Analysis of the story "The Fate of Man" (M. A. Sholokhov)

There are many works about the Great Patriotic War, one of them is the story of M.A. Sholokhov "The Fate of a Man", a summary of which is presented below.

The plot of this work does not contain a description of hostilities or feats in the rear, here we are talking about a person who was taken prisoner, and about what mark the war as a whole left in his life.

An analysis of this work and its concise presentation will help to penetrate the essence of the story.

About the story "The Fate of a Man"

The work describes the complex vicissitudes of the life of a simple Soviet soldier who saw the horrors of war, survived the hardships of German captivity, lost his family, many times was on the verge of life and death, but despite all this, he retained his humanity and found the strength to live on.

From the point of view of genre, "the fate of a man" is considered to be a story. However, this work contains signs of different genres.

In terms of its volume, the work is small, which means it looks more like a story. However, this is not a single case, but a long period of time, several years long, which allows us to call this book a story.

Who is the author of the story "The Fate of Man"

Mikhail Alexandrovich Sholokhov is one of the greatest writers of his time, as well as a prominent public figure.

He was awarded the title of Academician, twice Hero of Socialist Labor, and in 1965 he won the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Among his most famous works are such novels as Virgin Soil Upturned, the epic novel The Quiet Don, They Fought for the Motherland and, of course, the story The Fate of a Man.

Year of writing the story "The Fate of a Man"

The story "The Fate of a Man" was written in 1956. The war ended more than 10 years ago, but M. Sholokhov was still worried about it.

It was at this time that the author reinterpreted the image of the heroic Victory.

In 1953 I.V. Stalin. Sholokhov looked critically at many things, including the actions of the late head of state.

Stalin's notorious order No. 270 said that everyone who surrendered to the enemy should be considered deserters and traitors to the Motherland. They had to be destroyed, and their families were deprived of any state support.

Sholokhov's story "The Fate of a Man" opened a new page in the military literature of those years. The horrors of captivity described in the story, which millions of soldiers had to endure, became the starting point for changing the attitude towards people who were in such a situation.

The history of the creation of the story "The Fate of a Man"

The work is based on the real story of a man whom Sholokhov met while hunting in the Upper Don about a year after the end of the war.

In a casual conversation, the writer heard a story that shook him to the core. “I will definitely, definitely write about it,” thought Sholokhov.

Only 10 years later, the writer decided to bring his idea to life. At this time, he read the works of Hemingway and, the main characters of which are powerless, worthless people who have lost the meaning of life after returning from the war.

Then he remembered his casual acquaintance and decided that it was time to write his story, the story of hardship, hardships and faith in life no matter what.

It took Sholokhov only seven days to write the text of the story. December 31, 1956 - the date of writing and publication of the story in the newspaper "Pravda".

The work found a great response in the literary environment, including abroad. A little later, the story was read on the radio by the famous actor S. Lukyanov.

The main characters of M. Sholokhov's story "The Fate of a Man"

The main character in the story is one - this is Andrei Sokolov, a man of iron will, but not without a soft heart.

This hero embodies the main features of a true Russian character - willpower, love of life, patriotism and mercy.

The story is narrated from him.

Other characters in "The Fate of Man" by MA Sholokhov

We learn about the rest of the characters from the memories of the protagonist.

He speaks warmly about his relatives: about his wife Irina and children - Anatoly, Nastenka and Olyushka.

In the episodes, there are heroes whom the narrator sympathizes with - this is a military doctor who helped Russian soldiers in captivity, a company commander rescued by Sokolov from an informer, and an Uryupino friend who sheltered the hero at home after the war.

There are also negative characters: the traitor Kryzhnev, the camp commissar Müller, a German major engineer.

The only character we see in the real hero is his adopted son Vanyusha, a little boy who piously believes that Sokolov is his real father.

"The fate of man" - a summary

The story is not chapters, but goes in solid text, but for retelling in an abbreviation it is convenient to divide it into small segments.

