Why did Gerasim drown Mumu? Surely this question is of interest to many people, especially those who are just starting to read this work, and want to understand what was the true reason for such a decision. In this article, we will try to give all the necessary arguments, considering the issue from all sides, in order to understand what led Gerasim to do just that, committing such an act.
Before considering this issue in detail, I would like to note that despite the fact that this story appeared in 1852, we can safely say that it does not lose its relevance, is very popular and still being interesting. Based on history, I would like to recall that, on the orders of the owner, the deaf-mute Gerasim decides to drown not just a dog, but a dog that he loved very much.
From the point of view of psychology
Of course, I would like to start considering this issue from a psychological point of view, after which you can understand that if you delve into history, then the deaf-mute Gerasim was deprived of everything, this can include the village, and peasant work, even they were deprived, but this was not enough, because, in the end, he loses his beloved dog, which he really loved with all his heart.
The murder of his beloved dog happened for the reason that he understood that his affection and love for an animal, as a rule, becomes an addiction, moreover, Gerasim was constantly losing something in his life, and deciding to kill a dog, he believed that this would be the last loss, since he had nothing left. In addition, one cannot exclude such a factor as the psychology of the serf, because from early childhood he knew that it was impossible to disobey the landowners, as this could lead to serious punishments.
On a note! I would like to add that in the old days, as a rule, Orthodox Church and completely denied the existence of a soul in animals, which led to the fact that they could get rid of them with particular ease, since animals were treated indifferently.
If you remember the end of the story, you can understand that main character in his life he never again could approach the dogs, could not find a wife for himself, although he so dreamed about it. Considering the psychological side of the issue, one can understand that he understood that love and affection make him not only vulnerable, but also dependent.
Moreover, he did not leave the thought that he could leave his beloved dog alive, but he was only frightened by the fact that the lady came up with a more serious punishment for this, which served as the reason for such a decision. All this led to the fact that the main character still decides to kill the dog not with strangers, but with his own hands.
Reader and Gerasim
Often readers do not understand why Gerasim drowned Mumu, for him it remains a mystery and no arguments that are given as examples can serve as the true reason for such an act. After all, as you know, after Gerasim killed the dog, he never returned to his mistress, so it was possible not to do this.
But if you delve into the meaning of the story, then it is this act that can be explained, since the main character experienced deep feelings that were based solely on the unfortunate fate that touched him. All this led to the fact that he made such a decision, deciding to get rid of the dog.
Unrequited love, broken heart
Before the appearance of a dog in the life of the protagonist, he had to face many difficulties, for example, now he had to get used to hard physical labor, city life. Moreover, he independently looked for work, because he could not imagine himself without difficulty. Some time later, Gerasim falls in love with a modest and calm girl named Tatiana, starting to court her.
But once again, fate prepared a serious test for the protagonist, and he was not destined to be with the one that he liked for the first time, since she was a shoemaker, and he was also a drunkard. When this happened, Gerasim completely loses the meaning of life, withdrawing into himself even more, not seeing the meaning of his life at all.
It was the dog that he rescued late at night and completely inspired him, thanks to her he found the meaning of life, at the moment when the owner ordered to get rid of the animal, the protagonist of the story immediately decides to do it on his own, thereby taking full responsibility. He could not allow a stranger to hurt his beloved dog, which, in fact, changed his outlook on life.
Moreover, Gerasim experienced restless jealousy when someone wanted to stroke Mumu, what can we say about the murder. No one denies that, of course, it was impossible to disobey the mistress at that time, but readers still cannot understand what prevented him from leaving with the dog?
At the moment when he realizes that in any case, he will have to get rid of the dog, he drowned the creature that changed his life. The story tells about what kind of life the protagonist began in the future, because he never met a girl whom he could love, and he was completely wary of dogs, fearing that their fate would be just as sad.
Therefore, answering the question why Gerasim drowned Mumu, I would like to say that the true reason for this act is that he gets rid of what is dear to him, getting rid of, killing the source of misfortune that haunts him. that All this leads to the fact that if you read the story carefully, delving into it deep meaning, then it will be possible to understand what was the true reason for such an act.
The protagonist was disappointed in love, in people, and could not find the meaning of life, after which he runs away to his homeland, doing his usual thing, namely, working in the field.
Conclusion
Based on all that has been said, each reader should clearly understand that by actually reading the story, and getting into its meaning, Gerasim's actions become obvious, understandable. After all, he simply could not do otherwise, and killing his beloved dog was a necessary act, there was no other way out of this situation, no matter how painful and sad it sounded.
Every year the eyes junior schoolchildren covered in tears. In schools, gymnasiums and lyceums they read "Muma" by Turgenev. And ever since this story was published in the Sovremennik magazine in 1854, "all progressive mankind" has condemned the hard-hearted Gerasim.
