" V bad society"- the famous story by V.G. Korolenko, also known under a different name -" Children of the Underground ". The work was written on behalf of Vasya, a seven-year-old boy, who talks about his life, impressions and experiences received while communicating with people from a "bad society" with whom he became friends and whom he sincerely fell in love with.
Vasya could not be called a bad boy.
His mother died early, and his father was so consumed by grief that he stopped paying attention to his son. It even seemed to the boy that his father had completely stopped loving him. Therefore, Vasya wanted to run away from home,
Every morning he left the house a little before light so as not to meet his father. The family had long been accustomed to the constant absence of the boy and began to call him a vagabond and a scoundrel. The father, too, got used to this idea and no longer imagined his son to himself. And Vasya suffered from the fact that he was lonely, he loved his sister very much, but he was not allowed to see her. It seemed to Vasya that he would find salvation from loneliness on the street. And he went there, to the street. And this road could lead him to goodness and truth.
The boy met in the old chapel with two children - Valek and Marusya. This acquaintance had a great influence on the whole future life of the hero. Vasya was imbued with love for these unfortunate children. He liked to talk to Valek, who resembled an adult with his solidity and respectful manner. Marusya was a sad, weak girl who, although she was the same age as his sister Sonya, was so different from her frisky and plump sister. The boy brought gifts to Marusa, tried to please her. Vasya was sincerely sorry for the girl from whom the gray stone was sucking life. New friends helped Vasya to learn those aspects of life that were hidden from him before. When he learned that Valek and his father Tyburtsy had to steal in order to survive, not to die of hunger, he cried all night.
The children of the dungeon made Vasya take a different look at the world. He also looked at his father in a new way, having heard from Valek and Tyburtsy that they consider his father the best person in the city, because he does not see the difference between the rich and the poor. Marusya taught Vasya patience and compassion. She quickly got tired of the boy's merry games and began to cry. And Vasya was painfully sorry for the girl. The Tyburtsia family became native to our hero. He promised that he would not say a word about his friends to anyone. And he kept his word. When Marusya was sick, Vasya asked his sister Sonya for a doll given to her by her mother, the only reminder of her. He took this doll to Marusya, for whom the toy became the last ray of joy in her short life. But the boy took the doll from the house without the permission of adults, because of which the father was very angry. However, Vasya did not admit why he took the doll, even under the stern look of his father. The father learned the whole story from Tyburtius and realized that his son was a kind and sympathetic boy, and not at all a vagabond and a thief.
Vasya has come a long way to goodness and truth. Thanks to friendship with people from the "bad society", he became a kind and generous person who knows how to deeply feel and sympathize.
In a bad society
The childhood of the hero took place in the small town of Knyazhye-Veno in the Southwestern Territory. Vasya - that was the name of the boy - was the son of a city judge. The child grew up "like a wild tree in the field": the mother died when the son was only six years old, and the father, absorbed in his grief, paid little attention to the boy. Vasya wandered around the city for days on end, and the pictures of city life left a deep imprint in his soul.
The city was surrounded by ponds. In the middle of one of them on the island stood an ancient castle that once belonged to a count's family. There were legends that the island was filled with captured Turks, and the castle stands "on human bones."
The owners left this gloomy dwelling a long time ago, and it gradually collapsed. Its inhabitants were urban beggars who had no other shelter. But there was a split among the poor. Old Janusz, one of the count's former servants, was given some sort of right to decide who could live in the castle and who could not. He left there only "aristocrats": Catholics and the former count's servants. The exiles found refuge in a dungeon under an old crypt near an abandoned Uniate chapel that stood on a mountain. However, no one knew their whereabouts.
Old Janusz, meeting Vasya, invites him to enter the castle, because there is now a "decent society". But the boy prefers the "bad society" of exiles from the castle: Vasya pities them.
Many members of the "bad society" are well known in the city. This is a semi-mad elderly "professor" who always mutters something quietly and sadly; the ferocious and pugnacious bayonet Junker Zausailov; drunk retired official Lavrovsky, telling everyone implausible tragic stories ....
The story "In Bad Society" Korolenko was written in 1884, during the writer's stay in Yakut exile. In his book, the author reveals the topic of social inequality through the prism of children's worldview. Later, the story "In Bad Society" was adapted into a more child-friendly version, which was published as the story "Children of the Underground".
For better preparation for the literature lesson, we recommend reading the online summary of “In Bad Society”. Also, a retelling of the story is useful for the reader's diary.
main characters
Vasya- a nine-year-old boy with a kind and sensitive heart.