Andrey Sokolov

In its structure, a work is a story within a story.

The road was not easy, and in the middle of the way they had to swim across the river, which stretched for a whole kilometer. At the crossing, a thin, leaky boat was waiting for them, which could only carry two at a time. The boatman ferried the narrator first.

On the other side, while waiting for his friend, the author met a man with a boy of 4-5 years old. A conversation ensued. The man mistakenly assumed that the storyteller is of the same profession as he is a chauffeur. Perhaps that is why he suddenly wanted to pour out his soul, to tell the story of his difficult life.

He did not immediately introduce himself, but in the course of the narrative we learn that his name is Andrei Sokolov. Now the story is being told on his behalf.

Pre-war time

From the very beginning of his life, Andrei Sokolov was haunted by difficulties and hardships.

He was born in 1900 in the Voronezh province. He went through the Civil War, in a hungry 1922 he ended up in the Kuban, and only survived. And his relatives - father, mother and two sisters - died of hunger in their homeland.

In the whole world, he did not have a loved one. Returning from the Kuban, he moved to Voronezh, where he went to work as a carpenter, then worked at a factory, mastered locksmith's skills.

Soon he started a family. He married a modest orphan girl for great love. After the loss of loved ones, she became a delight for him - clever, cheerful and at the same time wise. Life began to improve: children appeared - a son Anatoly and two daughters, Nastya and Olya - all entirely excellent students and the pride of their father.

The hero mastered a new profession of a chauffeur, began to earn good money and rebuilt a house with two rooms. Only the location of the house was unfortunate - near the aircraft factory. He did not know then what fateful role this would play in his life.

War and captivity

A new war suddenly burst into the life of Andrei Sokolov. On the third day, the whole family gathered to accompany him to the station.

Farewell to his family proved to be an ordeal for him. The always calm and quiet wife suddenly fell into a frenzy, did not let him go, but only insisted that they would not have to see each other again.

It hurt him that they were burying him alive, and pushed his wife away, about which he reproached himself every day.

Military everyday life began for Andrei Sokolov: he worked as a driver, received two minor wounds. He wrote letters to his relatives infrequently and always very briefly, never complaining. This was the first manifestation of his special masculine endurance: he could not stand the soldiers sending tearful letters to their relatives, who were in the rear and it was so hard.

The biggest test overtook him in May 1942. There was a fierce battle at Lozovenki. The ammunition was running out and Andrei Sokolov had to deliver it under fire to a battery of soldiers. But he did not reach his destination. The blast wave threw him aside and turned it off for a while.

When he came to his senses, he found that he was in the enemy's rear. At first he tried to pretend to be dead, just not to surrender, but the Germans passing by found him. Then Sokolov gathered the remnants of his strength to stand up and meet death with dignity. One German was about to raise his machine gun, but another pulled it back, realizing that Sokolov could still be useful for work.

Sokolov, along with other prisoners, was driven west. The Germans treated them like cattle: all the wounded were shot on the spot, they did the same with those who tried to escape, and they beat them - just beat them out of anger.

The episode in the church is of particular importance in the story. On one of the first nights, the Germans drove the soldiers into the church.

Here Sokolov managed to find out more closely who was captured with him. He was surprised that the military doctor, who immediately straightened his shoulder, even in such a situation, selflessly continued to do his job.

Then he accidentally overheard the conversation and then something else struck him: the soldier was going to betray his commander, who was threatened with death for loyalty to the Communist Party. Sokolov decided to strangle the traitor, he killed a man for the first time, while "his own", but for him he was worse than the enemy.

Another significant incident happened in the church: the Germans shot a prisoner who did not want to desecrate the holy place, relieving himself of a minor need.

All the way to the camp, Sokolov thought about escaping, and then an opportunity arose. The prisoners were sent into the forest to dig graves for their own people, the guards were distracted and Sokolov managed to escape.

