Summary of “The human mother” Zakrutkina


A lot has been written about the Great Patriotic War. A special attention deserves the story “The Mother of Man” by V. Zakrutkin. Her heroine is a simple Russian woman who has experienced inhuman tortures. But for the sake of saving the new life that was beating inside her, she was able to stand, becoming a symbol of “imperishable faith, hope, eternal love.”

Instead of joining

Memories of the heroic deed of the 29-year-old Mary were summoned in the soul of the narrator by a stone statue. During a trip to the carpathian city, he liked to rest in the park. Near the bench stood a stone niche, and in it – a sculpture of the Virgin Mary with a baby in her arms. Her appearance made me think about hundreds and thousands of mothers who experienced more terrible torments in her life than she. Among them was a young woman from a small hamlet, lost in the steppe. After the arrival of the Germans, she lost her family and home. Remained alone in the district,

Mary continued to fight and save all those who needed help.

“The Mother of Man”: a summary

To read the full text of a work of art is necessary. Only this way you can understand what the heroine went through. However, there are situations when there is no time for it or there is no book at hand. In such cases, a retelling of the key scenes of the story will help.

All alone.

Acquaintance with the heroine begins with a description of the great tragedy. Pressing into the ground on the outskirts of the cornfield, a young woman prayed to God for death. There were explosions around, and the glow of the fire was visible. There, to the people – this thought made Maria come to her senses. But, reaching the hill, where the field was ending, she witnessed a terrible picture. The summary (“The Mother of Man” – a story that is not easy to read) does not allow us to describe everything the way Zakrutkin did it. The farm burned, and the inhabitants – there were about a hundred – the fascists were driven to the current, and then drove along the road

that passed near the field. Maria discerned the faces of all fellow villagers. And when the column passed, suddenly there was a sonorous voices voice. This 15-year-old Sasha dared to challenge the fascists. Next is the automatic queue. When it was quiet, Maria, overcoming fatigue and pain, crawled to the girl. She was still alive. But the wound was fatal, and at dawn she died. The woman, tearing her hands, was digging the grave all day, after which she buried Sasha: you can not leave your body to scold. For several days Maria hides in the field. During this time, her past life passes before her – similar retrospectives are observed throughout the entire work “The Mother of Man.”

Contents of visions-memories

The father of the heroine was killed by whiteguards, she lost her mother at the age of 16. I married a neighbor. They helped the house, lived in harmony and love, raised a son. Ivan was called in the first days of the war, but a few weeks before the arrival of the Germans he returned with an amputated hand. Fascists several weeks were located nearby. On the day when their car was pelted with grenades, they broke into the farm and hanged their husband and son Maria (10-year-old Vasyutka grabbed his father and did not want to let go). Her, distraught from grief, the villagers were sent to a cornfield. And then the village was burned. And the heroine of the story “The Mother of Man” was left completely alone. A brief summary – it is easier to read it emotionally – does not give the opportunity to pass her monologue, caused by the reminder of herself yet unborn child and expressed her feelings and hatred of the enemy. The kid saved a desperate mother who called for death. To live for him and the dead Ivan with Vasyutka – only this thought made Maria fight.

Already more than one

The woman was relieved when she saw the dog and four cows from the farm – there were living creatures. A little calmed down and strengthened by milk, Maria decided to return to the farm. Only there could survive the cold winter “the mother of man.” A short summary of the episode with the return to the ashes is the following: hot earth, ash and suffocating smell of burning, utterly burned houses and trees, an unusable well, missing bodies of beloved husband and son, emptiness in the place of their home. .. Salvation came unexpectedly. Maria remembered the good cellar that she had built with her husband. He really survived.

Uninvited guest

Descending into the cellar, Maria felt – there is someone there. Then she discerned a young frightened face and an enemy form. The first desire was to destroy (in the hands of forks) and avenge the death of Ivan and Vasyuki. But suddenly I heard: “Mom”. So the wounded German young man remained in her care. They communicated with signs, but Maria realized that this soldier had become as much a victim as she. She even had a hope that, maybe he will survive. However, Werner Braht died, and the woman again remained alone. Now it will be a long time.

The economy is expanding

Slowly the woman adjusted everyday life. She went to the trenches and collected the remaining things after the Germans and her things: a stove, greatcoat, thermos, drawers, etc. She divided the carcass of a dead horse as long as the weather permitted, collected the remaining potatoes, carrots, beets, corn, sunflower – it was necessary feed themselves and animals, to which ten sheep, chickens, three horses and even pigeons were added. They placed them in the surviving part of the cowshed. Every day was painted – so tried to save life in the third brigade of the collective farm named after Lenin “the mother of man.” Summary – you need to read the entire text – can not pass everything that fell to the lot of a small woman, whom the husband affectionately called “little babies”. But she survived. True, there was a case when horse-drawn horses passed by the village, as it turned out, their own, but Maria was afraid to find herself.

Adopted children

Once in the winter Maria came across seven orphans from the Leningrad orphanage. Their train came under bombardment, educators and more than a hundred kids killed, and the survivors hid in the piles, interrupting what they find. The most memorable was the moment when the two-year-old baby first called her mother. The woman had a feeling that she really gave birth not only to Vasyutka, but also to these orphans, and Werner Braht, and the Red Army soldier Slava (she found him in the trench) buried by her, and all the other people who needed her help. Together with the children, she found the remains of her husband and son, and they finally found peace. And in the spring the baby appeared, which became the continuation of Ivan and the murdered Vasyuki. This – with a baby in her arms and surrounded by children – and saw her narrator. A regimental commander, approaching a woman,

Instead of an afterword

“Such as Mary, we have a lot on the earth, and the time will come – people will give them their due…” – these words of V. Zakrutkin want to complete a brief summary. “Mother of man” is a great monument to all women-toilers, successors of the human race.


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Summary of “The human mother” Zakrutkina