The attitude of the author to the heroes is two captains. A study of Kaverin's novel "Two Captains

"Two Captains" is perhaps the most famous Soviet adventure novel for young people. It was reprinted many times, was included in the famous Adventure Library, was filmed twice - in 1955 and in 1976. In 1992, Sergei Debizhev filmed an absurd musical parody "Two Captains - 2", which in the plot had nothing to do with Kaverin's novel, but exploited its name as well-known.. Already in the 21st century, the novel became the literary basis of the musical "Nord-Ost" and the subject of a special museum exposition in Pskov, the author's hometown. - Monuments are erected to the heroes of "Two Captains" and named after the square and street. What is the secret of Kaverin's literary success?

Adventure novel and documentary investigation

At first glance, the novel looks like just a socialist realist opus, although with a carefully crafted plot and the use of some modernist techniques that are not too familiar to socialist realist literature, such as changing the narrator (two of the ten parts of the novel are written dignity on behalf of Katya). This is not true.--

By the time he began work on The Two Captains, Kaverin was already a fairly experienced writer, and in the novel he managed to combine several genres: an adventure travel novel, a novel of education, a Soviet historical novel about the recent past (the so-called novel with a key) and, finally, a military melodrama. Each of these genres has its own logic and its own mechanisms for keeping the reader's attention. Kaverin is an attentive reader of the works of formalists Formalists- scientists representing the so-called formal school in literary criticism, which arose around the Society for the Study of Poetic Language (OPOYAZ) in 1916 and lasted until the end of the 1920s. The formal school united theoreticians and literary historians, versifiers, and linguists. Its most famous representatives were Yuri Tynyanov, Boris Ei-khen---baum and Viktor Shklovsky.- I thought a lot about whether genre innovation is possible in the history of literature. The novel "Two Captains" can be considered the result of these reflections.

The plot outline of the journey-investigation in the wake of the letters of Captain Tatarinov, about the fate of whose expedition no one knows anything for many years, Kaverin borrowed from the famous novel by Jules Verne "Children of Captain Grant". Like the French writer, the text of the captain's letters has not been completely preserved, and the place of the last stop of his expedition becomes a mystery that the heroes have been guessing for a long time. Kaverin, however, reinforces this documentary line. Now we are talking not about one letter, the traces of which are being searched, but about a whole series of documents that gradually fall into the hands of Sanya Grigoriev In early childhood, he reads many times the letters of the captain and navigator of the “St. about the same expedition. Then Sanya gets acquainted with the family of Captain Tatarinov, gets access to his books and sorts out notes on the fields about the prospects for polar research in Russia and the world. While studying in Leningrad, Grigoriev carefully studies the press of 1912 to find out what they wrote at that time about the expedition of "St. Mary". The next stage is the discovery and painstaking decoding of the diary of the very navigator who owned one of the letters from En. Finally, in the very last chapters, the protagonist becomes the owner of the captain's dying letters and the ship's logbook..

"Children of Captain Grant" - a novel about the search for the crew of a sea vessel, the story of a rescue expedition. In The Two Captains, Sanya and Tatarinov's daughter, Katya, are looking for evidence of Tatarinov's death in order to restore the good memory of this man, once not appreciated by his contemporaries, and then completely forgotten. Taking up the reconstruction of the history of Tatarinov's expedition, Grigoriev assumes the obligation to publicly expose Nikolai Antonovich, the captain's cousin, and later Katya's stepfather. Sanya manages to prove his disastrous role in the expedition's equipment. So Grigoriev becomes, as it were, a living deputy of the deceased Tatarinov (not without allusions to the story of Prince Hamlet). From the investigation of Alexander Grigoriev, another unexpected conclusion follows: letters and diaries need to be written and stored, since this is a way not only to collect and save information, but also to tell later about what contemporaries are not ready to hear from you yet. . It is characteristic that Grigoriev himself, in the last stages of his search, begins to keep a diary - or, more precisely, to create and store a series of unsent letters to Katya Tatarinova.

Here lies the deep "subversive" meaning of The Two Captains. The novel asserted the importance of old personal documents in an era when personal archives were either confiscated during searches or destroyed by the owners themselves, fearing that their diaries and letters would fall into the hands of the NKVD.

The American Slavist Katherine Clark called her book about the socialist realist novel History as Ritual. At a time when history appeared on the pages of countless novels as ritual and myth, Kaverin portrayed in his book a romantic hero who restores history as an ever-elusive secret that needs to be deciphered, endowed with personal meaning. Probably, this dual perspective was another reason why Kaverin's novel retained its popularity throughout the 20th century.

Novel parenting

The second genre model used in The Two Captains is the educational novel, a genre that emerged in the second half of the 18th century and developed rapidly in the 19th and 20th centuries. The focus of the novel of upbringing is always the story of the hero growing up, the formation of his character and worldview. "The Two Captains" adjoins that kind of genre that tells about the biography of the orphan hero: Henry Fielding's "The Story of Tom Jones, the Foundling" and, of course, the novels of Charles Dickens, above all "The Adventures of Olivier Twist" and "The Life of David Copperfield".

Apparently, the last novel was of decisive importance for The Two Captains: when she first saw Sanya’s classmate Mikhail Romashov, Katya Tatarinova, as if anticipating his sinister role in her and Sanya’s fate, says that he is terrible and similar to Uriah Heep, the main villain from The Life of David Copperfield. Other plot parallels lead to Dickens's novel: a despotic stepfather; an independent long journey to another city, towards a better life; exposing the "paper" machinations of the villain.

However, in the history of Grigoriev's growing up, motives appear that are not characteristic of the literature of the 18th and 19th centuries. Sanya's personal formation is a process of gradual accumulation and concentration of will. It all starts with overcoming dumbness Due to an illness suffered in early childhood, Sanya lost the ability to speak. Silence actually becomes the cause of the death of Sanya's father: the boy cannot tell who actually killed the watchman and why his father's knife ended up at the crime scene. Sanya gains speech thanks to a wonderful doctor, a runaway convict Ivan Ivanovich: in just a few sessions, he shows his patient the first and most important exercises for training the pronunciation of vowels and short words. Then Ivan Ivanovich disappears, and Sanya makes the further path to gaining speech himself., and after this first impressive act of will, Grigoriev undertakes others. While still at school, he decides to become a pilot and begins to systematically temper himself and go in for sports, as well as read books that are directly or indirectly related to aviation and aircraft construction. At the same time, he trains the ability to self-control, as he is too impulsive and impressionable, and this greatly interferes in public speaking and when communicating with officials and bosses.

The aviation biography of Grigoriev demonstrates even greater determination and concentration of will. First, training at a flight school - in the early 1930s, with a lack of equipment, instructors, flight hours and just money for life and food. Then a long and patient wait for an assignment to the North. Then work in civil aviation beyond the Arctic Circle. Finally, in the final parts of the novel, the young captain struggles with external enemies (fascists), and with the traitor Romashov, and with illness and death, and with longing for separation. In the end, he emerges from all the tests as a winner: he returns to the profession, finds the place of the last stop of Captain Tatarinov, and then Katya, lost in the evacuation upheavals. Romashov is exposed and arrested, and his best friends - Dr. Ivan Ivanovich, teacher Korab-lev, friend Petka - are again nearby.

Behind all this epic of the formation of the human will, one can read the serious influence of the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche, assimilated by Kaverin from the original and from indirect sources - the works of authors who had previously been influenced by Nietzsche, for example, Jack London and Maxim Gorky. In the same strong-willed Nietzschean vein, the main motto of the novel, borrowed from the poem by the English poet Alfred Tennyson "Ulysses", is rethought. If Tennyson has the lines "fight and seek, find and not give up" In the original - "to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield". describe an eternal wanderer, a romantic traveler, then with Kaverin they turn into a credo of an unbending and constantly educating warrior.

The action of The Two Captains begins on the eve of the 1917 revolution, and ends on the same days and months when the last chapters of the novel (1944) are written. Thus, we have before us not only the life story of Sani Grigoryev, but also the history of a country that goes through the same stages of development as the hero. Kaverin is trying to show how, after being downtrodden and "mute", the chaos of the early 1920s and the heroic labor impulses of the early 1930s, by the end of the war, she begins to confidently move towards a brighter future, which Grigoryev, Katya, their close friends and other nameless heroes with the same reserve of will and patience.

There was nothing surprising and especially innovative in Kaverin's experiment: the revolution and the Civil War quite early became the subject of historizing descriptions in complex synthetic genres, combining, on the one hand, the features of a historical chronicle, and on the other, a family saga or even quasi-folklore epic. The process of including the events of the late 1910s - early 1920s in historical fiction began already in the second half of the 1920s. For example, “Russia, washed with blood” by Artem Vesely (1927-1928), “Walking through the agony” by Alexei Tolstoy (1921-1941) or “Quiet Flows the Don” by Sholokhov (1926-1932).. From the genre of the historical family saga of the late 1920s, Kaverin borrows, for example, the motive for dividing the family for ideological (or ethical) reasons.

But the most interesting historical layer in The Two Captains is perhaps not connected with the description of the revolutionary Ensk (under this name Kaverin portrayed his native Pskov) or Moscow during the Civil War. Of interest here are later fragments describing Moscow and Leningrad in the late 1920s and 1930s. And in these fragments the features of another prose genre appear - the so-called novel with a key.

Novel with a key

This ancient genre, which arose in France in the 16th century to ridicule court clans and groups, suddenly found itself in demand in Soviet literature of the 1920s and 30s. Main principle roman a clef consists in the fact that real persons and events are encoded in it and displayed under other (but often recognizable) names, which makes it possible to make prose both chronicle and pamphlet, but at the same time draw the reader's attention to what transformations the "real life" in the writer's imagination. As a rule, very few people can unravel the prototypes of a novel with a key - those who are familiar with these real persons in person or in absentia.

"Goat's Song" by Konstantin Vaginov (1928), "Crazy Ship" by Olga Forsh (1930), "Theatrical Novel" by Mikhail Bulgakov (1936), finally, Kaverin's early novel "Brawler, or Evenings on Vasilyevsky Island" (1928) - all these works represented contemporary events and real persons acting in fictional literary worlds. It is no coincidence that most of these novels are devoted to people of art and their collegiate and friendly communication. In The Two Captains, the basic principles of the novel with the key are not consistently maintained - however, depicting the life of writers, artists or actors, Kaverin boldly uses techniques from the arsenal of the genre familiar to him.

Remember the scene of the wedding of Petya and Sasha (Grigoriev's sister) in Leningrad, where the artist Filippov is mentioned, who "draws [a cow] into small squares and writes each square separately"? In Filippov we can easily recognize his "analytical method". Sasha takes orders from the Leningrad branch of Detgiz, which means that she collaborates with the legendary Marshakov editorial office, which was tragically destroyed in 1937 Kaverin was clearly taking a risk: he began writing his novel in 1938, after the editorial board was dissolved and some of its employees were arrested.. The subtexts of theatrical scenes are also interesting - with visits to various (real and semi-fictional) performances.

One can talk about the novel with a key in relation to The Two Captains quite conditionally: this is not a full-scale use of the genre model, but the re-re-not-shine of only some of the techniques; most of the heroes of The Two Captains are not encrypted historical figures. Nevertheless, it is very important to answer the question of why such heroes and fragments were needed in The Two Captains. The genre of a novel with a key involves the division of the reader's audience into those who are capable and those who are not able to pick up the right key, that is, into those who are initiated and perceive the story as such, without restoring the real background . In the "artistic" episodes of "The Two Captains" we can observe something similar.

Production novel

In "Two Captains" there is a hero whose last name is encrypted only ini-tsial-lom, but any Soviet reader could easily guess it, and no key was required for this. Pilot Ch., whose progress Grigoriev watches with bated breath, and then, with some timidity, turns to him for help, is, of course, Valery Chkalov. Other "aviation" initials were easily deciphered: L. - Sigismund Levanevsky, A. - Alexander Anisimov, S. - Mauritius Slepnev. Begun in 1938, the novel was supposed to sum up the turbulent Soviet Arctic epic of the 1930s, where polar explorers (land and sea) and pilots equally manifested themselves.

Let's briefly restore the chronology:

1932 - icebreaker "Alexander Sibiryakov", the first voyage along the Northern Sea Route from the White Sea to Beringovo in one navigation.

1933-1934 - the famous Chelyuskin epic, an attempt to sail from Murmansk to Vladivostok in one navigation, with the death of the ship, landing on an ice floe, and then rescuing the entire crew and passengers with the help of the best pilots in the country: after many more years, the names of these pilots could be listed by heart any Soviet student.

1937 - Ivan Papanin's first drifting polar station and Valery Chkalov's first non-stop flight to the North American continent.

Polar explorers and pilots were the main characters of our time in the 1930s, and the fact that Sanya Grigoriev not only chose an aviation profession, but also wanted to link his fate with the Arctic, immediately gave his image a romantic halo and great attractiveness.

