The past of the heroes of Chelkash and Gavrila. Comparative characteristics of Chelkash and Gavrila in the story of Gorky's Chelkash

Plan
Introduction
Comparison of characters helps the author to portray his characters more vividly.
Main part
Chelkash is a representative of the “bottom” of a big city. Hero portrait.
Gavrila came from the village to work. Hero portrait.
Different understanding of the heroes of freedom. their relation to the sea.
The moral superiority of Chelkash.
The dignity of Chelkash and his contempt for spiritual slavery arouse the respect of the author.
Gavrila is greedy and can kill for money
Conclusion
When comparing the two heroes, we see that Chelkash is a more proud and free person.
A comparative description of the two characters in the work helps the author to portray his characters more vividly and more clearly. When compared, the images of heroes can be revealed from the most unexpected side. This happened to Chelkash and Gavrila from M. Gorky's story "Chelkash".
Chelkash is a representative of the “bottom” of a big city. He is well known to everyone working in the harbor, "an inveterate drunkard and a clever, bold thief." The author emphasizes his resemblance to a predator - "an old poisoned wolf", he has a mustache like a cat, and he especially looks like a steppe hawk with his "predatory thinness" and "aiming" gait.
Gavrila came from the village to work, but unsuccessfully. He is good-natured, trusting and, by Chelkash's definition, looks like a calf. Gavrila agrees to work with Chelkash because he needs money, but he does not know what kind of work he is talking about. Gavrila trusts Chelkash, especially when they are fed in a tavern on credit, this is proof for Gavrila that Chelkash is a respected person in the city.
Both heroes value freedom, but understand it differently. For Gavrila, this is material well-being. Then he will be able to return home, fix the household, get married. There is no money - you have to go "to sons-in-law" and depend on your father-in-law in everything, work for him. Chelkash does not value money, for him freedom is a broader concept. He is free from property, from a family with which he parted long ago, from social conventions. He has no roots, he doesn't care where he lives, but he loved the sea. The author emphasizes the similarity of the sea element, the boundless and powerful, and freedom-loving nature of the hero. At sea, he felt that his soul was being cleansed "of worldly filth." Gavrila, on the contrary, is afraid of the sea, the lack of soil under his feet instills fear in him. Chelkash knows what he is doing and is not afraid to take risks. Gavrila, realizing what he was dragged into, is scared to death. He is afraid of being caught, and of sin - to ruin his soul.
Seeing a wad of money from Chelkash, Gavrila forgets about sin and agrees to steal again for money. After all, maybe you won’t ruin your soul, but you will become a man for life. He humiliatedly wallows at Chelkash's feet, begging for money, and at that moment the author shows the moral superiority of Chelkash: he "felt that he was a thief, a reveler, cut off from everything native - he would never be so greedy, so, not remembering himself" .
His dignity and contempt for the spiritual slavery of man arouse the respect and admiration of the author. And Gavrila's greed is such that he is ready to commit murder for the sake of money, and really makes such an attempt. He later repents of her, but he took the money offered by Chelkash.
Therefore, when comparing these two heroes, we see that Chelkash is a more proud and free person, and the author's sympathies are on his side.

One of the main themes of Maxim Gorky's early romantic story "Chelkash", created in 1894 and first published in the journal "Russian wealth" in 1895, is the theme of greed. She finds her revelation in the image of a young man Gavrila, whose antipode in the work is the main character - a tramp Grishka Chelkash.

At the beginning of the story, Gavrila appears before us as a good-natured guy with "childish bright eyes." The simplicity of the young man and his naive reflections on freedom make the reader feel sympathy for the hero. It seems that this is an innocent soul that fell into the “wolf paws” of the predatory thief Chelkash, who tricked Gavrila into becoming his accomplice.

But with the development of the plot, the character of Gavrila gradually begins to be revealed, and it becomes clear what kind of person he is. The theme of money, or rather, the desire to get it, arises in the first chapter of the story, and this desire is characteristic of both Gavrila and Chelkash.

