Composition
The best and worst traits and character traits of a person and a people as a whole are revealed in extreme situations. This is a well-known truth. Such situations primarily include wars.
The Great Patriotic War became a terrible test for our grandfathers and great-grandfathers. But it helped to understand, to realize once again how strong the Russians are, rich not only materially, physically, but also spiritually. Rich and beautiful by the strength of the spirit and soul of her people.
Literature dedicated to the Great Patriotic War is proof of this. Thus, the story by B. Vasiliev “And the dawns here are quiet...” tells about the events of 1942. German saboteurs are thrown into the location of an anti-aircraft machine-gun battery, commanded by Sergeant Major Vaskov, and the commander has only six young, fragile girls under his command. The author tells us about their destinies.
Rita Osyanina immediately after graduating from school married a border guard lieutenant. A year later their son was born, and a year later the war began. Already on the second day of the war, Rita became a widow. The Great Patriotic War turned a weak housewife into a fearless soldier.
Quiet, afraid of everything, Galya Chetvertak, whose childhood was spent in an orphanage, was accustomed to living in dreams mixed with what she saw in the movies. Liza Brichkina lived in the forest before the war and also did not know life at all. The girl dreamed of love and city life. The life of student Sonya Gurvich was calm and purposeful. Ordinary student life: a session, a library, a familiar student boy caring for her... The war made its own terrible amendments to all these destinies, turning women into soldiers. But they fulfilled this role with honor, did everything they could to protect their homeland, their children, their people.
Sergeant Major Vaskov decides to destroy the German invaders. Bykov shows how the characters of all the characters are revealed in a dangerous situation. So, at first the girls have a very low opinion of their commander: “It’s a mossy stump, there are twenty words in stock, and even those are from the Charter.” But the danger brought all six together, changing their opinion about the foreman.
Vaskov absorbed best qualities a warrior ready to expose himself to bullets, but to save the girls and fulfill his duty: “Vaskov knew one thing in this battle: not to retreat. Don’t give up a single piece of land on this shore to the Germans... And there was no one else in the whole world: only him, the enemy and Russia. Only the girls were still listening with some third ear: whether the rifles were still firing or not. If they beat you, it means they are alive. This means they are holding their front, their Russia. They're holding me!"
And they held on until their last breath. Their deaths were different: Liza Brichkina drowned in a swamp while she was in a hurry to bring help. Galya Chetvertak was cut down by a machine gun fire. Sonya Gurvich was killed by a paratrooper with one blow of a knife when she ran for the sergeant major’s pouch. Zhenya Komelkova died trying to lead the Germans away from the mortally wounded Rita Osyanina.
V. Bykov’s story “Sotnikov” also reveals true Russian courage, true Russian character. He (the image of Sotnikov) is especially bright in comparison with the other hero of the story - Fisherman. Under normal circumstances, these heroes might not have shown their true nature. But during the war, Sotnikov goes through difficult trials with honor and accepts death without renouncing his beliefs, and Rybak, in the face of death, changes his beliefs, betrays his Motherland, saving his life. Using the example of these people, we are once again convinced that in the face of death a person remains as he really is. And it is here that the depth of his convictions and his civic fortitude are tested.
When going on a mission, heroes react differently to the upcoming danger. It seems that the strong and quick-witted Rybak is more prepared for the feat than the frail, sick Sotnikov. But if Rybak, who all his life “managed to find some way out,” is internally ready to commit betrayal, then Sotnikov remains faithful to the duty of a man and citizen until his last breath: “Well, it was necessary to muster the last strength in himself to meet death with dignity... Otherwise, why would there be life? It is too difficult for a person to be careless about its end.”
In Bykov's story, everyone took their place among the victims. Everyone except Rybak went through their deadly path to the end. During the torture, Sotnikov lost consciousness several times, but did not say anything. This hero has come to terms with death. He would like to die in battle, but this has become impossible for him. The only thing left for him was to decide on his attitude towards the people who were nearby.
Before the execution, Sotnikov demanded an investigator and declared: “I am a partisan, the rest have nothing to do with it.” The investigator ordered Rybak to be brought in, and he agreed to join the police. The fisherman tried to convince himself that he was not a traitor, that he would run away.