Meanwhile, if we separately consider the professional biography of Grigoriev and his steady attempts to send an expedition to search for the crew of Captain Tatarinov, it becomes clear that "Two Captains" contain the features of another type of novel - a production novel that received wide coverage. - some spread in the literature of socialist realism in the late 1920s, with the beginning of industrialization. In one of the varieties of such a novel, the center was a young enthusiastic hero who loves his work and country more than himself, ready for self-sacrifice and obsessed with the idea of ​​a “breakthrough”. In his desire to make a “breakthrough” (introduce some kind of technical innovation or just work tirelessly), he will definitely be hindered by a pest hero The role of such a pest can be a bureaucrat leader (of course, a conservative by nature) or several such leaders.. There comes a moment when the protagonist is defeated and his cause, as it seems, is almost lost, but nevertheless the forces of reason and goodness win, the state, represented by its most reasonable representatives, intervenes in the conflict, encourages the innovator and punishes the conservative.

"Two Captains" is close to this model of a production novel, most memorable to Soviet readers from Dudintsev's famous book "Not by Bread Alone" (1956). The antagonist and envious of Grigoriev Romashov sends letters to all instances and spreads false rumors - the result of his activity is the sudden cancellation of the search operation in 1935 and the expulsion of Grigoriev from his beloved North.

Perhaps the most interesting line in the novel today is the transformation of the civilian pilot Grigoriev into a military pilot, and peaceful research interests in the Arctic into military and strategic interests. For the first time, such a development of events is predicted by an unnamed sailor who visited Sanya in a Leningrad hotel in 1935. Then, after a long "exile" to the Volga meliorative aviation, Grigoriev decides to change his fate on his own and volunteers for the Spanish war. From there, he returns as a military pilot, and then his entire biography, as well as the history of the development of the North, is shown as a military one, closely connected with the security and strategic interests of the country. It is no coincidence that Romashov turns out to be not just a pest and a traitor, but also a war criminal: the events of the Patriotic War become the last and ultimate test for both heroes and anti-heroes.

Military melodrama

The last genre that was embodied in The Two Captains is the genre of military melodrama, which during the war years could be realized both on the theater stage and in the cinema. Perhaps the closest analogue of the novel is Konstantin Simonov's play "Wait for me" and the film of the same name (1943) based on it. The action of the last parts of the novel unfolds as if following the plot outline of this melodrama.

In the very first days of the war, the plane of an experienced pilot is shot down, he ends up in the occupied territory, and then, under unclear circumstances, disappears for a long time. His wife does not want to believe that he is dead. She changes the old civilian profession associated with intellectual activity to a simple rear one and refuses to evacuate. Bombing, digging trenches on the outskirts of the city - she experiences all these trials with dignity, never ceasing to hope that her husband is alive, and in the end waiting for him. This description is quite applicable to the film "Wait for me" and to the novel "Two Captains" Of course, there are differences: Katya Tatarinova in June 1941 does not live in Moscow, like Simonov's Lisa, but in Leningrad; she has to go through all the trials of the blockade, and after her evacuation to the mainland, Grigoriev cannot get on her trail..

The last parts of Kaverin's novel, written alternately on behalf of Katya, then on behalf of Sanya, successfully use all the techniques of military melodrama. And since this genre continued to be exploited in post-war literature, theater and cinema, "Two Captains" for a long time definitely fell into the horizon of reader and viewer expectations. waiting horizon(German Erwartungs-horizont) is a term of the German historian and literary theorist Hans-Robert Jauss, a complex of aesthetic, socio-political, psychological and other ideas that determine the author's attitude to society, and also the reader's attitude to pro-out-of-doing.. Youthful love, born in the trials and conflicts of the 1920s and 30s, passed the last and most serious test of the war.

Once in the city of Ensk, on the banks of the river, a dead postman and a bag of letters were found. Aunt Dasha read one letter aloud to her neighbors every day. Sanya Grigoriev especially remembered the lines about distant polar expeditions...

Sanya lives in Ensk with her parents and sister Sasha. By an absurd accident, Sanya's father is accused of murder and arrested. Only little Sanya knows about the real killer, but because of the dumbness, from which the wonderful doctor Ivan Ivanovich will save him only later, he cannot do anything. The father dies in prison, after some time the mother marries. The stepfather turns out to be a cruel and mean man who torments both his children and his wife.

After the death of her mother, Aunt Dasha and neighbor Skovorodnikov decide to send Sanya and her sister to an orphanage. Then Sanya and his friend Petya Skovorodnikov flee to Moscow, and from there to Turkestan. "Fight and seek, find and not give up" - this oath supports them on the way. The boys get to Moscow on foot, but Petkin's uncle, whom they counted on, went to the front. After three months of almost free work for speculators, they have to hide from inspection. Petka manages to escape, and Sanya first ends up in a distribution center for homeless children, from there - to a commune school.

Sanya likes school: he reads and sculpts from clay, he makes new friends - Valka Zhukov and Romashka. One day, Sanya helps to bring a bag to an unfamiliar old woman who lives in the apartment of the head of the school, Nikolai Antonovich Tatarinov. Here Sanya meets Katya, a pretty, but somewhat prone to "ask" girl with pigtails and dark lively eyes. After some time, Sanya again finds himself in the familiar house of the Tatarinovs: Nikolai Antonovich sends him there for a lactometer, a device for checking the composition of milk. But the lactometer explodes. Katya is going to take the blame, but the proud Sanya does not allow her to do so.

The Tatarinovs' apartment becomes for Sanya "something like Ali Baba's cave with its treasures, mysteries and dangers." Nina Kapitonovna, whom Sanya helps with all her housework and who feeds him with meals, is a “treasure”; Marya Vasilievna, "neither a widow nor a husband's wife," who always walks in a black dress and often plunges into melancholy, is a "mystery"; and "danger" - Nikolai Antonovich, as it turned out, Katya's cousin. The favorite topic of Nikolai Antonovich's stories is his cousin, that is, the husband of Marya Vasilievna, whom he "took care of all his life" and who "turned out to be ungrateful." Nikolai Antonovich has long been in love with Marya Vasilievna, but while she is "ruthless" to him, rather her sympathy is sometimes evoked by the geography teacher Korablev who comes to visit. Although, when Korablev makes an offer to Marya Vasilievna, he is refused. On the same day, Nikolai Antonovich convenes a school council at home, where Korablev is sharply condemned. It was decided to limit the activities of the geography teacher - then he would be offended and leave, Sanya informs Korablev about everything he heard, but as a result, Nikolai Antonovich kicks Sanya out of the house. Offended Sanya, suspecting Korablev of betrayal, leaves the commune. After wandering around Moscow all day, he falls completely ill and ends up in the hospital, where he is again saved by Dr. Ivan Ivanovich.

Four years have passed - Sanya is seventeen years old. The school is presenting a staged "trial of Eugene Onegin", it is here that Sanya meets Katya again and reveals his secret to her: he has long been preparing to become a pilot. Sanya finally learns from Katya the story of Captain Tatarinov. In June of the twelfth year, having stopped at Ensk to say goodbye to his family, he went out on the schooner “St. Maria" from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok. The expedition did not return. Maria Vasilievna unsuccessfully sent a petition for help to the tsar: it was believed that if Tatarinov died, it was through his own fault: he "carelessly handled state property." The captain's family moved in with Nikolai Antonovich. Sanya often meets Katya: they go to the skating rink together, to the zoo, where Sanya suddenly runs into her stepfather. At the school ball, Sanya and Katya are left alone, but Romashka interferes with their conversation, who then reports everything to Nikolai Antonovich. Sanya is no longer accepted by the Tatarinovs, and Katya is sent to her aunt in Ensk. Sanya beats Romashka, it turns out, and in the story with Korablev it was he who played a fatal role. And yet Sanya repents of his act - with a heavy feeling, he leaves for Ensk.

In his hometown, Sanya finds Aunt Dasha, and the old man Skovorodnikov, and his sister Sasha, he learns that Petka also lives in Moscow and is going to become an artist. Once again, Sanya rereads the old letters - and suddenly realizes that they directly relate to the expedition of Captain Tatarinov! With excitement, Sanya learns that none other than Ivan Lvovich Tatarinov discovered Severnaya Zemlya and named it after his wife Marya Vasilievna, that it was precisely through the fault of Nikolai Antonovich, this “terrible person”, that most of the equipment turned out to be unusable. The lines in which the name of Nikolai is directly mentioned are washed out by water and are preserved only in Sanya's memory, but Katya believes him.

Sanya firmly and resolutely denounces Nikolai Antonovich in front of Marya Vasilievna and even demands that it be she who "files the charge." Only later Sanya realizes that this conversation finally struck Marya Vasilievna, convinced her of the decision to commit suicide, because Nikolai Antonovich was already her husband by that time ... Doctors fail to save Marya Vasilievna: she is dying. At the funeral, Sanya approaches Katya, but she turns away from him. Nikolai Antonovich managed to convince everyone that the letter was not about him at all, but about some kind of “von Vyshimirsky” and that Sanya was guilty of the death of Marya Vasilievna. Sanya can only intensively prepare for admission to flight school in order to someday find the expedition of Captain Tatarinov and prove his case. Having seen Katya for the last time, he leaves to study in Leningrad. He is engaged in a flight school and at the same time works at a factory in Leningrad; both sister Sasha and her husband Petya Skovorodnikov study at the Academy of Arts. Finally, Sanya achieves an appointment to the North. In the city of the Arctic, he meets with Dr. Ivan Ivanovich, who shows him the diaries of the navigator "St. Mary" by Ivan Klimov, who died in 1914 in Arkhangelsk. Patiently deciphering the notes, Sanya learns that Captain Tatarinov, having sent people in search of land, himself remained on the ship. The navigator describes the hardships of the campaign, speaks of his captain with admiration and respect. Sanya understands that the traces of the expedition must be looked for precisely on the Land of Mary.

From Valya Zhukov, Sanya learns about some Moscow news: Romashka has become "the closest person" in the Tatarinovs' house and, it seems, "is going to marry Katya." Sanya constantly thinks about Katya - he decides to go to Moscow. In the meantime, he and the doctor are given the task to fly to the remote Wanokan camp, but they fall into a blizzard. Thanks to a forced landing, Sanya finds a hook from the schooner "St. Maria". Gradually, a coherent picture is formed from the "fragments" of the captain's history.

In Moscow, Sanya plans to make a report on the expedition. But first it turns out that Nikolai Antonovich has already partially outstripped him by publishing an article about the discovery of Captain Tatarinov, and then the same Nikolai Antonovich and his assistant Romashka publish slander against Sanya in Pravda and thereby achieve the cancellation of the report. Ivan Pavlovich Korablev helps Sana and Katya in many ways. With his assistance, mistrust disappears in relations between young people: Sanya understands that Katya is being forced to marry Romashka. Katya leaves the Tatarinovs' house. Now she is a geologist, head of the expedition.

Insignificant, but now somewhat "settle down" Romashka plays a double game: he offers Sanya evidence of Nikolai Antonovich's guilt if he refuses Katya. Sanya informs Nikolai Antonovich about this, but he is no longer able to resist the clever "assistant". With the help of the Hero of the Soviet Union, pilot Ch. Sanya, he nevertheless receives permission for the expedition; Pravda publishes his article with excerpts from the navigator's diary. In the meantime, he returns to the North.

They are trying to cancel the expedition again, but Katya shows determination - and in the spring she and Sanya should meet in Leningrad to prepare for the search. The lovers are happy - during the white nights they walk around the city, all the time they are preparing for the expedition. Sasha, Sanya's sister, gave birth to a son, but suddenly her condition deteriorates sharply - and she dies. The expedition is canceled for some unknown reason - Sanya is given a completely different assignment.

Five years pass. Sanya and Katya, now Tatarinova-Grigorieva, live either in the Far East, or in the Crimea, or in Moscow. They eventually settle in Leningrad with Petya, his son, and Katya's grandmother. Sanya takes part in the war in Spain, and then goes to the front. One day, Katya meets Romashka again, and he tells her about how he, saving the wounded Sanya, tried to get out of the encirclement of the Germans and how Sanya disappeared. Katya does not want to believe Chamomile, she does not lose hope at this difficult time. And indeed Chamomile is lying: in fact, he did not save, but abandoned the seriously wounded Sanya, taking away his weapons and documents. Sanya manages to get out: he is treated in a hospital, and from there he goes to Leningrad in search of Katya.

Katya is not in Leningrad, but Sanya is invited to fly to the North, where battles are also underway. Sanya, having never found Katya either in Moscow, where he just missed her, or in Yaroslavl, thinks that she is in Novosibirsk. During the successful completion of one of the combat missions, Grigoriev's crew makes an emergency landing not far from the place where, according to Sanya, traces of Captain Tatarinov's expedition should be looked for. Sanya finds the captain's body, as well as his farewell letters and reports. And having returned to Polyarny, Sanya also finds Katya at Dr. Pavlov's.