But we see that the young man is trying to find a legal way to earn money, so he goes mowing to the Kuban. Chelkash, on the other hand, has not been looking for legal methods for a long time, since he has eleven years of thieves' life behind him. It would seem that morality is unambiguously on the side of Gavrila.

During the trip, the young man still behaves extremely respectably. Having learned what business Chelkash lured him to instead of the promised fishing, he tries to abandon the "dirty" work, run away, call for help. But there is nowhere to run, because he is in the same boat with the formidable thief Grishka, who, just in case, will throw his accomplice overboard.

Gavrila's attitude to the theft committed by him together with Chelkash changes only when the guy receives a reward for his help. Now the hero is ready to go on business again if he is given two hundred rubles for it. To Grishka’s question about whether the young man is now afraid to “ruin” his soul, Gavrila, smiling, replies: “Yes, maybe ... you won’t ruin it ... You won’t ruin it, but you will become a man for life.”

Greed also reveals new qualities in the young man, previously unknown to the reader and, perhaps, even to the hero himself. It turns out that Gavrila is eager not only for his own money, but also for strangers. At the sight of Chelkash's proceeds, everything in his eyes takes on "bright, iridescent hues."

Gavrila begins to beg the tramp to give him the money, crawling at his feet. And against the background of such a humiliation of a young man, the image of Chelkash rises.

We see how greed is alien to this hero. Despite the fact that Grishka is constantly stealing, he does not know what to do with the stolen money. He is sure only that he would never have dared to fall so low for the sake of these "colorful pieces of paper".

But humiliation did not become the most terrible manifestation of greed that seized Gavrila. It turns out that the young man was even ready to kill his accomplice just to take his profit. Fortunately, the guy simply did not have the courage to do this, since Gavrila was not only greedy, but also cowardly.

Chelkash and Gavrila - victims of the capitalist world?

(According to the story of M. Gorky "Chelkash")

Petrova Natalia Nikolaevna,

teacher of the Kamennikovskaya school

Rybinsk region

Lesson: traditional.

Lesson type: learning new material

Purpose: using the example of M. Gorky's story "Chelkash" to show the injustice of a society where money rules, as well as the unpredictability of our life, false and real, that often a person with a certain appearance does not correspond to his inner "content".

Textbook: G.V.Moskvin, N.N.Puryaeva, E.L.Erokhina. Literature: Grade 7: Textbook-reader for educational institutions: at 2 pm H 2. - M .: Ventana-Graf, 2010.

Annotation to the lesson: a traditional lesson using techniques from the technology of critical thinking: clusters, comparative table, forecasting, syncwines; different types of work with the text are being worked out, the ability to reasonably express one's point of view, to find the necessary facts and episodes in the text, to analyze the key episodes of the story, the moral rules of human society are instilled: honesty, sincerity, nobility. Preliminary homework: reading an article about M. Gorky (pp. 198-199), reading the story "Chelkash" (preface and part 1).

During the classes:

Checking d / z. Independent reading of an article about Gorky at home makes it possible to answer questions A p. 198 and B1 p. 199, as well as predict the plot and feature of the story "Chelkash". Discussion.

Discussion of the part of the story "Chelkash" read at home.

Where is the action taking place? What time? Label colors and sounds.

As they understood the phrase - the first sentence of the third paragraph (hymn to trade).

The harbor is steamboats with goods and people who work here. We will divide into groups and give a description of them by filling in the clusters: "Steamers" and "People".

Discussion of the result. - What artistic techniques does Gorky use to create more expressive images? Examples? Why is he doing this? (The details of the picture create the feeling that labor here is not pleasure, but slave hard labor; a feeling of hopelessness, injustice ...).

Why does the author call the comparison of ships and people "cruel irony"? (people, on the one hand, are creators, they created such giant steamships, they trade, it seems that there should be money, but, on the other hand, they are beggars, they have nothing, “created by people enslaved and depersonalized them”).

What gives us, the readers, this description? What feelings do you experience and what do you foresee? (a tense feeling, something terrible, bad will happen next; in such a situation, nothing bright can be ...).

