Characteristics of the heroes of the story French lessons (images of heroes)

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Lei
The plot of the work by Valentin Rasputin
And now - about the heroes...
Boy
Mother of a young student
French teacher
Head teacher
Uncle Ivan
Fedya
Vadik
Bird
Tishkin

The story “French Lessons,” whose characters live and act in 1948, was first published in 1973. Back then, readers often got acquainted with literary works by buying “thick magazines” like “Neva” or “Soviet Youth”. So Valentin Rasputin’s story was published in one of these magazines.

Main characters

The key characters of the work are an eleven-year-old boy who comes from a poor family, on whose behalf the story is narrated, and the teacher Lidia Mikhailovna, who teaches French at school.

Boy

The boy is presented by the writer as a modest, silent child, thin from constant malnutrition, distinguished by a certain wildness, but at the same time having good learning abilities and possessing perseverance and strong character. The teenager lives separately from his family, who remains in the village with a friend of his mother. Despite his own plight, expressed in the lack of money and lack of necessary food products, the boy is characterized by the writer as an intelligent and independent teenager, striving to master various knowledge in order not to lose the trust of his loved ones.

Lidia Mikhailovna

In the image of Lydia Mikhailovna, the writer presents a beautiful, kind, twenty-five-year-old woman, originally from the Kuban region, distinguished by regular facial features, short black hair and a slight squint, almost invisible. The teacher is characterized in the story as a caring, attentive teacher with mercy, sensitivity, generosity, generosity, and responsiveness. At the same time, the girl has self-esteem, and also demonstrates courage and courage. Lidia Mikhailovna, without hesitation, helps a lonely boy adapt to city life, and also, having heard about his card games with cash winnings, decides to take care of the hungry child, while acting subtly and sensitively, not wanting to hurt the boy’s pride by organizing additional French lessons.

Option 2

The main characteristics of the main character, whose name is not indicated on the pages of the story, include a huge thirst for knowledge, thanks to which he was recognized as the most capable and intelligent boy in the village due to his early adulthood. It is for this reason that parents decide to send their son to study in the regional center, while at the same time leaving him with Aunt Nadya.

The boy is very independent. Even despite his difficult fate. When his family was poor and it was difficult for the boy himself to be away from his mother, he did not complain. He held on bravely and stubbornly, so as not to let his mother worry again, because there was already a lot to do. And they had to be solved. The little boy understands the sacrifices his family makes for him, so wonderful skills of masculinity and courage are displayed.

The boy's pride and embarrassment prevent him from accepting help from his French teacher Lidia Mikhailovna. By refusing to eat, the boy shows his strength of spirit and his childish stupidity when he thinks that at such an early age he will be able to resist the will of fate. But such perseverance is commendable - the boy does not give up and continues to do what is needed, without shirking. It seems that the more a boy is away from his home, the more mature and responsible he becomes. He makes a very adult and dangerous decision to gamble for money in order to earn milk for himself and to save himself from the disease of anemia. But even here he shows the qualities of a reserved and self-confident person - the boy never played more. What is the price of milk, and left with the collected money. When his teacher Lidia Mikhailovna finds out about her ward’s earnings, she takes guardianship of him under the pretext of French lessons.

A boy who left home so early feels a desire to receive kindness and care for himself. Lidia Mikhailovna is just the person who can help the boy earn the money he needs for milk. And just help. This time the boy does not refuse her help, accepting kindness and care. So kindly and selflessly offered by his teacher.

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Minor characters

The secondary characters of the story are the head of the school Vasily Andreevich, the mother of the main character, the boys Vadik, Ptah, Tishkin, Fedka, as well as the school driver Uncle Vanya.

Head teacher

The image of the school principal is described as a loud-mouthed teacher with twenty years of experience, distinguished by excessive severity, bordering on cruelty, expressed not only in relation to schoolchildren, but also to teachers. Vasily Andreevich commits an imprudent act in the form of dismissing a French teacher, not understanding the reasons that prompted Lidiya Mikhailovna to join a children's game for money.

Boy's mother

The boy's mother appears sporadically in the story and is described as a lonely, village woman, raising three children, striving to overcome persistent poverty and misery, but at the same time trying to somehow help her eldest son, who is studying in the city.

Vadik and Ptah

The images of the boys Vadik and Ptah are portrayed by the writer as a contrast to the main character of the story, since they are negative characters in the work, characterized as evil, cruel children who start fights and offend other children, including the main character.

Tishkin

Tishkin is presented by the author as a boy who knows how to adapt to any situation that is favorable to him, using toadying, ingratiation and assent. It is he who reveals to the teacher the reason for beating the main character.

Using the example of the actions of numerous characters in the story, the writer reveals their inner world and touches on the eternal problems of humanity in the story in the form of the confrontation between kindness and malice, lies and justice, morality and immorality. In addition, the author's idea of the story reveals to the reader the true human values that people need throughout their lives.