In the summer of 1944, Sanya and Katya spend their holidays in Moscow, where they see all their friends. Sanya needs to do two things: he testifies in the case of the convicted Romashov, and in the Geographical Society his report on the expedition, on the discoveries of Captain Tatarinov, on who caused this expedition to die, passes with great success. Nikolai Antonovich is expelled from the hall in disgrace. In Ensk, the family gathers again at the table. The old man Skovorodnikov unites Tatarinov and Sanya in his speech: "captains like this move humanity and science forward."

Executor: Miroshnikov Maxim, student 7 "K" class

Supervisor: Pitinova Natalya Petrovna, teacher of Russian language and literature

ANALYSIS OF THE NOVEL VENIAMIN KAVERIN

"TWO CAPTAINS"

Preface. Biography of Kaverin V.A.

Kaverin Veniamin Aleksandrovich (1902 - 1989), prose writer.

Born on April 6 (19 Gregorian time) in Pskov in the family of a musician. In 1912 he entered the Pskov gymnasium. "My older brother's friend Yu. Tynyanov, later a famous writer, was my first literary teacher, who inspired me with an ardent love for Russian literature," writes V. Kaverin.

At the age of sixteen he came to Moscow and in 1919 finished high school here. Wrote poetry. In 1920, he transferred from Moscow University to Petrograd University, simultaneously enrolling in the Institute of Oriental Languages, graduating from both. He was left at the university in graduate school, where for six years he was engaged in scientific work and in 1929 he defended his thesis entitled “Baron Brambeus. The story of Osip Senkovsky. In 1921, together with M. Zoshchenko, N. Tikhonov, Vs. Ivanov was the organizer of the literary group "Serapion Brothers".

It was first published in the almanac of this group in 1922 (the story "Chronicle of the city of Leipzig for 18 ... year"). In the same decade, he wrote stories and novels: "Masters and Apprentices" (1923), "The Suit of Diamonds" (1927), "The End of Khaza" (1926), the story about the life of scientists "Brawler, or Evenings on Vasilyevsky Island" (1929 ). He decided to become a professional writer, finally devoting himself to literary creativity.

In 1934 - 1936 writes his first novel "Fulfillment of Desires", in which he set the task not only to convey his knowledge of life, but also to develop his own literary style. It succeeded, the novel was a success.

The most popular work of Kaverin was a novel for youth - "Two captains", the first volume of which was completed in 1938. The outbreak of the Patriotic War stopped work on the second volume. During the war, Kaverin wrote front-line correspondence, military essays, stories. At his request, he was sent to the Northern Fleet. It was there, communicating daily with pilots and submariners, that I understood in what direction the work on the second volume of The Two Captains would go. In 1944, the second volume of the novel was published.

In 1949 - 1956 worked on the trilogy "Open Book", about the formation and development of microbiology in the country, about the goals of science, about the character of a scientist. The book has gained immense popularity among the reader.

In 1962, Kaverin published the story "Seven Unclean Pairs", which tells about the first days of the war. In the same year, the story "Slanting Rain" was written. In the 1970s he created the book of memoirs "In the Old House", as well as the trilogy "Illuminated Windows", in the 1980s - "Drawing", "Verlioka", "Evening Day".

Analysis of the novel "Two Captains"

With a wonderful literary work - the novel "Two Captains", I met this summer, reading the "summer" literature recommended by the teacher. This novel was written by Veniamin Aleksandrovich Kaverin, a wonderful Soviet writer. The book was published in 1944, and in 1945 the writer received the Stalin Prize for it.

Without exaggeration, I can say that "Two Captains" is a cult book of several generations of Soviet people. I liked the ϶ᴛоᴛ novel very much. I read it almost in one breath, and the characters of the book became my friends. I believe that the novel helps the reader to solve many important questions.

In my opinion, the novel "Two Captains" is a book about the search - the search for truth, one's life path, one's moral and ethical position. It is no coincidence that captains become her heroes - people who are looking for new ways and lead others!

In the novel by Veniamin Kaverin "Two Captains" stories pass before us two main characters - Sani Grigoriev and captain Tatarinov.

AT the center of the novel is the fate of Captain Sanya Grigoriev. As a boy, fate connects him with another captain - the missing captain Tatarinov, and his family. We can say that Sanya devotes his whole life to finding out the truth about Tatarinov's expedition and to restore the defamed name of this man.

In the process of searching for the truth, Sanya matures, learns life, he has to make fundamental, sometimes very difficult, decisions.

The events of the novel take place in several places - the city of Ensk, Moscow and Leningrad. The author describes the 30s and the years of the Great Patriotic War - the time of Sanya Grigoriev's childhood and youth. The book is full of memorable events, important and unexpected plot twists.

Many of them are connected with the image of Sani, with his honest and courageous deeds.

I remember the episode when Grigoriev, rereading old letters, finds out the truth about Captain Tatarinov: it was the man who made an important discovery - he discovered the Northern Land, which he named in honor of his wife - Maria. Sanya also learns about the vile role of the captain's cousin Nikolai Antonovich - he made it so that most of the equipment on Tatarinov's schooner turned out to be unusable. Through the fault of this man, almost the entire expedition perished!

Sanya seeks to "restore justice" and tell everything about Nikolai Antonovich. But at the same time, Grigoriev only makes things worse - in his own words, he practically kills Tatarinov's widow. This event pushes away from Sanya and Katya - the daughter of Tatarinov, with whom the hero falls in love.

Thus, the author of the book shows that there are no unambiguous actions in life. What seems right can at any moment turn into its opposite side. You need to think carefully about all the consequences before you take any important action.

Also, the events in the book that were especially memorable for me were the discovery by Captain Grigoriev, as an adult, of the diary of the navigator Tatarinov, which, after many obstacles, was published in Pravda. This means that people have learned about the true meaning of Tatarinov's expedition, learned the truth about this heroic captain.

Almost at the end of the novel, Grigoriev finds the body of Ivan Lvovich. This means that the hero's mission is completed. The Geographical Society listens to Sanya's report, where he tells the whole truth about Tatarinov's expedition.

Sanka's whole life is connected with the feat of the brave captain, since childhood he has been equal to brave explorer of the North and in adulthood finds the expedition "St. Mary", fulfilling his duty to the memory of Ivan Lvovich.

V. Kaverin did not just come up with the hero of his work, Captain Tatarinov. He took advantage of the history of two brave conquerors of the Far North. One of them was Sedov. From another he took the actual history of his journey. It was Brusilov. The drift of the "St. Mary" exactly repeats the drift of the Brusilovskaya "St. Anna". The diary of the navigator Klimov is completely based on the diary of the navigator of the "St. Anna" Albanov, one of the two surviving members of this tragic expedition.

So, how did Ivan Lvovich Tatarinov grow up? It was a boy who was born into a poor fishing family on the shores of the Sea of ​​Azov (Krasnodar Territory). In his youth, he went as a sailor on oil tankers between Batum and Novorossiysk. Then he passed the exam for the "naval ensign" and served in the Hydrographic Department, with proud indifference enduring the arrogant non-recognition of the officers.

I read a lot of Tatars making notes in the margins of books. He argued with Nansen. Now the captain was "completely agree", then "completely disagree" with him. He reproached him for the fact that, not having reached the pole of some four hundred kilometers, Nansen turned to the earth. The brilliant idea: “Ice will solve its own problem” was written there. On a piece of yellowed paper that had fallen out of Nansen's book, Ivan Lvovich Tatarinov's handwriting was written: “Amundsen wishes at all costs to leave behind Norway the honor of discovering the North Pole, and we will go this year and prove to the whole world that the Russians are capable of this feat." He wanted to go, like Nansen, perhaps further north with drifting ice, and then get to the pole on dogs.

In mid-June 1912, the schooner St. Maria ”left Petersburg for Vladivostok. At first, the ship followed the intended course, but in the Kara Sea, the "Holy Mary" froze and slowly began to move north along with the polar ice. Thus, willy-nilly, the captain had to abandon his original intention - to go to Vladivostok along the coast of Siberia. “But there is no evil without good! A completely different thought now occupies me, ”he wrote in a letter to his wife. There was even ice in the cabins, and every morning they had to cut it with an axe. It was a very difficult journey, but all the people held on well and probably would have done the task if they had not been delayed with the equipment, and if this equipment had not been so bad. The team owed all its failures to the betrayal of Nikolai Antonovich Tatarinov. Of the sixty dogs he sold to the team in Arkhangelsk, most of them had to be shot on Novaya Zemlya. “We took risks, we knew that we were taking risks, but we did not expect such a blow,” Tatarinov wrote, “The main failure is a mistake that you have to pay for daily, every minute, the one that I entrusted the expedition with Nikolai … »

Among the captain's farewell letters were a map of the filmed area and business papers. One of them was a copy of the obligation, according to which the captain waives any remuneration in advance, all commercial production upon returning to the "Mainland" belongs to Nikolai Antonovich Tatarinov, the captain is responsible with all his property to Tatarinov in case of loss of the vessel.

But despite the difficulties he managed to draw conclusions from his observations and formulas, proposed by him, allow one to subtract the speed and direction of ice movement in any area of ​​the Arctic Ocean. This seems almost unbelievable when one remembers that the comparatively short drift of the St. Mary" went through places that, it would seem, do not provide data for such broad totals.

The captain was left alone, all his comrades died, he could no longer walk, he was cold on the move, at rest, he could not even warm up while eating, he froze his legs. “I’m afraid that we are finished, and I have no hope even that you will ever read these lines. We can no longer walk, we freeze on the go, on halts, we can’t even get warm while eating, ”we read his lines.

Tatarinov understood that soon it was his turn, but he was not at all afraid of death, because he did more than he could to stay alive.

His story ended not in defeat and unknown death, but in victory.

At the end of the war, making a report to the Geographical Society, Sanya Grigoriev said that the facts that had been established by the expedition of Captain Tatarinov had not lost their significance. So, on the basis of a study of drift, the famous polar explorer Professor V. suggested the existence of an unknown island between the 78th and 80th parallels, and this island was discovered in 1935 - and exactly where V. determined its place. The constant drift established by Nansen was confirmed by the voyage of Captain Tatarinov, and the formulas for the comparative motion of ice and wind represent an enormous contribution to Russian science.

The photographic films of the expedition, which had lain in the ground for about thirty years, were developed.

On them he appears to us - a tall man in a fur hat, in fur boots, tied under the knees with straps. He stands with his head stubbornly bowed, leaning on his gun, and the dead bear, with its paws folded like a kitten, lies at his feet. This was a strong, fearless soul!

Everyone stood up when he appeared on the screen, and such silence, such solemn silence reigned in the hall, that no one even dared to breathe, let alone say a word.

“... It is bitter for me to think about all the things that I could have done if I had not been helped, but at least not hindered. One consolation is that by my labors new vast lands have been discovered and annexed to Russia ... ”, - we read the lines written by the brave captain. He named the land after his wife, Marya Vasilievna.

And in the last hours of his life, he did not think about himself, but worried about his family: “My dear Mashenka, somehow you will live without me!”

Courageous and clear character, purity of thought, clarity of purpose - all this reveals a man of great soul.

And Captain Tatarinov is buried like a hero. Ships entering the Yenisei Bay from afar see his grave. They walk past her with their flags at half-staff, and cannon fireworks are fireworks. The grave was built of white stone, and it sparkles dazzlingly under the rays of the never-setting polar sun. The following words are carved at the height of human growth: “Here lies the body of Captain I.L. Tatarinov, who made one of the most courageous journeys and died on his way back from Severnaya Zemlya discovered by him in June 1915. "Fight and seek, find and never give up!"- this is the motto of the work.

That is why all the heroes of the story consider I.L. Tatarinov a hero. Because he was a fearless man, he fought death, and in spite of everything he achieved his goal.

As a result, the truth triumphs - Nikolai Antonovich is punished, and the name of Sanya is now inextricably linked with the name of Tatarinov: "Captains like this move humanity and science forward".

And, in my opinion, this is absolutely true. Tatarinov's discovery was very important for science. But the act of Sani, who devoted many years to restoring justice, can also be called a feat - both scientific and human. This hero has always lived according to the laws of goodness and justice, never went to meanness. This is what helped him to endure in the most ᴄᴫᴏ harsh conditions.

We can say the same for about Sanya's wife - Katya Tatarinova. In terms of strength of character, this woman is on a par with her husband. She went through all the trials that fell to her lot, but remained faithful to Sana, carried her love to the end. And this despite the fact that many people sought to separate the heroes. One of them is an imaginary friend of Sanya "Romashka" - Romashov. On account of this man there were a lot of meanness - betrayals, betrayals, lies.

As a result, he was punished - he was put in jail. Another villain was also punished - Nikolai Antonovich, who was expelled from science in disgrace.

Conclusions.

Based on what I have said above, we come to the conclusion that "Two Captains" and its heroes teach us a lot. “In all trials, it is necessary to maintain dignity in oneself, to always remain human. Under any circumstances, one must be faithful to goodness, love, light. Only then is it possible to cope with all the trials, ”says the writer V. Kaverin.

