Summary of "Mumu" does not convey the essence

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

I. S. Turgenev is a writer for the elite. Not everyone will appreciate the tender lyrics of his stories when they read "The Hunter's Notes" or "The Noble Nest".

"Mumu" is Turgenev's story, familiar to everyone since childhood. Sometimes it is included in the school curriculum, sometimes it is read to children at home, most know its summary. "Mumu" is as famous a story as Krylov's fables, "Eugene Onegin" by Pushkin. The heroes of "Mumu", one might say, have become popular. There are even jokes about them.

Turgenev, "Mumu": summary

This is a story about a deaf and mute janitor, a person with disabilities, as we would now say. Gerasim, that is the name of the hero of the work, was born and raised in the village. But by order of the mistress, he is transported to the city, so that he serves as a janitor there. Gerasim is strong, profound in a rural way, and therefore the whole household of a rather big manor house respects him. Yes, and Gerasim himself found affection for himself: he likes the laundress Tatyana. But Gerasim, although physically strong, cannot stand up for himself. Tatyana is persuaded to pretend to be drunk, and Gerasim,in fact, due to intrigue, he is experiencing his first disappointment.

Even the brief content of "Mumu" makes Gerasim keenly empathize, and when reading the original, tears often well up in my eyes. Gerasim lives very lonely. For obvious reasons, he does not communicate with anyone, he has no real attachments, and no one seriously thinks about him. But soon Gerasim finds another attachment for himself: he saves a puppy from the water and takes him as a pet.

Summary of "Mumu" does not give an idea of Gerasim's personality. But in the work itself, he appears as a responsible person, devoted to his work. Gerasim bears his heavy burden without complaining. Turgenev's work "Mumu" (summary) is a story not only about Gerasim, but also about the heartlessness of those around him. For example, the lady does not consider Gerasim a man. She decides his fate, jokingly, based on her whims and dislikes. She wanted to marry Tatyana to a drunkard, she did, she didn’t like the janitor’s dog, so she had to be drowned.

For a lady, people from the household are not people, they, like soft sofas, should exist solely to satisfy her own

wishes.

Why does Gerasim drown the dog, why does he obey the mistress? This testifies to unprecedented humility, that he himself considers himself unworthy of having attachments. But then he leaves for the village, showing something unprecedented at that timeself-will. What's this? Rebellion against such an attitude towards yourself? Silent protest, an attempt to make the lady understand that she was wrong? This is to be understood by the reader, and not by someone who has read only a summary of Mumu. It is interesting to talk about this topic in a literature lesson, but it will hardly be possible to understand the psychology of a courtyard, serf. He was born and grew up in completely different conditions, he was brought up differently, he perceives himself differently. And a person of our time will no longer be able to project the situation of Gerasim onto himself. People whose grandfathers and great-grandfathers were born free will not understand the psychology of a slave. Perhaps he considered that a dog is unworthy of life if the mistress does not like it. In the end, respect for a person as a person is characteristic of free and developed people. But all these questions can be asked and comprehended only after reading the book in its entirety.

"Mumu" is a monument to the era of serfdom, it is worth reading this story as a historical evidence.