The image and characteristics of Grigory Melekhov in the novel “Quiet Don”
Grigory Melekhov is a simple, long-haired Cossack. In the novel, the reader learns that he and his family live in Veshenskaya village on the banks of the Don. His family, like himself, is hard-working.
At the beginning of the novel, Gregory is 20 years old, however, this is not precisely indicated. What is known is that his age is suitable for conscription into the army. He is the youngest son of the Cossack Pantelei Melekhov. The eldest son's name is Petro. Gregory also has a sister, Dunyasha. The main character is Turkish by origin.
From the novel, the following character qualities of the hero are known:
- waywardness and restlessness;
- simplicity and openness to people;
- courage and bravery;
- love of freedom, recklessness and ardor;
- hard work and love for the Motherland.
When writing a characterization of the hero, one can also note that in life he is a competent and conscientious person, as well as an independent one (he does not ask his father for help when he needs something). Grigory also does not tolerate women’s tears, but he is inherent in humanity, despite the fact that he is obliged to kill people in the war, like his comrade Ermakov. Over time, his heart hardens, he is capable of murder, but his humanity always remains in him.
What fate awaited Grigory Melekhov after the finale of “Quiet Don”
Millions of viewers are watching the fourth film adaptation of the novel “Quiet Don” performed by director Sergei Ursulyak
Photo: still from the film
These days, millions of television viewers are watching the main premiere of the Rossiya channel - the fourth film adaptation of the novel Quiet Don, performed by director Sergei Ursulyak. Whether in a literary work or in a television version, the narrative will stop at the most interesting place. Will we really never know what will happen to Grigory Melekhov and his son next? But subsequent events can be reconstructed based on what we know about the lives of the prototypes of the book’s heroes and the fate of the Cossacks as a whole. We asked Andrei Venkov, an expert on the history of the Cossacks, Doctor of Science, Professor of the Department of Russian History of the Southern Federal University, to model the further biography of the characters.
GREGORY SHOULD NOT HAVE STOKED THE RIFLE
“In the finale, Melekhov makes a fatal mistake,” says Andrei Vadimovich. — If you remember, before returning to the farm, he drowned the rifle in the river. And the “Reds” had a rule: if you confessed and handed over your rifle to the village council, you would receive an amnesty. If you haven’t turned in the rifle, then where is the guarantee that you won’t dig it up and start fighting against the Soviet regime again? Therefore, Grigory will be spanked when he returns to Tatarsky. And if not for this mistake, then a Cossack with such biographical data as Melekhov would have had a chance to live until the early thirties.
— What about his officer’s past?
— The narrative of the novel “Quiet Don” ends in 1922, when the White Guard past was treated quite calmly. During the Civil War, moving from camp to camp was a natural occurrence. Both the Reds and the Whites created entire units from prisoners. And in 1927, former White Guards were officially forgiven on the occasion of an amnesty associated with the 10th anniversary of the October Revolution. But they only had a few years of quiet life. Already in 1929, a course was set for their destruction, unfair sentences and falsified trials began... And Melekhov, if you look at him as a real person, of course, would not have survived in this meat grinder.
— You say the repressions began in 1929. But Kharlampy Ermakov, who served as the prototype for Sholokhov for the image of Grigory Melekhov, was shot in 1927.
“Ermakov became a hostage of circumstances. In 1927, a pre-war situation arose. The USSR was preparing for war with Poland. And at this time Ermakov decided to participate in the elections to the village council. He enjoyed incredible authority among his fellow villagers and, naturally, they chose Kharlampy, and the government’s protege was given a disastrous ride. If he had not lit up so boldly at that moment, then they would not have remembered him for the time being. And here, in addition to resentment, the communists had a reason: the country was on the eve of war, and here former white officers were climbing into power and were very popular among the people.
We asked Andrei Venkov, an expert on the history of the Cossacks, Doctor of Science, Professor of the Department of Russian History of the Southern Federal University, to model the further biography of the characters
THE SON OF AN INFORMER IN THE ERMAKOV CASE HAS GONE MAD
Here it is necessary to clarify for readers that Kharlampy was indeed a legendary figure on the Don. He was arrested for the first time two and a half weeks after returning home - on February 23, 1923. Let us recall that Ermakov retired from the Red Army from the post of head of the divisional school of the 14th Cavalry Division of the 1st Cavalry Army. But the entire population came to his defense. Ermakov’s criminal case contains the minutes of the general meeting of citizens of the Bazkovsky farm, where residents took Kharlampiy on bail and assured that he was not the organizer of the Veshensky uprising. Ermakov spent a year in prison, but in 1924 he was forced to be released...
— Let's return to the second criminal case, which was opened in 1927. The investigation had no evidence that Kharlampy participated in the bullying and execution of prisoners. On the contrary, there was a lot of evidence in favor of Ermakov. But suddenly the testimony of a certain Andrei Alexandrov appears, who claims: “In one of the battles in 1919, Ermakov personally hacked to death 18 sailors. During the battles on the Don River, under the command of Ermakov, about 500 Red Army soldiers were drowned in the water, he did not give any mercy to any of the Komsomol members or the Red command staff, he cut everyone down.” Is anything known about the man whose testimony largely decided the fate of Kharlampi?