And the heroes of his book show us that we need to face life, to meet any difficulties. Then you are provided with an interesting life, full of adventures and real deeds. A life that will not be shameful to remember in old age.

Bibliography.

Any writer has the right to fiction. But where does it pass, the line, the invisible line between truth and fiction? Sometimes truth and fiction are so closely intertwined, as, for example, in the novel by Veniamin Kaverin "Two Captains" - a work of art that most reliably resembles the real events of 1912 in the development of the Arctic.

Three Russian polar expeditions entered the North Ocean in 1912, all three ended tragically: the expedition of Rusanov V.A. died entirely, the expedition of Brusilov G.L. - almost entirely, and in the expedition of Sedov G. I three died, including the head of the expedition . In general, the 20s and 30s of the twentieth century were interesting for through voyages along the Northern Sea Route, the Chelyuskin epic, and Papanin heroes.

The young, but already well-known writer V. Kaverin became interested in all this, became interested in people, bright personalities, whose deeds and characters aroused only respect. He reads literature, memoirs, collections of documents; listens to the stories of N. V. Pinegin, a friend and member of the expedition of the brave polar explorer Sedov; sees finds made in the mid-thirties on nameless islands in the Kara Sea. Also during the Great Patriotic War, he himself, being a correspondent for Izvestia, visited the North.

And in 1944, the novel "Two Captains" was published. The author was literally bombarded with questions about the prototypes of the main characters - Captain Tatarinov and Captain Grigoriev. “I took advantage of the history of two brave conquerors of the Far North. From one I took a courageous and clear character, purity of thought, clarity of purpose - everything that distinguishes a person of great soul. It was Sedov. The other has the actual history of his journey. It was Brusilov, ”Kaverin wrote about the prototypes of Captain Tatarinov in such an inspired way.

Let's try to figure out what is true, what is fiction, how the writer Kaverin managed to combine the realities of the expeditions of Sedov and Brusilov in the history of the expedition of Captain Tatarinov. And although the writer himself did not mention the name of Vladimir Alexandrovich Rusanov among the prototypes of his hero Captain Tatarinov, we take the liberty of asserting that the realities of Rusanov's expedition were also reflected in the novel "Two Captains". This will be discussed later.

Lieutenant Georgy Lvovich Brusilov, a hereditary sailor, in 1912 led an expedition on the steam-sailing schooner "Saint Anna". He intended to go with one wintering from St. Petersburg around Scandinavia and further along the Northern Sea Route to Vladivostok. But "Saint Anna" did not come to Vladivostok either a year later or in subsequent years. Off the western coast of the Yamal Peninsula, the schooner was covered with ice, she began to drift north, to high latitudes. The ship failed to break out of ice captivity in the summer of 1913. During the longest drift in the history of Russian Arctic research (1,575 kilometers in a year and a half), the Brusilov expedition conducted meteorological observations, measured depths, studied currents and ice conditions in the northern part of the Kara Sea, which until then was completely unknown to science. Almost two years of ice captivity passed.

On April 23 (10), 1914, when "Saint Anna" was at 830 north latitude and 60 0 east longitude, with the consent of Brusilov, eleven crew members left the schooner, led by navigator Valerian Ivanovich Albanov. The group hoped to get to the nearest coast, to Franz Josef Land, in order to deliver the expedition materials, which allowed scientists to characterize the underwater relief of the northern part of the Kara Sea and identify a meridional depression at the bottom about 500 kilometers long (the St. Anna trench). Only a few people reached the Franz Josef archipelago, but only two of them, Albanov himself and sailor A. Konrad, were lucky enough to escape. They were discovered quite by accident at Cape Flora by members of another Russian expedition under the command of G. Sedov (Sedov himself had already died by this time).

The schooner with G. Brusilov himself, sister of mercy E. Zhdanko, the first woman participating in the high-latitude drift, and eleven crew members disappeared without a trace.

The geographical result of the campaign of the navigator Albanov's group, which cost the lives of nine sailors, was the assertion that King Oscar and Peterman, previously noted on the maps of the Earth, do not actually exist.

We know the drama of "Saint Anna" and her crew in general terms thanks to Albanov's diary, which was published in 1917 under the title "South to Franz Josef Land". Why were only two saved? This is quite clear from the diary. The people in the group that left the schooner were very diverse: strong and weak, reckless and weak in spirit, disciplined and dishonorable. Those who had more chances survived. Albanov from the ship "Saint Anna" mail was transferred to the mainland. Albanov reached, but none of those to whom they were intended received the letters. Where did they go? It still remains a mystery.

And now let's turn to Kaverin's novel "Two Captains". Of the members of the expedition of Captain Tatarinov, only the long-distance navigator I. Klimov returned. Here is what he writes to Maria Vasilievna, the wife of Captain Tatarinov: “I hasten to inform you that Ivan Lvovich is alive and well. Four months ago, in accordance with his instructions, I left the schooner and with me thirteen members of the crew. I will not talk about our difficult journey to Franz Josef Land on floating ice. I can only say that from our group I alone safely (except for frostbitten legs) reached Cape Flora. The “Saint Foka” of the expedition of Lieutenant Sedov picked me up and delivered me to Arkhangelsk. “Saint Mary” froze in the Kara Sea and since October 1913 has been constantly moving north along with the polar ice. When we left, the schooner was at latitude 820 55'. She stands quietly in the middle of the ice field, or rather, she stood from the autumn of 1913 until my departure.

Almost twenty years later, in 1932, Sanya Grigoriev's senior friend, Dr. Ivan Ivanovich Pavlov, explains to Sanya that the group photograph of Captain Tatarinov's expedition members was “given by the navigator of the St. Mary, Ivan Dmitrievich Klimov. In 1914, he was brought to Arkhangelsk with frostbitten legs, and he died in the city hospital from blood poisoning. After Klimov's death, two notebooks and letters remained. The hospital sent these letters to the addresses, and Ivan Ivanych kept the notebooks and photographs. Persistent Sanya Grigoriev once told Nikolai Antonych Tatarinov, cousin of the missing captain Tatarinov, that he would find the expedition: "I don't believe that she disappeared without a trace."

And so, in 1935, Sanya Grigoriev, day after day, analyzes Klimov's diaries, among which he finds an interesting map - a map of the drift of "Saint Mary" "from October 1912 to April 1914, and the drift was shown in those places where the so-called Earth lay Peterman. “But who knows that this fact was first established by Captain Tatarinov on the schooner “Holy Mary”?” exclaims Sanya Grigoriev.

Captain Tatarinov had to go from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok. From the captain's letter to his wife: “It's been about two years since I sent you a letter through a telegraph expedition to Yugorsky Shar. We walked freely along the intended course, and since October 1913 we have been slowly moving north along with the polar ice. Thus, willy-nilly, we had to abandon the original intention to go to Vladivostok along the coast of Siberia. But there is no evil without good. A completely different thought now occupies me. I hope it does not seem to you - as to some of my companions - childish or reckless.

What is this thought? Sanya finds the answer to this in the notes of Captain Tatarinov: “The human mind was so absorbed in this task that its solution, despite the harsh grave that travelers mostly found there, became a continuous national competition. Almost all civilized countries took part in this competition, and only there were no Russians, and meanwhile the Russian people's ardent impulses for the discovery of the North Pole manifested themselves even in the time of Lomonosov and have not faded to this day. Amundsen wants at all costs to leave Norway the honor of discovering the North Pole, and we will go this year and prove to the whole world that the Russians are capable of this feat. "(From a letter to the head of the Main Hydrographic Department, April 17, 1911). So, this is where Captain Tatarinov was aiming! "He wanted, like Nansen, to go as far north as possible with drifting ice, and then get to the pole on dogs."

Tatarinov's expedition failed. Even Amundsen said: "The success of any expedition depends entirely on its equipment." Indeed, a disservice in the preparation and equipment of Tatarinov's expedition was rendered by his brother Nikolai Antonych. Tatarinov's expedition, for reasons of failure, was similar to the expedition of G. Ya. Sedov, who in 1912 tried to penetrate to the North Pole. After 352 days of ice captivity off the northwestern coast of Novaya Zemlya in August 1913, Sedov led the ship "The Holy Great Martyr Fock" out of the bay and sent to Franz Josef Land. The place of the second wintering of Foka was Tikhaya Bay on Hooker Island. On February 2, 1914, despite complete exhaustion, Sedov, accompanied by two volunteer sailors A. Pustoshny and G. Linnik, headed for the Pole on three dog sleds. After a severe cold, he died on February 20 and was buried by his companions at Cape Auk (Rudolf Island). The expedition was poorly prepared. G. Sedov was not well acquainted with the history of the exploration of the Franz Josef Land archipelago, he did not know well the latest maps of the section of the ocean along which he was going to reach the North Pole. He himself had not carefully checked the equipment. His temperament, his desire to conquer the North Pole at all costs prevailed over the precise organization of the expedition. So these are important reasons for the outcome of the expedition and the tragic death of G. Sedov.

We have already mentioned the meetings between Kaverin and Pinegin. Nikolai Vasilievich Pinegin is not only an artist and writer, but also an explorer of the Arctic. During Sedov's last expedition in 1912, Pinegin made the first documentary film about the Arctic, the footage of which, together with the artist's personal memoirs, helped Kaverin to present a picture of the events of that time more vividly.

Let's return to Kaverin's novel. From a letter from Captain Tatarinov to his wife: “I am also writing to you about our discovery: there are no lands to the north of the Taimyr Peninsula on the maps. Meanwhile, being at latitude 790 35', east of Greenwich, we noticed a sharp silvery strip, slightly convex, coming from the very horizon. I am convinced that this is the earth Until I called it by your name. Sanya Grigoriev finds out that it was Severnaya Zemlya, discovered in 1913 by Lieutenant B. A. Vilkitsky.

After the defeat in the Russo-Japanese War, Russia needed to have its own way of escorting ships to the Great Ocean so as not to depend on the Suez or other channels of warm countries. The authorities decided to create a Hydrographic Expedition and carefully survey the least difficult section from the Bering Strait to the mouth of the Lena, so that they could go from east to west, from Vladivostok to Arkhangelsk or St. Petersburg. At first, A. I. Vilkitsky was the head of the expedition, and after his death, since 1913, his son, Boris Andreevich Vilkitsky. It was he who, in the navigation of 1913, dispelled the legend of the existence of Sannikov Land, but discovered a new archipelago. On August 21 (September 3), 1913, a huge archipelago covered with eternal snow was seen north of Cape Chelyuskin. Consequently, from Cape Chelyuskin to the north is not an open ocean, but a strait, later called the B. Vilkitsky Strait. The archipelago was originally named the Land of Emperor Nicholas 11. It has been called Severnaya Zemlya since 1926.

In March 1935, pilot Alexander Grigoriev, having made an emergency landing on the Taimyr Peninsula, accidentally discovered an old brass hook, green with time, with the inscription "Schooner" Holy Mary ". Nenets Ivan Vylko explains that local residents found a boat with a hook and a man on the coast of Taimyr, the closest coast to Severnaya Zemlya. By the way, there is reason to believe that it was no coincidence that the author of the novel gave the Nenets hero the surname Vylko. A close friend of the Arctic explorer Rusanov, a member of his 1911 expedition, was the Nenets artist Vylko Ilya Konstantinovich, who later became the chairman of the council of Novaya Zemlya (“President of Novaya Zemlya”).

Vladimir Aleksandrovich Rusanov was a polar geologist and navigator. His last expedition on the Hercules, a motor-sailing ship, entered the Arctic Ocean in 1912. The expedition reached the Svalbard archipelago and discovered four new coal deposits there. Rusanov then made an attempt to pass through the Northeast Passage. Having reached Cape Desire on Novaya Zemlya, the expedition went missing.

Where the Hercules died is not exactly known. But it is known that the expedition not only sailed, but also walked for some part, because the Hercules almost certainly died, as evidenced by objects found in the mid-30s on the islands near the Taimyr coast. In 1934, on one of the islands, hydrographers discovered a wooden pole with the inscription "Hercules" -1913. Traces of the expedition were found in the Minin skerries off the western coast of the Taimyr Peninsula and on Bolshevik Island (Severnaya Zemlya). And in the seventies, the expedition of the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper led the search for Rusanov's expedition. Two gaffs were found in the same area, as if to confirm the intuitive guess of the writer Kaverin. According to experts, they belonged to the “Rusanovites”.

Captain Alexander Grigoriev, following his motto "Fight and seek, find and not give up", in 1942 nevertheless found the expedition of Captain Tatarinov, or rather, what was left of it. He calculated the path that Captain Tatarinov had to take, if we consider it indisputable that he returned to Severnaya Zemlya, which he called "Mary's Land": from 790 35 latitude, between the 86th and 87th meridians, to the Russian Islands and to the Nordenskiöld archipelago. Then, probably after many wanderings, from Cape Sterlegov to the mouth of the Pyasina, where the old Nenets Vylko found a boat on a sled. Then to the Yenisei, because the Yenisei was the only hope for Tatarinov to meet people and help. He walked along the seaward side of the coastal islands, if possible - directly Sanya found the last camp of Captain Tatarinov, found his farewell letters, photographic films, found his remainsCaptain Grigoriev conveyed to the people the farewell words of Captain Tatarinov: if they didn’t help me, but at least didn’t interfere. What to do? One consolation is that by my labors new vast lands have been discovered and annexed to Russia.