Outrigger- a poor, homeless boy, independent and responsible, the same age as Vasya.
Marusya- Valek's younger sister, a sickly, weak girl of four years.
Other characters
Tyburtium- a homeless man, with a pure kind soul, the adoptive father of Marusya and Valek.
Vasya's father- middle-aged man, city judge, widower, father of Vasya and Sonya.
Sonya Vasya's younger sister.
I. Ruins
Vasya was only six years old when his mother died. After the death of his wife, the father almost forgot about his existence, and in his own way cared only for his daughter Sonya, "because she had the features of a mother."
In the small town of Knyazhye-Veno, where the Vanya family lived, the “old, dilapidated castle” served as a local landmark. Among the inhabitants, he enjoyed a bad reputation and about him "there were legends and stories one more terrible than the other."
At one time, the ruins of the castle served as a free "refuge for every poor man without the slightest restrictions", but then the former count's servant Janusz began to sort out the local society, leaving "only" good Christians ", that is, Catholics" in the castle.
II. Problematic natures
The beggars expelled from the castle sought refuge for several days, and soon "found shelter somewhere on the mountain, near the Uniate chapel."
Among the outcasts of society there were truly extraordinary personalities. For example, a man nicknamed “Professor”, always muttering something under his breath, who “could not indifferently hear mentions of cutting and piercing tools”.
The beggars always stood up for each other like a mountain, especially Pan Turkevich and the retired bayonet Junker Zausailov. Under the special care of Pan Turkevich was the drunken official Lavrovsky, who sank to the very bottom because of unhappy love.
Another notable personality among the beggars was Tyburtsy Drab, who amazed everyone with his extraordinary learning and encyclopedic knowledge.
With the advent of Pan Tyburtsy, two children appeared in the society of local beggars: “a boy of about seven, but tall and developed beyond his years, and a little three-year-old girl” - Valek and his younger sister Marusya.
III. Me and my father
After the death of his mother, Vasya was “very rarely seen at home”: from morning until late at night he wandered around the neighborhood of the town, carefully studying them.
Vasya's endless adventures were associated with a strained relationship with his father, on whose face " lay the stern stamp of incurable grief." Vasya would be glad to share the bitterness of loss with him, but he was always constrained and cold in communicating with the boy.
IV. I make a new acquaintance
Having studied all the sights in the city, Vasya decided to explore the abandoned chapel from the inside, and for this purpose he invited friends with him. They helped him climb inside, but they themselves refused to follow him.
The gloomy atmosphere, barely lit by the setting sun, made a strong impression on Vasya - it seemed to him that he found himself in the afterlife.
Suddenly, two children's figures came out of the twilight of the chapel towards Vasya. These were the adopted children of Pan Tyburtsy - Valek and Marusya. The guys quickly became friends and agreed to meet soon.
V. Acquaintance continues
Since then, Vasya's life has changed. Every evening and every morning he "thought about the upcoming visit to the mountain". He sought to spend as much time as possible in "bad company", and invariably brought apples and goodies to his new friends.
Little Marusya was especially happy about Vasya's visits, resembling "a flower that grew without the rays of the sun." The boy often compared his sister Sonya with Marusya and was surprised at the striking contrast between them. Sonya was healthy, strong and very playful, while Marusya, due to weakness, "never ran and laughed very rarely."
VI. Among the gray stones
Valek completely trusted his new friend and revealed to him main secret local "bad society" - a dungeon. His cold gray stones struck Vasya - "it seemed that this dungeon was sensitively guarding its victim." He felt sick inside, and he asked Valek and Marusya to quickly go up to the sun.
Valek admitted that he ran to the city for a bun, which he was forced to steal - he has no money and never had, and his sister was very hungry.
VII. Pan Tyburtsy appears on the stage
A strong thunderstorm forced the children frolicking in the street to go down to the dungeon. During their frisky game of hide and seek, Pan Tyburtsy descended into the dungeon, who could in no way understand what the son of the city judge was doing in the company of beggars.
Having hastily prepared dinner, Pan Tyburtsy invited Vasya to the “feast”, having previously taken a promise from him that he would not tell anyone where he was going.
Vasya realized for the first time that he had contacted a caste of outcasts, but he could no longer “betray this society, betray Valeka and Marusya”.
VIII. autumn
With the onset of autumn colds, “Marusya began to get sick” - she did not complain about feeling unwell, but every day she grew thinner and paler. The cold and damp stones of the dungeon did their "terrible job of sucking the life out of the little calf".