In the last minutes of his life, Sotnikov unexpectedly lost his confidence in the right to demand from others the same as from himself. He did not look for sympathy in the crowd surrounding the execution site, did not want people to talk badly about him, and was only angry with the executioner Rybak, who was performing his duties. The fisherman apologizes: “Sorry, brother.” - "Go to hell!" - follows the answer.
What happened to Fisherman? He did not overcome the fate of a man entangled in war. He sincerely wanted to hang himself. But circumstances got in the way, and there was still a chance to survive. It’s unlikely that the police chief saw what was going on in this man’s soul. The writer left him the possibility of another path: continuing the fight against the enemy, atonement before the people. But Rybak chose the path of betrayal.
“Courage is a great quality of the soul; the people marked by it should be proud of themselves,” said one of the greats. Works dedicated to the Great Patriotic War fully confirm that the Russian people have true courage. It was this that helped us survive this war, win and preserve ourselves as a nation.
An analysis of Vasiliev’s work “The Dawns Here Are Quiet” will be useful in preparing for literature lessons for 8th grade students. This is a surprisingly heartfelt tragic story about the role of women in war. The author touches on the problems of historical memory, courage and bravery, heroism and cowardice, inhuman cruelty. The fate of five young girls, for whom the first battle was the last, was truthfully and touchingly portrayed by the writer who went through the entire war - Boris Vasiliev.
Brief Analysis
Year of writing– 1969.
History of creation– the text was originally conceived as a story about seven heroes who were able to defend their combat objective at the cost of their own lives. However, having rethought the plot, adding novelty to it, the author changed the idea - 5 anti-aircraft gunners appeared who came under the command of Sergeant Vaskov.
Subject- feat of women in war.
Composition– narration from the sergeant’s point of view, through his eyes the author shows the events at the crossing. Memories, retrospectives, pictures from the past are a fairly common technique that harmoniously weaves into the narrative the stories of the destinies of the girls and the sergeant himself.
Genre- story.
Direction- realistic military prose.
History of creation
The first publication took place in the magazine “Youth” in 1969. Boris Vasiliev wanted to write a story about a feat that actually took place in 1942 in one small outpost. Seven soldiers who participated in the operation stopped the enemy at the cost of their lives. But after writing a few pages, the author realized that his plot was one of thousands; there are a lot of such stories in literature.
And he decided that the sergeant would have girls under his command, not men. The narrative began to sparkle with new colors. This story brought great fame to the author, because no one wrote about women in the war, this topic was left without attention. The writer approached the creation of images of anti-aircraft gunners very responsibly: they are completely unique and absolutely believable.
Subject
Subject completely new for military prose: war through the eyes of a woman. By artistically transforming reality, endowing the heroines with completely different individual traits, the author achieved amazing verisimilitude. People believed in real girls, especially after the film adaptation of the story in 1972.
Meaning of the name is revealed at the very end of the story, when the surviving foreman and the son of one of the dead anti-aircraft gunners come to the site of the girls’ deaths after the war to erect a monument. And the phrase that became the title of the story sounds like the thought that life goes on. The mournful calm of these words contrasts with the terrible tragedy that happened here. Main thought, embedded in the title of the story - only nature lives correctly, everything is quiet and calm in it, but in the human world there are storms, confusion, hatred, pain.
Feat in war is a common thing, but a woman fighter is something touchingly sacred, naive and helpless. Not all heroines understand what war is, not all have seen death: they are young, diligent and full of hatred for the enemy. But the girls are not ready to face a real war: the reality turns out to be worse and more merciless than the young “fighters in skirts” could have expected.
Anyone who reads Vasiliev’s story inevitably comes to the conclusion that the tragedy could have been avoided if the foreman and his “combat units” had been more experienced, if only... But war does not wait for readiness, death in war is not always a feat, there is an accident, there is stupidity , there is inexperience. The truthfulness of the work is the secret of its success and recognition of the author’s talent, and problems– a guarantee of the demand for the work. What this work teaches should remain in the hearts of future generations: war is scary, it does not distinguish between gender and age, we must remember those who gave their lives for our future. Idea of all the works of Boris Vasiliev about the war: we must remember those terrible years in the life of the country, preserve and pass on this knowledge from generation to generation so that the war does not happen again.
