Marshak, "Twelve Months": a brief summary. "Twelve Months": the main characters

The tale "Twelve Months" is a winter story that tells us about good and evil. This is an instructive story about how to help other people, and then your actions will return to you a hundredfold. This is a magical play that enchants with the winter forest and New Year's atmosphere. One phrase can describe its summary. "Twelve Months" is a message from childhood, through which we know that bad people will always be punished, and those who bring light and love will find happiness and peace.

The history of writing a fairy tale novel

The well-known Soviet writer Samuel Marshak wrote "Twelve Months". The fairy tale was created not at a fabulous time. Outside the window, the salvos of the Second World War rattled, and nothing resembled a miracle. But the writer did not hang his nose, he did his job, and the fictional heroes soon began to live on the pages of the manuscript.

Before that, the writer had a grief - his little beloved daughter died. And after this tragedy, he gave himself entirely to children's literature, writing poems and stories for kids. Thus, he seemed to communicate with his daughter, devoting more and more fabulous stories to her.

There are several versions of the writing of the story "Twelve Months". Marshak borrowed the plot from the Czech author, the famous writer Bozena Nemtsova, or he in his own way laid out the folk Greek tale. So it or not, it does not matter anymore. Because the world received an unusually interesting and fascinating story about the New Year adventures of a little girl.

Summary of the fairy tale "Twelve Months"

First of all, this is a story about diligence. Such conclusions can be made by reading its summary. "Twelve Months" tells that everything in the world, even the forces of nature, is helping such people - those who are not afraid of work, who do it with pleasure and ask nothing in return.

And it all begins with the fact that under the New Year the princess issues a decree: bring her a basket of snowdrops for a good reward. Evil stepmother and her lazy native daughter want to receive the promised gold coins. They are very greedy, but they are even more lazy. Therefore, in the forest, in the frost and cold, they kick the stepdaughter. "Go, and do not come back without flowers," they say to her at last and slam the door in her face.

In the forest, a poor girl encounters brothers-months near the fire, who help her and give her a basket of snowdrops for her kindness and affection. They still help the main character more than once. Even when the queen with all the retinue goes to the thicket, finds out that she was deceived, and wants to execute the girl, the months fly all over the crowd. They punish the stepmother and her daughter, ask a good bashing for the evil queen and generously endow the little orphan. This is what Marshak wanted to convey to us. "Twelve Months" (a summary is given above) - a fairy tale that propagandizes good, shows that evil and meanness will always be punished.

Positive characters

Positive is the main character of this story - stepdaughter, who from the very morning starts to work. "And the firewood carries, and water picks up," - says Jan. July supports and describes how a whole summer day it works in the beds. The girl constantly suffers insults and ridicule of the stepmother and half-sister, but this does not become evil. On the contrary, her affability and kindness illuminate everything else even more.

Brothers months are also positive heroes of the fairy tale "Twelve Months". Marshak shows us their fairness and honesty. The forces of nature must be like that. Punishing people for their malicious activities is something that we observe not only in this story, but also in real life. This main idea was put in the story by Samuel Marshak. "Twelve Months" (the summary looks like a simple fairy tale) actually teaches us to be thrifty, unselfish, generous and kind to the surrounding world and to people. And the positive heroes of the story are an example for imitation.

Negative characters

Then we have where to go for a walk. Let's start with my stepmother and her daughter. Both greedy and constantly seek profit. They are few, and in pursuit of wealth they go on their heads.

Obstacles do not exist - you can go for theft, lies and betrayal. The story "Twelve Months" clearly shows how all these negative traits of character they threw out on an innocent stepdaughter, for which in the end they also paid.

The Queen is another negative character. Spoiled, accustomed to give only instructions, she does not tolerate when it contradicts. If now she wants April to come, then so be it. Edicts are issued, heads are cut off, punishments are given only for the sake of satisfying her fleeting desires. But pride is punishable - this is what we have already been told by the short story "Twelve Months".

The Queen's retinue - all together and each separately - is also one continuous negative image. They all indulge their ruler, turn a blind eye to her whims and unfair decisions. They resigned themselves to her actions and became apathetic to everything. Lack of opinion and thoughtless slavish obedience - the qualities are far from positive. It conveys even a brief content. "Twelve Months" is a fairy tale, which in a simplified version clearly reveals the author's main idea.