At the end of the novel we read: “The ships entering the Yenisei Bay from afar see the grave of Captain Tatarinov. They pass by her with their flags at half mast, and the mourning salute rumbles from the cannons, and a long echo rolls without ceasing.

The grave was built of white stone, and it sparkles dazzlingly under the rays of the never-setting polar sun.

At the height of human growth, the following words are carved:

“Here lies the body of Captain I. L. Tatarinov, who made one of the most courageous journeys and died on his way back from Severnaya Zemlya discovered by him in June 1915. Fight and seek, find and not give up!

Reading these lines of Kaverin's novel, one involuntarily recalls the obelisk erected in 1912 in the eternal snows of Antarctica in honor of Robert Scott and his four comrades. It has an inscription on it. And the final words of the poem "Ulysses" by Alfred Tennyson, a classic of British poetry of the 19th century: "To strive, to seek, to find and not yield" (which in English means: "Struggle and seek, find and not give up!"). Much later, with the publication of Veniamin Kaverin's novel "Two Captains", these very words became the life motto of millions of readers, a loud appeal for Soviet polar explorers of different generations.

Probably, the literary critic N. Likhacheva was wrong when she attacked The Two Captains when the novel had not yet been fully published. After all, the image of Captain Tatarinov is generalized, collective, fictional. The right to fiction gives the author an artistic style, not a scientific one. The best character traits of Arctic explorers, as well as the mistakes, miscalculations, historical realities of the expeditions of Brusilov, Sedov, Rusanov - all this is connected with Kaverin's favorite hero.

And Sanya Grigoriev, like Captain Tatarinov, is an artistic fiction of the writer. But this hero also has its prototypes. One of them is professor-geneticist M.I. Lobashov.

In 1936, in a sanatorium near Leningrad, Kaverin met the silent, always inwardly concentrated young scientist Lobashov. “He was a man in whom ardor was combined with straightforwardness, and perseverance with amazing definiteness of purpose. He knew how to succeed in any business. A clear mind and a capacity for deep feeling were visible in his every judgment. In everything, the character traits of Sani Grigoriev are guessed. Yes, and many of the specific circumstances of Sanya's life were directly borrowed by the author from Lobashov's biography. These are, for example, Sanya's muteness, the death of his father, homelessness, the school-commune of the 20s, types of teachers and students, falling in love with the daughter of a school teacher. Talking about the history of the creation of "Two Captains", Kaverin noticed that, unlike the parents, sister, comrades of the hero, whom the prototype of Sanya told about, only separate strokes were outlined in the teacher Korablev, so that the image of the teacher was completely created by the writer.

Lobashov, who became the prototype of Sanya Grigoriev, who told the writer about his life, immediately aroused the active interest of Kaverin, who decided not to give free rein to his imagination, but to follow the story he heard. But in order for the hero's life to be perceived naturally and vividly, he must be in conditions personally known to the writer. And unlike the prototype, born on the Volga, and graduated from school in Tashkent, Sanya was born in Ensk (Pskov), and graduated from school in Moscow, and she absorbed much of what happened at the school where Kaverin studied. And the state of Sanya the young man also turned out to be close to the writer. He was not an orphanage, but he recalled the Moscow period of his life: “A sixteen-year-old boy, I was left completely alone in huge, hungry and deserted Moscow. And, of course, I had to spend a lot of energy and will not to get confused.

And the love for Katya, which Sanya carries through his whole life, is not invented or embellished by the author; Kaverin is here next to his hero: having married a twenty-year-old youth to Lidochka Tynyanov, he remained true to his love forever. And how much in common is the mood of Veniamin Alexandrovich and Sanya Grigoriev when they write to their wives from the front, when they are looking for them, taken out of besieged Leningrad. And Sanya is fighting in the North also because Kaverin was a military commander for TASS, and then Izvestia was in the Northern Fleet and knew firsthand Murmansk, and Polyarnoye, and the specifics of the war in the Far North, and its people.

Another person who was well acquainted with aviation and knew the North very well, a talented pilot S.L. Klebanov, a wonderful, honest man, whose advice in the study of aviation by the author was invaluable, helped Sana "fit in" with the life and life of polar pilots. From the biography of Klebanov, the story of a flight to the remote camp of Vanokan entered the life of Sanya Grigoriev, when a catastrophe broke out on the way.

In general, according to Kaverin, both prototypes of Sanya Grigoriev resembled each other not only by their stubbornness of character and extraordinary determination. Klebanov even outwardly resembled Lobashov - short, dense, stocky.

The artist's great skill lies in creating such a portrait in which everything that is his own and everything that is not his will become his own, deeply original, individual. And this, in our opinion, was succeeded by the writer Kaverin.

Kaverin filled the image of Sanya Grigoriev with his personality, his life code, his writer's credo: "Be honest, do not pretend, try to tell the truth and remain yourself in the most difficult circumstances." Veniamin Alexandrovich could be mistaken, but he always remained a man of honor. And the hero of the writer Sanya Grigoriev is a man of his word, honor.

Kaverin has a remarkable property: he gives the heroes not only his own impressions, but also his habits, and relatives and friends. And this cute touch makes the characters closer to the reader. With the desire of his older brother Sasha to cultivate the power of his gaze, looking for a long time at the black circle painted on the ceiling, the writer endowed Valya Zhukov in the novel. Dr. Ivan Ivanovich, during a conversation, suddenly throws a chair to the interlocutor, which must certainly be caught - this was not invented by Veniamin Alexandrovich: K. I. Chukovsky liked to talk so much.

The hero of the novel "Two Captains" Sanya Grigoriev lived his own unique life. Readers seriously believed in him. And for more than sixty years, this image has been understandable and close to readers of several generations. Readers bow before his personal qualities of character: willpower, thirst for knowledge and search, loyalty to the given word, selflessness, perseverance in achieving the goal, love for the motherland and love for his work - all that helped Sanya to solve the mystery of Tatarinov's expedition.

In our opinion, Veniamin Kaverin managed to create a work in which the realities of the real expeditions of Brusilov, Sedov, Rusanov and the fictional expedition of Captain Tatarinov were skillfully intertwined. He also managed to create images of people seeking, resolute, courageous, such as Captain Tatarinov and Captain Grigoriev.

Introduction

mythological novel image

"Two captains" - adventure novel Sovietwriter Veniamin Kaverina, which was written by him in 1938-1944. The novel went through over a hundred reprints. For him, Kaverin was awarded Stalin Prizesecond degree (1946). The book has been translated into many foreign languages. First published: the first volume in the magazine "Koster", No. 8-12, 1938. The first separate edition - Kaverin V. Two captains. Drawings, binding, flyleaf and title by Y. Syrnev. Frontispiece by V. Konashevich. M.-L. Central Committee of the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League, publishing house of children's literature in 1940. 464 p.

The book tells about the amazing fate of a mute from a provincial town Enska, who with honor goes through the trials of war and homelessness in order to win the heart of his girlfriend. After the unjust arrest of his father and the death of his mother, Alexander Grigoriev is sent to an orphanage. Having fled to Moscow, he first finds himself in a distribution center for homeless children, and then in a commune school. He is irresistibly attracted by the apartment of the director of the school, Nikolai Antonovich, where the latter's cousin, Katya Tatarinova, lives.

Katya's father, captain Ivan Tatarinov, who in 1912 led an expedition that discovered Severnaya Zemlya, went missing a few years ago. Sanya suspects that Nikolai Antonovich, who is in love with Katya's mother, Maria Vasilievna, contributed to this. Maria Vasilievna believes Sanya and commits suicide. Sanya is accused of slander and expelled from the Tatarinovs' house. And then he takes an oath to find an expedition and prove his case. He becomes a pilot and bit by bit collects information about the expedition.

After the start Great Patriotic WarSanya serves in air force. During one of the sorties, he discovers a ship with Captain Tatarinov's reports. The finds become the final touch and allow him to shed light on the circumstances of the death of the expedition and justify himself in the eyes of Katya, who had previously become his wife.

The motto of the novel - the words "Fight and seek, find and not give up" - is the final line from the textbook poem Lord Tennyson « Ulysses" (in original: To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield). This line is also engraved on the cross in memory of the deceased expeditions R. Scottto the South Pole, on Observation Hill.

The novel was filmed twice (in 1955 and in 1976), and in 2001 the musical Nord-Ost was created based on the novel. The heroes of the film, namely the two captains, were commemorated a yard in the homeland of the writer, in Psokov, which is indicated in the novel as the city of Ensk. In 2001, a museum of the novel was created in the Psokovo Children's Library.

In 2003, the main square of the city of Polyarny, Murmansk region, was named the Square of Two Captains. It was from this place that the expeditions of seafarers Vladimir Rusanov and Georgy Brusilov set sail.

The relevance of the work.The theme "The mythological basis in the novel by V. Kaverin" Two Captains "" was chosen by me because of the high degree of its relevance and significance in modern conditions. This is due to the wide public outcry and active interest in this issue.

To begin with, it is worth saying that the topic of this work is of great educational and practical interest to me. The problem of the issue is very relevant in modern reality. From year to year, scientists and experts pay more and more attention to this topic. Here it is worth noting such names as Alekseev D.A., Begak B., Borisova V., who made a significant contribution to the study and development of the conceptual issues of this topic.

The amazing story of Sanya Grigoriev - one of the two captains in Kaverin's novel - begins with an equally amazing find: a bag stuffed with letters. Nevertheless, it turns out that these "worthless" letters of others are still quite suitable for the role of a fascinating "epistolary novel", the content of which soon becomes common property. The letter, which tells about the dramatic history of the Arctic expedition of Captain Tatarinov and addressed to his wife, acquires a fateful significance for Sanya Grigoriev: his entire further existence turns out to be subordinated to the search for the addressee, and subsequently - the search for the missing expedition. Guided by this high aspiration, Sanya literally breaks into someone else's life. Having turned into a polar pilot and a member of the Tatarinov family, Grigoriev essentially replaces and displaces the deceased hero-captain. So, from the appropriation of someone else's letter to the appropriation of someone else's fate, the logic of his life unfolds.

The theoretical basis of the course workserved as monographic sources, materials of scientific and industry periodicals directly related to the topic. Prototypes of the heroes of the work.

Object of study:plot and characters.

Subject of study:mythological motifs, plots, symbols in the work in the novel "Two Captains".

Purpose of the study:a comprehensive consideration of the issue of the influence of mythology on the novel by V. Kaverin.

To achieve this goal, the following tasks:

to reveal the attitude and frequency of Kaverin's appeal to mythology;

to study the main features of mythological heroes in the images of the novel "Two Captains";

determine the forms of penetration of mythological motifs and plots into the novel "Two Captains";

consider the main stages of Kaverin's appeal to mythological subjects.

To solve the tasks, methods such as descriptive, historical and comparative are used.

1. The concept of mythological themes and motifs

Myth stands at the origins of verbal art, mythological representations and plots occupy a significant place in the oral folklore tradition of various peoples. Mythological motifs played a big role in the genesis of literary plots, mythological themes, images, characters are used and rethought in literature almost throughout its history.

In the history of the epic, military strength and courage, a "violent" heroic character completely overshadow witchcraft and magic. The historical tradition is gradually pushing aside the myth, the mythical early time is being transformed into the glorious era of the early mighty statehood. However, individual features of the myth can be preserved in the most developed epics.

Due to the fact that in modern literary criticism there is no term "mythological elements", at the beginning of this work it is advisable to define this concept. For this, it is necessary to turn to works on mythology, which present opinions about the essence of myth, its properties, and functions. It would be much easier to define mythological elements as components of a particular myth (plots, heroes, images of living and inanimate nature, etc.), but when giving such a definition, one should also take into account the subconscious appeal of the authors of works to archetypal constructions (as V. N. Toporov, "some features in the work of great writers could be understood as sometimes an unconscious appeal to elementary semantic oppositions, well known in mythology", B. Groys speaks of "archaic, regarding which one can say that it is also at the beginning of time , as well as in the depths of the human psyche as its unconscious beginning.

So, what is a myth, and after it - what can be called mythological elements?

The word "myth" μυ ̃ θοζ) - “word”, “story”, “speech” - comes from ancient Greek. Initially, it was understood as a set of absolute (sacred) value-worldview truths that oppose everyday empirical (profane) truths expressed by an ordinary “word” ( ε ̉ ποζ), notes prof. A.V. Semushkin. Starting from the 5th c. BC, writes J.-P. Vernan, in philosophy and history, “myth”, opposed to “logos”, with which they initially coincided in meaning (only later logos began to mean the ability to think, reason), acquired a derogatory connotation, denoting a fruitless, unfounded statement, devoid of reliance on rigorous proof or reliable evidence (however, even in this case, it, disqualified from the point of view of truth, did not extend to sacred texts about gods and heroes).