— The surname Alexandrov is often found in the village of Karginskaya. But it is difficult to say who exactly wrote the denunciation. But a characteristic detail is known regarding another informer - Elankin, who actively “drowned” Ermakov. Elankin’s son went crazy and claimed that it was he, and not Sholokhov, who was the real author of “The Quiet Don.” He was quickly “closed” and ended his days in a psychiatric hospital.
Gregory and Aksinya in the new film adaptation
Photo: still from the film
KOSHEV'S TEAR WOULD BE SLAPPED IN COLLECTIVIZATION
— It turns out that out of the entire novel, only Dunyashka Melekhova and Mishka Koshevoy have a relatively bright future?
“I think that Koshevoy would have been slapped during collectivization for abuse of power. When the famine began in 1932, Molotov’s commission went to Ukraine, and a military team led by Lazar Kaganovich came to us...
— Has the famine affected the Lower Volga and Don regions?
- Yes, suffice it to say that in 1932-33, under the Rostov NKVD, there was a department to combat cannibalism... So the excesses, the burdens of collectivization, decossackization, repression - they decided to blame all this on the local authorities. Many lower-level leaders were shot then, and people with the habits of Mikhail Koshevoy had a short life. Well, look: he burned half a farm, shot people without trial. It is clear that his fellow villagers did not forgive him for this. They would have taken revenge on him in every possible way, done dirty tricks on him and eventually led him to a monastery.
— In the last chapters of the novel we see that the Tatar farm has become depopulated. And from the large Melekhov family, only Grigory remained alive (and not for long) and his little son from his legal wife Natalya. What awaited the farm in the future?
— The situation is typical: the Don regions lost 1/3 of their people after the civil war. The Cossack population before the start of all these events numbered 1.5 million people. 250 thousand Cossacks were killed during the civil war. Civilian losses from disease, hunger, military action, etc. are estimated at approximately the same figure. According to the 1926 census, half (!) of the male population were children and adolescents under 16 years of age. In farms like Tatarsky, women, old people, and children remained. But the farms were not empty. The Cossacks were simply not allowed out of the villages and farmsteads. There was a passport regime: village residents were not given passports and there was no legal opportunity to leave. And if they caught a runaway farmer in the city without a passport, they were automatically imprisoned for 3 years. The Cossacks received freedom of movement only after the death of Stalin in 1953-55. That’s when the mass exodus to the cities began and the villages became deserted.
FROM THE KP DOSSIER
Kharlampy ERMAKOV - born on February 7, 1891 in the Antipov farmstead of the village of Veshenskaya. He became the prototype of Grigory Melekhov in the novel “Quiet Don”. Full Knight of St. George. After the First World War he returned home with the rank of military officer. Divisional commander of the 1st rebel division in the Vyoshensky uprising. Then he was a commander in Budyonny's First Cavalry Army. He was considered one of the best in the art of wielding a saber. He had incredible strength with a “cormorant blow” - he could cut a 20-centimeter birch trunk in one fell swoop. He communicated with Sholokhov several times during the time between his first and second arrest (that is, from 1924 to 1927). Shot on June 17, 1927. In 1989 he was rehabilitated “for lack of corpus delicti”
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Appearance description
At the beginning of the novel, Gregory appears to the reader as a young, handsome guy of Turkish appearance. He is cheerful, hard-working, loving his family, father and Fatherland. Tall, dark, has beautiful brown eyes and a sharp gaze. Has a similar appearance to his father, while his brother looks more like his mother. He is distinguished by white teeth, thick black hair, and a face with courageous cheekbones.
The hero's clothes are traditional Cossack. At home he wore trousers over white woolen stockings and a chik. He wore a white and blue shirt over his torso. In winter, he wore a sheepskin coat and a hat. During the war, he wore traditional military clothing. You can see the everyday clothes of a young Cossack from a movie episode, where the actor accurately conveys the image of Melekhov.
Gregory's appearance at the beginning of the novel can be described by the following quotes:
Grigory Melekhov in the war and his path of quest
Throughout the entire novel, Grigory Melekhov strives to find his calling, to understand the whole war, to find true happiness and to find the meaning of life. He spends his entire life in an internal search for truth.
If at first he is a daring Cossack who loves his family and Motherland, bravely fights for the land and knows his purpose in life, then by the end of the novel Gregory despairs of finding his happiness. He doesn’t understand what his calling is. He has experienced so many sad and tragic moments in his life that he does not understand why he lives and what the truth is.
Taking the path of searching for happiness, conducting a monologue with himself, he is not afraid of whispers and shame, openly loves someone else’s wife and does not consider it shameful to go to work as a farm laborer for the sake of love. At the same time, he hesitates, and, despite the fact that he loves Aksinya so much and has a good attitude towards her, he does not resist the will of his parents and marries an unloved woman.