Vasya and Valek tried to take Marusya out into the fresh air more often, where she felt a little better. But the girl's recovery quickly passed.
IX. Doll
Marusya's disease progressed rapidly, and the girl looked at the world "indifferently with her large darkened and motionless eyes." In order to distract her from her sad thoughts at least a little, Vasya brought her a doll, which he begged from Sonya for a while.
When looking at a large doll "with a brightly painted face and luxurious flaxen hair," Marusya noticeably came to life - she had never seen such an amazing beauty in her tiny life.
A few days later, Vasya's father, having learned about the missing doll, decided to severely punish his son for stealing. But at that moment, Tyburtsy appeared in their house with a doll in his hands. He spoke privately with Vasya's father, and then approached the boy and asked him to come and say goodbye to Marusya, who had died.
After talking with the beggar, Vasya for the first time in a long time saw his father completely different - he looked at his son with loving kind eyes.
Conclusion
After the death of the girl, "the members of the "bad society" scattered in different directions." Every spring, Marusya's small grave "turned green with fresh turf, full of flowers", and Vasya often came here with his father and Sonya.
Conclusion
In his work, Vladimir Korolenko demonstrated the tragedy of the division of society into upper and lower classes, from which children suffer the most.
For a cursory acquaintance with the plot, a brief retelling of “In Bad Society” is suitable, after reading which we recommend reading the story in full.
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Retelling rating
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The main character's name was Vasya. He was a boy from a wealthy family, his father was a judge. However, the child's childhood was by no means a happy one. Vasya was completely alone. His mother died, and his father did not pay any attention to the child. Mr. Judge was very homesick for his dead wife, he loved her very much. And he treated his little daughter Sonya with tenderness, because she reminded him of his wife. Vasya was left to himself, no one was especially worried about him. He spent whole days outside. In the city where Vasya lived, there was an old castle. Now it has been almost completely destroyed. Beggars lived in the ruins of the castle. They were outside the law, and their life was very, very difficult. However, the poor had nowhere to go. Every environment has its differences. The environment of beggars and vagabonds was no exception.
It so happened that the count's servant, an old man named Janusz, allowed only a few beggars to stay in the castle. The rest had to hide in the dungeon under the crypt. No one knew that beggars were hiding there. Old Janusz told the boy Vasya that now there is only “decent society” in the castle, because he left only the elect there. According to Janusz, now the boy can go there. But Vasya was interested in those who hide in the dungeon. This is a "bad company", but the boy treats them with pity and interest. Among the "bad society" there are the most different people. There is an old man who is practically insane. He just mumbles something incomprehensible. There is also a retired drunken official; there is a man who calls himself a general. The main face of the "bad society" is a man named Tyburtsy Drab. No one knows where he came from and what kind of person he is. Some suggest that he is of noble birth. However, you can't tell by looking at it. Tyburtsy Drab gives the impression of being smart and educated person, he often quotes ancient authors at fairs, which amuses the public very much.
One day, Vasya and his friends decided to look into the old chapel. With the help of friends, Vasya climbed in through the window. However, his friends soon ran away, because they saw that there was someone in the chapel. Here were a boy named Valek and a girl named Marusya. The boy is nine years old, the girl is four. They were the children of Tyburtius. Vasya began to see them often, he even treated them to apples. But he tried to come only when Tyburtius was not in the dungeon. No one knew about the communication between Vasya and the children from the dungeon. Even Vasya's friends did not know about it, he did not tell them anything.
Vasya could not help but compare his life and the life of his sister with the life of children from the dungeon. They did not have the bare necessities, but their father, Tyburtsy, loved them very much. Vasya understood that his own father did not love him. The judge was more affectionate towards his daughter, four-year-old Sonya. She reminded him of his wife who had died. Vasya himself loved his sister very much. And she paid him the same. But Sonya's nanny did not allow the children to play together, she did not like Vasya. Compared to Sonya, Marusya was completely different. Sonya was a frisky, cheerful child. Marusya was weak, unhappy, sad. According to Tyburtsy, which Valek gave to Vasya, a gray stone sucked life out of Marusya.
In a conversation with his new friends, Vasya once complained that his father did not love him. And I was surprised to learn that the inhabitants of the dungeon consider the judge an honest and just person. For Vasya, this was surprising, because he himself practically did not know his father, he tried to avoid him.