The predominance of mythological consciousness refers mainly to the archaic (primitive) era and is associated primarily with its cultural life, in the system of semantic organization of which myth played a dominant role. The English ethnographer B. Malinovsky ascribed to the myth, first of all, the practical functions of maintaining

However, the main thing in the myth is the content, and not at all the correspondence with historical evidence. In myths, events are considered in time sequence, but often the specific time of the event does not matter and only the starting point for the beginning of the story is important.

In the 17th century English philosopher Francis Bacon in his essay “On the Wisdom of the Ancients” argued that myths in poetic form store the most ancient philosophy: moral maxims or scientific truths, the meaning of which is hidden under the cover of symbols and allegories. Free fantasy expressed in myth, according to the German philosopher Herder, is not something absurd, but is an expression of the childhood age of mankind, "the philosophical experience of the human soul, which dreams before it wakes up."

1.1 Signs and characteristics of a myth

Mythology as the science of myths has a rich and long history. The first attempts to rethink the mythological material were made in antiquity. But until now, there has not been a single generally accepted opinion about the myth. Of course, in the works of researchers there are points of contact. Starting precisely from these points, it seems possible for us to single out the main properties and signs of a myth.

Representatives of various scientific schools focus on different sides of the myth. So Raglan (Cambridge Ritual School) defines myths as ritual texts, Cassirer (representative of the symbolic theory) speaks of their symbolism, Losev (the theory of mythopoeticism) - of the coincidence of the general idea and the sensual image in the myth, Afanasiev calls myth the most ancient poetry, Bart - a communicative system . Existing theories are summarized in Meletinsky's book Poetics of Myth.

In the article by A.V. The Gulygs list the so-called "signs of a myth":

The fusion of the real and the ideal (thoughts and actions).

Unconscious level of thinking (mastering the meaning of the myth, we destroy the myth itself).

Syncretism of reflection (this includes: the inseparability of the subject and the object, the absence of differences between the natural and the supernatural).

Freudenberg notes the essential characteristics of myth, defining it in his book Myth and Literature of Antiquity: thing, space, time are understood indivisibly and concretely, where a person and the world are subject-objectly united, - this special constructive system of figurative representations, when it is expressed in words, we call a myth. Based on this definition, it becomes clear that the main characteristics of a myth stem from the peculiarities of mythological thinking. Following the works of A.F. Loseva V.A. Markov argues that in mythological thinking there is no difference: object and subject, thing and its properties, name and object, word and action, society and space, man and the universe, natural and supernatural, and the universal principle of mythological thinking is the principle of participation (“everything is everything”, the logic of shape-shifting). Meletinsky is sure that mythological thinking is expressed in an indistinct division of subject and object, object and sign, thing and word, creature and its name, thing and its attributes, singular and plural, spatial and temporal relations, origin and essence.

In their works, various researchers note the following characteristics of the myth: the sacralization of the mythical "time of creation", in which lies the cause of the established world order (Eliade); inseparability of the image and meaning (Potebnya); universal animation and personalization (Losev); close connection with the ritual; cyclic model of time; metaphorical nature; symbolic meaning (Meletinsky).

In the article “On the Interpretation of Myth in the Literature of Russian Symbolism”, G. Shelogurova tries to draw preliminary conclusions about what is meant by myth in modern philological science:

The myth is unanimously recognized as a product of collective artistic creativity.

Myth is determined by the indistinguishability between the plane of expression and the plane of content.

Myth is considered as a universal model for constructing symbols.

Myths are the most important source of plots and images at all times in the development of art.

1.2 Functions of myth in works

Now it seems possible for us to define the functions of myth in symbolic works:

Myth is used by symbolists as a means to create symbols.

With the help of myth, it becomes possible to express some additional ideas in the work.

Myth is a means of generalizing literary material.

In some cases, the Symbolists resort to myth as an artistic device.

The myth plays the role of a visual example, rich in meanings.

Based on the above, the myth cannot but perform a structuring function (Meletinsky: “Mythologism has become a tool for structuring the narrative (with the help of mythological symbols)”). one

In the next chapter, we will consider how fair our conclusions are for Bryusov's lyrical works. To do this, we study the cycles of different periods of writing, entirely built on mythological and historical plots: “Favorites of the Ages” (1897-1901), “The Eternal Truth of Idols” (1904-1905), “The Eternal Truth of Idols” (1906-1908), “The Powerful shadows "(1911-1912)," In the mask "(1913-1914).

2. Mythologism of the images of the novel

The novel by Veniamin Kaverin "Two Captains" is one of the most striking works of Russian adventure literature of the 20th century. This story of love and fidelity, courage and determination has not left indifferent either an adult or a young reader for many years.

The book was called "a novel of education", "an adventure novel", "an idyllic-sentimental novel", but was not accused of self-deception. And the writer himself said that "this is a novel about justice and that it is more interesting (he said so!) To be honest and courageous than a coward and a liar." And he also said that this is "a novel about the inevitability of truth."

On the motto of the heroes of "Two Captains" "Fight and seek, find and not give up!" more than one generation has grown up who adequately responded to all sorts of challenges of the time.

Fight and seek, find and never give up. From English: That strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. The primary source is the poem "Ulysses" by the English poet Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892), whose 70 years of literary activity are devoted to valiant and happy heroes. These lines were carved on the grave of polar explorer Robert Scott (1868-1912). In an effort to reach the South Pole first, he nevertheless came to him second, three days after the Norwegian pioneer Roald Amundsen had been there. Robert Scott and his companions died on the way back.

In Russian, these words became popular after the publication of the novel "Two Captains" by Veniamin Kaverin (1902-1989). The protagonist of the novel, Sanya Grigoriev, who dreams of polar campaigns, makes these words the motto of his whole life. Quoted as a phrase-symbol of fidelity to one's purpose and one's principles. “Fighting” (including one’s own weaknesses) is the first task of a person. “To seek” means to have a humane goal in front of you. "Find" is to make the dream a reality. And if there are new difficulties, then "do not give up."

The novel is filled with symbols, which is part of the mythology. Every image, every action has a symbolic meaning.

This novel can be considered a hymn to friendship. Sanya Grigoriev carried this friendship through his whole life. The episode when Sanya and his friend Petka took a "blood oath of friendship". The words that the boys uttered were: "Fight and seek, find and not give up"; they turned into a symbol of their life as the heroes of the novel, determined the character.

Sanya could have died during the war, his profession in itself was dangerous. But against all odds, he survived and fulfilled his promise to find the missing expedition. What helped him in life? A high sense of duty, perseverance, perseverance, determination, honesty - all these character traits helped Sanya Grigoriev to survive in order to find traces of the expedition and Katya's love. “You have such love that the most terrible grief will recede before it: it will meet, look into your eyes and retreat. No one else seems to know how to love like that, only you and Sanya. So strong, so stubborn, all my life. Where is there to die when you are so loved? - says Peter Skovorodnikov.

In our time, the time of the Internet, technology, speed, such love may seem like a myth to many. And how you want it to touch everyone, provoke them to accomplish feats, discoveries.

Once in Moscow, Sanya meets the Tatarinov family. Why is he drawn to this house, what attracts him? The Tatarinovs' apartment becomes for the boy something like Ali-Baba's cave with its treasures, mysteries and dangers. Nina Kapitonovna, who feeds Sanya with dinners, is a “treasure”, Maria Vasilyevna, “neither a widow, nor a husband’s wife”, who always wears black and often plunges into melancholy, is a “mystery”, Nikolai Antonovich is a “danger”. In this house, he found many interesting books, which "fell ill" and the fate of Katya's father, Captain Tatarinov, excited and interested him.

It is hard to imagine how Sanya Grigoriev's life would have turned out if the amazing person Ivan Ivanovich Pavlov had not met on his way. One frosty winter evening, someone knocked on the window of the house where two small children lived. When the children opened the door, an exhausted frostbitten man burst into the room. This was Dr. Ivan Ivanovich, who had escaped from exile. He lived with the children for several days, showed the children tricks, taught them to bake potatoes on sticks, and most importantly, taught the dumb boy to talk. Who could have known then that these two people, a little mute boy and an adult who was hiding from all people, would be bound by a strong, faithful male friendship for life.

A few years will pass, and they will meet again, the doctor and the boy, in Moscow, in the hospital, and the doctor will fight for the boy's life for many months. A new meeting will take place in the Arctic, where Sanya will work. Together, the polar pilot Grigoriev and Dr. Pavlov will fly to save a man, get into a terrible snowstorm, and only thanks to the resourcefulness and skill of the young pilot will they be able to land a faulty plane and spend several days in the tundra among the Nenets. Here, in the harsh conditions of the North, the true qualities of both Sani Grigoriev and Dr. Pavlov will appear.

The three meetings between Sanya and the doctor also have a symbolic meaning. First, three is a fabulous number. This is the first number in a number of traditions (including ancient Chinese), or the first of odd numbers. Opens a number series and qualifies as a perfect number (an image of absolute perfection). The first number to which the word "all" is assigned. One of the most positive number-emblems in symbolism, religious thought, mythology and folklore. Sacred, lucky number 3. It carries the meaning of high quality or a high degree of expressiveness of the action. It shows mainly positive qualities: the sacredness of the perfect deed, courage and great strength, both physical and spiritual, the importance of something. In addition, the number 3 symbolizes the completeness and completeness of a certain sequence that has a beginning, middle and end. The number 3 symbolizes the integrity, the triple nature of the world, its versatility, the trinity of the creative, destroying and preserving forces of nature - reconciling and balancing their beginning, happy harmony, creative perfection and good luck.

Secondly, these meetings changed the life of the protagonist.

None of the disciples noticed when this red-haired and ugly Jew first appeared near Christ, but for a long time he relentlessly followed their path, intervened in conversations, rendered small services, bowed, smiled and fawned. And then it became completely habitual, deceiving tired eyesight, then it suddenly caught my eye and ears, irritating them, like something unprecedented, ugly, deceitful and disgusting.

A bright detail in Kaverin's portrait is a kind of accent that helps to demonstrate the essence of the person being portrayed. For example, Nikolai Antonovich’s thick fingers resembling “some hairy caterpillars, it seems, cabbages” (64) - a detail that adds negative connotations to the image of this person, as well as the “golden tooth” constantly emphasized in the portrait, which previously somehow illuminated everything face ”(64), and faded with age. The golden tooth will become a sign of the absolute falseness of the antagonist Sanya Grigoriev. Constantly "striking" incurable acne on the face of Sanya's stepfather is a sign of impurity of thoughts and dishonesty of behavior.

He was a good leader, and the pupils respected him. They came to him with different proposals, and he listened carefully to them. Sanya Grigoriev also liked him at first. But visiting them at home, he noticed that everyone treated him unimportantly, although he was very attentive to everyone. With all the guests who came to them, he was kind and cheerful. He did not like Sanya, and every time he visited them, he began to teach him. Despite his pleasant appearance, Nikolai Antonovich was a vile, low man. His actions speak for themselves. Nikolai Antonovich - he made it so that most of the equipment on Tatarinov's schooner turned out to be unusable. Through the fault of this man, almost the entire expedition perished! He persuaded Romashov to eavesdrop on everything they say about him at school and report to him. He arranged a whole conspiracy against Ivan Pavlovich Korablev, wanting to kick him out of school, because the guys loved and respected him, and because he asked for the hand of Marya Vasilyevna, with whom he himself was very in love and with whom he wanted to marry. It was Nikolai Antonovich who was to blame for the death of his brother Tatarinov: it was he who was engaged in equipping the expedition and did everything possible so that it would not return back. He interfered in every possible way with Grigoriev to investigate the case of the missing expedition. Moreover, he took advantage of the letters that Sanya Grigoriev found, and defended himself, became a professor. In an effort to avoid punishment and shame in the event of exposure, he jeopardized another person, von Vyshimirsky, when all the evidence proving his guilt was collected. These and other actions speak of him as a low, vile, dishonest, envious person. How much meanness he committed in his life, how many innocent people he killed, how many people he made unhappy. He deserves only contempt and condemnation.

What kind of person is Chamomile?

Sanya met Romashov at the 4th school - the commune, where Ivan Pavlovich Korablev took him. Their beds were next to each other. The boys became friends. Sana did not like Romashov, that he was always talking about money, saving it, lending money at interest. Very soon, Sanya was convinced of the meanness of this man. Sanya learned that, at the request of Nikolai Antonovich, Romashka overheard everything that was said about the head of the school, wrote it down in a separate book, and then reported it to Nikolai Antonovich for a fee. He also told him that Sanya had heard the conspiracy of the teachers' council against Korablev and wanted to tell his teacher about everything. On another occasion, he was gossiping dirtyly to Nikolai Antonovich about Katya and Sanya, for which Katya was sent on vacation to Ensk, and Sanya was no longer allowed into the Tatarinovs' house. The letter that Katya wrote to Sanya before her departure also did not reach Sanya, and this was also the work of Chamomile. Chamomile sank to the point that he was rummaging through Sanya's suitcase, wanting to find some compromising evidence on him. The older Chamomile got, the more his meanness became. He even went so far as to start collecting documents on Nikolai Antonovich, his beloved teacher and patron, proving his guilt in the death of Captain Tatarinov's expedition, and was ready to sell them to Sana in exchange for Katya, with whom he was in love. Why sell important papers, he was ready to kill a childhood friend in cold blood for the sake of fulfilling his dirty goals. All actions of Chamomile are low, vile, dishonorable.