But four days later the Germans with the dogs overtook the emaciated soldier. There was no living space left on him from the beatings of the Nazis and dog bites, he spent a whole month in a punishment cell, but survived and was transported to Germany.

Andrei Sokolov traveled half of Germany, worked in factories and mines in Saxony and Thuringia. The conditions were such that it would have been easier to die.

The prisoners were constantly beaten, brutally, half to death, fed a tiny piece of bread with sawdust and rutabaga stew, forced to work until they lost their pulse. Sokolov recalls that he once weighed almost ninety kilograms, but now he did not even reach fifty.

In the balance of death

One of the culminating moments of the story is the case in Dresden. At this time, Sokolov worked in a stone quarry.

The work was extremely hard, and Sokolov, unable to bear it, somehow blurted out: "They need four cubic meters of production, but for the grave of each of us, one cubic meter is enough through the eyes." This phrase reached the commandant.

When they summoned to the commandant Muller, Sokolov said goodbye to his comrades in advance, since he knew that he was going to his death. Müller was fluent in Russian and did not need an intermediary in a conversation with a Russian soldier. He immediately said that he would personally shoot Sokolov. To which he replied: "Your will."

Mueller was a little drunk and tipsy, and on the table there was a bottle and various snacks, then he poured a full glass of schnapps, put a piece of bread with bacon on it and handed it all to Sokolov with the words: “Before you die, drink, Russ Ivan, for the victory of German weapons ".

Of course, Sokolov did not make such a toast, and he chose to refuse, pretending not to drink. Then Müller offered to drink to him "for his destruction." Sokolov took the glass and drank it in one gulp, without eating.

Müller pointed to the bread, but Sokolov explained that he did not eat after the first one. Then the commandant poured him a second glass. Sokolov also swallowed it, but did not take bread.

Despite the strong hunger, he wanted to show that they had not knocked a man out of him, and he would not pounce on a German handout. Aloud he said that after the second one he was not used to having a snack.

Mueller was very amused by this and poured a third glass. Sokolov drank it slowly and broke only a small piece of bread. This dignity struck the commandant, he recognized Sokolov as a brave soldier and let him go, giving him a loaf of bread with bacon.

Liberation from captivity

In 1944, there was a turning point in the war and the Germans began to miss people. Chauffeurs were needed, and then Sokolov was assigned to a German major-engineer.

At some point, the major was sent to the front line. For the first time in two years Sokolov found himself near the Soviet troops.

This was his chance. He came up with a plan according to which he had to escape, taking with him the major with the blueprints in order to hand him over to his own.

And so he did: while bypassing the German fortifications, he stunned the major, changed into a prepared German uniform in order to deceive the checkpoint, and under the bullets rushing from both sides, "surrendered" to his own.

Sokolov was accepted as a hero and promised to present him for an award. He was sent to the hospital to improve his health. He immediately wrote a letter home, but the answer did not come for a long time.

Finally, he received word, but not from his family. His neighbor wrote, he told the tragic news: during the bombing of an aircraft plant, a large shell hit the house where Sokolov's wife and two daughters were at that time, and the son, having learned about the death of the family, voluntarily went to the front.

After receiving a month's leave, the hero went to Voronezh, but almost immediately returned to the division: it was so hard on his soul.

Son Anatoly

A few months later, the hero receives a letter from his son, who briefly told about his life: he serves not far from his father and is already in command of the battery.

Sokolov is overwhelmed with pride. He already dreams of how they will live together after the war, how his son will marry, and he will begin to babysit his grandchildren, everything will work out.

But these aspirations were not destined to come true. On the morning of May 9, on Victory Day, Anatoly is killed by a German sniper.

Post-war time

War is over. Sokolov was sick of returning to his hometown, and he went to Uryupinsk to his friend, who had long called him to his place.

There the hero again got a job as a driver, working days began.

