"Stationmaster": the main idea of the story. Content and heroes

In the famous Boldinsky autumn of 1830, A.S. Pushkin in 11 days wrote an amazing work - "The Tale of Belkin", - which included five independent stories told to one person (his name is taken in the title). In them the author managed to create a gallery of provincial images, truthfully and without embellishment to show life in the contemporary writer of Russia.

A special place in the cycle is the story "Stationmaster." It was she who laid the foundation for the development of the theme of the "little man" in Russian literature of the 19th century.

Acquaintance with the heroes

The story of station supervisor Samson Vyrin told Belkin some ILP, titular adviser. His bitter reflections on what the attitude towards people of this rank is, from the very beginning, set the reader up for a not very happy mood. Anyone who stops at the station is ready to scold them. That the horses are bad, then the weather and the road are bad, or even the mood at all did not work out - and the stationmaster is to blame for everything. The main idea of the story is to show the plight of a common man without a high rank and rank.

All the claims of those passing by were quietly demolished by Samson Vyrin, a retired soldier, a widower who brought up Dunia's fourteen-year-old daughter. He was a fresh and cheerful man of about fifty, sociable and sensitive. This is how he saw the titular councilor at the first meeting.

The house was clean and cozy, balm trees grew on the windows. And everyone stopped drinking from tea from the samovar Dunya, who had early learned how to manage the economy. She, with her meek look and smile, resigned the wrath of all the discontented. In the society of Vyrin and the "little coquette", the time for the adviser flew by unnoticed. The guest said goodbye to the hosts, as with old acquaintances: his society seemed so pleasant to him.

How Vyrin has changed ...

The story "Stationmaster" continues with the description of the second meeting of the narrator with the main character. A few years later, fate again threw it into those parts. He approached the station with troubling thoughts: everything could happen during this time. A premonition did not really deceive: instead of a cheerful and cheerful person, a gray-haired old man, gray-haired, long-shaven, had appeared before him. It was all the same Vyrin, only now very taciturn and sullen. However, a glass of punch made its own, and soon the storyteller learned the story of Dunya.

About three years ago a young hussar passed by. He liked the girl, and he pretended to be sick for a few days. And when he got from her mutual feelings, he took away secretly, without a blessing, from his father. So the fallen misfortune changed the long-established life of the family. Heroes of the "Stationmaster", father and daughter, no longer see. The old man's attempt to return Dunya ended with nothing. He got to Petersburg and even could see her, richly dressed and happy. But the girl, glancing at her father, fell unconscious, and he was simply kicked out. Now Samson lived in anguish and loneliness, and his main companion was a bottle.

The story of the Prodigal Son

Even the first time he arrived, the narrator noticed on the walls pictures with signatures in German. They displayed the biblical story of the prodigal son, who took his share of the inheritance and squandered it. In the last picture the humble boy returned to his native home to the parent who forgave him.

This legend is very similar to what happened to Vyrin and Dunya, because it is not accidentally included in the composition of the story "Stationmaster." The main idea of the work is connected with the idea of helplessness and defenselessness of ordinary people. Vyrin, who was well acquainted with the foundations of high society, could not believe that his daughter could be happy. The scene seen in St. Petersburg did not convince either - everything could still change. He waited for Duni to return to the end of his life, but their meeting and forgiveness never took place. Perhaps Dunya just did not dare to appear before her father for a long time.

The Return of the Daughter

In his third visit, the narrator learns of the death of an old acquaintance. And the boy accompanying him to the cemetery tells him about the lady who came after the stationmaster died. The content of their conversation makes it clear that everything went well with Dunya. She arrived in a carriage with six horses, accompanied by a wet nurse and three barchas. But Dunya did not find her father alive, so the repentance of the "lost" daughter became impossible. The mistress lay for a long time on the grave - so traditionally asked forgiveness of the deceased person and forever said goodbye to him - and then left.

Stationmaster: the main idea of the story

Why did the daughter's happiness bring unbearable mental suffering to her father?

Samson Vyrin always believed that life without a blessing and as a mistress is a sin. And the faults of Duni and Minsk probably are primarily due to the fact that their departure (the inspector himself persuaded his daughter to pursue a hussar before the church) and misunderstanding at a meeting in St. Petersburg only strengthened him in this belief, which would eventually bring the hero to the grave . There is one more important point - what happened undermined faith in the father. He sincerely loved his daughter, who was the meaning of his existence. And suddenly such ingratitude: for all the years Dunya never let know about herself. She seemed to have crossed her father out of her life.

Having depicted a poor man of the lowest rank, but with high moral values and a keen soul, A.S. Pushkin drew the attention of contemporaries to the position of people who were on the lowest step of the social ladder. Failure to protest and humility with fate makes them vulnerable to life's circumstances. Such is the stationmaster.

The main idea that the author wants to convey to the reader is that it is necessary to be sensitive and attentive to each person, regardless of his character and social status. Only this will help change the reigning people in the world indifference and anger.