Composition
The narration is told from the perspective of Sergeant Vaskov, his memories form the main plot. The narrative is interspersed lyrical digressions, excerpts from childhood from memories of various years that emerge in the memory of the foreman. Through his male perception, the author presents images of gentle, touching anti-aircraft gunner girls, revealing the motives for which they end up at the front.
To introduce readers to the next heroine, the author simply transfers the action to her past, replaying the brightest moments from the character’s life. The pictures of peaceful life are so inconsistent with the horrors of war that, returning to the events at the crossing, the reader involuntarily wants to return to peacetime. Compositionally, the story contains all the classic components: exposition, plot, climax, denouement and epilogue.
Main characters
Genre
The work is written in the middle genre of military prose - a story. The term “lieutenant’s prose” appeared in literature thanks to those who, having gone through the front-line years as junior officers, became writers, covering the events experienced during the years Patriotic War. Vasiliev’s story also belongs to lieutenant prose; the author has his own unique view of military reality.
In terms of content, the work is quite worthy of the novel form, and the ideological component, perhaps, has no equal in Russian literature of that period. War through women's eyes is even more terrible because next to death there are heels and beautiful lingerie, which beauties persistently hide in duffel bags. Vasiliev's story is completely unique in its piercing tragedy, vitality and deep psychologism.
Work test
Rating analysis
Average rating: 4.2. Total ratings received: 421.
Every year, people's attitudes towards the events of the war change; many of us began to forget about the exploits that our grandparents performed for the sake of the future of their children. Thanks to the authors of that time, we can still study works and delve into the chronicle of history. Boris Vasiliev's work "And the dawns here are quiet..." was dedicated to people who went through a brutal war, who unfortunately did not return home, as well as to their friends and comrades. This book can be called a memory, because the events described in it are close to everyone who keeps the memory of the Great Patriotic War.
The work described the fates of five female anti-aircraft gunners, as well as their commander, the actions took place during the Great Patriotic War. Reading this story, I was completely imbued with sympathy for the main characters, because they had not even had time to feel the taste of life. The main characters are Sonya Gurvich, Rita Osyanina, Zhenya Komelkova, Galya Chetvertak, Lisa Brichkina, young girls who have just begun to live, they are bright, cheerful and real. But each of them had the role of dying in the fight for the defense of their Motherland, for love for it and the future. They fought for freedom, but they themselves were cruelly punished by fate, because the war destroyed their plans for life, without giving even a drop of something bright. This terrible event divided their lives into two periods, and they simply had no other choice but to take weapons into their tender hands.
Fedot Vaskov was another main character; the author very soulfully described the bitterness and pain that Fedot experienced for each of the girls. He was the embodiment of a real soldier, brave and courageous, he understood that a girl should be at home, next to her children and home, and not fight. You can see how madly he wants to take revenge on the Nazis for what they did to young girls.
Boris Vasiliev used in his work what he saw and felt himself, so the story contains clear descriptions of the events of the war. Thanks to this, the reader is able to immerse himself in the atmosphere of those very terrible forties. I felt the horror of that time, and realized that the war did not choose who to kill, it was children and adults, old and young, someone’s husband was killed, someone’s son or brother.
Despite all the pain of what is happening, in the end the author makes it clear that no matter what happens, good will still triumph over evil. These five girls who gave their lives for their Motherland will forever remain in our hearts and will be heroes of the Great War.
Topics covered by the work And the Dawns Here Are Quiet
1) Heroism and dedication
It would seem that just yesterday these women were schoolgirls rushing to class, but today they are young and brave fighters who fight in the same column with men. But they go into battle not because of coercion from the state or loved ones, the girls go there out of love for their homeland. As history shows us to this day, these girls made a huge contribution to the country's victory.
2) Woman at war
But the most important meaning of Vasiliev’s entire work is a terrifying world war in which women fight on an equal footing with men. They do not support the soldiers from behind, do not treat or feed them, but hold a gun in their hands and go on the attack. Each of the women has her own family, her own dreams and goals for life, but for many of them, the future will end on the battlefield. As he says main character, the worst thing in war is not that men die, but that women die, and then the whole country dies.