Once Sokolov noticed a homeless boy near the tea room, where he always dined. It turned out that Vanyusha's mother was killed in the shelling of the train, and his father was at the front.

Sokolov felt a kind of warmth in his chest, looking at this grimy baby with eyes bright as stars. I could not resist, called him over and called himself his father. Thus, two orphaned hearts were united.

Because of the accident, Sokolov's driver's book was taken away, and he decided to leave Uryupinsk with his new son. Our narrator found them on the road.

Conclusion

Sholokhov's story "The Fate of a Man" makes you think about many things: about the will to live and patriotism, about real male deeds and mercy for the weak, about fearlessness before death and heroism in the name of a loved one and country.

But the main idea is this: war is the worst thing that can happen to a person, it not only destroys people, but also breaks the fate of those who survived.

In December 1956 and January 1957, the newspaper Pravda published the work of the Soviet writer Mikhail Alexandrovich Sholokhov, The Fate of a Man, about the great trials and great inflexibility of Soviet people in the difficult years of the war.

Background

The basis of the narration is the fate of the country, the fate of a person, the theme of the Great Patriotic War and the character of a simple Russian soldier.

Immediately after the publication, Sholokhov received an endless stream of letters from Soviet readers. From those who survived the Nazi captivity, from the relatives of the dead soldiers. Everybody wrote: workers, collective farmers, doctors, teachers, scientists. Not only ordinary people wrote, but also eminent writers, both domestic and foreign, among whom were Boris Polevoy, Nikolai Zadornov, Hemingway, Remarque and others.

Screen adaptation of the book

The story gained worldwide fame, and in 1959 it was filmed by director Sergei Bondarchuk. He also played the main role in the motion picture.

Bondarchuk believed that on the screen everything should be shown as simply and harshly as life itself, through the understanding of the hero, because the most important thing in this story is the character of the Russian man, his big heart, which was not hardened after the tests that fell on him.

The book "The Fate of Man" was reprinted many times. Both in our country and abroad. This dramatic story found a warm response in all human hearts. “The destiny of a man”, according to foreign readers, is a magnificent, tragic, sad story. Very kind and light, heartbreaking, causing tears and giving joy from the fact that two orphaned people found happiness, found each other.

The Italian director Rossellini gave the following opinion about the film: "The Fate of a Man is the most powerful, the greatest thing that was filmed about the war."

How it all started

The plot is based on real events.

Once, in the spring of 1946, two people met on the road, at the crossing. And as happens when meeting strangers, we got into conversation.

A casual listener, Sholokhov, listened to the bitter confession of a passer-by. The fate of a man who survived the terrible blows of the war, but did not harden, touched the writer very much. He was amazed.

For a long time Sholokhov carried this story in himself. The fate of a man who had lost everything during the war years and regained a little happiness did not leave his head.

10 years have passed since the meeting. In just seven days, Sholokhov composed the story "The Fate of a Man", whose heroes are a simple Soviet soldier and an orphan boy Vanya.

A passer-by who told the writer his story became the prototype of the main character of the story - Andrei Sokolov. In it, Mikhail Sholokhov brought out the main properties of a true Russian character: stamina, patience, modesty, a sense of human dignity, love for the Motherland.

The difficult history of the country found its own response in the life of the protagonist. The fate of a man, Andrei Sokolov, a simple worker, repeats the main milestones of the events of those years - the civil war, the hungry twenties, the work of a laborer in the Kuban. So he returned to his native Voronezh, received the profession of a locksmith and went to the plant. He married a wonderful girl, had children. He has a simple life and simple happiness: home, family, work.

But the Great Patriotic War broke out, and Andrei Sokolov went to the front, to fight for the Motherland, like many millions of Soviet men. In the first months of the war, he was captured by fascists. In captivity, his courage struck a German officer, the camp commandant, and Andrei avoids being shot. And soon escapes.

Returning to his own people, he goes to the front again.