Vasya learned all the customs and orders of the inhabitants of the dungeon. One day, when he was playing with his new friends, Tyburtius appeared. Quite unexpectedly, he treated Vasya favorably, allowed him to come whenever he wanted. Tyburtsy asked Vasya not to tell anyone about their place of residence.
Vasya knew that members of the "bad society" lived by theft. But he could not condemn them, because they have no other choice. Gradually, all the inhabitants of the dungeon got used to Vasya and even fell in love with the boy. In autumn, with the onset of cold weather, weak Marusya fell ill. Vasya brought her treats, but Marusya practically did not pay attention to this. Then Vasya decided to give her a large and very beautiful doll that belonged to his sister. The boy told Sonya everything, and the girl allowed him to take the doll. Marusya was very happy with the gift. She even seemed to get better. She began to get up and play with the doll.
One day Sonya's nanny noticed the missing doll. Sonya tried to find an excuse, but the nanny was even more alert. Vasya was forbidden to leave the house, because old Janusz reported to the judge that the boy was communicating with the inhabitants of the dungeon.
Marusya's condition worsened. She hardly got up. Vasya said that the nanny missed the doll. They wanted to take the toy away from the sleeping girl, but Marusya woke up and wept bitterly. Vasya could not pick up the doll.
At home, the father strictly asked Vasya where he went. He also ordered to tell where the doll was. The father believed that Vasya stole this thing, a gift from his late mother. Vasya saw that his father was incredibly angry. He has no sympathy or love for his son. But quite unexpectedly, Tyburtsy appeared, bringing the doll.
He said that Marusya had died. Tyburtsy began to talk with the judge, told that Vasya was friends with his children. This conversation startled the judge. He looked at his son with different eyes, realized that he was a kind, impressionable and sensitive boy. The father realized that in vain he deprived himself and his son of his love. The judge and Vasya seemed to realize for the first time that they were close people. The father allowed Vasya to say goodbye to Marusya, and he also gave money to Tyburtsy. He said he had better get out of town.
Soon, almost all the inhabitants of the dungeon disappeared. There were only two left - a half-crazy old man and another person. And Vasya and Sonya began to look after the grave of Marusya. When they grew up and were about to leave the city, they made their vows over this grave.
Thanks to the work of Korolenko, we get the opportunity to learn about the life of children from prosperous and disadvantaged families. Communication between children belonging to different social strata becomes possible thanks to Vasya's spiritual qualities. This boy is surprisingly kind, he sympathizes with his new friends, deprived of the most necessary. Vasya himself is also deprived of very, very much. He does not know the love of his father, and his mother died long ago. There is no mutual understanding in his family, and therefore he is looking for friendship and support outside his own family.
The city in which the characters of the story live is gloomy, gray. This city seems sleepy, inhospitable. The image of the city makes it clear that the main characters live in an atmosphere of indifference, callousness and cruelty. Members of a "bad society" are despised and condemned by people who are prosperous. They do bad things. But they are forced to live this way, because those around them have left them no other choice.
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"In Bad Society" is a story by the Russian writer of Ukrainian origin Vladimir Korolenko, which was first published in 1885 in the tenth issue of the journal "Thought". Later, the work was included in the collection Essays and Stories. This work, small in volume, but significant in its semantic load, can undoubtedly be considered one of the best in the creative heritage of the famous writer and human rights activist.
Plot
The story is written on behalf of a six-year-old boy Vasya, the son of a judge in the city of Knyazhye-Veno. The child's mother died early, leaving them half orphans with their younger sister Sonya. The father, after the loss, moved away from his son, concentrating all his love and affection on his little daughter. Such circumstances could not pass without a trace in Vasya's soul: the boy is looking for understanding and warmth, and unexpectedly finds them in "bad company", making friends with the children of the tramp and thief Tyburtsy Drab Valik and Marusya.
Fate brought the children together quite unexpectedly, but Vasya's attachment to Valik and Marusa turned out to be so strong that neither the unexpected news that his new friends were vagabonds and thieves, nor the acquaintance with their formidable father at first glance, prevented her. Six-year-old Vasya does not miss the opportunity to see his friends, and love for his own sister Sonya, with whom the nanny does not allow him to play, transfers to little Marusya.
Another shock that excited the child is the news that little Marusya is seriously ill: some kind of “gray stone” takes away her strength. The reader understands what kind of gray stone it can be, and what a terrible disease often accompanies poverty, but for the mind of a six-year-old child who takes everything literally, the gray stone appears in the form of a cave where children live, so he tries to pull them out as often as possible to fresh air. Of course, it doesn't help much. The girl is weakening before her eyes, and Vasya and Valik are trying to somehow bring a smile to her pale face.