3) Feat of a layman
None of these women who went on the warpath took regular year-long courses. They have not served long in the army and do not know how to wield weapons thoroughly. They are all not professional fighters, but ordinary Soviet women who could become wives and mothers, but despite this they became real fighters. It doesn't even matter how incompetent they are, they fight on par and make a huge contribution to the stories.
4) Courage and honor
Despite the fact that every woman brought a huge treasure to victory during the war, there are those who stood out the most. For example, you can remember the heroine from the book, under the name Zhenya Komelkova, who, having forgotten about her future, dreams and goals, the value of her life, saved her comrades by luring the fascists to join her. It would seem that not every man would dare to do such an act, but this young girl, despite everything, took a risk and was able to help her colleagues. Even after the woman was seriously injured, she did not regret this act and only wanted victory for her homeland.
5) Respect for the Motherland
One of the Voskov heroes, after all the hostilities, blamed and insulted himself for a very long time for not being able to protect and save the weaker sex, who gave their lives on the battlefield. The man was afraid that because of the death of the soldiers, their fathers, husbands, and most importantly, children would rebel and begin blaming Voski for not being able to protect their women. The soldier did not believe that some White Sea Canal was worth so many departed souls. But at one point, one of the women, Rita, said that the man should stop self-flagellation, humiliation and constantly repent of this, since war is not a place for sadness and regret. All these women did not fight for ordinary roads or empty buildings, they fought for their homeland and for the freedom of an entire nation. This is exactly how the author conveys the courage of people and their love for their homeland.
Essay 3
Quite a few works have been written on military topics. Our people were completely affected by this problem, especially in the forties of the twentieth century. What is war? This is a great tragedy for the whole world. Doesn't it matter which countries are fighting each other and for what? We must value peace, fight for freedom, love and respect each other so that there is no war. These thoughts are conveyed by great writers in their books, including the Russian writer, who experienced his own life path The Great Patriotic War.
As for the theme of the fighter for the Motherland in Russian literature, it was raised quite widely. But the role of a woman in the war, her difficult lot in that terrible time - this was a rare occurrence. But the writer Vasiliev acted as an innovator and introduced this topic into Russian literature, or rather, illuminated it brightly and accurately. He created his work and called it paradoxically, with irony (those who read it will understand) “And the dawns here are quiet...”.
The story tells the war story of five girls and commander Vaskov. The fact is that in a quiet place where many soldiers served under the leadership of Vaskov, they became drunkards due to the fact that no such military events took place there and the Germans did not come to this place.
Therefore, it was necessary to somehow resolve this issue. And five girls were sent to a quiet place as non-drinkers: Zhenya Kamelkova, Galya Chetvertak, Sonya Gurvich, Lisa Brichkina, Rita Osyanina. Each of these girls had their own story, family, loved ones from whom the war separated them.
Vasily showed all the hardship that befell these still young persons. They were forced to lose not only their loved ones, but also their dreams and goals.
The work describes all the situations they encountered.
The girls' fate was reduced to death.
Margarita, for example, had a son in the village. And her husband died at the beginning of the war. Among the girl fighters, she was the most mature and experienced.
What prompted the girls to go to the front, to defend their Motherland, because they had the opportunity not to fight. It seems to me that their thirst for revenge pushed them to this. This expression applies one hundred percent to Zhenya Komelkova. Her family was shot by the Nazis in front of her own eyes. She dies during a shootout with enemies.
Each of the girl's masts was destroyed by the war. Vaskov continued to blame himself for this until the end of his days.
Option 4
More than seventy years have passed since the Great Patriotic War ended. But in the life of the Russian people the echoes of those terrible events still echo. Not only films, but also books remind us of the war. One of these works that remains in the memory for a long time is Boris Vasiliev’s novel “And the Dawns Here Are Quiet.”