But his heroism manifests itself not only in a clash with the enemy. The loss of loved ones and home, his loneliness becomes an equally serious test for Andrey.

On a short front-line leave in his hometown, he learns that his beloved family, his wife Irina and both daughters, were killed during the bombing.

In place of the lovingly built house, there is a crater from a German aerial bomb. Shocked, devastated, Andrey returns to the front. There was only one joy left - the son Anatoly, a young officer, he is alive and fighting against the Nazis. But the joyful Victory Day over Nazi Germany is overshadowed by the news of the death of his son.

After demobilization, Andrei Sokolov could not return to his city, where everything reminded him of his lost family. He worked as a driver and one day in Uryupinsk, near the teahouse, he met a homeless child - a little orphan boy Vanya. Vanya's mother died, his father was missing.

One destiny - many destinies

The brutal war could not take away from the hero of the story his main qualities - kindness, trustfulness to people, solicitude, responsiveness, justice.

The restlessness of the grimy boy found a piercing response in the heart of Andrei Sokolov. a child who lost his childhood, made him decide to deceive and tell the boy that he is his father. Vanya's desperate joy that at last his "dear folder" found him, gave Sokolov a new meaning of life, joy and love.

It was meaningless for Andrey to live without caring about anyone, and his whole life was now focused on the child. No more troubles could darken his soul, because he had someone to live for.

Typical traits of the hero

Despite the fact that Andrei Sokolov's life is full of terrible shocks, he says that it was ordinary and he got no more than others.

In the story of Sholokhov, the life of Andrei Sokolov is a typical human fate for the country in those years. War heroes returned home from the front and found terrible devastation in their beloved, native places. But it was necessary to continue living, building, strengthening the victory won with such difficulty.

Andrey Sokolov's strong character is precisely reflected in his reasoning about himself: "That's why you are a man, then you are a soldier, in order to endure everything, to demolish everything, if need called for it." His heroism is natural, and modesty, courage and unselfishness did not disappear after the suffering he had endured, but only strengthened in character.

The common thread in the work is the idea of \u200b\u200bthe unusually huge price that the Victory received, incredible sacrifices and personal losses, tragic shocks and hardships.

A small but stunningly capacious work concentrated in itself the tragedy of the entire Soviet people, who drank the war sorrows to the brim, but retained their highest spiritual qualities and defended the freedom of their homeland in an unbearable duel with the enemy.

Each review of "The Fate of a Man" says that Sholokhov is a great creator. A book cannot be read without tears. This is a work of life that has a deep meaning, readers say.

The main character of the story, a front-line driver, a man who went through the whole war. During the Civil War, he lost his father, mother and younger sister, and during the Great Patriotic War - his wife, two daughters and a son. Andrey was a native of the Voronezh province. With the outbreak of the Civil War, he went to the Red Army, to the Kikvidze division, and in 1922 he left for the Kuban to work as kulaks.

An orphan boy about five or six years old from the story. The author does not immediately give a portrait description of this character. He completely unexpectedly appears in the life of Andrei Sokolov - a man who went through the entire war and lost all his relatives. You will not notice him right away: "he was lying quietly on the ground, nestling under an angular mat."

Narrator

He told us this story when I accidentally met Andrei Sokolov and Vanyushka while crossing the river.

Irina

Andrei Sokolov's wife, an orphan, a kind and loving woman who bore him three children, a son Anatoly and daughters - Nastya and Olyushka. She died from accidental hit of an aerial bomb in the house. Her two daughters also died with her.

Anatoly

Son of Andrei Sokolov. After the death of his mother and sisters, he went to an artillery school, from where he recovered to the front. He rose to the rank of captain, had six orders and medals, was a battery commander. Killed on May 9, 1945 by a bullet from a German sniper.

Military doctor

A doctor in captivity, who provided medical assistance to Soviet soldiers who were captured. Helped Andrei Sokolov to straighten the shoulder.