Seeking his destiny, he goes to war without hesitation and thinks that he knows where the truth is and what he is fighting for. Melekhov Jr. valiantly defeats the enemy, receives awards and, without a doubt, kills people. Later, he begins to understand that the whole war will not bring anything good to people, and all his comrades are murderers. Then he takes the side of the reds, then hesitates and returns to the whites again. As a result, he comes to the conclusion that there are no rightists, and adults and children are dying from politics.
As a result, in search of happiness and his own path, the hero loses everything that was dear to him. The novel ends tragically. Gregory loses faith in his cause, his wife, child, lover, his parents die, his beloved brother dies. Thus, through the fate of one person, the writer emphasizes the tragedy of the entire Russian people from the civil war of 1917-1922.
Characteristic 2
Grigory Melekhov is the main character of Sholokhov’s epic novel “Quiet Don”. He is contradictory and multifaceted. His fate attracts the reader's attention. In appearance, he is black-eyed, black-haired, with a drooping nose and white teeth. A young and handsome man, full of energy and enjoys working.
In the novel, the author shows the main character as a young Cossack capable of crazy things. Respects and loves his family, helps his dad with housework. He becomes inspired when love appears in his life. It was mutual love. She was married, but this did not stop Gregory.
Despite this strong love and his stubbornness, he could not go against his father and married the girl Natalya, who was in love with him.
The fate of Melekhov is full of tragic events. The guy adopted his straightforward character from his Turkish grandmother. When he falls in love with Aksinya, he doesn’t even think about what others will think of him, because she is married. He is drowning in a pool of love. He was not interested in any gossip behind his back.
During the war, the author showed him as a true patriot. He even had to kill a man, although this contradicts his life principles.
During the civil war, he cannot decide which side he takes. It takes a long time to understand which side is right and which is guilty. Seeing how people kill and brutalize each other, he becomes like that himself.
But after a while he begins to dream of a quiet and calm life. He wants to forget about the war forever, return to his native land and do simple peasant work.
The fact that he could not decide between two women and two sides in the war deprives him of happiness. He is unsure of himself and whether he is doing the right thing. He wants justice and to achieve the truth, but life's difficulties cloud his mind.
After Natalya's death, he considers himself guilty, although he did not love her at all. The biggest blow for him is the death of Aksinya. For a long time he cannot find a place for himself and suffers.
When Aksinya was mortally wounded, Melekhov, bending over her body, understands that their life together was able to find happiness. Gregory at this moment realizes that he has lost almost all of his relatives. Although they loved each other, despite everything, two loving hearts were not destined to be together.
All that remains for the main character is his son. He goes to him to give him all the warmth, care and love. Now he is the only meaning of life.
Relationship with Natalia
When the father finds out about Grigory’s relationship with Aksinya, he doesn’t like it and decides to marry his son to Natalya Korshunova. He does not resist his father’s will and marries Natalya, but not out of love, but out of duty.
Natalya, a pure and timid girl, falls in love with Gregory at first sight and keeps this love throughout her life. From the first meeting, Grigory evaluates her as “a broodmare before purchasing.” He likes her working hands, bold eyes, girlish figure and soft rosy cheeks.
Natalya hopes that she will be happy in the house of her father-in-law and mother-in-law and will live in love and harmony with her husband. However, family life and happiness from the first meeting do not last long. Grigory does not feel any love for her, so he goes “on the side” to Aksinya. Realizing that Aksinya stole her husband, Natalya leaves the family and returns home. He tries to commit suicide, but fails. Thanks to the efforts of her father-in-law and mother-in-law, she returns and tries to win back her husband with all her efforts (even goes to Aksinya and asks her to leave her husband alone).
After Aksinya's betrayal, Grigory returns to the house. Soon Natalya finds out that she is pregnant and after the allotted time gives birth to twins. But even the birth of a boy and a girl cannot return the prodigal Gregory to the family and make him fall in love with his lawful wife. Faithful and patient, Natalya calmly raises her children and does not oppose her husband’s festivities.
As a result, the husband's infidelity leads to tragedy. Pregnant again, Natalya no longer wants to raise children alone, and does not want to give birth to a third child to an ungrateful man. She tries to get rid of the fetus, but eventually dies from blood loss and forgives Gregory before his death. Melekhov experiences the death of his wife, and this event leaves an imprint on his heart. He understands that he is to blame for her death and cannot forgive himself for this.
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The love story of Gregory and Aksinya
Gregory's forbidden love with Aksinya is full of tragedy. At first they have to communicate in secret from others, then meet at night so that no one accuses Gregory of infidelity and rumors do not start, and then they completely lose their common child. Then the lovers are forced to endure separation.
Despite all the circumstances, throughout the entire novel there were no obstacles or difficulties for them.
Their feelings were pure and all-consuming pain and separation. Even when Aksinya, in despair after the death of her child, cheats on Grigory with her master, Melekhov still loves her and wants to be with her. This love always remains mutual.
In the end, having lost almost everyone he loved, Gregory tries to escape with his beloved. Not having traveled even a mile, Aksinya dies in his arms from a bullet from a well-aimed shooter.