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The main characters of the work French Lessons

The story takes place in 1948, the boy Volodya lives in a Siberian village with his mother. Life at that time was difficult, hunger and lack of money were everywhere. We learn a little about the fate of the narrator. He has a mother who loves him very much, so much so that she is ready to give her last. There is no father, we can assume that he died at the front. There is also a younger sister. Despite his young age, Volodya tries to take care of his sister: he teaches her to swallow seeds so that in the spring the harvest will come up and she won’t want to eat anymore. In their village there is only a primary school, but the boy shows ability to read and write, so his mother sends him to study in the city. Living in the city becomes even more difficult, Volodya is constantly hungry, his clothes are old and worn, he doesn’t even have winter boots. He always looks forward to parcels of potatoes from his mother. He understands that his aunt’s family is stealing his food, but pretends not to notice anything, because he himself knows this need. Volodya is morally older than his peers. A hard life forces him to think like an adult. He spends the money he wins on a vacant lot not on candy or toys, but buys milk. When Lydia Mikhailovna offers to have lunch with her, he refuses, although it is very difficult for a hungry child to overcome himself. In the same way, he refuses the products sent by the teacher, agreeing to take only “honestly” won money.

The second main character is French teacher Lidia Mikhailovna. This is a very young woman, about twenty-five years old, who, by the will of fate, comes to work at this particular school. She has short black hair, slightly squinting eyes, and a quiet voice. The narrator assumes that the teacher was already married. She pays attention to the beaten boy and when she finds out that he was beaten for gambling, she does something unexpected. She doesn’t tell the director, but tries to put herself in the position of a child who is driven to this by hunger. Obviously, life is not easy for Lydia Mikhailovna either, but she wants to help the capable student with at least something. Yes, she understands perfectly well that this is against the rules and what it could threaten her with. But she does it anyway because she is better than anyone else.

All the minor characters in the story are also not accidental. Each of them teaches the hero a certain lesson. Boys who play for money teach that no one likes those who are better than others. The ringleader, Vadik, and the second-year student Ptah, who sang along with him, beat up the hero because he often wins and does not want to share. Classmate Tishkin is introduced to betrayal for the first time when he tells his teacher about gambling, although he plays it himself.

After getting to know the characters in the story, it becomes obvious that in any circumstances there are bad people and there are good ones. A hard life does not change a person, but only better reveals his essence.

Summary of “French Lessons”

Main characters:

boy (5th grade student), boy's mother, Lidia Mikhailovna (French teacher), Vasily Andreevich (school director)

Minor characters:

Fedya (the landlady's son), Vadik (7th grade student), Ptakha (a repeat student), Tishkin (the boy's classmate)

Author:

Screen adaptation:

film (USSR, 1978, dir. Evgeny Tashkov)

Themes:

childhood, motherhood, mercy and cruelty, education and upbringing, loneliness, responsibility

New school

Three years had passed since the end of the war, but a prosperous and well-fed life was still far away. Many families that had lost their breadwinners experienced dire need. It was also hard for the mother of the eleven-year-old hero, who lost her husband and raised three children alone. The boy entered the fifth grade and had to study in the regional center, since there was only an elementary school in their village, and he had to live with his mother’s friend, Aunt Nadya.

The boy had a hard time getting used to the new conditions, he was constantly homesick, and besides, he was not good at French. In addition, he was tormented by a constant, irresistible feeling of hunger. The mother, once seeing her thinner son, wanted to take him back to the village, but he did not agree, because it was not in his character to give in to difficulties so easily.

Every week the boy received parcels from his mother, but the food that she tore from herself almost never reached him. He did not want to accuse Aunt Nadya or her children of theft, he was just very upset for his mother. Nevertheless, hunger made itself felt more and more, sometimes it became simply unbearable. Fishing trips didn’t help either, because they couldn’t catch anything except a few small fish. Most often, the boy suppressed his hunger before going to bed with simple boiling water.

Chica

Illustration for V. Rasputin’s story “French Lessons”. Artist Igor Pchelko

One day he witnessed a boy playing chica for money. He understood the rules immediately and began playing with the guys, among whom was his classmate Tishkin. We played every day, but the winnings were very small. Vadik was most lucky because he learned to cheat almost unnoticed. When the boy tried to hint this to him, he beat him severely.

French teacher Lydia Mikhailovna learned about the incident from other students. When she found out that our hero was playing for money, she decided to talk to him. Lidia Mikhailovna was sure that the boy was spending his winnings on sweets; she did not know that he was actually buying milk for himself, so she strictly forbade him to play for money.