Kryzhnev

A traitor who, being in captivity, wanted to hand over the platoon to the Nazis. Sokolov, together with the platoon commander, strangled him.

Muller

German, commandant of a prisoner of war camp where the Russians were kept. He loved to punch them in the face every morning, calling it "flu prevention." I wanted to shoot Andrei Sokolov, but he surprised him by refusing the snack when the German generously poured him schnapps before being shot. Instead of being shot, Müller gave him bread and bacon.

Major

A German officer, whom Andrei Sokolov drove in a car in captivity, in Germany. After they were transferred to the front line, Sokolov knocked him out with a blow to the head and, slipping through the front line in a car, took him to his own.

Ivan Timofeevich

Sokolov's neighbor in Voronezh. I told him that his house had been bombed and his wife and daughters had died, and then he gave his address to Anatoly.

There are many works in Russian literature that tell about the Great Patriotic War. A striking example is Mikhail Sholokhov's story "The Fate of a Man", where the author gives us not so much a description of the war as a description of the life of an ordinary person during the difficult war years. In the story "The Fate of a Man," the main characters are not historical figures, not titled officials, nor famous officers. They are ordinary people, but with a very difficult fate.

main characters

Sholokhov's story is small in volume, it takes only ten pages of text. And there are not so many heroes in it. The main character of the story is a Soviet soldier - Andrei Sokolov. Everything that happens to him in life, we hear from his lips. Sokolov is the narrator of the entire story. His named son - the boy Vanyusha - plays an important role in the story. He completes the sad story of Sokolov and opens a new page in his life. They become inseparable from each other, so we will refer Vanyusha to the group of main characters.

Andrey Sokolov

Andrey Sokolov is the protagonist of the story "The Fate of a Man" by Sholokhov. His character is truly Russian. How many troubles he experienced, what torments he endured, only he himself knows. The hero says about this on the pages of the story: “Why did you, life, heal me like that?

Why have you so perverted? " He slowly tells his life from start to finish to a fellow traveler with whom he sat down to light a cigarette by the road.

Sokolov had to endure a lot: famine, and captivity, and the loss of his family, and the death of his son on the day the war ended. But he endured everything, survived everything, because he had a strong character and iron fortitude. “Then you and men, then you are a soldier to endure everything, to demolish everything, if need called for it,” Andrei Sokolov himself said. His Russian character did not allow him to break down, retreat in the face of difficulties, surrender to the enemy. He ripped out life from death itself.
All the hardships and cruelties of the war that Andrei Sokolov suffered did not kill human feelings in him, did not harden his heart. When he met little Vanyusha, as lonely as he was, as unhappy and unnecessary, he realized that he could become his family. “There will be no way for us to disappear separately! I will take him to my children, ”Sokolov decided. And he became a father for a homeless boy.

Sholokhov very accurately revealed the character of a Russian man, a simple soldier who fought not for titles and orders, but for the Motherland. Sokolov is one of those many who fought for the country, not sparing their lives. It embodied the whole spirit of the Russian people - staunch, strong, invincible. The characterization of the hero of the story "The Fate of Man" is given by Sholokhov through the speech of the character himself, through his thoughts, feelings, and actions. We walk with him through the pages of his life. Sokolov goes through a difficult path, but remains a man. A kind person, sympathetic and lending a helping hand to little Vanyusha.

Vanyusha

A boy of five or six years old. He was left without parents, without a home. His father was killed at the front, and his mother was killed by a bomb while traveling on the train. Vanyusha walked around in torn dirty clothes, and ate what people would serve. When he met Andrei Sokolov, he reached out to him with all his heart. “Dear folder! I knew! I knew that you would find me! You will find it anyway! I've waited so long for you to find me! ” - the delighted Vanyusha shouted with tears in his eyes. For a long time he could not tear himself away from his father, apparently, he was afraid that he would lose him again. But Vanyusha's memory retained the image of a real father, he remembered the leather cloak he wore. And Sokolov told Vanyusha that he probably lost him in the war.