Grishka Chelkash, the main character of the story, appears on the very first lines of the first chapter. Remember his description: appearance, who he looks like, gait, speech, etc. What words Gorky focuses on. What for? Express your first opinion about the hero.

For the first time here in the story there are words tramp, tramps. How do you understand?

How do Grishka's dialogues with other workers and the port watchman help us understand his character?

At the same time, a comparative table is filled in (acceptance from the technology of the RKCHP):

Grishka Chelkash

Matching lines

Character traits

Attitude towards others

Attitude of others

In the same chapter, we meet with another hero of the story - Gavrila. Let's supplement the table by citing, recalling the facts from the read part concerning the personality of this hero.

How does part 1 end? Reread Chelkash's internal monologue. What do you say about it? Your attitude?

Part 2. independent reading in the classroom. Discussion.

What is this part about?

How do the characters behave in the same situation?

What else do we learn about the heroes? What can be added to the table?

What is your attitude towards both characters? Is it changing?

Part 3 The last part remains. It is done. We confirmed to ourselves that Chelkash is a thief, experienced, courageous, always thinking everything over, but risking for big money, for the sake of rest and entertainment that will come later. The attitude of most of you towards him is negative, and this is understandable. The relationship with Gabriel is different. A goof, a hard worker-peasant, getting along with Chelkash, broke the law, became a thief, an accomplice. We are sincerely sorry for him, we are worried about him: no matter how his good intentions end in tears (after all, we know the “predatory” Grishka!).

We read aloud part 3 (reception "reading with stops" from the technology of RKCHP)

1) up to p.222 to the question “What is it that makes you writhing”?

So what action of the heroes did Gorky leave us in the end?

Money. What is the attitude of our heroes towards them? What are their actions? Compare. What is your attitude to what is happening?

2) to the words "... Give them to me!"

Did you expect this?

Reread the words describing the state of Gavrila, Chelkash. Conclusion?

What do you think Chelkash will do?

3) until the end of the story.

Express your attitude to what is happening. What was expected and what was not?

And one more moment that cannot be missed in the story: this is the sea. We see his description throughout the story. What meaning does it carry? (the scene, the character of the protagonist is emphasized ...). Why do the last lines of the story end again with a seascape?

5. Conclusions.

What are the themes and problems of Gorky's story?

Let's return to the topic of our lesson: confirm once again that both Chelkash and Gavrila are victims of the capitalist world?

What features of Gorky's early stories have we met?

6. D / z: 1) draw up a story plan (optional - quote); 2) written reasoning - p.228 question B 10; 3) optional - syncwines.

"cruel irony"

"THE MADE BY PEOPLE HAS enslaved and depersonalized them"

