Do you like to read the summary? The "Science of Hate" (M. Sholokhov) will be presented here in a condensed form for quick reference. First, get acquainted with the author of the work.
about the author
Mikhail Sholokhov is a Russian and Soviet writer. His most famous work is The Quiet Don. The writer is even a Nobel Prize winner for literary work. Nevertheless, critics of his work reacted rather coldly to this story (“The Science of Hate”). In their opinion, it is much inferior to earlier written works. Some even believe that it was not he who wrote The Quiet Don, because such a difference in syllable is simply surprising. Incidentally, the level of the named work Sholokhov never came out more than once, which also leads to some thoughts.
Summary: “The Science of Hate” (M. Sholokhov)
Each creature has its own destiny. The soldiers in the war also have their own destiny, but no one knows what it will be like.
The story is conducted on behalf of a person who has come to the front. He starts a conversation with Viktor Gerasimov - a lieutenant. He was tall, stooped and shoulders too raised. His face expressed complete calm and even dispassion. It was about a recent battle. During the conversation, the narrator notes that the lieutenant reacts somewhat painfully to the captured Germans who pass by him: his eyes incinerate the passing Germans. The narrator does not understand such a reaction of Victor, but he does not dare to ask him. After some time, he learns that Gerasimov himself was captured by the Germans and survived there a lot of dashing. After that, Victor is not afraid of death and enjoys looking at the bodies of dead enemies. In the meantime, two interlocutors will have two more meetings.
History of Gerasimov
How does the story “The Science of Hate” (Sholokhov) continue? The summary tells us that Victor was born into a family of workers. From youth, he worked as a mechanic at a large plant, which was located in the wilderness itself - in Siberia. Despite the hard work, Gerasimov started a family: he had a loving wife and two children. They lived amicably and peacefully, because the time was difficult, and here certainly not until the relationship was clarified. Victor’s father lived with them, who became disabled.
War
The “Science of Hate” (Sholokhov), the brief content of which we are considering, tells us that Viktor was escorted to the war with a patriotic attitude. His wife and old father constantly reminded him of what a bold and faithful work he was going to complete. Even the local secretary of the party’s district committee, who was taciturn and closed, managed to say a few kind words to Gerasimov on the road.
In the summer of 1941, Victor took part in the battles. Already during the first battle, the Russians won and captured about 15 Germans. Gerasimov recalls how they went scared, pale and silent: nothing of the rebellious spirit was left in them. After a while, the soldiers began to secretly treat the Germans with a cigarette, tobacco, and a bowler hat, out of pity. One personnel officer looked down on it because he knew what the Germans were doing behind the front line. Soon Victor Gerasimov himself found out about this. The summary of the story “The Science of Hate” by Sholokhov continues with the horror he saw behind the front line.
Germans
When the Russians went on the offensive, they learned what was happening below the line. They were shocked by the corpses of women and children burnt to the ground. Many of them were brutally murdered: they simply mocked people. Most of all, the raped 11-year-old girl crashed into Victor's memory. She reminded him of her own daughter, a fifth grader. This sight was imprinted in Gerasimov’s head for a long time. Soon, the soldiers realized that they were not fighting with people, but with beasts who crave blood and violence. After that, they saw the place of execution of the Red Army, and this struck them even more. The soldiers compared the sight with the appearance of a butcher shop. Parts of the body hung on trees, many had their skin ripped off. From all this, the soldiers themselves became brutalized, and burning hatred settled in their hearts forever.
In the fall, in one of the battles Gerasimov was wounded, but he was left to fight. When he was wounded a second time, he fell into German captivity. He woke up in the middle of the field and saw that enemies were approaching him. Not wanting to die lying down, he stood up, collecting his last strength. The Germans looked at him and scoffed, laughing out loud. Then all the prisoners were lined up: Victor recognized only a couple of guys from his company. Dark-skinned and all, similar to Jews, were shot on the spot. The rest was taken to the German part. Gerasimov barely walked, he was terribly thirsty. Several times he wanted to escape, but these were unsuccessful attempts. He realized that he had lost a lot of blood and could not control his body. Yet he cursed himself every minute for not trying to escape from here.
How will Mikhail Sholokhov (Science of Hate) end his story? The summary comes to an end when Victor Gerasimov escapes from captivity. Life under the supervision of the enemy was very difficult for him, but he did not give up hope of escape. Will there be a summary of the escape? “The Science of Hate” (M. Sholokhov) ends with Victor hitting the guard with a shovel in the head and escaping. He spends the night in the forest and goes wherever his eyes look, but soon the partisans find him and save the soldier's life. This concludes the summary. “The Science of Hate” (M. Sholokhov) is a short story, but it conveys an atmosphere of anger and rage more than realistically.