Reading is not always fun. The book sometimes upsets, makes you think, change your outlook on life. Therefore, the choice of fiction plays a significant role in the formation of the personality of a teenager. It is extremely important to instill in the child the ability to sympathize, empathize with others. This extremely important topic was dedicated by Vladimir Korolenko, "In a Bad Society." An essay on this story will reveal the true meaning of words such as compassion and mercy.
about the author
Before proceeding with the analysis of the work, it is worth saying a few words about the writer Vladimir Korolenko. He was born in the middle of the XIX century, and since he lost his father quite early, he experienced his own experience of need and severe deprivation. Complicated childhood formed a special worldview. Korolenko painfully reacted to the injustice, which is monstrous in this world. He reflected his experiences in works of art, most of which are dedicated to children. One of them called Korolenko "In a bad society." This work, however, has another name - "Children of the Underground."
Outcast Children
This story is dedicated to children's friendship, the restless life of the poor. Social inequality is a problem that great writers and thinkers have considered. This topic is quite complex and controversial. But innocent children suffer from the inequities that adults have established. So it was, is, and, possibly, will be for many centuries. Only compassion can soften cruelty - the feeling to which Korolenko devoted “In a bad society”. An essay on this topic should begin with a definition of this important moral category.
What is compassion?
What is the idea of Korolenko's work “In a Bad Society”? The composition of the story about the children of the dungeon can begin with the interpretation of the polysemous word "compassion." As already mentioned, this topic was considered by the classics of Russian and foreign literature. It is worth recalling the words of Stefan Zweig. The Austrian writer believed that there were two kinds of compassion. One is a sentimental and cowardly feeling. The other is true. The first is nothing but the desire to protect oneself from the sight of another's misfortune. The second prompts action. A person who knows how to truly compassion is able to do everything in human power, and even beyond them.
The hero of the story Korolenko “In a bad society”, despite a very young age, shows pure selfless feelings. Vasya knows how to truly compassion. An unusually mature and noble deed is committed by a boy from Korolenko’s sentimental novel “In a Bad Society”.
Composition "Maroussia and Sonya - two childhoods"
There are two little heroines in the story. They never meet. What do they have in common? Age and absence of mother. A comparison of these two girls plays an important role in the overall analysis of this work.
The first is Sonia, Vasya’s sister. She lives in a comfortable home, she has a caring nanny and a loving father. The second - Maroussia - a girl living in a cold, uncomfortable dungeon. She is also not deprived of her father's love. In addition, she has a brother who is ready to do anything (and more often Valek goes to theft) in order to feed her sister. But the townspeople are disdainful of the Marousi family. She is destined to have a fate similar to the life of those who are destined to be outcasts not only in a decent society, but even among the same poor as they themselves are. However, this fate passes the girl, because she very early passes away.
Sonya’s fate is completely different. Her father is a respected man in the city. And therefore, those around Sonya herself are also warmly sympathetic. Using the example of these two images, young readers should grasp an important moral idea. It lies in the fact that the various social prejudices present in any society give rise to cruelty. And it’s especially scary when children suffer from it.
About friendship
After reading the story “In a Bad Society” by Korolenko, the composition “My Friend Vasya” is a standard creative task. Children write about how they see real friendship, and cite Vasya as an example of a good boy. But in the image of this little hero, his warm feelings for Valk and Marus are not so important as his desire to help and support representatives of the outcasts of society. After all, even before meeting children from Vasya's dungeon, the “owner" of an abandoned castle favorably invites guests, but he refuses. He is more attracted to those who are rejected, to those whose existence causes pity and compassion. This, perhaps, is the main idea of the story Korolenko "In a bad society." An essay about Vasya is very often written by children after reading the work.
Composition about Vasya
But if we are already dedicating the creative task to such a high topic as friendship, it is necessary to first state the content of the chapter in which a significant acquaintance is depicted.
Vasya - the son of a city judge - together with the neighboring boys decided one day to take a short excursion. The purpose of the trip was an abandoned chapel. All other objects in the city have been examined more than once. And only she remained an unknown structure. This old gloomy building caused terror even more than curiosity. But what was Vasya's surprise when it turned out that someone lives in this half-destroyed building! The boy was the only one who found out about it. He did not say anything to his friends.
Valek and Maroussia
The children of Tyburtia, the leader of the lower strata of the urban population, lived in the chapel. Vasya almost immediately made friends with Valk and Marusya. He helped these children, did everything in his power. And most of all, brother and sister needed the most necessary for human existence - food. Vasya later realized that Valek was trading in theft, and although this discovery was extremely unpleasant for the judge’s son, he tried to treat his new friend’s lifestyle with understanding. And after the boy realized that theft for these people is the only way to survive, he even realized that he had no right to condemn them. These are the relationships of children from different social worlds in the work of Korolenko “In a Bad Society”.
The composition "My favorite hero"
One of the most touching and sad chapters in this story is the one that deals with the last days of Marousi's life. Perhaps the events that preceded the girl’s death should be described and analyzed in detail when writing an essay about the character of the work of Korolenko - a young hero, but able to compassion like not every adult.
When the warm days passed, Maroussia began to feel worse and worse. And Vasya thought that the only bright doll for her could be a big bright doll. This expensive toy belonged to Sonya and was a gift from the deceased mother. Begging the doll for a while from his sister, Vasya took it to a dying girl. And even when his father found out about the loss, the boy did not reveal secrets about where his friends live. He was unjustly punished, but kept his word, once given to Tyburtia.
Maroussia is dead. Tyburtius appeared at the judge’s house, returned the doll and spoke about Vasya’s kindness and mercy. For many years, the judge was ashamed of her son for the cold attitude he showed towards him. Father also felt guilty that Vasya did not meet understanding and love in his native home, among close relatives, but found them in the shelter of strangers and distant people from the "bad society".