Many have heard the phrase “war has no woman's face“, but it was Vasiliev who was able to describe the significance of the female figure at the front. The main actions of the story take place in 1942. The author tells the stories of five girls who, of their own free will, became soldiers - anti-aircraft gunners. Vasiliev also tells about the life of the commander of this women's battalion. The narrative style allows the reader to understand Fedot Evgrafovich Vaskov, and Rita Osyanina, and Sonya Gurevich, and Zhenya Komelkova, and Lisa Brichkina, and Galya Chetvertak.
The war divided people's lives into “before and after”. And the author shows this through the example of five stories, five different destinies. At the same time, Vasiliev himself visited the front and saw with his own eyes all the horrors of combat operations. Each girl from the battalion had her own reasons for hating the enemy. For example, the assistant sergeant major, Rita Osyanina, lost her husband on the battlefield. From the beautiful, red-haired Zhenya Komelkova, the war “took away” all her close people: her mother, brother and grandmother. And, despite the tragic events, this girl always tried to remain cheerful and smiling. But Zhenya did not experience a peaceful May, giving her life to save her friend.
Another girl, Lisa, modest but strong in spirit, dreamed of studying at a technical school. Brichkina hurried to help her friends, but got stuck in a swamp, never reaching her women's battalion. Each of the girls died for their Motherland, for the love of their people. This is what real patriotism was. The war does not give anti-aircraft gunners a chance for the future.
Sergeant Major Vaskov, left alone, is trying with all his might to prevent the Germans from breaking through the front line. He feels guilty for the death of young female anti-aircraft gunners, this is what helped Fedot Evgrafovich achieve his goal. The foreman took revenge for the death of his charges, who deserved a peaceful sky above their heads, and not death from war in forests and swamps.
Despite all the tragedy of the work, the author notes that good always wins, and evil remains powerless. The theme of memory is also a “red thread” in the story, because during the Great Patriotic War, not a single hundred of such young, but at the same time brave, girls died.
11th grade, Unified State Exam
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THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR IN THE STORY BY B. L. VASILIEV “AND THE DAWNINGS HERE ARE QUIET...”
1.Introduction.
Reflection of the events of the war years in literature.
2. Main part.
2.1 Depiction of war in the story.
2.2 Gallery of female images.
2.3 Sergeant Major Vaskov is the main character of the story.
2.4 The image of the enemy in the story.
3. Conclusion.
True patriotism.
I've only seen hand-to-hand combat once.
Once - in reality. And a thousand - in a dream.
Who says that war is not scary?
He knows nothing about the war.
Yu.V. Drunina
The Great Patriotic War is one of the defining events in the history of our country. There is practically no family that is not affected by this tragedy. The theme of the Great Patriotic War has become one of the main topics not only in literature, but also in cinematography, fine arts XX century. In the very first days of the war, essays by war correspondents and works by writers and poets who found themselves on the battlefields appeared. A huge amount was written
number of stories, novellas and novels about the war. Boris Lvovich Vasiliev’s story “And the dawns here are quiet…” is one of the most lyrical works about the war. The events of the story take place in 1942 in the north of Russia, in a battalion where fate, after being wounded, threw the main character, Sergeant Major Vaskov. The Hero is appointed to command a “female” platoon of female anti-aircraft gunners. The author depicts different women, different from each other, but united by one goal - the fight against the enemy of the Motherland. As fate would have it, the heroines found themselves in a war where a woman had no place. Each of the girls has already faced death, the pain of loss. Hatred for their enemies is what motivates them, what gives them strength to fight.
Rita Osyanina - commander of the first squad of the platoon. Her husband, a border guard, died on the second day of the war “in a morning counterattack,” and her son lives with his parents. Rita hates her enemies “quietly and mercilessly.” She is stern, reserved, strict with herself and other fighters.
Zhenya Komelnova is a bright beauty, tall, red-haired. Zhenya, like Rita, also has a “personal score” with the Nazis. The whole family was shot before her eyes. After this tragedy, Zhenya found herself at the front. Despite this, the heroine retained her natural cheerfulness. She is sociable and mischievous, funny and flirtatious.
Lisa Brichkina is the daughter of a forester. She grew up early, cared for her sick mother for five years, ran a household, and managed to work on a collective farm. The war prevented the heroine from entering a technical school. Liza is thorough, like a peasant, knows and loves the forest, is not afraid of any work, and is always ready to help her friends.