Two loneliness, two destinies are now intertwined so tightly that they will never be separated. The heroes of "The Fate of a Man" Andrei Sokolov and Vanyusha are now together, they are one family. And we understand that they will live according to their conscience, according to the truth. They will all survive, they will survive everything, they can do everything.

Secondary heroes

There are also a number of minor characters in the work. This is Sokolov's wife Irina, his children - daughters Nastenka and Olyushka, son Anatoly. They do not speak in the story, they are invisible to us, Andrei recalls them. The commander of the author, the dark-haired German, the military doctor, the traitor Kryzhnev, the Lagerführer Müller, the Russian colonel, Andrey's friend from Uryupin - all these are the heroes of Sokolov's own story. Some have neither a name nor a surname, because they are episodic characters in Sokolov's life.

The real, audible hero here is the author. He meets Andrei Sokolov at the crossing and is a listener to the story of his life. It is with him that our hero conducts a conversation, he tells him his fate.

Product test

The literary work of M. Sholokhov "The Fate of a Man" is a story about the Great Patriotic War. This tragic milestone in human history has caused the loss of lives for millions of people. The central character of the work, Andrei Sokolov, worked as a chauffeur before the war, had a resigned and gentle wife and three children. The main character experienced a lot of hardships during the difficult period of captivity, but he retained his human appearance and the title of a Russian warrior, who, even being on the verge of death, did not lose loyalty to the Motherland and did not drink with an enemy officer for the superiority of "Germany's weapons."

Characteristics of the heroes "The fate of man"

main characters

Andrey Sokolov

In the story "The Fate of a Man" the hero Andrei Sokolov is the main character. His nature absorbs all those features that are characteristic of a Russian person. How much adversity this unyielding man has endured, only he knows. The way he talks about his life speaks about the nature and inner strength of the hero. There is no haste, no confusion, no vanity in the narrative. Even the choice of the listener in the person of a random companion speaks of the hero's inner strain.

Vanyushka

Vanyushka is the key character of the story in the person of an orphan boy about six years old. The author describes it using features that perfectly characterize the picture of those post-war years. Vanyushka is a trusting and inquisitive child with a kind heart. His life is already filled with difficult trials for a child. Vanya's mother died during the evacuation - she was killed by a bomb that hit the train. The boy's father found his death at the front. In the person of Sokolov, the boy finds a "father".

Minor characters

Irina	The woman was brought up in an orphanage. She was funny and smart. A difficult childhood left an imprint on her character. Irina is an example of a Russian woman: a good housewife and a loving mother and wife. During her life with Andrei, she never reproached her husband and did not contradict him. When her husband went to war, she seemed to have a premonition that they would never meet again.
Camp Commandant Müller	Müller was a cruel and ruthless man. He spoke Russian and loved Russian mat. He liked to beat prisoners. He called his sadistic inclinations "flu prevention" - hitting prisoners in the face using a lead insert in a glove. He repeated this every day. The commandant feels fear when testing Andrey. He is surprised at his courage and fortitude.

The list of the main characters of "The Fate of Man" is an example of personalities corresponding to the spirit of the times. Sholokhov himself, to some extent, is an indirect hero of his own story. The common misfortune united the people and made them more powerful. Both Andrei Sokolov and Vanyusha, despite their age, appear before the reader as strong-willed and persistent people. The list of heroes is also symbolic in that it reflects the social diversity of people. A picture is being formed that before the war everyone is equal. And the moment where the camp commandant refuses to shoot Sokolov demonstrates military solidarity and respect for the enemy. This part of the story contains the most accurate and capacious description of the resilience of the Soviet and Russian soldier even in the face of danger and imminent death. The true essence of the image of the moral commandant Muller, his weakness, insignificance and helplessness, is manifested.