And he condemns absolutely in vain. No, unlike Pasternak's "Doctor Zhivago", Turgenev's "creatiffcheg" was read. But they read, firstly, with pre-washed brains, and secondly, extremely inattentively. Thirdly, illustrators of children's literature have been freeloading for almost 160 years.
A typical "tear" pattern.
In fact, Gerasim did not drown Mumu
. He just broke up with her humanly. Don't believe? We open the official publication of I.S. Turgenev and read carefully together, from time to time interrupting for reasoning.
I will quote the author's text from the Collected Works in ten volumes, Goslitizdat, Moscow, 1961 OCR Konnik M.V.
To begin with, let's decide, what size was Mumu?
Helpful illustrators vying with each other offer their drawings.
Drawing by V. Kozhevnikova.
In 1949, the filmstrip "Mumu" was published. Remember this rare entertainment from childhood? Wikipedia helpfully suggests that filmstrips were widely used in the USSR "for educational, artistic, entertainment (children's fairy tales and frames from cartoons), lectures and propaganda goals". I will leave a lot on the conscience of propagandists. But not "Mumu".
Impressed by the "mimic-beaded" dog, let's carefully read the end of the second line of text on the frame of the filmstrip. Let's look at the picture. Do you feel cognitive dissonance?
Word of I.S. Turgenev: " ...turned into a very fine dog spanish breed, with long ears, a fluffy tail in the form of a pipe and large expressive eyes."And now, mockingly squinting my eyes, I will ask: So what breed was Mumu? Spanish? And now what is this breed called? How in English is "Spanish"? Spanish. And in German? Spanisch. modern name breed or me say it spaniel?
While Mumu is growing in size from a "masyusenky ducky" dog into a dog with a height of 40-60 centimeters at the withers, weighing up to 30-35 kilograms (French and German spaniels), the illustrators hiccup in unison, and we will note that one childish delusion has become less .
Read on.
Having promised to "destroy Mumu" (by the way, is it possible to believe the deaf-mute "at his word" ?!), Gerasim, according to the witness Eroshka, having left the yard " entered the tavern with the dog". He is there " asked himself cabbage soup with meat". "They brought Gerasim cabbage soup. He crumbled some bread into it, finely chopped the meat and put the plate on the floor."The role of carbohydrates, in particular, polysaccharides, present in excess in bread, as sources of rapidly released energy for a living organism, was discovered later, but natural ingenuity suggested to Gerasim the optimal balance of nutrients in Mumu's feed in the upcoming situation. By the way, Turgenev also notes there general grooming of the dog: " Her fur was so shiny..."Have you ever seen a starving dog with a shiny coat? I haven't.
We continue to read carefully.
"Mumu ate half a plate and walked away, licking her lips."It seems to me that the only authentic synonym is Mumu ate to satiety. That is, the dog was full and no longer wanted to eat. For better digestion of food, the deaf-mute janitor, again driven by innate sharpness, walked the dog: Gerasim walked slowly and did not let Mumu off the rope."While Walking" On the way, he went into the yard of the house, to which the outhouse was attached, and carried out two bricks from there under his arm."
Let's digress from the actions of Gerasim and slightly immerse ourselves in the history of architecture. When determining the time of bricklaying, scientists, along with other evidence, use the dimensions of the bricks. For each era, these dimensions are different. Prior to the absence of a single standard, bricks were made "hand in hand" so that it was convenient for a bricklayer to take a brick. The Bureau of Standardization at the Supreme Economic Council in 1925 fixed the "normal" brick size: 250x120x65 mm. The weight of such a product cannot exceed 4.3 kg. Today this standard is enshrined in GOST 530-2007. Take a modern brick in your hand. Too big? Uncomfortable? Have you seen the original uniforms of that era? For the most part, they are made for thin people 160-170 centimeters tall. Do you think that their hands were larger than they are now? Or did people make bricks for themselves that are not convenient to work with?
Still don't believe? Try to take two bricks under the arm of one hand and walk 300 meters with them. Why, unlike you, did Gerasim succeed? Yes, because the bricks were smaller
!
Let's continue reading. "Gerasim straightened up, hastily , with some painful anger on his face, wrapped in rope the bricks he had taken, he made a noose,"Those who want to make sure that under the influence of gravity, the bricks wrapped (not tied, namely wrapped!) With a rope will fall to the ground - take care of your feet. Better yet, take a textbook of literature and an reader, wrap them with a rope, and take the rope by the free end The force of gravity cannot be deceived, the load, not being attached to the rope, will fall, and the rope will simply remain in your hand. Turgenev, in turn, nowhere notes that Mumu or Gerasim could control gravity.