Sonya Gurvich is a girl from a “very large and very friendly” family. Her father was a doctor in Minsk. The girl studied at the university for a year, but the war began, her lover went to the front, and Sonya also could not stay at home.
Sonya knows nothing about the fate of the family who found themselves in Nazi-occupied Minsk. She lives in hope that they managed to survive, although she understands that this hope is illusory. Sonya is smart and educated, “an excellent student at school and university,” speaks perfect German, and loves poetry.
Galya Chetvertak was brought up in an orphanage, she is a foundling. Maybe that’s why she lives in an imaginary world, invents a “health worker” for herself, and may lie. In fact, this is not a lie, says the author, but “desires presented as reality.” Dreamy by nature
the girl entered the library technical school. And when she was in her third year, the war began. Gala was rejected by the military registration and enlistment office because she did not fit in either height or age, but she showed remarkable perseverance and “I’m fine.”
exceptions” she was sent to the anti-aircraft unit.
The heroines are not alike. It is these girls that Sergeant Major Vaskov takes with him to follow the Germans. But it turns out there are not two enemies, but much more. As a result, all the girls die, leaving only
foreman. Death overtakes the heroines in different situations: through negligence in a swamp, and in an unequal battle with enemies. Vasiliev admires their heroism. It cannot be said that girls are unfamiliar with the feeling of fear. The impressionable Galya Chetvertak is very frightened by the death of Sonya Gurvich. But the girl manages to overcome fear, and this is her strength and courage. At the moment of death, none of the girls complains about fate, does not blame anyone. They understand that their lives were sacrificed in the name of saving the Motherland. The author emphasizes the unnaturalness of what is happening when a woman, whose purpose is to love, give birth and raise children, is forced to kill. War is an abnormal state for a person.
The main character of the story is Sergeant Major Fedot Vaskov. He comes from a simple family, studied until the fourth grade and was forced to leave school because his father died. Nevertheless, he later graduated from the regimental school. Personal life
Vaskova was unsuccessful: his wife ran away with the regimental veterinarian, and his little son died. Vaskov has already fought in war, was wounded, and has awards. The girl fighters at first laughed at their simple-minded commander, but soon appreciated his courage, directness, and warmth. He tries in every possible way to help the girls who are coming face to face with the enemy for the first time. Rita Osyanina asks Vaskov to take care of her son. Many years later, an elderly foreman and Rita’s adult son will install a marble slab at the site of her death. The images of enemies are drawn by the author schematically and laconically. These are not specific people; their characters and feelings are not described by the author. These are fascists, invaders who have encroached on the freedom of another country. They are cruel and merciless. This
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Znachkova Evgeniya
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Born in the years of the deaf
They don’t remember their own paths.
We are children terrible years Russia –
I can't forget anything.
Sizzling years!
Is there madness in you, is there hope?
From the days of war, from the days of freedom
There is a bloody glow in the faces...
War is a terrible word. This is grief and tears, this is horror and destruction, this is madness and the destruction of all living things. She knocked on every home and brought misfortune: mothers lost sons, wives lost husbands, children were left without fathers. Thousands of people went through the crucible of war, experienced terrible torment, but they survived and won. We won the most difficult of all wars that humanity has endured so far. And those people who defended their Motherland in the hardest battles are still alive. The war emerges in their memory as the most terrible and sorrowful memory. But it also reminds them of perseverance, courage, unbroken spirit, friendship and loyalty.
I know many writers who went through this terrible war. Many of them died, many were seriously injured, many survived the fire of trials. That is why they wrote about the war, that is why they talked again and again about what became not only their personal pain, but also the tragedy of the entire generation. They simply could not die without warning people about the danger that comes from forgetting the lessons of the past.
My favorite writer is Boris Vasiliev. At the beginning of the war he was a young lieutenant. His best works are about war, about how a person remains a person only after fulfilling his duty to the end. Like an unhealed wound, I touch his tragic story “And the dawns here are quiet...”. She made a huge impression on me. The story is read with unflagging interest from beginning to end. The thoughts and actions of the characters are kept in constant tension.
