What the "Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish" by Pushkin teaches: the analysis of the work

Pushkin's fairy tales are an example of how a common story can become a masterpiece of a high literary language. The poet was able to convey in a poetic form not only the characters of the characters, but also an indispensable condition for any such narrative - teaching, that is, what the tale teaches. "About the fisherman and the fish" is a story about human greed. The tale "About Tsar Saltan" that evil and cunning are punishable, but always good wins. So in the stories of all the fairy tales written by the poet.

The summary of the work

When teachers explain to schoolchildren what the "Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish" teaches (Grade 2), they rely on the plot of the work. This is correct, since children need to understand which basic categories drive the actions of people: good and evil, generosity and greed, betrayal and forgiveness, and many others. Fairy tales help children understand them and make the right choice in favor of good.

In the fairy tale about the Golden Fish the plot begins with the fact that on the shore of the blue sea there lived an old man with an old woman. He was fishing, she was spinning yarn, but the shack was old and even tattered.

The old man was lucky to catch the Goldfish, which begged to return it to the sea and even offered to pay for itself.

A kind fisherman let her go, but the old woman did not like his noble deed, so he demanded that he return to the sea and ask the fish for at least a trough. The old man did so. The fish gave what the old woman wanted, but she wanted more - a new hut, then to be a pillar noblewoman, then a free queen, until she decided to become the Lady, who herself had the fish on the premises.

A wise fish fulfilled the old woman's requests, until she demanded the impossible. So the old woman was left again at the broken trough.

Children, reading about the history of the old man, understand what the "Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish" of Pushkin teaches. Power and wealth each time changed the old woman, making her all angrier. Students make the right conclusion that greed is punishable, and you can once again remain with nothing.

The author himself put a deeper meaning into his tale, especially if one considers what lies at its base.

The Tale of the Brothers Grimm

If you take as a basis the philosophical categories of what the "Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish" teaches, the analysis should begin with the tales of the Brothers Grimm. It was with their story about the greedy old woman, who, beginning with a small wish, got to what she wanted to become a Pope, was a poet.

It seems that the story of an instructive story is an ordinary human greed, but if you pay attention to the symbolism inherent in it, then what the "Tale of a Fisherman and the Fish" teaches, takes on a completely different meaning. As it turned out, the brothers Grimm, and behind them Pushkin, are not the first to use this theme.

Vedic wisdom

In the ancient Indian treatise Matsya-purana it is stated in the form of an allegory. For example, the old man in it is the real "I" of man, his soul, which is in a state of rest (nirvana). In Pushkin's fairy tale the fisherman is exactly this and appears before the readers. He has lived with an old woman in a shack for 33 years, catches fish and is happy with everything. Is this not a sign of enlightenment?

This is what the "Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish" teaches: the true destiny of man is to be in harmony with his soul and surrounding reality. The old man perfectly coped with the vast and tempting material world, which symbolizes the blue sea.

He throws the net with his desires into him and gets what he needs for a day of daily living. Another thing is the old woman.

Old woman

It embodies human egoism, which is never completely satisfied, and therefore does not know what happiness is. Egoism wants to consume as much material wealth. That's why, starting with the trough, the old woman soon wanted to dominate the fish itself.

If in the ancient treatise its image is a symbol of the renunciation of man from his spiritual nature in favor of false consciousness and the material world, then Pushkin has an evil egotistic principle that forces the old man (the pure soul) to indulge her whims.

The Russian poet very well describes the submissiveness of the soul before selfishness. Every time the old man goes to bow to the Golden Fish with a new demand from the old woman. It is symbolic that the sea, which is the prototype of a vast material world, becomes more and more threatening each time. This Pushkin showed how great is the separation of the pure soul from its destiny, when it is each time deeper and deeper into the abyss of material wealth.

Fish

In the Vedic culture, the fish personifies God. It is no less powerful in the work of Pushkin. If you think about what the "Tale of a Fisherman and the Fish" teaches, the answers will be obvious: a false egoistic shell can not give a person happiness. To do this, he does not need material benefits, but the unity of the soul with God, which manifests itself in a harmonious state of rest and joy from being.

Three times is a fish to an old man to fulfill selfish desires, but, as it turned out, a marine sorceress can not fill a false shell.

The struggle between spiritual and egoistic principles

A lot of philosophical, religious, artistic and psychological books have been written about this struggle. Both beginnings - a pure soul (Pushkin's old man's tale) and egoism (the old woman) are fighting among themselves. The poet showed very well what leads to obedience and indulgence to selfish desires.

His protagonist did not even try to resist the old woman, and each time submissively went to the fish to bow with a new demand from her. Alexander Sergeyevich showed exactly what this connivance leads to his own selfishness, and how his false, insatiable needs end.

Today the phrase "to stay with a broken trough" is applied at the everyday level, when people talk about human greed.

In philosophy, its meaning is much broader. Not material benefits make people happy. The behavior of the old woman speaks of this. Only she became a pillar noblewoman, as she wished to be a queen, and then more. It did not radiate happiness and contentment with the appearance of new types of power and wealth.

This is what the "Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish" teaches: to remember the soul that it is primary, and the material world is secondary and cunning. Today a person can be in power, and tomorrow he will become a beggar and obscure, like an old woman at that ill-fated trough.

So the children's fairy tale of the Russian poet conveys the depth of the eternal confrontation between the ego and the soul, which people knew as far back as ancient times.