Turgenev steward the main characters. Ivan Turgenev - steward
One of the main characters of the work is statesman Sofron, serving as a steward on the Shipilovka estate, owned by the young landowner Arkady Pavlovich Penochkin.
The writer presents Sofron as a bearded man of small stature, broad-shouldered, with small eyes and a large nose with a reddish tint.
The steward has a wife and a son, a stupid but huge fellow who works as a local headman.
By virtue of his official duties, Sofron is the chief manager in the village, whose inhabitants are obliged to pay taxes to their owner Penochkin. The young landowner, striving to look like a highly cultured, educated, well-mannered person, is very pleased with the work of his steward, since he regularly and in full collects taxes from the peasants.
However, Penochkin does not care about the methods by which this work is carried out. As characteristic features steward, the writer points to cruelty, lack of mercy, cynicism, selfishness towards others. But Sofron treats the master with sugary servility, portraying devoted love, permeated with falsehood, hypocrisy and comicality of his speeches.
The main talent of the steward Sofron, of course, is his skill to humiliate and rob the peasants who are in a position dependent on him. Sofron builds his own well-being on this skill, trying to give even his house the appearance of a manor estate in the form of a weather vane, sanded paths, a pediment in the barnyard.
Penochkin does not want to see the unsightly actions of an immoral employee and refuses to help his destitute peasants who dared to complain about the insolent steward, who does whatever he pleases in the village, regardless of human concepts and moral principles.
Narrating the events of a small estate in the backwoods of Russia at the end of the eighteenth century, the writer describes the plight of the peasant people, given to the complete dependence of such statesmen as the cruel steward Sofron and unable to find support even from enlightened and supposedly fair gentlemen.
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Today we will talk about the work created by Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev - "Burgeon". Summary this literary work will be given below. The author introduces the reader to a hero named Penochkin Arkady Pavlovich.
the officer
So, let's look at the work "Burmister". The summary should begin with a mention of the person of the narrator. Not far from his estate lives the already mentioned Arkady Pavlovich Penochkin, a retired officer. He is a well-mannered and reasonable person, he takes care of his subjects, and also punishes them for their own good. He is not bad-looking and small in stature. His light brown eyes are benevolent, ruddy cheeks are full of health. Arkady Pavlovich is one of the most enviable suitors and educated nobles of the province. He's discreet, hasn't been involved in any story. His house in St. Petersburg is in absolute order. Arkady Pavlovich speaks in a pleasant and soft voice. Abundantly intersperses speech with phrases in French.
Anxiety
Let's move on to the next part and continue the summary. "The Burmister" is a story where everything is so smooth only at first glance. Soon the narrator confesses that he visits the neighbor reluctantly. The fact is that at such moments he experiences a strange anxiety. The narrator tells how he once had to spend the night in the house of Arkady Pavlovich. In the morning that guest did not let go without breakfast. At the same time, the footman who forgot to warm up the wine was punished. Penochkin found out that the narrator was going to Ryabovo, and decided to go with him, since his village called Shipilovka was located in those places.
The final
So, let's move on to the final part of the story "The Burmister". The summary will continue with an acquaintance with a new hero. It's about Sofron. Penochkin praises him very much in front of the narrator, noting that he is a steward and statesman. Arkady Pavlovich takes a cook and an abyss of things with him on the road. The road was long, but finally the heroes reached Shipilovka. At the outskirts they were met by a red-haired huge man (the son of a steward) - the headman. Sofron was not at home. The heroes rode through the village. At the sight of the carriage, people scattered and fell silent.
When the steward appears and they go to inspect the property, the narrator sees that Sofron behaves like a master, keeps the local people in bondage and threatens to send everyone to the army. In addition, a case is described of how, with his consent, a dead body found on the site was transferred to neighboring properties. At the same time, Penochkin Arkady Pavlovich does not pay attention to people's complaints.
Already in Ryabovo, an acquaintance told our narrator that Shipilovka actually belongs to the steward, which is why he behaves like that. And Penochkin is only listed as the owner, and he does not even know exactly how much land he has - only the steward knows this.
So we examined the plot of the story "The Burmister". A summary has been provided above.
Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev is a bright Russian writer who has received recognition from critics and readers due to his literary talent. Each work of the writer deserves attention and careful analysis. The story "Burgeon Master" is no exception.Ivan Turgenev spent the whole summer and autumn of 1846 on his estate, where, as an avid hunter, he hunted and watched the life of the local population. After the writer returned to St. Petersburg, his collaboration with the editors of the famous Sovremennik magazine started. It was the proposal to fill out the section of the journal that caused the appearance interesting stories, which were later combined into the collection "Notes of a Hunter".
Turgenev wrote the story "The Burmister" in July 1847. After the release of the work, society even more noted the talent of the writer.
The work "Burgeon Master" is a clear demonstration of the bleak situation of the peasant population during the existence of serfdom.
