A. I. Kuprin's story "The Duel" is the pinnacle of creativity, his final work, in which he addresses the problem of the individual and society, their tragic disharmony.
“The Duel” is a politically topical work: the story itself does not say anything about the Russian-Japanese War, but contemporaries perceived it in the context of those events. Kuprin revealed the essence of the state of society that led to the explosion, essentially pointing out the reasons that caused the defeat of the Russian army in the war with Japan.
The documentary style in "The Duel" is obvious (the consonance of names; the officers - the heroes of the story - those with whom Lieutenant Kuprin served in the 46th Dnieper Infantry Regiment, details of the biography of Romashov and the author himself). Kuprin said so: “The main thing is actor- it’s me”, “Romashov is my double”.
With all this, the work contained a broad generalizing meaning. The author's attention is drawn to the topic of life in Russia in the first decade of the 20th century. The depiction of the military environment was by no means an end in itself. Starting from the local “army” theme, Kuprin raised problems that worried the entire society; they determined the moral pathos of the story: the fate of the people, self-worth human personality, awakening her activity.
The title of the story is symbolic; the story became a duel between Kuprin himself and the tsarist army, autocratic orders that were destroying people. This is a duel with lies, immorality, injustice. The decline of morality, the apology for war, robbery, and violence are especially hateful to the humanist writer.
Kuprin shows the path the main character of the story, Romashov, takes in search of the truth. When the hero begins to see clearly, he comes to the conclusion about the intrinsic value of the “I”, the right to respect....
The story by A.I. Kuprin was published in May 1905. The author continued in it with a description of army life. From sketches of the life of a provincial garrison emerges a social generalization of the decomposition of not only the army, but also the country as a whole, and the state system.
This is a story about a crisis that has engulfed various spheres of Russian life. The general hatred corroding the army is a reflection of the enmity that gripped Tsarist Russia.
In “The Duel,” as in none of his other works, Kuprin depicted with great artistic force the moral decay of the officers, showing stupid commanders devoid of any glimpses of civil service. He showed muzzled, intimidated soldiers, dull from senseless drill, such as the puny left-flank soldier Khlebnikov. Even if they met humane officers, they were subjected to ridicule, died senselessly, like Second Lieutenant Romashov, or became drunkards, like Nazansky.
Kuprin made his hero a humane, but weak and quiet man who does not fight evil, but suffers from it. Even the hero's surname - Romashov - emphasized the gentleness and gentleness of this person.
Kuprin draws Georgy Romashov with compassion and sympathy, but also with the author's irony. The story of Romashov, externally connected with the army, is not just the story of a young officer. This is history young man, who is experiencing what Kuprin calls the “period of maturation of the soul.” Romashov grows morally throughout the story, finds answers to very important questions for himself. He suddenly comes to the conclusion that the army is unnecessary, but understands this very naively. It seems to him that All of humanity should say “I don’t want to!” - and war will become unthinkable and the army will die out.
Second Lieutenant Romashov decides to break with those around him and understands that every soldier has his own “I”. He outlined completely new connections with the world. The title of the story has the same generalizing solution as its main conflict. Throughout the story there is a duel between the young man, reborn for the new, and the various forces of the old. Kuprin writes not about a duel of honor, but about murder in a duel.
The final treacherous blow was dealt to Romashov in love. Disdain for the weak, hatred of the feeling of pity, which sounded in Nazansky’s speeches, is carried out in practice by Shurochka. despising environment and her morality, Shurochka Nikolaeva turns out to be an integral part of her. The plot of the story ends symbolically: against a man who has begun to spread his wings, old world throws all his strength.
In the summer and autumn of 1905, Kuprin's story stirred up readers in the Russian army and throughout the country, and very soon its translations appeared in the main European languages. The writer receives not only the broadest all-Russian fame, but also all-European fame.
Honor is one of the most significant human values. To act honestly means to listen to the voice of conscience, to live in harmony with oneself. Such a person will always have an advantage over others, since no circumstances can lead him astray from the true path. He values his beliefs and remains true to them to the end. An unscrupulous person, on the contrary, sooner or later suffers defeat, if only because he betrayed himself. A liar loses his dignity and experiences a moral decline, and therefore he does not have the spiritual strength to defend his position to the end. As the famous quote from the movie Brother says, “There is strength in truth.”
In the story by A. S. Pushkin “ Captain's daughter“The theme of truth occupies a central place. The author takes as an epigraph famous proverb“Take care of your dress again, and take care of your honor from a young age,” and throughout the entire work he develops this idea. In the story we see a “confrontation” between two heroes - Grinev and Shvabrin, one of whom chose to follow the path of honor, and the other turned away from this path. Petrusha Grinev defends not only the honor of the girl slandered by Shvabrin, he defends the honor of his Motherland and his empress, to whom he swore an oath. Grinev, in love with Masha, challenges Shvabrin to a duel, who has insulted the girl’s honor by allowing himself unacceptable hints towards her. During the duel itself, Shvabrin again acts dishonestly and wounds Grinev when he is distracted. But the reader sees who Masha chooses.
Pugachev's arrival at the fortress is another test for the heroes. Shvabrin, pursuing his own interests, goes over to Pugachev’s side and thereby betrays both himself and his homeland. And Grinev, even under pain of death, remains true to his convictions. And Pugachev, the robber and revolutionary, leaves Grinev alive because he is able to appreciate such an act.