The boy no longer joined the players, but matters were complicated by the fact that his mother was no longer able to send food as often as before. Therefore, experiencing painful hunger every day, he began to play again. The winning amounts were very small, but one day he won a whole ruble and was beaten again.

Classes with Lidia Mikhailovna

Seeing that the boy was beaten again, the teacher decided to teach him individually. Several classes were devoted to correct pronunciation, then the place of additional lessons was Lydia Mikhailovna’s house. She understood perfectly well that the child was not eating enough, and always invited him to dinner, but the boy refused and immediately began to get ready to go home.

One day during class he was informed that a package was waiting for him downstairs. Thinking that it was from his mother, he eagerly rushed to open it. Seeing that there were products there that had never been sold in their village, he realized who the sender of this parcel was. It contained pasta, hematogen and sugar. He went home to Lydia Mikhailovna and handed her the parcel, flatly refusing to accept it.

But he attended extracurricular French lessons religiously and soon began to make noticeable progress in pronouncing French words. Unbeknownst to himself, he developed a “taste for language.” During his visits, Lydia Mikhailovna tried to create as relaxed an atmosphere as possible, and after a while the boy began to feel completely free.

Measurements

One day, the teacher surprised the boy by admitting that in childhood she also played for money. Only this game was called “measuring” and it had slightly different rules. Before showing how to play this game, Lidia Mikhailovna asked the boy not to tell anyone about it, especially the school principal.

After several trial games, the teacher suggested that we start playing for real. The boy quickly learned all the rules and slowly began to win. Since they played almost every day, he began to have money not only for milk, but also for cream. Sometimes he worried that he was taking money from the teacher, but the thought that it was an honest win calmed him down.

It all ended suddenly one evening when, in the heat of an argument over a game, the door swung open and the school principal appeared on the threshold. Seeing that the teacher was playing with a student for money, he was shocked.

A few days later, Lidia Mikhailovna left school and went to Kuban. When they said goodbye, both knew that this was their last meeting. They never saw each other again. After the New Year holidays, a package arrived in the boy’s name. Opening it, he saw pasta and three red apples.

Irina Zaritskaya | .4k | Estimate:

Characteristics of the characters in V. G. Rasputin’s story “French Lessons”

In the story by V.P. Rasputin's "French Lessons" touches on eternal themes: good and evil, truth and lies, justice and human indifference. The book talks about the role of a teacher in a person’s life, makes you think about the line where morality meets immorality. The young teacher was able to discern in the skinny village boy a strong personality, a hungry child, as lonely as she was.

This story is a touching story of the relationship between a teacher and a student, thanks to which the boy learned vital lessons of kindness, mercy and human empathy.

The story takes place in 1948 - a difficult post-war time, when the whole country experienced deprivation and hunger. The location is one of the regional centers of the Irkutsk region. The work is autobiographical, and the events in the story took place in the real life of the writer, who was grateful to the teacher who taught him a “lesson of kindness.”

Boy 11 years old

from a poor village family. Thin from constant malnutrition. Lonely, wild, modest and very capable student. He lives separately from his family, for whom he misses very much. Honest, courageous, brave, persistent with a strong character. Despite hunger and lack of money, he does not give up school and tries to justify the trust of his family. Independent and smart beyond his years. Proud, does not complain and does not accept food from a teacher who wants to help.

Boy's mother.

A woman raising three children without a husband. Strong-willed, patient, hard-working, illiterate, but smart. Thanks to her, the author had the opportunity to study, despite hunger and poverty. She decided to send her son to school in the district center, donated food and sometimes some money.

Lidia Mikhailovna, French teacher.

A beautiful, kind young woman about 25 years old. He has regular facial features, a barely noticeable “braid” in his eyes, and short black hair. Originally from Kuban. She was born and raised in the city, wealthy, and needs nothing. She managed to see a hungry and very capable boy, and cunningly helped him with food and money. She admitted that since childhood she had not behaved according to the rules and brought many problems to her parents. According to her, a person grows old when he ceases to be a child.

Vasily Andreevich,

head teacher. A strict man with a loud manner of speaking. At school, children were very afraid of him. The school director forced the offending student, in the presence of all the students, to explain what prompted him to do the bad thing. Having caught the teacher and the author playing “the wall” for money, the director is at a loss for words with indignation. He did not understand the essence of the teacher’s action, considering it a crime.

Fedka,

The son of the owner of the apartment where the main character lived. Fedka introduced him to money. Fedka and his family steal food from the main character when he is at school.

Tishkin

, A classmate of the author who was often present at games for money, but did not participate himself. He was the first to “surrender” the boy to the French teacher, telling where his bruises and beatings came from.

Vadik,

a city boy from the 7th grade of the same school where the main character studies. A cunning, angry teenager who mocks and offends those who are younger and weaker. He is friends with the bully Ptah. The main character is beaten several times because he plays better than everyone else.