Good relationships with loved ones;
The true appearance of Arkady, who actually has a very tough and dangerous character.
Society is confident that Arkady Pavlych has a strict character, but at the same time he strives for a fair and progressive management of the estate.
Penochkin tries to correspond to a certain class, so he strives for the following manifestations of his character:
Excerpt;
High level of culture;
Ideal education;
Impeccable upbringing.
Despite outward modesty and good manners, cruelty and heartlessness can still be traced in the character. The peasants know that one can talk calmly with the landowner, but at the same time the slightest offense will lead to severe punishment. Penochkin made the peasants dependent on the evil and cruel steward Sofron. Despite this, Arkady does not even try to understand the peculiarities of the protagonist's plight. Penochkin notes that he does not even care about the fate of the family of an elderly man, Antipas. The most important task remains the correct payment and the absence of complaints.
The serfs are afraid of Penochkin's repressions. This becomes the basis of the whole plot of the story. The most revealing is the scene of the meeting with the valet Fyodor and the arrival of the master in Shipilovka.
So, how does the story “The Burmister” develop anyway? How does Turgenev reveal the plight of the whole people?
The story, as you can already guess, is primarily dedicated to Arkady Pavlovich Penochkin. This landowner is the main character and the center of the developing events. Arkady received a decent upbringing and entered high society. Despite his good manners and modesty, Arkady has cruelty, which is combined with prudence in an interesting way. Harsh fellowship with serfs leads to different situations which are detailed in the story. The whole plot is based on the fact that Penochkin is the owner of the entire village of Shipilovka, whose serfs had to pay dues regularly. The situation is aggravated due to the fact that the mayor Sofron Yakovlevich received the right to dispose of the village. Penochkin got on well with the steward, since it was thanks to the latter that all the peasants lived in fear and paid dues on time, no matter what. Actually locals they went bankrupt and could even get recruited if relations with officials deteriorated. Penochkin did not investigate the complaints of residents, considering them unworthy of his attention.
A special link in the story is the fate of the elderly man Antipas, who turned to Penochkin in order to complain about the steward Sofron. As it turned out, the two sons of Antipas were recruited. Moreover, Sofron took away the third, last, son, brought all the cows from the yard and severely beat the wife of Antipas. Despite this, Penochkin does not help the elderly man and reproaches him for having decided to complain. Soon it was possible to find out that the steward once made a arrears for Antipas, and this became the reason for reproaches for the laziness of an elderly man.
After a while, the son of Antipas noticed that the steward Sofron was oppressing many residents of the village. It was in this that Penochkin noticed incitement to rebellion. The presence of an outsider, in front of whom Penochkin strove for intelligence, became the reason for refraining from fisticuffs against the son of Antipas. This situation became one of the most striking in the plot of the story.
The work "Burgeon" is a story that vividly represents the plight of the peasants during the days of serfdom. The story focuses not on humanity, but on cruelty. High society, shown in the person of Penochkin, and its executive power, in the person of Sofron, are so fierce that they do not even try to understand the problems of the lower stratum, the peasants. It can be assumed that the less educated landowners were also ready for fist reprisals against the peasants. It is not surprising that the meaning of the plot is revealed through vivid circumstances that demonstrated the difficult times of serfdom.
Analysis of the story "Burgeon"
The main characters of the story are the landowner Penochkin, the steward Sofron. These characters have completely different personalities. Despite the difference in upbringing, the refined Penochkin and the rude Sofron treat the serfs with the same cruelty, backed up by cynicism and selfishness.
Ivan Turgenev leads to a comparison of the two characters in order to reveal the ostentatious intelligence and kindness of Arkady Pavlych. Representatives of high society can be the same as ordinary murderers. It is not surprising that literary critics often call Penochkin "a scoundrel with fine tastes."
The image of Sofron is compiled on the basis of the opinions of three characters:
Narrator;
Penochkin;
Peasant Antip.
Arkady Penochkin admires the manager Sofron. Of course, the steward plays along with his master and tries to show a loyal attitude, to demonstrate devotion, but sweet speeches turn out to be the usual fake and a manifestation of bilious hypocrisy. The steward's speech is capable of producing a comical impression, because Sofron is trying to use a master's word and at the same time win Penochkin's respect with the help of flattering statements. The steward wants to bring a special gloss to his life, which causes a special attitude among readers. The story "The Burmister" allows you to understand how feigned the behavior of various people can be. Sofron's most striking talent is the ability to rip off the serfs like sticky. The dependent position of the people does not allow to start an active manifestation of dissatisfaction with the current situation. The well-being of the steward Sofron is built on the ruin of the villagers and the sugary deception of Penochkin. In the very end, the simple peasant Antip characterizes Sofron with bright and truthful words: "a shameless swindler, a dog."
To leave the reader thinking, Turgenev did not give a personal assessment of Antipas' reasoning. He ended the story with the neutral phrase "We went hunting."