War is also a test of honor. In V. Bykov’s story “Sotnikov” we again observe two opposite characters- partisans Sotnikov and Rybak. Sotnikov, despite his illness, volunteers to go in search of food, “because others refused.” He alone fires back at the policemen, while Rybak runs away and abandons his comrade. Even after being captured, during interrogation, under severe torture, he does not reveal the location of his squad. Sotnikov dies on the gallows, but retains both honor and dignity.
The seemingly noble return of Rybak for his lagging comrade has low motives: he is afraid of the condemnation of others and does not know how to explain his treacherous act to the detachment. Then, in captivity, when they are being led to execution, Rybak agrees to go into service with the Germans in order to save his life. However, having lost his last hope of escaping, he comes to the conclusion that death is his only way out. But he fails to commit suicide, and this cowardly, weak-spirited man is forced to suffer all his life under the blows of his conscience.
In conclusion, I would like to say that we must cultivate and preserve the habit of acting honestly and according to our conscience. This is one of the foundations on which society rests. Even now, when the times of knights and duels are long gone, we must not forget the true meaning of the concept of “honor”.
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Honor and dishonor
The story "The Duel" is considered one of best works A. I. Kuprin. The story centers on the lives of army officers. The author managed to create a whole gallery of portraits worthy of analysis. Among them are representatives of the older generation, and young, inexperienced officers, and timid recruits, and wives of soldiers. Kuprin endowed each character with personal qualities. It is no coincidence that he touched upon the soldier’s theme. The writer spent his childhood in an orphanage and he, inspired by the victory of the Russian army, being already in high school, decided to enter the military academy, which he easily succeeded.
Later, he retold his army experience in some novels and short stories. The story “The Duel” was published in 1905. In it we see how officers, in the fight for their honor, take different, sometimes rash, steps. Main character works - young second lieutenant Georgy Romashov, who serves under the command of Vladimir Efimovich Nikolaev. Romashov himself is a kind, honest and romantic person by nature. He has been serving in the regiment for two years now, but he just can’t come to terms with the rude and cruel morals army life. It so happened that he was artificially drawn into a conflict with Lieutenant Nikolaev, who challenged him to a duel.
The situation was such that Romashova was pestered for some time by the married lady Raisa Aleksandrovna Peterson. When he told her that everything was over between them, she began to send countless anonymous letters to Nikolaev, revealing in them the true attitude of the second lieutenant to his wife Shurochka. In fact, Romashov was not indifferent to Shurochka, but he did not pretend to reciprocate feelings. Tired of letters addressed to him, Nikolaev nevertheless challenged the second lieutenant to a duel. Nazansky tried to persuade his friend to refuse this challenge, but Shurochka came to Romashov and begged him not to refuse the fight for the sake of her husband’s career. Unable to refuse her, the second lieutenant agreed.
At the end of the work, we learn from a report with the testimony of a junior doctor that Romashov died from a wound in the stomach. Did he do the right thing by accepting Nikolaev’s challenge? Perhaps he should have listened to the philosophical Nazansky, who told him that life is infinitely good and it is not worth risking it so much. In any case, the second lieutenant chose to die with dignity. He's in Lately was at an ideological and moral crossroads, and this duel became a kind of solution to all problems.
Honor and dishonor
The story “The Duel” is considered one of the best works of A. I. Kuprin. The story centers on the lives of army officers. The author managed to create a whole gallery of portraits worthy of analysis. Among them are representatives of the older generation, and young, inexperienced officers, and timid recruits, and wives of soldiers. Kuprin endowed each character with personal qualities. It is no coincidence that he touched upon the soldier’s theme. The writer spent his childhood in an orphanage and he, inspired by the victory of the Russian army, being already in high school,
decided to enter the military academy, which he easily succeeded.
Later, he retold his army experience in some novels and short stories. The story “The Duel” was published in 1905. In it we see how officers, in the fight for their honor, take different, sometimes rash, steps. The main character of the work is the young second lieutenant Georgy Romashov, who serves under the command of Vladimir Efimovich Nikolaev. Romashov himself is a kind, honest and romantic person by nature. He has been serving in the regiment for two years now, but he cannot come to terms with the rough and cruel morals of army life. It so happened that he was artificially
was drawn into a conflict with Lieutenant Nikolaev, who challenged him to a duel.
The situation was such that Romashova was pestered for some time by the married lady Raisa Aleksandrovna Peterson. When he told her that everything was over between them, she began sending countless anonymous letters to Nikolaev, revealing in them the second lieutenant’s true attitude towards his wife Shurochka. In fact, Romashov was not indifferent to Shurochka, but he did not pretend to reciprocate feelings. Tired of letters addressed to him, Nikolaev nevertheless challenged the second lieutenant to a duel. Nazansky tried to persuade his friend to refuse this challenge, but Shurochka came to Romashov and begged him not to refuse the fight for the sake of her husband’s career. Unable to refuse her, the second lieutenant agreed.
At the end of the work, we learn from a report with the testimony of a junior doctor that Romashov died from a wound in the stomach. Did he do the right thing by accepting Nikolaev’s challenge? Perhaps he should have listened to the philosophical Nazansky, who told him that life is infinitely good and it is not worth risking it so much. In any case, the second lieutenant chose to die with dignity. He had recently been at an ideological and moral crossroads, and this fight became a kind of solution to all problems.
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