Have I convinced you yet? In the event that gravity is canceled and the bricks do not fall, remember the law of Archimedes. Approximately in 250 BC. in the treatise "On Floating Bodies" an authoritative Greek wrote: " Bodies heavier than a liquid that are lowered into this liquid will sink until they reach the very bottom, and in the liquid become easier by the weight of the liquid in a volume equal to the volume of the immersed body". Again, let us recall the real dimensions of Mumu and the bricks of that era. And just like spaniels, being hunting dogs, they find shot game in the reeds and bring hunters, often by swimming, shot game. How much does an uncut goose weigh?
Still in doubt? Especially for you, I.S. Turgenev wrote 160 years ago: " ... and when he opened his eyes again, small waves were still hurrying along the river, as if chasing each other, they were still splashing on the sides of the boat, and just far back to the shore running in wide circles. "That is, Mumu swam out and went to land, so the circles were near the shore.
I hope I whitened the image of Gerasim in your eyes? Because of his wordlessness, he had a hard time even during his lifetime. Let's remember how the washerwoman Tatyana threw him with his marriage. Yes, here also the lady got angry at Mumu. That is why, going into complete obscurity, not wanting the dog to suffer with him, he let her go, staging her death for the servants spying on him.
Knowledge, as you know, is power. Having given you power, I ask you to be careful with it. My daughter, armed with this knowledge, drove her literature teacher into a stupor for a long time. Pity the teachers.
This article is devoted to the work of I.S. Turgenev. It will carefully analyze the motives for the behavior of the protagonist of the story "Mumu" - the janitor Gerasim. Probably, those who read, but did not have sufficient psychological insight, were tormented from school by the question of why Gerasim drowned Mumu. During the "investigation" the answer to it will be given.
Gerasim's personality
The mighty mute Gerasim was uprooted from his native hut in the village and transplanted into a strange one for himself. urban soil Moscow. He was under two meters tall. It had an abundance of natural power. A Moscow lady looked after him and ordered him to be transported from the village to her house. She identified him as a janitor, for he was a noble worker.
No matter how far this information may seem to the reader from answering the question of why Gerasim drowned Mumu, it is very important and is directly related to him. This is the foundation for understanding inner peace hero.
Love triangle: Gerasim, Tatyana and Kapiton
The mistress had one simple girl - Tatyana (she worked as a laundress). Gerasim liked the young woman, although the other servants and the hostess herself understood that such a marriage was hardly possible for obvious reasons. Nevertheless, Gerasim tenderly cherished within himself a timid hope, firstly, of reciprocity, and secondly, that the lady would give her consent to the marriage.
But, unfortunately, the hopes of the protagonist were not destined to come true. The absurd and self-centered lady decided in her own way: the shoemaker-drunkard, who had gotten out of hand, was appointed Tatyana's husband by the master's permission. He himself did not mind, but he was afraid of Gerasim's reaction to this news. Then the lord's servants resorted to a trick: knowing that the dumb janitor could not stand drunkards, the servants forced Tatiana to pass drunk before Gerasim. The trick was a success - the janitor himself pushed his sweetheart into the arms of Kapiton. True, the lady's experiment did not end in anything good. Her shoemaker drank himself even in the hands of an industrious and, one might say, meek to the point of slavery laundress. The days of the unhappy couple flowed bleakly in a remote village.
The love triangle is important in the context of answering the question of why Gerasim drowned Mumu, as it reveals the "chemistry" of the janitor's future attachment to his dog.
Gerasim and Mumu
When Gerasim suffered from unspent love, he found a dog. She was only three weeks old. The janitor saved the dog from the water, brought him to his closet, organized a rookery for the dog (it turned out to be a girl), and gave her milk to drink.
In other words, now the love of a simple Russian dumb peasant, unclaimed by a woman, is completely invested in a creature that suddenly appeared in his life. He names the dog Mumu.
Story ending
The protagonist's problems arose when the lady, who had not seen the dog before, suddenly discovered it. Mumu has lived with Gerasim as in Christ's bosom for more than a year. The owner was delighted with the dog. She asked to be brought immediately to the master's chambers. When the dog was delivered, in an unfamiliar environment, she behaved wary and aggressive. She did not drink the master's milk, but began to bark at the mistress.
Of course, the mistress could not bear such an attitude and ordered the dog to be removed from her possessions. So they did. Gerasim searched and searched for her, but did not find her. But Mumu returned to the owner one fine day with a gnawed leash around her neck. Gerasim realized that the dog did not run away from him on its own, and began to hide it from prying eyes in his closet, and he took it out into the street only at night. But on one such promenade night, a drunk lay down at the fence of the master's estate. Mumu did not like drunkards, like her master, and began to bark hysterically and shrillly at the drunkard. She woke up the whole house, including the lady.
