Remembering the classics: a summary of Shukshin's story "Microscope"

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

B. M. Shukshin belongs to village writers. The hero of most of his works is an ordinary villager, poorly educated, clumsily expressing his thoughts, often drinking. But this mediocrity is apparent. Indeed, in each such seemingly marginal personality, Shukshin sees a Man - with his own eccentricity inherent only to him, with often unconscious, misunderstood by himself and those around him, the desire for light, spirituality, beauty, culture, knowledge. And it's not his fault that sometimes, not finding a way out, not being able to realize himself, this weirdo takes on some strange, even ugly forms.

The story "Microscope" - from plot to conflict

In fact, the summary of Shukshin's story boils down to an attempt to express himself, to reveal himself, to show his own originality, to become necessary to close people, neighbors, acquaintances, humanity. Find yourself, understand something important about life, find your place in it - not to bewordless, imperceptible cog in the universal human mechanism. Such, for example, is Andrey Erin, the protagonist of the work "Microscope". The summary of Shukshin's story can be expressed in a nutshell: Andrei secretly removed money from the book and bought a microscope with it. To avoid a scandal at home, he told his wife that he had lost a fair amount. “I worked hard” for the next month in one and a half shifts to compensate for the “loss”, and then, when the passions subsided, I brought the much-desired thing home and now every evening I watched microbes with my son. Accidentally, the deception was revealed, Zoya, his wife, took the "toy" to the commission. This was the end of Andrey's "scientific research". That's the whole plot (summary) of Shukshin's story, what lies on the surface …

And if you dig deeper? What can be seen behind the anecdotal, at first glance, the situation? A lot, you just have to look carefully at the text. The fact that the hero's name is Andrei, we learn only in the middle of the story. On the other hand, the evil and contemptuous, destroying nickname “well” (that is, a breakthrough!), And even “crooked-nosed”, sounds almost from the first words. So calls her husband his dearest half, Zoya. By the way, the fact that she also has a name, we become aware even later! What does this detail say? Where does superficial acquaintance, the summary of Shukshin's story, prevent us from looking? The fact that spouses are strangers to each other, that there is no respect, understanding, warm feelings between them. Everything has long been swallowed up by everyday life and the solution of material problems. Zoya in any objectionable to hersituation, she grabs the frying pan, her husband is under her heel, often drinks at work. The family does not live well, and they are not very concerned about spiritual needs until Erin has a passionate desire to buy a microscope. Why, you ask? After all, he has neither the appropriate knowledge nor training, and practically where to apply the thing? However, a man is ready to endure another portion of "everyday life", just to look at the microbes. When a dream comes true, Andrey is transformed. He shines, speaks sedately and confidently (even yells condescendingly at his wife), stopped drinking, hurries home after work, washes, eats hastily and enthusiastically bends over the cherished appliance, which brings him great closer to his fifth-grader son. But Shukshin's story "Microscope" does not end with an idyll.

Summary of it focuses our attention on a dramatic note. The hero, who knows nothing about microbiology, learns with horror that microbes are not only in water and soup, but even in blood. He wants to protect, save his son, other people from inevitable death. Everything returns to normal when the wife, having learned about the deceit, takes the microscope to the commission shop. Andrey gets drunk "to the snot", becomes the same as he was before - a drunken hard worker and henpecked. But the hero is sure that his son will have a different life. He will grow up, learn and become a scientist, and scientists do not drink, they have enough things to do already!

On such an optimistic note, Vasily Shukshin ends the story. Stories, the summary of which is close to the subject considered,contain a common conflict: a searching, restless personality with a gray everyday reality, a meaningless monotony of existence, spending one's life in vain. “There must be meaning in your life, people!” - as if the writer wants to tell us. And we definitely need to hear it…