The work of A. Tolstoy's “Russian character”, the brief content of which is given in the article, has a subtitle “From“ The Tales of Ivan Sudarev ”. Thus, the author uses the “story in story” technique, in which a friend of the same soldier told the reader about the Russian warrior. And although the action takes place in the early forties, the focus is not on the valiant exploits of the protagonist, but what happened to him after a serious wound. The author’s task is to show how powerful and surprising the character of the Russian person is.
Regular guy - Egor Dremov
A. Tolstoy begins the story “Russian Character”, the brief content of which you are reading, from acquaintance with the main character. This is a quiet, simple tanker who lived on the collective farm before the war. He, perhaps, differed from his comrades in appearance. Tall, with curls and certainly with a warm smile on his face, he resembled a god. Dremov loved and respected his parents very much, spoke respectfully of his father, who was an example to him. Yegor also had a beloved girl, whose feelings he did not doubt at all: he would wait, even if he had the chance to return on one leg.
Dremov did not like to boast of military feats. Such is the real Russian character. A brief summary of the stories of his driver, meanwhile, shows that they were not uncommon for him. Chuvilev proudly recalled how their tank came out against the German tiger and how skillfully neutral Lieutenant Dremov was able to neutralize the enemy.
So everything went on as usual, until misfortune happened to the hero. It showed how strong and firm the Russian character can be.
Summary of the Injury Episode
The crew had a chance to participate in the battle of Kursk. By the end of the battle, the tank was knocked out. Two died immediately, and the driver pulled a burning lieutenant out of the car just before its explosion. Egor got big burns: bones were visible in places under charred skin. The face was badly damaged, but the vision remained. The guy underwent several plastic surgeries, and when the bandages were removed, a complete stranger looked at him from the mirror. But he reassured his sister, saying that you can live with it. And he often felt his face, as if getting used to a new look - continues the story “Russian Character” by Tolstoy.
The summary of the conversation of the lieutenant with the general, to which the tankman came after recognizing him as fit only for combat training, is as follows. Egor asked to return him to the regiment and specified that he was a freak, not a disabled person: "... This will not hurt the case." Trying not to look at him, the general accepted the arguments and ordered twenty days of leave to be restored. After which the hero went home.
Meeting with relatives
He came to the village in the evening. Having made his way through the snow to the window, he saw how his mother, leisurely, kind, but thin and aged, gathered on the table. And then she thought, folding her arms over her chest. Egor realized that he could not scare her with his appearance, and knocking on the door, called himself a friend of his son, Lieutenant Gromov. He entered a house where everything was painfully familiar. Mother peered at him and asked about her son. Soon their father joined them. And the more Dremov sat, the harder it was for him to admit to the old people that he was their son.
This describes the first meeting of the hero with his parents in the story "Russian Character". Summary (Aleksei Tolstoy strongly emphasizes how difficult it was for both the hero and mother) the conversation at dinner can be reduced to questions about what spring will be like and how sowing will take place when the war ends. Another old woman was interested in when they would give leave to her son.
Meeting with the bride
The next day, Yegor wanted to meet the bride of their son, Katya, to give a bow. The girl came running instantly: joyful, radiant, beautiful ... She came very close to the guy, looked at him and recoiled. At this moment, Yegor decided: we need to leave today. Then they ate millet pancakes, and the lieutenant talked about the exploits of Dremov (it turned out, his own). And he tried not to look at Katya, so as not to see on her beautiful face a reflection of her ugliness.
Thus ended the meeting with the past, pre-war life, for the protagonist of the story "Russian Character". The summary of the meeting suggests what decision Egor made: to hide the truth from his mother as long as possible and try to forget Katya forever.
Letter from home
Meeting with comrades-in-arms, Dremov was relieved. And two weeks later he received a letter about his mother, forcing him to change the decision. Such is the Russian character. The summary of the letter is as follows. Marya Polikarpovna told how a man came to them. Maternal heart suggests that it was Yegor himself. The old man scolds, says that if he had a son, he would certainly open. After all, one should be proud of such a face. Therefore, she asked to judge whether she was right or crazy.
Yegor came to Sudarev with a letter, and he advised him to give an answer more quickly and to confess everything.
An unexpected denouement gets the story "Russian character", a summary of which you read. After some time, Dremova called to the captain, and Sudarev went with him. So the narrator witnessed a meeting between Yegor and his mother and Katya. The latter was really beautiful, and in the words of the lieutenant that she should not wait for this, she replied: “... I’ve been going to live with you forever ...”.
“It seems that a person is simple, and severe disaster will come ... and a great power arises in him - human beauty,” Tolstoy concludes the story “Russian Character”.
The summary allowed us to identify only key episodes of the story that help to understand the author’s idea.