“It was May 1942. In the west (on damp nights the heavy roar of artillery could be heard from there), both sides, having dug two meters into the ground, were finally stuck in trench warfare; in the east the Germans bombed the canal and the Murmansk road day and night; in the north there was a fierce struggle for sea routes; in the south, besieged Leningrad continued its stubborn struggle.
And here was a resort..."...
With these words Boris Vasiliev begins his story. In this book, the theme of war is turned on that unusual side, which is perceived especially acutely. After all, we are all accustomed to combining the words “men” and “war,” but here are women, girls and war. And so these girls stood in the middle of the Russian land: forests, swamps, lakes - against an enemy who was strong, resilient, well-armed, merciless, and who significantly outnumbered them.
Rita, Zhenya, Lisa, Galya, Sonya - these are five different, but somehow similar girls. Rita Osyanina, strong-willed and gentle, rich in spiritual beauty. She is the most courageous, fearless, strong-willed, she is a mother! “He never laughs, he just moves his lips a little, but his eyes still remain serious”... Zhenya Komelkova is “tall, red-haired, white-skinned. And children’s eyes are green, round, like saucers,” always cheerful, funny, beautiful, mischievous to the point of adventurism, desperate and tired of war, of pain and long and painful love, for a distant and married man. Sonya Gurvich is the embodiment of an excellent student and a poetic nature - a “beautiful stranger”, who came out of a volume of poems by Alexander Blok. Galya always lived in her imaginary world more actively than in the real one, so she was afraid... terribly afraid of this terrible and merciless war... Liza Brichkina... “Eh, Liza-Lizaveta, you should study!” I would like to study, I would like to see Big city with its theaters and concert halls, its libraries and art galleries... She always knew that “life is a real and tangible concept, it exists, that it is intended for her and that it is impossible to avoid it, just as it is impossible not to wait for tomorrow.” And Lisa always knew how to wait... Galya, who never grew up, was a funny and childishly clumsy orphanage girl. Notes, escape from the orphanage and also dreams... about solo parts, long dresses and universal worship. Her childishly naive dream is to become the new Lyubov Orlova. But none of them had time to realize their dreams, they simply did not have time to live their own lives.
They fought for their homeland like no one had ever fought anywhere. They hated the enemy with a hatred that can melt steel - a hatred when neither pain nor deprivation is felt anymore... Their first and serious order was, which they must strictly obey: “... Our detachment of six people was entrusted with holding the defense of the Sinyukhin ridge, where to capture the enemy. The neighbor on the left is Vop-lake, the neighbor on the right is Lake Legontovo... At the reserve position, leave all the property under the protection of the Chetvertak fighter. Fighting start only on my command. I appoint junior sergeant Osyanina as my deputies, and if she fails, then soldier Gurvich...” Afterwards there were many orders. And the girls performed them accurately, as befits young soldiers. There was everything: tears, worries, losses... Close friends died before their eyes, but they held on. They didn’t let anyone through, they fought to the death to the end, and there were hundreds and thousands of them patriots who defended the freedom of the Fatherland!..
And their deaths were different, just as their destinies were different... Rita was hit by a grenade. She understood that the wound was fatal, and that she would die long and painfully. Therefore, having gathered her last strength, she still fired that fatal shot - a shot in the temple!.. Galya had the same painful and reckless death as she herself - she could have hidden and stayed alive, but she did not hide. One can only guess what motivated her then. Maybe cowardice or just fleeting confusion?! Unknown... Sonya had a brutal death. She didn’t even have time to understand how the thin tip of a dagger pierced her young and cheerful heart... Zhenya’s is desperate and a little reckless! She always believed in herself and even when she was leading the Germans away from Osyanina, she did not doubt for a moment that everything would end well. And even when the first bullet hit her in the side, she was simply surprised. After all, it was so stupid, so absurd and implausible to die at the age of nineteen... Liza's death overtook her unexpectedly. And it was such a stupid surprise. Lisa was pulled into the swamp. “The sun slowly rose above the trees, the rays fell on the swamp, and Lisa saw its light for the last time - warm, unbearably bright, like the promise of tomorrow. And until the last moment Lisa believed that this would happen tomorrow for her too...”