The story "Chelkash" refers to the early romantic works of M. Gorky. It is included in the cycle of so-called tramp stories. The writer has always been interested in this "class" of people, formed in Russia in the late 19th - early 20th century.
Gorky considered tramps to be interesting "human material" that was, as it were, outside of society. In them, he saw a peculiar embodiment of his ideals of a person: “I saw that although they live worse than“ ordinary people ”, they feel and realize themselves better than them, and this is because they are not greedy, do not strangle each other, do not save money " .
In the center of the narrative of the story (1895) are two heroes opposed to each other. One is Grishka Chelkash, "an old poisoned wolf, well known to the people of Havana, an inveterate drunkard and a clever, bold thief." This is already a mature person, a bright and extraordinary nature. Even in a crowd of tramps like him, Chelkash stood out for his predatory strength and integrity. No wonder Gorky compares him with a hawk: “he immediately drew attention to himself with his resemblance to a steppe hawk, his predatory thinness and this aiming gait, smooth and calm in appearance, but internally excited and vigilant, like the years of that bird of prey that he resembled” .
As the story progresses, we learn that Chelkash lives by robbing ships and then selling his booty. Such activities and lifestyle are quite suitable for this hero. They satisfy his need for a sense of freedom, risk, unity with nature, a sense of his own strength and unlimited possibilities.
Chelkash is a hero from the village. He is the same peasant as the other hero of the story - Gavrila. But how different these people are! Gavrila is young, strong physically, but weak in spirit, pitiful. We see how Chelkash struggles with contempt for this “young heifer”, who dreams of a prosperous and well-fed life in the countryside, and even advises Grigory on how to “fit better” in life.
It becomes clear that these completely different people will never find a common language. Although they have the same roots, but their nature, nature is completely different. Against the background of the cowardly and weak Gavrila, the figure of Chelkash looms with all his might. This contrast is especially clearly expressed at the moment when the heroes "went to work" - Grigory took Gavrila with him, giving him the opportunity to earn money.
Chelkash loved the sea and was not afraid of it: “A wide, warm feeling always rose in him at the sea, covering his whole soul, it cleansed it a little of worldly filth. He appreciated this and liked to see himself as the best here, among water and air, where thoughts about life and life itself always lose - the first - sharpness, the second - the price.
This hero admired the sight of the majestic element, "endless and mighty." The sea and the clouds intertwined into one whole, inspiring Chelkash with their beauty, “exciting” high desires in him.
The sea in Gavrila evokes completely different feelings. He sees it as a black heavy mass, hostile, bearing mortal danger. The only feeling that the sea evokes in Gavrila is fear: "It's only scary in it."
The behavior of these heroes at sea is also different. In the boat, Chelkash sat straight, calmly and confidently looking at the water surface, forward, communicating with this element on an equal footing: "Sitting at the stern, he cut the water with a rudder and looked forward calmly, full of desire to go long and far along this velvet surface." Gavrila, on the other hand, is crushed by the sea element, she bends him, makes him feel like a nonentity, a slave: “... he grabbed Gavrila’s chest with a strong hug, squeezed him into a timid lump and chained him to the bench of the boat ...”
After overcoming many dangers, the heroes safely return to the shore. Chelkash sold the loot and received the money. It is at this moment that the true natures of the characters are revealed. It turns out that Chelkash wanted to give Gavrila more than he promised: this guy touched him with his story, stories about the village.
It should be noted that the attitude of Chelkash towards Gavrila was not unambiguous. The "young heifer" irritated Grigory, he felt the "foreignness" of Gavrila, did not accept his philosophy of life, his values. But, nevertheless, grumbling and swearing at this man, Chelkash did not allow himself meanness or meanness towards him.
Gavrila, this gentle, kind and naive person, turned out to be completely different. He confesses to Gregory that he wanted to kill him during their trip in order to get all the booty for himself. Later, not daring to do so, Gavrila begs Chelkash to give him all the money - with such wealth he will live in clover in the village. For the sake of this, the hero wallows at the feet of Chelkash, humiliates himself, forgetting about his human dignity. In Gregory, such behavior causes only disgust and disgust. And as a result, when the situation changes several times (Chelkash, having learned new details, either gives or does not give money to Gavrila, a serious fight breaks out between the characters, and so on), Gavrila receives money. He asks for forgiveness from Chelkash, but does not receive it: Grigory's contempt for this pitiful creature is too great.
It is no coincidence that the positive hero of the story becomes a thief and a vagabond. Thus, Gorky emphasizes that Russian society does not allow rich human potential to be revealed. He is satisfied only with the Gavrils with their slavish psychology and average capabilities. Extraordinary people, striving for freedom, the flight of thought, spirit and soul, have no place in such a society. Therefore, they are forced to become tramps, outcasts. The author emphasizes that this is not only a personal tragedy of tramps, but also a tragedy of society, deprived of its rich potential, its best forces.

Most of M. Gorky's works are written in the style of realism, but there is a romantic spirit in his early stories. The main characters of these stories live in close connection with nature. The writer identifies nature and man. In his works, he gives preference to people who are free from the laws of society. These characters have interesting views, behavior. The main character always has an antagonist - a hero who has an opposite view of the world. A conflict arises between these characters, which is the basis of the work, it reveals the plot of the work.

Like most of Gorky's stories, "Chelkash" tells about human relationships, the work depicts nature and its relationship with the state of mind of the characters.

