Victor Petrovich Astafiev is a famous Russian writer, prose writer, who lived from 1924 to 2001. The main thing in his work was the theme of preserving the national dignity of the Russian people. Famous works of Astafiev: âStarfallâ, âTheftâ, âWar is booming somewhereâ, âShepherd and shepherdâ, âKing fishâ, âThe sighted staffâ, âSad detectiveâ, âFunny soldierâ and âLast bow â, Which, in fact, will be discussed further. In everything that he described, love and longing for the past, for his native village, for those people, about that nature, in a word, about the Homeland were felt. Astafyevâs works also spoke of the war that ordinary village people saw with their own eyes.
Astafiev, âThe Last Bowâ. Analysis
Astafiev devoted a lot of his works to the theme of the village, as well as the theme of war, and âThe Last Bowâ is one of them. It is written in the form of a large story, composed of individual stories, having a biographical character, where Astafiev Viktor Petrovich described his childhood and life. These memories are not arranged in a sequential chain, they are captured in separate episodes. However, it is difficult to call this book a collection of stories, since everything there is united by one topic.
Victor Astafyev âLast Bowâ devotes to the Motherland in his own understanding. This is his village and native land with wildlife, harsh climate, powerful Yenisei, beautiful mountains and dense taiga. And he describes all this very original and touching, in fact, about this and the book. Astafiev âThe Last Bowâ created as a landmark work, which addresses the problems of ordinary people of more than one generation in very difficult turning periods.
Plot
The main character, Vitya Potylitsyn, is an orphan boy raised by his grandmother. His father drank a lot and walked, eventually abandoned his family and left for the city. And mother Viti drowned in the Yenisei. The boyâs life, in principle, did not differ from the life of other village children. He helped the household chores, went on mushrooms and berries, went fishing, and, well, was amused like all peers. So you can start the summary. Astafyevâs last bow, I must say, embodied in Katerina Petrovna the collective image of Russian grandmothers, in whom everything was originally native, hereditary, forever given. The author does not embellish anything in it, he makes her a little formidable, grouchy, with a constant desire to know everything first and to manage everything at his discretion. In a word, "general in a skirt." She loves everyone, cares for everyone, wants to be useful to everyone.
She is constantly worried and tormented either for children or grandchildren, because of this anger and tears erupt alternately. But if the grandmother begins to talk about life, then it turns out that there were no adversities for her at all. Children were always in joy. Even when she was sick, she skillfully treated them with various decoctions and roots. And none of them died, well, isn't that happiness? Once at the arable land, she dislocated her hand and straightened it right away, but she could remain a little scrub, but it did not, and this is also a joy.
This is the common feature of Russian grandmothers. And there lives in this image something blessed for life, dear, lullaby and life-giving.
Turn in Fate
It doesnât become as fun further as the brief description of the protagonistâs village life first. Astafyevâs âlast bowâ continues with the fact that Vitka suddenly has an evil streak in his life. Since there was no school in the village, he was sent to the city to his father and stepmother. And then Astafiev Viktor Petrovich recalls his torment, exile, hunger, orphanage and homelessness.
How could Vitka Potylitsyn be aware of something or blame someone for his misfortunes? He lived as best he could, fleeing death, and even at some moments managed to be happy. The author pities not only himself, but the entire young generation of that time, which was forced to survive in suffering.
Vitka later realized that he got out of all this only thanks to the saving prayers of his grandmother, who at a distance felt his pain and loneliness with all her heart. She softened his soul by teaching patience, forgiveness and the ability to discern even a small grain of good in the black mist and be grateful for it.
School of survival
In the post-revolutionary time, Siberian villages were dispossessed. Around went ruin. Thousands of families were homeless, many were driven to hard labor. Having moved to his father and stepmother, who lived on casual incomes and drank a lot, Vitka immediately understands that no one needs it. Soon, he is experiencing conflicts at school, his fatherâs betrayal and oblivion of relatives. This is a summary. Astafyevâs âlast bowâ goes on to say that after a village and a grandmotherâs house, where perhaps there was no wealth, comfort and love always reigned, the boy finds himself in a world of loneliness and heartlessness. He becomes rude, and his actions - cruel, but still grandmother's upbringing and love for books later bear fruit.
In the meantime, an orphanage is waiting for him, and this is just a brief description of the summary. Astafyevâs âlast bowâ illustrates in great detail all the hardships of a poor teenagerâs life, including his studies at a factory-school school, his departure for war, and finally his return.
Return
After the war, Victor immediately went to the village with his grandmother. He really wanted to meet her, because she became for him the only and most dear person on the whole earth. He walked in the gardens, clinging to the burrs, his heart was tightly compressed in his chest from excitement. Victor made his way to the bathhouse, on which the roof had already collapsed, everything had long been without master's attention, and then he saw a small log of firewood under the kitchen window. This indicated that someone was living in the house.
Before entering the hut, he suddenly stopped. Victor's throat was dry. Gathering his courage, the guy quietly, timidly, literally tiptoed went into his hut and saw how his grandmother, just as in the old days, was sitting on a small bench near the window and winding thread into a ball.
Minutes of oblivion
The main character thought to himself that during this time a storm had flown over the whole world, millions of human destinies had messed up, there was a mortal struggle against hated fascism, new states had formed, and then everything, as always, seemed to freeze time. All the same chintz printed curtain, a neat wooden wall cabinet, cast-iron with a stove, etc. It just didnât smell of the usual cow swill, boiled potatoes and sauerkraut.
Grandmother Ekaterina Petrovna, having seen the long-awaited grandson, was very happy and asked him to come closer to hug and cross. Her voice remained as kind and gentle as if the grandson had not returned from the war, but from fishing or from the forest, where he could linger with his grandfather.
Long-awaited meeting
The soldier who returned from the war thought that perhaps his grandmother might not recognize him, but it was not there. Seeing him, the old woman wanted to stand up sharply, but her weakened legs did not allow her to do this, and she began to stick to the table with her own hands.
The grandmother has absolutely aged. However, she was very glad to see her beloved grandson. And I was glad that, finally, I waited. She looked at him for a long time and did not believe her eyes. And then she let slip that she prayed for him day and night, and in order to meet her beloved granddaughter, she lived. Only now, having waited for him, could her grandmother die quietly. She was already 86 years old, so she asked her grandson to come to her funeral.
Depressing longing
Thatâs all summary. Astafyevâs âlast bowâ ends with Viktor leaving for work in the Urals. The hero received a telegram about the death of his grandmother, but he was not released from work, referring to the charter of the enterprise. At that time they were only released for the funeral of the father or mother. Management and did not want to know that his grandmother replaced both of his parents. Viktor Petrovich didnât go to the funeral, about which he later regretted very much all his life. He thought that if this happened now, he would simply run away or crawl crawl from the Urals to Siberia, just to close her eyes. So all the time this guilt lived in it, quiet, oppressive, eternal. However, he understood that his grandmother forgave him, because she loved her grandson very much.