What brings Romashka and Nikolai Antonovich closer, how are they similar?

These are low, vile, cowardly, envious people. To achieve their goals, they commit dishonorable acts. They stop at nothing. They have neither honor nor conscience. Ivan Pavlovich Korablev calls Nikolai Antonovich a terrible person, and Romashov a man who has absolutely no morality. These two people deserve each other. Even love doesn't make them prettier. In love, both are selfish. Achieving the goal, they put their interests, their feelings above all else! Ignoring the feelings and interests of the person they love, acting low and mean. Even the war did not change Chamomile. Katya thought: "He saw death, he became bored in this world of pretense and lies, which used to be his world." But she was deeply mistaken. Romashov was ready to kill Sanya, because no one would have known about this and he would have gone unpunished. But Sanya was lucky, fate favored him again, and again, giving chance after chance.

Comparing "Two Captains" with the canonical examples of the adventure genre, we can easily find that V. Kaverin masterfully uses a dynamically intense plot for a broad realistic narrative, during which the two main characters of the novel - Sanya Grigoriev and Katya Tatarinova - tell stories with great sincerity and excitement. "about time and about yourself.All sorts of adventures here are by no means an end in themselves, because they do not determine the essence of the story of the two captains, they are only the circumstances of a real biography, which the author put as the basis of the novel, eloquently indicating that the life of Soviet people is full of rich events, that our heroic time is full of exciting romance.

"Two Captains" is, in essence, a novel about truth and happiness. In the fate of the protagonist of the novel, these concepts are inseparable. Of course, Sanya Grigoriev wins a lot in our eyes because he accomplished many feats in his life - he fought in Spain against the Nazis, flew over the Arctic, fought heroically on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, for which he was awarded several military orders. But it is curious that for all his exceptional perseverance, rare diligence, composure and strong-willed determination, Captain Grigoriev does not perform exceptional feats, his chest is not adorned with the Star of the Hero, as many readers and sincere fans of Sanya would probably like. He performs such feats as every Soviet person who ardently loves his socialist motherland is able to accomplish. Does Sanya Grigoriev lose any of this in our eyes? Of course not!

We are conquered in the hero of the novel not only by his actions, but by his whole mental warehouse, his heroic character in its very essence. Have you noticed that aboutsome of the exploits of his hero, committed by him at the front, the writer simply keeps silent. The point, of course, is not the number of feats. Before us is not so much a desperately brave man, a sort of captain "break your head", - before us, first of all, a principled, convinced, ideological defender of the truth, before us is the image of a Soviet youth, "shocked by the idea of ​​justice",as the author himself points out. And this is the main thing in the appearance of Sanya Grigoriev, which captivated us in him from the very first meeting - even when we knew nothing about his participation in the Great Patriotic War.

We already knew that Sanya Grigoriev would grow up to be a courageous and brave person when we heard the boyish oath “Fight and seek, find and not give up.” Of course, throughout the novel, we are worried about the question of whether the main character will find traces of Captain Tatarinov, whether justice will prevail, but we are truly captured by ourselves. processachieving the set goal. This process is difficult and complex, but that is why it is interesting and instructive for us.

For us, Sanya Grigoriev would not be a true hero if we only knew about his exploits and knew little about the formation of his character. In the fate of the hero of the novel, his difficult childhood is also important for us, and his bold clashes in his school years with the scoundrel and selfish Romashka, with the cleverly disguised careerist Nikolai Antonovich, and his pure love for Katya Tatarinova, and loyalty to whatever became a noble boyish oath. And how magnificently the purposefulness and perseverance in the character of the hero are revealed when we follow step by step how he achieves the intended goal - to become a polar pilot in order to be able to fly in the skies of the Arctic! We cannot pass by his passion for aviation and polar travel, which absorbed Sanya while still at school. That is why Sanya Grigoriev becomes a courageous and brave man, because he does not lose sight of the main goal of his life for a single day.

Happiness is won by work, the truth is affirmed in the struggle - such a conclusion can be drawn from all the trials of life that fell to the lot of Sanya Grigoriev. And there were, frankly, a lot of them. As soon as homelessness ended, clashes with strong and resourceful enemies began. Sometimes he suffered temporary setbacks, which he had to endure very painfully. But strong natures do not bend from this - they are tempered in severe trials.

2.1 Mythology of the novel's polar discoveries

Any writer has the right to fiction. But where does it pass, the line, the invisible line between truth and myth? Sometimes they are so closely intertwined, as, for example, in the novel by Veniamin Kaverin "Two Captains" - a work of art that most reliably resembles the real events of 1912 in the development of the Arctic.

Three Russian polar expeditions entered the Northern Ocean in 1912, all three ended tragically: the expedition of Rusanov V.A. died entirely, the expedition of Brusilov G.L. - almost entirely, and in the expedition of Sedov G. I, three people died, including the head of the expedition. In general, the 20s and 30s of the twentieth century were interesting for through voyages along the Northern Sea Route, the Chelyuskin epic, and Papanin heroes.

The young, but already well-known writer V. Kaverin became interested in all this, became interested in people, bright personalities, whose deeds and characters aroused only respect. He reads literature, memoirs, collections of documents; listens to the stories of N.V. Pinegin, a friend and member of the expedition of the brave polar explorer Sedov; sees finds made in the mid-thirties on nameless islands in the Kara Sea. Also during the Great Patriotic War, he himself, being a correspondent for Izvestia, visited the North.

And in 1944, the novel "Two Captains" was published. The author was literally bombarded with questions about the prototypes of the main characters - Captain Tatarinov and Captain Grigoriev. He took advantage of the history of two brave conquerors of the Far North. From one he took a courageous and clear character, purity of thought, clarity of purpose - everything that distinguishes a person of a great soul. It was Sedov. The other has the actual history of his journey. It was Brusilov. These heroes became the prototypes of Captain Tatarinov.

Let's try to figure out what is true, what is a myth, how the writer Kaverin managed to combine the realities of the expeditions of Sedov and Brusilov in the history of the expedition of Captain Tatarinov. And although the writer himself did not mention the name of Vladimir Aleksandrovich Rusanov among the prototypes of the hero Captain Tatarinov, some facts claim that the realities of Rusanov's expedition were also reflected in the novel "Two Captains".

Lieutenant Georgy Lvovich Brusilov, a hereditary sailor, in 1912 led an expedition on the steam-sailing schooner "Saint Anna". He intended to go with one wintering from St. Petersburg around Scandinavia and further along the Northern Sea Route to Vladivostok. But "Saint Anna" did not come to Vladivostok either a year later or in subsequent years. Off the western coast of the Yamal Peninsula, the schooner was covered with ice, she began to drift north, to high latitudes. The ship failed to break out of ice captivity in the summer of 1913. During the longest drift in the history of Russian Arctic research (1,575 kilometers in a year and a half), the Brusilov expedition conducted meteorological observations, measured depths, studied currents and ice conditions in the northern part of the Kara Sea, which until then was completely unknown to science. Almost two years of ice captivity passed.

(10) April 1914, when "Saint Anna" was at 830 north latitude and 60 0 east longitude, with the consent of Brusilov, eleven crew members left the schooner, led by navigator Valerian Ivanovich Albanov. The group hoped to get to the nearest coast, to Franz Josef Land, in order to deliver the expedition materials, which allowed scientists to characterize the underwater relief of the northern part of the Kara Sea and identify a meridional depression at the bottom about 500 kilometers long (the St. Anna trench). Only a few people reached the Franz Josef archipelago, but only two of them, Albanov himself and sailor A. Konrad, were lucky enough to escape. They were discovered quite by accident at Cape Flora by members of another Russian expedition under the command of G. Sedov (Sedov himself had already died by this time).

The schooner with G. Brusilov himself, sister of mercy E. Zhdanko, the first woman participating in the high-latitude drift, and eleven crew members disappeared without a trace.

The geographical result of the campaign of the navigator Albanov's group, which cost the lives of nine sailors, was the assertion that King Oscar and Peterman, previously noted on the maps of the Earth, do not actually exist.

We know the drama of "Saint Anna" and her crew in general terms thanks to Albanov's diary, which was published in 1917 under the title "South to Franz Josef Land". Why were only two saved? This is quite clear from the diary. The people in the group that left the schooner were very diverse: strong and weak, reckless and weak in spirit, disciplined and dishonorable. Those who had more chances survived. Albanov from the ship "Saint Anna" mail was transferred to the mainland. Albanov reached, but none of those to whom they were intended received the letters. Where did they go? It still remains a mystery.

And now let's turn to Kaverin's novel "Two Captains". Of the members of the expedition of Captain Tatarinov, only the long-distance navigator I. Klimov returned. Here is what he writes to Maria Vasilievna, the wife of Captain Tatarinov: “I hasten to inform you that Ivan Lvovich is alive and well. Four months ago, in accordance with his instructions, I left the schooner and with me thirteen members of the crew. I will not talk about our difficult journey to Franz Josef Land on floating ice. I can only say that from our group I alone safely (except for frostbitten legs) reached Cape Flora. "Saint Foka" of Lieutenant Sedov's expedition picked me up and delivered me to Arkhangelsk. "Holy Mary" froze back in the Kara Sea and since October 1913 has been constantly moving north along with the polar ice. When we left, the schooner was at latitude 820 55 . She stands quietly in the middle of the ice field, or rather, she stood from the autumn of 1913 until my departure.

Almost twenty years later, in 1932, Sanya Grigoriev's senior friend, Dr. Ivan Ivanovich Pavlov, explains to Sanya that the group photograph of Captain Tatarinov's expedition members was “given by the navigator of the St. Mary, Ivan Dmitrievich Klimov. In 1914, he was brought to Arkhangelsk with frostbitten legs, and he died in the city hospital from blood poisoning. After Klimov's death, two notebooks and letters remained. The hospital sent these letters to the addresses, and Ivan Ivanych kept the notebooks and photographs. Persistent Sanya Grigoriev once told Nikolai Antonych Tatarinov, cousin of the missing captain Tatarinov, that he would find the expedition: "I don't believe that she disappeared without a trace."

And in 1935, Sanya Grigoriev, day after day, sorts out Klimov's diaries, among which he finds an interesting map - a map of the drift of "Saint Mary" "from October 1912 to April 1914, and the drift was shown in those places where the so-called Earth lay Peterman. “But who knows that this fact was first established by Captain Tatarinov on the schooner “Saint Maria”?” - exclaims Sanya Grigoriev.

Captain Tatarinov had to go from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok. From the captain's letter to his wife: “It's been about two years since I sent you a letter through a telegraph expedition to Yugorsky Shar. We walked freely along the intended course, and since October 1913 we have been slowly moving north along with the polar ice. Thus, willy-nilly, we had to abandon the original intention to go to Vladivostok along the coast of Siberia. But there is no evil without good. A completely different thought now occupies me. I hope she does not seem to you - as to some of my companions - childish or reckless.

What is this thought? Sanya finds the answer to this in the notes of Captain Tatarinov: “The human mind was so absorbed in this task that its solution, despite the harsh grave that travelers mostly found there, became a continuous national competition. Almost all civilized countries took part in this competition, and only there were no Russians, and meanwhile the Russian people's ardent impulses for the discovery of the North Pole manifested themselves even in the time of Lomonosov and have not faded to this day. Amundsen wants at all costs to leave behind Norway the honor of discovering the North Pole, and we will go this year and prove to the whole world that the Russians are capable of this feat. (From a letter to the head of the Main Hydrographic Department, April 17, 1911). So, this is where Captain Tatarinov was aiming! "He wanted, like Nansen, to go as far north as possible with drifting ice, and then get to the pole on dogs."

Tatarinov's expedition failed. Even Amundsen said: "The success of any expedition depends entirely on its equipment." Indeed, a disservice in the preparation and equipment of Tatarinov's expedition was rendered by his brother Nikolai Antonych. Tatarinov's expedition, for reasons of failure, was similar to the expedition of G.Ya. Sedov, who in 1912 tried to penetrate to the North Pole. After 352 days of ice captivity off the northwestern coast of Novaya Zemlya in August 1913, Sedov led the ship "The Holy Great Martyr Fock" out of the bay and sent to Franz Josef Land. The place of the second wintering of Foka was Tikhaya Bay on Hooker Island. On February 2, 1914, Sedov, despite complete exhaustion, accompanied by two sailors - volunteers A. Pustoshny and G. Linnik, headed for the Pole on three dog teams. After a severe cold, he died on February 20 and was buried by his companions at Cape Auk (Rudolf Island). The expedition was poorly prepared. G. Sedov was not well acquainted with the history of the exploration of the Franz Josef Land archipelago, he did not know well the latest maps of the section of the ocean along which he was going to reach the North Pole. He himself had not carefully checked the equipment. His temperament, his desire to conquer the North Pole at all costs prevailed over the precise organization of the expedition. So these are important reasons for the outcome of the expedition and the tragic death of G. Sedov.