As a result, the dog was ordered to be disposed of. The servants took this too literally and decided to take Mumu's life. Gerasim volunteered to move his beloved pet to better world personally. Then, unable to bear the mental anguish, the janitor returned (actually fled) to his native land - to the village, again becoming an ordinary peasant. At first they searched for him, and when they found him, the lady said that "she does not need such an ungrateful worker for nothing."
Thus, if someone (most likely a schoolboy) decides to write an essay “Why did Gerasim drown Mumu”, he should answer this question in the context of the whole story so that the author’s narrative acquires depth and richness.
Moral of the story
Turgenev specifically draws Gerasim so powerful in order to show, in contrast, at the same time his spiritual indecision and timidity, one might say, slavery. The janitor drowned his dog not because he felt sorry for her: he imagined how she would wander around other people's yards in search of food without him. He killed her, because he could not resist the master's order and the pressure of other servants. And when the reader understands the whole essence of Gerasim's inner world, two things shock him: the skill of the writer and the deep tragedy of the story. After all, no one prevented Gerasim from escaping with the dog, in general, so to speak, from preparing an escape in advance, when he realized that things were bad. But he did not do this, and all because of the servile psychology.
Thus, to the question of why Gerasim drowned Mumu, the answers do not suggest diversity. The key to understanding the work of I.S. Turgenev - in the slavish psychology of a Russian person, which the classic masterfully embodied in the image of a dumb janitor.
The story of Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev "Mumu", written in 1852, tells about the life of the deaf-mute janitor Gerasim, who is in the service of an old lady and was obliged to obey her unquestioningly, to fulfill all orders. Serfdom humiliated the peasants, impunity of the landowners reigned. Why couldn't he disobey? Gerasim only at the very end realized how dependent his attachment makes him.
The mistress gradually took away everything that was dear to Gerasim. She took away his beloved village from him, and yet he is a peasant, a real peasant. She did not leave him the usual and beloved work. Gerasim's beloved woman, Tatyana, married the drunkard Kapiton. Tatyana always agreed with the mistress, a humble woman. And even his joy, the dog Mumu, whom Gerasim once saved, did not let her drown, she ordered to drown.
The lady was only important for her peace, she thought only of herself. All his life, Gerasim did not even imagine the possibility of arguing with the mistress, and this time he was not going to. However, the unexpected happened: having drowned the only native creature, Gerasim seemed to have lost all social ties, freed himself from the humility with which he had lived for so many years.
Mumu's death gave him the strength to leave the city, in which nothing else kept him, and return to the village. So he drowned Mumu in order to free himself from psychological dependence and find inner freedom.
There is a scientific point of view that Turgenev wrote the whole story for the sake of this one scene. The way a dumb hero with deep tenderness drowns in the river the only creature to which he is attached is such a powerful sight that, having depicted him, the writer no longer cared about either psychological or everyday details.
He achieved his goal: he struck the reader's imagination and forced him to come up with explanations for Gerasim's actions.
>Compositions based on the work of Mumu
Why Gerasim drowned Mumu
The story described by I. S. Turgenev in the story "Mumu" actually happened. It was in one of the deaf Moscow courtyards in the first half of the 19th century. The main characters of the work are the tyrant lady, the deaf-mute serf Gerasim and his devoted dog Mumu. It so happened that, due to the absurd nature of the lady, Gerasim was forced to drown his only, faithful friend, but first things first.
Born and raised a poor janitor in a remote village. When he was brought to Moscow, they bought a caftan, a winter coat and a broom so that he could sweep the yard. He was an excellent worker, for which the hostess complained about him. Despite this, she fully showed her tyranny. Even the fact that the janitor was deaf and mute did not make her more compassionate and sympathetic. None of the serfs could disobey her.
The only way to avoid her whims was to pretense and flattery, and Gerasim was not a person of such a warehouse. Of the courtyards, he liked the most timid washerwoman Tatiana - a woman of twenty-eight years. He even made clumsy attempts to woo her. Another creature appeared in his life, for whom he felt tenderness. This is the Mumu dog rescued by him from the water. The janitor diligently took care of her, fed her, cherished her, and cherished her soul.
However, neither Tatyana nor Mumu were destined to stay in his life because of the stupid whims of the lady. Tatyana was married off to a drunken shoemaker Kapiton, and the dog was ordered to get rid of. According to the plot, Gerasim drowned his only and best friend with his own hand. The question is, why did he do this? The fact is that he carried out every single order of his mistress. In addition, Gerasim was afraid that a piece of his soul would be taken away from him and something more terrible would be done to it.
For this reason, he decided to take such a desperate step. On this day, he put on his best caftan, fed Mumu to his full in a tavern, then took a boat and sailed to the middle of the river. There he put heavy bricks on the dog and threw it into the water. Being deaf and mute, he did not hear the splash of water or the squeal of a dog. This terrible day passed for him silently and silently, like a quiet night.