The culmination of the story is the story of the doll that Vasya asked his sister Sonya to please Marusya. A beautiful doll, which is a gift from a dead mother, is not able to cure the baby, but brings her short-term joy.
The disappearance of the doll is noticed in the house, the father does not let Vasya out of the house, demanding an explanation, but the boy does not break the word given to Valik and Tyburtsia, and does not tell anything about the vagrants. At the moment of the most tense conversation, Tyburtsy appears in the judge's house with a doll in his hands and the news that Marusya has died. This tragic news softens Vasya's father, and shows him from a completely different side: as a sensitive and sympathetic person. He releases his son to ask Marusya, and the nature of their communication after this story changes.
Even being the eldest, Vasya does not forget either about his little girlfriend, who lived only four years, or about Valik, who, after the death of Marusya, suddenly disappeared along with Tyburtsy. She and her sister Sonya regularly visit the grave of a little blond girl who loved to pick flowers.
Character Characteristics
Speaking about the heroes who appear before us on the pages of the story, first of all, it is worthwhile, of course, to dwell on the image of the narrator, because all events are presented through the prism of his perception. Vasya is a six-year-old child, on whose shoulders a burden that is too heavy for his age has fallen: the death of his mother.
Those few warm memories of the boy's dearest person make it clear that the boy loved his mother very much, and suffered the loss hard. Another test for him was the alienation of his father and the inability to play with his sister. The child gets lost, gets acquainted with vagrants, but even in this society he remains himself: every time he tries to bring Valik and Marusya something tasty, he perceives Marusya as his own sister, and Valik as a brother. This very young boy is not deprived of stamina and honor: he does not break under the pressure of his father and does not break his word. Another positive feature that complements the artistic portrait of our hero is that he did not secretly take the doll from Sonya, did not steal it, did not take it away by force: Vasya told his sister about the poor sick Marusa, and Sonya herself allowed him to take the doll.
Valik and Marusya in the story appear before us as real children of the dungeon (by the way, V. Korolenko himself did not like the shortened version of his story of the same name).
These children did not deserve the fate prepared for them by fate, and perceive everything with adult seriousness, and, at the same time, with childlike simplicity. What, in Vasya's understanding, is designated as "bad" (the same theft), for Valik is an ordinary everyday affair, which he is forced to do so that his sister is not hungry.
The example of children shows us that for true sincere friendship, origin, material condition and other external factors are not important. It's important to be human.
The opposites in the story are the fathers of the children.
Tyburtium- a beggar thief, whose origin causes legends. A man who combines education and a peasant non-aristocratic appearance. Despite this, he loves Valik and Marusya very much and allows Vasya to come to his children.
Vasya's father- a respectable man in the city, known not only for his occupation, but also for his justice. At the same time, he closes himself from his son, and often the thought flashes through Vasya's head that his father does not love him at all. The relationship between father and son changes after Marusya's death.
It is also worth noting that the prototype of Vasya's father in the story was Vladimir Korolenko's father: Galaktion Afanasyevich Korolenko was a closed and stern man, but at the same time, incorruptible and fair. This is exactly what the hero of the story “In Bad Society” acts like.
A separate place in the story is given to vagabonds, led by Tyburtsy.
Professor, Lavrovsky, Turkevich - these characters are not the main ones, but they play an important role for the artistic design of the story: they give a picture of a vagrant society into which Vasya finds himself. By the way, these characters cause pity: the portrait of each of them shows that every person, broken life situation, can slide down to vagrancy and theft. These characters do not cause negative feelings: the author wants the reader to sympathize with them.
Two places are vividly described in the story: the city of Knyazhye-Veno, the prototype of which was Rivne, and the old castle, which became a haven for the poor. The prototype of the castle was the palace of the Lubomirsky princes in the city of Rivne, which in the time of Korolenko really served as a haven for the poor and vagabonds. The city with its inhabitants appears in the story as a gray and boring picture. The main architectural decoration of the city is the prison - and this small detail already gives a clear description of the place: there is nothing remarkable in the city.
Conclusion
“In Bad Society” is a short story that presents us with only a few episodes from the lives of heroes, just one tragedy of a broken life, but so vividly and vitally that it touches the invisible strings of the soul of every reader. Without a doubt, this story by Vladimir Korolenko is worth reading and experiencing.
