside: their attachment to the land and responsibility towards it are decreasing, and family ties are weakening. These are elements of the phenomenon that will later be called de-peasantization.