The events that Gorky tells about in Chelkash took place on the seashore, in a port city. The main characters are Chelkash and Gavrila. These characters are opposed to each other. Chelkash is a rather middle-aged thief and drunkard who does not have his own house. Gavrila is a young peasant who ended up in these places after a failed attempt to find a job in order to earn money.

Grishka Chelkash is known to everyone in the port as an inveterate drunkard and a clever thief. His appearance was similar to other "tramp figures" encountered in the port, but he surprised by his resemblance to the "steppe hawk". He was a "long, bony, slightly stooped" man, "with a hooked predatory nose and cold gray eyes." He had a thick and long mustache of a brown color, which “shuddered every now and then”, he kept his hands behind his back and constantly rubbed them, nervously twisting his long, crooked and tenacious fingers. At first glance, his gait was calm, but sharp-sighted, like the flight of a bird, which was reminiscent of the whole appearance of Chelkash.

Chelkash traded in the port by theft, sometimes his deals were successful and then he had money, which he immediately drank away.

Chelkash and Gavrila met when Chelkash was walking along the harbor and pondering how he could carry out the "business" that was to come that night. His partner broke his leg, which greatly complicated the whole matter. Chelkash was very annoyed.

Gavrila was returning home after a failed attempt to earn extra money in the Kuban. He also had a reason to be upset - after the death of his father, he could get out of poverty in only one way - “to become a son-in-law in a good house”, which meant becoming a farm laborer.

Chelkash accidentally saw a young strong guy dressed in a tattered red cap, shod in bast shoes and sitting right by the sidewalk.

Chelkash touched the guy, got into a conversation with him and suddenly decided to take him with him to the “case”.

The meeting of the heroes is described by Gorky in detail. We hear the conversation, inner feelings and thoughts of each character. The author pays special attention to Chelkash, noticing every detail, the slightest change in the behavior of his character. These are also thoughts about the former life, about the peasant boy Gavril, who, by the will of fate, found himself in his “wolf paws”. Either he feels dominance over someone, while experiencing pride in himself, then his mood changes, and he wants to scold or hit Gavrila, then he suddenly wants to feel sorry for him. He once had a house, a wife, parents, but then he turned into a thief and an inveterate drunkard. However, to the reader, he does not seem to be a complete person. We see in him a proud and strong nature. Despite the fact that he has an unpresentable appearance, an extraordinary personality is felt in the hero. Chelkash can find an approach to everyone, he can negotiate with everyone. It has its own special relationship with the sea and nature. Being a thief, Chelkash loves the sea. The author even compares his inner world with the sea: “a seething nervous nature”, he was greedy for impressions, looking at the sea, he experienced a “wide warm feeling” that embraced his whole soul and cleansed it of worldly filth. Among the water and air, Chelkash felt himself the best, there his thoughts about life, and, by the way, life itself lost its value and sharpness.

We see Gavrila in a completely different way. First, we see a “clogged down” life, incredulous village guy, and then a slave scared to death. After the successful completion of the “case”, when Gavrila saw a lot of money for the first time in his life, he seemed to “break through”. The author describes the feelings that overwhelm Gavril very vividly. We see undisguised greed. Immediately, compassion and pity for the village boy disappeared. When, falling on his knees, Gavrila began to beg Chelkash to give him all the money, the reader saw a completely different person - a “vile slave” who forgot about everything, wanting only to beg more money from his master. Feeling intense pity and hatred for this greedy slave, Chelkash throws him all the money. At this moment, he feels like a hero. He is sure that he will never become like this, despite the fact that he is a thief and a drunkard.

However, after the words of Gavrila that he wanted to kill Chelkash and throw him into the sea, he experiences a burning rage. Chelkash takes the money, turns his back on Gavrila and leaves.

Gavril could not survive this, seizing a stone, he threw it at Chelkash's head. Seeing what he had done, he again began to beg for forgiveness.

And in this situation, Chelkash was higher. He realized that Gavrila had a vile and petty soul, and threw the money right in his face. Gavrila at first looked after Chelkash, who was staggering and holding his head, but then he sighed, as if freeing himself, crossed himself, hid the money and headed in the opposite direction.