Sci-Fi and the truth of life

A lot of life shows us the story "Twelve Months". The fairy tale embodied real life - people who are ready to betray for the sake of gold, unjust managers who do not spare mere mortals and play them like pawns. All the characters described in the story are certainly taken from life and uncovered in their entirety. In addition, the truth is shown in the actions of the heroes. For example, a kind gesture of a soldier who is ready to freeze for the sake of the orphan, only to be warm in his overcoat. It is such trifles that show us what kind of person it is - both in a fairy tale and in life.

Despite the truthful descriptions, there are a lot of fictional, magical moments. The physical shell of the brothers of the months and their namesake in the sky, the conversations of animals and birds - do not exist in ordinary life. The same can be said about the abrupt change of seasons - spring covers the winter, after a minute it's summer, then autumn replaces it, and a minute later winter comes into its own.

This combination of fantastic and real Marshak created an indescribable atmosphere in the work "Twelve Months". The tale is not like other stories, it inspires in us the belief that the brothers-months really exist.

The theme of the struggle between good and evil in the fairy tale "Twelve Months"

It is she who passes through the whole story, and it clearly demonstrates to us a brief content. "Twelve Months" shows that the author did his best to answer the question: "Is submissiveness the embodiment of kindness or evil?" After all, at first glance it seems that it refers more to the first manifestation of the human character, but this is not so. In the fairy tale, we see that the submissiveness of the stepmother and retinue in front of the queen leads only to the tyranny of the ruler. Seeing that no one will contradict her, she issues decrees one more stupid than the other, which makes ordinary people suffer.

The same submissiveness of the step-daughter before her step-mother also did not lead to anything good. If it were not for the months brothers, the girl would just freeze in the forest and die. Therefore, Marshak himself answers his own question: obedience is not always a good quality, sometimes it is a manifestation of weakness, which in the end breeds evil. He condemns it. The struggle of good in the guise of wisdom and diligence, fidelity and affection is opposed in the story of evil, as the embodiment of obedience, greed and selfishness.

The use of folklore in the speech of the characters

Samuel Marshak used interesting speech turns, folklore dialect in the story "Twelve Months".

Heroes speak with bright phrases, the tale is filled with living remarks. His beasts communicate using characteristic interjections and epithets. If it's a raven, then necessarily his monologue is decorated with the traditional "Carr!".

True author shows the author, too individualizing the speech of his characters. This we clearly follow through the monologues of the stepdaughter. They have a pronounced popular-poetic core. Words flow like a song. Phrases are very melodic and rhythmic. Every dialogue in the story breathes folk art.

Many literary critics are sure that it is in the Slavic folklore that the children's story "Twelve Months" begins. The fairy tale reveals to us the beliefs of our distant ancestors - that the seasons have a human face, that animals in the forest are able to speak our language, that the forces of nature are punishable for bad deeds.

The "highlight" of the fairy tale

Have you ever noticed how the heroes of the story "Twelve Months" are called? I think no. And it's not at all surprising - the author did not give a single name to his characters. Counselor, Queen, stepdaughter, stepmother - they all do not have their own name. Marshak wanted to show society as a whole, without going over to individuals. Each hero embodies one layer of society: orphans - the people, the poor and hardworking, the queen - the rulers, the ruthless and often silly, the adviser - the officials, the sycophants and cowards, the stepmother - the managers, ready to profit for the sake of erasing everything human.

Only twelve months have names. The forces of nature in the image of the brothers are shown only from the positive side. And this is understandable, because the surrounding world gives a person life. Thanks to him we breathe, grow crops, continue our family. But often people do not appreciate it. They are unhappy that it is winter, not summer, they do not like the rain, they are disappointed because of the severe frost outside the window. Although we know that nature does not have bad weather. Each of its manifestations is an indispensable link in the chain, without which life on Earth would be impossible.

Screening

After the universal success of the printed story written by Marshak, at last on TV screens we saw "Twelve months". The testimonies of people indicate that the cartoon that was published in 1952 broke records for its popularity. Children appreciated the wonderful New Year's history.

Created a full-length animated film director Ivan Ivanov-Vano. All the scenery known to us from childhood, the cartoon and its heroes, was painted by the master of his craft Anatoly Sazonov. The fairy tale came out on screens and as a full-length film for children.

"Twelve Months" is a moral story that teaches us to be sensitive and kind, to love work and to remain human in any situation. For more than half a century, it belongs to the classics of its genre. Both children and adults around the world love and read this work, and watch its adaptation. In the coming New Year holidays, be sure to look at it once again with this fairy tale by the whole family.