Previously, Kaverin's meetings with Pinegin were mentioned. Nikolai Vasilievich Pinegin is not only an artist and writer, but also an explorer of the Arctic. During Sedov's last expedition in 1912, Pinegin made the first documentary film about the Arctic, the footage of which, together with the artist's personal memoirs, helped Kaverin to present a picture of the events of that time more vividly.

Let's return to Kaverin's novel. From a letter from Captain Tatarinov to his wife: “I am also writing to you about our discovery: there are no lands to the north of the Taimyr Peninsula on the maps. Meanwhile, being at latitude 790 35 , east of Greenwich, we noticed a sharp silvery stripe, slightly convex, extending from the very horizon. I am convinced that this is the earth. Until I called her by your name." Sanya Grigoriev finds out that it was Severnaya Zemlya, discovered in 1913 by Lieutenant B.A. Vilkitsky.

After the defeat in the Russo-Japanese War, Russia needed to have its own way of escorting ships to the Great Ocean so as not to depend on the Suez or other channels of warm countries. The authorities decided to create a Hydrographic Expedition and carefully survey the least difficult section from the Bering Strait to the mouth of the Lena, so that they could go from east to west, from Vladivostok to Arkhangelsk or St. Petersburg. The head of the expedition was at first A.I. Vilkitsky, and after his death, since 1913 - his son, Boris Andreevich Vilkitsky. It was he who, in the navigation of 1913, dispelled the legend of the existence of Sannikov Land, but discovered a new archipelago. On August 21 (September 3), 1913, a huge archipelago covered with eternal snow was seen north of Cape Chelyuskin. Consequently, from Cape Chelyuskin to the north is not an open ocean, but a strait, later called the B. Vilkitsky Strait. The archipelago was originally called the Land of Emperor Nicholas II. It has been called Severnaya Zemlya since 1926.

In March 1935, pilot Alexander Grigoriev, having made an emergency landing on the Taimyr Peninsula, accidentally discovered an old brass hook, green with time, with the inscription "Schooner" Holy Mary ". Nenets Ivan Vylko explains that local residents found a boat with a hook and a man on the coast of Taimyr, the closest coast to Severnaya Zemlya. By the way, there is reason to believe that it was no coincidence that the author of the novel gave the Nenets hero the surname Vylko. A close friend of the Arctic explorer Rusanov, a member of his 1911 expedition, was the Nenets artist Vylko Ilya Konstantinovich, who later became the chairman of the council of Novaya Zemlya (“President of Novaya Zemlya”).

Vladimir Aleksandrovich Rusanov was a polar geologist and navigator. His last expedition on the Hercules, a motor-sailing ship, entered the Arctic Ocean in 1912. The expedition reached the Svalbard archipelago and discovered four new coal deposits there. Rusanov then made an attempt to pass through the Northeast Passage. Having reached Cape Desire on Novaya Zemlya, the expedition went missing.

Where the Hercules died is not exactly known. But it is known that the expedition not only sailed, but also walked for some part, because the Hercules almost certainly died, as evidenced by objects found in the mid-30s on the islands near the Taimyr coast. In 1934, on one of the islands, hydrographers discovered a wooden pole with the inscription "Hercules" - 1913. Traces of the expedition were found in the Minin skerries off the western coast of the Taimyr Peninsula and on Bolshevik Island (Severnaya Zemlya). And in the seventies, the expedition of the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper led the search for Rusanov's expedition. Two gaffs were found in the same area, as if to confirm the intuitive guess of the writer Kaverin. According to experts, they belonged to the “Rusanovites”.

Captain Alexander Grigoriev, following his motto "Fight and seek, find and not give up", in 1942 nevertheless found the expedition of Captain Tatarinov, or rather, what was left of it. He calculated the path that Captain Tatarinov had to take, if we consider it indisputable that he returned to Severnaya Zemlya, which he called "Mary's Land": from 790 35 latitude, between the 86th and 87th meridians, to the Russian Islands and to the Nordenskiöld archipelago. Then, probably after many wanderings from Cape Sterlegov to the mouth of the Pyasina, where the old Nenets Vylko found a boat on a sled. Then to the Yenisei, because the Yenisei was the only hope for Tatarinov to meet people and help. He walked along the seaward side of the coastal islands, as straight as possible. Sanya found the last camp of Captain Tatarinov, found his farewell letters, photographic films, found his remains. Captain Grigoriev conveyed to the people the farewell words of Captain Tatarinov: “It is bitter for me to think about all the things that I could do if I were not only helped, but at least not hindered. What to do? One consolation is that by my labors new vast lands have been discovered and annexed to Russia.

At the end of the novel we read: “The ships entering the Yenisei Bay from afar see the grave of Captain Tatarinov. They pass by her with their flags at half mast, and the mourning salute rumbles from the cannons, and a long echo rolls without ceasing.

The grave was built of white stone, and it sparkles dazzlingly under the rays of the never-setting polar sun.

At the height of human growth, the following words are carved:

“Here lies the body of Captain I.L. Tatarinov, who made one of the most courageous journeys and died on the way back from Severnaya Zemlya discovered by him in June 1915. Fight and seek, find and not give up!

Reading these lines of Kaverin's novel, one involuntarily recalls the obelisk erected in 1912 in the eternal snows of Antarctica in honor of Robert Scott and his four comrades. It has an inscription on it. And the final words of the poem "Ulysses" by Alfred Tennyson, a classic of British poetry of the 19th century: "To strive, to seek, to find and not yield" (which in English means: "Struggle and seek, find and not give up!"). Much later, with the publication of Veniamin Kaverin's novel "Two Captains", these very words became the life motto of millions of readers, a loud appeal for Soviet polar explorers of different generations.

Probably, the literary critic N. Likhacheva was wrong when she attacked The Two Captains when the novel had not yet been fully published. After all, the image of Captain Tatarinov is generalized, collective, fictional. The right to fiction gives the author an artistic style, not a scientific one. The best character traits of Arctic explorers, as well as mistakes, miscalculations, historical realities of the expeditions of Brusilov, Sedov, Rusanov - all this is connected with the hero Kaverin.

And Sanya Grigoriev, like Captain Tatarinov, is an artistic fiction of the writer. But this hero also has its prototypes. One of them is professor-geneticist M.I. Lobashov.

In 1936, in a sanatorium near Leningrad, Kaverin met the silent, always inwardly concentrated young scientist Lobashov. “He was a man in whom ardor was combined with straightforwardness, and perseverance - with amazing definiteness of purpose. He knew how to succeed in any business. A clear mind and a capacity for deep feeling were visible in his every judgment. In everything, the character traits of Sani Grigoriev are guessed. Yes, and many of the specific circumstances of Sanya's life were directly borrowed by the author from Lobashov's biography. These are, for example, Sanya's muteness, the death of his father, homelessness, the school-commune of the 20s, types of teachers and students, falling in love with the daughter of a school teacher. Talking about the history of the creation of "Two Captains", Kaverin noticed that, unlike the parents, sister, comrades of the hero, whom the prototype of Sanya told about, only separate strokes were outlined in the teacher Korablev, so that the image of the teacher was completely created by the writer.

Lobashov, who became the prototype of Sanya Grigoriev, who told the writer about his life, immediately aroused the active interest of Kaverin, who decided not to give free rein to his imagination, but to follow the story he heard. But in order for the hero's life to be perceived naturally and vividly, he must be in conditions personally known to the writer. And unlike the prototype, born on the Volga, and graduated from school in Tashkent, Sanya was born in Ensk (Pskov), and graduated from school in Moscow, and she absorbed much of what happened at the school where Kaverin studied. And the state of Sanya the young man also turned out to be close to the writer. He was not an orphanage, but during the Moscow period of his life he was left completely alone in vast, hungry and deserted Moscow. And, of course, I had to spend a lot of energy and will not to get confused.

And the love for Katya, which Sanya carries through his whole life, is not invented or embellished by the author; Kaverin is here next to his hero: having married a twenty-year-old youth to Lidochka Tynyanov, he remained true to his love forever. And how much in common is the mood of Veniamin Alexandrovich and Sanya Grigoriev when they write to their wives from the front, when they are looking for them, taken out of besieged Leningrad. And Sanya is fighting in the North also because Kaverin was a military commander for TASS, and then Izvestia was in the Northern Fleet and knew firsthand Murmansk, and Polyarnoye, and the specifics of the war in the Far North, and its people.

Another person who was well acquainted with aviation and knew the North well, the talented pilot S.L. Klebanov, a fine, honest man, whose advice in the study of the flying business by the author was invaluable. From the biography of Klebanov, the story of a flight to the remote camp of Vanokan entered the life of Sanya Grigoriev, when a catastrophe broke out on the way.

In general, according to Kaverin, both prototypes of Sanya Grigoriev resembled each other not only by their stubbornness of character and extraordinary determination. Klebanov even outwardly resembled Lobashov - short, dense, stocky.

The artist's great skill lies in creating such a portrait in which everything that is his own and everything that is not his will become his own, deeply original, individual.

Kaverin has a remarkable property: he gives the heroes not only his own impressions, but also his habits, and relatives and friends. And this cute touch makes the characters closer to the reader. With the desire of his older brother Sasha to cultivate the power of his gaze, looking for a long time at the black circle painted on the ceiling, the writer endowed Valya Zhukov in the novel. Dr. Ivan Ivanovich, during a conversation, suddenly throws a chair to the interlocutor, which must certainly be caught - this was not invented by Veniamin Aleksandrovich: K.I. liked to talk so much. Chukovsky.

The hero of the novel "Two Captains" Sanya Grigoriev lived his own unique life. Readers seriously believed in him. And for more than sixty years, this image has been understandable and close to readers of several generations. Readers bow before his personal qualities of character: will power, thirst for knowledge and search, loyalty to the given word, dedication, perseverance in achieving the goal, love for the motherland and love for his work - all that helped Sanya to solve the mystery of Tatarinov's expedition.

conclusions

In every literary work written after the Nativity of Christ, one way or another, religious, biblical, and at the same time mythological motifs can be traced.

Why is this happening? After all, the writer does not always write specifically about the relationship of our light with the "mountainous" one, which we cannot see. Such penetration of religious motifs into secular literature occurs because our whole life is subconsciously saturated with Christian culture; from the first centuries of the adoption of Christianity by Byzantium, it has become an indivisible part of our existence, regardless of what everyday positions a person stands on. In literature, we see the same desires, it seems in the most, at first glance, non-Christian writings.

Soviet literary criticism deliberately hid, and most readers did not want to think about these ideas. They really need to be seen, they become clear not at first sight.

In my opinion, Veniamin Kaverin managed to create a work that skillfully intertwined the realities of the real expeditions of Brusilov, Sedov, Rusanov and the fictional expedition of Captain Tatarinov. He also managed to create images of people seeking, resolute, courageous, such as Captain Tatarinov and Captain Grigoriev.

The novel "Two Captains" is a complex modernist structure based on cultural archetypes that reflect the traditions of world literature and folklore. The game paradigm as an internal regularity of the novel space is represented by a wide range of artistic techniques.

V.A. Kaverin modifies the rite of initiation, but there is no change of generations, which was the condition of the heroic myth. In the syncretic Kaverin consciousness, two renewed destinies, like two epochs, converge in a single temporal space.

Several aspects testify to the mythological basis of the novel "Two Captains".

The novel is full of symbolic objects. Each of them emphasizes the greatness of positive human images, or the baseness of negative ones. Each of them plays a decisive role in the fate of the heroes.

The letters of the deceased captain Tatarinov, found by the guys in the river, had a symbolic meaning. They determined the fate of Sanya Grigoriev.

Equally important was the airplane hovering in the sky over Ensk. These are the dreams of the guys about their future. This is a sign for the reader, a hint of who the hero will become, in what field of activity he will find himself.

Each hero goes through their circles of hell on the way to heaven. Sanya, like Hercules, overcomes obstacles one after another to his dream. He performs feats, grows and strengthens like a man. He does not betray his ideas, he sacrifices himself in the name of this idea.

Bibliography

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2.Levinton G.A. Initiation and myths // Myths of the peoples of the world. - M.: Sov.encyclopedia, 1988. - T.1. - S. 543-544.

3.Kaverin V.A. Two captains: A novel in 2 books. - K .: Glad. school, 1981. - p. 528

.Medinska Yu. Mythology and mythological discourse // Psychology and Suspіlstvo. - 2006. - 32. - S. 115-122.

5.Meletinsky.M. Epos and myths // Myths of the peoples of the world. - M.: Sov.encyclopedia, 1988. - V.2. - S. 664-666.