The story “Why did I kill the coronel?”, The summary of which is given in the article, is one of the most famous works of Victor Astafyev. This is a popular Soviet prose writer, a vivid representative of the writers of the country.
about the author
It helps to get acquainted with the plot of the story "Why did I kill the coronet?" A summary of this article. In general, Astafiev devoted many of his works to the topic of communication with nature and animals.
He himself was born in a village. Was born in 1924 in the village of Ovsyanka, in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. When Victor was very young, his father was convicted of sabotage. And soon his mother died. The boat on which she sailed turned over. Astafyev’s mother fell into the water, caught a scythe for a bon and drowned.
The boy eventually remained on his own. He lived for a long time where necessary, and as a result ended up in an orphanage.
In 1942 he volunteered for the front. He was not stopped by the fact that by that time he had learned to be a railwayman, which meant he had a reservation. At first he underwent military training, and from the spring of 1943 he was sent to the ranks of the army. In the war he served as a driver and signalman in artillery, received a shell shock in Western Ukraine.
Creativity Astafiev
Astafyev’s prose has two main themes - rustic and military-patriotic. While still at school, he wrote an essay, which in the future turned into a story called "Vasyutkino Lake".
He began to publish in the journal Chusovskoy Rabochiy. Critics have already paid attention to the author’s early stories - Starfall, Starodub, Pass. The pages of the New World magazine noted that Astafyev was characterized by severe non-smoothness of the narrative, with a bright and lively word, original images and details.
In his military prose, Astafiev conveys a view of the war from the point of view of a simple soldier. In extreme cases, a junior officer. In his stories and tales, he creates the image of an impersonal warrior, on which the whole army ultimately rests. At the same time, he is accused of all sins, awards bypass him, but he is punished for every trifle.
Researchers note that this image of a front-line soldier is largely autobiographical. Astafyev wrote it from himself and his comrades in arms. He contrasted his goodies with the rear rats, which sat in evacuation. Throughout his life, the writer had great contempt for them.
Astafiev’s prose has a lot of bitter and harsh truth. He became one of the first writers to openly speak in his writings about the famine in 1933, the unprincipled and cruelty of youth, and crime in Soviet society.
The story “Why did I kill the coronet?”, Which you will read later on, is a vivid example of his village prose, which the author also often referred to.
Summary
The story begins with the storyteller's memories of his childhood. About how about 40 years ago, returning from a river, he noticed a bird. She tried to escape, but to no avail. All the while awkwardly tumbled to one side. From Astafyev’s short story “Why did I kill the coronel?”, The summary of which is now in front of the reader, we learn that the storyteller at that time was a boy, still a child.
Suddenly he was seized with excitement, he decided at all costs to catch up with this bird. And overtaking her, he overwhelmed her with the rod that was in his hand. Lifting a dead bird from the ground, he saw that it was a coronet. He did not have one paw, so he moved so awkwardly and could not fly away with the rest of the birds. At that moment, he felt sorry for the dead bird and was ashamed of his act. He buried the coronet at the side of the road.
Repentance
From the summary of the story "Why did I kill the coronet?" you can find out that since then the narrator recalled this incident every spring. He was now waiting for the corncrake, looking at them with a guilty look.
Over the years, he has learned a lot about this bird. The summary of the book “Why did I kill the coronet?”, Given in this article, tells us that it flies to Russia every spring from distant Africa. This flight is very difficult for her.
Leaving the hot continent in April, coriostles go almost all the way on foot, flying only across the Mediterranean Sea. Moreover, they almost always go around large cities. The exception is the only town in France in which this bird became a symbol. Every year her holiday is celebrated there, fancy bird figures are made from dough.
Our acquaintance with the story, “Why did I kill the coronel?” Came to an end. From its summary, we learned that the narrator is a front-line soldier. I saw everything in the war, shot at the enemy without regret. But so far, only the killing of this bird cannot forgive itself.