The image of my grandmother in Gorky's novel "Childhood". Characteristics of the heroine

In the first part of his autobiographical trilogy, writer M. Gorky impartially depicted the "lead abominations" of life surrounding the protagonist, Alyosha Peshkov, in his childhood. The boy was fortunate that at this difficult time, close to him, there were people who were sympathetic and kind, such as Akulina Ivanovna and who never gave up the Tsyganok.

Bright image of grandmother

In the novel "Childhood" by Gorky, Akulina Ivanovna Kashirina undoubtedly occupies a central place. She, like a guardian angel, protects her grandson, who came from a friendly family in a completely different world, filled with envy, cruelty, and mutual enmity. Reading the work, one can not help wondering how the grandmother, who spent many years in the Kashirins' home environment, was able to preserve in herself the best human qualities that were given to her at birth? Fate never spoiled this woman, but every time she found the strength not only to live by the laws of God, but also to lighten the hardships of the people around her.

Biography of the heroine

The image of the grandmother in Gorky's novel "Childhood" emerges gradually. We learn about Akulina Ivanovna's life, mainly from her conversations with Alyosha: how she, together with her disabled mother, begged for nine years, as she learned from her wonderful art, to weave lace, as she was married to Kashirin in fourteen years. Her life was also bitter. She gave birth to eighteen children, and only three of them survived. And they never got along with each other. It was painful to look at my grandmother, how two of her sons were beating because of the inheritance. He did not spare his wife and grandfather: even in his old age he often thrashed. And although the heroine was much taller and stronger than him, she screamed and beaten silently. Believed that everything that happens to a man, it's written in God's will. A considerable test was the fact that before her death she had to earn her own living by a piece of bread: the grandfather sold all the property and left it with nothing.

Portrait of Akulina Ivanovna

The image of the grandmother in Gorky's story "Childhood" is given through the perception of her Alyosha. At the first acquaintance she seemed to the boy "a round, big-headed, with huge eyes and ... a loose nose." Despite the high growth and stoop, Akulina Ivanovna moved gently and smoothly than she resembled a cat. She was especially transformed during the dance: she was younger and more beautiful.

Her grandmother had thick black hair, which she combed for a long time. Maybe that's why all of it seemed outwardly dark. But with a careful look at her, there was a feeling that the heroine is shining from the inside. This cheerful, warm, unquenchable light came from her big eyes.

And my grandmother was an excellent storyteller and knew innumerable interesting stories and folk legends - some of them are included in his story "Childhood" Gorky. And anyway, no matter where Akulina Ivanovna turned out to be, she seemed to attract people to her like a magnet.

In caring for others

Alyosha did not remember that grandmother ever complained. On the contrary, she often tried to take on someone else's guilt, could put herself under attack to save the pain of others. So it was that evening, when the grandfather subjected Alyosha to the first punishment. And even when the brutalized Mikhail began to break into his father's house: my grandmother tried to calm my son, and he broke her hand. And Akulina Ivanovna did not think about herself when she rushed to the burning workshop to protect everyone from the explosion of vitriol. Even a horse, agitated by fire, who did not obey his grandfather, behaved alongside this fearless woman like a little mouse. It is not by chance that the heroes of Gorky's "Childhood" story went to her at a difficult moment in their lives.

And Alyosha was very fond of watching and listening to how his grandmother prayed to God. Every evening she told him about what had happened in the house. And she always asked someone to help, someone to reason with. This prayer, flowing from the heart, was close and understandable to the boy, in contrast to the memorized words that the grandfather uttered.

So, the episode after the episode, the grandmother's image in Gorky's story "Childhood" develops. This portrait of a kind, sympathetic, sincere, morally clean, courageous, determined woman. Many things she experienced over the years, but remained unchanged, "just from copper litas," as our very difficult life itself.