"Tsar-fish", Astafiev: the main characters and content

This article considers one of the key short stories of the Tsar-Fish cycle. Astafiev, most of whose works are devoted to military themes, here appears in the role of the writer-village-worker unusual for him. Despite this, the author showed himself to be a real connoisseur of rural reality, human souls and the complexity of relationships.

About the book

The collection of short stories Tsar-Fish by Astafyev was published in 1976. The main theme of all the stories included in it was the description of the connections between man and nature in the moral and philosophical aspect. That is, the attitude of heroes to nature is a means of identifying personal vices and human dignity.

The collection includes twelve stories, one of which has the same name as the whole cycle, "Tsar-fish". It is this work that is key to understanding the author's intention. In it all the themes and motifs found in other novellas of the collection are concentrated.

Abstract: Astafyev, "Tsar-fish"

The content begins with the description of the main character - Ignatich. He is known among fellow villagers as an unselfish person who never refuses help, clever and resourceful, and also as an unsurpassed master of fishing. Ignatich is the most prosperous villager in the country, everything is reasonable and organized in his household. He is ready to come to the aid of anyone and does not ask for anything, but there is no sincerity in his actions. That's with the brother of his relationship with the main character does not fit at all.

Best Fisherman

Ignatich is the best fisherman in the village, he has no equal in this craft. He has an unprecedented fishing instinct, an experience that was passed on to him from his ancestors, and knowledge gained over many years of practice.

Viktor Astafyev ("Tsar-fish" raises a complex question of the relationship of an individual with nature and society) does not at all attempt to idealize his hero. The author openly says that his skills and experience Ignatich often used to harm villagers and nature, because he traded in poaching. He is well aware of the evil that causes nature, destroying fish in unlimited quantities. The hero knows about the penalty, which can be comprehended if he is caught by fish inspection. They push him to such a dangerous crime with excessive greed and lust for profit. All that considerable good that Ignatich already has seems to him insufficient.

Tsar-fish

The story of Astafiev "Tsar-fish" has a pronounced moral and moral orientation, so the fateful encounter with nature, embodied in the king-fish, was inevitable for Ignatich.

Having seen a huge sturgeon, the main character was amazed at its unimaginable size. It's amazing that such a huge fish could grow up, feeding on "twigs" and "goats". However, not only these feelings visited Ignatich, something ominous seemed to him in the guise of a king-fish. He can not alone overcome such a monster.

But the thought of calling my brother and mechanic to help immediately replaced greed: I'll have to share the sturgeon with my assistants. At this point, the hero even felt ashamed of himself for his own feelings. But shame did not last long. Ignatich decided to take him for excitement, drowning out the voice of reason. In addition, fishing pride awoke in him: this fish only comes once in a life, and not every one, you can not miss the chance to show your daring.

Fight

Ignatich decides that today his prey will be the king-fish. Astafyev begins the description of the severe struggle of man with nature. His hero bravely rushes to the sturgeon, tries to stun him with the ax ax. But he himself falls into the water, where, together with his prey, he is entangled in nets, and the fish hooks dig into his body.

And only after that Ignatyich realized that he could not overcome such a fish alone. Now the fisherman and his catch have one fate in front: death. Trying to escape, the hero unsuccessfully tries to break out of the fetters, praying for the fish to let him go. The crown of despair is overcoming one's own pride - Ignatich calls his brother to help. But in response only echoes are heard.

The main character realizes that he is dying. The fact that the fish is denser, like a woman, cuddles up to him, leads Ignatich into horror. Simultaneously, the hero begins to remember his past. But few bright thoughts come to mind. He thinks about how many ills he has brought with his poaching. Ignatich remembers an undeservedly offended girl, whom he once loved and wanted to marry. He realizes how badly he lived his life and how many mistakes he made.

The hero understands that the encounter with the tsar-fish became for him a payment for the committed sins and atrocities. Particularly burdensome is how he acted with his bride Glasha, unjustly jealous of her. And nothing of the perfect Ignatich has no justification.

Decoupling

Continues to describe the repentance of Ignatich Astafiev. Tsar-fish, heroes from the number of villagers and brother become here the reasons for realizing the main hero of their bad deeds.

In a moment of despair, Ignatich appeals to God and begs to let go "this creature" to freedom, recognizing that "not in his hand" he is caught by the king-fish. Apologizes to Glasha, repenting that she once offended her. After these words the fish is released from the fetters and floats away.

Ignatich feels the lightness: body - because he got rid of the fish, which pulled him to the bottom, sincere - because his sins are forgiven. Now the hero has a chance to start life anew, without making past mistakes and without taking sin at heart.

This is the way of spiritual rebirth of a person, which Astafyev decided to show him.

King of fish: analysis

The main theme of the story, as noted above, is the relationship between man and nature. But this writer is not limited, while he raises another problem - the relationship of man with society.

The attitude of Ignatich to his fellow villagers and close people is similar to the attitude of the hero to nature. Arrogance, disdain, condescension and awareness of one's own power - these are the feelings that the protagonist experiences in contact with the world around him.

According to Astafiev, a person should live in harmony with nature, be a part of it, otherwise fighting with the elements will lead him to death. It was this thought that became the plot-forming in the work.

The writer, to the smallest detail, prescribes the symbolic image of Ignatich, embodying the same king of nature who is accustomed to consider himself the ruler of the world. And to show all the illusory power of this pseudo-giver, Astafiev portrays his meeting with the king-fish. However, it is noteworthy that not only the hero himself, but also his rival, must perish from this clash. The fate of Ignatich and the king-fish are closely intertwined. And the only way to survive for both is the release of the protagonist from the burden of mistakes and sins that lies on his soul. It is those moral baseness that Ignatich committed during his life that causes the possible death of himself and the king-fish.

With this story, Astafiev clearly illustrates the idea that nature is a sacred temple, in which man is not the master, but a caretaker and assistant. Only in this case a person has the opportunity to exist in harmony with himself, the society and the world as a whole. Otherwise, all his actions will lead to death.

The image of Ignatich

The most attention in the work was given precisely to the image of Ignatich Astafiev ("Tsar-fish"). The main characters of the story are grouped around the central character, helping to reveal the features of his character. So, from the relationship with his fellow villagers and brother, we learn about the vanity of Ignatich. And when the author tells about the motives that compel the hero to fight the king-fish himself, another unflattering feature of his character is revealed: greed.

As mentioned above, the image of Ignatich represents the nature king, who has become accustomed to feeling himself the master of the world. However, you can not treat this character only as negative. The hero also has positive features. He is a good master, able to use his wealth with intelligence. In addition, Ignatich always comes to the aid of the person in need, whatever his motives for this move. Well, finally, to become an excellent fisherman, it is necessary to make a lot of effort, not to be lazy and strive for your goal.

Thus, Ignatich appears as a very ambiguous character, endowed with both positive and negative features. And the main mistake of this person is that he is not used to reckoning with others and appreciate them. Realizing his own sins, Ignatich gets the right to start life anew.

Other characters

The remaining images in the story "Tsar-Fish" by Astafyev are intended only to shade the image of the main character. Noteworthy can be called only the very king-fish, who acted as the first-born force. No wonder the author compares it with the "prehistoric lizard".