The role of the collection "Notes of a hunter"
"Notes of a Hunter" is a well-known collection dedicated to the peasant people, Russian nature. Stories about rural serfs occupy a special position in the literary skill of Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev.
Positive heroes are one with nature. At the same time, negative characters are in conflict with natural forces. There are no positive characters in the story "Burmister", therefore beautiful descriptions landscapes are not used. For the entire work, only scant sketches of descriptions of the countryside can be found. Symbolism is hidden even in the mention of a dirty puddle, next to which the petitioners stand in front of Penochkin.
The collection "Notes of a Hunter" is a cycle of works representing the Russian provinces in the late 40s. Each story, including "The Burmister", becomes a reflection of Russian reality. Writing skills, deep images, a special approach to describing people from ordinary people allowed Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev to become a great Russian writer who finds understanding among readers even in the 21st century, decades after the publication of stories.
Burmister Sofron - one of the main characters of Turgenev's story "Burgeon" - an extremely tough steward in the village of Shipilovka, which belongs to the master Arkady Pavlych Penochkin.
He was short, with a beard, broad shoulders, a red nose and small eyes. Sofron was married, he also had a son - a local headman, a stupid, but very huge fellow.
Burmeister Sofron first appears before us as a spree, constantly accommodating peasant, and in the morning, when he sobered up, he became different - serious, with a firm look, answering only to the point.
On that day, an event occurred that showed him not as a good business executive, but as a ruthless person who does not have a drop of mercy. The village peasant Antip came to complain to the master about Sofron. It turned out that he gave his two sons to the nekruty, and he wants the last one. In addition, the other day, he took the only cow and beat his wife.
Later, one acquaintance of the narrator spoke of him as a dog, one that you will not find until Kursk itself. He beats all the peasants, robbed them to the skin, offends them terribly. He also confidently stated that now Antipas will not have life at all.
Not far from my estate lives a young landowner, a retired officer, Arkady Pavlovich Penochkin. He is a reasonable and well-mannered man, he takes care of his subjects and punishes them for their own good. He is small in stature and not bad-looking. His light brown eyes and ruddy cheeks exude health and benevolence. Arkady Pavlovich is considered one of the most educated nobles and enviable suitors of our province. He is cautious, and has not been involved in any story. His house in St. Petersburg is kept in an enviable order. Arkady Pavlovich speaks in a soft and pleasant voice, abundantly sprinkling his speech with phrases in French. Despite all these advantages, I visit it reluctantly. In his house I am seized by a strange anxiety.
Once I had to spend the night with Arkady Pavlovich. In the morning he would not let me go without breakfast, during which a footman was punished for forgetting to warm up the wine. Penochkin found out that I was going to Ryabovo, and decided to go with me - his village of Shipilovka was in the same places. He greatly praised the local steward Sofron, a "statesman."
With him, Arkady Pavlovich took an abyss of things and a cook. We drove for a long time, and came straight to Shipilovka. On that day, I had to forget about hunting and submit to my fate. At the outskirts we were met by the headman, the son of the steward, a huge red-haired peasant. Sofron himself was not at home. We drove through the village. At the sight of our carriage, people fell silent and scattered. A commotion spread throughout the village. The steward's wife met us at the porch and kissed Arkady Pavlovich's hand for a long time.
We had already settled into a cold hut when the steward arrived. He was short, stocky, broad-shouldered and gray-haired, with a red nose, small blue eyes, and a fan-shaped beard. Entering the hut, he spoke in a singsong voice and kissed the master's hand with tears of emotion. We were served supper, and the steward kept reporting on business and complaining that there was not enough land. He told how a dead body was found on Penochkin's land, and he ordered to drag it to the neighbors' land and appeased the police officer. Penochkin was amused by this trick. Falling asleep, Penochkin remarked to me that since the time of Sofron's administration, the peasants had not had arrears.
The next day Arkady Pavlovich persuaded me to stay in order to show me his estate. We were accompanied by Sofron. During the inspection, he kept stressing that there was not enough land, and Penochkin allowed to buy it on his own behalf. Leaving the barn after inspecting the winnowing machine, we saw two men in patched shirts. The elder's name was Antip. They came to complain about the steward. It turned out that Sofron paid the arrears for them and took them into bondage, and not just them. Sofron gave all the adult sons of Antipas to the soldiers, and he wanted to give the last one. Arkady Pavlovich did not want to listen to them to the end. Until my departure, he sulked at Sofron.
An hour later I was already in Ryabovo and, together with an acquaintance of the peasant Anpadist, was going to hunt. I spoke to Anpadist about Sofron. He said that Shipilovka was only listed under Penkin, and that the steward owned it. He has much more land than Penochkin thinks, in addition, the steward is also engaged in trade. Antip somehow argued with the steward, and now Sofron is taking revenge on him.