And Sergeant Major Vaskov, whom I have not yet mentioned, remains alone. One in the midst of trouble, torment, one with death, one with three prisoners. Is it alone? He now has five times his strength. And what was best in him, human, but hidden in his soul, was suddenly revealed, and what he experienced, he felt for himself and for them, for his girls, his “sisters.”
As the foreman laments: “How is it to live now? Why is this so? After all, they don’t need to die, but give birth to children, because they are mothers!” Involuntarily, tears well up when you read these lines. But we must not only cry, we must remember, because the dead do not leave the lives of those who loved them. They just don’t grow old, remaining forever young in people’s hearts.
All the girls died, and with the death of each of them, “a small thread in the endless yarn of humanity broke.” What motivated them when they, without sparing their lives, went into battle, defending every inch of land? Maybe it’s just a duty to the people, to one’s Fatherland, or courage, boldness, bravery, patriotism? Or is it all together? Everything was mixed up in them.
Now I acutely feel the bitterness of the irreversibility of losses, and I perceive the words of Sergeant Major Vaskov as a tragic requiem: “It hurts here,” he poked me in the chest, “it itches here, Rita. It itches so much. I put you down, I put all five of you.” It was strange to read these words. The strange thing is that Sergeant Major Vaskov blamed himself for everything, and not the fascists, whom he hated more than anyone in the world!
Still, there is something in this small work that will not leave either an adult or a teenager indifferent. After all, this story is about the terrible price at which the Soviet country achieved victory. The author explores the moral origins of the heroism of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War, reveals new aspects of the heroism of people.
While reading the story, I involuntarily became a witness to the everyday life of half a platoon of anti-aircraft gunners at a bombed and therefore vacant siding in Karelia. After all, I, like all my peers, do not know war. I don’t know and I don’t want war. But the heroes of Boris Vasiliev’s story didn’t want her either. They did not want to die, not thinking about death, that they would no longer see the sun, grass, leaves, or children! The work is based on an episode that was insignificant on the scale of the Great Patriotic War, but it is told in such a way that all the horrors of war appear before your eyes in its terrible, ugly discrepancy with the very essence of man. The tragedy of this discrepancy is emphasized by the very title of the story and is aggravated by the fact that its heroes are girls forced to engage in the harsh craft of war. The writer shows his heroines acting, fighting, dying in the name of saving the Motherland. Only great love for her, the desire to protect her native land and its innocent inhabitants could make a small detachment of six people continue to fight so courageously.
After reading the story you understand what war is. This is destruction, the death of innocent people, the greatest disaster of humanity. You begin to understand the essence of this war. The author accurately managed to convey the feelings and sensations of the characters, their own attitudes towards the war.
“That mysterious moment has come when one event turns into another, when cause gives way to effect, when chance is born. In ordinary life, a person never notices it, but in war, where nerves are strained to the limit, where the primitive meaning of existence again comes to the first cut of life - to survive - this minute becomes real, physically tangible and long to infinity.
“...You need to understand the enemy. Every action of his, every movement should be clearer than clear to you. Only then will you begin to think for him, when you realize how he himself thinks. War is not just about who shoots whom. War is about who will change someone’s mind...”
This war is all the more terrible because old people, women and children are dying. Five young girls, the heroines of the story, gave their lives so that the dawns would be quiet, so that we, the current generation, could live in peace. The story “The Dawns Here Are Quiet...” once again makes us remember the heroes of the war and bow deeply to their memory. And this, above all, is needed by the living.
... Many years have passed, we have become accustomed to the word “war” and when we hear it, often deafening our ears, we do not flinch, we do not even stop, although we live under the threat of a third world war. Because it was a long time ago? Because there is no time? Or because, knowing everything about war, we don’t know only one thing - what is it? And it was this story that helped me find answers to these questions that tormented me. It was she who helped me understand that war is not just five letters, each of which includes all its horror, and this, first of all, is people, not death in general, but the death of a person, not suffering in general, but the suffering of a person. Let's stop for a second and think: the same person as me!
